Chapter 69 - The Last Hope

Moments later...

Kami-sama's lookout was a mess.

The palace had half collapsed, broken columns strewn everywhere. The courtyard tiles were cracked and broken, some melted where chi blasts had hit. The once-tall palm trees had fallen, their leaves blackened and crinkled.

Yet it was utterly silent.

A thin breeze blew through the courtyard, stirring up dust and ruffling Majin Boo's clothes. He stood in the centre of the destruction and watched without interest as a hole appeared out of nowhere before him, widening quickly to show a white dimension beyond.

Gotenks and Piccolo leapt from the portal, and it closed behind them, leaving nothing behind. They stood for a few moments and took in the chaos around them.

"The lookout is utterly ruined," Piccolo muttered. "Again..."

Gotenks, however, was more interested in the creature waiting for them.

"Where is everyone?" he demanded. His voice echoed in the thin air.

Boo patted his stomach, his face lit up with a vicious smile.

"They're in me," he rumbled.

"What?" Gotenks was taken aback. "Ughh...you ate them?"

An image of his family and friends flashed in his mind. "What about my mother?"

"All gone."

Fire flashed in Gotenks' eyes, and an aura exploded around his body.

"You'll pay for every one."

---

Gotenks was not doing so well.

It was an hour or so after the lookout had been utterly destroyed by Boo, and the fused boys' attempt to defeat the monster was failing. Even though as Super Saiyan 3 they had been powerful enough, the transformation had only lasted five minutes before fizzling out - and shortly after the boys had split. They were now Goten and Trunks, standing frozen in fear before Boo.

As Boo stepped forward (and the boys took a step back), Piccolo landed between them. Although he was grimacing in apprehension, he stood tall.

"You can't have all the fun," he rumbled, as the boys cowered behind him. "It's my turn, and I'll do the best I can. If it doesn't work, we'll die together."

"Uhh..." Trunks raised his hand. "I have an idea."

"Yeah?"

"We'll apologize. We'll tell Boo sorry, no hard feelings, right? Maybe then he'll be nicer."

"Yeah!" Goten said enthusiastically. "It's better than Piccolo's idea?"

"What are you on about?" Piccolo snapped. "What kind of an idea is that?!"

While the three argued, Boo stretched and yawned. He sat down and his head drooped.

Suddenly, a chi flared at the edge of Piccolo's senses, and he looked up with a sudden grimace.

"Who is that?" he growled. "Someone's coming!"

The boys glanced up as they too sensed the chi.

"Who is it?" Trunks said, scowling into the bright sky. The chi was enormous, strange but with a sense of familiarity that made him think he should know exactly who it was.

"It could be a new enemy," Piccolo said grimly, as the chi drew closer. "Brace yourselves."

A dark figure appeared on the horizon, his face shadowed with the sun shining from above. He was broad, tall, and the three were struck by how familiar he looked.

Then Goten shouted joyously, "It's my brother!"

Piccolo squinted in an attempt to see the figure. As he drew closer, he began to make out distinct features. The face was very like that of Goku's, but Goten was right...it was Gohan.

But how? he thought. Gohan was dead, killed by Majin Boo not two days ago. Chiyo had said she'd witnessed it herself.

Gohan landed in front of his friends, his back facing them. Piccolo observed the fighter from behind. He was a little taller and broader, but the changes he sensed in his former pupil were more than physical. His chi was larger, but also stranger. Clearly, he had gone through some transformation since he was last on Earth. But where had he been in the meantime?

"What's new?" Gohan said, turning his head slightly to acknowledge the others.

"We thought you were dead!" Goten said, almost hopping on the spot from sheer joy.

Gohan smiled.

"I would have been without the help of the Lord of Lords," he said. "But that's in the past. Let's focus on the here and now. Where is everyone?"

He is different, Piccolo observed. His attitude has changed. He's become more of a fighter.

"They're all dead," Trunks said grimly. "He killed them." He gestured to Boo.

"What about Dende? Is he alive?"

"No, him too!" Goten replied, scowling. "Mama, Chiyo, Videl - everyone!"

Gohan glared at the creature standing before them. A smile spread over Boo's face and he patted his stomach.

"They were good. I turned them all into chocolate and ate them."

Gohan turned his thoughts inward.

If that's true, then that means we're not only the last people left on Earth, but the last ones left to defend it, he said to himself, glaring at Boo. Even Chiyo...I'm sorry, sis.

But as his thoughts turned to his sister, there was an answering flicker of chi from far off. Yes, it was faint, but it still felt familiar. Could it be...?

---

Chiyo couldn't believe she was alive.

The lookout had been ravaged by her fight with Boo (which she harboured some guilt over) and by his love of destruction. Everyone she knew was dead. Now she had the time to feel shell shocked by the past two days, she could see the extent of the chaos Boo had wreaked on the Earth. Entire cities were destroyed and littered with corpses. Chiyo caught a glimpse of a child's crumpled form and the wind blew tears off her cheeks, single droplets glistening in the sun as they fell.

I almost wish Mr. Popo didn't save me too, she thought, glancing back at the Earth's Kami-sama. What good is living when you have to spend your life alone?

Chiyo knew why Mr. Popo and Dende had stopped her from saving the others. With Gohan, Vegeta and Goku dead; and Piccolo, Goten and Trunks trapped in the Room, she was the only one remotely capable of defeating Boo...one day. It was a bitter pill to swallow.

Grimly, Chiyo reflected on the bleak picture of the future painted by Mirai Trunks, seven years ago.

Our futures aren't so different, she thought. There's still a monster around to create destruction, and the Z fighters are scattered. I'm the only fighter left, maybe the last human.

But before the enormity of that thought hit Chiyo, Dende seized her arm.

"Let's land somewhere," he shouted in her ear. "Boo can sense our chi if we fly."

They dropped from the sky and landed on the rocky ground. Barren land stretched as far as the eye could see, and the sun burned Chiyo's bare arms. She knew she would be red as a lobster if they stayed out long enough in the heat. But what else was there to do? Heat or not, she had to protect Dende. It was Mr. Popo's last request, before Boo's purple light had consumed him too.

"Do you know where we are?" Chiyo asked, shielding her eyes. "Looks like there's nothing around for miles."

"Somewhere in the north-western part of the continent," Dende replied.

"Right." Chiyo leaned against a tall rock with a sigh. "So what do we do now?"

"I don't know."

She glanced at the Namekian. Dende stared at the ground, and for the first time he wore a look of helpless resignation on his face. Chiyo was reminded of the nervous boy who was brought to Kami-sama's lookout seven years ago. Namekians seemed to age faster than humans, but he was still young. Probably not much older than her.

She too stared at the ground, as if it would somehow give her an idea on what to do. As far as she knew, they were the only ones left still standing.

"We have to do something!" she exploded, jumping to her feet. "Come on! Let's make a search - there has to be someone, something around that can help us out! There can't be absolutely nobody left!"

"You're correct," Dende replied. "Don't you feel that?"

"What?"

Chiyo closed her eyes and cast out her senses, as far as she could stretch, until her brain felt like it was tingling. There was Boo's chi, blazing. It had an odd, menacing feel to it.

Then - something else flickered, and Chiyo attuned her senses to it. To her delight she felt not just one, but several chi.

"But who?" she breathed. Dende didn't answer.

The chi was moving rapidly, approaching closer and closer to their hiding place. Chiyo squinted at the sky, searching for any visible signs. She suddenly recognized three of the chi - and could hardly contain her joy - but the other was totally unfamiliar; even Boo's chi was one she recognized now, due to the utter lack of other people on the planet.

Suddenly Dende leapt from the rocks.

"HEY!" he shouted, hopping up and down on the spot and waving his arms. "HEY!"

"Are you nuts?" Chiyo spluttered. "Don't draw attention to yourself! We're supposed to be hiding here!"

Dende paid no attention. Exasperated, Chiyo stood beside him and looked up.

There as Piccolo, Goten and Trunks, and another figure, just a silhouette against the sun. Was it her father? The clothes looked similar enough, but there was no halo encircling his head.

But that mystery could wait. Chiyo found herself swarmed by two boys, both trying to strangle her with affection; both talking a mile a minute.

"We thought Boo ate you - "

"He ran away, we fought him before - "

"Yeah! Look at these muscles!"

" - Gohan came and beat up Boo 'til he blew himself up."

"What?" Chiyo interrupted. "What about Gohan?"

"He's over there," Goten chirped, pointing to the figure near Piccolo. "He's so strong now! He beat Boo up real good, you shoulda seen it!"

Chiyo gently pushed Goten aside and approached the figure, who turned his head as she came closer. It was Gohan; taller, broader, and wearing their father's clothes. His face was still the same, though, and his grin familiar. That infamous smile widened as his sister locked gazes with him.

Chiyo's pace quickened to a trot, then a run. She threw herself at her brother, sobbing with a sudden outpouring of survivor's guilt and relief.

Normally Gohan would have made a joke about over-emotional girls, but this time he gave Chiyo a brief hug before prising her hands off his collarbones, although his eyes were wet.

"We thought you were dead," Chiyo said finally, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "How did you survive? Tell me everything!"

So Gohan gave a quick overview of what had happened in the past day or two.

"So you broke the Zeta Sword, and some guy came out of it?" Chiyo shook her head. "Weird."

"Not just some guy, but a Lord of Lords from fifteen generations back," Gohan explained. "He gave me some sort of power-up so I could fight Boo."

Chiyo lost her smile.

"Well, I'm glad one of us can," she muttered. "I tried twice and I still couldn't. Not only that, but I failed to protect the Lord of Lords anyway."

"No you didn't," her brother replied. "He escaped, and he found me. If it weren't for him - and for you - I'd be dead."

"You suffered terribly," Piccolo said in his low rumble. "I was there. It was a warrior's sacrifice and deserves recognition."

"But enough of that," Gohan said suddenly, noticing his sister's dark expression. "How did you and Dende survive?"

"If it wasn't for Mr. Popo, we never would have escaped," Dende replied, when Chiyo didn't answer. "Boo came out of the Room through a small portal, in some kind of liquid form. He began turning the others into chocolate. Mr Popo threw me off the lookout."

"And Chiyo?"

"He made me go after Dende," Chiyo said, avoiding Piccolo's gaze. "He said with you and Gotenks missing, I was the only one left who could stand up to Boo."

"Brave Popo," Piccolo rumbled. "Let's make sure his sacrifice isn't in vain. You should be proud of yourselves." The Namekian smiled. "You're a fine Kami-sama, Dende."

"Thank you."

Chiyo shrugged. That she had survived seemed a hollow victory when the last inhabitants of Earth stood before her.

"WHAT? My sweet little Videl is dead?"

Chiyo cringed as Mr. Satan's weeping reached her ears. She had liked Videl, even thought of her as a friend. Satan's grief only made it harder to accept that everyone she knew was gone.

"You!" Satan suddenly snapped, grabbing Gohan by the collar. "What kind of boyfriend are you? Why didn't you protect Videl, huh?"

"I wasn't there," Gohan replied falteringly.

"Don't worry mister!" Goten piped up. "She'll come back to life!"

"What?"

Satan whirled around, and seizing Goten by the shoulders began to shake him.

"What are you talking about, you little imp?!"

"I-I-I-I'm n-n-n-n-n-o-o-t- j-j-o-k-i-i-n-g," Goten replied, his voice wavering from the movement and holding back laughter.

Suddenly, Gohan stood up with a scowl on his face - and seconds later Chiyo sensed a powerful and familiar chi.

"Boo!" she said, clenching her fists.

"What?" Satan let go of Goten. "Boo's here?"

There was a small figure approaching from above; Chiyo could see the creature she had seen too much of in the past few days coming back. Obviously, Gohan hadn't beaten him.

"Why?" Piccolo muttered. "If he doesn't want to fight Gohan...? Unless he's improved in the last hour."

"I'll see what he's up to," Gohan said. "Stay here."

He floated into the air and approached Boo, who had landed on the top of a small hill not far away. Satan scrambled after him with the puppy Bee in one hand, his other balled into a fist.

"Majin Boo!" he roared. "How dare you hurt my daughter?! What's wrong with you? You promised not to kill anymore!"

Chiyo followed him, anxious that Boo would try something. But the monster simply kept staring at Gohan, and his gaze shifted to Goten and Trunks, who were following Chiyo.

"Don't you know who I am, Boo?" Satan said, in a slightly quieter voice.

"Wake up," Piccolo snapped. "The Boo you made friends with is gone."

"Hey, it's Bee!" Satan said, as if Piccolo hadn't spoken. He held the puppy in the air. "You remember Bee, don'tcha? This is the puppy you saved."

"You gave it a try," Piccolo rumbled. "Back off, let Gohan handle it."

Satan stepped back, and stroked the softly whining puppy.

"We'd better be quiet, Bee," he said.

"I bet he's bluffing!" Trunks said, looking straight at Boo. "Ten to one he runs away again!"

The creature turned his gaze from Gohan and settled on the two boys.

"Come on then, little worms," he said, his voice full of malice. "I want to fight you now."

"No way," Gohan replied steadily, glaring at Boo. "That is not going to happen. You're fighting me."

"I have a score to settle with them first...then I'll take care of you. Stupid boy."

"No way. You're not making the rules around here." Gohan jabbed a thumb towards himself. "You want to fight, I'm your man."

"What happened, boys?" said Boo, ignoring him. "Are you scared to fight me? Now you're acting like cowards."

Trunks and Goten glanced at Boo, then at each other. They looked uncertain.

"Come on," Boo said, and he smiled.

Boo's up to something, Chiyo thought, scrutinizing the monster's face with a frown. But what?