Chapter 21 – Desperate Hour
The fight between Son Gohan and Eiss Shenron was electric, but Goku paid no attention to it. He was in the midst of his own furious battle with Nova Shenron. However, while Gohan and his opponent were exactly equal in strength, Goku was badly losing.
He shot a hard kick at Nova Shenron's stomach; the dragon leaped to the left and smacked Goku's foot away, then elbowed the top of his head. Goku became immensely dizzy, and was only vaguely aware of a wrenching pain in his leg: Nova Shenron had grabbed it and was swinging Goku in circles. When he let go, Goku went careening toward the ground, stopping himself at the last second with his hands and flipping himself back onto his feet. As the dragon shot toward him again, Goku released a Kamehameha of tremendous power.
The only perceptible change in Nova Shenron's attack was a slight decrease in speed. However, his fist hit Goku's face with more than enough force than was needed to send him into a mountain a mile away.
In a daze, Goku glanced up at the sky. The moon was shining in the sky; it was full. Goku realized with horror that he had missed the opportunity to reach his new power level: he felt angry enough, but he was nowhere near his full power.
Nova Shenron interrupted his thoughts with a growl. He flew over Goku, obscuring his view of the moon.
"You're made of tougher stuff than I thought, Son Goku," he said, sounding almost impressed. "But you're losing energy fast. Maybe I should just kill you."
"Nnngh!" Goku grunted in frustration. "Damn it! If only I could get my power level equal with Gohan's!"
Nova Shenron raised his eyebrows. "Hmm?" he inquired curiously.
Pan, enraged, tore through the air toward Rage Shenron, Piccolo attacking from beside her. The dragon's power continued to grow as she flew at her opponents.
With a mighty crash they collided. Limbs whipping around faster than even they could see, they each focused on nothing except their enemies' weak spots. However, it became more and more difficult to find vulnerable spots to hit.
Rage Shenron howled in frustration as she was knocked aside by Piccolo. Rounding on them again, she shot her hands forward and expelled two huge beams of ki. One of them grazed Pan's arm, incapacitating her for a moment. The other missed its mark entirely.
Piccolo raised his arm, and a curved strip of ki appeared in his hand. With a sweeping motion, he hurled it at the dragon, shouting "Kibu-meran!" as he did so.
Rage Shenron ducked, and the attack sailed over her head. Piccolo fired several more at her, but she dodged them all.
"Foolish Namekian," she growled, charging two ki balls in her hands. She didn't notice the ki boomerangs returning to Piccolo until each one had impacted the back of her head.
"AAAAARGH!" she screamed. Trunks caught Goten's fist in both hands, skidding backward a few yards in the process. Nightros Shenron grinned with Goten's mouth, and tripped Trunks with his leg. The dragon let out a long, cold laugh that shook Trunks. He narrowed his eyes and leveled his sword at his best friend, who regarded it with an amused expression.
"Aw, how cute. The little warrior's playing Super Saiyan. Well, come on, little guy. Let's play."
Trunks snarled with rage and rushed forward. He swung his sword in a vertical arc, and Nightros Shenron stumbled backward to avoid getting hit. Trunks seized the moment, and began punching, kicking and slicing as hard as possible. But his enemy was too powerful for him. He blocked everything Trunks threw at him, and it was only after a few moments that Trunks managed to land a sharp cut on his face. When the dragon flinched, Trunks brought his knee up into his stomach, then smacked his head with the flat of the blade. In a daze, Nightros Shenron began firing ki blasts randomly, but Trunks absorbed them into his sword, preparing to slice the dragon again.
Nightros Shenron noticed what Trunks was doing at the last second, and brought his hands up against the sword to block it. The energized sword cut into his palms, and he clenched his teeth in pain.
"What were you thinking, moron!" he yelled. "I've got your best friend's body right here!"
"I've been in enough battles to learn what needs to be done," said Trunks seriously. He pushed the sword closer toward his enemy's heart. The dragon pushed it back, harder.
With a terrible growl of "Nooo!" Nightros Shenron forced the sword back toward Trunks, and shot a kick at him. Trunks lost his balance, stumbled, and looked up to see the dragon holding the sword at either end, hands shining with blood. With a loud snapping sound, he brought the sword down onto his raised knee, breaking it in two. He threw the pieces away.
"That takes care of that," he breathed. "Now it's just you, me, and our fists."
Gohan and Eiss Shenron flew around each other at lightning speed. Occasionally they raced at each other and collided, creating a noise like a crack of thunder.
Gohan dove toward the ground, shooting a volley of ki upward. Eiss Shenron dodged it and raced after his opponent, freezing the air as he went. Gohan landed on the ground and looked up to see the dragon racing at him, and threw up his hands. He grabbed Eiss Shenron by the shoulders as he hit, and bashed the dragon's head with his own. The dragon howled, and Gohan threw a punch at his stomach. Eiss Shenron grabbed his wrist and flipped him over, slamming him into the ground. He shot a blast of freezing air at Gohan, who disappeared at the last moment and reappeared above the dragon. He kicked, but the dragon had already rematerialized behind him. They fought furiously for a moment, moving all around the area frantically.
They appeared again, fifty feet away from each other. Both shot their hands forward and expelled a tremendous beam of ki. They hit, rocking the ground and air all around them, causing it to split. Both of them persisted.
"Getting a little tired?" asked Gohan, even as he narrowed his own eyelids from effort.
"I wouldn't worry about me, or yourself right now," grinned Eiss Shenron evilly. "I'd worry about him." He jerked his head to the side.
Gohan looked, and gasped. "No! Dad!" he cried, and he watched as, almost a mile away, Nova Shenron slammed his foot into Goku's neck.
His mind was no longer on the intense struggle he was having with Eiss Shenron. With an anguished yell, he forced his beam to overcome the dragon's, and broke free. He raced toward the spot where his father lay; a second later, however, Eiss Shenron had already recovered, and intercepted him.
"That isn't your business, Son Gohan!" he laughed, blowing cold air in Gohan's face. Gohan cursed, punched the dragon in the face, and zoomed around him. Suddenly he felt a tug on the back of his shirt, and was yanked back into Eiss Shenron's line of sight.
"You're not leaving until we're finished!" yelled the dragon, a bit more angrily. Gohan punched again, and his opponent caught the fist in his open hand. Gohan's aura flared up around him.
"Fine!" he yelled, his anger threatening to overcome him. "I guess I'll just have to yank that Dragonball out of your chest first!" Eiss Shenron grinned.
Nearby, Goku lay on the ground, gagging severely. He coudn't breathe. He felt he was going to die.
Nova Shenron landed lightly beside him. He threw his arms out in both directions, setting a circle of earth around them ablaze. He picked up Goku by the hair and hurled him toward the wall of fire. With what was left of his reflexes, Goku dug his heels into the ground, stopping himself before he was burned.
"So you have some fight left in you after all," said Nova Shenron. "Keep fighting me."
Goku, doubled over with the effort to remain standing, slowly lifted his head. Blood was pouring freely from his mouth and nose, and one of his hands was clutching his neck. His breath was starting to come back to him, but it came in heavy gasps. He stood there, eyes locked onto his enemy's, a wild, angry desperation in his eyes, and dashed forward as fast as he could.
Nova Shenron jumped a few feet into the air, and Goku stumbled past the place he had just been. The dragon landed.
"Not really a fair fight anymore," he said. "I shouldn't have expected so much." He calmly batted away the feeble ki blasts that Goku shot, and kicked him in the chest, sending him through the wall of fire and onto his back.
Through all of this, Goku stubbornly held onto his Super Saiyan 3 form. It was his only hope now. He saw Nova Shenron stride through the flames and come to a stop in front of him. Goku opened his mouth.
"You...b-bastard! Why don't...you just...kill me already?" Even as he said it, he was inching his fingers toward his pocket, where he knew his senzu bean rested.
Nova Shenron paused. "I've had enough fun beating you to a pulp," he said after a beat. "What I really want now is a challenge. A real fight with someone on equal terms with myself." He stared hard at Goku. "You said you have the means to become as strong as your son. Do it now, and fight me for real."
Goku snapped his attention away from his pocket and gaped at the dragon. "Y...you're serious?" he asked.
"Yes," said the dragon simply. "Return to your full strength. Do whatever you must do. And do it quickly."
Goku looked past him at the sky. The moon shone brightly, perfectly round and full.
"I'm waiting, Son Go--" He stopped in mid-sentence. Goku looked at him, and was at a loss for words.
There was nothing in Nova Shenron's face to suggest that anything was wrong. But Goku saw, protruding from his stomach, a thin white beam of ki. With a soundless motion, it split into four other beams, cutting the dragon in half both vertically and horizontally. He collapsed to the ground, dead.
A few yards behind the pieces of Nova Shenron, and walking more into focus every second, was a tall, massively built creature. It was mostly white, with blue areas under the chin and stomach. Spikes stuck out in every direction: long black ones protruded from its back, while others were white and seemed to be extensions of its skin. The most noticeable of these were two long, thick horns coming from the top of its head. There was something round glinting in its chest, which Goku could only assume was the one-star Dragonball. The figure walked up to Goku until it was standing where its victim had been.
"Traitor," he rumbled in a voice which could only be described as dark: deep, deadly, and sounding more like thunder than a natural voice. "He didn't deserve to live. Ah, Son Goku," he added, turning to the gasping, writhing figure in front of him. "So nice to see you. I am Syn Shenron."