Chapter 26: The Unbeatable Giant

Bulma watched Rikuum intently as Gohan did his best to keep him down. She glanced up at Kuririn, who was fidgeting nervously but keeping a close eye on the movements of the large Team Ginyu member.

Rikuum slowly began to push himself up, despite all of Gohan's efforts to punch him flat on the ground. He didn't seem to be working too hard in pushing Gohan back, either. He was grinning an almost toothless grin at his tiny assailant, and when he finally stood upright, he simply knocked Gohan away from him like one would a pesky insect. Kuririn must have decided it was his turn, because he launched himself full force at Rikuum from behind. He was about to punch him in the back of the head, but Bulma, who was able to see what Kuririn couldn't, could tell by the sinister gleam in his eyes that Rikuum knew exactly what was approaching him from behind. He spun around just in time to kick Kuririn violently in the side. Bulma heard a sickening crack as Kuririn sailed away from Rikuum and flopped over a couple of times before skidding to a stop on his stomach. "Kuririn!" Gohan shrieked, darting over to his injured friend's side. "Are you okay? Get up, Kuririn!"

"Sorry, kid," Kuririn rasped, wincing as he struggled to rise. "My back must be broken. I can barely move. I guess it's up to you and Bulma now. I'm... I'm sorry. I sure seem to have a bad habit for this sort of thing, don't I?" His head sunk to the ground and his breathing became labored.

"You just take it easy, Kuririn," Gohan said. "It's not your fault at all, so you just rest and let me take care of Rikuum. We'll still win this thing; you'll see! I'm betting my life on it." He slowly stood upright, and Bulma could see his shoulders shake a little with emotion. He then turned around to face Rikuum. Bulma could tell right away that Gohan was really mad. His chi was skyrocketing, and he was staring, coldly and fiercely, right at Rikuum. It made even Bulma uncomfortable to see such a look on Gohan's face, but Rikuum only sneered at him and told him that he had made a very foolish bet.

Bulma had no desire to try to help Gohan now. She knew from past experience that when he was this angry, it was always best to just stay out of his way. She stayed back with Vegita and didn't make a sound as Gohan slowly began walking toward Rikuum.

Bulma watched tensely as Rikuum poised to strike. Gohan stopped just a few yards short of him, and Bulma felt his chi surge one last time. He growled in contempt at Rikuum.

"Don't worry, kid," Rikuum laughed. "Just to show you that I'm a nice guy, I'll do this much for you. I'll kill you before I deal with your friends. I wouldn't want such an impressionable tyke to see what I have in store for them!"

"You're not going to touch them!" he snarled, intensifying his chi even further. "Masenko!" he screamed, firing the potent blast straight at Rikuum. The large man was suddenly enveloped by a blanket of chi, which exploded all around him in a spectacular burst of white light. Bulma had to shield her eyes from the bright explosion, but she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Gohan shot straight into the explosion at his opponent. He, along with the now immobilized Rikuum, burst out the other side of the weakening blast. Gohan popped Rikuum a good one in the jaw, propelling him higher into the air. Gohan then shot straight up above him. He slammed his feet squarely into Rikuum's face, and he allowed the abrupt impact to smash him into the ground. Gohan was far from done, however. He zoomed down, yelling in rage and fury, with his fist drawn way back. As his fist connected with Rikuum, he executed one of the most frighteningly powerful blows that Bulma had ever seen him dish out - right in the center of Rikuum's rib cage.

With that, Gohan launched himself skyward, and he began to charge up his chi again. Bulma was sure he was getting ready to deal the final blow. He was practically on fire up there!

All at once Gohan screamed and let all his concentrated chi go in a fast moving, slender beam, right down on top of Rikuum. The blast from this impact was tremendous. It was so potent, in fact, that Bulma had to throw Vegita and herself to the ground to keep them from being blown away.

"That kid's got more power than I expected," Vegita grunted, with a kind of grudging admiration in his voice. "It's too bad for him that Rikuum's not feeling any of this."

"What are you saying?" Bulma asked him incredulously. The blast was beginning to dissipate, and Gohan had landed on the ground off to one side, watching for signs of life from Rikuum. He looked pretty worn out, but Bulma could tell from her chi sense alone that he still had a lot of fight in him.

"I'm saying that Rikuum has only been toying with that boy!" Vegita retorted angrily as he struggled to return to his feet. "He's been letting that brat shove him around for a while, just so he'll get to see the look of shock on the kid's face when he finds out that all the stuff he's thrown at him has been in vain. The bastard just eats it up. You watch; he does this to all of his opponents. Any minute now, he'll suddenly regain his abilities and begin to fight back."

Bulma frowned in disbelief as she got up and dusted herself off. Gohan had dealt even stronger blows to Rikuum than Vegita had, and despite all that, she was supposed to believe that Rikuum was going to come out of it all unscathed? Yeah, right. All the same, she had an uneasy feeling about it all. She'd learned again and again over the past few months that she couldn't always count out what she thought was impossible.

When the dust had finally cleared enough for Bulma to see Rikuum, she breathed a sigh of relief. She'd half expected him to be standing up and posing again, but he was lying on the ground, right where she'd last seen him, and he wasn't moving. Bulma shot a triumphant glare back at Vegita, but he didn't take his eyes off of Rikuum. Bulma heard a small chuckle come from Rikuum, and as she gasped and jerked her head back around, Vegita just shook his head at her angrily.

Rikuum's eyes were still closed, but he had a sickening grin on his face. He hopped up suddenly, landing solidly on both feet. He opened his eyes, and they peered eagerly straight at Gohan.

Gohan was definitely surprised, but he didn't let it get the better of him. He steadied himself and assumed a fighting stance. He had known going into this that he'd had a hard battle ahead of him, and it hadn't taken him long to resign himself to the fact that he still had some distance left to go.

"Hm." Rikuum grunted, frowning and crossing his arms. "Not quite the reaction I was hoping for. You're no fun at all, kid, you know that?"

"This isn't a game, you jerk," Gohan muttered. He drew his arms defensively in front of him and began to charge up again.

"All right then," Rikuum muttered with a disgusted sigh. "If that's how you want it, then I'll just get it over with now. Geez, I hate people without the sense to know when it's time to panic."

Gohan paid him little heed, but after one quick glance at Bulma and Vegita, he lunged at Rikuum. Apparently he was ready to try his fists again. He started off with a solid punch to Rikuum's jaw, which connected, much to Bulma's relief.

Rikuum grinned evily, however, and before Gohan could throw another punch, he kneed him viciously in the ribs. He then grabbed Gohan's head with one hand, and he hurled him head-first toward the turf below.

Gohan managed to regain control before he hit, and he jumped back and out of the way, just in time for Rikuum to plow his fist into the ground. Rikuum then fired off a large volley of chi blasts, which Gohan had to continuously hop backwards to avoid. Rikuum now had him on the run, and Gohan was really having to work hard to keep ahead of him. Rikuum then threw a much larger chi blast, which whistled and screeched as it ripped through the air on its way to Gohan. It was moving much too quickly for Gohan to avoid it, however, and it exploded violently as it hit him, sending Gohan plowing through a small hill before skidding to a painful stop on the ground a few yards away.

He seemed to be fairly stunned, as he didn't move right away. After a couple of moments, he began to struggle to right himself, and Rikuum seized the prime opportunity to attack again. He sprinted toward Gohan, who was unable to get up in time to avoid the oncoming danger. Rikuum punted him like he would a football, and Gohan sailed - screaming in agony - nearly fifty yards away, where he landed with a dull thud on the flat, rocky ground. He didn't move.

Bulma had seen enough. "That's it," she growled. "I've had enough of this crap! That Rikuum guy is toast!" She was about to take off after Rikuum, but Vegita gripped her arm and held her back.

"Not yet," he told her. "Don't interfere with them until he's completely unable to fight. The longer you wait, the more energy Rikuum will waste on the boy, and the less he'll have for you."

"Take your filthy hand off of me!" she snarled, baring her teeth at him as she yanked her arm free of his grip. "Gohan's nearly dead out there! Do you honestly expect me to just stand by and let Rikuum finish him off?! What difference would one more attack make, anyway? That's all it's going to take to end this one-sided skirmish, and I don't see why it should make all that much difference to me. He's going to be just as far out of my league after one more attack as he is now, isn't he?"

"The brat's not out of it yet," Vegita replied coolly, pointing at Gohan, who had stumbled clumsily to his feet by now and was staunchly facing off against Rikuum again. "You'd only insult him if you interfered now."

She turned to see what Vegita was talking about and saw that Gohan had gotten to his feet again. "Gohan, you little twit!" she whispered fiercely, balling her hands into fists and fighting hard against the powerful urge to swoop in and get him out of there. Much as she hated to admit it, Vegita had brought up a good point, even if only indirectly. She had to wait for as long as she possibly could. Even Vegita didn't know how important it was for them to stall for time. If only they could just hold out until Goku arrived, she was certain everything would be all right. She sighed and watched anxiously as Gohan walked toward Rikuum. She didn't think he'd be able to get up from another major hit, but then again, she had thought the same thing earlier, too.

"Man, this kid just doesn't know when to quit!" Rikuum said, laughing. "I guess I'll just have to try harder, won't I, guys?"

Baata laughed. "Come on, Rikuum," he teased. "You're just ashamed to admit that you've been beaten. You're just no match for the mighty midget down there. Do you want us to step in? I don't think you can handle this one alone." He laughed loudly as Rikuum offered him an obscene gesture in reply.

"Come on, Rikuum," Jees called. "Get on with it. Hurry up and kill that little pipsqueak so Baata and I can get started on the others!"

"Don't worry," Rikuum said. "I was about to do just that." He grinned evilly at Gohan. "Well, kid," he said, cracking his knuckles. "I guess it's time for you to say goodbye. Don't forget to think of me when you get to Hell."

"You're the one who's going to Hell!" Gohan screamed. With the last bit of effort and strength he had left, he hurled himself at Rikuum.

Rikuum grinned, and what followed seemed to happen in slow motion and was one of the most excruciating spectacles Bulma had ever been forced to witness. Rikuum drew his leg back, pivoted his body around the ball of his other foot, grabbed onto Gohan, and then violently slammed his knee into Gohan's neck.

Bulma heard a sharp crack, and she watched in horror as Rikuum dropkicked Gohan in their direction. He landed on his back less than twenty feet away from them, and his head flopped backwards unnaturally. His dilated pupils stared blankly in her direction. She was able to gather from his dull, lifeless expression that Gohan's neck had been broken. His leg twitched spasmodically, but that was the only part of him that moved. He was done. He would not be getting up again.

"G-... G-... Goh-han!" Bulma stammered, raising her hands to her mouth as she struggled to restrain the scream of horror that was threatening to escape. The boy's chi was marginal. At any moment he might draw his final breath, and nothing short of a sensu bean could save him now. Bulma was wobbly with shock and grief as she stared at his near-lifeless form. How could she have let this happen? If only she had ignored Vegita and teleported in there when she had first intended, he wouldn't be in this condition!

"He's... he's going to pay for this!" she whispered, her face pale and her entire body quivering with rage. "That bastard is going to die for what he's done!"

"Don't be a fool," Vegita told her quietly. "You know as well as I do that even the brat was a lot stronger than you are. What do you think you'll be able to do? You won't even offer the bastard sufficient sport to make it worth his while. You'd do yourself a big favor if you just go now. Even if you were able to defeat the entire Team Ginyu, your friends would still die. Their injuries are mortal, as far as the conditions go. There are no doctors here to mend them, so just forget about them and leave. I couldn't care less what happened to you or your little friends, but it irritates me to have to witness such stupidity in the waning hours of my noble life. Only a fool would throw her life away over two half-dead weaklings."

"Regardless of what you may think of me or Earthlings in general," Bulma said quietly, trying to keep from blowing up at him, "I'm not such a coward, Vegita. I'm going to stay and fight for as long as my friends are alive. I don't care if their injuries are mortal; I'd much rather die here fighting for their honor than die a coward's death later when Freeza gains immortality and destroys this planet. Besides, I'm not as weak as you might think. What I lack in power I make up for in other areas. Go ahead and die if that's what you've set your mind to do, but do it quietly, because I've made up my mind, and this is the way it's got to be."

"Suit yourself," Vegita grunted, shrugging. "Like I said, I couldn't care less what happens to you, but I still say you're being foolish. Just don't look to me for help when they're about to kill you, because you'll have no one to blame but your own fool self."

Bulma shook her head and turned her attention toward Rikuum. He strode over toward them with a triumphant smile on his face. He noticed Gohan's leg twitch, and he laughed sadistically. "Uh-oh!" he exclaimed. "It looks like I didn't quite squash the little bug, did I? Well, one more good stomp ought to take care of him, wouldn't you say?" He stopped walking and pointed his left arm, palm up, at Gohan's head. Bulma could stand no more. She launched herself at Rikuum, smacked his arm aside, and slapped him smartly across the face. Jumping back and striking a solid defensive position in front of Gohan, she fashioned herself into the most powerful shield she could manage, every muscle tensed and every sense alert. Rikuum, stunned that she'd caught him off guard, felt his face where she'd slapped him. It had turned a light pink.

"Back off!" she barked at him. "Enough already! Gohan's no more of a threat to you now than an actual bug would be! If you want an actual challenge, then I'll give you one, you insufferable beast!"

Rikuum recovered from his initial shock and laughed heartily. "Well, you certainly have guts! What makes you think you'll be any kind of challenge to me?" he asked her condescendingly.

"Oh, come off it!" she snapped. "Coward! Gohan's practically dead anyway. What kind of challenge are you expecting to find in killing him, may I ask? It's not as if he'll suddenly get up and fight again, for Kami's sake! You've broken his neck, you bastard! His chi is practically down to zero!"

"So what?" Rikuum said, shrugging and grinning at her. "It's not as satisfying if I don't get to kill him when he stops moving. Besides, he brought this on himself when he interrupted my fight with Vegita. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a bug to squash." With that, he shoved her to the side so forcefully that she sailed several yards away, where she landed roughly on her back.

Bulma scrambled to her feet and quickly considered her options. There was no Goku here to save Gohan this time. It was up to her to do something. She knew there was no way she could best this brute in fair combat. Suddenly, like a bolt out of the blue, something occurred to her that all at once seemed the perfect answer to her problem. Her teleport technique! She had totally forgotten her theory about fighting during teleportation! She had to try it. Gohan was out of time. Rikuum was right in his face!

"That's it!" she yelled at him. He glanced up at her. "Block this, cretin! Rapid teleport!"

The first thing she did was to go over and push Rikuum far away from Gohan. When she had him a good fifty feet away, she studied him for a second. What should she try first? She'd never done this before, and she didn't know what kind of effect it would have on him. She eventually decided to start off with some hard jabs to his ribs and his face, so she did, and as she expected, the little indentations her fists made remained where they were. She worked him over then, punching, kicking, and scratching until his entire upper body was nothing but a bumpy, pockmarked mess. Panting and tired, she stepped away from him to inspect her work. She hadn't really broken any skin, but he was still almost beyond recognition.

Bulma was fairly well exhausted. She'd forgotten how quickly strenuous movement in halted time could drain her energy. She'd have to take that into consideration from now on. She wouldn't be able to make attacks like this very often. She only hoped she'd done sufficient damage to slow the big brute down.

She walked back over to Gohan and stood between him and Rikuum. She looked back at Vegita, who was staring with what appeared to be mild interest at the place where Bulma had been at the onset of her teleport. She shook her head. She wondered if it was really worth their time to protect him from Team Ginyu. Sighing, she steadied herself and prepared to let time flow again. She was anxious to see just how effective this new tactic of hers was going to be.