Episode 10 True Darkness!

"I… I can't…" – said Pan with a scared voice. Aku looked at her with a look that could kill. "I guess you didn't hear me? Or maybe you want me to kill your father! Cause I assure…" – said Aku, but suddenly stopped in the middle of his sentence.

"Kuragaris power just disappeared! What happened?" – said Aku and walked towards one of the screens on the wall. "Give me a video update on sector 7G. Coordinates… 121.879!" – said Aku to the black screen. Suddenly the screen turned on and showed Uub standing next to Kuragari who was laying in the sand.

"Is this Uub? The one you expected to save you?" – asked Aku. Pan looked at the screen, Uub was completely unharmed. She knew that Uub was strong, but she hadn't expected that he was strong enough to defeat Kuragari without even getting hurt.

"Answer me!" – shouted Aku who was growing impatient with this little girl. "Yes, its him" – said Pan with an insecure voice.

"If he was able to beat Kuragari, I guess he is not completely without skills. Send someone to get Kuragari, I need for him to tell me what happened" – said Aku to the screen.

"You are in big trouble! Once Uub gets here, he will tear you apart!" – said Pan, with sudden confidence.

"Do you know what an Oku is?" – asked Aku.

"Uh… No" – said Pan.

"It's what we measure power in. General Yoku had a power of 4 Okus. Kuragari had 40 Okus. I would estimate your friends power to around 45 Okus. While I have a power of 145 Okus." – said Aku with a confident smirk on his face.

"Ugh… That can't be!" – erupted Pan.

"If you don't give me the Dragon Balls now, I will show you all of those 145 Okus in action" – said Aku.

"So what is it gonna be?" – asked Aku.

In the desert:

"I really need to hurry!" – thought Uub who was flying towards the palace. "I should be there in about 5 minutes, but even that might not be enough!" – thought Uub. "Why did I have to use that much time beating that guy!" – thought Uub as he saw the palace in the horizon.

In the palace:

"I will ask you this one more time… Huh? What? This Uub is heading towards the palace! Is he insane?" – said Aku, strapped Pan onto the chair again and walked towards the door.

"Excuse me, but I have to be there, so that I can bid your friend welcome to the palace" – said Aku with a voice that was dripping with sarcasm.

Aku walked down the hall in a relaxing pace. He soon reached the gate and asked one of the guards to open it. He looked out over the desert, and about a mile away he could see a small silhouette getting closer. Once the person was close enough, Aku could see that it was in fact the one who had defeated Kuragari.

"You must be Uub" – said Aku.

He didn't answer.

"Answer me!" – said Aku, who was now getting angry. He lashed out against Uub, but just as his fist connected with him, Uub faded away.

"Huh? An afterimage! Where is the real one then?" – said Aku with an angry voice. "Damn! He is suppressing his energy!" – Aku said and turned to one of the soldiers nearby. "Make all of your men to search the palace, and contact me immediately if you find anything!" – said Aku.

"But sir…" – began the soldier, but was interrupted by Aku. "DO IT!" – shouted Aku, who was now really angry. "Is Kuragari back yet?" – asked Aku the confused soldier.

"I-I don't know" – said the soldier, who was now fearing his own survival.

"Do you mind checking it?" – asked Aku.

"N-no of course, sir!" –said the soldier.

"Should I make the men search the palace first, or should I check if Kuragari is back?" – asked the soldier.

"I am sorry, did I gave you too many orders for you?" – asked Aku.

"N-n… I-I… mean…"- tried the soldier.

Aku grabbed him by the neck and started strangling him. Once he was done Aku let him loose and the soldier landed lifeless on the ground. "Do think you can handle the orders? Or were they too complicated for you as well?" – asked Aku the soldier who was standing right behind the soldiers body.

"Not at all, sir!" – said the soldier and ran into the palace. Aku stood still for a few seconds before stepping into the palace again. He walked into the main hall and sat down in his throne. He turned on one of the screens which showed another soldier. "Is Kuragari back yet?" – asked Aku.

"Yes, he is in the infirmary" – said the soldier.

"Is he at consciousness?" – asked Aku.

"Yes, he is fully awake" – answered the soldier.

"Good" – said Aku and turned off the screen and left the room. He was soon in the infirmary and walked over to Kuragari.

"Sir… I…" – began Kuragari.

"What happened in the desert?" – asked Aku with no sign of pity for the mangled Kuragari.

"I… He was waiting for me… And when I came, he beat me with no effort… He is strong, my lord…" – said Kuragari.

Aku raised his hand and smashed it through Kuragaris chest.

"Sir…" – asked the doctor who had been mending Kuragaris injuries.

Aku left the room without a word. He started to walk towards the main hall again, but stopped in the middle of a step. "The girl! He is going for the girl!" – thought Aku. Aku turned to the nearest soldier. "Have you found the intruder?" – asked Aku. "No, sir" – answered the soldier with a humble voice.

"Have you checked the interrogation room?" – asked Aku.

"No, sir. You said that we were not allowed in the interrogation room, under any circumstances" – answered the soldier.

"You imbecile!" – said Aku and ran towards the room. He reached the room and barged in. Uub was standing next to Pan and was loosening her restrains.

"Stop!" – said Aku. Uub stopped and looked up at Aku.

"So you are the one who is supposed to be three times as strong as me?" – asked Uub.

"Yes, yes I am" – said Aku.

"I doubt it" – said Uub.

"We will see" – said Aku and lunged towards Uub. Uub was completely surprised and was hit right in the chest. Uub was sent flying into the wall behind him, which caused it to cave in and Uub was completely covered in rocks. "Now… Where were we?" – asked Aku and turned to Pan.

"I think I was about to kick your butt!" – said Uub who was brushing dust off his shoulder. Uub raced towards Aku who effortlessly moved aside and kicked towards Uub. But Uub blocked the hit and jumped to the side.

"You are pretty good!" – said Uub, and got into battle position. "It's a shame I can't say the same about you. Whoever taught you how to fight, must really have been a weakling" – said Aku with a mocking tone.

"Don't say anything about my master!" – said Uub and closed in at Aku, who spun to the side and grabbed Uubs fist. "You are nothing!" – said Aku and threw Uub into the floor. A large ki beam blasted through the wall and collided with Aku, who was blown away by the blast.

Hogosha stepped through the hole in the wall. "Then why don't you try me instead?" – asked Hogosha.

"Hogosha!" – said Pan with a cheerful voice.

"You should not have taken the dragon balls" – said Hogosha.

"Well… I know… But…" – said Pan.

"It doesn't matter now. Take your friends and release the others!" – said Hogosha. Pan nodded and walked over to Uub first. He was pretty beaten up, and could barely stand. She helped him up and they went over to Gohan who was still lying unconscious on the floor. Pan picked him up and they went downstairs.

Aku had gotten back up and walked towards Hogosha. "You'll pay for that! You will die!" – said Aku. "Not likely. We are exactly equal in terms of power" – said Hogosha.

"For now, yes" – said Aku and raced towards Hogosha, who put up an arm to block it. There was a thunderous crack as the two fighters clashed. Hogosha smashed his knee into Akus gut, but Aku pushed himself away just in time. Hogosha moved towards Aku and kicked him into the air, when Aku finally gained control of his flight, Hogosha was all over him.

He threw swift punches and powerful kicks at Aku, which was unfortunately all blocked, dodged or evaded by Aku. "You fight good! Much better than that other guy!" – said Aku with an acknowledging voice. Hogosha nodded and pushed himself away from Aku. He then fired a giant ki beam at Aku which completely engulfed Aku. "That should do it" – said Hogosha with a cold voice.

When the smoke cleared Aku was still flying. He had taken little to no damage, the only visible damage was his clothes which had been torn in several places. "Guess not" – said Hogosha.

"You certainly are strong. You are even stronger than Kuragari… Maybe I could give you a spot in my army! What do you say? Help me conquer the universe!" – offered Aku with a tempting voice. "I have no such desires" – answered Hogosha.

"Well, if that is the case, then get ready!" – shouted Aku.

"ABSOLUTE DARKNESS" – shouted Aku and fired a large pitch-black ki beam. But unlike, what you might have expected, it didn't head towards Hogosha. It began to swirl around inside the large room, and soon almost the entire room was filled with the dark energy. "What are you doing?" – asked Hogosha.

Soon the only thing not covered in darkness was Hogosha, and then it began to close in on him as well. It was now swirling around Hogosha with a high pace, tearing and ripping in Hogosha. "Argh! Ugh! Stop… It!" – shouted Hogosha, but his voice was muffled by the thick darkness.

Then Aku lowered his hand, and the darkness began to dissipate. "Still confident?" – asked Aku.

"I… Ugh…" – began Hogosha. He was having trouble standing and was breathing heavily. He had several cuts and bruises all over his body and was bleeding from most of them. He fell forward to the ground unconscious. "Now… Where are the others?" – asked Aku himself. He stepped over to the hole in the wall and looked down into the sand.

Pan, Goten, Trunks, Gaido were walking in the dry sand, carrying Gohan, and supporting Uub. "It's a good thing they didn't get very far" – said Aku to himself and flew down towards them. He landed right in front of them, blocking their path. "Where do you think you are going?" – asked Aku.

Authors note:

Soon the final fight against Aku must occur. But don't worry, Aku isn't really the final villain.

Since Vegeta is going to have his first fight scene, I need to know whether or not you think he should have achieved SS3 or not. Please review.