A/N: Well, here I am again. I suppose it's time I destroyed the Earth… I'd like to keep it around, of course, but then we'd have a happy-happy-joy-joy story, which this is not. Now… the Supreme Kai has something he wants to say.

Supreme Kai: Do… do I have to?

Me: Look, you're the one who locked me up in HFIL, buddy, you owe me one.

Supreme Kai: But you're evil! You just said you were going to destroy the Earth!

Me: For the last time, I'm not evil! Now, just ask the question!

Supreme Kai: (clears throat). Um, do any of you… well… think that Gohan should have a… um… love interest? (blushes) Why does it matter if he has a love interest? He gets defeated in the end, doesn't he? That's what my vision showed!

Me: I'm not telling you the future, Supreme Kai. You'll just have to find out for yourself.

Supreme Kai: So, why couldn't you ask the question?

Me: I'm not allowed to ask my readers questions! Are you crazy?

Supreme Kai: Well… one of us is….

Me: (glaring) You hush. Now, go on, you're in this chapter, so get back to your little planet.

Supreme Kai: Great. Now I'm taking orders from an evil egomaniac with powers to completely alter the universe to her every whim. Where did I go wrong?

Escape

Bulma swallowed hard as she watched a crying Chichi pull the sheet over her husband's head. Goku was gone… he had held out as long as he could, fighting against the mysterious heart virus with everything he had, but in the end, it hadn't been enough. Goku had been her friend, but Bulma could cry no tears for him. All her tears had been cried today for Yamcha.

The last month had been pure HFIL. No, scratch that… HFIL was nothing compared to what they had been through. Not long after Goku had fallen ill, two androids had appeared, destroying everything in their path. They were strong… too strong. No one knew who created them, or why… only that they enjoyed killing and destruction, and did both well. Krillen, Tien, Chioutzu… Yamcha… they were gone. Her parents… they wouldn't even get to shelter, they insisted on staying with their pets. No one was safe… and now, with Goku gone, there was absolutely no chance of survival.

Bulma rubbed her extended belly gently. Her child would never know what life was like, what the sun looked like in the morning, what the theory of relativity was or what sand felt like under your feet. A month ago, life was a new beginning for her… now she was looking at the end of everything.

She looked up to see Chichi standing beside her. She looked worn, but her eyes showed only concern for her. "Bulma, you should sit down," she said softly. Bulma sighed. Ever since all that had happened, Chichi's mothering streak had been turned toward her. She was so used to taking care of her family… and now they were all gone…

"I'm okay, Chichi, really. We should get back underground," she added, knowing full well that, while the shelter they had been hiding in was good for tornadoes and nuclear war, it wouldn't save them from two killer androids. Nothing would.

Just then, someone appeared before them. Neither Bulma nor Chichi reacted… they had been surprised too much in the past month, there was no surprise left in them. Mr. Popo smiled at them sadly.

"Is there no one left?" he asked. Bulma shook her head. He sighed. "I believe I know a way for you to leave the planet," he said slowly, not sure what kind of impact the news would have on the two women.

Capsule Corp had been one of the first places the androids had come to… it was a large building, and was also where the strongest fighters were. There was nothing left of it… nothing left of any of the city. The Z fighters had kept the androids distracted long enough for Chichi and Bulma to make their escape with the sick Goku, but the two women knew their fate before they had even gotten out of the city. When the thought of escaping the planet had crossed Bulma's mind, it had already been too late, as there were no ships capable of space flight anywhere else, and Capsule Corp had been reduced to ash. Not even the Saiyan space pod Goku had used had survived the blast.

It was Chichi who spoke first. "Yes… Bulma, come on. If there's a way to get you and the baby off planet, we have to do it."

Bulma nodded, not noticing how Chichi had excluded herself from that statement. "Okay… Mr. Popo, what do we need to do?" she asked.

Mr. Popo smiled. "Before Kami died, he had told me that he came here to Earth from another planet. He used to speak in another language, the language of another race. His ship had landed far up in the north, and he traveled very far before he met anyone else. It was a long time ago, but the ship may still be operational."

"Well, that's great!" Chichi said. "I'll go pack some warm clothes and food." Without waiting for a response, she was off. Bulma shook her head. It was good for Chichi to stay busy… she knew that the widow hadn't fully mourned the death of her husband. Vaguely she wondered if she had finished mourning the death of hers.

"I'm sorry I did not get here sooner," Mr. Popo said, glancing into the room where Goku lay.

"Will you be coming with us, Mr. Popo?" Bulma asked, concerned.

Mr. Popo merely shook his head. "My place is here. I won't leave the lookout." Chichi approached them with an armful of capsules. "We must hurry… the androids could be here any moment."

They followed Mr. Popo to the window, where a carpet was hovering. "It's a magic carpet. Don't be afraid… get on."

Hesitantly the two women got onto the carpet, Chichi helping Bulma along. Mr. Popo got on last, and in no time they were flying faster than Bulma had ever gone before. Soon they were over a frigid wasteland, and Chichi gave Bulma one of the blankets she had brought before putting one around herself. "We are here," Popo said, and the carpet lowered near a strange looking space ship.

Bulma was amazed, and nearly jumped off the carpet in excitement. The age of that ship… it had to be ancient, and yet, the metal seemed resistant to corrosion. Mr. Popo said something in another language, and the doors opened. It was pretty big, and once they were inside and the lights were on, Bulma knew she was home. Question after question she asked Mr. Popo, until she had gotten the navigational panel to turn on.

"I can't read these symbols, but translating them shouldn't be too hard. This technology is so different than ours… I wonder if these are the coordinates for Kami's home planet?" she asked aloud, mostly to herself, but Mr. Popo felt compelled to answer.

"I can tell you all I can remember of Kami's language, but I'm afraid it isn't much. Do you think you'll be able to fly it?" he asked.

Bulma smiled. "I've never met a machine I couldn't fix," she said optimistically. For their sake, she hoped so.

The last month had been pure HFIL, Kress thought as he watched his uncle pace the floor. Vegeta's time to contact them had lapsed the day before, and both Radditz and Kress knew that something had happened to their prince. And that something was Frieza.

Kress scowled. "Uncle… we shouldn't be here! We should be going after Frieza… he already knows we've been conspiring against him, and Vegeta's already dead," he said, finding it hard to say that last part. "We're next on his list, and you know it!"

Radditz scowled in thought. "Kress… it's been a month since Vegeta left. Why do you think Frieza hasn't come after us before now?" he asked.

Kress was at a loss. Of course, Frieza could have sent his men after them at any time… hell, they were on a space station full of them! "But… do you think Frieza doesn't know?" he asked.

"Of course he knows," Radditz said, rolling his eyes. "Think, Kress. Frieza is the most intelligent opponent we will ever face… you have to learn to think like him, to predict his next move."

Kress nodded, scowling. He placed himself in the position of the Ice-jinn. After a moment, he had it. "He's waiting for us to make our move on him first," he said.

Radditz nodded. "He's expecting it. And he's right to… we're Saiyans, after all. We will avenge our people, our prince."

Anger welled up within Kress at the thought of what had happened to Vegeta, but he held it back. "We can't come straight for him if he's expecting it… we have to use subterfuge," Kress said, voicing the thought his uncle obviously had.

"That's right. It will take longer, but we have to get him to let down his guard. Kress… do you still have that energy absorber implant?" Radditz asked.

Smirking, Kress took it from the pouch on his belt. "I built a remote device to it, so that the user can turn it on or off," he said, handing both to Radditz.

Radditz looked at the remote, then nodded at Kress. "It's time. If we can keep our power levels low enough, we can leave this place undetected, and disappear from Frieza's radar. When we're close enough, and he least expects it, we'll make our move," he said, excitement in his eyes.

Kress nodded, smiling. "I'll go first," he said, and took the absorber from Radditz, making small adjustments. When he handed it back, Radditz's eyes went wide.

"That much? Will you even be able to walk?" he asked, concerned not only for his nephew, but also for the success of their mission were Kress to be incapacitated.

Kress nodded. "I've accounted for everything, Uncle. If the absorber doesn't absorb all but a small amount of the user's energy, it will malfunction," he explained.

Radditz was still impressed. The fact that his nephew's energy level was so high to begin with was astounding. "We'll have to do this here… if we go to the med lab, we will be noticed."

"I understand," Kress said, and cleared off a table, taking off his shirt and lying down on top of it. "Just make it quick," he said, dreading what would come next. "It will have to be near the heart… that way it will show no variation of energy throughout the body, and the palpitations will help disguise it from sensors."

Radditz nodded. "Don't bite your tongue," he warned, then, using his senses to tell him where to cut, focused a narrow beam of energy into his finger and made the incision.

Kress gasped, but stayed very still as his uncle cut into his chest. The room around him seemed hazy, but he fought to keep conscious. If they got caught while Radditz was doing this, they would need to run.

As soon as Radditz had reached the correct spot, he placed the implant deep within Kress's chest. Kress could feel a slight pinching pain as he did this, but focused on something else to keep himself from passing out. Radditz closed the wound by cauterizing it with energy from his hand, and placed a bandage over it, wiping away all the blood that had spilled from the wound during the operation. "How do you feel?" he asked, not liking the pale tint of Kress's skin.

Kress smirked. "I've been worse," he said, and moved to sit up, but Radditz held him down.

"Your body's weak from the trauma, you should rest a moment," he said, looking at the remote in his hand. "We should wait before turning this on…" he started, but Kress shook his head.

"No, we don't have time. Look, Uncle, I've got to get used to it. Turn it on," he said, sitting up slowly so he would be in a position to get up when Radditz activated the energy absorber.

Radditz pushed the button. Kress could feel his energy slipping away from him slowly, and soon it was difficult to even breathe. Despite this, Kress stayed sitting up, using sheer will to keep his eyes open. Radditz was about to turn it back off, when Kress shook his head. "No, I'm fine," he breathed. "Just… have to get used to it…" he said slowly.

"Now, that's an interesting device," a voice said coldly from across the room. Radditz and Kress looked up to see Vegeta standing there, scowling.

A/N: Muwahahahahaha! See, I can do the cliffy thing, too! Hahahahaa! (laughs maniacally) Questions? Comments? Call 1-800-REVIEW.

Supreme Kai: Hey, didn't you say I was going to be in this chapter?

Me: Sorry, I had to change my mind. This chapter has become two chapters, so I'm afraid you won't show up until next chapter, or maybe a chapter after that.

Supreme Kai: Come on, the suspense is killing me!