Chapter Five:
Gohan's fighting instincts had grown a little slow, but he still was far faster than any of the Z warriors except for Goku or Vegeta. He did the first thing his instincts told him to do. He swung.
The punch connected solidly with Osiris' face, right on the bridge of the nose, and Gohan heard the momentarily satisfying crunch of breaking bone.
Then a wave of pain hit him, and he realized something. He had just absolutely demolished most of the bones in his left hand.
He pulled his hand back slowly, not crying out, not even letting the pain show on his face. But he was in quite a bit of pain, mostly because he had not done the one thing he should have done: engaged his mystic form before he had attacked. He cupped his injured left hand in his good one, again moving in exaggerated slowness, blocking out the pain.
"My, that was very poor." Osiris laughed. He simply floated where he had been, his arms crossed in front of him, a playful smile pasted on his face. "Please tell me you're not the best this planet has to offer."
There was a flash of white light as Krillin and Piccolo's aura's burst to life around them, and a slight wind as Juuhachi-gou powered up.
"Going to attack me?" Osiris raised an eyebrow over one icy cold eye. "Don't bother. It's a waste of time and energy."
Obviously, he didn't expect any of them to listen to him, and he wasn't disappointed. He had to move very quickly as two feet from a namek and a cyborg, and a foot from a human, all came flying at him.
They hit nothing but air.
Piccolo's eyes grew wide. "What the.... I didn't even see him move!"
He felt a small tap on his shoulder.
Piccolo turned his head slowly, knowing he was going to see a marble face and eyes of ice smiling behind him. And he was right.
"Hello." Osiris said with a smile, and planted a fist into Piccolo's lower spine.
The reaction was instant. The namek's eyes grew wide, and his mouth flew open, a few drops of blood spraying out. A bulge appeared in his stomach, showing where Osiris was still pushing his hand through.
"Help..." Piccolo's voice gurgled out.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light, and before he could turn to see what it was, Osiris felt Gohan's fist, with his whole mystic power behind it, slam into the side of his head and send him flying.
Goten and Uubu were staring with wide eyes across the sky, not actually looking at anything, but feeling the battle with their minds. Trunks had come to only a minute after Uubu had rendered him unconscious, and he was now sitting with his back to a pillar, sulkily monitoring the battle.
"Something's wrong." Uubu said in a low voice. "With whoever they're fighting.... something's really not right. I can sense the immense power in him.... but he doesn't even seem to be using ki at all!"
Goten nodded. "It's like..." he stopped, not really knowing what he had been about to say.
"Gohan's hurt." he said after a pause. "I think he hurt his hand."
Uubu nodded. There wasn't really any way to reply.
"He... he needs a senzu bean."
Uubu nodded again.
Suddenly Trunks' head jerked up. "Hey, Goten!"
The younger demi-saiyajin turned and looked at his friend.
"I have an idea!" Trunks said excitedly. He had jumped to his feet, and now he ran forward and grabbed Goten by the shoulders. "We may not be strong enough by ourselves to fight whoever it is that Gohan and the others are fighting, but maybe..."
Suddenly Goten's eyes lit up. "...together. Trunks, you're a genius!"
Uubu was looking at the two boys in confusion. "What are you to talking about?"
Goten laughed out loud. "We're talking about fusion! I may not be strong enough, and Trunks may not be strong enough, but I bet Gotenks is!"
The same realization that had dawned in Goten's eyes now dawned in Uubu's. "Goku-sensei told me about that! You mean you can still do it?"
They nodded.
"If we can just get the dance right, that is." Trunks said. "We haven't really done it in a long time."
Goten chuckled. "We can do it. You'll see."
Gohan saw the look of surprise on Osiris' face as his face contorted from the impact of a fist. It was only for a split second before the vampire was sent flying, but it was still extremely satisfying.
Osiris brought himself to a stop about twenty feet away, and he simply stopped there and glared at Gohan, the humor gone from his face in an instant, his smile curled into a snarl. He didn't really even move, just sat there and glared, looking for all the world like a marble statue.
"Gohan." Piccolo said gruffly, and he coughed up a bit of blood. "Run... run to Korin's and get a senzu bean for your hand. We'll stall him until you get back."
Gohan shook his head violently back and forth. His injured hand was held protectively against his stomach. "No way I'm running off and leaving you guys to hold the fort, Piccolo-san. Hurt or not."
Suddenly Krillin's voice rang out. "Look out!!"
Gohan had taken his gaze of Osiris to look at Piccolo, and now instantly regretted it. When he turned his head the small degree it needed, he just had time to catch a glimpse of the vampire's snarl before a fist slammed into his stomach.
The pain was unbearable, filling the whole world. He had felt the muffled crunch as at least a couple of his ribs gave way.
Osiris bent his head forward until it was next to Gohan's ear, less than an inch away from his skin. The snarl of rage was gone and the smile was back, but it wasn't the humorous smile anymore. It was filled with rage, his lips curled back to reveal perfect white teeth, framed by razor sharp canines.
"You hit me." he whispered in Gohan's ear, and the words seemed to cut through the pain and move in past it. "You hit me from a blind side, with no warning." he snarled, pulling his hand back and slamming it forward again. There was a muffled sound like a bamboo pole snapping as more of Gohan's ribs broke.
He pulled his fist back again, but before it could slam forward, Krillin and Juuhachi-gou intercepted him.
"Monster!!" Krillin yelled out, and Osiris had to pull his punching hand up to block the kick the human had aimed for his head.
"Hiya!!" Juuhachi-gou's voice rang, and Osiris wasn't fast enough in turning to block as an elbow hit the spot in the back of the head where the spine connected to the skull. He let out a cry of pain, the first in perhaps centuries, as Gohan fell from his grasp and he spun to face his new opponents.
Goku's head had been bowed in thought, but now it snapped up in alarm.
"Vegeta!" he yelled out, and the saiyajin next to him snapped up as well.
"What is it, Kakarott?"
"Do you feel that? Something's happening on earth!"
Vegeta's eyes widened. "What's happening?"
Goku shook his head, frustrated. "I don't know. There's some kind of interference in the ki signals from earth. But I'm pretty sure there's a battle going on."
Vegeta jumped to his feet. "Well, if there's a battle, take us home!"
Goku nodded and stood up. "I'm sorry, Kai's, but we have to go."
He put a hand on Vegeta's shoulder, and with the other he put two fingers to his forehead and concentrated.
Nothing happened. Goku's brow wrinkled.
Still nothing happened.
"What's wrong now, Kakarott!?" Vegeta almost screamed. "We have to get back, so quit fooling around!"
Goku slowly lowered his hands. "I can't."
Vegeta's eyes widened. "What do you mean, 'can't'?"
Goku shrugged. "Whatever is interfering in sensing ki, it's pretty bad. I can't get a fix on anyone on earth."
Vegeta's eyes widened even more. "Explain."
Goku sighed. "To use the instant transmission, I have to focus on a ki in the place I want to go. So, if I can't sense ki, I can't teleport."
"Does that mean..."
Goku nodded. "Until whatever is interfering clears up, we're stuck here."
Krillin flew at Osiris as fast as he could, hoping against hope that he could catch the monster off guard, that maybe he would be lucky enough. He was not.
Before he got within five feet, the vampire had flown up to meet him, and had an icy cold hand around his throat. In the flash of a second, he had gone from being on the offensive to gasping desperately for air.
"Stop it!!" Juuhachi-gou screamed, and charged.
A hand that she never saw slammed up, hitting her face like a brick and knocking her back. Her eyes shut involuntarily as she flew, and when she finally came to a stop, she was almost twenty yards away.
She opened her eyes, trying to see past the pain. She flew forward and was about to attack again, when Osiris' gaze pin-wheeled from her husband and met hers.
She froze in the air, not able to move, and not even thinking about it. Because two things had suddenly taken up equal halves of her mind, obscuring all rational thought. There was an absolutely mind numbing pain, making her whole body feel like it was burning from the inside out.
And there was a sight.
The icy blue of the vampire's eyes had suddenly changed. Now it looked like the flickering blue of a very hot fire. And the irises were spinning.
This and the horrible screaming pain froze her in place for the space of about two seconds. Not long enough for Gohan and Piccolo to reach her, which they were trying to do, but most certainly long enough for what was causing the pain to complete it's quick work.
The powerful force that wasn't ki flashed at Juuhachi-gou fro Osiris' eyes, and for a second they flashed bright, two points of brilliance in the stark white face.
Then Juuhachi-gou exploded.
Vegeta paced back and forth across the smooth grass of Kaio-shin-Kai, almost wearing a trench in the ground. He had a look of mixed anger and helplessness on his face.
Suddenly he turned to Goku and yelled, "Keep trying, Kakarott!!"
Goku let out a harsh sigh. "I have been Vegeta. I'm trying now, and I was trying the last time you yelled at me, and the time before that. It's just not working."
Vegeta scoffed angrily and resumed his pacing.
Kaio-bit, King Kai, Dende, and the old Kaio-shin were all still there, but the other three Kais had gone already. Dende and King Kai were looking at the two saiyajin with extreme worry, and Kaio-bit was trying to sense anything on earth along with Goku. Old Kaio-shin was still reading a comic book.
"It's no good, Goku." Kaio-bit said. "I'm afraid that the Golden Moon coming is interfering with the earth somehow. The air is changing a bit, or something, in preparation. Perhaps there is another way?" he looked at Goku questioningly.
Goku sighed and shook his head, not to indicate the negative, but because he really didn't know.
"Well, we could always wait for the gateway into hell to appear, and then dive down into hell and get out that way." Dende said.
Goku and Vegeta both froze and looked at him.
"You mean... wait until this gateway appears, then jump down into hell, and come to earth through the gateway?" Vegeta said slowly.
Old Kaio-shin rolled his eyes. "That is what the boy said."
Vegeta ignored the remark. "I suppose that would work. But what do we do in the meantime?"
Dende shrugged. "I guess we wait. If the ki on earth is being interfered with, it probably means that it won't be long."
Vegeta said nothing, just stared for a minute. Then he turned away and resumed pacing.
Goku heaved a deep sigh. "I guess that's the only choice we have."
Osiris smiled as he felt the warrior in his grasp suddenly go tense. Pieces of the woman he had just blown up were falling from the sky, and he watched them, wanting to laugh.
"YOU BASTARD!!" Krillin screamed, and wrenched himself from the vampire's grasp with more power than he even knew he had.
Osiris turned his head in surprise. The little man's ki had just almost doubled. But he had only turned halfway when Piccolo, Gohan, and Krillin all began to attack him at once.
He was surprised that they still had the nerve, but even more surprised that they had the strength. He wasn't having a whole lot of trouble blocking the blows, especially since Gohan's hand was broken, but they were hurting his arms when they hit.
"I may have to use ki after all." he muttered to himself. "But let's hope it doesn't come to that. I still have more power."
He suddenly spun at full speed, so fast that Piccolo and Krillin didn't even see him move, one minute he was blocking, the next.... and Gohan just saw a blur of light.
He was holding Piccolo by the arm.
"I have to hand it to you all, you're not bad." he said, and before any of them had an opening to attack, he spun as quickly as he had grabbed, bringing his hand around in a chop.
Piccolo felt a heat sink into his shoulder, so fast that it wasn't even pain, really.
Then Osiris was six feet away, holing his arm, and purple blood was gushing from his shoulder.
He cried out just a bit, more of a slight grunt of pain, really. He was used to pain, and he had lost limbs many times. But if he was going to be of any use in a fight, he was going to have to take a couple minutes to gather the energy to regenerate.
Gohan was the first to react. Broken ribs, broken hand, and all, he flew as fast as he could at Osiris, swinging his good hand in a punch that had most of his remaining power behind it.
So he was a little surprised when he hit nothing but air.
He immediately glanced to the right and left, the first and easiest directions to dodge in. Nothing. He looked up above him. Still nothing.
"Gohan! Behind you!" Krillin screamed.
He began to turn, feeling as if he was in slow motion. There was only one thought passing through his brain. He had taken so much of a beating already from those few hits; if Osiris was able to land one good blow, he would be pretty well done in.
He was about half way around when a booted foot connected solidly with the small of his back.
His body didn't move at first, everything seemed to be moving much too slowly, like a movie. Blood flew out of his mouth, and his body began to bend at the waist backward. He let out a weak gasp, al that he could manage of the scream that was going on in his brain.
Then his body began to bend forward, and he flew. At least fifty feet or more before he lost the momentum and began to fall, all the way down. He couldn't stop himself, the pain was too great. Except for below his waist. He couldn't feel anything below his waist.
Piccolo and Krillin launched up, trying to do something, anything, that would harm Osiris. But Piccolo was fighting with one arm, and Krillin simply wasn't quite strong enough. Two quick blows that they couldn't see but felt just fine sent them both flying back.
Krillin managed to stay in the air. Piccolo was falling, and landed somewhere among the rocks and sand below.
Osiris chuckled. "I guess it's just you and me, no?" he laughed as he looked at Krillin.
The small warrior was almost out of hope. There was no way he could beat this monster. He had beaten Gohan and Piccolo like nothing. And Juuhachi-gou...
At that thought, he felt lava enter his brain. Before, he had had to mask his fear. Now it vanished, rage consumed him, and he knew one thing. He was going to die, and die with honor. He wouldn't just stand by and be afraid while Juu's killer laughed at him.
"Shine!!!" he screamed, and flew as fast as he could.
He actually took Osiris off guard. The vampire had assumed that Krillin had no fight left in him. Because of this, the former monk's fist connected solidly with Osiris' jaw.
And somehow, he was actually in pain!!
He twisted his head back around, fixing his eyes on Krillin. For a moment, he considered just blowing the little man to bits with his mind, like he had the other. But that was too easy, and he wanted to get a few good blows in. The squirt had actually had the nerve to hit him!
Krillin swung a kick, trying to hit Osiris' ribs. This time, the vampire blocked it with relative ease.
"Please, don't tire yourself." he laughed as Krillin threw another barrage of punches and kicks. He blocked every one. "I'm going to destroy you, anyway. Don't you understand? Your little woman is gone, and you will join her."
In the midst of desperately trying to land a good blow, Krillin sensed something. Actually, two somethings. Both headed this way. But one was much closer, almost on top of them.
Suddenly, Krillin saw a flash that looked like a red comet blast out of the sky to the east.
"What the hell..." Osiris began, before it plowed into him.
It drove Osiris quickly out of Krillin's way, and in a straight line to the ground. As they hit, there was a huge boom, and a huge cloud of dust went up, obscuring everything. Krillin shielded his eyes.
When it cleared, there was a huge crater below him. It looked almost half a mile wide, maybe even more. But there was nothing coming from the bottom. No battle. But that didn't make any sense, because he could still sense Osiris and whoever had hit him, both perfectly fine.
He dove down to see what the hell had just happened.
When he got to the ground, he was greeted by a decidedly strange sight.
Osiris was standing at the bottom of the crater, a very angry look on his face, but also puzzlement. Across from him, with the same look, was the boy that had been fighting Vegeta earlier.
They simply stared at each other, not moving or talking.
Krillin landed a good way up the crater, about fifty yards away from the two.
Finally, after almost a full minute of simply staring, Osiris spoke.
"What in the hell are you doing here?" he said, his voice thick with anger. Not hated, not that at all, but a sort of confusion.
The vampire with the red hair smirked a bit. "I suppose I could ask you the same question. But that would be pretty pointless, since I can pretty well guess why you're here."
Osiris looked even more angry. "And why is that?"
The other vampire actually laughed. "Why, the Golden Moon, of course! Why else would you choose this planet, of all out of the way places, to terrorize?" the vampire stopped his laughter and merely smiled, the anger gone. "You lust too much after power. You always have." he added almost as an afterthought.
Osiris growled. "I don't have time for your lectures on ethics, Arda. I have," he glanced in Krillin's direction and sneered. "Unfinished business to accomplish."
Arda shook his head slowly, as if he were disappointed in a child. "So I see. But why? We have other things to do, much more urgent and important things."
Osiris raised an eyebrow, but the anger was still on his face. "Like what?"
Arda shook his head again. "Trust me for now. But we have to take care of these people you've just almost killed. And hopefully the one you did kill can be brought back."
Osiris' scowl deepened. "Brought back? You mean that you're going to let these pathetic mortals live, and take the power of the Golden Moon?" he snarled and clenched his fist in anger. "Let them take it!?" he yelled again.
Arda's eyes narrowed. "Osiris, you don't need a power like that. Especially not at the expense of these mortal's lives. Why did you have to do all this?"
"Shut up!" Osiris yelled, absolute rage boiling in his eyes. "Mortals are stupid, worthless creatures! Now get out of my way, or I'll kill you as well!!"
Arda's eyes went wide with surprise, then he spun and yelled to Krillin. "You! Go find your friends, and do whatever you can!"
Then he turned back toward the other vampire. "I'll take care of you."
Krillin didn't wait for a response. He flew, trying as hard as he could to pinpoint the faint kis of Gohan and Piccolo.
Goten had the bag of senzu beans tucked safely into his pouch and was about to take off with Uubu and Trunks when Korin suddenly held up a paw and called out, "Wait!"
The three boys spun around and looked questioningly at the cat/god. Korin simply stood, sensing ki like he was testing the wind. Something vary peculiar was happening, and it was getting harder and harder to sense ki clearly.
"I don't think you boys will have to fight right now after all." he said at last. "But you need to take those senzu beans to Gohan and Piccolo quickly!"
Goten nodded slowly. He wasn't sure why Korin was so sure that they wouldn't have to fight, but he really didn't want to argue. He was more concerned about his brother and Piccolo at the present moment. They had all been able to sense the two warriors go down.
"Where are they?" Uubu asked. "Are they all still in the same place? I can't sense hardly any ki. It's like we're being blocked, or something."
Korin nodded. "They're in roughly the same place. And you'll be able to sense ki better when you get closer. It's the Golden Moon. It won't be long now before the darkness starts."
This was true. Even now they could see what looked like dark storm clouds far away on the horizon.
"We'll be back soon." Trunks said, and as if that was their cue, all the boys took off.
Korin said nothing, just stood and watched. The dark clouds were far away now, but they were moving closer. He thought that they had perhaps an hour, if even that.