Inside Kame House, Goku thrashed violently in his sleep, ChiChi and Kamesennin beside him.

"C'mon ChiChi, we've got to get him out of here." The old master of martial arts searched his drawers for the plane capsule.

"But...Gohan...," ChiChi couldn't help the tears streaming down her face. It was dead silent outside now. Gohan didn't return, which means he's...

"ChiChi." Kamesennin was struggling to keep his cool too. He knew everybody outside was dead now. "Only Goku has a chance against them now. We must get him to safety until he fully recovers--"

Then suddenly, Goku's eyes opened. His hands holding ChiChi for support, he slowly got up.

Outside, as No.17 and No.18 landed on the ground, No.16 approached them.

"Did you have to do that? I thought you only wanted to kill Son Goku."

"We did." No.18 replied. "But they wanted to fight, so we obliged."

No.16 shrugged. "Suit yourself. But Son Goku is mine."

"Sure," said No.17. "But I hope you don't mind if we play with him a bit first. That was a little too quick just now."

"You can do whatever you want with him," No.16 replied as he entered the house. "It doesn't matter to me. My only goal is to kill Son Goku."

Just as he was about to turn the door knob, it opened from the inside. No.16 was face to face with Goku, who was still pale and gasping for breath.

"Hello Son Goku. I'm here to kill you. But No.17 and No.18 here want to play with you first." He turned around. They hadn't come in yet.

Goku managed to say, between gasps, "You want...gasp...to kill...me..you...have..gasp ...to fight..me..first. Outside."

"As you wish." No.16 turned and walked outside, to find No.17 and No.18 frozen, and a lavender-haired woman with a remote control in her hands, staring at him in shock with wide blue eyes.
 
 

Bulma had sped off as fast she could to Kame Island, a bad premonition gnawing inside her. And when she landed she felt as if the whole world had stopped turning, as she saw the dead bodies lying outside. Her friends, her son, her ...Vegeta. All dead. Even Piccolo was dead. Which means none of them could be resurrected again.

And then she noticed them. They had been watching her silently with a sort of a detached interest ever since her plane landed. Shock intermingled with fear and anger and hatred as Bulma reached inside her pocket and dished out the remote stopper. With trembling hands, she pushed the activator button and the cold deadly faces were instantly frozen in time. She felt as if her heart would stop too, her knees were wobbling and she struggled to remain standing.

Then the front door swung open and a giant with red punk hair style walked out. She stared at him for a second, then pushed the button. Nothing happened. She pushed again. Still, nothing happened. Why doesn't this damned thing work now, she thought angrily.

The giant took one look at the stopper, then said, "Is that the remote stopper for No.17 and No.18? It doesn't work on me. My designs are different from them."

"Dif...different..?" Bulma managed to stammmer.

"I am not human-based like them." he clarified. Then he called out," Are you ready, Son Goku?"

Goku! Bulma's head snapped up as she saw Goku come out the front door. But he was pale, and his breathing labored. He was in no condition to walk, let alone fight. It's only been five days since his heart attack started. Trunks had said that the medicine would take around ten days to work.

No.16 continued walking until he reached the shore. Goku slowly followed him. As he saw the destruction outside, his anger started to rise. And reach its peak when he saw the dead bodies of his friends, and his son. Yamucha, Tenshinhan, Vegeta, Piccolo. All dead. Gohan... He couldn't see Kuririn's body, but he knew he was dead too. And Trunks ...wait a minute--

Goku didn't have time to finish the thought, as No.16 suddenly attacked him relentlessly. Goku, in his weakened state, was unable to fight back effectively. He could only dodge even as more and more of No.16's punches hit him. And he's having trouble breathing again. As No.16 prepared to deliver his final blow, another thought entered Goku's mind. All these people, they had put all their hopes on him. Trunks especially. They died to protect him. Even Vegeta, even if his motives were not as noble. If he died now, he would have let them down tremendously. And their deaths would have been for nothing.

And finally Goku found enough strength to reach Super Saiyajin stage, going even beyond that. His body crackled with electricity as he felt fury unlike any he's ever felt before. He wasted no time and gathered his ki. As No.16's fist struck him, he released the ki in an enormous Kame Hame Ha, which reduced No.16 to dust. Only his boot and part of his head remained when it was over. And those too, were washed away by the waves created by the giant Kame Hame Ha. And then there was nothing left of the giant android.
 
 

Bulma could only stare in amazement at Goku's transformation. She barely had time to protect herself as Goku incinerated No.16 with the powerful ki blast. It was so powerful it shook what's left of the little island, and created tidal waves all around it. By now, ChiChi and Kamesennin had gone outside to witness Goku's fight. And they too, were awed, as they pulled Bulma towards the house.

When it was all over, Goku walked up to them. He apologized to ChiChi and bade them farewell. Goku knew he wasn't going to make it, but he was determined that somebody would. Then he picked up Trunks' body, put two fingers to his forehead and disappeared. It was the last time they saw him alive.
 

Chapter 8

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