Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ What You Wouldn't Expect ❯ Only to Leave Me ( Chapter 25 )

He watched in horror as Videl was thrown to the ground nearly a mile below and a crater the size of Orange City High School was forged. The impact created a small earthquake, dust, dirt, and rock flying in every direction and raining down upon their unprotected heads.

First thing he felt was something evil tearing his heart out. He reacted only on pure instinct, and jumped up into the dusty air to get to her unconscious form as fast as he could. He felt hands clamp around his arms and shoulders, even his legs to stop him, but that didn't hold him back. He heard someone yelling at him not to move, to stay put, but he didn't heed the words of his father. He powered up and ripped himself out of everyone's iron hold, taking off at an incredible speed to where Videl was buried under a mountain of rubble and debris. He shouted her name, but nothing came back to him but a pain-filled echo that seemed like it would never stop.

He touched down on the ground, almost stumbling over his own legs in his haste to find her. "Oh, Dende, please let her be alright," he said to himself, chucking boulders over his head and trying to feel for her precious ki. He felt it, but it was barely there, it was just a mere flicker of life. This was his entire fault. He shouldn't have brought her. He should have forced her to stay at Capsule Corporation, even if it meant tying her down with ki restricting bonds. He didn't care if she didn't know how to use her ki yet, she could probably figure it on her own.

He heard something behind him, and he jerked around, getting ready to throw an energy blast at Dabura. When he saw his dad, he felt unwanted tears well up in his eyes, and he went back to his task to an insane extent. His father ran up to him, giving him a quick glance before he started helping him, careful as to where he was throwing the huge hunks of rock at.

He threw one of the biggest rocks over his head, praying that he would find her soon. He almost collapsed from relief when he saw her hand, several of her fingers and her wrist looking broken, and covered in blood, scrapes, and deep cuts. He called his dad, not even noticing the strain in his voice, but his father did. Goku ran over to him, helping him lift away the rocks and boulders that she was buried under. When she was uncovered, Gohan went to pick her up, cradling her gently against his chest and whispering that everything would be alright, even if she couldn't hear him. Goku didn't say anything about how Gohan shouldn't be handling her, for her neck could have been injured, but he didn't as he watched Gohan hold her, rocking her back and forth and trying to coax her back awake.

"Videl...please, wake up. You're not dead. You're fine...please, just wake up...." he whispered, burying his face further into her dirty hair. He could still smell the faint trace of lavender.

Goku stood when he heard that all too familiar laugh of Dabura. The wind started blowing hard, howling and screeching with its own apparent anger. He stood in front of his son to block him and the unconscious woman in his arms from any attacks, and soon even he had to bring his arms up to protect his face from the flying rubble. The winds were so strong that Goku himself got knocked over, and all he could do was shield his face and peek out from between them to see what exactly was happening. He just thought that it was some storm coming in, because the ground wasn't shaking like it did when someone powered up, but that's precisely what happened next. He felt himself being pelted by deadly sharp rocks, and he threw himself over his son and Videl, trying to shield them and their unprotected position with his own body. It stung horribly in his weakened state, and he felt his skin tear and rip at every small impact. His blood trickled down from his back to his legs, and then blew off into the monsoon winds. He didn't know how long it lasted, but the winds were just too strong for someone to be powering up...right?

The winds died down slowly, and he let his body relax, practically slumping over his son. He let out a shuddering breath when Gohan shifted under him, and his son turned to look up at him. "Dad? Dad, are you alright?"

Goku swallowed, falling off his son and onto his burning back so he could just get his weight off him. He gave him a smile despite his pain, closing his eyes and concentrating on making his pain go away.

Gohan cursed, lowering Videl down to the ground carefully as he made his way over to his father. "Dad...damn, what was that?" he asked to himself, sweeping his father's unruly hair out of his eyes. Goku grinned again, saying, "Maybe now would be a good time for some Senzu beans, huh?"

Gohan nodded, smiling. "Yeah. Do you think you can teleport yourself there, or do you want me to go?" He looked around quickly, wondering where Vegeta and the Supreme Kai were. He didn't see them, or Dabura. However, he did see an enormous space ship hovering high in the air. It was Babidi's ship to be exact. His fists clenched at his sides as he stood, helping his dad weakly to his feet. Goku thanked him, managing somehow to stand on his own. "Yeah...I think I can make it. Take care of Videl, and try to find Vegeta and the Supreme Kai," he said, placing his two fingers on his dirt-smeared forehead and disappearing from view. Gohan sighed, walking over the rock to get back to his battered girlfriend. She was still unconscious, her breathing erratic and painful sounding. He gritted his teeth as he felt his blood boil with pure fury. He couldn't believe that someone had dared to hurt her like this, and he couldn't wait to get his hands on Dabura. The fucker was going to die, if he had anything to do about it.

He took her back into his arms, lightly tapping her cheek to wake her up. He had to find Vegeta and the Supreme Kai, for he didn't have a clue as to where they were. And he still had to worry about Dabura, who was currently missing, and then Babidi's ship that was getting higher and higher into the sky. He frowned when he looked up, wishing it would disappear from view, but then taking it back. He had to get Dabura and save his friend's lives, who were still turned into damn stone.

He growled and stood, keeping her close as he walked over the rocky ground, searching every inch of the area for any sign of life. He almost jumped out of his skin when he heard a loud explosion off to his side, and he hurried over to look past a giant boulder blocking his path. He grinned when he saw Vegeta and Dabura going at each other, Dabura looking like he was having quite a hard time now that Vegeta had gone Super Saiya-jin. His eyes widened in surprise when he noticed that Vegeta wasn't just Super Saiya-jin, he had ascended to level two, just like he himself had so many years ago.

He let all the air he had held in his lungs out in a whoosh, turning back around and leaning against the boulder with Videl still in his arms. She didn't look too good; in fact, she looked to be in extreme pain. He hoped, no prayed, that she wouldn't wake up. When she had fought Spopovitch, she had been able to deal with the pain to some extent, but not this. Definitely not this.

He felt a familiar ki appear beside him, and he gave his battered father a pathetic smile. Goku opened the little brown bag in his dirty hand, pulling out two precious beans, one for him, and one for Videl. Gohan didn't really need one, he could deal with his minor injuries. He adjusted her in his arms, opening her mouth. He was just about to put the bean in her mouth when they were suddenly blinded by something ten times more powerful than a Solar Flare, and Gohan tried not to drop Videl and cover his eyes from the excruciating pain. He felt like his eyes were being burned out of his head, and he couldn't bring up his hands to try to shield them. The intense brightness even felt like it was searing his skin. He heard a sudden slightly familiar maniacal laugh, and he fought the urge to put Videl down and go after it.

Babidi laughed hysterically, holding his stomach from how much it hurt. This whole situation was just beautiful, and he wished he could stick around longer to watch them suffer, but he had important business to finish. He chanted a string of ancient words even his father had known, letting a flowing band of energy float from his hand and down to the pathetic humans below.

Gohan cried out when he felt Videl being pulled from his arms, but he couldn't see, couldn't fight back whatever was taking her away from him. He called frantically to his dad for help as he planted his feet into the rocky ground, trying to hold onto her for dear life. But he couldn't....

He felt her slipping out of his strong hold, and no matter how hard he tried to hold on, she just left his desperate hold even more. The laughter grew as he fought the tears building in his eyes, and she was torn away from him. He tried to blindly jump after her, but he felt a searing pain hit his shoulder, and he slammed into the boulder he had previously been leaning on. He shook it off, trying to open his eyes and see if he could see yet. All he saw was white, and he wondered if he had gone blind. He blinked, searching for anything in his line of sight, but seeing nothing but the stark whiteness. He shot his arms out in front of him, pleading with Dende to let her still be there. She wasn't. He let the tears fall down his cheeks as the maniacal laughter vanished, along with the stinging of his skin. He swiped at his eyes, hoping that the disappearance of pain meant that the powerful Solar Flare was done and over with. He reopened his eyes, but he still didn't see anything but the never-ending white. He squeezed his eyes shut tight, falling to the ground and holding himself up by his trembling arms. He heard his dad calling for him somewhere off in the far distance, but he didn't care. Videl was gone. She...was gone.

He felt the wonderful blackness overtake his consciousness, and he welcomed it with open arms.