Chapter 28


On the way to Freeza's ship, Bulma noticed the amount of debris gradually dwindle until there were barely any visible signs of damage. She was relieved at this, because the gradual decrease meant that the blast had fairly well dissipated, and she wasn't just moving out ahead of the shockwave. When she reached Freeza's ship, she noticed with a great deal of relief that Dende was right out in the open, and he was sitting up on top of the ship. She hopped up there next to him and let time flow again.

"Bulma!" He cried when he saw her. "What's happened? Did you win?"

"We sure did!" Bulma said, beaming at him. "At least, I assume we did, since Goku's Genki Dama didn't destroy the planet…"

"Huh?" Dende gasped.

"It's a long story," Bulma laughed. "But don't worry. Goku made mincemeat out've Freeza. Your brothers have been avenged, Dende."

"I'm glad," Dende sighed. "It's just too bad that Nail and I are the only ones left. Poor Cargo. And Saichorou. Everyone. All gone!"

"Don't worry too much about it," Bulma said, grinning mysteriously. "I have a feeling you'll see them again within the next month at least!"

"What?" Dende cried. "What do you mean?"

Bulma giggled. "I'll tell you in a little while. But first I need your help. Are you okay? Did the shockwave from the final blast come through here too?"

"I'm all right," Dende replied. "A few minutes ago, a huge gust of wind came through, but that was after the Namekshake. But they weren't bad enough to hurt me."

"Wait a minute," Bulma said. "What's a Namekshake?"

"It's when the ground shakes really hard," Dende explained. "The village elder used to tell me that it does that when the planet gets cold, but I think he was being silly."

"Oh!" Bulma cried, laughing at herself. "Of course! Well, on my planet we call them 'earthquakes.' Anyway, I asked you if you were all right because I need you to come with me, Dende. Goku might be hurt pretty badly, and it would mean a lot to us if you could be there to heal him if he is."

"Sure!" Dende said. "For what he's done, it's the least I can do! I'm ready whenever you are. Let's go!"

"All right!" Bulma said, taking his hand. "I'm warning you now, Dende. I haven't been out there yet, so I don't know what we'll find. Prepare yourself for something unpleasant just in case, okay?" He nodded. "Good. All right; here we go!"

She stopped time and flew them all the way out to ground zero. Bulma whistled when she saw how barren the landscape had become. There were large basins everywhere where the land had been scooped out by the high winds and energy emissions. And everything below a certain depth was filling with water, if it hadn't been filled already. Bulma frowned. How were they going to find Goku in all of this?

She was looking around nervously, with time still stopped, before she noticed a hand sticking up out of the water in one of the newer lakes. She let time flow again, only to see it submerge beneath the waves.

"Follow me, Dende!" She cried, zooming down to the surface of the water. She reached in and grabbed for the black patch of hair that was just beneath the surface.

"Got him!" She cried, pulling his head out of the water and then reaching for his arm. "Here, take his other arm and help me," she said, lifting him out of the water. "Let's get him to that island over there."

They flew his limp body out onto the large piece of rock jutting out of the water. Bulma looked him over carefully.

"He's half drowned at the very least," she said grimly. "We'll have to get some of the water out of his lungs. Stand back, Dende. I'll need to get him breathing on his own again before you can help him."

Bulma began performing CPR on him, all the while trying to remain calm. She thanked Kami they'd made her take that health class in college.

After about the third time through with mouth to mouth, Goku finally began to cough and splutter, and he choked most of the water out of his lungs. Bulma leaned back and sighed. Thank goodness!

Goku sat up and grinned at her woozily. "You know, if Chichi had seen that, she might have killed us both," he said, laughing weakly.

Bulma only shook her head in reply. She was just so relieved that he was alive.

"All right," she said in a tired voice. "Go to it, Dende."

"Right!" Dende cried, kneeling down next to Goku and making him lie back. It only took Dende a few minutes to get him back to normal, and only then did Bulma finally relax. What a day this had been!

"Goku!" Someone suddenly cried above them. Bulma looked up just in time to see Kuririn and Gohan zip down to meet them, and Piccolo - new leg and all - wasn't too far behind. Bulma smiled a tired but happy smile as Gohan hugged his father. It was finally over.

"What happened?" Kuririn asked excitedly as Goku put Gohan on his shoulder and stood upright. "Is Freeza dead?"

"After all that, he better be," Piccolo said quietly with a scowl.

Goku grinned. "Well, the Genki Dama swallowed him up all right," he said, yawning and scratching his head. "And it exploded right after that. I guess I got knocked out when that happened, because I don't remember anything after that. But I'm pretty sure it killed him."

"So you didn't see him die?" Bulma asked nervously. "Well, I can't sense him anywhere. He must really be dead."

"Even if he isn't, he's way worse off than me now!" Goku laughed boisterously, flexing an arm. "Thanks to Dende, anyway! But I'll tell you what guys," he said, his expression becoming more serious, "even if he did survive, he's lost either way. I say we just leave it be."

Bulma and Piccolo exchanged looks. Oh well. The chances that Freeza had survived that blast were next to nothing anyway.

"Well, Goku," Kuririn said. "Come on. Let's get back to your ship. I wanna get off this planet. No offense, Dende."

Dende looked down. "There's nothing left for me here. But let me go fill a bag up with Ajiisa seeds, okay? I'll need something to remind me of home."

"Lead the way, Dende," Goku said, dusting himself off. "We're right behind you."

"Indeed we are," came a sinister yet all too familiar voice behind them. They all spun around and gasped in horror. It was Freeza, and he didn't look at all like he'd just been nearly killed. In fact, he was barely scratched up!

"It can't be!" Bulma exclaimed, backing away. "How could he have survived the Genki Dama?!"

Freeza's eyes narrowed as he glared contemptuously at her. "A beacon indeed," he said quietly. "Quite a clever trick you pulled on me. Well, this time I make no more mistakes with you, you little bitch. This time, I'm going to dispose of you properly!"

He raised his hand a little, and bulma suddenly couldn't move. She felt just like she was back in Gurudo's telekinetic grip, only this one was much tighter, and much more difficult to struggle against.

"Wha?" She cried. "What's happening? I can't moooove!" She finished the word shrilly as she suddenly shot up into the air, her movements corresponding to the movement of Freeza's arm. She came to a jarring stop high up in the air. She felt an intense pressure on her entire body, and as she saw Freeza's fingers slowly close in toward his palm, she became frighteningly aware of what was coming. She could move her arms and legs a little now, and she stretched one hand toward her friends in sheer terror. "GOKU!!!!" She screamed as she experienced the agony of being telekinetically blown to bits. Before there was even time for her to blink her eyes, Freeza closed his hand into a fist, and Bulma knew no more as she exploded in midair. Freeza had been so thorough in atomizing her that there was nothing left of Bulma to fall to the ground when it was over.

Piccolo, Gohan, Kuririn, and Dende stood rooted in position, too horrified at the ghastly scene that had just occurred to move. Goku, on the other hand, began to tremble. Then he began to shake violently. His anger at what Freeza had just done to Bulma was fueling an intense surge of energy. And as Freeza turned around and grinned evilly at them, Goku's ki turned yellow, and he screamed with rage and hatred. With a final bloodcurdling scream, Goku's aura exploded with a bright flash, and his hair turned golden yellow. He snarled, and his cobalt eyes fell on the astonished Freeza. Goku had just become a Super Saiyan.


****End of the Namek Saga****



On To Chapter 1 of Part 3: Prophecy of A New Threat