Disclaimer: DBZ is not mine, so these characters are not mine.

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Bulma gazed around her cell morosely. How could she have let herself get into this situation? She should have just called upon the volcano to save her; she was pretty sure Kilauea would have come to her aid. But no, she didn't, and now she was stuck in the Monkey King's dungeon. O Kane, why did she have to go with her gut instead of her head? Well, she knew better next time . . . if there ever was a next time. Her future seemed bleak, especially if she were to become a slave for the Monkey King.

Bulma shuddered at the thought. She could still feel his gaze on her face and body as he circled her, like he was the hunter come to claim his prey and prize. But it was more than that. She saw the lust in his eyes; the drive to break her mind, body , and soul; the intense pleasure he got when she fought him. She was sure she felt his gloved hand brush her body, as if checking to make sure she was real.

Bulma almost couldn't beleive that he was real. Stories had been coming from travelers across space that there was a new reigning King, that the former King had been destroyed by his son, and now the son was basically on a rampage across the stars claiming ever planet across the universe. Bulma didn't let it concern her too much because Earth was such a small planet and she was sure it would have been overlooked, which it was the first time around. But then when the Monkey King decided to go back to his own planet, he had stopped to take over Earth too suddenly. She had felt that Kane was punishing her for some unknown reason: she'd done nothing to him so why was he letting this happen? Then again, why did the other gods of planets let their footstools be taken over so quickly and painfully in some cases? Were they all banding together to get back at their own peoples? Was it some kind of game for them? Bulma couldn't understand the logic behind it. Why let your planet get captured?

Bulma thoughts were interrupted by a screeching that came from down the hall from her cell. She got up from the floor and walked to the energy barrier and tried to see what was happening as best as she could.

It was Chichi, her sister, and she was fighting the one named Kakkarot as a storm rages against a reef. And she seemed to be losing, because Kakkarot just stared at her, perplexed but amused, and pushed her down the hall toward Bulma.

"Chichi, stop." Bulma commanded the raven haired girl.

Chichi immediately stopped her protests and walked sullenly down the hallway toward Bulma. Kakkarot was so stunned at the change in the girl that he had to run down the hall after her, having stopped from the shock. He pressed the code for the barrier and the barrier immediately shut down.

Bulma beckoned Chichi to come into the cell with her. Chichi walked in, her eyes averted to the floor, and Kakkarot put up the barrier again. He stared at the two women for a moment, and then left with a confused looked on his face. Bulma watched him go out of the corner of her eye, smirking.

Bulma turned her gaze on Chichi. "They got you too." she stated more than asked.

Chichi nodded, lifting her head up high. "At least I fought with what I had. You just went kicking and screaming." Chichi spoke contemptuously.

Bulma looked at her, vaguely amuse at her sisters tone. "I felt I shouldn't call on Kilauea, at least not yet." Bulma sat back on the floor, her head falling into her hands. "Do you think it was easy not using my power at the first sign of danger? I felt like I had betrayed by peoples, my land . . . Kane."

"You have." Chichi spat at her.

Bulma let her head fall back, her blue eyes upon the ceiling. She looked at Chichi again, her eyes totally serious. "You know, I had this feeling that even if I had called on Kilauea, she wouldn't have answered my call."

Chichi looked at her, shocked. "Kilauea? I highly doubt it. She would throw herself into the ocean for you if you asked."

Bulma smiled at her sourly. "I know that much. But this time I'm sure she would have disobeyed me."

"Are you telling the truth, or are you just trying to make yourself feel better?"

Bulma looked down at the floor, unsure of how to tell her wild sister that what she was saying was true. She closed her eyes a moment and expanded her awareness of her surroundings. Underneath her lay the ship, then dirt, rock, lava rock, and . . . lava. Kilauea's life lay beneath them, teeming in her hot lava roads deep inside the earth. "Do you feel that?" Bulma said to Chichi, her eyes still closed.

Chichi paused for a long moment, searching out what her sister felt, and then she felt it, the lava flow beneath them. She grunted her acknowledgment.

"Now," Bulma said, her tone very serious. "If Kilauea will obey my call, then she will come up through the lava rock, rock, dirt, and the ship, and carry us away from here."

They waited in silence for several minutes, both feeling the rage of Kilauea as she pushed against the walls vainly, trying to reach her mistress. Bulma opened her eyes after a time, and sighed.

Chichi slowly opened her eyes also and looked sadly at her sister. "She wanted to come, but something stopped her." she said softly, sorrowfully.

Bulma nodded gravely. "Kane stopped her."

Chichi's eyes went wide. "But why?"

"There is a bigger picture that none of us are seeing."

"But, when I called upon the sea, she came to me." Chichi said, not understanding.

Bulma smirked softly to herself. "It's not your fate: it's mine entwined with the Monkey King's . . . with Vegeta's."

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