Goten skimmed along the edge of a chunk of concrete, flipping down and turning to meet Juuhachi-gou’s oncoming fist with an outstretched palm. He clasped his fingers down and grasped her fist, gripping so hard that it would have broken the hand of a normal human being. Once he had a firm grip on her fist, he whipped his arm back, dragging her with him. The android flew forwards, and Goten raised his knee to catch her in the stomach. He felt the connection and saw the way that Juuhachi-gou’s eyes bulged slightly at the hit, but it had no more effect on her than any other attack that they had thrown at her so far. If anything, it seemed to make her more powerful; propelled by angry indignation, she brought her other hand around in a claw and racked the side of his face, dragging her nails over her skin. He yelped and yanked his head back, releasing her fist immediately and ducking down to avoid the inevitable strike. She followed him, drawing her hand back and filling it with power and light, but before she could reach him, she was restrained by Trunks. He grabbed the android from behind and locked his arms around her shoulders, allowing Goten a moment to catch his balance.

He sprang up and flew straight into the air, rising through the smoke and the bits of ash that were floating on the wind. Below him, Trunks and Juuhachi-gou struggled for a moment, Trunks trying to keep a hold on her without crushing her or hurting her too much. Then Juuhachi-gou seemingly exploded in a flash of light, sending the lavender haired warrior sailing back straight into a nearby burning building.

The moment of concern that Goten felt faded quickly as Juuhachi-gou rose and faced him, a blue light already blazing between her hands. She let the blast fly, her eyes cool and a smirk growing on her beautiful face. The attack came hurtling at him, blinding him for a moment as he phased to avoid it, dashing below and covering his head as the building directly behind him exploded in a blast of glass, concrete and metal. A wave of fire soon followed and Goten dove low, not wishing to be reduced to ashes. He met the ground and somersaulted away, springing back up on his hands and turning to face Juuhachi-gou once more.

Trunks emerged from the burning building that Juuhachi-gou had knocked him into, his eyes mirroring the intensity of the fire that surrounded them. He screamed a long line of profanity at her before throwing his burning shirt aside and leaping at the female jinzouningen, his fists tightly curled and ready.

There was a sudden flash of light and it blinded them as they drove through the abandoned city streets. Tayhei raised a hand and shielded her eyes, slowing the Capsule Car down to a near stop. Her other hand remained gripped tightly on the steering wheel; she appeared to be completely calm and cool, navigating the burning, broken city as if it were an everyday event for her. On the inside however, she had to admit that she felt quite sick. Seeing all of the damage and death here was unnerving to say the least. It was honestly like taking a drive through hell. All of the bodies, twisted buildings, and monstrous flames presented an eerie form of scenery. It was absolutely horrifying, sickening. She hoped with all her heart that Bra was not at home watching this on the news. It would be simply too much for a girl her age to see. And from what she saw at the Son House, the news cameras didn’t seem to be too shy when it came to displaying the wreckage. Actually, she wished that they had made the little girl come to the Son House with them. She would have never let Bra come to the city with her and Mirai Bulma, but at least she would be completely safe at the Son House with ChiChi. Capsule Corporation was far too close to Satan City. It made her a bit nervous to think that Bra was alone and in the same vicinity as all of this horrifying destruction.

There was another flash of light and then a ball of flames came rushing forward, hurtling past the Capsule Car at an unimaginable speed. It made Tayhei wince as it flew by, and she could feel the heat of it coming through the door. She made an abrupt turn, flying the car to the right to avoid incineration. Dodging below the hanging wires and steel of a busted building, she tunneled through the debris and came out into a clearing --- the source of the flashes. There were three figures there, barely visible at this distance. Though they were moving very quickly and fighting quite viciously, she could still make them out. Two Super Saiya-jins and the female jinzouningen. She was glad to see that Mirai Trunks had not gotten to Juuhachi-gou first. If that were the case, she probably would have already been dead by now. She slowed the car to a stop, wavering in the protective shadow of a burning building.

In the seat next to her, Mirai Bulma leaned forward and squinted through the smoke and fire. “What is that?”

“Juuhachi-gou.” Tayhei informed her, removing her seatbelt and turning back to watch the fight. She didn’t know why, but for some reason she felt very uncomfortable here. She was usually always first in line when it came to adventure and excitement, but considering all of the death and destruction they had just seen, it didn’t seem too intelligent to be this close to the female jinzouningen. “It looks like she’s fighting Goten and Trunks.”

Mirai Bulma, who obviously did not share her concern, peered through the windshield with wide blue eyes, a wry smile on her face. She also removed her seatbelt and bent down to grab her purse off of the floor of the Capsule Car. She fished through the purse for a moment before taking out a pen and a small, worn notebook. “Amazing. I can’t believe they have that kind of power at their age. This is just incredible. They certainly seem to be holding their own against Juuhachi-gou. It doesn’t even look like they are putting up any effort at all. Look at the way they are working together as a team. This is wonderful. Vejiita must be so proud of him.”

The last comment caught Tayhei off guard and she snorted indignantly. “I doubt it. If you ask me, Vejiita rarely gives a damn about anything, let alone Trunks.”

The older woman threw her a curious look, then went back to observing, her mouth set in a firm, hard line. Tayhei sighed. She had probably insulted the woman, but she couldn’t very well lie to her. If Vejiita was proud of his son, he certainly didn’t show it. He barely even spoke to Trunks at all and when he did, it was usually something condescending or outright vicious. That was one of her biggest problems with Vejiita. She would never understand why he didn’t take the time or the effort to take care of his children. When Bulma had been alive, at least Trunks had had someone to run to, some sort of comfort. But now that she was gone, the boy didn’t have anyone at all. Vejiita didn’t seem to care, though. He just kept on treating Trunks exactly the same, just as if nothing had ever happened. Every day, Trunks had been hit with a new slew of insults and hurtful remarks from Vejiita. And that just plain made her angry. No one had a right to push Trunks around and make fun of him. No one except for her, anyway.

Her green eyes narrowed as she watched Trunks fight Juuhachi-gou. She took in the way that his jade eyes had narrowed down to near slits, his mouth drawn into a harsh scowl. His muscles stood out in high relief, glowing gold and sparkling, twisting and turning as he attacked the android. She had seen him and Goten spar before; it was nothing new to see him as a Super Saiya-jin, attacking an opponent. But she had never seen him attack so viciously before. She guessed that must be the difference between a spar and a real fight. A real fight was far more dangerous. And she knew that being this close to a real fight was dangerous as well. She wanted to watch the action, but she certainly didn’t want to die because of it. She turned her eyes to the woman at her side and placed a hand on the steering wheel of the vehicle.

“Bulma-san, I think we should get away from the fighting.” She commented. “This Capsule Car isn’t prepared to take any kind of abuse.”

“Nonsense!” Mirai Bulma dismissed her idea. She tucked her long turquoise hair behind her ear and gave her a smug look. “I built these cars myself. They can take an amazing amount of damage. Just bring us a little closer so I can have a better look at Juuhachi-gou. I need to figure out some way to restrain her and I can’t do that without getting a good look at her. You don’t have to drive right over her, but get close enough so that I can see, okay? Besides, what could happen? The fight is between her and the boys. Not us.”

Tayhei almost obeyed her, reaching down to throw the car into gear and start moving again, but stopped. She was so used to following Bulma’s orders that it seemed almost natural, but this was not the Bulma that she knew and trusted. Mirai Bulma was probably just as intelligent and rational as the Bulma that she had known, but it wasn’t the same. It never would be. Tayhei feared that the older woman’s personal intentions may be interfering a bit with her reason, which made her doubt Mirai Bulma’s judgment. It just wasn’t a smart idea to get closer to the female jinzouningen and all of the fighting. They would only end up either getting hurt or getting in the way. And she didn’t want to do either. She wanted to do as she was asked, because she really had loved Bulma, but for some reason her heart would not let her. Her hand came back up and gripped the steering wheel again, refusing to put the car into gear.

“This is as far as I’m going.” Tayhei informed the older woman firmly. “I don’t even think we should be this close.”

Mirai Bulma shot the younger girl an annoyed look. She remembered Tayhei being stubborn, but this was ridiculous. The Tayhei that she knew at least had the respect to do as she was told. Besides, Bulma didn’t see what the problem was, anyway. They were probably in more danger here, sitting beneath a burning building, than they would be if they were out in that clearing. They would be closer to the fighting, but all three of the fighters seemed to be very accomplished. She doubted that their Capsule Car would be hit by a stray attack. And Goten and Trunks would surely keep Juuhachi-gou away from them. Besides, if she was supposed to come up with a solution to contain the jinzouningen, then she needed to get a closer look. She had to see how Juuhachi-gou was fighting and how her body was reacting to hits and attacks. And she couldn’t very well see what was happening unless she got closer.

She had to be able to find a way to restrain the jinzouningen. It was her only chance to prove to the people of this world that she was the Bulma that they had known --- perhaps even better than the Bulma they had known. If she could find a solution and save everyone, then she would become a hero, just as her own son had been so many years ago here. Then everyone, including Vejiita, would see how much she had grown and how much more intelligent and resourceful she was now.

Vejiita. She hadn’t seen him yet, but knew that he was there. It was incredibly frustrating to think about that, and at the same time almost frightening. She had no idea what the Saiya-jin prince would think of her now. Would he look at her the same way that he had looked at his wife, or would he view her as a completely different person --- an older, worn-out version of the woman that he had known? If she could prove to him that she was the same somehow, or better….Perhaps he would see her the way that she wanted him to see her: just as young and vibrant as she always was. There was nothing that she could do about her hair or the wrinkles around her eyes, but she still had her respect. And once she saved this world from the jinzouningen, she was going to be put into even higher status than the other Bulma ever was.

“Move over.” She suddenly commanded the young girl.

Tayhei looked at her with surprised green eyes, then took her hands off the steering wheel and placed them at her sides, a little angry. “Look, it’s just not a very intelligent idea to get any closer.”

“Well, if you refuse to drive closer, then I will.” Bulma smiled patiently at the girl. For someone who was supposedly so attached to adventure and excitement, she could be awfully prudent. They would have to have a laugh over that later, after Bulma had gotten the information that she needed. She was sure that nothing would happen to them. After all, it wasn’t as if they were going to try and run Juuhachi-gou over. She just wanted a better look. She winked at Tayhei conspiratorially, in an effort to gain the girl’s trust. She wanted her to know that she would never take them into danger if she didn’t think that they could make it out alright. “You can come along if you’d like. Or you could simply get out of the car and walk home. It’s your choice.”

The girl said nothing, but she slowly moved out of the driver’s seat and allowed Bulma to take control of the car. Bulma adjusted the seat properly and reached down, jamming the car into gear and applying her foot to the gas pedal. The car shot forward quickly and expertly, heading out into the clearing and closer to the fighting. She could see Juuhachi-gou better already and could now clearly make out Trunks and Goten. Next to her in the passenger seat, Tayhei silently clipped her seat belt and stared out the windshield with an expressionless face.

High above the destroyed city, floating in mid air, Piccolo suddenly straightened up and stared through the smoke with piercing eyes. “What the hell are they doing here?!”

Mirai Trunks looked over at him quizzically, then his stomach churned involuntarily when he realized that he felt his mother’s ki. And not only that, but Tayhei’s ki as well. He spun around and looked down into the city, his eyes slicing through the haze of thick black smoke, and the burning fire, trying to see what was happening. It took him a moment to locate them, then he spotted a small Capsule Car flying straight towards Juuhachi-gou. It was the same Capsule Car that they had flown to the Son House in. He couldn’t see who was driving --- didn’t even care. All he knew was that the only two people that had ever mattered to him were flying towards the enemy, and that Juuhachi-gou wouldn’t give a second thought to killing them. The android would simply raise her hand and blast that Capsule Car into bits.

Below him, Juuhachi-gou suddenly turned and spotted the vehicle that was flying towards her. He didn’t even have to be there to know the look that was on the female jinzouningen’s face. He didn’t even have to see it to be able to feel the smirk creep into her mouth, to see the ice blue eyes light up for just a second --- realizing that she would get to kill. He had seen that look too many times before. And he knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of that look. What if felt like to see those dead blue eyes staring straight into your soul, knowing that you were about to die. He felt it now, though he could not see it. And though he could not see his mother or Tayhei either, he could feel the terror that was creeping into their hearts.

Light began to appear between Juuhachi-gou’s hands, glowing bright blue in her palms. It grew bigger and more brilliant, until it almost hurt to watch. Then she lifted the light above her head and prepared to attack. What little self-restraint and patience he had was simply thrown out the window. He screamed once, incoherent and terrified, then plunged down through the layer of smoke.

Mirai Bulma watched with horrified eyes as Juuhachi-gou turned towards them, blue light blazing between her palms. Ice blue eyes meet deeper blue eyes and the two stared at each other, one terrified and the other smirking. As the female jinzouningen gazed at her, Bulma felt herself suddenly being transported back to a world of desolation and sadness; the world where the jinzouningen had won and the people left had no choice but to live their lives in fear. She had only been fooling herself in thinking that this world was different, that this Juuhachi-gou was different. It was all the same. The jinzouningen were the jinzouningen, no matter what timeline. The light between Juuhachi-gou’s palms began to grow, and as it did, Bulma felt herself quaking to the very soul.

“What is that?” She asked Tayhei urgently, reaching out to grab onto the younger girl’s shoulder.

“Take a guess.” Tayhei snarled back at her, then reached down to jam the car into gear and flung her leg over to kick the gas pedal. The car shot into reverse immediately and the younger girl whipped an arm out to yank the steering wheel hard to the left. The car spun around and she jerked the car out of reverse and into gear. She clipped Bulma’s own seatbelt for her and then met her with burning green eyes. “Get us out of here! Now!”