A coward is but a wise man afraid to open his eyes.
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Krillin was afraid.
If he was being honest, he'd go as far to say he was a coward. He abandoned responsibility and ran from commitments. Krillin was human; he made mistakes and rectified them—for the most part—and maybe, he'd consider this his karma.
His best friend, a man he'd give his life for in a heartbeat, was an alien. He'd known that though, known it from the very beginning; how else could he rationalize the tail, the completely naive personality, and his horrific strength? Krillin turned a blind eye to it.
It was Goku.
His first real friend.
And just as fast as Goku came into his life, he left. He just disappeared without a goodbye; Krillin hated to admit that all it took was a pretty woman hanging on his arm for him to cut them—him—out of his life. It was no surprise Goku came and went as he pleased. He craved adventure and strange followed him like a stray pet begging for scraps.
But this? This was beyond strange.
Beyond human, definitely.
When confronted with a prince from outer space there was little to do but accept it and roll with the punches. How many more he'd have to take was the question. He'd lost his friends, peace of mind, and nerves in a single day. And, if his karma continued on the path it was taking, he would lose the closest thing to a family he had.
Goku wasn't looking too hot, and frankly, he couldn't fight. Gohan had been right and yet Krillin struggled to swallow that bitter pill. Goku lost, plain and simple. A man so untouchable had collapsed under the strain of his own body. It was all over for them, for Earth, for young Gohan.
She'd be taken undoubtedly. It was the reason for this entire fight in the first place. But then again Krillin knew he'd at least get the sweet embrace of death to cushion him. Gohan would not be nearly as lucky.
Yet, despite all odds, Goku continued to fight. Not literally, but he still managed to contribute far more than Krillin himself. A plan was formed. A plan that rested on Krillin's shoulders to complete.
The killing shot.
Krillin had never killed a man before.
He wouldn't hesitate.
If anything, he was thankful Gohan managed to distract Vegeta for as long as she had, without her their scheming would have never been possible. Vegeta had been toying with her, some sort of odd Saiyan ritual Krillin was sure, and would not be aware of his impending death.
With the Spirit Bomb, given to him with the last sliver of Goku's energy, he would defeat Vegeta.
He would not miss!
Only, he did.
Thanks to Yajirobe.
And the projectile death streaked across to Gohan's drained body.
She wouldn't be able to move in time—Krillin was going to be responsible for the death of a toddler—she was frozen stiff with pain and fear. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut—move dammit, move—unable to watch the detonation.
Again, defying his expectations, there was no detonation. Gohan had managed to make the bomb rebound. It soared and drove Vegeta straight into the atmosphere.
They… They did it!
"Ah, aha… haha! Goku! We won! It's finally over!" He was not ashamed in admitting he was close to tears. Tooth and nail they fought. And won. All of the blood, sweat, and tears couldn't weigh on his shoulders with the pure rush of joy that swam through his veins.
It was unfortunate that his joy froze over into something more sickly like dread. Vegeta's body had plummeted back into the Earth. Even after all of it, all of the suffering and exhaustion, Vegeta still managed to stand.
One of his eyes remained sealed closed and he carried his wounded arm close to his chest. Yet that was the extent of his injuries. Just what would it take for the man to roll over and die?!
"You… you wretched creatures." Vegeta murmured as he wobbled over to him. Oh man, he had to step up, didn't he? What could he do? He was drained, barely a spark of energy left contained in his body! Krillin couldn't go toe to toe with Vegeta, not again, "I will take immense satisfaction of ripping your body limb from limb."
Krillin locked eyes with Yajirobe, begging for interference.
The fat man only replied with a shocked face and the making of a retreat in his footsteps.
A powerful surge of energy surrounded their foe, and Krillin was appalled, just how much more could the prince dredge up from his body? The seemingly unlimited power of a Saiyan was nightmare material. The power surge exploded, everyone sans the prince flung from the epicenter.
With sand filling his mouth and eyes and was eager to rise above the claim of land and fill his lungs with fresh air. The blast hadn't killed him, or Goku, thankfully. However, just like Goku, Krillin couldn't move. The energy wave must have knocked the remaining power from his body.
Really, Krillin didn't know if he would call the sequence of events a miracle or not. How could one decide? It was the final turn he was sure, after all, Gohan had begun a similar transformation not unlike Vegeta's.
Krillin openly wept for the loss of his life.
It was only a matter of minutes!
He was forced to watch from his prone position as Gohan's tiny body began to swell. It wasn't what he was used to—not just in one way, either—her transformation all wrong compared to Goku and Vegeta. There was no ear-drum shattering roar or pronounced earthquake to announce the arrival of the Oozaru, if it could even be called that. Instead, Gohan remained relatively small, small compared to the others maybe, though she would still dwarf a two-story home easily. She didn't rise to two feet either. Both hands and feet remained firmly curled and planted to the ground.
Krillin would have never assumed Gohan, the tiny, almost timid, girl he met all those months ago would even be capable of a transformation! Of course, fate—she—would prove him wrong; he had a terrible track record with the female race.
She was quick, quicker than Vegeta in his transformed state, and she was intelligent. Not to the extent of Vegeta, but nowhere near the level of chaos Goku's transformation brought. Gohan had some thought behind her actions. He watched as she jumped from rock formation to rock formation looking for something specific.
Her target just happened to be Vegeta.
There was something to be said for karma, and while Krillin got his fair share of it, it was an equally unfair bitch to all.
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Fair warning this chapter was not checked over! Forgive any mistakes.
Feel Free to Join my Discord server! Pm me or use the link in the previous chapter!
Werewingwolfxx: No problem! I have only watched maybe a handful of super but i have watched that clip online! Vegeta took it like a champ... at first! ehehe.
Electus8 : Thanks ;3 I try.
Nimedhel09: I didn't bother to really capitalize on the oozaru form because this chapter was krillin centric, but it will pop up in the future and you know where i am if you have questions! The forgotten females of DBZ will forever haunt me, but i suppose thats what this fic is for.
As mentioned in the answered review above, any questions you may have will be answered in my discord made for this fanfiction, in my server I post sneak peaks and little tidbits you may want to know about this fic, I definitely recommend you join!