Chapter 32
Edited by: Ness Frost
Gohan cringed as the golden light that had enveloped the area around his father and Vegeta finally subsided. Anxiously concerned over the effects the beam had had on his dad, the boy quickly peered over the cliff that he and Dende were hiding behind. They had been able to watch Goku's fight against the Saiyan Prince from the refuge of the distant bluff, and Gohan had found that his fears for his father's safety seemed to be unfounded. His dad had been able to completely dominate the other Saiyan so far, but the half-Saiyan's fears had been ignited again when both of the combating Saiyans had been hidden from his sight by a strange, golden light that had erupted from the flame-haired Saiyan's mouth.
"I'm sure your dad's alright, Gohan," reassured Dende, who was also anxiously waiting to see the results of Vegeta's outlandish attack. "The mean one hasn't even been able to touch him yet, much less hurt your father."
"I hope you're right, Dende," said Gohan, his nervousness carrying over into the tone of his voice. "Come on Dad, be alright."
The two children waited in anticipation as the blinding light finally dissipated to reveal the two warriors standing in the exact same spots that they had been before the energy beam. Arching his eyebrow, Gohan was surprised to see that the beam didn't seem to have any effect at all. Neither his dad nor Vegeta were harmed in the slightest by the burst of ki. Not even the area that surrounded the two combatants was damaged from the golden beam, making it seem as if there hadn't even been an attack from the Saiyan Prince.
"Well, it seems you were right, Dende," said Gohan, still puzzled over the purpose of Vegeta's last attack. "My dad is alright after all."
"Yes, it seems that he is still in control of the battle," commented Dende, motioning his head to indicate towards where Goku had just punched Vegeta to the ground. "It seems we had nothing to worry about after all."
"Right," said the young boy before turning his attention back towards his father's fight. Goku was still dominating the fight with the higher-born warrior, kicking Vegeta through the steel exterior of Frieza's ship before quickly giving chase. The only thing that seemed a little off to the half-Saiyan was that both his dad and Vegeta's energy signatures had taken dramatic drops in terms of strength. Both of their power levels were gradually increasing after taking this huge hit, but neither Goku nor Vegeta were anywhere near their previous levels.
"Was that what the energy beam's effect was?" mumbled Gohan aloud as he stared into the dark hole in the spaceship which his father had entered through and had yet to return.
"What is it Gohan?" asked a confused Dende.
"Oh nothing, I just noticed that my dad and Vegeta's power levels have both dropped a lot since that flash of light," replied Gohan. "It's not a big deal though; my dad is still a lot stronger than Vegeta right now."
"Yes, I would assume it's not really that effective of an attack if it negatively affects both parties involved," said Dende stoically. "From what I can tell, your father isn't in any danger of losing the fight at the moment."
Gohan nodded before whipping his head around at the booming sound that had just come from the ship. The young pair was able to see Goku and Vegeta rip another hole into the hull of the space tyrant's ship before the younger Saiyan slammed his opponent into face of a mountain, which collapsed upon impact with the Elite Saiyan's body. Gohan's father then began to climb higher into the air as Vegeta weakly pulled himself out of the pile of debris he had been buried underneath.
"It seems your father is going to end the fight now," said Dende as Goku began to gather energy into his hands. "I guess he realized there really was no changing that horrible man."
"That doesn't sound like my daddy," muttered Gohan as he watched both of the fighters power up energy attacks to blast at each other. It was strange, since his dad held a purple sphere of energy in his palm and Vegeta was gathering blue energy in his. "It seems you're right, though, Dende. My dad's going to beat that guy once and for all."
The two children watched in awe as the two energy waves were shot at each other and violently collided in the air. Gohan and Dende were both forced to dig their feet into the ground in order to prevent themselves from being thrown from the crag where they were lying as ferocious winds emitting from the energy clash howled around them.
"Come on Dad!" shouted Gohan over the roar of the cyclone that surrounded him. "You can do it!"
As if spurred on by his son's encouragement, the purple beam of energy that Goku had fired slowly began to push back Vegeta's azure-colored wave. Words of encouragement continued to pour forth from Gohan as he mumbled excitingly as he saw his dad's victory getting closer and closer with every passing second.
Just as it seemed that the Goku's victory was assured, though, a third beam of energy suddenly entered into the battle. A cry of terror escaped from Gohan's lips as he watched the violet wave of ki smash into his defenseless father and carry him into the stratosphere. Once he was removed from the battlefield, Vegeta was able to push away Goku's beam and escape defeat because of the timely inference from the newcomer.
"What just happened?" asked a concerned Dende. "Where did that other beam come from?"
"From down there," growled Gohan as he felt his rage begin to boil over. Standing off to the side was the purple figure that belonged to the leader of the Ginyu Force. The boy curled his fist in anger. That was the same man that had hurt Mr. Tien and his dad earlier, and now he was ambushing his dad when he had no chance of defending himself from his cowardly attack!
"It seems like those two are partners orsomething," said the young Namek as he observed the Saiyan and the horned alien talk to each other below. "Do you think your father can handle both of them?"
Gohan didn't answer the other child, his anger continuing to build as he continued to watch the two cohorts strategize on how to take away his daddy from him. Why were people always trying to rob him of his father? All his dad ever did was to try and do the moral thing and people always tried to crucify him for it!
"Well no more!" shouted Gohan as a white aura suddenly exploded around him. "I'm not just going to sit here and let them gang up on my dad! I've got to help him!"
"But Gohan…" The healer's words fell on deaf ears, though, as the half-Saiyan rocketed into the sky and raced towards the peninsula where his father's attackers stood. He didn't know why Vegeta had suddenly teamed up with Captain Ginyu when they had been enemies an hour ago or so. He didn't even know how Ginyu had managed to survive his fight with Vegeta or how they went from fighting to being allies. The boy didn't care, though. Only one thought was in his head as his eyes focused in on the purple-skinned form of Captain Ginyu. His dad was in trouble and he was going to save him.
"Don't worry Daddy," Gohan muttered as he pulled back his arm in preparation to throw a haymaker at his enemy. "I won't let you die."
0o0o0o0o0o
"Thanks, Vegeta," said Goku gratefully as he looked over to his unlikely hero. "You really helped me out of a tight one there."
"Hmph," snorted the other Saiyan. "I couldn't go and let you get my body destroyed now could I?"
"Heh, heh, guess not," chuckled the younger warrior. Looking up into the sky, Goku attempted to find his own form in the clouds above but his efforts were in vain. His familiar figure, which he had seen so many times in the surface of the lakes of Mt. Paozu, was nowhere to be found in the emerald sky above.
"Worried that I may have overdone it," taunted Vegeta, his signature smirk spreading across Ginyu's face. "I admit, with your weak body it's possible that it could have been completely obliterated by my attack - especially if I had put my full power into it. Luckily for you, however, I didn't want you disgracing my body forever with your presence. On top of that, I would rather die than spend the rest of my days in this disgusting form! So, naturally, I had to make sure your body remained intact; that way, we can return to where we both rightfully belong."
"Well, at least we can agree on one thing," commented Goku. "How do we get back into our bodies though? He wouldn't just put everything back to normal if we asked nicely would he?"
"Of course not you idiot!" exclaimed the Saiyan Prince with disgust. "There is only one course of action that can remedy this situation, and that is to pummel that freak until he is forced to return us to our original states."
"Wait, won't that hurt me in the process since he's in my body?" questioned the Saiyan from Earth as a misgiving look formed on Vegeta's face.
"Your point?" snidely remarked the other Saiyan as he contorted his new body's face into a sneer.
"I'm just saying that…"
"LEAVE MY DADDY ALONE!"
"Gohan?" muttered a bewildered Goku as he turned his head just in time to see his only son's head ram into Vegeta's gut. The force of the boy's attack was so strong that it cracked Ginyu's already damaged armor, forcing the Saiyan Prince to cough up purple blood, and sent the Captain's former body crashing into the metallic leg of Frieza's ship.
Realizing how confused his son must be, Goku took a step closer towards the fuming boy before saying, "Gohan, I need you to listen to me. I'm not who I…"
"I'm not listening to you anymore, Vegeta!" shouted Gohan before he shot towards his father with his fist already cocked. Goku barely managed to evade the powerful blow as his son rocketed past him before using the spaceship as a springboard to launch himself back at his target. "I've had enough of your bullying and I won't let you hurt my dad anymore!"
The Saiyan from Earth quickly dodged the next flurry of punches thrown by his offspring before continuing to try and reason with him. "Listen to me Gohan! I'm your…"
"I know who you are!" screamed Gohan as he managed to bury his foot into his father's abdomen, causing him to be sent sprawling backwards. "You're the 'Prince of All Saiyans' and I should listen to everything you say since I'm part Saiyan. Well you can forget that, because you're evil, Vegeta, and I won't sit here and watch you try and kill my father!"
Goku tried to raise one of his gloved hands to signal for his son to stop his rampage but at that moment the sound of laughter echoed over the battlefield. Looking up, the former Turtle School student watched as Captain Ginyu - in Goku's stolen body - descended from the sky.
"Good work, son," he said with a smirk on Son Goku's face. "You really helped me out of a tight spot there."
The sound of scraping metal caused Goku to divert his attention from the identity-thief and he watched as Vegeta climbed out of the scrap heap that Gohan had buried him underneath. His violet colored face was distorted with rage as he snarled before saying, "Why you little brat, I'll kill you for that!"
"Oh no you won't!" exclaimed Ginyu before casting devious smile towards his new body's former owner. "Son, I'll take care of this guy. You go ahead and finish off Vegeta; I know you can do it."
The boy's father could only watch, horrified, as his son nodded at the imposter before giving him a quick smile. "Right dad, I won't let you down!"
"Gohan, you've got to listen to me!" pleaded Goku, but again his desperate appeals went unheard.
"I've already told you that I'm not listening to you anymore!" yelled Gohan as he delivered a mighty right hook that caught his father in the cheek. Goku was sent flying from the force of the attack, but his son wasn't through with his assault yet. He quickly phased above the supine figure of the Saiyan Prince, and with an abrupt battle-cry, Gohan smashed both of his tiny feet into his father's gut and sent him crashing down to the planet's surface. Upon impact with the ground, Goku's body seemed to detonate a large explosion of dirt that shot into the sky, and a crater formed around his borrowed form as he attempted to move his sore and weary muscles.
As he lay there, reflexes that had been honed from decades of fighting experience kicked in and Goku forced himself to a handstand before pushing off the ground with his hands to send himself flying into the air. The battle-worn fighter's instincts proved to be correct when a golden sphere of ki collided with the crater he had just been inside of, causing yet another explosion to scar the once beautiful landscape.
Goku got no reprieve from his assailant's ferocious attack as Gohan burst through the cloud of debris and attempted to land a flying kick to his enemy's temple. After raising one of his spandex covered forearms to block the rapidly approaching limb, he leapt away from his son in an effort to create some space between the two of them.
His son was too relentless in his barrage, though, and let loose another shrill battle cry as he launched another volley of quick strikes at his disguised father. Goku quickly swayed out of the way of each and every one of the blows sent his way and he was forced to restrain himself from throwing a punch in response. It was a strange feeling for the lifelong warrior to be forced into a situation in which he could not counterattack; never before had Goku been in this situation and for the first time in battle he didn't really know what to do.
He couldn't dodge forever, though, and finally Gohan managed to connect with an uppercut that caught his dad underneath Vegeta's chin. Being disoriented from the punch, Goku was unable to prevent his son from slipping underneath his guard and then ramming his fists into his abdomen over and over again. Cries of pain escaped from the flame-haired Saiyan's lips as Goku was pounded furiously by his only descendent. With one final bellow of rage, Gohan roundhouse kicked his father away and sent him crashing into the side of a mountain, splintering the rocky face of the landmark with Vegeta's body.
A coughing fit racked the Saiyan's body as he slid down the face of the mountain and skidded to a halt at the base of the rock formation. Clots of blood began to fly from his mouth as Goku attempted to recover from his son's vicious assault, and the Prince's gloves were now covered with red stains that marred the pure white fabric.
"Why aren't you fighting back!?" Looking up, Goku saw that his child was standing over him, his small fists balled in anger. "I don't understand why you aren't counterattacking, why you haven't thrown a single punch in defense. Tell me why..."
"I could never hurt you, Gohan," Goku replied as he struggled to his feet.
"What are you talking about?" interrogated Gohan as he took a step back from the rising form of the Saiyan Prince. "You just knocked me out a little while ago and now you're saying that you would never hurt me? This has to be some sort of ruse, some sort of trick to make me drop my guard so that you can get in a lethal blow while my defenses are down. The Vegeta I know would never just concede a fight."
"That's because I'm not Vegeta," said Goku with desperation in his voice. "That's what I've been trying to tell you, son!"
"What do you mean you're not Vegeta? And wait…son?" The boy took another step backwards as he shook his head. "What are you talking about?"
"It's me Gohan, just listen to my voice," begged Goku as he outstretched one of Vegeta's bloody gloves towards his son. "Listen to my voice carefully and you'll realize that I'm telling the truth."
Goku watched his son cocked his head and his ears seemed to prick up as he pondered what he was being told. Then, like a light bulb being switched on, a gleam of recognition could be seen in the boy's eyes and the Saiyan from Earth was stunned when tears began to form in his eyes.
"Daddy?" he softly muttered.
"That's right, Gohan," said Goku as a soft smile illuminated Vegeta's usually hard, cold face. The father attempted to take another step towards his son but the muscles in the still-foreign body failed him as exhaustion overcame him. Tumbling forward, Goku prepared for a hard reunion with the ground but he was surprised when Gohan suddenly stepped in front of him and caught him.
"Oh my god, Dad!" shouted Gohan in despair as a torrent of emotions suddenly overcame him as he held the battered and broken form that his father had been forced into. "I am so sorry daddy, I… I didn't know it was you!"
"It's alright Gohan," reassured Goku as his sat him down so that he was leaning against the face of the cliff for support. "I fell for the same trick myself earlier with Vegeta."
"What happened to you, dad?" questioned a concerned Gohan as he leaned down and studied the unfamiliar face of the other Saiyan that his sire now possessed. "How are you in Vegeta's body and if you're in his body than where is he at?"
"It's a long story, Gohan, and I don't think I have time to explain it all to you," said Goku before being interrupted by another round of coughing up blood. "Basically though, it seems that Ginyu knows some sort of technique that allows him to switch bodies with whoever he wants."
"So that's what that light was!" exclaimed Gohan. "I was wondering why it didn't seem to affect anything. That's when he must have switched bodies with you!"
"Right," confirmed the injured warrior before continuing. "It seems he had already used that technique on Vegeta before we got here and now he's gone and used it on me as well."
"So you're in Vegeta's body, Captain Ginyu is in your body, which means that Vegeta must be in Ginyu's body," deduced Gohan.
"Heh, your mother was right; you are pretty smart," chuckled Goku, wincing in pain from the movement. It seemed that Gohan had managed to break a few of Vegeta's ribs during his assault.
Just as Gohan was opening his mouth to speak again, both father and son were forced out of their one-on-one moment when a howl of agony from above caused them both to look up into the sky. They both managed to catch the sight of the plummeting form of the purple-skinned alien before he crashed into the terrain nearby as a menacing laugh again filled the battlefield.
"You really thought you could challenge me with my old body, Vegeta?" taunted the Captain as he hovered above the fallen form of his former body. "If you thought I would have upgraded if my new form wasn't stronger than the old one, you're even stupider than I thought."
A scowl formed across Goku's new face as he watched Captain Ginyu. Turning his head to his son, he said, "Gohan, I know this is a lot to ask of you, but I think you're going to have to fight Ginyu."
A look of shock and bewilderment suddenly came across the boy's face as he turned towards his dad. "Me? But I'm not sure if I can beat him, daddy. Plus… I would be hurting you if I attacked him. He is in your body after all and I'm not sure if I could…"
"Just remember, Gohan," quickly interjected Goku as he saw his son's confidence beginning to waver. "That guy up there isn't me. He may look like me and have control of my body, but he is NOT me. That is Ginyu; he's evil and he must be stopped. I wouldn't ask you to fight him unless it was the absolute last option, but Vegeta and I don't stand a chance against him right now. I don't think he's managed to draw forth my full power yet, so you'll be able to beat him Gohan. I know you can."
"But…"
"Gohan, if we can't win this fight right here and right now, then we're not going to be able to use the Dragon Balls to revive Piccolo and the others. You have to at least stall him for a little bit while I try and recover. Can you do that for me son?"
Another smile formed across Goku's face as his son gave him a firm nod before turning to look at the smug looking form of Son Goku. "This one's for Mr. Piccolo!" shouted Gohan before blasting into the sky and engaging his dad's imposter. Goku watched for a few moments as his son relentlessly attacked Ginyu, and he saw the body-snatcher's lips move though he was too far away to hear what was said. It seemed to make the pint-sized warrior even angrier, though, as he managed to break through the Captain's defenses and kick him straight through Frieza's ship and out onto the other side where he collided with a rock pillar, causing it to collapse in the process.
"Kakarot…" Turning his head away from his son's pursuit of his opponent, Goku turned to look down at the supine form of the leader of the Ginyu Force's former body. Vegeta had managed to crawl from the crater his new body had created, and now he was only a few yards away from where the other Saiyan sat.
"What is it, Vegeta?" asked Goku as the elder Saiyan continued to struggle to move closer to him.
"Check… check inside of my armor," ordered the Prince in between fits of vomiting up purple liquid.
Weakly lifting up his hand, Goku began to rummage inside the interior of the white breastplate as he said, "What's this about, Vegeta? What am I looking for in here?"
"Just shut up and keep looking you clown," weakly snapped Vegeta. Casting a glance over at the other Saiyan, Goku began to realize just how badly hurt his unexpected ally really was. Blue blood seemed to be streaming down every one of his limbs, and for the first time Goku noticed that there was a large hole in the middle of the horned alien's body. The wound was no longer bleeding,apparently having been hastily cauterized by the Saiyan Prince, but there was still a large amount of dried blood that had congealed around the wound.
"Stop gaping at me and keep searching you moron!" shouted the other Saiyan as he noticed Goku's stares.
"Right," said Goku as he continued to delve into Vegeta's armor. Finally he felt something, and he pulled out the foreign object to examine it. He was surprised to find that it was the brown bag in which he had carried the Senzu Beans!
"There should be one left in there," quietly muttered the Saiyan warrior. "After you eat it, my body should get a huge power boost due to recovering from the state you're in, and you should easily be able to defeat that coward Ginyu."
"Good thinking, Vegeta!" exclaimed Goku as he dumped the contents of the satchel out before tossing it to the side. Looking at the small, green bean in his palm, the Saiyan from Earth was about to pop the magical kernel into his mouth, but as he began to move his hand up to his mouth, his eyes caught another glimpse of the elder Saiyan. The man was struggling to keep his eyes open as he was slipping into unconsciousness, and Goku could tell that Vegeta was on the verge of death.
Sliding over so that he was positioned right beside the mangled body that Vegeta had been forced into, Goku snapped the last remaining Senzu Bean in half and quickly inserted one of the pieces into his ally's purple mouth. Goku popped in his own half, and as he chewed the bean he watched Vegeta's eyes widen as the wounds on Ginyu's body slowly disappeared.
"Why did you do that?" asked a stunned Vegeta as Goku stood up and flexed the Prince's newly repaired muscles. "You just wasted part of a bean on this pathetic body and now mine won't be as strong because it isn't fully recovered."
Goku shrugged before saying, "My wounds weren't as serious as yours were, so I should be fine. And while you aren't going to be completely at full strength - since I did only give you half of a Senzu - you at least aren't going to be dying anytime soon. What good would it do if you died before we had a chance to get back into our rightful bodies?"
"Kakarot, I swear if you lose because of your foolish kindness then I'll…"
"Yeah, I got it, Vegeta," said Goku with a smile. "Don't worry about it; I can already sense that I have more than enough power to beat Ginyu, even if he's figured out how to use all of my power. You just sit there and rest, and I'll get us back into our rightful bodies; you can count on me."
Goku heard the other Saiyan groan as he took to the sky to catch up to where his son was fighting Captain Ginyu. He knew that it must annoy the proud Saiyan beyond belief that he was being forced to rely on a 'low-class' member of their race, but Goku didn't really care about the Saiyan's pride at the moment. The only thing that mattered was that they beat Ginyu and make sure everything got back to normal.
As he sailed over the top of the disk-like spacecraft, Goku was met with the sight of his son's battle. Though it was more like a beating, as Gohan seemed to be completely petrified and Ginyu was completely thrashing him with his father's own hands. For the first time since his arrival, Goku felt anger swelling up inside of him. It was one thing for a person to despise him and attempt to take his own life, but it was another thing when his enemies attacked his family.
There was another element to his rage, though: there was anger at himself for asking his son to fight his battles for him. He should never have asked the boy to fight against such a ruthless opponent; he was still a kid after all. Guilt for putting his son in this situation began to overtake the warm-hearted warrior, and he lifted his head as he heard a shout of triumph come from Captain Ginyu as the man raised one of Goku's arms to attempt to deliver a final, lethal blow to Gohan. Harnessing his righteous fury, Goku quickly phased in between his body and his son's to block the finishing blow with his forearm.
"Where did you come from?" growled Ginyu as he sprung away from the father-son duo. "I thought your son here had put you on the sidelines for the rest of this fight."
"Ginyu, I've had enough of your cheap tricks!" shouted Goku. "I'm going to defeat you right here, right now. I'll give you one last chance to put everyone back in their original bodies and then leave this planet."
"You really think you can win don't you?" said Ginyu with a hint of amusement in his voice. "You may have somehow been able to recover enough that you can actually fight again, but there's no way you can beat me in that body. I already told Vegeta this, but the only reason I would switch bodies with you is if yours was more powerful than my current form. You can't beat me using a body I've already had possession of."
"Gohan," addressed Goku as he dropped into his fighting stance. "Stay out of this; you've already done a great job so just let me handle this."
"Right dad," said Gohan with a nod of his head.
"You fool!" shouted the Captain and he howled with laughter after seeing that Goku seriously intended to challenge him. "Don't you realize that this fight is futile by now? You can't defeat the illustrious Captain…"
Ginyu's speech was cut short as Goku almost instantaneously appeared mere inches away from him before ramming a gloved fist into the Captain's gut. As his true body doubled over in pain, Goku followed up his first strike by delivering a devastating roundhouse kick that sent Frieza's strongest henchman crashing through several rock formations before finally being lodged into the sheer face of a distant plateau.
Calmly flying over to the enormous pile of rubble that his assault had created, Goku gently landed on the ground and waited for the body-snatcher to reemerge. He didn't have to wait long before a pale arm burst through the top of the mound and slowly began to raise the rest of his former body back into view. Even after his first attack, bruises were already beginning to form on Goku's true body, and several deep cuts marred his fair skin.
"What the hell?" snarled Ginyu as he forced himself to stand. "I can't believe that Vegeta's body was able to get such a boost in power in such a short time. I might just have to take that body back from you after all."
"Go ahead," said Goku. "I don't want to have resort to using someone else's strength to win my battles. As long as I have my body, which has never let me down, then you'll never be able to defeat me with a technique like that one."
Goku's stare pierced into the utterly shocked expression that Ginyu had formed across his face. Finally, after a few moments of stunned silence, the body of the Saiyan from Earth began to tremble before it cracked a smile, and the howling laughter of the leader of the Ginyu Force rang out across the peninsula.
"You're serious!" he exclaimed as another fit of laughter overtook him. "You really are willing to let me switch bodies just so that you can have your worthless body back? What a complete and utter fool! Though I guess I couldn't expect more from an ignorant monkey like yourself."
Still with his unnatural, devious smile spread across Goku's face, Ginyu thrust out his arms and the other warrior could feel him begin to gather energy for his body switching technique. Just like with the previous use of this taboo technique, the ground began to tremble and the sky darkened overhead as the Captain gathered the ki necessary to perform his ultimate move.
"Just remember, when I'm beating you into the ground in a few moments, that you asked for this!" screamed Ginyu right before firing a golden beam of energy from his mouth that quickly hit Goku and connected the two fighters together. This time, Goku didn't resist the urge to be removed from his body; he practically leapt out of the Saiyan Prince's body and rapidly moved down the bridge of yellow light.
A sudden explosion of pain entered into Goku's mind as his consciousness and spirit were thrust back into his own form. Even through all the pain, a smile formed across the Saiyan's lips as he looked over to see a smirking Ginyu in the flame-haired Saiyan's powered up body. Though he had just given the advantage to his opponent, Goku still found himself anticipating the rest of the battle with Captain Ginyu. He didn't want to win this battle by relying on strength that he hadn't earned - that would make him no better than Ginyu – and he knew that he had the strength within him to put an end to his enemy's cheap tactics once and for all.
"Thanks for powering up Vegeta's body for me," said Ginyu snidely as he flexed the Prince's muscles, "but any chance you had of beating me flew out the window when you agreed to this exchange."
"I guess we'll see," said Goku, wincing as he dropped down into his stance. While it was an injured body he had just gotten, at least it was his body.
"Actually, you won't see any of my movements," said the Captain with a smirk. Before Goku could even blink, the body of the Saiyan Prince had appeared in front of him and the kind-hearted warrior received a vicious elbow to the face that sent him flying through the air.
"Heh, this is going to be easier than I expected," proclaimed Ginyu before giving chase to his prey.
0o0o0o0o0oo0o
Tien dissipated the crimson aura that encased his body as he came to a grinding halt above the area where he sensed that Nail's energy signature resided. His eyes widened as he took in the sight below him, and his mouth opened slightly as he gaped at the scene of total annihilation that was laid out before him.
The two powerhouses' battle had taken a heavy toll on the surrounding terrain which had borne witness to their epic clash. The numerous rock pillars that normally dotted the surface of Planet Namek had been completely disintegrated by the energy output of the two combatants, leaving the landscape flat and barren except for the countless craters that now covered the plain. Only small patches of the blue grass that enveloped the rest of the planet could now be seen in between the mounds of rubble and other debris that had transformed this once beautiful area into what appeared to be a desert.
Looking directly downward, the three-eyed warrior could see a larger than normal mound of rocks in what he could only guess was once a giant bluff. Across from the ruined cliff, there seemed to be a long trench that had been carved into the crust of the planet, and it took Tien a few seconds to realize that it was actually the bed of a dried up river. Nail and Frieza seemed to have been putting out so much ki that it actually evaporated the water in this fairly large river.
Shaking his head in an attempt to block out the images of destruction, Tien began to resume his flight over the devastated landscape in search of the last Namekian warrior. During his flight to the battlefield, he had been petrified when he felt a sudden spike in Frieza's power. It had seemed that the tyrant knew of some way to drastically increase his power, causing his ki signature to grow to a preposterous level of strength. Tien had thought that the sadistic lizard's energy signature had been enormously high before, but the amount of pure power that he had risen to during his fight with Nail was mind-blowing. The stoic warrior would not have thought such strength was even possible if he hadn't felt with his own mind.
After feeling the almost soul-crushing amount of energy that Frieza was giving off, Tien had redoubled his efforts to get here in time to attempt to save Nail from the monster. He had not been fast enough, however, for after only a few minutes the martial artist had felt Nail's energy signature completely disappear and Frieza's rapidly leaving the battlefield in the opposite direction. Not wanting to give up all hope for his friend, though, Tien had proceeded on course to where he had last felt the other warrior's ki, and was now looking the old-fashioned way for Namek's Protector.
To the pragmatic warrior, it felt like he was searching for hours over the decimated landscape for even the slightest hint of the Namekian's fate. All three of his eyes were becoming strained from the stress he was putting on them as they scanned the surrounding terrain rapidly for even the slightest trace of the green-skinned alien. Finally, Tien's frantic search came to an end as he spotted the supine form of Nail.
The Namek's body lay on a cracked and splintered platform, which rose like a tower in the middle of the biggest crater that Tien had seen in his life. If he had to guess, the crater was about 150 feet in diameter and at least that deep. Descending down a few stories to land softly on the broken platform which held his fallen ally, the human warrior gently bent down to better examine Nail. It did not look good for the unconscious warrior: his own dried blood covered the majority of his body. There were numerous bruises and burns that littered the green skin of the Namekian and countless cuts that marred its surface. The most gruesome wound of them all, though, was a large hole in his chest that Tien could see was still slightly oozing blood.
To the triclops's surprise, however, it seemed that all of Nail's injuries seemed to be slowly healing themselves. The bruises and burns seemed to be slowly but surely fading away, the muscles which had been cut seemed to be knitting themselves back together, and even the hole in his chest seemed to be closing in on itself.
Even with his body seemingly repairing itself, Nail was still in undoubtedly bad shape and Tien could feel anger beginning to rise up inside of himself. It seemed that, again, he had been too late to help one of his comrades. The three-eyed warrior pounded the ground at his side in frustration as he looked at the pitiful state of his friend. How much suffering could he have prevented if he just gotten here faster?
Tien's fist hit the ground as he shook his head. No, he couldn't think like that anymore. He had done all he could have to get here as fast as possible, and no amount of fretting and self-anguish would change when he arrived at the battlefield. What was done was done, and he simply had to move on and do as much as he could to help the situation now that he was here. Right now, that meant attempting to find aid for Nail and to get him to a place where he could recover.
The words of the small Namekian child, Cargo, echoed in Tien's ears as he swiftly but gently picked up the unconscious figure of Nail and slung him over his shoulder. There was no doubt in the human's mind that this was the situation that the he had prophesized about, which meant there was only one destination that Tien could head to at this moment: Guru's home. Hopefully it was there that Nail could receive the healing that he so desperately needed, and the three-eyed warrior would be able to receive the power he needed to defeat the fiend responsible for all this needless destruction and slaughter.
He gnashed his teeth together as he leapt into the sky and the bright, red aura of the Kaio-Ken technique once again enveloped his figure. As he raced towards the home of the Eldest Namek, only one thought was ringing through Tien's head.
That Frieza was going to pay for his crimes, and that he was the one who would be the hand of justice that smote the monster down.
0o0o0o0o0o0o
"Dad!" shouted Gohan as he hovered over the sight of his father's battle. Well, it was less of a battle and more of a brutal beating as Ginyu was completely thrashing the boy's sire. The two combatants were hovering a few dozen feet in the air and Ginyu was using Goku as a punching bag, throwing punches that Gohan couldn't even track.
"Is this really all you've got, Saiyan?" Gohan heard Captain Ginyu ask from inside of Vegeta's shell. "I knew you wouldn't be much of a challenge to me, but this is absolutely pathetic! You haven't even managed to land a finger on me!"
After making his declaration, Ginyu finished off his punching barrage by ramming one of his gloved fists firmly into Goku's stomach- causing Gohan's father to double over in pain. The ruthless warrior followed this gut punch with a reverberating uppercut that connected with the Saiyan's jaw. The force of the blow snapped Goku's spine back upright and began to lift him into the air, but the Captain wasn't ready to let his quarry get away just yet. Before Goku's body was sent flying away from the blow, Ginyu quickly phased above him and delivered a devastating two-handed blow that sent the wild-haired fighter crashing down to the surface of the planet. He landed with an explosive boom and a gigantic mushroom cloud of debris was kicked into the air by the impact of Goku's body.
Gohan could only watch the ominous cloud rise with horror as its dusty form completely obscured his father from sight. This was not looking good and he had no idea how the table had turned so quickly on Son Goku. Only a few moments ago, it had looked like his dad was going to be able to completely dominate the evil-doer inside of Vegeta's body but – and Gohan didn't know how– Ginyu had managed to once again switch bodies with his father and now it was the Captain who was dominating the fight.
"Daddy," mumbled Gohan as he stared absentmindedly at the slowly dissipating cloud of debris. As the brown fog that hid his father from him finally faded away, Gohan couldn't help but gasp as he set eyes upon his father. The man he had always thought was invincible was lying there, in the middle of a giant crater, completely and utterly broken. Bruises and burns seemed to cover his body, literally giving the Goku the appearance of almost looking black and blue, and blood was seeping from the numerous incisions in his skin. The most heinous of his injuries, though, was the white bone that was sticking out from his sternum. It seemed that one of his rib bones had punctured through Goku's skin.
Unable to control his body, Gohan leaned over and vomited, and gasping for air as the phlegm fell to the ground. He couldn't believe that in just this short time, his dad had been completely overwhelmed by his opponent and now was barely clinging to consciousness. The disgust he felt at seeing his father like this, though, began to slowly turn to rage. He had to do something! He couldn't just let his father be killed by this villain, could he? It was up to him now to protect his father, to pay him back for all the times that he had watched out for his son. Turning his head, Gohan began to focus his righteous fury on the man who had hurt his daddy so much, Captain Ginyu.
"Well, it looks like you won't be able to continue," mocked Ginyu as he hovered over the broken body of Goku. "How disappointing. I was hoping that you would be able to entertain me for a little while longer, but I guess I should finish you off now. Adieu, Saiyan, you were quite helpful in increasing my power but it's time for you to die!"
Gohan's rage snapped and with a howl of unbridled fury, the boy's aura ignited around him and he rocketed towards the stunned figure of the flame-haired Saiyan. Not even having time to utter a word, Ginyu was on the receiving end of a vicious head-butt from the enraged half-Saiyan that cracked Vegeta's already splintered armor once again. The body-switching alien was sent sprawling backwards from the force of the blow but Gohan wasn't finished with his assault yet and he swiftly gave chase to his foe. Bringing back his small arm, the boy delivered a powerful right hook to the Captain's cheek that again sent him reeling backwards.
It didn't take long for Ginyu to recover, though, and he halted his forced flight after only falling back a few yards from Gohan's blow. The man raised one of his gloved hands and wiped the tiny stream of blood that was dribbling from the corner of his mouth. A flash of anger passed over the face of Vegeta but it quickly turned into one of amusement.
"So it seems you still have some fight left in you after all you little urchin," commented Ginyu. "No matter, I guess it would make your father suffer even more if I were to kill you in front of him before I finished him off. It will make for some good sport I suppose, help me pass the time while I wait for Lord Frieza's return if you catch my drift."
"You're a sick man," growled Gohan as he clenched his tiny fists and began to draw out more of his power, "and neither I or my dad are going to be part of your games any longer!"
"Temper lad, temper," lectured the Captain as he lifted his hand and wagged his finger at the child. "You don't want to let your emotions control you like that; it could land you in a world of trouble."
A snarl emitted from Gohan's throat as he leapt forward and unleashed a flurry of lighting fast punches and kicks at the changeling. The smirk on the possessed Prince's face never faded as he effortlessly evaded each and every one of the boy's attacks. With a short bark of laughter, Ginyu easily lifted his knee and rammed it into the feral child's gut. Streams of blood were ejected from Gohan's mouth as his body was doubled over his opponent's knee. Never before had he been hit so hard, and it seemed to immediately cause his body to shut down as he began to see stars and flirt with unconsciousness.
"What's the matter boy?" asked a bemused Ginyu. "Realizing you can't hang with the grown-ups aren't you?" The Captain followed up his taunts with a vicious elbow, which caused Gohan's neck to snap back violently, and he limply fell to the ground. His entire body screamed in pain as he tried to force himself to stand, but no matter how much willpower Gohan possessed his body would not comply with his wishes.
"Having trouble are we?" jeered the alien warrior as he casually landed in front of the sprawled out boy with his arms crossed. "You and your father are completely worthless. Kind-hearted Saiyan? Please, your pitiful race weeded your kind out centuries ago! How could you hope to compete against a warrior like me with such useless things like morals holding you back?"
"Those things don't make you weak," claimed Gohan as he fought through his trembling muscles and forced himself to stand. "Those 'useless morals,' as you call them, are what give us the strength to fight bad guys like you!"
"Oh you poor, delusional child," said Ginyu with a shake of Vegeta's head. "You really believe that, don't you? Well, let me give you a piece of advice before I send you to your next life." Raising his hand up as a purple orb of energy sprung to life in the man's palm, and it was aimed directly at the panting Gohan. "The world we live in is a kill or be killed world, and you have to do whatever it takes to be the killer and not the victim. Foolish things like righteousness and fighting for justice will always come back to haunt you. I hope my words will help you see the truth of the world in your next life!"
Gohan closed his eyes, not wanting to watch his death approaching him, as Ginyu fired the energy wave that he had built up in his hand. The boy couldn't believe that his life was about to end; he had barely even gotten to live yet! He was just a scared 5-year-old kid who had been thrown onto an alien planet and forced to fight men many times his own age, and now he was being rewarded for his valiant efforts with death. Not to mention that he hadn't even been able to accomplish what he had come to this place for: reviving Mr. Piccolo.
The boy's eyes snapped open as an image of the tall, stoic warrior popped into his head. What would his teacher think of him if he could see him cowering in the face of death like he was now? Mr. Piccolo had fearlessly flung himself into the path of Nappa's blast as it had threatened to kill Gohan, and the Namek had selflessly sacrificed his own life to save his pupil's. He couldn't be afraid anymore; Mr. Piccolo and his dad wouldn't be quivering in their boots in this situation, so why should he? Forcing his eyes open, Gohan straightened his back and stood tall as he watched the oncoming energy beam race towards him, illuminating the entire area in a purple hue.
However, it seemed that it wasn't quite time for the boy to die, as a dark figure suddenly phased directly in front of Gohan and outstretched his hand. The blast collided violently with the boy's savior's palm and instead of exploding upon contact, the energy from the ki wave seemed to be dissipating into thin air after touching the figure's hand. This continued for several seconds as the violet beam struggled to push past the shadow-covered man's defense, but Gohan's rescuer didn't move an inch, and the energy wave didn't end in a deafening explosion but just seemed to roar out of existence.
As the light from the ki beam faded after the attack was extinguished, Gohan looked up to see the familiar, orange, fighting gi that his father always wore. What really stunned the boy wasn't the fact that it was his dad that had saved him, but the dead-serious expression that he wore on his face as he stared down the man who had attempted to murder his son.
0o0o0o0o0o0o
"What!? How are you even standing, much less able to cancel out an attack with that much power!" screamed a furious Ginyu.
"Didn't I already tell you?" said Goku as he slowly lowered his arm, which was still slightly smoking from canceling out the energy beam. "You can't beat me using a cheap trick like your Body-Switching technique. The strength that you're using in battle isn't truly yours. You didn't sweat and bleed for it, so you'll never be able to win in battle relying on someone else's strength."
"Why you!" shouted the Captain. "I'll finish you off once and…"
The body-snatcher was never able to finish his threat as Goku suddenly phased in front of him and smashed in the Prince's face with a hard elbow strike. As the stolen body of Vegeta seemed to fall back in slow-motion, the former Turtle School student followed up his first attack with a barrage of kicks that hammered his enemy's chest and face. These blows caused Ginyu to be thrown around like a rag doll but all of his movement stopped when Goku rammed his fist into the alien's abdomen - completely shattering any remnant of armor that covered Vegeta's torso.
As Ginyu collapsed to his knees, his arms drawn to his stomach and his mouth gaping in pain, the wild-haired fighter leapt into the sky. Twisting his body so that he was facing the collapsed figure of the Saiyan Prince, Goku brought his hands to his side and a blue ball of energy rapidly gathered into their cupped form.
"KamehameHA!" shouted the Saiyan from Earth as he unleashed his signature technique. The blue energy beam almost instantaneously closed the gap between the two warriors and completely consumed the terrain in which Ginyu had stood in a giant explosion. Not wanting to wait for the smoke from his attack to die down and give his opponent the chance to recover, Goku dispelled the cloud with a simple flare of his aura, exposing the devastated body of the flame-haired Saiyan.
"I held back in my attack," calmly stated Goku as he landed next to the struggling Ginyu. The majority of the clothes that had covered Vegeta's body had been completely eviscerated by the Kamehameha wave, and the only part that remained even partially intact still was the navy, spandex pants that covered the Saiyan's legs. "If I had used my full power, you would be dead for sure."
"You fool," spat Ginyu as he forced his stolen body to stand. "You should have killed me when you had the chance! Now I'll be taking your body back from you!" Thrusting his arms outward, Ginyu almost instantly fired the golden beam of light that would allow him to take back Goku's body from his mouth seconds after speaking.
Goku was slightly surprised at the speed at which the Captain had been able to fire his attack, but he wasn't about to let the body-snatcher get ahold of his body again. The beam of light was moving far too slow for him not to be able to dodge, so he began to effortlessly move out of the way. His eyes widened in horror, though, as he found that he was unable to move! It was as if his feet were completely rooted to the ground and there was no way that he could escape from having his body turned against him once again.
Just as it seemed like there was no hope for the pure-hearted warrior, another figure suddenly moved directly in front of Goku to intercept the golden beam. A smile formed on Goku's face as he saw the purple skin of Captain Ginyu's old body and he heard the rough voice of the Saiyan Prince ring out.
"Not this time, Ginyu!" In a blinding flash of light it was all over and Goku heard Vegeta's arrogant laughter coming from its rightful body. The horned alien directly in front of Goku had a horrified expression on his face and he used Ginyu's distracted state to put some distance between himself and the mutant fighter. Now the Captain stood directly in between the two Saiyans and Goku could feel the battle drawing to a close.
"Hahahaha!" laughed Vegeta before wincing slightly from the pain that it caused him. "It seems this is the end for you, Ginyu. You can't hope to win now when you no longer possess the power of a Saiyan."
"You really think it's over fool!" screamed an enraged Ginyu at the Saiyan Prince before suddenly twirling to face Goku. "I will not be defeated by two stupid primates like you! Guldo now!"
"Right boss!" Goku's eyes widened in horror as he turned his head to look behind him to see the short, green, toad-like alien standing behind him with a large smirk on his face. The orange clad fighter attempted to move towards Guldo, but he felt himself suddenly paralyzed as the fat warrior clenched his hands downward.
"YOU'RE MINE!" bellowed Ginyu as a white aura surrounded his heavily damaged body. "CHANGE NOW!"
The Saiyan from Earth was only able to turn his head so that he could look at the oncoming wave that would rob him of his body. In his head, Goku berated himself for forgetting about the psychic powered warrior once again. Now there was likely no chance of them being able to defeat Ginyu if he managed to get ahold of Goku's body once again and they would have let all of their friends down.
At that moment, though, Goku suddenly felt himself being toppled over and his body was sent crashing back to the ground. Once he could feel his muscles again, the pure-hearted warrior swiftly rolled to the side and he was surprised when he saw the beaming face of his son there to meet him.
"Gohan?" said a puzzled Goku before it finally clicked in his mind. It seemed that his son had leapt in at the last second, knocking him out of the way of the Body-Switch beam. "Thank you, son, you really saved me back there."
"Dad, look!" exclaimed Gohan as he pointed a finger up and back from where they had just been moments ago.
Following his son's finger, Goku found himself staring at the last surviving Ginyu Force members, connected together by the golden beam of light, and with equally horrified expressions on their faces.
Well there it is the end of the Ginyu Fight! Thanks for reading guys, and if you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or concerns for the story going forward then please leave them in a review! Now there's only one bad-guy left, Frieza himself! I'm really looking forward to getting to writing the battle with Frieza full-time (I have a great time writing his character) and I hope you all will enjoy it as well! Alright so Power-Levels! I'll only be putting down the max power levels that everyone had after they got back into their original bodies.
Gohan: 90,000
Goku: 1 million
Vegeta: 540,000
Ginyu and Guldo were the same power levels that they've always been, and Goku and Vegeta's bodies were the same as they were last chapter before they received their zenkai's. Oh, and how Goku was healed the second time will be revealed in the next chapter. Again, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this newest installment of Earthling Chronicles!