Chapter 18 – A New Battle
The four humans returned to Gohan's house within five minutes of each other, holding the bodies of the two-star and six-star shadow dragons. Trunks examined them.

"I'll have to store them in the labs at Capsule Corp," he said. "I can inspect them, and the Dragonballs, later." Krillin raised an eyebrow quizzically. "There's a freezer there," Trunks added quickly.

Goku, Gohan, Pan, Piccolo, and Chi-chi came into the room and saw the worn-out fighters and their victims. Chi-chi grimaced and turned away; Pan hid her face in Gohan's shirt; Piccolo scowled.

"Wow," said Goku seriously. "You guys look pretty beat up. Come with me, I'll get you to Dende."

Gratefully, Krillin, Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Uub placed their hands on Goku's shoulders. Giving a friendly wave to the others, Goku put two fingers to his temple and disappeared.

Dende had been watching from his lookout. He turned around to greet the warriors as they popped into view.

"Hey!" he said. "I hope those battles weren't too tough on you. You fought brilliantly!"

"Thanks..." said Uub, smiling.

"Here, let me help you," continued Dende, healing each of them in turn. The humans stretched, rejuvenated. "In all seriousness, though," he went on, "the four of you could easily have been killed, with your energy so low. You should take some senzu, if Karin can spare them."

"Hmm," Goku murmured. "Good idea. We should have thought of that earlier." He gave Dende a smile. "Thanks." The five of them teleported away.

Dende began to walk back to his position, then stopped. Had he imagined it, or was there something different about Goku? Did he have something on his mind? Dende shook his head in confusion and continued walking.

Goku and the others appeared before Yajirobe a few miles below. The rotund man yelped and fell over in shock.

"Goku!" he blurted as he pulled himself back onto his feet. "You gotta give us some kind of a warnin' before you do that!"

Yamcha laughed. "Maybe you're just getting old." He reached over and pulled out one of Yajirobe's long gray hairs.

"Ow! Quit it!" he yelled, rubbing his head vigorously. "You're not so young, Yamcha! Seems like you can't even grow your hair this long, eh?"

Yamcha crouched into a mock fighting stance. "Why, you--"

"A-hem." They all stopped and turned as the diminutive figure of Master Karin strode into view, leaning on a cane that was twice as large as himself. "I assume there's a reason you guys are here?"

"Oh! Right," said Goku. "Master Karin, we're going to have a lot of tough battles coming up, so we were wondering if there's any senzu you can give us?"

Karin sighed and shook his head. "You know, Goku, you're making this plant more endangered every day," he said, taking a small leather pouch off of a platform near him and looking inside it. After a moment, he pulled out five senzu beans and handed them to Goku.

"This is all I can give you," he said. "So you'd better use them wisely."

"This should be fine," said Goku. "Thanks, Master Karin!" Taking his friends, he teleported them back to his son's house.

Everyone spent a quiet night together at Gohan's house. They needed it for what lay ahead.

The next morning, everyone ate breakfast together (courtesy of Chi-chi, Videl, and Krillin) and lazed around the house. There were no reports of any shadow dragons, and no unusual ki signals. By lunchtime, there was a sense of unease about. Why weren't the other five dragons showing themselves?

The early afternoon found Goku pacing around the living room nervously, while Bulma puffed away at a cigarette outside. Piccolo stared out the window; Pan sat stiffly on the couch, keeping one eye on the television and the other on Uub sitting next to her.

Suddenly, she gave a start. "What's that?" she said, louder than she intended.

Hercule raced in. "What is it!" he cried. "Something on TV!"

"No," said Piccolo calmly. "She has sensed the energy of another dark dragon."

"Yeah," said Pan, a determined look on her face. "I want to take this one! Can I, Grampa? Please?" She gave Goku a pleading look. Before he could respond, Piccolo spoke again.

"No," he repeated. "This dragon is too powerful for you. I can sense it." He saw the anger blazing in her eyes. "What you need," he went on, "is an experienced fighter to accompany you."

Pan's eyes turned extremely hopeful. "You mean...I can go?" she asked tentatively.

Piccolo smiled wider than he had in years. "I want to see what Gohan has been teaching his daughter," he replied warmly.

"All right," said Goku warily. "But take a couple of senzu for yourselves. If you're lucky, you won't need them."

Pan nodded ecstatically, pocketing a senzu bean as Piccolo did the same. "All right, let's go!" she cried, flinging the door open and shooting up into the sky.

The two of them flew toward the ki signal. Piccolo slowed himself down to stay with his companion, though it irked him to be moving slower than was comfortable for him.

"Have you been training, Pan?" he asked, staring straight ahead.

"Yeah, kind of," said Pan. Piccolo shot her a sidelong glance. "I mean, my dad taught me how to fight, and we train together sometimes, but usually he's working on some new scientific breakthrough. I usually practice in West City, fighting crime and stuff."

Piccolo shook his head. "Then let us pray that this dragon fights like a criminal."

A tremor shook Gohan's house to its roots. Goten and Trunks stumbled on their way to the kitchen. "What the--?" yelled Trunks as he flew to the door and yanked it open.

A few hundred feet away, in the air, a torrent of ki was pouring down, shaking the area around it. Trunks squinted. He couldn't see the source of the attack; whoever was causing it must have been even further away. Goten came up behind Trunks and took in the scene. "There's someone there," Trunks said.

"Yeah," agreed Goten. "And he's calling us out. Trying to get one of us to come." Turning back inside the house, he called to the others. "I'm taking this one!" he yelled. "Want to come, Trunks?" he added.

"Definitely," smiled Trunks. "Hold on a second." Rushing back into the living room, he pulled his sword from under the couch and rejoined his best friend. "I'm going too!" he called to no one in particular. Together, Goten and Trunks flew off toward the disturbance.