Chapter 26

Death Do Ye Part

"Piccolo…"

Gohan had come to a screeching halt in the air, Goten and Trunks to either side. He wore a horrified, faraway look on his face as he felt Piccolo's power surge one last time, and then fade away, leaving only emptiness in its place.

"PICCOLO!"

Gohan screamed, and then burst forward with all his might, leaving Trunks and Goten hanging in the air, their hair billowing in the wind from his departure. After pausing for a brief moment longer, they, too, shot full-speed toward the site of the battle, but were unable to match their elder's speed. Driven by rage, Gohan zeroed in on Freeza's energy and made a full rush, abandoning any pretense of concealing his energy. His only thoughts were of avenging Piccolo, and doing so in time to save Uub. Still, even at his blinding speed, he was minutes away.

As it was, Gohan had no reason to bother concealing his energy, as Freeza's senses were already being overwhelmed by energy of a different source. Freeza had been looking back over his shoulder at Piccolo as his final blast went out, erasing almost all of his soldiers, but he was now facing forward again, increasingly intrigued by Uub, and completely ignoring the death of his most trusted ally.

Uub was hunched forward with his chin tucked into his chest, flexing and grunting loudly as the rain began to gain momentum all around him. Moment by moment, his grunting grew louder, and he began to glow in a dark pink aura again. Soon, the aura was pulsating around his body, and Uub snapped his head up, his eyes ablaze and locked on Freeza. The big tyrant slid back cautiously, but not nearly soon enough.

"RRRRAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Uub let loose a primal scream that reverberated across the valley, crumbling the tops of distant trees and forcing Freeza to wince at the sudden volume. As he did, his aura swelled wide around his body, pulsating as Uub's energy charged. Without warning, the aura burst forth in a concentrated mass directly at Freeza, who crossed his arms in front of his face to block the attack, and managed to do so, but was blown wildly backward, completely out of control, his forearms badly burned from the sudden attack.

Even as Uub's attack met Freeza, the young warrior never moved, and his aura never relaxed, but continued to pulsate around him. Soon, with his eyes still fixated on Freeza, individual strands of glowing pink energy began to fire off from around his body, seemingly of their own accord. Many made beelines for Freeza, where they continuously burned him as he flew helplessly backward through the air. The rest sought out the few remaining survivors of Freeza's army, raining down death from above, piercing their bodies until not a single one remained.

Tagoma eyed the group of Earthlings sternly as they cautiously widened out from their tight formation, eventually forming a circle around him. The humans were resolute, none showing any signs of hesitation or fear in the face of their final opponent, but they were clearly tattered and beaten, all with fresh wounds and heavy damage to their clothing. Even Yajirobe, a lifelong coward, had his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to attack at a moment's notice.

Tagoma was also ready for combat, having spiked his energy to its peak in a fit of frustration. He was furious at the failure of his soldiers and, by extension, his failure as a general. His only solace, and his only hope of surviving Freeza's wrath, rested on dispelling of these last six humans and continuing on to take West City by himself. He, too, was heavily damaged and fatigued, but he still had more than enough strength to outmatch even an accumulation of the Earthlings' power.

Tagoma slowly transferred his eyes from one member of the group to the next, evaluating each of their power and the extent of their damage before finally choosing his target.

Tagoma's eyes finally settled on Videl, judging her to be the weak link of the group. He gave a quick, devious smile, and made his move, racing off the ground with a quick twitch and making a hard line directly for her. Videl dropped into a defensive stance to defend herself as best she could, and waited for death to arrive.

For now, however, death was held at bay. The moment Tagoma made a move, both Chiaotzu and Roshi threw their hands out, momentarily breaking Tagoma's rush and, after he had broken from the initial shock, slowing his pace as best they could. Chiaotzu was gritting his teeth as he struggled to hold his enemy in place with his palms out wide, and Roshi was grunting hard as he tensed his hands, attempting to cramp every muscle in Tagoma's body with his Lighting Flash attack, as sparks emitted off Tagoma's back.

For all their effort, the two were unable to provide little more than a speed bump to Tagoma, who fought through them and continued his drive toward Videl. They did buy a moment of extra time, however, providing Krillin ample opportunity to enter the fray. The short warrior shot his body in front of Videl's and began to confront Tagoma head-on.

Their battle was over quickly. For a brief moment, Krillin held his own, aided by Chiaotzu and Roshi's interference with Tagoma's body, but after countering a few quick blows, Tagoma landed a devastating fist to Krillin's stomach, just below his ribs, knocking the wind out of his body and causing him to drop to the ground from the pain of his freshly bruised organs.

At the same moment, both Chiaotzu and Roshi gave out, and dropped their hands in exhaustion, but Tagoma would have no time to gloat. No sooner had Krillin hit the ground than Videl reappeared, jumping into the air from behind Krillin's body and delivering a hard roundhouse kick to Tagoma's skull, turning his head on impact.

Tagoma's head whipped around with the force of the kick just in time to see Yajirobe rushing forward with his sword drawn, preparing to slice him in half. At the sight, Tagoma allowed his body to continue spinning and, before Yajirobe could change course, the alien delivered a hard kick to his chest and clasped a hand tight around the blade, cutting his palm deeply but shattering the blade in the process. Yajirobe went rocketing backward, tumbling along the ground as he went, the blunt force trauma of the kick having knocked him completely unconscious.

By turning to face Yajirobe, however, Tagoma had opened his back to his greatest threat. His momentary distraction cost him dearly as 18 fazed in behind him, a large glowing orb in each hand. Simultaneously, she thrust her hands forward into the middle of Tagoma's back, encompassing him in golden light and, soon thereafter, a billow of smoke.

18 and the others who were able jumped back away from the site of the attack and waited for the smoke to clear, thankful for each precious moment of rest.

Before Freeza had reached the end of his backward tumble, Uub had shot forward and closed the gap completely, reappearing directly over the top of his now prone opponent. Uub clasped both hands above his head and slammed downward, drilling Freeza in the middle of his chest and sending him rushing to the ground.

Upon impact, the horned Acrosian was swallowed by the Earth, as though he had landed in a sinkhole, but Uub didn't relent there. With rage still burning in his eyes, Uub drew his hands above his head again, this time with his palms open and overlapping one another, and screamed loudly:

"MASENKO-HAAAAA!"

A massive beam of golden light erupted from Uub's hands as he threw them forward, chasing Freeza down the hole. The flood of energy soon filled the hole, and the surface of the earth around it began to crack and glow, even shining streams of light up into the air. Soon, the earth could take no more pressure, and the entire area exploded in a mass of light and rubble, flattening over half the valley and clouding the air in smoke and dust. Tired from his furious assault, Uub drifted up above the debris, and took deep, heaving breaths as he continued to search for Freeza.

At the bottom of what remained of the hole, Freeza lay flat of his back coughing, covered in fresh burns and soot. "Insolent child…" He muttered to himself, "Such potential...it's a shame he has to die."

Freeza regained his balance, but never emerged from the hole, instead firing a quick dome of energy around himself to create space, and began to contort his body again. Soon his bones were expanding, covering more of his exposed flesh than ever before, until finally, even his skull had grown wider and elongated, completely mutilating his appearance.

Up above, by the time Uub noticed Freeza changing, his transformation was almost complete. With Freeza out of sight, Uub was calmed from his rage, and gasping desperately for air as he took in his situation, trying his best to remember his training. He focused on Gohan's impending energy for a long moment, trying to decipher exactly how far away he was, until finally Freeza could be ignored no longer. When he finally did sense Freeza's energy, he held his place, reluctant to enter a blind, underground fight, and he dared not levy a blast powerful enough to threaten Freeza at the Earth's core, especially with reinforcements so close at hand. Piccolo would advise caution, he knew, and he dared not dishonor his memory so brazenly by abandoning his teachings so soon.

Finally, with smoke still hanging in the air, Freeza emerged, floating up to eye level with Uub in his third form.

"You could have joined me, boy." Freeza said with a stern look, as Uub settled into his stance and his eyes lit up again, "My empire might even have been yours one day; instead, you'll die on this pathetic rock. Prepare yourself."

"You killed Mister Piccolo…" Uub said, as his energy began to boil up again, his aura pulsating more intensely by the moment. "I'm not the one who dies here."

The two fired forward with their fists drawn back and clashed in the air, sending a harsh flash of light over the area powerful enough that the clouds overhead momentarily parted before closing back together and continuing the downpour.

When the smoke around Tagoma's body finally cleared, he had dropped to one knee, his back still turned to the group. 18's blast had decimated the back of his armor, and his exposed back was now badly burned. Slowly, he rose to his feet and turned to face the Earthlings again.

He looked over his shoulder at Yajirobe, alive but no longer a threat in his current state, before turning his full attention to the others. Krillin was still on his hands and knees, gasping for air and unable to rise to his feet even with the help of both Chiaotzu and Roshi. For their part, neither had sustained any significant damage, but were exhausted from the effort of slowing Tagoma, and were hardly in fighting shape after hours of battle. The only Earthlings fighting with anything near able bodies were the two strongest women in the world, 18 and Videl. The humans had won the first round, but they had paid a heavy price.

Fully aware of their situation, the two women stepped forward ahead of the others and crouched low, readying themselves for another round. Tagoma stood bolt upright and raised his power again, weaker than ever before but still oceans out of any human's league.

"Well. Come on, then." He finally said.

On cue, 18 rushed forward, Videl hot on her heels, and laid into a furious assault on Tagoma. Soon Videl had reached her mark and joined in the assault, and together, they began to push their target backwards.

"They're winning!" Chiaotzu yelled excitedly, still struggling to help Krillin to his feet.

"For the moment…" Roshi replied cautiously, his eyes fixated on the battle.

As the old man feared, Tagoma's disadvantage was short-lived. In a display of his status as a seasoned combat veteran, Tagoma soon took note of the relative inexperience of his opponents and attempted to capitalize by strategy rather than raw, energy-expensive power. He rose quickly into the air, maintaining his defense all the while and creating distance at a breakneck pace.

Just as he had suspected, 18 pressed her advantage, staying hot on his heels, even as their speed grew too fast for Videl to continue to offer support. With his foe isolated, Tagoma finally used his superior strength to counterattack with three quick blows: one to 18's shoulder to stunt a punch before it reached it's mark, a second to her left kidney, doubling her over in pain, and finally, a hard elbow to the back of her head, sending her crashing back to the hard ground below.

With 18 out of the picture, Videl was caught open and vulnerable in midair. Tagoma came careening down at her, his fist raised like a hammer to deliver a deathblow. Videl hit the brakes but knew she lacked the speed to retreat, and raised her arms above her head in a desperate attempt to block Tagoma's blow as it came crashing down from above.

The blow carried enough power to kill Videl four times over, but at the last moment as it came crashing down, Chiaotzu and Roshi thrust their hands out again, putting all their strength into concentrated attacks on Tagoma's shoulder; the strategy worked, slowing the speed of his arm significantly. Videl's block saved her life, but the blow still caught a piece of her temple and sent her crashing to the ground with the others. Upon her crash landing, the young woman fought hard for consciousness, and briefly even tried to climb back to her feet, but the attack and her dearth of energy overcame her, and she collapsed, blacked out on the battlefield.

Chiaotzu and Roshi had each dropped to a knee beside Krillin, who was still on all fours, while 18 managed to drag herself off the ground and stand up to face Tagoma as he slowly descended to earth again. Her knees shook with the weight of her body, but she steadied herself as best she could, attempting to draw Tagoma's attention away from her allies fully aware that she would be able to do little more than delay their inevitable demise. Tagoma looked her over and smiled, knowing her defeat would ensure his victory.

"Roshi…" Krillin managed to cough as he winced in pain at the effort. "Give 18 the last senzu…if she's fresh she can beat him…"

"It won't work…" Roshi spat between deep, heaving breaths, "It would heal her body, but her mechanics are broken just as badly. She wouldn't stand a chance. You take it."

"What? I can't take him!" Krillin spat out.

"You're the best we've got! We're not dead yet, we'll give you all the help we can!" Roshi reached into his belt and pulled out the last remaining senzu bean, and held it in front of Krillin in his palm. Krillin stared at it for a moment, before shooting his eyes back to the battle at hand.

"Woman or not, you were a fine fulcrum. I won't deny that." Tagoma said as he raised an outstretched hand at 18, still far too beaten and damaged to move with any speed. "Not long ago, a warrior of your strength would've annihilated me. I'll remember this victory as long as I live."

Krillin sensed the energy building in Tagoma's palm and made his move. He snatched the seed out of Roshi's hand with his teeth and bolted off the ground to intercept the blast, bound to pull his wife out of the way or dive in front of the blast himself if need be. With no thought but saving 18, he fired forward with all his might, completely oblivious to the world around him.

Krillin's speed was imperceptible to the common human eye; his start was a split-second too late. Tagoma's blast passed Krillin's face close enough to singe the whiskers on his lip. 18 never flinched, but stared harshly into the attack as it washed over her, driving her backward before finally passing over her into the distance, leaving her body lying atop the dirt as though she'd fallen asleep. Krillin rushed to her side and held her head in his lap, begging her to wake up, with Tagoma looking on coldly, before slowly lowering his arm back to his side.

The storm finally reached the Western Front in a quick downpour. The rain hid Krillin's tears, but as it hit 18's exposed wounds, a wild array of sparks flared up erratically.

Freeza and Uub were deadlocked in a furious exchange, neither side able to gain an advantage. For the better part of a minute, the two traded blows evenly, dealing damage and receiving it in identical portions. After a long exchange, Uub caught Freeza in the jaw with a stiff right jab. Normally, Freeza would've shaken it off, but here it caught his fresh wound from Piccolo's attack, and lit his body ablaze with pain, brushing him backward and giving Uub the advantage. Uub pressed forward, and did a good deal of damage to his opponent as Freeza struggled desperately to regain even footing in the battle.

Finally, Freeza regained his bearings and caught Uub in the side with a tail whip, an appendage Uub had forgotten to account for, and briefly separated the two, buying himself enough time to become aware of his surroundings.

Even as Uub was barreling toward him again, Freeza's eyes widened with a sudden realization: a massive power was closing in, and would be upon him momentarily. In his present state, he knew that meant certain death.

Freeza thrust his hands out and created a large ball of red, shining energy, placing it between himself and Uub. He allowed it to grow until it was roughly the size of Uub's body, and then pulled back a free fist and punched it, creating an explosion that dealt a decent amount of pain to himself, but succeeded in sending Uub hurtling backwards. Freeza seized the opportunity and rocketed away from his young opponent and the impending energy, and bolted for cover behind a distant hill.

By the time Uub recovered from the surprise of Freeza's maneuver, the Acrosian was nearly halfway to his mark. Uub quickly gave chase but found he was unable to close the gap, and began firing high-octane blasts one after another in Freeza's wake.

Several of the blasts clipped Freeza and burned him, with one even hitting him squarely in the back, but after traveling such a distance they lacked the strength to stop his momentum. Finally, with Uub still a long distance away, Freeza topped the hill, dropped down behind it, and began to augment his body once again.

Sensing the rising power Uub stopped in his tracks and thought hard, knowing full well seconds could make the distance between life and death. On the other side of the hill, Freeza was straining hard again, pain coursing through his body as his long, hard exoskeleton began to stretch and cover the last few remaining bits of exposed tissue along his body, his power steadily growing all the while.

Uub needed an attack with enough berth to demolish the gigantic hill from half-a-mile away and still carry the muscle to disrupt Freeza, a fighter already of equal strength to himself. Unfortunately, for all the valuable lessons and techniques Piccolo had taught him, he did not have a move readily available for this specific situation.

"Come on, come on…." He said to himself time and time again, Freeza's power growing all the while, when suddenly, it hit him.

"KAMEHAMEHA!"

Mimicking the technique Goten had used against him countless times, Uub thrust his hands forward and sent the beam on a collision course for the hill like a locomotive through a tunnel. Uub gritted his teeth and bared down into the wave, pouring everything he had into it and hoping against hope he was doing it right.

The wave leveled the hill on impact, creating a new valley awash with blue light. Uub kept up the assault as long as he could, holding his arms out as they shook from the pressure until he was utterly drained, and then released, gasping desperately for air. He hung there in the air and awaited the result of his blast, completely devoid of excess enery.

As the light faded and the smoke cleared, Uub made out the distant image of a new, unfamiliar form. Soon it became clear: Freeza, in a, sleek, white, and heavily charred form was steadily approaching him, a look of furry on his face, and one hand clasped over his burning cheek.

Krillin knelt next to 18 for a long while. Tagoma, satisfied that the battle was won, didn't bother to interfere with an opponent in no shape to defend himself; sadistic as he might have been, Tagoma did not lack sportsmanship. Roshi and Chiaotzu, the only other conscious Earthlings, managed to rise back to their feet, but didn't dare say a word.

Finally, Krillin slowly lowered 18's head to the ground and stood up, the rain in a full downpour all around him. He looked down at her with his shoulders hunched for another long moment, before finally turning his body toward Tagoma and stiffening his back, his eyes still fixated on the ground. Slowly, he raised his head to Tagoma and locked eyes with him. The two stared at one another for a full ten seconds in the pouring rain, before Krillin finally spoke up.

"I…hate you…"

Tagoma began to laugh, chuckling at first, but his laughter grew as the moment went on until he was in full-on maniacal hysteria. Krillin clenched his eyes and his fists until he couldn't take it anymore, and then snapped his eyes wide open in rage.

"I'll kill you!"

In a fit of rage, Krillin began raising one hand over the other, forming rudimentary Kienzans as quickly as he could and firing them one over the other at Tagoma. Tagoma saw the attack coming and backed up to create space as Krillin poured every ounce of energy he had into his attacks.

One after another after another, Krillin fired blindly ahead through the rain, as Tagoma dodged with relative ease. After over two-dozen Kienzans, Krillin felt himself tiring, and abandoned the strategy, blindly charging forward at his opponent, but keeping one hand outstretched behind him as he went.

Once again, Roshi and Chiaotzu threw out their hands, locking Tagoma in place and opening the window for Krillin. Tagoma was caught off guard by the outside interference, and momentarily cramped under the sudden pressure as Krillin threw his arm forward, a freshly charged Kienzan in his palm. The disc made a beeline for Tagoma's throat, and Tagoma jerked hard to release himself before it reached it's mark.

Tagoma was partially successful. He succeeded in pulling his neck away from the attack, but not his body, as Roshi and Chiaotzu strained with all their might to hold him in place. As he jerked free from the distant grasps, his body jerked sideways and he threw his arm up in an effort to keep it from being sliced off. In this respect, he succeeded, but the disc continued forward and bent hard at the last moment, slicing a gaping hole between his first and second ribs on the right side of his body.

Tagoma yelled in intense pain and fell forward, catching himself on his right hand as he cauterized his wound with his left. Krillin continued to charge ahead, intent on delivering a decisive blow to his opponent, tired as he was. He had almost closed the distance, when Tagoma threw up his left hand and levied a hard blast with a loud "RAHHH", catching Krillin squarely in the chest from pointblank range and sending him rocketing backward, the beam almost completely encompassing his body, and the force of his thrust cracking the short warrior's sternum.

Tagoma slowly climbed back to his feet and surveyed his surroundings. Roshi and Chiaotzu had fallen back to their hands and knees in exhaustion, and Krillin, now some 20 yards away was lying on his stomach, exhausted, beaten, and badly burned across the front of his body. Try as he might through his rage and determination, the bald warrior was struggling mightily even to rise up off the ground.

"Enough!" Tagoma screamed, searing pain shooting through his body with every motion. "No weakling humans are going to defeat me! You all die here!"

Tagoma began to pace toward Krillin, when he found his path blocked by a panting old man, his body aching with every movement. Roshi was exhausted, but willed himself in front of Tagoma, and held his ground.

"Foolish old man." Tagoma said flatly, and extended his palm to deliver a final blast to the old man. Roshi held his ground, knowing full well he lacked the strength to retaliate, but content to drain Tagoma of whatever bits of energy he had left. Just before Tagoma fired, Roshi dashed forward, his face concealed behind an elbow aimed for Tagoma's throat. The old man never reached his mark, as Tagoma's blast overtook him and erased him from sight.

"Master…" Krillin gasped through gritted teeth, still unable to climb even to his knees.

Tagoma gritted his teeth in pain at the effort but soon turned his attention back to Krillin and began to stalk toward him again. Before he could take a step, however, he was stopped again, this time by a sudden wait on his back.

Tagoma grunted and wildly swung his arms to rip Chiaotzu free, but never got the chance. Without final words, Chiaotzu took what smithereens of energy he had left and exploded, destroying himself in the process. The blast knocked Tagoma off his feet and badly burned his neck and back, and he yelled in pain as his skin boiled. All the while, Krillin looked on in pain, desperation and fury mixing together on his face.

After another long moment and several furious screams of pain, Tagoma drug himself off the ground and began to march toward Krillin again, fearing that a blast with the power to kill the human from this distance would render him unable to return to Freeza, exhausted as he was. He moved slowly, but assuredly, knowing the last of his obstacles was in front of him, and smiled cruelly into Krillin's eyes.

"YAAAAAAAHHH!"

Tagoma screamed again as he came to the sudden realization that, once again, he had failed to fully account for his obstacles. He fell forward and reached for the back of his left heel, only to find his Achilles tendon severed in two, with the stunted trunk of a broken blade lodged in it's place.

Yajirobe was face down on the ground with a long trail of disturbed mud behind him, where he had slid along the ground, unable to rise to his feet. He was laying on his right side, protecting as many of his broken ribs as possible from his weight, with the trail behind him streching over 100 yards. Ever since he had regained consciousness, Yajirobe had drug himself, quietly, painfully, back into the fray of the battle, with little more than the hilt of his sword for a weapon.

Tagoma stood on his healthy leg and picked Yajirobe up off the ground. Yajirobe, far too weak to fight back, gritted his teeth in pain and remained silent. Tagoma threw Yajirobe with all his might into the distance, where upon impact with the gorund, his broken body finally gave in, killing him on impact.

"Who else?!" Tagoma screamed, as he darted his eyes from one prone body to the next. "Just her…" he said as his eyes found Videl in the distance, still unconscious but clinging to life in a puddle of rainwater. "And you." His eyes settled back onto Krillin, who had managed to fight his way onto one knee.

Unable to place weight on his left leg, Tagoma began to hobble toward Krillin, hopping and dragging his prone leg as he went, not daring to expend the energy necessary to fly, and unsure if he even possessed it anymore. For as broken and depleted as he was, the blue alien still vastly outmatched the short human, and he pressed forward to finish his job. Inch by inch he drew nearer and nearer, the entirety of his taunting demeanor completely replaced by rage.

Krillin's body was shattered and burned, but as Tagoma limped closer, and with no one to offer aid, he forced himself to rise, determined to die on his feet, and even forced himself to crouch defensively one final time. Tagoma closed in to within arm's reach, stopped, and stood upright. The two battered warriors stared hatefully into each other's eyes, neither making a sound, save for their heavy, exhausted breaths.

"Goodbye, human." Tagoma finally said, as he extended an open palm into Krillin's face, "You died well."

"KI-KO-HOOOOOOOOOOH!"

Tien shot down from the sky like a falcon on its prey as a bolt of lightning cast a blinding flash of light around him. With his right arm extended and his hand clenched in the shape of a talon, just as he had positioned it when he fired at the Saiyan, Nappa, years ago, Tien thrust his fist between Tagoma's shoulder blades and into his spine, where it erupted with every ounce of energy the three-eyed warrior could muster.

The result was devastating: Tagoma's body, for all it's strength, was unable to withstand the pressure of a pointblank Kikoho. Blinded by rage, bloodlust, and pain, neither Krillin nor the blue warrior ever felt Tien's energy coming. The blast shattered Tagoma's spine at the point of impact and reverberated throughout his body, shattering his weakened body and tearing muscle from bone as it went. Krillin felt the rush of energy reverberate like a drum in the pit of his stomach, but he kept his feet, the finely aimed blast completely shielded by Tagoma's body.

Tagoma collapsed to the ground, alive but utterly broken, unable to even scream. Tien, blown back by the recoil of the blast, skipped along the ground like a stone on the water, eventually coming to a stop some 20 paces away, face down on the ground, where he clung to consciousness and life.

Krillin was left standing over Tagoma's now prone body, utterly shocked, where he looked down at the blue warrior. Tagoma was unable to speak, but looked up at Krillin through the corners of his eyes, and plead for mercy with them as best he could.

The two locked eyes for a long moment, until Krillin found his eyes drawn to his left. There, only a few steps away, was one of Freeza's fallen soldiers. In his chest, undamaged from the battle, was Upa's spear.

Krillin hobbled over to it, and with a painful shake removed it from the dead soldier's sternum. As he hobbled back, fury mounting on his face, Tagoma's desperate look never faded.

Finally, Krillin stood over the alien, and held there for a long while before speaking. "If Goku was here, he'd tell me to let you live. Even after everything you've done." He finally said coldly. The two stared for another long moment, until a quiet voice drew Krillin's attention away.

"Kr-Krillin…" Tien forced out, as he willed his head off the ground to look into Krillin's eyes. Krillin paused and waited for Tien to find the strength to speak, only the drizzle of the rain breaking the silence. Finally, Tien caught a breath and forced out his message: "No more mercy."

Without another word, Krillin thrust down with all his might, and planted the spear into the back of Tagoma's neck, killing him instantly. Finally victorious, the Earthling fell into a seated position in the mud, and shook uncontrollably.

Freeza charged forward, faster and angrier than ever before, and drew back a flattened hand to pierce Uub's body. Exhausted as he was, Uub held his position, anchored into his stance, and prepared to finish his fight. As Freeza closed the distance, Uub threw a hard right, but the exchange he had intended never occurred. As if he had been aiming for the wind, Uub's fist passed harmlessly through the air, and his eyes widened in shock just as Freeza reappeared above him, clasped his hands together, and brought them crashing down into the nape of the young boy's neck.

Uub crashed into the ground below in a light crater, and by sheer force of will turned himself over to look up at Freeza. The mutant, no longer intent to toy with Uub as he felt the distant energy drawing dangerously near, set himself on a beeline for the boy's vulnerable body, aiming for the kill.

"That's it! Goodbye, boy!" the Acrosion's battlecry rang out over the storm. Uub tried to move, but was frozen by injury, exhaustion, and fear, knowing full well that even at full strength he was no match for this iteration of the monster.

Freeza closed the wide gulf between them in a split second, and thrust his arm forward at Uub's heart. Uub closed his eyes tight, and waited for the final strike.

*PAAAAHHH*

The sound rang out over the valley like the crack of a wooden bat on a ball, snapping Uub's eyes open as it did. Freeza was gone, hurtling through the air, now already over a mile away. In his place, only just now lowering his leg from the devastating kick he had just delivered to Freeza's ribs was Gohan.

Gohan held in the air facing Freeza, and looked down at Uub through the corner of his eye. "You alright?" he finally asked.

Uub nodded slowly, a look of awe on his face, as Gohan took in his surroundings. Goten and Trunks arrived just as Gohan found the remnants of Piccolo's crater, causing him to clench his teeth and fists and shake with suppressed rage.

"Everyone stay back." The dark haired warrior finally commanded. "He's mine."

Author's Note:

Alright y'all, I need to apologize. Like I said last chapter, situations change and it's a lot harder for me to keep up with this story these days. Still, my pace lately has been pathetic, I understand that. This chapter's noticeably longer by design; I'm trying to progress the story as much as I can when I find the time to write it, so that may be the structure of the story going forward. My fear in doing that is that I'll glaze over a lot of important explanation trying to get us from point-to-point, but I think that's a marginally better option than waiting weeks between chapters only to have one with no action in it.

Here's the more important part, though: Somehow, some way, I am going to get this story finished. By that I mean, this story isn't going into perpetuity; I have a set ending planned, and even if it takes a lot longer to reach it than I originally intended, we're gonna get there, I promise you.

Anyway, this chapter pretty much nails us down to the final battle of the arc, so despite the wait, I hope everybody's excited for it, and just as importantly, I hope everyone's pleased with how the side battles were handled. There were a lot of deaths, I know, but if I handled it well, the suspense and drama of the situation does more to further the suspense of the story than bum people out. If the deaths are bumming you out too much, all I can say is, hey, they've still got the Dragon Balls.

Thanks for sticking with me, guys,

- SlotT7