Friend vs. Friend Part II

Vegeta and Goku were locked in mortal combat. The energies of the Kamehameha Wave and the Final Flash mirrored the intensity and anger of the two super saiyans. Their screams of pain and determination were drowned out by the pulsing noise of their combined energies. Their hands were locked so tightly that blood dripped from them. The combatants raised their ki higher until finally their combined energies couldn't contain it anymore and exploded with such force that the super saiyans were flung in opposite directions like rag dolls.

Sweat and blood mixed together as it poured down Vegeta's face. He was breathing hard and stood up slowly. His hands ached and throbbed and he clenched them into fists. The pain was excruciating and helped him to focus. Given this brief interlude he stretched out with his ki to take stock in what was going on around him. The only warriors from the otherworld that he could sense was The Grand Kai, Pikkon and Olibu. He felt the others too as their battles waged on. Leviathan's ki had dropped slightly but his vast reserves were still untapped. Goten and Trunks had fused and were causing great trouble for Tien and 18. Dende's signature was weak but holding and he stretched his ki out more. Gohan's turbulent ki registered to him and he took a step back in shock as he felt Videl's power. Her ki was dropping the first moment, then spiking upward the next. She had gone far beyond her boundaries again but she was in dangerous territory. The human body was never meant to handle the amounts of ki she was expending. If she didn't drop her ki soon it would kill her.

Any further musings were interrupted as Goku blurred in front of Vegeta and thrusted his forearm out at his head. Vegeta blocked the attack with his own forearm and attempted a forward kick. Goku flipped backward easily dodging the attack and landed on his feet in a defensive position. Vegeta powered up and flung himself at Goku. The super saiyans blurred into super speed and fought to get an edge over the other.

The power levels from both combatants dropped slowly. The battle was beginning to take a toll on the warriors but they didn't seem to mind. Goku charged up a ki ball in each hand and ducked under Vegeta's swing. He punched upward hitting Vegeta in the gut. The air in Vegeta's lungs expelled itself forcefully from the impact and the explosions from Goku's attack. His chest burned and smoldered but he got his knee up in time to stop the next attack. Vegeta brought his fists up above his head and brought them down hard on Goku. His impact created a large crater that gave Vegeta some time to catch his breath.

Vegeta floated down to the center of the crater where Goku lay. He was slow in getting up but didn't look much worse off. Goku levitated up to float across from Vegeta and the stare-down began anew.

"Round two," he snarled at Vegeta.

Tien and 18 threw everything they had at Gotenks, but the small super saiyan(s) matched them move for move and technique for technique. The warriors jumped and dodged as Gotenks sent a flurry of ki blasts at them. Tien flipped over the volley and brought his hands up to his face and formed a triangle. He closed his eyes and screamed. Gotenks thundered into the ground as Tien's gravity technique slammed him. He did it again and again. Gotenks was being flattened in an ever-expanding crater. 18 followed through raining beams of energy down on Gotenks. The crushing attacks combined with the heavy assault of energy attacks was too much for Gotenks to bear and was finally rendered unconscious.

Tien slumped to his knees, totally exhausted. Every nerve of his ached but he didn't have the luxury of time on his side. Tien looked over at Piccolo and the others still engaged with Leviathan. He turned to 18, "Now's our chance! Go 18, find our friends and the dragonballs. I'll help Piccolo and the others!"

For a moment she looked like she was going to argue with him, but then thought better of it. She nodded and flew off towards the exposed entrance of the fortress leaving Tien to speed off at Leviathan.

Olibu was up now thanks to Dende's healing powers and was in the thick of things. The group was indeed better trained than the monstrous creature, but his strength and energy made up for a lack of tactical knowledge. Truth be told, Leviathan was wearing them out. Olibu could feel the ki of the others dropping slowly, but steadily. Leviathan's energy had dropped some, but his vast reserves told the story plainly enough; there would only be one victor in this fight.

Piccolo and Pikkon combined their ki blasts together, which drilled into Leviathan. The blast struck him in the left arm and the ray continued through him! Leviathan staggered and howled in pain and rage as the first true strike did its damage. The Grand Kai whooped, "We hurt him! Pour it on!"

Olibu came in from above slamming into Leviathan's injured arm with his feet. The creature howled again in blind rage that these insignificant creatures hurt him! With his good arm he swiped at Olibu, but he flipped over the attack and sent a ki blast into Leviathan's arm. The explosion knocked him off balance and he crashed in a heap. Black ichor oozed from the gaping wound in Leviathan's arm and hissed when it hit the ground. Leviathan got up slowly and growled. He heard a scream from behind him and was slammed forward at great speed by a wave of invisible energy. Leviathan went flying straight toward Grand Kai. The Grand Kai held his position, hovering in the air and muttering beneath his breath. A green ball of energy formed in front of him as he completed his incantation and he gestured to the form of Leviathan who was coming at him. The green ball of energy doubled in size and flew straight at the creature. Leviathan collided with the large energy ball and everything went blindingly white as the ball exploded. Leviathan's cries of pain were drowned out by the sound of the explosion.

"Thanks for the help, dude!" The Grand Kai remarked as he gave Tien a thumbs up.

"It's not over yet," he yelled back in a defensive position.

"You bet it's not!" Leviathan growled. In a surprising display of speed he shot toward the others, his eyes full of rage and death.

"Did you see that my Lord?" one of Dalron's underlings asked.

Dalron nodded as he continued to stuff his face with popcorn. There was a growing number of empty popcorn bags around his chair and he sent several members of his crew to get more. This stuff is addictive, he though. He watched the attack on Leviathan and nearly dropped his popcorn bag in shock! They were actually able to hurt him! That was an eventuality that he hadn't prepared for, let alone even guessed at. A part of him wanted to go out there now and finish the charade, but Leviathan's pride would have been hurt. And an angry Leviathan wasn't something he relished to confront at this moment. Even their friendship could only go so far.

"My Lord! One of the group is breaking away from the main fighting force and has entered the fortress! Shall I dispatch the robots?"

Dalron nodded as he watched the viewscreen zoom in on the blond female as she flew into the fortress proper. The robots would slow her down, he thought, but not stop her. He stood up from his chair.

"I'lmm hanble her myfellf," he said, his mouth full of popcorn.

His crew stared at him questioningly. He looked at them for a second then raised a finger as he chewed and swallowed the last of the popcorn. "Ahh," he sighed contentedly, "I said I'll handle her myself."

The others nodded in understanding and went back to work. He could have ordered any one of them to get the job done, but he felt that he needed the exercise. It would be a good starting point to the final ending of this little game, he thought to himself as the doors hissed shut behind him.

Goku and Vegeta blurred in and out of super speed as they attacked each other. Blue lightning danced across the sky when they came into contact with each other. Vegeta blocked Goku's fist but Goku was too close to Vegeta for him to block the next attack. Goku head-butted Vegeta and followed through with a spinning roundhouse kick as he was reeling backward. Vegeta sailed to the ground and skidded through the rough terrain (or what was left of it) until he finally stopped. His nose bled profusely and the bridge of it was bent awkwardly. Cursing he flipped to his feet and wiped the blood from his face. He looked around but didn't see or sense Goku anywhere. His head was ringing from the head-butt but he focused his senses to find him. He's hidden himself, Vegeta thought. "Where are you coward!" Vegeta screamed.

Nothing. Not a trace. Goku's signature had vanished completely. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and he rolled forward letting his instincts take over. He heard the faint sound of clothing rustling in the air and he turned to face the sound but there was no one there. Suddenly Vegeta's back exploded in fire! He fell forward and rolled to put the flames out. By the time he got up Goku had disappeared again. Vegeta jumped, avoiding Goku's leg-sweep and brought his fists down hard on Goku's head, but he blurred away before he could connect. Vegeta blurred also, using his ki to track Goku. Vegeta realized that Goku was using his Instant Transmission technique and he was masking his ki so he would appear to be invisible. For the briefest millisecond he thought he saw movement and he punched out in that direction. His fist thundered into Goku, knocking him out of super speed. Vegeta used his enhanced speed to fly behind Goku who was still hurling through the air and blasted him with his Final Flash attack. Goku was knocked forward by the blast and Vegeta appeared in front of him punching and kicking. Goku was disoriented and wasn't able to put up much of a defense and he came crashing to the ground from Vegeta's vicious backhand attack. Vegeta come out of super speed and hovered over Goku's struggling body. His left eye was swollen shut and his face bore some nasty bruises.

"Stand down," Vegeta commanded. "Your ki is dropping faster than mine. End this now so I won't have to destroy you."

Goku started to laugh, but it was an evil laugh. "It's…not over…yet!" he coughed.

That's when Vegeta felt it. His eyes widened in shock and he turned around. High in the sky above him was the huge ball of destructive energy that was slowly descending on Vegeta. It was Goku's Spirit Bomb! But that was impossible, he couldn't bring it into being while he was in super saiyan form! Goku had used his ki to mask the Spirit Bomb as well, Vegeta reasoned. Apparently he had underestimated Goku again, thinking him weaker than he actually was. The ball was coming at him slowly and Goku's laughter stopped.

"Goodbye Vegeta," he said evilly.

Vegeta was about to turn and face Goku, but his Kamehameha Wave attack hit him almost point blank from behind. The air was knocked out of him, but there was another problem for him to worry about. The Kamehameha Wave was sending Vegeta directly into the Spirit Bomb! Vegeta struggled to push back the wave, but there was too much energy behind the attack and he didn't have time to gather enough energy to dissipate the attack. The Spirit Bomb was getting larger in front of him and he could still hear the echoes of Goku's evil laughter on the wind….

Next Chapter: A chapter totally devoted to Gohan and Videl. Will she be able to free him in time? Find out next chapter!

A/N: It's not a big chapter but I hope you like the cliffie here. Personally I hate cliffies, but I had to take a page out of Gohan's Onna's book and be evil (plug: read her DBZ stories! What you Wouldn't Think and What you Wouldn't Want are great stories, check 'em out! You can find a link to her under my Favorite Authors – Gohan's Onna – Highly Recommended! *winks and give a thumbs up*). The next chapter will be ALL Gohan and Videl as I delve into his mind with Videl to see if she can rescue him. Keep in mind that his body is still under control of Dalron, so anything could happen. I'll be gone over New Year's so Happy New Year and stuff! The next chapter should be up in 2 weeks or less. Keep writing and reading!