~*****~

I'd only glanced away for a minute. She's completely slipped from my grasp and ran into the temple in search for her brother. "Marble--" I shout after her.

"Let her explore, Mara," Goku laughed. "She'll be perfectly safe here!"

I grumble irritably before turning back to the group. "I don't care," I retort. "I want her in my sights at all times, especially now. Now, where did you say the boys were?" I ask as I turn my gaze towards Krillen.

"Yes, where are my boys?" Chi-Chi adds.

My stomach tightens for a moment as I cast my gaze towards the temple again. "Look, if you're wondering how to let me down easy, I already know. I knew the moment it disappeared. My husband is dead. I just want to know where my son is." I say softly as I gaze at Goku.

No one said a word. Not even when Goku grasped at my shoulder. "You're very brave to remain strong for your kids." Goku says sympathetically. "But... what I have to tell you all isn't easy for me to say right now, but..." He trails off, his grip tightening somewhat before he releases it. "Goten and Mars are going to be all right, but... Gohan and Vegeta are dead. Majin Buu destroyed them both."

"But... Gohan, he can't be... He just can't!" Videl exclaims with a tremble in her tone.

Chi-Chi doesn't say a word-- instead, she tumbles backwards, unconscious. "No, Chi-Chi!" Ox King barks as he rushes to her side.

I grip at my shirt with a tight grip, trying to keep my emotions in check. "Well, well," A familiar voice echoed out. "You know, it's never easy dealing with the loss of loved ones." Korin hums.

"Hey, Korin," Goku greets solemnly.

"But I'm afraid this is no time to grieve, Goku." Korin continues. "You have to take action. Even in this place, none of you are going to be safe for long. From what I've seen, Majin Buu's power can soon level out this whole world."

"Goku, what about the fusion?" Piccolo asks.

Goku smiles. "Good thinking! Mr. Popo, would you wake up Goten and Mars?"

Before I can ask him what he's talking about, a strange voice picks at my head. "People of earth!" The voice barks. "Can you hear me? Testing, one, two! I am the all seeing, all knowing, all-powerful wizard Babidi, son of the all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful wizard Bibidi. Now, now, no peeking. There's no sense searching for me. You're not even close! I'm using my unprecedented magical abilities to transport my words directly to you, the people. I'm so sorry to bother you like this, especially if you're having an otherwise pleasant day. I, too, know what it's like to be pestered while having fun. You see, earlier today, three nuisances did just that. Now, I'm simply looking to return to favor. Now, sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. Please be courteous and remember that silence is golden, okay?"

"What's he up to now?" Goku groaned as I palmed at my head.

Images began racing through my mind. "I now present the stars of my own personal nightmare. These are the three cretins that I'm looking for. Get a good luck at their ugly mugs, for they are the ones to blame for any and all destruction that may come your way. Come out, you cowards! Unless, of course, you're scared of little old me. I've got a preview of what's in store for you if you refuse to show your faces. Oh, but wait. First, please allow me to introduce myself. The handsome devil you now see is none other than me, the great wizard Babidi!" I grimaced at the sight of him. "And this is my faithful servant, Majin Buu, the heavyweight champion of the universe. He may not seem like much, but he's actually quite unstoppable. Just look at him pumping his fists like that!" Majin Buu is a great, pink creature-- he seemed more for eating, than fighting. "Now, do you see this city?" A familiar city enters my mind and I grimace once again. "It looks like a lovely place, doesn't it? Well, it's citizens are about to get a special sneak preview of the high cost of your cowardice, while you look on from your hiding place!"

"Damn him!" Piccolo roared.

"The following material is of a violent nature and may be considered quite gratuitous, enjoy! This program has been sponsored by your fellows. Let the fun begin, Majin Buu!" With a shout, the awful pink monster lifts the people of the city into the air.

"What is he doing?" Goku growls. "No! Not the people!"

In a blinding, brilliant flash, all the cities people are turned to small orbs of candy, and sucked into his great, big mouth. "He's-- He's eating them--" I stammer as bile begins to build up in my throat.

"This is but a small taste of what to come if you don't surrender!" Babidi says with a wild cackle. He gives his monster another command, and the pink creature destroys the city with the air from his gut. "That's more like it." Babidi comments. "That's what I'll do to those three meddlers, too. So, one last reminder. It's him, and him, and him! There's really no point in protecting them. They are not your friends. They are spineless cowards! If they valued your lives at all, they would have already turned themselves over to me. Obviously, they don't. Well, shame on them, I say! You now have an opportunity to teach these selfish brats a lesson. One chance to stand up for your self-worth and for Earthlings everywhere! It's simple, really. Just tell me where they are. By the way.... You have five days to measure this importance of your meager, little lives. Take too long, and I'll have Buu annihilate you all!"

"Piccolo," Goku chimes to the obviously distraught Namekian. "Stay calm. Don't let him get to you!"

"Oh, yes, there's one more important thing. You will need to contact me, so I'll tell you how you can. If you have some information for me, I can hear you... Start talking and I'll hear you inside my head. I'm listening, so speak up now! If you tell me where those uncaring louts are hiding, I might even spare you!" Babidi adds. Someone even tries to give information, but in the end Babidi ends up killing him. "No rest for the wicked! I've got to keep you humans on your toes, so perhaps a little more destruction will keep you all in line. Majin Buu, it's time to go! You never know, the next place we visit may be your hometown! Yes, you can consider this to be your last warning. Remember, you have only five days left before we tear this planet apart! Come on, give me a call!"

The connection cuts out and I heave a breath of relief. "Curse him!" Piccolo barks. "That demented wizard!"

"We've got to stop them!" Dende states.

"I don't know if they can be stopped!" Mr. Popo says.

"So, those are the ones that took Gohan and Vegeta away from us?" I ask as I smooth my palm over my sternum, willing my heart to stop racing.

"Yeah," Krillen grunts. "Vegeta, Gohan, all those people..."

"And unless we do something quickly, for the next five days, that list will keep on growing!" Dende adds.

"There's no way I can allow that to happen! I'll show myself!" Piccolo exclaims.

"No, that won't help anybody, and you know it, Piccolo!" Goku admonishes him. "Babidi's going to wipe everyone out, no matter what you do. Stay. Help me teach Goten and Mars the fusion technique. That is the only way we can truly put an end to this nightmare. We have five days before the Earth is history. We can do it! Look, I know it's hard to sit here doing nothing while he's out there hurting so many people, but you said it yourself. We have to be prepared to cope with anything that happens. Don't worry, okay? We can still revive Majin Buu's victims with the Dragon Balls. So, just hang in there!"

Dende steps forward. "Yes, he's right, Piccolo."

"Don't leave! Not when you could still do some good here!" Krillen exclaims.

Piccolo is silent, but you can feel the anguish rolling off of him in waves. "I'll stay." He manages.

"I'll go wake Mars and Goten." Mr. Popo says softly before hustling towards the temple.

~*****~

It's hard to listen to my children shout and cry about the news. Marble clutched herself to my torso, her body shaking violently as she sobbed into my neck. "Good luck, you guys... You're gonna need it." Krillen says softly.

"I said stop that! There will be no more tears from now on! You will have to be tough to stop Majin Buu!" Goku shouts. Marble continued to cry in my arms, ignoring her need to be tough in turn for comfort. 

With the boys training with Goku and Piccolo, the rest of us went to a separate room. Marble remained at my side, clutching at my hand like she used to do when she was a toddler. My heart clenched at the sight.

"Its just too hard... for me to believe..." Bulma growled. "How could Gohan beat something like Cell, but he couldn't stand up to that fat, disgusting..."

She trails off with a few sobs. "Yes, it is hard to believe, but it's true." Ox King said softly. "Gohan is dead, and my poor Chi-Chi... Now she's lost her husband and her son!"

"Dead, dead, dead! I'm so tired of hearing you people say that!" Videl barks. "We haven't even found a body yet, and you just... stand around here acting defeated like we've... already buried him!"

"Videl, I'm sorry. I lost a friend, too." Krillen says. "But if we can't sense his life force anymore, then that... means  that, well, that he's passed on."

"Stop saying that!" Videl shouts. "I don't believe it... I absolutely refuse to believe it. He can't be gone before we ever had a chance together."

"Mommy," I gaze down at Marble and offer her a smile. "Can I go watch Mars and Goten train?" She asks softly.

I palm at her head tenderly. "You can't interrupt or join them. This is training only for the two of them." I explain.

Marble nods and trots out of the room. She stops at the frame and turns back. "C'mon, Mommy!" She scolds. I purse my lips as Krillen starts to giggle.

"Well, she sure does take after you!" Krillen mentions.

I snort. "Yeah? Then Marron will take after Eighteen. Good luck with two of them." I mention as sweet, little Marron approaches Marble with a friendly smile. The two lock hands and run down the hallway.

Eighteen chuckles and follows after them. "Oh, jeez." Krillen sighs.

"Your attention, please, Earthlings!" That disgusting voice cut through the air. The girls halted in the hall and hurried towards us, clutching against our legs in fear. "It's me again! The great wizard Babidi, along with my faithful counterpart, Majin Buu. The two of us have been out doing a little bit of sight seeing. And what a glorious site we've found. A perfect place for Majin Buu to grab a little snack. I hear the local cuisine is to die for! Of course, what he was really hungry for was some M'Junior, Mars, and Goten a la mode. Alas, I guess we'll just have to make do." Marble whimpers into my legs as she she clutches her eyes shut, as if to stop seeing it.

"Open your eyes," I snap to her. "You won't see it if you open them." Her carmine eyes snap open, although bleary with tears, she nods urgently.

"You all know what I want. I'm lis-ten-ing!" Babidi annunciates in a sing song tone. "Which means you still have time to tell me where my quarry is hiding. I'll give you until I finish speaking this sentence-- Too late! Ha! It looks like Buu gets to have that snack! Yes! But what should he eat? I'm sure he's had more than enough candy for one day. Hold on, I think I know just the thing to hit the spot, chocolate!"

I clutch at Marble's shirt, keeping her close to my body as I keep my eyes wide open.

"Well, the fun is over here! It seems that Majin Buu is actually full for once. I guess that means the next city will have to settle for being pummeled into oblivion. Okay, time for us to move on." Babidi giggled.

Just when I think it's over, Mars' voice cuts through. "Babidi! Majin Buu!" He barks. "Can you hear me? This is Mars!"

"And I'm Goten!" Goten adds in an equally aggravated tone.

I scoop Marble up and run down the hallway, my body breaking out in a nervous sweat. "So, the two of you have decided to find some courage."

"No! We've decided to find you, and you don't wanna know what we've got in store for that day!" Mars exclaims.

"It won't be pretty!" Goten adds.

"Stop it! Stop before he finds all of you!" I shout as I burst into the room.

"Hello? Where are you boys? Where'd you go?" Babidi chants. "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

Babidi's voice cuts out and I stare at Goku, who's just smiling. "I think it's time we got started. What do you say?" He says to the two boys.

Mars and Goten nod in response, their faces set in determination.