A/N:
Sorry about the longer update time. Had some writers block, both with this and my other story. The next chapter should be out within the next month, with any luck of course. I would like to thank every for sticking around, and especially those who are reviewing. Even the anonymous ones. However, and this isn't review begging, but if you have any criticism, please feel free to voice it. Positive reviews are nice, but I know there is so much I can do to make this story better, and I need reviewers like you all to help me find my weakpoints. So by all means, feel free to rip this story a new one if that is what suits you. But at least try and tell me what I am doing wrong, and not just bash it.
And of course, this is not my property. Dragonball, Dragonball Z and GT all belong to Akira Toriyama and Toei Animation. So make sure to support the official release.
Piccolo was deep in a state of meditation, mentally preparing himself for the upcoming battle, when two enormous ki signatures pulled Piccolo from his trance. Both were approaching at an unbelievable rate.
Piccolo turned, and saw Gohan's expression. It was one of determination mixed with apprehension and fear. "Looks like they're here...and every bit as strong as I feared...hopefully the others get here soon..."
"Others you say...are they every bit as pathetic as you two?"
The voice came from above, and both Piccolo and his student quickly turned their gaze to the sky. Piccolo quickly noted that the shorter one was the one he saw in that vision, and he could tell right away that he was without a doubt the stronger of the two. The other was huge, close to a foot higher than Piccolo, and bald. They each carried scornful looks on their faces, which seemed strangely unnerving to Piccolo and Gohan.
Piccolo was better at hiding his emotions, and gave the two a cocky smirk. "Hmph. So you're the two we've heard about. I'm not sure who the over grown gorilla is, but you-" he said, glaring right at Vegeta, "You're Vegeta aren't you?"-"Funny, I would have expected the prince to be a bit...taller than this by the time he had grown up."
Vegeta narrowed his eyes, but otherwise kept calm. What he couldn't figure out was how this guy on some back water planet knew anything about him. "I see my reputation proceeds me then, but tell me green man...did you also happen to hear that I am one of the most powerful and ruthless beings in the entire universe?"
Piccolo felt a few drops of sweat beading on his brow, and he found himself regretting the notion of goading that Saiyan. The power he was putting out was overwhelming, and Piccolo still had the nagging feeling that he was holding back the vast majority of it. The thought occurred to him that they would need to do everything in their power to stall for time, till Goku arrived.
At that moment, both Nappa and Vegeta's scouters began beeping frantically. All around, all of Earth's main defenders touched down in front of them. Tien, Yamcha, Krillin, Chaoutzu and Yajirobe.
Vegeta laughed quietly. "Looks like the entire gang of misfits is here then. At least you'll all get the honor of dying together." the smile vanished abruptly from Vegeta's face, as an icy look overtook his features. "I am willing to make a deal with you, if you fools can tell me how to use the Dragonballs, maybe...just maybe, I won't slaughter every last one of you and burn your precious world to a cinder."
"How stupid do you think we are?" Piccolo snarled, "Even if we gave you what you want, how do we know you would keep up your end of the bargain?"
Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "Hmph. Considering you killed Raditz, of course you have every right to worry. An eye for an eye, someone has to die after all." The prince ran his eyes over the entire crowd, "Perhaps all of you even..." he then took a second glance at Piccolo, and he realized something. His voice, sounded...familiar, "You, you're the one who finished off Raditz, aren't you?"-"Yes that makes this a bit tricky, because if the legends I've heard are correct, then we can't kill you and hope to use the Dragonballs, isn't that right, Namekian?"
Piccolo took a step back, mouth agape. "Wait, a-are you saying that I'm not from Earth?"
The prince sighed roughly, only for Nappa to interrupt him, "Of course you're not, was the green skin not enough of a give away?"
Piccolo's eyes widened, before a smirk crept over his face. "Well, I always did know I was different from anyone else...in fact, learning I'm not from Earth is a relief...because all this time I'd been thinking I was some sort of demon."
On the Lookout, Kami suddenly gasped in shock, startling Mr. Popo.
...
"Oh my, Kami...is everything all right."
The guardian wrung his fingers together, softly. Now, everything made sense. "Yes...yes mister Popo, I'm fine. All this time, I had the suspicion that I wasn't from Earth, and now with this revelation all those long repressed memories have flooded back to the surface. I'm a Namekian, and I came here from my home planet on that ship in the far northern reaches of the world...-"
...
Yes, everything made sense to Piccolo as well. Now he only hoped that he might live to see his home planet, one day. But first, they had to deal with the more pressing matter.
Vegeta, had grown bored. Yet he was curious, on exactly how strong the planets defenders really were. A year ago the strongest one had a power of just over fifteen hundred, almost the exact same reading he was giving off now. Yet that wasn't right, and Vegeta knew not to place too much trust in technology such as the scouters. Not always did they tell the whole story. And judging from the fact that their arrival seemed anticipated, the prince had an inkling that his and Nappa's opponents were much stronger than what they were letting on.
After a moment of thought, he settled upon the perfect idea. "Nappa, do me a favor and tell me what the scouter readouts are for those fools, I'm quite...curious."
Nappa, for his part knew that Vegeta could see the same thing on his scouter, yet he complied anyway, tapping the button a few time. Obviously there was more to this than Vegeta was letting on.
"Let's see here...1,557 for the Namekian, 1,400 for the half-breed brat...1,423 for the bald midget...1,390 for the one with the scar, 1,450 for the triclops, 1,290 for the clown, and 1,094 for the fat ass with the sword."
In the distance an angry shout was heard from Yajirobe, but Vegeta ignored it. "Very interesting. Yet they mean absolutely nothing. The warriors before us have proven that they can alter their powerlevels at will, so the scouters won't do us very much good. I have a better way of gauging their actual powers...how many of those seeds do you have left Nappa?"
"Hmm, let me see here-" he reached into a compartment in his armor, and rummaged through a bag inside it. "Twelve, ought to make for an interesting show."
Nappa squatted down to the ground, before taking his index finger and swiftly jabbing a dozen finger tip sized holes in the ground. Then, he placed a single seed in each on, before adding a dark green, viscous liquid.
Nothing happened for the first few seconds, until slowly but surely, twelve ugly little heads popped up through the earth. After that came the rest of them. They were green, with sickly, bulbous heads, and viscous claw like hooks for fingers. Screeching and chattering, they were a disgusting sight to behold. Each person had a slightly different reaction, though the disdain was plain to see on all of their faces.
Nappa smirked, "So, how do you like our Saibamen?"
Vegeta grinned, before letting loose a deep chuckle, "And do you know what the best part is?"-"Every last of of them is roughly equal to Raditz in power and speed. Not nearly as smart, but they should be an excellent source of amusement, and a way for me to see how strong you lot of weaklings really are."
Piccolo laughed at that, "As strong as he was you say...lets see what they can do then!"
Vegeta frowned. "Well you heard him," he said, pointing at the one closest to the group, "Show them what you can do."
"Keeeeaaahh!" it shrieked, before lunging at Gohan. The boy took a step back in fright, before getting into a fighting stance.
Right before it got within range, Piccolo's arm shot out, grabbing it by the throat. "Bad move, you freakish little cretin..." he quickly slammed a fist into its gut, wedging it halfway into the creatures body cavity. A second later, he focused a small amount of ki into that hand, disintegrating the filth in the blink of an eye.
"Woah, did you see that Vegeta, he took that out out like it was nothing..."muttered Nappa, clearly impressed.
"Of course he did, why else do you think I told you the scouter couldn't always be trusted."-"I don't know if you saw it, but in that once instant, his power nearly hit four thousand, and I suspect that he can push it higher still. This might be a lot more fun than I first thought." Vegeta looked at the rest of the plant like creatures, shooting them a glare so fierce that even they shrank back in terror, "Now you little insects, unless you want to face my wrath, go and make those clowns suffer!"
Secretly Vegeta wasn't to optimistic on their odds, given how easily the Namek dispatched the first one, but it didn't matter. The Saibamen were expendable, and it was no secret that Vegeta despised the imps. So what did he care if they ended up being destroyed.
Right away on rushed Piccolo, only for him to phase out of sight, reappearing right behind it. With nothing but a glare, he fired a mouth blast, reducing it to nothing but a cloud of ash.
Two more made for Yamcha, with the bandit parrying the first combo they threw at him. One got lucky and kicked him across the face, only for him to grab its leg with both arms. In a single fluid motion, he ripped it off clean at the socket. As it fell back crying shrilly in agony, he took its oozing limb and bashed the other across the head as it approached.
Then with a stern expression, he cupped his hands, preparing to finish the wounded on off.
"Kame...hame...haaaa!" he shouted, firing the brilliant blue blast at his opponent. At the last second it tried to flee, but was consumed by the blast. Once the air cleared, the only thing left of it were a few charred hunks of bone and tissue.
Not wanting to give the other a chance, he spun to avoid a blast from the creatures maw, and fired a Dodon Ray through its skull, shredding its brain and killing it instantly.
Tien punched his first opponent in the throat with enough force that it went clean through its windpipe and out the back of its neck. And without pause, he flung it's body to the ground and used a powerful kiai to rip the others body into tiny pieces.
Krillin and Piccolo both had similar ease, each dispatching their remaining opponents in under thirty seconds.
Gohan, while a bit fearful of the Saibaman's appearance, quickly regained his confidence when he realized just how much stronger he was. He spent a few seconds sidestepping it's clumsy swipes, before rushing in and taking hold of each of its arms. Using technique that he had developed while training with
Piccolo, he focused his ki into his hands.
Right away the monsters arms burst into flames, blue tendrils that quickly spread to every corner of its body. Within a few moments all that remained was a thick cloud of soot and ash.
Truthfully, Gohan had spent a lot of work refining that move, so that it wouldn't burn him as well. It was intended to be used to escape from a stronger opponent, but when used on something significantly weaker, it was surprisingly lethal.
Chaoutzu managed to dodge the first strike, but was slammed hard in the gut by a follow up kick. With a grunt of pain, he focused his energy into its form, completely immobilizing his Saibaman opponent. With a swift kick, he sent it flying into the air. As soon as he took off he released his hold, but by the time it was able to move, the diminutive fighter was already poised to strike. With a psyionic infused beam of energy, he blasted it down to the ground. For good measure, he fired another blast into the crater, blasting a hole nearly fifty feet into diameter into the barren ground.
All eyes then turned to Yajirobe, who seemed to be having the most difficulty. His opponent had him on the defensive, as he ducked and dodged under its slashes. One finally struck a glancing blow, slicing his cheek from just below the ear, nearly to his jaw line.
"Okay ugly, play times over!" the samurai shouted, before spinning around and kicking the imp in the back. In a moment it caught its balance, but this time found itself on the ropes, struggling to fend off the obese fighters assault. Yajirobe could pick up that his opponent was stronger than him, but it didn't matter. It fought with no skill, and up until it got that lucky attack in, he had been taking it easy, to try and see how tough it was. But it had pissed him off when it did that, along with sending him a sobering message. This was a fight for the planet, and every second he wasted on this inferior freak was time and energy that could have been put to better use against the two Saiyans. With that though firmly in mind, he grabbed it by the throat, before jerking violently forward, headbutting it over and over again. After the seventh blow, he shoved it back and jumped into the sky.
He wan't nearly as proficient as the others at flight, but he was skilled enough to get by. Once he reached about sixty feet, he slowed himself to a halt, and drew his sword. When he saw that the Saibaman stumbling incoherently to his feet, he grimaced and took aim. In one quick motion he hurled his sword like a spear, straight at his enemy. It struck true, lodging in between its chest and throat. For a second it gurgled out a pained cry, but by then the samurai had rushed in, and grabbed the sword by the hilt. In one neat move, he yanked it upwards, slicing its head and throat in half. A few more strokes later, and all that was left were some dismembered, oozing body parts.
Yajirobe let out a groan of disgust, before leaping away from the mess. To him, it wasn't even worth the expenditure of energy to destroy the remains.
The portly fighters showing had the effect of surprising Vegeta.
"Hmm...that Saibaman had a power of 2,245...and that fat ass was at 2,036. Yet he took it out like nothing, might have to keep an eye on him and that blasted sword."
Not that Vegeta expected the samurai to lose, but he didn't expect to see the display of skill that happened. The prince's reaction wasn't lost on Nappa, who also seemed genuinely impressed with what Yajoribe did despite his lower power level.
"Well Nappa, looks like you might actually have a decent challenge on your hands with this bunch." Vegeta said with a wry smile on his face.
The burly Saiyan grinned like a maniac, obviously very stoked for the coming battle, "Hehe, I guess so." he paused, considering his next statement, "Say, you're not going to fight as well are you?"
Vegeta's smile grew deeper. "Of course not, why would I?" then the smirk vanished, as a scowl crept over his features, "They wouldn't last ten seconds against me, and you know it. I don't think they will even survive all that long against you at full power, so me joining in would literally be overkill. And that would deny you the fight I know you've been craving. If...and only if, by some miracle they manage to get past you, then they will have to contend with me."
Of all the warriors, only one had the keen hearing necessary to pick up on the conversation the two Saiyans were having. And from the nature of it, his suspicions had been confirmed. That ogre of a man, was the weaker of the two. By his tone and posture, Picccolo knew that Vegeta was significantly stronger.
Which was why the Namekian didn't look at all surprised to see the bulky fighter confidently striding towards them. If anything, the fact that he was fighting first might be a blessing. Against him, they might even be able to survive long enough for Goku to make it back. Not that Piccolo was willing to wager anything major in a bet. Even at rest his ki was very formidable.
Nappa laughed heartily. "Looks like you all get to fight me. Considering how handily you disposed of the Saibamen, I expect a decent warm up from this, so don't disappoint me..."
Krillin gulped, before turning to Piccolo. "Him...we have to fight that ogre?" he whispered.
"Would you rather fight the other one?" Piccolo whispered back harshly. Then, a bit louder, enough for the other humans to hear, he said, "I heard every word they said, and going by how they acted to each other, it was easy to figure which one is stronger and in charge. And it isn't this guy...so we should count our blessings with that."
Krillin, along with the others nodded hesitantly.
Nappa frowned, growing annoyed by the muttering. "So, are we going to fight or just stand around passing secrets all day?" When he saw them all turn and get into a fighting stance, a devilish grin appeared on his lips. "That's more like it, face your fate with honor."
Yamcha cracked his knuckles, before flashing a smirk of his own. "Guess I'll take the first crack at it then...let's see how tough you really are."
The Scarface bandit began powering up, followed quickly by all the others. Within seconds they had all reached their maximums.
Nappa looked at the numbers on his scouter and whistled softly. Impressive...the one with the hair has a power of 3,046...and everyone else minus the clown and the fat one are well over 3,000...And the Namekian...4,236...not bad.
No sooner than he looked back at his opponents did he see that Yamcha had phased out of sight. Nappa saw a flicker of movement, but wasn't quite able to dodge the fist aimed at his cheek. The giant rolled with the punch, and managed to fling Yamcha over his shoulder, where he landed on his feet a few dozen feet away.
With a smirk, he placed the scouter back into a compartment, and wiped the blood from his lip. "Ha, nice shot...now let me show you how it's done!"
Nappa darted towards Yamcha, phasing in and out of sight around him in a zig-zag pattern. With his speed, the fighter could barely follow his movements, which wasn't even factoring in how dizzy he was getting from attempting to do so in the first place.
Yamcha quickly grew tired of the game, and aimed a kick at where he thought the burly man was going to be. The guess proved correct, but what he didn't expect was for Nappa to grab him roughly by the ankle. Before a blow could be delivered, Yamcha's foot was abruptly released, with the Saiyan being sent careening into a nearby hill.
When he looked up, he saw Piccolo, with an irritated scowl on his face. "Idiot...what were you thinking attacking him by yourself?" Piccolo snarled out. "It doesn't matter, make sure it doesn't happen again...I can't afford to bail you fools out of every mess you get into."
Yamcha thought about firing of a snappy retort, but stopped when Nappa landed right in front of them. The smile had yet to fade from his face, though their was a tiny crack in the back of his armor where Piccolo's boot had struck it.
Not wasting a second, the massive Saiyan charged Piccolo, who met his fist with one of his own. The Namekian grimaced, then kicked Nappa in the chest, knocking him back a few feet. After that, he rushed giant, with the two engaging in a brief high speed melee.
Tien observed the fight, with great apprehension. While it was a challenge, he was able to keep up with most of the fight, and by the looks of things, Piccolo held a small advantage. But appearances could be deceiving, and while Piccolo was focused intently, face drawn into a snarl, the Saiyan seemed almost at ease, relaxed even.
With a final thundering blow the two separated. Nappa crashed face first into the ground, while Piccolo landed shakily on one knee, slightly out of breath.
In a matter of seconds the larger fighter picked himself up, with an amused expression on his face. "I gotta say, that was one hell of a warm up." Everyone cringed at that, but Nappa kept on talking, "But I think the preliminary round is over, time to get a bit more serious."
He clenched his fists, as a white aura appeared around him. Heavy winds buffeted the gathering, with Piccolo being the only one having little difficulty standing. That, however, didn't mean he felt any better about the situation. The powerup only lasted a few moments, but the difference was significant. Nappa went from just below Piccolo in power to significantly above in almost an instant.
As soon as it was over he disappeared from sight, only to pop up less than a meter from Piccolo. As he swung a power house of a punch, the Namekian only had milliseconds to throw up his arms in defense. The blow reverberated throughout his body, rattling his teeth as he strained to keep up his defense. Before Nappa could aim a boot at his gut, Yamcha blindsided him with an elbow to the side of his head, staggering him for a moment. Laughing in amusement, he was caught off guard again by twin attacks from Krillin and Tien. The two had launched a dual pronged kick at his spine, with enough force to send him skidding across the rocky ground.
With a roar the Saiyan flung himself out of the ditch he created, and straight towards the group. He caught Tien in the gut with a knee, before balling his fist and throwing it at the side of Krillin's head. To his surprise, a dark blue glow enveloped it, and the punch was brought to a screeching halt.
"What the hell?" Nappa muttered, before concentrating some ki and flexing his arm. With a bit of effort, the hold along with the aura vanished, and he scanned the fighters to see who might have been responsible. When he saw that Chaoutzu was still holding both hands outwards, with the same blue energy arcing around his body, Nappa knew he found his culprit.
In an instant he sped toward him, till he was less than a meter from the dwarf. "That's a pretty nice trick there, for someone who isn't all that much stronger than Raditz, very impressive..." the smile he had deepened, and he clenched his fist again, "But its not good enough!" he roared, before swinging as hard as he could at Chaoutzu. The earth bound fighter focused as much power as he could, slowing down the punch greatly, but the force still sent him speeding towards the ground like a bullet.
With a psionic burst, he stopped himself a few feet above the ground, right next to the crater he blasted the Saibaman into. One eye was swollen shut, but he considered himself lucky, had that blow hit him full force, his head would have no doubt been knocked clean off.
Nappa looked down, and caught a sudden movement from the corner of his eye. It was coming from the crater, and he had a good idea what it was. Tien saw it too, and his eyes went wide.
"Chaoutzu get out of there!"
"Move it you albino idiot!"
Both Tien and Nappa shouted almost at once. Nappa didn't particularly care whether or not the fighter lived, but he didn't want to see his opponent lose to a cheap shot.
It was too little too late, because at that moment the Saibaman that Chaoutzu thought he killed came bursting from underground. Large chunks of skin were melted and warped, but it was very much alive. And with a wild high pitched cry, it's head opened up in the middle, as a jet of concentrated acid shot forth.
Chaoutzu tried to avoid it, but was utterly drenched in the stuff. Right away he began smoking, as his own energy pulsated around him. To know avail, after several seconds of screaming in utter agony, he fell silent, and abruptly crashed to the ground in a mangled heap. Tien instantly appeared at his side, and nearly wretched at the sight. All that remained was a blackened, partially dissolved skeleton, with what looked to be an expression of horror etched into what was left of its facial features.
Before he could even turn to face the killer, a shout from Vegeta rang out across the battlefield.
"Insolent little wretch!" a second later, the prince thrust two glowing fingers forward, and the Saibaman detonated in a massive fireball.
Nappa stood speechless for a moment. After a few more seconds, he found his voice, "You...you killed it Vegeta..."
Vegeta turned and glared harshly at his subordinate. "Of course I killed that vile piece of trash. That little fool lost it's own battle, yet still had the gall to interrupt your own...it would be an insult to our honor, all of us, if I had allowed that to go unabated."
Nappa was unable to respond, before a massive burst of power nearly knocked him off his feet. Spinning around, he saw the source, Tien.
"You," the triclops said, with a voice that seemed a little too calm for the occasion. The calm facade vanished in a heartbeat, as veins bulged all over the fighters body. "You bastards!" he seethed. "Because of you, Chaoutzu is dead...even if it was your little garden experiment that did it, the blame is on you."-"Whats more, he's already been brought back once, the Dragoballs can't do it again. Mark my words. .Pay."
Nappa got into a fighting stance, just as Tien got within range. With a precise movement, he easily blocked the first kick aimed at his face. What he didn't expect was to see two glowing fingers inches from his face.
"Dodon Ray!" the blast shot out, smashing Nappa right between his eyes, forcing him to stumble backwards a few feet. Another blow struck him in the gut, and despite the discomfort, he found himself even more enthralled with the fight. Thinking on his feet, the Saiyan grabbed Tien's arms and held him in place roughly.
"I see you're a lot tougher than your power level indicated...wait...it was his death that gave you this drive wasn't it?" Nappa shook his head sadly."A shame that it took losing a comrade to bring out that kind of power in you...I understand how that feels."
Tien roared in anger, kicking the burly fighter back a few feet. "Don't you dare pretend, not even for a minute that you understand what I'm going through...mindless murdering monster, what the hell would you know about that!"
That struck a cord in Nappa. He thought back to Raditz, of all the things the trio of Saiyans had suffered through together. Yes he and Vegeta had taunted him over being so much weaker, but it was mostly in jest. Yes he was the weakest of the three, but he was still a valuable member of the group, a trust worthy comrade. One that had saved not only his, but Prince Vegeta's lives on more than one occasion.
This time, it was Nappa's turn to feel rage. He flared his aura, blasting the triclops back several feet, and kicking up a massive cloud of pressurized dirt. "How dare you, pathetic, insignificant little human...you think you're the only one who lost a valued comrade...well you're wrong!" he bellowed, before calming himself. If only slightly. "Make no mistake, we want a wish...but if you think we would sit by and allow Raditz's death to go unpunished, you're dead fucking wrong!"
Nappa vanished from sight, before reappearing next to Tien with a fist full of ki. He swung, and it was all the former assassin could do not to cry out in agony. He blocked the strike, but his entire left hand was ruined. It was charred almost all over, and was still crackling painfully with leftover energy. The Saiyan wasn't finished, hammering the wounded appendage with another blow, this once severing it at the wrist.
Tien fell to his knee, gripping his arm just above the wrist with his remaining hand. There had been one saving grave with that, and that was because of the nature of the injury, the wound was almost completely cauterized, with only a few tiny red droplets seeping out and falling to the ground.
"You bastard, I'll kill you!" Tien screamed, launching into a series of punches and kicks, most of which Nappa was blocking and dodging with ease. One finally slipped through, with the warrior finally scoring a chop to Nappa's temple. The giant shrugged the blow off, before kneeing Tien in the gut. Without pause, he used his boot to flip him into the air, before backhanding him into a rock pile nearly a hundred feet away.
To Nappa's surprise, Tien came bursting from the debris pile, and was back in his face in seconds. The Saiyan smirked, blocking all of Tien's strikes with a single arm. The triclops scored a blow to the gut, and another to Nappa's left cheek, but was quickly put back on the defensive to avoid a kick to his chin.
Off in the distance, Krillin and Yamcha were growing anxious about Tien's predicament.
"This is bad, at the rate its going Tien won't last more than a couple minutes against that guy..." Krillin stated.
Yamcha clenched his fists, before shaking his head in agreement. "Yeah, we have to do something or else he'll end up getting himself killed."
The bandit charged up his aura, frustration reaching it's peak. "That's it!"-"I don't know about the rest of you, but I for one am not going to stand by and watch him be beaten to a pulp."
"Y-yeah...I'm with him!" Yajirobe chimed in.
"No you fools, in case you haven't noticed...he has been watching us as well...if we wait a bit longer he will drop his guard...we strike then, and only then." Piccolo said through clenched teeth.
A cry of pain caught their attention, as they saw Nappa nailing Tien in the gut with an elbow strike.
"Enough, I'm going in, to at least try and even the odds!" Yamcha shouted, before taking off across the ground. Krillin took one glance back before following the long haired warrior.
They got to just within a hundred meters before Nappa caught sight of them.
Growling in anger, he formed a ball of energy in his hands, before hurling it at the hapless humans. "Stay out of this!"
A colossal explosion, one that Krillin and Yamcha avoided by the skin of their teeth. When the smoke began clearing, mere inches from where they landed was the edge of a mile deep crater.
Nappa smirked, before feeling a shift in the air currents to his right. He spun around, only to see Yajirobe flying at him with the sword poised to strike.
Nearly balking, Nappa reached out hastily, grabbing the blade mid swing, wincing as he felt it cut into the flesh.
"Nice try, stupid fat bastard." with a grunt he kicked Yajirobe in the gut, before backhanding him into a mountain half a mile away. With a grimace, he looked at the inch long wound in the middle of his palm. Slowly, he opened and closed his fists, as thin stream of blood trickled down his wrist.
"He...almost got me with that, I can see how he took out a Saibaman so easily." Nappa then frowned, and looked down towards Tien.
"Hmph. Looks like it's the two of us again. Perfect." he phased out of sight, materializing next to Tien. The triclops was expecting something of that nature, and ducked right as one of Nappa's massive fists sailed over his head. The blow that came next moved faster than his eyes could track, with Tien hacking up a mouthful of blood as Nappa drove a knee into his solar plexus.
Chuckling, Nappa let him fall to the ground as he slowly ascended towards the sky. Slowly Tien managed to force himself to his feet, chest heaving up and down from exhaustion.
"Damn it all, it's not use against him. I gave it my all, and I barely even put a scratch on him. My power is fading fast...I guess this is it then..."
Nappa tilted his head in confusion. "Hey, are you going to stand there all day talking to yourself, or are we going to finish this?"
As if to confirm his intentions, Tien flared up his aura. "I'll finish it all right..." he said to no one in particular. His ki xpiked even higher, but it wasn't the amount of power that was the cause for concern among the allied band of fighters.
...
"No...the fool, he's using the Kikoho..." Piccolo muttered. "It uses life energy, and judging by how long he's been charging it, I think he intends to take that Saiyan down with him."
As the only person to understand the situation, Gohan gulped audibly. "Wait, you mean that he'll die from that attack...is there anything we can do to stop him?"
"No, I'm afraid not...if anyone gets close, they run the risk of getting caught in the crossfire...and, I don't even think I could survive a blast like that..."
...
Tien took one last glance at his allies, before steeling himself for what was to come. Drawing upon every last bit of willpower, he focused all of his energy into the palm of his hand. "Forgive me Chaoutzu...but this might be the only way..."
"All right you bastard, let's see how you handle this...Kikoho!" he thrust his hand forward, firing off a massive jet of bright yellow energy.
Nappa smirked, ready to take the blast head on. That was, until a shout from Vegeta made him think otherwise.
"Nappa you idiot, don't just sit there, that attack's power is over five thousand!"
Right before the beam connected, the Saiyan gave a mighty yell, while throwing his arms up in front of him. The explosion, while deceptively small, packed a tremendous punch; enough to blast all the fights sans Piccolo clean off their feet. Even the Namekian had to grit his teeth, fighting with all his might not to be blown away by the wind.
As the smoke cleared, to their horror, they saw that not only was Nappa alive, but almost completely uninjured, with only a few burns on his arms and legs to show for. The only real causality was his armor, with both shoulder pads and the right portion of the chest plate completely disintegrated. With a smirk, he allowed the small aura around him to disperse.
Tien winced in pain, clutching his chest. "No...I, I put everything I had into that...and it barely scratched him. I'm...sorry everyone," he took a shallow breath before collapsing onto his hands and knees. "...I failed you..." As he said those words, whatever remained of his strength left him, and he collapsed onto the ground. After a couple more ragged breaths, his fight was over.
Yamcha punched the ground below him, planting his fist over a foot into the rocky terrain. "Damn it all!"
Before he could try anything rash, he felt a firm hand grip his shoulder. When he turned around, still shaking with rage and grief, he saw Piccolo staring at him with an oddly somber look.
"Don't even think about doing that. Tien died nobly trying to avenge his friend and protect the planet, but going in and getting ourselves killed one by one is not the way to go. The same thing that happened to him would happen to any of us if we fight that Saiyan by ourselves, working as a team is the only chance we have to survive till Goku gets back. And believe me, surviving might be the best we can hope for with what we're up against, but..."
The Namekian balled up his other hand into a first, "...I still plan on giving it my all, so if we hope to accomplish anything, we need to come up with a plan and fast...if this one is anything like Goku's brother, grabbing his tail should paralyze him. But we have to be prepared in the event that it fails."-"I'll be the one to grab his tail, Krillin-"
"No." Krillin said, interrupting Piccolo mid sentence. Not so long ago he would have been terrified of doing so, but having spent the past year training off and on with the former demon, he knew that their was no longer any risk involved. Plus, this was a more personal matter.
Piccolo looked surprised, and a scowl threatened to form on his face, but he decided that perhaps he should hear the other out.
"I'll be the one to take that risk. Don't take this the wrong way Piccolo, but I've known Tien and Chaoutzu a lot longer than you. I didn't see them much after the last tournament, but they were still my friends. Plus you're a lot stronger than I am, so at least if it doesn't work, and something happens...it'll be to me, and you'll be able to keep fighting till Goku gets back...they both risked their lives to stop Daiomao and bring me back...so I owe them the same."
Hearing those words brought a smirk to Piccolo's face. The unintended reminder of his sire's crimes made his stomach churn, but he quickly forced those thoughts back. And he had to admit, the monk had a good point.
The Namekian gave a small chuckle, "Strange, I'm not sure whether to insult you for being so reckless, or commend you for your courage." he paused, spending the next few seconds rethinking his plan. It wasn't much of an alteration from what he had before, and he figured it would work just as well. "Since you seem so adamant, here's the plan. Yamcha, I need you to distract the big guy, but don't get close unless you have to."
The ex-bandit nodded. "I could use the Spirit Ball for that."
"Exactly." Piccolo turned to Gohan. "And while you two are occupied, Gohan and myself will rush him head on.", he noticed his student's apprehension and snorted, "Don't look at me like that. Next to me you're the strongest one here, and I know I've trained you well."
Gohan then did his best to try and hide the fear that was welling up inside of himself. "Okay mister Piccolo."
"And try not to worry so much runt, no matter what, I will protect you."
Krillin started to chuckle at the exchange, but stopped when he saw the look on everyone's face. This was no laughing matter, and he quickly got into a fighting stance. For a moment, he couldn't help but wonder how that giant of a man was finding the patience to not attack them. Still, it was a good thing that he had, because otherwise they wouldn't have had the time to begin forming a plan.
Yamcha quickly rushed towards Nappa, who had touched down right after blocking Tien's suicide attack. As soon as he saw the Saiyan assuming his own stance, Yamcha quickly fired a burst of ki into the ground, launching himself several meters into the sky. He smirked when he saw the confused look on his opponents face.
A white glow surrounded his hand, before slowly moving out and above his now outstretched palm. "Let's see how you like this then, Spirit Ball!"
Yamcha launched the ball of ki straight at Nappa, who looked first at Yamcha and then the orb of ki. Thinking it as nothing more than a joke, he raised his hand, intending to swat the blast aside like an annoying insect. But right as he swung, Yamcha twisted his index and middle fingers upwards, sending his attack soaring into the sky.
"What the-" Nappa didn't get to finish his sentence, before the ball flew back downward, burying itself just inches from his feet. The massive Saiyan gave a hearty laugh. "Hahaha, that was a nice little trick, but you'll have to work on your aim if you want to hit anything with that."
The warrior with the scar managed a laugh of his own. "Is that what you think?"-"Well, since you're so confided, I guess you have no reason to look behind you then..."
"Yeah, like I'd fall for that trick." the Saiyan said as he rubbed his mustache.
Which was precisely what Yamcha wanted to hear. Thrusting his hand upward again, the Spirit Ball burst forth from the ground behind Nappa.
Nappa spun around, and Yamcha swore he heard the word "shit" muttered underneath the brutes breath. Moving his hand in a deliberate and precise manner, Yamcha directed the ball's movement, sending moving to and fro, in a wide around around his enemy.
Growing agitated, Nappa jumped back a few meters. Then, when he saw the blast heading his way, he concentrated a bit of energy in his mouth and fired it at Yamcha's attack. Right before the beam struck it, Yamcha unclenched his remaining fingers, causing the ball to break apart into over a dozen smaller fragments. Taking advantage of his foes bewilderment, he tightened his first, with all the pieces converging together milliseconds before slamming into Nappa's chest.
As the smoke cleared, a slightly burned and very agitated Saiyan emerged from the shroud. The former bandit tensed up, but soon found that to be unnecessary. Krillin had already managed to sneak in and grab a hold of Nappa's tail. But something didn't seem right; from what he was told, Raditz had dropped like a rock when Goku had done the same to him, yet this was only showing the faintest signs of discomfort.
Krillin noticed his too, when the Saiyan failed to do anything more than grunt in annoyance. When he saw Nappa turn his eyes to him, the monk released his tail abruptly.
"Impressive strategy you all had going...it would have worked on any other Saiyan too, but you overlooked one tiny thing." he leaned closer, till his face was less than a foot from Krillin. "And that is that me and Prince Vegeta both trained our tails, so that we would never have to worry about weaklings like you taking advantage of that little flaw in Saiyan biology."
The monk tried with all his might to fight back his fear, and think of a plan, but it was not use.
Nappa's smile deepened. "Look at you, shaking like a leaf. Don't feel too bad, that grip of yours was pretty tight. My tail will probably be a bit stiff for a few days thanks to that...but just think, if you were as strong as Vegeta, you might have been able to drop me with that tactic. But, if you were as strong as him," his features contorted into a snarl, "...then you wouldn't have needed such a pathetic strategy to take me down. Which is a shame, for you!"
He cranked his fist back, intent on smashing Krillin halfway across the continent, but the monk managed to react fast enough to think of a way out of his predicament.
"Solar Flare!"
The same thing he used against Raditz, now seemed just as effective against the Saiyans stronger comrade. Just as he was beginning to gather his ki into a disk shape in his palm, a flailing strike from Nappa caught him in the face. Unable to regain control of his body, he flew for nearly a thousand feet, before slamming roughly into a small rock formation.
Nappa was seething, though he was proud of the fact that he still managed to hit the little guy despite his impaired eye sight. As he tried to open his eyes, he saw two humanoid shapes appear in front of him. In the instant it took him to blink, they were out of sight.
"What the, where did those two go?" he questioned out loud, still trying to get the spots in his eyes to go away. To his left, he heard a gruff voice say "Over here.", and as he turned to look, he saw a flash of green, and was sent crashing across the ground. As he stood up, he saw Piccolo floating in the air nearly a hundred feet away, with his arm retracting towards his body.
"Looks like you all are full of surprises, I'm impressed. But it'll take a lot more than that for you to win!" With a snarl, he shot up into the sky, with his aura blasting a small crater into the ground as he took off.
Piccolo smirked at that, before taking off higher into the air as well. He saw that the Saiyan was quickly gaining on him, faster than expected. He spun around mid flight, still keeping up his forward momentum. Then, timing it just right, he threw a punch, with his arm extending several hundred feet back towards his pursuer.
Nappa twisted to the side to avoid it, and as Piccolo was retracting it, he reached out and grabbed the appendage. What he didn't count on was the leg also speeding his way. Nappa blinked in surprise, before being smashed in the jaw. While it did bloody his lip, it did nothing about his grip on Piccolo's arm.
Gritting his teeth, the Namek decided on a different strategy, and instead of drawing his arm back to him, he did the opposite. He sped forwards, arm returning to his body as he did so, till he was face to face with the Saiyan. With nothing more than a scowl, he opened his mouth and fired a blast into Nappa's face. The beam caused him to stagger, and to release his grip on Piccolo's arm. No sooner than he was free, did Piccolo find a fist firmly lodged in his gut. He gasped in agony, as a mixture of spittle and blood sprayed from his mouth.
"You definitely are a good fighter, Namek. But so am I, and you don't have the strength to match me. So why don't we end this, right now?" Nappa said, watching Piccolo carefully. He could see that his opponent was winded, but far from beaten. And as much as he desired revenge for the death of Raditz, Nappa knew that he couldn't kill him. At least, not yet. But he could take pleasure in beating him till he gave in, and divulged how those Dragonballs worked.
When Piccolo moved to attack, Nappa was ready, catching the others fist in the middle of his giant palm. He smirked at Piccolo's distress, before kicking him in the head. The blow knocked Piccolo backwards several hundred feet, and only by the skin of his teeth did he avoid a powerful uppercut from Nappa. As the Saiyan blazed past him, he felt a faint trickle of blood down the side of his cheek, right where it connected with his throat.
When Nappa spun around, he readied a ball of energy in his left hand, ready to toss it the first chance he got. That ended up being unnecessary, when Nappa was sent flying into the ground by a kick from Gohan.
The half-saiyan clenched his fists, glaring down towards Nappa. "That's for hurting mister Piccolo you big bully!"
Piccolo smirked, as he found himself rather pleased with his student. "Not bad kid, but you know it isn't not over. Not even close."
That caused the boy's confidence to falter significantly. "What? What do you mean?" he said, trying to keep any fear from showing in his voice.
"Exactly what I said. Extend your senses, and you'll feel that nothing has changed about his ki. If anything, you probably just pissed him off even more.", Piccolo said with a frown as he began putting more energy into the palm of his hand. "But that doesn't matter now. When he gets back up, he'll be in for one hell of a surprise."
The energy surged a brilliant shade of violet, as Piccolo struggled to keep it under control. If he lost focus now, all that energy and time spent gathering it would be for nothing. And as he expected, the ground split where Nappa had been sent crashing into; and out of the crack in the earth the Saiyan emerged. Veins were bulging over his entire body, and he looked absolutely livid. But it seemed controlled, and precisely directed.
As Nappa took to the sky, Piccolo extended his free hand and sent a small burst of ki a Gohan, sending him flying away; out of Nappa's immediate path. The moment of confusion was all he needed, as he finished gathering the last bit of ki needed.
"Exploding Devil Wave!" As he shouted out the words, the energy surged forward, taking on blue tints as it approached the Saiyan.
All that Nappa could do was throw up his hands, in an attempt to stop the beam dead in its tracks. No sooner than it made contact with his flesh did it explode brilliantly, a bright purple fireball several thousand feet across. All the humans, and Gohan had already taken to the sky, avoiding direct contact with the blast.
Panting, Piccolo squinted his eyes, as he tried to peer through the dust and soot filled shroud. The attack was futile, anyone could have told him that. But a part hoped desperately, that he at least inflicted some permanent damage with it. All the debris was pushed away by a gale force burst of air. Standing in the center, with a crackling aura charged up around him, was Nappa.
His arms, hands and chest were covered in burns, but the amount of energy Nappa was putting out was virtually the same. With another surge in his aura, his power increased yet again. Faster then Piccolo could react to, he moved from sight, only to pop up a few feet behind the Namek.
"That was pretty good. I'm actually impressed that you managed to force me to power up this much. The thing is..." he stopped mid sentence, in order to catch a fist intended for his face. "...now none of you stand a chance."
Piccolo ground his teeth, and threw another punch, that was caught just as easily as the first.
Nappa grinned at that. "I can't kill you, not yet...but that won't stop me from breaking you down, bit...by...bit." each word spoken was marked by an increase in pressure on his fists. Piccolo could feel his bones beginning to crack, and while he could simply regrow them if need be, the energy loss from doing so could not be afforded. Instead, he fired two small beams of electricity, out of his antennae and into Nappa's face.
The giant hissed in irritation, but released his hold. Piccolo spun, and aimed to drive his knee into Nappa's gut, but the blow was sidestepped. Unable to properly track the others movements, Piccolo wretched as a powerful blow struck him in the gut. Grasping his stomach in pain, he found himself seeing stars as a precisely timed elbow strike to the back of his skull sent him plummeting downward.
Nappa felt a tiny rush of air, and turned just in time to catch Yamcha speeding towards him.
"Bet you think you're pretty tough, let's see how you handle this! Wolf Fang Strike!" he launched into a seemingly erratic pattern of punches and kicks. Or that is how they seemed to Nappa, but in reality, they were anything but.
Most of the initial blows Nappa simply avoided, but after a few seconds he found himself simply blocking with his arms and legs. Then something strange happened, after Yamcha stopped and withdrew, Nappa found that he could barely move hims arms or legs. Even moving forward was a challenge.
"What? How? Why can't I move?!" howled Nappa. "I've been in mental holds before, and this is nothing like that!"
Yamcha grinned. "It's pretty simple actually. Something I learned during that past year, see, what I just did was target certain pressure points all along your arms and legs. Not only did I lock up all those muscles, but I also interrupted the flow of energy through your body. Don't worry, it'll wear off soon enough..."
The ex-bandit darted behind Nappa, and slammed a knee into the back of his skull. While the blow didn't cause any real pain, Nappa was unable to stop his forward momentum.
"Krillin, Gohan, now!"
From out of the blue, Krillin darted in, smashing Nappa across the face with a right hook, before kicking him off into a 'Masenko' from Gohan.
Barely catching himself, Nappa came to a stop several hundred feet away, each foot buried under several inches of rock and dirt. He could move his legs again and arms again, but his reflexes still didn't feel up to par.
Krillin decided that now was the time to use a new technique that he had came up with. He tried gathering energy for it before, but simply didn't have the time. Not this time.
With one arm over his head, he began forming energy into a swirling disk shape. Finally the ki coalesced, compressing itself till it resembled something like a giant frisbee. Only this frisbee was glowing bright yellow, and was sharp enough at the edge to slice through diamond like a hot knife through butter.
"This is for Tien and Chaoutzu...Kienzan!"
With all his might, Krillin chucked the spinning disk, sending it towards Nappa at supersonic speeds. The burly giant considered catching it, but something in the back of his mind told him otherwise. Spinning as fast as he could, he managed to avoid being decapitated by less than a millimeter. The mountain a few miles behind him wasn't so luck, being cleaved clean in half before collapsing in on itself.
Nappa roared in anger, his energy kicking up winds greater than any hurricane. All around, mini vortexes began forming. "That's it!"-"Forget the dragoballs, every last one of you is dead!"
He prepared to charge Krillin first, but was stopped by Vegeta.
"Nappa what the hell do you think your doing?" the prince shouted, clenching his own fists in frustration. "And don't give me that look, you know damn well that we can't kill the Namekian yet, and I'll be god damned if I let you ruin our one shot at taking down Frieza!"
By that time, Piccolo had recovered, and had managed to regroup with the others. When Vegeta vanished from sight, only to appear a few meters away, they each took a step back.
Vegeta smirked at their fear. "If any of you value your lives, listen up. Against my better judgement, I'm willing to make a deal with you. You've already lost two people, so if you tell us where the dragonballs are, and how they work, I'll consider us even regarding Raditz's death. Let us have our wish, and no further harm will come to you. Feel free to gather your dead, mourn over them, whatever the hell you pathetic weaklings do. Consider the options carefully. The only alternative is the complete and utter annihilation of every living thing on this world."
"Even if we were to trust you to keep your word, using the dragonballs is out of the question." Piccolo said.
Vegeta raised an eyebrow in annoyance. "What do you mean?"
Piccolo smirked. "Once a wish is made using them they are inert for an entire year. And that wish was already made, when we brought Son Goku back to life."
The prince nearly let his aura loose, but managed to force himself to hold his temper at bay. "You wasted that, bringing this 'Goku', back to life? Do you have any idea what you've done?"-"I should kill you myself!"
Nappa scratched his head, when suddenly it clicked. "Wait a minute Vegeta, isn't that what Kakarot calls himself now?"
"So it would seem Nappa, so it would seem. But why did you idiots waste a wish like that? If I recall, he couldn't even stand up to Raditz by himself."
"That's where you're wrong!" Yamcha said confidently. "Goku has been getting training in the afterlife, enough to pound both of you into the ground. I'd be worried if I were you two." Mentally, he wasn't so sure, but he hoped that Goku wouldn't prove him wrong.
Vegeta snorted. "Otherworldly training, ridiculous." he spat. "Even still, if he is half as strong as you seem to think he will be, the prospect of him challenging us is... intriguing..."-"Of course, magical wish granting objects are quite absurd as well. However, perhaps he will prove a better opponent than any of you. I'm willing to give you three of your planets hours, but not a second longer. If he doesn't show by then, all bets are off."
Nappa glanced at Vegeta as though he had sprouted a second head. "What the hell am I supposed to do till then?" he said in a frustrated tone.
The prince furrowed his brow, "Fuck if I care. Just...go find some stuff to blow up or something. But try not to kill too many people, they make good bargaining chips. And those don't do us any good if they're all dead.
"...fine."
...
Vegeta clicked a button on his scouter. "Hmm, well his time's up." he looked, spotting Nappa as he came of the horizon. "And by the looks of things, so is yours."
As Nappa touched down, Vegeta gave him a sour look, "You sure took your time didn't you? Not that it before you go charging in, I need to make something clear..." , he pointed to Gohan, "...do not kill the half breed. First of all, he is part Saiyan, and is abnormally powerful for his age. To kill him would be a waste. Second, since we might end up having to kill Kakarot, this one will make a good replacement. Especially since we've lost Raditz."
"What about them?", asked Nappa, as he gestured to the humans and Piccolo.
"Try not to kill the Namekian. We might be able to extract something out of him...but the rest, do as you wish."
Nappa grinned wildly. "You all here that, now the real fun starts!"
Appearing as nothing more than a blur, he sped behind Yamcha and kicked him in the back. He spun and aimed for Krillin, but was struck in the head by Piccolo's boot. With his superior reflexes, he managed to grab Piccolo's ankle before the Namek could pull back. With his foot in a vice grip, Piccolo tried kicking at Nappa with his other leg, but found himself being spun around and around before the blow could connect. With a laugh, Nappa slung him off towards a hapless Gohan.
Bracing himself mid-flight, he stopped himself mere inches before he hit him. As he rushed back in, he saw Nappa about to fire a mouth blast. Doing his best to anticipate were the blast was going to be, he did a feint to the left. Right as the beam was about to hit, he ducked down, with the beam sailing less than a foot over his head.
Nappa appeared shocked by this, and made no move to avoid the blow to his gut. But after grunting in discomfort, his expression turned into one of amusement; much like a predator would once it's prey is cornered. "Gotcha!"
He grabbed Piccolo by the shoulders, and kicked him in the chest, cracking several ribs, and sending him crashing into the dirt.
Gohan's eyes got wide with concern, "Mister Piccolo..please...get up..."
Before Nappa could advance on he Namekians prone form, he was forced to parry a series of blows from Krillin and Yamcha. Each appeared to be moving in slow motion to him, as he managed to block each of their attacks with only his arms. After a few seconds he got tired of the game, and grabbed each by the tops of their heads.
With a single motion he slammed their skulls together, knocking both fighters out cold. With his grin still in place, he covered the distance between him and Piccolo in a single bound. And with a single thug, he slammed a foot down onto Piccolo's right arm, causing the bones to begin to crack.
"Vegeta thinks I shouldn't kill you, that you still might know something about the dragonballs or something. So if I were you, I'd start talking..." he said, voice menacingly low. "Because if you don't, I might not be responsible for what happens to you. Especially since you did kill Raditz."
Piccolo snickered, wincing as Nappa increased the pressure on his arm. "Hahaha, even if I knew more, do you really think I'd tell you? I've already seen what happens when someone evil gains immortality and-"
"You think we want it for that! You're a moron if you think so...it's the only way we would ever stand a chance against Frieza, don't you get it!" Nappa spat, quite literally. "Well then, if you're not talking, then I guess it is time to end it," his fist started glowing with energy, "...get ready to die you dirty sl-"
Nappa never got to finish his sentence, before a kick from Gohan sent him tearing across the ground, and into the remains of a rock formation. A few seconds later, Nappa blasted himself out, with rocks and other assorted debris raining down on everyone.
"Worthless little brat!" Nappa bellowed, as blood vessels bulged all around his body. "You're going to regret that!" The whole time he was talking he was building energy in his hand, as soon as the last word left his lips he released it straight at Gohan.
"NAPPA YOU IDIOT!" Vegeta screamed, growing red in the face, "I told you not to kill him!"
As the blast quickly sped towards Gohan, Piccolo instantly made up his mind on what needed to be done. The kid wasn't going to be able to avoid it, and he sure as hell wouldn't have time to grab him and dodge. As he raced to intercept it, he felt no regrets for what he was about to do. He promised Goku and Chi Chi that he would keep Gohan safe, and he promised the same to Gohan only a few hours ago. In the seconds before it hit, he appeared right in front of Gohan, arms outstretched to absorb as much of the blast as he could. He remembered Goku's sacrifice and smiled.
Guess we all have to pay our dues sometime...
Like a tsunami the energy cascaded around him, but he didn't give an inch. Using every last ounce of power in his body, he roared in pain as it threatened to rip the flesh from his bones. Just when he thought he could take it no longer, it suddenly dissipated.
With smoke still pouring from his many charred wounds, he forced his neck muscles to work, and turned just far enough to see that Gohan was uninjured.
"M-mister Piccolo...you're hurt..." Gohan said, quickly finding his footing despite his legs feeling like jello.
"Don't...don't sweat it kid, nothing but a flesh wound..."legs buckling underneath him, he collapsed roughly onto his back.
Gohan knelt down, wrapping his arms around the neck of the man who had been like a second father to him. "You're going to be fine mister Piccolo, I swear...my dad will be back and we'll...we'll get you all fixed up...just don't die..."
Piccolo laughed, noting that he could barely even feel the burning in his limbs. "You've grown so much, and made me so..," he coughed, and a few drops of blood slid down his cheek. "...and m-made me so proud of you...I...I'm sorry for pushing you so hard...but it was only because I wanted you to be ready for anything."
He reached out and grabbed Gohan's hand. "Just, stay strong Gohan...never stop...never stop believing in yourself. N-no matter what."-"You...you're like a son to me, never forget that..."
Piccolo smiled sadly, with tears running down his eyes. He took one last breath, before closing his eyes for the final time.
...
A few moments before...
Goku touched down at the entrance to the check in station, with his Kaioken aura fading as he did so. Kami was already there, arm outstretched.
"Goku, there is no time, grab my hand!"
In an instant, King Yemma and the rest of the afterlife vanished, and the young Saiyan found himself back at the lookout. Flashing a quick smile, he called for Nimbus and sped down to Korins tower, to pick a bag of senzu beans. On the way, he felt Piccolo's energy fading rapidly, and clenched his fists when he realized what it meant.
"Hang on everyone, just a few more minutes!" he said, before eating a single bean to gain back his energy.
...
"Mister Piccolo...no..." Gohan sobbed, throwing his arms around the body of his mentor.
Krillin and Yamcha were both shocked at what happened. Both had accepted that Piccolo had changed, and was no loner a threat to the world, but neither had expected to see the former demon sacrifice himself in such a manner. And over that year, both had grown to respect Piccolo. They also were beginning to see him as a friend, and not just an ally of convenience.
In the distance, Vegeta and Nappa observed. Nappa made a gesture, as if to ask whether or not to press on with the attack, only for Vegeta to shake his head. "No Nappa. Not yet."
All of a sudden, Gohan stood up, and jumped several feet into the sky. Energy was already swirling around him, and his eyes narrowed nearly to slits. "You, you bastard...he was my best friend...and you killed him!" He began focusing his energy into his hands. "Now it's your turn...Masenko...HA!"
"On your guard imbecile!" Vegeta barked. "The scouter is reading that thing at over six thousand!"
An aura formed around Nappa's left arm, and he charge towards Gohans attack. With one swift motion, he punched the beam as hard as he could, knocking it off course and well over the horizon.
The giant flexed his hand a few times, trying to get his muscles spasms to cease. "That was something else kid, I've never seen a kid your age put out that kind of power...not even Vegeta..."
Gohan clenched his fists, angry at himself for not having enough power to finish the job. "That was everything...and it didn't work..."-"Well, Piccolo wouldn't back down, and...and neither will I!"
His ki flared out all around him, and he blasted towards Nappa, ignoring Krillin and Yamcha entirely.
Vegeta watched, impressed with the boys tenacity. Hmm, despite all the energy he put into trying to kill Nappa, his power hasn't dropped a bit from before. If anything, it's actually higher.
"You really are a true Saiyan, but I'm way out of your league." he ducked to avoid a kick, then easily caught Gohan's tiny fist in his hand. Using his other, he punched Gohan in the gut, making him double over in pain. Doing a quick flip, he spun through the air, driving a boot across the top of Gohan's head. The boy tore through the air, slamming headfirst into the ground.
Nappa was distracted by a sudden beeping noise, and looked towards Vegeta.
"Well Nappa, looks like we have company. Power level of around fifty five hundred as well. It has to be Kakarot." Vegeta said, with a smirk.
Nappa felt a rush of air, and caught an orange blur from the corner of his eye. It was him. Kakarot had arrived.
Power Levels:
Piccolo (Full power): 4,236 (Exploding Devil Wave: 5,350)
Yamcha (Full power): 3,052 (Spirit Ball: 3,775)
Tien (FP): 3,458 (Weakened: 3,000), (Kikoho: 5,280)
Krillin (FP): 3,457
Chaoutzu: 2,719
Yajirobe: 2,036
Saibamen: 2,200-2,250
Nappa (Base): 4,000 (First power-up: 5,000), (Second power-up: 5,500), (Third power-up: 6,200)
Gohan: 3,820 (Enraged Masenko: 6,088), 3,940
Vegeta (Suppressed): 10,000
Goku: 5,500 (Full power: over 8,000)