Chapter 79

Last time on DragonBall AF, the Algarons invasion of Earth was coming soon. Goshin went to the Lookout to talk to Dende while Goku and Vegeta set off to find Uubu. Once at the Lookout, Dende told Goshin that the Algarons would arrive in five days, and that whatever their secret weapon was, it was definitely something formidable. The hour comes nearer and nearer for our heroes…

Goshin flew through the air as he sent a telepathic message to Goku. Goku, can you hear me?

Goku and Vegeta were sitting in the shade under a giant tree when he heard Goshin's voice. Um, yea, I'm here. What's up?

Well I just talked to Dende, he said. It seems that he knows were Uubu is after all. I want you and Vegeta to meet me by the mountain range outside of Satan City, to the east.

Sure thing, replied Goku. We'll be there soon. Did Dende have any more info on what's going on with the Algarons?

Goshin was silent for a moment before he answered. We can talk about that when you get here… And with that, Goshin cut off the link and sped towards Satan City.

"Hey you there Goku?" butted in Vegeta. "What are you doing?"

"Oh, sorry about that," said Goku. "Goshin just talked to me. He says that Dende knows where Uubu is at and we should meet him outside of Satan City."

"Geez, and after searching for about an hour too," grumbled Vegeta. "Well let's get a move on. The faster we do this, the sooner we can start our own training."

Goshin arrived at the mountains first and tried to concentrate and sense Uubu's presence. "He's really masking his power quite well," he said to himself. "I can just barely feel it, but he is around here somewhere. But where exactly…"

The mountain range spanned about 10 miles across and was home to one of the world's largest peaks. Many crevices and caves were inside it and Uubu could be in any one of those. Dende's help narrowed the search, but it still would be hard to find the elusive fighter.

Goshin turned around and looked behind him. "Here comes Goku and Vegeta." Two little dots in the distance soon took the shape of the young Saiyans as they rocketed towards Goshin.

"So what exactly is going on?" demanded Vegeta. "What did Dende say to you?"

"A little persistent, aren't you," replied Goshin. "The thing is, the Algarons are only days away, five at most. We're going to have to use this time wisely to train."

"Does he know anything on what the weapon might be?" asked Goku.

"Actually, he's really not sure," said Goshin. "The only thing he's sure of is that it's powerful. And from the way he acted and sounded, this is something we should really get ready for because it could get ugly."

"Damn it," muttered Goku. "What is the reason they're doing this for? Just why do they want to invade us? What have we ever done to them? We've lived peacefully with other aliens on Earth for almost a century. Why can't they do the same with us?"

"I've pondered this many times myself Goku," replied Goshin, "but I never found out the answer either. I could only begin to imagine what their reasons are. Perhaps, once they come to earth, we may learn some answers."

"Well in the meantime," interrupted Vegeta, "let's find Uubu. Like I said before, I'd really like to get back and start training. I don't want to be caught off guard."

"None of us want to," said Goshin. "Let's split up and start searching. If you concentrate, you can feel Uubu's power level, but it's faint. Hopefully it will grow stronger as we come closer to him. It shouldn't take us more than a couple of hours to find him." Goshin turned to his left and flew into the mountains to begin looking.

"I swear, Uubu is either dead or an idiot, that's all I can come up with," said Vegeta. "You'd think he'd know where we were despite everything."

"Just deal with it and stop complaining," snapped Goku. "What's up with you, just calm down. There's plenty of time to train." Goku split up and left Vegeta by himself.

"Easy for you to say," he mumbled to himself. "You and Goshin are Super Saiyan 4's." He went the opposite way of Goshin and Goku trying to find any sign of Uubu. Where are you?… Where are you? He could just barely sense him. As he moved northerly, he could feel a small spike in Uubu's energy, but it wasn't too significant.

Vegeta moved a little closer and then felt another small spike. "He's gotta be over here somewhere... Ah-ha!" Down a few meters was an entrance to a cave system. Vegeta flew down and landed on the cliff which led inside to the cave. "Hope you're in there Uubu." And with that he walked inside.

He couldn't see much, so he generated a small ball of ki in his hand to light up the cave. "Man, I can still barely see anything," he complained. Just as he made the I a little brighter, he didn't feel his feet touch the ground, and before he could think, he was falling down a hole. "WHAT THE-"

CRASH Vegeta crashed down onto the rocky floor. He didn't have time to stop himself in mid-air since he was taken totally by surprise. "Of all the damn rotten luck!" he shouted. He looked up and saw the hole where he had fallen in. A single ray of dim light shown from the outside. Vegeta again generated his ki in the palm of his hand, brighter this time, and noticed that the hole seemed to be perfectly round, as if someone had cut it into the rock face with something.

"This just keeps getting ridiculous," he said to himself. Vegeta then tried to rise to his feet, but when he did, a sharp pain went throughout his left leg and quickly forced him back to the ground. "DAMN!" He felt his leg and could tell something was dislocated. Blood was starting to soak through his pants as well.

"I really can't believe this," he began laughing ironically. He rose into the air, but he was very wobbly. He knew he could reach the hole into which he fell into, but getting back to Goshin and Goku would be tough. "Those two better hurry up and get here to bail me out." He quickly powered up and went Super Saiyan so that they would be able to pinpoint where he was at. He slowly levitated into the air so he could get back up through the hole and wait for them there.

Just then, Vegeta heard some rocks rumble behind him. He turned around and in the glow of his aura saw someone standing there. "What the hell?" He looked at the person's face, and to his surprise it was Uubu. "Uubu, finally I found you! Hey-" But Vegeta was cut short as Uubu's power began steadily rising. "Hey, wh-what are you doing? Stop!"

Back at the hospital, Goku and Vegeta's parents along with Bra and Pan went up to see Master Roshi. Baba had called them in because it seemed that's Roshi's condition had took a dire turn.

"We came as soon as we hear," said Pan. "Can we go into see him?"

"The nurse said only a few at a time," answered Baba solemnly. "I doubt they'll let you all in at the same time."

"Three of you can follow me if you'd like," said a nurse. Pan, Bra, and Gonell followed and went into Master Roshi's room. Three doctors were in there monitoring him. He had a breathing mask on and there what seemed to be dozens of tube going in and out of his body.

Pan let out a small cry and found her daughter's shoulder. "I hate seeing that old perv like this," she cried. Roshi slowly opened his eyes and tried to turn his head to face his visitors.

"Hey Roshi," said Bra quietly as she rubbed his hand. "You're gonna be just fine all right. Just hang in there and it'll be all right." All Roshi could do was look into her eyes. He struggled to open his mouth and talk, but all that came out was a hoarse, wheezing sound, ending in him coughing.

"Please settle down Mr. Roshi," advised the doctor, "you need to save your strength." Baba then floated into the room and stayed behind everybody else. Roshi's eyes then moved to Pan.

Pan began sobbing because she knew that Roshi's time was about to come. She walked over to him, and with a surprising showing of strength, he grabbed her hand. "don't… let… them… win!"

"Roshi!" sobbed Pan. A single tear fell down Roshi's cheek as his eyes slowly closed for the last time. The machine monitoring his heart rate went flat. The doctors pushed Pan out of the way and tried desperately to save the old master's life.

"CLEAR!" The attempt to restart Roshi's heart didn't work. They tried it again, but of course, it was to no avail. The doctor turned around with a somber, serious look on his face. "I'm truly sorry," he announced. "We just couldn't save him."

Meanwhile, Goshin and Goku were racing towards Vegeta's location. "I hope he found him and that's why he powered up," said Goku.

"Might as well check and be sure," answered Goshin. Vegeta, it's Goshin. What's up?

There was no reply from Vegeta. Vegeta, what are you doing? Again there was no reply back. "He's not answering my telepathic messages," said Goshin. "It feels like he's having some kind of anxiety. I can't get a clear reading on his mind state for some reason."

"Holy crap!" exclaimed Goku. "Did you feel that? Uubu's power just raised significantly!"

"And it feels like it's in the same area as Vegeta is," said Goshin. "Let's hurry up and get over there."

A sad day overshadows all. The Turtle Hermit, Master Roshi has finally passed away, and cannot be wished back with the Dragon Balls. While everyone else is mourning, Vegeta seems to be in some kind of danger. But if it's Uubu, then what could be meaning of it? You won't want to miss the next installment of DragonBall AF!