Authors' Names: Mia Skywalker, LanNguyen44, and Majin Vegeta (aka Mast), although Mast really didn't do any of the writing.

Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine (or Rei's or Mast's), more's the pity. :-) If they were, we'd be rich. Okay, maybe not rich, but at least we'd have more money than we do now! :-)

Archive: I'm planning on it

Spoilers: Um... none really.

Rating: Blood, death, angst

Summary: The death of Bulma

Authors Notes: You can C&C if you want, but keep in mind that it might be a little pointless. Grammatical and spelling errors, as well as 'continuity' glares, are irrelevant. Because this was for an RPG that was a crossover RPG, there are a lot of elements of Ranma 1/2 and Sailor Moon in it. (The villain is from Sailor Moon, an anime with which I'm unfamiliar.) It was also done in an IM chat session, so don't be picky. Oh, and... don't blame me for the really gory parts. ::points to Rei:: She wrote that stuff! ^_^

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bulma felt elation surge through her. Vegeta was still alive! He was coming for her! She crowed gleefully. "They WILL make it! You'll see, Vegeta will save me! He'll come for me!"

Hotaru growled as her body glowed an eerie purple and morphed back into that of Mistress 9's. "Shut up!" Mistress 9 screamed as she floated to Bulma. "You'll be dead before he gets you." Her hand rose high into the air and she struck Bulma's cheek harshly, causing Bulma to bite on her bottom lip. A small trail of blood trickled onto the stone slab as Mistress 9 convulsed in laughter. "Oh, I'm so sorry!  Did I hurt you?" Her lips formed a sarcastic smile.

Bulma shivered a little bit. ::I don't want to die!:: she thought desperately. There was still so much she wanted to do.... She wanted to see her son grow up, and have children of his own.... ::Please, don't let me die, Vegeta! You have to get her in time! Please!::  

She tasted the blood in her mouth, and had this strange sense of foreboding. ::I'm never going to see any of them again, am I?:: She closed her eyes, tears leaking unbidden from the corners.

Mistress 9 laughed as a transparent image of herself and Bulma appeared in the night sky. "Vegeta!" she shouted, her voice booming through mountaintops, the image was clearly visible from where Vegeta was standing. "Time is running out!" She pointed to Bulma. "You should hurry, or I might have to kill her." 

Bulma's weeping reached Vegeta's ears and Mistress 9 wrapped her hands around the woman's neck. The soft choking sounds drifted around as Mistress 9 began to strangle Bulma. The image disappeared, leaving an enraged Vegeta standing in the middle of nowhere. 

Mistress 9 released Bulma. "He'll be here soon... then the fun will begin!" she laughed.

~~*~~

Several veins popped out on Vegeta's head, his Super Saiyajin Ki flared violently. He started running much faster, leaving a huge dust cloud behind him he was moving so fast.

Ranma and Ryouga stared up where the apparition had appeared in the sky, then glanced at each other in horror. "Oh, NO!" Ranma breathed. "We've gotta get goin'! We promised her!"

Ryouga nodded. "Yeah. Let's go!" 

The two of them ran after Vegeta as fast as they could go. This time Ryouga didn't object to Ranma half dragging him to increase his speed.

~~*~~

Bulma felt herself beginning to black out, and tried to fight it. She sensed that if she blacked out, she might never wake up. She knew that she did NOT want to die, no matter what else happened. ::I have to live. For Vegeta's sake, I have to live! I can't die, it would kill him! I don't want to ever hurt him that way....:: 

When Mistress 9 released her throat, she gasped for breath for several minutes, her breath rasping in her throat. She coughed, her throat sore from the strangling. "You... stupid... bit&#! He'll kill you for that! You're going to regret it!" Her voice came out raspy and hoarse, and she coughed again, unable to speak further from the soreness in her throat.

"Shut up you cow!" Mistress 9 struck Bulma across her cheek again, harder than the first time, leaving a bright red handprint on the woman's cheek. "Vegeta won't kill me, he can't!" she cackled heartily. "Now don't worry your pretty little head off, I'll take care of Vegeta for you... I'll even make sure you two share the same grave. Now be quiet, or I'll hurt you.."

Bulma whimpered, closing her eyes. ::I'm not afraid of her, I'm not! I just... I just don't want to die, yet.:: She shivered, then opened her eyes in defiance, realizing that by silence, she was admitting capitulation. ::I will NOT give in to her! She'll hurt him, and I can't let her hurt him!::  

"Oh, don't be too confident," Bulma rasped out, her throat still very sore. "It's harder to kill him than you think. And it's harder to stop him. He's Vegeta! He can do anything!" she snarled at the girl. She closed her eyes again, the soreness in her throat sapping her strength. "You'll see, he'll come!" she whispered.

"You dare defy me!!???!!!?" Mistress 9 screeched as a dagger appeared in the air, "I told you to SHUT UP!" She ripped off Bulma's shoes and socks. "Now you will pay the price." 

She placed the tip of the dagger on the top of the big toe on Bulma's right foot and sliced into it. "If you speak again, I'll do the rest of your foot." She laughed again.

Bulma screamed with pain as the dagger sliced into her toe. "You can cut me to ribbons, but that will only make things worse for you!" she whimpered. "Go ahead and slice me to ribbons! He'll kill you, I swear it! The more you do to me, the worse it will be on you!" Tears were flowing unchecked from her eyes, but she was unable to do anything to stop them.

Mistress 9 laughed. "So you won't be quiet huh? I admire your courage." She put the dagger away and took her seat on the throne. The blood oozing from Bulma's mouth and toe turned parts of the stone a hideous black color. "I'll slice you to ribbons, and the rest of your friends while I'm at it. You can count on it."

Bulma was relieved that at least for the moment she wasn't being tortured by the girl. She could feel the blood dripping from her foot, and it made her shudder. ::At least she isn't cutting me again. Maybe she's more afraid of them than she lets on.:: Bulma instinctively wanted to attack the girl, weaken her confidence. It was, she thought, the best chance she had for improving the chances that the others would have against the girl. ::Others? Who might be coming other than Vegeta? Oh, those two boys I rescued will probably come. They have a strong sense of honor, I think. They'd try to help. Where's Goku? He would help me....:: She knew Vegeta would come. She had confidence in his ability, and yet... this girl seemed too confident. Bulma was afraid that even if Vegeta managed to defeat her, that he would still get hurt. ::I may not have any combat skills, but that doesn't mean I'm not a fighter! I fight in my own way! If I can weaken her confidence, shake her up, she may hesitate at just the right moment. I have to do what I can.::

"You're wrong, you know," Bulma replied to the girl with as much bravado as she could muster. Her throat hurt as she spoke, but she braved on despite it. "He's fought stronger people than you. He helped defeat Frieza, and Cell, and Buu. They were destroying entire worlds, and he helped defeat them. Vegeta is stronger than you think. He's stronger than anyone except Goku. You won't kill him. And even if you did, so what? Do you think he's never died before? He's died before - twice - and he's come back. What do you think about that? Death means nothing to someone like him. If you kill him, he'll just come back stronger than ever. But I don't think you can. You don't have it in you." Her voice finally gave out for a moment, and she swallowed, trying to ease the pain. She closed her eyes, waiting for the insane rage of the girl to follow.

"Mistress 9 is never wrong." She growled and gave Bulma the evil eye. "Destroying entire worlds?!?!" Mistress 9 began to laugh hysterically, "I can do that if I wish. My powers are beyond your imagination, I can destroy or create whatever I wish. The universe is ours for the taking!! I have killed several... I was born to kill and I will continue too." She laughed, but Bulma's words did have an impact, an impact on the innocent child's mind that still lived inside of Mistress 9. Deep in the dark chasms of Mistress 9's soul, Hotaru Tomoe stirred.

~~*~~

Vegeta stopped running when he found himself standing in front of a chasm in the ground accompanied by two wooden doors. "Well look what I found. Time to teach that @#%*^ a lesson!" He slammed his fists through the doors rather than simply opening them, leaving a nice sized hole in it. He then kicked the doors off of their hinges and walked down the entrance to the castle's tomb. When he was inside he could feel his power flow back into his veins. He looked up at the thin roof of the tomb and smirked, then started powering up briefly. Then he fired a relatively small Ki blast flying at the thin roof of the tomb, naturally causing debris to fly around and a small hole in it. He then flared his golden Super Saiyajin Ki and flew through the hole he created.

Ranma and Ryouga followed after Vegeta, trying to keep him in sight. "Wait up, Ranma!" Ryouga gasped for breath, barely managing to keep upright. "Don't worry, P-Chan!" Ranma replied. "I'm keepin' an eye out for his tracks. There he is!" Ranma pointed ahead to where Vegeta was just entering the tomb.

~~*~~

::Setsuna-san... I sense they are almost there, concentrate harder:: Sailor Mars begged her friend as her remaining leg slowly began to turn to stone.

~~*~~

Mistress 9 stood up as Vegeta entered. "You've finally made it." The corners of her lips turned upward in a slight smile.

Bulma raised her head slightly at the sound of Vegeta bursting through the floor. "Vegeta?" she barely managed to whisper out, relief clouding her features. "I'm glad... you made it.... Took you... long enough..." she managed to joke weakly.

Vegeta stared at Bulma, and glared at the pink hand marks on her cheeks, her busted lip, and finally the gash in her toe. He was overcome with extreme anger and couldn't find any words to reply with. The only thing on his mind was to kill Mistress 9 for what she had done. His mind fogged over with brief memories of how he met Bulma, and their past experiences.

Bulma looked over at her husband. ::I knew you would come for me:: she thought at him, knowing about Saiyan telepathy. ::I knew you would come, no matter what.::

::Bulma....:: Vegeta couldn't bring himself to find the right words. He knew that he cared for her, it was so hard for him to admit it. All his life, he had been taught hatred towards everyone, but Bulma had changed him dramatically. He longed to tell her how he felt, Vegeta tried to search for the words... those three simple words that he could never get to escape his lips.

~~*~~

Ranma and Ryouga followed where Vegeta had climbed down. "Hey, is that where he could have gone?" Ryouga pointed to the hole in the ceiling.

Ranma nodded. "Yeah, I'd guess so," he agreed. He managed to grab hold of the ledge and pulled himself up, reaching a hand down to lift Ryouga. The pair made it up the hole and to where Bulma and the others were.

"Ryouga, you go that way, I'll go this way, all right?" Ranma whispered to the eternal lost boy. Ryouga nodded, and headed to the left of the stone table that Bulma was chained to, while Ranma crept toward the right. They hoped that Mistress 9 wouldn't notice them, since she seemed so intent upon the other two.

~~*~~

Sailor Mars and Setsuna began to glow in a soft yellow light. Each light beating continuously, first simultaneously, then in sync. The pair disappeared and soon found their way to the castle, half drained of power. The teleport was extremely hard to do, especially since that had hardly any energy to complete it with. Mars couldn't fight the stone curse any longer, and soon the lower part of her body was solid stone. She sat on the ground helplessly.

"And just what do you think you're doing??" Mistress 9 grabbed Ranma and Ryouga by their necks and threw them across the room and into the wall with enormous strength. "You're not going to get her...." Mistress 9 grinned, "Not until I have my fun." The evil entity winced as Hotaru began to break through to the outside world. Mistress 9 grasped her stomach and wailed in pain, "I won't... let... you come out!"

"Fun?" Bulma whimpered in fear. ::Vegeta, help!::

"Whoa!" Ranma exclaimed, shaking himself off, feeling the bumps and bruises the landing against the wall had caused. He knew it would heal in a few minutes, however. Ryouga stood up completely unscathed and unaffected, although the wall he'd smashed into was now shattered to rubble.

Mistress 9 stopped, Hotaru's spirit was now in control. "Rei-chan.... Bulma-san...." Mistress 9's body studied the two, she bent down and began to heal Rei, and was going to do the same for Bulma....

"I'll get you!" Vegeta screeched angrily as he flew across the room and punched Mistress 9 in her stomach.

The woman flew back and into a wall painfully. "Stop!" Sailor Mars jumped up to tell Vegeta that it was Hotaru, but the damage had already been done. Mistress 9's eyes glowed and her spirit regained control from the now weak Hotaru.

"You dare to hit me?" Mistress 9 growled as she sent a blast towards the people near Bulma, they were all knocked into a wall. She made her way over to Bulma and surrounded both of them in a giant force-field. "I'll teach you all a lesson..."

"A... a lesson?" Bulma didn't like the sound of that. She shivered at the force- field that suddenly formed around them. ::VEGETA! DO SOMETHING!!!::

Mistress 9 laughed as Vegeta made his way to the outside of the force-field and began to throw punch after punch at it. All attempts of breaking it were unsuccessful.

Bulma trembled with fear. If Vegeta couldn't save her.... ::No! He can save me! He will! I have faith in him!::

Mistress 9 moved over to Bulma and an operating table appeared near them with several medieval torture weapons. Vegeta looked on in horror and began to pound harder and harder at the force field. Sailor Mars shot arrow after arrow at the force-field too, but nothing seemed to work, it just absorbed everything they threw at it. Mistress 9 put her hand on Bulma's chest and it began to glow brightly as her heart crystal began to be ripped from her.

Ranma ran over to the force-field and started hitting it as hard and as fast as his amaguriken technique would allow. Bruises formed on his hands and the knuckles started getting bloody. Ryouga attacked the force-field with all the fury of his berserker rage. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" he cried out, but it had no effect.

Bulma screamed in anguish as the crystal was pulled from her. A sharp pain, like her heart was being ripped from her chest, caused her to scream like she was about to die. She couldn't even think, the pain was so intense. ::Vegeta!:: her mind cried out his name, instinctively reaching for the one source of comfort that she had.

"BULMA!" Vegeta shouted as his level increased by one. "LET HER GO YOU #(*$&;$#$@(#@(*" Mistress 9 merely grinned as she clutched the heart crystal in her hand and began to examine it.

Darkness engulfed Bulma's mind, at the intensity of the pain. She wasn't unconscious - not quite - but she wasn't able to think, or to feel anything other than the absolute agony of the ripping of her heart.

"What?!" Mistress 9 stared at the crystal in her hand with pure shock, "What is this??!!! How did this get here?!!!!!" She was very surprised as she detached the Deep Aqua Mirror Talisman from Bulma's heart. "This wasn't here before." She stared angrily at Bulma, "You hid this from me didn't you???? HOW DARE YOU DECEIVE ME!!!!" Mistress 9 crushed the heart crystal in her hand, causing more pain to rip through Bulma. "You'll pay for this."

"De... ceive...?" Bulma whispered in agony. "What... what are you talking about?" She screamed again when the other girl crushed the crystal.

"This wasn't here before... you hid it from me... you tried to keep me from completing my mission, and for that you WILL die!" Mistress 9 cackled as she picked up two thumbscrews from the table and brought them close to Bulma. "I'm going to have my fun first." The mirror she had taken disappeared in thin air and she attached the two tools to each of Bulma's chained hands. Mistress 9 laughed as she tightened each of the thumb screws over and over again.

Bulma felt Mistress 9 putting something on her hands, but couldn't open her eyes enough to see what they were. She screamed when the screws were tightened, causing agony to lance up her arms and straight to her spine.

Bulma's thumbnails began to chip, then crack. Blood spurted onto the stone slab as her fingers swelled up and became a dark black color. They were completely numb, but Bulma could feel the pain as pieces of chipped fingernails fell onto the table in the pool of blood from her thumbs. "BULMAAAA!!!" Vegeta was beyond furious and he began to punch with every ounce of his strength. The force-field began to shake and weaken.

"Kami!" Ranma breathed, staring at Vegeta. "Ryouga, he's worse'n you are!"

Both boys kept pounding at the force-field along with Vegeta. "It's weakening, Ranma! I can feel it!" Ryouga cried out triumphantly.

Mistress 9 picked up a sledgehammer and raised it high over her head. "Just to make sure you don't decide to run out on me." She laughed as she smashed it onto Bulma's kneecaps, causing the bones inside to crack loudly.

Bulma screamed again, her voice high and anguished. "VEGETA!" she cried out, the only word she was able to make any longer.

::Bulma...I will get you...out.:: Vegeta pounded against the wall harder.

Bulma barely heard his thoughts brushing through hers. She held onto them like a lifeline, trying to gain strength from him. ::I know. Vegeta, I... I...:: She started to pass out from the pain.

Mistress 9 set the hammer down and untied Bulma's wrists and ankles. The stone slab was now black from Bulma's blood. The thumbscrews were still attached to her thumbs as Mistress 9 scooped Bulma into her arms. "Now for the grand finale." She laughed sinisterly as an object appeared in front of her. "Say hi to The Rack ." Mistress 9 set Bulma down on the wooden object and tied her to it with the provided ropes. "Everyone watch now!" she shouted to the others outside of the force-field. "You don't want to miss this."

Bulma woke to the pain of being tossed onto the rack. ::Kami, what's next?:: she thought, pain piercing her thoughts.

Mistress 9 giggled as she pushed a knob on the side of the contraption and the ropes began to tighten themselves. They pulled at Bulma's legs and arms causing them to jerk out of their sockets. The pain was excruciating. The machine whined as the slack was eaten out of the ropes and Bulma slowly began to be ripped apart.

Bulma screamed again, pain threaded through every muscle and nerve in her body. ::Vegeta... hurry...!:: Her thoughts were fading fast.

::I'm coming!:: Vegeta answered Bulma's desperate cry of help with his thoughts, the spot he had been furiously punching at beginning to slowly crack. ::I'm coming!:: he repeated. The two boys continued pounding furiously at the force-field, aiding Vegeta in weakening it.

"It's going to break!" Sailor Mars shouted as she launched another fire arrow at the force-field. She secretly hoped it would break in time.

Bulma held on to Vegeta's thoughts. They were the only things that kept her conscious and alive. ::Vegeta, don't... leave... me. I... love....::

::Bulma... I know.... save your strength.:: His eyes began to water. He wanted to tell her how he felt. He couldn't find the words though. He prayed that he could save her in time. He didn't want to lose the only thing in his life that made it worth living.

Mistress 9 stopped the rack. "This will be the end. I'll teach you to try and deceive me, you little witch!"

::I know, Vegeta.:: Her thoughts were now deeply entwined in his. She could only tell them apart because the ones filled with pain were her own, she knew. ::Vegeta... don't... leave... me!:: Bulma gasped in relief when Mistress 9 stopped turning the rack. She had the feeling her relief would be short-lived, however. She had the feeling that whatever Mistress 9 had planned for her would be even worse than anything previous.

Vegeta desperately searched inside of himself for the words he wanted to say to her. Mistress 9 picked up a metal object, the Cat's Claw. Each of the curved fingers was designed to rip things apart. "The end..." she whispered as she raised the claw high above her head. "Open your eyes!" Mistress 9 demanded Bulma.

"What?" Bulma gasped out. "What do you want?" She managed to open her swollen eyes a crack. "What do you want from me? Why are you doing this?"

"SILENCE!" Mistress 9 brought the edges of the claw down on Bulma's chest, slicing into it deeply. Small trickles of blood seeped out from the holes that she had made. Mistress 9 grinned but didn't remove the claw from her chest.

Bulma screamed, louder and longer and deeper than before. Her scream was wordless, horrible and piercing in it's pure pain. She felt the blood flowing down her chest, and down her legs. She could barely feel anything in her legs anymore. ::I'm dying, aren't I?:: she thought to herself. Her mind held onto Vegeta's, as the only anchor against the pain.

Before anyone could react, Mistress 9 dragged the claw all the way to Bulma's stomach and then ripped it off of the girl. Strips of skin clung to each part of the claw as red blood dripped down them and onto Bulma. Streams of red liquid flood steadily out of her fresh wounds as more found it's way up her throat and out of her mouth.

Bulma was no longer able to scream, as blood bubbled up into her throat. She knew in that instant that she was dying, that there was nothing that anyone could do for her anymore. ::Why? Why is she doing this to me? I don't understand. WHY?::

::Vegeta! I'm... I'm dying! Please, Vegeta, I... I love you!:: Tears streamed down her face. She was no longer able to speak, because of the blood filling her lungs and throat. ::Please... Vegeta....::

::Bulma:: Vegeta stopped pounding Mistress 9 and raced over to the bloody girl and unstrapped her. "Bulma!" He gripped her body in his arms tightly, her blood washed over him. "Bulma!" He cried out once again.

::Vegeta?:: Pain threaded through her thoughts. ::Vegeta, I knew you wouldn't leave me. Vegeta...::

"You're not leaving either, Bulma," he whispered as tears flowed down his cheeks, but he realized it wasn't true. He gently traced over her facial features with his hands. "I won't let you go..." he barely managed to choke out.

Bulma managed to lift one hand and touched his face gently, smudging his cheek with blood. ::Oh, Vegeta.... I would never leave you if I had a choice, my love. I love you, Vegeta.::

Suddenly it hit him. He was going to lose Bulma right now, there was no question to that. "I'll kill her for doing this to you." He squeezed Bulma tighter. "I won't let you leave me." He bent his head down and sobbed in her hair. "I love you too, Bulma-chan," he whispered sadly.

::I know, Vegeta. I think I've always known. I love you, more than anything.:: She closed her eyes again, no longer having the strength to keep them open.

"Don't go... please," Vegeta begged her. She had changed his life around. Bulma was the first person to show him how to love. "I need you."

::The dragonradars... in my pocket... the dragonballs... and the capsules..... Take them, Vegeta. The dragonballs, they're yours now, to do with them whatever you want. I love you....:: Her thoughts trailed off, and finally expired. Vegeta threw his head back, and shouted in agony, as he felt her spirit flee her mutilated and maimed form.

Vegeta slipped his hand into Bulma's pocket and pulled out the dragonballs and capsules and placed them in his own pockets. He laid her body down and kissed her forehead. ::I'll get you back, Bulma...:: His icy stare turned toward Mistress 9 ::And I'll destroy her.::

Mistress 9 floated into the air and her gaze drifted onto Vegeta, and then onto her 'handiwork.' "I think I did a nice job with her." She laughed, challenging Vegeta. "So who would like to be next?"