Piccolo:

He tried to grasp all that had happened. How long had he been away? He could still remember that Dabura had hit him with his spit and the Supreme Kai had shouted something about petrification. But after that everything was black. He checked the position of the sun. Unless a whole day had passed in the meantime, the sun had hardly moved any further.

His first thought was of Kera and he felt for the golden thread of his energy connection with her. There she was. She was fine and a surge of relief washed over his thoughts. Then he realised he was not alone. Krillin stood beside him. He too had broken free from petrification. And his children, as well as Goten and Trunks, were with them. Why had they come here? What had happened in the meantime?

The boys answered each other until Piccolo interrupted their chatter and told only Menka to explain. In short sentences she told them what had happened since they had left the stadium.

When Menka had finished, Piccolo looked at the scene below him. This pink creature had to be the demon. Its power was clearly palpable.

'Piccolo?" Kera's voice was in his head.

'Are you all right?' he asked her quickly.

He felt her relief. 'Yes. Vegeta and I will take care of the demon now. Is Krillin all right too?'

Typical Kera. Making a statement and then going off in a completely different direction again with another question. 'He's fine. The kids are here too, by the way.'

He could feel her cursing. 'Stay out of it. It's too dangerous.'

Typical again. That was when the pure Saiyan in her came through. He sighed and stifled the biting remark that was on his lips. Who knows what all had happened in the time he had been incapacitated.

Kera and Vegeta assumed the same fighting stance mirrored to each other, as if they had done nothing else for years. It seemed as if they actually wanted to fight together. Yet Vegeta was always the one who claimed that he could only fight alone. Had they actually fought side by side in the past? He really had to ask Kera about it.

The energy levels of the two increased noticeably. Vegeta's energy increased even more than Kera's. Piccolo narrowed his eyes and looked at Vegeta more closely. Was there an "M" on his forehead? Wasn't that the sign of the evil mage?

Damn! Vegeta had been possessed by Babidi. That explained the increase in his powers. Still, the magician did not seem to have succeeded in taking complete control of Vegeta, or he certainly would not be fighting the demon now.

When Vegeta insulted the demon, he went after Vegeta and Kera. They had only been waiting for it and shot forward at the same time.

Silently he watched the fight. Menka had pressed herself against him and pressed her face against his cloak. She couldn't bear to see her mother fight. Reyak, Trunks and Goten cheered Kera and Vegeta on, while Krillin kept looking back and forth between Piccolo and the fight.

Piccolo hated being just a spectator. But the energies down there were just too huge to keep up. A small spark of jealousy crept up his spine. Vegeta and Kera fought amazingly well together and he wondered if she fought better with Vegeta than with him. Back when they had been preparing for the arrival of the androids, they had trained so intensely together that they had complemented each other perfectly.

With Vegeta, Piccolo had always had the impression that although he trained with Kera, he only took advantage of it to become stronger. What Kera and Vegeta were doing down there now seemed as if they were paying attention to how they could coordinate the effect of their attacks and strengthen them together. As if they had done nothing else for years.

And perhaps because of that, they actually seemed to have the upper hand. Maybe they really did have a chance. He could hardly assess it. Who knew if the demon was already showing its full powers. And no matter how well Kera and Vegeta fought together, their powers were limited. Both were already bleeding from numerous wounds and Boo had once stayed down for a moment when Vegeta had pierced him with an energy beam, but had gotten up shortly afterwards as if nothing had happened. Kera and Vegeta tried not to let on how much they were already at the edge of their strength. Saiyans did not give up.

They faced the demon and seemed to wait for his next attack. Piccolo was about to seize the moment and ask Kera if she would take some of his energy, when suddenly the demon threw something at them.

Kera jumped in front of Vegeta to intercept the pink mass. But it did not explode, nor could it be deflected, instead it wrapped itself around Kera's entire body several times in the blink of an eye like a thick rope. She toppled to the side.

"Mama!" Menka cried out and Reyak leapt forward to rush to his mother's aid.

"Wait, that's too dangerous!", Piccolo held him back.

Vegeta cursed and tried to pull the mass from Kera's body, when one of those traps caught him too and tightened around his body. Unable to move, he toppled to the side and remained lying next to Kera.

The demon jumped up and dropped directly above them both. His fists thundered into the faces of the two.

This time Piccolo felt Kera's pain. This time she could no longer shield the bond. Gasping, he went to his knees. Menka supported him.

His children looked at him questioningly. Piccolo tried to say something. Menka realised what the problem was. She put a hand on his forehead. Warmth spread through his body. It did not drive away the pain, but it eased it a little.

"Thank you," he brought out with difficulty.

She nodded to him and turned to her brother and cousins. "Mama needs help. Go!" Together with Trunks and Goten, they flew down from the rock and charged at the demon.

He himself straightened up and fixed the mage Babidi. If he couldn't do anything about the demon, at least he would finish this wretch off.

Kera:

"Shit!" She cursed and clamoured. It didn't help. She couldn't move a muscle. Vegeta beside her seemed no different.

A hard blow hit her square in the face. The demon took advantage of her helplessness and beat her ruthlessly. Tears came to her eyes and clouded her vision. Only in a blur did she see the demon's yellow fist hurtling towards her face again and again. She felt her skin burst open. Blood flowed down her face. When was it over?

Suddenly Buu had disappeared. She couldn't turn her head to follow Buu's trajectory.

"Mum!"

Menka appeared in Kera's field of vision. "What ...?" She tried to speak.

'It's all right. I'll help you out of here.'

Deftly, Menka unwrapped Kera from the flabby band. Slowly, Kera sat up and watched Trunks unwrap his father.

"Thank you, sweetie." She tried a smile, but her face hurt too much.

Gently, Menka stroked Kera's forehead and the pain subsided somewhat. "Sorry, that's all I can do yet," Menka said apologetically.

Kera felt her face. The cracks and bruises were still there, but they didn't feel as bad. She found it easier to smile. "You're just amazing."

"Where's the demon?" Vegeta had straightened up as well.

"Reyak and Goten are holding him at bay right now. Piccolo is taking care of that mage," Trunks replied.

Kera looked around. Close to the rock they had originally arrived on was Piccolo. In front of him, the mage had crouched in a protective shield.

'Kill him!", Kera shouted to Piccolo in her mind.

She felt his smile and saw him extend his arm for the final blow.

She turned to look at Buu. Goten and Reyak had transformed into Super Saiyans and were hovering in front of a pile of rocks. Underneath it was clearly Buu. Kera was surprised at how well the two boys had done. They wouldn't be able to defeat him, but at least they had stopped him for a moment. So they could coordinate what they could do next.

'Reyak, come here!' Their son joined them immediately, bringing Goten with him.

"How do we proceed?" asked Kera, looking around. Piccolo was now with them as well. He squeezed her arm briefly to assure her he was with her.

With difficulty, Vegeta scrambled up onto one knee and turned to face his son. He placed his hands on his child's shoulders and looked him in the eye. "Trunks, my son, listen to me carefully. Promise me that you will take good care of your mother."

"What, what is this now Vegeta?" Kera took a shaky step towards him.

"Yes, Papa, what is this? You have to protect mama, don't you?"

"We want to fight with you," Reyak said.

"Yeah, right," Goten confirmed.

Vegeta paid no attention to the others and hugged his son, who was clearly surprised by his father's action. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Before Kera could intervene, Vegeta had lashed out and knocked Trunks to the ground with a palm strike to the back of his neck. Groaning, the boy doubled over. Vegeta caught him and slowly let him slide to the ground.

"Hey, what are you doing? How...?" Goten couldn't finish the sentence, because Vegeta rammed his fist into his stomach. Goten gasped, doubled over and his hair turned black. Unconscious, he fell to the ground as well.

"Why are you doing this?" Reyak now took a step towards his uncle as well.

"Reyak, don't!" Kera looked sharply at her son, who immediately stopped, albeit reluctantly.

"Vegeta, what are you going to do?" Kera's voice trembled slightly. She was afraid of what Vegeta would say.

"I'm going to take the demon with me to hell." Vegeta said this as calmly as if he were talking about the weather.

"No! We will find another solution. Together. We'll retreat for now."

"It's my fault that this demon woke up in the first place. I have to make it right."

"By sacrificing yourself?" she shouted at him.

"That's the only way." Vegeta stood up and stood directly in front of Kera. "Please support Bulma as best you can."

Kera took a step back and shook her head violently. "No, no ..." she stuttered, "You will not sacrifice yourself. You ..."

Vegeta grabbed the back of her neck with both hands. "Kera, Princess of the Saiyans, I place you in charge of our people." With his left hand, he wandered to her left arm and gripped it tightly. He rested his forehead on hers.

Tears ran down her cheeks. She felt Piccolo's presence in her soul. He tried to comfort her. For him, it was clear that this was the only solution. A sob rolled down her lips. She put her hand on the back of Vegeta's neck and clawed. She didn't want to let him go.

"Please don't do this to me. Kakarrot is dead too. I don't want to be without my two brothers." She sobbed again. She felt Menka's and Reyak's eyes on her. Should she pull herself together more in front of her children? She couldn't now.

"I release you from all your duties as my bodyguard," Vegeta continued to talk without removing his forehead from hers.

She tried to shake her head. But she lacked the strength to do that as well. How could he possibly do that? "No, you can't do that." Tears flowed down her cheeks without holding back. Her gaze clouded over. She felt like she was losing her grip. "What about Bulma and Trunks?"

"Take care of them. You are my second in command."

"Vegeta, please ..."

Behind him, the stones under which Buu lay began to shake. The pile was falling apart.

"We're running out of time," Piccolo said urgently.

Vegeta pulled Kera into a hug. "Please go, Kaya, and take care of yourself."

Kera sobbed again. She didn't want to let go of Vegeta.

"One more thing, please give the baby our mother's name."

This did throw Kera off a little now and she broke away from him a little. "Are you sure?"

Vegeta nodded and pulled her once more into a short tight hug. The clatter of stones grew louder. "Go now."

"Reyak, grab Trunks, I'll take Goten. We still have Krillin to collect," Piccolo called out to Reyak, bending down to tuck Goten under his arm. Reyak put Trunks over his shoulder.

Vegeta took a step backwards and placed his right fist over his heart. "It has been an honour to know you by my side, sister."

Kera thought she saw tears glistening in his eyes, but before she was sure, he had turned around.

"Piccolo! One more thing!" Vegeta didn't turn as he called out her mate's name, but fixed on Buu, who ran towards him. "If I die, will I see Kakarrot again in the afterlife?"

Kera glanced at Piccolo, who looked at Vegeta silently. "You have killed too many beings. You will lose your body, your soul will be purified to then be reborn in a new body."

"I see. Leave now!" Vegeta straightened his shoulders. "Buu, you ugly pink meatball! We're going to hell together now!"

"Come!" Piccolo tugged on Kera's arm. As if in a trance, she moved up with him. They headed for the rocks.

"What's going on? What's happening down there?" Krillin stepped from one foot to the other in nervousness.

Kera did not feel able to answer. Piccolo only gave Krillin hand signals and asked him to come along. They flew in some direction, silently. It didn't matter where they flew either.

Kera kept rubbing her face. The tears would not stop flowing. Her heart had clenched painfully. All her senses she had focused on Vegeta's aura. His energy rose and rose. She kept turning to him, wanting to fly back to him, but Piccolo kept pulling her. She didn't know if she should fight, that she could be with him. What would become of her family then? Piccolo would die too and then who would take care of Menka, Reyak and the baby? The baby, which now finally had a name: Gine.

At some point she couldn't take it anymore and she stopped in mid-air, looking to where they had left Vegeta. His energy was now no longer just palpable, but visible to everyone. It swirled around him like a golden tornado.

It was all his energy, his full power. If he let it go now, he would die. There would be no spark left in his body to keep him alive.

"Vegetaaaaa!" screamed Kera. It couldn't end like this. She had to help him.

Krilin wrapped his arms around her waist. "Don't, stay here!" She didn't realise she had moved forward.

'Please, don't go,' Piccolo whispered in her head. He sounded sad. He felt her pain.

An explosion shook the earth beneath them. Vegeta's golden light spread over a vast area. Even across the great distance, she heard his anguished cry.

The light was so bright that they all drew their arms before their eyes, dazzled. When the commotion died down and the light was extinguished, Kera searched the area with her eyes. There was a huge crater where they had left Vegeta.