Chapter 19
Bulma watched Rikuum intently as Gohan did his best to keep him down. She glanced up at Kuririn, who was fidgeting nervously, but keeping a close eye on the large fighter.
Rikuum slowly began to get up, despite all of Gohan's efforts to keep him flat on the ground. He didn't seem to be working too hard, either. He was grinning an almost toothless grin at Gohan, and when he finally stood upright, he simply knocked Gohan away from him like one would a pesky insect. Kuririn must have decided it was his turn, because he launched himself full force at Rikuum from behind. He was about to punch Rikuum in the back of the head, but Bulma, who was able to see what Kuririn couldn't, could tell by the sinister gleam in his eyes that Rikuum knew what was coming. He spun around just in time to kick Kuririn violently in the side. Bulma heard a sickening crack as Kuririn sailed away from Rikuum and flopped over a couple of times before skidding to a stop on his stomach. "Kuririn!" Gohan shrieked, darting over to his injured friend's side. "Are you okay? Get up, Kuririn!"
"Sorry, kid," Kuririn rasped, wincing as he struggled to rise. "My back must be broken. I can barely move. I guess it's up to you and Bulma now. I'm sorry. I sure didn't last too long, did I?" His head sunk to the ground and his breathing became labored.
"You just take it easy, Kuririn," Gohan said. "It's not your fault at all. Just rest. I'll take care of Rikuum. We'll still win this thing. You'll see. I'm betting my life on it." He slowly rose, and Bulma saw his shoulders shake a little. He then turned around to face Rikuum. Bulma could see right away that Gohan was really mad. His ki was skyrocketing, and he was staring, coldly and fiercely, right at Rikuum. It made even Bulma uncomfortable to see such a look, but Rikuum only sneered at him and told Gohan that he had made a very foolish bet.
Bulma had no desire to try to help Gohan now. She knew from past experience that when he was this angry, it was best to just stay out of his way. So she stayed back with Vegita and didn't make a sound as Gohan began walking toward Rikuum.
Bulma watched tensely as Rikuum poised to strike. Gohan stopped just a few yards short of Rikuum, and Bulma felt his ki surge one last time. He growled in contempt at Rikuum.
"Don't worry, kid," Rikuum laughed. "Just to show you that I'm a nice guy, I'll do this much for you. I'll kill you before I deal with your friends. I wouldn't want such a fragile child to see what I have in store for them!"
"You're not going to touch them!" He cried, intensifying his ki even further. "Masenko!" He yelled, firing the potent blast straight at Rikuum. Rikuum was suddenly enveloped by a blanket of ki, which exploded in a spectacular burst of white light. Bulma had to shield her eyes from the bright explosion, but noticed, out of the corner of her eye, Gohan shoot straight into the explosion at Rikuum. He, along with the now immobilized Rikuum, burst out the other side of the weakening blast. Gohan popped Rikuum a good one in the jaw, propelling him higher into the air. Gohan shot straight up toward him, and then above him. He slammed his feet squarely into Rikuum's face, and allowed the abrupt impact to smash him into the ground. But Gohan was far from done. He zoomed down, yelling in rage and fury, with his fist drawn way back. As his fist connected with Rikuum, he executed one of the most frighteningly powerful blows that Bulma had ever seen him dish out - right in the center of Rikuum's rib cage.
With that, Gohan launched himself skyward, and began to charge up his ki again. Bulma was sure he was getting ready to deal the final blow. He was practically on fire up there!
Suddenly, Gohan screamed and let all his concentrated ki go, in a fast moving, slender beam, right down on top of Rikuum. The blast from this impact was tremendous. It was so potent, in fact, that Bulma had to throw Vegita and herself to the ground to keep them from being blown away.
"That kid's got more power than I expected," Vegita said, almost admiringly. "But it's too bad for him that Rikuum's not feeling any of this."
"What do you mean?" Bulma asked him incredulously. The blast was beginning to dissipate, and Gohan had landed on the ground off to one side, watching for signs of life from Rikuum. He looked pretty worn out, but Bulma knew that he still had a lot of fight in him.
"I mean that Rikuum has only been toying with that boy!" Vegita said angrily as he struggled to get to his feet. "He's been letting that brat shove him around for a while, just so he'll get to see the look of shock on the kid's face when he finds out that all the stuff he's thrown at him has been in vain. He just loves it. You watch. He does this to all of his new opponents. Any minute now, he'll suddenly regain his abilities and begin to fight back."
Bulma frowned in disbelief as she got up and dusted herself off. Gohan had dealt even stronger blows to Rikuum than Vegita had, and yet she was supposed to believe that he was going to come out of all of that unscathed? Yeah, right. But she watched nonetheless, not too sure if she should discount it altogether. She'd learned over the past few months that she couldn't always count out what she thought was impossible.
When the dust had finally cleared enough for Bulma to see Rikuum, she breathed a sigh of relief. She'd half expected him to be standing up and posing again, but he was lying on the ground, right where she'd last seen him, and he wasn't moving. Bulma glared triumphantly back at Vegita, but he didn't take his eyes off of Rikuum. Bulma heard a small chuckle come from Rikuum, and as she gasped and spun back around, Vegita shook his head angrily at her.
Rikuum's eyes were still closed, but he had the most annoying grin on his face. He hopped up suddenly, landing solidly on both feet, then he opened his eyes, and they peered eagerly straight at Gohan.
Gohan was definitely surprised, but he didn't let it get the better of him. He steadied himself and assumed a fighting stance. He knew he had a difficult battle ahead of him.
"Hm." Rikuum snorted, frowning and crossing his arms. "Not quite the reaction I'd hoped for. You're no fun at all, you know that?"
"This is no game," Gohan muttered. He drew his arms in front of him defensively and began to charge up again.
"All right then," Rikuum said disgustedly. "If that's how you want it, then I'll just get it over with now. Geez, I hate people with no sense of humor."
Gohan paid him little heed, but with one quick glance at Bulma and Vegita, he lunged at Rikuum. Apparently he was ready to try his fists again. He started off with a solid punch to Rikuum's jaw, which connected, much to Bulma's relief.
Rikuum grinned evily, however, and before Gohan could throw another punch, he kneed him viciously in the ribs. He then grabbed Gohan's head with one hand, and hurled him headfirst toward the turf below.
Gohan managed to regain control before he hit, and he jumped back and out of the way, just in time for Rikuum to plow his fist into the ground. Rikuum then fired off a large volley of ki blasts, which Gohan had to hop backwards continuously to avoid. Rikuum now had him on the run, and Gohan was really having to strain to keep ahead of him. Rikuum then threw a rather large ki blast, which whistled and screeched as it pierced the air on its way to Gohan. It was moving much too fast for Gohan to avoid it, however, and it exploded as it hit him, sending Gohan plowing through a small hill, and skidding to a stop on the ground a few yards away.
He seemed to be stunned a bit, and didn't move right away. As Gohan struggled to get up, Rikuum began making his advance. He sprinted toward Gohan, who didn't see him coming yet. By the time he did, it was too late. Rikuum punted him like he would a football, and Gohan sailed, screaming in pain, nearly fifty yards away, and landed with a dull thud on the flat, rocky ground. He didn't move.
Bulma had watched just about all she could take. "That's it," she growled. "This guy is toast!" She was about to take off after Rikuum, but Vegita gripped her shoulder from behind.
"Not yet," he said. "Don't interfere with them yet. You'd be wiser to wait until the boy can't fight any more."
"Take your hand off of me!" She snapped. "Gohan's nearly dead out there! Do you honestly expect me to just stand by and let Rikuum finish him off?! Well that's just not happening, Vegita!"
"That kid's not out yet," Vegita replied calmly, pointing at Gohan, who had stumbled clumsily to his feet, and was staunchly facing off against Rikuum again.
"Gohan!" Bulma said softly, trying to calm down. Much as she hated to admit it, Vegita was right. She had to wait for as long as she could. Even Vegita didn't know how desperately they needed to stall for time, though. If only they could just hold out until goku arrived, she was certain everything would be all right. She sighed and wached Gohan walk toward Rikuum. She didn't think Gohan would be able to get up from another major hit, but he was certainly determined to continue, regardless.
"Man, this kid just doesn't know when to quit!" Rikuum said, laughing. "I guess I'll just have to try harder, won't I, guys?"
Baata laughed. "Come on, Rikuum," he teased. "You're just ashamed to admit that you've been beaten. You're just no match for the mighty midget down there. Do you want us to step in? I don't think you can handle this one alone." He laughed loudly as Rikuum made some kind of obscene gesture in his direction.
"Come on, Rikuum," Jees called. "Get on with it. Hurry up and kill that little pipsqueak so Baata and I can get started on the other three!"
"Don't worry," Rikuum said. "I was about to do just that." He grinned evilly at Gohan. "Well, kid," he said, cracking his knuckles. "I guess it's time for you to say goodbye. Don't forget to write me when you get to hell."
"You're the one who's going to hell!" Gohan screamed, and with the last bit of effort and strength he had left, he hurled himself at Rikuum.
Rikuum grinned, and what followed seemed to happen in slow motion, and was one of the most excruciating sights Bulma had ever had to witness. Rikuum drew his leg back, pivoted his body around the ball of his other foot, grabbed onto Gohan, then slammed his knee into Gohan's neck.
Bulma heard a sharp crack, and she watched in horror as Rikuum dropkicked Gohan in her direction. He landed on his back about twenty feet from her, and his head dropped backwards and stared blankly back at her. She could see by his dull, lifeless expression that Gohan's neck was broken. His leg twitched spasmodically, but aside from that he didn't move.
"G-... G-... Goh-han!" Bulma whispered unsteadily. The boy's ki was marginal. At any moment he might slip into a coma, and nothing short of a sensu bean would save him then. Bulma was wobbly with shock and grief as she stared at his nearly lifeless form. He was hanging on to his life by just a thread. He was breathing at least, albeit unsteadily.
"He's going to pay for this!" Bulma whispered, shaking angrily. "That bastard is going to die for what he's done!"
"Shut up," Vegita said quietly. "You know as well as I do that they were both a lot stronger than you are. What do you think you'll be able to do? You're way out of your league, woman. You'd do yourself a big favor if you just go now. Even if you were able to defeat the entire Team Ginyu, your friends would still die. Their injuries are mortal, as far as the conditions go. I don't see any doctors around here, do you? Just forget about them and leave. You'd probably be able to get away with that teleportation trick of yours. I could care less what happened to you or your friends, but I see no point in your throwing your life away over two half-dead weaklings."
"Regardless of what you may think of me or earthlings in general," Bulma said, trying to keep from blowing up at him, "I'm not such a coward, Vegita. I'm going to stay and fight for as long as my friends are alive. Even if their injuries are mortal, I'd much rather die here with them than die when Freeza gains immortality and destroys this planet. I know that's what he'll do. Besides, I'm not as easily defeated as you might think. What I lack in power I make up for in other areas. So just leave me alone. I've made up my mind. This is the way it's got to be."
"Suit yourself," Vegita said, shrugging. "Like I said, I could care less what happens to you, but I still say you're being foolish. Just don't look to me for help when they're about to kill you, because that's exactly what will happen."
Bulma shook her head and turned her attention toward Rikuum. He strode over toward them with a triumphant smile on his face. He noticed Gohan's leg twitch, and he laughed sadistically. "Uh-oh!" He exclaimed. "It looks like I didn't quite kill the little insect, did I? Well, one more good stomp ought to take care of him, wouldn't you say?" He stopped walking and pointed his left arm, palm up, at Gohan's head. Bulma could stand no more. She leapt over to Rikuum, smacked his arm aside, and slapped him across the face. She jumped back and shielded Gohan from him. Rikuum, stunned that she'd caught him off guard, felt his face where she'd slapped him. It had turned a light pink.
"Back off!" She barked at him. "That's enough! Gohan's no more of a threat to you now than an actual insect would be! Leave him alone, you cretin!"
Rikuum recovered from his initial shock and laughed heartily. "Well, you certainly have guts! What makes you think you can tell me what to do?" He asked her condescendingly.
"Oh, come off it!" She snapped. "Quit being such a coward! Gohan's practically dead anyway. What kind of challenge are you expecting to find in killing him, may I ask? It's not as if he'll suddenly get up and fight again, for Kami's sake! You broke his neck! His ki's practically down to zero!"
"So what?" Rikuum said, shrugging and grinning at her. "It's not as satisfying if I don't get to kill him. Besides, my orders are to destroy him completely. So if you'll excuse me, I've got a job to finish." With that, he shoved her to the side so forcefully that she sailed several yards away, where she landed roughly on her back.
She scrambled to her feet and tried to consider her options. There was no Goku here to save Gohan this time. It was up to her to do something. But she knew there was no way she could best this brute in fair combat. Suddenly, like a bolt out of the blue, something occurred to her that all at once seemed the perfect answer to her problem. Her teleport technique! She had totally forgotten her theory about fighting during teleportation! She had to try it. Gohan was out of time! Rikuum was right in his face!
"That's it!" She yelled at him. He looked up at her. "Block this, you jerk! Rapid Teleport!"
The first thing she did was to go over and push Rikuum away from Gohan. When she had him a good fifty feet away, she studied him for a second. What should she try first? She'd never done this before, and she didn't know what kind of effect it would have on him. She eventually decided to start off with some hard jabs to his ribs and his face. So she did, and as she expected, the little indentations her fists made remained where they were. She worked him over then, until his entire upper body was nothing but a bumpy, pockmarked mess. Panting and tired, she stepped away from him to inspect her work. She hadn't drawn any blood, but he was still almost beyond recognition.
Bulma was really tired. She'd forgotten how quickly movement during teleportation would drain her energy. She'd have to take that into consideration from now on. She wouldn't be able to make attacks like this very often. She just hoped she'd done sufficient damage to slow him down.
She walked back over to Gohan and stood between him and Rikuum. She looked back at Vegita, who was staring in confusion at the place that Bulma had been at the onset of her teleport. She shook her head. She wondered if it was really worth their time to protect him from Team Ginyu. Sighing, she steadied herself and prepared to halt her teleport. She was anxious to see just how much she'd accomplished by this last stunt.
On to the next Chapter!
