Chapter Four- Sacrifice
As debris from the space-pod scattered everywhere, an orange energy blazed around the outline of Gohan, who glared at Raditz. He was trembling, but it wasn't fear, it was rage.
As I used my arms to push my chest of the ground, Gohan flew forwards, smacking right into the chest plate armor.
Raditz's face turned from shock to anger as pieces of it cracked apart, leaving a huge dent smack in the middle.
"Gohan?" Goku regained consciousness. The energy died down and Gohan rubbed his head in confusion.
"Daddy?" It was like, he didn't remember..
Raditz sure did though, if that pissed look was anything to go by.
"Gohan, run!" Raditz was up in seconds, his eyes firmly set on the now sniveling boy.
" . " and with one swipe of his arm, Gohan was whacked halfway across the field.
And I don't think he's finished either. I have to do something, but this damn body is to weak. I strained each muscle, checking how much energy I could gather. It was all or nothing, this was the only attack I would be able to do for a while.
"Don't hurt him!" Goku pleaded and I took one last look at Piccolo clutching his stump before I shakily stood. Swaying slightly, I hovered about ten centimeters of the ground, watching the contours of Raditz's back as he stomped towards Gohan.
"Okay, I can do this" My body begrudgingly glowed with the white fire I was summoning, getting brighter and brighter until my body seared with a white hot fever. My hands lifted themselves, knowing what they had to do.
"WHITE FIRE!" i screamed and as the energy shot out from me I collapsed to the floor with black vision. The ground where raditz should have been exploded and I heard Piccolo gasp.
There was silence for a few moments.
"It's not over!" Piccolo warned. It's not? But I can't fight anymore. I slumped to the ground on my side, my vision returning enough to see the legs of Raditz facing towards me.
I sighed deeply. At least I had brought the kid some time.
"You bitch! Your going to pay for that!" The legs got closer and closer until I could see the frazzled hairs on them, curling black at the ends. What a wonderful last sight.
"No!" Goku yelled and I saw a flash of orange as another pair of legs joined Raditz's.
"Goku?" I panted for breath, ignoring the throbbing as I raised my head. It wasn't clear, but it seemed Goku had him in an armlock, pulling him away from me whilst struggling to keep hold of the thrashing Raditz.
"Piccolo! Do your special attack!" Special attack?
"You got it" I saw Piccolo smirk as he stood, but he eyed Raditz wearily.
"I finally get to take you out Goku, this must be my lucky day" Oh no, since Goku was stood behind him..any attack that went through Raditz would go through Goku.
But it was obvious there was no other way. Gohan was still unconscious across the way, having no say in his father's sacrifice.
And there was nothing I could do.
"Special beam, cannon!" Piccolo grunted, dipping a finger from his forehead, a swirl of electric yellow energy spiraled forward from the tip of his finger. I closed my eyes, I couldn't bear to watch. But I heard Raditz's scream as it pierced his heart all the same.
My eyes opened of their own will, and it was slow-motion as Goku and Raditz fell through the air. The beam hadn't gone through Goku's heart, but the gaping hole was evidence to his eminent death.
"You idiot Goku" Raditz choked out as blood streamed from his mouth. Both of them were now flat on the grass, their blood dying the blades red.
"Oh don't worry about him, you'll be dying alone" Piccolo flashed Goku a grim smile as he crouched down beside Raditz.
"What..do you mean.." he coughed, his plastic thing falling of his face.
"Well you see, we have these things called dragon balls on our planet. If you gather all seven of them, and no doubt Goku's friends will. The eternal dragon is summoned and will grant a wish. His friends will wish him back to life, so yes, you will be dying alone" Well, that was new. A dragon that granted wishes. They weren't normal earthling humans after all.
"Yeah, like the flamingo chicken things didn't tell you that"
"Shut up Mel" And then Raditz laughed. He actually laughed.
"What the hell are you laughing about" Piccolo growled.
"You see this green piece of plastic, it's a scouting device" He coughed up more blood, his skin fading to a shade of grey. His time was running out. "But more importantly..its a transmitter to my two other comrades who are much stronger than I am…" Another death cough. "they'll come, you mark my words.." His eyes slid shut, his final moments upon him.
"How long..how long!" Goku asked, fear setting his voice. These two comrades of his were stronger? But we'd barely defeated Raditz as it was.
"A year..at most"
"Damn it!" Piccolo slammed a fist next to Raditz's unmoving body, glaring with true hatred at the scouter. Then there was a whirring sound and familiar voices calling to Goku. His friends were here, and Goku was near death. How would we even explain it.
"Goku!" The blue haired woman was waving out of the hovercraft as it touched down, utter distress on her face. I absentmindedly wondered if she was his wife.
"Oh no, what did you do to him!" The one named Krillin was first out, kneeled at his friend's dying body within moments.
"It wasn't us" I said sadly, gathering some final energy so that I could stand.
"Goku, you have to live, you can't die on us now. Not after everything we've been through!"
"But you can wish me back Krillin" The blue haired woman went to the kid, scooping him up in her arms.
"Will he be okay?" She asked tentatively.
"He'll be fine" Piccolo was still scowling, as if he cared naught for the final moments of a person's life. It was then I realized no one close to me had ever died. Would I be like them, distraught and desperate to keep that person alive, despite knowing they would die. I thought of Cherry, he meant everything to me, and if I hadn't have convinced them to come, he'd be safe, happy even. Maybe even have a family and a normal girlfriend. It had only been half a day, but I missed the guy like hell. I hadn't even gotten to say goodbye.
What was I doing.
"Krillin…"
"Yes Goku?"
"Take care..of Gohan" A tear sprung in Krillin's eyes and the mood was entirely somber.
"Sure thing buddy, I'll take real good care of him"
"And Chi-chi..don't forget Chi-chi.." He heaved one last breath before his chest fell flat.
"Goku..? Goku!" Krillin sobbed, his screams of distress scattering the birds above into flight.
"Don't worry Krillin, we'll have him back in no time" I hadn't seen the old guy come out but he was right beside Krillin, a heavy hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah..you're right. But what on earth am I gonna tell Chi-chi" The blue haired woman was still trying to revive the child. I'm guessing she wasn't the wife after all.
As Krillin turned away from his former friends body, a breeze of wind curled by, dissipating the body into particles ad sweeping it away.
"What the?"
"Kami has him" Piccolo stated, not that I knew who this Kami was. It satisfied the others though, as they nodded their approval.
"We've got bigger problems" I finally said, even though they weren't really mine. But it looked like I was going to be dragged into it. After all, they were going to need all the help they could get.
"What do you mean?" Krillin turned his glare on me.
"You see that green piece of plastic over there?"
"Yeah, what about it"
"It's a scouting device, but also works as a transmitter. Raditz had two saiyan comrades who overheard Piccolo talking about the dragon balls, and there on their way here as we speak. The worst part is, their a lot stronger than Raditz ever was" Even though there was no proof, a dying man had no reason to bluff. Especially not one so arrogant.
"Then we need to prepare, we'll teach them not to mess with our planet!" Krillin spoke with raw determination through gritted teeth. And another question came to mind. How many times had they had something like this happen. What was this place.
"I'll see if I can reprogram this thing to find Yamcha and Tien, we'll need everyone we can to prepare if we want to win" The woman picked up the scouter, poking and prodding it with her only free hand.
"RRR!" The woman was startled and dropped the scouting and Piccolo grunted and growled. The three of Goku's friends looked terrified. I was more concerned if he was constipated or something, cause that was sure what it looked like.
"You okay?" I asked before he gave one last roar and an arm popped out of the stump.
"Whoa, what the hell? Did you just regenerate?"
"Yes"
"Now that is one handy ability"
"Yeah well, I'm taking the boy for training" He addressed Goku's friends.
"What!?"
"The kid's got power, and we'll need him against the Saiyans. You can have him when the year is up"
"Are you insane!? What the hell am I supposed to tell his mother!?"
"Not my problem, and I'm taking him with or without your permission" The woman squeezed tighter on Gohan, as if she could prevent Piccolo from taking him. But he was right, the kid had a hidden power.
"Just cause you want to eat him!"
"As if, I've got better things to eat than a child of Goku's"
"Guys, chill out. Krillin, I won't let him eat Gohan, don't worry" I can't believe I just agreed to that, and apparently, Piccolo couldn't either from the look he shot me. That would mean I would have to go with him, and I didn't think I had an invitation.
Piccolo used some sort of psychic force to levitate Gohan out of the woman's arms and into his, before gathering a burst of energy and taking to the air.
"Hey! Wait up!" I yelled before tearing through the air myself.
Meanwhile, in the depths of outer space. Two menacing people were preparing to head to new earth.
"You hear that Vegeta? Those things grant wishes"
"Yes Nappa, I heard" The smaller person tore a strip of an animal leg, sucking on the succulent meat.
"So, what are we gonna wish for when we get there. Are we gonna bring Raditz back to life?"
"Don't be a fool Nappa" He threw the leg down to the wastelanded terrain. "Why would we want that weakling back when we could have immortality"
"Ohh, right, Then we could live forever!" he enthused.
"Just get in the pod Nappa"
"Sure thing Vegeta" The taller figure clambered into one of the two round pods, as the smaller figure sauntered over to the second.
"Immortality here we come"