Chapter 20: Under Da Sea
Our pursuers follow us into the opening we had found in the side of some underwater hill after their attempt to shoot us down had failed. Bulma is cursing up a storm as she tries to stay ahead, Kakarot is once more eating something he had found in one of my lunch boxes, Krillin is watching out for more missiles and Yamcha is holding on for dear life. So far our trip has proven to be quite the blissful thing and we're all having a merry old time. I for one can relax with my feet kicked up and Bulma isn't panicking as she tries to steer us to safety. The hole gets smaller, which would work to our benefit if the Red Ribbon did not send in mini-subs to come after us.
Joy.
Finally, we reach the end of the underwater tunnel and quickly scramble out of the sub and revert it to its capsule. I take this moment to shake out my hair as it's still soaked from my swim earlier. At the very least I had managed to change into some dry clothes, much to Bulma's chagrin. Bulma suggests we run, which would have been the best idea in such a situation. Though I suppose she forgot who she has in her presence.
"If we run they'll only follow" I point out the obvious to which Kakarot nods. "We take them out now and that's one less problem"
The best idea is for us to split into two groups; one to face the army and another to find the dragon ball. I doubt the army men will be much trouble so team one can catch up to team two in no time at all.
Krillin offers to go with Bulma to get the dragon ball while Yamcha decides to stay back with Kakarot and I to face the Red Ribbon army. With the three of us, it's likely overkill.
Once team two disappears around a corner, multiple subs surface where ours just was a moment ago, and upon seeing us the leader of the squad chuckles. As luck would have it, we are faced with someone who likely doesn't think we'd be able to do much. It always works to my benefit to be underestimated, has the fight ending before it has the chance to even start.
"You're just a bunch of kids," The leader says in amusement, moving to stand flanked by his men who all point their weapons at us. The leader is a pretty-looking blonde with a blue cloth around his left arm. I bet he goes by general Blue, as it would fit the theme I've noticed back at muscle tower.
"And you're just a pretty blonde" Yamcha snarks as he falls into his familiar wolf fang fist stance. He wears a smirk of pure confidence, likely sensing how much weaker than him this pretty blonde is.
The pretty blonde doesn't seem to like that very much, but he's quick to adopt a smile.
"Allow me to intro-"
"Your name is of no importance and personally I find this chit-chat to be for naught," I say as I have never been the type to converse with my enemies. It's very much a waste of time and I do not waste time on those who are not worth it.
Kakarot takes that as his cue to finally attack, as a soldier crumples to the ground within seconds.
And so the bullets fly.
Yamcha goes for the leader straight away so I'm left to handle the fodder with Kakarot. I pity any who face that boy as they will surely suffer immense pain before he sees the need to take them out. He loves to play with his enemies, ever the one to find joy in every fight. As for me, well, I'm tempted to pick up a gun again and let them have a taste of their own medicine, but I refrain.
Bullets come flying towards me, all of which are caught quite easily. They burn in the palm of my hand, but no matter, the look of pure shock and disbelief on the soldier's faces makes it all worth it. Once again they attempt to shoot me down, this time smart enough to aim for my head and fire all at once. I can catch bullets, but there's a limit to how many I can tackle. There's that and the fact that my head isn't as hard as Kakarot's. I swear his head must be harder than diamonds.
Though their strategy is somewhat commendable it is still very useless. For one, they'll be out of bullets or have to reload. Next to that, it takes no effort for me to move out of the way of the bullets, and with my speed, they won't even know what happened. To them, I might as well have vanished and while they look on in confusion I take two of them out easily enough. The rest are immediately alerted and one spins around to smack my head with the butt of his gun, the other attempts to grab me and from their positions, all I have to do is step out of the way and watch them harm each other. One is hit with the gun, and is out cold.
The other, well, he just ends up under a body, courtesy of Kakarot who had kicked some random soldier hard enough to probably break his ribs.
Once again, I did not have to do much against these men.
The place is other chaos, with Kakarot targeting anyone within sight and Yamcha actually demolishing their general. In all the confusion I'm able to pick up a voice from the army's communication system and am curious enough to listen in. What I hear is nearly enough to make me laugh. I knew they had been following us for some time but I did not think they would attack Kame house. I wonder how embarrassed those men must be to have been defeated by a three-hundred-year-old man. Now I wish I had been there to see it. These men don't know anything about the people they're dealing with and likely had no idea that they were facing the great Master Roshi.
I almost pity the-
Someone's a bit too close and I duck in time to avoid losing my head. The soldier that attempted to slice my head clean off stumbles back when I turn to face him now, perhaps realizing what he's in for.
He just attempted to decapitate me?
As cautious as he seems, he's still brave enough to stand his ground against me and comes running with his sword raised. He doesn't know how to properly wield a blade, and it's obvious enough that even I can notice. I've never fought using a blade and even I know that running in all reckless with the thing raised above your head and your entire body open for an attack is a terrible mistake. He's basically asking for me to hit him, and that's exactly what I do. As open as he is it's nothing to kick him in the temple and send him to the ground. His sword clatters as it falls out of his grasp and I pick it up. It's of good quality too, what a waste.
I might have kicked him harder than I had thought for him to be out cold already.
Oh well.
"That felt good" I hear Yamcha say and look over to see him approaching with a proud look on his face. Behind him, the pretty blonde is bloodied and bruised and probably won't be getting up for some time.
"I'm a bit jealous," Says Kakarot as he nudges the fallen general in the side. "You got to fight the strongest"
Of course, Kakarot would harbor such feelings. Yamcha for his part seems to be on cloud nine. Apparently, this win greatly serves to boost his confidence far more and I wonder if he has been feeling insecure. Wouldn't put it past him with his cowardly nature. Well, from what I had seen of him back in the desert he was a coward through and through. Though, he always has been a cocky person, a trait that leaves a bad taste in my mouth and I hope he doesn't revert to such a terrible mentality.
Soon enough we catch up to Bulma and Krillin who weren't very far and only lingered because of the pirate trap Krillin had walked into. There's an arrow in the left wall, just a few inches above Krillin's head actually. He must be grateful for his short stature now, I bet.
"We could just jump over" Krillin suggests with a shrug.
True, we could easily make the jump without any concerns, but there really would be no need for that. With the way the trap is set, I could imagine it would be hard for the pirates to return to their hidden treasure. It would be rather inefficient to build the trap without considering a secret path - a much safer path. With the typical booby trap ways, I'll assume that there must be something that acts as a button or lever to reveal the passage. And from all the video games I have had the pleasure of playing the most obvious thing to do in this situation is to feel across the walls and hope I come upon a piece of the wall that slides into the structure. Of course, there's a chance that it could also be a trap, but the chances of that are not as high as one would think.
My theory is proven to be correct when I do find the piece of stone I was in search of. With just a little pressure it slips deeper into the wall and moments later there's the very ugly noise of a piece of the stone wall moving and opening to reveal another passage.
"Classic" And it's exciting in a way to find myself in such a situation. I never thought that I would stumble into a secret pirate cave that likely houses some incredible treasure.
"I guess your love for video games is justified" is the joke from Bulma, one that earns me a look from the rest of the group.
"What?" Is there something wrong here?
"You like video games?" Yamcha asks as if it's the oddest thing.
"Yeah?" Why does this surprise him?"It's something most kids my age like?"
"It just feels weird for some reason," says Krillin, the boy already walking down the newly revealed path. "I don't know why, just feels odd, and imagining you playing some video games is kinda funny"
Again, I'm confused as to why this would be such a weird thing. I grew up with technology, and as a kid, it's kinda easy to assume I'd take a liking to video games. Not to mention I always had the best and latest because my father enjoyed the stuff as well. It's video games, a fun way to pass time and have a great day.
I shall circle back to this subject at a later date as I'm very curious as to why Krillin and Yamcha find it so hard to believe
The group traverses the safer path and soon enough we find ourselves in a pirates' cove. It's impressive in size and the submarine left abandoned here is in surprisingly good shape. I wonder if the engine still works. Even if it doesn't I wouldn't mind salvaging what I could from it. It would be a waste to just let it rot away in this underground cave.
Since the sub is here there must be another way out of this cave. A good piece of information to know just in case something happens that prevents us from going back the way we came.
"So this is a pirate's hideout?" Yamcha wonders as he looks around. I can already see the gears turning in that bandit mind of his and that smile that grows gives everything away. "That means we could find some sort of treasure here"
"There's a chance yeah" Bulma, ever the bearer of good news, says. "If you wanna go treasure hunting, feel free. Since you guys handled our unwanted guests I'm sure we have more than enough time to explore"
"Dragon ball first, treasure later"
Naturally, Kakarot decides to stick to his objective and I'm with him on this. Yes, I would like to find some treasure if only to satisfy a childish dream, but for now, the dragon ball is the more important treasure here.
And maybe the submarine, I'll make sure to check the engine after we find the dragon ball.
But before any of that, we're faced with another opponent, this one of the mechanical kind once more. The thing is odd-looking, more specifically its head which just looks like some odd sort of skull. As odd as it is, it makes sense seeing as it may be the protector of the pirate's treasure. I'm surprised it's still functioning so well as when Krillin moves to face it the thing tanks his first strike considerably well
I like it.
Krillin can handle it just fine, it's the gun for a hand it has that's an issue as in an attempt to shoot Krillin, Bulma ends up being the target after Krillin dodges.
Of course, this terrifies our single none fighter and she's quick to scurry to safety, her safety being me and here I'm used as a meat shield.
Or I would be if Krillin didn't jump in the way, reminding the bot that he's his opponent.
The thing loses an arm, which is saddening because I was looking forward to keeping it. But what's done is done and I'll settle for the scraps. Maybe I can build my own, a better version even. Hey, I can attempt what my parents had started and create an android. I'd have Eighter as a guide and help and if we continue to run into the army I can learn more about them by collecting parts. The most important parts would have to be the ones that make them "think" so to speak.
"Is there a reason you're smiling?" The question is accompanied by a finger pressed to my cheek, as if to alter my apparent smile.
"Thinking about making an android" I admit. "Would be fascinating. I would like to make one like Eighter, he's really something to have his own will"
"An android" Bulma seems thoughtful. "Well I have helped my father build some robots here and there, but an android is something else"
"If done right, an android can be something amazing, like Eighter"
"You really like Eighter"
Because he's incredible, why would I not like him?
~~~~~~~~
Our robot foe is handled without much issue, though I had to warn Krillin of doing too much damage to it, lest it explode and threaten to send this place into a collapse. I'm not sure how stable these walls and floors are so I did not want to take the chance. Plus it helps that the pirate robot isn't destroyed, I'll be taking it later. As for now, it seems we've found the treasure before the dragon ball. Though the dragon ball is nearby on the radar so Kakarot jumped into the nearby pool of water to go search for it, leaving us with the massive chest of treasure. Krillin, Yamcha, and Bulma marvel at the treasure while I try to get as much water out of my hair as possible. We had to take another dive to get to this smaller cave and I am once more soaking wet. This time, I'm left to air dry in some shorts and a binder as I had removed my clothing and will not be putting them back on anytime soon. We'll likely have to get wet again anyway. Even Bulma and the rest did the same as the boys remain in their trunks and Bulma has some sort of swimsuit.
I do catch Yamcha's not-so-subtle glances in her direction every now and then, which is amusing.
Oh just let her catch you trying to sneak a peak, bandit, you'll be in for a beating, I guarantee it.
"We're rich!" The chant of Yamcha and Krillin as they dance in circles around the treasure chest, both of them overjoyed at the prospect.
"This crown alone is worth millions" Bulma notes, observing a nice-looking crown that likely sat on the head of a past king.
"We're rich!"
They're not wrong. This thing could be split between ten - maybe twenty - people and they'd still be incredibly well off.
Soon enough Kakarot surfaces from the water with the next dragon ball, finally ending our mission in this cave.
"Great, we got the ball with the bonus of some treasure" All's well that ends well.
"That's three down," Says Kakarot as he tosses me the ball and proceeds to shake out his hair. Seems he has the same issue as me. "Are we off for the next or are we taking a break?"
I'm quite sure he's asking this because he must be hungry again. He has been eating here and there but that is nothing compared to an actual meal so no matter how many snacks and treats I give him, he needs a full course meal to be fully satisfied. Sometimes I wonder where all that food goes, despite having a good understanding of his appetite. I'm glad my appetite isn't always that monstrous and even when I'm abnormally hungry, it's nothing compared to Kakarot's hunger.
"We'll take a break" Because I truly want to salvage the engine of that old sub as well as take apart that robot, or maybe see if I can work on reprogramming it to my liking.
"Whoo!" Krillin cheers. "I'm going to explore, maybe I can find more treasure"
"Or more booby traps" Bulma is quick to point out and dampen his excitement. It doesn't last for long as both Krillin and Yamcha disappear in the pool of water, content enough to explore whatever they can.
"They're such boys"
"Let them have their fun" it's supposed to be an adventure after all. "I know I'll be having a good time on that submarine"
"And I'll enjoy some food" Kakarot announces with a smile and shamelessly holds out his hand for me. "Food"
He's lucky to have a friend like me.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone