Chapter 12 - Clash! The King of the World VS The Last Z Fighter
The Z Fighters stand frozen in place. The unthinkable has happened. The sound of the alarms blaring and of people screaming mix together and echo through the cold air. Tako groans in frustration as Ichigo takes a shaky step backward.
"Banjo. Go eat," Piccolo orders as he motions to the city with his head.
Banjo looks up at his father as he licks his lips. He begins to drool at the thought of all the delicious people inside the city. He lets out a roar before jumping into the air.
"Ichigo!" Yamcha shouts as she continues to shake. She slowly looks at Yamcha, fear is written all over her face. "Go after Banjo! You have to save the city!"
"B-By myself?" Ichigo squeaks, her voice as shaky as she is.
Yamcha flashes her an encouraging smile as he says, "You can do it. Just believe in yourself and remember what you are fighting for." His smile fades as turns towards Piccolo. "I will stop Piccolo. Here and now." Yamcha finishes talking before he lifts into the air to face his foe.
Ichigo swallows hard as she tries to overcome the crippling fear. After a few moments, she takes off into the air towards the city but Bell suddenly appears in front of her.
"It's rude to interrupt someone during dinner!" Bell tells Ichigo before receiving a kick to the face, courtesy of Tako.
Tako stares down at the monster as he orders Ichigo, "Go. Her fight is with me." He descends to the ground as Bell stands to her feet.
"You are persistent," Bell says as she dusts the snow off of herself. Her lips curve into a cruel smile as she says, "That's okay. I will have my fun with you before I start destroying the city."
"You will never get a chance," Tako confidently replies as he assumes an attack stance.
Up in the sky, Yamcha and Piccolo stare at each other. "I'm surprised you managed to hang on this long Yamcha. While everyone was dying honorably and on their feet, you decided to cower behind a shield."
Yamcha, not letting Piccolo's taunting get to him, declares to the monster, "Your reign is over. I am going to put an end to you. I'm going to avenge everyone!"
Piccolo smirks at Yamcha's statement, clearly not intimidated by it. "Goku and Tien failed to beat me. You have no chance."
Through with talking, Yamcha dashes towards Piccolo and throws the first punch. Piccolo dodges the attack before countering with his own. The two fighters begin to throw punches at incredible speed. Their fists occasionally clash and the impact sends out small ripples through the air. The high-speed struggle moves them further and further away from the city. Yamcha suddenly breaks away and assumes a familiar stance.
"Wolf Fang Fist!" Yamcha shouts as he charges at Piccolo.
He unleashes a barrage of fast strikes but Piccolo avoids all of them. All except for the last strike. Piccolo momentarily flinches, giving Yamcha the time he needs to deliver a kick to Piccolo's chin. The force throws Piccolo higher into the air but with a quick flip, Piccolo prepares to counter. Piccolo thrusts his hand at Yamcha, causing the Z Fighter to prepare for an energy attack. However, Piccolo doesn't fire a ki blast. Instead, his arm suddenly extends and grabs a surprised Yamcha by the face. With a furious snap, Piccolo hurls Yamcha towards the snowy ground. The Z Fighter collides with the ground, throwing snow into the air. Piccolo grabs his right arm with his left hand as he points his palm at Yamcha.
"Destructive Wave!" Piccolo shouts seconds before a beam of green ki fires from his hand.
Yamcha shakes off his collision with the ground and looks up to see the incoming blast. He crosses his arms into an X in front of his face as the blast collides with him. The explosion covers part of the area in smoke and throws Yamcha backward. His shoulder makes contact with the cold ground and he slides to a stop. Although he is bruised and his clothes torn, he is not ready to give up. He cups his hands towards Piccolo before pulling them back to his side. "Ka...Me...Ha...Me..." Yamcha begins to chant as a ball of energy starts to form in his hands. Piccolo continues to float in the air, his arms crossed and a smug smile on his face. "HA!" Yamcha shouts as he thrusts his hands upward. The warm energy wave races through the chilly air towards Piccolo. The intense heat from the Kamehameha causes the snow around Yamcha to melt. Piccolo keeps his arms crossed as he pulls his head back. He snaps his head forward and fires a beam of ki from his mouth.
The two beams collide and begin to push back and forth. Blue and green energy streams fall away from the struggle. At first, it seems that the two beams are evenly matched but Piccolo's beam begins to overtake Yamcha's Kamehameha. Yamcha focuses more energy into his blast but it's in vain. Yamcha breaks the beam struggle and dives out of the way of the incoming blast. It collides with the ground, throwing snow and smoke up into the air. Yamcha may have avoided the blunt of the attack but the shockwave still hits him, pushing him away.
Piccolo descends to the ground, his pride in his attack showing on his face. Yamcha quickly flips back to his feet, still full of fighting spirit. Piccolo, sensing his opponent, chooses not to wait for the smoke to clear. He kicks off from the ground and flies right through the smoke, catching Yamcha by surprise. Piccolo's fist connects with Yamcha's face, pushing Yamcha back. Yamcha counters with a kick to Piccolo's shoulder before a high-speed struggle erupts. The two fighters exchange blows as they travel up into the air. Even though Yamcha is giving it his all, he is unable to match Piccolo. He is able to get in one or two punches for every three of Piccolos. One such punch from Piccolo is stronger than the previous ones and it sends Yamcha reeling through the air. Yamcha catches himself before wiping the blood from his mouth.
Piccolo frowns at his foe. He speaks with a disappointed tone as he says, "You are just as weak as when we fought at West City. I had hoped the last Z Fighter would have gone out with a bang...not a whimper."
Yamcha forms a ball of ki in each hand as he replies, "Don't count me out just yet!" Yamcha lets out a war cry as he fires a barrage of ki at Piccolo. Piccolo floats back before he starts swatting the ki blasts away. Yamcha continues his attack and his perseverance pays off when one ki blast manages to hit Piccolo in the cheek. That single ki blast knocks Piccolo's rhythm off, allowing the ki barrage to slam into him. Yamcha seizes the opportunity in front of him and begins to fire faster. He finishes his assault by firing two beams of ki into the smoke cloud. He hears them explode as they make contact. Yamcha knows this isn't the end for the tyrant. Breathing heavier than before, he assumes an attack stance and prepares for Piccolo's next move. Before the cloud can fade, Piccolo flies out with a kick. Yamcha manages to avoid the attack. Piccolo flies past him before stopping. He spins around and flies back with another kick. This time, Yamcha is unable to dodge it. The kick strikes Yamcha across the eye and sends him hurling to the ground.
As Yamcha falls through the air, Piccolo's eyes start to glow with a red color. Yamcha manages to flip around in the air and land safely on his feet. He looks up just in time to witness Piccolo firing laser-like beams from his eyes. With no time to dodge, the beams hit Yamcha in the chest. Instead of piercing through him, these beams explode. Piccolo starts to chuckle as the smoke from the explosion starts to float into the air.