Ch.1

'Why are Gohan and the others still here? They should have been off the planet by now!' Goku thought to himself as he continued his battle with Frieza. He had told his son to get the others and leave the planet a long time ago. So why was it that he could clearly sense that they were all still on the planet, when he had been very clear that they were to leave?

…

Gohan looked round for any sign of Bulma. He'd left Piccolo at the ship, and had walked out on his mom and Master Roshi, who were pressing him for information over the computer. Knowing he didn't have much time, he tried his best to try and locate Bulma's energy. The ground was quivering beneath him, hills toppling and waters raging as the planet headed towards an eventual explosion. Hoping she wasn't hurt, Gohan flew downwards towards a rock that was falling and spotted Bulma beneath it. Acting fast, he quickly grabbed her before the rock landed right where she'd previously stood. Bulma opened her eyes and looked up at Gohan who was holding her in the air.

"Oh Gohan! Thank goodness! I was so afraid! How could you guys leave me behind like that! What were you thinking! And where's Krillin? It looks like this planet is going to blow!" Gohan didn't let Bulma's outburst get under his skin.

"I don't have time to explain Bulma. Krillin didn't make it…But we have to get back to the ship, and fast." Bulma's eyes widened in fear as she heard this. She gulped nervously as she looked down below. A few minutes later, she smiled excitedly.

"Look Gohan! It's the ship! And it looks like it's in good shape!" Gohan looked up and spotted the ship Bulma was talking about. He gripped Bulma a little tighter as he prepared to speed up, when suddenly, an explosion beside him startled him. A large flow of lava shot up from the ground, and with Bulma in his arms, Gohan couldn't dodge in time. Dropping Bulma on a rock, Gohan tried to avoid the lava and felt something hard hit his head. Within seconds, he'd lost consciousness.

A nearby cliff began to crumble and fall from the force of the explosion. Bulma watched in horror as the rock began to fly and fall right where Gohan hovered. She turned away as the boy became consumed in the rubble.

"Gohan!" Bulma looked over to where Gohan lay. A giant boulder sat on top of him, pinning him to the side of the cliff, leaving him unable to move. Gohan's head was bleeding and it was obvious that he was quite seriously wounded by the impact.

'Oh no. I don't have the strength to lift this rock' Gohan thought to himself. With all the fighting he'd done and now this, Gohan had a sinking feeling in his gut. His head hurt and he felt dizzy. His body was pinned, and he knew several of his ribs were broken. There was no way Bulma would be able to get him out. Slowly, the reality of his situation hit Gohan with sudden clarity. He had to convince her to take off without him. It was the only way to save Piccolo, so they could revive the others.

"Bulma, I'm stuck. You're going to have to go on without me." Bulma began to cry and shake her head.

"Gohan I can't! I can't leave you here. The planet's going to blow!" Bulma rushed over and tried to lift the rock, but it was no use. It was way too heavy for her.

"Bulma…listen to me." Bulma stopped trying to lift the rock and looked at Gohan, frightened.

"You need to get Piccolo to safety. It's the only way we can revive everyone. If you do that, you can revive me with the dragonballs. But if you don't save Piccolo Bulma, everyone will be lost. Do you understand?" Bulma continued to cry as she nodded. She knew that Gohan was right. But she didn't know if she could leave, knowing the child was stuck on a planet that was going to explode. Her guilt weighed heavily on her shoulders.

"Don't worry about me Bulma. There isn't much time. You have to go now. Hurry." Bulma nodded, and bent down to give Gohan a hug. Before she could change her mind, she ran over to the ship and closed the door. As she entered the ship, she gave Piccolo a petrified glance, before hurrying over to the controls. Shaking her head, she tried to concentrate as she quickly set the destination to earth, and the space ship began to take off. Gohan watched with a sigh of relief. Bulma and Piccolo were safe.

…

Bulma sobbed as the spaceship took off, leaving Namek behind. No matter how strong, or how brave Gohan was, she couldn't believe the child was left to die, alone, on a planet that was going to explode. Closing her eyes, Bulma tried to rid herself of the mental image of Gohan pinned and helpless, wishing more than anything that she could have done more to help. What was supposed to be a fun adventure finding the dragonballs had turned out to be a frightening, dangerous nightmare that had taken the lives of Krillin, and now Gohan. Two days…that's how long she had until they arrived on earth. How was she going to tell Chichi?

…

King Kai surveyed the situation on Namek in horror. Bulma and Piccolo had made it safely off of Namek, but Gohan remained pinned under a large boulder, heavily injured, and Goku remained in battle with Frieza. Time was running out, and he couldn't bear the thought of both saiyans dying along with the planet.

'Should I tell him about Gohan?' King Kai wondered. 'Maybe he'll get angry enough to finish Frieza off for good?' King Kai decided it was worth a shot.

'Goku, can you hear me?' King Kai tried.

'Yes.' Goku replied as he matched Frieza blow for blow.

'Bulma and Piccolo have made it off the planet, and are headed for earth. Gohan… wasn't able to go with them.' King Kai waited a beat for Goku to absorb this information.

'What do you mean?' Goku tried not to panic as he dodged a blast from Frieza.

'Gohan was bringing Bulma back to the ship when the ground erupted close by. Gohan was hit by a large boulder and got pinned beneath it. His energy was tapped out, and he couldn't get himself out. He's still there now. '

Goku drove his fist into Frieza's face as panic seized him. 'Give me a sec King Kai'. Goku continued to fight as he struggled to come up with a plan.

'Goku, because Piccolo is safe, we can use the earth's dragonballs, should you need them.' King Kai offered.

'Right! I almost forgot about that!' Goku answered.

'Now just wait Goku, I have an idea. Let me talk to Kami real quick and see if it will work.' Goku didn't respond as Frieza shot a blast his way. A few moments later, Goku heard King Kai again.

'Goku, I've got a plan. We're going to use the earth's dragonballs to revive all those killed by Frieza on Namek. This way we can save the Namekian's. When this happens, Guru should be revived, and there will be one more wish with Namek's dragon. We will use this wish to wish everyone back to earth, except Frieza.' King Kai waited for Goku's reply.

'That's incredible King Kai! But hurry, we don't have much time.' Goku replied as he shot a blast in his opponent's direction.

'Alright, Kami's got the dragonballs ready on earth. Let's hope this works…'

'Wait! One second King Kai! I need you to change the second wish. I need you to wish everyone except Frieza and me off the planet.' King Kai froze in horror.

'Goku I can't! The planet's going to blow! Go back to earth, we'll come up with a plan!'

'No King Kai. We both know that it will just come back to this anyway. I need to finish this here and now.'

'Goku I'd be signing your death warrant!' King Kai began to tremble.

'Search your feelings King Kai. You know this is the right thing to do.' Hating that his pupil was right, King Kai searched Namek to see if the first wish had been fulfilled. He could sense the Namekian's had returned to the planet, but had a hard time locating Guru.

'Come on Guru where are you?' As he concentrated harder, he finally located the elder Namek, who seemed to have been revived as well. Taking a deep breath, he began to communicate with Guru, sharing with him their plan.

…

Gohan pushed against the rock once more, determined to get himself free.

'I have to get off this planet!' He thought to himself. Another blast sounded beside him, and Gohan felt the rock above him shift. Taking advantage, Gohan pushed and managed to wiggle free. Panting, he pulled himself out and hurried away from the falling rock. Gohan wiped the blood and sweat off his brow and tried to fly, but found that he was quite dizzy and too weak to get off the ground.

'Have to concentrate.' He thought desperately. Hurrying on foot, Gohan looked round. 'There has to be saiyan ships around here. With Vegeta and the Ginyu force, there should be at least 6 of them on this planet. Gohan stumbled as he hurried around falling rock. He felt like he had walked for hours when he spotted a white ship in the distance.

'I found it!' Gohan tried to run, fighting the dizziness and the aches and pains as he kept the ship in his sights. He was so relieved when he finally reached the ship. Pushing a button near the door, he smiled as the door opened and he quickly crawled in.

'Okay, now how do I get this thing to earth?' He wondered. There were several buttons. Panicking, Gohan pressed a few and heard the ship start up.

'Well, I don't know where I'm going, but at least it's off this planet.' the boy thought to himself as the ship took off and he let the blackness take over once again.

…

King Kai watched as the young Namekian made the wish to bring everyone on the planet back to earth. He then searched the planet Earth for the Namekians and was pleased to see that they had arrived safely. However, he noticed that no earthlings had made it to earth despite the wish. Panicked, he began to search for them.

'Bulma and Piccolo are in space! I almost forgot that they left the planet before the wish was made. At least they are safe. Now, where is Gohan?' King Kai searched and searched for the young saiyan's ki.

'He was stuck on Namek! And critically injured. Why was he not brought back to earth with the wish?' As King Kai searched, he detected a faint energy signal, indicating that someone was flying away from Namek.

'It's Gohan! He's in a ship! But he's not headed for earth. How can this be?' King Kai worried about the young saiyan. His best guess was that Gohan had somehow been freed, and hopped into a ship to escape the planet before it blew up. He must of somehow gotten off the planet before the wish was made! But where was he headed? And what if he landed on an unfriendly planet? He was in no condition to defend himself!

'Goku, this is King Kai, can you hear me?'

'I hear you King Kai. The wishes, did they work?'

'In part Goku. All the Namekian's have made it to earth safely. Bulma and Piccolo are in space, headed towards Earth. As you know, they made it off the planet before the wishes were made.'

'That's great. Now I can fight Frieza with my full concentration, knowing that everyone is safe.' Goku smiled to himself.

'Not quite Goku. Gohan didn't make it to earth.'

'What? What do you mean he didn't make it to earth?' Distracted, Goku took a punch to the face and plummeted towards the ground. He quickly got up and resumed the fight.

'It seems that Gohan must have gotten free from the boulder. My guess is that he managed to get to one of the saiyan ships. He was off the planet before the wishes were made.' Goku growled in frustration.

'So he's headed to earth then?'

'No Goku. He's headed in the opposite direction. I don't know where he is headed. And in his condition, he won't be able to defend himself against a threat. I'm sorry.'

Goku felt rage building up inside of him as he thought of his young son, alone in space and injured. How could this have happened? They had a plan…He had to save his son.

"ENOUGH!" He shouted as Frieza came forward to attack. Goku powered up, letting his rage take hold, just as he had when he'd transformed.

"No! How could he be channeling more energy?" Frieza muttered. Shocked, Frieza didn't see the first blow as the enraged saiyan furiously attacked. Frieza struggled to get free, finally managing to put some distance between them.

"This will stop him." He said as he created two discs. "Take that!" He shouted as he sent the discs flying towards the saiyan. Goku looked at the discs and came up with a plan. He'd never imagined something so horrible for an opponent before, but he knew what he had to do to get to Gohan in time.

Goku watched as the discs followed his every move. Flying upwards, he turned and dived towards Frieza, the discs following him.

"Oh please, what an obvious move. You think you're going to get those discs to slice me in half? No way!" Frieza smiled as Goku approached. Just then, Goku disappeared, reappearing further away. He quickly shot a blast towards Frieza, as the discs continued to move forward. Frieza's grin faded as he realized what the saiyan had done. Unable to move in time, Frieza felt the discs slice his sides, removing his arms at the shoulder.

"NO!" Frieza shouted as pain shot through his body. Goku watched, knowing this was his chance. He immediately phased out and re-appeared by the discs. He almost couldn't believe he was going to execute this next move, but he couldn't let his son wait any longer. Focusing on all the innocent people Frieza had killed, Goku headed towards Frieza and used the afterimage technique. Frieza was still too shocked at the loss of his arms to notice the discs heading in his direction. Goku closed his eyes as the first, and then the second disc sliced the almighty Frieza in half.

"My own attack." Frieza muttered in shock as he fell to the ground. Goku took one last horrified look at his opponent, and shook his head sadly. 'It didn't have to be this way.' He thought to himself as he turned away.