A/N: Thanks again for the reviews! You know how to make me happy!

Seeing as you don't have any questions, just go on and read!

Chapter 40: Survivors

A swarm of black birds rose into the sky, though one quickly lost sight of them as their color merged perfectly with the dark smoke covering the previous blue sky and the sun. Even from the distance that the crew of the Kintoun had already covered, the creaking sounds of breaking wood and the foul smell of something burning reached them. The sky was growing darker and darker, letting one wonder, when exactly night had fallen over the land, but just over the tops of the trees, they were able to distinguish a red and golden glow.

Those were the reasons for ChiChi to slow down more and more, no matter how much Krillin tried to urge her on. It was obvious what was happening. Sometime during the battle, the palace had caught fire and was now burning uncontrollably, while her Goku and this monster Frieza were still fighting in front, or maybe even worse, inside of the building.

It would only be a matter of time until the palace collapsed, burying one of them or both. She only hoped that Goku would manage to get out of this place alive.

"ChiChi!" Krillin was beginning to get really annoyed with her behavior. Why didn't she understand that they were only doing what Goku had told them? "We have to keep moving!"

ChiChi only glared at him, eyes blazing in anger – anger was good, much better than the frustration of not being able to do anything but run. She put her hands on her hips and stopped, not moving an inch. "This is far enough. I'm n…ah!"

She almost lost her balance, as a light tremble went through the earth. A horrifying groan reached their ears and sparks whirled up high into the sky behind them. The palace had finally lost its fight against the flames. The crew stared in shock and some kind of sick fascination at the sky. For one short moment, the flames had spiked up.

But nothing could have prepared them for the ear-battering bang that followed shortly after. Krillin immediately pulled ChiChi to the ground, covering her body with his. The others also went for cover. Krillin chanced a glance back and saw even more sparks, fire and smoke flaring up. They stayed like this for a few more minutes, just to make sure that there was enough distance between them and the palace to escape the rain of ash and sparks that was going down after this explosion.

Krillin grabbed a bit of grass into his hand and squeezed it tightly, pressing his eyes shut and refraining from cursing, yelling, even crying. That was it! It was over… No one, not even Son Goku, could have survived an explosion like this.

"What the hell was this?" Yamcha got up again, running his hand through long black hair and staring at the smoke-covered sky.

"Gun powder," Bardock answered shortly, while he was making sure that Gohan was still alright. The boy had slept through this all and it was good so. "In the back of the palace was an arsenal, when the King had still lived there. Filled with different weapons and also gun powder. I guess it must have still been in use under Frieza's reign."

"The fire must have been able to reach the arsenal, when the building had collapsed," Piccolo mused quietly. "Damn."

"What do you mean?" ChiChi asked quietly, as Krillin helped her to her feet. It couldn't mean… No, her Goku was alright. He had gotten out before the explosion. It would only take a few minutes until he joined them. No, she didn't want to believe it. Goku was alive!

"I'm sorry, ChiChi…"

"No!" she yelled at Krillin, new tears forming in her eyes. She vehemently shook her head. "No! You can't just tell me one minute that Goku will be fine and then that he's dead! I don't accept that! I can't accept that! He's on his way to us! We just have to wait for him to catch up. We just have to…" Sobbing, the woman sank to the ground. Her face was buried in her hands, as she mourned for her lost lover, the man who should have been her husband and Gohan's father.

"What if…" Yamcha began, but paused at once, when Krillin was glaring at him. It wouldn't be right to give her any false hope. What were the chances that Goku had gotten out of the palace or out of range of the explosion in time? But then again, they had already believed him to be dead once and he had turned up again, very much alive. Could one person, one man have this much luck? Somehow Yamcha doubted this, even though it was Son Goku they were talking about. Somehow this man seemed to have more lives than a cat. He remembered so many near misses and Goku had always come out rather unscathed. His eyes strayed to Buma's body on the ground and he sighed, defeated. First her, then Goku. How many more until we are home?

ChiChi looked up tiredly, blinking, as she felt a small hand on her shoulder. At first she had thought that it was Gohan, but she was now looking at a friendly green face. "Dende…" she murmured, slightly confused.

The young Namek smiled at her, much to everyone's surprise. Krillin had stepped away a bit reluctantly, when the boy had approached the woman, watching them somewhat warily. Dende didn't need to crouch down to be on eye-level with her, ignoring the looks the others, even Piccolo, were giving them. He squeezed her shoulder gently and whispered, only for her to hear, "Hope is not lost yet. As long as the Dragonballs exist, none of your friends are."

"What are you talking about?" ChiChi asked quietly. Her weary mind didn't have the strength to decipher his cryptic words. But instead of answering, he only squeezed her shoulder one more time, still smiling, and then turned to Krillin.

"Maybe we should just go on a bit longer and then make up a camp. Most of Frieza's men have either fled or are dead and I doubt that we are in danger of them. The only one that could still be a threat is Frieza, but I'm confident that he's dead. Either killed by Son Goku or the explosion. Then, tomorrow, I really would like to go back and look for the remaining six Dragonballs. They are still dangerous, if they fall in the wrong hands."

Throwing Vegeta's lifeless body over his shoulder, Piccolo nodded at Dende's request. "We really should consider this. But first, let's find a place to hide and rest, then we can talk about what we're going to do tomorrow. Krillin?"

The young sailor pondered this for a moment, before he, too, nodded. "Let's go. Bardock, do you maybe know a place?"

"In my time, there were many places," the Saiyajin said only smirking. "Follow me."

And so they went on. Krillin and Tenshinhan helped ChiChi up again and the larger sailor had taken to supporting her, even going so far as to offer to carry her, as she leaned heavily on him. But the woman, though extremely exhausted, was somehow filled with new hope after Dende's words and declined the offer. From that moment on, she only relied a bit on Tenshinhan's help, again showing her independent streak that she had lost for one short moment.

Dende was right. She couldn't lose hope now. They didn't know if Goku had really been present at the palace, when the place had collapsed and exploded, so he might still be alive.

And, god, would he get a tongue-lashing, when he showed his face, for making her worry so much!

Hercule Satan, self-proclaimed defeater of the monster Cell, reared back in shock, when he rode through the gates into the courtyard of Frieza's palace. Nothing that he had seen until now, not even the heavy and dark cloud covering this place and not the bang, could have prepared him for this sight. Slaughtered soldiers and some trampled villagers were spread all over the courtyard, in front of the crumbled and still burning building that had been the Beast's palace.

What the hell happened here?

He saw a couple of gallows at one side of the courtyard, most of which had been destroyed by the explosion. And now, that he thought of it, he hadn't met a single person on his way through the village. Something incredibly terrible must have occurred in this place to make it look like this. A battle, Frieza's soldiers versus some unknown fighters, maybe pirates? But why should Frieza want to execute pirates? It was widely known that the Beast employed some of the worst and most feared pirates of the world.

Satan jumped from his horse and immediately pulled out his pistol. Droplets of sweat were already running down his face, as he looked around vigilantly. A rustle in the trees to his right let him whirl around, pistol pointed at the moving leaves of the bush. A sigh of relief escaped his lips, when a brown horse stepped out of bushes.

Slowly, tentatively, he stepped forward, over the bodies, looking left and right the whole time. Satan held his pistol tightly in both hands, though both hands were shaking madly.

Satan didn't dare to look at the ground, at the body littered all over the courtyard, for the sight made him sick. And yet he couldn't help but let his gaze wander down. More than once he had to suppress the urge to retch and relieve his stomach right then and there. "Oh God," he muttered, as he spotted a bald head, only merely feet from its body, lying directly in front of him. Empty eyes stared up at him, as he stumbled backwards.

Who has done this?

It must have been an army to take out so many soldiers. Nothing less could have defeated those who had been commanded by the Beast itself.

With great effort to keep his eyes averted, Satan walked past the head and many more bodies until there were only twenty yards between him and the ruins of the palace. If Frieza had been in there, he couldn't have survived, Satan thought and a small grin spread over his face. Well, this would make his job on this island much easier. He could just go back to Ginger Island and tell everyone that he had defeated the Beast in a vicious battle that had brought down his palace.

Nodding his head, Satan decided that this would indeed be the best course of action, of course only if Frieza was dead. According to the massacre in his courtyard, those chances weren't even that bad. Maybe if he found the body? And brought it back with him? But to do this, he had to wait until the fire was gone, so that he could look for the body among the ruins.

However, Satan was just about to turn around to get his horse, when he heard something. He froze, not daring to look back to the palace, but still sneaking a glance over his shoulder. Some of the beams and stones from the walls fell aside and he saw a hand sticking out of the ruins. A moving hand.

The hand grabbed a larger boulder and pulled at it. Hercule Satan watched this, now again facing the ruins, not being able to move at all. Soon more debris was falling aside and a whole body followed the hand until a person was standing over the rubble. He was bleeding heavily from several wounds and fought hard to remain on his feet.

Satan cried out in fear and scrambled backwards, his hands fumbling with the pistol.

Frieza was alive! Injured, but alive!

The Beast's head shot up, when he heard the cry and his eyes landed on the man in front of him. "Human," he hissed, as another sharp pain went through his body. He carefully took one step at time, as he staggered over the ruins until he again had steady ground underneath his feet. Believing this Human to be one of the villagers on his island, Frieza said, "Help me."

But Satan didn't listen. He had finally managed to regain control over his weapon and was now pointing it at Frieza. "Heart," he mumbled frantically and took aim, desperately trying to keep his trembling hands calm. "Heart…"

"What's this?" Frieza asked and laughed, even though it only brought him more pain. "Some stupid Human trying to…"

He never got to finish what he wanted to say, as he reeled back and fell to the ground with a soft thud. The pistol in Satan's hand was smoking in the aftermath of the shot he had just fired. He took a hesitant step towards Frieza, making sure that he was really dead this time. He had missed the heart, but instead there was a small hole right between the empty eyes.

Satan's heart almost skipped a beat and he whooped in joy, raising his fist into the air, even though there was no one who could witness his dance of victory.

Frieza, the feared Beast, was dead and the one who had finished it was Hercule Satan.

It was slowly growing dark and stars appeared at the sky. The wind had changed and therefore the crew of the Kintoun was now able to see the stars and the silver moon rise. They had lit a small fire in the middle of the clearing they had chosen as hiding place. Bardock had said that people came to this place seldom, because the trees around the clearing were so thick that it was hard to get through to it. And hard it had been, as many of them were now sporting several scratches.

Gohan was lying close to the fire, his head resting on ChiChi's lap and she absentmindedly stroked through his wild black locks. He had been awake briefly before, long enough to eat some of the berries that Tenshinhan and Chao-Zu had plucked from nearby bushes. He was sleeping again now and ChiChi also felt incredibly exhausted, but worry kept her awake. Her gaze often wandered to the small path that they had used to get there, always hoping that Goku would step through the thicket.

The others had also settled down to rest. Dende was sleeping next to where Piccolo was sitting, his head propped up on his arms and the others were leaning against trees. Piccolo and Krillin had taken the first watch and Tenshinhan and Chao-Zu had agreed to take the second. Bardock, Juuhachigou and Yamcha were the last ones to watch over them.

Actually, the whole time they had spent there at this hiding place until now, it had been peaceful. No one had disturbed them. Until now.

Krillin and Piccolo were on their feet at once, when they heard the rustling of leaves. As the other appointed guards weren't asleep yet, they also jumped up, prepared to defend themselves, ChiChi and the children. Bardock quickly roused Dende to alert him to the potential danger. Nobody said a word, they didn't even dare do breathe too loudly, in case this might give them away. Their muscles were already tense, their watchful eyes scanning the thicket in front of them.

A shadow appeared in the twilight between the trees and the crew of the Kintoun was ready to bounce. Krillin nodded at Piccolo and they both waited until the shadow was near enough to attack. They acted as one. The moment they saw a bit of skin flicker in the light of the fire, they lunged at the shadow. They didn't expect, however, that it simply side-stepped both of them, but while Piccolo quickly regained his balance and whirled around to face the attacker, Krillin wasn't so lucky and overbalanced. He was already close to the ground, when a hand grabbed his collar and pulled him back up.

"Hey there, mate," Krillin suddenly heard a familiar voice say and he looked up in disbelief. "Be careful, or you might get hurt."

"Goku?" he asked, astounded. The shadow's face was now lit up by the fire and it really was his old friend. He looked a bit worse for wear, with a mixture of soot and blood covering most of his face, but it was Son Goku. "Goku! It's really you!"

ChiChi stared in shock at their attacker, as he now stepped into the clearing and into the full light of the fire with Piccolo and a grinning Krillin. His pants were almost completely torn, his shirt gone and his whole body was littered with cuts, bruises, burns and covered in dust and soot. Some of his wild black hair was a bit singed. Goku looked a mess, but he was alive!

"Goku!" she cried, and after she had gently put Gohan's head on the ground, she ran up to him and flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest, not caring if she was getting dirtier by doing this. A sob broke through the silence, "You're alive!"

Goku grinned fondly down at ChiChi, readjusting the bundle he was carrying over his shoulder, but winced, as she tightened her grip around him. "ChiChi…"

Startled, she took a step back, but before she could let go of him, he grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "How…? I mean… you're alive…"

"You said that already…"

Immediately, at his words and the joking tone he used, the tears were forgotten and instead a scowl plastered on her face as she glared at him. "Son Goku! How dare you? How dare you leave us in the dark like this! We were worried sick! We thought you were dead!"

The grin on his face got, if possible, even wider. If ChiChi could berate him like this, she was alright. To shut her up, he quickly pulled her close again and pressed his lips against hers. She responded quickly, relief and joy making it passionate and sweet. When they finally parted, Goku's gaze flickered over her shoulder to the still rather pale form of his son next to the fire and he said, grimly, "The only one who's dead, is Frieza."

"You really killed him?" Yamcha asked, amazed. Goku only nodded, and gently led ChiChi back to the fire and their son. "You really do have more lives than a cat…"

"Good to have you back." Tenshinhan clapped on his shoulder and Piccolo simply said,

"I knew you could do this."

"So did I, son." Goku turned to face his father, who was beaming at him with pride. Alone the large smile on his face made him appear years younger than only a few hours ago in their cell. "I never doubted you."

"Thank you, father," he said, also smiling. "I'm sure you all want to hear what happened, but before… How is he?" Goku crouched down next to Gohan and gently wiped a strand of hair out of his son's face. "Bulma said that he was hurt, before she..." His gaze fell on the two bodies that they had put as far away from the fire as possible and he swallowed hard, when he saw Bulma's white face. If it weren't for the gash at her throat, one might think that she was only sleeping.

"Recovering," Piccolo answered. "He lost a lot of blood during the battle against the soldiers. Dende healed him, but wasn't able to replenish the blood he lost."

Bardock put a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder, as he said, "But he will live. He's a survivor, just like you."

Suddenly, Gohan stirred, as if woken up by the presence of his father. The boy wearily opened his eyes, which suddenly widened, when he spotted the person hovering over him. A hopeful smile lit up his face, when he asked, in a surprisingly strong voice, "Dad?"

"It's me, Gohan," Goku said, softly ruffling his son's hair. "You can go back to sleep. I'm alive and Frieza's history. I'll watch over you. We are safe."

But the boy was wide awake now. He was suddenly full of energy and found the strength to sit up and tackle his father. "Go back to sleep? Now that you're here? What happened? How did you defeat him? I heard you've become The Legendary. Is this true?" he asked with an excitement that only a child could posses.

Bardock chuckled lightly. "I believe my grandson asked the right questions. I'm sure we are all curious as to how you defeated the Beast and how you got out of the palace alive. We saw the fire and know that the building collapsed and exploded. You must have gotten out before…"

"Why don't you give him some time to breathe?" ChiChi now asked, sounding angry, though she was smiling. "And Dende, could you please heal him?"

"Of course," the young Namek answered.

While Dende was taking care of Goku, the woman turned to her son. "And you, young man, are going back to sleep. You're still too weak to be awake," she chided him.

"Let him, Chi," Goku said. "I'm sure, he'll tell us when he's too exhausted."

"Mom?"

ChiChi sighed, when she saw both father and son looking at her with wide begging eyes. "Alright…"

After Goku was healed and he had flexed his muscles, without any pain, he sat down at the fire and slid the bundle down his arm, putting it carefully on the ground. Strangely enough, no one seemed to have noticed this yet, but this was just alright with him. So he could at least start at the beginning.

Son Goku heaved Gohan in his lap and put an arm around ChiChi. He waited until the others had also settled down around the fire, before he began with his tale. "Actually, I was still inside, as both things happened…" As expected, his friends gasped at this revelation and he grinned. "But I was lucky…"

Son Goku couldn't believe this. The building was going to come down on him every second and he was trapped. Fire on one end and a dead end on the other, only… He inched closer to the wall behind him and now that he was nearer, he saw something that he had missed before. A small part of the wall reflected the fire and when he touched it and felt the smooth metal under his fingers, he grinned. There was a flap, obviously for a laundry chute or something similar and most importantly, it wasn't locked.

Looking back, he quickly weighed his options. Either getting killed by the fire or using this chute to escape. The chute it was and he leaped through it head first. Goku slid through what seemed to be a longer tunnel and landed in a tumbled heap at the end. He winced in pain, as he got up again and made sure that the bundle over his shoulder was still in once piece. Wherever he had landed, it was completely dark, but also cooler and much more preferable than the fire filled halls upstairs.

Closing his eyes, he waited for a few seconds until he opened them again. He had used this time to catch his breath and now that his eyes were getting used to the darkness, he was also able to see more. This room was filled with barrels, wooden boxes, even furniture and other stuff.

A basement. A huge basement, Goku thought, as he hurried through the room in search for an exit. There must be a door somewhere, and indeed, after having walked around a corner, he found one. He tentatively reached for the doorknob, almost expecting it to be hot, but it was cold.

Goku sighed in relief. There was no fire on the other side. He quickly pulled the door open, only to find himself in a long and dark corridor. There was a staircase directly to his left, but after he had walked a few steps upstairs, he again felt the warmth of the fire. This was not the way out.

He retreated back into the corridor and ran along its length. But he was slowly growing desperate, as there were no doors or other staircases. Suddenly the ground underneath him trembled and dust and plaster fell from the ceiling. Goku supported himself at one of the walls, waiting until the trembling had subsided. The palace had collapsed.

Knowing that he shouldn't waste anymore time, if he still wanted to find an exit, he hastened through the darkness until he almost ran headlong into another door. Goku grabbed the doorknob to open it, but the door was locked. "Damn," he muttered and took a step back, before he threw himself with full force at the door. It broke under the impact and Goku stumbled into another corridor. He ran.

There just has to be an exit somewhere! Goku cursed under his breath, as there was still no sight of another door. The corridor took several turns, but then, all of sudden, he was thrown to the ground, as an ear shattering explosion shook the whole building and the ground. More debris was falling down on him and, much to his horror, the corridor was about to collapse. He swore again, mumbling obscenities that would make some people blush, and took off again.

And there, after what seemed to him like long minutes, he saw stairs at the end of the corridor and also a slight glint of light. He fastened his pace – rocks were falling down behind him, as the ceiling of the corridor gave in – and hurried up the stairs. The light he had seen was coming through the chinks of a trapdoor in the ceiling. Goku pushed at it with all of his strength left and eventually it cracked and swung up. He stumbled out of it just before the corridor crumbled behind him, whirling up a lot of dust.

Goku fell on his back and squinted against the sun that tried to get through the smoke cover. He felt the soft green grass on his back and finally allowed himself to let go of the strength, so that his eyes and hair turned back to black. And then he laughed. A relieved, freeing laugh that he had made it.

"This corridor was obviously some kind of escape route, because I found myself in the middle of the forest, a few hundred yards away from the palace," Goku finished his tale. "And then, after I rested for a few minutes, I set out to find you."

"Now that you mention it," Krillin pointed out. "How exactly did you find us? I mean, I think this place isn't called a hiding place because people can find it that easily."

Goku only grinned, as he rummaged in the bundle that they only now noticed and took a piece of parchment out.

"The map!" Piccolo said, surprised. "But then…" His gaze wandered to the bundle and Goku opened it even further, revealing six orange spheres.

"I couldn't just leave them at the palace," Goku explained, shrugging. "And when I looked at the map and saw that there was one sphere moving away from the palace and towards the harbor, I hoped that it would be you and just followed the sphere on the map. And here I am…"

"That's really great," Tenshinhan exclaimed. "Frieza's dead and we got all seven spheres…"

"But we paid for it," Goku interrupted him gravely, throwing a look over his shoulder to the two bodies. "We may have saved the spheres, but we didn't save Bulma…"

An uncomfortable silence fell over the group and Tenshinhan looked to the ground, ashamed. He hadn't thought of that.

"I wouldn't worry about that." They all looked up at Dende, who was crouching in front of the six spheres. He turned to them and grinned, his eyes twinkling somewhat mischievously.