A/N: Thank you EVERYONE for your lovely reviews:Grins:
VvVvVvV
Breathe in
Breathe out
Breathe in
Breathe out
Breathe in
Breathe in
Breathe out
Breathe in
Breathe out
Breathe in
Tied to a wheel
Fingers got to feel
Bleeding through a tourniquet smile
I spin on a whim slide to the right
I felt you like electric light
For our love
For our fear
For our rise against the years and years and years
Machine Head by Bush
VvVvVvV
Dust and the unforgettable sent of burning flesh met Piccolo's nose. He lowered his arm and blinked against the thick dust trying to see through it. There were two figures crouching on the ground a few feet away, hushed murmurs wafted through the fog to his ears.
"Why'd you do that?" He recognized the voice as Kage's.
Gohan wandered out of the dust to him wiping at his eyes, "That blast, my eyes are-"
"Shh!" Piccolo hissed struggling to hear who it was that saved Kage's life. He refused to believe that Vegeta, the Prince of all that was arrogant, had sacrificed himself for his son. Gohan looked at him quizzically; his eyes darted over to the two silhouettes. Slowly his jaw dropped open as the dust cleared.
"I was mad at you?" Ganjo winced; his wound was deep and even though most of it had been cauterized by the intense heat of the ki blast, it was still bleeding.
He hung onto Kage's arms and tried to pull himself up, "Stay down," Kage ordered pushing him back onto the ground as gently as he could, "Kami, I can't believe you… I could have-"
"Died?" Ganjo coughed blood spilling over his lips.
Kage grimaced, "I was gonna say 'move'."
A deep raspy laugh gurgled its way past Ganjo's lips, "No… no wonder Andy loves you," Kage's face softened, "Y-you've always been a good friend."
"No I haven't..." Kage frowned, his eyes ticking up to Gohan running over then back to Ganjo's face, "I should have been…"
Gohan knelt down besides the boys, "Ganjo," He looked at the gaping wound in the boy's abdomen and paled slightly, "Hang in there son."
"Damn," Kage startled slightly having forgotten, how he wasn't sure, about Goku, "Missed my target." Goku shrugged then smiled, "What a strange turn of events, instead of Kage saving Ganjo, Ganjo saves Kage. Wasn't it always-" He glanced at Piccolo, "You saving Gohan? Hmn." He folded his arms over his chest trying his best to look like he was deep in thought.
Kage stood up, "You sick-"
"-Son of a bitch." Goku finished for him and shrugged again, "I'm done with all the talking, the sulking, the… whatever, come on let's get on with this fight!"
"I'll give you a fight!" Vegeta shouted bombarding Goku with several ki blasts from above. He had used the dust and Ganjo's injuries as a distraction while he positioned himself above Goku.
"Enough!" Goku shouted lunging at Vegeta and the two interlocked in a power struggle.
Kage quickly knelt back down by Ganjo, "We have to get him out of here." He said to Gohan while trying to lift the injured man. Ganjo hissed in pain as he was shifted, more blood spilling from his lips.
Gohan grabbed Kage's arm keeping him from moving Ganjo, "You'll only succeed in injuring him more."
"He'll die if we don't do anything!" Kage's mouth opened slightly in shock as Gohan bowed his head and looked away, "You can't…"
Ganjo grabbed Kage's hand, "Kage," He grit his teeth together to keep from coughing, he winced, "The Dragon balls… j-just wish me back." His lips twitched up into a small smile, "'k?"
Kage nodded squeezing his hand, "It won't come to that, just hang in there, okay?"
"Sure." Ganjo nodded lightly, his eyes dimmed and Gohan knew he only had minutes left. Kage stood up his eyes darting to where Vegeta and Goku fought, their movements so fast they were only blurs to the untrained eye. There was no way Vegeta could defeat Goku on his own, no matter what the stubborn price thought.
"Father." Kage moved over to his father, the two stood at almost the same height, Kage being only an inch or two shorted. Piccolo's dark eyes slid over to him, "You had me fooled." He said softly, his hands clenching into fists at his sides.
"I had to stall," Kage admitted then shook his head, "We can talk about that later. Vegeta doesn't stand a chance fighting Goku-"
An explosion sent Goku slamming to the ground; the angry Saiyajin picked himself up from the rubble and glared up at Vegeta. It seemed like he had the upper hand, until the sadistic grin that had been plastered to Goku's face since his arrival returned. He wiped away the blood from his face and straightened himself out, "You've gotten stronger Vegeta."
Vegeta snorted refusing to answer, just watched as Goku grinned and continued talking, "Guess all that pointless time in the gravity room really did pay off." He stretched his arms over his head then pulled them back clenching his fists. His ki skyrocketed, his hair sparked with energy as he climbed to Super Saiyajin two. Vegeta's eyes widened as Goku's ki continued to rise and his hair grew longer, his eyebrows fading.
"No… it can't be… Super Saiyajin three!" Vegeta gaped, he narrowed his eyes and scowled as Goku looked back at him and laughed.
"Like I said," His voice had gotten deeper, darker, "'Pointless time'." Then he vanished.
Vegeta gasped floating backwards, his eyes darted from side to side, "Kaka-" He keeled forward as Goku reappeared right in front of him, his fist sinking into the prince's stomach.
Kage turned to his father, "There's no way-" He blinked, there was something his father hadn't told him the day of their spar. Piccolo looked at him questioningly then frowned looking away.
"This isn't how you're going to die."
"Either you die here today, or you fight me and you live to see what fate has in store for you. And believe me," Kage looked up at him with narrowed eyes, "This is nothing compared to what's ahead."
"You knew…" Kage whispered, "You knew about this."
Piccolo snorted, "You're stronger than you think; you just won't allow yourself to use your full potential."
"That's not-"
"You're friend is dead now because you wouldn't fight Goku, you refuse to let yourself hurt anyone anymore." Piccolo grabbed Kage by the shoulders, "You can't let your feelings hold you back, you can't be like-"
"Goku?" Kage's eyes slid up to the fight taking place over their heads, Vegeta was holding his own but fading fast.
Gohan ran his hand over Ganjo's eyes closing them, the boy's chest had stilled shortly after Kage left. Hesitantly Gohan stood and joined Kage and Piccolo; the two were staring up at the fight, Piccolo's hands on Kage's shoulders.
"He's gone."
Kage jerked back to reality, his eyes finding Ganjo's still body on the ground then Gohan's ashen face. This was no longer him against the world, him against himself, him against… This was real, this was now, and his best friend was dead. A sick awakening filled his body, numbing him from his toes on up.
'I've never seen a dead body before.' The thought came suddenly making him nauseous.
Piccolo bowed his head in respect to the fallen warrior. The wind picked up blowing back the dust that had been floating around from the stray Kio blasts. Piccolo lifted his head noticing the increase in ki and the blank look in Kage's eyes.
"Kage you can't-" Gohan started reaching a hand out to stop Kage.
The air shifted around them and then Kage was gone reappearing before Goku beating the snot out of Vegeta, "Let him go!" He screamed.
Goku punched Vegeta once more in the face before letting him fall to the ground below. The two stared at each other for what seemed like an hour to everyone on the ground, then they vanished.
Piccolo growled, "He's going to try his best at wearing Goku down, that's when we finish the job." He called over to Gohan as the two raced over to where Vegeta lay.
"How do you know that?" Gohan called back, then shook his head, "Nevermind."
The Saiyajin prince had reverted back to normal as he crawled out of the crater his body had made from the fall.
"Damn… stupid…" He grumbled spitting out blood once he reached the top. His eyes traveled up to the two fighting in the air and he continued his cursing and swearing. Gohan made it to him first and offered him a hand, "I'm fine!" Vegeta snapped pushing the hand away and clumsily got to his feet before stumbling forward.
Piccolo caught him and pushed him to his feet, "Regain your senses we're going to need you."
"Hn," Vegeta snorted spitting out more blood, "My senses are just fine Namek!"
Kage powered up more and more every chance he got, his knee connected with Goku's ribs sending the man flying back.
VvVvVvV
A/N: ALRIGHTY THEN! That was hard chapter to write… The death of Ganjo was hard to write too, but he'll be coming back. (Last chapter) :-D
Also! I'm currently working on another DBZ fic (Along with an X-men and Stargate fic that won't be out for a LONGLONGLONG time…) starring our favorite Namekian! That should be out soon after this fic is finished. ;-)
Please Review!