Bulma’s mind slowly pulled itself out of unconsciousness. She could hear voices, but she had no clue what they were saying. She felt a slight bump, and her body moving back and forth. She also noticed that there was an arm around the backs of her leg and that blood was rushing to her head. ‘Ok,’ she thought. ‘I’m upside down… For what reason?? And where am I? How did I get here? Why am I even alive?’ as the thoughts started to plague her mind she developed an almost colossal headache.

‘Ugh…’ she groaned to herself. ‘I must have a head injury.’

She opened one eye.

And even that seemed to add on to the tremendous pounding of her head.

She waited for her vision to clear, as she focused on the ground below her.

She realized that she was on a dirt road, and that someone was carrying her. She looked down and focused on her captor’s rear. ‘Hmm… Whoa, nice…’ she thought, but then went totally pale when she saw the very distinct appendage that was wrapped around his waist. A brown furry tail.

"Holy shit…" she murmured groggily.

"Hey," she heard a far away voice say. "I think the little trouble maker’s finally awake."

‘I know that I know who that voice belongs to… Who is it? Why can’t I remember??’ Bulma thought to herself. She groaned as another shock of pain went through her head,

"Good." Another voice commented. "I was getting tired of holding her. I’d be glad if she could walk on her own." She was sure that that was the voice of her captor.

"Well, it seems like she’s in a lot of pain." She heard a slightly high-pitched male’s voice comment. "You really did a number on her Chichi. I almost feel bad that we couldn’t give her one of those healing patches that we gave you."

The first voice spoke again. "Oh she’s fine. Humph. She’s lucky enough to be alive. I’m pretty sure we could find all those stupid capsules on our own. We should just have killed her…"

Now it registered in Bulma’s mind.

‘That Saiyajin girl! Chichi! So, that means I must still be with them. And the second voice I heard… It’s the one that attacked me right before I was about to finish Chichi off… Now, they’ve got me captured, but what do they want with the capsules?? How do they even know about the capsules??’ Bulma thought with panic.

"Are you sure she’s awake? I mean, she hasn’t said anything besides ‘holy shit’. And that could have just been sleep talk." A different voice said.

She didn’t know who this one was. She also didn’t know who was carrying her.

"Well, I say we rest. We’ve been flying around for hours. And because this stupid baka Turles suggested we walk to find her village we’ve gotten off track, and now Kakarot’s stupid bitch doesn’t know where the village is. I don’t know why the lot of you had to accompany me on this purge, but I am almost entirely fed up. And, since she’s not waking up anytime soon, I think it’s futile to try to get anywhere without her assistance." The one who was carrying her stated in a superior tone as he lowered her to the ground. Bulma’s face contorted in pain as she landed on her side with her injured ribs. She opened her eyes slightly; just enough to get a look at her surroundings but not enough for them to notice she was awake.

"Humph." The female Saiyajin said as a pair of long muscled legs came into Bulma’s view.

Bulma squeezed her eyes tightly shut as she felt Chichi put a hand on her forehead, just below her bangs.

Chichi brushed back her bangs and just seemed to stare at her.

"She’s really odd, isn’t she? I’ve never seen anyone with this coloring. Hmm… pretty exotic eh. She’s your type, isn’t she Turles?" Chichi asked.

"What are you talking about??" Turles asked as he plopped down on a stump.

‘So, that voice belongs to Turles??’ Bulma thought to herself. She couldn’t even see him, because she was too afraid to open her eyes.

‘And what does she mean I’m his type??’ Bulma asked herself.

"Oh, you know." Chichi stated as she removed her hand from Bulma. Bulma heard Chichi walk away.

"We won’t have any use for her after we find the capsules, and she tells us how to work it. So, maybe you could take her as a prize after this is all done, unless…" Chichi trailed off as she turned to Vegeta.

"Unless what?" she heard the person who was holding her ask with an angry almost jealous tone in his voice.

‘Why’s he jealous? What’s going on??’ Bulma thought, as her confusion made her head hurt more.

"Unless, the prince wants her for himself?" Chichi asked.

The person in question, who had happened to be the one lugging her growled angrily, but kept quiet.

As soon as Bulma heard the word ‘prince’, her heart stopped. ‘Hadn’t Chichi said that the one to destroy my planet had been the prince. Vegeta-ouji sama??’ Bulma’s mind was going in a whirl. She felt like her lungs were constricting and it was hard to breathe. She was just sitting there, letting her self be carried around like a rag doll, by the murder that was responsible for the death of her people and of her parents??

She couldn’t believe herself. ‘How… could I lose… and just let myself lose?? I didn’t even put up a fight. Well, I’m not gonna sit around and be used as a tool to destroy more races, and to destroy more families… No!!’ Bulma yelled in her head. She jumped up and caught the attention of the four Saiyajin warriors.

"What do you think you’re doing??" the one with hair like a flame questioned her.

"What do you think, Vegetable-head! I don’t know who you jerks think you are but if you think that I’ll let you dictate to me, and try to sell me like an object, then you are terribly mistaken, because I’m not going down without a fight!" She yelled angrily.

The one she had called Vegetable head stood up.

Then the two look alike Saiyajins stood, with the sinisterly evil Chichi behind them.

Bulma took a fighting stance, and then all her injuries chose that time to remind her that they were there.

She groaned as she fell to her knees, clutching her side.

"Aww, poor baby, you can’t even stand up; how can you defeat three Saiyajin elites and a first class?" Chichi asked, mockingly.

"Bitch, you should still be hurt." Bulma said as she glared at Chichi.

Chichi grinned and did a somersault.

"Do I look like I’m in pain?" Chichi asked.

Bulma’s mouth dropped open.

‘N- not fair…’ she said to herself as she felt tears start to sting her eyes.

‘Ah no!’ she said to herself as she shook her head. ‘I can’t cry, I’m unstoppable, I’m Unbreakable….’ Bulma sighed to herself.

"Just put her out of commission, she’s annoying me with her primitive screeching." Vegeta said to Chichi.

Chichi bowed.

"My pleasure, your highness." She said, and this time it wasn’t sarcastic.

Chichi glared at Bulma as she started to walk towards her. Already, Chichi could already feel how much her power had grown since her last fight with the Earthling.

Bulma just stumbled to her feet, as she saw Chichi approach her. As Chichi got nearer, she screamed her battle cry. Bulma growled, as she finally stabilized her self, only to feel Chichi’s knee in her stomach.

Bulma coughed as she fell to the ground clutching her stomach.

Bulma groaned in pain, and looked up at the glaring Chichi. Chichi chopped Bulma on the side of her neck.

Bulma groaned faintly as she was enveloped in darkness, once again.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Ok." Margo said as she led Noel to a black pool.

On closer inspection he saw that the rock that formed it was made out of the blackest onyx.

Margo pointed down with her finger, as her eyes narrowed seriously.

"No time to dilly dally. You said that you could do it, now summon the dragon Miranda." Margo said victoriously.

Noel looked around the crater.

""I- I’ll have to figure out exactly how to do that… but, it shouldn’t take long…" Noel stuttered.

Margo narrowed her eyes and inhaled sharply.

"You incompetent fool!" she yelled angrily as she punched him in the stomach.

Noel crumpled to the ground, surprised at the intensity of the hit.

He had thought of Margo as nothing but a sex kitten, even after all her talk of being the daughter of the mighty Frieza; he had never seen her bring any truth to it.

He rolled onto his side, trying to lessen the pain.

"Fool, don’t try and cross me, I’m already annoyed that the Saiyajins are here and Miranda isn’t summoned, DON’T get me angry." She warned.

Noel nodded painfully as he crawled over to the pool, to begin trying to figure out how to summon Miranda.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elani was in the center of the village, trying to gather everyone’s attention, so that they would evacuate the town, but most people ignored the small Checkisu-jin girl. Only a few actually acknowledged her, but they only gave her a little smile and walked on.

Elani growled angrily.

‘They’re not gonna listen to me!!! And by the time they figure out that this is for real… it’ll be too late…’ she thought.

She decided to get their attention the only way she knew how.

"Listen up all you worthless bitches!!! I want your attention front and center before I make your head replace your ass!!!" she screamed out in the fluent Checkisu-jin language.

That caught attention. It was highly dishonorable for such words to come from a child’s mouth, and Elani knew that.

"What do you think you’re doing, you rude little girl??" and angry woman asked as she turned around.

"Listen up!" Elani yelled.

"I’m sorry about my disrespect, but this is urgent. There are evil aliens on this planet, who came here to do nothing but cause destruction. If you don’t believe me you can go and ask Macki, the village elder, yourself, but I AM telling the truth! It’d be in your best interest to evacuate the town and go somewhere less commercial. I’m almost sure that the Saiyajins are heading here, and we don’t want any blood shed, ok??" Elani asked.

The crowd was quiet for a few, but then murmurs started to go through the congregation.

"Aliens?? It’s just probably unruly villagers." One said.

Someone else disagreed.

"No, I’ve heard of the Saiyajins, They’re coldhearted." The person said. "But, they couldn’t be here. They don’t attack commercial places like Checkisu-sei. They usually only attack military bases and stuff like that.

"Don’t seem so sure of yourself." Elani replied in the native tongue. "But, the planet Bulma-sama came from was nothing but residential, technological, and maybe some weak weaponry based military stations, but they attacked it anyway. I think they just go for the joy ride. They don’t care who they hurt in the process. So, that’s why I’m asking all of you to vacate the area." Emi finished.

The people started grumbling amongst themselves again, but Elani was glad to see that some cautious mothers were leaving with their young ones.

‘This really might take a while…’ Elani muttered to herself.

~~~~~~~~~~

Vegeta was now carrying her in his arms, like one would carry a precious keepsake.

He stared down into her face as they continued to trek through the forest.

‘It doesn’t make any sense. What is she doing here? I- why do I feel like I’m supposed to protect her?? I’m a royal prince. This woman should mean nothing to me. I don’t even know her, but she has me so infatuated… I just don’t understand…’ he sighed to himself.

He looked up when he heard his group come to a halt.

"Like I told you guys." Chichi said to her mate and his brother.

"I could find my way into the village." She said as she pointed through a break in the foliage.

They peered down. Even though the actual town was still a few miles away, their advance Saiyajin sight helped them to see the place Chichi had found better. They could see the smoke billowing out of the tops of houses, and people busily moving through the streets.

Vegeta smirked.

"Now we play the game. To see how many of them will die before they realize it’s futile to go against us." Vegeta said darkly.

"I bet maybe one hundred." Kakarot said.

Vegeta sneered at him.

"Commence!" Vegeta commanded as he and his troops took to the air.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey!!" someone shouted as they looked up in the air.

Elani let her eyes roll to the sky, to only feel them widen as she took in the sight before her.

There were four Saiyajins floating above her.

She didn’t even know what a Saiyajin looked like, but the brown furry tails that were waving behind them were enough of a hint for her.

She angrily growled and narrowed her eyes when she saw who was being carried like a rag doll under one of the Saiyajins’ arm. The Saiyajins took this time to land.

They settled in the middle of the town, immediately gaining every one’s attention.

Elani watched as the stocky one with hair like a flame, unceremoniously dropped Bulma on the ground.

He stepped forward and cleared his throat, as if he were about to speak.

But, he closed his mouth when he focused on Elani. Who just stood out in the crowd, since she was on the high podium with a microphone in her hands.

Vegeta looked behind him and motioned for Kakarot to approach him.

The taller Saiyajin approached his prince with alight confusion on his face.

"See that little purple faced girl?" Vegeta asked in Saiya-go.

Kakarot nodded as he saw the girl in question narrow her eyes at him.

"She seems to know why everyone seems to have been evacuating even before we got here. Bring her to me, and we’ll make her talk." Vegeta said as he turned and smirked at Elani.

Elani’s eyes widened as she saw the other Saiyajin phase out.

She tried to run, but before she could even turn around, she felt herself get lifted off the ground.

And in another second she was lying in a heap at the feet of the short warrior.

"And, what might you be trying to do?" he asked her.

Elani glanced over at Bulma with worry on her face.

"Ah, so you know the little trouble maker, eh?" he asked again.

Elani turned to him and glared.

She pushed herself to her feet and stood before Bulma.

"You leave her alone!" Elani shouted.

"Oh, I think we can’t do that anymore." A black haired female said to her.

"She’s in pretty bad shape." The female Saiyajin sighed and gave Bulma a sarcastic look of sympathy.

"Look, how much you talk depends on whether you live or not." Vegeta said to Elani.

"First off." Chichi said as she opened her log.

"Name, age, and… uh race?" she said as she scanned over Elani’s purple skin and dark purple hair.

Vegeta gave Chichi a wary look.

"That’s not really necessary, is it?" he asked her.

"Yeah, well, that’s the point of this thing." She said as she held up the log.

"I have to take account of everyone we meet…"

"So." Chichi said as she turned back to Chichi.

"Like I said: name, age, race."

Elani growled, but sighed as she sunk down next to Bulma.

‘They’re not gonna kill me yet…’ Elani sighed as she brushed back Bulma’s bangs and noticed the fresh bruises that had appeared on her face.

"Elani Lao, 12, Checkisu-jin." Elani answered just as Chichi was about to ask her again.

"Why don’t you monkey’s just go back to where you came from and leave us peaceful people alone!!" Elani yelled, more directing the statement to Vegeta and Chichi.

Chichi frowned.

"The people on this planet are awfully mouthy aren’t they?" Chichi asked as she smirked at Turles.

Elani frowned.

"And you monkeys are full of shit!" Elani said, in the Japanese Bulma had taught her, hoping the Saiyajins hadn’t understood her.

But all of them reacted as if they did.

Chichi yelled angrily as she charged at Elani even though Kakarot yelled for her to stop.

She smacked Elani hard across the face, and sent her sliding back a couple meters.

Elani stumbled, as she held on to her cheek.

Vegeta held up his hand as Chichi started preparing an energy attack.

"Talk first. Kill later." Vegeta stated.

"The woman, that our first class ,Chichi, had the luck to defeat; is Bulma Briefs. Is she not? We have reason to believe that she may be housing some technology that could be very useful to the Saiyajin race. We’d like to know where this house is located." Vegeta stated.

"I know, that if Bulma didn’t tell you, that she didn’t want you to know. And you must be out of your mind if you think that I’d tell you." Elani said angrily as she rubbed her bruised cheek gingerly.

"Really, well if you don’t tell us, your friend and this entire planet will be destroyed. Now, if you really cared, you’d do what was in her best favor." Vegeta said with a cruel smirk.

"You’ll probably just kill her anyway." Elani said as she bared her teeth.

"That’s no guarantee. We will be forced to if she doesn’t cooperate, but that may be the only reason…" Vegeta stated to Elani.

"I- I… you have to promise not to hurt her… If I tell you where all the capsules are." Elani stated.

Vegeta smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"So, you’re trying to make deals with me, eh?" he asked her as the three Saiyajins behind him started laughing.

"Don’t laugh!" Elani yelled, because I don’t have to tell you!" she shouted angrily as hot tears formed in her eyes.

‘What am I going to do?? They’ll kill me for sure. And then… what guarantee is there for Bulma… I mean, I can’t let myself die… I don’t want to… But, it’s for Bulma… for the balance… Wait a second…’ Elani thought as she focused on Vegeta.

"A-are you a prince? Are any of you??" she asked Vegeta, excluding Chichi in the category since she was female.

Vegeta’s eyebrows lifted in surprise and he heard the unsettlement of the Saiyajins behind him.

"I am Prince Vegeta of Vegeta-sei. What concern is it of you??" he asked her.

Elani closed her eyes sadly.

"Okay, follow me, and I’ll show you where the house is." Elani said as she turned to pick up Bulma.

"I got her." Chichi said as she slightly pushed Elani out of the way.

"Don’t want you running off somewhere trying to ditch us. And I’m the only one here who won’t hesitate to kill her." Chichi stated as she gave Elani a cruel smile.

"Ok. This way." Elani said through clenched teeth as she made her way into the town.

* * * * *