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"So, you're really leaving." Goku stated more than asked Bulma as he escorted her to her pod.

"Yeah." she said, her voice sad, but hopeful. "I can really do some good. I'll be back."

Goku looked at her doubtfully.

She smile kindly at him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I will be back, and things will be different." she said reassuringly. "Have a little faith in me."

"I do." he said, covering her hand with his. "Come back in one piece and alive." Goku opened the pod door for her.

She stepped inside and made herself comfortable. "I will. You can count on that."

Goku gave her one last look before closing the door. Bulma saw him step back, anticipating the wave of energy the pod would emit when it took off. Bulma set the coordinates for a distant planet called Matrigad, like the oracle said. The "dark-souled" man wasn't there as of yet, but he would be there when she arrived. It would take several months to reach Matrigad. Bulma strapped on a mask that would emit a gas that would make her sleep for most of the ride, and then wear off enough so that she would be awake when she made impact on Matrigad. She looked out a small window on her right side and made a thumbs-up sign at Goku. He smiled back at her. She pressed a button and she was off, out into space . . . getting ready to save the universe.

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Five months later . . . .

Matrigad: it was an ugly colored planet. Blue and pink; who ever heard of a blue and pink planet? Whatever being who created the universe must have used the leftovers for Matrigad, because . . . damn. From far all you could see were blue and pink masses, which wasn't that bad; but as you got closer, you could see that the blue was dotted with other weird colors that totally did not match anything in the grand scheme of things, and that the pink was actually clouds and large bodies of water-- or something that looked like water. It was, in one word, ugly.

Bulma's pod crashed into the blue earth with an great shattering sound that could be heard from miles away. Her head thumped against the padded insulation harshly, and she rubbed the spot a bit to get circulation going. "I bet the natives heard that all the way on the other side of this Kami-forsaken planet." she muttered to herself.

After checking to make sure everything was in working condition and that conditions outside were suitable for human life, she opened the door of the pod and got out. It was a hot Matrigad summer day, and as soon as she stepped out her exposed skin became slick with sweat. "Great. I'd have to come on the day the world decided to cook all living things to a crisp." she muttered. She grabbed her small pouch from inside the pod and then closed the pod up and capsuled it, placing the capsule in her pouch.

She pulled out a white capsule that said `Scouter' on the side and uncapsuled it. Immediately a Saiyan scouter appeared and she strapped it to her head like a pair of sunglasses. She tapped on it and scanned the horizon, looking for any high power levels. She found quite a bit of small power levels, and then off to the left her scouter picked up a very high one. "Must be the bastard I've come to meet." she muttered yet again. The heat was definitely getting to her, and those pink clouds didn't look like they'd be of much help at all.

Bulma uncapsuled her air-bike and started off in the direction of the high power reading. The foliage was thick and hard to get though, so the only way she'd get anywhere was from above. Bulma kicked the bike into high gear and pulled it up above the trees. She cruised around a bit in the air until she got relatively close to where her `prey' was. She slowed down and got back down to earth; she wanted to walk the rest of the way. She capsuled her bike and started again-- this time on foot-- in his direction.

She wasn't cut out for this type of work. At first, she had felt good because she'd be getting away from her captors, and she actually do some good for Earth. But now, having reached her destination and finding it hard work just to get near the bastard, she wasn't sure if it was worth it at all. She was hot, she was tired, and she was in a bad mood. She could picture herself getting into a fight with him from the get go, especially since the oracle said he was such an arrogant bastard anyway.

Bulma heard some foliage move off the her right. She spun around and saw the remnant of as cape as the person pulled out of view. Damn. She hadn't thought about the natives. Were they friendly? Would they try to eat her? She'd been so wrapped up in the `dark-souled' stranger to even think about the natives. And she wasn't prepared to fight for herself.

She heard another movement, now off to the left. Surrounded? She hoped not. She started to move again toward `him.' She wasn't really surprised when someone stepped out before her. It was a . . . man, she supposed. He stood seven feet tall, and he wore a blue cape wrapped around his shoulders. His face was a little too long for her tastes, and his skin was a pale blue color.

He was definitely not the person she was looking for: his signature reading was almost none. Maybe should could take him if he tried anything with her. She had to have more power than him. Goodness, she'd been hanging with Goku for years now; some of his talent must have rubbed off on her.

"Hi." she said. "Oh, yeah, Bulma, that sounded really smart." she said to herself, giving herself a mental smack on the head.

The man just stared at her.

"Well, you know, I gotta get going. I have some things to do." she responded to his silence. She walked forward and tried to get past him.

He stood like a stone wall in her way. And then suddenly, he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. He started to walk in the opposite direction from where she was headed.

"Hey!" she said, pounding on his back with her fists. "What are you doing? Put me down!" she screamed.

He just kept on walking.

"I'm warning you: if you don't put me down and let me do what I need to do, you'll be very sorry."

He remained silent.

Bulma sighed. He probably didn't even understand her, and maybe this was a normal practice for the males of this planet. Well, she wasn't about to stand for this caveman treatment. She gritted her teeth together, tensed her body, and brought her foot up to connect with his face. He immediately dropped her and his hands went up to his face to cover the bleeding. Bulma got up from the floor and jumped into a fighting stance, ready to defend herself as best as she could if need be.

The man looked at her and back to his bloody green hand. His eyes remained totally neutral, and he seemed to not be comprehending what just happened. Oh, Kami; not only was the planet ugly, but the natives were pretty damned stupid too. She relaxed a little and pulled out her medic capsule. She handed him a tissue and demonstrated how to use it by placing it on his nose. He looked back at her, comprehension dawning on his slow mind. He smiled at her and held the tissue to his nose and started to hum softly.

"Oh, Kami." she sighed.

She got up from the floor and put her medic capsule back in her pouch. She started to go on her way again. Suddenly she heard screaming coming from the mans direction. She spun around and found him lying on the floor, a huge hole in the middle of his chest. She looked up and saw another blue-skinned man standing behind him holding a ki gun. Where did he get that from? Obviously, there were some more advanced people on this planet.

The man pointed the gun at her. "You can either come peaceably, or not." he said, his voice low and threatening.

Bulma sighed and lifted her hands up in surrender. Didn't look like she'd get out of this one that easily. He motioned for her to walk in front of him. "I'm coming." She put her arms down and walked before him.

"I didn't think there'd be another one of you coming. I thought he'd be the only one. I recall him saying once that he was the only one left. I guess not. Won't he be surprised when we tell him we caught one of his own. He'll definitely come to get you, and we'll be waiting." the man said as they walked.

Bulma's brain was going a mile a minute now. So, she was in the `enemy's' hands now. Wouldn't they be surprised to find out that she wasn't who they thought she was. The man wouldn't even know her, so he definitely wouldn't come for her. And then what would he do to her? Kill her like he just killed the innocent man? Probably. Once they found they had no need for her, she would be disposed of. Her only hope was to play along and escape somehow.

"You're damned right he'll come after me, and all of your butts will get knock from here to kingdom come." Bulma snarled as best as she could.

She heard the man snort behind her and jam his gun into her back. "I highly doubt it." he said, assurance in his voice. "This time we will crush him and those who are following him."

Bulma smirked, knowing full well that this man pointing a gun at her back had no chance against the other man. "You go and believe what you want." she said, her voice casual.

"You don't believe me?" he said, his voice rising in anger. "Even you yourself didn't put up a fight with me. You knew you had met your match."

"Damn man is too cocky for his own good." Bulma thought to herself. She said to him, "I was getting tired of walking. What's the point of going to meet him when I can just get him to come to me? If I wanted to, I could wipe the floor with your face."

The man considered her words for a moment and then smiled. "Sure."

"Whatever." she said, trying to put up the best front she could.

They came to camp eventually, and she was thrown into a nasty tent that served as a dungeon. There were a few other prisoners there too, and they were guarded by a big blue guy welding a ki gun.

"I'll be sure to tell him that you've arrived and that we'd be happy to give you to him when he comes here to get you." the man said, his voice laughing.

"Damn skippy." she said, her voice bored.

He looked at her flustered and left.

She looked at the other prisoners. They were huddled in a far corner, away from her. They seemed to be a bit scared of her. She must have looked like hell. "It's okay." she said in a soothing voice. "I won't hurt you."

A little girl peeped out her head from the small crowd and tentatively took a step to her. Bulma knelt on the floor and opened her arms invitingly. The girl stared at her suspiciously, but walked up to her and touched her face. Bulma pulled the girl to her and held her in an embrace. She struggled a bit and Bulma heard the mother cry out, but Bulma didn't let the girl go until she realized that nothing bad was going to come to her. Moments later the girl had stopped struggling and lay limp in Bulma's arms. Bulma could feel the girls soft breath on her shoulder. Bulma pushed the girl away and the girl stood there for a few moments, uncertain. Then she called out to the crowd and one by one they came out of the dark corner and stood beside Bulma. They began to touch her: he hair, her face, her hands. They seemed to be making sure that she was real. Bulma laughed softly.

"Hi, I'm Mae." the little girl said.

"I'm Bulma." she said, holding out her hand toward the girl.

The girl grasped it firmly. "Are you here to rescue us?"

Bulma was surprised by the question. "Um . . . well . . . yeah, I guess, I suppose." she stuttered.

The girl gave her a big grateful smile. "I knew he'd send someone to get us. Everyone else said that he didn't care, but I knew he did." She said, her voice full of faith. "For a while, I did doubt. But now you're here, and we'll be going home soon."

"Yeah, soon." Bulma said, not sure of what else she could say.

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Bulma was awakened to screaming. "He's here! He's here!"

There was a loud explosion, followed by more screaming. Everyone in the tent was awake now and huddle together in the middle, frightened. Bulma ran to the open flap of the tent and peered outside. The guard who had been stationed to watch over them was gone, and much of the camp lay in ruins. People were running around like chickens with their heads cut off. It looked like help had come after all.

Bulma went back into the tent. "We're going to get out of here." she said, her voice sure. "Follow me." She turned back to the door.

"You're not going anywhere." she heard a voice said. The man from earlier in the day stepped inside the tent. "I am going to finish you." he said. His body was cover in green blood and his clothes were singed from the fires burning outside. "I will so enjoy getting rid of one of his kind." the man said, raising his hands as he readied himself to choke Bulma.

"Not in this lifetime." another voice said. Bulma didn't even have time to blink before the man lay in ash on the floor. "Bastard."

Bulma looked up and saw the man from her dreams. He stood before her, barely taller than her. His hair looked like an angry black flame on his head, and his eyes were darker than hell itself. His body . . . damn, she couldn't even describe that.

Mae ran up to him and threw her arms around him. "My King!" she squealed in delight.

Bulma saw anger flame in his eyes. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion: he raised his hand to strike her; her mother screamed; Bulma ran, pushed the girl out of the way, and took the blow herself. She was immediately sent into darkness.

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