One cannot try if one does not dream.

One cannot fail if one does not try.

One cannot learn if one has not failed.

One cannot strive if one does not learn.

One cannot dream if one does not strive.

Because every dream is a goal

and every goal has a first step

and every first step starts an adventure,

and because every adventure has the chance of failure,

or it is not worth the attempt.

This chapter is dedicated in memory to those Astronauts lost on

February 1st 2003 when the Space Shuttle Columbia did not make it home from her last adventure.

Chapter 41
When Fate and Destiny Converge

Wednesday, June 25
6:29 pm

"Kaioken times Tweeennty!" She screamed as a huge flair of blood red ki exploded around her. As the burning pain shot threw her she knew she would probably die, but she didn't care.  There were worse things in life than death and failing her duty to herself was definitely one of them. 

'This wouldn't be happening now if I were not here.  These people have tried to help me and look what it brought them.  I can no longer sit by the wayside and watch.'

"GAHHHHHHHHH"  Ichigo screamed as she shot up and then down through the sky to deliver a double handed slam to the top of Snow's head.  It connected on the small black armor plate that was directly between the row of spiky horns that shot out of her head and ran down her back.

Since Snow had been concentrating on fighting Goshi, she had ignored Ichigo's approach, and the attack caught her unaware.  An audible crack sounded as the large lizard's neck popped under the sudden impact.

Ichigo slipped down behind Snow and grabbed two of the largest spines that protruded from the Changelings back.  These two spines seemed to come right from Snow's shoulder blades, and were encrusted with dried blood.  Ichigo realized immediately that it was Roshi's blood.

'I cannot let Roshi and his family's valiant fight fail here today.'  Ichigo thought before cringing with the realization that she had thought of Roshi's actions as valiant.  With the exception of her father and possibly Meron, Ichigo had never known someone she could think of as a hero, or even valiant.  To think that the first people she could think of in those terms other then her father and Meron, could be fighting their last fight due to her presence turned her stomach.

Ichigo was cautious not to allow Snow to put her in the same position Roshi had been and impale her on those spines.  Ichigo grabbed the ends of the spines and tired to shove them together with all of her might.

Ichigo realized almost immediately that her plan would not work.  While the Kaioken increased her speed, power, and strength significantly, it made her almost physically weak.  She couldn't sustain the Kaioken long enough to use in a contest of brute power, and her muscles burned as though every one of them had been over extended or torn.

"AHHHH!!!"  She screamed in frustration as she flung herself away from Snow's back.  "You will not beat me!"  She yelled as she whipped her leg around and slammed her foot into the side of Snow's head.

Snow was knocked over and out of the air from the blow as her neck cracked yet again.  The Changeling bounced off of the ground and spun to face Ichigo.

"My my, Princess, I didn't realize you were in such a hurry to die.  I must compliment you however.  I've never found a chiropractor with quite the right touch.  I must say you have quite the touch.  I've had a kink in my neck for decades."  Snow said as she rolled her neck and popped it a few more times.

Ichigo crossed her index and middle finger on her right hand and started to charge one of her drill beams.  "If you want I can wipe that grin off your ugly face too."

"Yahhh!"  Ichigo's hand darted forward as she fired off the brilliant blue and red spiraling beam from her fingertips.  Snow's eyes bulged as the beam shot towards her.  She started to duck, but it was too late, and the beam slammed into her left shoulder.  True to it's name, the Drill beam tore through the armor and muscles of Snow's shoulder before blowing out a new opening in her back in a burst of purple-pink blood. 

The force from the blast knocked Snow backwards as she dodged and she landed on her back.  Her spines impaled the soft ground beneath her and she barely was able to tumble out of the way before a second beam could strike her in the face.

* * *

"Goku, you are not dead.  You still need to breathe occasionally."  The Supreme Kai said as he walked up behind Goku.

Goku was sitting in his spot.  It was the location on the Kaioshin's world that was the best place to watch the happenings on Earth.  It was also the on place that the Kaioshin or Supreme Kai knew he could find Goku if he wasn't training or eating.

While the Kaioshin knew exactly why Goku was upset, seeing him almost blue in the face and sopped with sweat from worry was such an unusual state for the intrepid Saiyan to be in, that Kaioshin was almost at a loss for words.

"Goku, I know you think me cold hearted, but you can't interfere with what is happening on Earth.  Had you not interfered in the first place and brought Buu here, none of this would be happening.  Since you were the one who set this current crisis into action, I cannot stress enough how you should learn from this and not interfere in the natural progression of life."

Goku blinked twice and then looked up at the Kaioshin.  "I know, but until Roshi forgot how to wake up, I wasn't worried.  I was sure that they would be able to handle Snow."

Kaioshin did a double take before he could remind himself that this was the same Goku who hadn't gone all out against Majin Vegeta because he knew Vegeta wouldn't have been able to take loosing again.  This was the same Goku who didn't go all out against Buu because he had so much faith in the abilities of two untested children.  This was the same Goku who knew when he couldn't beat Cell and put his son in when no one but he himself had any faith in the boy's chances.  This was the same Goku who had first caught Kaioshin's eyes when he stopped Frieza from taking over the North Galaxy.

Kaioshin knew better than to second-guess Goku.  The man seemed to have an almost uncanny ability to change reality when he put faith in someone or something.

"Why were you so sure that Roshi would be able to beat Snow?  She is a lot stronger then Frieza was, and he seemed to lack the discipline to take her seriously."

Even though he knew it was coming, Goku's clueless shrug and uplift arms made the Kaioshin fall over.

"I don't know.  I just think he can."  Goku said as he turned back to look at the Earth.

Kaioshin started to turn around to walk back to his house when Goku interrupted him, "Kaioshin, do you feel that?  She's almost there.  She just needs to break through the wall.  Do you think she'll do it?  Pan never could.  Do you think Ichigo can go Super Saiyan?"

Goku's voice was an odd mixture of worry, hope, and confusion mixed together in that series of questions.  Kaioshin didn't know how to answer him.  "I don't know Goku, none ever have."

Goku looked even more confused.  "What do you mean?  I did, Vegeta, and Gohan, and Goten and Trunks, and..."

"I know, I know," Kaioshin said to cut him off before he named every single person who had ever gone Super Saiyan.  "But, everyone who has ever made it to the level of Super Saiyan has been male.  I could go ask Grandfather," he said referring to Rou Kaioshin, the old Kaioshin who had fused with a witch and been trapped in the Zed Sword for generations.

Goku shook his head.  "Nah, that's ok.  I know she can.  She just needs to believe."

Kaioshin knew he was getting into dangerous territory if he continued the conversation, but he had to know.  "If you are so sure, why are you so worried?"

Goku scratched his head for a few seconds and then sighed.  "Because she isn't ready to believe yet.  Her doubts will kill her now if she can't release them."

Kaioshin sighed.  "That is not good to hear, but there is nothing you can do.  Things will just have to work themselves out on their own.  If she can as you say believe, I am sure she will when push comes to shove."

"No!"

Kaioshin turned around to gawk at Goku.  Goku almost never raised his voice.

"No!  You don't understand.  I was never alone.  Gohan was never alone.  Vegeta, Vegeta might understand what her demons are, but no one else was ever truly alone in their times of need.  Right now she can't believe because she has nothing to believe in."

"No Goku, you can't just go there and fight and make her problems go away."

Goku made a face and looked at Kaioshin.  "Don't be dumb Kaioshin, I can't fix her problems, she has to do that herself.  No one can do it for her."

"If you know no one can fix her problems for her, then why are you concerned about Roshi?"

Goku looked up at Kaioshin and made fish mouths for a few seconds in his surprise.  "Because, if Roshi were awake, he would be fighting and he doesn't have her problems."

Kaioshin almost laughed at the simplicity of Goku's answer.  'Goku is so intuitive at times that I forget his mind isn't that complex.  If you find the simplest solution, you will generally find Goku's ideas.'

"Well then it truly is a shame that the boy won't wake up."

Goku looked towards the Earth, "he will wake up."

"Goku, I'm warning you, you cannot get involved any further.  Even the Earth needs to work through it's own problems.  If this Snow is to lose, she will lose without your intervention."

Goku didn't say anything, so Kaioshin left to walk away.  Rou Kaioshin intercepted him before he could go too far.  "You know he is going to do something don't you?"

"No he won't.  He knows I wouldn't allow it."

Rou Kaioshin fell over laughing.  "Since when has Goku ever listened to anything but his own conscience?  He will act because he knows in his heart of hearts that it is the right thing."

"Goku has never disobeyed me before!"

"You have never told him to do anything he knows is wrong.  If your memory is so bad as to not be able to remember what he is like when he is actually mad about something then I suggest you go and stop him from doing whatever it is he plans on doing.  I'll just stand over here and watch."

Kaioshin felt the blood drain from his face.  "You have an excellent point.  Get King Kai up here to stop him."

Rou Kaioshin slapped Kaioshin and then walked away.  "Children these days, they never learn anything!"

* * *

Teddy jumped back as a shower of sparks erupted from the conduit she had been working on.

"Damn!"  She practically squeaked as she blew on her singed hand.  "This isn't working."

Teddy had tried to hotwire the power grid using power from some of the ships in the hanger and was finding it far more difficult then she had imagined it would be.

The relays in this section of the Capsule Corporation's complex were not designed to take the energy load necessary to power the primary dome and all the equipment in it.  So Teddy was working on trying to jury rig a bypass system so she could just power the control room and a few other essential areas of the complex.

"Well at least the world stopped shaking.  I just hope that it truly is a good sign."  She mumbled to herself as she once again tried to weld the bypass circuit into place.

Lights over on the main dome came on, which was a good sign, but Teddy held her breath.

Once the circuit had held for a full minute, she relaxed and decided it had worked.

A few of the workers would claim for weeks that Teddy broke the sound barrier as she ran back to the main dome and her control room.

* * *

Ichigo saw out of the corner of her eye that Goshu and Yoshi had split apart.  'Damn, now I really am alone.  Naiccolo isn't strong enough to even dent this form of Snow.' 

As if reading her mind, Snow began to taunt her.  "You surprised me bitch, but now your friends won't be helping you now."  She replied as she rolled her shoulder testing to see how much Ichigo's attack had weakened her arm.

"I won't need their help to beat you."  Ichigo replied defiantly while she studied Snow's movements searching for weakness.

Snow laughed wickedly.  "Oh really?  Your father didn't think so.  He sent you here to protect you from us.  He doesn't think you can.  He said so himself while we were beating him like the worthless piece of slime he is."

Ichigo saw red and charged without thinking, "my father is NOT slime!"  She screamed as she dove in with her fists glowing blue to deliver fully charged Ki Punches.

Snow who had expected just such a reaction, delivered a perfect uppercut to Ichigo's face.  The Changeling's spiked fist caught her under the chin and threw her head back.

Two of Ichigo's incisors cracked under the blow and the Saiyan Princess saw stars as she was hurtled backward and away from Snow.  'IDIOT!  That was exactly what she wanted you to do!'  Ichigo scolded herself as she up righted herself in the air and spit out chunks of her teeth.

"You are pathetic Monkey!"  Snow taunted.  "Your father knew, Banana knew.  Everyone knows.  You were born worthless and you will die worthless!"

Ichigo had a flash back of the many times Banana had mocked her.  She saw his cruel face as he tried to rape her and shuddered.  She saw his face from the day she came back from her trial.  She remembered how it was a mixture of anger and confusion.  She remembered Suikan and the guilt she had felt when he died.  She remembered Budo and the many others who had looked down on her throughout her life.  The many rejections ranged from not being willing to train with her to outright rejecting her.  She remembered Slip's comments about never being able to make it to the level of Super Saiyan.  She remembered the cutting comments Roshi had made the last few days and how he had suddenly ignored her.

Ichigo shuddered as her doubt found purchase in her soul.  A cold empty feeling slowly took hold and worked its way through her like a snake.  'I am not a failure.  I AM NOT worthless!'  Ichigo thought to herself in an attempt to will away the cold guilt and fear.

Snow laughed cruelly as she fired a large red ki blast at the distracted Saiyan. 

* * *

Roshi watched as the ki fed energy wave flowed over the surface of the Earth.  He screamed in rage as he watched the cities burn and people die.  He saw Mariah, Kit, Carge, Niko and all his other friends try desperately to out run the wave.  It caught them and their flesh burned from their bodies.  They like the plants and animals and even the buildings around them burst into fire and flashed into ashes within moments.

He screamed but no one heard him.  He tried to help them, but could not touch them.  He could do nothing but bellow in pain and rage.

But then, then when it seemed it could get no worse, a hand landed on his shoulder.  At the point where Roshi had been about to give in and give up, that hand comforted him.  It held strength and peace.  It was firm and unwavering.  It, unlike the world around him, which he could not touch or affect, was real.

Roshi turned to see who it was who had placed their hand on his shoulder.

"Goku!  What are you doing here?"  Roshi asked instantly remembering the dream he had had after fighting Ichigo for the first time.  "Am I dead?  Are you here to take me away?"

Roshi had expected Goku to laugh like he had previously.  But Goku looked completely serious and worried.  "No, you are not dead, and I cannot take you anywhere."

Roshi watched the world burn for a few moments.  "So this is another dream?  This is what I think will happen if I fail, isn't it?"

Goku nodded his head.  "You are not the only one who can stop this, but if you all fail, then yes."  Goku paused, "it will probably not be exactly like this, but the end result will be the same."

Roshi blinked.  "How do I stop this?  How do I wake up?  And once I wake up how can I beat Snow?"

Goku placed both hands on Roshi's shoulders and looked him in the eye.  "You won't unless you try.  Believe in what you can do and nothing will be too hard for you.  Stop believing in this dream and believe in yourself.  I have to go now, but know you can do this Roshi."  Goku said as he faded from view leaving Roshi alone in his nightmare.

* * *

'NO!' Ichigo screamed in her mind, 'I will not let her get to me!'  Ichigo sensed the incoming ki blast and turned to face it at almost the last moment.  "KaaaaaaiiioooaaaKeeeeen!"  She screamed through her swelling lips as she cupped her hands and charged a massive Plasma Beam.

Snow's attack struck her just as she released her Plasma Beam.  The large red beam expanded like a balloon a few hairs breath from Ichigo's hands as her blue-pink beam slammed into it.

Unfortunately, while the Plasma Beam was extremely powerful, it dealt damage by inducting large amounts of energy into a target and super heating the area of impact.  It absorbed the energy of a smaller sized Kamehameha to some extent, and could momentarily hold off a beam of equal strength.  But, it lacked the force and cohesion of a Kamehameha.

Even more so than a Kamehameha, Snow's red beam was a beam of pure force.  Had Ichigo used her drilling version of the Kamehameha, she could have shattered the beam easily.  As it was after a few moments Snow's red beam managed to overtake the Plasma Beam and turn it back towards Ichigo.

Like water rushing over a rock in rapids, the brilliant energy washed over Ichigo and threw her back.

Ichigo felt her hands blister as she fought to shield herself from the awesome power of the turbulent energy that washed over her.  She tried to throw herself out of the beam, but found she could not.  The beam only pushed and pulled her along as it tore at her lacerating and pummeling her with no discretion.

When the beam finally ended and Ichigo fell to the earth, she was badly stunned.  Her gi was in tatters, most of the blue reflective outer layer was gone, while little remained of her gray vest.  Cuts and lacerations bled through her shredded gi.  In other places her burned skin oozed yellow blood plasma.  Sweat dripped over the cuts and burned adding to her pain.

Ichigo tried to get up, but stumbled and fell to her knees.

* * *

Snow was mad.  No, mad was not the right term, she was furious at herself.  She had for the first time in her life truly been injured.  Not only had she been injured, but she had been injured in her third form.  'I have never had to even assume my fourth form in any battle.'  She thought to herself as she strode over to where Ichigo had fallen.  'I have never needed it so I have never used it.  I don't need it now but I think it might be fun to show the monkey just how little of a chance she really had.'

Her left arm was going numb from the damage she had received from the Drill Beam.  This was a new sensation for Snow, and it was the primary reason for her anger.  'That bitch almost killed me.  No one has ever even threatened me and that bitch almost killed me!'

As Snow approached she realized that the others who had been fighting her had disappeared.  They were nowhere in which she could see them.  'Cowards.  My father should have destroyed the Saiyans long ago.  They are animals, beasts.  Not worthy of life.'  With the thoughts of what she was about to do to Ichigo filling her mind, Snow smiled as much as one could with a jutting jaw and no lips.  The knowledge of how the way she looked normally struck fear into her foes made her even more gleeful.

Ichigo had managed to stand and had ripped off the tattered rags of what had once been her blue gi.  As Snow approached, she kicked her remaining boot off and stood barefoot defiantly glaring into Snow's eyes.

"So you want to be defiant do you little Princess?"  Snow taunted laughingly as she looked down at Ichigo.  "I find your defiance amusing.  Do you have any idea what I am?  You are nothing compared to me.  You will never be anything.  I am here to put an end to the error in existence that was you."

Ichigo clenched her fists and her knuckles popped one after another.  "I am Ichigo Kudamono.  I am the daughter of King Kuwa Kudamono and Queen Nashi Kudamono.  I am the future of my people and you will not beat me!"

The force and tone of voice she used along with the gleam in her eyes frightened Snow.  Snow knew full well why her father and no other Changeling before him had ever tried to destroy the Saiyans.  The legend of the Super Saiyan was widely believed to be just that, a legend.  It was thought to be only a story.  But myth and legend are often based on fact, and it was widely known that the more one pushed a Saiyan, the more they pushed back.

Snow was almost twice as tall as Ichigo.  She out massed the Saiyan girl by over two hundred kilos.  Nothing had ever stood against her in her life.  Snow was barely wounded, where as, Ichigo was barefoot, bleeding, burned, and clothed only in tatters.  But now, on an unknown planet in the far reaches of the universe, Snow knew fear for the first time.

Snow pulled her right arm around to deliver a roundhouse punch to Ichigo's head.  Ichigo ducked under the blow and reached up to catch Snow's arm as it passed over her head.  Careful of Snow's blade like barbs that ran down the outer side of her arm, Ichigo used the arm's momentum to pull herself around and she drove a glowing kneed into the side of Snow's face.  The blue ki that had surrounded Ichigo's knee exploded into Snow's head and knocked her backward.

Ichigo let go of Snow's arm and finished her backflip.  She landed on her feet and immediately swept Snow's left leg, tripping her.

As Snow fell onto her back Ichigo spoke, "I am more than you will ever dream to be and nothing you say can belittle me.  I have fought everyone my entire life.  I have fought for everything I am and everything I have.  My enemies tried to hurt me and make me quit, but they could not stop me.  You are no different.  I will beat you and move on.  I am the future of my people and I will be remembered long after you are nothing but dust."

Ichigo appeared above Snow, bathed in a brilliant red aura moments before she drove her elbow into Snow's neck.  Snow gagged for a few moments as she struggled to rise and fight.

When she realized Ichigo had not crushed her throat in that attack, she started laughing. 

Ichigo slammed her foot into the middle of Snow's stomach, and the blow knocked her back a step, but she kept laughing.

"You are pathetic."  Snow stated before she threw her head back and began to scream.

* * *

Teddy hugged herself but could not stop her shakes.  Two lines dominated her monitor.  Two lines seemed to hold the destiny and fate of the planet in their glow.

Changeling, Transforming, power level = 20,000,000+.
Ichigo, Current = 12,620,000(Kaioken), Max Kaioken = 15,000,000, Max Normal = 750,000.

Roshi still failed to show up.  The fusion Goshi had failed and now both Goshu and Yoshi were too spent to try it again.

Slip had saved both West City and Satan City, but it look all for naught.  Everything now seemed to depend on the rash and unknown abilities of Ichigo.

As she watched, the Changelings power level passed 25 million.  Teddy looked away and began to pray.

* * *

Snow threw her arms out so that they were straight as she hunched over and began to scream.  A purple wave of ki so dark it was almost black exploded out from her and knocked Ichigo back like she was a leaf in the wind.

With in moments the sky had darkened and lightning started to play across the sky.

Ichigo stared horrified at the pulsating, swirling vortex of purple black energy that circled the spot Snow stood.  "NO!"  She screamed as she leapt into the air.  "NO!  You are not transforming!  NOOOO!!!"

Ichigo began to throw blast after blast of energy into the vortex.  Her arms whipped around her in a blur as the blasts rained down.  They exploded on contact with Snow's vortex and soon the sight of her transformation was hidden in a dense layer of smoke and dust.

Snow's screaming became louder and the ground began to shake.  Lava spouted from the gash she had made earlier and the stench of brimstone filled the air.

"NOOOO!!!"  Ichigo screamed as it began to rain.  The heavens opened up in a torrential downpour.  The rain mixed with the smoke and fire to add steam to the mix.

Ichigo threw everything she had into a last desperate Kamehameha.  The beam sliced through the steam, dust, and smoke that hid the Changeling, and slammed into the vortex that surrounded Snow.  The vortex began to bulge and collapse under the pressure.  The Kamehameha was almost touching Snow.

But Ichigo's body railed against her.  Her muscles and joints screamed at the abuse and she couldn't hold the Kaioken any longer.  She had given it her all and was spent.  She had nothing left.  'I've failed.' She thought to herself as her last bit of will gave out.  Then, with a sad flickering the Kamehameha died. 

Ichigo hung in the air gasping for breath and let the wind and rain buffet her.  She thought she heard voices in the distance, but as the thunder cracked and the ground shook, she didn't care.  In the eye of the storm, Ichigo waited to face Snow's fourth form. 

Then, she heard something that sounded like a mix between a shriek and a whistle.  She realized it was coming from behind her and was just about to turn around when the missile struck her.  It hit her in the back, at her hips, right where her tail had been.  While not nearly as sensitive as that wound had been at first, the sharp pointed nose jammed nerves and knocked her forward.  Then the warhead exploded bathing her in liquid flame.

The cold lightning of wounded nerves raced up her spine and exploded into her brain followed quickly by the needle like prickling tingle of muscles tightening.  Her eyes dilated and the world went fuzzy.

As the heat of the fire reached her, her stomach tightened and she dry heaved on her way to the ground.  As she hit the ground and bounced, she heard a cheer go up as though a great crowd of people were celebrating.

'Not like this.  I refuse to die like this.'  She told herself as she tried to fight the ice that had claimed her legs.  She couldn't feel her legs, but as she fought the numbness that was trying to take her consciousness, her mind started to clear.  Ichigo realized she was being burned alive, and managed to create an aura blast to knock the burning napalm off of herself.

The ground continued to shake as Ichigo stood on wobbly legs and looked around at the circle of Royal Guards who had gathered in a circle about to kilometers out from where Snow was still transforming.

Ichigo opened her senses as best she could and almost wanted to cry.  "No!  NO!!!  YOU PEOPLE DON'T STAND A CHANCE!  DON'T THROW YOUR LIVES AWAY!"  She cried out as she found the will and energy to move again.  She took to the air and flew towards where Goshu could be over heard frantically arguing with someone.

As Ichigo took to the air another missile sped towards her.  Now aware of what was going on, she grabbed the rocket out of the air and tossed it down into Snow's vortex.  It did no good, but at least it did no harm.

* * *

Goshu screamed a warning at her, but it was too late.  The missile slammed into Ichigo's back, just as she realized something was approaching her.

Goshu didn't expect anything to happen from it and was taken by surprise when her ki suddenly dropped away and she fell from the air.

"YES!  We killed the alien freak!  We won!"  Someone shouted and a cheer went up.

The General smirked in Goshu's direction and walked up to him.  "You see Mr. Son, you may thing you are something special, but you really should have left this up to the military."

Goshu could have reached out and snapped the man in two far more easily then the effort it took not killing him.  "You fool!  She is on OUR SIDE!  You just shot one of my students!"  It was not until later that Goshu realized how closely he had come to saying far more then that.

Goshu heard Ichigo screaming and turned to see another missile being launched at her.  Even from this distance, Goshu could see she had been burned badly, black scars covered red skin in far too many places on her arms, legs, and face.

But she was not dead and she was still fighting.  Goshu found himself awed at her tenacity once again.

He turned back to the General.  "Sir, please, you remember what Cell did to your guards 500 years ago?  If you don't leave the same thing will happen now.  Please, I beg you leave.  You cannot win this fight."

"Nonsense.  I have an army of five thousand to your what?  Four, five?  Maybe Six people.  You are the one who should be leaving.  This isn't a time for pretty martial arts."

Goshu looked back over the parched battle ground from the huge saucer ship and the piles of dead bodies to the bubbling lava pools and burning ground and couldn't help but wonder how the General could think what had happened today was pretty.

Then, the ground stopped shaking and it became eerily silent.

"Please Sir, turn back.  You haven't got much time."  He pleaded one last time.

Ichigo landed beside him and glared at the tank that had launched the missiles.  "Who are these idiots who are so willing to throw away their lives?"

She stunk of burnt flesh and blood dripped down her left side, which had been burned worse then the right.  At the sight of someone such as her still standing with such grievous injuries several men fainted dead away and the General seemed to become nervous.

Then the world around them exploded.  The aura vortex that had been building around Snow expanded suddenly and the ground heaved like ripples in a pond as the sphere of energy expanded outward consuming everything in it's path.

Goshu grabbed Ichigo and shielded her from the brunt of the energy wash as he braced himself.

The wave of energy had greatly dissipated by the time it reached the ring of Royal Guards, but it was still great enough to fling their tanks into the air like small stones and knock their troops back like dust in a wind sheer.

The sound of Snow's cruel laughter was easily heard over the destruction.

* * *

Dende could feel Ichigo slipping away.  She was still conscious only by force of will.  But she was weakening quickly.  He knew that if he did not get to her soon, she would at best end up in a coma like Roshi, and at worst, she would be dead.

The people of the world were praying, and that gave him more energy then normal, but in the dire straights that presented themselves to Dende as he dodged debris and flew over the dead and dieing, Dende questioned why he had ever become Kami of Earth.

* * *

Boxers watched in horror as Snow emerged from her cocoon of energy and laughed.  She had changed.  She had lost a third of her height and most of her bulk.  She now stood almost exactly 2 meters tall and was only slightly more bulky then Roshi was.

Snow was no longer covered in spikes.  Instead three great claws the color of dried blood curved from her fingers.  Her tail ended in a similar blade.  Other then those blades and a few blood colored plates, her entire body shined battleship gray though it had been highly polished. 

That however was not why Boxers watched in horror.  Her power was why he was terrified.  It reverberated off the ground as she walked.  It drowned out his senses and left no doubt in his mind of just how powerful she truly was.

As she laughed the remaining members of the Royal Guard opened fire on her.  They fought valiantly.  They gave her everything they had and then some.  In those moments of battle they fought like demons and they fought well.

They also fought a useless battle.  Snow laughed and floated into the air.

"Is this the best you can do?  You are but flies to me!"  She proclaimed gleefully.

Snow held up her right arm and clenched her fingers.  Blackish-purple energy crackled between her fingers and a ball of red energy formed in her hand.

Goshu appeared before her.  "Leave them be.  They are not your enemy.  Fight me."

"No, fight me.  I am your enemy.  You will not kill them before you kill me."  Yoshi said as he flew up to stand beside Goshu.

"You will fight the two of us as well."  Nail and Piccolo said as one as they flew up to face Snow.

Boxers looked down at his sword.  It was the sword that had once been Trunks'.  It was the sword that as legend would have it in one life or another had killed both Cold and Frieza.  "Well old friend, shall we go to our deaths?  Shall we fight the good fight?"

Boxers sighed.  "I won't have it any other way."  He said to himself as he flew up to face his death.

* * *

The pain drifted away and Ichigo felt as though she was being wrapped in a warm fuzzy blanket.  She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.  It felt good to breathe again.  She slowly opened her eyes and then blinked quickly as the old green wrinkled face of Dende looked her in the eyes.

"AH! Don't do that!"

Dende smiled.  "I am sorry dear child, but you needed to be healed.  Go now, the final battle is about to begin."  He said as he pointed up to Snow and those who gathered near her.

Ichigo quickly rolled to her feet and stretched.  It felt good to move.  She felt tired, but alive.  "This fight isn't over yet."  She declared to herself as she flew up to face Snow.

As she approached she overheard Boxers speaking.  "This is my world and if you wish to kill innocent people you will have to go through me.  I am your enemy and I am not afraid of you."

Ichigo flew between Goshu and Snow.  She smiled inwardly at the surprised look on Snow's face, and the surprised gasps several of the men made.  As her aura built her hair, which had never burned even as her skin had, fluttered freely in the wind. "You came here for me Snow.  I am your enemy."

Snow laughed triumphantly and threw her ki blast at them.

* * *

Roshi was drifting.  He was no longer trapped in his dreams, but he was not yet free.  Then, something hit him.

It was warm and soft and wet.  Roshi smelled the coppery scent of blood, mixed with sweet perfume.

The ground shook as He opened his eyes.  There was a red haired woman laying on him.  She had fallen on his chest crosswise.  A distant explosion rumbled and Roshi sat up.  As he sat up he rolled her over so she faced up.  She had been only a few years older then he.  Blood had soaked the front of her olive uniform.  A jagged piece of metal had torn a gash in her blouse.  It stuck out of her left breast and was angled down and inward.  Roshi looked into her lifeless emerald eyes and knew that death had come quickly for her.  She had died when her heart had been punctured by the jagged shard of metal.  Roshi reached down and closed her eyes.

Roshi gently stood up and laid her down on the ground.  In the distance he felt something that filled his heart with ice.  Snow was powerful.  She was almost too powerful.  He could feel his father, Yoshi, Nail, Piccolo, and Ichigo fighting her.  Boxers was on the ground.  He couldn't sense Tee.

"Goku belied in me.  I cannot fail."  He looked down at the red haired woman and saw several other corpses.  "I can not fail."

Roshi took a deep breath and sped towards the battle.

* * *

Ichigo no longer had the stamina to pull off a Kaioken times twenty.  But she realized that with all the people fighting Snow couldn't hit them all and the more open Snow left herself by focusing on her, the better.

So she attacked.  "Let's see how you like this!"  Ichigo cried as she sped in toward Snow's head.  Snow heard her and saw her coming and twisted to block the oncoming attack.  'Yes!'  Ichigo thought as she twisted her body to avoid Snow's slashing swipe.  "Thunderflash!!"  She yelled as she clapped her hands together a few centimeters from Snow's eyes.

The attack knocked Ichigo back, which helped her retreat, but it didn't help her get out of the way fast enough.  One of Snow's feet managed to hook itself into Ichigo's right side.  It slammed into her right below her bottom rib and pushed its way up.  Ichigo felt four of her ribs snap.  As she pulled away Snow's toe caught what was left of Ichigo's bra and pushed it up and mostly off of her breast, but she didn't care.  She had other things to worry about.  As she coughed blood, she knew she had punctured her lung as well.  But Snow was shrieking in agony with her arms locked over her eyes.  She was blind.  It had worked.

Ichigo coughed.  "Quickly, fuse.  It is the only way we can beat her!"  She yelled as she pulled her bra down and gingerly felt her bruised and broken ribs.

Unfortunately, Snow did not give them a moments rest as she started to blindly hurl huge ki blast in random directions.  Ichigo dodged as best as she could and even connected with a few attacks of her own.  Her mood shifted even lower as she watched her Drill Beam shatter harmlessly against Snow's armor.

Then Ichigo felt something she never expected to feel again as Roshi darted past her glowing a brilliant red.

* * *

Roshi knew it was time to act.  Ichigo had suddenly dropped in power substantially and even with the others starting to fuse, he doubted they would be of much help.  'No, he thought, this is up to me.  Now is when I stop playing fair.  Now is when I must act.'

As he approached he hooked his pinky finger blow his thumb and curved his other three fingers in his right hand into claws.  Ardent green energy flashed as three ki powered claws shot from his fingertips.

Roshi had never used the Jade Talon attack in battle.  He had threatened Ichigo with it in a moment of anger the night he had met her, and had used it to slice everything from granite to paper with ease.  But he had never used it in battle because it was an attack that was meant to rip people or objects apart.  It was meant to kill.

"Remember me bitch?"  He asked Snow as he ducked under one of her flailing arms and drove his left fist into her stomach before slashing all the way down her front from her left shoulder to her right hip with the Jade Talons.

Thee miniscule paper cut sized lines appeared and slowly seeped purple pink blood.  Then Snow's left elbow slammed into the top of Roshi's head.

Roshi tried to twist out of the way, but could not as Snow's knee slammed into his forehead.  Roshi saw stars as his neck popped and his ears started to bleed.

As his ears filled with blood, he felt as though he was under water and could barely hear what sounded like his father's voice scream at him to duck.

"Roshi get down!" Roshi heard it and ducked as a Kienzian whirred through the space his head had been in moments before.  The disk of spinning energy dug into Snow's hip and shattered leaving behind a slowly weeping gash where it had hit.

Snow must have been regaining her sight as she fired off a massive one handed ki blast down towards where he floated.  Roshi flipped to his side and barely dodged it.  As he spun to a stop he watched in horror as the beam slammed into the ground and disappeared into the earth.  Moments later a huge crater was formed as a massive stretch of land simply erupted and shot out of the ground and into the sky.  The Earth shook and great cracks opened out from the crater.  Magma bubbled out of the ground and started to fill the gaping hole.  To make matters worse, Roshi's senses told him that three hundred of the remaining Guards lives' winked out of existence in that moment.

* * *

In Satan City the ground shook with a sudden lurch and many damaged buildings fell.  Down in the subway station where Mariah had sought shelter the ceiling tiles rained down and the lights blew.  John moaned in pain as he was thrown onto Mariah in a heap.  He was just pulling himself off of her when the ground shook again and he lost his balance and fell onto the concrete floor.

The last thing Mariah saw before the last of the lights blew out was blood pooling beneath John's head.  Then darkness surrounded them all and stole her sight.

"John! Oh please wake up!"  Mariah cried.  She didn't know what to do.  She didn't know who to turn to.  Normally Roshi would be there to save her and everyone else, but today, Roshi was not there and Mariah felt completely alone.  "Roshi where are you?"  She pleaded to the air.

* * *

Snow's eyes burned.  She was regaining sight but it was coming slowly.  'How are they able to keep coming back?' She wondered.  "I killed you!"  She screamed in rage at the young man in the green and black gi.  "I killed you and I will kill you again!"

"Don't be so sure!"  Roshi replied as he darted in to deliver a straight fingered jab to her larynx.  Snow gagged and tasted blood when she coughed. 

This fight was not going her way,  Even though she was far more powerful then they were she just couldn't fight all of them at once.

"It is time some of you died!"  She yelled as she spun around and found the two older men starting to perform some sort of dance in midair.  She threw a ki blast between them and caused them to stop the dance and jump apart.

"It is time you died!"  She yelled as she jumped towards the closest one of the pair.  He tried to dodge and escape her grasp, but it was of no avail.  She grabbed his left arm and wrenched it around.  A quick jab shattered his collar bone and several of his ribs.  He bellowed in pain and blood specs splattered her face.  'There is nothing better then hearing them scream!' She thought as she kicked up with her right leg and slammed her foot into his armpit.  With a satisfying liquid pop and tear his arm ripped free of his body.  Blood spurted freely and he screamed in pain, his eyes glazing over.

She was about to rip his other arm off when the boy in the green and black gi kicked her in the face and caused her to break away from the old man.

"Your cruelty stops here Snow!"  He yelled as he started to pummel her with repeated ki charged blows.  Blow after blow landed bruising armor and muscle and tissue.  Then Snow connected with an open handed punch directly to the center of his sternum.  She felt a satisfying crunch as his ribs compacted.  The boy was thrown back as large amounts of blood burst from his mouth and splattered on her chest.

He fell all the way to the ground and landed like a rag doll.  'Two down, four to go.' Snow thought as she smiled in a way only a Changeling could smile.

* * *

It hurt to breathe, but Roshi wasn't going to give up.  He was going to keep fighting.  An image from his dream flashed before his eyes and Roshi found there was no other inspiration needed.  'I can not give up.  If I give up now, we will all die.'

Roshi took as deep a breath as he could and jumped into the air to resume his battle.  He floated up and above were Snow fought with Ichigo, Naiccolo, and Goshu.  There he spread his arms wide and began to concentrate.

Roshi as he concentrated on his task, he watched as Piccolo and Nail succeeded to form Naiccolo.  The fused Namek attacked Snow with a vengeance.  He knocked her back again and again.  He shot multiple Makankosappoes at her, knocking chinks in her armor. 

He watched as his father managed to get several attacks in and cover for Dende while he tried to stop Yoshi from bleeding to death.

He watched as Ichigo continued to give it her all.

He watched and he hoped they could hold her off long enough for him to finish his attack.

* * *

Not to far away, the General of the Royal Guard finally reached a working cellular phone.

"Are the trump cards ready?"  He demanded through it.

"Yes," a nervous clerk replied.

"Then launch them now."

"But, but Sir, that will kill the Son's and you, and all your men and women too!"

"I don't care.  The Guards are dead.  We died as heroes.  As for the Son's they are causing just as much damage as this Alien invader is.  Besides, if they die with it, at least they will die as heroes with us.  It is what they always claim to be isn't it?"

"Yes sir, but I really think you should talk to..."

"The King told me to do whatever I could now are you going to disobey me and your King?"

"Ah, no! Sir!"

"Good, then launch them now!" 

* * *

High above the Earth a satellite carrying four missiles changed it's orbit slightly.  Then moments later if fire one after another all four of it's missiles.  They would reach their destination in a little under two minutes.

* * *

Ichigo was finding it harder and harder to land a punch.  Snow had blocked a ki punch moments before and the block had broken Ichigo's left hand.  With only one hand to fight with and not being able to breathe well, Ichigo was growing desperate.

'I'm going to die here if we can't stop her.  I could use my Stopper Beam.  Dende said it would kill me.  I never actually hit Roshi with it.  It has to effect another person as badly as it effects me.'  She reasoned as Naiccolo delivered an uppercut to Snow's chin.

'There has to be something I can do.' Ichigo was not one to give up.  Then she noticed it starting to get darker and she looked up to see energy swirling around and towards Roshi who was holding his arms up and spread.

'A Photon Array?  What is he thinking?  That attack is almost useless.'  But, every little bit counted she decided, so Ichigo set out to find a way to keep Snow from seeing what Roshi was preparing.

* * *

Lightning flashed between Roshi's hands as the energy built.  The sky was starting to grow quite dark as he gathered more and more of the light energy from it.

'I hope like hell this works' He thought as he closed his eyes and started to concentrate.  Slowly through manipulation of his ki and from just compacting the energy he had gathered he began to change the nature of the photons he had gathered.

* * *

"RAAAAHHHHH!!!!"  Slucht!  That had been the third arm Naiccolo had had to regenerate, and the fused Namekian was beginning to grow tired.  As Ichigo had predicted, Snow was indeed slow.  It was her only weakness.  Even so, when she hit, she hit hard and her claws were razor sharp.  Naiccolo knew he could not afford to loose another limb.

Naiccolo was just about to close with the grinning Changeling again when high above them a sudden flash of brilliant light bloomed in the dark sky.

* * *

Roshi felt the nuclear explosions before they were more than a moment old.  He felt the uncontrolled blast of radiation and energy surge outward and directly toward where he continued to gather light for his attack.  Roshi clamped his eyes tighter shut and prepared for the worst.  'Well this is a certain way to test my theory.'

* * *

Goshu shielded his eyes as the energy wave from the explosion blasted past him.  He felt the radiation burn his skin slightly, but was surprised to find it less powerful then the ki wave Snow had released when she finished transforming.  Then his heart almost stopped as he saw the comet looking ball of nuclear flame slam into Roshi.

* * *

Ichigo didn't know what had happened.  The sky lit up and a bright wave of heat passed by them.  It tingled, but didn't seem to serve any purpose.  Then she saw the swirling hurricane shaped disk of energy that circled around Roshi.  'What in the world is going on?"

* * *

Snow felt the energy pass by her and felt invigorated by it.  The warm radiation was harmless to her and it felt so good.  She looked to the sky to see where the blast had come from and instead saw the boy in the green and black gi.  He was forming some kind of attack.  He was had not died when she had hit him in the chest as she had thought.  "Why don't you DIE?!?!!?"  She screamed as she darted for him.  The energy ball that he seemed to be compressing looked large enough to really hurt.

He saw her approach and he changed the way he gripped the energy.  There was a reddish flash as the ball of energy expanded rapidly and washed over her.  Then it was gone.  It had barely warmed her armor, yet it had looked so dangerous.  Snow looked up and glared at the boy who now floated with his hands clenched together as though he were praying.

"Ha!  You best pray boy!  You're dead as soon as I get there!" She yelled.

The boy didn't seem to hear her he was too busy concentrating on his hands and sweating in fear.  'I cannot believe these Monkeys scared me!'  Snow laughed to herself as she shot at Roshi.

When she was no more then fifty meters away he looked up and smiled at her.  Snow realized something was up and she altered her coarse slightly.  Then the boy opened his hands and a swirling wicked looking black energy spilled from his hands.  Between his palms sat a tiny dot of black spinning energy.

The boy dropped towards the ground so that he was below her and then threw the dot of energy at her.  "Eat gravity Snow!"  He yelled as he released it.

Once out of his hands, the tiny black dot grew exponentially.  It expanded until it was a swirling black disk that sliced through the air.

* * *

Roshi watched in stunned disbelief as his great attack sliced through Snow's left cheek and ear before continuing off into space.  It cleaved right through her armor.  Her cheek and ear bled freely now.  But it had failed.  It had not killed her.

"NO!!!"  he yelled as Snow licked her cheek and then glared at him. 

"You have been an annoyance from the start boy.  Now you die!"  She charged at him and then dove flipping end over end in an attempt to slash him in half with her tail.

Roshi managed to move out of the way and she stopped spinning.  "Oh, so you think you can just jump out of the way?  Guess what?  That isn't going to work this time!"  She taunted.  "If you don't block this then you will all die!"  She cried before she leaned forward and brought her legs up. Then practically bent in half so that her arms and legs formed the four corners of a box, she fired one huge red beam that originated from all four extremities straight toward the ground.

"NOOOOO!!! KAIOKEN TIMES TWENTY!!!  Roshi screamed as he dove for the ground.  Once there he wasted not a moment before he fired off the largest possible Kamehameha back up at the red beam.

'I can't fail.  I have to stop this beam or we will all die!'  He thought as his muscles strained and protested the stress he was putting on them.

The Kamehameha struck the Red beam of energy about a third of the way from Roshi to Snow and instantly the two beams bulged and fattened as they pressed into each other and sought advantage over one or the other.

The two beams seemed equal at first, but then Snow grunted and her muscles bulged.  Her beam got fatter and the empowered beam began pushing Roshi's Kamehameha back.

"KAIOKEN TIMES TWENTY TWO!!!" Roshi cried as his skin began to steam.  The new power slowed the advance of Snow's beam, but could not stop it.

Naiccolo fired off a Makankosappo at Snow and hit her in the face, but that had no effect on her effort to destroy the planet.

Both Ichigo and Goshu added Kamehamehas to Naiccolo's efforts but neither could do anything.

'I can't hold it much longer,' Roshi thought as his knees gave out and he fell to the ground.  His heart was racing and his lungs burned.  Bile filled his mouth and he had to struggle for breath.  Roshi gave one last final scream and then his Kamehameha expanded and pushed Snow's back momentarily.  He struggled to his feet and felt his skin start to crack and tear as he continued to scream and build his Kaioken.

Snow grunted again and her beam became over twice as much larger then it had been.

Roshi screamed in pain as her red beam washed over him and forced him into the ground.

* * *

Ichigo got a horrible sense of déjà vu as she watched Roshi's Kamehameha fail and Snow's slam him back and into the ground.  Snow held her beam for a few moments more and then ended it.  Boiling lava shot from the hole she had made and she laughed.  "So the planet didn't blow up.  At least I am rid of that pest!"

But no, Ichigo could still feel Roshi.  He was still alive.  How he could possibly still be alive in that boiling tunnel of flowing lava was beyond her, but he was still alive.

If he could take that kind of damage so could she.  At least, she surmised as much.  'This fight is far from over,' Ichigo thought as she closed to attack.

* * *

'I failed,' Roshi thought as he flew out of the boiling lava. 'I'm just glad my aura kept the lava from touching me.  That could have really been hot.'  He thought as he surveyed the landscape.  For kilometers in every direction there existed nothing but devastation.  Lava bubbled and dust flowed.  In places small thunderstorms rained down torrents of water where in others the only thing darkening the sky was the brimstone smoke.

He still couldn't feel Tee.  Boxers and Yoshi were knocked out.  Ichigo and his father were on their last legs.  'I didn't make a difference.  I could have, I should have been smarter, or faster.  I just wasn't strong enough.  I couldn't do enough.'

Roshi had never wanted to be a hero.  He had spent most of his life avoiding attention.  Now seeing the devastation that this fight had wrought, he could not help to wonder about why it could have happened.

* * *

Up on Kaioshin's planet, Goku was breaking a mountain with his head. 

Kaioshin walked up and interjected.  "Now what is wrong?  I thought the fight was going fairly well."

"It was, but Roshi's pulling a Gohan and took lessons in self doubt from her!  If they don't believe they're going to die!"

'Well if that is the case, then that is what fate wanted.'  Kaioshin thought, but knew better then to say aloud around Goku. Kaioshin sighed to himself and walked away, leaving Goku with his problems.

* * *

"Roshi listen to me.  It's me Goku.  You need to believe.  You have what it takes.  Release your doubt.  You can do it.  Just release your doubt and believe in who you are."  Goku spoke into Roshi's mind as he tried to catch his breath.

'Easier said then done.'  Roshi sarcastically replied back in his head.

"What do you mean?  I don't understand.  Thought is action here.  It shouldn't be hard to understand I mean, even I could figure it out!"  Goku replied.

Roshi couldn't help but laugh as the numerous stories of Goku's stupidity filtered through his mind.  'Thanks Goku, I needed that.'

Roshi jumped into the air again and sped towards where the battle had moved off too.  As he approached, Snow turned to follow Ichigo's movements and caught sight of him approaching.  Her mouth dropped. 

"NOOOOO I KILLED YOU!!!  I KILLED YOU!!!  She screamed as she sent several eye laser blasts and small ki balls at him.

"I guess I'm a cat not a monkey I have lots and lots of lives!"  Roshi replied as he knocked the blasts away and then launched a large Kamehameha back at Snow.

From the looks of things Snow no longer cared about anything but killing Roshi.  She locked her eyes on him and sped for him.  Her muscles bulged and she picked up speed as she approached.

Roshi tried to duck under her attack, but she caught him with her tail and shredded his shirt and left a bloody gash down his back.

"AHHH!"  Roshi screamed as he twisted in flight and threw a few blasts at her.  Snow dodged them and then moved in close again.  She slammed her knee into his stomach and then slashed him in the face with her right hand.

Roshi tried to hit her back, but she grabbed his arm with her left hand and pulled him into her and delivered a solid head butt.  Roshi was stunned momentarily.  But in a battle for one's life, every moment counts.  Snow used that moment to reach out and clamp her right hand onto Roshi's neck.  She dug her claws into the muscles on the side of his neck and squeezed.

"Any last words Monkey?  I'm not letting go until you're good and dead this time.  I'm putting an end to you this time!"

"You might kill me but you can't kill what I am!"  Roshi rasped while Snow tightened her grip on his neck.

Snow laughed.  "Can't kill what you are?  What you are, is scum.  What you are, is worthless trash the universe took pity on.  What you are, is a waste of my time.  What you are, is one good afternoon of enjoyment."  Snow laughed as Roshi started to turn blue.

"You won't win"  Roshi gasped. As his hands started to lose their grip on Snow's arm.

Tunnel vision stated to take Roshi's eyesight.  He fought to stay conscious but he could not breathe, and his brain was not getting blood.  His lungs burned.  He felt like he was going to throw up.  Of course even if he had needed to, the pressure on his neck would not have let him.

Snow kicked him in the groin.  "Wake up Monkey.  I'm not done playing with you yet.  You're dieing far too easily.  After all those times you came back I would have thought you would have had a few more wise cracks to give me."

"Drop dead."

"Not in your lifetime I won't."  Snow laughed.  "You see Monkey you never had a chance."  Snow looked away.  "What's wrong Princess?  Aren't you going to help him?  I would laugh to watch that."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"  Naiccolo screamed as he flew in to hit Snow in the face.  Suddenly, Snow jerked Roshi to the right as she spun towards the attack.

Shlussckt!  She speared her left hand right through the center of Naiccolo's chest.  Purple blood escaped the Namekian warriors mouth as the fusion suddenly broke apart.

Nail fell away gasping for air leaving Piccolo cleanly speared on her arm.  Piccolo struggled to get off of her arm as she laughed.  She turn Roshi around so he could watch and shot her eye lasers directly into his head.

Piccolo's head exploded in a shower of purple blood.  Snow laughed even more maniacally and grabbed a piece of what had been Piccolo's head and ate it.

"Don't you see?  You never had a chance!"  She laughed as she once again tightened her grip on his neck.

Deep inside Roshi, something snapped.  Piccolo had trained him how to fight.  When his father had not wanted to show favoritism and had been busy with his other students, the young Namek had taught him all of Goku's old attacks.  He had taught him the Tri-form and the Masenko.  The two of them had spent days out in the wilderness enjoying nature and having fun.  Piccolo had been Roshi's first hero.  He had later become one of his best friends.  He had missed him the past few years while he had been on Namek.  Now, he was gone.

Deep within a wellspring of emotion and memory opened.  Deep within the pain found purchase.  Deep within his soul Roshi awakened himself.

Snow stopped laughing as Roshi began to scream.  

* * *

Hi.  I am sorry for taking so long.  I was also warned not to end this with a cliffhanger.  Well I am sorry to say that this chapter is long enough and I wanted to have a full chapter of Roshi's final fight with Snow.

Anyway, since I did leave quite the cliffhanger I will TRY my BEST to get the next chapter up THIS week.

Post note.  I did not mean to belittle the military in any way shape or form in this chapter.  The men and women who willingly fight and willing risk their lives to protect the freedoms and rights that make our world worth living in are heroes.

However, the military in DBZ is incompetent, so they were made to be such.

Special thanks to those who helped edit parts of this and to ChiefSamuriJack who gave me a few ideas that ended up becoming a few attacks you see here and may see later in the fic.

Please review.

The Smooster.