Disclaimer: (carried on from Chapter 21)
Judge Whaddaya MEAN Cell?
Delivery Boy Well, you ARE Cell, right?
Judge No!
Delivery Boy Are you sure?
Judge Yes!
Delivery Boy Oh, alright then.
Judge Hmm… **Puts on a black cloth cap** You will be taken to a place far from here and hung by the neck until dead.
Me EEP!
Judge Not you!
Me Oh thank goodness…
Delivery Boy EEP!
**To be continued…**
AN: The 'Hundredth Review Award' goes to… **drum-roll and dramatic fanfare…** AVAMAR! Your prize is another mention in this Fanfic, you greedy so-and-so! What were you saying in your last review? It looked like you got cut-off there! So stick it in the review for this chapter. And if any of you great and lovely readers have ANY comments or questions, don't hesitate (hint, hint!) to review! Any questions at all. Even if they don't have anything to do with the fic.
Please?
Chapter 22: Gohan's Valiant Battle
Gohan's cry filled the air suddenly as he charged down into the dust cloud, which contained Brolli, the one who destroyed Videl. With surge of power, Gohan's energy blasted aside the few tendrils of thick, black chocking smoke that hung heavy in the air, and revealed a grinning Brolli standing in wait for them, the damaged arm held sharply against his large, powerful chest.
"Took your time, whelp!" Brolli sneered as Gohan landed opposite him and studied the beast, the silver light from his eyes and hair sending a glare of energy across the canyon floor.
"Yes. And now I will destroy you." Gohan's voice was level and steady, and the tone that he had spoken wasn't boasting. It was a simple statement. Brolli smiled, his golden aura flaring strongly around his body and pushing the smoke back farther as he powered up for the fight.
"We shall see, young one, we shall see," Brolli taunted, dropping into a fighting stance, keeping his damaged arm held back as he turned the good side towards Gohan.
"It's time we put an end to you," Gohan said without emotion, his voice dull.
"It's time I showed you my full strength," Brolli replied, and large blast of energy swept across the canyon floor. The smoke completely vanished, the smouldering debris either being blown away or vaporised in the wash of energy that stormed across the area.
"FUCK YOU!" Gohan suddenly screamed and charged forward, so quickly that it even caught Brolli off guard. The Beast quickly rectified his position and dropped onto his good hand, pivoting and sending both feet into Gohan's chest. At least, that had been the plan.
Gohan hopped to the side at the last moment with incredible dexterity and speed and then dropped low swinging his foot around and taking Brolli's arm out from under his body.
Brolli dropped, but rolled harmlessly back and onto his feet, with enough time to spare for a block from a series of rapid punched from Gohan. Quickly pushing one of Gohan's arms away, then grasping another, Brolli's whole body lurched as he twisted on his leg and sent his golden boot slamming into his adversary's chest.
Without flinching, Gohan twisted after the blow and brought his arm around in a reverse roundhouse punch to Brolli's cheek, but Brolli ducked and brought an arm up, the fist biting into Gohan's under jaw, flipping the lad over. Brolli seconded the blow with another chest-height kick, but found his foot caught in one of Gohan's hand as he brought the other high over his head. Before the kid had a chance to bring it down upon Brolli's shin, Brolli twisted and sent his other foot smashing into the side of the warrior's face, sending Gohan flying into the canyon wall with an explosion of rock and dust, which was immediately blown away by the two colossal energy forces of the warriors.
A second passed and the rock face exploded, sending large pieces of solid stone out in all directions, the slabs of rock being tossed and thrown about in the aura of Brolli, and Gohan's negative energy aura that surrounded his body. It was chilling for any kai-sensitive being to direct his senses towards Gohan, but Brolli didn't seem to mind it. It gave him a good sense of where his quarry was, and he knew that he couldn't possibly mistake that signature with another's. Gohan stood in what remained of the canyon's rock wall and gazed at Brolli, the thick strand of dazzlingly silver hair hanging in front of his right eye.
Grinning madly, Brolli stood opposite Gohan, and then brought his broken arm up, holding it aloft to show its wicked angle to the world. Gohan looked closer; he thought he was seeing things, but the angle of the break seemed less than it had been only moments before.
"That's impossible! How can he just regenerate like that!?" Gohan said to himself, and then lunged at the Beast.
Brolli ducked as a foot swept over the top of his head, the torn purple fabric of Gohan's gi brushing past Brolli's hair, the golden-green spikes being blown aside in the passage. Brolli grinned as he slammed his arm back and smiled as he felt it connect with something fleshy, then he slammed his fist, the fist at the end of his broken arm, upwards and felt the knuckles connect with bone.
Gohan's head flicked backwards to the blow, and Brolli spun quickly, lashing his leg out and striking Gohan in the gut, sending the boy crashing back into another canyon wall.
"You're going to have to better than this, weakling!" Brolli scorned as he charged a bolt of kai in his balled hand. With a blur, the ball was hurled at the hole where Gohan had passed through the rock, and then there was a flash of green energy as the thing exploded somewhere within the stone.
"Alright," said a voice behind Brolli. The Demon Saiyan whirled around and saw Gohan standing their waiting, sheaved in silver flame, the Angel Saiyan Avenger. Brolli snarled and powered up, lunging at Gohan in a golden streak. Gohan sidestepped the assault and sent a blast of blinding-white kai following Brolli, a blast that struck the fiend as he stopped to retaliate. The explosion ripped the canyon walls away and devastated the ground, but Brolli just walked out the flames, grinning madly as he strode forwards.
"You must have better than that, boy," Brolli chided, attacking without warning. The speed that Brolli moved with caught Gohan off guard, and the eldest son of Kakkarot was spun around as something smashed into the side of his face.
Brolli stopped and spun, his foot biting into the ground as he stopped himself skidding away, then lunged back again, his arms a blur as he pummelled Gohan with a flurry of blows. Gohan's shining body was pushed back, and blood spurted from his mouth as Brolli drove his fist into the lad's gut, grinning with enjoyment as he reared back, slamming his knee into Gohan's angelic face.
Gohan flipped backwards with the force of the blow and landed on one knee several paces back, his hand on the ground for balance and his chest heaving as he caught his breath. Choking back the blood, Gohan looked at the floor as the crimson life trickled from his mouth, turning the dusty tan desert ground bright red in the sunlight. A flash of green light made the man-child look up to see Brolli charging a kai-bolt in his left hand, waves of green energy being drawn into the attack from outside his body. The intense green glow of the ball that Brolli's held inside his hand grew with each wave that swept in, and Brolli began to laugh, bringing his arm back.
"Now!" Gohan yelled, then disappeared. Brolli's face frowned for a second, and then he screamed. The Angel appeared behind Brolli and tumbled, picking himself up and pointed both hands at Brolli, palm-heels held together and his eyes narrowed.
"KAAAAAAAAAAA-MEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-MEEE…" Gohan's scream was abruptly ended in a gigantic explosion that pushed him backwards and up. He stopped himself in the air and saw Brolli's demented face rushing towards him. Gohan spun to the right and brought his elbow around, catching Brolli in the collar, a loud crunch hitting his ears, and a dull grunt coming from Brolli as he shot passed. Gohan had broken Brolli's clavicle.
"I'll take you apart piece by piece if I have to," Gohan's dead voice called out calmly, and then he vanished in a blur of silver power. Brolli's body shuddered as something hit it, then another silver streak slammed into him, and another, then another, each time Brolli's body shaking and shuddering to each and every shattering blow. The last strike caught Brolli's face, and his head shot back, blood pouring from his torn mouth as Gohan appeared over him, bother hands pointed down towards the thorn in his family's side for the last ten years.
"KAME-HAME-HA!"
The attacks burned down, the great wave of silver-white energy slamming into Brolli's body and sending him hurtling down into the ground and carving out yet another deep crater. Brolli picked himself up and leaped, but found himself grabbed in mid-air and slammed back into the floor, rocks and boulders being thrown up as a silver streak rose back into the air.
Gohan's curled up slightly, holding his hands at his waist, his gaze never leaving Brolli's body as he lay on the floor, damaged and battered. The blinding ball of light growing in Gohan's hands became swollen and then everything went white as the glare became too great to stare upon. It was like staring into the sun itself.
Gohan fired his second Kame-Hame-Ha off quickly, ploughing Brolli deeper into the ground, and left Gohan heaving in the air, a small trickle of blood running down from his lip.
"I told you I would destroy you," Gohan said and turned away.
That was his first mistake.
The floor erupted in green light, and then exploded, shaking the entire planet, bringing buildings tearing down and opening rifts across the Earth. Brolli erupted from his hole and slammed his knee into Gohan's back, a cry of pain erupting from the man-child's throat as Brolli raised an arm over head and brought it down and onto Gohan's chest, pinning him between fist and knee and breaking several of his ribs. Gohan's cry became more urgent and traces of blood were sprayed up in the scream.
Brolli looked down with a sneer and released his pincer-grip on Gohan, watching him drop to the floor.
"You scum, why don't you just die?!" Brolli shouted as Gohan's body hit the floor, sending wave of agony through his body. Brolli hung there in the air, watching Gohan with a self-satisfied expression smeared across his insane features.
Shakily, Gohan picked himself from the floor and looked up, silver lightning running over his torn, burnt and ripped purple gi, and the corners of his mouth dropped down into a expression of hatred and scorn that would have made Vegeta proud.
"It will take a lot than that to kill me!" Gohan shouted back, and braced himself as he powered up again. Brolli sneered and lowered himself to the floor, shrugging his broad shoulders and hearing his broken collarbone snap back into place, healed.
"And it will take a lot to keep me dead," Brolli said with a grin.
** * ** * **
"Why doesn't he just kill him?! Gohan, c'mon!" Gotenks said, hopping from foot to foot in the air. Applor, 18 and Tomatta watched on with morbid horror as Gohan was pulverised and beaten into the rock after that green explosion had shook the world. Piccolo was too horrified to watch, as were the others.
"He's holding back…" 18 said, watching, her eyes darting back and forwards as she watched the battle unfolding beneath her.
"Why would he do that?" Tomatta asked.
"Why do you think?" 18 snapped, turning on Tomatta. "He has to hold out until Goku can make the wishes!"
"Oh… but surely he could do it more productively…" Tomatta said.
18 let her attention return back to Gohan and Brolli. "Then he's probably giving Brolli a false sense of security," she said.
"Yeah, right. False sense of security…" Tomatta repeated, struggling to believe it.
** * ** * **
Goku dropped the dead body of the last of the legion that had poured out the base to stop him, and then turned his attention on the base's walls themselves. The blue-tainted sheen of the shield hung lazily in the air, and Goku chuckled to himself.
"Cowards, hiding behind their technology," he muttered, then backed away several yards. After all the death and suffering that he had seen the Namekians living in under Frieza's brief visit, he was damned if he was going to see it done again. His emotions burned dangerously high at the thought of His Lordship sitting in his little base ordering the executions of a people he had befriended.
"This stops here!" Goku shouted, putting his hands together. "Kame-hame-Ha!"
The blue-white blast of energy slammed against the energy barrier and spread across the entire base. Energy crackled and snapped as lightning zapped across the dome of the force field that protected the base. Goku gritted his teeth and put more power into his attack, and watched as slowly the dome contracted bit by bit, the barrier slowly running out of the energy needed to protect the base.
A large flash of light later, and the base's shield completely vanished, and Goku's Kame-Hame-Ha slammed into the main gates, slamming them off the frames and atomising them in a moment. The wave continued through the base, causing a large rift to be opened and many buildings to be destroyed, their inhabitants killed or injured, either by the Kame-hame-ha or by the wreckage that fell on them.
Goku straightened up and strolled forwards into the base, his gold hair being pushed around in the breeze, and he calmly walked into the central building, ripping the door from its hinges when he met resistance. A couple of guards on the other side gave Goku one look, and then ran straight past him and into the Namekian wilderness.
Goku took the Dragon Radar out his pocket and looked at it, clicking the button on its side and zooming in, then walked forward. Any guards he encountered either died quickly or ran, and the pale-skinned, dark haired officers were all slew were they stood.
An urgent bleep from the radar caused Goku to pause mid-step and he turned to his right with a smile. His senses were telling him that not only were the Dragonballs directly to his right, but also that the highest power-level on the planet, next to his, currently sat on the other side of the wall.
Not a one to put aside a good entrance, Goku pointed his palm at the un-suspecting wall and let loose a single bolt of golden energy, which exploded with enough force to send smoke, dust and rubble everywhere. Goku managed to hear an outraged squawk from the other side and he stepped into the dust, appearing on the other side with a determined expression on face.
"Who the hell do you think you are!" a voice shouted, a large figure rising out of a throne carved out of a single block of gold.
"I am Goku Son, and I'm here for the Dragonballs," Goku said mater-of-factly. The large man, looking like a taller, more powerful form of the officers he had so far encountered, gave off a bemused chortle and then strode down the steps of his dais and put his hand on a large sealed container.
"So, you want these do you?" he said, turning to watch Goku's expression. "You'll have to fight me for them!"
"Buddy, you so don't want to fight me," Goku said, taking another step into the room.
"On the contrary, Goku, I do want to fight you, and you will fight me."
"Fine, let's get this over with. I'm on a tight deadline here!" Goku shouted back, dropping back into a fighting crouch. "Just tell me one thing."
"Of course, Goku."
"Who the hell are you?" Goku asked.
His adversary grinned, reaching up to his throat and snapping with ease the thick chain that held his cloak to his armour, the dark fabric fluttering to the floor and then away, caught by the breeze.
Then giving Goku one last glance, he roared: "I am Omega!"
** * ** * **
Gohan's body shook as Brolli's boo slammed of his already damaged chest, a disconcerting cracking sound filling the demi-Saiyan's ears. Brolli's foot flicked up and caught Gohan under the chin, causing the younger warrior to stagger back several paces; then a heavy blow to the chest again sent him toppling backwards over a boulder. Gohan's back hit the ground heavily, and he winced as pain flooded over his chest with the sound of splintering. He was growing worried about his lungs: if splinters of bone managed to work their way into his delicate innards, his combat potential would be severely hampered.
"Give up, scum, and I can make your death painless." Brolli chided, kicking Gohan in the side, sending him sprawling across the ground.
"Why don't you go fuck yourself," Gohan managed to say, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the floor.
"Clever," Brolli said, striding forwards. "But you're failing, you must see that."
"All I can see is your death," Gohan replied, pushing himself away from the floor in a burst of energy.
"What the… ARGH!" Brolli screamed and staggered forwards as Gohan reappeared behind him and slammed both knees into the Brute's back. Not giving Brolli a chance to get over the initial surprise of his speed, Gohan rushed forward, arms and legs a bur as he slammed feet, hands, knees and elbows in Brolli's back and sides and head. Now it was Brolli's turn to squirm as his body was rocked this way and that, his head knocked from side to side, forwards and back as Gohan's flurry of blows knocked the wind out of him.
Gohan gave one last cry and put both hand on Brolli's back, heels together and fingers splayed.
"KAME-HAME-HA!" he cried, a searing flash of energy bursting around Brolli and spreading through the whole canyon like water.
The attack at close range sent Brolli forwards at a horrendous rate, ploughing through the already crumbled canyon wall and deeper into the Earth's crust.
The glow died down, and Gohan heaved as he struggled to keep his breath, which was erratic at best, but still stood unwavering on his feet and watching the hole for any sign of Brolli. But all that could be seen was a large smattering of blood on one of the jagged edge of the rock, and Gohan smiled in triumph. Brolli had been injured, and was bleeding heavily.
Gohan's body shuddered and exhaustion washed over him like the rising tide, his breathing already hampered by his broken ribs, and then his legs slowly gave out, leaving Gohan slumped on the floor.
He was so exhausted he never heard the sound of heavy footsteps landing behind his wrecked body.
As Goku prepares to face-off against the leader of the legions destroying Planet Namek, Gohan lies battered and twisted on the floor after his gruelling battle against the dreaded Brolli, unaware of the presence behind him. Will Goku's battle we short and sweet? Or will his opponent be more powerful than he seems?
Will Gohan and the rest of the Z Fighters back home on Earth survive against Brolli's vicious attacks, or will more fall before our intrepid hero gathers the Dragonballs and makes the wish? Find out next time, in TOTAL WAR!!!!!
AN: Sorry it's taken a while to get the chapter posted, you all probably think I'm dead or something. Oh, and sorry that it's so small, but I wanted to finish on some sort of cliff hanger.
Oh, PS: Rabbid Insanity, you crazy bugger! Thanks for all those lovely reviews.
Paul.