Chapter 10 - Part 2

"Maybe," Piccolo replied. "But we have to grab his tail. Once we’ve
done that we’ll be able to throw whatever we want at him."

"His tail? Are you sure?" Bulma whispered in disbelief. "That sounds a
little too simple to me."

"It’ll work," Piccolo said. "It’s the Saiyan’s only weak spot. The
problem is going to be getting in close enough to grab onto it."

"That you can leave to me," Bulma said confidently. "I’ve developed a
new attack that will be just perfect for that. Are you sure that all
I’d have to do is grab his tail?"

"Once you’ve gotten your hands around it just squeeze it as tightly as
you can. It will completely immobilize him," Piccolo said. "We did the
same thing to Raditz and it was extremely effective."

"Well, if that’s true, then I can do it," Bulma said. "I’ll have no
problem getting to his tail."

"Won’t you need some kind of distraction?" Kuririn asked. "He’s not
just going to let you walk over and grab it you know. Even he’s not
that stupid."

"Don’t worry about that," Bulma said. "You can leave it to me. Just
make sure you’re all ready to throw your strongest attacks at him as
soon as I give the signal. Don’t worry about me. That ape is more than
big enough to shield me from the biggest part of your onslaught, and I
can block the rest."

"Alright then," Piccolo said. "Everyone ready?"

"Ready!" They all replied in unison.

"Are you going to make it this time, Gohan?" Piccolo asked.

"Yes," Gohan replied confidently.

"Everyone begin powering up now!" Bulma said as she prepared to teleport.
"I’m almost ready."

"Now, let’s see," Nappa said suddenly. "Who do I get to play with
first? I think it will be... you!" He pointed at Kuririn. He began to
charge.

"That’s my cue!" Bulma yelled. "Rapid teleport!"

She raced past her friends and positioned herself behind Nappa,
wrenching his tail from around his waist as her teleport finished.
"Gotcha!" She cried. She yanked Nappa to a halt, carefully watching
his expression to make sure he was immobilized. "Now!" She yelled to
the others.

"What the..." Nappa said and turned around enough to just reach Bulma.
"Let go of my tail!" He said angrily.

"Uh, Piccolo, I thought you said this was his weak spot!" She yelled,
dodging Nappa’s sweeping blows.

"I don’t have a weak spot!" Nappa yelled, and jabbed Bulma in the
stomach. Bulma bent over in pain, and loosened her hold on Nappa’s
tail. It was enough. He yanked his tail free and spun around.

"Lousy tail-grabber!" He exclaimed, and kicked Bulma in the face,
sending her flying backwards. She landed with a grunt in front of
Vegita. He laughed as she jumped to her feet.

"You should quit while you’re ahead," he said, grinning at her. "I told
Nappa to take it easy on you. I’d hate for you to damage that pretty
face of yours."

"Shut up," Bulma said fiercely. "I don’t need any special treatment
from you. Damn! Stupid Piccolo! I should have known that grabbing his
tail wouldn’t work!"

"Nappa and I have evolved a bit," Vegita said. "We don’t share the same
weaknesses as that idiot weakling Raditz."

Bulma flung a glare of contempt at Vegita and charged at Nappa. She
stopped about twenty feet short of him and began powering up. She
gathered an enormous amount of energy.

"Careful Nappa," Vegita said behind her. "She’s beginning to show a
little ki. I think she’s going to try to take you out right here and
now!"

"Alright then powder puff!" Nappa said, laughing. "Go ahead and give
it your best shot! I dare you!"

"Let’s see how you like this, you big ape!" Bulma yelled. "Kame-Hame-HA!"
She let fly the biggest, most powerful Kame Hame Ha she had ever
created. It raced toward Nappa and hit him with a huge explosion,
obliterating every shrub and tree closeby. The sheer force of the
explosion actually caught Bulma off guard and nearly knocked her over.
Needless to say, Piccolo, Kuririn, Gohan, and even Vegita were very
surprised. Bulma glared triumphantly at the thinning cloud of dirt and
debris surrounding Nappa. "Take that, you moron!" She whooped gleefully.

"Moron?!" The cloud yelled back at her. Bulma stared in horror as Nappa
emerged from the disintegrating haze, angry and very much intact.

"Oh my God!" Bulma shrieked, jumping back. "You... you blocked it!
Incredible! What kind of creatures are you Saiyans anyway? Not even a
scratch! Damn your thick skin! I can’t believe this!"

"Heh heh! I am pretty impressive, aren’t I?" Nappa said, crossing his
arms.

"Don’t let that bald head of yours get too big!" Bulma snapped at him.
"The fact that you blocked my attack doesn’t make you man of the year.
I still think you’re nothing but a moron!"

"What? Moron? Why you little pest! Just who are you to call me a moron?"

"Ha!" Bulma laughed loudly. "You’re so stupid I’ll be willing to bet
you wouldn’t even have the brains to know how to fix your scouter if
it malfunctioned! Well I’ve got news for you, Cue ball! I figured out
all the ins and outs of those things after one night’s tinkering with
the one Raditz was wearing." Bulma wasn’t exactly trying to get Nappa
howling angry, But her other three friends were powering up. Bulma
wanted to give them a chance to get a good shot at Nappa while his back
was turned. She just hoped they had recognized their chance.

"Well, who cares!" Nappa said angrily. "It’s never malfunctioned before.
It probably never will!"

"Even so," Bulma said, shaking her head. "I don’t need a scouter to
guage ki like you do. So in a way, Nappa, you do have a weakness. It’s
that scouter!"

"Oh yeah! Well, just watch this!" Nappa said, yanking the scouter off
his ear and throwing it to the ground. He smashed it with his foot and
glared at Bulma defiantly. It was just what Bulma had been waiting for.
The others had finished powering up and were ready. Kuririn gestured
for Bulma to get away from Nappa.

Bulma shot up into the air, just as Piccolo, Kuririn, and Gohan sent
out their first blasts. She could see Nappa being hit below her, but
he wasn’t sustaining any damage. He was simply blocking the attacks
with his ki. Well, he might have been alerted to their attack, but he
wasn’t expecting one from her!

"This didn’t work before because he was expecting it," Bulma said
quietly. "But let’s try the same attack combined with the element of
surprise!"

She powered up quickly. The others looked like they were about ready
to stop. She had to fire now!

"Kame-Hame-HA!" She yelled, sending down a blast that was at least as
powerful as the one before, if not more so. She watched it zoom down
straight at Nappa. Bulma teleported over to where the other fighters
were, panting and wobbly.

They stopped firing as they saw Bulma’s Kame Hame Ha make contact. Once
again they all struggled against the shock wave and waited to see if
it was effective. Once again the dust settled, and ONCE AGAIN Nappa
emerged unscathed! Bulma sighed angrily. This was beginning to look
hopeless. Nappa must have noticed her attack at the last second. It
just wasn’t fair!

Nappa laughed. "Give up!" He shouted at them. "You know you can’t beat
me!"

Suddenly Gohan became furious. "That’s it!" He yelled. "Let me at him!
I’ve had enough of this jerk!"

"Alright kid, you just signed your death warrant!" Nappa said, as Gohan
ran off to one side, away from Bulma and the others.

"Bring it on!" He yelled at Nappa. And with a huge burst of speed,
that’s precisely what Nappa did.

"No Gohan!" Piccolo yelled, and made a mad dash for Nappa, but he knew
he couldn’t reach him. It turned out he didn’t need to, though. Gohan
met Nappa with a roundhouse kick to the face that sent him flying back
into a huge boulder. It was fairly understated to say that everyone
was stunned. All eyes were on Gohan, but his eyes were on the pile of
rubble covering Nappa. Suddenly Nappa burst out of the rocks, yelling
with rage. His eyes were practically popping out of their sockets,
glaring at Gohan for all they were worth.

"That’s it kid!" He screamed. "I’m sending you straight to hell!" He
powered up rapidly. It was apparent that Gohan couldn’t survive an
attack of this magnitude. Suddenly Nappa let the blast go! Gohan wasn’t
moving! He was petrified!

Bulma didn’t have time to react. She felt rooted to the ground.
Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. She felt so helpless.
She was sure it was the end for Gohan. But wait a minute! Piccolo had
run out in front of Gohan! He was taking the entire blast himself!

Bulma watched in surprise as the dust cleared and everyone else reacted
to what had just happened. Bulma couldn’t believe it. Piccolo had
sacrificed himself to save Gohan’s life! Bulma had been right about him.
All that time that Piccolo had spent with Gohan had deeply transformed
his entire character.

Piccolo had managed to remain on his feet for a couple of seconds
before collapsing to the ground. Frantically, Gohan pleaded with him,
begging him not to die. Bulma was moved to tears by Piccolo’s selfless
act. Even now, Piccolo was telling Gohan not to die, just as he himself
was fading into the afterlife. With one last order for Gohan to run,
he died.

Gohan screamed in anguish. It was too much. Bulma could sense an
enormous increase in his ki. His rage was powering a tremendous burst
of energy. Nappa laughed at Gohan.

"You damn fools are making us kill you in the wrong order," he said.
"Whatsa matter, kid? Are you gonna cry?"

"Watch out Nappa!" Vegita yelled. "That kid’s already reached 3,000!"

"Whoa!" Nappa exclaimed. "Glad you told me!"

"You would have known yourself if you hadn’t destroyed your scouter!"
Vegita snapped at him.

Nappa grumbled something about where Vegita could shove his scouter
just as Gohan reached his peak in ki.

"KI-AAAHHH!" He shouted, firing a tremendously strong blast at Nappa.
Bulma couldn’t believe the amount of energy Gohan was pouring into this
blast. Piccolo had been right about Gohan! But it still wasn’t enough!
Nappa was holding his own remarkably well.

When Gohan had finished, Bulma knew that he was spent. That last blast
had taken all of his energy. He was so weak he couldn’t even stand
anymore, much less get away from Nappa. Now it was Nappa’s turn, and
he planned to take full advantage of Gohan’s predicament.

"We’ve got to help him Kuririn!" Bulma said frantically. "Gohan used
up all his energy in that blast! He’s as good as gone if we don’t do
something!"

"I know!" Kuririn said, gritting his teeth. "But eventually it won’t
make any difference. We can’t hold him off forever!"

"Well, I don’t care!" Bulma said, preparing to teleport. "I’m not ready
to give up yet!" She teleported between Nappa and Gohan and took a
fighting stance. She wasn’t about to let Nappa do away with Gohan
without a fight!

"You’d better move girlie!" Nappa said. "This is between me and the
kid. Unless you want to die too, you’ll get out of the way!"

"If I’m going to die, then I’m taking you with me!" Bulma snarled,
narrowing her eyes. "This is my planet too, and I’ll fight you to the
death if I have to!"

"That goes double for me!" Kuririn said, stepping up next to Bulma.

"So you’re all suicidal, are you?" Nappa said. "Alright then!" He
lunged forward, barely missing Bulma, but easily catching Kuririn. He
kicked him in the stomach, and when Kuririn lurched forward, Nappa
kicked him squarely on the side of his face, sending him flying off to
the side. Kuririn turned a couple of lopsided somersaults before
skidding to a stop about ten yards away.

"Kuririn!" Bulma shrieked, running to her friend’s aid. "Are you okay?"

Kuririn tried unsuccessfully to get up. "I’m sorry Bulma," he said sadly.
"I think my back is broken. Damn it! I just wasn’t good enough. I’ve
let everyone down."

"Just stay still, Kuririn," Bulma said shakily. "It’s not your fault.
I guess we just couldn’t cut it."

"Get out of here Bulma," Kuririn said feebly. "There’s no way you can
take that guy on! Just leave while you still can!"

"Like hell I will!" Bulma said angrily. "That freak’s going after Gohan
again! I’ll be damned if I’m ready to run now. I’ve got to try!"

Nappa had reached Gohan, who was on his hands and knees, trying to get
to his feet. "Hey Vegita!" Nappa shouted. "Won’t it be great to see the
look on Kakkorot’s face when he gets here and finds his son’s head
smashed to pieces!" Vegita laughed. Nappa raised his foot to strike.

"Nooooo!" Bulma cried, rushing at Nappa. But she was too late. Nappa
brought his foot down with a loud thud that made the ground shake.
Bulma covered her eyes. She couldn’t bear to look.

"Bulma!" Kuririn gasped. "Look!" She looked. Nappa’s foot was where he
had intended to bring it down -- with one exception. Gohan wasn’t under
it! He was next to Kuririn and Bulma -- on Kin-to’un!

Bulma looked at Nappa. He was staring at something in the sky with a
puzzled expression on his face. Bulma looked to see what he was staring
at, but she had a pretty good idea what it was, or should I say, who it
was.

"Goku!" She breathed in relief. "It’s about time!"

Goku flew down next to the remaining fighters. Nappa and Vegita studied
his movements carefully. So he finally showed up!

"Thank Kami you’re here Goku!" Bulma said breathlessly. "Gohan was
nearly toast!"

"So I see!" Goku said, messing up Gohan’s hair a little. "But how did
you get mixed up in this Bulma? Shouldn’t you be at Muten Roshi’s
island? I figured that you’d wait there after you guys wished me back."

"I came when I was needed," Bulma began. "I can fight. Yamucha had been
teaching me and when I came to Roshi’s island I had planned to ask you
to teach me what you knew. I had already learned all that Yamucha had
to offer. But instead, I ended up going after the Dragonballs while
Kuririn, Yamucha, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu went to train under Kami.
Piccolo trained Gohan, and I even did a little extra training by myself
after we collected all the Dragonballs. I even got to meet those two
bastards when they obliterated Metro East. I really hadn’t intended to
get involved in this, but when I saw them kill Yamucha on TV, I knew
the others needed all the help they could get. So, here I am."

"I’d suspected something about you at Muten Roshi’s," Goku exclaimed,
"but I honestly didn’t think you could fight!"

"Oh, I can fight all right," Bulma said sadly. "But it wasn’t enough.
We lost Yamucha, Chaozu, Tenshinhan, and Piccolo. Gohan and Kuririn
are still alive, but they’re injured and can’t fight anymore."

"Well, we’ll see about that!" Goku said mysteriously. He bent down by
Kuririn. He broke what appeared to be some kind of bean into two pieces
and gave one to Kuririn and one to Gohan.

"Here. Eat this," he said. "It’s a gift from Karin. A Sensu bean!"

Bulma looked warily at the Saiyans as Kuririn and Gohan ate their
pieces of Sensu bean. Bulma gasped. Gohan and Kuririn got up and
brushed themselves off!"

"What did you give them Goku?" She asked.

"A Sensu bean," Goku explained. "If you eat a Sensu bean it’ll cure
you of your injuries and restore your energy. Since they each ate half
of one they’re only half healed, but I bet they feel a lot better!"

"Well I sure do!" Kuririn exclaimed. "I’m not one hundred percent
better, but I feel good enough to fight, anyway!"

"Me too!" Gohan said.

Goku laughed. "Well, don’t worry about that anymore. I’ll take care of
them. You guys just take a break. You did a great job, but now it’s my
turn."

Bulma smiled as he turned toward his opponents. Finally, Goku was here
to make things right! Suddenly she remembered something.

"Hey Goku!" She said, causing him to turn back around. "By the way,
don’t rely on grabbing their tails. It doesn’t work on these two like
it did on Raditz."

"Thanks Bulma," Goku said. "It’s probably a good thing you told me
that."

He turned back toward Vegita and Nappa, who had gotten rather impatient
by now. While they decided who was going to get to kill Goku, Bulma
checked on Gohan and Kuririn.

"Are you guys okay?" She asked them as they brushed themselves off.

"We’re fine," Kuririn said. "But how about you, Bulma? You didn’t have
any Sensu bean. Are you okay?"

"I’ll live," Bulma said. "The worst I could end up with is a broken
nose and a cracked rib or two. You two were the ones who took the real
beating."

"Bulma?" Gohan said nervously. "Do you think my dad can beat them?
They’re really strong."

"So is your dad," Bulma said quickly. "He’s the world’s strongest
fighter. If anyone can beat those two, he can."

"Look! He’s going to fight Nappa first!" Kuririn exclaimed. "He sure
doesn’t look nervous. I hope his confidence is backed up."

"Yeah," Bulma agreed. "It looks like we’ll finally get to see the
extent of Goku’s power. To tell you the truth, Nappa doesn’t have me
very worried. He’s strong, but he’s also very stupid, not to mention a
hothead. If you ask me, Vegita is the only one that Goku should be
concerned about. Did you notice how he had Nappa do all the fighting
while he just sat there watching us with his scouter? Not only did he
conserve his energy, but he also sized up his opponents. He knows
exactly what he can expect from us by now. But besides being the more
intelligent of the two, have you ever sensed such an incredible ki
before? This guy is more powerful than all of us put together, and
then some! He’s definitely got me worried. I just hope Goku can handle
him."

"Well he sure is doing well against Nappa!" Gohan said excitedly. Goku
had really given Nappa a beating, and, naturally, Nappa was raging like
an idiot.

"You damn low-class punk!" Nappa screamed at Goku. "How dare you!"

"Get over it," Goku said. "You’re just not used to fighting someone
who’s better than you."

At this statement Nappa became even more enraged. Bulma giggled.
Finally, Nappa was getting a taste of his own medicine! And boy, he
didn’t like it! Howling and foaming like a crazed beast, he just stood
where he was, cursing Goku with words that would have made even Piccolo
gasp in surprise.

"Nappa!" Vegita yelled angrily at him. "Stop throwing tantrums and
concentrate! Can’t you see that your own anger has become a handicap
to you? You haven’t even managed to touch him yet! Now calm down!"

Surprised, Nappa nodded. After a few deep breaths he regained his
composure.

"All right Kakkorot," he said, grinning fiendishly. "Now it’s my turn!"

He lunged at Goku and the fight continued. Bulma removed her eyes from
the one-sided battle and focused on Vegita. He was gritting his teeth
and frustratedly following Goku’s effortlessly flawless performance.
Angrily, he yanked the scouter from his ear and crushed it in his fist.

"What’s the matter Vegita?" Bulma taunted him. "I’d already told you
what to expect from Goku, so why act so surprised? Surely you didn’t
expect Nappa to be able to beat him!"

Vegita laughed. "I am a little surprised," he admitted. "I’d love to
know how he improved that much in one year."

"You have to admit one thing," Bulma said, turning her attention back
to the fight. "You got your challenge all right!"

Vegita sneered. "He may be too much for Nappa, but he’s no match for
me!"

He yelled for a halt. Goku paused while Nappa screeched to a stop in
mid-air. "Get down here Nappa," Vegita yelled disgustedly. "You’ve
disgraced us enough. You’ve obviously failed."

"No! I was just about to kill this jerk!" Nappa yelled furiously.

"Shut up, Nappa!" Vegita snapped. "So far you haven’t even landed a
single punch! Now come down!"

Nappa growled some incoherent retort and relented. He sneered at Goku
and said something that Bulma couldn’t quite hear.

Goku made no reply, but watched Nappa as he slowly descended to the
ground. He never removed his gaze from Nappa’s figure.

Bulma watched Vegita. He was disgusted, but seemed confident in himself.
Apparently Goku didn’t intimidate him. Suddenly Gohan and Kuririn cried
out in surprise. Bulma looked to see what had scared them and she cried
out too. Nappa was heading straight for them! He opened his mouth.
Bulma realized that a devastating attack was coming. Her mind raced.
She only had enough time for a teleport. That was all. Suddenly she
decided what she had to do. She shoved Kuririn to the ground and threw
Gohan on top of him. She braced herself. She hadn’t done this to any
other live object than herself, much less two at once. "I hope their
atoms don’t get mixed together," she thought.

"Rapid teleport!" She yelled, before they had time to react to being
thrown on the ground. She teleported them about twenty yards away and
was relieved to see that they looked shaken but otherwise normal. She
gritted her teeth and braced herself as well as she could for the
oncoming attack. She would have gone too, but she could see that Goku
wouldn’t make it in time to save them if Nappa had noticed where they
went. It was either she or all of them.

She glared defiantly at the approaching Saiyan. She wasn’t going to
flinch or shut her eyes. She was going to face her attacker until the
bitter end. As he got closer, Bulma’s mind fixed on one image: Yamucha.
At least she would get to see him again soon.

Just before Nappa reached her he was stopped violently from underneath!
Bulma stared in shock and awe at the one who had saved her life -- Goku!
She had no idea how he had done it. He had moved much too fast for her
normal eyesight to follow. Bulma breathed a sigh of relief. She was
really glad that Goku was there!

Goku threw the severely-injured Nappa in front of Vegita. "He’s not
doing any more fighting," he said curtly. "I suggest you take him back
where you came from and get him some medical treatment." He turned back
toward Bulma.

"Are you all right?" He asked her.

"I am now, thanks to you," she said gratefully. "I thought I was toast!"

"Where are Gohan and Kuririn?" Goku asked, puzzled.

"I teleported them over there," she said, pointing to the two astonished
fighters in the distance. "I hadn’t counted on your saving the day. I
figured that at least two of us could survive this way. Anyway, at
least I know now that I can teleport other people, and not only that,
but more than one at a time!"

"Where on earth did you learn that?" Goku asked in amazement. "Did
Yamucha teach you that too?"

"No," Bulma replied, as Gohan and Kuririn walked up. "I developed that
technique on my own. It took some practice, but I finally perfected it
about a month ago." Suddenly their senses were bombarded by an enormous
wave of ki energy. They spun around to see Vegita fling Nappa up into
the air like a rag doll.

"Die!" Vegita yelled, blasting his partner with an enormously fatal
beam of energy. Nappa yelled a few curses in protest, and then he was
gone.

Bulma gasped. This guy was sadistic! He had even killed his own partner.
She looked up at Goku. Maybe he was in over his head this time.

Kuririn was the first to speak. "Bulma!" He said angrily. "Why didn’t
you teleport with us? I mean, it was quick thinking to send us off like
that, but why didn’t you come too?"

"Someone had to keep him on the same track," Bulma replied. "I couldn’t
take the chance that he might change direction and come right back
after us. I figured that this way, at least two of us might have
survived."

"That was very stupid of you Bulma," Kuririn said, "but thank you. Next
time, though, tell me when you’re going to do that. My head’s still
spinning!"

"Mine too!" Gohan said. "What a rush!"

"Anyway," Bulma added, "I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself
if I hadn’t done it like I did. I’m sure Gohan would like to finally
get back to see his mother. And may I remind you, Kuririn, that you
have already been wished back once?"

"Quit arguing, you two," Goku chided. "This is no time for that."

"Sorry," Bulma and Kuririn said.

"Hey Goku," Bulma said suddenly. "How did you catch up to Nappa anyway?
When I looked you were way too far behind him to catch him in time. I
didn’t even see you until you were right in front of me."

"That was the Kaioken technique," Goku replied. "I learned that when I
trained with Kaiosama this year. It heightens everything -- your speed,
strength, and even your senses."

"Well, why didn’t you use it earlier?" Kuririn asked. "With a technique
like that, you could have finished Nappa in no time!"

"Well, there was a possibility that I might accidentally destroy myself
with the sudden upsurge of energy," Goku replied. "I thought it might
be better to use it sparingly."

"I suppose that is a good reason," Kuririn said, gulping.

Bulma glanced at Vegita. He had turned to face Goku and seemed to be
waiting impatiently for something. "Goku," Bulma said nervously. "This
one has me worried. Nappa was nothing compared to him. Vegita seems
much more intelligent, and I’m sure you can sense his ki, so you must
be aware of his physical capabilities. You may have trouble with him."

"That’s exactly why I want you three to go back to Muten Roshi’s island
now. You all deserve a break, and besides, I’d rather take this one on
alone."

Bulma and Gohan began to protest, but Kuririn made them stop. "Goku’s
right," he said gravely. "Vegita’s certain to use every dirty trick in
the book, and that would include using us against Goku, if the
opportunity was open to him. We’d only be a handicap to Goku if we
stayed."

Both Gohan and Bulma knew he was right. They all bid Goku a fond
farewell and good luck, and left for Muten Roshi’s.


On to Chapter Eleven...