Chapter 11

Bulma glanced back at Gohan. They had been flying for about an hour now,
and he had since stopped looking behind him in the direction of Vegita
and Goku. They could all still sense the two titans clashing, however,
and they were all very uneasy.

Suddenly Gohan stopped and turned around. Bulma could see some new fear
in his expression, so she called for Kuririn to stop. She turned to
call Gohan back and noticed what he was staring at.

"What is that?" Bulma asked. "Have you ever seen anything like it
before, Kuririn?"

Kuririn flew up next to them and studied the strange source of light
seeming to emanate from the battlefield. "I don’t know what it is,
Bulma," he replied, "but I don’t like it. Whatever it is, it can’t be
very good."

"Kuririn, is it just me," Bulma asked as an expression of horror spread
across her face, "or does that look like moonlight to you?"

The same expression appeared on Kuririn’s face. "B-Bulma," he said.
"Vegita has a tail, right?"

Bulma nodded. She and Kuririn looked at the strange light source again.
They were sharing the same thought. Gohan didn’t know what they were
driving at, but he had a feeling that something very wrong had happened.
He turned back around to face Bulma and Kuririn again.

"I’m going back," he said firmly. "Something is definitely wrong."

"Kuririn, I’m afraid I have to agree with him," Bulma said nervously.
"You know as well as I do that if that is moonlight, then Goku could be
in terrible danger. If there’s anything we can do, I want to be there
to do it."

Sighing, Kuririn scanned for ki. "One of those powers is really weak,
and getting weaker by the minute," he said. "As much as I hate to say
it, you’re right. We’d better hurry. I have a bad feeling that Goku
doesn’t have much time left."

"Come on," Bulma said. "Each of you take one of my hands. I think I
can teleport us there."

"Are you sure?" Kuririn asked, remembering his last encounter with
Bulma’s teleport technique. "Do you think you can teleport us all at
once?"

"Yes," Bulma answered. "But for how far I don’t know. It’ll take a lot
of energy, but I’m sure I can take us most of the way."

"I trust you, Bulma," Gohan said. "So let’s hurry, before something
happens to my dad!" He grabbed her hand.

Bulma looked at Kuririn for his answer. Shaking his head, he grasped
Bulma’s other hand and shut his eyes tightly.

"All right, Bulma," he said. "Let’s go!"

Bulma grinned. "Here goes nothing!" She said. "Rapid Teleport!"
Instantly Bulma could feel a slight strain as she began whizzing toward
the battlefield. She could sense the powers ahead approaching steadily
closer. She was amazed at how easily she sensed ki as she teleported.
It seemed that the closer she got to Goku and Vegita, however, the
harder she had to push herself. The strain eventually became too great
to bear, and she had to stop. Panting, she let go of Kuririn and Gohan
and sunk to her knees.

"Are you all right, Bulma?" Gohan asked her.

"I’m fine," she replied. "I just have to catch my breath. That took a
lot out of me."

"How close are we?" Kuririn asked, trying to regain his balance.

"We have about ten miles left to go," Bulma replied. "I’m sorry, but
it seems that the closer I get to an enormous source of ki, the harder
it is to teleport. It will be much easier for me if we just fly the
rest of the way."

"That’s okay, Bulma," Kuririn said. "We can get there pretty fast by
flying anyway. Can you fly now? You’re not too tired, are you?"

"No, I’m fine now," Bulma said, getting back to her feet. "It’s gotten
a little easier to regain my strength after a teleport. I won’t have
any trouble keeping up with you."

"All right then. Let’s go!" Kuririn said, and they flew off toward the
kis ahead.

A few minutes later they were less than a mile away from Goku and
Vegita. As they raced on, Bulma could make out a horrifyingly familiar
figure in the distance.

"What is that?" Gohan asked nervously.

"Kuririn!" Bulma shouted. "Please tell me you don’t see what I see!"

"If what you see is Vegita in his transformed stage, then I’d be lying
if I said I don’t," he said grimly. "This was what I was afraid of."

"Me too," Bulma said. "Let’s get down lower and hide behind some of
those rocks down there. I can’t see Goku yet, and we’ll have to know
where he is before we do anything."

They flew out behind Vegita and hid behind the boulders. They couldn’t
see Goku anywhere.

"What are you guys doing here?" Someone said behind them, making them
all jump in surprise. They spun around. It was Yajirobei!

"You’re not going to try to attack that monster, are you?" He asked
them. "Even Goku can’t beat him!"

"Where is Goku?" Kuririn asked him quickly. "What’s happened to him?"

"He’s in that big ape’s hands, that’s where he is!" Yajirobei said.
"And the same will happen to you guys if he sees you."

"We’ve got to stop him!" Gohan exclaimed. "He’ll crush my dad!"

"That’s impossible!" Yajirobei said firmly. "Noone would be able to
stop that thing. Not even me!"

"But if we cut off his tail, he’ll turn back into what he was before!"
Bulma said suddenly. "Kuririn, we’ve got to get at that tail. It’s the
only way. He’s much too strong to attack head-on."

Suddenly the most frightening, agonizing yell came from Vegita’s
massive hands. It was Goku! Vegita was crushing him to death!

"I’m going to kill you slowly!" Vegita laughed evilly. "You deserve
nothing less for what you’ve done to me!"

Like a bullet Gohan shot out from behind the rocks and out in front of
Vegita before anyone could stop him. "Let go of my father!" He yelled
at Vegita.

Vegita stared at Gohan in shock for a couple of seconds, then laughed
thunderously. "Oh, I’ll let him go all right," he said. "It might be
one piece at a time, but I’ll definitely let him go!"

"Gohan!" Goku called weakly. "Please, son, get out of here. This isn’t
your fight."

Kuririn and Bulma watched anxiously. Gohan had really gotten himself
in trouble this time. Suddenly an idea hit Bulma.

"Kuririn!" She said excitedly. "Create a Kienzan! Even if he hadn’t
meant to, Gohan has just given us the distraction we’ll need to cut
off Vegita’s tail! Get that Kienzan ready quick! Hopefully, you can
use it to cut off that tail before Vegita goes after Gohan!"

"All right!" Kuririn exclaimed. He quickly formed the deadly disc.
"That’s perfect! Now, when I throw this thing, you’ll have to be ready
to catch Goku, because I’m fairly sure that Vegita will drop him."

"Right!" Bulma said, turning to face Vegita. "I’m ready whenever you
are!"

"All right Bulma," he said. "Teleport now!" He threw the Kienzan just
as Bulma teleported.

Bulma reappeared a few yards directly below Goku. She realized suddenly
that Kuririn had been heard. Vegita jumped at the last second, evading
the Kienzan. It sailed underneath Bulma and sliced the rock that Gohan
was standing on in half, narrowly missing him. In frustration, Bulma
flew up by Vegita’s fist and fired at his wrist in an attempt to get
him to drop Goku. She had caught him off guard and had actually managed
to hit him with her energy blast. Unfortunately, she did little more
than singe his fur.

"Is that all you can do?" He laughed at her. "Go ahead and power up!
Let’s see if you can do better!"

"Don’t tempt me!" Bulma yelled. "Now let Goku go!"

"I’m not through playing with him yet," Vegita said, grinning cruelly.
"Maybe when he stops breathing I’ll think about..." His sentence was cut
short when he suddenly spun around and smacked Kuririn to one side. He
had tried to sneak up behind Vegita to get at his tail again. Bulma
shot down to Kuririn.

"Are you all right Kuririn?" she asked him. He managed to get up on his
feet.

"I’ll be okay," he answered. "But I’ve lost my only other chance to get
at his tail. I think we’ve lost."

"Not yet," Bulma said. "I’m not going to give up until I can’t fight
back at all anymore. She turned to attack Vegita, but Gohan beat her
to him. Savagely he pummeled Vegita’s arm. Yelling in pain and anger,
Vegita dropped Goku and began swatting at Gohan. Bulma teleported
beneath Goku just in time to catch him. Once she had a secure hold on
him, she teleported with him to the same hiding place they had used
previously.

"Goku!" She said frantically. "Are you all right? Please say something!"

"Ohh..." Goku groaned. "Anyone catch the number of that train that hit
me?"

"Can you move at all?" Bulma asked, afraid to touch him for fear of
doing more harm than good.

"I can’t get to my feet at all," Goku said. "He smashed my legs. And
almost all of my energy is gone."

Suddenly they heard an enraged roar. To Bulma’s utter surprise, Vegita’s
tail had been cut off by... Yajirobei?! He had sliced it off with his
katana while Vegita was trying to grab Gohan. How uncharacteristically
selfless! Bulma was very impressed, even despite the fact that
Yajirobei turned tail and ran for his life afterward.

"Hurry Bulma!" Goku said. "Go get Kuririn! I have a plan, but I’ll
need his help."

"No problem!" Kuririn exclaimed as he slid behind the boulder. "I’m
already here! I hope you have one major trick up your sleeve Goku,
because that guy is extremely pissed off and he’s got ki to spare!"

"I’m going to go help Gohan," Bulma said. "Vegita’s pretty steamed now,
and he’s going to take it all out on Gohan if I don’t help."

"All right Bulma," Goku said. "I really appreciate that. But keep your
eyes open. There’s going to be some major fireworks in a few minutes
and you two won’t want to get in the way."

Bulma grinned at him before running out to join Gohan. Vegita was
beyond enraged now.

"Who did it?" He screamed savagely. "Who cut off my tail?"

"I don’t think he’d appreciate it very much if I told you who or where
he is," Bulma said, grinning. "But I’d be willing to bet that he’s on
the other side of the world by now."

"Whoever did this to me is gonna pay with his life!" Vegita raged.
"He’d better run!" Vegita drew menacingly closer to Bulma. She stood
her ground, but pulled Gohan behind her. He grabbed one of her arms
with one hand and drew his other hand up in the air.

"Where’s Kakkorot?" Vegita snarled. He appeared ready to hit Bulma. She
didn’t want to antagonize him, but she wasn’t about to just show him
where she had taken Goku.

"I took him far away to a place where you won’t find him," she lied
defiantly. "And you can go ahead and take your best shot for all I care,
but I still won’t tell you where he is!"

Vegita cackled evilly. "You know, I’d find you amusing right now if it
were under different circumstances. I might even think you were
somewhat attractive. But I’m in no mood for games! Tell me where
Kakkorot is, or I’ll..."

"Or you’ll what?" Gohan said angrily. He wrenched free of Bulma’s grasp
and jumped off to one side. "If you even dare hit her you’ll regret it!"

"It’s over Vegita," Bulma said coldly. "You’ve lost."

Vegita let go of Bulma’s arm and stepped back. "I’ve only begun," he
said angrily. "It won’t be over until I’ve killed Kakkorot and destroyed
this damn planet!"

Gohan’s ki began to rise. "You’ll have to destroy me first!" He said,
poising to attack.

"Gladly!" Vegita replied. They shot up in the air and began to fight.

Suddenly Bulma sensed an extraordinary level of ki over by Kuririn and
Goku. She could see Kuririn standing on the boulder with an enormously
powerful energy ball, ready to strike Vegita.

Vegita and Gohan had come back down to the ground and Vegita fired an
energy blast directly at Gohan, nearly hitting him. Furiously, Gohan
dove at Vegita and they did some serious punching and kicking. Although
most of Gohan’s blows were met with blocks, so were many of Vegita’s.
Finally, Gohan got a strong punch in on Vegita’s jaw. Vegita flew back
to fire an energy blast, but Gohan shot one first. Unfortunately,
Vegita easily dodged it. One after the other Gohan fired at Vegita,
each time without success. Bulma knew that Kuririn couldn’t throw that
energy ball at Vegita while he was moving around like that. In
frustration she watched as Vegita closed in on Gohan. He had backed
Gohan up against a cliff face and was less than fifty feet away. Vegita
landed on the ground. Panting and furious, he started towards Gohan.
Vegita was remarkably powered up for his condition. Bulma still had no
way of defeating him, but she couldn’t just let him kill Gohan, who was
by now much too weak to fight for long.

Bulma teleported to Gohan’s side and assumed an attack stance. Glaring
at Vegita, she stepped out and stood between him and Gohan again.

"Get out of the way," Vegita growled at her. "This is between me and
him. If you don’t want to accompany him on his trip to the afterlife,
I suggest you move."

"The only way you’re going to get to him is through me," Bulma said,
bracing herself to fight. "You’ll have to kill me before I’ll let you
touch him."

Vegita sneered. "I’ve been lenient with you so far," he said, taking
another step closer. "In fact, I’ve never been so lenient with an
opponent before. I’m warning you, though. I won’t hesitate much longer
to eliminate you too. I’m only giving you one more chance to move!"

Bulma stayed right where she was. "Finally," she snarled, grinning. "It
looks like you’re going to stop yakking and start fighting!"

Before either of them made another move, they were interrupted by a
yell from Yajirobei. "What are you waiting for?" He yelled impatiently
at Kuririn. "Just throw the damn thing!"

Kuririn angrily thrust a curse at Yajirobei and heaved the glowing ball
of energy at Vegita. But it was too late. The damage had been done.
Bulma watched in horror as Vegita darted up and out of the way. Suddenly
Bulma realized that the energy ball was coming straight at them!
Frantically she spun around and grabbed Gohan so she could teleport
them to safety, but he jerked away.

"Come on Gohan," she said, beginning to panic. "There is no time! We
have to go now!"

"No!" Gohan exclaimed. "We have to deflect that Genki dama! It’s
searching out evil ki, and if we clear our minds and think pure
thoughts we can deflect it toward Vegita! It’s our only chance to beat
him!"

Bulma had no idea how Gohan knew this, not to mention why he called
that thing a "genki dama," but something in his voice told her that
she should trust him. She leapt to his left side and braced herself.
Stretching out her arms with Gohan’s, she waited for the impact.

"Get ready," he shouted. "Here it comes!"

Bulma rigidly stood her ground as the potent energy ball ricocheted off
of their outstretched hands. She and Gohan fell backwards from the
force of the blow, but were unharmed nonetheless. Bulma watched in
anticipation as the genki dama got closer and closer to the
unsuspecting Saiyan. When it was less than a second away, Vegita
managed to turn around. For a brief moment there was a look of surprise
on his face, but it soon changed to one of fear as the genki dama
enveloped him and propelled him skyward. The last thing Bulma could
hear coming from Vegita as he soared into the sky, was an enraged yell
of profanity and hatred.

Unable to hold back any longer, Bulma jumped into the air and whooped
for joy. "We did it, Gohan!" She yelled happily. "I don’t think we’ll
see him again!"

While she and Gohan danced a little jig together, Kuririn ran up to
congratulate them. "Great job guys!" He exclaimed. "Your aim was
absolutely perfect! I can’t believe it’s finally over!"

Suddenly Yajirobei ran up to congratulate them too. "Wow! That was
close!" He said breathlessly. "We almost lost that one!"

"We?" Kuririn teased. "What do you mean ‘we?’"

"Hey!" Yajirobei said defensively. "Let’s not forget that I was the
one who cut off his tail, pal! None of you Bozos managed to do that!"

"All right, all right, I guess you have a point there," Bulma chuckled,
grinning at Kuririn.

"I have one question for you, though," he said, turning to Bulma.
"Where in the world did your fighting skills come from? I’ve never seen
you fight before."

"I’ll explain later," Bulma said, grinning slyly. "But if you ever tell
reporters that you trained me, I’ll come and physically prove you wrong!"
Yajirobei gulped, and tried to laugh casually, but it came out as a
nervous squeak. Of course, Gohan and Kuririn had no idea what she was
talking about, and didn’t seem to pay her comment much attention.

"Come on!" Gohan said suddenly. "We completely forgot about my dad!"
He raced over behind the boulders to inspect his father’s injuries.

Kuririn ran to join him, but Bulma stayed behind, staring at something
up in the air. Yajirobei noticed her hesitation and his curiosity got
the better of him.

"What is it?" He asked her.

"There’s a weak ki approaching from straight up!" Bulma exclaimed,
beginning to shake. "Whoa! Watch out! Here he comes!" She and Yajirobei
darted out of the way as who else but Vegita fell unconscious to the
ground.

Yajirobei backed away, gulping. He did not want to be seen by Vegita.

Bulma had jumped when Vegita had landed. Needless to say, she didn’t
exactly adore the idea of being to close to the sure to be angry Saiyan
when he woke up either, but for some reason, she just couldn’t help
feeling just a little bit sorry for him. She admired him as a fighter,
and could even relate to his high sense of pride. She did, nonetheless,
prefer him in this state to awake and fighting.

"Well look at that!" She said in amazement. "After all that he’s still
alive! You’ve got to admire that! That’s about the only thing I admire
about him, though. Still, I don’t want to be the one to finish him.
Somehow, I just feel too sorry for him in his present state. Besides,
I’ve never killed anyone before, and I don’t really want to start now."
She turned around and noticed that Yajirobei had run for the hills. That
coward!

"Well, I guess I’ll have to go tell Goku that Vegita’s still alive
then!" She yelled after him. Sighing frustratedly, she turned to go
join Goku, Kuririn, and Gohan.

She started to walk away but nearly fell forward. Something had grabbed
onto her left ankle! Bulma shrieked and tried to yank her foot free.
Shaking in terror, she turned to see what had grabbed her, hoping for
all she was worth that her impulse was wrong. It was right.

"I don’t need your pity," Vegita growled at her. "I’m not defeated yet."

Bulma gasped and struggled harder. He had been awake the entire time!
"Let go!" She shrieked, pulling her leg with all her might. Vegita
laughed, tightening his grip, and slowly got to his feet, pulling her
ankle up with him.

Trying to balance on her other foot, she struggled desperately to free
herself from Vegita’s grip. She was scared out of her wits. Noone had
ever scared her so much before. But then her fear began to switch over
to anger. How dare he cause her to be so scared! He had no right! Her
ki began to rise.

"If you don’t let go of my foot right now," she snarled, "you’re
seriously going to regret it."

"Hah!" Vegita laughed, squeezing her ankle even harder. "I seriously
doubt it! I’d really like to see that!"

"Then I won’t disappoint you," Bulma cried angrily. She abruptly hopped
up, smashing Vegita’s jaw with her free foot. He let go of her other
foot and she flipped backwards, finally able to land on both of her
feet.


On to Chapter Eleven - Part Two