Goku, Ruko and Bulma have already collected four out of the seven magic Dragonballs. Now, with only three more to find before they can make their wish, our heroes race towards the location of the fifth Dragonball. Which, according to Bulma's radar, isn't far off.

Called out of the sky and back down on the ground, Goku and Ruko stood to the side as Bulma eyed their cloud calculatingly.

"Ya don't look too sure Bulma," Goku started, "but ya still want to try?"

"Of course I do!" Bulma responded, nearly offended. "It can't be that hard, can it?"

"Nope!" Ruko encouraged, "ya just hop on! Easy as can be!"

"Right. Exactly! Easy as can be..." Bulma repeated, still staring at the cloud. Nimbus had already lowered itself for her, all it would take was a mere step to be on top of it. Yet tense and uneasy, Bulma stalled.

Goku crossed his arms. "...Bulma?"

"What?" She snipped back.

"Ya scared ya don't have a... 'purr heart'?" he inquired, raising a brow at her.

"Oh! No wonder it's taking ya so long!" Ruko realized, which only seemed to put Bulma off.

The end of her blue braid whipped at her neck from the quick turn she'd made to glare at them. "What?! Listen here, you two, I am the most pure-hearted person that you'll ever have the pleasure to meet! Pure and righteous!"

Ruko tilted her head, "yeah? So how come ya haven't hopped on Nimbus yet then?"

"Well, I was just about to!" Bulma huffed, flicking her braid back over her shoulder. "Then you dweebs had to go and ask me questions..."

They both stared at her, now completely silent. She felt uneasy, as though she were being silently judged by the both them and the little yellow cloud. Eventually Bulma took a breath, lifted her leg. A startled yelp left the blunette's mouth when her foot fell completely through, causing her to loose her balance. Tripping forwards, Bulma fell onto her hands and knees, half of herself still within the cloud.

A spluttering, startled laugh escaped from Ruko, "wha... what happened...?" she tried to ask.

"So much fer being 'pure'." Goku giggled, using Bulma's correction of the term.

Completely embarrassed, Bulma stewed for less than a few seconds before she turned on them, growling.

She exploded, "YEAH?! Well it's not like I actually wanted to ride on your guy's stupid cloud! It's just a bunch of watery air!" She stood up, angrily dusting herself off and giving the two kids one of her blackest glares. They both curled in a bit at the loud yelling, unsure what to make of it. "It's probably a good thing too, I'd get soaked within a few minutes!"

With that she went back to her idling bike and hopped on, only to speed away a moment later.

"Bulma!" Goku called out in alarm, quickly hopping onto the Nimbus with Ruko. It held firm underneath of them, taking them high into the air as they followed the steaming teen.

"I don't think she liked us laughing..." Ruko said quietly to Goku, glancing at him as they flew.

"Yeah, she gnashed her teeth when she got on her bike." Goku admitted, he tilted his head at Ruko as he exaggerated the motion with his own teeth to show what he meant. Then his gaze dropped to the angry teen and his brow furrowed in thought. "I think she really wanted to join us..."

Ruko hummed, nodding. "Maybe we can think of something...?"

"We can't really take turns if Bulma can't ride Nimbus at all." the boy restated sadly, then scrunched up his nose with distaste. "Which means one of us would need to carry her the entire time."

At that Ruko make a face too. "That doesn't sound very fun..." she replied unhappily and Goku could only nod in agreement. They sat in silence for a bit, thinking. Until Ruko's eyes widened, landing on something in the distance.

"Goku!" she exclaimed with awe, grin forming wide. "Look! There's Paozu!"

Instantly his eyes snapped forwards and an equally wide smile appeared on his face. "Wow! It looks so different from up here!"

"This is the other side of the mountain!" Ruko stated, "look there's the entrance to that cave!"

"The green glow bug cave?" Goku acknowledged, before he narrowed his eyes at Ruko. "We're not visiting!"

She gave him a pout, "I wasn't gonna ask!" When he gave her a look, humming in an unamused tone, Ruko whined. "Really! I wasn't!"

Relaxing, "okay." Goku responded, then grinned. "We should go see everything else though!"

"Yeah!" Ruko agreed easily, hopping up to her feet. "Faster Nimbus!"

Laughing Goku got to his feet too, just as the wind pick up with their cloud's new speed. They flew off from the path Bulma took with her bike, shooting towards the mountain peak with very little visible effort on the cloud's part. It was all that it took for the two to get lost in their feelings, wind whipping across their faces and gravity practically nothing. Distantly they could still spot Bulma's loud vehicle motoring away down the road but seeing their home from the new angle was novel and stunning.

The way that the river spilled down the mountain in it's winding path long before it reached the cliff that turned it into a steep waterfall that poured into the small lake at the base of the land. Water sprayed like mystical clouds where it met stone, catching rays of the sun and refracting colors back into the air, slowly drifting upwards before dissipating completely. The trees of the forest blanketed the mountain like one large green smear only to become more sparse and spread out the further in elevation the trees grew. As the trees became less dense, fields of wildflowers were given the space to grow where woodland animals grazed or passed through. And from this elevation, there were caves that could now be spotted near the top where no one would think to look while on foot- brand new places to explore and discover!

"Are those more caves?!" Ruko demanded incredulously.

"They are!" Goku confirmed, just as flummoxed.

"Let's go see!"

Down the Nimbus ducked into the forest, slowing so that it could be low enough to weave between the branches safely. Grinning Ruko reached out and snatched up a peach from a passing branch. She showed it to Goku challengingly. He'd narrowed his eyes at her before his gaze darted to the trees around them. Spotting something ahead, he tensed a moment before he swiped his arm down across his front. A sharp crack sounded before a fairly thick branch fell across them both.

They both let out a grunt from the sudden impact combined with the speed they were going. Nimbus pulled up out of the reach of the trees and made a slow continuous loop near the mountain's peak. Goku held up his branch triumphantly, grinning victoriously at Ruko. Eyes wide she stared as several peaches from the branches end loosened enough to fall from the motion. Quick as a snake her hands darted out to catch them and store them in her shirt- for lack of proper storage.

"Wow, good haul!" Ruko praised, biting into a stolen peach. It was so soft the core nearly fell straight out of the fruit from the action.

They both sat down again and Goku began to pluck the peaches properly, corralling them in the space between his legs. "Say, think it'd make Bulma feel better if I gave her one?" he asked, pausing for a moment as the idea came to him.

Ruko let out a hum, thinking as she chewed. Swallowing, she gave a shrug. "Won't know till we offer, right? Where'd Bulma go anyhow?"

Attention diverted to the land below as Nimbus circled their mountain, it was easy to notice how the very path that Bulma had first taken them on seemed to be the only one that actually lead up the mountain. That path went down and split in two before it circled around the mountain's base; one way quickly meeting with the water only to go around the outer edges of the lake at one point before continuing on in the direction of the sea they'd left behind. It was the second way that the path lead which their eyes followed- the one that truly circled off around the mountain base and for a long time- soon finding Bulma as a tiny speck in the distance.

Goku was the first to point her out. "There!"

Down the Nimbus went again, plummeting in a near sheer drop. The empty tree branch left Goku's hands, lost to the green blur of a forest somewhere still below, as he gave a startled sound the moment that the peaches started to levitate away from him. Seeing his predicament, Ruko laughed and quickly took the opportunity to steal more peaches from him just because she could. She only managed to snag two before he'd caught on. The look on his face morphed into a cross between a pout and a glare as he quickly batted her hands away. It only made her laugh more and she quickly lost the ability to concentrate properly.

By the time that the Nimbus came to a slow beside Bulma's bike again, Ruko was a breathless heap and Goku side-eyed her distrustfully as he kept the rest of his peaches safely out of her reach. Bulma gave them a disgruntled stare and grumbled something that was lost to the wind.

At her noise both children perked up, reminded of what they'd intended to do. Goku straightened out and held out a peach to the grumpy blue haired teen.

He grinned. "Ya want one?"

"It's good!" Ruko promised, popping up beside Goku to smile down at Bulma. "Came right from Paozu, so it's the very best!"

"...you guys have left your mountain before?" Bulma questioned, suddenly surprised.

"Not before meeting ya Bulma." Ruko replied with a slight shake of her head. The teen's frown came right back.

"Then you can't say that it's the 'very best'! Those are the only ones you've ever had before!"

"...so?"

"To make that statement you have to have tried lots and lots of different peaches and all from different places all over the world! You can't just try them all from one place and say that these ones are the best! There are so many different environmental factors that can effect the taste..." Bulma rambled, expression still annoyed. "And I'm not even going to bring in how people can effect the way that the fruits are grown and thus how they taste because that's just another swath of factors to think about!"

The duo stared. Glancing at them and seeing their look, Bulma let out a loud angry huff.

"...is tha' a 'no'?" Goku questioned.

"I'm driving."

Ruko gave a nod, "ya sure are, Bulma!"

Bulma grit her teeth, "I'm not going to eat and drive!"

"Why not?" the two chorused together, identical looks of confusion on their faces.

"BECAUSE THAT'S DANGEROUS!" As though startled by the sudden shout, Bulma's bike gave a sharp swerve as it's front tire hit a particularly large rock. The teen gave a yelp of surprise as the Nimbus skirted the children away.

"Geeze Bulma, ya need to be more careful." Ruko spoke up when Bulma got a hold of her bike again and they pulled Nimbus beside it once more.

Goku nodded, "ya almost fell off again." he stated with concern. The teen's face had gone red all the way to her ears and down her neck.

"Hey!" Ruko suddenly jumped up to her feet, a peach slipping out from her lumpy gi top at the action. Absently she caught it with one hand and pointed with the other to something ahead, "what's that?"

There was another fork in the path, albeit much shorter than the one that the duo had spotted earlier above the mountain. It curved more towards Mt. Paozu, went down into dip between two low hills and followed said dip until it reached a wooden archway that spanned over the entirety of the path that had seen better days. The wooden letters were rotten from the elements, sun-bleached of any colors it might have once had, and broken off in some areas leaving rusted nails to stick out of the decayed wood underneath. Past the archway the path abruptly changed from dirt to broken flagstone, which then spiderwebbed it's way between rows of what must have streets at one point where the ruins of buildings had already begun to be reclaimed by nature.

Bulma slowed her bike until it came to a stop at the fork and the tailed children had Nimbus float beside her as they all stared down the path between the low sloped hills to the lifeless town ahead.

"That's Town Paozu." Bulma informed the two in the air. "Or, at least, what's left of it."

Slowly the yellow cloud had begun to inch closer towards the town, floating higher as it did, it's riders too occupied with their starring to really notice. From the vantage point Nimbus provided they could easily see how some buildings looked as though they'd suddenly caved in from the ceiling, how entire walls were knocked aside and how there were divots in the stone flags that just didn't make sense. The very air around the entire place was dead, as though in mourning of the past.

"No one really knows what happened." Bulma continued as a shiver went down her spine the longer that she stared at the ruins. "If there were any survivors they never came forward with the story. No storms or any other natural disasters were reported in the area during the time. All we know is that this happened over night. There's a gave in West City for the ones that were found among the wreckage and a memorial stone for the bodies that weren't found. That's just over a thousand people."

Up much higher in the air now, the tailed duo just barely heard Bulma continue to speak.

Quietly, "Goku," Ruko's eyes were down on the town where she could now easily make out the pattern the dips in the ground made. Giant foot prints filled with water and mud in some areas, green grass and moss in others, were littered all over this area. "It was here."

"Yeah," Goku agreed, just as quietly. His gaze had trailed up the mountainside where there were several unnatural areas where the trees were simply gone. Bright green grass, flowers and even young trees had started to regrow in the blank areas making them hard to spot without knowing what to really look for. But he had seen before entire areas of trees where their trunks were broken at haphazard angles, splinters of wood covering the ground in a thick blanket, ground broken up and jutting out at odd angles many times before. Ruko and him had done their best to help fix such areas, so that the grass and trees and animals could come back quicker, just as many times before. His tail shivered as an uneasy feeling went through him, traveling all the way down his spine as his gaze followed the destruction on the mountainside down to the destroyed town at it's base. All of this, right behind their home.

A gurgle made itself known before a pain began to eat at his insides. Tired, the boy stopped his walking. Dust from the dry dirt road kicked up around his brand new sneakers, muting the already dark blue and black color scheme.

"Aw man," a pale white hand came up and raked through the boy's mop of curls and he let out a tired sigh. "I should have waited another day or something before taking the jewel. Her food was so good...!"

Dark brown eyes looked back over his shoulder in the direction of the village he'd just left. It hadn't been easy to blend in there, not when there was some whack-o coming into town regularly to kidnap all the young girls and putting all the locals on edge. But he'd stayed too long. They had been starting to get too suspicious. So, as he always did when people started to ask too many questions, he took whatever he could fit into his brown drawstring bag that might be useful and left.

He heaved out a large sigh and faced forward again. He kept walking.

"Hey, squirts! Pay attention to where your going! You're not invincible you know!" Bulma called up to duo, not wanting to admit that she was worried that one of them would fall off sooner than later. All morning they had been zipping about in daring maneuvers that would give most seasoned pilots heart attacks. Then they had seen the destroyed village and an odd serious air had come about them. Now they flew about almost lazily but let their cloud take sudden sharp turns, dives or climbs every so often- as though it were trying to change their mood to something more cheerful again.

The front wheel of Bulma's bike wobbled suddenly and the teen snapped her gaze ahead again- only for her eyes to widen in fear as she realized what was happening. She'd driven off of the road, and jumped another hill. A scared scream of surprise ripped out of the teen's throat as the bike took a sudden dive down the hill, making Bulma fall much farther down than she was ever comfortable with. The bike turned to its side in the air and Bulma was thrown off completely as the bike finally crashed. Bulma landed with a hard thud and rolled a good few meters before she came to a stop beside her broken machine.

"Wow!" Ruko said as she and Goku flew their cloud over. "That looked like it was so much fun Bulma! You went up really high in the air too!"

There wasn't any immediate response. Keeping still, Bulma did her best to simply breathe.

Concerned now, "are you okay Bulma?" Goku asked as he hopped off the cloud. When the silence persisted he picked up a nearby stick and crouched down to poke at the teen. A hiss left her at the prod and her face scrunched up in pain. Slowly Bulma opened up her eyes and stared up at the bright sky. Her eyes began to water.

"Does it look like I'm okay? Everything hurts..." Bulma replied weakly, pushing an arm back to prop herself up with her elbow. Quickly hopping off the cloud as well, Ruko positioned herself behind Bulma to gently help her sit up properly. Goku let his stick fall back to the ground and grabbed Bulma's elbow to help the teen get up the rest of the way.

The three star Dragonball had fallen out of Bulma's bag and rolled to a stop at the teen's feet. Seeing Bulma sway slightly where she stood, Ruko picked up the Dragonball and motioned to hand it back to the injured teen.

"Here..." Ruko's eyes then fell on the Dragonball and widened. The object had begun to glow. "Bulma stop crying! Look!"

A little miffed at the sudden order, Bulma opened her mouth to yell, only to stop in her surprise as her eyes landed on the Dragonball. She snatched the orb up for herself, tears forgotten, and looked between the two tailed children.

"It's glowing!" Goku gasped, eyes also wide.

"You know what this means, don't you?" Bulma asked, and the kids smiled. "The fifth ball must be close! This is great!"

A small noise of inquiry left Ruko before she pointed, "hey look over there!" her gaze went past Goku and the other two turned to see where she indicated. Goku grinned. "Do you see what I see?"

"It's a village!" Goku responded instantly, tail wiggling as he bounced on his toes.

"Good eye, Ruko!" Bulma praised as she wiped at her eyes. She put the Dragonball back into her pocket and let her gaze fall to her bike. It was banged up but nothing looked too broken.

"Do you think it's there?" Ruko asked.

"Only one way to find out." Bulma replied. She bent to pick up her bike and grunted at it's weight. Goku and Ruko helped her get it on it's wheels and Bulma quickly sat herself back down on it's seat. She put her hands on the handlebars and finally noticed the large crack that now went through the speedometer and frowned. According to her bike, she was currently (and permanently) going one hundred miles per hour.

Ruko and Goku hopped back onto the Flying Nimbus, and speed off to the town, leaving Bulma to catch up to them. When they arrived in the town, however, no one was around. Goku and Ruko looked around curiously. They could hear bodies moving about in the houses, but didn't spot a soul. It was as though the people were hiding from them. When Bulma pulled up next to them she grew weary.

"I wonder where everybody is..." The teen stated aloud as the three of them looked about. Ruko hopped down from the Nimbus as Bulma got off of her bike and pulled out the Dragon Radar. Goku continued to look around from his high vantage and began to weave the cloud between the house rooves.

On the ground as she rounded a house corner, Ruko paused, then silently decided to go and inspect a noise that she'd heard. Late morning shadows were cast on the narrow space between two houses, causing visibility to lessen. Yet Ruko ducked under a wooden pallet and moved herself between a milk crate and wooden barrel without snagging anything on the many rusty nails or frayed wood that stuck out of those items as though it were the easiest thing to do in the world. When she managed to squeeze herself past the last piece of broken pallet, Ruko paused and stared in confusion at the person in front of her.

It was another kid, just a little taller than her. But there was a look of regret and sorrow on the kid's face as tears began to pool at the edges of their eyes. Just as Ruko opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, something heavy fell on top of her from behind and she was forced onto her knees at the same time that a fabric bag robbed her of her vision. Something hard clonked her on the top of her head and Ruko fell forwards as nausea swirled in her stomach.

Goku felt a chill go down his spine. He glanced down at his tail and frowned at it's sudden ruffled state, but the cold feeling only settled in his gut as though claiming that space for it's stay. Flickering his fluffed tail agitatedly, he looked around the area below with more focus.

"Let's see what the Radar says," Bulma pressed a button to turn the screen of the Dragon Radar on. Four yellow lights were blinking in the center of the screen, and one yellow light was blinking extremely close to them. "Yup, the next Dragonball is here alright."

Bulma looked up from her Radar, realizing just how quiet it still was. It felt like the very buildings were holding their breath. She spotted Goku as he swooped lower on his cloud and caught his eye with a frown.

"There's something wrong. It's too quiet." Bulma whispered and goosebumps rose on her skin. "Maybe this village's been deserted like the last one...?"

"No." Goku gave a shake of his head as he stopped the Nimbus beside her. "There are people here. I can hear them."

"Are you sure, Goku?" Bulma asked, looking up to her small companion. "It seems like another ghost town to me."

"Yeah, I'm positive. There! Did you hear that? Someone was running away from their window in that house over there." he pointed to a house on their left, and sure enough, the curtains in the window were swaying ever so slightly.

"If you say so..." Bulma said, feeling a shiver go down her spine. Then she started to look around again. Goku looked at her curiously, wondering why Bulma suddenly seemed so nervous.

"Wait! Where's Ruko?" the teen then asked with her eyes widening with alarm.

"She walked off a while ago..." Goku responded, and that cold feeling in his gut intensified. He flicked his tail again, trying to work off the odd energy even as the need to see Ruko for himself grew. Bulma gave him a look before she tentatively called out the girl's name. There was no response.

"Hey, I think I just saw someone looking at us from that window over there," Bulma glanced at the tailed boy as he pointed this out. His nose was in the air as he took in a big breath, then let it out slowly through his mouth. Instead of shouting for Ruko as Bulma had expected him to, he met her gaze evenly, "an' Ruko's there."

Unnerved, "this is just getting freaky. Lets just-! Find Ruko, grab the Dragonball, and leave." Bulma stated clearly and drew a quick line in the air with her hand as she spoke. Giving a nod, Goku hopped down from the Nimbus. He walked over to a door of a house with purpose and knocked on it.

"Hey-!" Goku called knowingly. "I found you! Come on out now!"

There was no audible noise in response.

"I hope that Ruko's not in some sort of trouble..." Bulma muttered to herself.

Mouth in a hard line, Goku took a stance and put his hand in a tight fist. No more knocking. His hand went right through the door, just below the handle. The wood caved with little to no resistance, splinters flew in every which direction indoors.

"There." Goku grinned, "that did the trick." The door swung open on with a quiet creak. Inside, the house was completely dark.

"Ever consider using the handle...?" Bulma said, a little stunned.

"It worked didn't it?" Goku gave a light shrug in the teen's direction. "I knocked first, too."

"Get. This. Off!"

Goku's eyes widened at the familiarity of Ruko's voice. His head snapped forward as his body tensed to attention.

"Ruko?!" He called, stepping into the house quickly. Out from behind the opened door a man with crazy hair attacked Goku with a sharp, wood-splitting axe. Goku yelped out in pain as the heavy blade of the tool landed squarely on the top of his head.

"GOK-!" Ruko's voice called out in alarm, before being muffled.

Bulma gasped as she jumped back in fear. Goku held the top of his head in pain as the axe blade shattered to pieces and fell around him. Bulma yelled out in shock, she wasn't sure what was more frightening; Goku being unscathed by an axe blade to the head or the fact that someone would use a surprise attack on a little kid like that.

...Not that she was one to comment on attacking a small child with the intent to kill...

The man that had attacked Goku looked at him in shock and disbelief. "Oh no... It didn't work..!" The man said, dropping the handle of the broken tool- which used to be an axe- on the floor. It landed with a heavy thud. "It's just as I feared...! I should have known!"

Goku had pain-filled tears in his eyes as he rubbed his head, where a huge red bump was forming. He glared up at the man, clenching his teeth.

"What'd ya do that fer?!" Goku growled, looking down and rubbing his head. "That didn't tickle ya know!"

"Oh, please forgive me, Mr. Oolong-" The man clapped his hands together and made a deep bow of apology as he spoke. Then he was suddenly cut off by a voice.

"Wait, father!" the voice called out. Out from behind a wooden chest, a girl crawled out. When she stood up and had dusted herself off, she leaned back down and grunted as she strained to drag something out behind her. Goku looked up, and forgot all about the bump on his head. In one swift moved he got his power pole off of his back- it was his turn to carry it today- and pointed it at the two in front of him angrily.

"Release Ruko...!" Goku said threateningly. His voice was low and his tail swished behind him angrily. His dark brown eyes were narrowed and cold. The daughter shivered and her face grew pale as she froze when she looked between Goku, Bulma and her father.

Ruko was glaring up at the girl with a gag in her mouth. A rope had tied her arms behind her back and her legs together with thick knots. Even Ruko's tail would have a tough time getting her out of that, but it was working on it anyways.

"We have your friend!" the man that attacked Goku said, staring down at the boy with a sudden new confidence. He had straightened up again and quickly went to hold Ruko up by her bindings. Ruko struggled in his grip, her arms were not made to be pulled back in such a position for such a long time- much less to hold all of her body weight while tied up like this!

"I'd rather die than loose my daughter!" The man declared. He gave Ruko a solid shake and glared back at Goku. A gargled pained noise left Ruko at that and she glared at the man holding her up. Her forest green eyes were particularly frosty. "I know it was foolish of me to try and attack you... But now I have the upper hand! I'll give you your friend back if you leave my daughter and the town be!"

"Oolong...?" Bulma mumbled, her voice a bit wobbly as she watched what was happening from behind Goku, feeling a bit numb. This was the first time that she had ever seen Goku act or sound like this. He was mad.

Goku glared, his hard eyes going from the man, to his daughter, then to Ruko who was in clear pain.

"First;" Goku growled angrily, and shot his glare to who he assumed to be the 'daughter', who flinched back. "I want nothing to do with your daughter. Second;" and Goku shot his glare to the man holding Ruko. He stepped in front of his daughter protectively. "You must have me confused with someone else; my name is Son Goku, and this is the first time I've ever been here."

Bulma found that she could say nothing as she watched this new Goku with fear. His voice was deadly calm, and his tail was flicking behind him dangerously. Where had the happy-go-lucky kid that she knew gone off to? It was like she was seeing a completely different person. As though someone had just flipped a switch... one that Bulma wanted to put right back to normal as soon as possible.

"Now... Put. Ruko. Down." Goku demanded, and his gaze only softened when he looked to Ruko. "Please."

Ruko was still struggling in the man's grip, but he had dropped her closer to the ground as Goku had been talking. Ruko's toes were now able to touch the floor. Now there was less weight on her strained shoulders, making it less painful. But she didn't stop glaring.

"...It's not him dad." The daughter spoke quietly, and looked to her father. Her voice shook as she spoke, but the certainty was clear enough.

The man looked behind him in shock, then looked back at the angry kid in front of him with a red staff. He put Ruko down all the way and let her go. She wobbled back and forth, her limbs still tied up, and started to fall to the floor face first. She tried hopping forwards, but couldn't do much with her legs tied together. Ruko closed her eyes tight, ready for the impact after the fall. Before she hit the floor, Goku had already put the Power Pole back in its sheath on his back, and caught her. He picked her up swiftly, and with complete ease. Ruko open her eyes in alarm before she saw how it was just Goku. Relief spread through her and her body relaxed instantly. Turning on his heel, Goku brought Ruko towards Bulma.

"Can you cut Ruko out of this...?" Goku asked Bulma, his tone right back to normal. All traces of the anger that he had just a moment ago was now gone. In fact, he might have seemed a little timid in the way he had asked the teen. Bulma blinked. He was acting as though nothing had happened. Her head spun.

"Uh, yeah. Sure." she responded quietly, before she took a step back and towards her bike. "Just a moment, kid." And Bulma slowly turned all the way around, not entirely sure of what she had just witnessed. It almost felt like whiplash, how fast his mood had changed.

Goku sighed and sat down against the door frame to the crazy man's house. As Goku waited for Bulma to come back, he sat Ruko comfortably in his lap. She looked very angry and was still glaring at the man and his daughter. Goku untied the gag that had been forced into her mouth.

"There." Goku gave a smile. He pulled her just a little closer to him. "That's much better."

"Thanks Goku." Ruko said, sticking out her tongue and trying to get the taste of the dirty rag out of her mouth. He nodded, feeling better now that she was safely with him and that no one wanted to harm them.

Ruko then turned to glare at the two who had held her captive. She felt like she should yell at them, be angry at them for hurting her. She was still angry at them, but for some reason she didn't feel like she needed to yell at them. It had happened and now she was safe. Only one important question stayed on her mind now.

Firmly, "why?" Ruko demanded of them.

Goku looked up at the two people. They had tied up his friend, threatened him with her safety and even attacked him with something heavy to the head. Now that he thought of it, the spot on his head now throbbed quite insistently. The daughter's look was now apologetic and the man's face was red with shame. But the both of their expressions turned to shock at Ruko's question.

"We're sorry." The daughter said, looking down. "We thought we could capture Oolong... Then we noticed you and your friends and thought that one of you must be him. So after we tricked and captured your friend- who also wasn't Oolong- we tied you up and figured we could used you against the others..." she recounted with shame in her voice. And for the first time, Goku noticed that she looked to be about the same age as him and Ruko.

Her log brown hair was separated into two braids. She had a bandana in her hair, going all the way around her head, and a bird's feather was stuck between the bandana and her hair. She was wearing a pink dress with a yellow apron over the front. The girl looked up at her father before looking back to Goku, then down at Ruko in his lap.

"I'll go and get some water for your bump." The girl stated before she turned and walked off to somewhere else in the house.

Goku looked up at the father as his daughter left the room. A small crowd was starting to gather outside. It seemed that all of the village had either watched or heard about what had happened within this short time. Bulma came back then, with a flip knife in her hands, and started to untie Ruko. Once she was released from her ropes, Goku helped to get them off of her.

"I have the water! And I brought a little snack too." The daughter said, while putting the water down on the chest she had been hidden behind and turned on the lights in the house. Beside the water was a bowl of grapes and apples. Goku and Ruko perked up and went over to the food. Ruko reached for an apple and took it to snack on. Just as Goku was about to grab a grape, the daughter stuck her hand in front of Goku to prevent him from doing so. Goku pouted as Ruko took the bite of her apple happily.

"Can you sit down first, let me take care of your bump." The daughter gave a timid smile. "It's the least I can for you after all that."

With a sad glance to the food, Goku sat down compliantly on the floor in his habitual butterfly stretch. Seeing Goku's pout, Ruko grabbed the bowl of food and sat down in front of him with it. She had copied him by putting the soles of her feet together, and she ate her apple almost smugly.

It looked as though the whole town was at the door now, looking into the house curiously and watching the two kids with tails. The only one who was not curious or happy, however, was Bulma.

A frown was on Bulma face, as she had her hands in the pockets of the brown jacket that she was wearing. She was glaring down at the floor. The daughter had gone back over to the water and dipped a towel in it. Goku happily ate the grapes as the daughter rung out the towel and turned towards Goku.

"Here we go, this'll help!"

"Careful..." Goku whined, not wanting his head to hurt more than it already was. He flinched when the girl put the towel on his bump. "Ow..!" Goku winced then grabbed another grape and ate it sadly. Ruko grinned cheekily at him and grabbed her third apple. This was starting to be a very good snack!

"What a big head." the daughter giggled. The father started to laugh awkwardly, and Bulma snapped her head up at him with a glare.

"He could have been killed! Shame on you." She said and turned her head in the other direction with a 'hmph!' for good measure.

"I... I thought that he was Oolong..." The father defended weakly, and put his hand behind his head to scratch at his neck. "I was only trying to protect my daughter!"

"Oh yeah..." Goku and Ruko both looked to the daughter curiously.

"That means you're a girl right?" Ruko asked, just to make sure. The daughter smiled at them both and nodded. Then both Ruko and Goku went up to her, patting her between the legs. They both smiled and nodded with a laugh.

"Yup, your a girl!" they confirmed with a grin from ear to ear. The daughter went very red in the face as she stared between them with wide eyes. Suddenly Bulma came up to them and whacked them on their heads. They both clutched their swollen robin eggs, Goku's much larger than before.

"What'd ya do tha' fer?!" Goku yelped, new tears gathering in his eyes.

Bulma crouched down between the two, making herself their height. Her face was almost as red as the daughter they had inspected.

"Guess Einsteins!" Bulma hissed, glaring at the two of them. Then she turned her accusatory glare on Ruko only, who looked just as confused as Goku. "Maybe Goku- but you too, Ruko?!"

"W- what'd I do?" Ruko asked, and glanced at Goku for an answer. When he met her gaze he shrugged.

Noticing their exchange, Bulma looked heavenward and let out a strangled groan. "I didn't want to but you two are clearly, desperately, in need of help-! We are fixing this later...!" Bulma vowed to herself quietly.

Letting out a heavy sigh Bulma shot up to her full height again and turned her back on them. Composed once more, the teen looked up at the father and tilted her head to one side.

"So..." She narrowed her eyes and held her hands behind her back. "Just who's this Oolong fellow that everyone's so afraid of?"

Suddenly the daughter started to cry. Goku and Ruko watched with concern as the daughter ran to her father and cried in his arms. The father hugged his daughter tight to his chest. After a moment he looked up to Bulma with a strong hatred in his gaze as he began to describe Oolong.

"He's our worst nightmare. He's a blackness that has descended on our village and a monster who treats us like his toys!"

Ruko and Goku had stood up to stand beside Bulma. Goku had the bowl in his hands, there were only grapes left in it. Ruko took a few grapes from his bowl every couple of seconds, and Goku ate them absently as they both listened to what the father had to say.

"That bad?" Bulma asked, and Ruko looked down at Goku's bowl. There were no more grapes left to eat. She put her hands behind her head and balanced on one foot as she noticed that Goku had the last grape in his hand.

"He's much worse!"

"How so?"

"Well, somehow this powerful creature has the power to change into any shape that it wants to. Instead of one nightmare, we're cursed by many! No one knows his real identity, we just know that he wants our daughters! That monster's kidnapped three girls from the village already!" The father clutched onto his daughter a little tighter as she calmed down enough to only give quiet sobs. The father looked down, glaring at the floor as he continued. "And yesterday, my darkest fears came true...! Oolong came to village in the form of an ogre. 'Is that your daughter?' he said, 'how lovely! I think I'll marry her. I'll be back tomorrow- so make sure she's ready'!" The man gritted his teeth as tears of frustration pooled in the corners of his eyes. "He wants Pokawatha, my daughter!"

"What a bully!" Ruko declared, seeing how upset this information made the father and daughter pair. "Ya gotta stand up to those types or they never go away."

"Hey, maybe we could trap him when he comes back." Goku suggested, and Ruko nodded.

"It already worked once, I'm sure ya can do it again." Ruko added, and Pokawatha looked away in shame.

"How?!" her father asked, tone almost angry in his incredulity, and pushed his daughter behind him. "That monster's bigger than this house!"

When the kids looked at him blankly, the man's eyes widened.

"My word, you don't get it do you...!? He would squish you like a little bug! There's no way to stop this monster..." The crowd of villagers around the door gasped, whispering amongst themselves.

After a moment the man calmed down and let out a tired sigh. He ran a hand down his face before he seemed to jolt, and eyed the three travelers in his house curiously. "So tell us," the father's tone became somewhat weary as he made his inquiry. "Since you're not Oolong, why have you come here?"

"Oh!" Bulma took off a red backpack and set it on the floor. Ruko and Goku watched her movements curiously. "I'll show you!"

After a moment of riffling through her bag, the blue haired teen stood and held up a glowing golden Dragonball with two stars in it. "We came here to find a ball that matches this one."

The father came over and Bulma let him take it to examine.

"Hmmm..." he said, holding it up to his eyes. He grabbed his glasses that were hanging around his neck by a string and put them on. "Strange. Yes, it's very beautiful, but I've never seen anything like it in my life."

"I have."

Everyone in the room looked over to see that it was a little old lady who had spoken. She hobbled over, using a little wooden cane to keep her balance.

"I have the matching one, young lady." The old woman stated. Bulma looked over the moon, holding her hands up to the sides of her head, eyes practically sparkling with her happiness.

Goku had gone to grab another grape, only to realize that there were no more left when he'd looked down. He put the now empty bowl down and went back to stand beside Ruko, putting his hands on the back on his head like her, and balancing on the opposite foot that she was.

"I knew it! I knew there was one here!" Bulma said happily. "Can I see it, please?"

"Well how about that..." Pokawatha's father looked on with bemusement as the old woman nodded to Bulma and searched her skirt pocket until she had grabbed something. When she finally revealed her hand again, there sat a pretty orange orb between her fingers.

"Here it is."

"The six star ball!" Bulma declaired gleefully, and the kids looked at it in awe. For some reason, the Dragonballs only seemed to get prettier with the more stars that were suspended inside of them.

"Woah...!" They responded in sync, staring at it in awe.

"Cool!" Bulma felt the need to add, on the verge of squealing from the sight of the Dragonball.

"Would you give it to us?" Ruko asked, as she and Goku looked at the old woman expectantly. She received a shake of the head.

"I'm not just going to give this away. It's been in my family for generations." the elderly explained sadly, "it was given to my great-gran-mammy as a wedding present from her husband. She gave it to my gran-mammy on her wedding day, who gave it to my gran on her wedding day, who gave it to my ma on her wedding day, who gave it to me on mine, and I went and gave it to my dearly departed daughter on hers...! And I fully intend to give it to my granddaughter in law, whenever my grandson decides to marry!"

Bulma eyed the ball in the old woman's hand and a glint seemed to appear in her eyes. "Would you... give us that ball if we were to get rid of that Oolong creep, retrieve the girls and return your village to a peaceful place again?"

Everyone in the room, but Ruko and Goku, had gasped at Bulma's words. They were looking at Bulma as though she'd grown horns. Goku and Ruko shared a look, and started to whisper to each other. No one seemed to notice, and they stopped after a moment to look at the people just before whispering again. Then suddenly the old woman spoke up, sounding a little cross.

"Now you listen here, I may be old, but I'm not gullible. How could the three of you defeat Oolong?" The old woman demanded while she looked up at Bulma with an air of disapproval only one many years older could display to the younger generation. Bulma was not intimidated, however. The blue haired teen smiled, and then put her hands on her hips as she replied proudly.

"Well, Ruko, Goku and I are quite a team, mam! Right gu-" Bulma suddenly stopped speaking, her mouth hanging open in shock. Ruko and Goku had walked up to the old woman and started to pat her between the legs, as they had done with Pokawatha. After a moment they stopped and looked up with smiles on their faces.

"Your a girl, aren't you?!" They accused knowingly, like they had just confirmed a great secret. The old woman blushed, put her hands on her face and looked away from them with a small smile.

"What randy boys you are!" She said, her voice clearly stating her flattered feelings. Bulma ran up to them and knocked them hard on the heads again, making them look at her in pain and fear.

"Are you crazy?! Please stop doing that!" Bulma yelled with mortification. They didn't say anything.

"You- ...you think that you and those boys really have a chance to beat Oolong, miss?" One of the men in the crowd asked. Bulma looked over at him, her expression changed almost instantly. It made Ruko scared at how Bulma acted. Is that how all girls were? Is that how she would grow up to be? Desperately Ruko hoped not.

"Yeah, I think we have a good chance." Bulma put her hands on her hips. The tailed duo watched her wearily as she spoke. "They're a little on the compact side, but they sure do pack a wallop! Don't you kids?"

"Hmmm." The two mumbled, still weary of her. What was she trying to make them do?

"I'm Bulma, the brains of the outfit."

"Would you forgive me for hitting you...?"

The kids looked over, holding their heads still, and saw that it was Pokawatha's father that had spoken. He looked extremely sorry while holding his head down and keeping his other arm around his daughter.

"And..." Pokawatha looked to Ruko as she spoke. "Can you forgive me for tricking you ...and tying you up? We would really appreciate your help."

It took less than a moment for Ruko to make her decision."Sure." Ruko agreed, glad that the pair had finally apologized properly.

Of course, Ruko would would have helped out anyways- Bulma forcing them into it or not. It was the right thing to do, she felt, since these people felt like they were being terrorized. The least she could do was look into it. And Goku tended to follow Ruko's lead, whatever she decided to do.

"There's an old legend," the same man who had spoken up from the crowd before spoke again. He poked his head through the door and looked at the two kids with curiosity. "That a pair of kids who could dance on the clouds would come to free our people. We always thought that it was just folklore, though."

"Bulma!" A woman said from the crowd, she seemed to be just a few years younger than the old woman. "It would mean the world to me if you could bring my baby back!"

Then a man came into the house, wearing the most peculiar clothing. He went over to Ruko and Goku, taking each of their hands in the both of his as he stood in front of them. The feather crown that he wore reached down to his knees, and the beads attached to his clothing made odd noises when he walked. Everything he wore seemed to be made out of cured animal skin.

"You have my blessings, young warriors. Your courage will stand like a great monument among my people." He praised, then nodded to them. Bulma smirked, and looked over to the kids with a smile.

"I've just come up with a great idea on how to trap Oolong!" She declared smartly. Ruko and Goku looked up at her with uncertainty in their eyes.

A few minutes later, Ruko was sitting on the chest in the living room, staring at Goku with wide eyes. Bulma was smiling, glad that her plan was coming together. Goku had a very different idea of this however. With a big frown on his face, he looked down at what he was forced to wear. Goku found himself dressed in a very pink dress, that went down to cover his shoes and a yellow apron tied around his waist. A pink and red-polka dotted handkerchief was on his head to cover his unruly hair and his tail peeked out the bottom of his skirt at the back- which raised the bell skirt up a bit.

He had given the Power Pole to Ruko for safekeeping, since Bulma said he couldn't wear it. Apparently it would give away that he was not who he needed to pretend to be.

"Wow, kid! You look great!" Bulma cheered, "you'd be a real looker if you just smiled a bit more!"

"There's not much to smile about..." Goku grumpted unhappily while looking down at how he was dressed. His normal clothes were underneath the dress, which made him feel a bit better, but he still didn't get why this was happening to him.

"Can we come up with a different plan, Bulma?" Ruko asked, looking at Bulma while watching Goku from the corner of her eye. Maybe the idea of it was funny at first. Now that Ruko saw how unhappy Goku was she felt terrible for even agreeing in the first place.

"Sorry, no time kids!" Bulma grinned, and Pokawatha came into the room then, and smiled at Goku.

"Gosh, Goku, you make a real pretty girl!" She commented, making Goku scowl. He did not like this.

"Why can't Ruko wear the dress then?!" Goku growled and set a glare on Bulma.

"Because you got the shorter straw." Bulma said with a smirk. This only made Goku growl louder in annoyance- a sound that was most certainly not human. Bulma then eyed the girl with a tail out of the corner of her eye before turning back to Goku."Though, I would have loved to dress Ruko up, trust me...! Now remember Goku, don't blow your cover! He has to think that you're Pokawatha! The important thing is getting the information of where he's hiding the other girls. You and Ruko can handle Oolong in any way you want to after."

"Alright, alright, I'll do it!" Goku grouched. He grabbed at his skirt like it was the worst thing in the world. "But I'm not gonna like this one little bit!"

Ruko could say nothing. While she felt bad, she also felt lucky indeed that she had gotten the longer straw from Bulma's hands when she was choosing who-does-what.

Suddenly the ground shook, and the lights hanging on the ceiling started to swing dangerously back and forth. With another shake of the ground, a picture toppled off of a shelf. The sound of plates shattering on impact with the floor came from the kitchen further within the house. Goku looked up in curiosity, Bulma started freaking out like it was the end of the world, and Ruko hopped off of her seat calmly.

"He's here!" Pokawatha's father called out in fright, and Bulma yelled out in surprise. With a quick look out the window, Ruko could see two large legs covered in white pant fabric. With every step that was taken, a new earthquake rattled through the town and a small crater was made in the ground. Pokawatha and her father cowered behind the chest that Ruko had just been sitting on, and looked up at their three guests.

"Oolong's coming!" Someone yelled out, just before opening the door by the hole that Goku had made. The man put his head inside the door and looked at Bulma and the tailed kids. "Oolong's in the village and he's on his way here!"

"He's a big guy Goku." Ruko stated, then smirked at him. "Don't beat him too bad, I want a turn too."

Goku smiled at her, glad that she was trying to cheer him up with some normalcy. Ruko has always liked fighting only a little bit more than Goku. It was almost as though she was born with a taste for it.

"I dunno," Goku replied back slyly, "I do have to wear this thing. Maybe I'll keep yer turn for myself as payment."

Something flashed in Ruko's eyes at the sound of that. "You can try." she warned for the challenge.

An excited grin stretched across Goku's features then. He wouldn't let Ruko get a single hit in. When Bulma called his name, Goku was much more cheerful about her plan.

"Alright Goku, it's up to you." Bulma coached as she stood beside the door. Ruko quickly ran out and called for the nimbus. It came for her a second later, and she readily hopped onto it. Goku stopped at Bulma's side, watched as Ruko and Nimbus disappeared high up in the air, and pulled up the skirt around his legs so that he didn't trip. "Good luck you guys."

"You guys?" Goku looked Bulma askance with annoyance tugging at his mood once again. "Since you're the 'brains of this outfit', ya are going to help us. Right?"

For a moment Bulma stared down at Goku blankly. Then she pushed Goku the rest of the way out of the door. As soon as he was out of range, Bulma slipped into the safety of the inside of the house and closed the door firmly behind her. With a scowl on his face, Goku watched as a blue eye now looked out at him through the hole that he had punched below the door's handle.

"I'll be right here rooting for you Goku!" She cheered, and Goku stared at her in disbelief. "And if things get too shaky, Ruko's only a shout away. She'll stop him when he tries to run away."

Goku didn't have anything to say, his mind going blank. For some reason, he had imagined this plan a little differently. Goku had to keep Oolong distracted and try to get info out of him at the same time. What could possibly go wrong? At least he knew that Oolong wasn't going to get out of the town, he wasn't going to just let Ruko have the people snatcher that easily.

The shaking from Oolong's footsteps were getting stronger, and Goku heard a suspicious thud on the other side of the door as Bulma's face disappeared for a moment. A second later, she was looking back out at him again, like nothing had happened.

"Alright kid, it's show time." Bulma whisper shouted, and Goku got down in a crouching position on the ground, his back facing the direction in which Oolong was coming from. "Remember, smile!"

"Next time, I'm making the plan." Goku grumbled as he glared down at the dirt like it had wronged him personally. A shadow fell over him and Goku tensed.

Way up high in the air, Ruko had situated herself to lay down on the Nimbus to watch what would happen below. Oolong, who seemed to be a large red beast of some sort, wore a white wedding suit. He had a giant bouquet of flowers in his hands that seemed to have blossoms that were just as overly large as the beast itself. Goku disappeared from sight when Oolong stopped walking just behind him.

Being so high up, Ruko couldn't hear if they spoke anything to one another. She'd stayed just close enough to see what would happen. Now she contemplated if she should get closer as Goku kept the red beast's attention, or if she should continue to wait to see if this Oolong would try and escape the town before Goku could beat him.

Eventually Ruko decided to bring the Nimbus a little lower so that she could hear what they were saying. Before she could get too close, though, Oolong suddenly threw his arms up in the air and shouted. Exactly like Bulma's capsules, a white smoke came out of nowhere and made a loud 'BANG' noise that had Ruko's ears ringing.

Slowly the smoke began to clear, and Ruko's eyes widened with surprise.