Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Nossoreg's Revenge ❯ Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"Where are they now?" Bulma asked from underneath her blanket covering. She pulled it tighter around her, but she still couldn't get it completely over her large stomach.

"Two of them are heading back," Videl said from her post next to the shield. "But the rest must still be looking."

They had taken turns watching the computer screen Nossoreg had left activated, getting more and more frustrated the longer the small blips of light had kept moving away from the center of the screen. When the first one had started moving back, they breathed a sigh of relief, their breath already beginning to hang in the cold air.

Videl blew on her hands and rubbed them together, trying to get feeling back into them. There had been only one blanket on the small bed, so they were forced to take turns using it to warm up. But when it was Bulma's turn to stand watch, Videl refused to let her. She was looking extremely tired and worried, and Videl knew just how much the stress was wearing on her pregnancy. She just hoped she could hold on until they could get out of there.

"Here comes another one!" Videl exclaimed and went back to sit next to Bulma on the bed. "They should be here in just a few minutes."

"Take this," Chi Chi said and handed Videl the pillow she had been using to keep her arms warm. "I'll take the next watch."

Videl accepted and sat close to Bulma in an attempt to share heat. She hoped it wouldn't be too much longer, but knew the temperature would get much colder before all seven balls were brought back. There were still four that hadn't even been found yet and it had already been two hours since they left.

"I think I hear one coming!" Chi Chi said.

"Nossoreg!" Goku shouted as he strode into the room. He saw the women huddled together to keep warm and noticed the chill coming from their cell. "Nossoreg!"

"That instant transmission is quite a valuable tool, isn't it, Goku?" Nossoreg commented as he entered the room on his side of the energy shield. "As you saw earlier, I have something similar, yet it requires an alternative source of power."

"Here's your ball. Now turn the temperature back up!" Goku demanded and tossed the ball at him.

Nossoreg fumbled with the ball, nearly dropping it before he got control. He held it up and let the light glint off of it. Gently, he brushed his finger over the single star.

"It is very beautiful, isn't it?" he said to no one in particular. "I don't know why I waited so long for these. Everything is going so smoothly."

"Nossoreg!" Goku snapped, bringing the man's attention back to him. "Turn the temperature back up!"

"No, no. That wasn't the deal," he said, shaking his finger at the Saiyan. "I'll need all seven dragonballs before I will do that. But you are allowed to pick any one thing from the room to give to them."

Nossoreg sat back down in his chair and turned his full attention to the dragonball in his hand. Goku scanned the room for something that would help them keep warm until the others arrived. One of the wooden chairs had a decorative blanket covering, and he decided that was the best he could offer. Gently, he slid the chair over to them and Chi Chi caught it as it passed through the shield. The covering wasn't as thick as the blanket, but at least it was something against the chilled air.

"I've got Number 5!" Gohan called as he ran in. His clothes were dripping wet, but he was relieved to see his father was already there. "What should I choose?" he asked Goku after he had tossed the ball to Nossoreg.

"Anything that would help keep them from freezing to death."

Gohan walked around the room, but there were no more blankets of any kind to pick from. He sighed and put his hands on his hips. As he did, they brushed back the suit coat Videl had talked him into wearing to Pan's party. Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Dad! Give me your jacket!"

"What?" Goku asked, puzzled. "Why do you need my jacket? You're wearing one of your own."

"But mine's still wet from the dive I had to take to get the dragonball. Yours is still dry. . .and warm."

Goku finally understood what Gohan meant and quickly shed his suit coat. Gohan threw it across the shields and Videl caught it. Since she was the only one without a covering, Chi Chi insisted that she use it. The tiny girl swam in her father-in-law's jacket, but sighed at the instant warmth she felt.

"Why don't you use your energy to dry your jacket off as well?" Nossoreg asked, his eyes still fixed on the dragonballs. He moved them back and forth, excited at seeing them glow when brought together. "But please do it outside. You don't want to break anything they might need later on."

Gohan was just about to go out when another member of their team came through the doorway. Trunks looked hesitantly to Goku for direction. Goku nodded toward Nossoreg, giving silent permission to give up the ball.

As Nossoreg inspected the seven stars on Trunk's dragonball, Gohan dried off his jacket. They could hear him power up outside the door and felt the air sizzle with energy. When he came back in, his clothes were completely dry. He went toward the shield to toss it over to the women.

"You already gave them something," Nossoreg warned. "It's Trunks' turn to choose a reward."

"Fine!" Trunks snapped with typical teenage defiance. He grabbed Gohan's coat and threw it across to his mother. Bulma was able to raise her arms just in time to protect her face before the flying jacket whacked it.

"Trunks! Be careful!" she admonished and handed it over to Chi Chi.

Both men and women paced back and forth, waiting for the rest to return. The women were trying to fight off the dropping temperature while the men watched helplessly. Nossoreg sat and smiled at his dragonballs, very pleased that his plan was working so well.

After a few more minutes, Yamcha flew down to the entrance. "I thought I'd be last!" he said with relief and rolled the golden ball across the floor like a bowling ball. It came to rest with its two stars facing up between Nossoreg's feet. "Sorry I took so long, but a rather excitable dinosaur had claimed it as one of her eggs. So, what do they need?" he asked Goku and Gohan.

"Your jacket," they both answered. Yamcha took off the expensive, loose-fitting coat and tossed it over to Bulma.

"Thanks, Yamcha," she said gratefully and pulled it around her shoulders.

"You're just lucky I don't go for the fitted look," he joked, trying to boost their spirits. Bulma managed a weak smile, but didn't have the energy to give him the retort she normally would have.