Author's note: Hey, guys, thanks for the reads, & the reviews. I love getting those alerts. Please feel free to keep them coming, & let me know your thoughts as the story progresses.

Written by: SparkerLightning

Edited by: StevenBodner

Chapter 50

King Kai's planet

On the eternally lit planet, a shadow was cast. The omnidirectional light was still present, however it was being filtered. A semi-transparent bubble surrounded the planet, trapping its inhabitants.

"No, no, no." King Kai shook his head. "No, this isn't good at all."

Piccolo looked down at him, tilting his head. "What is it? Can't we just blast our way through if we need to? Or can't Gohan just use Instant Transmission to get us out of here?"

King Kai lifted his head, looking around at the massive crowd on his small planet. Humans, Saiyans, a Namekian, and moments ago, a Majin. Over two dozen people in total, on his planet, in his home. "Try." Is all he said.

Piccolo took a step back. Looking up at the sphere, he identified no points of interest, no marks, no ripples of energy, nothing. Picking a point at random he touched his pointer and middle fingers to his forehead, focused his energy, and prepared his signature attack. "If Loa made this, I can destroy it."

King Kai followed Piccolo's gaze, not noticing any particular target. "Loa didn't make this though. That may have been Loa, at one point, but that wasn't her that just flew off."

Goku stepped up behind his teacher and rival. "Then who was it? I mean, she looked like Loa to me, well, at first … then her energy got all funky."

"Don't get me wrong, Loa is almost certainly still in there, just… asleep." He crossed his hands behind his back and telepathically reached out to the check in station. No response, no chance for a response, as a connection couldn't even be made. "This has happened before. Evil souls, when clustered together in or on a living individual, can warp it, twist it, transform it."

Goku placed one hand on King Kai's shoulder, and another on Piccolo's. A low growl from Piccolo motivated him to let that hand drop. "If this has happened before, what do we do to get Loa back to normal?"

"Goku, the only reason I'm going to tell you this, is because I know you cannot act on this knowledge." He looked around the group. Several Saiyans, alive and dead, all thankfully securely trapped in here with him. "If, if that thing, is defeated, then Loa will return to normal."

"So..." Goku smiled down at him. "All we need to do is beat the evil out of her?"

"NO NO NO NO!" King Kai spun to face Goku, holding his hands up and frantically shaking his head. "You can't fight her, not now. Her power isn't going to be what it was. The souls have overpowered her, they've all but replaced her. It doesn't matter how weak they are, as soon as they had a foothold, they replaced her with something far, far worse."

Piccolo shot a glance sideways, his fingers starting to spark. "And what would that be?"

King Kai turned to look up at Piccolo. "A demon. They felt the evil creature being born, latched on, and replaced her in our world. There's no saying how powerful that being is, what kind of powers they have."

"Well, I know one way to test it." Piccolo slid his right foot out, widening his stance. Taking one last deep breath, he held it. Closing his eyes he locked onto the portion of sphere he targeted, thrust his hand forward, and shot his attack. "SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!"

The spiraling energy beam shot out of Piccolo's fingers like a rocket. It immediately impacted the barrier at a steep angle. The auger-like tip continued spinning, however the flanges did not cut through the material. Instead, they gathered, bulged, and spread. As the ball was reaching critical mass, Piccolo withdrew his attack.

"That's not going to work." Piccolo crossed his arms, returning his attention to the group. Taking the time to actually look at his teammates, his allies, and more precisely, their support team, his jaw hit the floor. His jaw hit the floor, much in the same manner their bodies did.

Chi-Chi, Videl, Bulma and her parents, and the other noncombatants, were all in the same boat. They were flat on their backs, eyes wide open, arms and legs spread. Their mouths were open, tongues nowhere to be seen. Hercule was in a similar position to the rest, except he had rolled over and was working on standing. Ox-King, like Master Roshi, were trying to help the others up.

Again following Piccolo's gaze, King Kai clapped his palm to his forehead. "The gravity here is ten times what you have on Earth!" He shouted at Goku. "Why would you tell him to bring normal humans here?"

"I'm sorry!" Goku threw his hands into the air. "I forgot!"

"You forgot?!" He raised an angry fist to Goku's face. "You forgot?! They could have been crushed!"

As Goku quickly scurried backwards, Nappa stepped forward. "Can, can we talk about this later? I think there's a more pressing matter..."

King Kai stopped shaking his fist. He turned to the Saiyan warrior, his sunglasses sliding down his face.

"'A more pressing, matter'?" His cheeks puffed as he fought back a smile. Letting a sharp exhale out of his nose, he cracked. Falling onto his back, the Kai of the Northern Galaxy grabbed his belly, kicked his feet out, and let his laugh carry over the planet.

Nappa looked to Turles for guidance, and the elder Saiyan shrugged in response. Looking towards Tien, the triclopse gave a subtle thumbs-up.

"Nap, Nap… Nappa!" Slowly getting himself under control, King Kai crawled back to his feet. "I was worried about you. That you wouldn't pass my test. But no, you've earned my training, thank you."

"You're… welcome?" Nappa saw Tien smiling at him, and he restated his comment. "You're welcome. Now, about the gravity?"

"Oh, yeah. Gravity." King Kai clapped his hands together under his chin. Closing his eyes and touching his nose to the tips of his middle fingers, he pulled his hands apart, revealing a small dial. Planting the piece on the ground, he slowly turned it clockwise. As he did, a slight breeze picked up, and gravity weakened.

Half a rotation later, Hercule was on his feet. Several more full rotations, and everyone was upright.

King Kai smiled at himself and dusted his hands off on his robe. "Increase the speed, decrease the gravity." Using his foot he pushed the dial into the ground, ensuring it wasn't spun accidentally.

With everyone able to walk once again, people immediately grouped off to catch up. Tien and Chiaotzu stayed together, finally having their first moment alone since Chiaotzu arrived hours ago. Turles, Nappa, and Raditz, split away next. Roshi looked towards Krillin, and the monk went off to stand next to King Kai's car. And Goku, Gohan, and Chi-Chi went to sit under the shade of a tree.

Inside the small house

Chiaotzu and Tien sat across from each other. Between them a teapot bounced out from the center of the table, settling gently onto a large plate that came out after it. Tien took the initiative to pour the water, and Chiaotzu pulled out each of their favorite blends.

"I'm sorry." They spoke at the same time.

"No, I..." They cut each other off once again.

"Please, go ahead." Chiaotzu nodded deeply at his oldest friend.

Tien opened his third eye, looking Chiaotzu in both of his. "I'm sorry I didn't come home."

Chiaotzu shook his head, denying the apology. "You would have if you could have. You have nothing to apologize for."

Tien's eyes began to water. "I left you alone. I wasn't there to protect you. You died, and I wasn't there."

"I lived." Chiaotzu rebutted. "I died, but I lived before I died. I went into space. I helped save Bulma. I fought King Cold, alongside Goku, Turles, and Nappa."

He clinched his fist around the teacup, surprisingly not breaking it. "I pushed myself harder than I ever had before. I pushed myself further than I ever thought I could go. I died, but that's okay. I'm okay with that."

"You never should have had to."

Chiaotzu's smiling eyes flashed to a glare, before he recognized the man in front of him once again.

"I should have had the choice. You kept my safe, but the box you put me in, stopped me from growing." He held off Frieza, catching his attacks and destroying them before they could hurt his friends. He had deflected King Cold's attacks, not for long, but he managed.

Tien took a deep breath, calming his nerves, and blinking away his tears. "Then, I'm sorry I held you back. I'm sorry your life was..."

Chiaotzu's glare returned, not able to fade. "My life was fine. You did your best, and you did not do wrong by my, Tien. And, while I missed you, I… you, you came back, and I thought it was you, but it wasn't."

Tien's eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?"

Chiaotzu swallowed a lump in his throat. "One of the Ginyu Force members, the Captain, I think, stole your body. He pretended to be you."

He burnt the letter. Tien was alive, Tien didn't care about him anymore. Tien abandoned him. He burnt the letter. "He was nothing like you, but, but I didn't realize." Tien's eyes were dry, Chiaotzu's were not. "He said awful things, and, and I thought it was you. I thought you hated me. I thought you didn't want me. I..."

Tien snapped to his feet, throwing his chair backwards. A moment later he was beside Chiaotzu, and had the psychic wrapped in a hug. Tears threatened to fall once more, and this time, he let them.

"No, Chiaotzu, no." He pressed his friend's face into his chest, shaking his head. "I would never, EVER, abandon you."

He pulled him back, lifting him, eye-to-eye. "I would never hate you, I would never abandon you. I'm sorry I died, but, but please tell me, tell me you know I would have given anything to be there for you. I would have given anything to return, to help you. To tell you I love you, and..."

"I know." Chiaotzu flew forward, wrapping his arms around his best friend's chest. "I know, Tien, I know. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't have faith in you. I should have known something was wrong. I should have known it wasn't you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

He dug his forehead into Tien's chest as he shook his head. "I'm sorry I gave up on you. I, I..."

"You have nothing to apologize for." Tien patted Chiaotzu's back, tears watering his cap covered scalp. "Everyone was telling you he was me. Your eyes, your ears, everything."

"Not my heart." Chiaotzu looked up, catching a teardrop to the eye. "My heart..."

He closed a hand over his chest. "My heart, was wrong." His breathing grew jagged. "My heart betrayed me. It should have known. I should have known."

He floated away from Tien, pushing his closed hands into his chest. "I, I was wrong. I lost faith. I should have known. I should have. I should have."

He looked up, Tien was standing there, halo over his head, tears running down his face. He was there, in front of him, not alive, but just as good as. "I was so stupid."

"You know what they say, don't you?" Tien cracked a small smile. "If it looks like a space-duck, swims like a space-duck, and quacks like a space-duck, then it's probably an evil purple space alien in your best friend's body, right?"

Chiaotzu's eyes widened as Tien spoke. Blinking twice he looked down at his feet. Yup, still two of them. He pinched his arm and flinched. Looking up at Tien, he blinked away the tears. "Since when do you have a sense of humor?"

Tien smiled at his oldest friend. "It's a requirement here." He looked through the window, King Kai was talking with Piccolo nearby. "In order to train under King Kai, you have to tell him a funny joke."

Chiaotzu shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "That wasn't a joke, that was just a non-sequitur."

Tien's smile widened. "Non-sequitur? Have you been studying?"

Chiaotzu's cheeks reddened beyond normality. "Well, I was training with Loa and Piccolo, and Piccolo merged back with Kami, and I'm not that strong, physically, so, so we focused on mental stuff."

"Sounds like I would have liked this Loa." Tien looked beyond King Kai, at the bubble. "Well, if she didn't just trap us in here and run off to do who knows what."

"Tien?"

"Yeah?" Tien closed the distance between him and Chiaotzu once again. Not touching him, but being close to him, enjoying the moment.

"I didn't say it earlier. I should have started with this. It's good to see you. I missed you, so, so much." He fought to keep his arms at his sides, and tears from falling. He failed both counts, and while his tears flowed freely, only one hand touched Tien, taking his right hand in his left.

Tien berried Chiaotzu's small hand in both of his. "It's good to see you too, Chiaotzu." He tensed his left hand around Chiaotzu.

"And, if you hadn't noticed." He scratched the back of his palm. "My arm?" He held it up.

Chiaotzu beamed. "You have your arm back?"

"Perks of being dead, I guess." Tien shared the smile.

They stood there, hand in hand, continuing to enjoy each other's warmth.

"Tien?"

"Yes, Chiaotzu?"

"You told me to read that letter if you didn't come back. I thought you came back." His right hand gripped at his heart once again. "I thought you left me, emotionally, but you returned. I thought something changed, but I thought you were back. I didn't read it. I… I burnt it."

"You did what you had to." Tien moved his left hand to Chiaotzu's shoulder. He lightly gripped it, and Chiaotzu relaxed his arm. "I hope it helped you."

Chiaotzu closed his eyes. The fire, the smoke. The last words of his dearest friend, gone. Forever. "At the time, it did. But now, now I regret it."

"You don't need the letter." Tien squeezed his shoulder again. "You have me."

"What, what did it say?" Chiaotzu looked above Tien's two eyes, focusing on the third.

On the far side of the planet:

Turles and Nappa stood shoulder to shoulder. Their arms were crossed as they looked over their ally. In return, Raditz looked over their pristine bodies. Aside from their halos, they were exactly as he remembered them.

Turles' stern expression crept into a smile. "We've been watching you, Raditz."

Raditz's face fell as he reflected on his failure. He fought, he killed countless enemies, but, his city fell, his protectorate fell.

"You did good, kid." Nappa leaned forward slightly, beaming down at his former subordinate.

Raditz's eyebrows raised slightly as he looked up once more. Their faces were warm. They were praising him. He failed, and he wasn't being punished.

"What?" He asked Nappa, taking a half step back. "What do you mean, I did good? I lost, we lost. Earth, Earth has been destroyed."

"Yeah, that's unfortunate." Nappa straightened his back. "But, you were there, on the front line. You fought alongside your men. You protected what mattered to you. You fought, and you didn't hold back." He glanced up at his halo. "As you may have guessed … we lost as well, and I still think we did good. We, mostly your brother, pushed Cold a lot further than we had any business pushing, and you held out a lot longer than you had any business too. We lost, but it's a good day to be a Saiyan."

Turles puffed his chest out as he looked Raditz in the eye. "I'll just say it. I'm proud of you, nephew. And your father would be as well."

Raditz fought the urge to glance over his shoulder.

"I'm still the weakest Saiyan in our group." The halo caught his eye. "Definitely among the living, and possibly otherwise as well."

"That's not even close to what I meant, Hair-For-Brains." Turles shook his head. "You did the right thing. You stood up for the little guy, and, and you did it for them. You had nothing to gain by risking yourself, and you still did it. That's what I'm proud of you for doing. We're not exactly known for our generosity, or compassion for weakness, but what you did today was the least selfish thing I've ever seen you do. Good job, Raditz. You did good."

Raditz's stomach tightened. This was new, and he didn't know how to react, so, he didn't.

Turles' uncrossed his arms and nodded to the horizon, towards the other groups. "You weren't exactly on the best standing with the others when we left. What's your standing now?"

Raditz looked up, into the sky, into the bubble, and rubbed his nose between two fingers.

"I'm closest with Gohan." He turned his head, still looking up, not quite able to see the boy over the curve of the planet. "And we're not that close. He's forgiven me, and we've trained together, but that's about it."

Nappa scoffed.

"Listen to him, would ya?" He jabbed Turles' arm with his elbow. "I'm thinking he's playing that down quite a bit, don't you?"

Turles nodded. "And the rest?"

"His mother, Chi-Chi, would rather I stop existing, but has invited me into their home a handful of times." Raditz was only a few dozen paces from the other, but at the same time, half a world away. At the moment, he was feeling the latter far more than the former. "Piccolo and Loa tolerate me much better. They've offered to train with me many times."

Turles' jabbed Nappa with his elbow. "He's softening up, but he's still a Saiyan, huh? Train, fight, train, food, train..."

"Well, it's worked well for him, hasn't it?" A spark of pride could almost be seen in Nappa's eye. "Little Raditz, The Saibamen Saiyan, ripped his way through, thousands? Tens of thousands? Of Frieza's men..."

Raditz rubbed his nose once more. Something felt soar, and he didn't know if it was his fingers, his nose, or his body itself.

"Well, yeah, I guess I've gotten a bit stronger." A hook pulled at the corner of his mouth. "You know, Nappa, I may actually be strong enough to take you on, now."

Nappa and Turles exchanged a glance. Turles chuckled as he hastily took several steps back. A moment later the air inside of Loa's sphere thickened with energy. Nappa's mustache flashed from black to gold. The static air around him blurred for a moment as his aura burst free from his body.

Raditz braced himself against the power. Crossing his arms in front of his face he leaned into the storm of energy.

"Alright, alright." Raditz sneered. "I get it, I'm still the bottom of the barrel."

Nappa's eyes widened as he pulled his energy back in. "Woah, that's not what I..."

Turles appeared behind Raditz, smacking him on the back of his head.

"Stop whining." He prepared to strike again, but decided not to. "If it's worth whining about, it's worth training to overcome."

Next to King Kai's car

Krillin leaned against the door of the red convertible. His expression was heavy, and his body sagged under the weight of eternity. He was not approachable, yet Roshi took the challenge.

Walking up to his gloomy student, Master Roshi adopted a similar expression. "You weren't supposed to die out there. You know that, right?"

Krillin gripped the fabric of his gi, bunching it in his fists.

"Trust me." He barely spoke. "It wasn't any more fun the second time."

Roshi planted his staff between his feet, resting his elbows, and his chin on it. He tilted his head back, looking through the pink bubble. "I don't know what happened out there, but I know you did good."

Krillin raised his eyes without moving his head. His master wasn't looking anywhere near him. His master had no way of knowing just how outmatched he was. But his master trusted he did the right thing, trusted he learned well.

"Thank you, Master." He lowered his chin slightly, giving the smallest possible bow.

Roshi reached out, grabbing one of Krillin's tensed wrists.

"No, thank you." He bowed his head fully. "Now, enough chit chat. Would you like to meet my most recent students?" He turned back to where Loa had fallen. "Hercule, Videl, get over here! I want to introduce you to a hero!"

Under the tree

Chi-Chi sat with her back pressed against the tree. With her feet under her and her knees together, she was sitting as properly as she could, given the circumstance. Gohan sat to her left, bruised and battered, but in one piece, alive. His legs were crossed and his hands were folded. He was slouching, but, but that was okay, given the circumstance. Goku sat to her right. His legs were in front of him, his arms were behind him, and he was more laying down, propping himself up on his elbows, than anything, but, but that was okay, given the circumstance.

Chi-Chi chewed her lip, finally deciding on what to say, however her son beat her to the punch. "What happened out there, Dad?"

Goku lifted his elbows, letting the reduced gravity carry him down. "Well, as you can see, we found Bulma. With her help we beat Frieza… then Cold reached out, threatening to destroy the Earth if we didn't fight him… we sent Bulma home, and Jeice too, and went to meet him. Something happened to the ship, and we weren't able to train, but we met up with him, and we fought him."

He reached up, clinking a nail on his halo, sending out a heavenly ting.

"How strong was Cold?" Gohan leaned forward. At least he wasn't slouching any more.

"I wouldn't say he's immortal." Goku looked down his body at his son and wife. "But I don't want you getting anywhere near him." He sat up. "I went beyond Super Saiyan, I found a new level. I used Kaio-Ken with it, at fifty times, and I was still only just barely able to overpower him for a few moments. His endurance is unimaginable, and his strength is right there as well. Gohan, promise me, and your mother, that if at all possible, you will avoid any interactions with him. He's, he's too much."

Gohan nodded. In his lap he rotated his hands slightly, hiding the fact that he crossed his ring and pinky finger.

"I promise, Dad." He took a deep breath. "How long ago did ..."

He shot his eyes up to the halo, before returning them to his father. He wondered, for a moment, if lying while in, what was basically Heaven, would send him to Hell.

"I don't know exactly." Goku crossed his legs, resting his chin on his woven fingers. "It took us a little time to get to and through Earth's check-in station, and then we raced down Snake Way. By the time we got here, your battle had already started on Earth. We barely said hi to Tien and King Kai before we started watching your fights."

Gohan went to respond, but Goku kept speaking.

"You did fantastic down there, and you gave me an idea for training." His hair flashed golden for a moment. "Super Saiyan drains our energy extremely quickly. It's not sustainable in longer fights. But I don't think that's necessarily part of the form. I think, like any other technique, we can train, we can master it. If we get our bodies used to Super Saiyan, live it, breath it, never go below it, then I think it would be a lot easier to fight with it."

Gohan pushed his own Super Saiyan energy forward. To his disappointment, but not to his surprise, nothing happened. "I'll keep that in mind."

Chi-Chi cleared her throat. Her man's eyes, and her boy's eyes, turned to her.

"Goku." She changed subjects. "It's nice to see you..."

Goku blinked twice. Slowly he turned towards his wife.

"Chi-Chi." He hesitantly smiled.

She folded her hands on her lap, left hand on top of her right. Looking down at them, at it, she spoke again. "Do you have anything you would like to say?"

Rotating his body without moving, Goku faced Chi-Chi head on. Her eyes were low, looking down. He reached out, squeezing her hands between his own. "Chi-Chi, I am sorry. I've made so, so many mistakes in my life. I died. I didn't come home. When the Earth was invaded, I wasn't there. I let you down. I let Gohan down. I let everyone down, and I am sorry."

"Not that, you oaf." Tears began to fall from her eyes as she pulled her hands free of Goku's. His heart broke as she pressed her right hand to her heart, her left pushing it in. She twitched her finger, a small band of gold catching the limited light.

"Don't apologize." She said, trying to keep her breathing level. "Don't apologize, but, but..." She looked up at him. He was looking at the ring. "Don't leave again, Goku. Don't make me raise Gohan alone. Don't make him grow up without a father."

Goku's eyes began to water. He fucked up. He died. He fucked up. He left her behind. He fucked up. Gohan was here, but, but he couldn't raise him. He fucked up. He left his family on Earth, he left them to die. Closing his eyes he fought his energy down. Deep inside it began to spiral outward, raging against the pain in his soul.

"Chi-Chi." Tears fell freely from his eyes. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

He held his hands in place where his wife had left them. "I'm, I'm dead. There aren't any Dragon Balls. I'm, I'm not able to come back."

Chi-Chi clinched her fists around her dress. She wanted to shut her eyes, to embrace the darkness, but Goku was here, Gohan was there, her family was complete. She couldn't look away, not now, not now that they were complete.

"If you can't come home..." She made eye contact with her husband. Springing forward she pushed him backwards, her entire body supported by his. Slowly she shifted her legs to be on either side of him, berrying her face into his shoulder. "Then we're staying here."

Her breaths were shallow and uneven. Mt. Paozu, gone. West City, gone. School, work, friends, gone. But Goku… he was here. Gohan, Gohan was here. Her husband was dead, but he was here, and she was here, and Gohan was here, and, and this was home now.

Their home would fill with dust, eventually collapse. But, but this was home now. The domed structure didn't matter. The blue marble didn't matter. Not now.

Outside King Kai's home

Piccolo stood with his back to the home, a small window behind him. The short deity assumedly pretended to inspect his flower bed. Piccolo was putting his thoughts in order, Tien, Garlic Junior, Cooler, Frieza…

"Why didn't you warn us?" Piccolo kept his gaze even, not looking at King Kai.

King Kai looked up at the statuesque Namekian. "Warn you? About what?"

Piccolo's jaw slacked for a moment, before tensing once more. "I'd say everything, but I'd settle for anything."

He slowly looked down at the Kai. "Why did we, just yesterday, learn about Tien not being Tien? Why were we not warned about the Makyo Star? About Cooler coming to Earth? Why weren't Goku and the others warned about how powerful Frieza had become?"

King Kai flashed a smile, before returning to a neutral expression.

"I'm sorry?" He tilted his head. "You were once the Guardian of Earth, were you not?"

"In a way." Piccolo called out in his mind, not receiving a response. "Kami, the Guardian, and I were two parts of the same being. We merged back into one several years ago."

King Kai nodded as Piccolo spoke, not learning anything new. "Well, as someone who is half former Guardian, then you should know why I wouldn't have interfered if I could have."

"If you could?" Piccolo glared down at King Kai.

King Kai sharply nodded twice. "I am the Kai of the North Galaxy. I am not the Kai of Earth. That is, was, half of your job. Do you have any idea how many planets are in the North Galaxy? I'll give you a hint, a lot more than just Earth."

He shrugged. "If I had known what was going on with Earth, I wouldn't have interfered, I shouldn't have interfered anyway, but I didn't know, so I couldn't."

"King Kai, sir." Ox-King approached from the side, from the largest group of survivors. "My apologies for interrupting, But we're wondering, is there a way we can see what's happening on Earth?"

King Kai nodded at the large man. Looking up to Piccolo, he received a dismissive shrug.

"Yes." He vocalized. "Give me a moment to find it, and touch me."

He held out an arm. Closing his eyes, King Kai's antennas twitched repeatedly. Finally, after curling back on his head, he found his target. It was dark against the void of space behind it, but teeming with life. Retreating deeper into his mind, he focused on the planet. Distantly, he felt another hand, then another, and another, grab him.

The densest source of life came into focus. West City, burning. Tens of thousands of soldiers flying through the air, swarming like insects. They weren't fighting, they were salting the Earth. Skyscrapers were reduced to massive piles of rubble. Massive piles of rubble were blown apart, spread through the formerly beautiful location.

Quickly moving on, King Kai focused in on a far thinner cluster of energies. A few dozen soldiers were systematically working their way through a small, snow covered village. Bodies were strewn around the ground, each in a small pool of melted snow.

Changing strategies again, he searched for low power levels. Anywhere, anything low, anyone Earthling… He found what he was looking for, somewhat. A stampede of animals. Wildebeest running through a gorge. Lions running along one edge, and zebras on the other side, not concerned by the predators. Overhead, casting no shadow, three aliens dove towards the Earth. Staying on target, each began a barrage of ki bullets, and a few moments later, they were alone.

After seeing the extermination of wildlife, King Kai changed tactics. Physically, he felt several more hands on him than before, but he ignored them. Mentally, he flashed from city to city, town to town, and village to village. Not finding what he was looking for, he focused in on military bases, remote research centers, homesteads, farms, and anywhere habitable by humans. They all shared one thing in common. Fire, smoke, death.

Closing his mind's eye, he returned to the present. Goku and Gohan were beside him. As were the other fighters, Bulma, and her father.

Yamcha slowly backed away from King Kai. "Earth… has fallen."

"What now?" Chiaotzu asked the group. He didn't directly address Tien, but Tien still felt the need to answer.

"We need to fix it." Bulma said, looking around the group, inventorying her tools.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Yamcha widened his stance, planting his fists into his hips. "We can't leave this planet, and even if we could, the Earth is destroyed. It's gone, just like the Dragon Balls. Unless you have a time machine, there's nothing we could do..."

Bulma's mounting anger slowly fizzled out as an idea began to form in her head. With all nearby eyes on her, she slowly turned to face Piccolo. "Hey, Piccolo? Can you do me a favor?"

All eyes moved to Piccolo, and he shifted from one foot to the other. "And that would be?"

"I need to demonstrate something. Could you materialize a few things for me? Say, a neodymium magnet, a pure gold coin, and, in a lead case, any amount of uranium?"

Piccolo narrowed his eyes at the woman. He wasn't a vending machine, but he held out his hands. A moment later, two objects dropped into them. Approaching the woman he first handed her a blank gold coin. In her other, gloved, hand, he dropped a hollow lead sphere.

Bulma studied the coin first, it was flawless, and based only on the weight, it was actually, truly, pure gold. Pocketing the trinket, she turned her attention to the lead ball. If Piccolo had the power she thought he did, uranium would be safely placed inside. Giving it a gentle shake, nothing moved. She looked up at Piccolo. "Is it empty?"

"I suppose so." He said. "In order to materialize something, I need to understand it. Completely. And while I have Kami's knowledge and abilities, familiarity with exotic materials is not something I've ever boasted about."

"That's a really weird way..." Bulma handed the lead ball back to him. "...for you to say that you're going to save the Earth."

She hesitated, and slowly, brought her eyes to meet Piccolo's. "If I teach you, if you learn about exotic materials, would you be able to create them for me?"

He tilted his head, attempting not to flinch under her intense gaze. "Yes, but I don't see how..."

"I've been theorizing for a while now about the nature of time." Bulma didn't care what else Piccolo had to say. He said yes, that's all she needed. "In theory, it should be possible to travel through time, to before the attack on Earth." She looked at the small number of halos around her. "To before the battle with Cold. To before the battle with Frieza, either in his enhanced form, or on Namek." She took a deep breath. "Before Raditz came to Earth. Before Earth, before we, were dragged into the deep end."

Excitement slowly faded from Piccolo's face. "I can't create a time machine. I can create simple shapes, possibly small structures, but, but nothing like that."

"You don't need to." Bulma beamed. She directed his gaze to the group around them. "If you can create the raw material, you, or Goku, or anybody, could create the tools we need. If you can understand it, you can materialize it. If you can materialize it, we can shape it, refine it, build with it. If my father and I, when my father and I, get the plans together, there is nothing stopping us from creating a time machine, going back, and fixing all of this."

"And what are we going to do about Loa?" Goku asked, standing beside his wife. His gi was still wet from their combined tears.

"I don't care, and you probably don't need to either." Bulma tried, and failed, to make eye contact with Goku. "If we can prevent the Earth from being attack, then we can prevent Loa from absorbing the evil souls, from, from transforming into that thing. If she kills anyone now, or absorbs any more souls, it doesn't matter, because it'll be undone… we'll all be undone..."

She took a deep breath. "No, that's not right..."

Gohan raised his hand from beside his mother. "But that makes sense? How could she become that demon, if..."

"No, Gohan." Bulma said. "That would lead to a paradox. If time travel is possible, and I am going to say that I am certain it is, we'll, we'll still be here. Otherwise, we couldn't cause the time travel, and couldn't undo the actions that got us here, so we would be here, and, and just on and on and on."

"Then what happens when we go back in time?" Hercule spoke up.

"For us?" She took a deep breath. "Nothing. It wouldn't make sense if time manipulation had any impact on us."

She looked at Hercule, down, and at Videl. Averting her eyes, she returned her gaze to Goku. He was strong, strong enough, he could take this news. "This, this is our reality. We, we can't change this, not, with time travel. But, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. We, we could create a new timeline, one that diverts from ours, under our control. We could rewrite Earth's history, not for us, but, but for someone out there."

"So, again, Loa?" Goku asked.

"I'm a scientist, NOT A FIGHTER!" Bulma's nostrils flared. "I'll get to work on my project, and you get to work on yours." She shrugged.

"So..." Goku looked past his wife, at his son. "We need to get stronger, break down this barrier, and beat the evil out of Loa?"

King Kai scoffed. "Good luck. There are warriors in Other World that have certainly already been dispatched to deal with Loa."

He turned to Bulma. "That will solve one issue though, but not the one you're working on. Normally I'd tell you that I am not a hotel, that I have more important things to do than play host, but..." He looked at the pink cage overhead. "We seem to be stuck. Once the bubble is brought down, you won't be allowed to stay in Other World any longer, but I'll help find a safe planet for you to continue your work on."

Author's note: A light has appeared at the end of the tunnel.