//------------------------------// // It's Gonna Be a Icey Summer // Story: Blooming Talent // by Griffin Productions //------------------------------// They had only been flying for a short while when Gohan's phone started to ring and vibrate in his pocket. It startled Apple Bloom a bit, much to the saiyans' confusion, but she quickly explained that there were no such things as "phones" in Equestria; they always used letters. Gohan looked at the caller I.D. and hit the green answer button with his thumb; he put it up to his ear and spoke into it. "Hello?" "Gohan, is Kakarot there with you?" The rough voice of Vegeta came over the speaker, slightly garbled. "Yeah, he's right he--" "Give the phone to him." Gohan made a face as if to say "rude", but handed the phone off to Goku anyway. The saiyan caught the cellular device without much effort and he too put it to his ear. "Yes, hello?" "Kakarot it's Vegeta." "Oh, hey, Vegeta!" Goku said enthusiastically. Apple Bloom's heart stopped a moment at the mention of the grumpy saiyan's name. What possible reason would he need to contact Goku? "Kakarot, listen," Vegeta said. "have you seen anything resembling news lately?" Goku scratched his head with his pointer finger in thought and confusion. "No, we haven't had access to that kind of thing out here. Why, what's going on?" "Something bad." The saiyan prince informed. "You know East City? Well, from what the reports on TV are saying, something's happened there. Apparently the entire Museum of Magic and Mystery was frozen over." "Huh? Frozen over?" Goku exclaimed. "But it's the middle of summer." "That's why I'm telling you this. It's abnormal." Apple Bloom thought about what she was hearing Vegeta say over the phone; her ears allowing her to hear the conversation. Museum of Magic and Mystery? "Maybe, since it's a museum with magical items in it, something went off or as messed with that shouldn't have been?" She suggested. "Hm...could be."Goku replied. "Could be what?" Vegeta demanded. "Oh, Apple Bloom thinks one of the things on display may have been to blame." "Hmph." Vegeta's voice crackled back. "She very well could be right, but I don't think that's it. Something feels off about this whole thing. Look, Kakarot, I'm going to head over and see what's happening. If you don't hear from me in three hours, head over there as well." Goku nodded, then realizing Vegeta couldn't see him nod, voiced an affirmative, and then hung up, tossing the phone back to his oldest son. "So somethin' happened to some people in East City then?" Apple Bloom asked to be sure of her understanding. Goku nodded again. "Yeah. The whole museum was froze over, and I can only imagine there are some people stuck inside as well." "Well we have to go help them!" She exclaimed in determination. "If they're in trouble, we should--" "Don't you worry, Apple Bloom." Goku smiled at her. "Vegeta will take care of it. He can handle a little bit of early winter." She frowned. She didn't exactly feel like Vegeta was the person to help innocents, but of Goku said so, it must be true. At least Vegeta didn't give her the same uneasy feeling his son did. She didn't know if it was his constant badgering of Goten or something else that made her feel this way. Wait...she wasn't jealous of their friendship...was she? That would be ludicrous. Why should she be jealous of something where they argued all the time? Was it because that creep Trunks knew more about Goten than she did? Jealousy could not be the reason. It had to be something else that was setting off all her bells and whistles. She couldn't place her hoof on it, still though. * * * "Everyone, please remain calm!" The chief of the ECPD declared to the growing crowd outside the massive frozen museum. "We have the situation under control!" Several firefighters had tried to break through the ice with axes, picks, even chainsaws; nothing could cut the thick sheet surrounding the building. Currently they were trying to salt the place; it would take a seriously long time,but hopefully the ice would melt away. To their surprise though, the salt would keep evaporating. How did salt evaporate without taking at least some of the ice with it? "Move aside, fools." Vegeta's strong voice shouted from behind the chief. The chief turned around and saw the leather and jeans-clad warrior. When Vegeta walked right by him and under the police tape, he brought up his megaphone. "Hey! You can't go in there, this is official police business!" Vegeta completely ignored him and walked up to where the front door should be. He examined the ice, placing his hand over top the cold tick sheet; it felt as if it had been created from a glacier it was so brisk to his touch. Even through his fingerless leather gloves, his palms felt cold. He looked over at the firefighters, staring at him in confusion. "Allow me." He said. He gave a loud shout and released a big ki blast straight out of his hand and into the thick ice. The intensity shattered open a doorway in the frozen structure and also blasted down the actual door behind it. The men looked at Vegeta and then to the opening and back again. The saiyan prince walked inside and stood in the large entrance area of the now dark and cold museum. Turning to them once more, he gestured for them to follow. "Well, aren't you going to help me get ay survivors out? Do your jobs." They fearfully nodded, no longer questioning his right to be here, and started to walk forward. Before they could enter however, the ice rapidly grew back; a new thick sheet covering up the opening Vegeta had just made. Vegeta jumped back in surprise, and once he was sure nothing else would unexpectedly happen, he looked around. "Alright," He said to himself. "this is definitely not just an abnormal weather day..." He started to walk cautiously throughout the building; the ceiling covered with icicles ready to fall and impale him at a moments notice. All of the artifacts were mostly iced up as well. Once he entered another chamber, the air temperature lowered and he thought he could see a bit of snow falling from the dome above him. He cursed himself for not bringing his sleeved jacket, and continued on. After searching through several rooms, he had found nothing; not one survivor. Strangely, he hadn't even found any bodies. As he looked around some more, he saw a sign pointing further inward which read "Dragon Ball Exhibit." "Why am I not surprised." He scoffed. "Humans find one of seven wish making orbs and decide to make money off them by showing them to people rather than simply finding the rest and wishing for money. Such short sightedness." He walked down the chilling hall, and a few times thought he heard scurrying or scratching sounds in the walls. He dismissed it as rodents and carried on. He entered the Dragon Ball Exhibit, and saw a large mural room with a single pedestal in the middle. The only problem was, there was no Dragon Ball on the pedestal. Now Vegeta was on edge again. He looked around, and when his sight couldn't detect anything, he tried to feel around him for power levels. As he did so, he was surprised to feel the power levels of a few saibamen. What in the world were saibamen doing in here? He continued to scan, knowing that saibamen alone were incapable of doing this. As he searched, he was shocked out of his focus by a sudden, chilling voice that sent cold snaps throughout his body. "Prince Vegeta, I presume." It bellowed, it's hissing backdrop echoing off the huge walls creating a theater effect. "Who are you? Where are you? Show yourself!" Vegeta demanded, taking up a defensive combat pose; looking around quickly to try and find the source of the voice. "I would love to fight you head-to-head, noble saiyan, but I cannot. I'm afraid I must be rid of your distraction so that I can complete my mission." It bellowed again. It was not a taunting tone, and rather it sounded very sincere; but that did not stop Vegeta from being angered. "You will fight me now, coward!" He called out. "No." The voice said, sounding extremely close now. "I will not." Vegeta whirled around and before his sight was covered in darkness, all he saw was a hooded man with a two star ball insignia on his chest; the figure extended his finger to the saiyan prince's forehead, and as soon as it made contact, Vegeta blacked out. * * * Apple Bloom's hoof met Gohan's fist, and the collision caused a small pop in the air where it hit. The birds in the area flew off as the two bowed to each other, their sparring match complete. Goten applauded the great spectacle and Apple Bloom's improvement, whereas Trunks merely pushed a strand of his hair away from his face. Goku was looking over to the east, a grim look on his face. Apple Bloom noticed this, and trotted over to her master. "What's up, Goku?" "It's been over three hours since Vegeta called us..." He responded. She knew Vegeta had said he would call again in three hours if everything was alright, but then she remembered when they had sparred. Vegeta had said he wouldn't use blasts, and had almost used one anyway. "Maybe he forgot..?" She suggested. Or didn't care, she thought to herself. Goku shook his head. "Vegeta is brash and headstrong, but when he says something like this, he means it; and we haven't heard back from him yet...something is wrong." The Dragon Radar suddenly blooped to life, and Gohan took a look at it. "Hey, dad." He said, bringing the device to show Goku. "It looks like the next Dragon Ball is in East City. According to the reading, it's the exact place where Vegeta said the place was iced over..." The two looked at each other in thought, and the finally Goku spoke up. "Either way, whether Vegeta is just late or not, we're headed to East City for that Dragon Ball." He told the assembled group. They all nodded, except for Trunks, who stood up and raised his hand as if in a "whatever" gesture. "I'm sure my dad has things handled." He said. Apple Bloom's weird feeling instantly came back when he spoke. "Once he's done, I'm sure he'll bring the Dragon Ball to us." "We can't risk that, Trunks." Gohan told him. "Vegeta could be in trouble." "Aren't you worried about your dad at all, Trunks?" Goten asked him, coming up beside him. Trunks shrugged. "Like I said, I'm sure he's got things handled." Goku started to get ready. "You don't have to come if you don't want to, Trunks, but we're going regardless. We can't risk Vegeta's life on unbased confidence." Trunks sighed heavily, once again making Apple Bloom cringe. Man, everything this kid did was like putting a snake in her face. "Fine, let's go." He said, a small amount of anger in his voice. The group took off, and Apple Bloom and Goten left the ground last. The mare looked over at Goten, who was watching Trunks with a thoughtful expression. "Does he always act like this?" She asked him. Goten didn't reply for a moment, but then turned to look at her when he answered. "I've...I've honestly never heard him talk detachedly about his dad...Trunks worships his dad...and is always looking to help him out..." So it wasn't just normal behavior. Perhaps her bad feeling had some merit after all.