Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. The last incarnation of the Disclaimer of Destiny! MWUHAHAHAHAHA!


Chapter 6

Hanging suspended in midair were Goku and Piccolo, looking down towards the creature. It turned to face them, Krillin apparently forgotten. The two new fighters slowly drifted to the ground.

"Goku!" Krillin shouted. "We all thought you were dead!"

Goku laughed. "Nope. Piccolo saved me."

Krillin stared at him. "Piccolo... saved you?"

"That's right." Then he grew more serious. "Krillin, where is everyone else?"

Krillin looked at his feet. "They're all dead. Tien and Chao Zu and me tried to attack him, but he was too strong for us."

Goku looked the creature in the eyes. "You'll pay for killing my friends."

"Not to mention for killing on my planet without my permission." Piccolo added with a sardonic smirk.

The creature seemed unimpressed. It merely reached behind its back and took out the rod again. The blade snapped out and it took a stance.

"Enough of this talking." Piccolo snarled. "We're going to end this now." He lunged at the creature. Goku was only a beat behind him.

Piccolo ran straight at the enemy, but as it slashed, he vanished and Goku reappeared in his place, delivering a punch to its head. At the same time, Piccolo lashed out from behind with a kick. The creature whirled around and hit Goku in the face with the back of its weapon. Completing the turn, it struck at Piccolo with a backhanded slash. he ducked under the attack, but was hit full in the face by the pommel of the staff.

Goku took advantage of the creature's distraction and delivered a solid kick to the back of its head. It staggered forward, and Piccolo's foot shot up under the extensive armour to strike its crotch. It howled in pain. Piccolo rolled out from under it and sprang to his feet. He smirked. "Man, am I ever glad I don't have nuts."

The creature righted itself and roared. The small cannon on its shoulder locked onto Piccolo and fired. He dodged just in time, but the creature fired again. And again.

Goku leapt at the enemy, but it turned and backhanded him into a tree. It shot a blast at him just as he hit. Barely in time, he fired a blast of his own. The two collided and exploded spectacularly. Hoping to surprise his enemy, Goku jumped through the smoke, sensing the creature's position. But it knew full well where he was and slashed at him as soon as he cleared the smoke. A quick kick deflected the blade but did nothing about the foot that struck his ribs. He rolled a few times before coming to his feet again.

Piccolo fired a ki blast at the creature. It dodged and lunged at him. he dodged the first slash, but the second cut deep into his shoulder. He screamed in pain.

Just before the twin blades could remove his head, Goku leapt and struck the creature in its back. It stumbled forward, tripped over Piccolo and fell flat on its face. It half turned and fired at Goku, who dodged nimbly and landed on his feet.

"Piccolo, are you all right?"

Piccolo groaned. "Almost." he came to his feet. This isn't good, he thought. We've all given and taken our hits, but he doesn't seem the least bit fazed. Me, I'm hurting like hell, and it doesn't look like monkey boy is any better off. He snarled. "Let's go. I'm not getting any younger." He attacked again.

The battle was really starting to take its toll on both Goku and Piccolo. Working together, they were able to get soem solid hits in, but the creature never seemed to be bothered by them for long. The blades were an ever-present danger, because one slash could mean the end.

A snap kick to Goku's chest sent him flying like a rag doll. Piccolo went for the opening, but he was too slow and the creature's blade cut through his left arm, severing it. He fell forward, groaning in agony. Its twin blades slashed at his left leg, cutting deep. Piccolo fell, unable to stay on his feet. The creature towered over him, its blade ready to deliver the final blow.

A ki blast hit it in the side, driving it away. Goku landed next to Piccolo and promptly sank to his knees from exhaustion.

Piccolo tried to snarl. "Fool... should've acted... sooner. I'll take... too long to regenerate. Can't help you... anymore."

Goku laughed painfully. "Yeah, I understand. Man, he's a lot stronger than I thought."

"Talent for... stating the obvious... astounding." Piccolo forced out. Then his head fell to the ground.

Goku folded his legs under him, breathing heavily. He had absolutely no idea how he was going to win on his own. The creature was simply too strong.

Some distance away, it came to its feet again. There still wasn't a mark on its body. Goku grinned wryly. I wish I had that kind of power. He scowled. But I don't. And unless I think of something soon, I won't have any power at all.

Something fell into his lap.

He looked down.

A reddish-brown staff, as long as his arm.

He knew it well. He grinned broadly and came to his feet again, grasping the pole in both hands. "All right." he said. "Let's try again." And he attacked.

Instead of dodging the first slash, he took it on the staff. The blades would have cut through any ordinary staff. But the Pole was unbreakable, so the blades were stopped. The creature hadn't counted on that, and was unable to defend against Goku's sudden onslaught. He punched the creature's stomach again and again, forcing it backwards. Whirling around, he struck it across the face with the staff, knocking off the helmet.

Two bright yellow eyes settled on his face. They radiated pure malevolence.

Its face was a horror. A small mouth, holding eight small teeth. Around it, four mandibles spread out. The forehead was broad and a ridge sat above its brow, sweeping to the back of the head, where thick braids of hair hung from it.

"Wow... no wonder you're so mad." Goku said.

The creature roared, throwing out its arms. Then it attacked.

This time, however, Goku was easily able to hold its own. Now armed with a weapon to parry the creature's slashes, his superior speed began to make a real difference, and his attacks were no longer reduced to snap shots. he could put his full power behind an attack, and the creature was soon sporting the marks to show it.

It slashed at Goku with its twin blades. He caught the attack on the staff and delivered a powerful kick to the creature's head. It stumbled backwards and swung wildly with its other blade. Goku's right hand closed on the rod and pulled as he whirled to his left. Releasing the rod, both hands closed on his staff to deliver a massive blow to the creature's undefended back.

With an audible crack, the pole struck.

The creature roared, not in anger but pain this time. It sank to its knees, dropping the bladed staff. It tried to stand up, but failed and rolled onto its back.

Goku stood over it, staff in both hands. "It's over. Give up." he said.

The creature laughed. It laughed so hard Goku had to cover his ears. It reached for its left gauntlet and popped open a panel. It punched in a sequence on the revealed buttons and laid on its back as the gauntlet began to beep. As the beeps came faster and faster, the creature looked Goku in the eyes.

"Ciao, Goku."

Goku's eyes widened as he realised what it had done. "Oh no! He's going to kill all of us!" he yelled. he jumped in the air. Flying up a hundred meters, he cupped his hands in front of him. He focussed his power as fast as he could.

"Ka..." He brought his hands to his side.
"Me..." A pinpoint of energy gathered between his hands.
"Ha..." The pinpoint grew into a glowing ball of deadly power.
"Me..." The ball grew even brighter, and white waves of power rippled from it.
"HAAAA!" Goku thrust his hands out in front of him. A wave of blue-white energy launched from his hands to surge towards the ground below. Goku grunted and the beam grew broader. Then it hit its target.

An inhuman roar rose above the screaming of the energy from the Kamehameha. It continued as Goku poured more and more energy into the attack. A crater formed and the beam drilled deeper and deeper into the ground. Finally, the scream faded and Goku released the attack.

He drifted to the ground as th dust began to settle. "Krillin?" he shouted.

A soft coughing answered his call. he flew towards the source and found Krillin buried under a pile of dust. "I'm okay, Goku. Man, that was some attack."

"Yeah. I think he was going to self-destruct and blow us all up. I couldn't let that happen."

Krillin shook his head and stared into the crater made by Goku's attack. "I wonder what it was and why it was attacking us."

Goku shrugged. "I guess we'll never know."

"Hey, what about..."

Before he could finish his sentence, Krillin was interrupted by a gruff voice: "Thanks for the concern, cueball, but I'm just fine." Piccolo was on his feet again. His arm hadn't regrown yet, but his leg seemed undamaged.

"Piccolo!" Goku exclaimed happily. "I'm glad you made it!"

Piccolo sneered. "Don't think for a second this changes anything between us, Goku. Next time we meet, I will kill you. Then I'll get around to this planet." He turned and leapt into the air. A few seconds later, he was gone.

Krillin watched him go. "Man, he's so weird."

"I think he's not so bad deep down inside." Goku said with a smile.

Then he looked up into the sky and waved at the air. "Thank you, Kami!" As he waved he heard a chuckle in his head. You're welcome, Goku.

"Goku, who are you talking to?" Krillin said after looking around.

Goku smiled. "Ah, no one."

Krillin sobered. "So what do we do now?"

"Well, that's easy. We go home and rest a little. Then we get the Dragon radar from Bulma to wish our friends back to life."

"All right!" Krillin said with a happy grin on his face.

They jumped into the air and headed for Goku's house.

"Oh, by the way, Goku, I meant to ask you." Krillin said. "You never told me why Chi Chi was in the hospital."

"Oh, that's right." Goku smiled. "She pregnant."

Krillin was lucky he wasn't flying alone; had Goku not caught him, he would have fallen to the ground.

The End


++++++++++


So, tell me what you think! Honest reviews are very much appreciated. Hope you enjoyed it!