Three Rivers of Justice

Chapter Ten

Piccolo clinched his fists so tightly, his nails dug into his skin. "Goku." He said in a deep and menacing voice. "I've been waiting for this moment since the day I was born." He smirked. "Thanks for giving me a valid reason to kill your pathetic Saiyan ass."

Goku continued to hover. "Big words, big man." He said. "You couldn't beat me then, and you won't beat me now." Finally, Goku began to lower himself to the ground.

The girls stood close by Piccolo, each one prepared to fight. Then, Rhyne gasped as she saw Gohan coming up behind her.

"Gohan!" She said happily, ready to run and hug him. But it was something in his eyes that made her pause even before her father cautioned her.

"That's not the Gohan you remember." Piccolo warned quickly. "He is our…..enemy." Just saying the word was painful, thinking of Gohan's innocence and his loving nature.

Gohan smiled. "Hello, Rhyne." He said in his same boyish voice. "I've been looking forward to seeing you again." He continued to smile and Rhyne was hoping that perhaps it had all been a horrible mistake.

But, it was not. Faster than you can imagine, Gohan sent a blast forward, striking Piccolo in the back. The Namek shouted in pain and fell to one knee, breathing heavily.

The girls knew the situation was almost as bad as it could get.

"You and these snot nosed girls are going to die, it's simple." Goku said. "But, I'll give you a fighting chance…for old times sake." He laughed. "You and me." Goku said, pointing to Piccolo and then to himself. "You beat me, you all go free. But you lose, and I'll rip these kids apart….while you watch…." His laughter sent chills down Piccolo's back. It was truly the laugh of a blood thirsty Saiyan, even worse than he had imagined.

Piccolo knew he could not beat Goku, but had no choice but to fight. "Deal." Piccolo said. "If you get the chance to run, you do it….get out of here and find Vegeta." He said mentally to all three of his girls.

"Fine." Goku said. "Now, let's begin….Gohan here will watch the girls for you." He told him coldly. The exchanged glances between father and son told Piccolo all too clearly that this would not be a fair fight, nor was Gohan pretending. No, his heart was as cold as the one of his father.

Goku attacked with several powerful punches, while Piccolo tried his best to dodge the Saiyan. Goku was unbelievably fast. Must faster than he had ever been. Piccolo did not have to speculate about his power, as two punches landed up beside Piccolo's head. It jarred his mind so abruptly, he faltered, loosing some ground. Goku was on him quickly, but Piccolo managed to get in one or two good strikes to the Saiyans stomach area.

Gohan was watching the girls closely. "Don't make a move, or I'll kill you." He said.

Vegeta had sensed the fighting which began some time ago. However, his attention was more focused on the ship in front of him. It was one of Frieza's ships, enormously built and full of soldiers. Vegeta hovered, unnoticed, and watched as several dozen soldiers left, obviously prepared to join the fighting a few miles away.

Outside the ship were two single soldiers. Vegeta smirked as he slowly descended. With one quick lunge, he grabbed the fighters and snapped their necks, and then drug them into the wooded area a few feet away. Vegeta waited for a few minutes, but no other soldiers appeared. Taking an opportunity, he slowly and carefully entered the ship.

The hallways were well lit, the engines still engaged, but in hover mode. Moving with the quietness of a cat, Vegeta kept his ki hidden as he crept down the hallway. Once he was forced to dodge into a room while two soldiers passed by. But, he had remained undetected and continued. Coming to a fork in the hallway, Vegeta had to decide whether to go left or right. If this ship was designed like Frieza's others, then left would take him to the control room, and right would lead to the various rooms and sleeping quarters of the soldiers and even Frieza himself. Deciding he needed to first disable this ship, he headed left.

Vegeta heard voices, all unfamiliar. He had not heard nor felt Frieza anywhere, but assumed he was somewhere on this planet. Perhaps he had gone to the fight scene prior to Vegeta's arrival.

"There is no need to change the controls." Vegeta heard the man say. "We need to attend to prepare a tank for our new arrivals. Lord Frieza was very clear on his instructions."

"Yes." Another man said. "This is for the Saiyan called Vegeta….and what about this one?"

"Those are extra at this point." The first man said. "Just do as Lord Frieza has asked, without question."

Vegeta flinched at the mention of his name, but continued to remain hidden. After about an additional five minutes, the two men left. Vegeta watched them walk down the long hallway toward the sleeping areas. Making certain they were gone, Vegeta turned the doorknob and found it locked.

He snickered, using a small amount of power to force the door open.

Once inside, he found himself in darkness. He felt along the wall for the light switch, wanting to see what kind of plans Frieza had for him. Feeling the light controls, he switched it upward, causing florescent lights to turn on above.

It was a large white room filled with about six rejuvenation tanks. Each one was filled with fluid and seemed to be functioning. He walked along the row of empty tanks, wondering why Frieza would have so many, and what he planned for them.

Vegeta looked around the room, glancing at the controls on the various tanks, when he suddenly stopped, his mouth open in shock.

"Oh…my God…" Vegeta said.

Piccolo was taking a beating, but he continued to fight.

Down below, the girls were trying to come up with a plan. Mentally, they were discussing what few options they had. One, try and overpower Gohan. Two, try and use their powers against both Goku and Gohan and risk death. "Either way, we're dead." Rideria pointed out. "I say we go out with a fight."

"I don't want father to die." Rhyne said. "We have to do something….fast."

"Rhyne, you have to get Gohan's attention. Give us a chance to use our powers. Rikola, you take care of Gohan, and I'll fire up that Saiyan." Rideria said mentally. "As much as it will hurt, it's our only chance." She knew that asking Rhyne and Rikola to destroy Gohan was asking a lot. "Can you do it?"

"Yes." Rikola said sadly. "We have no choice."

They both waited for Rhyne to speak, but saw only tears running down her face. "I…..I don't know." Rhyne said, only it was out loud and not mentally.

"What are you babbling about?" Gohan asked angrily. Then, he suddenly realized what was happening. "You think you're so smart! Speaking mentally and trying to plot against me!" Gohan was incredibly angry. "It's time I showed you what true power is!"

Gohan took a fighting stance and smiled. "Let's go."

Rideria stepped forward. "Now you're speaking my language, monkey boy." She said sarcastically, yet full of anger. "I'll fry your Saiyan ass."

They charged each other, fists flying. Rikola watched, waiting for an opening in which she could send her icy blast and end it once and for all. But her attention was averted toward Piccolo as his fight continued to escalate.

Rikola wasn't sure what to do. She tried to watch both fights, waiting for any chance to help. It wasn't until she heard her sister Rideria scream that she focused all her attention on her and Gohan. Rikola and Rhyne both saw blood flowing from Rideria's side, a large hole where she'd been hit by a blast.

Rideria felt her head swimming at the pain, her hands and the front of her shirt now covered in the purple fluid.

"See." Gohan said smiling confidently. "You don't have a chance against me." He sent another blast toward Rideria, one she barely avoided.

Rideria tried to focus, preparing to set Gohan on fire, but she never had a chance. Within seconds of dodging the second blast, he sent a third and a fourth. Both explosions struck the girl, one in her left arm and the second hitting again in her stomach. Rideria opened her mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Her eyes closed and she fell to the ground, just a few feet from her sisters.

Gohan landed beside the girl's fallen body and eyed the remaining two Nameks. "Ok, who's next?"

"How about me!" A new, yet familiar voice said. Both Rikola and Rhyne turned around, as did Gohan, seeing the new arrival of three fighters.

"What the……" Rikola said, not sure if she was crazy or not. She looked at Rhyne, who was as stunned as her sister. "It…..it can't ….be…"

The newcomer smiled. "Don't worry, Rhyne." He said, looking at the youngest girl.

Rhyne swallowed hard, not sure if she were hallucinating or not. "Gohan?" She asked, looking at the dark and friendly eyes she remembered so well.

The boy smiled. "Yes, it's me."

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