"It doesn't seem to be coming any closer," Future Trunks observed.

Wonderful, now stay there.

Tsuchi sat back down, looking at but not seeing her empty plate. They hadn't even a chance to touch their food before more bad news arrived, as though destined to spoil appetites.

"We'll keep an eye on it," Chai-san added then looked along the edge of the table where Tsuchi sat between her brother and her friend. "If it comes down, you three stay away."

"I don't wanna go near it. It feels creepy," Goten-kun grimaced.

That it did. The feeling was like when someone stares at you from afar. It crawled along Tsuchi's skin, making her cover her arms, then move to cover her bare throat and any other exposed skin. Her tail wrapped around her waist protectively, as though something may reach out from the shadows and grab it.

"It's not even that powerful," Chibi Trunks sneered.

"I don't care. You three are still healing from other injuries and it would be foolish to jump into battle," One-san replied.

"Whoever it is could also be downplaying their ki," Trunks-san pointed out.

"Well," Mama folded her arms. "I'm glad to be hearing some sense outta you." She then leaned over to talk directly to the twins. "If I find out you two go to fight, you're going to be in big trouble, understood?"

The young Sons nodded their heads rapidly. They were in agreement that they didn't want to go near it. Though if it came down and began to hurt people, then what they wanted didn't really matter at that point.

"Well, hang on. Aren't you all jumping to conclusions? Whoever it is could just be taking a picture and they'll leave," Pilaf said, optimistically.

Oba-san shook her head. "It's better to be cautious."

Chai came closer to the table, arms crossed over her chest and tail swishing behind her. She knew more than anyone how their hearts functioned. The stories the three cubs grew up hearing about their fathers, and the two oldest Sons were legendary among them. There were even a few that Chai told about "a time-travelling warrior". It only took meeting Future Trunks to realize who the stories were about. These tales all worked to inspire the three to want to fight for good and be heroes.

"Promise me," she said. She stared all three cubs in the face. "Promise me that if that ship lands, you let the adults handle it."

"We promise."

"On your tails."

"On our tails," Goten-kun and Tsuchi replied.

Trunks-kun said nothing, instead smirking. Chai shook her head at him. "You had a tail once. Vegeta still mourns that it was removed. Probably keeps it in a box somewhere"

"On my tail," he sighed.

Chai then pulled up a chair between Mai and Shu and across from her baby sister. On the near end Mama hrrumped. "I thought you were going to bed."

"There's a UFO in my atmosphere, but one word on marriage or babies and I will."

It didn't take long for the conversation to turn towards the wildfires, which the boys readily answered. It quickly digressed into the two of them trading narrations as though it were an action movie rather than a natural disaster, animating on the way they cleared the flames with ki and jumping over death-defying falling trees and the animals they rushed from the forest as it burned. Tsuchi saw no reason to join in on their tale. She didn't have quite the amount of fun they had and so she just chewed at her food, and allowed their voices to fade into the background. She hardly even noticed that they came to the end of the event when Mai spoke up.

"You can heal people?" she asked, starry-eyed.

"Yeah," Mirai Trunks answered, shifting in his seat. He didn't quite look at her as he continued. "Unfortunately it's limited because I never finished training with Shin and Kibito so I have to choose carefully when to use it. I never regret healing a person but sometimes I wish I saved it for someone else."

The conversation eventually trailed off completely though Tsuchi knew everyone was silently tracking the energy that emitted from the sky, just as she was. It did not budge, nor did it shift in strength, but no one spoke of it. Eventually the Son twins gathered into their mother's car and returned home. Tsuchi couldn't help but wonder why the energy felt familial. Papa was the only member of his birth family alive. That reminded the girl of Yerba and Matei and how her family suddenly became a little smaller.

The girl sprawled in her bed, the covers snug around her. Growing up, she didn't spend that much time with either one but they were present in her life. Celebrations at the castles, birthdays, coronations. Yerba was warm and generous, giving congratulations and gifts. At more private functions, he could be seen hugging members of the Ox family. Matei was a bit more removed - less affectionate - but he would still observe and talk to Goten-kun and herself.

'He killed Yerba.' She could still hear the graveness in One-san's voice as she told them this.

And One-san killed Matei.

And now everything is ruined.

"Tsuchi," Goten called from the other side.

The girl got up, cloaking herself in the blanket and opened the door for her twin. She chuckled, seeing him covered in his own blanket and balancing a pizza box on his tail. Funny, she thought they finished that two nights ago. Tsuchi motioned him in where Goten adeptly hopped on the bed with a squeak from the mattress.

"Yamucha's going to be especially upset that we didn't eat his pineapple chicken," she mentioned, crawling close to her brother.

"I thought we'd eat it after this."

Tsuchi picked up a slice and shrugged. Mmm… pepperoni and green pepper.

"You weren't asleep, were you?" the boy asked.

Tsuchi shook her head.

"Are you okay?"

The end of his tail enfolded around hers.

"I'm not coughing. My lungs feel fine. I don't feel my burns," the princess lied. In actuality, her legs and arms stung from where she got too close to the fire.

Goten pulled the leg of his pants to his calf where a larger bandage was taped on. The surrounding area shined from ointment.

"Bulma-san said this would scar," he said, proudly.

"I'm not allowed to scar," she recalled, feeling one wrapped burn on her thigh.

Goten-kun shook his head. "One-san said a few scars wouldn't be a big deal, and if they were, then that prince was too prissy for you."

"I'm not worried about impressing a prince."

"Then, what -"

The ground rumbled underneath them, shaking the bed violently. Tsuchi heard her books tumble to the floor, and the crashing of what must have been her mother's dishes in the kitchen. There was a whimper from Goten as the pizza was flung to the floor. The boy went to reach for it when the two were suddenly tossed in the air as well, themselves and the bed shoved upwards through the ceiling and the roof. The twins were airbourne, then they reclaimed their control and floated in the air, staring down at their now destroyed home. A large green root, the size of a redwood tree, settled in the middle of their house, splitting the building in two.

"Oka-san!" Goten-kun shouted and darted forward.

Tsuchi followed after, navigating the ruins of their home to locate their parent's bedroom. Cracks drew themselves along the walls, and every picture frame was skewed. The floor was a barrage of broken tiles, missing wood pieces, and upturned granite while the carpet sunk into a large crevice in the earth. Mama's door was hanging from a single hinge and swung to and fro. She always locked it.

"Mama!" Tsuchi cried and passed her brother. The cold air from outside permeated their house, which was now no longer a house.

The room was completely turned over. Her picture frames and vases were shattered on the floor. The overhead lamp hung lopsided and flickered, illuminating the bed that was shoved to the other side of the room and flipped on its side. Underneath, Mama laid among the debris.

The twins shot over to her, Goten moving the bed back to the floor, safely away from Chi-Chi while Tsuchi put her head to her mother's chest. Everything sounded normal - heart steady, breathing rhythmic.

"She's a little bruised and lacerated but I think she's fine," Tsuchi told the other demi as he floated nearby.

"Man, Oka-san can sleep through anything," he commented.

Tsuchi nodded at him and took in the wool and floral scent of her mother. No scent of blood.

"Let's get her to the bed."

Tsuchi took her mother's upper half and Goten took the lower, moving her as slowly and gently as possible to the mattress and tucking her in as she did for them for so many nights. Paranoid, Tsuchi checked Oka-san's vitals again and stood back, looking over the damage to their home, spotting a bit of the root as it went through Tsuchi's room and the bathroom. It was the width of Mama's dining table and stood nearly as tall as them.

The twins followed the path of the root, leading them outside. They stopped as the root disappeared into the trees and beyond that was a dark mountainside that Tsuchi didn't recall being there before. She looked down at the root and gulped as she realized that it wasn't a mountain at all. It was the tree.

"That's pretty gnarly," a voice said behind them.

The duo turned to find Yamcha standing behind them, looking up at the tree that reached past the clouds. He was dressed in just a t-shirt and some boxers with his hair all mussed up. Tsuchi didn't know that the man slept here. She tilted her head, as she stared at him, wondering if maybe there was some truth to Chai's fears. Yamcha didn't seem to notice the twins staring up at him, too transfixed on the behemoth in the forest.

"So, I'm no biologist, but I don't think trees grow that fast," he continued.

"They don't," another voice answered.

The three jumped and looked around, feeling out the surrounding area with their ki. There was no sign of anyone else though, and unless that person could hide their ki…

"It's King Kai you nincompoops!"

"Kaio-sama," Yamcha exclaimed. "It's been a while."

"You all must listen. That tree is terrible news, and it's called the Tree of Might. Once it takes root, it bears fruit until all of the life on that planet has been sucked dry. The planet will be a wasteland for several centuries."

Tsuchi couldn't imagine all of this being gone. The trees, the grass, the rivers and ponds. Slowly, everything would die. Even all of the animals and humans.

"So Earth is in danger," Goten-kun stated.

"The Earth is doomed." Kaio-sama said. "It's already too late."

"But why are you telling us? Wouldn't it make more sense to tell our dads? Or at least Chai and Gohan?" Goten-kun cried.

"I can't reach any of them. Goku and Vegeta are on Beerus's planet, which is too well shrouded. Chai and Gohan are both too far into their dreams."

And Chai is probably passed out from drinking.

"So it's up to us?" Tsuchi concluded.

"I'm afraid there's nothing you can do."

Goten-kun furrowed his brows suddenly, making his sister gasp. The expression truly made him resemble Papa. "I don't believe that!" the boy exclaimed. His tail whipped angrily behind him. "We-we can put our powers together and blow that tree away! I bet if Trunks-kun and I fused-"

"You heard Chai! You honestly think she wont notice our ki at Capsule Corps? Or Trunks-kun leave it?"

"Kaio-sama said she's too asleep, anyways. And besides, she said to stay away from the ship which is still in the sky." Goten pointed upwards to prove his statement. When Tsuchi looked up she saw that he was right. The ship was still up there. "She didn't say anything about not checking out ginormous trees."

"Fine, I'll go ahead to the tree, and you go get Trunks-kun so you guys can fuse and try to take the thing out."

"Why-"

"It's less likely she'll notice if only one of us is there. Now go!"

Goten-kun nodded at his sister before taking off towards West City.

"Tsuchi, I'll go with you." Yamcha spoke up before she could leave. "I don't know how much help I can be, but I can't just let you kids handle it and sit back like an old man." He chuckled at himself, nervously.

The princess sighed at the delay. Yamcha probably would be a bit useless but with that enthusiastic grin on his face, she wasn't going to tell him that he couldn't help. "Put some pants on and we'll go."

The tree was so huge that it only took a few minutes to reach it, and it was in the middle of the forest that burned earlier that day. If the girl had to guess, she would say that it was ten miles around, and true to Kaio-sama's word, everything around it was dead. She couldn't even believe this was the remains of the forest they played earlier that day. According to Chai and Future Trunks, not everything was gone. In fact, most of the forest had been saved. That was no longer the case though. All of the trees were dried up, the grasses turned to tumble weeds and the animals vacant. In the place of the forest were massive roots which matched the one that leveled her house, reaching into every inch of earth that they could in an ugly tangled mess.

She turned to the older man, who was now dressed in a tee and the orange pants of his old gi. They seemed a bit worn, like he didn't stop training altogether. That was good, at least.

Yamcha returned her gaze and they nodded to each other. He put his hands together to the side for the time old Kamehameha Wave while she rose hers above her head to perform the Masenko that Chai passed down. They powered up their blasts and released them in a blinding array, all of their will aimed at destroying the tree. The blasts hit, letting off a small explosion that rocked the ground under them.

The girl blinked as the smoke cleared, sure that they must have at least cut into it a bit. Tsuchi gasped. Nothing. Not one scrap of bark gone or one root damaged. Not even a burn mark.

"Let me at it!" the combined voice of Goten and Trunks said behind her.

Gotenks landed between the two, arrogance as large as his golden super saiyajin three hair. He smirked, hands crossed in front of his chest. Mannerisms that were all Trunks-kun, while he cocked his head in a very Goten-esque manner and crouched in front of the tree, knocking on the side of it and kicking the roots lightly.

"Seems like a plain ole tree to me. Nothing to the mighty Gotenks!" he said, wiggling his tail excitedly.

"Will you get on with it before you defuse?" Tsuchi scolded, hands over her hips.

"Keep your hair on, Tsuch'." Gotenks then raised his head back and roared as a golden ki ball gathered in his mouth. It was even brighter than what Tsuchi and Yamcha released together, but that was the point of this transformation.

He powered the blast as much as possible then pointed it forward, ready to release.

"Don't! You'll blow the Earth to bits!" Chai yelled behind them.

The warrior didn't hear in time though and released the blast. Tsuchi was blinded as it barrelled towards the tree, aimed mostly for the roots that anchored it. Would it really destroy the earth? She felt her sister's ki flare up and the blast move away. Her feet were still on the ground. When Tsuchi opened her eyes, Gotenks' Revenge Cannon was aiming for the atmosphere and Chai was golden, her hair a bright veil over her shoulders and her normally toned body rippling with muscle. Even her tail took on the golden hue.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" She snapped.

"Destroy the vampire tree. Duh!" Gotenks snapped back, going towards her. "Besides, I thought you were cozy with a bottle."

Ouch.

Chai sneered. "You could have destroyed the planet!"

Gotenks was now less than a foot from the older demi, hands on his hips. This close, Tsuchi realized the fused boy was not too much shorter than Chai anymore, coming nearly to the woman's chest.

"I knew what I was doing! You wasted a perfectly good blast!"

Tsuchi ran between the two as they got closer, putting her hands up to seperate them. They didn't need to do this right now. She kept the most pressure on Gotenks while turning to the older demi-saiyajin. "How did you know we were here?"

"Gotenks' emergence woke Trunks-sa since he wasn't familiar with that energy. He woke me and I sent him to look for our dads while I followed."

The fused boy crossed his arms again and rolled his eyes dramatically. "We don't need our dads, and besides they're on Beerus's planet."

Chai powered down. "How do you know that? And go to base, you'll eat up less of your time."

Gotenks huffed but must have seen the logic because he went to his base form, black eyes replacing teal and lavender-streaked black hair stood tall where his golden mane had been.

"Kaio-sama reached out to us," Yamucha explained. "He tried for you and Gohan too but you were both asleep."

"Like I said, cozy with a bottle," Gotenks jeered.

Chai sighed, ignoring the jab. "I wish I had Trunks-sa come with then."

"We don't need Oni-san, either. Hell, Chai, if you think you can't take out that tree, you can just leave it to me," Gotenks smirked.

"Right now the tree isn't even on my radar. If you'd stretch out your senses, you'd know we have company," Chai said.

"You know the tree is killing everything, yes?!" Tsuchi exclaimed, waving her hand at the decay.

"No, Tsuch'. I thought you guys were skimping on watering the forest."

"Comp-pany?" Yamcha stuttered. "Bad enough t-to need you and M-mirai Trunks?"

"...I don't know..."

"Do you think they came from that ship?" the man asked. The shaking in his voice took away all of the confidence he tried to exude.

"Let's ask," Chai smirked and floated upwards. She got several feet when the other three followed.

The tree was even taller than it was wide, extending upwards impossibly high. It was even higher than Kami's Lookout. Tsuchi suspected that it went past the ozone layer, poking out like the candle on a birthday cake. They stopped among the lower branches, where four strangers sat, dressed in armor that looked like what Tsuchi once saw Vegeta wear in an old picture. They were laughing amongst themselves as the Earth's defenders gathered around them.

One particularly large man with a ruddy brown braid spoke. "You don't think you can destroy the Tree of Might, do you?"

"He's got a lot of ki," Gotenks shrugged, seemingly unbothered. "Could be fun."

"I assume you planted the tree," Chai stated.

Another with bones decorating his neck and a long teal ponytail answered. "Yes, and anyone who gets in our way will lose their lives."

"So you caused the earthquakes. How much did you already destroy?" Yamcha asked in disgust. Fear still radiated off of him like crazy but the ex-bandit was doing better at hiding it.

Tsuchi felt her body tremble and she looked away. This wasn't how she was supposed to act in the face of an enemy.

"Please, you aren't the saiya-jins, here!" Gotenks laughed. He got into fighting position and Tsuchi followed suit. She had hoped it would make her feel braver but no such luck. At least I stopped trembling.

"No telling you to go home, is there?" Chai asked the younger demis.

"No way! I haven't seen action in forever!" Gotenks smirked. The confidence that flowed from him was almost enough for Tsuchi to absorb a little of that energy. It was a strange quirk of her twinness - she and Goten could feed from each other's emotions. It worked slightly with Gotenks but right now she was happy for whatever she could obtain.

"You are your fathers' sons."

Ahead, she could see that Chai and Yamcha still stood silently and without pose. Her sister glared at the laughing intruders and she didn't allow her ki to radiate. How strange. Was she hiding it for a reason?

Gotenks, Yamcha and Tsuchi all charged the enemy. The aliens phased away from the heroes and the heroes phased to meet them, trading blows and kicks at a rather even rate. Unfortunately what was even for her and Gotenks was deadly for Yamcha. She watched as the man was launched downward like he was nothing. Chai dashed forward and caught him before disappearing back down to the ground, presumably to get him out of the fight.

The younger twin blasted a short purple alien who was bouncing around the tree like a ping pong ball. He was ridiculously quick. Tsuchi let out double-handed ki blasts, covering the small alien in smoke but it did no good. He can multiply?! Not one but two small purple aliens came back at her in a downward kick. Tsuchi wasn't quick enough, catching both strikes and being sent down through the branches.

"Taiyo-ken!" she shouted, releasing a solar flare upwards.

This guy is fugly, Gotenks thought to himself as he sized up his opponent, the large man with the braid. And his power is easily half mine.

The guy stood across from him, just smiling and crossing his arms over his chest and that was cool. If he didn't want to get serious, well this fight was going to be lame, but at least Gotenks knew he'd win for sure. That was kind of the point, wasn't it?

Gotenks put his arms up and powered up his Splitting Headache attack, smiling confidently to himself. Big Bro, you're not the only one who can cut people in half. The fused warrior released the attack, watching it satisfaction as it fell over his opponent like a knife. Come to think of it, both Oni-sans can use a sword. Tch, who needs a real blade when you have a ki blade?

Why isn't this guy moving?

The big guy smiled upwards, letting it inch closer to him then began spinning. He was spinning so quickly that Gotenks could hardly make the jerk out, seeing just his weird orange blur like a tornado.

"Oh shit!" he yelled, barely dodging as his own ki blade was flung back at him and sliced the mountain behind him. The ass actually got a few hairs from his tail. The earth shook slightly as the peak crumbled and Gotenks glared at his opponent. "So what, you 'roided ballerina!?"

The enemy stopped spinning and stared back, curling his lip in anger. Gotenks huffed a bit. He hadn't seriously fused in a while. The power boost was insane but so was the energy drain. And Goten and Trunks weren't in the best shape when they fused. At least his senses were twice as good now.

The boy phased just before the metal-covered alien could jet through him from behind, stopping just next to it's comrade. Gotenks really couldn't tell if the thing was male or female, it was so covered in armor. Maybe neither? Both? Whatever.

Goddamnit!

He phased back too soon, Gotenks realized as several blasts came at him. He could practically smell their hot energy before they threw him through the used-to-be forest.

An arm stopped his trajectory. He barely opened his eyes enough to see Chai release a ki blast of her own, sending the metal alien through the mountain behind him.

"You're MY opponent!" A voice roared above them.

Gotenks found himself airborne, flipping a few times before catching himself and floating in the air. Dude, Chai is badass. Aw hell, why does thinking hurt? The fused boy held his head as he watched the queen throw a blast upwards to the bone-neck, blowing through the one that he had thrown at her. Less than a second later, she blasted the metal alien again as he sped out of the mountain at her.

Something darting around caught in Gotenks' periphery. He turned and cursed as the small, purple alien flew about, releasing ki blasts like bouncy balls. All were aimed at Tsuchi, who was barely dodging. Gotenks mustered up all of his reserves and flew to her rescue. He didn't know what else to do - quick thinking wasn't really his thing.. A part of his brain REALLY hated that - so the fused warrior hip-checked the other demi and pushed out a blast that engulfed all of the others.

Damn, that was all he had. At least he got Tsuchi out of the way. How were these guys so strong?

Dozens of thoughts flew through Gotenks brain as it was slowly diverging from his own voice to the two that made up his psyche. He thought he could taste his own blood as he fell to the earth, falling in two. The last thing the fused boy saw was a blast going through that little purple shit. He swore he heard his brother yell out "Masenko".

Man, everyone knows Masenko but me, the Goten part of Gotenks brain thought before he completely defused.

17 Years Earlier

The boys were far too easy to mess with.

Bulma kept screaming, then dramatically snatched her hand out of the tomb, making sure to grip the smooth ball as she did so. She fell to her knees, cradling her hand (and the dragonball) to her chest.

"No… oh no!" she cried out.

She had to purse her lips to hide the smile on her face as Krillin and Gohan rushed to her.

"Bulma?! Bulma - what is it?!" Krillin cried, eyes wide and shaking. She couldn't decide if she thought it was from fear of the place they were in or fear of her being hurt. Possibly both. Everything about the situation was so unnerving.

She smiled, sparing the poor man and opened her hand. "The four star ball, of course."

Gohan, and Raiti behind them, both laughed heartily at the heiress' antics while Krillin grimaced at her.

"Honestly, Bulma! This place is creepy enough as is!"

"Oh, keep your pants on, Krillin," she said, pocketing the ball. "You would swear that we couldn't have a little fun. Maybe you should have stayed at the monastery." Besides, having fun looked good. Looked casual. And it kept her spirits up.

"Whatever, let's get out of here before we open the wrong tomb."

The ship that Raiti commandeered was small and cramped but it had one convenient aspect to it's construction. The seats. There was one in front, where Raiti piloted from, and a large semi-circle seat in the back where she, Gohan, and Krillin all sat together. Nearly squished in fact - obviously, not the part she liked. Bulma liked the material. They were made of a foam-like substance which was okay in terms of comfort, but the porous fibers absorbed noise.

She sat between the two short-stuffs, being the only one of the three without enhanced hearing, as they whispered amongst themselves about what they were really thinking. Of course, when the two Namekians revealed that they could read minds, Bulma tried to calculate quietly, if that was even possible, and think about everything else much more loudly. If that was a thing. She knew this type of mental control would be nothing to the other two. She just hoped that they thought to do so. Being the only genius was so stressful, sometimes.

Unfortunately, the easiest thing to allow her mind to wander to was Yamucha. She let her brain go over memories of him, no matter how painful, assuming that it would give off the biggest psychic vibration while only a small part of her mind focused on their conversation. She only needed a small part of it, anyways. Another part of her brain was amused at how she was trying to think in metaphysical terms and how the other scientists would scoff at her if they knew that.

Too bad none of those stuffshirted assholes didn't realize the adventures they missed out on, just because they were too narrow-minded to explore the world.

The jungles. The seas, Space. The desert… Yamucha…

Her heart ached as Gohan spoke.

"Maybe it's normal here. Just because you don't see that on Earth doesn't mean it's suspicious."

"Being cautious of strangers is part of survival instinct though. Every creature is like that. You don't just go out of your way to help strangers," Krillin argued in a hushed tone.

"Every creature on Earth."

Krillin shook his head just slightly. "It's also my gut. I hear you, Gohan but…"

"We should still be careful," Bulma agreed. "The dragonballs are powerful. They could want to steal them."

Then I wont get Yamucha back. Those Saiya-jins will have won.

The bluenette knew it was stupid and childish to think of it in those terms but … she was otherwise defenseless to those powerful enough to treat life as a game. She didn't have power, didn't know a damned thing about fighting, but she was smart. She could seduce men since she grew tits, manipulate her way out of situations using the holes in others' logic, calibrate alien ships, and MacGuyver a dragon radar from the signal of a single ball. If her life was a game, she was willing to play. Those Saiya-jins could kill with a single blast from their fingertips but she knew how to bring the dead back to life. And if Vegeta's and Nappa's kills didn't stay dead, well then, they lost the game.

The dragon radar beeped next to her. Bulma picked it up and glanced at the coordinates.

"It's just under us. Could you land us gently, please?" she instructed.

Raiti had been manipulating the ship without touching the controls. That telekinetic ability was awfully useful, and something to watch out for.

"Landing," he said, enthused.

The ship began to shoot downwards, making her hair shoot upwards as they felt their bodies being pulled down forcefully for the second time in twenty-four hours. The heiress certainly didn't appreciate the surprise and didn't really care if the Namekian heard her next thoughts.

There is no way he's this inept at landing! Not a ship he knows!

The trees came into sight startlingly quick. They reminded her of the trees from the Lorax as they brushed past the windows of the ship. A part of her expected bits of them to stick to the ship like cotton candy but they just flew past as they made their not-so-gentle landing.

Raiti opened up the ship and Bulma ran out as Krillin and Gohan followed after her.

"What's the rush?" the Gohan asked.

"The ball is moving!" Bulma cried.

"Bulma, slow down! We don't know this terrain!" Krillin called after her.

She did slow. That was fine enough logic and it wasn't moving too quickly. She looked up at the trees, remembering several years ago when a bird hijacked a dragonball her and Son-kun were going after. There were no birds at all, and weren't those trees strange? All of the vegetation rested at the top, but none existed on the way up. The scientist in her wanted to take the time to open one of those bad boys up and examine its cell structure.

She took a step and didn't land on solid Earth. This scream was quite real as Bulma fell face first about a foot down, making the three behind her gasp and shout for her. Gods, she was glad that wasn't any deeper as Bulma rose up on her knees. She felt along her aching nose and it was still intact, not broken and perfect. She glanced the radar as she got to her feet. The ball stopped moving.

"Are you okay?!" Krillin repeated.

She began looking upwards. "I'm fine but the radar says the ball is right- AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

They stood in the shadow of a large orange dinosaur with black spikes running down it's back. At least, it resembled a dinosaur. A tyrannosaurus to be exact. Except T-Rex's didn't have spikes down their backs.

It's talons were about a foot long apiece and it had thumbs, of all things! Between a forefinger and a thumb it held the two-star ball they'd been hunting. It leered down at them and let out a high pitched roar, something like the pterodactyls on Earth made.

Kami, what the fuck made you!?

"Could you give us that back, please?" she shuddered.

The dinosaur then looked down at the ball in its grasp then opened its mouth and swallowed it without so much as a crunch. She felt her heart drop. What now?! The beast then turned it's back to them and swept it's tail. Krillin and Gohan both ducked, grabbed her down with them. The trees to their immediate right went down like dominos and then the dinosaur took off.

Why did I leave my goddamned ray gun!? Or tranq gun!? Brilliant, Bulma!

"WAIT!" Bulma yelled after it.

She began running, screaming indecencies at it as she did so. Behind her, she could hear the footfalls of Krillin and Gohan going after her, yelling at her to stop and that it couldn't understand her anyways. She knew that!

Raiti appeared in front of her and stopped Bulma in her tracks.

"Stop! It's too dangerous to go any further into the forest!"

"You're letting him get away!" she screamed into the shorter man's face. She went to walk around him and he grabbed her vest, pulling her back to where she was. Enough! "You're planning on stealing them aren't you!?"

"I wouldn't dream of such a thing!" he said with resolution.

And maybe he wouldn't but everything was so damn weird here! And he and his companion were in control of everything. The only leverage she and her friends had was the dragon radar. Only she could direct them where to go and that was where things were just too convenient. Didn't matter though. She ran her damned mouth and now Raiti knew she was suspicious.

"If you're lying, I'll know." she warned.

There was a roar from behind and Bulma found herself nearly jumping out of her skin at the sound of it. That chimeric dinosaur returned, and it was angry. When she looked around, however, there was no dinosaur.

The roar let off again, but this wasn't an angry sound. It was painful. Another roar echoed it, sounding farther off. All four stared in the direction of where the dinosaur had run off to earlier. No more sound came from that direction, but the rustling of the trees as wind ran along her face. It chilled her. Not the wind. The lack of noise.

"Something happened to it," she said.

"Let's find out," Raiti replied and all of them returned to the ship. Bulma strapped in, a bit nervous from the Namekian's reckless landing earlier but lo and behold, he flew perfectly fine now as they flowed over the trees, barely bothering them and towards where the beast had gone.

The path of the dinosaur was easy to follow, marked by smashed trees and broken crust that created a trail. Eventually that trail disappeared into a thick fog that came on suddenly. Raiti angled the airship upwards to try to go above it but the fog stacked high up in the air, shrouded everything around it. There was a loud roar from below, like a waterfall.

"Likely, the sound came from here," the Namekian sighed.

The aircraft descended closer to the water, and although Bulma feared that he'd get too close, she put on a neutral face as she peered through the front window. As they crept closer, something ruddy and white poked up through the fog. It had defined structure and hollow areas and

Oh my god…

"That must be it's skull," Raiti said.

More bones emerged from below. A set of ribs, large enough to fit eight of the aircraft they flew in, a torso, legs. Bulma realized with horror that it was not a dense fog beneath them but the steam from the lake they flew over.

"The skeleton is completely intact," she said.

"Yes. This swamp can melt the skin off of any living creature that falls in," Raiti informed. He began circling around the skeleton with the ship, giving everyone a clear look at the dangers. "Even the fumes can kill with a single breath."

Bulma clutched the dragon radar in her hand. "I'm sorry I yelled at you. I had no idea."

Raiti looked up at her kindly. "I just didn't want you to get hurt."

"Hey guys, we have a problem," Krillin said from the window. He'd been looking through it with a bit of determination for a while now. "If that monster is dead, then the dragon ball must be somewhere on the bottom of that swamp."

"Then how do we get it back?" Gohan exclaimed.

Raiti shook his head. "It's impossible. We have one protective suit for underwater operations but the material isn't strong enough to withstand the swamp. 20 seconds then it begins to melt."

"I'll do it, then," Gohan announced.

"What?!"

"We have to retrieve the dragon ball at all costs, right?!"

This kid! Gohan reminded the heiress of Goku more and more each day. So honest, and earnest and willing to do what needed to be done. And to think, when they were kids, she had little issue with Goku putting himself in danger.

"I mean, yes but -"

"Then all I have to do is resurface within 20 seconds. It's at least worth a try!"

Bulma looked down at the demi-saiyajin in disbelief. The logic was sound enough and yes, she desperately wanted Yamcha back but she couldn't ask Gohan to risk his life. She swore to Chi-Chi that she'd bring him back in one piece.

"We have rope made of the same material. We can tie to him and pull him out before the 20 seconds are up," Raiti pointed out.

What argument could she possibly make? Bulma was fairly sure that even if she said no, Gohan would just slip on the suit and go anyways.

She put on her best smile and nodded. "Okay, let's do it."

Raiti opened up a drawer to the right of the controls and pulled out a folded suit and handed it to Gohan. He unfolded it - it was thick and blue and white - and began to undress just as shamelessly as his father would. Bulma immediately turned and stared out the window, hoping Krillin had the sense to do the same thing. These Sons, I swear! She watched as the ship edged closer to the skeleton, studying the water for anything she could glean other than what Raiti had already told him. Water, though, like most liquids, had to be chemically studied. Once again, she wished that she was thinking as much as a scientist as she was thinking like an adventurer, when she packed for this trip.

"Open up the seat, Gohan, and you'll find a helmet. Under that should be the rope," Raiti said suddenly.

"I forgot you guys could read minds," the boy laughed. "I was wondering how I would protect my head.

We can't forget that, Bulma thought, in as much of a whisper as her brain could manage.

Once he was properly suited and the rope tied around his waist, Raiti opened the lower deck just enough to let the boy out. There was definitely a smell - a mixture of rotten eggs and rotting fruit, as though someone mixed sulfur and nerve gas. She couldn't help but crinkle her nose. Krillin also grimaced, holding the other end of the rope tightly with it partially wound around his hand. He looked up at Bulma with a quiet concern, to which she nodded her agreement. Neither of them liked this, but there was currently no better option. Gohan was the fastest.

Odd that suit perfectly fits a child though.

She forced herself to think of Yamcha's smile, swallowing down the lump that caught in her throat. Just think of him. Bulma looked down at the dragon radar, noting the ball's location. How ridiculously convenient.

"It says it's right below us," she told Gohan. "Just make it quick."

"We'll start to pull you up at 13 seconds," Raiti added.

Gohan nodded, a determined grin on his face. Damn how he looked like Goku in that moment, and Bulma found herself wishing for the company of her friend. Somehow, that goofball made everything better.

In seconds, the boy dove from the platform and into the water. The two Earthlings began to count up to 13, the sound like a calming chant, as if to convince themselves that they had some semblance of control over the situation.

"3"

"4"

The rope seemed to stay together and loose. Gohan at least hadn't reached the end of it yet, though they didn't know for sure that it would reach to the bottom. Not even Raiti knew.

"5"

The water began to bubble suspiciously around the rope, as though it were eating through the material. Bulma's heart began to flutter and she thought for a moment that she might faint.

Keep counting! You're a badass scientist, damnit!

"6"

Krillin stopped counting suddenly and began pulling up the rope, furiously.

"7"

The rope snapped, flinging upwards with nothing on the end of it but frayed edges.

NO!

"GOHAN!" Bulma screamed down into the water.

8

"GOHAN!" Krillin bellowed, joining her frantic attempt.

9

"GOHAN!"

10

I should have never let him go down! Never! I love Yamucha but I wouldn't trade Gohan for him!

"GOHAN!"

11

The water began to ripple as tears flooded from Bulma's eyes. Her heart wretched.

It wasn't supposed to be like this!

12

"GOHAN!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

There was a light emerging from under the water. She let it give her hope, and let that hope fill her. Hope got her this far. The willingness to keep trying got her this far.

13

The water bubbled more violently than ever. There was a flash of orange then Gohan burst through the water and flew up into the ship. The suit he wore was tattered and there were burn marks where his flesh was exposed to the water. Those would have to be treated.

He raised his hand proudly with the one-star ball.

"I got it!"

Bulma wiped her eyes, giving the ball a cursory glance. She wanted to wrap Gohan in her arms and not let him go anywhere. Great, I've become a worrisome auntie on this trip. Instead, she grabbed Krillin around the shoulders and rubbed her cheek on the side of the poor man's head, afraid to show her tears or touch the suit.

"Bulma… you're squeezing too hard…" the monk gasped.

The four had decided that three out of seven was a good start, and returned to the Namekian's home to treat Gohan's wounds - which Raiti made him look good as new - and have dinner before going to bed. The next day, Bulma roused them bright and early to continue their search. In this, Zaacro accompanied them, claiming that Raiti had some work to do in the garage today.

Namek had a very diverse ecosystem, making it both interesting and very much like Earth. They had found the three-star ball in a white sand desert with harsh winds, where it spun around in the center of a tornado. The seven-star ball was inside a castle atop a dense jungle where the flora was made up of the bodies of giant carnivorous birds. Specifically, that ball was the jewel for a giant's earring, making Bulma feel more like she was stealing the golden goose rather than retrieving dragon balls.

The next dragonball led the team to an icy cavern where Bulma stood freezing while Krillin and Gohan used their ki to melt the ice around the two-star ball. She clattered her teeth, cursing both the thin black material under her yellow jumper and the boys' complete ignorance of the cold. Gohan was half-alien and that was fine and well, but how come Krillin wasn't freezing too!?

Shouldn't we both be getting hypothermia!

"Come on, guys! Turn up the heat and let's go!" she exclaimed.

"If we do, we'll burn through the cavern floor and the whole thing will collapse," Gohan replied.

Bulma frowned at him. He was right but she was cold damnit! And besides, wasn't she supposed to be the brain!?

"OKAY! JUST GET ON WITH IT!"

Ugh! This cannot be good for my skin… it's slick… what does frostbite feel like anyways!? Does Zaacro…

Where the hell is Zaacro?

Bulma turned and found the Namekian had vanished. She began walking around and calling for him while the guys continued to free the ball. Where would he even go?

"The second to last one!" Gohan cried.

Bulma turned quickly to find Krillin holding the dragon ball triumphantly, him and Gohan with the biggest shit-eating grins on their faces. She rushed to them to join in their excitement.

"One more to go!" Bulma cried, hopping on the cavern ground.

That much closer to home. And to Yamucha.

They laughed and cajooled together. All day, they'd been talking about their own beds, seeing Earth again, seeing their families again. Bulma hopped on the ground one more time, then fell on her butt as the ground began shaking. Tiny chunks of ice fell from above her head and the walls began to crack open. She didn't hop that much, she knew it. And she knew the boys were keeping tabs on how much heat they were applying to the ice. Why?! Why did stuff like this keep happening!

She got to her feet as the shaking became more violent. More ice fell around them. This cavern was coming down!

Krillin led them running in the direction they originally came from then he skidded to a stop. Gohan and Bulma almost collided with him when she saw that their exit was cut off by three feet of missing floor. They immediately turned and began back the other direction when the floor gave from under them. Bulma felt like this was a recurring theme. Falling.

It was cold and dark and the wind whipped around her as she fell. The woman was pretty sure this was how most creation myths began, except this wasn't a beginning. This was going to be an end.