"That's it," Piccolo sighed in relief as Yaumcha's cell opened. They were all free now; 18 and Bulma had just finished deciphering the code to get the entrance doors open.
The doors hissed to life and slid open. "Let's go," Piccolo commanded.
They didn't make three steps out the door before they all stopped and stared at the horror that lay before them. There was desolation everywhere. Piccolo felt the low energy signatures of Goku, Gohan, Trunks, Goten and Vegeta and began to sweat. The battle had not gone as well as planned and there was still no sign of The Grand Kai or Krillin.
"Vegeta!" Bulma screamed as she ran toward her fallen husband.
"Where's Krillin?" 18 asked in alarm.
"Goku!" Chi-Chi exclaimed.
The span of a second was all the time Piccolo needed to assess the situation. Videl was hurt and the others were hovering at death's door while Dende was overtaxing himself with Gohan. They made their way to Dende's position right as the wall behind them exploded. Everyone except Dende turned and powered up. The dust cleared revealing a battered and broken Grand Kai and Krillin!
"How's it goin'?" The Grand Kai asked with a dirty smile.
"We got 'em!" Krillin exclaimed, "We got the dragonballs!"
"Not a moment too soon," Piccolo growled. He looked up and smiled. Dusty starlight greeted him. The mountain had taken enough damage to blast away most of the top, giving them a chance to call on Shenlon!
"Quick! Get the dragonballs ready," Piccolo ordered.
Videl doubled over in pain from Dalron's vicious kick to her midsection. He kicked her again and heard one of her ribs snap. Undeterred, he kicked her again and again. More ribs broke.
"You should not have got in my way," he said as he kicked her. "Perhaps you will learn that valuable lesson in the next life."
Videl winced in agony. The pain was nearly unbearable and it was getting almost impossible for her to breathe. She opened her eyes and saw Dalron in a blurry haze. She felt his foot connect hard to the side of her face. She skidded across the ground, breaking through several piles of rock and rubble before stopping. He's killing me, she thought. Bone by bone, he's killing me.
Gohan drifted out of unconsciousness and could barely make out the voices of his friends in excited conversation. At first he thought it was a dream, but their voices didn't fade away. Then he heard a scream, a familiar scream, Videl's scream. Then she screamed again and again.
"Videl," he muttered weakly. He tried to move his arms and his whole body exploded in pain.
"Stay still," Dende commanded in shock and fatigue.
"Dende? Where...where's...Videl?"
"Getting killed," was his quick reply.
"I have...to...save..."
"You can't," Dende said angrily, "You're dying and I'm the only one here right now trying to prevent that!"
Gohan forced his eyes open. The white light of Dende's healing powers washed over him, warm and inviting. His hearing dulled. He could make out Dende talking to him but he couldn't understand him. Videl's getting killed? Dalron! I have to save her!
Gohan focused on the pain. He moved every muscle he could and got searing responses of pain and agony back. Good, he thought, that means they'll work. He forced his right leg to move. The tendons and muscles protested with pain but he willed them to move and, slowly, they did. His right leg moved! The pain was strong enough to make him want to pass out, but he wouldn't...he couldn't. Not now...sleep later...have all the time...in the world...to rest...but not...now! His other leg moved. Dende was screaming at Gohan now, but he didn't care. Dende tried to force Gohan from moving by using his own weight against him but Gohan's will was stronger. He got up to his knees and shoved Dende away. Dalron and Videl came sharply into focus in his sight. From out of nowhere Gohan's aura flared to life!
Piccolo sensed the sharp rise in Gohan's ki. He grabbed Dende's arm, "Let him go."
"But," Dende protested, "he won't make it!"
"I know, but we need your help to summon the dragon. You're the only one who can do it."
Dende tried unsuccessfully to fight back his tears of frustration. He lowered his head in resignation, "All right Piccolo, let's do it!"
Anger overrode the pain Gohan felt as he took a step closer to Videl and Dalron. His aura spiked higher after every step. You won't take her away from me again, the thought repeated in his mind over and over.
In the red haze of Videl's vision she thought she saw a figure coming towards her. Her right arm was broken in two places and her right leg still worked, but barely. She would be dead long before her collapsed lung became fatal. She reeled from a backhand and tumbled to the floor. C'mon Videl, she thought to herself, fight! Do it for Gohan or you won't see him again!
She was dimly aware of Dalron standing over her. He grabbed her and lifted her up to her feet. He kneed her in the midsection causing her to cough up blood. He did it again making her spit up even more. His knee came up again but she caught it with her good hand. Dalron was momentarily surprised by the block and she capitalized by head butting him in the face. He staggered back and got a fist in the stomach, and then across the face; the force of the blow sent him reeling to the ground.
"I'm...not...finished...yet," she grated through labored breaths.
She crouched in a defensive position as Dalron slowly got up. "You...you still...got...some fight left in you," he breathed in pain. "Good."
He came at her wildly and she ducked under his wide swing and wrapped her arm around his midsection. She heaved back and picked up Dalron. She fell to the ground, still with Dalron in tow. His face crashed into the ground but she didn't release him. She picked him up and backdropped him again. She released him and got back in her defensive stance. Suddenly the world around her lit up in green fire. Dalron outstretched his hand and sent a powerful ki blast at her from point-blank range. She didn't have the power to block it and took the full brunt of the attack. The explosion knocked her off her feet and she crashed to the ground in a heap.
"Not bad," Dalron said, "but I can't be beaten." His outstretched hand glowed with another powerful ki blast, powerful enough to disintegrate Videl. He released the attack and it flew inexorably toward Videl.
The attack hit and exploded with great force. Smoke and dust obscured Dalron's vision but he was sure that was the end of it. Now to finish the job, he thought. The smoke cleared slowly and Dalron's eyes widened in shock as he could make out a shadowy figure standing in front of Videl. It was Gohan!
"You," Dalron exclaimed in disbelief, "You're supposed to be dead!"
"I'm happy to disappoint you." Gohan's smoking hand recoiled back to his side, telling Dalron how he stopped the attack from reaching its true target.
Videl coughed, spitting up more blood. Gohan looked at her battered and broken body and felt the rage well up within him. He turned toward Dalron. "The people of this world did nothing to you to deserve this. You're no better than Frieza or Cell."
Dalron said nothing; instead he gathered what energy he could to prepare for another attack. "You know nothing of me," Dalron replied finally, "or my kind. My race was destroyed by yours, so don't presume to point faults at me." The longer he stalled the more power he could gather.
"You have become what you hate," Gohan spat. "You're worse because you are weak. You could have used your powers to do a lot of good in the galaxy but you let your hatred consume you."
"Weak," Dalron shouted angrily, "I'll show you who's weak!"
Dalron pointed his finger at Gohan. A small ball of light materialized at the end of his finger and began to hum and grow. Gohan crouched down and began to gather his energy. Both Dalron and Gohan's auras flared to life, bathing the ruins in white-hot light. Gohan's hair shifted from black to golden blond as his aura shifted from white to gold.
"KA...ME..." The blue ball of energy erupted to life in his hand.
"The dragonballs are in place," Dende said as Krillin laid down the last dragonball.
Piccolo and 18 turned to see the showdown between Gohan and Dalron. "Hurry Dende," Piccolo said, "our time is running out!"
Dende closed his eyes and folded his hands in prayer and began chanting.
Vegeta fluttered back from unconsciousness. He opened his eyes and they slowly focused on the bright eyes of his wife. He smiled weakly to her. "Vegeta," she exclaimed happily, "You're okay!"
"Help me up," he said softly.
Gently, she helped him to his feet. She put his arm over her shoulder and gave him enough support to stand. He looked around until his eyes finally settled down on the showdown between Gohan and Dalron. He saw Videl stir and smiled through bloody lips. "Not bad, kid. I knew he couldn't beat you!" He started to laugh and the pain came back, but he couldn't stop.
Videl was up to her knee, close enough to the emerging Kamehameha Wave to feel its searing heat. She grasped Gohan's clothes and used his weight to pick herself up. The warmth radiating from his body was hotter than that given off by the Kamehameha Wave.
"Now I can kill you both in one shot," Dalron roared as his energy beam continued to grow.
"Videl," Gohan started.
She wrapped her arms around him, "Not this time," she whispered, "I'm not leaving your side, my love; never again."
Gohan nodded. They were together now and forever, no matter what the cost would be. Her love enveloped him, replacing the pain he felt with warmth. Her dwindling power combined with his and they were one. Her silver aura flickered and danced over his. Together they would make their stand.
"HA...ME..." they now chanted in unison as the wave got bigger.
"Come to us, Shenlon!" Dende exclaimed as he finished his chanting. The dragonballs glowed and fire erupted from them, shooting upward towards the sky. Dark clouds billowed and lightning streaked across the sky, followed by the roar of the great Shenlon. The Eternal Dragon had arrived!
Rubble and debris twirled around the space where Dalron and the two lovers faced off. Lightning streaked across the short space between them as their auras clashed and fought against the other. The wind howled and swirled around them, as if the planet itself was protesting against what was happening. The ground shook violently and huge chunks of earth disintegrated or were thrown up high into the air. Dalron's eye was wide in exaltation with the amount of power that was given off.
"Do you feel it," he screamed. "Your deaths approach!"
Dalron used every last bit of energy he had, screamed, and released the beam. It streaked across the open space heading for its intended targets.
"HA!" both Gohan and Videl cried as he brought his hand forth and released the Kamehameha Wave. The wave streamed through the air and impacted against Dalron's beam and held it in place! The ground around the impact disintegrated into nothingness as the two energies fought against the other for dominance.
Dalron strained to hold the beam together. The combined might of both Gohan and Videl was enough to place him in check in his weakened state. He grunted in effort to put forth more energy that he didn't have. Instead he used his own life force to add more power to the beam. The beam started to inch closer toward Gohan and Videl, slowly and surely.
The long, snake-like form of Shenlon hovered above the ruins that used to be the mountain. His red eyes glowed with power! "Why have you summoned me?" he bellowed in a deep voice as he glanced over the familiar group.
Piccolo looked over at Dende, "Let's make things right."
Dende nodded.
Gohan and Videl struggled to keep their power flowing. Dalron was still stronger! The beam slowly inched closer.
"I can't hold on," Videl yelled. "I'm losing too much power!"
"Hang in there," he yelled back. "We're not through yet!"
Videl heard his words and believed in them but her body had sustained too many injuries to work properly. The constant strain of pushing herself beyond her boundaries, and coupled with her injuries were taking a heavy toll on her. She leaned against Gohan using his mass and weight to keep her up since her legs refused to support her. She was getting lightheaded and it was getting harder for her to focus. She gave it everything she had even though she was getting weaker and weaker. The beam relentlessly pushed forward, the heat given off by the two attacks was beginning to make the remains of their clothes smolder and steam.
Dalron could feel victory within his grasp. He sacrificed more of his life force to his beam making it push harder and faster toward its goal. "Give up," he taunted, "You can't defeat me!"
Gohan grunted against the reinforced beam as it got closer. He could feel Videl's limp body against his back. He felt her warm blood running down his neck. The beam was almost upon them and Videl was fading fast.
"I...," she said weakly.
"Don't leave me Videl," he pleaded, "we can beat him!"
"I...love...you..." she said as she slipped away into unconsciousness.
"No! Come back to me Videl! I need you!"
That's when it happened. Something snapped inside of Gohan. He let out a scream of rage and pain so loud that even Shenlon was forced to turn in his direction. His muscle mass increased as his aura spiked. He involuntarily assumed super saiyan level 2 in his mystic form! Videl was thrown back from the force of his transformation. His scream continued as he poured forth his rage and pain into the Kamehameha Wave. The Wave double and then tripled in size! Dalron's beam slowed to a halt and then began retreating under the awesome power of Gohan's might!
Dalron knew then that he was beaten. The impossible had occurred and soon the saiyan's attack would overwhelm him and there was nothing he could do about it. Even at full strength he doubted if he could absorb or deflect such an attack. The saiyans were going to win! Still, even in death, if he could get rid of one more saiyan before he died then he would have at least accomplished something. The Kamehameha Wave was easily overtaking Dalron's beam. For a brief moment Dalron reflected on his homeworld and the plight of his people. The image of Kaltara's lovely face appeared in his mind. I'll be with you soon my love, he thought as he closed his eye. He jerked his outstretched hand causing the beam to fly out of the path of the Kamehameha Wave. It bounced over the Wave back on course towards Gohan. Gohan didn't have any time to react.
Their attacks struck simultaneously. Dalron opened his arm wide in acceptance with oblivion. The Wave enveloped him and disintegrated him while still flying out towards the heavens. Dalron was no more. Dalron's beam struck Gohan directly in the head, turning everything white in the explosion. The remains of the mountain and the surrounding countryside were enveloped in a mushroom cloud of fire and death that spanned for miles in every direction. The ground split open and earthquakes would be felt thousands of miles away.
The mushroom cloud slowly lifted to the night sky. As the dust settled in the massive crater where the mountain range used to be Shenlon still hovered, undisturbed by the blast. The shield over the group shimmered away into nothingness.
"What is your second wish?"
"Bring back to life everyone who was killed by Dalron and his men," Dende commanded.
"Your wish is granted." Shenlon's eyes glowed and then beams of red light shot from them. The beams struck the night sky and blanketed outward, encompassing the entire planet.
"What is your last wish?"
"Heal us of our injuries. If you don't, some of us may still die before we can get healed."
"I can only heal physical injuries," Shenlon warned, "Injuries sustained to the mind are harder to cure and require one wish per person restored."
Dende looked confused for a moment, but one look at Videl, Goku, Trunks, or Vegeta gave him all the reason he needed. "That is fine. Please heal us before it's too late!"
"Your wish is granted," Shenlon said. "Now I must go rest."
Small sparkles of golden light appeared around the group, healing their injuries and rejuvenating them. With a roar, Shenlon exploded into bright light and the dragonballs took off for the distant corners of the earth.
The battle was, at last, over.
See you in the Epilogue!
