Disclaimer: DBZ does not belong to me...obviously, not making any money...OBVIOUSLY!

This chapter may look a bit long and without any real actions but fear not...it's only the first one.

No hope

Chapter 1

"Bulma honey, we don't have time. There is simply too…" he was interrupter by his daughter's fuming red face.

"Don't you 'Bulma honey' me, Dad!" Her voice was clenched and angry as she took a second to look at the radar screen. "There is always a solution and with the two of us there is no way" her voice wavered "I mean, we'll find a solution, we have too! Dad I won't leave Earth without you and mom!"

She stopped unable to go on, her face no longer angry but traced with an undeniable heart wrenching sadness, her voice frail and tremulous as she went on. "How can you even ask me to do a thing like that?"

She looked at her father when he didn't answer her; his brows were drawn together with pain as he stared at her. There was no way of knowing what thoughts crossed his mind as he looked at her but, it was evident that he was keeping the standing tears in his clear blue eyes from falling with all his might, his lips set in a thigh quavering line. He looked so vulnerable and miserable that Bulma lost her own battle with her tears. She soon felt arms around her as Dr Brief took her into his arms with a broken cry, hugging her fiercely as if trying to show her all the love and pride he felt for his only child. Feeling her father's shoulder beginning to shake Bulma hugged him even tighter, feeling an inconspicuous oppressive ball of misery forming itself in her throat. Squeezing her eyes tightly shut, she let the feelings she had so valiantly fought submerge her. Pain, sadness, love, anger so much anger, for her heart. But she let it all go, letting the emotions wash on her mind and soul. Just this once, she wasn't weak, but just this once she wanted to be able to grieve for all the human lives that would soon cease to be. For all the cities that would never rise again. She wanted to be able to feel the despair and desolation she had kept at bay for so long, for as long as the Emperor had first made his intentions known to the unsuspecting humans. Just this once, she wanted to be able to forget herself in the misery she knew her heart had never stopped feeling. She also wanted to help her father. To help him forget the huge responsibilities that were set on his shoulders by the governments of Earth, turning him into poor Atlas doomed by Zeus, God of the gods, to hold the world on his shoulders for all eternity. She wanted to give him a peace she knew he had lost when the Emperor's ship had entered Earth's solar system. She wanted to help him forget about all the faces that had looked up to him in a blind faith, a faith that had kept him awake for many days and nights when he would not allow a trivial thing, and not to mention complete waste of time, like sleep to rule over his body. Even he had come up with nothing.

Sure there were many a machines they had thought about, shields and weapons that would have solved their problem in a blink of an eye, but there were simply too many problems. First, they lacked time, and more importantly, if the Emperor was so adamant to see them dead that he'd choose to destroy a planet as rich as Earth, then certainly nothing would have stood in his way. How could humanity be safe in an empire that no longer accepted them? Furthermore, how could one kill the Emperor of the known universe? Even if they achieved the impossible and killed Emperor Cold, the Counsel of Planets, who had grown rich under the Tsiru-jins rule, would not have remained idle with their arms crossed, punitive action against Earth would have soon followed. There was nothing they could do, and that single thought ate at their souls and hearts, the situation was helpless, they could not escape the Emperor this easily. He wanted them dead and there was nothing that could stop the most powerful being in the universe to achieve his goal.

How can one sit back and let the end come without at least trying? The Brief family certainly couldn't.

So, for the first time since the arrival of the Emperor in their solar system, the infamous Bulma and her father Dr Brief, the most brilliant minds of Earth, broke down and cried, all the while hugging each other, letting their mutual fear, pain and anger, wash over them like a heavy wool blanket, surrounding them, uniting them in their misery.