Chapter 15
Author's note: We have almost reached the end of this story, one chapter left after this one. I'd like to ask you the readers, would you rather I post it next Friday or post it sooner to wrap up the story? Let me know. If I don't hear anything, I'll just post the last chapter next week.
Goku stepped forward, he had enough of Mr. Snow. This entire ordeal had dragged on for too long and Goku wanted it to end for his family's sake.
"I'm giving you one last chance." Goku started, his eyebrows slanted. "Let all of us leave. I don't care if you got the energy of every fighter that's ever existed, you don't know what you're dealing with. Accept defeat and walk away! We don't have to fight anymore!"
"I am not here to negotiate anymore, now I am here to exterminate!" Snow retorted to silence.
"That statement probably sounded a lot better in your mind than in real life." Vegeta snarked.
"You know..." Gohan started. "That was a really stupid thing to say. I don't know who you are but delivering one liners is not your strong suit. You are really bad at them, so you should leave that to the professionals."
The rest of the group chattered amongst themselves, agreeing with Gohan and Vegeta. This only humiliated Mr. Snow further.
"Insulted! By monkeys in my own arena! Each and every one of you is dead! You Saiyans, you brats, you girls, you people I don't know!" Snow bellowed. "You all will die!"
"Hold on a minute here..." Saoda said, stepping towards Snow. "You locked me up in your prison for years. Hell, I lost track of how many years. If anyone gets first hit on your sorry ass, it ought to be me."
"Don't think I forget about you Saoda." Snow replied with a grin. "You were my favorite fighter and I thought you were my friend. But you turned against me! And you said such awful things about me while under contract to me. You're not my friend! You're just a cruel, manipulative punk!"
"That sounds like me." Saoda shrugged. "And you know what? I don't know these people well, but they seem like good people and none of them deserved what you did to them. They've helped me and I'm gonna help them. I'm going to end you for you've done them them and for your father! That's right, I know you're the one who murdered him!"
Snow growled in anger. His father was still a sore subject. Before he could process the vitriol, Saoda charged towards the genetically enchanced Snow. He dashed to the corner and jumped up, attempting to drive his knee into Snow's head. Snow blocked the hit and grabbed Saoda's ankle. He wound back and threw Snow into the empty seats surrounding the ring. The impact reverberated through the arena and dust clouded the collision spot. Snow turned back to the rest of the group.
"And now, you're all next!" he screamed as he slowly trudged towards the others. He drove both fists into the ring, shattering the stone tiles like glass. His new size slowed him down which gave everyone time to scatter. Goku jumped over to where the throne room once stood. Vegeta with Bulma in his arms, dodged the strike to the ring and flew over to Gohan and Videl. He dropped her off and leapt back to the other side of the arena opposite of Goku. Gohan decided Vegeta and his father had things under control so he'd stay back for now. If he decided to jump in, he felt calm knowing Goten, Trunks and Krillin were there to protect Bulma and Chi-Chi.
He was not sure just how powerful Snow had become, it was unclear if he gained the ability to use ki with his unusual method of obtaining new strength. It was time to test the waters. Goku sprung over to Snow from his perch on the throne room and drove his fist into the side of Snow's face, toppling the giant over.
Goku hovered over Snow, watching him collect himself. "That was for Chi-Chi and Goten!"
Snow shook off the pain and stood back up, he attempted to swat at Goku who dodged his swipes. His distraction made him forget about Vegeta who drove his foot into the side of Snow's head who fell down once again.
Vegeta frowned as he looked down on Snow, shaking his head again. He had been waiting to get his hands on the promoter. "After what you've done to Trunks and my Bulma... for them, I will punish you and I won't be satisfied until you are dead!"
The Saiyan Prince let out a shout as he drove his knee into the middle of Snow's abdomen, causing him to spit out blood. Snow tried to brush the pain aside swung his arm towards Vegeta, wrapping his fingers around him. Goku rushed in to try and save him but Snow caught him with his other arm.
Both men cried out in pain as Snow started to tighten his grip on both of them before looking over to Gohan.
"Feel free to cut in whenever! Perhaps I'll spare you and let you fight for me, my roster is depleted!" Snow taunted before looking over to Videl who looked frightened. "Is that your girlfriend? She's cute! I think I'll keep her and make her mine once I'm done squeezing the life out of you and these monkeys!"
"Gohan, wait!" Videl cried before Gohan reacted.
Snow's comments were enough to set Gohan off. He leapt up and flew towards Snow. The promoter's devious smile grew while he watched Gohan blast towards him. With abnormal speed, he pitched Vegeta towards Gohan who collided with each other instantly then launched Goku into them. The three crashed into the stone wall, nearly falling outside the arena.
Goku and Vegeta were slow to recover and get to their feet but Gohan was still energized and still livid about what Snow said about Videl. Without taking any time to recuperate, Gohan flew back to Mr. Snow. He began to ascend upwards making Snow think he would attack his head. Snow reeled back his arm, anticipating the attack but Gohan quickly disappeared from his view. Snow still made the strike and swung his arm through the air.
"What?" he yelled. "Where did he go?"
As soon as he finished his question, Gohan materialized at his midsection and drove his elbow into Snow's chest. Snow fell back again. Meanwhile Goku and Vegeta finally gathered themselves while Gohan delivered strikes into Snow's head.
"Hmm, he has all this new power yet he's clueless on how to use it." Vegeta observed.
"He's getting more hits in on his own arena than on us." Goku added. "Only problem is he's taking all of our blows and coming back each time like it's nothing."
Snow grabbed Gohan with both hands and batted him to the side the moment he released his grip. Snow began to regain his footing, holding onto his chest in pain. Instead of going for Gohan again, he looked over to Videl, Bulma, Chi-Chi and the boys.
"You! You are all a distraction!" he bellowed at them. "I can't have distractions!"
Using his new size Snow reached into the rafters above the ring and began to pull at a lighting rig. He peeled a solid piece of metal off of it and lunged it at the group. Bulma and Chi-Chi both ducked down as their sons and Krillin assumed defensive stances. The three launched a barrage of ki blasts at the piece of metal flying towards them, disintegrating the metal husks.
Goku watched with concern. "He's all over the place in his attacks. It's hard to predict what he's going to do next or who he's going to attack. We can't have him go after Chi-Chi and Bulma again!"
He considered using the instant transmission technique to get everyone back to Earth but it would be too difficult to do that during the chaos of the battle, especially when everyone was scattered and running around. The ship seemed like their only escape home at the moment.
"I'm not taking the risk..." Vegeta murmured. "Yo, baldy!"
Krillin looked over to Vegeta and Goku.
"Get them out of here, wait in the ship!" he instructed. Krillin had no desire to join the battle so he'd gladly take Vegeta's orders without complaint. Krillin took Bulma and Chi-Chi by their wrists and began to run back to the ship. Videl followed behind them.
"You two go with him!" Vegeta yelled to Goten and Trunks.
"Aw man!" Trunks whined.
"But we wanna fight too!" Goten protested.
"Do as he says Goten!" Goku said to his son sternly. "You need to stay back and protect your Mom. We got this under control! We're going to finish this and leave this place!"
"Yes sir..." Goten mumbled. He at least had a mission now. The two boys followed after Krillin and the women.
Snow frantically looked around for someone to attack next but could not locate anyone. He began to throw a giant-sized tantrum out of frustration, destroying whatever objects came into his view.
Goku and Vegeta watched the meltdown from a safe spot in the upper levels of the seating. They didn't have to mask their ki to hide from Snow. Despite his new power, he was incapable of even a basic technique like scanning for ki. Rubble behind the two Saiyans began to shift and soon Saoda emerged from the crater he had been shot into.
"I really hate being honest all the time." he began, rubbing the back of his head. "It means I have to admit things I don't want to admit. But I'm no match for Snow. And I'm not even close to being on the level of you guys."
"Hmph, then get out of our way and out of our sight." Vegeta snapped.
"That's the plan actually. You guys are strong enough to beat him and you're right, I am just going to get in the way. So, I'm going home. But you see what Snow is doing, right?"
Goku and Vegeta looked over to the mysterious fighter as he continued. "Snow now has the endurance of hundreds of thousands of fighters he's stored the energy from. So he's going to take way too long to defeat. And you it's going to take some time for you guys to recover and fight with 100% of your power. It just occurred to me, that with all the machines destroyed this place could get sucked into the black holes nearby at point. There's nothing keeping this place stable anymore. We need to end this battle and fast. But I have an idea that will help end this once and for all."
"What is it?" Goku asked.
"I'll distract him and the two of you plus your friend, wherever he is, can blast Snow." Saoda explained. "Remember we are surrounded by black holes. I say you guys put the energy you have left to use and launch Snow into the abyss where he belongs!"
Vegeta crossed his arms. "Looks like you're useful after all. Very well, go distract him."
"You guys start get your friend over here and charge your attacks together. I gotta say goodbye to some friends first." With that Saoda departed the arena and Goku and Vegeta began to search for Gohan.
Krillin quickly scurried into the Capsule Corp ship still parked outside the arena. The lights still hadn't turned back on indicating the power had yet to return. He sat down on the computer terminal and prayed that the Ki Neutralizer did not somehow damage the ship's battery.
To his relief, the screen flashed back on and the ship began to load. Krillin wiped sweat, finally something was going right today. Bulma and Chi-Chi walked up the boarding platform and took seats on the side of the ship. This ordeal was close to being over, all they needed was their husbands to defeat their former captor so everyone could finally return home.
While watching the computer continue to load, Krillin looked over was surprised to see Videl enter along with them. "Tired of fighting, huh?" He said to her. "I can't say I blame you."
Videl shrugged. "There's no point. Besides, I know Gohan and the guys will make short work of that monster. They don't need me."
"It will be over soon and we'll all be home fore you know it." Krillin assured her. "Where are the boys anyway?"
He looked around the ship and saw there was no sign of Goten and Trunks.
Videl sighed. "Now is not the time for them to be screwing around. I'll go look for them."
Meanwhile, outside the ship Goten and Trunks put off entering the ship so they could take one last look at the arena. They could hear the destruction of the arena from their spot outside. A light green hand shot through the roof, that had to be Mr. Snow.
"Do ya think our Dads are winning?" Goten asked. The two could hear the sound of crashing and impact reverberating from inside the arena.
"I know they are!" Trunks answered quickly. "That Snow guy doesn't stand a chance."
"I wish we could help and fight..." Goten added sheepishly. Before Trunks could reply the boys sensed a presence on a hill by the ship. They turned to see who it was. They were surprised to see Saoda standing next to them.
"What are you doing here?" Trunks asked.
"What happened to our Dads?" Goten chimed in.
"Ah, always bombarding me with questions, aren't you kids? I'll miss that." Saoda said as he stepped closer to them. "They're fine, the fight should be over soon. I'm not going to be traveling with you guys to your planet, so I wanted to say goodbye to you two. And more importantly, say thank you."
Saoda got on one knee and reached his taped-up hand out for Goten to shake and then Trunks as a sign of respect.
"But I don't get it." Trunks started. "Why are you leaving?"
Saoda shrugged. "I was in that cell for years. I'm so rusty when it comes to fighting that I'm just going to get in your Dads' way. I'm going to return to my home planet Chibra and start training like hell. I have a lot of catching up to do. Your Dads really raised the bar when it comes to how powerful one can get. I doubt I'll get there but I'll damn sure try. Maybe I'll visit you guys someday on Earnest or whatever planet you said you're from."
"Earth!" Both boys said in unison, correcting him.
"That's the one." Saoda snickered. "Goten, Trunks, thank you for freeing me. Truly. I never thought two kids would the ones to get me out of there, but you guys aren't ordinary kids. You're both exceptional young men. I'll see you again someday, so long."
He turned his back and began to head back inside the compound. Right as he got inside, Videl came storming down the boarding ramp.
"What are you guys doing?" she asked. "We need to leave now!"
"We were saying goodbye!" Goten answered as Videl looked around.
"To who? Never mind, let's just get out of here already."
The boys didn't feel like protesting and followed her up the boarding ramp. By now the ship was fully loaded and ready to depart.
Krillin began to start the ship and prepared to activate the thrusters. He looked over to Bulma and Chi-Chi. "So, what's the plan again?"
"We wait for the guys by the opening Goku created." Bulma started. "Leave the hatch open so they can get in then we get the hell out of this dump!"
"Works for me." Krillin said as he started to commence takeoff. "I just hope Mr. Snow doesn't try to get in instead of them."
"Please, like he'd fit..." Chi-Chi huffed.
Vegeta was growing impatient. "Where is that weakling? He said he'd distract Snow, and he hasn't returned yet."
"Give him time, Vegeta." Goku replied. Gohan had joined his father and Vegeta and waited by the throne room out of Snow's sight, masking their ki while they waited for Saoda to return to provide a distraction. Snow had flown into a worse rampage out of frustration watching his opponents seemingly disappear from his sight. His rage grew, smashing away at his once pristine arena. His behavior was reminiscent of Saiyan Great Apes during a full moon.
The group considered transforming to Super Saiyan and the various levels of the transformation they had mastered but they were still recovering from the effects of their ki being drained all day. They weren't sure how long their transformations would last or how effective they'd be. However, with enough charging they knew they were capable of charging up at least one of their signature powerful attacks at base form. Even without going Super Saiyan, they had enough energy between the three of them to send Snow flying.
The three looked up, hearing a crash in the sky. Lighting flashed in the atmosphere. The sky was still dark but there was a red hue to it now. Saoda was right, the machines all being offline was causing something to happen with the black holes surrounding the planet.
"Gah...we're running out of time!" Vegeta spat out. "He's got five minutes, if he's not back by then, I'm going in."
The Prince was beginning to cave in to his desire to resume combat to the unease of Goku and Gohan. Before he could even think about rushing in, the noise in the arena stopped. The three looked at each other and crept out to see what was going on. Saoda had returned and was staring down Mr. Snow. Saoda was standing on what looked like a modified version of a Saiyan space pod and holding something. The spacecraft looked more modern and had the Ampheta Organization logo on the front. Perhaps these pods were for escape from the planet and emergencies. Saoda looked over and saw three heads peeking out. He nodded at them, as if to give them a signal.
"He's back!" Gohan whispered to the two Saiyans. "Let's get into our positions."
"It's about damn time..." Vegeta muttered under his breath.
"We gotta charge up as much as we can." Goku added. "I know it's hard to draw up power after being drained all day, but we need every scrap of energy we can get. It's going to take a lot to shoot this guy into a black hole."
Saoda held the object up defiantly as he continued to stare Mr. Snow down. "Aw, what's the matter? Don't wanna destroy me when I have your Ampheta championship belt?"
"You give that back!" Snow commanded. "Right now! You didn't win that!"
"I never lost it either!" Saoda retorted, looking at the belt. "Remember what happened? You stripped me of this after you imprisoned me and handed it to old Angel Dust Kurina."
Snow began to growl at Saoda.
"And don't you think it's a little small for you now?" Saoda taunted. Snow gritted his teeth in rage. He began to stomp his feet, causing the entire arena to shake.
"Give it back to me now! Now! Now! Now!" Snow screamed.
Saoda was unphased as rubble and pieces of the lighting display fell from the ceiling. He held the leather straps of the belt up and looked at the golden Ampheta logo on the front. "Part of me thinks even if I wasn't holding your little belt hostage, you couldn't bring yourself to kill me. You still are a fan of me even now. You kept me as a prisoner for years when you could've just had me dissolved. I remember when you were just a kid attending my matches. You followed me for my entire career until you stole Daddy's money and waved it in my face to get me to fight for you."
Snow grew silent again.
"That was my fault thinking you grew up." Saoda continued. "You never grew up. You're still the same spoiled brat I met years ago. Matter of fact, you got worse. You became a victim of your own self-indulgence and ego. You thought you could steal the hard work of others gained through their own training and take it for yourself, along with anything else you felt entitled to. Well guess what, Anton? You will never be a warrior. I'll gladly tell you what I told you the day you threw me in your prison. You're a self-serving clown and you can't run any organization or anything else. Everything you touches fails! Delusional, spoiled, entitled clowns like you have no business having any power. I'm out of here. You won't be able to stop me this time! This time I'm leaving for good!"
Saoda held up the belt with both arms. "This is what I think of the Ampheta Organization since you took the helm." He began to tear the belt in two and crumple it with his strength returning. Snow began to tremble in rage. Saoda looked up above him, seeing giant monitors still hanging above in the lighting grid designed to give fans in faraway seats a view of the action, even though there never were fans in this arena. It was just another display of Snow's excess.
Powering up momentarily, Saoda launched four red ki blasts at the television screen with one hand. With the other he sent two blue orbs into Snow's glowing green eyes, blinding him. That was his last bit of energy and now his Saiyan allies had to do their part once this was through. The giant monitor was about the size as Snow's transformed head and it quickly came crashing down, slamming into the back of Snow's head. He cried out in pain giving Saoda a chance to escape. He blew Snow a mocking kiss goodbye and sealed the door on his pod, blasting out the opening of the arena Snow had created earlier.
While all of this was happening, Gohan had been standing beneath Snow, drawing as much ki as he could.
"This is it! Get ready!" he yelled up to Goku and Vegeta.
Gohan's aura began to grow more intense. Sparks began to crackle around him. He lifted his arms and put his hands together. "Masenko...HA!"
Snow heard the sound of sparks and looked down; his vision still obscured. But even with his vision damaged, he could still see a a glow beneath him and soon a blast equal to his new gigantic size crashing towards him.
"WHAT?" He cried. "This can't be! Where did this come from?"
Snow attempted to block the blast, but he had no training on how to do so. He was clueless on how to stop it. With his arms and legs stretched out he began to ascend towards the ceiling. On the upper level of the arena, Goku and Vegeta had been crouched down in their respective stances, charging their attacks.
With Goku and his aura glowing bright, Vegeta adjusted his stance. He could see Snow flying up from his position. "Now! This is our only chance!"
"I hope this works!" Goku strained. "Ka...me...ha...me..."
"Galick..."
Goku began the final charge for his attack and Vegeta followed suit as their auras began to illuminate the upper arena. "
"...gun!""
"HA!"
Goku and Vegeta both fired their attacks as Snow flew up. Countless battles together allowed for them to time their attacks perfectly, their beams joined Gohan's and the velocity all three beams increased. Snow was now flying out of the arena, destroying the roof completely. The three could hear Snow's screeches as he flew through the blackness of space before he faded out. They could no longer hear his desperate cries of pain, but they saw their three blasts get sucked into a portal far in the distance. The light bending in unnatural directions.
"Alright!" Goku shouted. "We got him!"
"No time to celebrate." Vegeta cut in. "Those black holes around us are going to swallow the whole planet next. Where's that damned ship?"
Gohan looked up and to his relief, saw the familiar Capsule Corp ship hovering above the torn off ceiling of the arena.
"There's our ride!" he said to the other two. Vegeta and Goku spared no time in blasting towards it. Goku looked back and saw flecks of his aura start to get pulled out into the black sky. The time needed to escape was growing extremely limited.
Gohan wasn't far behind them. He looked at the arena and saw pieces of rubble and seats flying behind him.
"I hope those hyper thrusters still work..." Gohan thought. The three finally reached the open boarding platform and climbed inside.
"I don't know what happens when you get sucked into that thing and I don't want to find out!" Vegeta yelled at Krillin. "Get us out of here!"
Krillin started to sweat. He looked out the window and saw the entire arena was now being pulled out into the shadowy abyss surrounding the planet. "Uh... I hope this works...if not, it was nice knowing you all. We had a good run!"
"Just do it already!" Vegeta commanded as Krillin nervously entered commands into the terminal. He activated the hyper thrusters Dr. Briefs had installed for deep space travel and the spacecraft started to pull away from the planet. Goten and Trunks looked out and watched as the moon like surface began to crumble and get sucked into the black void.
The red emergency lights came on inside the ship and Krillin's heart began to race. "Uh guys? I don't think we got enough power. We're gonna get pulled in!"
Gohan stood up. "I got a little energy left, let me take care of this."
"Gohan, you'll fall out!" Videl cried as he headed to the ship's exit. Gohan opened the passage leading out and looked down. The planet was being pulled apart, but a large chunk of it was still intact, for now.
"Perfect..." he thought. He held up his arms again and put his hands together for one final attack.
"Masenko... HA!" he cried, launching the last of his energy into the last piece of the planet. Hopefully this would serve as a third push the ship needed. Gohan shut the exit as the ship began to fly faster out of the grasp of the black hole.
Krillin looked and saw they were regaining momentum and applied 100% power to the ship's propulsion. This was more than enough to shoot the ship farther away from the gaping maw of the Nihil Cluster. Once they were at a safe distance, he began to power down to put a bit of ease on the ship.
The bald fighter slumped into his seat, staring up at the ceiling and finally feeling much needed peace. "I am never going to go on any space missions again, just so you guys know. I got enough stress as it is on Earth, I don't need more out here."