A Different Enemy
With the revelation of their potential future, both Krillin and Piccolo could not help but be a little bit scared by how close they had come to the brink. While Kami was not happy in the least that Piccolo had consumed his Demonic Father, he understood the circumstances. He agreed to let him back onto the tower, because the fact that he had not killed Krillin gave him hope that there was still good in the wayward Namekian. With Kami on their side, the two antagonistic warriors (with Ox at their heels) traveled across the entire world, searching for the Dragon Balls. With Kami's help, a task that might have taken them months or years was reduced to a week time span.
Using Shenron's power, the duo were able to wish for their departed ally – Tien – back to life. He was surprisingly fine with the situation, and revealed that when returned to life the other time, he had been in deep emotional pain due to the lingering contained King Piccolo. Krillin acknowledged that this same thing had corrupted him after his wife had revived him but Goku had still been locked up. Indeed, this fact had caused Krillin to resent Chi-Chi for not allowed his sacrifice to stick and mean something, and led to them drifting even further than they already had.
The three trained for a full year, and Krillin would sporadically leave his son in the care of either Tien or Piccolo, for weeks at a time, in order for him to train them. Of course, Krillin trained the boy himself, but was much harder on the boy than the others, and in one instance Tien had to prevent the monk from killing his son. After the year had passed, the group got together once more and wished back their new friend from Namek, Gast. He was the result of the fusion between Guru and Nail, and had spent the last few years in the other world. Though he was sad that the Namekians had been wiped out, he did agree that they were quite at home in the heavens. After a long talk with Kami, he agreed to help the group, with one stipulation – they bring Dende back to life next year and allow a new race of Nameks to flourish on Earth.
Though none of them really had the authority to make this call, the warriors assembled did agree not to try and remove any future Namekian colony. With that, Gast joined the new Z Team, and they trained for one final year for the arrival of the great King Slayer. They alternated between long periods of time alone, meditating, and times where they all came together to train and push each other to their absolute limits.
Finally, the fateful time arrived, and the group arranged themselves on the Lookout. Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, Gast, and Ox. This was Earth's first line of defense, and they would only become greater upon the arrival of the time travelers, who would surely arrive any moment. And then, the hard part – Goku's arrival. The return of the dark king. The very thought honestly made Krillin shudder, as he thought back to the time that Goku beat him within an inch of his life multiple times, only to bring him back each time.
But things were changed far more than the heroes could ever know.
A city was blown to absolute shreds, and the group assumed this was Goku's appearance on planet Earth. But, they could not sense any ki, which was strange. So, they agreed to send a scout to discover what was happening. Krillin volunteered Ox, and Tien volunteered himself in the boy's place, much to the monk's chagrin.
By the time Tien arrived at the battle site, everything was rubble. It was obvious that this had been done by warriors much like Tien and Krillin, and it was also obvious that they were still here. Perhaps it was a stroke of fateful luck that Tien had been sent and not any of the others. After returning from the dead not once, but twice, Tien was of a much different mindset than the others. They lived in this dirty world of constant corruption, of brute strength ruling over the weak. Tien was much more skillful. In his time in the next life, he had been trained by some of the greatest warriors of the universe. While he was not at Piccolo's level, he had his own ways to catch up.
The point being?
Tien wasn't scared when it happened. The moment when his old friends stepped before him, completely different from what they were. That moment of pause might have resulted in his death, for they didn't pause to explain themselves. All Tien knew was that they were clearly not human beings.
There were two of them, one a medium sized man with long black hair and a scar across his face. The other was a petite woman, possibly starved, but still strong, with medium length fine black hair. Judging by the tatoos on the back of their neck's, they were Androids 17 and 18, respectively.
They double teamed him, and he fought back without reservation. Blocking attacks left and right, taking an almost entirely defensive position. Their battle traversed the entire rubble of this dead city, with it's thousands of lost souls. There seemed to be no limit to their immense energy, and Tien just barely kept up with his other worldly techniques. One in particular he had been hiding for quite some time, hoping to unveil against Goku. He hadn't been sure on Namek, but now he had mastered the move to where he was sure it could have taken down Frieza. If only he'd known then!
But then his soul would have still been darkened, so he had no regrets.
Regardless, the tri-clops teeth grit in serious concentration, probably the first face he'd made since his return that was anything but tranquil. It contorted into one of intense push, as if he was forcing his body beyond what it would normally have been capable. Just as the two androids looked as if they would beat the tall bald man, something happened.
"Kao Ken!"
And like a fire his body literally lit up, a red aura covering it and his muscles bulging out. If they hadn't been emotionless machines, the two things might have been shocked at his increase in power. By now, the others were on their way, having sensed the incredible increase in energy that had resulted from Tien's new move. Piccolo silently cursed himself for allowing this cursed human to surpass him.
The Androids knew what they were doing, at least. It was like they had been studying martial arts themselves, and their moves were almost as precise as the heavenly warrior that was Tien Shinhan. Whereas before he was calmly holding back their dual attack, Tien was now on the offensive, blocking them move for move and then delivering three or more hits of his own. They were clearly being pushed back, but their emotionless faces showed no sign of tiring. Though Tien was clearly ahead of them, there just seemed to be no end to their reserve of power.
So, after a long and hard fought battle, wherein Tien had punched and kicked them like rag dolls, the very moment he began to tire him out they struck.
They really had been studying, but it was more specific than that. A move that had very nearly defeated Jackie Chun in one of the last World Martial Arts Tournaments. A hold, a bend, a break. Tien's arm was snapped cleanly and efficiently by the male Android, number 17. Now his concentration broke, and his red aura dissipated, lowering his power level significantly. Now these dirty robots had the upper hand on him, and began their own spree of kicking around the warrior.
Krillin arrived at the scene first, and what he found literally caused him to collapse to his knees. For one short moment, this quiet warrior, this apathetic bastard finally had a moment of true emotion.
For he recognized the two machines. Indeed, one of them he had been close to. At least as close as he had ever gotten to anyone else. The one who had cared for him lovingly, without receiving any in return. The one who had finally gotten tired and left, all those years ago.
The two Androids were Yamcha and Chi-Chi.
