It was Trunks who landed first outside the Grand Kai's palace, closely followed by the rest of the Z Warriors.  An old man was sitting on the steps of the palace listening to a stereo which he had resting on his left shoulder.  He had white hair and a white beard, and he was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, a rather large pair of sunglasses, and an extremely colourful baseball cap.

The Z Warriors walked up to the old man, and Trunks cleared his throat to get his attention.  The man looked up, and turned his stereo off.  "What can I do for you, dudes?"  he asked, seeming much more like a teenage hippy than an elderly man.

"Erm - we're looking for the HFIL, sir."  Trunks said, recovering from his shock after discovering the old man's unique personality.  "Could you tell us where that is, please?"  The man hesitated, looking at the Z Warriors with curiosity.  Vegeta rolled his eyes impatiently, fed up of his son's manners.

"He means, which way is the HFIL, old man!", he shouted, sick and tired of waiting for answers.  The old man stood up and glared at Vegeta.

"You want to watch your manners!", he said angrily, looking Vegeta up and down.  "Your friend here has the right idea.  You need to learn some respect."  Vegeta was taken aback, and he stepped forward, about to start a fight with the man, when Trunks stepped in.

"Please excuse my father, sir."  He said politely, casting a dark look at Vegeta.  "He's not a very patient man, and we are in a big hurry.  Could you please tell us the way to the HFIL?  We have a friend there in desperate need of our help."

"Sure," the old man said, smiling at Trunks.  He then pointed to a spot far in the distance.  "The HFIL is that way.  I'd be careful though, a friend of mine came back in a pretty bad way after fighting some liv'un.  He's pretty worried about his niece."  Gohan was about to ask whether he meant Goku, but Trunks grabbed his arm, and dragged him with his as he flew in the direction of the HFIL.

*   *   *   *   *

Sakura stood inside the dome of clear energy, looking up at the sky.  She could sense nine power levels approaching, and she recognised them as those of the Z Warriors.  To her dismay, Goku was not with them.  She looked across at Akumasenka, and saw him turn his ugly face towards the sky.

#18 landed hard on the ground, and ran up to the middle of the HFIL, where Sakura stood inside the dome.  She reached towards her, but could not reach past the glass-like energy dome.  "Krillen!", she shouted, turning around to see her fiancée landing nearby.  "Get over here!"  Krillen rushed over, but no matter how hard the kicked and punched at the energy, they could not get through.

"You can not break through it.  An icy voice said from behind them.  "Androids and humans are nowhere near strong enough to get her out.  You would have to kill me, Akumasenka, first, and trust me, for weaklings like you, that is an impossibility."

#18 charged at Akumasenka, her fists clenched and her eyes flashing.  Akumasenka simply brushed hr aside.  "Do not attempt to fight me, my dear."  He said calmly, walking up to her as she clambered to her feet.  "We do not want to scar that lovely face of yours."  He touched her cheek gently, smiling as he stared into her big blue eyes, which were wide with fear and disgust, and Krillen kicked him in the back of the head with as much force as he could muster.

"Hands off!", he yelled, powering up in a rage.  "She's spoken for!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself!", #18 called across to him as she recovered her nerve.  There was something hypnotising about this guys eyes.  As he stared into her eyes, she found it impossible to move, or even breathe.  "Lay one more finger on me, twerp," she yelled across to Akumasenka, "And I promise I'll break every bone in your miserable body!"

Krillen went to attack, but Akumasenka dodged out of the way, and grabbed #18 around the waist so hard, she could not breathe.  Krillen stopped dead.  "Attack me, and your girl friend is toast."  Akumasenka said, stroking #18's soft, blonde hair.  He smiled down at her, and kissed her cheek.  She tried to pull away, but Akumasenka held her head still where it was.  Krillen looked, his blood nearly boiling in rage.  #18 was terrified, he could tell.  She did not get scared easily, but this was one of those rare occasions when she was terrified.  This guy was so much stronger than her, and really did not want to let her go.  A single tear rolled down #18's face as she silently pleaded with Krillen.  She could not breathe, and the edges of her vision went fuzzy.  Krillen watched in horror as her body went limp.

Akumasenka suddenly dropped #18 as his head slammed forward into his chest.  Krillen rushed to catch #18, and looked up to see a Super Saiya-jin Vegeta standing in front of Akumasenka breathing hard.  "If there is one thing I hate," he said slowly and clearly, "It's perverted freaks like you!  Hands off!"

Krillen stared.  Vegeta had just saved #18, and intentionally saved her.  He could not believe it.

Vegeta darted towards Akumasenka, but stopped.  In the distance, there was a sudden and loud explosion.  He looked up towards the sky, to see what looked like a small plane flying straight towards them.  It landed just metres away, and Bulma climbed out.

"Hi guys!"  she called, smiling and waving up at them all.  Gohan, Trunks, Vegeta and Piccolo ran up to her.

"What are you doing here?  Gohan asked, staring at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah,"  Trunks added, staring at her.  "And where are the kids?

"Well, Bulma said, looking down at her shoes.  "I was hoping you guys would know.  They ran away for here in the night."  Trunks stared.

"Mom!" he shouted staring at her.  "This fight is difficult enough without having to worry about where my daughter is.  Find them!"

Bulma!  Piccolo added angrily.  How could you lose them?  Find Keiichi now, or your life wont be worth living!

"AAAAARGH!"  Everybody spun around to see Vegeta standing, his hands clenched over his stomach.  He fell to the ground, and blood oozed through his fingers.  Bulma screamed and knelt down beside him.  She pulled his hands away, to reveal a large hole right through him.  Akumasenka stood over them, his right fist covered in red blood.

Bulma put her hand under Vegeta's neck, supporting his head.  He looked up at her, his eyes shining with tears.  "I'm - sorry - Bulma."  He gasped, looking up at her and starting to cry.  "I lo-."  The last sentence was forced out of Vegeta's lungs before he had even finished speaking it, as death crept upon him.  Bulma shook her head, as Vegeta's eyes slowly closed.  Vegeta, the proud Prince of all Saiya-jins, had breathed his last breath.

Bulma began to sob.  She stroked Vegeta's face softly, and buried her head in his chest.  "No."  She sobbed, her eyes staring at his chin.  "Come back.  Come back."  Vegeta stayed dead, and Bulma closed her eyes.  "I love you.  She whispered, as she thought of Vegeta, gone from her life forever."