Some of you may recognize this fiction, hopefully some of you don't. This is Silvia, and I welcome you to my rewrite of my labor of love, "Illumination." It took me three years to finish the first time around, but my life was all over the place back then and made updating hard to keep up with. If you've read before and didn't care for what you saw, I humbly ask you give this fic a second chance now that I am rewriting it. I began plotting this back in 2002, first published in early 2003 and I like to think I've improved quite a bit in seven years of writing and reading fiction. To you who have seen it before, the plot is going under a complete rewrite as well, as a lot of readers couldn't get past the first few chapters. The later plot in the fic is going to stay the same, with small changes, but the overall story will be the same, the characters will be the same, etc.

The setting of this fic is in the future timeline of DBZ where all that's left are Bulma, Trunks, and an ailing Earth. Trunks is 24 years old, and as to how/where he is when this fic opens will be answered as you read on.

As a final warning, this fic will be littered with original characters and locations, and takes place far away from Earth. If that's not your cup of tea, that's okay, thank you for getting this far. :] This fic is also rated M for mature, same as the video game rating system for: violence, death, swearing, illegal activities, that sort of thing. No, no sex, sorry to disappoint. I hope you'll give this fic a chance anyway and see what I enjoy about writing it.

Thank you for making it through that long author's note, I won't be doing it again, I swear.

Silvia

Disclaimer: Dragonball Z and all related characters belong to Akira Toriyama and other respective owners. I just like to play with what he's created.

Hey Mom, how is everything? Heh... what am I saying, you can read me like a book. 'So what happened?' right? Well, I got into a little mess when I got here into the city. I... accidentally helped this guy mug a girl. Wow, heh, that sounds bad but I promise it sounds a lot worse than it really is. She's fine, actually, but the point is I sort of... owe her a bit of money. Don't panic, it's... not a... huge amount; I mean it's a lot, but... I can take care of it.

I'm sending you this message because I got a job that's gonna help me pay this debt off really fast, but I'll be gone for a while. Heh, you know what kind of skills I have Mom, they're worth a lot around here, but I have to travel and I won't be in Ute very often. I don't think... I'm gonna have time to see you. I'll send you messages like this one when I can, if you want to you can send your own to the guys at the lab in Ute and have them hold them for me, I may get in occasionally to check them. Of course there are no guarantees, heh.

Don't worry about me Mom, I'll be fine. And you've got people that need you back home, like Mia and Terry, and I'm sure Neis will keep you company when he isn't driving you completely crazy, hahah. Hey, and I know about Lowell; you can't hide things from me as well as you think you can. He's a good guy Mom, and... he can understand where you're coming from. Take care of everything back home, I'll get in touch with you as soon as I can.

Bye Mom... I love you.

Illumination

Opening: You Break It, You Buy It

"I can help whomever is next?" the young teller with the brown hair called out. The next customer in line was a tall blonde haired woman with distressingly messy bangs and the rest of her hair tied up in a bun. The teller became nervous; something certainly seemed wrong with this woman. Her would be customer was paying attention and immediately stepped from the front of the queue in the lobby and walked over to the teller's counter.

The woman was wearing dark sunglasses, so the teller couldn't see her eyes. She also wore a dark jacket and she reached in her pocket for something. The teller hesitate; she kept a straight face but she was about to press the alarm button hidden under the counter when her customer pulled out an account card for the bank. The teller quickly backed her hand away from the alarm and smiled at her customer as she picked up the woman's card and ran it in her system.

In a few seconds her customer's accounts came up, and the teller's eyes widened slightly when she realized who the customer was. She couldn't be blamed though; she had never met this particular customer in person. "Thank you for your business Miss Solaris," she said with a warm smile. "What can I assist you with today?"

"I need to close my account," 'Ms Solaris' said rather flatly.

The teller almost panicked. Losing an account this big would be... horrific, to put it simply. "Oh no, is something wrong?" She was going to let the customer answer that question when she decided to tack on, "We can offer very competitive rates for both short and long term investments, and—"

"No," Solaris cut in, "...thank you." She looked at the teller steadily for a moment before continuing, "I'm leaving the area and need to take all of my assets with me."

"We do offer a very robust and very secure online banking system that can be accessed real-time from even the farthest areas of the Republic," the teller started again. She had to do whatever she could to save this account, or she could be blamed for one of the biggest losses of business her bank had from a single person.

"No," Solaris cut in, this time beginning to become agitated. "I need," she stopped and started once more with an irritated sigh, "just close the account and load everything onto my card."

The teller's attitude dropped. "Yes Miss Solaris, we're very sorry to lose your business," she finished and looked at her terminal again and calculated the total amount of all of Solaris's accounts. She turned to her customer once more, "For this amount we'll need to split your total assets between four cards due to financial institution regulations. It'll just take a few moments," the teller's eyes fell and she set about her task. Her manager was going to have a heart attack when he learned about the account closing. "Before I begin, I just need you to confirm that we do have all of your accounts here and that we won't msis anything." The teller then pointed to the small display facing her customer.

The woman looked down to see several accounts listed, but she wasn't concerned with the details—just that the total amount was correct. When her eyes read the numbers 230, 463, 017 she looked back up at the teller and nodded. That was indeed the correct amount.

Trunks took a deep breath before he stepped inside the gate. Immediately he felt the ground melt away from his feet and the air rush around him, blowing his long hair away from his face. Trunks closed his eyes; he hated to watch, it always made him feel sick. He held tight to the messenger bag draped around his shoulder, and wished it would be over soon. The jump gate always made him feel uneasy, when he was in it he couldn't tell which way was up and he definitely couldn't sense anything.

When Trunks felt the ground come up and settle beneath his feet he let out the breath he had been holding. "Trunks!" he heard a friendly voice call from the other side of the gate. He opened his eyes and saw his friend Murtole through what looked like a waterfall. Trunks stepped through it, still expecting to be wet on the other side but coming out no different than when he entered.

"Hey, I didn't know Bulma was sending you!" Murtole exclaimed as he pulled the much taller Trunks into an embrace.

"Whoa, not so tight," Trunks groaned and the young scientist released him, "you know the jump gate makes me queasy."

"Oh, right," Murtole smiled guiltily.

"Trunks, I think you must have grown taller since I saw you last," another man entered the room, this one appeared to be about Bulma's age.

"You say that every time Devan but I was full-grown when you first met me, remember?" Trunks replied sarcastically as the older man approached. When he reached Trunks they shook hands and Devan pulled Trunks into a light hug.

"So what's your mom need?" Devan asked with a smile. Trunks noticed that his salt-and-pepper hair looked a little thinner than the last time he had seen it, but he was still the tall and lanky middle-aged Bmyhadian he'd known for a year now. Trunks opened his mouth to speak but was stopped short when Devan spoke once more. "How'd I know?" he smirked. "Come on, it's Bulma we're talking about, and it's been a few years. I think I know your mother by now," he laughed lightly. 'A few years' was a typical Devan exaggeration, it had only been just over a year that they had first met.

"Yeah," Trunks laughed in response, "she needs a few tools, and she gave me a list to give you." He then reached into the brown messenger back slung over his right shoulder and pulled out a small piece of paper folded in half and handed it to Devan.

Devan unfolded the paper and read the list with interest. "Huh, what's she working on?"

"Don't ask me," Trunks laughed, "last time I went into the lab unannounced I almost got lit on fire."

Devan laughed heartily and Trunks lightly scowled; he didn't care to be made fun of so much but it was Devan so he'd let it slide this time. "So why'd you come instead of just sending a message?" Devan asked with his ever-present cool smile.

"Well, as much as I hate the jump gate," Trunks answered, "I wanted to get out of the house for a bit. Oh and mom gave me a grocery list, she wants me to pick up some things for her while I'm here. That's what this is for," he added and patted the brown messenger bag with his right hand.

"Awesome, let's go!" Murtole broke in once more.

Devan made a disapproving noise and shook his head, garnering the young man's attention. "Not until 5400, you've got work to do."

"Yes sir," Murtole smiled sadly as he headed back toward the lab.

Devan turned to Trunks. "Why don't you go do your shopping now," Devan motioned to the door with his head, "when you get back you can take Murtole out for a run in the city."

"Sure," Trunks nodded. "I'll see you guys later," he waved to both of them before leaving the lab.

A man with auburn hair wearing a blue suit watched stood leaned against the outer wall of a chain of shops along a busy street in Ute. He was slouching and looking around and smiling at passersby; if he fit in or just looked like an idiot standing around then nobody would remember him. He knew how to get lost in plain sight, so to speak, when he was trailing someone. He laughed at a few teenagers who, while walking by, tripped over their own feet and after staggering for a few steps were able to recover. They glared at him, but what did he care. That was when the doors to the largest reserve bank in Ute opened across the street and his eyes drifted up to see if his target was leaving yet.

The man smirked to himself as he pushed off of the wall he was leaned back against and stood upright. "You're not getting away this time," he said to himself as he watched a blonde haired woman in a black jacket and sunglasses exit the bank and start walking down the street.

Trunks weaved in and out of the crowd of people in the outdoor market in downtown Ute as he searched for all of the items on his mother's list. Well, there were a few things he was going to grab for himself too. Mostly he and Bulma loved the different fruits that came from other worlds. They didn't look that different from what was found on Earth; they generally had the same size and shape of fruits on Earth but they were different on the outside or inside, or both. One of his favorites was a fruit called kuku, it was the size of a cantaloupe and the same color and texture on the outside, but on the inside was a blood red fruit that was a mixture of sour and sweet.

As Trunks shopped it was hard to believe that just over a year ago this all would have seemed like a dream. He, his mother, and their small group of friends were living out their lives in relative peace on Earth when a spaceship landed not far from Bulma's home, sending mother and son into a panic. They never knew anything good that came from space to Earth, unless it changed upon arrival. He remembered clearly that sense of dread as they watched these people approach who looked just like humans, in appearance and mannerisms.

The seventeen people who found Earth that day were a group of scientists, researchers, and explorers from a distant planet called Bmyhad. Their nation had a contract with some other interstellar nation to explore uncharted worlds at the end of their territory, and that was how they found Earth. They saw signs of civilization from space and decided to investigate. Bulma and Trunks were greatly concerned at first, but after spending three weeks getting to know the crew Bulma began to bond with the aliens. They were a lot like her, very curious about the way things worked as well as hard and fast practitioners of the scientific method.

The Bmyhadians were also humanitarians, and when they learned that Earth needed aid they got to work. Within a month they had constructed what they and Bulma jointly called a "jump gate," a small portal that would only transport people and items between the two locations. One was placed in the former Capsule Corporation headquarters, and the other was placed in a lab in the capital city of Bmyhad, Ute.

It wasn't so much that Earth needed food and clothing, they needed a new society. Bulma and the Bmyhadians worked diligently on bringing new technology to Earth to help usher in a new era. With more efficient electrical usage cities were starting to rebuild public transportation, and brand new water and sewage systems. Medicines were brought to Earth to help immunize children against diseases that had become rampant during and after the reign of the androids. After several months, Bulma and the foreign scientists, doctors, philosophers, and even some diplomats began working with the local government to implement their changes on a much broader spectrum. They kept things very quiet though, as the general public still held a fear of beings from worlds other than their own. The Bmyhadians were the unsung heroes of the restoration of Earth, and they didn't mind—they were just glad they could help.

Trunks had finished getting all the things he could outside. He opened up the list again and mentally checked off everything he had picked up. Only two things were left: some special insulated wire and a large portable battery. Those would be easy enough to pick up, he just needed to head into one of the electronics stores a few blocks away from the open-air market. He put the list back into the front right pocket of his jacket and headed on his way.

Admittedly, she would miss Ute. It was a nice city, large enough to serve as a safe haven, lawful enough that crime wasn't rampant, but still not secure enough to make her life hard. There was something almost... charming about the city. But charming wasn't quite a word in her vocabulary, so if she had to put it to words, she'd probably say that she had just grown too used to the scenery. But she'd been in Ute for almost two years, the longest she had ever kept up shop anywhere by far, and she felt it was time to move on before she was compromised—because it would only be a matter of time.

The sun shone down brightly as she walked to an intersection and stopped with the rest of the crowd and waited for her turn to cross. She was lost in her thoughts, something that rarely happened when she felt a hand on her left shoulder. Her head shot around to see who would dare lay a hand on her, and when she saw a face all too familiar her eyes shot open wide.

"Been a long time since we've seen each other, hasn't it?" the auburn haired man asked with that devilish grin of his. He looked exactly the same as the last time she had seen him, and it unnerved her. Especially since she had long thought he had died.

"Dax," she said almost breathlessly.

"We need to talk," he said, his grin fading and his eyes indicating a level of seriousness from him that let her know this was no social call—and even if it was, she'd have told him to fuck off.

The blonde haired woman turned to face her old comrade. She looked left past him and down the street, then motioned her head in that direction—it was less crowded than the corner they were standing at. "Over there," she said to confirm that he'd gotten her message.

He smiled with that same unnerving smirk and released her shoulder. "Lead the way," he said and stepped backward and to the side, out of her way.

After they had walked halfway down the city block and stood near a wall between two storefronts, the woman stopped and turned around to face him. "Dax," she started but he cut her off.

"You look good, Ar," he said with a wistful look to his face. "I wish I could say this was a good visit."

'Ar' shook her head. "What are you doing?" To a bystander, it sounded like a cold demand, but Dax knew better. "I know that uniform," she added flatly and motioned toward his attire.

"I don't have time to talk about that," Dax said almost sorrowfully. "It was just something I had to do to keep a promise to a friend." He clenched his teeth and shook his head, "Look, I'm not here to talk about me, I'm here to talk about money." He looked at Ar and she stared blankly back at him—well, only blankly because her eyes were hidden behind sunglasses. But he could feel her glaring at him.

She stayed silent so he decided to start talking. "A few months ago you took it upon yourself to destroy some real estate that belongs to my employers." He paused a moment and she shifted her weight on her feet, a move that made him nervous. "They're looking for restitution, Armada."

Armada took a step forward and leaned in close to his face. "I can't believe you'd work for a group like that after everything we went through back then," she spat angrily. "As for your employer's 'restitution,'" she mocked the word, "tell them to go fuck themselves." With that said she moved to the side of Dax and walked past him.

He turned and shouted after her, "I told them that you're nothing to be trifled with," he paused when she stopped around six feet away from him, her back still facing him. "That they'd save themselves money and resources if we just approached you for money first." He waited for some kind of reaction but she stood stone still, not that it was unusual for her, even after not seeing her for two decades. She started walking again and Dax called out once more, "They'll come after you if you don't pay them."

Armada stopped walking again and turned her body slightly to look back at Dax. "Do you think I'm afraid of them?" she asked with a steely edge to her voice.

Dax glared back at her for a moment before responding. "You should be." After staring back a moment, Armada turned her back and started walking away for the third time. "They're going to kill you!" Dax shouted at her. "Don't you understand that?"

If that was how it was going to be, then so be it. Armada wasn't afraid of death; no, not even close. Threats of Rieve coming after her meant nothing, in fact she knew it would happen after she destroyed that factory. That was expected, she just didn't expect Dax—she didn't even think he was alive, she thought he died when she last saw him over twenty years ago.

Angered by his outburst, she spun around and opened her mouth to tell Dax to go fuck himself with his employer when he came up on her in a rush. She wasn't ready for the uppercut to her stomach that knocked the wind out of her, and she was embarrassed and angry with herself for falling for such a stupid trick. It was like watching everything in slow motion as Dax's hands reached into her jacket pocket and he pulled out four bank cards. Armada's eyes widened as she realized what was happening, but before she could regain her breath to act, Dax shoved her to the ground and ran off into the crowd.

In a few seconds Armada scrambled to her feet and took off on foot after him. They were in downtown Ute, in the shopping district in the middle of the day. The crowds were thick and she could barely keep up between dodging people. She cursed Dax in her mind as she sprinted after him, he probably knew just as well as she did that they couldn't fly or do anything to attract attention. He was a thief right now and she couldn't bring herself to the attention of the authorities since she was wanted in several dozen countries around the Federation Alliance and would more than likely be in the local police database. They might not have a picture or description of her, but she couldn't risk it—and risk letting two hundred and thirty million beta leave in someone else's hands.

Dax ran, weaving in and out of people on the streets and sidewalks of Ute. Armada did her best to follow, but the sea of people they were running through made it difficult since she had to move around them. It was then that she noticed he started using his speed to almost jump from one open space to the next. Armada growled and did the same—she couldn't let him get away, no matter what.

Dax knew Armada was hot on his trail so he looked for any way to possibly slow her down. He saw a guy a bit taller than the average Bmyhadian up ahead and decided to go for it. He appeared just behind the violet-haired man and grabbed his right arm. "Help, help me!" Dax cried, plastering on the most panicked face he could manage.

"Wh-what?" Trunks took a step back from the man that suddenly grabbed him.

"My ex-wife, she's trying to kill me!" the man screamed. He had strange messy reddish-brown hair and wore some blue uniform. Trunks looked up as the man pointed behind himself to see a blonde woman with sunglasses on sprinting to their location.

"Ahhh!" the young man in the blue uniform screamed as he ran past Trunks and pushed the Earthling toward the woman chasing him. Trunks stumbled for a second but immediately caught the woman by her arms as she nearly ran him over.

Dax smirked and glanced behind himself to see Armada run right into the Samaritan. Have fun with that one, Ar, he laughed to himself as he rounded a corner and disappeared from sight.

"What are you doing; let me go!" the woman screamed and pushed forward on Trunks, breaking her right arm free from the grasp of his left hand. Shock flashed across Trunks's face as he realized she wasn't the average Bmyhadian, she had some power in her to push him like that and he felt her ki flare ever so slightly when she did.

Apparently the woman realized this too, because her sunglasses slid down her face just enough for Trunks to see the top half of her eyes and read the emotion on her face as well. She pulled her left arm again but Trunks held tight. "Police!" he yelled in the middle of the crowd, "this woman is trying to kill her ex-husband!"

"What?" the woman immediately stopped struggling. "Is that what he said to you?" she screamed. From the look on Trunks's face he guessed that she figured it out. "That guy just robbed me!" she shouted and clenched her teeth. "Now let go!" she surged forward with a punch from her right hand aimed directly at Trunks's face.

Trunks was surprised, she came at him with a speed he hadn't seen in a few years. He brought his right hand up and caught her fist in it just before it hit his left cheek, but the force of her punch and his shock pushed him backward and the pair bumped into an older woman before they both fell to the pavement. Bystanders started to scream and someone helped the older woman from falling.

The blond haired woman was leaning forward over Trunks, and she brought her face down to within two inches of his. "Let go of me before I kill you," she said deliberately and charged up her energy in her fist that was captured in Trunks's hand. Before he could say anything someone screamed.

"There, those two! It's them!"

Both fighters turned to see Utian police headed straight for them. The blond haired woman leapt up away from Trunks's grasp and ran around a corner. Two officers chased her and when they reached the edge of the building they stopped. "Where'd she go…?" one said while they both appeared dumbfounded.

Trunks saw three Utian bank cards lying on the ground just next to his left hip and quickly brushed the cards under his body. "What's going on here?" one of the officers demanded of Trunks.

"I'm terribly sorry," he put on his best good-boy voice, "she ran into me and I was trying to stop her."

The officer who spoke before glared at Trunks suspiciously before responding. "Get out of here. If I see your face again today you're going to jail for public disturbance."

"Yes sir," Trunks nodded as the two officers turned and left. He stood up slowly and pulled the three bank cards into his left hand. He picked up the messenger bag full of groceries on his right and discretely slid the bank cards into the left pocket of his jacket. He started walking in the direction he was originally headed; he still needed to get a few things for his mother before he returned to the lab.

Trunks sat eating a piece of fruit in the lounge with Murtole after he finished telling his story.

"So she dropped these bank cards?" Murtole said, holding them up in his hand. There were two completely black cards and one blue card.

"I guess so; nobody else tried to pick anything up and they're not mine," Trunks added as he took another bite of fruit.

"Well let's see how much is on here," Murtole laughed as he turned around in his chair. He picked up a laptop from the table in front of him and inserted one of the black cards into the card reader on the side. He started to read what was on the card and his face looked perplexed.

"What is it?" Trunks asked as he moved to sit on the armrest of Murtole's chair and get a closer look at the laptop screen.

"One beta," Murtole looked up at him with a disbelieving scowl. "Bank cards like this require a minimum balance of fifty beta. To put one on this card is just… stupid. You'd end up paying several beta each day you're under the minimum."

"Well maybe after her last purchase there was only one beta left," Trunks supplied.

"That's possible," Murtole said as he pulled the card out of his laptop and replaced it with the second black card, "but there was no fraction of a beta, just one whole single beta."

Trunks watched as the second card's account information was displayed, it too had only one and exactly one beta on it. "Man, this is too weird," Murtole said as he pulled the card out. He stuck the blue card in and waited for the information to pop up. "Let me guess," he said while he waited. The amount showed up and he said immediately, "One beta. What the hell?" he asked in annoyance and moved to take the blue bank card out.

"Wait, what's that?" Trunks asked between a mouthful of food. He pointed to a small yellow warning icon that had appeared in the corner of the taskbar. Murtole clicked on it and a black screen popped up, slowly revealing words on the screen.

Murtole read. "Contracts… large and small, professional expertise in all required fields, contact 08004562-A92-KKR4." Murtole looked at the screen in confusion a moment before he turned to Trunks to speak. "It sounds like… a business card." Mutole paused. "Why would you hide your job ad on a nearly empty bank card?"

Trunks grimaced, "When you've got something to hide."

Armada leaned back lazily on the bench she was sitting on in the park just north of downtown Ute. She had her eyes closed but she could feel the sun hitting her face and it was kinda nice; she hadn't had much time lately to just go outside and enjoy the weather. She opened her eyes when the cell phone in her right hand rang. She casually brought it up to the side of her face and answered. "Yeah?"

"Got the trace," a male voice said on the other end. "It's definitely coming from the ministry," he finished.

"Thanks," Armada sad flatly before hanging up the phone. She stood from the park bench and looked at the building across the street she was scoping out from the park. Her eyes narrowed. Dax, I'm not as stupid as you'd like to think.

Late that evening, Murtole wandered from the lab to the kitchen for another pot of coffee. Bulma had given it to him last time she came through the jump gate and he couldn't get enough of the stuff. The taste wasn't that great but it helped him stay up late on nights like these when he was working into the early hours of the morning.

Murtole yawned as he finished filling his mug. He picked up the cup and turned around but was immediately stopped by a pair of strong hands grabbing him, one covering his mouth and the other wrapped around the back of his neck.

The young scientist dropped his mug of coffee which it the floor with a dull thud, spilling the liquid within all over the kitchen floor. His eyes widened in shock as a pair of dark blue eyes stared at him from underneath messy blond bangs. "Scream and you're dead," he heard the harsh voice of a woman whisper to him. Murtole nodded in her grip and she let go of his mouth.

"Where are they?" she asked in hushed tones, the hand on the back of his neck holding him tight.

"Where's w-what?" Murtole stuttered, scared out of his mind.

"The bank cards!" she glared at him angrily.

"They're at my desk in the lab," Murtole shook as he spoke.

"Did Dax put you up to this?" she asked through clenched teeth.

"I don't know what you're talking about; my friend found the cards on the street, that's all," Murtole shook in her grasp.

She must have believed him because her grip on him loosened as she continued to stare in his eyes. Murtole thought he saw a flash of understanding there, and made no attempt to move yet. He thought he saw something move in the shadows behind the woman and his eyes glanced over her right shoulder.

"Let him go now."

Still holding tight to Murtole, the woman spun around to find the same man from earlier that day standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "You…!" her eyes widened in shock before they narrowed again in anger. "This is a set-up!" she turned her attention back to Murtole and pulled him against her violently. She held his back to her chest, her left arm clenched around his collarbone, and her right hand up by his neck. Murtole felt a heat emanating from her right hand and noticed a white light in the room.

Trunks saw the woman charge a ki blast in her right hand up to Murtole's neck. "Let him go, he has nothing to do with this!" Trunks shouted at her, angered she would take a hostage.

"It was all part of Dax's plan, wasn't it?" she yelled at Trunks. "Well you stole from the wrong woman," her voice lowered to a menacing treble.

"It's me you want, right?" Trunks started, doing whatever he could to get his scared friend out of harm's way. "Let him go, he had nothing to do with this."

The woman reluctantly released Murtole, and he fumbled away from her before he tripped over a chair and fell to the floor in the kitchen. He watched his friend Trunks stare down this intruder. What the hell was going on?

Trunks now noticed she looked completely different from when he had last seen her. She was wearing some type of black and dark blue armor that made her hard to see in the dark. The only things uncovered were her head and the very tips of her fingers.

"I don't know who Dax is," Trunks finally spoke, "but I'm sorry for what happened today. I made a mistake."

"You're sorry?" she spat. "I had just cleared all my bank accounts in this country, I was going to leave. Dax… he got away with over 230 million beta. That was everything I had," she ground out through clenched teeth. Trunks noticed her fists clench unconsciously. "And you're sorry," she added again, her eyes showing Trunks just how angry and hurt she was.

Trunks was shocked though he didn't let his face show it. 230 million beta…? Kami, what the hell does this woman do? he thought with concern.

"As much as I'd like to kill you, I have a better idea," the woman spoke again, her features relaxing slightly. "You'll work for me, and work off your debt."

"What?" Trunks was taken aback. "How do you expect me to earn that much money?"

"You won't work it all off," she replied in a much calmer tone. "But enough so that I'm satisfied."

"What if I refuse?" Trunks asked with a scowl.

He saw her eyes glance around the room and briefly over Murtole once again. "Then I'll have to take whatever I can find," she finished, her eyes settling on his.

Trunks thought over his options. He couldn't let her attack Murtole or the others over something he did. But it was an honest mistake; he didn't mean to help the guy who robbed her. Sure he felt guilty about it but shouldn't she be chasing him down instead of Trunks? He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, that was all. However, he couldn't risk the lives of the Bmyhadians in the lab nor the location of his home world and most importantly, his mother.

"How do you expect me to help you?" Trunks asked with a hardened gaze.

She smirked at him. "You're just like me, otherwise you wouldn't have caught my punch in the first place." She stood upright and walked over to Trunks, the animosity dissipating from her face. "I'm Armada."

"Trunks," the Earthling replied.

"Well Trunks," Armada raised an eyebrow at him and still had that smirk on her face, "get your things, work starts now."

Trunks stepped out of the comm. room at the lab and picked up his bag on the floor. Murtole watched him with worry while Devan stared at the unwelcome stranger in the doorway to the lab. Trunks walked up to Murtole and gave him a half-hearted smile. His younger friend pulled him into a hug and Trunks's features eased a little.

Trunks looked over to Devan as Murtole released him, the head scientist at the lab gave Trunks an almost disapproving look. Trunks knew it was because Devan was upset at how things turned out, but Trunks couldn't let things get out of hand. Besides, Devan didn't know Trunks's real strength; he wasn't worried about taking care of himself. He just wanted them to stay safe.

He turned to face Armada who was standing in the doorway to the lab. She nodded her head at Trunks and turned around, walking out of the lab. He turned around and gave a weak smile to his friends before following after her. He wasn't sure what he got himself into, but he was certain he'd get out of it soon enough.

Thanks for reading!

Silvia