*Chapter 3*

'Dammit, he's not coming out of there.' Kiros whispered to Ginyu who was standing beside the now locked door. Of course, the door could have been easily destroyed in an instant by most of the fighters there, and so the fact that it was locked was little more than a gesture. But it was quite an apparant gesture all the same, and no-one really wanted to walk into that room.

'This is just great, I've lost one of my best men over this!' shouted Ginyu with no compassion within his deep throated voice. Kiros simply glared at him, and turned his focus back to the door. Jeice...

***********

'GODDAMMIT!' screamed Jeice at the top of his voice, throwing a chair across the room which shattered into tiny pieces upon impact with the wall.

'MOTHERFUCKING BASTARD!!! Why!?! Why did you have to go and do that you retarded fuck?!' Jeice couldn't keep his voice down, and his roars of torment shuddered deep along the corridors of the ship. And suddenly he fell to the ground on his knees, and let out a soft cry. Five long years. Their partnership had come to this? Jeice couldn't believe it. It wasn't as if they held love for one another, but they certainly had respect for each other. And deep, deep down, Jeice knew that the reason Burter had been depressed wasn't a result of his own heightened abilities. Something else was there, niggling and burrowing into his mind. But what the hell was it?

'Jeice!' came a voice from outside the door.

'...Who the hell is it?'

'It's Kiros...you've been summoned by Frieza.'

At that Jeice's heart missed a beat. Frieza. This wasn't good. He had heard of fighters being executed for killing their own teammates. But to keep Frieza waiting would be a death wish all on it's own. And as depressed as Jeice was, he knew that his demise wouldn't help anything.

'...I'll be right there.'

As Jeice moved out of the door, the hallway fell quiet, and not a word was said by anyone. Jeice simply shoved through the mass of people in front of him, closely followed by Kiros. The sound of breathing reverbrated around the hall, and as Jeice walked through the door to get to his space pod, he left an atmosphere of uneasiness behind him which would take days to lift.

'Will you be alright?' asked Kiros as Jeice walked across the landing bay.

'Who knows. He could blast me to pieces as soon as I walk into the room. To be honest, I'm pretty much expecting that. He has to set an example, doesn't he...?'

Jeice turned to Kiros and nodded at him.

'Look after yourself. I'll be back again one day. I promise you.'

Kiros simply wiped a singular tear with his shaking hand from his face and nodded back. And on that note Jeice ran across the huge room to find his pod. The terror burned over the faces of both fighters, and as they went their separate ways purpose seemed to leave them both. They were both left staring into an abyss which wasn't wanted in their lives.

************

'Goku! Now!' roared Piccolo at the top of his voice as he pulled his hand back with the intention of firing his energy straight towards the body of the now injured Radditz. All of the Z fighters, Goku, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien, Chaozu, and Krillin prepared to throw their energy blasts straight at the mighty Saiya-Jin warrior who had come to take Earth from them. Gohan, Goku's son lay face down on the soaking ground below everyone else.

'...Ugh...! No way!!!' yelled Radditz in a state of pure shock. '800..850..950?!! There's no way these guys could be able to gather so much energy!'

Piccolo roared and threw his Makkankosappo straight towards Radditz.
Goku pulled his hands back and suddenly lunged forward to fire his Kamehameha wave, contain all the energy he now had left.
Tien's four bodies fired their Kikoho in unison, positioned around their target.
Yamcha's Spirit Bomb flew downwards directly towards the huge Saiya-Jin.
Krillin's Kienzan flew straight through the explosion and threatened to burrow it's way right through Radditz's body.
And finally Chaozu's Dodonpa beam finished off the massive attack.

And the explosion almost engulfed the entire team.

Goku dived straight to the ground and wrapped Gohan up into his arms as tightly as he could. The Z Fighters all dived for cover, trying to get away from the sheer force of the blast. The wind completely overcame Chaozu, Yamcha and Krillin, who were blown far from the battlefield by the power that had just been unleashed, whilst Piccolo and Tien befell almost the same fate, struggling to keep their ground. However, Goku was still using his power to stay in the same place...to protect Gohan.

'Goku!' yelled Piccolo as he felt the energy of his temporary ally starting to fade fast. Without hesitation, he flew towards Goku and jumped on top of him, holding both father and son well in place with his power.

'Keep your energy Goku, we're not gonna lose you just yet...!'

And gradually, the wind began to decrease, and within seconds the dust of the blast was finally beginning to clear. Everyone got to their feet, and stared towards the place where Radditz had stood. Sure enough, he was down.

'...He's dead.' said Piccolo as he got to his feet, and suddenly he noticed something. A small flinch perhaps, but it was enough to grab his attention. He slowly walked towards Radditz, with a weak blast of energy in his hand. He was going to blow Radditz to pieces, and make sure that it was all over. And as Piccolo came to the side of the Saiya-Jin the fatally injured fighter slowly turned to look up at his fate.

'You're...alive...' whispered Piccolo, 'Not for much longer though.'

'You're right. But I'm very glad to tell you that you won't have much longer to live on this planet anyway.' Radditz replied with a grin upon his face,

'What?!! What do you mean by that?!'

Radditz put his head down upon the dirt below him and laughed. He knew what fate would befall them. They were as good as dead, and he was going to enjoy the moment.

'This planet has been selected to be sold. If you think I was tough to beat...wait until some of our more powerful warriors come...!'

'More powerful than you?!' Piccolo exclaimed. This couldn't be happening...!

'Hahaha...! Way more powerful than me. You never stood a chance against us Piccolo.'

'How long do we have...!' yelled Goku from the other side of the blast area.

'I'd give you ten days. You're all gonna die, trust me on that. No-one of your ability could ever defeat these guys...!'

Suddenly Piccolo roared, and threw his hand out. An energy blast flew out of his palm, and struck Radditz directly, killing him instantly.