Chapter Five: Free For All Battle in the Desert

Gohan stared at his father in disbelief.

"Vegeta?" he asked, "Wished YOU back??" Goku smiled broadly. "But why?" continued Gohan, "He practically hates you!" Goku laughed.

"That's true! But he told me that he wanted me to help defeat all these lesser demons so that he could go one-on-one with the leader. He collected the Dark Star Dragonballs and wished me to the planet he was on. Then, I used the Instant Transmission to bring us here."

"Oh, well I'm glad you're here! Me and Trunks were doing well against the Lord of Nightmares, but he split us up and defeated Trunks!" said Gohan.

"Lord of Nightmares?" asked Goku, "Is he their leader?" Gohan nodded. Then he remembered that Trunks had a bag of Senzu Beans. He rolled onto his feet and rushed over to where Trunks lay.

"Oh no!" he cried, "The beans were in his armor and the Demon shattered it! They could be anywhere in the desert by now!" Goku walked up to his side.

"There isn't time, Gohan, we'll have to look later," said the boy's father.

"Huh, why?" asked Gohan. Goku pointed to where the Lord of Nightmares was already walking toward them.

"Grr. . . Who are you?" asked the Demon. Goku turned to face him.

"My name is Goku, and I'm one of the earth's protectors!" he replied. The Demon smiled.

"It seems as though it's two against one again. Perhaps I should call on some allies to even the odds a bit!" The Demon lifted his arms in the air and shrieked loudly. Gohan and Goku looked around, but didn't see anything. But after a moment, Gohan cried out,

"There!" he pointed to the sky. Goku turned and immediately saw about a dozen black shapes flying toward them. As they got closer, the black shapes began to take shape, forming giant Demons with wings.

"The Demons. . . they're returning to him. . . " mumbled someone to their left. Goku and Gohan turned to see Trunks crawling toward them.

"Trunks!" cried Gohan, "You're okay!" Trunks nodded then fainted. Gohan began to move to his side, but Goku put a hand in front of him.

"He'll be okay. Right now I need you to help me with these Demons," said Goku. Gohan stood stunned for a moment, trying to decide whether to help Trunks, or fight with his father. Finally he decided, and took a fighting stance beside Goku.

Before them, the Demons landed in a row in front of the Lord of Nightmares. They seemed to know what had been going on without being told. Suddenly, before either side could attack, a huge energy blast slammed into the center of the Demons, disintegrating one, and sending several others flying. A Saiyan in armor like Trunks' landed directly in front of Goku. He looked back over his left shoulder.

"So are we in agreement?" asked Vegeta, "I help you with these Demons, and when they are dead, I get the leader?" Goku nodded solemnly. Vegeta smiled, nodded his approval, and turned back to face the Demons, who were lining back up already. Suddenly, Vegeta and Goku cried out in the same way Gohan and Trunks had earlier. Yellow light and flames erupted around them, and the earth below them cracked and shook. The Demons stood in awe as two more Saiyans powered up to the next level of power. When it was finished, their hair was golden and spiky, and they had the trademark electricity around their hands.

"I see Trunks wasn't the only one who's been training!" exclaimed Gohan. Goku smiled at him, but then turned to face the Demons. It was the last time he smiled for a long time.

The Demons and the Saiyans charged one another at the same time. Dust and sand swept all around them as they engaged in a serious fight. Each Saiyan had four to five demons on him, and the chaos that ensued was hard to follow.

Two Demons came at Gohan from either side, but he bent down at the last second, making their heads slam into each other. As they stumbled backwards in confusion, Gohan stood up again and extended his arms on an 180o angle. Gathering his energy, he managed (with a lot of effort) to fire two Masenkos at once. The beams hit both Demons sending them flying, but did not kill either one.

Near Gohan, Goku was in the middle of at least five Demons who were clawing at him with huge nine-inch nails and teeth. The nimble Saiyan dodged most of them, but suddenly he felt a searing pain as one claw ripped into his cheek. Luckily, the cut wasn't deep, and he was able to ignore it for the rest of the battle. He leapt upwards, and noticed that the five Demons were all very close together. On the horizon, the sun was just peeping onto the desert. Goku smiled as a plan suddenly came to mind. He brought his hands to either side of his face and extended his fingers.

"SOLAR FLARE!!!" cried Goku. Blinding white light stabbed into the eyes of the Demons. Temporarily blinded, they could do nothing but stumble and knock into each other. Without wasting any time, Goku prepared to fire his trademark move into the small band of Demons, which he hoped would even the odds a bit early into the battle. He cupped his hands to his side and began to gather energy.

Suddenly, another Demon charged Goku from the side. Gohan saw the thing coming and tried to get free of his attackers and help his father, but they sent red fire lancing toward him and he was forced to dodge to the other direction. Goku noticed the Demon coming at him, but it was too late to stop gathering energy, and the Demons below were already getting their eyesight back. Reluctantly he turned toward the attacking Demon and threw his arms forward.

"KAMEHAMEHA!!!!!" he shouted as a huge beam of blue and white energy shot forth from his hands. The beam was too big for the Demon to avoid, or even block, and he was instantly consumed by it. It shrieked and clawed at the energy, but after only a few seconds, it exploded into a pile of ash that fell from the air like small bits of paper.

*****

Red fire lanced at Vegeta, but he dodged it and sent a small energy blast back. Not waiting to see if it had hit its target, he turned to the closest Demon and attacked. His booted foot slammed into the Demon's face, snapping its head back. The thing roared with rage and swung a horizontal punch, but Vegeta was already under it and landing several punches and uppercuts into the Demon's stomach. The Demon let out cries of pain, and Vegeta knew he was doing loads of damage. He placed one hand around the Demon's neck to keep if from moving, and placed the other on its chest. He fired a small but powerful energy blast through the Demon, which was unable to move. When Vegeta had stopped shooting, the thing fell lifeless from the sky.

Then the Demons somehow got renewed strength and surged toward the attackers, forcing them back together. Vegeta, Goku and Gohan stood back to back as they parried fights kicks and fire, and returned their own attacks when the opportunity presented itself. Finally, Goku shouted above the din of battle.

"This isn't working! We're a match for them one-on-one, so we have to keep it that way!'

"I know, but how?" asked Gohan. Goku closed his eyes, but still managed to deflect the blows aimed at him. The others felt a huge amount of energy being used up, but when they turned they saw four Gokus standing there! Gohan's face brightened considerably.

"Oh! You know the Split Form too!" he laughed. The four Gokus attacked the Demons before they new what was happening. While split apart, he didn't have as much strength, so he restrained from using energy attacks, but his vicious physical assaults drove the Demons back. With renewed power, and a golden opportunity, Gohan and Vegeta attacked.

Gohan raised his arms high above his head and crossed his hands. The move momentarily left his front side open, and the Demons moved toward him. But only a second later the young fighter brought them back down, yelling, "KAMEHAMEHA!!!" in the process. The blue beam shot forward and smashed into the Demons. They were too close to dodge or block, and three of them died instantly. Another lost his right arm, and a fourth lost the entire side of his body.

In the confusion that followed, Vegeta and the four forms of Goku flew straight into the remaining Demons. Vegeta punched the Demon with his side missing right in the middle of the wound, causing it to cry out in pain. Two of the Gokus then kicked it the face with such force that its neck broke instantly, sending its limp body to the ground below.

The remaining two Gokus attacked the Demon missing an arm. They attacked with the same moves at the same time, landing dozens of kicks and punches all over the Demon's body. Then, with blinding speed, both fired energy blasts at the same time. The blasts impacted the Demon in the same place. They exploded with twice as much force, sending the attackers flying back, but disintegrating the Demon on the spot.

Gohan and Vegeta regrouped on the ground and were joined by the four forms of Goku who merged back into one being. The three Saiyans were standing directly before the five remaining Demons. The moment of non-fighting ended abruptly, as the Demons each took a fighter and attacked. Four Demons went after Goku and Vegeta, and one went after Gohan.

The Demon soared toward Gohan with blinding speed. It shot huge amounts of red fire at him, which sent the little teen right into the rocky ground. Gohan opened his eyes and saw that he had landed in front of the bag of Senzu beans! He grabbed the bag and shoved it into his boot before turning to face the Demon.

The Demon was actually already almost on top of him, and it was only after three or four punches that he was able to retaliate. The young Saiyan kicked the Demon away, giving him a brief moment to gather enough energy to use another Masenko. The yellow and purple beam was dodged however. But Gohan was already above him. He cupped his hands and yelled,

"KAMEHAMEHA!!!!!" for the second time that day. The beam smashed into the Demon, eating away at its bones and muscles, and also sent the thing flying toward a group of stone fragments that had been twisted into spikes by Trunks' Final Flash. The Demon was instantly impaled on one of the rocks, but it took it several more minutes to die.

Without wasting any time, Gohan flew over to where Trunks was still laying unconscious. He pulled the bag of Senzu Beans from his boot and shoved one in Trunks' mouth. More out of reflex than awareness, he began to chew it.

*****

Goku's two attackers came at him from both sides. They shot red fire at him, but Goku merely dodged to the side. The fire blasts hit each other and exploded, taking Goku into the explosion. The Demons both began firing hundreds of small fireballs into the ever-growing explosion. They both stopped about the same time to see if they had gotten their target. Goku fell from the smoke slowly. He now had many burns and cuts, for he had not expected the fire to be so powerful.

*****

Vegeta's attackers also came from both sides, fire sprouting from their fingertips. The arrogant Saiyan was fast enough to avoid the attack, but the Demon managed to get very close, very fast. They punched him many, many times in the face. Vegeta created an energy shield himself, but they both fired their red electricity at him. Vegeta fell from the sky, unable to move.

*****

Vegeta and Goku landed beside each other. Clouds of dust and sand surrounded them for a moment, but when it cleared, they could clearly been seen lying there. Hundreds of burns and bruises littered their bodies. Vegeta's armor was cracked and broken in several places, and Goku's shirt and pants were also ripped. The two Saiyans looked toward the sky. Two of the Demons were floating above a hundred feet above them, and the final two another hundred feet above the first two.

The Demons laughed and shrieked, well aware that they were now able to finish off their opponents. Neither Saiyan had enough strength to even get up, let alone fight off another attack. The Demons all charged at once, flying almost straight down at the helpless fighters. Goku closed his eyes in fear, but just as he did, he hear someone shout,

"MASENKOOO HA!!!" and someone else shouted, "FINAL FLASH!!!" The voices were followed by loud explosions and many shrieks and cries of pain and agony.

Goku risked opening his eyes. He no longer saw the Demons charging him. He looked over to his right and saw Gohan and Trunks floating about a hundred yards off, their arms extended, and smoke rising from their hands.

"Gohan!" cried Goku. His son flew down and landed beside him, taking two Senzu Beans and placing them in both Goku and Vegeta's mouths. They began to chew them, and suddenly their strength was back. The two leapt from the ground and were on their feet in seconds. Trunks joined them and the four Saiyans were finally all standing at the same time. But suddenly, Gohan collapsed on the ground.

"Gohan!" cried Trunks as he bent down to check on the young Saiyan.

"He'll be fine," said Vegeta coldly, "He just used too many powerful energy blasts. He needs one of your Senzu Beans." Then Vegeta laughed, "Ha! Stupid boy has no idea how to control his power, even now!"

Trunks shot his father an angry glance.

"Father! Gohan saved all of us by using all of his energy! If we hadn't been here, he wouldn't have had to! So show some respect!" Vegeta glared at him, then turned his back to the other Saiyans.

Goku took the Senzu Bag from Gohan's hand, and pulled out the last Senzu Bean. He placed the green been in Gohan's mouth, and the youth chewed hungrily.

"Well, well, well. . . " said a cold voice. All of the Saiyans turned in surprise. The Lord of Nightmares was walking toward them with a look of almost happiness on his face. Goku, Gohan and Trunks all assumed fighting stances, but Vegeta stepped in front of them.

"We had a deal remember? This one is mine!" he said to the other Saiyans. Trunks' eyes opened wide.

"No, father!" he cried, "You can't go one-on-one with that thing! He's too strong!" Vegeta shrugged the comment off.

"Not for me," he said, "I have been in constant training, and now I am stronger than you, the boy, and even Kakorot! Now step back, and let me show you!" Trunks started to move forward in protest, but Goku placed his arm in his way.

"Let him go, Trunks," he said, "There is nothing you can do that will convince him." Trunks stared at Goku blankly for a moment, then nodded and stepped back.

In front of them, Vegeta was walking toward the Demon King. He stopped and smiled.

"Prepare yourself for the final battle!" he yelled to the Lord of Nightmares.

Note: Almost done! I predict there will be only one or two more chapters left! Thanks for the people who reviewed my story, and gave me some encouragement to finish! Also, I'm sorry I spelt Goku's Saiyan name wrong, but I think it looks good enough don't you? Anyway, the final battle between the Saiyans and the Lord of Nightmares begins in the next chapter!!!