Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend Of the Bond ❯ Ripples of Madness ( Chapter 30 )

The wind whipped over the Namek-sei landscape, but the sound of it was only too loud for all those present. Vegeta stood motionlessly as he stared at his most hated enemy, who was staring right back at him with eyes shining evilly and a taunting smirk curving his dark lips.

Mere moments ago, thanks to Kakarotto’s unusual ability, Vegeta had felt himself being miraculously transported through space from the small ship in which he had been traveling for the last few months. The beginning of the passage had felt good, almost exhilarating, as they passed between the ripples of space and time on their way to Namek-sei. But somewhere in mid-passage, Vegeta felt a heavy burden weighing in upon him from a million different directions. He felt sins from a million different lives, all wanting to overtake and consume him. Vegeta had fought back mentally and felt refreshed from the challenge, but his triumphant smile didn’t even have time to form on his face.

He and Kakarotto arrived on Namek-sei, materializing precisely in front of the one he most reviled, just in time to see what he most dreaded. His bonded mate was being held up in the air by both arms by Zarbon. His not-so-gentle grip dangled her in front of Freeza, who had been obviously interrogating her before they arrived. Bulma looked tired and she was bleeding from a new injury on her face. Vegeta’s worse nightmare was now being played out, for real, right in front of his eyes. Kakarotto stood quietly by his side; the younger Saiya-jin’s face stayed serious, his eyes unblinking, staring in Bulma’s direction.

Bulma weakly turned her head to look at Vegeta and he could feel her overwhelming emotions flood into him. The intensity from them almost staggered him. All at once, he felt relief, joy, and sorrow, along with a strong desire to protect someone. That feeling wasn’t something he had ever felt from Bulma; it was very different, and it came with such an overwhelming sense of love that Vegeta almost forgot that his most hated enemy was right in front of him, only a few steps away. And the second he remembered Freeza’s presence, he felt immense fear pouring out from Bulma.

“Now, now, look what the monkey’s dragged in! Why, it’s another smelly monkey!” Freeza’s mocking voice cut into Vegeta’s thoughts so sharply that he took an involuntary step forward.

“No more games, you bald, half-excuse for an emperor! Today you will die!” Vegeta declared, his voice strong and steady with no uncertainty in it. “I have already taken your throne away from you with my rebellion. We ‘monkeys’ will rule the five galaxies with true strength and honor!” He knew within the depths of his soul that what he said would ring true. Without Freeza’s tyranny, Saiya-jins would evolve into a new race, one that would not be the enemy of the whole universe. Instead, they would become the strongest, most respected race.

Freeza’s confident smirk fell off a little, but then slowly reshaped. “Ah, do you really think for a moment that such an insignificant loss of a few armies will unseat me or that I will die today, instead of you?”

Zarbon chuckled. “Don’t forget what I hold in my hands, little monkey.”

“I could care less about the Chikyuu-jin you carry.” Vegeta’s bluff was clearly hidden from his voice and even his body language. By now he was well-practiced in how to lie in order to deceive an enemy. But he also knew Bulma would feel the truth behind the posturing and lies, and sense how much he was worried for her.

“Ah, is that so?” Freeza turned to focus on Bulma. “Blue-haired one, is that really true? Can you feel the truth behind his false claims, since, of course, you are his legendary ‘bonded’?” Freeza then laughed maliciously upon seeing the horror that clearly and quickly overtook the expressions of both Vegeta and Bulma. “One silly Saiya-jin legend after the next, really…how obtuse. At least one, and only one, of your legends did actually come true, eh, Vegeta?”

Freeza turned his attention back to Vegeta, whose face had turned into one of rage and hate. “I will be Legendary, Freeza, “he said, growling. “Even now, as we speak, the time will come when I will destroy you as such!”

“Ah, ah, oh, dear me! Whatever should I do since the all-mighty Super Saiya-jin has come to kill me? I suppose I shouldn’t enrage you any further and return your dear woman to you as well?” Freeza’s mocking and sarcastic voice was only emphasized by his nearly disappeared smirk.

Vegeta grew more apprehensive and on edge with how Freeza was behaving. By the Ice-jin’s side, Zarbon seemed far too relaxed, as though he was enjoying himself immensely, almost of is if this scenario was exactly what he wanted. Freeza turned to face Bulma and Zarbon. He casually motioned to Zarbon to give Bulma over to him. Zarbon nodded and let Bulma down so she could stand on her own two feet. Vegeta stood in a fighting stance, ready for any attack that would come once Freeza took Bulma.

As soon as her feet touched the dusty ground, Bulma formed her hands into claws and tried to attack Freeza, who easily caught her wrists. He quickly lifted her up into a tender embrace and held her pressed against his body with his two mechanic arms; every motion meant to insult and mock. Vegeta felt his feet itching to spring forward. He felt Bulma’s fear and her own uncertainties. He could also hear her scream profanities toward Freeza in her mind, but he couldn’t make out any other words or emotions from her. She seemed to be buffering herself for the worse, almost shielding herself from her own emotions. Vegeta continued to hold himself in check, waiting for an opening, waiting for Freeza’s next move.

“Now, I should return you to your prince.” As Freeza said this he stared at Vegeta with cold and calculating eyes, almost as if he was daring Vegeta to see into his plans.

Then, in an unforeseeable moment, Freeza literally tossed Bulma high into the air towards Vegeta. All time seemed to freeze as Vegeta’s attention flew towards Bulma, the cold emperor and his minion momentarily forgotten as he quickly opened his arms to catch her. It would be the worse decision the Saiya-jin prince would ever make.

With Vegeta’s eyes no longer on him, Freeza’s formerly amused face became devoid of expression. And it was then, in that next, horrifying second, when Freeza lifted a single finger and shot an energy blast, small and painfully accurate, right through Bulma’s chest.

“NO!” Vegeta voice roared out with pain and sorrow as Bulma’s bloodied form fell limply into his arms.

**********

Nail flew like a streak through the sky, racing back to the village, eager to take Bulma to safety. The village Elder admonished him for being foolish; he told Nail that he should never have agreed to Bulma’s request but instead have brought her and the Dragon Balls to him immediately. The moment he heard the Elder’s scolding words, Nail turned around shot off towards Muuri’s village, feeling more and more apprehensive with each meter of land he covered. Pure evil had landed on their land, destroying villages left and right, and he, as a warrior, wanted to protect his family, his people, but all he could think of at the moment was Bulma. He needed her to be alright when he arrived, to be safe and waiting for him.

Far away in the distance, he saw a deep shadow began to embrace the borders of the village that was his eventual destination. Lightning and thunder began to rumble within the clouds formations, but the sound seemed almost like a background noise; not fully formed nor fully developed, lacking in strength. Nail wanted to hurry onward but his instincts were on high alert, telling him to approach slowly and with utmost caution. The air felt heavy and cloying; it was pulling in intense humidity and it tasted stale as he breathed it in. The closer he came to the village, the more he could smell the metallic scent of blood in the air. Nail’s growing dread for Bulma’s safety seemed to jump up into his throat, making him fear the worst had happened.

Once Nail was within in visual range of the village he flew lower. In the group below, he saw the evil entity that was gripping the galaxy and holding the lives of billions of people in fear. He could also make out another evil presence standing next to the white, metal-lizard that he was warned about. The second one was tall, green and blue, somehow pathetic in his eyes, but yet it was someone Nail wanted to tear to bits. Near the water’s edge, next to small but angry waves, were two more beings; both looking similar, yet different. The taller one stood posed in a ready fighting stance, his face full of anger and bitterness. The other one was kneeling on the ground, holding onto something. When Nail narrowed his eyes to focus on that something, he stopped his approach and just hung in the air, shocked. He felt sickened with sorrow and surprise. He’d finally found Bulma, but instead of the vibrant being he’d hoped to return to, her body was covered in blood and, as far as he could tell, she was no longer alive.

**********

Vegeta couldn’t think clearly anymore; he could hardly breathe. His very worst fear, his most absolute nightmare, had been made real by none other than creature he swore to defeat before anything like this could happen. Freeza, Kakarotto, Zarbon, the planet, all faded away. He felt her life being sucked away so fast he didn’t have time to be fully aware of anything else but her. He felt hot, angry tears fall from his eyes as he held Bulma tightly. He continued to look at her, feeling her slip away from him. He felt her pain, her fear, her panic…but there was a feeling of odd acceptance as well.

He forced his own ki into her, holding her onto life, refusing to let her accept her fate. He didn’t want to live life without her; he didn’t want to achieve victory knowing that her bones were collecting dust. Vegeta could feel Bulma’s emotions so fully that he didn’t need to say a thing; helpless to do anything more than to force her to stay with him. But even with all his strength, he could still feel her slipping away. For the first time, Vegeta felt weak and fearful and yet he didn’t care. For in this moment, he wasn’t a Saiya-jin prince; he was only a man, desperately in love with a dying woman.

Bulma eyes fluttered and opened. She looked up at Vegeta, her eyes full of love, not caring what had come between them, forgetting every negative thought about him. She felt his panic, his deep and aching sadness, and she could feel his deeply rooted love for her warming her through their bond. She reached up with a shaky hand and weakly touched Vegeta’s face, her fingertips brushing over his tears. How silly to ever have thought he used her; how silly to ever think she could not love this man and now it was too late for the missed time and opportunities. She loved him so very much, and she loved their child, who she would not see grow into a man.

Bulma pulled in her remaining strength to tell him one last thing. All she needed was Vegeta’s promise to get Freeza off this planet to protect Trunks and the Namek-jins.

“Pro…mise…me, Veg…ee…ta…please…get Freeza off…this…plan..et…” Bulma’s voice grew quieter with each hardly formed word. Blood began to pour more quickly from the corner of her mouth. She choked a little, but kept her eyes focused on Vegeta.

Vegeta heard her every word and the intense need behind them. He felt again her love for him and he made sure she felt his love for her. He stared at her intensely, not wanting to take his eyes away from hers. Even with him pouring his ki into her, her life force was waning, like light slowly dimming, dying. He could not stop it.

He took these last moments with her to give her every ounce of affection he could from within his heart, every good thought and memory of their time together. Their time in the garden, their marriage, all poured from him into her, to ease her passing. The little bit of tension in her body was relaxing, but even so, she continued to look up at Vegeta, her own eyes filled with the love she felt….would always feel for him. Slowly, the strength left her hand as it fell away from his face and landed beside her. Bulma closed her eyes to the last, sudden pain vibrating from her injured body through their bond and into Vegeta. The second they both felt it, she finally slipped away, leaving a lifeless body in Vegeta’s arms.

Slowly, carefully, Vegeta let Bulma’s body slip to the ground. Every part of him was numbed; he couldn’t think, he couldn’t feel. The shock of Bulma’s death took over his body and mind.

But soon, so very soon, anger, immense wrath and fury began to churn his blood. Every touch, every smile, every laugh, every reprimanding look Bulma had given him replayed over and over in his mind. The anger continued to rise and boil as his body grew hotter and hotter. A million different lives ran through his mind, all had Bulma in his life, alive and well. The beauty of her hair, her brilliant mind, always there to support and love him, no matter what he did came and went through his mind. He felt his skin prickle and tighten. No matter if he turned into a beast, into a monster, into a devil, Bulma loved him. She was not dead. He felt her presence lingering in the air, like she was everywhere. And he felt himself, a different Vegeta…no, more like a million different Vegetas and Bulmas, each reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder, or on his back, giving him peace, giving him calmness.

Then he felt anger at Bulma for allowing herself to die. He felt anger at himself for not being strong enough to stop this from happening; anger at his pride being hurt, anger at his own failure. Anger and hurt was the only things he could feel anymore. It surrounded him, engulfed him. As the anger built on anger, he began to relish its searing heat, while hurt bubbled forth from more hurt. How and why this happened stopped being a question in his mind; it became only a reason for more anger to form.

But within those countless layers of anger and hurt, he suddenly and very surprisingly felt calm. In fact, he had never felt calmer. And with that peacefulness, his senses began to feel the air and water around him, sensing as the energy from all around gathered to him. Everything was silent; everything was flat and motionless. His wrath was no longer a separate entity, but now felt one with his calmness. So small within him, yet so concentrated he felt as if his whole being was being animated, sustained only by that calm anger.

He raised his head and looked directly at Freeza, his eyes boring into the murderer with intense hate and focus.

Freeza, who had been watching Vegeta’s perplexing behavior, finally chuckled. “Aw, did I make the monkey angry?”

With that, Vegeta threw back his head and screamed and a chorus of thunder and lightning followed. Everything around him seemed to slow down even further than before. His dark irises and pupils disappeared, leaving behind only the whites. All the muscles on his body contracted and doubled, then tripled in size. Power surged, radiating from the center of his wrath and calmness, almost as if it was consuming him from within.

His aura, which usually was a bright blue, turned a vivid gold, its brilliance nearly blinding everyone who was watching this transformation. Slowly, from the roots to the tip, Vegeta’s hair turned from ebony to shining gold. Emerging from the lifeless, berserk-like whites of his eyes, two piercingly blue-green eyes now shone, filled with new-found strength. His body seemed to double in size then contract back to normal. Wind blew upward, driven by the power of Vegeta’s new aura, whipping the clothes of those nearby, and his dominance of the nature around him shook the ground.

Vegeta stood up, standing behind Bulma’s body, full of pride and magnificence. Without allowing himself to look down, he carefully stepped over the body of his bonded and moved closer toward his hated enemy. Kakarotto looked over at Vegeta, his face filled with awe and disbelief, acknowledging and knowing what just occurred. Vegeta stared straight at Freeza, who now had a look of horror and surprise. The Ice-jin could do nothing but watch open-mouthed as another Saiya-jin Legend came true before his eyes, only this was the one he truly feared the most.

Vegeta stopped his progress and spread his feet slightly apart, ready to spring and fight. The power of the vaunted Legendary flowed freely through his veins. With this sure and steady power, Vegeta felt certain that he could get more than what he wanted; he could get the revenge he wanted, he could finally protect those who were left behind and finally…he could get justice!

**********

From where he hovered, Nail watched, completely dumfounded by what had just occurred. He could not move and he dared not blink. He felt the angry storm rising behind him, but he did not pay it any attention. He continued to stare down at the scene below, horror freezing his blood. The one that had been holding Bulma had stood up, changing from something dark to a pillar of light and power. He could feel the change even through the planet.

Nail also knew he dared not interfere. With a sinking heart, he glanced at Bulma’s motionless body. Her blood was beginning to soak into the ground underneath her. There was no doubt she was dead. And knowing that made his heart feel as though it was splitting in two. How she could have such power over him, he did not know. With the exception of the Grand Elder, no one else had ever managed to form such an emotional bond with him. Nail allowed himself only a moment to grieve, because he had plans to carry out.

While the others’ attentions were affixed solely on each other, Nail drifted lower so that he was closer to the water, closer to Bulma. He decided that, once the fighting started in earnest, he would sneak in and take her body to the Grand Elder. There, perhaps he could steal one wish from the Dragon Balls, just so that he could to see her smile once more.

**********

Koan looked up at Bardock, his face resigned. He was fully aware that the Saiya-jin commander knew the extent of his betrayal. All he had ever wanted was to be able to see his family safe, so that they could start a new life. To accomplish that, he had struck a deal with the devil in order to guarantee his people’s safety. It was he who had passed information to Freeza’s fleet and who had sabotaged Vegeta’s ship so that it would strand him far enough away, rendering him unable to issue commands. In his mind, Koan never believed that Chimo and the rebellion had any chance of victory. But he had seriously misjudged them, especially the Godan-jin, who had probably also known, maybe not consciously, of his betrayal. And so Koan found himself kneeling in front of the current commander of the rebellion.

“I don’t have time for traitors, Koan,” Bardock said dismissively. “I should just eject you from the nearest airlock, but at the moment I have more pressing matters to address.” The commander turned his indifferent eyes from the kneeling prisoner to a few guards, curtly signaling them to take the prisoner away.

Koan didn’t say a word as he was led through the doors of the command room. On his way out, Raddtiz quickly brushed past him towards Bardock, no doubt bearing news of the rebellion. Koan turned his head away and continued to walk, not caring about what would happen to him now. He knew sooner or later his fate would be death. History would deem him a traitor, simply because he was trying to look out for the welfare of his family and because he was a man who held more love for his own flesh and blood than for fleeting allegiances.

There was a desperate urgency to Radditz’s words as he said, “Father, Captain Fukusa just informed me that another platoon was destroyed by the same thing that destroyed Vegeta-sei! And another two planets have been reported as destroyed!”

Bardock looked troubled; he had no idea how to deal with this type of situation. In all his years he had never heard of a single creature capable of destruction on such a massive scale. Even after their decided victory over Freeza’s mass army, it seemed the war was still not over. “Is there any discernable pattern to the thing’s destruction? Given what we know thus far about it, can we predict its route?” he asked aloud.

A bridge officer quickly made a few calculations while Bardock and Radditz watched. They were both exhausted, but still ready to carry on the fight. The officer’s brow creased more deeply as he continued with his work, obviously seeing an unwanted pattern. “Yes, sir, I found a pattern,” the officer finally said, looking uneasily up at Bardock. “If this being continues on the same trajectory, it will eventually reach the same planet to which we believe Prince Vegeta has chased down Freeza. And at its current rate of speed, it’ll arrive much sooner than we could.”

Gritting his teeth in frustration at this predicament, Bardock shuffled his feet a bit before standing straighter. He hoped that his decision would be the right one. “Notify all ships,” he suddenly ordered. “All platoons and any vehicles are hereby placed on high alert and are ordered to initiate evasive maneuvers without delay. And send a high-priority broadcast to all planets within its projected route for them to evacuate immediately as well.”

“Yes, sir!” The officer quickly returned to his station, making sure Bardock’s latest orders were carried out.

Radditz turned and looked anxiously at his father. He, like his fellow warriors, had felt that, once they had defeated Freeza’s forces, they would all be celebrating. But now another, more powerful adversary awaited them. Though Radditz loved the idea of engaging in more fighting, the reality was that he, like so many wearied by recent battles, desperately needed to recharge. “Do you think Prince Vegeta has killed Freeza yet? And if so, could the prince defeat the menace that destroyed our homeworld?”

Bardock heard Raditz’s questions, but didn’t say anything right away. All he could think about was of the vision he had so long ago, of a woman with blue hair leading the Saiya-jin army into battle while holding a baby in her arms. That particular memory kept replaying in his mind, and no other vision would come to him. “I don’t know,” he admitted with a sigh.

This insistent, repetitive vision was bothering Bardock. More than anything, it scared him to think that Prince Vegeta would die and that Princess Bulma would become queen, alone. Would she be the one to lead the Saiya-jins in their final fight against this new enemy? If that was the case, then the baby must be the new heir. Was this vision telling him that the new heir had already been conceived – or was it even possible that the baby had already been born? Bardock had no ready answers to any of these perplexing questions. But he did know that he needed to do whatever he could to support the royal couple and their child. Perhaps it was how their fate needed to be played out.

“Pilot, take us to Namek-sei at full speed! Even if we don’t make it in time, we must try to be there for our new sovereign!” Bardock only hoped that they wouldn’t be going straight into their own destruction.

*********

Vegeta knew what he had to do and he wasn’t going to waste any more time listening to anything damned lizard said. His time was limited. He would kill Freeza and quickly, but not before he fulfilled a promise, the last one he made to his most beloved. No matter how much he wanted to savior his defeat of Freeza, he knew he could not. He perhaps only had ten or so minutes before he would lose all his ki and perhaps even die. He knew this because he could physically feel it. Somehow he felt his life being drained, some force was sucking him up into a vast void and he had no idea why. Even Legendary power could not stop this process, just like he could not stop Bulma from dying.

Vegeta did not have time to dwell on the fact he was losing power and life. He had to make use of the time he had and once he finished the battle he could try to figure out a way to stop this drain. He looked over at Kakarotto. The younger Saiya-jin had also heard Bulma’s last request. Kakarotto returned the look and nodded once, indicating that he understood what Vegeta wanted to do.

“Now, Freeza, you will see how foolish you are in underestimating the power of the Saiya-jins!”

“I don’t think so, monkey!” Freeza didn’t look as confident, as if the words were Freeza’s only safety net. Even Zarbon was backing away slowly, putting additional distance between him and his master. Vegeta allowed himself a smirk. In the old days, Freeza would have not hesitated to kill Zarbon behaving in such a cowardly manner, but now the Ice-jin had to focus his full attention on Vegeta.

“Monkey, monkey, monkey! Is that the only pathetic insult you have? Trying to goad me with such simple words will do you no good, Freeza!”

Freeza’s scowl turned bitter and resentful. “Then let us end this.”

“I couldn’t agree more!” Vegeta quickly lunged at Freeza then blurred out of sight in a split-second.

Freeza’s eyes widened with disbelief when he could no longer see Vegeta, and the uncertainty left him feeling open and vulnerable. Kakarotto had also made the same move, but Freeza could follow his movements easily. Zarbon stayed off to the side, keeping watch, not moving to interfere. As quickly as Vegeta disappeared did he reappear, landing a powerful blow into Freeza’s stomach. A moment later, Kakarotto also reappeared beside him. The younger Saiya-jin quickly placed two fingers to his forehead, and less than a second later, all three disappeared from view.

**********

Nail was both surprised and bewildered. He didn’t know what had happened or if what had just happened was to the good. He had been trying to sneak in closer to reach Bulma’s body so that he could take her back to the Grand Elder when three out of the four strangers abruptly disappeared into thin air. What was even odder was that Nail couldn’t feel them anywhere on Namek-sei. He couldn’t understand how such a thing could occur. But if they weren’t on the planet then he decided that he wasn’t going to worry unnecessarily about it. Without thinking, he quickly went to Bulma’s side.

Nail kneeled beside Bulma, hoping against hope that somehow that she was still alive, but he could tell she was gone. He gently caressed her cheek with one hand while the other gripped a fist full of blood-soaked dirt. He prayed that she was in a better place, one in which Kami would look over her and she could forget her hard life.

Nail was too preoccupied with grief to register the threat until it stood only a few feet away. As soon as Nail realized he wasn’t alone, he sprang to his feet and readied himself to attack. Deep in his heart, Nail knew he had to defeat this blue-and-green creature standing casually in front of him. He would allow himself a small delay in bringing Bulma back to the Grand Elder. He would defeat this greenish-blue creature; for himself and for Bulma.

The creature smirked at Nail before kneeling beside Bulma, looking at her wistfully. “So you had a thing for her, too? Well, she is rather single-minded, or should I say was. Hmph...”

“Get away from her.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t touch her while she’s dead. Besides, this stupid bitch pissed me off. And looking like the mess she is now, I’m too pretty for her anyway,” the creature sneered as it stood up and looked at Nail.

“You should have never come here,” the Namek-jin warned lowly. “I’m here to kill you.”

“I, Zarbon, do not think you can kill me so easily.”

“We shall see.” Nail didn’t move from his stance.

“What is your name Namek-jin?”

“Nail.” Nail’s voice was even and emotionless.

“Nail, eh? That’s rather appropriate, because once I nail you to the ground, I’ll be sure to stack the bodies of your pretty green family on top of your dead carcass. Then I’ll use your planet’s Dragon Balls to gain everything I could ever desire.”

“Are you trying to taunt me, Zarbon? It will not work. I am a warrior of Namek-sei, and I will not lose my anger to such silly words.” Even at Zarbon’s mention of Dragon Balls, Nail did not flinch.

“Fine…perhaps I will fuck her corpse…right after I kill you.”

With that Nail surged forward, not out of anger, but because Zarbon’s taunt reminded him he didn’t have time to waste trading insults. He would kill Zarbon and then take Bulma to the Grand Elder. Then he would help the other Chiyuu-jin, Chi-chi, to use the Dragon Balls’ power and right the wrongs of this day. But the first thing he had to do was get this intruder far away from Bulma. As he swung his first punch, he thought wistfully of Bulma. Surely she would bless him with victory, wherever she was.

**********

Everything was gleaming, full of life and light. The stars above twinkled brightly in the velvet sky; the grass was soft and smooth. The trees swayed gently and sung in the gentle breeze. Planets seemed to form and hang like ornaments in the darkness, but everything else was so light that it hardly seemed night. Rolling hills and single mountains dotted the thin, pink distant horizon.

Bulma felt so very good, so very happy. She felt like she could lie on her back, staring at the sky all day long and not care. She wasn’t a slave, anymore; she was free. She wasn’t in fear of her life. Since she felt so safe and so at home then this must be Chikyuu! Where else could it be?

Most likely she must have fallen from a tree or perhaps one of her father’s inventions hit her head and knocked her out for a while. The concussion probably made her dream of everything that happened before. And that dream was fading fast. Something was telling Bulma that she should forget it and just enjoy where she was. After all, it was an awful dream, even if did have some nice things in it. Bulma spread out her arms and legs. She took a deep breath and looked around at the sky as she continued to relax, lying on the soft, green ground.

But… this wasn’t right. The grass was a little too green, the sky too happy, the atmosphere too lovely...

Bulma frowned as she struggled to remember, trying to grasp onto that dream. Then she remembered Vegeta’s beloved face, his tears, his eyes and his emotions. She gradually remembered that final, searing pain after being shot…of dying. At that moment, the realization rushed over her like a flood. She was dead.

Bulma shot up into a sitting position, startled by the thought that she was somewhere in the afterlife. Her panicked eyes looked around again, but instead of seeing the boundless field of grass, flowers and mountains, her eyes now fell on a small man standing next to her. He had light purple skin and his small head was bald with a white Mohawk running from front to back. He wore puffy-looking clothing with his pants tucked into a pair of boots. His face held a soft and small smile as he looked down at her.

Bulma didn’t exactly know what to make of this person and didn’t know what to say. Slowly reason came to befuddled mind and her eyes widened in surprise. She pointed a finger at him and said, “Ah, you’re God, aren’t you?!”

The voice she heard was gentle and very regal. “Yes, one of them; although many regard me as their leader.”

Bulma quickly scrambled onto her knees and abruptly grabbed at his collar. “If you’re who you say you are then you have to help Vegeta! You have to help him so that he can defeat Freeza!”

“I don’t think that is what he wants,” the small man replied calmly, despite the fact Bulma was clenching his collar, almost choking him.

“You are the leader of the Gods!” she cried in frustration. “You have to do something to stop this madness!!”

“I have. In a way, I have stopped the greatest madness from happening.”

Bulma looked confused for a second before again shaking the one who claimed to be the leader of the gods. “Stop speaking in riddles and do something!”

“I’ve already told you I have,” he answered, still in that same measured calmness, “but you’re not listening to me.”

Bulma gave up. Her eyes lowered and she released her stranglehold on his collar. “What did you do then?” Then a spark of hope lit her blue eyes. “Wait…did Vegeta kill Freeza?”

“No, they have just begun to fight,” he answered casually while his hands rearranged his rumpled collar. “What I did to stop true madness from happening I did many, many years ago.”

“‘True madness?’” What are you talking about?” Bulma sank to the ground, feeling very lost and helpless.

“The whole universe being destroyed by the very man you love. That madness.”

“What?!” Bulma was now doubly shocked; by the news that Vegeta was supposed to destroy the entire universe, and by the fact that a god was telling her this.

“But even though I have set these events in motion, I fear my efforts have been in vain.” The small man frowned slightly, disappointment clearly written on his face.

Bulma could only stare at him blankly. As she sat up, her head kept spinning, wondering what he meant by madness and how his efforts would be in vain. All these unanswered questions were starting to piss her off and she could feel her temper quickly rising.

Just as she started to open her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, the small man held up his hand and said, “Before you say anything further, there is something of great importance I need to relate to you. I suggest that you sit back and listen, for this may take a while.”