Disclaimer: I did not create Dragonball Z and I'm not making any money off of this.

Stranger in the Mirror Part 5

By: L.A. Whitfield

“AHHHH!! Chichi! We’re on the wrong side of the road! Move over to the right side!” Jason screamed trying to crawl into the front passenger side seat but they kept jerking left and right so he got stuck in the middle.

“Ah! Christina quick! Get my foot unstuck!” Jason cried trying to get his foot loss from between the seat and the center console.

HAWNK!!! BEEP BEEP!!!! HAAAWWWNNNKKKKKK!!

“Chichi! Watch out for that...!!” He couldn’t watch, it was too horrible. They were in the wrong lane again and a big semi was heading right at them. Just when he thought they were going to hit, the car swerved sharply to the right knocking him into Chichi’s lap.

“Get off my lap!” Chichi screamed. “I can’t see, your butt is in the way!”

Jason couldn’t see either because his face was in her lap. Christina was still trying to wedge his foot free when she started to scream.

“Oh my god! We’re all going to DIE!! Chichi! That’s a red light ya know!! AHHHH!!” She screamed as they ran through the intersection without even slowing down. Christina almost wet herself that time. She looked back in horror. There was a major pile up in the intersection. She looked at Chichi and began to pray.

“Hey! Has everyone forgotten about me? Get me up! What’s going on up there?!” Jason shouted from down in Chichi’s lap. Chichi was still trying to see but his butt kept getting in the way.

Without warning, they flew up over a bump, and were air born for about two seconds before finally coming down with a loud crash. Christina’s stomach was still hanging in the air above them. They suddenly found themselves driving down one of those very steep roads and they were gaining speed. (you know, like in all those Hunter episode’s, where the cops are chasing the bad guys up and down those hills)

“Chichi! Press down on the brakes! We’re going to crash into some one!” Christina yelled finally getting Jason’s leg free. Jason quickly got out of Chichi’s lap and sat up in the middle. Christina starting pointing and shouting at something ahead of them and Jason turned to looked. His jaw dropped open and he screamed.

“BRAKES! PRESS ON THE BREAKS NOWWWW!!” He braced himself on the dash board and Christina braced herself behind the passenger seat whimpering.

Jason turned and stared at Chichi because she wasn’t even trying to slow them down. “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?! HIT THE BREAKS!”

They were coming up to another intersection accept this time, cars were packed up in it. Chichi thinking she was slamming on the breaks slammed on the accelerator instead.

“Those, are not, THE BREAKS!” Jason shouted pointing down at her feet. Instead of moving her foot to the breaks though she started pressing buttons like a mad woman.

“WHERE’S THE FREAKING HOVER BUTTON?!” She screamed accidentally turning on the radio. Rock and Roll music started blaring out from the speakers and kept getting louder as Chichi accidentally turned the volume up all the way. Doom Kounty Electric Chair- The Homicide was playing.

“THERE IS NO FREAKING HOVER BUTTON!!” Christina and Jason screamed above the music. They were now a few feet yards from the intersection.

Chichi: “WELL THE BREAKS AREN’T WORKING!!” Poor Chichi screamed gawking at the up coming intersection.

Everyone: “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

Cut to Goku back in DBZ land...

“I don’t have time to help you look for your brat Kakkorott! I have to train for the androids arrival.” He said walking back to the gravity machine. As he glanced at the other Saiyan though he felt oddly sympathetic. The boy had saved his life back on planet Namek, but that didn’t matter!

“He can take care of himself!” He added stepping inside the gravity room but before he could close the door, Goku slipped inside with him. The only other person ever foolish enough to step foot inside the gravity room besides Dr. Briefs and Bulma had been Yamcha and it had almost killed him. Yamcha never told any one about it, but Vegeta knew. He watched the whole thing happen and had enjoyed it.

Vegeta glanced back at Goku in annoyance and barked at him. “Go away Kakkorott unless you plan on sparring with me, and if you are, you’d better be ready!” Vegeta knew Goku wouldn’t turn him down. Goku determined to get Vegeta’s help in searching for Gohan nodded in agreement.

“Why don’t you just use that teleportation trick of yours?” Vegeta asked thinking that maybe Goku hadn’t even thought of it yet. Goku actually looked insulted for a second before answering.

“I have Vegeta. That’s the first thing I did. That’s how I found out he was missing to begin with.” Vegeta could tell he was becoming impatient. He could tell by the strain in his voice and by the way he kept shifting from foot to foot. In the short period of time he’s known Goku, he’d already figured the other Saiyan out or, at least he thought he did.

“I’ll spar with you Vegeta if, you promise to help us search for Gohan. We’ve already been searching for hours and we could really use your help.” Goku was beginning to think the worst but wasn’t about to give up. Not yet. Vegeta nodded his head in agreement.

“Fine! I’ll do it, but have you even considered the possibility that he doesn’t want to be found?” Vegeta pointed out powering up the gravity machine. He cranked it all the way up to 300 momentarily catching Goku off guard. He watched amused as Goku almost stumbled to the ground.

“What’s wrong Kakkorott? Too much for you?” He laughed throwing down his towl and because the gravity was so strong, the towl was immediately flattened. Goku smiled and stood ready to fight.

“No, just been a while since I’ve worked out in a gravity machine but I can handle it Vegeta.” Goku said confident. Vegeta smirked and lunged at him without warning.

“We’ll see about that!” He shouted first faking a swing at his head and then punching him in the gut instead. Goku was surprised but not hurt and quickly counter attacked by tripping Vegeta with his right leg. Vegeta quickly rolled out of the way as Goku brought his foot down where his chest had just been. Goku left a small dent in the ground in the shape of his foot.

“So, that’s how you want to play it Kakkorott?! Fine!” Vegeta said powering up even more.

The temperature quickly rose to above one hundred degree’s in the gravity room as soon as Vegeta powered up. Goku also powered up easily matching him.

“I’m going to leave an indention in the floor with the shape of your face in it Kakkorott!” Vegeta yelled throwing punches at him. Goku easily blocked every punch and kick Vegeta threw at him and then slipped in a punch of his own. Vegeta stumbled back and came to a stop a few feet away rubbing his sore jaw. He was really pissed now. Already Goku got a punch in and Vegeta hadn’t even touched him yet.

Goku really didn’t want to fight but Vegeta wasn’t going help him unless he fought. He was going to have to end this quick. As Vegeta came at him again, he prepared to knock him out but just as he was about to do just that, he vanished. Goku spun around expecting to find him standing there but as soon as he did, Vegeta reappeared in front of him and blasted him. Goku fell to the ground unable to get up for a second. His back felt like it was on fire and every muscle in his body hurt.

Vegeta got all cocky and stepped in front of Goku. He lowered his guard because he wasn’t moving. Big mistake!

In a flash, Goku was in front of his face and before Vegeta could even react, kneed him in the stomach knocking the air out of him. Vegeta fell down to his knees unable to breath. Goku took advantage and knocked him out with a small ki blast. Vegeta fell to the ground unconscious.

“Sorry Vegeta, but I don’t have time for this.” He said looking down at the smaller Saiyan.

Goku first made sure he was still breathing before turning off the gravity machine. He then picked up the Saiyan, and walked outside. He was surprised to run into Bulma outside who was standing there with her arms crossed and her foot tapping. She froze in shock by what she saw and rushed up to him.

“Vegeta! What happened to him?!” She shrieked feeling Vegeta’s neck for a pulse. She sighed with relief when she felt one but it was weak.

“I think it hit him a little too hard. But don’t worry Bulma, he’ll bet fine.” He had to stop him from wasting his energy because he needed him to help him find Gohan but he wasn’t going to tell Bulma that.

“I think I should bring him inside if that’s ok with you.” He asked giving her a funny little look. It was the kind of look a child would give his best friend’s mother, when asking if it was ok for them to come out and play. Bulma blushed and placed her hands on her hips.

“Goku, of course you can! I’m not his mother. I don’t know if Vegeta will be very happy when he wakes up though. “Get him situated on the couch and I’ll go grab a sensu bean if I have any left.” She said sarcastically walking off.

Goku nodded and followed her inside. This is probably routine for Bulma. She probably had a bunch of sensu beans stored away in case of emergencies and Vegeta probably had a lot of them with his temper.

Goku carefully laid Vegeta down on the couch and sat down in a chair across from him. A minute later, Bulma walked in carrying a sensu bean. She bent down in front of Vegeta to feed him the bean but before she did, gently stroked a strand of hair out of his face and kissed his fore head. Goku was taken back by this for a second but then remembered something. It was actually very sweet. Vegeta was lucky to of found some one like Bulma. He wondered if Vegeta ever showed her the same affection. They were going to have a child together...

“Come on Vegeta, you have to swallow this.” Bulma said softly forcing the sensu bean into his mouth. Vegeta groaned and chewed the bean. A couple seconds later, his eyes snapped open and looked up at Bulma. At first, he looked at her a little confused but then he felt another’s presence. His eyes turned fierce and he looked over at Goku.

“Hi Vegeta!” Goku said trying to sound cheerful. Vegeta growled at him and turned to look at Bulma again.

“What’s HE doing here?!” He spat getting up. Bulma rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. He could be so annoying and immature some times.

“Vegeta, you arrogant baka! Goku carried you inside the house so that I could give you a sensu bean. You were in pretty bad shape and he probably saved your life!” Vegeta just snorted in disgust.

“So, you want me to help you find your brat?” Vegeta said staring at Goku who had his foot propped up on a coffee table. Goku sat up and put his feet down.

“Yes. I’m really worried about him. Krillin, Piccolo, and Yamcha are also helping.” He said placing his hands in his lap.

“Then why do you need my help if they are already helping you? Can’t the four of you find the boy?” Vegeta complained taking an ice pack off his head and setting down on the floor against Bulma’s protests.

Goku sighed and stood up. It didn’t look like he was going to help. “Please Vegeta, you don’t have to really do anything just keep an eye out for him ok? I’m going now. Thanks Bulma.” He said to her waving but just as he was leaving the phone began ringing.

“Who could that be?” She asked picking it up.

“Hello?”

........................

“Chichi? Is everything ok?” Bulma said sounding surprised. Goku ran to Bulma’s side at the mention of Chichi’s name and leaned in to hear what his wife was saying. Bulma jumped a little bit and looked at him.

“Don’t do that!” Bulma said slapping him.

“Oh not you Chichi!” Bulma quickly said into the phone. Goku could hear Chichi’s voice coming through the phone. She sounded pretty calm considering Gohan was missing.

“No Chichi, they haven’t...” Before she could finish Goku butted in.

“What’s going on? Has Gohan showed up at the house?” Goku asked Bulma who was trying to listen to what Chichi was saying.

“Shhhhh, Goku! What was that Chichi?” She asked silencing Goku by placing her hand over his mouth. Vegeta stifled a laugh from his chair. He was also listening in to their conversation.

...............

“Oh...” Bulma said sadly after a long pause. Goku’s hopeful face fell. She held the phone down and shook her head.

“No, Gohan hasn’t showed up yet. Sorry Goku. She wanted to know if we’ve had any luck finding him yet.” She said sadly patting Goku’s arm.

“Oh, well I’m going to look for him now.” Goku announced heading out the door. Vegeta got up to follow him. Goku stopped surprised and looked at him.

“Your going to help Vegeta?” Goku asked smiling. Vegeta laughed and walked passed him going outside.

“I’m only doing this because of our agreement. I don’t break promises” Vegeta grunted. “Besides, once I find him, I’m going to pound him into the ground for making me miss out of some of my training.” He said suddenly taking off.

“Hey!” Goku said realizing what he’d just said. He better not pound Gohan!

“Goku! Wait! Chichi want’s to...” Bulma came outside to hand him the phone but he had already taken off into the sky after Vegeta. Bulma huffed and held the phone back up to her face.

“Sorry Chichi, but ya just missed him. I don’t know how he did it, but he convinced Vegeta to help him.” Bulma said walking back into the house.

Alicia: “Oh really? That’s great Bulma! Hey, I’m tired of sitting around the house all day doing nothing. I have to help Goku look for Gohan! Do you want to help Bulma?” Bulma: “Hey! That’s a great idea Chichi! I’m tired of sitting at home too. We always let the guys do everything! Well, this time, I don’t see why we can’t help out too! If we run into any bad guys, we can just call the guys on my cell phone! Vegeta has a phone built in ever pair of his work out clothes!” Bulma said proudly. Alicia laughed at the other end. Alicia: “Yeah! I’m tired of cooking anyway. I messed up on some roast beef for Goku and Gohan and wanted to make it up to them by cooking something else but now...” Bulma: “You messed up cooking? That’s unbelievable Chichi! What happened?!” Alicia: “hehe...Well it’s a long story. I’ll tell you about it when we get together ok?” Bulma: “Ok! I’ll get some stuff packed! I guess your coming over here so I’ll see you later K? Bye!”

*CLICK*

Alicia: “Bulma? Hello Bulma?!

“Oh no! I don’t know how to get there! I’ve never been anywhere accept the hospital!” Alicia said setting the phone down. Great, what was she going to do now? Wait a minute. How is she going to get over there? Alicia walked outside and sighed with relief. So they did have a car. Why didn’t she see it earlier?

“Ok I guess I can drive but I don’t have a drivers license yet. Oh well. It doesn’t matter because I’m not home. This is a totally different world and who knows, probably anybody can drive here!” (Obviously Alicia hasn’t seen the episode where Goku and Piccolo go to take driving lessons.)

Alicia to the author of this story: HEY! SO I MISSED THAT ONE! I HAD DETENTION!

ANYWAY....

She didn’t know how long she was going to be gone so she gathered up enough clothes to last at least a week. She felt a little guilty digging through Chichi’s clothes but then again, Chichi was probably doing the same thing back at her house.

“Wonder why you never wear these?” She said to Chichi’s reflection in the full length mirror. She was holding a dress up in front of her. Luckily she could fit into Chichi’s clothes or then there would be a big problem.

“Hmmm, maybe you do, but they never show it on TV.” She said laying the silky red dress down on the bed. “Pity.” Then her eyes caught something really shiny.

“Wow! This is beautiful!” She pulling out a shiny blue dress from the closet with a bunch of symbols on it that sparkled.

“This is so pretty! I wonder where she got it from? Maybe Chichi made you.” She said talking to the dress in her hands. Chichi could do so many things, she could probably sew too. Heck, she probably made all of these outfits! After one more look, she decided that it was too pretty to take along and hung it back up in the closet.

She grabbed a bunch of plane sleeveless purple dresses and packed them in her suit case. “She’s always wearing these from what I see on TV. I guess these are her every day casual outfits.” She said throwing aside to dress on top of the bed. She was going to have to take a shower first. She did a lot of sweating while cooking and she stank.

She walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower stepping in under the weak spray. Lousy plumbing, at least it was hot. No wonder Goku always takes baths outside in barrels. It was the only way to get really clean. From the looks of it, the bath tub wasn’t big enough to hold him. She looked around for the shampoo and found a bottle but she couldn’t read the writing. That’s been her biggest problem on this little adventure. Not being able to read anything because everything looked like it was written in Chinese.

“This had better be the shampoo.” She said squeezing some into her hand. She sniffed it and it smelled like shampoo so she was just going to have to take her chances with it. She rubbed it in real good and then rinsed it out. She repeated this when she was sure it was shampoo and hadn’t permanently damaged her hair.

A minute later she was all clean. Grabbing a clean towl she had just hung onto the towl rack and began to dry her hair. When she was finished with her hair, she looked at herself in the mirror and yelped.

“Ohhhh!!”

She just couldn’t get use to seeing Chichi looking back at her. It gave her the creeps. Every now and then, she could see her self but most of the time, she only saw Chichi’s reflection. It was really weird.

“Don’t worry Chichi. I’ll return you back soon. I just have to help Goku find Gohan first and then you’ll have him back.” She said to Chichi’s reflection. Chichi’s reflection smiled back at her. She noticed a few wrinkles around her eyes and her messy black hair. She was going to have to comb it and put it up into a bun.

“Great, now I have to put my hair up into a bun and I don’t know how to do it!” She complained looking around for a hair dryer and comb. She found a comb but no hair dryer.

“Guess you don’t have one Chichi. How do you dry your hair?” She asked turning starting to comb her wet hair.

About ten minutes later she was dressed...

Her hair wasn’t perfect and her make up didn’t quite look right, but it would have to do. She picked up her suit case and went outside. She had a little bit of trouble figuring out how to pop the trunk but quickly figured it out.

“There!” She grunted setting her suit case inside and slamming the tail gate shut. Time to move out! She walked around to the drivers side and got inside. Uh oh. Nothing looked familiar accept maybe the steering wheel.

“How can this world be so different from mine?” She asked out loud. It was pretty easy adjusting the seat and mirrors and now all she had to do was figure out how to start it. She felt around where the ignition should have been and didn’t find anything.

“Hu? There’s no ignition! How am I suppose to start this thing?” Ok...

There were about a dozen buttons and none of them made any sense because they were in Chinese or something that looked like Chinese! “Great! I don’t even know how to start it! Which button do I push?!” She complained but then noticed a rather large green button with writing on it that looked like it said START. Maybe that was it. She crossed her fingers and pressed the button. Nothing happened.

“Damn it!” She screamed hitting the dash with her fist. The car suddenly came to life and hummed softly. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the only thing that came on. Every light in the inside and on the outside of the car came on and began to flash and the radio also turned on. Alicia covered her ears and made a disgusted face.

“Ewwwww... Disco!” She said frantically trying to find the button to turn the radio off.

“What is it with every one here and their disco music?! This is like so out of style! EWWWW!!” Finally she found the right button that turned the radio off. She laid back in her seat and sighed loudly.

“Ok Alicia, pull yourself together! You haven’t even begun this trip yet, and your already giving up?! I don’t think so...” She growled sitting up and grabbing the steering wheel. Ok, how do I put this thing into drive? She wondered looking around for a stick shift or something similar.

“Ah! This must be it!” She said again to herself and laughed. “I really need to stop talking to myself so much. People are going to think I’m nuts or something.” She said grabbing the shift stick that sat just between the cup holder and the dash board. Uh oh...

She couldn’t make out where drive was. She couldn’t read the symbols.

(CENSORED PART HERE!!)

All right Alicia, don’t panic. This shouldn’t be too hard to figure out. All you have to do is hold down the breaks and slowly check what each gear does. Yeah! That’s simple!

She imagined she was sitting in her mother’s car again and pressed down all the way on the breaks and at the same time, switched the gears into to reverse. Two very bad things happened at once.

VRRRROOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM!!!! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!! The tires peeled and the car shot forward up to eighty miles per hour in half a second. Before she could correct her mistake, the car crashed through the Son’s house, through the living room, through Chichi and Goku’s bedroom and out the other end of the house.

The only reason the car stopped was because it had plowed into a tree. Alicia had enough sense to turn the car off then. She just sat there too stunned to do anything for a couple of seconds as she watched the smoke rise from the engine. Slowly, she got out of the car and sat down on the ground.

Twenty minutes later...

BRING! BRING!

Bulma: “Hello?” Alicia: “Hi Bulma.” Bulma: “Chichi? What is taking you so long? Thought you would have been here by now.” Alicia: “Yeah I would have been but something came up.”

Bulma didn’t like the sound of her voice. Something was wrong. Please don’t let it be Gohan!

Bulma: “Chichi, what’s wrong?” Bulma asked calmly even though she wanted to scream. There was silence at the other end and this really worried Bulma.

Bulma: “Chichi! Say something!” Bulma raised her voice a little bit. Alicia: “Um, I sort of wrecked the car.” Chichi said very softly. Bulma could tell that she was also crying. Bulma: “What? Are you ok?! Do you need me to come get you?! Where are you?!” Bulma shouted grabbing the phone with both of her hands. Alicia: “Well, I’m still at home.” She said in a shaky voice.

Bulma was slightly confused. If she had just wrecked the car, how could she be at home? Unless some one drove her home.

Bulma: “Chichi, why are you at home? Did some one drive you home?” Alicia: “Not exactly.” Bulma: “Hu? What do you mean? Are you sure your ok? You sound a little shaken up.” Alicia: *long pause* I’m fine but, the car isn’t.”

It would have been comical had it not be so serious. Bulma raised an eye brow and scratched her chin nervously before speaking again.

Bulma: “Chichi? How exactly did you wreck the car?”

Alicia really didn’t want to tell Bulma how she wrecked the car. She REALLY didn’t but every one was going to find out anyway sooner or later so might as well get it over with now.

Alicia: *clears throat* “I sort of um, well I accidentally stepped on the accelerator instead of the breaks and kinda drove through the house and crashed into a tree.” Bulma: .............................. Alicia: “Bulma?”

She could have sworn she heard muffled chuckling on the other end, but Bulma would laugh at this would she?

Bulma: *clears her throat* “So um, do you need me to come get you, or do you still want to go look for Gohan?” Alicia: “Yes, if you don’t mind, would you please come get me Bulma?” Bulma: “Sure Chichi. I’ll be there in a little while. Are you sure your ok?” Alicia: “Yeah, I’m ok but I don’t know what I’m going to tell Goku.”

She didn’t know if he was going to be mad at her or worried that she was hurt. Knowing Goku though, he’d be more worried about Chichi. He could care less about the car.

Bulma: “Oh don’t worry Chichi. Goku won’t care about the car. You know as well as I do that he’ll be more concerned for you than the car.” Alicia: “Hehe... Yeah, I guess your right. Thanks Bulma. Your a great friend.” Bulma: “Why thank you Chichi. You know, I think we are really becoming best friends here.” Alicia: “Yeah, I feel like your the only best friend I have in this world!” Bulma: *laughs* “I’ll be there in a little while. You hang in there ok?” Alicia: “Ok, I’ll see you in a while then. Bye!” Bulma: “Bye!” CLICK!

Alicia felt a lot better now that she talked to Bulma. Maybe Bulma was right. Maybe Goku won’t be that upset about the car. If anyone gets upset about the car, it will be Chichi. Uh oh...

She hadn’t thought about Chichi’s reaction to the car. *GULP*

Inside the ring...

He was suddenly jerked awake by a very loud crash and thrown off his bed onto the stone cold floor.

“What the heck!” He said standing up and whipping his sleepy eyes. He quickly looked over at the boy and sighed with relief. Good he was still asleep but, what the heck was that?

It must have been something outside. Yes, that’s what it was. He had to see what it was and he couldn’t use his powers or he’d loss what little strength he had gained during his sleep. So, he walked over to his little black table in the corner of the room and sat down in a chair. On the table sat a dark crystal ball and inside it, black mist swirled around. He brought his hands up above the crystal ball and began to chant with his eyes closed.

“Magic crystal ball of the sacred black mists! Give me sight see and the sound hear what is happening outside this realm!”

(OK, I KNOW IT SOUNDS LAME, BUT IT’S A CHANT! WHAT DO YOU EXPECT?! ANYWAY, IF YOU THINK YOU CAN COME UP WITH SOMETHING BETTER, LET ME KNOW, AND I MIGHT USE IT!)

As soon as he finished chanting, a black mist suddenly shot out of the crystal ball and started to swirl around him. It started off slowly and then got fast and faster until it turned into a kind of view screen to the outside world.

The first thing he saw, was a wrecked car with it’s front embedded into a tree. The tree was bending over slightly and smoke was still rising from the car’s engine. Then the view changed to another car approaching from the air. As it pulled up, he could see a woman sitting inside of it with blue hair. She started waving at him or rather Alicia, the girl wearing the ring.

“Hmmm...” He hummed to himself. “Perhaps if another wish is made to fix the car, he could steal some more energy from this girl. There’s an idea. He was feeling much better after his little nap though, not strong enough yet to drain the boy. He would have to wait a little bit longer. With the wave of his hand, the picture to the outside world disappeared back into the swirling black mists and then the swirling black mist was sucked back into the magic ball.

He stood up and cracked his knuckles. “I can’t wait to suck her energy. I can already feel it! She wants to use another wish to fix the car and when she does, I’ll get the girl with the blue hair.”

But first, he had to give the boy some more of his special sleeping position. He reached across the table and opened a small black box. He reached inside and pulled out another vile filled with a purple liquid. He grinned to himself and closed the lid to the box.

“Soon, I will be strong enough to suck up the super Saiyans energy and then I will be strong enough to get my revenge on the old man! Then, the world will be mine! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!” His laugh echoed through out the small room.

TO BE CONTINUED...