War Of Worlds

By B_Chan

Chapter 8: A Galactic Game of Chess/ Pawn takes Queen

Sound echoed around, a loud whizzing pant with a bubbling liquid tone to it. Bad, it was really bad now; there was no telling how much time was left. Red bubbles like floating balls of jelly wiggled past-not so many as there had been, but that wasn't necessarily a good sign. Condensation formed on the hard plastic and small beads of liquid pooled together and streaked down, making visibility harder. It was cold, it was dark, it was lonely. But so long as she felt this she knew one thing for certain: she was alive.

Juuhachi coughed, wishing not for the first time she could press her hand to her mouth to stifle her cough. The smallest sounds seemed to be magnified by her helmet and they bounced around endlessly, threatening to drive her deaf and mad. The sound of her own labored breathing had long ago begun to annoy her and the damp bog-like moistness of the helmet made her already uncomfortable condition that much more uncomfortable. Swallowing hard, she glanced down to her side where a blood stained red glove pressed to her shoulder in an attempt to lessen the loss of blood. She knew she was weak and getting weaker, but she was almost there now-there was no way she was going to give up.

She slowly kicked her feet as if swimming through the black-sea of space, but it was her weakened power that was really propelling her forward. Not as fast as when she'd started, but she was getting there: slowly but surely. She ran her tongue over her lips to moisten them and couldn't help the small smile of triumph that crossed her face as her hand reached out and touched smooth hard metal: the hull of a large battleship.

"Made it," she whispered, the sound amplified by her helmet many times over. "Now," she rasped, turning around and lifting her hand that had been pressed to her chest, before her face. She faced her forearm and with her other hand reached up and flipped open a small panel built into the suit. Tapping with numb fingers she pressed the thankfully large buttons until the tiny screen, no bigger then a post-it note, flashed on to display a chart with a green line swinging in a circle like a compass. Every time the green bar flashed over a certain spot a red dot would flash. She smiled to herself and glanced at the ship's side, "I'm lucky... he's in range and not far away." She frowned at the watery sound of her own breathing. Must have liquid in my lungs, she told silently herself. Giving a small grunt, she pushed off the ship and let the momentum of the movement float her slowly in the right direction, conserving some of her energy by pulling and pushing herself along with help from the ship.

"Wait for me Juunana... I'm coming."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Juunana groaned and rolled over. For some reason his bed was unusually hard today. It's like I'm sleeping on a hard tile floor... wait a minute!

The android peeked open an eyelid and looked around. He groaned again and sat up. "I 'am' sleeping on a hard tile floor," he muttered, lifting a hand and scrubbing it through his shoulder length black hair. A wave of nausea hit him hard and he hauled in several deep lung-full of air before it slowly began to fade. Drugs, they'd give him some kind of drug, probably a sedative to keep him knocked out. Unfortunately for them, drugs rarely worked on him. He didn't have enough organic components left for any herbal substances or chemicals to be 100% effective, and what was still organic had been enhanced in some way or form meaning he needed a much larger dosage before anything would work. His stomach churned again. Maybe they had thought to give him a large dosage. It was doing a really number on his stomach.

He surveyed his surroundings. A plain square room: the only things in it besides walls were himself, a window showing the black speckled with white vastness of space, and a rectangular pad covered in various buttons next to the door. His next observation was himself. He was clean. Clean was an understatement: he'd been sterilized. He had the impression that if someone rubbed a finger over his skin it would have made a squeaky clean sound. What had they done to him?! Frowning slightly as he moved to get to his feet, he winced at a pain in his abdomen. Lightly, he fingered the hurt spot through his tight Capsule Corps jumpsuit, then unzipped it and studied the area. There was a light line across his stomach, almost like a faded scar. It was definitely tender

when he touched it, but other then that he could have mistaken it for an old wound received years ago. Though he couldn't remember getting any serious injuries at that particular spot... strange.

Ignoring the ache in his stomach, he stood up and walked over to the door to check out the control pad there. First things first, I get out of this box, then I'll make those bastards wish they'd never been born for what they've done to Juuhachi. Then I'm off this piece of junk and back to earth. There were other steps between those ones, like finding his ship or a new one, and getting back at that demon bitch, who'd fried his bacon, but he'd deal with them as they came. He reached out his hand for the pad and jerked it back as an invisible field zapped him. Looking at his hand, over he decided the spark had been nothing more then good old electricity-one his close friends. He smiled as he reached out again and the tingling jolt of electricity coursed through him. The sensation was similar to sticking your tongue out and touching the end of a battery, only much, much more powerful. Enjoying the sweet jolt of power, he reached over and dug his fingertips under the metal control pad. One good tug was all it took to rip it loose from the wall. Once the pad hung loose, supported only by a few attached wires, the electricity stopped. Too easy, he thought, scanning the wires and mechanics of the pad. He stopped for a moment to try and flatten down his hair, which had gotten a little charge of static with the jolt. God, I wonder if I look like a Saiya-jin right now, he absentmindedly thought after failing to calm his hair with a few strokes of his hand. Lucky for him the black strands went flat again when he touched the metal pad.

"Child's play," he smiled, cutting a pair of wires. He twisted one broken end to the other opposite wire's end and was moving to do the same with the two remaining cut wires when a low dull thud was heard. Spinning around, his eyes flashed around the plain room and widened as they landed on the window or what was outside the window.

"Juu... Juuhachi..." he whispered in shock. "Juuhachi!" he called louder as an overjoyed smiled curved his face. He dropped the metal pad and ran over to the window peer at his sister. He at once noted the red bloodstain covering her breast and shoulder, but she drew his eyes back to hers by tapping on the glass. Once sure she'd gotten his full attention she began speaking, exaggerating every syllable with her lips in the hope he'd be able to read them. Sound couldn't reach him where she was.

"Air... lock..." sounded out Juunana. He nodded his head, and pointed to his right. "I'll try and find one that way," he mouthed.

The blond paused to decipher his words, then nodded, pushing off the ship to head in that direction.

Juunana wore a smug turn to his lips as he hurried over to the control pad and finished twisting the last two ends together. Juuhachi was alive and together it won't take much for them to cripple this ship-that is, if they didn't run into that woman. The doors slid open and he peered through them, looking left and right before moving down the hall, looking through door ways and windows into rooms to see if he could find some kind of air lock to let his sister in with. He stalked as silently as a cat, ducking out of sight or jumping up to hide on the ceiling to hold onto sides or any fixtures he found. Luckily for him there weren't many soldiers wandering the halls, and the few that were didn't seem very alert. He could have easily killed them, but wanted to remain unseen till he had Juuhachi inside with him.

He peered through a small glass window in a door to see some kind of large lab or mechanic's room. Various machines lined the walls and a few crewmen moved about working or talking. Half a dozen soldiers also milled about the room armed, but looked relaxed and no more alert then the soldiers in the halls had been. Across the room appeared to be some kind or large hatch door that jutted out into the room in the form of rectangular box. If his hunch was right, that was an air lock, probably so they could transport large equipment into the room easily. It would serve his purpose just fine, he decided; now all he needed was to get rid of the work force.

So intent was he on his study of the room that he didn't notice the man walking down the hall in his direction. Of course so intent on the paper he was reading, the man also didn't see him till he stopped in front of the door next to Juunana and finally looked up from his papers. Both men froze, not knowing what to make of each other having never seen anything like them. The creature before Juunana was purple with blond hair cut short in back and long in front. What looked like a pair of dog ears and tail topped his head and backside, only the hairs looked like coarse wire more then fur. He wore a white and red long-tailed coat like the men inside the lab and a white cap cut for his ears. Juunana shrugged and punched the canine humanoid in the face, efficiently knocking it out cold. He caught the strange dog man on the way down and dragged him over to the nearest room. He came back out of the room with the alien's coat and hat, his face buried in the papers the creature had been reading. He strolled over to the door, which slid open for him with no trouble, and walked into the room making little hmm sounds to himself as if he were truly interested in the paper before him. Which wasn't so since he had no idea what so ever how to read the weird print.

None of the soldiers or personal noticed him as anything out the ordinary, which was lucky for him. The android walked right up to one of the soldiers standing guard and peered harder at the papers, stoking his chin with one hand and making a loud hmm sound. The soldier gave him a questioning look, raising an eyebrow as if to say 'what?'

"Say, friend, could you help me," said Juunana, holding up the paper with the print facing the soldier's way. "I forgot my glasses, what's this say?" he asked, shoving the paper in the guard's face.

"Glasses?" said the soldier blinking at the close print. "What are glass-" he never finished his sentence as Juunana drew back his fist and slammed it behind the papers right into the soldier's face. The poor guard never saw it coming.

Juunana now had everyone's attention as the guard crumpled to the floor like a sack of rice dropped from a truck. Blood rolled out on the floor from the soldier's nose.

Juunana wondered if he could milk his disguise a little more and decided with a mental shrug it was worth a try.

"What you meant it's a pornographic story?!" Juunana exclaimed, picking up one of the sheets that had yet to be soaked in blood. "Man, get a hold of yourself," he said, nudging the downed man with his foot. "You're going to bleed to death with a nose bleed like that."

"Huh?" said two of the other guards, moving to peer over Juunana's shoulder at the paper he held. They soon joined their friend on the floor both with matching bloody noses through it was hardly from the paper Juunana held.

Juunana turned around and made a cute shrug, sticking out his tongue. "I guess it was just too much for them to handle," he smiled, before charging at the three remaining guards who were still shocked over the whole thing.

Juunana's palm slammed under one soldier's chin. A loud crack was heard before the soldier crumpled to the floor. The android blurred away to the next soldier and swung his leg up into a kick. His knee pushed deep into the creature's stomach with the satisfying sound of air leaving his lungs. He stepped back and watched the creature double over, holding its gut in pain, then interlaced his fingers and slammed them down on the back of the soldier's exposed neck. Five down, one to go. Juunana turned to look at the last soldier who fumbled with his gun and managed to raise it and fire. The android blurred away again, appearing for a moment and blurred off again, repeating this move several times. He then blurred off and didn't reappear till the soldier had stopped shooting. The lone remaining man stood drawing in ragged pants of air and surveying the damage he'd made. The lab techs were all down on the floor. Most didn't move, but some groaned in pain. All of them were shot full of holes from the soldier's wild firing. The soldier scanned frantically for Juunana, stepping backwards as he did. He froze and gasped as someone tapped lightly on his shoulder. Paling he turned and looked at the android over his shoulder.

"Yo," said Juunana, saluting him with two fingers to his temple. "Nice shooting, you got them all."

With a cry the man wheeled, intending to let loose another volley of blasts, but never got the chance as Juunana's hand drove into his chest ripping right out the back of the twitching man's body.

"Why... you," gasped the man bloodily before Juunana jerked his hand out and let the now dead man dropped to the ground. Juunana made a face and flicked his hand, splattering drops of blood on the floor. "Should have broken his neck, less of a mess," he muttered, pulling off the hat and coat. He wiped his bloody hand off on

the coat and let it fall to the floor.

"Now then," he said, moving towards the hatch. He grinned as he saw Juuhachi waving at him from one of the large windows built into the ship's side. She flashed him the thumbs up sign and 'swam' over to the hatch while Juunana moved over to the hatch's controls and studied them. He had no idea what the symbols on the controls meant so he simple torn the outer cover off and peered into the wire works till he figured out what did what. Tying off some wires he watched through the glass window on the door besides him as the outer door opened and Juuhachi moved into the room. The blond android pushed a few buttons on the control inside the room and he watched as the outer door closed and the room was pressurized. That is, he watched Juuhachi fall to the floor in a crumpled mess curling slightly in pain.

"Juuhachi!" he shouted, moving over and ripping the hatch on his side off to go to his sister. He knelt down besides her and shook her gently. "Are you all right?"

"Uhnn... no," groaned the female android, still clutching her wound.

He helped her remove her helmet and all but ripped the bulky space suite off her frame to reveal the damage she'd taken.

"This is bad," he said softly probing the entry hole. He lifted her slightly and studied the exit wound. "I can't believe it went all the way through you! What kind of weapons do these things have?!" he muttered angrily.

"I let my defensives down. I didn't expect them to have a ship hiding behind the moon, nor that they could reach me from that distance. She laughed softly. "Sloppy."

"Well, just don't ever let it happen again."

"I won't if I can help it," she smiled, moving to sit up with some pain. "I didn't realize how weak I'd gotten."

"You've probably lost a lot of blood. That's the only excuse I can think of for you losing power," said Juunana, lifting her up and carrying her into the lab to look for

something he could use as make shift bandages.

"You're probably right," said Juuhachi, sighing and leaning back against the wall he'd propped her against. "Our blood cells do act like batteries all lined up in a circuit. Less blood, less power," she muttered, reaching up to hold her wound once more.

Juunana returned with a white shirt and knelt down beside her to start tearing the fabric into strips. He bunched two wads of shirt up at both entry and exit wound, then wrapped the white strips around her chest and shoulder to hold them in place.

"I think that should hold for awhile, at least if you don't move too much. Can you stand?"

Juuhachi used the wall behind her to slowly get to her feet. She leaned against it, but gave her twin a small smile. "Give me a few minutes and I'll be able to out run you."

Juunana snorted. "I doubt it, don't push yourself okay. One brush with death a day is enough." He jerked his head around and pointed with a thumb. "I found some clean space suits. We should probably put them on in case we have to go outside the ship for some reason. We'll also blend in better that way. No point in them knowing we're from earth if were can help it. You're in no condition to fight."

"Let them know, I'd like to repay them for what they did," Juuhachi growled, pushing off from the wall and standing up straight.

"Me too, but I don't think it's wise to fight our way out."

Juuhachi reluctantly agreed with him, nodding her head.

The two donned the spare suits, which modeled to fit their forms. Juuhachi made a remark about feeling naked in it compared to the bulky CC one. The suits were red and black and hugged every line and curve leaving nothing to the imagination as far as a person's three sizes went. A domed helmet locked onto the hard neck and shoulder region, which was made of a harder substance, housing all the suit's functions inside it. The hard suit section also curved down the back to hold an amazingly compact tank of multiple gases. Apparently not all species on this ship breathed oxygen, which Juunana discovered after breathing in a lung full of helium. They fooled around with the suits till they were pretty sure they understood it and had all the settings correct. Two little switches, one on each hip, were small boosters to propel a person forward. The thick smooth ski-like boots had built in magnets. Communication and scanning equipment was assessable by eye movements in the helmet. The wearer could bring up star maps and radar just by looking at a small box in their visors and blinking at it. It caused the two of them a little trouble at first since stuff kept popping up without warning when they let their eyes wondered. Even a few weapons were built into the suit-mainly in the thick arm braces built of the same hard substance as the boots and shoulder region.

"Not bad," comment Juuhachi after she'd finished setting the suit functions to support a humanoid like herself. "I imagine Bulma's going to want these when we get back." She marched over to the door. "Come on, let's find our ship and get the hell off this piece of junk."

Juunana was all too willing to comply. They walked down the halls, spotting various alien life forms as they went. The two were amazed at all the different species. Apparently Lucifer had a very diverse group of people working for him, which worried the two androids. Just how many different planets and species supported this enemy? The evidence they were seeing suggested that it was a lot, meaning trouble for Earth. They could be overrun by more advanced technology, more powerful fighters, or just sheer numbers and resources. Chances were that if Lucifer's forces were serious about taking over Earth, they could very well do it as earth's defensives stood now.

As they walked down the halls many species of aliens gave them glances, but luckily none showed them too much attention. If anything, Juunana was betting they were wondering why he and Juuhachi wore their helmets, which was to cover their human appearances.

"Juunana? Do you have any idea where we are?" asked Juuhachi.

Juunana shook his head. "Haven't a clue, everything looks the same to me."

Juhachi made a frustrated sound. "This ship is so big, we'll never find our ship at this rate." She stopped and peered down a large corridor where plenty of aliens were walking back and forth, many talking to each other in strange tongues. At the end she could see a large room where many crewmen stood at consoles that showed charts of what looked like different sections of the ship and gages of some kind.

"What do you make of that?" asked Juuhachi.

"It looks like a engineering room of some kind," said Juunana walking up to stand beside her. He couldn't see the wicked little smile that had curved her lips, but he could hear it in her voice as she spoke again.

"I've got an idea, follow me."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Lady Kijo sighed and pressed the stop button next to her, turning off the hologram she's been using to speak to the Saiya-jin no ouji. She frowned. "I don't like being denied," she muttered, as if Vegeta's refusal to join was an insult to her pride. It might have been. Few could say no to her-maybe she should have gone in person.

Her powers of 'persuasion' were much stronger in person. She smirked to herself, recalling the reactions the males had to her presence. True, the hologram was virtually an exact duplicate from sight to smell, but it was still an image and not her personal self. This particular 'power' was one of the reasons she held the positions she now did as Lucifer's second in command. As far as Akumas went, one might say deem her a succubus, a female sex demon. That, combined with her fighting strength and skills had quickly promoted her to the top. Most males and a fair amount of females were simply drawn in by her. Those powers had no hold on someone that had given themselves heart and soul to another, someone who loved their partner to the point that they simple had no room for another to try and worm their way in. Of course, if she really put her mind to it she could probably shatter another's hold on their mate. It might take awhile and every ounce of her skill to do it, but she doubted anyone could truly resist her forever. That had been her reason for wanting Vegeta to think about her proposal; if she'd used enough of her influence on him she might have been able to turn him. Though, he was a strong one... it could have taken years to do or she could have used a kind of forced bonding that she really didn't want to do with someone she hardly knew. That kind of bonding usually left the one

forced into it emotionless.

She sighed again. It didn't matter now, he'd flat out refused. Refused! Her! It boiled her blood just thinking about it, he hadn't shown any indication he'd been affected by her charm at all! "Devoted," she muttered in an unhappy voice, thinking of that blue-haired human who'd grabbed him by the tail once she'd appeared. Women did have a tendency to sense her power, especially towards males they claimed as their own.

A beep was heard signaling she had a call. She snorted, easily guessing who it was. "Go ahead."

A screen appeared to her side with an image of the 'good' doctor Mono on it. "Well, Lady? Did he agree?"

Lady Kigo frowned and looked to the side. "No," she muttered, not needing to look to see the look of triumph on the doctor's face.

"Then I am free to make him one of my test subjects when he is captured, right?" he asked, hunger for blood and science lacing his voice.

Kigo sighed yet again. "I can't say for sure, good doctor. I'll have to report to Lord Lucifer first with his answer, but I imagine you will get him if we do capture him."

"If?" said Mono. "You don't sound confident that you can capture him."

"I might be able to kill him, but bringing him in alive is another matter. Those eyes... eyes only belonging to one who was born to lead, born to rule, born to fight and win.... Eyes just like Lucifer's...." She turned back to look at the screen. "He will not be easy to overcome, no matter how primitive the planet he currently occupies is."

The good doctor opened his mouth to reply but a blast of an alarm cut him off. Red lights flashed as a siren screeched.

"What in the world?" shouted Lady Kigo, right before the whole ship rocked. She gasped as she was suddenly weightless, her feet leaving the floor to hold her suspended in the air. In the screen Doc. Mono gave a cry and was suddenly also floating in mid air. "Someone turned off the gravity and life support systems," said Kigo narrowing her eyes. She turned and kicked her way through the room to the door.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Juunana and Juuhachi stood back to back in the middle of the engineering room, both launching blasts from their hands at the many crewmen and computer conceals around the room. It didn't take long before no one moved and sparks flew from destroyed machines. The air was filled with the scream of sirens and the flashing of red lights, the ship itself rocked uncertainly, its core reduced to a hunk of scrap leaving it to flounder in space adrift.

The two androids stepped back and surveyed their handy work.

"Think we over did it a little?" asked Juunana.

In answer Juuhachi fired another blast at one machine that still looked slightly intact. "No, I'd like to see them repair this mess. They'll be lucky is they can keep this piece of shit from crashing into the moon." She dusted off her hands and walked over to one of the conceals to peer at the different maps showing sections of the ship; luckily for them the maps had for the most part been undamaged by their attack. She reached up a hand and traced it over the charts. "There's at least a dozen docking bays all over this ship," she muttered in a displeased voice.

Juunana moved to stand next to her and studied the charts. "This one," he said pointing to a docking bay near the nose of the ship. "I remember being pulled in from the front of the ship."

"All right, let's go then," said Juuhachi, turning and running out of the room, Juunana close behind her. The two were greeted by a groups of floating soldiers all armed and pointing their weapons at them.

"Looks like they came to see us off," said Juunana, standing by his sister.

Juuhachi made a smug sound and turned off the magnets on her boots to free float as well.

"Take it easy, you're hurt remember," cautioned Juunana, doing the same.

"Oh, I remember." said Juuhachi, a hint of cold rage in her voice. "I remember all too well!" she shouted, charging forward and slamming into the rank of soldiers, knocking them down like a bowling ball among pins.

Juunana snorted and charged in after her as the soldiers fired wildly, blasts scorching walls, floors, and ceilings, but not once managing to hit either android as the two struck killer blows with every swing and kick. It was a matter of mere minutes before the two were the only ones still 'standing'. The slain floated limply in the gravity-less ship.

"Hurry," called Juunana, pushing off a wall and heading toward the ship's nose.

The two floated down the hall, both battle tense in case another attack came, but to their surprise no one tried to stop them. In fact, the whole ship was in chaos. Crewmen floated about the rooms and halls in a panic, some started gasping and wheezing as if it were hard to breath. Many now wore those molding red and black space suits moving with all speed down the halls. In all the pandemonium it was easy for the two to slip by unnoticed. Undoubtedly the ship could no longer support most of the life forms it housed. They were probably trying to fix the damage or evacuate.

Juunana smiled to himself as he came to the scorched and charred hallway he'd battled in earlier-no doubt about it they were close to the CC ship now. He stopped dead, almost making his sister ram into his back. His eyes widened and his fists clenched as he spotted a familiar woman with long sea green hair floating through the hall in front of him. Small bat like wings flapped on her back as if to aid her movements though it was doubtlessly her impressive ki that was moving her alone.

"It's her..." he growled, moving to charge the strange woman. He was stopped as a pair of arms locked around him from behind and held him back.

"Let go, Juuhachi! I'm going to get that bitch!" he hissed, thrashing in her hold.

"Not now, Juunana," said Juuhachi. "Another time, we need to get out of here. This place is very unstable and I don't want to be on it longer then we have to. It could crash or the crew might turn on each other in an attempt to fee. We need to go while we still can."

Juunana growled softly, but reluctantly agreed. His eyes followed the beautiful demoness as she 'swam' by and into a room out of his sight. He wondered if she'd survive as Juuhachi dragged him down the rest of the hall and into a docking bay that was empty of all working ships save an odd craft with the Capsule Corps logo on the side.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Lady Kijo was furious. She moved to her private communications room and punched in her special key code. Luckily for her the equipment had its own power supply and wasn't hooked into the ship's network, which had been shot to hell. The machines hummed and after a short pause a hologram appeared before her. Kijo knelt as best she could with out gravity to hold her down, bowing her head in shame. "Lord Lucifer."

"Kijo, you appear to be having some difficulties," spoke the mellow tone.

"My Lord, we've suffered great damages. The engine room has been completely destroyed and we are adrift at the moment," she regretfully reported.

The lord did not looked pleased with her report his hand crushed a delicate looking wineglass he held. "Adrift? You disappoint me, Kijo, I did not except you of all people to play into those earthlings hands."

"Forgive me, lord. The Saiya-jin Vegeta refused our offer, he has declared himself your enemy. I can move to destroy this threat now before it can take root, I just need your say so."

Lucifer paused as if considering. "How long till you can repair your ship, Lady?"

"Without spare parts... she may never be fully functional again," said Kijo softly, shame lacing her voice. She lifted her head. "But I can kill him lord, I can without my ship, I will fight him on his own terrain."

Lucifer shook his head. "Three ships," he muttered. "This Saiya-jin is proving to be an amusing enemy, not to mention a costly one. No, my Lady Kijo, you will evacuate as many crewmen as you can and return to me. We must rethink or strategy against this Saiya-jin."

"My Lord-!" Kijo started to protest.

"Return!" Lucifer barked. "You are of more use to me alive then dead."

Kijo bowed her head again. "If you wish it, my lord, I will comply."

Lucifer nodded his head. "The Saiya-jin will pay for this outrage, I assure you he will, my Lady Kijo. Your pride shall be avenged. Till then serve has you have, I await your return to me." The screen displaying his image winked out.

Kijo sat floating in the room for several seconds longer before sighing and moving to leave. If I didn't know any better I think Lucifer looked excited by this challenge, Kijo thought silently to herself. Lucifer had decided to concur all of space simple because he was bored. He had thought it would bring him a thrilling challenge, but the demon lord was disappointed to say the least. He rarely fought himself; few could last more then a few seconds against his strength. It was like some giant game of chest. He moved his armies as one would the pieces, yet there was no one across the board to play against. The opposing pieces moved themselves, worked individually and were destroyed for their lack of union. Lucifer longed for, craved an opponent worthy to face him, a rival for him to throw his might against and for once not overwhelm them in the first wave. Till now she'd thought that none could possible give him that fight he wished for, but she'd never seen another with eyes like Lucifer's before. She wondered if it were possible for that lone Saiya-jin prince to put of the struggle Lucifer craved. She doubted it. Even if his strength could match Lucifer's, which she seriously doubted, he held only one pawn in the galactic game of chess. One pawn alone couldn't hope to capture the enemy's king... or could it...?

Shaking her head, Kijo moved down the chaotic hallways barking orders for ships to be readied and crewmen to prepare to depart. She stopped before one station that was still operational to see that one crewman had ordered a group of fighters out against some unknown foe. When she questioned him about it the soldier reported that the strange enemy ship had been spotted leaving one of the docking bays.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Juunana steered the craft cursing as fighter planes chased in pursuit. "Damn! This ship isn't built for fighting," he snarled, cursing again as a blast clipped their side, shaking the whole craft. "Juuhachi, get on line and call Bulma. We might have to abandon this piece of junk if this keeps up."

"Roger," Juuhachi called, swinging into the communications chair and lifting the headset to fit it in place. She turned on the switch and tuned in the right frequency, giving small curses herself as the ship shook and jolted her with ever blast that hit. She yelled for Juunana to quit rocking the boat, and Juunana barked back a sarcastic remark of his own. Just like always.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Bra was now the one seated before the computer console. She still tapped her fingertips on the table and leaned her chin on her hand. It was getting late and they hadn't heard a peep from Juunana or Juuhachi. She yawned loudly and fanned her mouth, finding her watch job unbelievable boring. She stopped short and snapped her head back to the screen as a small bleep sounded from the computer. Her mouth dropped as the CC ship suddenly appeared on the screen and a statically voice that could be no one but Juuhachi called out asking if anyone was there.

"MOM! DAD!" shouted Bra. "I've got them!"

It wasn't long before everyone-truly everyone-had piled into the room, practically plastering Bra to the computer as they crowded in.

"Juuhachi!" shouted Krillin, into the head set.

"Owe! Not so loud!" Juuhachi shouted back.

"You're alive! I can't believe it! I was so worried," cried the ex-monk.

"Yah, I'm alive, but not for long if this keeps up! Give me Bulma!?

"But-" started Krillin.

"Bulma! Now!" she roared, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Wincing slightly and rubbing his ear, Krillin handed the headset to Bulma.

"Juuhachi?" asked Bulma, relieved beyond words when the familiar female voice replied, though her relief was short lived as she listened.

"Bulma, there's another ship. It's hiding behind the moon so we didn't pick it up till it was too late. Juunana and me have managed to cripple it and get away, but we're now being pursued. Send someone up to get us, I don't think this ship can handle going back into the atmosphere any more. We'll try and hold them off, but we might need a little assistance." Static fussed in between her words, making it hard to hear, but she understood for the most part.

"Right, Juuhachi. I'm sending some people up right away, you hang in there," replied Bulma.

"Shit!" cursed Juuhachi, static buzzing loudly. More words were shouted into the headset, but Bulma only make out 'excavating' from the jumble of sound. Her eyes widened in concern as only the loud buzz of static was now heard. She swallowed, fearing the worse, then gave herself a shake and dropped the headset turning to her son.

"Trunks, get a ship ready now!" she barked. The lavender haired demi-Saiya-jin ran to comply. "Goten, Base, and Vegeta you come with me, we need to get you suited up."

"I'm going too," growled Krillin moving to follow after them as Bulma grabbed her husband by the arm and all but dragged him away.

The rest of the dragon ball crew shouted that they wanted to go and help

too.

"I haven't got time to argue," shouted Bulma, quitting them down. "There's only room for six on the ship, that means only four can go since we need two seats for Juunana and Juuhachi. Krillin, she's your wife, you can have the forth seat and that's final."

"One of them can have my seat," said Vegeta, stumbling along next to Bulma who had him in an awkward hold. For once the human women seemed to be over powering him.

She lead them into what looked like a locker room with stalls lined up along the walls. She yanked open one of the stall doors and tossed the startled Saiya-jin prince in. "I don't think so, pal," said Bulma. "You're going, besides, you already agreed to help."

A muffled curse was heard in the stall, something about pushy women.

"Don't argue with me, strip and suit up, or I'll come in there and help you."

"Fine!" growled Vegeta, the sound of fumbling and grumbling was heard.

Bulma gave a small smile of satisfaction and raised up a hand to gesture done the line of stalls. "Pick one and suit up, Trunks should have the ship out and ready to go soon."

Goten, Krillin, and Base picked a stall and moved to get dressed. Base had a little trouble since Almuerzo cheerfully stated she'd help him. The poor Namek sei-jin turned purple and it took him several seconds of struggling to push the giggling girl out of the stall he'd picked before he slammed the door shut and by the sound of it, moved something heavy to block it with.

"I feel downright stupid in this thing," muttered Vegeta, walking out of his dressing stall in one of the CC's black and yellow space suits, helmet tucked under arm. He reached back and took hold of his tail, shaking his head at the cloth lining designed for it.

"This isn't a fashion statement, Vegeta," said Bulma dryly.

"Hn," snorted the Saiya-jin, leaning back against the wall and waiting for the others to finish.

Goten came out twice in nothing but his socks and boxer shorts to ask how to put the suit on, causing Pan and Marron to blush, Pan with embarrassment, Marron with another more personal emotion. When he came out for the third time with suit in hand, mouth open to ask another question, Marron gave a frustrated sigh, grabbed Goten by the ear and marched into the stall with demi-Saiya-jin in tow.

Sweat drops ran down the sides of Pan's and Almuerzo's head as the door banged shut behind the two. Protests from Goten could be heard clearly through the thin walls accompanied by sounds of bumping around in the small space and loud grunts.

"Not fair," pouted Almuerzo, giving a cutesy frown.

"Huh?" said Pan, turning to look at her.

"How come she gets to help Goten, but I don't get to help Base-kun?"

The sweat drop running down the side of Pan's head suddenly got a lot bigger.

When Krillin came out and asked Pan what was wrong, the raven-haired quarter Saiya-jin could only laugh nervously and wave her hand at the ex-monk while casting worried looks at stall the two had vanished in.

Base appeared next and joined Vegeta in leaning against the wall waiting, staring blankly forward as Almuerzo cooed and fawned over him, telling him how brave, adventurous, and handsome he was like that. For the most part Base's mask held except his ears would twitch every times she commented on his looks.

Finally Marron and Goten appeared, Goten had a dark blush and a dazed look on his face which quickly vanished once he caught the enraged protective father look he saw on Krillin's. The demi-Saiya-jin laughed nervously rubbing the back of his head. When that failed to make him look innocent in Krillin's eyes, he nervously turned tail and ran for the door shouting, "Trunks, you got that ship ready yet?!"

Frowning, Krillin marched after him, calling out, "Boy!! When this is over we need to talk!"

The Saiya-jin and Namek sei-jin moved after them, followed by the rest of the group. Pan leaned closer to Marron and asked her in a whisper what she'd done.

"I wished him luck and practiced a little French on him," stated Marron calmly. A small smile curved the corner of her mouth as she quickened her steps a little more, taking her past Almuerzo and Pan.

Pan's mouth had dropped open with Marron's answer and she stared at the blonde's backside as she strolled away. "That girl is bold."

"I didn't know Marron spoke French," said Almuerzo cheerfully.

Pan slapped her forehead and groaned at the naive girl next to her. "Maybe you should switch to your other personality for a while, Almuerzo, it's not nearly as sweet and cutesy," she muttered.

"Hmm?" hummed Almuerzo, titling her head to the side and looking at the quarter Saiya-jin as if she didn't understand, which she probably didn't.

"Never mind," sighed Pan.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Juuhachi clung to her seat as the ship spun in a spiral, tossing her around. "Juunana, you're the worst driver I know!" she shouted.

"It's not my fault! They hit one of our boosters and blasted it clean off, that's way we're moving like this!" In other words they were like a bird with one wing flying in circles. "This thing's a lost cause, let's get out of here, we have better chances fighting in hand to hand combat!" he called, unbuckling his seatbelt.

"I couldn't agree more," said Juuhachi, leaping from her chair and moving over to the locked door on the ship's side. With a yell she kicked the door clean off its hinges and was immediately sucked out with it. Juunana managed to stop himself from being pulled out by catching hold of the doorframe. The pull stopped once all the air had been sucked out of the ship he glanced around looking for Juuhachi who was riding the metal door as if it were a surfboard. She jumped off the door and sent it flying at the closest ship, which crumpled like an aluminum can when they met. Giving a shrug, Juunana pushed off from the ship and none too late as one fighter plane fired a burst at the adrift ship and caused it to explode in a shower of shrapnel. Throwing up a quick shield saved him from damage. He didn't want to take any chances of his suit being ripped. Unlike the CC suit, it was all one piece, and his air supply won't last long if he got a tear.

Turning, Juunana caught a flying metal piece of ship in his hand. "Two can play that," he shouted before drawing back his hand and hurling the small piece of metal at the ship that'd fired. The metal struck the clear plastic that incased the pilot and protected it from the vacuum of space; it cracked right through the transparent material, which was quickly coated in red. The plane veered wildly out of control. Seeing a potential weapon, Juunana flew over to the ship and landed on its back. Holding on tight, he pushed and pulled on the craft until he had it more or less under his control. "Scrap metal works good, but I think this will be far more effectively," shouted the android as he steered the ship toward another plane and released it to collide. More shrapnel hailed out from the two ships as they crashed, pelting the other

remaining one. One ship jerked, then went slack in the air, the boosters cutting off abruptly. The now dead fighter ship drifted forward carried on by its momentum; a piece of shrapnel must have damaged some important equipment.

To Juunana's side, Juuhachi was handling herself, though she could feel the scabbing over wound in her shoulder tear open again with her movements. She ground her teeth, ignoring the pain and feel of warm blood sliding down her breasts and sides. With a roar she caught the tail of one plane and began swinging it in a wide circle then released it to crash into another ship. It was pathetic having to fight those toys with the amount of strength they possess; they didn't stand a chance, yet... Juuhachi threw up a shield to protect herself from a volley of shots, the force of the blasts easily threw her across the gravity-less void of space till she smacked into the side of another fighter causing a large dent. The impact jarred her already injured shoulder and made her scream out in pain. She could never get tired, but that didn't mean she couldn't pass out from pain or if she received enough damage. Venting her frustration and pain on the ship she'd hit she turned and broke it in half with one punch. Her shoulder and the arm connected to it were useless know, the pain of moving it made her feel nauseous or close to passing out. She shock her head as black swam over her vision. No! I can't lose it now, got to stay awake! She commanded herself. Blurring away, she danced in and out of the ships' gunfire, moving in close enough to kick the wing off of one of its sides. The clipped ship swung wildly towards her as the pilot fought for control. Too close to dodge, she had no choice but to catch it. Black dots flashed before her eyes as she'd instinctually brought up both arms to catch it. Bile rose in her throat as pain laced up and down her entire body. Her hold on the plane slipped and it slammed into her with bone breaking force, making the pain in her arm unbearable.

"Juu... na... na," she crocked out before going limp and free floating among the pieces of broken ships.

"Crap!" shouted Juunana, using broken pieces of ship to jump from one to another to reach his twin. He grabbed her and barely had time to twist out of the line of fire as the remaining fighters zoned in on him. Using the clipped fighter plane that had hit Juuhachi for a shield, his eyes scanned around, looking for some advantage or place he could put his sister. As far as he could see, he was in the safest place at the moment, the field of broken ships, and that was hardly safe at all. In fact, there was a real possibility that the ship he had his back to would explode in a shower of shrapnel any moment now. He was severely handicapped now with Juuhachi unconscious and defenseless in his care.

The ship behind him bulged and flew apart in a rain of death. Crying out, Juunana wrapped himself around his twin and threw up a shield. He was tossed endlessly head over heels, crashing and bumping into every piece of scrap in his path till he felt like a pinball. He was quite battered and bruised when he finally stopped his insane roll. Luckily, due to his shield Juuhachi was fine and his suit had suffered no tears, but how long could that be prevented that while trying to protect his sister? He hardly had a chance to survey his new position before the fighters came charging. He turned and danced before the lights of death, feeling like he was in one of those old western movies where they shot at the cowboy's feet.

He jumped up and paled as one blast shot too close for comfort right between his legs. He didn't have time to curse at the one responsible because several more shots had been fired forcing him to lean back and tuck in his arm and legs as the blasts buzzed him. Fighting in space was not his cup of tea! Everything was different: if hit his momentum would never slow unless he stopped himself, he had to be careful of his suit or he'd soon run out of oxygen to breathe, and the most frustrating was he had to use his powers to move at all. With no gravity or resistance, he would just float there helplessly if he didn't. He wasn't used to fighting like this. It put him at an even greater disadvantage.

One blast nicked the hard material of his boots and sent him spinning in a circle. He fought frantically to stop himself, but knew that the blow had cost him, probably cost him dearly. He half expected to feel another volley tear into him and his O2 to start leaking out. But, instead something grabbed him hard and he was jarred to a halt. Snapping his head up, he saw a none-too-happy looking Vegeta holding on to him.

"Take a break, android, we'll handle this," said the slightly buzzed voice in his helmet before the Saiya-jin calmly releasing Juunana and spun in a roundhouse kick. Juunana could only gasp in shock as the booted foot connected with his side, causing him to go sailing past the fighter ships that had been circled around him. He grunted as he hit something, through the blow was hardly painful. Lifting his head again he looked back and saw one gray haired human stuffed into a yellow and black CC suit.

"Krillin?" he said in disbelief.

The ex-monk spared him a small grin before carefully taking his wife from the android and motioning towards another ship with the CC logo painted along its side. As they 'swam' toward it, Juunana noted the Namek sei-jin perched on top of the ship, sitting cross-armed and legged, eyes closed and looking as relaxed as if nothing out of ordinary was happening. It didn't take the android long to figure out that the green one was holding off the stray fighter ships that had branched off to meet them. Their blasts bounced off some kind of shield Juunana had never seen the likes of before, and back, more often then not, at the very ship that had fired the blast. A rather handy technique. Juunana wondered if it might be possible for him to figure out something similar with his own powers, though the energy his body held was far different from ki. There were many things Juuhachi and he couldn't do because of that. Not to mention, Namek sei-jins had strange mental skills that could more accurately be described as magical powers. There was no logically scientific explanation for the magical dragon balls their kind could produce. Some things just couldn't be explained by science.

He glanced back at his grumpy rescuer to see he as well as the youngest demi-Saiya-jin sired by Son Goku were making quick work of the fighters. He though about going back to help them-he was far from unable to do so. But, he was still concerned for his blond counterpart and decided that his knowledge on her inner components might be of better use to her then his skills in fighting would be to the Saiya-jins at the moment. He followed Krillin and the Namek sei-jin let down his barrier briefly to let them pass through. Then they were inside pulling off their suits and checking over the blond android.

Goten played hopscotch with the fighter planes, jumping from one to the other. He couldn't help the child like laugh that came to his lips; this was fun!

"Yahoo!" he cried, landing on one tail, feet pressing the flaps and ratter, making the plane go flailing out of control. "Ha, ha, this is like a roller coaster!" he cheered as the ship did loop-de-loops and barrel rolls. Still laughing, he steered the ship over to skidding its side along another ship's. Both planes lost one of their side wings with the move, and Goten jumped free to let them flounder. He turned to meet another ship charging in his direction and grinned.

"Bleeeeehhh!" he yelled, sticking out his tongue at the plane. He turned around and smacked his rear at the ship. Of course, the pilot couldn't hear him, but Goten's taunts enraged him anyway. "Woohoo!" shouted Goten, doing a back flip out of the way of some rapid firing. "Ha, ha, catch me if you can!" he shouted as the ship followed in hot pursuit, firing a continuous stream of bullets. The nimble demi-Saiya-jin dipped and dove around the blasts, goading the enraged pilot on with the ease in which he evaded all this attack. Still laughing, Goten halted, dove under to the ship's belly as it tried to run him over, and slid down to the ship's tail. He snapped up his foot nailing the craft solidly on its rear. It went spinning away head over tail till in crashed into the moon's barren surface.

"Strike!" Goten cheered, punching a fist up in the 'air'. He turned around to look for another target, but could only stare in shock. Vegeta floated, surrounded by a ship graveyard with his arms crossed, tail lashing back and forth behind him.

"Are you done yet?" questioned the prince in a slightly bored tone.

Goten wordlessly nodded his head.

"Good, let's go," he said, flying back towards the ship. When they got back, Base was still sitting calmly on the CC ship's back. The remains of a few ships drifted around. Goten tried to count how many, but wasn't sure since the ships were mostly pieces and parts now. Vegeta gave a nod to Base and the Namek sei-jin pushed off to join them. Once they were back in the air lock, stripping down to their tight inner purple and white CC suits, Goten turned to Base.

"Ne, Base, how many did you get?"

"Five," replied the Namek sei-jin calmly as the door to the inner ship slid open and Vegeta walked through to head toward the controls and take them home.

"Five?!" Goten's face fell. "I only got three," he said in a disappointed voice.

"You were goofing off too much. Vegeta-san got the other seven while you were playing."

Goten rubbed the back of his head and shrugged. "All work and no play make it a dull day," he said in a sing-song voice jogging into the inner ship.

Base shook his head. "Saiya-jins," he muttered, moving to follow.

* * * * * * * * * * *

"Lady, all our fighters... they've, they've been destroyed," stammered the crewman in disbelief. "The enemy had joined with reinforcements. Do you want me to send out another wave?"

Lady Kijo stared out through a large viewing monitor that flickered and buzzed with static making the picture almost impossible to see.

"Lady?"

"No, don't send out any more fighters. Let them go."

"But lady," protested the crewman. He was cut short with a haunting look from Kijo's eyes.

"I did not wish you to send out the first wave, solider. You should lean not to go over my head."

The soldier trembled in fear. "Fo-forgive me lady. I did not mean to over step my self."

After glaring at the man for several more seconds, watching him sweat under her gaze, she turned it back to the fuzzy monitor.

"Now the stage is set and I can pull the strings on my pretty porcelain doll," she laughed softly, earning a confused look from the crewman.

"Hurry up with the preparations, we will leave within the hour," Kijo stated, turning and floating down the hall.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Trunks sat on the wooden desk constructed against the side of Capsule Corps to hold barbecues and causal dinner parties outside on. His legs were threaded through the wide bars of the railing, and his hands rested on the wood as he gazed over their large backyard. Down on the ground Marron and Almuerzo sat on a pair of swings that was part of jungle gym he and Bra use to play on. Bra stood leaning against one of the swings' support poles. The three were chatting quietly with each other, but Trunks was too far away to hear what they were saying.

"Mind if I join you?" asked a familiar voice from behind. He turned and looked at the raven-haired female behind him. A small smile graced his lips as he reached down and patted the wood next to him.

Pan eased herself down and treaded her legs through the bars as he had, she kicked her feet softly as she peered down at the girls.

"Wonder what they're talking about," said Trunks ideally.

"Huh, probably talking about boys and what kind of clothes make their eyes pop out of their heads," said Pan lifting her chin slightly as if that kind of conversation was too beneath her to join in.

Trunks laughed softly. "Then I'm glad you're not down there plotting to make me blind myself."

"And what's that suppose to mean?" demanded Pan defensively.

Trunks' eyes widened realizing how that might have sound. "No I didn't

mean it like that, really, Pan, I like how you dress."

Pan gave him a skeptical look and glanced down at her shirt. She lifted a hand and pulled on the plain red top she wore. Okay so she didn't dress hot to trot like Bra or Marron or even Almuerzo: big deal. Her clothes were comfortable... well maybe they hide too much, lord knows she didn't need to hide any of her good features. Maybe I should let Bra talk me into being her life-size Barbie doll for a day or two, I won't mind if Trunks' eyes looked like they'd come out of his head once and awhile. She pictured herself in one of Bra's tight little mini dresses with three-inch heels and a few touches of make-up. In the picture she tripped on the heels to land on her face, smudged her make-up, and flashed everyone around her. Yah, I'm sure that'll make Trunks' eyes widen, widen in embarrassment, thought Pan with a sigh. I'm just not lady material she told herself. The thought of a beautiful lady caused her to conjure up an image of Kijo. She began to unconsciously grind her teeth together. Lady Kijo: member of the enemy, Lucifer's army. She was definitely the definition of a high born lady. She probably attended fancy dinners and balls, wore marvelous gowns that made men drool, and spent her times making polite conversation with handsome people while daintily eating some expensive dish. The though made her cringe. She'd once gone to a party like that as Trunks' date, and the experience had not been as fun as she'd imagined. Trunks had to spend most of his time entertaining his guest and making business deals, she was unbelievably uncomfortable in her modest yet fairly handsome gown, and she'd been down right frustrated when it came to eating. They'd served small portions and everyone had stared at her when she'd torn into it and demanded more. It certainly hadn't been enough for a quarter Saiya-jin; she wondered how Trunks managed at those parties.

A frown crossed Pan's face. We're so different, Trunks and me, what if he someday finds another girl who fits him better? Her eyes widened in horror as in her mind's eye Lady Kijo curtsied to Trunks who bowed back and offered her his arm which she took: a lord and his lady. They even looked good together in her mental image. She shook her head rapidly to clear it; over my dead body!

"Pan?"

"Huh?" said Pan, turning back to look at him.

"Something wrong?" he asked, concern showing in his eyes.

"Uh... no," she said looking down at her feet. Trunks won't dump me for some dumb hussy, he's not that kind of guy. She felt a little guilty for thinking such things. Trunks had had plenty of chances to find someone better; women practically threw themselves at him. Yet he'd remained faithful through it all, if anything his secretaries were always laughing about how shy he was with women, likewise afraid of the lustful glimmer in their eyes. Maybe he was, maybe that was why he chose a tomboy for a girlfriend? She sighed again and leaned her forehead on the bars. That woman's just got me worked up, I don't like her, I don't like her one little bit. At least Trunks wasn't there when she came in, I don't know what I would have done if she'd looked at him twice... probably have tried to kill her hologram or not.

Trunks glanced at the quarter Saiya-jin to his side, she seemed troubled about something, not that he was any better. He could feel himself beginning to sweat, his heart pounding at his ribcage. Okay, we're finally alone, he thought nervously drumming his fingertips on one of the bars. He squirmed, thigh pressing against one of the bars enough for him to feel every corner of the small box in his pocket.

Ask her fool! Part of him yelled.

I will, I will, I'm just working up to it.

You're scared senseless accused the voice.

Trunks bit his lip, beginning to fidget.

It's not that hard, Einstein. Here it goes like this: you pull out the box, open it, and say 'Will you Marry me' ...see, nothing too it.

Nothing too it! That's harder then fighting Majin Buu. Alone! With my hand tied behind my back! Blindfolded!

I can't believe we're the same person said the voice in annoyed tone.

Maybe right now isn't a good time to ask. You know we still don't know about Juuhachi and everyone.

I feel like chicken tonight, like chicken tonight, the voice began to sing in an annoying mimic of some food commercial he'd heard on TV.

Ah! You're not helping!

What me to hold your hand? Taunted the voice.

That's it I'm going to do it!

About time!

Trunks turned to face Pan. "Pan-!"

Pan's head was tilted back, looking at the sky, and a smile crossed her face. "Look! They're back!" she shouted.

"Huh?" said Trunks, in bewilderment, looking up to see a CC ship falling to earth.

"Come on!" shouted Pan, getting up. She grabbed his arm and all but dragged him along.

Trunks groaned and slapped a hand over his face. I was so close! Sooooo close! He mentally whined.

Pathetic... said the voice in a mellow tone.

Trunks and Pan joined Bulma, Bra, Marron, and Almuerzo as they watched and

waited for the others to exist the ship.

Vegeta was the first out and greeted his wife with a grunt and a jerk of his

head towards Juuhachi as Juunana and Krillin carried her out between them.

Bulma gasped and hurried over to the blond android to see the damage. "Shoulder wound, went all the way through," she muttered to herself gently probing the injury. "Nothing too life threatening," she announced loud enough to them all. "Juunana, you'll have to help me, I'm not familiar with her mechanical parts and if she need blood I don't think any but yours will do." The brown-haired android wordlessly nodded and together he and Krillin carried Juuhachi into the house after Bulma.

Goten came out next with Base behind him. Marron stepped up to greeted him.

Goten smile and gave her the thumbs up. "Piece of cake, Marron, your mom's not too hurt and they even managed to take out another one of those battleships by themselves."

Marron smiled and moved over to his side taking his hand to pull him away from the others. "Were you hurt?" they heard her ask as the pair stepped away. Goten could be seen shaking his head vigorously and beginning to explain the fight with large gestures of his hands and arms.

"Those two," Bra smiled, watching them go. She turned and grinned as the other two by her side.

"Base-kun!"

"Huh? Wah!"

She began to giggle as the three-eyed beauty glomped the large shy Namek sei-jin, who seemed more confused than anything else.

"Oh, Base, you don't know how worried I was for you, I-" the girl paused as a loose leaf drifted by and landed on her nose. She wiggled her nose like a rabbit. "Ah...ah...-ah-achoo!"

In a flash the girl's hair turned from black to the palest sun blond, and the all too innocent look on her vanished just as quickly.

"Huh?" Base uttered, looking down at her.

Almuerzo tossed her long hair, and glanced over her shoulder at him. "My, aren't you a large green hunk of eye candy," she purred in a sexy tone.

"Huh?!" Base uttered, much louder.

"Let's see what you taste like, shall we?" she grinned, grabbing hold of the Namek sei-jin.

"Ahhh! Let go!" cried Base, backing up and pin wheeling his arms. He fell over the railing with Almuerzo still clinging to his front. Their legs and hips were the only parts of them now visible to the rest of the group. Base kicked his long legs in a panicked way while muffled protests were hurried.

"You go sister," cheered Bra, using one of Almuerzo's favorite saying in that form.

Trunks and Pan just looked on with wide eyes as the seconds ticked by. Base's struggles didn't lessen. If anything they go more wild as time passed and low little moans were hurried behind the rail.

"Uh, maybe you two should get a room," said Trunks nervously.

Almuerzo's head popped back up. "Great idea," she grinned with a wolfish smile, showing many pearly white teeth.

"No it's not!" shouted the Namek sei-jin, falling all the way over the railing and out of Almuerzo's clutches. He crawled away on hands and knees several paces before scrambling up to his feet and breaking into a run.

"Oh, I love it when they play hard to get," purred Almuerzo. "Base-kun!" she called running after him.

Sweat drops ran down the side of Trunks' and Pan's heads.

"Don't you just feel the love tonight?" Bra grinned, turning on her heels and strolling into the house.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Juuhachi groaned and squeezed her eyes shut again when a bright light flashed in them. "What... where am I?" she questioned out loud. Her eyes opened and refocused to see a concerned face looking down at her. The figure had gray hair, and a few wrinkles around the corners of his eyes and mouth, no nose, and six little dots centered on his forehead. "Krillin?"

"Juuhachi," smiled the ex-monk taking her hand. "Thank kami, you had me worried."

"What happened?" she asked, sitting up. The human tried to push her back down, but she easily batted his hand away.

"We rescued you, you passed out while fighting, but now you're save back on earth."

"Earth," said Juuhachi slowly. She raised up her hand and twitched her fingers before her face, then ran her other hand up and over to her shoulder where the blast had penetrated. Her organic tissues hurt slightly, but she could tell that the inner mechanisms had been repaired. It would heal clean, though there might be a scar.

"Don't worry," assured Krillin, watching as she studied her injuries. "Bulma and Juunana fixed it, Bulma says in a few days you shouldn't feel a thing."

"Earth," repeated Juuhachi again. "You know I've never considered myself an earthling...."

"Juuhachi...?" Krillin asked with a confused face.

"Once I won't have cared if this planet had been blown to bits," she said, her fingers tightening over her wound, which her hand was clamped over. "I am an android, a man-made woman, a weapon," she spoke softly. "I was created to kill, to destroy, when did that change...? When did I change?"

"Juuhachi, are you okay?" asked Krillin, sitting down on the bed side next to your. "You're saying some pretty strange things. I don't think you're a weapon."

She turned and looked at him. "And what do you thing I am? What do you see when you look at me Krillin, do you see an earthling or android?"

He reached out a hand and cupped her check, smiling softly at her. "I see you, Juuhachi, only you. You're above such labels. You're beautiful, strong, and kind-you are my wife, that is all the label I will put on you."

Juuhachi closed her eyes and leaned slightly into his touch. "I am not a human, but when I floated there looking at the earth... so beautiful, not because of its blue waters or green land, beautiful because that was where you were, Marron, all that I hold dear, all that makes me more then a weapon."

"Juuhachi," called Krillin, sliding more onto the bed and wrapping his arms around her. She leaned her head on his shoulder and embraced him back.

"This is my home and I've decided I will defend it."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Vegeta stood perched on the white wood balcony branched off from his and Bulma's room. All he wore was a large long-sleeve button-up shirt, the last few buttons down the front were only done up for a show of modesty, the rest hung wide open. One foot was drawn up on the rail he sat on the other dangled down as he stared off at the night sky. A cup of forgotten wine hung in one hand the other hand idly caressed the bloom of a white climbing rose that Bulma's mother had planted on that side of the building. He didn't drink often. If he got too into it he didn't stop till he was drunk, thought it took quite a bit to push him over his limit. He wasn't drunk now, though he slightly wished he were. It was easy to forget when you were drunk, forget troubles, bad memories....

"I'm not a hound..." he muttered softly, eyes fixed on the moon, it wasn't full: he won't transform. He just liked to look at it now that there was a moon to gaze at.

He didn't turn his head, kept his eyes glued on the silver disc in the sky, as he heard his mate enter the room.

"Ah, what a day," Bulma sighed, dropping a load of papers on a table against the wall and toeing off her slippers. "According to Juunana, the ship they wrecked was left completely intact, just the engines and computers were trashed, maybe I can use that to-" She stopped as she lifted her head to see the Saiya-jin perched on the rail with a distant look on his face. "Vegeta?" she called walking over to him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Don't give me that, one look at you is enough to say you've got something on your mind."

'...'

"Is it about that woman's offer? What you told Krillin?" she asked softly. "You can tell me, Vegeta."

"There are things that I hope you never find out about me, Bulma," he said, voice no more then a soft purr.

"I know you're not a saint, Vegeta. I know you've killed and done all kinds of bad things-"

"That's not what I'm taking about!" snapped Vegeta, cutting her off. "I don't care if you know that stuff, you already have an idea of what I've done in the past. But... there are things about me I am not proud of."

"If they're not bad things you've done, then what? What could you of all people possible be ashamed of?" asked Bulma.

"Nothing... it's not important any more," said Vegeta.

"Oh no you don't!" said Bulma, widening her stance and crossing her arms, getting into her stubborn pose. I'm not letting you drop it just like that, I'm not leaving this spot till you-!"

Her words were cut short as he leaned up, took hold of her chin, and kissed her. She closed her eyes and moaned low in her throat as he skillfully teased the inside of her mouth. Blinking open her eyes, she pushed him back.

"Oh, no! If you think that's going to stop me, think again, buster!"

Vegeta set down his cup and smirked at her. He turned around, facing the blue-haired human and grabbed her, pulling her in between his legs to begin nipping and kissing down her neck. His hands slid down her sides and behind to cup and squeeze her rear.

"I said that won't work," growled Bulma, fisting her fingers into his thick hair and pulling on it. Vegeta was unfazed by her attempt to take his nipping jaws away from her throat. Instead he began to purr very softly in his throat, his tail sliding up her bare legs and under her skirt.

"I-I told you... that won't work," she said, slightly breathless, pulling on his hair harder. Her legs trembled and she unconsciously leaned into him.

His head dipped lower down to her collarbone in light kisses, his thighs hugged her sides firmly.

"I... want to know... Vegeta," she managed, a light pant came from her and a dark blush covered her cheeks.

He gave a small growl, picked her up, and stood to walk back into the room. He dropped her on the bed and climbed up on top of her.

"Vegeta."

"Shhh," he breathed in her ear. "No more talking tonight," it was almost a request, but still a demand.

Any thought Bulma had of protesting left her head as his hands returned to her body.

*~*~*~*~*

Chapter 7 / Bulma’s Hideout / Chapter 9