Chapter 52
Death of a Hero, Part 1
Day One in the Month of Strength, 18:00
Blizzard's black Kienzian hit Roshi in the back a moment before the other beams and balls of ki struck and enveloped him in a wash of pure energy.
Ichigo only had a moment to throw her arms up to shield her face as she jumped down into the stairwell that lead down into the catacombs.
"Damn it Roshi NO!" Ichigo screamed back out at the explosion as she fell to her knees.
"Ichigo, I... I should never have come out to watch. I am only in the way. I am going back to get everyone off world. Be careful. Give us something to come home to." Momo said quickly before she hurried deeper into the Catacombs.
Ichigo didn't even hear her. She was much too busy watching the explosion overhead die off. Ichigo walked back out of the stairwell and onto the now smoothly decimated surface of the city. She watched in mute horror as the dust and smoke slowly cleared. She knew. She knew the truth, but she wanted to see it. She needed to see it with her own eyes.
The very wind of Saiya seemed to howl in pain in the sudden silence. As the wind blew the smoke away, a tattered piece of Roshi's blue obi fluttered out of the cloud and landed a few meters from Ichigo's feet.
Ichigo took a step and quickly bent to pick it up. She stood slowly rubbing the fabric past her thumb and forefinger as Blizzard's laughter slowly worked its way into her brain. Ichigo shook. Her eyes begged to tear, but the tears could not force their way past her suddenly clenched eyelids.
'He... He can't be dead. Not now. Not after everything. He... just... can't be dead!'
Ichigo's mind instantly thought back over all the moments Roshi had had with her. She remembered how after their first fight, she had woken with a sleeping bag covering her. She remembered how he had agreed to teach her, and how he had been kind during that time. She remembered how he had saved her from Banana, and how he had helped her to recover from that pain. Then, there was how he had teased her and then taken her out flying on Icarus. And also, there was the look on his face when she forced her way to town, even if it took being in that ridiculous outfit. She though of how, when she woke up after almost killing herself in the ROSAT, it was his worried face that was the first sight she had seen.
Tears trickled out of her eyes to roll down her face, only to be evaporated in her aura. Ichigo slid to her knees and gasped for air as she though about Roshi's actions during the fight with Snow, and all his words he had said, and written, and shared with her.
"I look at you when you smile and it almost takes my breath away. I see the frightened Princess who is afraid to trust melt away and for a moment, for an infinitesimal moment I see you for who you are and the sight is marvelous to behold." He had said.
You have the heart of a hero and knowing you has made my life better. He had written.
'Roshi believed in me when I could not. He saw me for more then I was. He thought I was beautiful...'
Ichigo cleared her eyes and looked up at the crater where Roshi had saved her just moments before. Staring at that empty ki blasted hole in the ground, her mind played over the last few moments and reached the inevitable, inescapable, undeniable truth and conclusion: Son Roshi was dead.
In the core of her being, in her very soul, a vast empty vacant hole opened. Through everything that she had blamed herself for, Roshi had been there to support her. He had willingly supported her. He had helped her when no one else would. He had given her a second, and even third, or fourth chance. He had been kind in all the moments she needed kindness. He had helped her to believe in herself again. He was someone she could trust. But most importantly, he made her feel safe. When she learned of how view Saiyans had lived, He was there. When she had discovered her home destroyed, she had felt his support. When she had found her father dead and no one had come to support her, Roshi had been there. He was always there.
Except, he was not there now. Roshi was gone. The safe feeling was gone. Sucked into the void.
'Nooooo!!! He... he... Can't be dead. He just can't. I... I... I... loved him. I LOVE HIM!!!' The realization struck her like a rock shattering the windows into her soul. The walls she had build to protect her from the pain of the last few months shattered and fell. They evaporated as though they had never been there.
In that infinitesimal moment, the shock of everything that had happened hit her. The loss of so many friends, the death of her father, and now... now, most importantly the death of the one person she had truly, deeply, and honestly become to trust and need. Her heart felt as though it were about to explode. It hurt. Oh did it ever hurt.
"I LOVED HIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She yelled before she threw her head back and screamed out at the feeling of loss.
The moment she admitted to herself that she loved him, the slowly growing empty feeling in her chest became a piercing pain in her heart. It was as though some great, clawed hand had ripped open her chest and clenched its claws into her heart, shredding it. Bile filled her mouth as her stomach churned. Her ears rang, and her head throbbed. As the black hole that was consuming her heart and soul grew, the fist in her chest squeezed on her lungs and gouged her heart from her. It felt as though it was pulling at her very soul. It felt as though part of her was being ripped away and sucked into the void.
A burning pain took root within her. It started in her heart and moved outward like a slowly burning brush fire. Burning outward it seared though her arms and legs gaining speed and power like a well-fueled fire in a blast furnace. The fiery hot pain consumed her until she felt as though her entire body was about to actually burst into flame.
All this while, Ichigo had been screaming. She screamed out in pain and in loss. She screamed out in anger and in bitterness. She screamed out in rage. Ichigo screamed like she had never screamed before. As the few remaining buildings around her started to crumble, she screamed. As the sky grew dark and the clouds billowed, she screamed. As the ground below her began to crack and shatter and blow away as dust from an ever-growing crater, she screamed. As the very planet shook and the dust and smoke billowed and circled around her like some great typhoon, she screamed. As lightning played across the sky, she screamed. As an unearthly yellow glow lit the ground and the sky and the clouds and the dust, she screamed.
Ichigo screamed until there was no more air in her lungs with which to scream with. Her throat raw and her ears ringing she hung in the air. Soon, the pain in her chest became one from the need for air, and not from the pain of loss. Finally, when she could bear it no longer, she breathed. She breathed in slowly, opening her eyes to glare at Blizzard.
In that breath and in those green eyes, the universe changed forever.
* * *
Something slammed into her face. It hurt, a lot.
"Hey, Slip that hurt!" Kit complained as she blinked her eyes and brought her arm up to rub the side of her face. She realized that her whole body hurt just about as bad as her head, which was throbbing from getting slapped by Slip. The fact that the deck of the ship seemed to be vibrating didn't help anything.
"Well I had to wake you up somehow and patting your cheek wasn't working."
Kit rolled into a sitting position and quickly turned her head to throw up.
Slip jumped back and wrinkled up her nose. "What the hell do you think you're doing down here? Do you really have a death wish or something?"
"Guhch!" Kit cleared her throat and then spit on the deck. "No! I saw on the Phoenix that something had happened to your Lander and all the rescue ships and healers were lost. You and Max weren't doing so great either. I came down to help. Why do you think I came here? And why is the ship shaking like this?"
Slip's expression eased a touch. "To that I thank you, we did need the healers, but you could have sent them down on autopilot. That IS what the computer is for you know. Besides how dumb are you to not even think about the higher gravity?"
Kit steadied herself against the shaking bulkhead. "Fairly dumb it would seem."
"Yeah well get that grav-suit on. It has a two hour battery, not that it matters." Slip said as she looked down and shook her head as she closed her fist, popping her knuckles.
Slip blanched and for the first time Kit realized Slip looked extremely pale compared too normal. She also had a rather greenish hue to her cheeks.
"Are you ok? What's wrong?"
Slip's eyes were tearing. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. "The reason the ship is shaking is because the planet is shaking."
Kit jumped up with a start. "Is it from the fighting? Is it starting to break apart? Roshi once told me that Namek eventually just broke apart after the damage done there."
Slip glanced away and shook her head. "I... I don't know how to..." Slip stopped talking and looked away again. "I... I think the ship is shaking because Ichigo is going Super Saiyan."
Kit blinked and tried to clear her head to make sure she had heard what she thought she had heard. "Then why are you acting like something terrible happened? Isn't this a good thing?"
Slip turned and glared at her for a moment before blinking a tear out of her eye. "No! It is not a good thing! Didn't Roshi ever talk to you about Super Saiyans?"
Kit's ears almost touched as she thought about a conversation she had had with Roshi on the way to Saiya. "He said that he wished it hadn't happened cause it hurt to much. The price he paid for it was too much." Kit shook the mental image out of her head. It was one of the few moments she could remember Roshi ever acting with self-pity or weakness. The conversations had happened shortly after the launch and Roshi had been his normal self ever since, so Kit hadn't thought much of it.
Slip started nodding, "exactly!" She agreed.
"Exactly what? I don't understand!"
Slip turned and looked at her with a look of pity. It looked like she was trying to keep herself from crying. "The price! I'm sure you know that there is sorta this family tradition to keep diaries. With the notable exception of Goten and Trunks Super Saiyan always had to have a price. Someone had to die or in the case of Vegeta he had to finally accept that he had failed to best Goku. It was the one thing other than Bulma's writings, in those damn diaries Roshi kept forcing me to read that really stuck with me, there was always a price." She finished in practically a whisper.
An almost electric shiver caused Kit's fur to stand on end. "A price?" she paused concerned, "what do you mean? What has happened?" She asked with dread.
Slip looked up at her with bloodshot eyes. Kit had known Slip for years, and while she couldn't claim to be good friends with her, she had spent quite a bit of time around her. Kit realized that this was probably the first time she had ever seen Slip cry. The sight was un-nerving to say the least. "Slip, you're scaring me. What's wrong?"
"Roshi... Roshi is d... dead"
* * *
Pain. Intense burning, brutal pain. Then a flash of light. Then nothing. These are the things that Roshi remembered as he suddenly found himself standing on a road that appeared to be made of solid gold bricks. The road lead to a large Kokyo style castle. Both the castle and the road seemed to float above a mass of golden-yellow clouds. Above him the sky blazed a bright pink without any sign of having a sun.
"How... very... strange." Roshi said to himself as he looked around. There seemed to be a line of little white wisps of clouds or something leading up to the Castle. One of them floated by him and Roshi poked it to see what it was. This elicited a loud squeal from the wisp and it sped away from him. "This is not happening. I got knocked for a loop and I am having a dream."
Roshi started to pat himself down to see if he was all there. Everything was find until he started to pat down his head and he found a ring like thing to be just out of his vision but directly above his head. "What the?"
Roshi grabbed the ring thing with both hands and tried to pull it down. It didn't move and no amount of his struggles could dislodge it. "I wonder?" Roshi said to himself as he grabbed onto it and then pulled both feet up.
"Ugh!" Roshi blurted when he was rewarded for his attempt by landing firmly on his rump while still holding the halo.
Roshi closed his eyes. "This is a dream. I'm too young to die. I'm too young to die. I'm just knocked out again and dreaming. I'm going to wake up and I'll beat Blizzard and everything will be okay."
Roshi opened his eyes. "Nothing good can come of this."
* * *
Ichigo floated above the crater in which Roshi had died. It had been made larger by the energies of her Super Saiyan transformation. It was poetic in a way, Ichigo decided that she now hovered above the focal point Blizzard had created. She smiled menacingly as she decided that this would be nothing less than the ground zero of Blizzard's destruction.
Blizzard finally caught sight of her, and continued to laugh. "Oh so you've changed now too? This might actually be fun after all!"
Ichigo seethed, "There will be nothing fun about this day for either of us. You will pay for all the things you have done!"
"The Legendary Super Saiyan was nothing but a joke. You won't stop me. Nothing can stop me! Kill her!" Blizzard shouted as he threw a black Kenzien at her. Ice, Thunder, and Chill all three joined in to throw ki blasts at her as well.
Ichigo spun pirouetting over the various attacks. She finished her spinning arc by snap-kicking Blizzard in the face. He was taken by complete surprise and was knocked back.
Ichigo flipped over his back and kicked him where his tail joined his back. It might not be as sensitive as a Saiyan's tail, but such an attack would surely hurt.
Blizzard finally stopped laughing as he was knocked out of the sky to bounce off of a slap of granite. The Changeling Lord slowly got back up and turned to look directly at Ichigo. "You petulant little monkey! Just who do you think you are? Your pathetic jabs might be strong compared to other weak races away, but I am a Changeling, and when I tire of playing with you today, you will die!"
Ichigo suppressed a shudder. It had taken all four of them to kill Roshi. Thunder was down by an arm, and Ice was slow. Chill could be a problem, but the biggest task would be getting Blizzard to fight her one on one. If she could do that, she might be able to wear him out and then take them down one at a time.
"Why don't you come prove just how strong you are then? Unless, of course you are too afraid to fight a Super Saiyan by your self!"
Blizzard screamed and seemed to focus his ki. It seemed that several of his already large spines grew as he bulked up a touch more directly before Ichigo's eyes. "That's it! You will pay for your insolence Monkey!" He screamed as he charged at Ichigo.
Ichigo didn't want to test her Super Saiyan abilities by blocking a bull-rushing Changeling, so she quickly dove out of the way. Blizzard tried to follow her down, but only ended up plowing into a pile of debris.
Obviously the other Changelings didn't believe in a fair fight. Ice charged in from behind and to Ichigo's right, while Chill flew in from her left.
Ichigo jumped into the air and spun left to avoid Ice. Ichigo spun through the air like a top and then opened up to deliver a perfect spin kick to the side of Chill's head. Chill was tossed back and away from Blizzard who took the opportunity to attempt to hit Ichigo in the back.
However, Ichigo sensed him coming and dropped from her spin kick directly into a sweep and swept Blizzard's feet from under him. She then cart wheeled to the side flipping over on her hands and then over onto her feet to avoid a full on charge from Thunder.
Thunder missed her and ended up driving his knee directly into Blizzard's gut. Blizzard, who had been starting to get back up fell down again before launching Thunder into the air.
"That had best have been an accident!" He screamed into Thunder's face before head-butting him and tossing him away.
Ichigo had watched Blizzard too closely, and almost got her head blown off by a huge ki blast from Ice. Ichigo ducked at the last moment and it sailed over her head. Infuriated by her miss, Ice threw another ki blast at Ichigo. Ichigo saw this one coming and waited for it. At near the last moment she ducked and rolled into a front flip. She caught the huge green ball of ki with the backs of her knees and launched it back at Blizzard.
Blizzard was just starting to turn back from glaring at Thunder when he looked up and got smacked in the face by Ice's ki blast.
Blizzard got knocked back again and when the smoke cleared one could see a small trickle of pink-purple blood dribbling out of his nose.
"The next idiot to miss with a ki blast dies! The bitch is mine the rest of you back off!"
* * *
Kit blinked. After what felt like an eternity, she realized she wasn't breathing anymore. She forced herself to take a long, painful, and ragged breath. 'This cannot possibly be happening. This wasn't how it was supposed to happen!'
Someplace between hearing what Slip said and registering what Slip had said, her brain chose to tell her that it wasn't possible. Of all the things that Kit had imagined could go wrong, Roshi dieing just was not one of them. It was inconceivable to her that he could die. It just couldn't happen.
"That's not possible!" She finally shouted.
The bloodshot teary-eyed and insanely furious glare that Slip gave her was nearly physical. Kit stopped laughing, but she still didn't register the possibility that Roshi could be dead.
"Slip, you have to be kidding! Roshi... Roshi can't be dead." She said as her voice began to crack from the continued look of pain Slip seemed to be radiating.
Slip glared at her. "You don't understand. You can't feel ki. I can. I felt... I felt him... die."
Kit suddenly found herself very light headed. "But... But how? How do you know? You could be wrong. No, you have to be wrong! Everyone talks about how Roshi is so good at hiding his ki. Couldn't you be wrong? Couldn't he just be hiding? Come on; tell me that you could be wrong. Tell me that he could be just hiding! Roshi can't be dead, he just can't be. He's... He's... Roshi! Roshi can't be dead! He just cant be!" Kit suddenly blathered all at once in one long questioning statement.
Slip broke down crying again. "You don't know. You don't understand. Roshi... Oh!" Slip said before hitting one of the bulkheads and denting it in a very Ichigo like anger reaction. Slip turned and looked right at Kit. Kit could not ignore the honest pain that now burned deep in the girl's turquoise eyes.
"I've always been able to sense ki. I mean, I didn't know what it was. I didn't realize I was even doing it. It was like listening without hearing. But I could feel it. Goshu and Roshi only taught me how to recognize what I was sensing while we were in the ROSAT. Now that I actually know how to sense it I can't imagine how I ever overlooked it before. But... anyway... what I'm trying to get at is that I've always known Roshi. I grew up with him. He was like my brother."
Kit listening to every word, but at the same time she wondered if Slip had an aversion to getting to the point. She never answered a question with a simple answer.
Slip choked down a sob and then turned to face Kit again. "Look, I grew up with Roshi. I've known him my entire life. When he is around there is this... this... thing. Look, I don't know how to explain it. It's like, well you know the feeling on a cold cloudy day when the sun comes out and the moment the light hits you, it's suddenly warm?"
Kit nodded not completely understanding what Slip was getting at.
"Well Roshi was like that. He was a warm glow that was always there. But then, I... I can't explain. All I can say is he's gone. When... when it happened there was this flash... of... I don't know. But he isn't hiding. He's... He's gone. I know he is." Slip said before shaking her head and breaking down again.
* * *
Roshi slowly walked down the brick path towards the Kokyo style castle. "This is surreal." He said to himself as he poked one of the wisps and it squeaked at him.
Roshi walked through the large double doors, which lead into the castle. Once inside he just about fell on his rear again. Seated at a monstrously large desk was a huge red-orange man, who had gleaming green eyes, a thick beard, and wore a helm with three huge very sharp looking horns.
The giant looked at Roshi and scowled before he started flipping through a massive book.
"Oy! An w'at 'ave wee gots 'ere?" He muttered sounding something like what a Scottish Pirate might sound.
Roshi didn't know what to say. "I... ah... well..."
"Silance! Ah di'nah tell ye te talk new di Ah?"
Roshi clamped his mouth shut and watched as the giant flipped through the entire book.
"Bloody 'ell whare ta 'eck cou'd 'e be?" The giant said without looking up. "Whoow ah ye sun?"
Roshi was looking around the room at all the various odd things when he just about wet himself when the giant slammed his fist into the desk.
"Ah askt ye ah quest'on boy!"
"Oh ah... I'm sorry. What did you want? Ah sir?"
"W'as yer name boy?"
"Ah, Son Roshi, sir."
"Sun Rushee eh?" The giant flipped a few more pages. "Ah ha'nt got cha lad. W'ere ye beh from?"
"Ah Earth."
This information seemed to make the giant mad. "Arth! Arth? Thin w'a ye beh doo'n 'ere? Geet yer arse o'r and both'r meh brot'er ov'r in yer 'own galxsee!"
"Your brother? Um, could I ask who your brother is?"
The giant rolled his eyes as though Roshi were the dumbest person he had ever encountered. "Lard Enma!"
Roshi suddenly felt very stupid as he realized he was speaking to a Lord Enma, not the same one that Goku had dealt with, but a judge of the dead non-the-less.
"Um, Lord Enma Sir, could you tell me how to get there?"
The giant pointed out one of the many doors. "Get ye gone dan thet peth b'for Ah deem ye eh bother en send ye teh 'ell fer it!"
Roshi nodded and ran out the door. Before once again stopping dead and staring at the scene before him with his mouth gapeing open. "You have got to be kidding!" He yelled to no one in particular when he saw the road before him. It was a winding curvy path that seemed to stretch on forever.
Roshi shook his head. "Why me?"
* * *
It was beginning to snow. Large fluffy flakes fluttered down between Ichigo and the Changelings. Had circumstances been different, it would have been a beautiful day.
Ignoring the snow, Blizzard put his head down and charged at her in an effort to possibly spear her on the end of one of the spikes that shot off of his forehead. Ichigo simply sidestepped him and Ki Punched him over where his left kidney should be.
Blizzard grunted and finally came to a stop several meters beyond where Ichigo floated in the air. "Damn you monkey bitch! When I get my hands on you, I'll rip you to shreds! No one makes a fool of me!"
Ichigo glared him down. "Exactly, no one has to. You are a fool. After everything you have done you cannot possibly believe that calling me a bitch hurts me. Far better warriors have called me far worse things than that in my time."
Blizzard threw several fist sized purple ki blasts at her. Ichigo knocked them away and continued to glared down at Blizzard.
"That's it! I'm going to make you suffer. I took great delight watching your father starve to death. I am sure I can have equal fun in your death!"
"My father was a great man, you pathetic excuse for life! You can taunt me all you want, but I am beyond your ability to hurt. You have hurt me all that you can already and I nothing you do can hurt me now!"
"We'll see about that!" Blizzard screamed as he sent a huge red ki blast at her.
Ichigo backed away from it and moved to the side. The ki blast followed her.
'Perfect!' She thought as she moved around and let the beam of ki follow her. Once she was certain it was locked on to her, she put on a burst of speed and then threw herself to the side.
The brilliant red beam slammed headlong into Chill. It knocked him back and through a pile of snow. When the steam and smoke finally cleared, Chill could be seen badly mauled by the beam. Large rents in his natural armor bled and deep bruises could be seen starting to form.
"Does the missed ki blast thing apply to you too?" Ichigo asked feigning innocence.
* * *
Kit had to force herself to breathe. "It's not possible. Roshi can't be dead. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. He promised. He..." Kit choked up when she realized what she was saying. "I broke my promise. It's..."
Kit almost blacked out as her head was suddenly ringing from an impact with a bulkhead. Slip held her by the neck grasping either side of her jaw as to not choke her, but put a significant amount of pressure on her jawbone. Needless to say it hurt almost more than the ringing in Kit's head.
"Don't even think of saying it!" Slip spat into her face. "I know you Vulpines nearly worship fate, but don't you dare even say it!"
Kit almost wet herself. Never before had she been this afraid of another person. Slip wasn't being rational. Kit didn't need to be in the position she was in to realize just how dangerous an irrational Saiyan was.
"AAAHHH yeerrr brrrkinng meehh jeeewwhh!!" Kit was able to squeal out.
Slip blinked tears out of turquoise her eyes and then threw Kit to the floor.
"Ouch! What was that for?" Kit asked as she rolled back onto her feet and rubbed her head.
Slip turned on her and glared. "I had to make you shut up! How dare you! I mean how could you possibly be willing to say what you were going to say? Even if you do practically worship fate, how could you betray him like that?"
"What? Betray him? I would never betray him! He is my best friend!"
"You tried. You tired to make him into a victim! Don't you dare make him into a victim. Roshi didn't die because of fate. Roshi was a hero! Roshi was probably the best person either of us has ever known and I will not let you sully what he did by making him into a victim!"
"I! I know he was a hero! Roshi never was anything but a hero! But I made him promise and then I broke my promise to him!" Kit yelled back before she rubbed her jaw and winced as it popped back into its socket. "But even so I can't just ignore fate! I can't take the words back! I can't claim that those words were never spoken! Is that what you want? For me to act like I didn't tempt it to act!"
Slip balled her fists and grimaced. "No! We all know what you said. We all heard you. Don't you just feel great knowing that the last thing you ever said to him was about some stupid promise? Remember Mariah huh? As if he didn't have better things on his mind than some stupid girl!"
Kit's ears and jaw dropped as her tail bristled. "How dare you! How dare you say something like that! Mariah isn't just some dumb girl!"
"Whatever!" Slip said as she waved the comment away. "I'm... Look, Roshi was a hero. He was always there no-matter what. You may feel sorry for your words, but mine were worse. I never really appreciated him, now he's gone and I have to live with what I said." Slip glared at Kit. "Well you want to know what my last words were?" Slip said before looking away and kicking the bulkhead of the ship. The metal rang with the impact and dented to leave an impression of Slip's shoe.
Kit nodded her head almost imperceptively, realizing that Slip was going to tell her regardless of what she said now.
Slip glared at Kit. "Everyone was saying not to die and stuff. I teased him via the comm. channel that on the bright side that dieing would probably be the only way he would ever get away from you, the nagging harpy."
Kit blinked and sucked in a breath in shock. "Nagging harpy? I am not a harpy! What do you mean I nag? I don't nag!"
"You do so! When's the last time you did something for Roshi without having some motive or reminding him to do something in return?"
"Oh so now I'm not only a nag, but I'm only his friend because I can use him? I hardly think that's fair. When was the last time you did something for Roshi just because? What can you give a guy who has everything?" Kit glared daggers at Slip.
"Well you didn't have to nag on him like your life's goal was setting him up with that girl!"
"That girl happens to be one of his best friends. All I wanted was for him to be happy. He tried so hard to make other people happy was it that much of a sin to want him to do something for himself for once?"
Slip didn't reply she just glared back.
"This is stupid. You are right. Roshi was a hero. He was one of the types of people that could change fate and choose their own destiny. Our words may have been poorly chosen, but he chose his life. The last thing he would have wanted was for the two of use to be bickering about him." As she spoke the full impact of Roshi being dead finally hit her and she began to sob. No longer able to stand she fell to her knees only to find Slip hugging her and helping her to stand as she to shed tears.
"You're right. And as much as I wish I could just sit here all day we have people to rescue. I can sense Ichigo... she's doing ok, but she can't hold out forever. We need to be off this rock pronto. Get into the grav-suit and then fly this ship over to the west. There is a group of Saiyans hiding out about a hundred km from here. See if you can't get them to leave the planet. I'm going to the internment camp to help there." Slip said as she grabbed a satchel of capsule ships and darted back out through the door.
* * *
Nail was getting tired. There were just too many warriors to keep up with. Far too many of the ki blasts were starting to get through to hit him. Even though he fought beside Goshu never missing a beat, he could not possibly stop all the attacks. He was doing well, but he knew he could not hold out too much longer.
The fight had been going well. Well enough considering that they were being forced to kill hundreds if not thousands of warriors. Then the two of them had felt Roshi die.
It was as though suddenly and irrevocably, the will to fight had left the two of them.
While Goshu was the group's leader, Roshi had been their heart in many ways. The mascot of sorts. Nail was cut almost as deeply by his young friend's death as he had been hurt by Piccolo's death.
Nail let his mind wander some over his memories. He was only a few years older than Roshi. Because of their close ages, Piccolo, Roshi, and he had always been sparring partners. While both Nail and Piccolo had received some of the memories from the Piccolo who had lived trained Gohan, the three boys had mostly been taught by Goshu. Nail was suddenly finding himself quite alone in what had been the only triad of companions he had ever had.
"Nail, if you stay much longer you will die." Goshu suddenly grunted.
Nail scoffed. "Some say death is a release, rather than a thing to fear. I will not leave." He was not about to leave his sensei.
"Your valor is noted, now go Nail. Slip is moving again and she will need more help than Max can provide. I will try to keep most of them busy over here. Get as many people out of here as you can, then leave."
"What about you?"
"I will be coming, but if we are not off this world within an hour, we will probably be fighting Changelings. None of us can stand up to them." Goshu said as he released a huge ki blast and swept it through a mass of incoming fighters.
Nail sadly nodded. Roshi was dead, the girl, Ichigo, was severely under-powered for a prolonged fight with Blizzard, let alone three other changelings, and Boxers and Tee seemed to be unconscious. Things were not looking good for their rescue plan.
Nail was about to stay and fight when he realized a large group of the warriors they were fighting were heading towards Max, who was trying to free the detained Saiyans. 'May you live in interesting times indeed.'
As he left he could hear Goshu yelling. "Is that all you idiots know? Fear and death? Do you have nothing to look forward to?"
Nail realized that Goshu was loosing control. He was throwing massive ki blast, far too large to be sustained at a rate far too fast to leave him a reserve. Nail had never once seen Goshu fight in a non-calculated, non-controlled fashion.
Nail looked back one last time. "You may plan to martyr yourself, but we will be back for you Goshu. We cannot afford to loose you as well."
* * *
Roshi was flying above the golden roadway when a hand suddenly grabbed him by the shoulder. Before he could even react, the clouds and the road shimmered away and were replaced by a very Earth-like world.
"Hi ya Roshi, come over here I have something to show you."
Roshi slowly turned to the voice and then fell down in shock as a huge sweat drop formed on the side of his head. "Ya... Ya... You're Goku!"
Goku looked down at him with a puzzled expression. "Yeah, and you're Roshi."
"But... but... but..."
Goku just laughed. "Oh yeah, I always forget people get confused when I do that. Ah... well welcome to the Kaioshin's planet." He said as he swept his hand over the scenery.
"Goku! What have you done? Why is he here?" A large purplish man with a sharp widow's peak and very long white hair yelled as he walked up. "I told you that you were not to interfere with the fight below!"
Goku smiled and scratched the back of his head. "But I'm not. Roshi was already in heaven. He's dead!"
'Wow, he's scratching his head just like dad does when he gets into trouble with mom.' Roshi marveled as he absentmindedly mimicked Goku and scratched his own head as he thought. Then he realized whom Goku was talking to.
"Kaioshin?" He asked gawking at the purple man as he looked from Goku to Roshi and back as though inspecting them for something.
"Yes, I am Kaioshin." He said before he turned back to Goku. "I hate it when you block me. What are you planning? You wouldn't have brought him here if you weren't planning something."
Goku just scratched his head. "Um... no... I just wanted him to watch the fight."
Kaioshin looked from Goku to Roshi again and cocked an eyebrow. "Why do I get the feeling I am going to regret this?"
Goku laughed and scratched his head.
"Right, whatever, just don't do anything more." Kaioshin said before he started to walk away. Before he got more than ten paces though he stopped and turned. "Oh, the boy goes back to Enma to judge as soon as this is over."
Goku just nodded.
Roshi's mind was numb. 'Goku, and the Kaioshin, together I met them at the same time... their speaking to me... wow.'
"Roshi, come over here and look at that star. Then think about the fight, ok?" Goku said as he walked over to a small bluff.
"Ah yeah sure." Roshi replied without even really hearing what Goku had said.
"Ok, I need you to be touching me now." Goku replied.
Roshi blinked and stared at Goku. 'He wants me to what?'
After about a minute of just looking at Goku, the legendary man finally realized something was up. "Why are you looking at me? Come here and put your hands on me so you can watch the fight."
"Huh?" Roshi asked snapping out of his stupor.
Goku looked confused. "This is Kaioshin's planet. Because I am a Guardian I can watch any planet. That star. That's Saiya. If you are holding my hand when you look at it and then think about the fight and you will be able to see it."
"Oh," Roshi said as he grabbed Goku's hand and looked at Saiya's Star. He thought of Ichigo and instantly started to worry about how she could be holding up without him. He glanced at Goku. 'Could he be so cruel as to bring me up here just to force me to watch what my failure has cost everyone? I don't know if I even want to watch. Boxee was down, and Ichigo was hurt. And I don't have a clue how my dad and the other's were doing.'
Roshi blinked. 'Wait, this is Goku. The legends about him... he didn't have a cruel thought in his head... which means...'
Roshi concentrated and thought about Ichigo.
In his mind's eye he could see her fighting. "She's a Super Saiyan!" He yelled out as he caught sight of her golden hair and green eyes.
"This is incredible! She actually did it. I... I knew she would do it. I just knew it!" He said happily as he continued to watch. He watched as she back-flipped away from Blizzard before dodging a ki blast and throwing a Drill Beam at Ice.
"Holy Shit! She's fast! I mean she's really really fast!" Roshi gasped aloud as he realized there were moments when he was having trouble following her movements.
Roshi looked over to see Goku grinning along happily. "Thank you for bringing me here to watch this!"
* * *
Ichigo back-flipped off of Ice's head and kicked Thunder in the face as he came up behind her. Blizzard had not taken being mocked well. He had given up fighting her one on one and was now standing back watching as the other three Changelings ganged up on Ichigo.
'Damn it! I am not doing enough damage!' Ichigo thought as she knocked Chill back with a hammer blow.
Ichigo twisted her wrists around and fired off her version of the Kamehameha. It spun away and drilled into Blizzard, who didn't get out of the way in time.
The blue beam had been slowly knocking him back, but she couldn't hold it on him long enough to truly damage him. Her only advantage was her speed and agility. Standing still was an invitation for an attack. She cut the beam off, and quickly had to duck and spin out of the way of a black Kienzian.
Realizing that the Kienzian was probably one of the only ways to actually kill her, the Changelings had started throwing them about in a myriad of directions and numbers in the hopes of catching her.
She had tried to lead the razor sharp disks back at the Changelings, but they had not fallen for her tricks.
Ichigo cut off the Kamehameha and flipped over the Kienzian. She kicked it in the center of its large flat side and it shattered. While the spinning disks were nearly indestructible if hit on their sharp edge, they were easily destroyed if struck anyplace else.
Ichigo tossed up several Star Rippers out to catch a few more of the Kienzians, and perhaps a Changeling or two.
Blizzard landed in front of her and tried to hit her, but she ducked under his blow and kicked him in the right knee before throwing a two handed Blaze attack right up into his face.
"Damn you, you fucking monkey whore! When I get my hands on you I'm going to rip you to shreds!" Blizzard screamed as his fists swept impotently through the space Ichigo had been in moments before.
"Call me what you wish, I am still leagues beyond your wildest dream. Get it through your scull. You've lost. You can't hurt me anymore!" Ichigo yelled before kicking him in the face twice and following that up with the largest Plasma Beam she could produce.
Blizzard was knocked back but not very far. "Damn!" Ichigo swore. 'What good does having a seemingly endless well of ki do me if I can only use so much at a time. I cannot do enough damage!'
A distant rumble shook the ground as another capsule ship started to take off.
Blizzard and the rest of the Changelings looked at it for a moment. "No longer able to hurt you? Hmm, I think not." Blizzard said as he sent a monstrously large ki blast at the ship.
"No!" Ichigo screamed as she darted towards the blast to block it. She was able to block three of the four ki blasts, but not the fourth. The smallish pink beam Thunder had thrown slipped by her. She watched as it slammed into the accelerating ship and cracked it open like an egg. The engines sputtered and then exploded. Shrapnel and bodies flew in all directions.
Before she had met Roshi, Ichigo would have been horrified by the destruction of innocent lives, but now, now she felt the two hundred lives wink out of existence. It hurt. It hurt to know that she wasn't fast enough, or strong enough to stop their deaths. It hurt to hear the four Changelings laughing and mocking her. It hurt to doubt once again.
"Damn you Blizzard! You'll pay for that!" She shrieked as she focused her mind and did the only thing she knew how to improve her strength. She turned towards Blizzard and then shot at him bringing her fist back in rage. "Kaio-Ken!!"
* * *
Roshi realized his heart had stopped. It was slightly disconcerting to realize that while he had a body, he did not actually have to have a beating heart or breath to stay conscious. More disconcerting, however was why he had stopped both breathing and having a beating heart.
"Ichigo No! That will kill you! You can't do a Kaio-Ken while Super Saiyan!" He yelled at the air.
"Goku, tell her to stop before she kills herself! It's her only hope!" Roshi pleadingly ordered his many generations removed grandfather.
Goku slowly shook his head. "This is her fight now, she has to fight it on her terms.
"But it will kill her!"
Goku shrugged. "It might."
Roshi was flabbergasted. "And you don't care?!?"
Goku looked away. "It's her fight. I cannot help, however, if you wish to warn her you can."
"I can? What can I do?" Roshi asked pleadingly.
Goku looked at him as though he was judging Roshi. "You only need do what your heart desires."
Roshi glared at Goku. 'Gee, thanks for the help.' He thought before turning to watch Ichigo fight more. 'No! You have to stop. Please for the love of everything holy stop before you kill yourself!' He pleaded with her through his mind.
To be continued...
* * *
Hi. First off, thank you for still reading this. I am really sorry about the month long wait for the new chapter. This has been a really bad month as far as my schedule has been concerned.
Secondly, I have gotten quite a few anonymous reviews. If you are not on my mailing list and would like to be please leave me an email address and I will add you.
Anyway, thanks for reading and PLEASE review.
The Smooster.
