Chapter Twelve:
A Moment of Destiny.
"KURIRIN?!?!?!? TENSHINHAN?!?!?!? CAN YOU HEAR ME!?!?!?!?"
Kuririn poked out from behind a rock he was hiding behind. He was a bloody mess, but he was alive.
"GOKOU!!! DOWN HERE! HURRY…!!!!"
Gokou quickly landed right next to Kuririn. "You okay, Kuririn?"
Kuririn dusted off his gi. "Yeah, just some bruises…. It's worse than it looks…"
Gokou smiled with relief. "Have you seen Ten?"
Kuririn solemnly pointed to a long trail of blood leading behind the rock. Gokou followed it, but he knew just by looking at it who was hidden behind that rock.
Tenshinhan sat in a pool of his own blood. He looked up and smiled as a familiar figure knelt beside him. "Go…. Gokou-san…"
Gokou smiled at the blood soaked Ten. "Good to see you, old friend. How ya doin'?"
Ten smirked and spat up a mouthful of blood. "Heh…. Good…. Good to be seen…."
Kuririn knelt down beside Gokou. "He's lost a lot of blood, Gokou…. And we're out of Senzu…."
Gokou turned and took a hard look at Kuririn and a hard look at Ten. "Can you still fly, Kuririn?"
"Yeah… not very fast though…" Gokou nodded, and reached down to his belt. He produced a single senzu and broke it in half.
He stuffed one half into Ten's mouth and gave Kuririn the other. "Good, get back to the ship.…" Gokou stood.
"What about you?" Ten asked as he stood.
"I'm putting a stop to Nappa…"
"I'm coming with you….." Both Ten and Kuririn replied at once.
Gokou shook his head. "Sorry… but you two'd be more helpful at the ship, Kuririn…." Gokou gave his friends a reassuring smile and then zanzokened off into the sky.
"Don't die, Gokou… Don't die," Kuririn whispered as he watched Gokou's retreating figure.
Vegeta smirked silently as Nappa started to get to his feet.
" Well, now…." The Prince intoned as his hands balled back into fists. "Time to stop playing with you and get serious…"
Lightning crackled around Vegeta as he attacked Nappa, clipping his legs out from under him. Nappa's back hit the ground with a loud thud, knocking the wind out of him. Vegeta gently landed thirty feet away from Nappa. "Pathetic, Nappa. I'd hoped for a challenge…"
Nappa snarled something inaudible and leapt to his feet.
Vegeta's smirk grew wider. "Ready to continue, or do you just want to give up now," he as he glanced over his shoulder at Nappa.
Nappa snarled, and then calmly stood to his full height.
"Vegeta…..before I kill you…. You'll have to tell me how got this powerful…" Nappa rocketed forward and slammed his fist into Vegeta's gut, making the prince's eyes bulge and blood spill from his mouth. "You still underestimated me, Vegeta-kun…."
Vegeta's eyes narrowed, and he slammed his elbow into Nappa's jaw, knocking the Saiya-jin away.
Vegeta felt the rage boiling inside him, and he welcomed it. "As did you, Nappa! So far, I've used about 1/4 of my power…" He growled as his aura intensified. Huge ki veins rippled across his arms. "And now, you will feel the FULL wrath of your prince!"
Nappa closed his eyes and smiled. Silently, a huge shimmering ki sphere enveloped him.
Vegeta was physically being pushed back by Nappa's power-up.
"Impossible! Even if Kakarotto was to get here in the next 10 seconds we still may not beat him!" Vegeta's eyes narrowed again. "DAMN YOU!!"!
Vegeta lunged toward Nappa and attacked him with all his might, slamming his fist into Nappa's jaw and sending him back a couple of inches.
"Try harder, Vegeta…"
"I am the Prince of the Saiya-jin, the fighting race," Vegeta hissed as his aura once again intensified. "I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY THE LIKES OF YOU!!!" Vegeta's leg lanced up and clipped Nappa's nose, sending the Saiya- jin reeling once more. Vegeta locked his fists together over his head. "DIE!!!"
Vegeta smashed his joined fists into Nappa's bald head, sending the stunned Nappa crashing back down to earth. He landed on his feet.
"Not good enough…"
"FINAL FLASH!!!" A huge explosion ripped across the earth where Nappa was. Vegeta threw every 'ki' attack he knew at the blast area, and when the smoke cleared, Nappa slowly began to stir.
Nappa smirked. "Cheap shot Vegeta…. You didn't…."
Vegeta zanzokened right in front of Nappa and kicked him in the face. "SHUT UP! I won't let you win! For everything I have come to care about… Trunks and Bulma…. For this planet… I WILL KILL YOU!!!!" Vegeta spun around and slammed his other foot into Nappa's face, causing blood and spit to mix as they poured from his mouth. "Die! DIE!! DIE!!!" Vegeta pulled his arms back and a huge amount of energy began to build up in his hands.
"I WON'T LET YOU DOWN, TRUNKS," Vegeta shrieked as he thrust both of his hands forward, unleashing a huge amount of ki and sending it straight towards Nappa. Nappa turned around just in time to get a good look at the energy coming toward him.
"Shit."
The blast slammed into Nappa, exploding on impact. Vegeta slide slowly into a fighting stance, his aura flickering and his breathing sounding more and more like labored pants as the smoke from his attack rolled past him.
Nappa stumbled out of the smoke cloud.
"….damn it…." Vegeta's eyes closed and he fell forward, but stopped and righted himself. He clenched and his teeth and rocketed at Nappa at top speed. Vegeta flipped over at the last instant, burying both knees into Nappa's gut. Nappa looked up to Vegeta and smiled.
"If I…. *huff huff* … were you…. *huff huff* …." The winded Prince snarled, "I'd wipe that stupid smile off your face…. Say… *huff huff* goodnight! BIG BANG ATTACK!!!"
The blast totally consumed Nappa and threw him 30 feet away from Vegeta, who fell to his knees as his hair turned black. Nappa hit the ground and didn't move.
"heh….. Heheheh…." The insane laughter bubbled up inside of Vegeta as he tilted his head back and ripped a small patch of grass from the earth and tossed it in the air. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I… I did it!" Vegeta got to his feet and slowly walked over to Nappa's body. "I beat you!"
Without warning, Nappa's arm lanced out and grabbed Vegeta's ankle. With ease, Nappa threw Vegeta off into the distance as he got to his feet.
"Vegeta… sorry but you lose… but at least you put up a good fight this time…." Quietly, he fished his scouter out from his armor and attached to his ear, turning to look at the mountain that Goten, Trunks, Gohan and Piccolo were watching from. He smiled, and mouthed a single word.
"Next."
"He…. Beat Vegeta….." Gohan stuttered.
Trunks stood there for a second, and then his face turned grim.
"Goten…. Fusion-da."
"Hai! Trunks-kuh!"
"Fusion… HA!"
A blinding light consumed the area, leaving Super Saiya-jin 3 Gotenks in place of the kids. Golden ki erupted from Gotenks and he rocketed toward Nappa at full speed.
"RENZOKOU SHINE MISSILE!!!"
The attack slammed right into Nappa, who just stood there, letting the attack bounce right off his chest as Gotenks drew ever nearer.
Nappa grabbed Gotenks by his hair and threw him towards where he threw Vegeta. Gotenks smashed into the ground and defused.
Gohan stood there dumbfounded "….. We're the only ones left…."
Piccolo simply cracked his knuckles. "Yes, we are, Gohan…. It's time to play our part…."
"…. Piccolo… we can't win…."
Piccolo nodded solemnly to his student. "Yes I know." He paused and looked Gohan directly in the eye. "This is a moment of destiny… this moment decides everything, Gohan… EVERYTHING…"
"What do you mean?"
Piccolo frowned, "As I said earlier…. we're all destined to do something in the battle… some of us will die.. some of us will live…"
"Piccolo-san…."
"We have to hold him off until Gokou gets here…. Come now, Gohan," Piccolo replied as he roses into the air and landed in front of Nappa, as did Gohan.
Nappa shook his head slowly. "More pigs to the slaughter, I see…. Which of you wants to go first?"
Piccolo walked forward and assumed a fighting stance. "I will."
"How intimidating…" Silently, Piccolo struck, not even making Nappa flinch. Nappa grabbed Piccolo by his head, and picked him up. He began to squeeze. "So very weak… gambling away your live to save this backwater mud hole…" Nappa raised his hand and blew away the lower part of Piccolo's body as Piccolo screamed in agony.
"PICCOLO-SAN!"
Nappa dropped the half dead Piccolo. "I haven't even had a chance to use my full power…. Maybe you won't be such a disappointment…."
Rage boiled inside Gohan, and there was nothing he could do about it. He stood no chance whatsoever against Nappa…
And then in a flash, it all became clear to him…
Gohan nodded to himself and slid into a fighting stance. "I know I don't stand a chance against you Nappa…. But for Piccolo's sake….. I'm not going to back down!"
"Oh…. How touching, brat…. For that little show of weakness… I think I'll take my time killing you…." Nappa rasped with an evil smirk.
Gohan leapt at Nappa, and the two began exchanging blows. Nappa had the upper hand and he grabbed Gohan by his armor, throwing him onto the ground. Gohan kicked up and again assumed a fighting stance.
Gohan's breathing came heavily. "C'mon and fight Nappa!" Gohan again rushed Nappa, but Nappa raised one hand, making Gohan stop.
Nappa shook his head. "Sorry….. Game over, brat…
He simply pointed his finger at Gohan, and a small but powerful beam ripped through his chest in the exact same place he shot Gohan before, sending him down to the ground.
Nappa smirked, the irony, for once, not lost to his slow mind. "Hmmpfh. Imagine that…. Hole in one. Heh."
And then, Gokou landed…. He sank to his knees as a jagged bolt of lightning flashed in the cloudless sky…..
A Moment of Destiny.
"KURIRIN?!?!?!? TENSHINHAN?!?!?!? CAN YOU HEAR ME!?!?!?!?"
Kuririn poked out from behind a rock he was hiding behind. He was a bloody mess, but he was alive.
"GOKOU!!! DOWN HERE! HURRY…!!!!"
Gokou quickly landed right next to Kuririn. "You okay, Kuririn?"
Kuririn dusted off his gi. "Yeah, just some bruises…. It's worse than it looks…"
Gokou smiled with relief. "Have you seen Ten?"
Kuririn solemnly pointed to a long trail of blood leading behind the rock. Gokou followed it, but he knew just by looking at it who was hidden behind that rock.
Tenshinhan sat in a pool of his own blood. He looked up and smiled as a familiar figure knelt beside him. "Go…. Gokou-san…"
Gokou smiled at the blood soaked Ten. "Good to see you, old friend. How ya doin'?"
Ten smirked and spat up a mouthful of blood. "Heh…. Good…. Good to be seen…."
Kuririn knelt down beside Gokou. "He's lost a lot of blood, Gokou…. And we're out of Senzu…."
Gokou turned and took a hard look at Kuririn and a hard look at Ten. "Can you still fly, Kuririn?"
"Yeah… not very fast though…" Gokou nodded, and reached down to his belt. He produced a single senzu and broke it in half.
He stuffed one half into Ten's mouth and gave Kuririn the other. "Good, get back to the ship.…" Gokou stood.
"What about you?" Ten asked as he stood.
"I'm putting a stop to Nappa…"
"I'm coming with you….." Both Ten and Kuririn replied at once.
Gokou shook his head. "Sorry… but you two'd be more helpful at the ship, Kuririn…." Gokou gave his friends a reassuring smile and then zanzokened off into the sky.
"Don't die, Gokou… Don't die," Kuririn whispered as he watched Gokou's retreating figure.
Vegeta smirked silently as Nappa started to get to his feet.
" Well, now…." The Prince intoned as his hands balled back into fists. "Time to stop playing with you and get serious…"
Lightning crackled around Vegeta as he attacked Nappa, clipping his legs out from under him. Nappa's back hit the ground with a loud thud, knocking the wind out of him. Vegeta gently landed thirty feet away from Nappa. "Pathetic, Nappa. I'd hoped for a challenge…"
Nappa snarled something inaudible and leapt to his feet.
Vegeta's smirk grew wider. "Ready to continue, or do you just want to give up now," he as he glanced over his shoulder at Nappa.
Nappa snarled, and then calmly stood to his full height.
"Vegeta…..before I kill you…. You'll have to tell me how got this powerful…" Nappa rocketed forward and slammed his fist into Vegeta's gut, making the prince's eyes bulge and blood spill from his mouth. "You still underestimated me, Vegeta-kun…."
Vegeta's eyes narrowed, and he slammed his elbow into Nappa's jaw, knocking the Saiya-jin away.
Vegeta felt the rage boiling inside him, and he welcomed it. "As did you, Nappa! So far, I've used about 1/4 of my power…" He growled as his aura intensified. Huge ki veins rippled across his arms. "And now, you will feel the FULL wrath of your prince!"
Nappa closed his eyes and smiled. Silently, a huge shimmering ki sphere enveloped him.
Vegeta was physically being pushed back by Nappa's power-up.
"Impossible! Even if Kakarotto was to get here in the next 10 seconds we still may not beat him!" Vegeta's eyes narrowed again. "DAMN YOU!!"!
Vegeta lunged toward Nappa and attacked him with all his might, slamming his fist into Nappa's jaw and sending him back a couple of inches.
"Try harder, Vegeta…"
"I am the Prince of the Saiya-jin, the fighting race," Vegeta hissed as his aura once again intensified. "I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY THE LIKES OF YOU!!!" Vegeta's leg lanced up and clipped Nappa's nose, sending the Saiya- jin reeling once more. Vegeta locked his fists together over his head. "DIE!!!"
Vegeta smashed his joined fists into Nappa's bald head, sending the stunned Nappa crashing back down to earth. He landed on his feet.
"Not good enough…"
"FINAL FLASH!!!" A huge explosion ripped across the earth where Nappa was. Vegeta threw every 'ki' attack he knew at the blast area, and when the smoke cleared, Nappa slowly began to stir.
Nappa smirked. "Cheap shot Vegeta…. You didn't…."
Vegeta zanzokened right in front of Nappa and kicked him in the face. "SHUT UP! I won't let you win! For everything I have come to care about… Trunks and Bulma…. For this planet… I WILL KILL YOU!!!!" Vegeta spun around and slammed his other foot into Nappa's face, causing blood and spit to mix as they poured from his mouth. "Die! DIE!! DIE!!!" Vegeta pulled his arms back and a huge amount of energy began to build up in his hands.
"I WON'T LET YOU DOWN, TRUNKS," Vegeta shrieked as he thrust both of his hands forward, unleashing a huge amount of ki and sending it straight towards Nappa. Nappa turned around just in time to get a good look at the energy coming toward him.
"Shit."
The blast slammed into Nappa, exploding on impact. Vegeta slide slowly into a fighting stance, his aura flickering and his breathing sounding more and more like labored pants as the smoke from his attack rolled past him.
Nappa stumbled out of the smoke cloud.
"….damn it…." Vegeta's eyes closed and he fell forward, but stopped and righted himself. He clenched and his teeth and rocketed at Nappa at top speed. Vegeta flipped over at the last instant, burying both knees into Nappa's gut. Nappa looked up to Vegeta and smiled.
"If I…. *huff huff* … were you…. *huff huff* …." The winded Prince snarled, "I'd wipe that stupid smile off your face…. Say… *huff huff* goodnight! BIG BANG ATTACK!!!"
The blast totally consumed Nappa and threw him 30 feet away from Vegeta, who fell to his knees as his hair turned black. Nappa hit the ground and didn't move.
"heh….. Heheheh…." The insane laughter bubbled up inside of Vegeta as he tilted his head back and ripped a small patch of grass from the earth and tossed it in the air. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I… I did it!" Vegeta got to his feet and slowly walked over to Nappa's body. "I beat you!"
Without warning, Nappa's arm lanced out and grabbed Vegeta's ankle. With ease, Nappa threw Vegeta off into the distance as he got to his feet.
"Vegeta… sorry but you lose… but at least you put up a good fight this time…." Quietly, he fished his scouter out from his armor and attached to his ear, turning to look at the mountain that Goten, Trunks, Gohan and Piccolo were watching from. He smiled, and mouthed a single word.
"Next."
"He…. Beat Vegeta….." Gohan stuttered.
Trunks stood there for a second, and then his face turned grim.
"Goten…. Fusion-da."
"Hai! Trunks-kuh!"
"Fusion… HA!"
A blinding light consumed the area, leaving Super Saiya-jin 3 Gotenks in place of the kids. Golden ki erupted from Gotenks and he rocketed toward Nappa at full speed.
"RENZOKOU SHINE MISSILE!!!"
The attack slammed right into Nappa, who just stood there, letting the attack bounce right off his chest as Gotenks drew ever nearer.
Nappa grabbed Gotenks by his hair and threw him towards where he threw Vegeta. Gotenks smashed into the ground and defused.
Gohan stood there dumbfounded "….. We're the only ones left…."
Piccolo simply cracked his knuckles. "Yes, we are, Gohan…. It's time to play our part…."
"…. Piccolo… we can't win…."
Piccolo nodded solemnly to his student. "Yes I know." He paused and looked Gohan directly in the eye. "This is a moment of destiny… this moment decides everything, Gohan… EVERYTHING…"
"What do you mean?"
Piccolo frowned, "As I said earlier…. we're all destined to do something in the battle… some of us will die.. some of us will live…"
"Piccolo-san…."
"We have to hold him off until Gokou gets here…. Come now, Gohan," Piccolo replied as he roses into the air and landed in front of Nappa, as did Gohan.
Nappa shook his head slowly. "More pigs to the slaughter, I see…. Which of you wants to go first?"
Piccolo walked forward and assumed a fighting stance. "I will."
"How intimidating…" Silently, Piccolo struck, not even making Nappa flinch. Nappa grabbed Piccolo by his head, and picked him up. He began to squeeze. "So very weak… gambling away your live to save this backwater mud hole…" Nappa raised his hand and blew away the lower part of Piccolo's body as Piccolo screamed in agony.
"PICCOLO-SAN!"
Nappa dropped the half dead Piccolo. "I haven't even had a chance to use my full power…. Maybe you won't be such a disappointment…."
Rage boiled inside Gohan, and there was nothing he could do about it. He stood no chance whatsoever against Nappa…
And then in a flash, it all became clear to him…
Gohan nodded to himself and slid into a fighting stance. "I know I don't stand a chance against you Nappa…. But for Piccolo's sake….. I'm not going to back down!"
"Oh…. How touching, brat…. For that little show of weakness… I think I'll take my time killing you…." Nappa rasped with an evil smirk.
Gohan leapt at Nappa, and the two began exchanging blows. Nappa had the upper hand and he grabbed Gohan by his armor, throwing him onto the ground. Gohan kicked up and again assumed a fighting stance.
Gohan's breathing came heavily. "C'mon and fight Nappa!" Gohan again rushed Nappa, but Nappa raised one hand, making Gohan stop.
Nappa shook his head. "Sorry….. Game over, brat…
He simply pointed his finger at Gohan, and a small but powerful beam ripped through his chest in the exact same place he shot Gohan before, sending him down to the ground.
Nappa smirked, the irony, for once, not lost to his slow mind. "Hmmpfh. Imagine that…. Hole in one. Heh."
And then, Gokou landed…. He sank to his knees as a jagged bolt of lightning flashed in the cloudless sky…..
