AN: Sorry to have kept you waiting in regards to updates on here. Personal health has been a bit of a pain which has meant writing has taken a temporary back seat. The clocks will be turning forward at the end of the month, summer time is getting closer and the daylight hours longer. This is good for my health. This is good for creativity and story-writing. This is good for Chiri.


Chapter 09 – Rally the Super Warriors

Gohan couldn't explain how it'd happened but the wall stopping him from sensing the others – the wall that'd stopped him from leaving – had somehow been broken. Someone else had managed to penetrate it before he had and he was surprised to sense the culprit. Being able to sense the others brought a wave of relief over Gohan, though naturally their low life force set him on edge. Behind him, back down the tunnel, he knew Piccolo was still fighting the mysterious person he'd come across. He could trust Piccolo to look after himself and from the feel of things, he could handle a foe such as this. Racing down the tunnel as fast as his legs would carry him – as he'd used a fair amount of energy trying to bust through the magical wall and felt the need to recharge – Gohan gracefully leapt over fallen rocks, dodged hidden trip hazards and all the while, kept his focus on the location of his friends' energy signals. For all he knew, the strange barrier could reappear at any time and not keeping track of his friends could make it a lot harder to know where to go if he had nothing to guide him. It was better to get a general idea now before the ability to sense was taken away from him.


The explosion that'd caught them all off-guard had thrown up everything and anything that'd been unfortunate enough to be in the way – including Chiri! Torn from her hiding-hole (which was also ripped apart), she found herself unable to tell for a moment whether she was floating or moving in any direction; nothing but searing light burning her eyes could give her any indication. It wasn't until she collided face-first into the ground that she had any indication of movement – or maybe it had flown towards her rather than her towards it? She would never know. It took her a couple more minutes to come around after that and when she did, her eyes were met with the sight of destruction, rubble and Vegeta.

Far off to the left, Chiri was certain she could see Krillin's foot sticking up out of a pile of rocks. She had no idea where Tenshinhan had ended up.

Rescues had never really been Vegeta's strong point, Chiri noted to herself. Then again he hadn't really cared much for Eighteen a year prior when Krillin and Chiri'd been trying to hide her from Cell. Perhaps it would be unwise to call this a rescue given his track record.

There were three teal-skinned fighters stood close to where the Saiyan Prince was; oddly enough it was like they were shielding Chiri from him due to proximity! (It was a disturbing thought but not one Chiri'd consider impossible.) The tallest she recognised as her opponent from the desert, Bido or something like that. Beside his right were two others; one was almost as tall but a little lankier than Bido, with a sword settled in its scabbard upon his left hip. The other side of this gentleman was the shortest of them all and judging by build and hairstyle, it was a she. Not much could be seen beyond the thick curls that extended past her midriff. All three felt as if they could handle the power Vegeta was emitting at this moment in time but it was difficult to judge just how much stronger the Saiyan had become – if at all. Chiri was sure she'd heard Gohan mention once that Bulma'd said Vegeta hadn't the heart to train since her father had passed away.

"Well, that was rude," The supposed female fighter muttered indignantly, brushing the dust from her curls.

"Either of you two want him?" Bido asked sounding more inviting than his comrade.

"I'll double-team with you," The leaner one responded, reaching for the hilt of his sword with his left and taking the scabbard in his right hand. "This one could prove a challenge, especially if it's he who has managed to break through the barrier."

"Zangya, wanna join?"

"Only if you two think you can't handle him by yourself. You're perfectly capable without my interference."

Bido snorted at her remark. "Suit yourself then, sit this out and look after our victims. Lord Bojack would be disappointed if anything unfortunate happened to them before he could get his hands on them."

Vegeta's voice was barely audible to Chiri given her proximity to him but she was almost certain she'd misheard him. Surely he hadn't said anything about taking them all down? Prince or not, Super Saiyan or not, Chiri doubted he could handle the likes of these guys in his current condition.

Dust shot up into the air as three sets of feet launched from the ground, bodies taking flight at lightning speeds, vanishing from view. Her injuries made it difficult for her to track their movements so instead Chiri did her best to follow their life signals. It felt as if she were trying to watch fireflies hyped on sugar dash across the sky whilst wearing tunnel-vision-inducing goggles: she may as well have been a regular person because trying to keep up with their speed was more than she was currently capable of. Frustration kicked in and she stroppily punished the floor with a clenched fist, throwing up a mini cloud of dust.

Zangya's eyes fell upon her, widening a little for a brief moment before the cool confidence swept over her face.

Chiri's heart fell out of her stomach and beyond. Beads of sweat began to form on her brow.

"So, still conscious are we?" The alien femme-fatale strolled casually towards the fallen child. "Bido must have been careless about you, little one."

What was she going to do? Chiri's lungs were working overtime, her heart having returned to her chest and now, after a momentary lapse, pounded as hard as it could. Her body was still badly shaken up and weakened from her earlier fight so she was in no condition to stand up for herself. Then Zangya's boots were inches from her face, Chiri trying her hardest to crane her head back and face her, trying to fool the woman into thinking she wasn't afraid. The natural beauty of this woman belied the icy look in her eyes as she knelt down, reaching out with one small hand. Chiri felt as if her scalp was set alight as Zangya snatched her by the hair and dragged her up, the child's body limp but almost reflexively responding to the change in stature. Chiri tried to get her feet into a position to reduce some of the strain on her head but to little success. Her attempts seemed to be fully as a chuckle escaped Zangya's throat.

Her cold eyes stared straight into Chiri's dark orbs. "… Kinda adorable, little one. What a shame I have to ruin that cute little face of yours." Her free hand had been resting beside her hip; fingers now stretched as light shimmered for the briefest of moments. Then blinding, flashing, burning; Chiri hollered as the woman threw her hand forward and slammed her straight in the forehead, her ki orb exploding point-blank upon her delicate skin. The force of the attack pushed Chiri clean from Zangya's tight hold, ripping hairs from their follicles as she shot violently backwards against the ground, scraping off layers of skin and stopping. Alarm bells were ringing in her mind as her body came to terms with its fresh injuries, Chiri's breathing uneven and frantic and the pain unbearable to the point where she couldn't stop the wetness from her eyes over-spilling. She didn't need to see what she looked like to know she was now a mess. Somewhere she could hear the sound of Zangya's footsteps approaching.

Vegeta was having a far better time. His body wasn't broken in any way, shape or form. Yes it was more sluggish than he'd have liked but that's what he got for not sticking to training. Bido and Kogu's attacks were swift and powerful; it was obvious neither were at their peak but then again, neither was the Saiyan Prince. He could do more, he could access much higher peaks of power and had a monstrous mountain of ki hidden away. The only thing was he couldn't tell just how much ki his foes were sitting on.

Swiftly dodging and diving through the jabs and parries his foes were dishing out, Vegeta spotted an opening and connected painfully with Kogu's cheek, knocking him backwards whilst Bido lunged in for a successful strike of his own, clipping Vegeta around the side of the head and forcing him to the right several feet. Quickly the Saiyan bounced back and met with Bido in a barrage of lightning attacks, accounting for Kogu's sudden re-emergence – this time sword out of scabbard and swinging skilfully. Kogu turned on the offensive, striking Vegeta more and more with the sharp blade of his sword, each strike blocked by Vegeta's limbs, little to no damage dealt. Forced back into a defensive position, Vegeta hadn't failed to notice Bido's departure from the close combat duel, spying him just off to the right, no doubt charging up something devastatingly dangerous. Firing up his own reserves but keeping in control of his power level, Vegeta lunged past Kogu's blade and jabbed him in the face with an elbow, snatching him by the ankle as he shot back and rotating on the spot, roughly spinning his foe about and tossing him down towards his comrade – Kogu shot off a ki blast straight for Vegeta as he shot back. Vegeta countered and parried it clean out of the way.

"Behind you."

Bido's strong arms slammed around the Saiyan Prince, trapping him in his grasp. Bido's muscular limbs began to increase the pressure, squeezing the Saiyan's limbs into his ribs and dealing out discomfort and pain, yet Vegeta did not cry out and fought back, pushing his own limbs against his captor's as much as he could. The stalemate lay unbroken for quite some time until Bido's power was released; with a roar his ki dramatically fired up and Vegeta had no choice but to answer back as Kogu charged straight for them, sword drawn and ready to strike its target, point aimed straight for Vegeta's chest.

With a roar, Vegeta revved up his energy, ki orbs in each palm which suddenly began firing point-blank at his captor's stomach. Bido howled and grimaced at the sudden barrage, pain visible upon his face but determination not allowing him to release his opponent. Each attack loosened his grip; Kogu was inches away. Sword made contact with body armour – the kiai wave thrown from the deperate Super Saiyan's body shattered it; hilt defragmenting before their eyes until the hilt struck bluntly upon his chest. In the moment of his enemies' confusion, Vegeta burst free with another kiai, revving up his energy higher and higher, muscles starting to respond and bulge, building up with the magnitude of strength his transformation called upon. It wasn't the most reliable of forms but for now it would do the job.

Shaking with adrenaline, he launched off one of his own signature moves, firing rapid ki shots in both opponents' directions, buffeting them with his attacks. Bido appeared better qualified to deal with the ki pounding and was the first to rejoin the Ascended Super Saiyan in hand-to-hand combat, closely followed by his now-weaponless companion, Kogu. Vegeta's speed had increased somewhat with the form but it paled in comparison to the strength he now wielded, yet both fighters seemed to be able to stave off any significant damage.

Down below, Chiri wasn't so fortunate, being boxed and thrown around like a ragdoll, too tired and beaten to respond properly.

It was a completely different story for Piccolo. Not too far in distance-terms from the fight Vegeta was in, Piccolo had so far dominated his opponent, Bujin. The tiny fighter had taken a significant amount of damage from the Super Namekian fighter and his magic did not have the desired effect upon him. Piccolo now stood even taller than ever over the hunched over alien, waiting patiently for him to rise back up and continue the battle. His foe was breathless and tired, frustrated and running quickly out of ideas.

"I'll ask you again," Piccolo muttered, the wisdom of Kami's essence flowing through his mind and body, mental eye keeping a note just in case he caused any sudden movements. "Why are you here? What business do you and your boss have being here?"

Bujin did not answer but glared over his shoulder, expelling venom. His eyes belied his exasperation and the million-mile-an-hour route he was taking through his mind as to whether or not to answer and what lies to create. Infact it was his eyes that betrayed his intentions the most; Piccolo launched himself into the air as two twin beams shot from the orbs and struck the spot he'd been stood on milliseconds before, scorching the dust and tossing up debris. Mentally rolling his eyes once again, he proceeded to reacting to his foe's energy attack as a net of ki shot straight for him. Piccolo'd already established this net had the ability to encompass him and cease him from using his ki – dodging via teleportation, he began firing off his own ki attacks towards Bujin, who dodged with ease. An extendable limb caught the little warrior by the wrist; Piccolo's body being pulled in with a ki attack charging in his palm, leaving Bujin little time to react as Piccolo stood before him, firing the attack and engulfing the two in blinding light and dust. The attack erupted and shattered the ground at their feet, kicking up a dirty cloud and forcing Bujin several hundred metres back across the broken ground.

It took a while for the dust to settle and the destruction to be fully appreciated; a large crevice straight across the ground, splitting half a mile of previously whole rock in half. Piccolo approached his target, unfazed by the energy he'd just expended and unsurprised to see his opponent rising up onto his feet once more. The attack hadn't meant to finish him off; far from it. Piccolo knew how many had come, he knew their intentions were no good for the planet but he had little idea as to why they'd come to Earth of all places. Was it the Dragonballs? Was it seeking revenge for a fallen fighter who met their fate here? It could potentially be someone who was led under King Cold, considering the strength and magnitude of the others far surpassed Freeza or Cooler. Something about that didn't seem quite right in Piccolo's mind; they would surely have mentioned that by now… Which left him back at not having a clue as to what their intentions were. From what he could deduce, this fighter's strength was not purely based on how hard he could punch but the strength of his magical capabilities. It was clear to Piccolo that the barrier separating them from the outside world was largely his doing, boosted by the magical abilities of the others.

Bujin once again rose to his feet, turning on the spot and extending his arms out. Within the blink of an eye, the scenery had dramatically changed. Piccolo stopped in his tracks, taking note of the sudden loss of light, the strange feel the gravity had upon his body and the foreboding feeling now settling in his stomach. It wasn't that it was pitch black, just very dim, difficult to see unless objects and other references were close by, like he was in a dense fog of dark.

Something shifted in the dark, Piccolo's acute hearing instantly picked up on it. Cautiously he listened to it slither somewhere to his right, listening to the sound of its being, deducing it wasn't living but rather something being dragged. It stopped with a scrape. Attuning his eyes in the general direction of its last known spot, Piccolo continued to uphold his focus. It was only when he heard something else to the left begin to move that his attention was momentarily distracted.

Something sharp struck him clean in the back, piercing straight through and turning him into shish kebab as its sharp edge protruded somewhere south of his right breast. Almost simultaneously something had pinned him clean to the spot; energy binds entrenching his body and holding it excruciatingly in place. The binds increased their pressure, tearing into his skin and enticing blood to trickle from their grasp. The projectile still wedged in his torso began to twist and jerk, burning the wound further and earning a holler from the Namekian. Another projectile struck, this time plunging through his left shoulder. Several more struck, piercing his body and causing more blood and damage, Piccolo shrieking with each new addition. Somewhere past his own screams he could hear the cold, blood-curdling laugh of his little adversary in the dark, clearly more comfortable in these surroundings.

Then suddenly it was over. Piccolo – still pinned tightly to the spot – looked down upon his body baffled. Nothing, no projectiles sticking out of him, nothing having pierced his skin save the bindings holding him steady. The area was still dimly foggy, the same laugher of his opponent echoing off invisible walls. Had it been a trick of the mind? What he'd just experienced had felt so real, nothing told him otherwise. Yet it couldn't have been real… unless this was the unreal phase and he was about to be returned to a world of pain and butchery?

Fate had a sick sense of humour. Instantly reliving each and every impalement and watching as his body bled and fell apart before his eyes again, Piccolo quickly found himself once more harm-free. Reliving the moment of hurt surely had to mean that he was in reality, uninjured save this barrier stopping his ki from flowing. Now that he focused closer, he could feel his ki being sapped from his body, not too dissimilar a sensation as to when Android Twenty had done the same thing just a year passed. When that'd happened last time, he'd been able to call to Gohan telepathically and be rescued from the android's deadly grasp. It was unlikely that would work here as he couldn't even tell where he was or whether Gohan would be able to sense it and pinpoint his location. The grip around his body tightened further as the third wave of piercings took place, though this time Piccolo staved off the experience as much as he could.

There. A momentary flicker. It was fast, almost instant. However, it was still there and Piccolo held onto it, waiting for it to return again. The stabbing ceased once again and he waited in the dark, waited for the flicker of ki to appear once again.

"You will relive this moment until you surrender to your fate…" The voice in the fog drifted in from somewhere ahead of him. "The moment you surrender, you will die… It is only a matter of time… How long will you last?"

Ok, this was all in the mind, a hallucination and a very convincing one, Piccolo concluded. The bindings around him were slowly sapping him of his energy. If he tried to shift, his energy decreased at a quicker pace. If he mentally gave in, he would apparently be killed off. The latter was not an option. Yet what was he supposed to do? He couldn't use his own energy to try and break the bindings as they would only sap away his strength further. Deliberately flooding the binds with ki could potentially be one way to free himself if he was able to overpower the magical qualities but it was no guarantee and a dangerous thing to do, especially if it took all his remaining reserves to do it. What else was there to do? Magic? It didn't use up his ki per-se… Perhaps it was worth a shot. Only what to do?

A good few dozen feet beyond Piccolo, Bujin continued to feed his binds, focused and able to see his opponent clearly through the mist his magic had created. The world was a lot clearer for the little magician and having successfully enraptured his foe in his mind-play technique, he was enjoying removing the living lifeforce from him at this leisurely pace. It would only be a matter of time before-

A disturbance. A shadow. Glancing up, he saw something large plummeting for him.

The link broke. Piccolo felt the binds and hallucination break along with Bujin's concentration. Confirming his magical ability was enough to at least distract his opponent, Piccolo lunged forwards and snatched him by the throat.