The air was already beginning to heat up as they stood out on the Capsule Corporation lawn and waited. It was so hot that waves of heat were appearing in the distance, creating a blurred view of the world around them. There was a breeze moving through the air, but unfortunately it was a hot breeze, the kind that made even breathing almost unbearable. The wind moved through the trees above their heads though, and produced an almost musical sound as the breeze clattered the dry tree leaves against one another. Standing out in the open sun on the Capsule Corporation lawn, every single one of them was looking tired and miserable because of the heat. Gohan was trying to act as though the temperature wasn’t affecting him, but his glasses kept sliding down to the end of his nose, slick with sweat. He tried not to think about how horrible this dragonball hunt might be if it stayed this hot.

Mirai Bulma had decided that the jinzouningen had not been strapped in properly enough and had gone to retrieve some more items that could secure them tighter into the transport van. Mirai Trunks had gone to help her after a moment, most likely because his younger counterpart was glaring so fiercely at him that it made the hot sun above them look like nothing more than a dull light bulb. After the future warrior had gone, Trunks had left as well, blasting off into the air and disappearing. Gohan briefly wondered where he had gone, but he was used to Trunks’s temper tantrums by now. He knew that there was nothing to really worry about. Trunks always managed to calm down eventually.

Koronu stood a few feet away from him with her arms crossed over her chest. He could see that her skin was glistening under the hot sunlight, but she made no move to wipe the drip of sweat that was trembling on her temple. Her face though, did have perhaps the most wretched expression he had ever seen on her. He could catch a glint of excitement in her eyes however, somewhere in those deep black depths, she was ready to have an adventure. “I don’t see why we’re standing around here wasting time. If we’re going to go out and get the dragonballs, let’s do it. We’re not doing anything useful standing here gawking at the jinzouningen. Let’s go.”

“You can’t just go flying off in any direction; we’d be lost for days if we did that. First we consult the dragon radar, then we go.” He reminded her with a smile, and took his glasses off casually and wiped off the bridge. With somewhat blurred vision, he took a look around the yard, squinting in hopes to see a set of pale blond pigtails. The girl had left quite some time ago with the dragon radar and he hoped she came back soon. At least when they took off into the air and started flying, they’d be able to dip into a lake and cool off or something. “Marron is the one with the dragon radar. I believe she went inside to get some sort of a vehicle that is going to help her keep up with the rest of us in the air.”

“Tayhei gave her a new Capsule Car --- something that’s supposed to be just as fast as Trunks when he is in Super Saiya-jin form.” Goten informed them with wide, excited eyes.

Gohan knew without a doubt that Goten was picturing himself driving this new Capsule Car, even though he would be perfectly able to fly that fast on his own. Gohan would never understand the love for vehicles that some of his friends had. He would much rather be in the air by himself, feeling the wind rush against his face. There was absolute freedom in flying, something that you just couldn’t get from driving around in a car. When he was taking Videl and Pan somewhere, the car was definitely necessary. But if it were just him, he wouldn’t hesitate to just jump up into the air and fly.

“Interesting. Is the young girl going to be able to handle a vehicle that has that much power?” Koronu asked with her eyebrows raised. “If she isn’t a very experienced driver it might be a bit difficult for her.”

“I’m sure Marron will be fine.” Goten told them with a smile, and then shrugged. “And if she can’t handle the car, then one of us could just carry her.”

Without even knowing why, Gohan felt his eyes drifting towards Piccolo. The Namek stood in the shade of a nearby tree with his strong arms crossed over his chest, looking just a bit less miserable than the rest of them. Marron was a small girl; Piccolo could easily carry her with no trouble. Plus, Piccolo had some kind of a strange connection with children. Even though he was tall and rather scary looking, children always seemed to be drawn to him. Gohan didn’t blame them. When he was younger, he had loved Piccolo like a father. Beneath that gruff, frightening exterior, he was a really decent person. He was the kind of person that was wise and calm, and perhaps had one of the kindest hearts that Gohan had ever known. He gazed around him for a moment to see that all of his companions had their eyes on Piccolo as well, obviously sizing him up to be the best candidate for carrying Marron.

“Why are you all looking at me?” Piccolo asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. “I’m not carrying anyone. Just because I have some experience with children doesn’t mean that I’m a child transport system.”

Right at that moment, the roar of an engine could be heard over the gentle rustling of the leaves in the trees above them. They all turned in time to see a small black air car hurtling at them at a speed that Gohan had never witnessed in a vehicle before. The car did a few loops in the air, showing off the kind of freedom and ingenuity that it possessed. Gohan had to admit that it was impressive, even to someone who wasn’t that fond of cars. He had no doubts about Marron keeping up with them now. If she were actually able to drive that Capsule Car, she would probably be leading them. And from the looks of it, she had the driving part down now. The Capsule Car did a few more loops before settling down to the ground quickly, brushing up a wave of grass clippings and wind. The engine cut and the car glittered in the bright sun light, it’s heavily tinted windows flashing like mirrors.

The driver’s side door was kicked open to reveal Tayhei. She stepped out wearing perhaps the smallest white dress that Gohan had ever seen and a vibrant grin. A less enthusiastic Marron stepped out of the passenger side door and stared at the car as if it had come hurtling straight out of hell. Tayhei caressed the hood of the Capsule Car lovingly and then looked back up at Marron with excited green eyes. “Brilliant piece of work! Absolutely perfect! Did you see the way it handled that first loop? I’ll have to congratulate the people in Capsule Car Development on this. Try not to break it, eh? I might confiscate it for my own personal use later.”

She walked off towards the building, still glittering with excitement over the air car. It was a sharp contrast with Marron, who was standing shakily at the side of it with her blond pigtails astray and her eyes wide and blinking. Gohan tried not to laugh. He was pretty certain that Tayhei had taken the air car for a joyride, not even stopping to consider the well being of her passenger. And now Marron would probably be a bit apprehensive of getting back into the thing. The way she was eyeing it at the moment, it looked like she would rather eat her own arm than sit in the driver’s seat.

“What an awesome Capsule Car!” Goten explained, running his hands over the black metal.

“That is not a car.” Marron spat out finally, pointing at it with a look of sheer terror on her face. “It’s practically a death machine. I couldn’t even see while she was driving it. The only things I could see out the window were blurs of color. I honestly thought the thing was going to explode.”

“Excellent.” Goten affirmed with a lopsided grin. “You should be able to keep up with us then.”

She gave him a worried look, and Gohan walked over to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You’ll be just fine, Marron. I’m sure it might actually give you a pleasant ride if you don’t drive it like a maniac. Tayhei was probably just so excited over the new car that she didn’t even stop to think about how you would react to those kinds of driving skills. If you ask me, she was being a bit reckless. As long as you take it slow and don’t try to attempt any fancy flying tricks, you’ll do a great job. Speaking of, we should probably get started now. Do you have the dragon radar?”

“Hai.” She answered, looking much better about the car situation. She pulled the dragon radar out of her pocket and showed it to them. A red light was blinking in the Northern direction, showing the location of the nearest dragonball. “I’ve actually already found the direction in which the closest ball is located. It’s over the mountains….Why don’t I just take off and have everyone follow me there? I think that would probably be the easiest way to do it. Well, it might be the easiest way. I don’t even know for sure yet if I can drive this thing properly. Instead of going over the mountains, I may just end up in the Capsule Corporation hedges over there.”

“Well, there is no use standing around here waiting.” Koronu told them all suddenly. She turned her glinting black eyes to Marron and smiled. “Get in the car and let’s go. We don’t have any time to waste.”

Marron took a moment to wave goodbye to her father, who was standing next to the van, helping Bulma make some adjustments. He waved back to her as if he barely even noticed her, or barely even cared that she was going off on a potentially dangerous mission. Normally he would have at least been tearful or worried about her leaving, but he didn’t even give the slightest hint that he was worried about her now. She just assumed that he was so busy being concerned about her mother that there wasn’t any room for her. And even though the thought of that made her heart ache slightly, she knew it was selfish of her to think like that. Her mother was in great danger; it was only natural that her father would be more concerned about her. It wasn’t as though Marron wasn’t worried either. Every time she thought about her mother and her uncle, she got a terrible sick feeling in her stomach, wondering if they would be okay. That was why she tried to avoid thinking about it.

Marron cautiously climbed into the driver’s seat, shutting the door tightly behind her. Although the air car looked small on the outside, it was relatively roomy on the inside, and cool as well. She mentally thanked the Capsule Corporation staff for installing air conditioning. On a day like this, she was grateful that she was inside a nice cool car instead of out in the stifling air. And although the windows were tinted nearly black, she could see quite clearly from the inside of the car; the windows provided enough protection so that she didn’t even have to wear sunglasses, as well. All in all, it was a beautiful air car with plush leather seats and a sound system that Tayhei had been gushing about since they first sat in the seats and she turned the key in the ignition. Luckily, they didn’t have enough time to test out the sound system before Tayhei landed the car.

She strapped her seat belt tightly around her and clipped it into place. If the previous drive was any indication, she was probably going to need it. She reached for the shining black keys that Tayhei had left in the ignition and turned, starting the engine. She didn’t have much experience driving at all --- in fact, she was rather horrible at it. Considering that this was a very expensive, very new car, it made Marron nervous to even think about driving it. But when she heard the purr of the engine and felt the power of the car beneath her fingers on the steering wheel, she had to admit that a thrilling feeling ran through her veins. It was going to feel great for once to be able to fly through the air like everyone else. And now she wasn’t so concerned about holding everyone back and slowing down the dragonball hunt. In fact, she wasn’t so concerned about anything at all anymore. She just felt like a normal teenage girl, going on an exciting mission with her friends.

As the Capsule Car took off from the ground, her stomach leapt with joy and she was filled with hope. She was going to complete this mission for her mother. And when her mother and Juunana-gou were finally fixed, they would be able to come back to a world that welcomed them.

ChiChi was glad that Gokuu was outside at the moment. If he had any idea that she was lugging her giant ironing board out into the living room all on her own while still carrying a basket of clothes, he would probably get angry with her. He didn’t like it when she insisted on still doing all of her chores and piling work onto herself. It was really ridiculous of him to think like that. After all, she was still perfectly capable of doing things by herself --- she wasn’t putting herself into any kind of danger. Still though, it was nice to see him so concerned about her. Although he looked at her with narrowed, worried eyes and spoke to her in a firm voice, she knew that he was doing it out of love instead of anger. It made her smile to think of it, and to imagine the gentle way that he would rip the ironing board out of her hands and demand that she sit down on the couch. He would probably attempt to do the ironing himself if he could, but he had already burned too many of her good dresses.

She settled the ironing board down in front of the television and plugged in the iron while pulling out the first article of clothing: a button down shirt of Goten’s. She didn’t know why she was even bothering to iron it. First of all, Goten rarely ever dressed up; he really preferred just to wear loose pants and tee shirts. And secondly, his clothes seemed to wrinkle on their own anyway. A perfectly ironed shirt would be wrinkled within ten minutes after he had put it on. It didn’t annoy her, though. She actually found it rather endearing that her youngest son could be so much like his father. If the two of them weren’t out there sparring, they were wrinkling their clothes just be standing there. Neither one of them could ever manage to hold themselves still.

Bending over, she flicked on the television and turned back to her ironing board, intending to finish within thirty minutes. She had other chores to do before Gokuu came back home and found her working. As long as she was able to put the ironing board away and hang up all of the clothes on time, he would never even know that she had been doing housework, which always puzzled her. Just how did he think the house still managed to stay clean, along with all of his laundry? Did he actually think they cleaned themselves? He knew that she still made dinner, which was evidently fine with him. He had tried to help her occasionally, but she eventually had to banish him from the kitchen because he kept burning things. She loved him for trying though, and it had made her heart swell with love every time she had seen him wearing a pair of oven mitts.

As she began ironing, she lazily looked up to watch the news. She paused and lifted up the iron when she saw the burned wreckage of Satan City behind the reporter.

“I’m here in Satan City where thousands of protestors have gathered, urging that this monster is caught and destroyed.” The reporter announced in a dramatic voice, and the screen flashed over to show people gathered outside of the city, holding up signs and shouting at the camera in angry voices. “The monster, which is reportedly one of the same monsters that appeared a long while ago, is supposedly still at large and very dangerous. We’re asking all citizens to be alert for any signs of danger.”

A picture of Juuhachi-gou’s beautiful face flashed up on the screen.

“The monster has apparently disguised itself as a woman eighteen to twenty years of age. If you are aware of her whereabouts, we are urging you to call the local police and inform them that you have seen the jinzouningen monster that recently destroyed all of Satan City. Some citizens however, have decided to take matters into their own hands.” The reporter continued, then the screen flashed back to the protesters, some toting very large, very powerful guns. “The government has issued a notice that the jinzouningen monster is to be brought in dead or alive.”