Chapter 7

The ground quaked as the monster stomped towards them. From the looks of it, it was powerful and strong, but Bardock had been through worse; he could take a giant monster any day as long as it wasn't fused with anything else.

What are you gonna do, kid?

Bardock whipped his head around, gazing at his friends, "Time to fight, guys." He pointed to the humans. "Yamcha, Krillin; I need you to move the civilians to a safer place, preferably a city or two away. 18, you can fight, but I'm gonna need you to make sure the moms and the kids are safe."

"If you need me, just call," 18 nodded as she took Marron's hand. She ushered the ladies and the kids away, despite Little Pan's protests.

With a sharp sigh and eyes still on Hirudegarn, Bardock addressed the rest, "Guys, we're going up against something that's as strong as Kid Buu. We have to kill it and make sure we don't hurt any civilians who are evacuating. Got it?"

As they flew into the air to fight the monster, the half Saiyan turned to the red haired alien, eyes narrowed. "And you; who are you and what connection do you have with this monster?"

He clenched his jaw, "My name is Tapion. I'm a Konatsian from the planet Konats. Our planet was attacked by this monster when dark wizards resurrected it." He grabbed the flute on his person. "My little brother, Minosha, and I were the only ones able to fight it. We'd use our flutes to hold Hirudegarn at bay. Then one of the wizards cut the monster in half and sealed the upper part in me and the lower in my brother. For safe keeping, we were put in music boxes and sent to different planets so Hirudegarn could never get out."

Tears pooled in his eyes. "The wizard must've killed my little brother before he came here to open the music box holding me. Once he opened my music box, I didn't even have a chance to fight before Hirudegarn came out of me. I only escaped when Hirudegarn killed the wizard."

Bardock gazed at the monster, cursing at the sight of his friends getting thrown around easily despite them being in their Super Saiyan forms, "At least we have the master out of the way." He glanced back at Tapion, "You think you can help us kill it?"

"No one can kill Hirudegarn. You can only contain it," Tapion replied solemnly. "You and your friends are fighting a losing battle."

"We'll just have to see about that," Bardock stated before powering up into his Super Saiyan form. "If you don't wanna help kill it, that's fine. But at least get the citizens away from here."

He shot off into the sky and got there just in time to block Hirudegarn's tail when it tried to strike Pan out of the air. He took stock of everyone, noting the small injuries each Saiyan had on them. "You guys alright?"

Goku nodded, his teal eyes stony as he gazed at the monster, "Just fine. Did you find out anything on this thing?"

Bardock shook his head, "No, but if anyone's gonna beat this thing, it's us. That's what we're here for. No one's getting hurt on my watch." He cupped his hands together at his side, gathering ki. "Now come on. Kamehameha!"

The blue beam hit the monster in the chest but did little to nothing in terms of damaging any part of it. Hirudegarn roared and lashed out, its arm taking down one of the buildings. Goten and Trunks scrambled to get the civilians out of the way of the debris.

Above it, Vegeta slammed his wrists together, shouting, "Final Flash!"

Though not as strong as it could've been, the yellow blast caused Hirudegarn to stumble into another building.

Gohan blinked, his mind working a mile a minute, "It…" Realization settled in his mind quickly. He grinned slightly, "It's weak when it attacks." The others gazed at him questioningly as he spoke, triumph in his tone, "It's not paying attention to its defense when it attacks. The moment it attacks is the moment its skin is vulnerable."

"At least we know it has a weakness," Mirai Gohan grunted as he powered up to Super Saiyan 2 with the rest following him, bar Trunks, Goten, and Pan.

Trunks and Goten charged at it but the moment they went for the attack, Hirudegarn disappeared, leaving a cloud of smoke. While the two pondered for a second how something so big could just vanish, Hirudegarn reappeared in a cloud above them and slammed its fist into Trunks, sending him to the ground.

"Trunks!" Goten called out worriedly.

Vegeta shot a blast at Hirudegarn, only for it to disappear again. It reappeared behind him and threw him into a building full of people.

He stumbled onto his unsteady feet just as Hirudegarn opened its mouth and shot fire at them. Seeing the panic on the humans' face, he brought his arms out and put up a ki shield to block the fire. When it died down, he fell on one knee, trying to get his breath back.

Goku flew up to the broken window. "Vegeta, are you alright?" He barely managed to get the sentence out before Hirudegarn appeared behind him and slammed its hand on either side of the Saiyan, squishing him between its palms. He shouted in pain and fell to the ground once he was free.

"Dad!" Gohan called out worriedly. He exchanged glances with his counterpart and future kids as Hirudegarn breathed fire on all the buildings, "How are we going to win this battle when it takes our attacks like nothing?"

Before any of them can answer, a voice that haunted Pan's daydreams cut in smugly, "By using this!" They all turned, deadpanning when they found a much older Gotenks flashing them a wicked grin and a peace sign.

As the fusion powered up to Super Saiyan 2 and flew at the monster, Pan sighed in annoyance, "Please, Kami, no."

"He can't be that bad, right?" Both Gohans asked. Their answer came when they watched Gotenks taunt Hirudegarn by flipped it the bird. "Never mind."

Hirudegarn charged at Gotenks, only to stumble into a building when the fusion flew out of the way. Gotenks shot a multitude of blasts at the prone monster and smirked wolfishly when it fell to the floor with a loud groan.

When there was no movement from the monster, Gotenks flew to its face, frowning at its frozen face. "I don't think that was supposed to happen," He mumbled to himself.

Bardock's eyebrow twitched. "If he's not moving, finish him off!"

"Right." Gotenks threw a strong blast to the unmoving Hirudegarn.

As smoke billowed around the monster, its back suddenly lit up, blinding those still conscious. A cracking noise hit their ears as the light grew larger. They watched in wide eyed disbelief as Hirudegarn broke out of the shell, wings spreading as it roared in its new form.

Gohan breathed, dumbfounded, "And people say evolution isn't real."