Chapter Ten:
Goku stared as bravely as possible into oncoming death, knowing that he had failed; the earth was doomed. It was something of a new experience. Always before he had been able to defeat whatever was threatening him or his friends, or his home. Now it was over.
And it wasn't just the earth that was in danger, not at all. One this planet was gone, there was no reason for Morgoth to stop. He would move on to another, and another, until in the span of perhaps centuries, all life was wiped out.
As Goku looked into the blast that was about to destroy him, he knew tat somehow he had to stop it from happening. But how?
Then, suddenly, he sensed it.
Gohan.
Morgoth apparently felt it too, because the blast that had been gathering in his palm fizzled out, and he looked to the right, toward the gateway to hell, the pillar of silver light that had been there the whole time, not changing even when Morgoth had covered the entire planet in a giant ki blast.
"Another?" the demon mused. "Strange. I didn't know there were any more warriors on this planet. I wonder where he came from?" Morgoth seemed curious, but not really worried. Which wasn't that strange, because Gohan's power didn't seem to have changed at all; it was about half of Goku's, maybe less.
Please… Goku pleaded with his mind to anyone or anything that could possibly hear. Gohan, stay away. If you come here now, you'll be killed. Please, don't try to save me.
It wasn't working. Gohan was headed straight for them.
"Well, I guess it's a few more moments of amusement for me." Morgoth sighed, turning to face the direction Gohan was coming from.
Goku saw an opening with a warriors instinct, and desperately dove, jumping up and throwing a fist toward Morgoth. The demon, however, reached a hand out without turning back and slapped Goku to the ground as effortlessly as if he were a paper doll.
"I thought you said attacking from behind was dishonorable." Morgoth chuckled.
Goku said nothing, just sensed Gohan's ki moving closer and closer, and worried for his son's life. The demi-saiyajin's ki was now a visible white dot on the horizon.
"Well, I can't just wait here all day. I guess I'll have to go meet the boy." Morgoth smiled, and a blaze of purple and black ki surrounded him as he blasted off.
"No!" Goku struggled to his feet, letting his own white aura flare around him; he was now far too tired to go super saiyajin. "I can't let him kill Gohan!"
Goku flew off as quickly as he could after Morgoth.
Gohan's mystic power crackled around him, propelling him forward at speeds that no jet could rival. He felt the secret of the Kaio-ken inside him, an ability in his mind that felt like a chunk of gold; the key to victory.
Just hold on for a little longer, guys. He thought. I don't know if I can beat this guy, but I'm going to try my best.
Gohan sensed Morgoth, and could tell that he was immensely strong, making the tyrannical Majin Buu look like a puppy. But there was something strange about the demonic ki of his soon to be opponent. It was clouded, hard to gauge. He couldn't tell if he could surpass it.
Of course he would find out soon enough. Morgoth had sensed him, and was coming closer.
The two actually meeting in the middle was less than exciting. At the speeds they were capable of, it only took milliseconds to cover the distance. As they drew close, both pulled up and stopped, staring at each other.
For a few seconds, they just looked at each other, Gohan's face stony and angry, Morgoth's a smirk.
"You must be Morgoth." Gohan said at last. "You're the one who killed everyone on this planet. For that, I'm going to destroy you."
Morgoth laughed softly. "I can't tell you how many times I've heard that today. I hope you'll be more fun than all those others that said the same thing."
Gohan's eyes narrowed. "I don't think it's going to be fun at all. Unless you like death."
"Oh, let's just get this over with. And I suggest you start with your full strength. Unless that's all the power you have. If it is, this is going to be quite boring."
Gohan smiled, but it wasn't a happy smile at all. "Don't worry."
It was time to start things off from the top, and use all his power to destroy this thing.
"Double Kaio-ken!!" he screamed, as red energy burst around him, his power increasing quadruple, shooting into the stratosphere.
Goku finally caught up, but stopped abruptly about one hundred yards away when he felt and saw what Gohan was doing.
Oh, Kami! He screamed mentally. He's even stronger than me now!
Gohan screamed as the power rushed through him, beyond anything he'd ever dreamed, his aura a blinding red flame of ki over twenty feet tall. He couldn't even comprehend the amount of power he felt inside him, threatening to tear him apart but giving him the strength to hold together at the same time.
I had no idea this kind of strength was possible. Maybe I can really do this.
The cry of power stopped now, and he gazed at Morgoth with eyes that read death.
"Your time is up."
Then he attacked.
A white hand broke through a barrier of dirt and rubble, followed by a muscular arm. The hand dug into the earth and pulled, until Arda yanked himself out of the ground.
The vampire looked around himself with wide, almost confused eyes and shook the dirt out of his hair.
"Where are the others?"
"Well, I'm alive." Arda turned his head toward the voice and saw Vegeta, now very battered indeed, pulling himself out of the rubble in much the same way as he had himself. The saiyajin prince's ki was low and erratic, indicating exhaustion.
"Unfortunately." The voice of Osiris came. He was standing off to one side, dirty but otherwise unharmed. "It took you two long enough to come to."
"Shut up." Vegeta growled, pulling himself to his feet. "I can't help the fact that I've done more fighting than you have."
"Where is everyone else?" Arda asked. "We got blown a long way by the explosions from our attacks."
No one knew, and it didn't really matter. Just then was when Gohan engaged the double Kaio-ken, and the red light of his aura was visible from where the three warriors were standing.
"Is that Kakarott's brat!?" Vegeta asked in disbelief. "How could he possibly have gotten that strong?"
Osiris was almost speechless. "Is that the boy I defeated earlier?"
Vegeta frowned in the vampire's direction. "You mean the boy you brutally murdered? Yes that's him." Then the saiyajin prince smiled. "I suggest you watch yourself, if you meet him again."
"Oh, both of you stop it." Arda said impatiently. "We have to find the others, and make sure they're alright. I think Gohan can handle himself. At least for now."
Seemingly also in the middle of nowhere, over half a mile from where Vegeta and the two vampires stood, one of the few boulders that had not been yet smashed to rubble tipped over onto the ground, breaking apart. Krillin crawled out from the hollow where it had been resting, followed closely by Goten and Trunks.
"Just my luck." The small human mumbled. "To get buried under the only big friggin rock left on the planet. Figures."
"Do you sense that!?" Trunks cut in, oblivious to Krillin's complaining. "Goten, that feels like your brother! Kami, he's powerful!"
The younger demi-saiyajin's brow furrowed slightly. "Are you sure? It does feel like Gohan, but he was…" he trailed off, not wanting to say 'dead', but not willing to let himself hope that Gohan was still alive.
"That's him alright." Krillin said, complaints forgotten. "I would know that ki signature anywhere! But I have no idea how he got so strong so fast."
Neither of the two demi-saiyajin had an answer for that.
After a pause, Trunks finally spoke up.
"Let's go find the others."
Goku was beyond exhaustion, and his thoughts were a little muddled and strange. So when Gohan flew faster than he could track, and apparently also faster than Morgoth could track, and slammed an elbow into the demon's face, the saiyajin at first wasn't even sure of what he was seeing.
Morgoth was sent flying backward, but Gohan didn't wait for him to stop. He blurred out, coming to a stop behind Morgoth apparently with ease, and sent a roundhouse kick to his opponent's back that sent Morgoth straight to the ground, throwing clouds of smoke and dirt into the air.
The demi-saiyajin looked down stonily, red energy still coursing around his body, waiting for Morgoth to come back up.
He didn't. What came instead was a huge ball of purple and black ki, seemingly formed instantly from nothing. It shot up at Gohan with frightening speed, giving him only a second to throw his hands down and block. It pushed against him, threatening to break through, but he poured energy on, and deflected it at an angle, sending it harmlessly up into space.
Before he was able to collect himself, Morgoth blurred in behind him and slammed a hard uppercut into his spine, sending off a bolt of pain to remind Gohan that this wasn't just a walk in the park. The demi-saiyajin spun to counterattack, only to find nothing there.
"Above you!!"
Gohan had no time to register his father's voice before two fists, laced together, slammed down on the top of his skull, shooting agony all the way down to his toes and shooting him down to the rocks below. Morgoth quickly followed.
Pushing the pain back and righting himself, Gohan crashed into the ground on his hands and feet, immediately propelling himself back upward to meet his attacker.
The two swung fists at the same time, their punches meeting each other with clashes of energy that went off into the air in waves. A battle of blows began, each sending off waves of ki through the air and into the ground, tearing apart the landscape even further. Neither of the two could land a blow, but while Gohan was remaining levelheaded, Morgoth was getting more and more angry, and beginning to throw blows wildly. It was only a matter of time before Gohan saw an opening.
Morgoth swung angrily at Gohan's face, but neglected to guard his midsection. Gohan ducked out of the way of the poorly planned blow, and planted a fist as hard as he could into the demon's midsection. Without pausing, he rotated and slammed an elbow into Morgoth's face, sending him flying upward.
Now almost howling in rage, Morgoth cupped his hands behind him almost like a kamehameha, not bothering to stop his ascent, and fired a huge beam of purple down on Gohan.
The demi saiyajin calmly powered up his own attack.
"Ka… me… ha… me… HE!!"
The beam of gold and the beam of purple collided.