Alright! Now we're finally going to finish the first battle! So, let's get to it!
"Uh! You! I don't believe it!" Raditz shouted at Gohan.
"Gohan! What. . .?" Rinka tried to talk to him, but he didn't seem to be listening. He just stared with rage-filled eyes at the man who was causing his father pain. She felt like she was at a loss for words, until she looked back over at her dad.
"Daddy, what's happening to Gohan?" she asked nervously, but he was in too much pain to answer.
"It – can't be," Raditz said, with a baffled tone.
"Gohan," Goku was finally able to find his voice. "Daddy can't get up right now," he tried to tell him, but then his gaze shifted to his daughter. "Rinka – take Gohan and run – run away from here," he ordered.
"No! I'm not going to leave you," she argued.
"You don't get a say in this, Rin! You have to run! Do it – for Gohan," he lectured, trying to convince her.
Rinka scowled, but finally obeyed. She scrambled over to her little brother and tried to pick him up. However, that was easier said than done! He not only resisted her pull, but was able to throw her off of him in his anger. Rinka just stared at him in surprise. What was she supposed to do now?
"Ah! Power level 1,370!" Raditz suddenly exclaimed, his little machine beeping like crazy. "Impossible for a kid! And – it's still going up!" he began looking very nervous.
Rinka's eyes kept darting back and forth between her brother and her uncle. How was it possible? Was her little brother really that strong? Everyone looked shocked when Gohan began glowing an eerie shade of red. Rinka hobbled a couple of steps backwards, but never took her eyes off him.
"Leave my dad – ALONE!" Gohan suddenly shouted and burst into a blinding flash.
He rocketed himself off the ground in a ball of light, screaming and crying at the same time, and aiming himself right towards Raditz. Until finally, his head collided with him, nailing him right in the center of his chest. He didn't seem to be enjoying it much, crying out in pain and reeling from the shock of the impact.
"Ah! What the–!?" he exclaimed angerly, putting a hand up to his chest.
Meanwhile, Gohan dropped to the ground with a grunt. He sat up, looking a little disoriented, to see his father staring at him with a look of complete amazement! Rinka was sporting a similar expression, feeling stunned.
"Ga – Gohan?" Goku stuttered at him.
"Uh, daddy?" Gohan asked, getting up and acting perfectly normal, like nothing had happened!
"Gohan – go! Get out of here!" Goku insisted. But instead of listening to his father, Gohan just began to tear up again.
"But daddy. . ." he whined.
Goku turned back to Rinka. She could tell he was about to snap at her again, but unfortunately, he never got the chance. Because at that moment, Raditz began stalking back towards them.
"No one's ever done – that – to me!" It sounded like he was having a hard time getting his wind back.
"No! Stay back!" Goku warned. But it was obviously an empty threat, and Raditz ignored him. He was completely focused on Gohan, scanning him with his little reader.
"What?! Hey kid, what happened to all that power you had?" he demanded at Gohan.
"Wha – what power?" Gohan asked, looking bewildered.
"Bah! Play dumb if you want! You'll pay all the same," he threatened.
"Daddy – help," Gohan squeaked out as Raditz advanced on him.
Well, Rinka had, had about all she could take. If this guy thought she was just going to stand there while he hurt her little brother, he had another thing coming! She dove in front of Gohan, putting herself between him and the enraged Saiyan warrior.
"Don't you touch my brother!" she barked at him, putting out her arms and using her energy to create a force-field around them both.
"Rin?" she heard her brother whimper behind her, but she kept a stern glare locked on their enemy.
This didn't seem to deter Raditz, as he brought a fist up, getting ready to strike anyway.
"Leave them alone!" Goku yelled at him, but he wasn't listening.
Raditz brought the fist down hard, and already Rinka could feel the drain on her energy. The shield flickered under the strain and Rinka grimaced. He then began a relentless barrage of pounding fists against her meager defense. Her body flinched with each blow, trying to keep up the shield, but she was inevitability being slowly forced down. Until finally, her power gave out, and she had no choice but to drop her arms, and the force-field.
Exhaustion overtook her, and she knelt there, trembling. But not for long. Raditz didn't waste any time before continuing his assault. He delivered a devastating blow with a closed fist, right to the side of Rinka's head.
A mass of color exploded across her vision as she was sent flying through the open field. She thought she heard her father yell her name, but everything was going dark. For the briefest moments, she had a sickening feeling that he was going to do the same thing to Gohan, but she wasn't able to stay conscious long enough to witness it.
. . .
It was the sound of another explosion that finally roused Rinka out of her stupor. She felt that she was still lying outside on the grass, but the rest of her surroundings were foggy. And she thought her head had hurt before, it was nothing compared to now! She reached up and rubbed at it, before finally managing to sit up and open her eyes. What came into her vision was not an encouraging sight.
A quick sweep made it instantly clear – Raditz was down, but so was her father. Rinka tried to stand, but her legs felt wobbly. She didn't want to wait for them though, and managed to stumble over to her father's side. Her eyes went wide in shock, and she let out an audible gasp when she saw the state he was in. There was a giant hole in the middle of his torso, and blood was pouring profusely out of it, creating a dark, red pool in the grass.
"Daddy, no!" She collapsed onto her knees next to him. Her face hovering just over his as tears flooded her vision. "Daddy, daddy!" she begged, not really knowing what else to say.
Goku glanced up at her, and struggled to lift his arm. Slowly, he succeeded in bringing his hand up to her face, cupping her cheek. Rinka reached up and grabbed his wrist, to keep his hand from slipping.
"Rin – don't worry. It's – gonna be okay," he tried to comfort her with a small smile, despite it being painful to speak.
"I'm so sorry, daddy," she sobbed. "Maybe if I had been stronger. . ." she trailed.
"No, Rin. This isn't – your fault. Please don't – blame yourself," he assured her.
"Kakarot, how could he? It – makes no sense! The fool! Now we're both dead," they heard Raditz cough and grunt out a small distance away. Rinka blinked up at him. She hadn't realized he was still alive.
"No. You die alone," Piccolo told him haughtily, before strolling over next to him. "Goku won't be gone for long. I'm guessing his friends will see to it he's back within the week."
"What? That's impossible! Tell me – how?" Raditz asked in disbelief.
"Gladly," Piccolo humphed. "On this planet, we have something that we call the Dragonballs. When all seven balls are gathered together, they have the power to grant any wish. And that includes bringing the dead back to life," he explained.
Oh yes! That's right! They still had the Dragonballs! Rinka had almost forgotten. She looked back down at her father. It was still heart-wrenching, seeing him dying right in front of her like this, but she knew it wasn't the end. He would be back with them soon enough. She rubbed her face into his hand affectionately.
"So you see, it's Goku who will have the last laugh," Piccolo finished.
However, a strange noise that sounded kind of like laughing, started to come from Raditz. It was punctuated by pained grunting, but it was still unnerving all the same.
"No, I'm afraid you're wrong, green man. This device on my face, it's – it's also a transmitter. My Saiyan comrades heard every single word," Raditz boasted.
"Huh?" Piccolo asked, his smug attitude suddenly gone.
"The two of them, now they'll come. I know – they will," Raditz coughed up a mouthful of blood, making Rinka grimace and turn her head. "They will – I know they will. And once they arrive – you'll be powerless to stop them. There's nothing you can do. They'll seek out these Dragonballs, and they'll destroy everything in their path," Raditz told him.
Wait – there were more of them?! Rinka's hands gripped tighter around her father's wrist, her face was a picture of horror. Her father had to sacrifice himself in order to beat just this one! What were they going to do when more showed up?!
"You – and every living thing – on this planet – will be wiped out. They'll destroy you all!" he chuckled darkly.
"When? When will they come?!" Goku asked quickly, his hand going slightly more rigid around his daughter's face. "How long – will it take them – to get here?" he lifted his head to look at the defeated Saiyan.
"One year – and the funny thing is," he began laughing again. "They're much stronger than me!" he bragged.
Great. . . So all they did here was postpone their inevitability demise by a year?! Rinka thought she might be sick! Piccolo looked like he might be sick!
"Stronger. . ." he trailed. "One year – oh no!"
"So – enjoy – this little victory of yours, today. It means – it means nothing. You're as good as dead," Raditz snapped. "I only hope – I'm back in time – to see it happen." Piccolo just growled back at him. "Don't look – so upset. We can't – all have the last laugh," he finished, before laughing maniacally one more time.
It was clear Piccolo had, had enough. He raised his remaining hand, charged up his power – and just like that, Raditz was no more.
"Thanks for the warning," Piccolo grumbled. "We'll deal with your Saiyan friends just like we dealt with you," he assured his corpse. "Goku," he said, turning and heading in their direction. "It's over. He's gone." As if that hadn't been obvious!
A sudden commotion above them grabbed their attention. It was a Capsule Corp. airship, and it was coming in for a landing near their little, disheveled group. It barely had a moment to touch down before Krillin leapt out and dashed over to Goku's other side, Bulma and Master Roshi right behind him. They all gaped in horror at him.
"Oh no!" Krillin hit his knees, taking Goku's other hand in his. "You're going to make it, Goku. You can pull through," he told him, trying to sound encouraging.
"No, Krillin," Master Roshi shook his head.
"He can! Can't you, Goku! Just tell him!" Krillin exclaimed, refusing to give up on his best friend. "Say something!" he demanded when Goku didn't respond.
Meanwhile, Bulma hurried over to check on Gohan. "Well, Gohan's still unconscious, but otherwise I think he's okay," she assured them. "What about you, Rin? How are you doing?" she asked.
"I've – been better," she confessed. "Not really hurt, though," she mumbled when Bulma gave her a concerned look. The others nodded in acknowledgment. Their attention snapped back to Goku when he let out a sigh.
"That's good," he said, his breathing ragged.
"Goku," Krillin whispered.
"Chi Chi'd kill me – if he got – got hurt," he said with a halfhearted chuckle.
"That isn't funny, daddy!" Rinka lectured him with a glare. She couldn't believe him, making death jokes at a time like this! He just smiled back up at her.
"Goku," Bulma sobbed out behind them.
"K-Krillin," Goku wheezed, Krillin leaned in closer to hear him better. "Please take – care of – Rinka and G-Gohan for me," he requested.
Krillin's gazed lifted, and his eyes locked with Rinka's. "Yeah," he agreed with a smile before looking back at Goku. "Sure buddy – but – it's not gonna come to that, okay!" Krillin told him, sounding almost angry. "You're gonna make it, and that's all there is to it!"
"Krillin!" Master Roshi warned.
"No – not this time friend. This time – I can't. . ." Goku trailed off.
"I'll wish you back, Goku," Krillin promised. "We already have three Dragonballs," he reminded him. Goku gave him one last grin.
"I'll see you – soon. . ." Goku then closed his eyes, and was gone.
Rinka's tears began pouring out fresh, and she buried her face in her father's hand. Even though she knew she'd see him again, this still wasn't easy. She was going to miss her daddy!
"Goku," she heard Krillin say, his voice trembling. "Goku!" he screamed, tears of his own falling onto her father's already tattered shirt. Rinka glanced up at him and blinked. She'd never seen a grown man cry before. It was almost as hard to watch as her father's last breath. Strangely, she felt as if she should do something to comfort him, but then again, she didn't really know him all that well.
It wasn't exactly helping her own sorrow, though. Especially when he started shaking him. "No, Goku! You can't die! You can't!" he wailed.
"He's gone," Master Roshi tried to tell him.
"No this – this can't be happening!" Bulma sobbed, picking up Gohan and moving closer to the group. "I don't believe it!"
The hand that Rinka had pressed to her face felt – lighter all of sudden. She looked down to see her father's body go all transparent, before it abruptly disappeared all together!
"Gah!" she exclaimed, and jumped back a bit in surprise.
"Look! He's disappearing! What in the world?!" Master Roshi said, sounding just as shocked.
"The—that's not normally supposed to happen, is it?" Rinka asked nervously.
"No, that's a new one for me," Krillin agreed.
"I know. It was Kami," Piccolo told them, smirking up at the sky.
"Huh, Kami?" Krillin asked.
"The guardian of the Earth. I think you both know him," Piccolo explained, indicating Krillin and Master Roshi. "Yes, this is his work. No doubt Kami has some special purpose in mind for Goku."
"Do you think so?" Bulma wondered, staring at the place where Goku had once been. "So, Kami took him?"
"That's right. That meddling, old fool," Piccolo muttered. Bulma glanced up at him. "I don't know why, and to be honest, I really don't care," he said, as if predicting that she was going to ask. "Goku's dead either way," he stated before going to pick up his discarded clothing.
"What do you think, Master Roshi?" Krillin asked.
"Hmmm, Kami is the guardian of the Earth. Whatever he's doing, we can at least take comfort in knowing his intentions are good," Roshi assured him. As he was speaking, Krillin moved over and picked Gohan's hat up from off the ground, along with the four-star Dragonball.
"Yeah, well, I for one will take a lot more comfort once we find the rest of the Dragonballs, and wish Goku back," he said, glaring down at the ball.
"Ugh! We really could use Yamcha's help right now, but as usual, he's never around," Bulma snapped.
Yamcha? Rinka had heard that name before. Wasn't he one of her father's friends, too? If that was the case, why hadn't he been at Master Roshi's with the others?
"Cause you dumped him, right?" Krillin reminded her snidely. Well, that would explain it.
"Hey, how was this Raditz guy able to find Goku? I mean, the world's a big place, but he came right to him," Bulma realized, while quickly changing the subject.
"That little screen on his face," Rinka suddenly spoke up. She'd been pretty quiet throughout all this, but thought she could interject with this information. She stood up and brushed herself off, although it did her little good, as the Kimono was pretty much soiled beyond recognition. "It's a device that can sense energy levels, or something, especially strong ones. And it can tell him exactly where they are," she explained.
Bulma appeared intrigued, and moved over closer to the dead alien, trying to get a better look. She handed Gohan off to Master Roshi.
"Come here, Krillin," she instructed him.
He set Gohan's hat on top of the boy with a 'here' and quickly followed after her. "Okay, what?" he asked. They stared over the dead Saiyan.
"Alright, now reach down there and pull that off his face," she ordered. Krillin didn't look real pleased with the idea.
"Ugh! You gotta be kidding!" he protested, but did it anyway. "If I had known that, that was what you wanted –" he muttered.
Well, wasn't he the compliant one, Rinka noticed with a smirk.
After several seconds of 'ewww-ing' and groaning, Krillin managed to pull it off. "Here," he snapped, passing the thing to Bulma.
"Now, let's see here," she said, putting the screen in front of her eye. "There we go," she pointed the machine at Krillin and it started beeping. She began hitting the button on the side, probably cycling through several settings.
"Does it work?" Krillin wondered.
"I think it's been damaged," she told him, pulling a little tool kit out of her pocket. "I'm gonna check the circuitry," she explained. One of the tools was a tiny screwdriver. Rinka moved closer to get a better look at what she was doing. Bulma smiled at her and moved her hands down so she could see.
"Wow, this is pretty cool stuff," she decided, after popping off the outer case and poking at the interior machinery. "There's definitely a short in here, but I think I can fix it."
"How can you tell it's a short?" Rinka wondered.
"Because it still turns on. You see this?" Bulma used the little tool to point at what looked like a light. "All of the others in here are flashing, but this one looks dead. These are the wires that should connect it to the power source, but it's not getting any. So I'm guessing it's a short in one of these conduits here," she tapped at them. Rinka nodded that she understood. "I'll reprogram it too. I think I can get it to display numbers in our own language."
"Wow Bulma, you're a genius!" Krillin decided.
"Don't worry, I know," she said smiling at him. "Now, let's get back to Master Roshi's. Once I've fixed this, we can find Yamcha and maybe Tien too," she told him. "They can help us find the Dragonballs."
"Well, let's get going then. We have a lot of work to do," Roshi encouraged.
"Okay, but we should take Rinka and Gohan home on the way," Bulma reminded them.
Rinka groaned quietly and let out a sigh. Part of her had been hoping that they would forget about that. She wasn't exactly in a hurry to get home!
"Yeah, and while we're at it, we can pick up the other two Dragonballs that Goku found," Krillin added.
"Piccolo, I guess we'll be seeing ya," Master Roshi offered for a farewell.
They all turned to look at him, and were startled to see the very serious expression on his face. He was glaring at them, and seemed to be charging up his energy. Krillin tried to take several steps backwards, but ended up bumping into Rinka instead. He jumped slightly before turning to look at her. Then quickly pulled her to his side in a more-or-less defensive position.
Turns out, they didn't really need to worry. As he was apparently just – regenerating his missing arm! Because it suddenly popped out of the stump, looking all slimy, but otherwise whole again. He flexed it and moved his fingers, testing the new limb.
"Whoa!" It was all Rinka could manage to say. How did he do that? She wondered. Everyone else looked just as stunned, and unnerved.
"That's a handy trick," Krillin mumbled.
"Before you leave, I have a request to make. This'll sound strange, but try to put your emotions aside. I want Goku's son to come with me for special training," Piccolo announced to everyone.
"What?!" Master Roshi exclaimed.
"No way!" Krillin snapped. "You can't fool me, mister! 'Special training'," he said skeptically. "You just wanna gobble him up!" he accused.
Rinka snorted at the comment. She couldn't help it! It was just too absurd. Krillin looked down at her in surprise.
"Don't be ridiculous," she told him, pushing away from his iron grip. "He probably just wants Gohan to help fight the other Saiyans when they get here," she explained. However, that only seemed to raise more questions.
"What – other – Saiyans?" Bulma asked her slowly.
"Uhhh, oh yeah. So before he died, Raditz sorta mentioned that, that energy reader thingy is also a communication device. He said he has a couple more Saiyan buddies who heard everything that happened here. He said that they were gonna come and avenge him, or something, and that they'd be here in a year. Oh, and also, he said they are even stronger than he is. . ." Rinka kinda trailed off in her explanation when she realized that the expressions on her audience were growing more and more grim.
"The girl is right, which is why we need every advantage we can get. Earlier today this boy showed signs that he might be the most powerful person on this planet. I think I can teach him to control his power, so he can use it to help us defend the earth when the other Saiyans arrive. It is a long shot, he might still be too young, we'll see," Piccolo further explained.
"Yeah, he's probably too young," Krillin tried to persuade him.
"Right, I wouldn't chance it if I were you," Bulma added, laughing nervously.
"Whadaya mean? Dad started training me as soon as I could walk." Krillin shot her an angry scowl, but she ignored it. "My only worry is that Gohan won't be very cooperative. He'll probably just cry the whole time and won't listen," she warned.
"Sure, what she said. You can't train someone who won't listen," Krillin said.
"He'll listen to me, trust me," Piccolo assured them.
"At any rate, I'd say you'd have to ask the boy's mother," Master Roshi told him.
"I'm not asking! I'm telling!" Piccolo snapped at them all. "Look, nothing else matters right now except beating the other Saiyans in one year. The boy's in good hands," he reassured further. He then proceeded to use telekinetic power to lift Gohan out of Master Roshi's arms and float him over into his own. His hat slipped to the ground once again, and there was nothing any of them could do about it.
"When you wish Goku back, tell him he can look forward to seeing his son one year from now. I'll do what I can with this pampered kid. Hopefully our work will bear fruit. Remember, tell him one year," And with that, Piccolo rose up off the ground to leave.
All of a sudden, Rinka quickly realized that she was getting left behind! What was the deal? Wasn't Piccolo going to take her to train as well?
"Hey!" she shouted, running up to his floating form. "What about me?! I'm Goku's kid too, ya know!" she protested. He just smirked down at her.
"You got spunk, girlie. But spunk isn't enough to cut it with me. This is the big leagues," he jerked a thumb towards himself. "So, go home and play with your dolls," she told her, shooing her away before taking off into the sky. Meanwhile, the others were staring at her like she'd lost her mind.
Rinka huffed and crossed her arms in a pout. "I don't play with dolls," she muttered. This wasn't fair! Just because Gohan got all freaked out and powered up. He didn't even remember doing it afterwards! They all watched Piccolo disappear into the distance.
"I never was a good babysitter!" Bulma moaned in despair.
"Now we're done for," Krillin whined. "So who's gonna tell Chi Chi?" he wondered, sounding nervous. They all seemed to freak out at that question. "I couldn't do it. Goku, where are you?" he mumbled. "We really need ya, buddy."
Since there was nothing left to do, they all climbed into Bulma's airship and began the trip back. Krillin sighed as he looked down at the little hat in his lap.
"I guess one of us is gonna have ta tell Chi Chi about Goku and Gohan, huh?" Krillin thought out loud.
"Krillin, you and Goku have always been best friends. You tell her," Master Roshi ordered him.
Krillin started and looked scared. "Me?!" he exclaimed. "No, I'd rather die!" he protested.
"I agree, Krillin. You're definitely the best man for the job," Bulma encouraged. Krillin swallowed hard. He looked as if he were being marched off to his death. Rinka rolled her eyes.
"Are you people serious?!" she demanded. "You're all really that scared of her?" She snatched Gohan's hat out of Krillin's hands. "Don't worry about it. I'll tell her."
Krillin looked over at her, his face filled with hope. "Really, you will?" he asked, wanting to make sure.
"Yes. She's my mother, after all. What could she possibly do to me?" she reasoned.
"That's – a good point. I didn't –" but she didn't give him a chance to finish.
"Just one thing, though. You're going to be training to prepare for the Saiyans too, right?" she asked him, giving him a hard look.
"Well, yeah. Of course, but what. . ." he trailed, not really sure where this was going.
"Let me train with you," she told him flatly.
"What?!" Everyone in the car exclaimed.
"Rinka! You can't do the same kind of training these guys are doing? You're just a little girl!" Bulma argued first.
"And what does that matter? I'm half Saiyan too, remember? Plus Gohan is going to be training, and I'm three years older than him! If he gets to participate, then I should too. It's only fair!" she pouted back.
"Yeah, but your mom'll never let you," Krillin pointed out.
"You let me worry about my mother. So come on, I've already learned a lot from my dad, at least just – give me a chance. I have a right to defend my home as much as the rest of you," she pleaded. Since she'd already been rejected by Piccolo, she didn't really have any other options.
"And, if I say 'no'?" he ventured carefully.
Rinka pressed her lips together, looking sour. "Then I guess that's your choice," she snapped, thrusting the hat back into his hands. She then turned to face the front and crossed her arms irritably.
Krillin fumbled with hat, and for a moment he didn't understand what was happening. He glanced down at the hat, looked back up at Rinka, and it suddenly clicked in his mind. If he said no, was she going to make him. . .
"Wait a minute, are you – blackmailing me?" he asked in disbelief.
"I don't know, Krillin. Are you going to make me blackmail you?" she asked back, in a deceptively calm tone.
He groaned and sighed. "Alright, alright. You can try training with us, and we'll – see how it goes," he consented.
Rinka grinned up at him. "Thanks, Krillin. I'll work really hard, I promise! You won't regret it," she said happily, clapping her hands together in front of her face and bowing her head slightly in a respectful manner.
"Yeah, well, let's hope not," he muttered.
"Well, Rin. I hope you know what you're getting yourself into," Bulma warned hesitantly.
"Sure, I'm ready for anything! I can handle whatever these guys can dish out!" she boasted confidently.
Krillin's expression relaxed into a smile at her enthusiasm.
Yay! Finished! The next chapter will finally have some unique stuff! I can't wait! :)
