Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Chosen One ❯ Chapter Forty-Four ( Chapter 44 )

Gohan stopped several feet away from Rekhas, his fists clenched. In the blink of an eye, he was a Super Saiyan. The strength flowing from his visible aura was generating obscene amounts of wind.

"You know, Rekhas," Gohan began, "you made a big mistake in saving me for last."

This caught Rekhas's attention. "What are you talking about?" he sneered.

"You see, now I can fight at full power without having to worry about the safety of my friends," Gohan answered. He then pressed his power level up and let out a yell. The spikes of hair on his head stood straight up, save for a lock of his bangs, and his aura began to crackle with electricity.

Rekhas laughed. "You are a fool. Vegeta was at the same stage, remember? You will pose little problem."

"We'll see," Gohan responded coldly.

"Indeed we will!" Rekhas shouted as he charged. The very moment he reached the youth, however, Gohan vanished. Rekhas stopped, looking around. "All right, boy, where are you?" In response, Gohan reappeared right behind Rekhas and caught him in the head with a right hook. Rekhas skidded to the left, pushed off the ground, and landed on his feet. Then, he felt a blow. He looked at his opponent, but Gohan was still standing about twenty feet away. Then, it happened again. Rekhas took a step back, but was knocked off his feet. "What is going on?"

"I'm attacking," Gohan responded. "I figured that much would be obvious."

"You . . . " Rekhas began. "You make a mockery of me? The future ruler of all that lives?"

"You seem to think highly of yourself," Gohan responded. "Egotistical much?" Then, three more invisible blows were landed on Rekhas. "From the way you talk-" Gohan attacked again - "I'd say that you need to be humbled." He then attacked once more, sending Rekhas into the wall.

Rekhas pulled himself from the wall. "Well, it would pose a problem if I were to fight you at my current strength," he stated. He then planted his feet apart and brought his fists up. "You should feel honored. Never has a fighter forced me to use my full power. I'm actually excited at the prospect of fighting you with all of my might. However, what I feel must be nothing compared to your Saiyan thirst for battle. Foolish, really. You Saiyans always search for the ultimate challenge, and you always end up getting yourselves killed. How path-UGH!" Gohan had taken the opportunity provided by Rekhas's monologue to land a punch in the emperor's gut.

"You talk too much," Gohan commented. He then backed up. "I'll allow you to reach full power, but after that, I'll give you no quarter."

Rekhas laughed. "Boy, you are signing your own death warrant!" His power level then took a jump.

Gohan watched patiently as Rekhas powered up. The emperor's muscles began to bulge, and he grew a couple inches. As he was watching, he heard someone say inside his head, 'Gohan! What are you doing? You can't let him reach full power!' Gohan stayed silent. 'Listen, Gohan, I know you can hear me! If you keep ignoring me, I'm gonna start telling jokes until you answer! And I've got a lot of them!' Still, Gohan remained silent. 'All right, but I warned you! If an athlete gets athlete's foot, what does an astronaut get?'

'All right, all right, I hear you!' Gohan responded.

'What do you think you're doing?!' King Kai exclaimed. 'You can't let Rekhas reach his full power!'

'King Kai, name one enemy we've defeated before he reached full power,' Gohan said in response.

'That's beside the point!' King Kai answered. 'What I'm trying to say-'

'That's the entire point, King Kai,' Gohan explained. 'Never have we been able to beat someone until they were at full power. King Piccolo, Piccolo, Raditz, Nappa, Vegeta, the Ginyu Force, Frieza, the androids, and Cell. Each time, both sides were forced to go all out. Remember what happened when my father hit Frieza with the Spirit Bomb when Frieza was at fifty percent of his full strength? Frieza survived. I don't want to take that chance. If I can fight him when he's at full power, we'll know once and for all who is the stronger.'

King Kai sighed. 'Well, I hope for the universe's sake that you know what you're doing, Gohan. I can do nothing but watch. It's all in your hands.'

Rekhas opened his eyes. "Well, boy, your time has come," he said. "I am now at full power."

"Good, I was growing tired of waiting," Gohan replied. He disappeared and reappeared on Rekhas's left side, aiming a punch at his head. Quickly, Rekhas raised his forearm to block it. Gohan threw another punch, which was again blocked. Rekhas then threw a punch at Gohan, who dodged it and blocked a second punch thrown by the emperor. Rekhas flew up and away, and Gohan flew towards him. Right when he was about to reach the Roxian, however, Gohan disappeared. He reappeared right behind Rekhas and landed a punch into his back, knocking him flying. Rekhas stabilized himself and charged straight at Gohan. He came feet-first to deliver a kick, but Gohan threw his forearms up and blocked it, only being knocked back about a foot. Gohan dived at Rekhas with a punch, but Rekhas dodged out of the way and countered by bringing his knee up into the Saiyan's solar plexus. Reflexively, Gohan curled up and clutched his chest. Rekhas took the opportunity to kick Gohan in the side of the head and knock him halfway across the room. Gohan swung around and used his legs to push off the opposite wall, and jumped back toward Rekhas with an arm cocked back. Rekhas prepared himself, but instead of punching, Gohan swung his legs around and kicked him in the head. Rekhas flew down at an angle and hit the ground. Gohan dropped straight down and landed.

A trickle of blood seeped from Rekhas's mouth. "You're better than I thought," he said as he wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.

"I can say the same for you," Gohan replied, rubbing the side of his head gently. "But there's more than meets the eye with me."

Rekhas laughed. "I don't know about that, but I can say that that is most definitely the case with me." Then, the Roxian fired an energy blast. Gohan leaped up to dodge it, and Rekhas fired another energy blast. Gohan moved to the side in order to dodge it again. Rekhas then began firing rapidly at the young Saiyan. Gohan, however, was able to keep dodging.

Rekhas laughed again. "You fell right into my trap! Look around you! You're in a corner of the room! Now, feel the wrath of my next attack!" The emperor brought his upper hands together in front of him. "SHOTGUN!"

A blast flew out that burst into a large amount of smaller blasts and flew toward Gohan. Looking around, Gohan was unable to find an escape route. He did not panic, though; he calmed himself, closed his eyes, and concentrated. He then disappeared just as the Shotgun Attack hit.

Rekhas looked at where the attack had hit. When the dust cleared, however, he was surprised to find that Gohan was not there. "What happened? I know he could have survived that." He looked around, but could not find his opponent anywhere. Then, an energy blast caught him in the back and exploded. When the dust settled, Rekhas found himself lying on his stomach in a giant dent in the floor. He looked up and saw Gohan with his right palm outstretched, and his left hand on his right elbow. "What the . . .?"

"I see you like my Magnum Burst," Gohan commented. "I developed it specifically for this fight."

"How . . . how did you escape my attack?" Rekhas uttered in disbelief.

"Luck, pure and simple," Gohan bluffed. He was not going to risk telling Rekhas about Instant Transmission. He then powered up another attack in his hand. "Magnum Burst!"

A sphere of energy burst forward from Gohan's hand and flew toward Rekhas. The emperor jumped up into the air, but was not fast enough to outrun the explosion.

Gohan floated in the air, watching his opponent. Then, the strengthening of someone else's energy caught his attention. He looked down at the pile of rubble. Sephra! She's awake? This could be bad. However, he was no longer paying attention to Rekhas, who took the opportunity to land a punch in Gohan's face.

"What's wrong with you, boy?" Rekhas laughed. "Didn't your dear old dad teach you to never let your opponent out of sight?" Gohan flew back into a wall, and Rekhas followed, landing punch after punch into Gohan's chest. He then grabbed the warrior by the hair and landed a downward punch, sending him into the ground. Rekhas let loose a barrage of energy blasts while Gohan was on the ground. When the dust cleared, Gohan could be seen lying on the floor. Slowly, he got up.

What's wrong here? I've taken too much damage to make sense. Maybe he wasn't bluffing about having hidden potential. Gohan looked up at Rekhas and clenched his teeth. Well, I'd better finish him off quickly, and I can think of one way to do that. Gohan dashed upwards and gave Rekhas a roundhouse kick to the head. Rekhas flew sideways, and Gohan chased him and knocked him down. Rekhas was able to stabilize himself in the air, but Gohan was already preparing his attack.

Gohan brought his hands together and pulled them back. "Kaaa . . . Meee . . ."

Rekhas began laughing. "Nice bluff, boy, but I'm not buying it. At that angle, you'll destroy the planet and yourself with it!"

Gohan ignored the emperor. "Haaa . . ." The space in between his hands began to glow. "Meee . . ."

Rekhas's eyes widened. "You've lost your mind! Stop, or you'll kill us both!"

Gohan then paused for a moment to focus. Suddenly, he vanished.

Rekhas looked around. "What? Where did he go this time?" He then spun around and found himself face-to-face with his opponent. "IMPOSSIBLE!!!!"

"HAAAAAAAA!!!"

The blast enveloped Rekhas and burst through the wall of the room. Gohan directed it away from the planet's surface and it flew harmlessly into space. Gohan ended the blast, breathing heavily, and waited for the dust to clear. When it did clear, what he saw shocked him. Rekhas was still alive. His lower arms were reduced to stumps, and his left leg had been destroyed, leaving him to balance himself on his right leg and his tail.

"I must give you credit, boy," Rekhas grunted through the pain. "That was a brilliant strategy. I now know how you dodged my Shotgun Attack. That teleportation technique."

"Strange, how you're talking like you can still win," Gohan remarked. "You're crippled. You've lost two arms and a leg."

"Well, you're not in good shape, either," Rekhas said. "I may not be able to sense energy like you, but I can still tell that you put most of it into that last attack. Whereas I will recover."

"Nice bluff, but it's not working," Gohan said. "You're no Namekian. You can't regenerate at will."

Rekhas laughed as he backed up to his throne. "Well, you're right about one thing. On my own, I can't regenerate my lost limbs. He then grabbed the life support system and strapped it on. In a matter of seconds, his arms and leg regrew themselves. Also, Gohan realized with dread, that the Roxian's power level was back at full power.

Rekhas took the life support off. "Well, boy, any chance you once had of defeating me has gone out the window." With that, he charged at Gohan. -44-

Sephra looked up. She could see the fight going on. As she watched, Rekhas was attacking Gohan relentlessly. Sephra was able to sense their energy even while unconscious, and she knew that Gohan was in dire straits. She knew of one thing that would work, but it would be difficult to pull off. She focused her thoughts on the Saiyan. 'Gohan!'

Gohan perked up. 'Sephra?'

'Yes, it's me,' Sephra responded. 'I have limited telepathic abilities. Now listen. If you can temporarily incapacitate Rekhas, I will be able to heal you.'

'Incapacitate Rekhas? Easier said than done,' Gohan replied.

'Well, there's got to be something you can do,' Sephra wondered.

Gohan thought for a moment, then replied, 'Now that I think about it, there is something I can do. Let's just hope it works. Oh, and shield your eyes.' -44-

A few minutes later, Gohan was in very bad shape. He was lying face-up on the ground, and he had reverted back to his normal form. Rekhas was floating above him, crowing in triumph. He then looked down at his battered opponent. "Well, boy, it's time to meet your maker!" With that, he dived.

Gohan grinned weakly. Just what I had been hoping for. Summoning what little strength he had left, he brought his hands to his forehead and yelled, "SOLAR FLARE!"

Light burst forth from Gohan, blinding Rekhas. "MY EYES! MY EYES!!"

Gohan climbed to all fours. He lifted himself into the air and floated over to Sephra's location. He then collapsed, as he had drained his energy.

Quickly, Sephra went to work. She placed her hand on Gohan's head and waves of healing energy flowed forth into Gohan's body. Slowly, he felt his energy returning to him. -44-

Rekhas pulled his hands away from his eyes and dared to open them. Everything was extremely blurry at first, but as he blinked, his vision slowly returned to him. He looked around for Gohan, and found him on the ground with Sephra leaning over him. Then, slowly, Gohan got up. He inspected himself and found himself to be at full power, and a little stronger than he was a few minutes ago.

Rekhas's eyes widened in surprise. How is this possible? He then looked at Sephra. Wait a second. She's a Gabrian, isn't she? I'd wager my ancestry that she's a healer. Well, she cannot be allowed to live. Rekhas fired a narrow shot from his finger - much like the one that he used to kill Vegeta - and struck Sephra in the chest.

Gohan heard a shriek. He looked over to find a beam of energy going through the princess's chest. "SEPHRA!!" He dashed over and caught her as she fell.

Sephra focused her large blue eyes on Gohan. "Gohan . . . I'm sorry that I couldn't do more . . ."

Tears began to form in the corners of Gohan's eyes. "Sephra, don't die . . ."

"I'm sorry, Gohan, but nothing can stop that now . . ." Sephra responded. "I'm . . . just happy I got to know you . . ."

"Sephra, there's something I wanted to tell you," Gohan said as the tears rolled down his cheeks. "Sephra . . . I don't know how to say this, but . . . Sephra - I love you."

Sephra's eyes widened, and then she smiled faintly. "Ah, Gohan . . . I'm so happy to hear you say that . . . I love you, as well."

Gohan lifted Sephra's head up, leaned forward, and touched his lips to hers. After a few seconds, they broke apart.

Sephra giggled. "That was my first kiss . . ."

Gohan looked surprised at himself. "Mine, too. But it was still good."

Sephra looked up at the ceiling. "Well, now I can rest in peace . . . Goodbye, my love . . ." Her eyelids drooped and closed, and her body went limp.

The tears continued to roll down Gohan's face. "No . . . this can't be . . . I promised . . . I promised . . ." He laid Sephra's body down gently. "It should have been me . . ." He then looked up at the ceiling. "NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!"

"Well, Gohan, are you done with your pity party? Then let's go!" Rekhas shouted.

Gohan heard that voice and anger boiled within him. He turned to face Rekhas, hate burning in his eyes. "You . . . you're a monster. You kill everyone who isn't a Roxian. You kill men. You kill defenseless women. Even children are not spared. You are why this all has happened. You killed my friends, my allies. You even killed the person I love. And now, you have awoken within me the one force that has never been stopped. My anger. You will not be spared. You will die. You hear me? You will die!!" He reached over with his right hand and grabbed the hilt of the legendary blade at his hip. He held Testament out in front of him, with his left leg back and his left arm curled and his hand balled into a fist.

Rekhas looked at his opponent. Well, I was wondering when he'd draw that infernal sword. "That stance . . . it's familiar. Yes, that was the same stance that Lucius took when he engaged in battle." Rekhas floated back down to his throne. "Well, now the real fun begins. You see, I also have a weapon." He pulled a sheathed sword from behind his throne and attached it to his own belt. He then drew his sword. It looked eerily similar to Testament, except that the blade was blue rather than black.

Gohan's eyes widened. "What in the world . . .?"

Rekhas laughed. "This is the antithesis to Asok's Bane. This sword is known as Ifrit. It has many similar properties to Asok's Bane, but rather than having a blade made of iron, it is made of neptunium. A particular isotope, in fact, that has a half-life of several million years. That, and the nullification ability of Asok's Bane, keep you from succumbing to the radiation." He then walked forward and took his own fighting stance.

"Well, I actually prefer it this way," Gohan said. "At least you'll put up a decent fight before I kill you. Funny, really. I've never felt this feeling before. But I like the challenge."

Rekhas laughed. "That's your Saiyan side, boy. You seem to have come to terms with it. Oh, well. It should make the fight more interesting."

Neither fighter moved for a moment, but rather stared into each other's eyes. Everything was on the table now.

Gohan jumped forward, his sword ready to strike, as Rekhas waited.