Chapter 11: The pawn

Denethor lifted his head from the wooden table he was currently sitting at and stared into the mystical sphere once more. 'Why hasn't he made his move?' he wondered to himself as, suddenly, an image appeared in the palantir. It was a message written in the ancient and evil tongue of Mordor, and it said: 'King's pawn to king's pawn 4'. Denethor looked at his chess board and moved the appropriate piece to the appropriate place. 'Hmm…' he thought to himself whilst stroking his chin. 'The Dark Lord isn't very good at chess'. He turned his sand timer over and began to plan his next plan. His train of thought was soon broken though by the entrance of his son, Faramir. The door opened and in he walked with a very worried look on his face.
"Father, I have important news," he exclaimed. His face looked very red, as if he had been running some distance to bring the news. His breath was beginning to return and he ran his hand over his forehead to remove the sweat that had accumulated.
"Not now Faramir," replied the king. "I'm playing the Dark Lord at chess."
"The news concerns the Dark Lord father."
Denethor turned in his chair to face his son, suddenly seeming very interested in what he had to say.
"Have you discovered his strategy?" he asked, excitedly.
"Strategy?" asked his confused son.
"Yes. I can take his queen in four moves, but I have a feeling he has a trick up his sleeve."
"No, it's got nothing to do with chess father."
Denethor turned back to the table and contemplated his next move, ignoring Faramir's presence. The latter was not about to give up so easily though.
"The army of Mordor has gathered. They are ready to move west and I fear their plan is to attack Gondor."
This earned Denethor's interest once more. He looked into the palantir with a look of contempt and wondered how he could have been so stupid.
"It seems this chess game was just a diversion tactic," he said. "Very clever Sauron, but you won't fool me that easily. Chess is just a game, but a game you have decided to play for real. I accept your new challenge and shall crush your real army as I was about to your chess one."
Sauron heard the king's words and was confused and insulted by them. He had had no ulterior motive when he had decided to play Denethor at chess. Being bodiless and having had his land and minions and ring taken over by an intruder, most of his time was now spent in complete and utter boredom. Chess was all he could think to do to pass the next infinite eternities. However, Faramir's news had been correct. The army of Mordor had, indeed, gathered with the intention of waging war on Gondor. It was Denethor's assumption that Sauron would be the one to launch the attack that was wrong. There was a new Dark Lord, but only Mordor knew it. Vegeta would be the one to crush the king and all his land. Sauron merely wanted to prove his superior intelligence.
"Where's your brother?" asked the king.
"He stepped out to Rivendell," replied his son.
"Damn. Well, I really wanted him to lead the army, but I guess you'll have to do it. Gather the troops and attack tomorrow morning or whenever you feel like it, then report back to me."
Faramir was too pleased at the chance he had been given to notice that his father couldn't really care less if he lived or died. Boromir had always been his favourite son and he made no effort to hide that fact. Faramir was disposable in his opinion, but he did not realise his younger son's capacity for leadership and courage. He had made a fantastic decision without even knowing it.
"Thank you father. I'll do my best to protect Gondor."
"Yeah yeah, whatever. Now go away and leave me alone."
He waited for his son to leave before returning to his game of chess. With Faramir calling the shots, he was free to beat Sauron at his leisure. 'Hmm…' he thought as he eyed the board suspiciously. 'I wonder what he has planned.' He added as an afterthought: 'This game will drive me mad!'

Somewhere to the South of Gondor, a wizard, a Saiyan, a human and a Windlord were resting peacefully amongst a pile of twigs and leaves that had been arranged in no form recognisable to any being bar the four of them. They called it a hut, but the eccentric layout of the structure would probably have been of more use to a modern arts critic looking for a spectacular new piece to analyse. Still, it provided shelter at the few occasions it didn't collapse and luckily the weather was on their side.
It had been necessary to rest as the journey had taken longer than Goku had expected. The Saiyan had not realised that Gwaihar, despite being the Windlord, was rather slow by his standards. He was flying at a crawling pace and the eagle still had to try and keep up. Krillan had a similar experience although not quite as bad seeing as he was not as quick as his old friend. Gandalf had apologised many times on behalf of his old friend, much to its annoyance. Gwaihir felt he was fast enough and reminded the wizard that he(Gwaihir) was the one who knew the path to Mordor by air and if he(Gandalf) didn't shut up, they could all find their own way and get lost and killed by orcs. Few complaints were made after that threat and the rest of the journey had been quite peaceful. It was getting dark, however, and they were all tired. Gandalf decided they should land and camp during nightfall and so they did. Each took his turn to stand guard as Krillan had been terrified by Gwaihir's mention of orcs and did not feel safe on ground anymore. Right now it was finally his turn to protect the camp and he shivered, partly due to his orcphobia, but also because of the cold. He still felt lucky though to have been given the last shift. Not only did that mean he could have a long, uninterrupted lie as soon as they landed, but dawn was near and light began to slowly fill the holes that darkness had previously occupied in the landscape. He felt more relaxed as he reflected upon that thought and lay down for a moment until he fell asleep.

After waking from the first decent night's sleep he had had in a long time, the people's champion opened his eyes and seem startled for a second before he remembered where he was; Home. The place he had not been since Buu had returned and taken over his life. That would never happen again though as he decided never to leave the house again. Sure the people might turn against him and start to realise what a phoney he was, but that was better than a lifetime with the marshmallow. He stepped into the bathroom and, for the first time in a long time, had a shower. This was abnormally exciting for him. Everything was, for it was as if he was experiencing each of the little niceties in life for the first time. The last however many months it had been(He had lost count after a while) had been spent in slavery, though he could not decide if it really was slavery. If someone considered you to be their friend and only wanted to use you for entertainment even though you didn't enjoy your time spent with them, did that make you a slave? No, Hercule decided. It was more like prostitution, even though he wasn't being paid. None of that mattered now though since he was free and could do whatever he liked.
He left the shower after having been in it for forty five minutes, convinced he was finally clean, and walked downstairs to make some breakfast.

The four companions were awoken by the sound of a hundred thousand people all saying 'wop'. (Having just read the Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, I couldn't resist putting that line in). They were really awoken by the sound of steel hitting steel and bloody screams. Gandalf looked at his portable sundial.
"Bloody hell! Half past eleven! The little mole didn't wake us up!"
Krillan stirred and opened his eyes. "Wh..what?" he asked, sleepily.
"You didn't wake us! We slept in!" shouted Gandalf.
"Oh…sorry," Krillan apologised. He wasn't, however, genuinely sorry for delaying their task and possibly causing the destruction of Middle Earth. He just wanted Gandalf off his back.
"Quick," shouted Gandalf. "We have to find the source of the battle."
He mounted Gwaihir, waking him up, and beckoned Goku to join him. Krillan could go to hell as far as he was concerned and he wasn't too bothered whether or not the midget joined them. He was rather disappointed when he did join them though.
They reached a high altitude and witnessed the battle that was occurring in Pelennor Field. Thousands of beings were involved: Humans, orcs, trolls, uruk-hai and other species Gandalf could not recognise were killing each other and severing each others limbs in the most violent manner possible.
"What's going on?" asked Goku.
"Gondor and Mordor are at war," the wizard replied, his head still facing the field. "Vegeta has sent his minions to destroy the Realm. His reign of terror, the new Dark Age, has begun."
Noone spoke for ten seconds after that, after which time Gandalf decided it was okay for him to talk again since none of the others were. "Of course, we might have arrived in time to stop it if that little jake had woken us up!" he said.
Krillan wasn't listening to the wizard's insults though. He was too busy straining his neck to make out an object he had spotted in the sky above the battle. Goku had spotted it too and he was the first to recognise what it was, not by its form, but by its power. Vegeta hovered a hundred feet above the field watching his army being destroyed by the men of Gondor.
The Dark Lord was dismayed by his creatures' performance. He had expected them to at least put up a semi decent fight, but in the short time the battle had been going on for, almost a quarter of his legion had fallen. From this height the field looked red, covered in the blood of many dead orcs and men. The trolls seemed to be holding their own, which was good because they were his greatest asset. Failure was one of Vegeta's least favourite things though. It was also something he could not tolerate. The ground shook as he increased his power slightly, bringing the battle to a sudden halt. He raised his hands and began to power up his Big Bang attack.
Goku sensed what was about to happen and panicked.
"No!" he screamed in vain to the men on the battlefield. "Get out of there! Can't you see you're wasting your lives for no particular reason?"
Even if the men had heard him, they could not have escaped in time. The giant ball floated above them, roughly the size of Gondor's army. None could see the smile on Vegeta's face as he released it, sending both armies to their death.
"I have grown tired of watching you," he exclaimed as the energy ball made its way to the field. "You no longer are of any use to me and so I shall destroy you!" He laughed a maniacal laugh as the ground tore itself apart from the force of the impact. Limbs and weapons and shield flew in all directions in a flash of blinding light. Then came the explosion. It echoed throughout most of Middle Earth, sending a message to the people: There is a new Dark Lord in town, and noone's gonna mess with him.

Good news travels fast, but bad news travels faster, so it worked out that the news of Hercule's return hit the people at the same time as the news of Vegeta's destruction of the entire Gondor army. If only one of those pieces of news had arrived, the champion would have been fine, but the combination of the two would lead to something he did not like the idea of. Naturally, whenever a new source of power threatened the lives of the weak and dependent people of Orange town, they ran to Hercule, their saviour, glorifying him at first to boost his over-inflated ego, before mentioning the danger they were in. It worked every time as it soon would again.
The 'hero' piled the remains of his hearty breakfast into the sink and lay down to let his food digest. He allowed a tear to run from his eye and flow to his chin before falling onto his neck, as he thought about how nice it was to finally be home. He looked at his wife's paintings that still hung on the wall to remind him of her. He was reminded of her now, and this, in turn, reminded him of his daughter, Videl. He suddenly noticed her absence and wondered where she could be. 'Oh well…' he said to himself. 'She's probably safe. She can take care of herself. After all, I trained her.' He put his arms behind his head and continued his fly-by tour of the room. It all looked so new to him after having been away for such a long time. The piano looked as if it had never been touched, the tv as if it had never been switched on…He paused the tour at the realisation that he had not watched tv for ages. He picked up the remote and turned it on as quick as he could, as a man who had not had a glass of water in days would gulp down any offered to him using his last bit of strength. The picture appeared slowly of a man with a microphone standing by a flaming mass of bodies and swords.
"This is the scene from Pelennor field," he said as paramedics worked quickly behind him, searching in vain for anyone who was still alive.
"It was not the battle that caused this carnage," continued the reporter. "The attacker is unknown, but he could be seen hovering above the two armies before the explosion that caused the death of over 4000 men, orcs and trolls. Witnesses say the attacker sent out a giant fireball that exploded upon impact with the field and created the mess we see now."
Hercule's food stopped for a moment in his digestive system and wondered if it should be travelling up instead of down. It wasn't the sight of the bloodshed that caused this reaction; more a gut feeling of impending doom. He wasn't psychic, but he could tell who was at the door when the bell rang ten minutes later.

The smoke still rose high from the battlefield when the reporters arrived. Goku, Gandalf, Krillan and Gwaihir had left around the same time after staring at the scene for a little over half an hour. None of them could believe Vegeta could be that evil. None, that is, bar Gandalf, who knew it was not purely Vegeta who was carrying out the acts. The One Ring had played its part also.
They settled down in a warm, shaded area some distance away where they would be safe for a while. Only Gandalf had said anything since they had left and it was mainly to himself since Goku and Krillan were pre-occupied with thoughts of Vegeta's actions. He spoke about what they had witnessed and the repercussions of it. The plan had to be altered now, much to his distress. He felt he was needed in Mordor, that he could be of great assistance. But now his wisdom was telling him that if the Dark Lord's next step was to plunder and possibly destroy Gondor, then Rohan would be next. If that was the case, he would have to travel there himself and warn their king, Theoden.
"We could use some assistance Goku," he said, finally addressing one of his companions.
Goku turned from both his spot on the rock he was perched on and his thoughts. "What do you mean?" he asked. "I thought we already had a plan that would work."
Krillan became very nervous.
"We did," the wizard answered. "But circumstances have changed that, I'm afraid."
He turned away from them. "I'm working on a new plan, but it would help if your friends were here, Goku."
"I can instant translocate over to Dende's lookout point if you want," said the Saiyan. "Maybe they've finished training."
"That would be wise," replied the wizard. "However, I think it would also be wise to leave the hobbits there. This is a danger far too great for the likes of them."
"Okay. I'll see what I can do."
"Hurry Goku. There isn't much time."
He put two fingers to his head and disappeared. There was an awkward silence between the remaining members of the team.
"So…" Krillan said eventually. "You like movies?"

"Hercule, we love you!" cried an unimaginative member of the endless crowd of people that now filled the champion's garden. Under any other circumstance, he would have loved to hear that phrase coming from one of his fans, but he suspected they had other motives for gathering at his house.
'Don't be stupid,' he told himself. 'They're your fans! They're happy you're finally back! Just make up some story about defending the world against some bad guy in another country and you'll be fine. They only want to worship you. After all, they need someone to worship and who better than the champion?'
Having convinced himself that his fans had no ulterior motive for wanting to see him, Hercule opened the door and made a 'V' sign with his right hand as he posed for his audience. Loud screams rang throughout the people.
"That's right!" he exclaimed with a big grin on his face. "Your champion has returned! I was away saving the world in Africa and I didn't tell anyone I was going cause…um…cause I didn't want the bad guys to find out I was going there through the media. Yeah! I wanted to take them by surprise you see, but I defeated him and saved the world again!"
More screams could be heard this time and Hercule relaxed. 'Phew!' he said quietly. His calmness was soon ruined though by the appearance of a reporter making his way through the crowd.
"Hercule!" the man shouted through a microphone. "Hercule, over here!" He was at the front now and stood beside the 'hero', holding the mic to his face.
"Hercule," he continued. "I take it you've heard of the tragedy of Gondor that happened this morning, right?"
Hercule tried to maintain his grin, ignoring the beads of sweat that now ran down his face. "Um…yes!" he said.
"Did you hear that people?" the reporter shouted with joy. "Hercule's going to save us again!"
The crowd's screams echoed throughout the land.
"But I didn't…" Hercule tried, unsuccessfully, to interrupt.
"Hercule," said the reporter once the noise had died down. "Tell us how you can remain so calm when later today you will be facing the toughest opponent you have ever faced in your life."
"Um…" replied the hero. "Today? Oh, today's not good. I have a cold." He coughed and faked a sneeze."
"Did you hear that people?" asked the reporter with extreme glee. "Hercule says he's going to leave right now! Let's have a big cheer for our saviour, Hercule!"
The people screamed louder than the previous times they had screamed put together. Three men escorted Hercule into a car, unable to hear his excuses and pleas. They too entered the vehicle and sat on either side of him. "We've been hired as your bodyguards," they declared once he was strapped in safely.
"Oh," said Hercule happily. "You mean you're going to fight the bad guy with me? I mean, not that I need your help or anything, but…"
"No sir. We've been told to make sure you arrive at the villain's fortress safely. After that, you're on your own."
Eyewitness reports had led the media to correctly believe the villain's fortress was in Mordor, as Vegeta had been seen flying there after his destructive attack. Hercule fumbled with his seatbelt.
"Is there a problem sir?" asked the bodyguard on his left.
"Oh, no!" said Hercule, nervously. "It was just a little tight. Didn't want it damaging my muscles otherwise I wouldn't be able to fight as well!" he grinned and hoped they'd both buy it.
"A wise precaution sir." Said the bodyguard, and the car took off.

Goku did not like what he saw when he arrived at Dende's lookout point. There was not a person in sight, and he could hear nothing. He knew Dende must be close though as he had used the Nameks energy signature to lock onto for the instant translocation. The power had felt weaker than usual, but still at a high enough level to allow the process to work successfully. Something still didn't feel right though.
He walked into the palace and heard voices coming from the first room on the right. Yamcha was there, and so were Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. Goku entered, confused, and wondered what was going on.
"Goku!" Yamcha exclaimed upon seeing his friend. "What are you doing here? I thought you were on your way to fight Vegeta."
Goku looked around the small room. There were beds standing by the walls and some of them were occupied. On closer inspection, he could see who they were occupied by. The first contained Piccolo. The next had Frodo and Sam, side by side and the one next to them, Merry and Pippin. Dende was in the bed by the far wall and Mr Popo in the one next to him. They were all unconscious and their power levels were very dim.
"What happened here?" Goku asked.
"I don't know," replied Yamcha. "We got back here last night and found them all unconscious."
Goku tried to figure out why this might be, then suddenly realised that his son, Gohan, was not here.
"Where's Gohan?" he asked.
"He wasn't here when we arrived," replied Yamcha.
Goku tried to sense his son's power level but found he couldn't. "He's dead," he said calmly and sat down. Noone said a word.
"He can be brought back with the dragonballs, but whoever did this to him will pay!" he said, louder than before.
"Goku…" Yamcha said, nervously. "There's more. The dragonballs weren't here either. We don't have the radar anymore, but they're nowhere to be found."
Goku suddenly realised what had happened. It must have been Vegeta. He attacked his friends and stole the dragonballs. His anger increased rapidly. "Does he have all seven balls?" he asked through gritted teeth.
"No. We managed to find the last one. It's right here." Yamcha took the dragonball from his pocket and handed it to Goku.
"Good," said the Saiyan. "Then there's still a shred of hope."
He walked over to Dende and placed his hand to the Nameks head. The others watched in amazement as a strange energy field surrounded the two and flowed from Goku to Dende rapidly. Finally, the young healer awoke and opened his eyes. "Goku?" was the first thing he asked.
"Don't get up Dende," Goku said quickly. "I gave you some of my power but you're still very weak."
"Where are the dragonballs?" Dende asked.
"They're gone," replied Goku. "Do you know what happened to them?"
"The Nazgul…" Dende tried to say. "Men in black capes. They attacked us."
At the mention of men in black capes, Goku suddenly remembered the town where they had found the first dragonball and how Vegeta had killed a man in a black cape on a horse.
"Were they on horses?" he asked.
"No…eagles. They came to get the dragonballs…for Vegeta. Where's Videl?" he asked. It might have seemed a strange thing to worry about at a time like this, but Dende was a healer and he still cared deeply for his patients.
"I took her home," said Yamcha. "She was asleep when we arrived and didn't know what had happened, but when she woke up and found you all unconscious and no sign of Gohan, she panicked. I figured she'd be safer back in Orange town, so that's where I took her."
"Good thinking," said Goku. Dende was disappointed though; he figured he had a chance with the girl.
"Why did you come back Goku?" Dende asked.
"Gandalf sent me here. He says he has a new plan and we need more people to carry it out. Something about defending Gondor."
Aragorn turned at the mention of his land. "What of Gondor?" he asked.
"The army of Gondor was fighting the army of Mordor. Vegeta destroyed them both."
Aragorn felt a sudden burst of passion inside of him and stood up in a noble manner. "I swore to Boromir I would defend Minas Tirith. Now it seems I am the only one who can. I will join you in your quest Goku."
"Me too!" said Legolas and Gimli, both at once.
"Okay," said Goku. "Along with Krillan, Gandalf and myself, that makes six. I think maybe Piccolo could help also. Dende, can you revive him?"
"Yes," replied the Namek. "I'll do it now," And he started work.
"Okay. Don't revive the others till we're gone," Goku continued. "Gandalf said we should leave the hobbits to rest and I don't think Goten and Trunks would be safe. They don't understand the seriousness of the situation and would probably get in the way."
When he had finished talking, he looked round to see Piccolo standing, looking stronger than ever.
"Piccolo!" Goku said, sounding surprised. He had not expected to see the Namek looking so healthy so soon. "There's no time to explain, but we need you to come with us right now."
"I'll take your word for it Goku," smiled Piccolo and placed his hand on the Saiyan's shoulder. The others did likewise and in a second they were gone, leaving Dende to heal the others.

With the roads being clear, due to the fact that everyone was too scared to leave their homes, and the fact that his driver had been given authority to break the speed limit, Hercule arrived at Mordor in the middle of the afternoon. The great and powerful fortress of Minas Morgul loomed over the car as over the towering wall, flames leaped from plains of barren land. Hercule's eyes widened and he literally froze for the second time in his life.
"We're here Hercule, sir," announced the driver with a smile on his face as he turned to take a quick look at his hero. "I thought it would be safer to take a side entrance since the main gates will probably be heavily guarded."
Hercule relaxed for a moment after hearing this news.
"Of course, rumour has it that a giant spider protects the entrance to Minas Morgul and no one has ever survived an encounter with her."
"The bodyguards both looked at Hercule, expectantly.
"Oh..oh that doesn't worry me. I can handle a little spider," said Hercule. That much was true. He could handle a little spider when armed with washing-up gloves, a toilet and a set of large tongs. Shelob, the spider that had just been described, would eat him alive for sure.
"Are you ready to go now sir?" the driver asked.
"Um…sure, yeah," replied Hercule. The bodyguards stepped out the car and waited for the champion. He didn't follow them.
"Something wrong sir?" asked one of the bodyguards.
"Oh, nothing really. Just the seatbelt is stuck," Hercule replied. It was a lie, but a pointless one as he knew he would have to play the hero in the end or have his fans discover that he was a fake.
"No problem," said the bodyguard and took out a knife, slicing the seatbelt and freeing Hercule.
"Thanks," said Hercule through gritted teeth. "Um…you guys can leave now. I'll take it from here."
They waited.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" he asked.
"This is an historic moment," replied the driver. "We want to witness the start of your climb."
Hercule nodded. There was no way out of it now. He would have to climb the tower of Minas Morgul, fight the giant spider, Shelob, and battle the most powerful being in the entire world. And so he started to climb. He climbed until he could no longer see the driver or bodyguards anymore and finally heard the car start and travel away at great speed.
"Phew!" he said to himself. "Now I can climb down this thing and lie low until the whole situation blows over."
He began his descent but found he soon had to rest. He sat down on the path and tried to get his breath back, But quickly realised he wasn't alone. Something was approaching him from behind, walking heavily, but at a normal pace. He stayed perfectly still and silent, feeling this might be the end. Whatever was approaching him probably knew he was there, or if not they would soon find out and capture him, probably to torture and kill him. Running along this narrow path was too dangerous an option, so instead he pressed himself against the wall and closed his eyes. The being was beside him now. He could feel its breath on his shoulder. 'I'm doomed' he thought, immediately afterwards thinking that this may have been his last ever thought. A large, heavy finger pressed down on his back.
"BUU!" said the creature.
Hercule screamed.
"Me find you!" Buu exclaimed.
Hercule recovered from a minor heart attack and turned to face the pink blob. "What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Friends steal shiny toy, so Buu look for it. Me go here cause lots of noise here from big boom."
Hercule had spent the best part of a year trying to escape this creature, but for the first time ever, actually felt pleased to see him.
"What you do here?" Buu asked.
Hercule realised this was the perfect opportunity to exploit Buu and retain his hero status. "Oh, I was looking for your shiny toy too!" he lied. "In fact, I know where it is!"
"You know where Buu's shiny toy?" asked Buu.
"Yes! In fact, it's very close Buu. There's a man at the top of this tower who has it. He stole it!"
"Mean man steal Buu's toy?"
"Yes! He also called you fat and ugly too!" He smiled at his genius.
"Man call Buu fat and oogly?"
"Uh huh!"
Steam came out of Buu's head and he turned a deep shade of red before calming down. "You take Buu to man!" he demanded.
"Certainly Buu," said Hercule and climbed on the creature's back. "It will be faster if you fly. Take us high above the tower and I'll show you where he is."
Buu took off with the champion on his back. The latter did not much like flying on the back of such an unstable monster, but it was either that or risk being caught by Shelob, sticking to the path. He laughed an evil laugh as poor, naïve Buu flew them to Vegeta, unaware that he was about to do Hercule's dirty work for him.

"No! Even if the Millennium Falcon hadn't shown up, Luke would still have been able to destroy the Death Star on his own!"
Krillan had not expected Gandalf to want to talk about movies, but was pleasantly surprised by how hardcore a sci-fi fan the wizard was. They had been arguing about details of the original Star Wars movie for twenty minutes before Goku materialised with the others.
"Goku!" shouted Krillan, and ran to hug his friend.
"Krillan…" Goku said quietly. "What have I told you about public displays of affection?"
"Oh," said the midget, letting go of the Saiyan.
"I see you managed to find help Goku," said Gandalf.
Before he could reply, Aragorn interrupted him. "Is it true we are to defend Gondor?" he asked.
"Yes, it is true," Gandalf said. "I fear they may be subject to a siege very soon. There is no time to waste. We must go there now."
They all agreed and prepared to travel to Gondor. Gandalf mounted Gwaihir and turned to Goku. "Settle a bet," he said. "Did Chewbacca speak an actual language?"
They arrived in Gondor after a half hour journey, only to find a ghost town void of any signs of life. People were locked inside their houses, too scared to leave and even the soldiers who normally protected the city walls were gone, dead in fact. Faramir, not expecting to lose every single one of Gondor's soldiers, had led every last one of them to battle. They had all paid for this error in judgement, even their leader, who lay by his shield in the field of Pelennor.
"We must set to work right away," Gandalf told them. "We must stand guard by the walls and watch for activity from the neighbouring fields. Each of you take a spot on one of the walls and stand guard. Try to space yourselves. Gondor is large and there are only seven of us, so don't stay too close to each other. Our sight must cover as much land as possible. Gwaihir will also do his part by flying above Gondor and having a birds-eye view of the area. If any of you spot anything suspicious, warn us all and we'll join you where you are. Don't leave your position for anything. If you need the toilet, raise your hand. So if there aren't any questions, go now."
They each found a spot and stood on top of the wall, defending Gondor the only way they knew how. Two brave men, a dwarf, an elf, a Saiyan, a wizard, a Namek and an eagle surrounded the land and protected the people who did not know what to do. They waited, under instructions from their leader, Gandalf. Each as motionless as the city itself. They waited.

Inside a large room in the palace of Gondor, Denethor looked first at his chessboard, then at the Palantir. He moved his remaining bishop and turned the sand timer on its side.
"Check mate!" he declared.

A new plan has formed and Gondor must be protected against the evil Dark Lord Vegeta. At the same time, Buu and Hercule 'bravely' make their way to Barad-Dur to do battle with the Dark Lord, unbeknown to our true heroes. How will they all fare? Find out in Chapter 12.