Disclaimer: As usual.

Note: Deleted and completely rewrote the last part. Previous evil-rendition of my perfect-scmerfect OOC is now a distant memory. She is no longer an evil suddenly-appeared-out-of-nowhere-with-aweshum-powerzzzzzz Saiya-jin sue! She is not just an alien prone to acts of shoujo-ai, whose cat hates her guts more than us fangirls! Huzzah!

And for my other super-perfect-powerful-beyond-comprehension-evil-sue-with-a-bad-past...well, I have some character change in mind that I think will work out well in this story :D

A Change of Heart.
Chapter Seven: Dark Truths.

"Come on guys, lets not start again with the arguments," Gohan was trying to ease up the tense atmosphere resulting from disagreements from all parties.

"Yeah, what's important now is we need to get Trunks back."

While in the back of the group, Goten sat, alone, it looked like he was in deep thought.

"If that is Trunks, that means that the creature from last time is behind this all."

"If it is, then I want to get my hands on that worthless piece of-" Vegeta didn't finish his sentence when he felt two familiar Ki's heading their way.

"Pan, Bra, what are you two doing here?" Bulma and Chichi both had their hands on their hips.

"I thought we told you two to stay at the CC with Master Roshi!" Bulma said sternly.

"We're sorry," Pan started, looking sheepish, "but we were bored and Master Roshi didn't help, he was just watching girls doing really funny things on TV."

"Doing what kind of funny things?"

"I don't know, there were a lot of girls. They were taking each others clothes off and started licking ... funny places," Bra told them, her face was scrunched up, like she was trying hard to imagine a disgusting scene. The other's faces transformed quickly from confused, to shock and to rage, "Right Pan? After that, Master Roshi's face turned a really funny color and then there was blood coming out of his nose, he looked like a fountain. That was really funny and-" Bra stopped after seeing the looks on their faces.

"THAT OLD PERVERT IS GOING TO DIE!" Goku and Gohan had to physically restrain Vegeta from blasting off to the Capsule Corp right that instant, "LET GO OFF ME KAKKAROT AND YOU, SPAWN, I'M GOING TO BLAST HIM TO THE SEVENTH DEPTHS OF HELL!"

"Later Vegeta, right now we have more important matters to attend to," Goku and Gohan let go off Vegeta as he began to calm down and powered down from Super Saiyan.

"They're right," they all turned to Chichi, who was speaking in a calm tone, so calm that it was almost terrifying, "BUT BY THE TIME I'M THROUGH WITH HIM, THERE ISN'T GOING TO BE ENOUGH LEFT OF HIM TO FEED AN ANOREXIC MOSQUITO!" Chichi had raging flames in her eyes and was waving around her frying pan-of-unspeakable-pain-and-terror that had just magically appeared. Everybody just backed away slowly, even Vegeta, who had enough a sense not to mess with an enraged Chichi, especially one wielding a frying pan.

"O-kay, now everyone, settle down," Krillin held both his hands up, "all the extra energy should be directed towards the enemy, not among ourselves."

"Goten, what are you thinking about?" Picollo spoke suddenly, causing all attention to focus on Goten, who had calmed down a lot after his breakdown.

"Huh? Oh, it's nothing," Goten lied, but they were not convinced.

"Come on Goten, tell us."

"You know what secrets do, don't you?" Vegeta growled, and by the shine of realization in the boys' eyes, he knew Goten got the meaning behind it.

"Well... it's just that... it means TK is Trunks, and he was right in front of me all this time but I didn't notice. He's supposed to be my best friend and I couldn't even recognize him," Gotens' expression turned sullen.

"It's not your fault Goten. We are the ones who told you he died, and besides, he has black hair now, the Trunks you knew had lavender hair, didn't he?" Bulma smiled. Goten nodded his head slowly.

"I guess..."

Goten took a deep breath and turned to Rin, who hadn't spoken a word since the battle, "Are you okay?" he nudged her slowly with an elbow.

"Huh, oh, yeah..." she smiled sheepishly, "Just drifted off for a second there."

"What were you thinking of?"

"Nothing that I think is exceptionally important, really."

"Whatever issues of non-importance as it may seem to you, might serve of some importance right now, so spit it out, girl," Vegeta growled.

"Err... well... I remember that when TK first came to class, he was with another person. So ... I'd dare to go out on a foot here and assume that she was the other person."

Goten's expression changed to one of realization, "You're right! I'd completely forgotten about that ... Rei was it? Now that I think about it, she was a bit weird. I think I saw her putting the moves on Mr. Bento during recess that afternoon too."

Throughout Goten and Rins' thoughtful reminiscence, they didn't notice the peculiar looks the rest of the Z Fighters were throwing them. Only when Gohan gave a distinct cough, did they realize that they weren't alone.

"Glad you decided to come back down to earth and join us, kids," he gave them a half-moon eyed glare.

"Sorry," both grinned sheepishly.

"Anyway," Goten added, "well ... that's about it for our theory. Rei is probably the fighter with Trunks; she looks pretty scary too actually, so I'm not surprised that we got our asses kicked. I'd even go as far as to say that she reminds me of Vegeta-"

"-who in no way resembles my father, by the way, therefore she and I are not related," Rin ended, earning a light chuckle from Goten. The others just looked on like they had gone mad, "But we did have one night in bed a while ago. It was completely unforgettable," she cooed and seemed to be glowing at the memory.

Goten's laughter turned into a shocked cough soon after the last word, and he just stared at he like she had grown another head.

"What was that?"

Someone in the crowd asked. None of them seemed to have noticed that Vegeta was strangely quiet, sulking in the back while grumbling about more people that were stronger than him, and began imagining multiple scenarios in which Kakkarot would die in the slowest, most painful way imaginable.

"We shared a night together? What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, really ... just ... well, this sure puts an interesting twist on things," Gohan muttered.

"I thought you were Goten's girlfriend?"

"How on earth did you get acquainted with that psycho?"

"My grandchildren!"

"I'd pay a lot of money to get in on some of that action."

"Yamcha! Stop being a chauvinistic pervert around the children, or I'll sic Vegeta on you."

Goten and Rin sweat dropped at the reactions received. Ignoring his peculiar family, Goten turned to her and locked on his intense, I-want-an-answer gaze on her, "So ... you and her? You know her? How? When? Where? You're into girls? No wonder you were checking out Juu back on Master Roshi's island."

"Who was checking out my Juu?!"

"People, people, people, one at a time!" Bulma raised up her arms to calm the rabid crowd, they all obliged and quieted down as the last of the questions (does that mean you're one of them too?) rang out, "Give the poor girl some time to answer."

Having said that, Bulma immediately turned to her, as did all the eyes present.

"Well ... I'm not really sure how to start ..."

"How about the beginning?" Goten said.

"Okay then ... so, well ... I met her back home sometime ago. We talked, had dinner and ended up falling asleep on the same bed. It's not that all an interesting story when I look back on it ..."

No one seemed to know what right response to give to her comment.

"How exactly did you end up here, if I'd be so bold as to ask."

"Funny story actually; you see, my father was somewhat of an inventor, and ... well, to make a long story short, big invention went kaboom, and I ended up here. My cat doesn't like me very much either."

No one knew what right response to give that comment either, so they opted to just stare at her. The thoughts of Trunks and whatever new enemy might appear pushed out of their thought for the moment.

That was until the moment was abruptly cut short by Videls' enraged growl.

"What the hell are you people doing? Gaping at her like she'd grown another head," at that comment, Videl had to do a double take to make sure that she didn't really have another head, "anyway, we've just discovered who the enemy is... and what gender... so we had to come up with a plan to keep us from getting our asses kicked from here to the moon next time!"

Bulma, who was absentmindedly twirling the silver, heart-shaped pendant Vegeta had (not out of his own free will) given her for Christmas, nodded, "Videl's right. We have to get Trunks back, and I will stop at nothing to make sure that I do!"

Everyone cheered, and seemed to be of one heart and mind again, until Goku said something stupid and was almost kicked into tomorrow by Vegeta, and they had to start all over again. Videl was not one happy camper then.

x-x- The Enemy's Ship -x-x

"Master, the warrior Ballarck has just entered the Earths' system and is within communicating range," the electronic sound of a computer rang around the big control room of the ship.

"Very good, put him on screen."

Within seconds, a very scary and scarred face appeared on the screen, "You summoned me, Tenkou-sama?"

"Yes, I have a very important mission for you," he smirked.

"What happened to the kiddies?" Ballarck looked slightly curious as to the fate of his two subordinates.

"Those two? They were useless, too weak to fight, but, I no longer need them for I have you. I think you might find your next opponents particularly interesting," Tenkou smirked.

"Forgive me for my nosiness, but might I inquire whom I will face?" Ballarck's face broke into a crooked grin.

"Saiyan-jins, but not just any common Saiyan-jin, I'd even go as for as to call him the peskiest of them all. Even Freeza found him to be trouble."

"Saiyans, huh?" his had a surprised look on his face, "I thought they were all extinct?"

"Not all of them, well ... not yet. They will when you get through with them, I can count on you, can't I?"

"Of course you can. I always liked a little Saiyan-jin meat on the side," he licked his lips hungrily.

"Good, I knew you were the right man for the job. When you land on this pathetic mud-ball called Earth, you know where to find me."

"As you wish, Tenkou-sama," he bowed slightly and the screen went blank.

"That pathetic prince will, at last, meet his doom and I will finally get my revenge," he cackled, seemingly not noticing the stirring shadow in one of the corners, or so it seemed.

"You dare return here after failing to carry out your orders?" Tenkou hissed out suddenly, without turning to face the person.

"I didn't fail," he deep, feminine voice muttered, "you said to send the boy to his family, and I did."

"So, where is he now?"

"I'm not his babysitter."

"I always found it amusing that you have such gall to talk back to me."

"I'm only saying what is the truth."

Tenkou suddenly disappeared from here eyes and seemed to appeared in a flash of white before her seconds later before slamming her hard into the wall behind, "Have I not taught you anything about telling the truth? We're the bad guys, we don't tell the truth."

"Forgive me, then, I should have said 'obvious'."

Tenkou seemed amused at the answer. A sly smirk spread across his face and he lowered his lips down to meet his subordinates'. The kiss lasted for a few seconds until Tenkou pulled back, leaving the somewhat scandalized girl before him and walked away.

"You may leave now."

He hadn't the need to say it twice, when the sound of the door sliding open and closed reached his ears soon after.

"Children grow up so fast these days."

x-x- Satan City -x-x

The Z fighters were on alert as they felt several strong Ki's enter the atmosphere before several bright specks over the horizon caught their eye. Time seemed to slow down as they watched the spots descend onto the ground, before there was an explosion and an earth splitting quake.

"Damnit Dende, not now!" Krillin cursed.

Somewhere above the earth, Dende sneezed.

"See, I told you guys, but did you believe me? NOOO! Why? Because I'm just some human from Earth and not some great Saiyan warrior," Videl stated bitterly.

"Come on Videl-"

"Stuff it woman, we have more important things to worry about," Vegeta shot off towards the place where the pods landed.

The watched silently as Vegeta's form began receding into the horizon before coming to the conclusion that it would be best if they followed suit.

"Okay; long run goal: get Trunks back. Medium run goal: fight the enemy. Short run goal: don't die," Krillin mentally reminded himself before blasting off behind the others.

x-x- The Crash Site-x-x

"So... this is Earth, eh? What a pathetic sight to see," Ballarck surveyed his surroundings with a look of disgust clear on his horribly scarred face. "No wonder Tenkou-sama wants it destroyed." He turned his attention to the in coming figures and smirked, "Look here boys, we have company"

And in a spectacle of growls, upturned gravel and dust, the Z Fighters made their entrance.

"And to what do we owe the honor of you presence" Ballarck greeted.

"I am the Prince of all Saiyan-jin, and I will go wherever I please," Vegeta glared at the enemy.

"Oh! Look boys, it's the Prince of all Saiyan-jin," Ballarck and his crew laughed before getting into a mock bow, "forgive us Your Majesty, we had no idea."

"Why you," Vegeta was on the verge of going Super Saiyan-jin but was quickly stopped by Goku.

"Not yet, Vegeta," Goku whispered so that only Vegeta heard him.

"Who are you? And why have you come here?" Gohan asked.

"If you should know, boy, I am Ballarck, and this is my crew of planet conqueror and plunderers. Our job is go from planet to planet... well, basically plundering and conquering," the crew laughed at his statement. "Why? Have you no sense of humor?" he added, regarding the serious look on the Z Fighters faces.

"Considering your idea of humour to be pretty whacked, I suppose that no, we don't," Gohan said boldly, taking a firm stand even though the ghastly stench the crew gave off was enough to curl his nose hair. He sucked in his gut and puffed out his chest in a manner that seemed pretty imposing when in truth, he was holding in his breath.

"Looks like we have a smart-ass on our hands here, and we all know how annoying those kinds can be, don't we? Anyone care to do the honour?" Ballarck turned back to his crew, inquiring mockingly as he flashed a smirk in Gohans' direction.

Gohan growled, insulted to be taken so lightly. So what that he may have looked like a nerd with his thick, black-frames specs that he just noticed he was still wearing. It had been a hot topic for Vegeta who seemed to be the one insulted the most that one of his races was sporting human eyewear.

"So do we fight now or wait for my toenail to grow out?" pausing, Ballarck looked down at his aforementioned toenails. "Well, would you look at that! It's already grown out--"

"--The appropriate word out have to be 'dreadfully out grown'--" interrupted Gohan but no one paid him any attention.

"I guess we start fight...now!"

And all hell broke loose. The Saiya-jins powered up, the Namek-jin powered up and lunged forth into a head on fight with the rabid enemy. Boulders were unearthed, sand and dust scattered in the air.

Punched with thrown, some connected, some didn't.

The girls watched in a mix of awe and fear from the sidelines. Bulma and Chichi stood close to each other with Videl and Rin stood side by side watching the blood bath playing out right in front of their eyes. At first, the battle seemed to be on pretty even grounds, an even amount of hit landed and an equal amount of fighters on both sides landed in a heap in craters down on the ground.

"Do you think your petty little light show will work now" Vegeta's smirking words broke through the racket as he deflected an oncoming blast with one hand, completely unaware that the direction of the Ki ball had now been change towards the direction of Bulma and Chichi.

Chichi, eyes staring fixated to where her husband and sons were holding their own against their opponents, didn't noticed the oncoming threat, but Bulma did. And in an act that never fully registered in her mind, he shoved her friend as hard as she could out of the way, but did not have enough time for herself to get away. Bulmas' eyes widened and she watched the blinding light become bigger and bigger the closer it came. The light reflecting in her shiny orbs like the proverbial light one would see at the end of the tunnel when it was their time coming.

Bulma knew that there was no hope, be she had no regrets. Closing her eyes in a sign of peaceful acceptance, a small smile curled at the side of her lips and a tear that rolled down her cheek before dripping down her chin and splattering onto the dusty ground before it was lost in the mass of dirt.

"BULMA!"

Chichi's shout caught everyone's attention and they turned around just in time to see the consuming light swallow up Bulma's shadow, continue on it path uninterrupted and ending in a loud explosion as it hit the side of one of the rock mountains.

Vegeta was barely able to blink much less even think that he would have ever made it in time. There he stayed, hovering; wide, disbelieving eyes staring at the spot where Bulma had just been, only to spot the remaining shine of a now dirtied and melted pendent that lay damaged half buried beneath the debris.

"Bulma..."

End Chapter 7

Wow, shocking edit-update! The only thing left to do now is find where I'd put the other chapters of this story I'd saved before I deleted it...