Videl-tachi's Struggle! Searching for the Dragon Ball

[NOTE: "-tachi" makes the word plural, so "Videl-tachi" would best be translated as something to the effect of "Videl and the others" or just "them" if it's already clear that the group you're referring to includes Videl, but the trouble is, nothing it would really translate as that I know of sounds very good, so I simply left it as is...simply know that this isn't just Videl's "struggle," but everyone who's with her as well.]

Capsule Corp. 576 passes through the clouds with Yamucha piloting. Marron sleeps in her mother's lap. A few inches away on the same seat, Muten Roshi is deep in thought about something. Ahead of them, Videl sits alone. Bulma and Chichi are both up at the front with Yamucha. Sitting in an open bag beside Videl are six Dragon Balls, just the Four Star Ball. The cabin is shrouded in silence for a while before Chichi finally breaks it. "I wonder where Gohan and Goten are." Videl looks up to her. "Shouldn't we find Gohan-kun and the others before we search for the Dragon Ball?" Chichi looks away, then after a second, turns to Bulma. "Bulma-san?" Bulma looks back over her shoulder. "No one was over there. I don't know what else we could do to find them. It's not like I'm not worried about Vegeta and Trunks, especially with Vegeta acting funny..." Yamucha looks back over his shoulder at Chichi. His smile makes him the only one in the plane without a solemn expression. "Goku was with them, so there's nothing to worry about." Bulma nods. "We've already gotten six Dragon Balls. We only need to get one more." She stares down at the radar in her hand, beeping as it leads them to the final Dragon Ball." Chichi leans over Bulma's shoulder. "Bulma-san, don't tell me you think they're dead... You're not trying to get the Dragon Balls to resurrect them..." Bulma looks back at her again. "I'm not thinking that at all! I don't even know where they went, but I think it's important to bring back the spectators Vegeta killed. I feel like it's my responsibility." Chichi sits back and stares off at nothing. "We have to get the Dragon Balls fast, then." She looks back to Bulma. "Where's the last one?" Bulma, "Well..." Her radar shows a trail leading up to one dot, and then another dot directly in the first dot's path, but still a ways off.

Videl stares down at the Dragon Balls which reflect her image back at her. "Can you really use these balls to bring everyone back to life?" Yamucha, "Shenlon will grant any three wishes you ask of him." Bulma, "Yamucha! The last Dragon Ball is straight ahead!" On her radar, we can see that they've drawn significantly closer to the second dot. "Understood!" The plane speeds through the sky over a forest. "Yamucha, it's around here. What's down there?" Below them, the forest gives way to a lake. Yamucha responds, "It looks like an island in the middle of the lake." Bulma, "That's where it is, I'm sure of it! Land!" Yamucha, "Okay." The plane dives and hits the water, bouncing up and eventually maneuvering onto a beach, completing quite a bumpy landing. As it comes to a stop, Bulma scolds him. "Yamucha! Can't you land any better than that!?" The finally rests on an uneven patch of ground and tilts to the viewer's left (but if one were in the cockpit looking out, it would be to the right). "Sorry! The landing strip was bad!" The dust clears; inside, everyone attempts to recover. From a new view outside, we see the trail the plane left through the dirt and we hear Number 18's voice. "Old man! What are you doing!?" Number 18 sits with her back against the wall and a groggy Marron in her arms...and in her lap, Muten Roshi's head. He giggles. "It's not my fault! It's the fault of the landing! Blame Yamucha!" He continues giggling as he buries his face between her breasts. "Puff puff!" He rubs his face back and forth over her chest. "I love girls!" She glares down at him and after a few seconds, gently sets Marron on the floor. She grabs Muten Roshi's head between her hands, forcibly extracts him from her chest, and squeezes his head. She holds him up by the face and turns him horizontally. "You old pervert!" He grabs one of her breasts and squeezes. She closes her eyes and squeezes harder, causing the lenses in his sunglasses to shatter. She finally let's go and he spins through the air away, yelling "That was great!" He hits the back wall, imbedding his shape in it.

Yajirobe and Karin sit at the edge of Karin's tower, staring down at the Earth. Piccolo and Kuririn come into view far below. Yajirobe, "Huh?" They continue on up toward God's Palace. "This is really turning into something big, isn't it?" He stands. Piccolo and Kuririn stop. Kuririn, "Hey, do you have any senzu?" Yajirobe, "We gave the last three to Goku! What did you do with those anyway?" Kuririn, "We met up with some bad people." Yajirobe, "Kuririn! Stop making excuses! We've watched everything from here!" Kuririn, "Shut up! You haven't done anything to help, so stay out of it!" He turns to Piccolo. "Let's go, Piccolo." And he continues on toward the Palace. Piccolo and Karin eye each other for a moment, then Piccolo joins Kuririn as Yajirobe and Karin watch them go.

Dende and Popo rush out to meet Kuririn and Piccolo. Dende, "We've been waiting for you! Are those two okay?" Piccolo lands with Goten and Kuririn with Trunks. Popo, "Are they hurt badly?" Piccolo, "They aren't hurt. Vegeta just knocked them out. It's nothing big. Let them sleep here." Dende, "That's an easy request to grant. Popo." Popo, "Understood." He approaches Piccolo and takes Goten, then Kuririn and takes Trunks. He carries them inside while the other three remain. Dende, "Majin Buu... We've allowed a terrifying devil to be reborn." Piccolo, "Those two kids are our only slight hope." Kuririn, "Dende, do you know what happened to Goku?" Dende smiles. "You don't have to worry about the late Goku-san dying again." Kuririn laughs and rubs the back of his head. "I guess you're right." Piccolo gives him a completely serious look and Kuririn abruptly stops laughing. He rubs his chin. Dende, "But he can still take a great amount of damage." Kuririn looks back at Dende. "Do you know what happened to Majin Buu and Madoshi Babidi?" Dende, "I feel their evil ki growing stronger." Kuririn, "What about Gohan?" Dende, "I can't feel him." Kuririn, "I see..." Piccolo, "Dende, can you feel Kaioushin-sama's ki?" Dende, "Piccolo-san, you should be able to feel it too." Piccolo, "If it was just weakened, I should be able to feel it." Dende looks at the ground. "Yes..." And then he looks back up to Piccolo. "Piccolo-san, what will happen to the Earth now?" Piccolo, "You're the God of the Earth now!! And you can't tell what's going to happen!?" He quickly calms himself again. Dende, "I'm sorry." Piccolo, "If Kaioushin-sama wasn't able to do anything after all his effort, you know what our chances of winning are." Dende nods, and Kuririn slowly removes himself from the conversation, walking away to sit down by a tree. He rests his head in his hands and sighs. "What's going to happen now?"

"I've put the kids to sleep." Kuririn looks toward the sound of Popo's voice. "They should be back to full health soon. If they're hungry, they won't be able to fight. I'll make some food for them quickly." Kuririn's stomach growls. He laughs and scratches his cheek. Dende smiles. "Go ahead." Kuririn jumps up laughing and runs after Popo. Piccolo takes a few steps forward. He stares off into the sky. "Kaioushin-sama, are those two kids our only hope?" A light wind begins blowing his cape back.

Clouds drift by lazily over a rocky area. Kaioushin stumbles forward, barely able to remain on his feet. He finally collapses against a wall, panting. "Gohan-san, please be alive! I need your help to kill Majin Buu!" He gets off his wall and continues his arduous trek. Unfortunately, he doesn't get very far before he collapses once more and falls to his knees. Far ahead of him lies the forest in which Gohan rests, either unconscious or dead.

Majin Buu races over the countryside with Babidi on his back. They come to a small rural city and Babidi giggles excitedly. Buu simply smiles. Babidi's giggling abruptly stops when he realizes that he's about to ram into the tallest building in the city. His eyes nearly pop out of his head and he throws his arms up. "Stop!" But Buu doesn't stop. They collide with the building and fly straight through as the people inside, surprised and frightened by the sudden intrusion, scream. With that same stupid grin, Majin Buu plows through wall after wall as people scramble to get out of the way. Along the way, Babidi is hit with all sorts of objects from books to shoes. Buu grins devilishly and a whole section of the spherical part at the top of the tower explodes. They continue out as debris clutters the sky behind them. Babidi grabs a piece of paper that's stuck to his face by the wind resistance. "Why didn't you dodge that!?" Buu continues flying as sheets of paper drift toward the ground below.

Sunlight glints off the Four Star Dragon Ball. Bulma's voice calls out, "Here it is!" The Capsule plane rests at the base of a white mountain that goes almost straight up with very little slope just yards off the lake. Midway up the mountain, Bulma sits at the edge, reaching across to a bird's nest where the Dragon Ball rests. Yamucha calls up to her, "Hang in there, Bulma!" Videl, "Isn't anyone going to help her?" She looks back from Yamucha to Bulma. "Good luck, lady!" Bulma glares down at her and says to herself, "What!? 'Lady'? I'm still young!" She disregards the comment and returns to the task at hand. She stretches her arm, but the Dragon Ball remains just out of reach. Suddenly, a shadow crosses overhead. Yamucha gasps. A tongue flies out and licks Bulma backside (the area of the back that Muten Roshi would be most interested in, to be more specific). She spins around. "What do you think you're doing!?" Then suddenly stops when she realizes that it's not Roshi behind her. She screams at the giant dinosaur standing over her with its rope-like tongue hanging out. It roars and Bulma screams again. Yamucha, "Bulma!" Videl leaps into the air as a terrified Bulma continues her auditory assault.

--COMMERCIAL--

And we pick up right where we left off with Bulma, now on her feet, screaming at a giant pink dinosaur. The dinosaur roars and recoils. Videl lands beside Bulma and the dinosaur shoots its tongue out again. Bulma dodges it and the tongue hits the nest, wrapping around it. It swallows the entire nest, including the Dragon Ball. Bulma gasps and runs ahead a few steps. "You idiot! You're not supposed to eat that Dragon Ball!" The dinosaur throws up a pretty sizable cloud of dust as it flaps its wings to fly away with Bulma screaming "Thief! Thief!" after it. The dinosaur ignores her and continues flying away. Yamucha runs a few steps forward. "Take this!" He launches a yellow ki blast at the dinosaur and hits it in the back. It roars and Bulma and Videl gasp. The dinosaur plummets toward the lake below. Yamucha, "I did it!" The dinosaur plunges into the water and Bulma screams again. "Yamucha! This is your fault! Fly down and get the Dragon Ball!" Yamucha, "Okay, okay!" He runs up to the edge of the cliff and looks over the side. "Huh!? You want me to jump down there!?" He backs away. "This suit was expensive!" Bulma, "Take it off then!" Yamucha touches his fingertips together as he tries to explain, "But my trunks are a little bit flashy today..." Bulma, "He's going to get away!" She looks down to Muten Roshi, who promptly begins coughing. "I've got a cold today!" Bulma, "Number 18!" Number 18, "You know I don't like water." Bulma, "This isn't the time to say that! Chichi-san, you do it!" Chichi, "Alright!" She stalks toward the water, but suddenly stops and cries out when she sees that Videl has beaten her to it. She flips down into the water as Chichi calls after her, "Videl-san! Remember, you have to marry Gohan!" Videl hits the water. Bulma, "Re-remember, it's the Four Star Ball!" (That way she won't get it confused with all the other Dragon Balls down there, I guess).

Videl pumps her legs and moves around with pretty good speed under water, chasing after the much bigger, much slower dinosaur. She catches up and throws a punch, but it has pretty much no effect. The dinosaur looks back at her and throws its tongue, but she skims right over it and kicks the dinosaur between the eyes. Her attacks have no effect, and she's soon forced to surface for air. The dinosaur gives chase, once again throwing its tongue out.

Chichi, "I can do this too!" She holds up her skirt, walks over to the edge, and with a shout, dives into the water. Yamucha, probably a bit embarrassed that a teenage girl and a middle age woman were doing his job, grabs his jacket. "I don't care about my flashy trunks! I'm not a real man if I can't help out now!" After having stripped down to his undershirt and boxers, he too dives into the lake.

Videl shuts her eyes as the tongue speeds forward, but after several seconds of nothing happening, she opens them again to find Yamucha and Chichi clinging to either side of the dinosaur. "Hey you! Don't you try to keep Videl-san from becoming Gohan's wife!" Yamucha, "Stop it! Don't put me in an even more embarrassing situation!" The thrashing back and forth apparently begins to loosen his trunks as he tries desperately to hold them on with his free hand. Videl surfaces for air and then quickly dives again. Muten Roshi, Marron, and Number 18 watch from nearby. Number 18 looks down at Muten Roshi. "Hm?" She motions toward the water with her head. Roshi's hand immediately goes to his mouth. "I've got a cold!" He 'coughs' into his hand. She glares at him. "Go!" and she kicks him into the water. He screams as he flies into the air, and Marron grins, calling after him, "Do your best!" Still screaming, Muten Roshi plummets toward the lake.

The dinosaur surfaces, carrying Chichi, Yamucha, and Videl with it. Chichi, "Huh? Muten Roshi-sama!" Muten Roshi continues falling. The dinosaur sees him and opens its mouth, and Roshi immediately begins flailing his arms wildly. "I'll just have to..." He rolls up into a ball, squeezes his nose shut with his fingers, and well, let's just say he makes breathing through the nose extremely unpleasant for anyone in the general vicinity. The dinosaur roars and covers its nose. Chichi, Yamucha, and Videl follow suit. The three of them fall back toward the lake as the dinosaur begins sneezing or coughing or choking or something. Roshi, "Let's hope we get over the cold soon!" The dinosaur roars and spits out the Dragon Ball, and it smashes right into Muten Roshi's head. His glasses fly off and he falls over to his side, his eyes bulging.

Once again gathered together, the seven Dragon Balls resonate. Bulma, "Thank you, Kamesennin." Chichi, "You really are just a dirty old man!" Muten Roshi falls over with a yell, but remains on his right foot. His glasses slide down his nose.

Majin Buu and Babidi fly just a few feet above railroad tracks, following them to wherever they might lead. Suddenly, they hear a whistle and a train quickly comes into view speeding right at them. "Buu! Buu! Get to the left!" Buu doesn't respond in any way. "Or the right, I don't care!" Buu simply smiles and ignores the order. As they approach the train, Babidi throws his hands up defensively. Finally, they collide, and Buu easily derails the train without being thrown in any direction or even slowed. The train is physically thrown into the air and explodes, and Buu passes through the fire and smoke as if nothing happened.

Out in the middle of no where, Son Goku finally begins to come to. He pushes himself up off the ground and looks around. "Huh?" He grabs the senzu bag lying near him and finds it empty. "Damned Vegeta! He took the last senzu. He knocked me out and went to fight Majin Buu by himself." Goku smiles as he reaches into his clothes to fish out the senzu. Vegeta pulls back both his arms and holds the fists together, then smashes them into the back of Goku's head, knocking him out. Goku's mouth drops open and his eyes go wide with shock, but by the time he's hit the ground, he's phased out of Super Saiya-jin. The senzu bag falls out of his hand and the single remaining senzu rolls out onto the ground. Vegeta stands over him with his arms still held out as if he were swinging a baseball bat. He retrieves the senzu and eats it. Goku looks around. "I can feel Majin Buu's ki, but I can't feel Vegeta's! Was he killed!? ...I can't feel Gohan's ki either. Piccolo and Kuririn are alive. They've changed back from stone. Those two should know what in the world's going on." He turns around and holds his fingers up to his forehead. He disapears.

Everyone (who's conscious, anyway) walks out of God's Palace. Kuririn, "How long will it take before those two wake up?" Piccolo, "Probably about an hour." Kuririn takes a step down a few stares. "Vegeta and Gohan have been killed. I'm crying for them, even though Vegeta was evil. We don't know what's happened to Goku either." He stops and looks back over his shoulder. "Hey Dende -- I mean, Kami-sama, can we bring our families here? I guess not... It wouldn't be fair for us only to save our own families." Dende steps up beside Piccolo. "What do you think?" Piccolo, "You're God. Trust your own judgement." Dende smiles at Kuririn. "I don't mind. The only reason this world still exists is you all. It's the least I can do." Kuririn, "Thank you! I'll call them right now!"

Suddenly, something materializes on the white tile. Piccolo gasps. Kuririn, "This ki...!" Piccolo and Kuririn, followed closely by Dende and Popo, rush out around a corner. Standing before them in ragged clothes is the beaten up Son Goku. "Yo!" Kuririn, "It's Goku! He's still alive!" He laughs and seems too happy to say anything more. Goku smiles. "Even though you say I'm alive, I'm still dead." Kuririn, "I guess that's right. You still have your halo." Kuririn runs up to him. "Kuririn, I came here to find out what happened." Kuririn, "That's what we want to know too! You're hurt really badly!" The other three aren't far behind Kuririn. Dende, "I'll heal you, Goku-san." Goku smiles. "Yeah, thanks, Dende." Kuririn grins. "Piccolo, now that Goku's here, we have some hope of defeating Majin Buu!" Goku sits down on the floor; Dende approaches him and begins healing him. Goku's body glows intermittently as Dende's healing power runs through it and his injuries slowly fade. He takes on a more serious expression as the healing finally finishes up.