Chapter 14: Long Awaited Battle
"Hey Goku, come have a look at this" King Kai turned his head towards his new pupil. He was looking over how the tournament was doing and it ended in a pretty intriguing way.
"Huh? Oh come on..." Goku panted "I almost caught Bubbles!" Goku gasped for more air. In fairness to him, he wasn't wrong. Adapting quickly to the ten times Earth's gravity plus flying most of the time towards King Kai's allowed Goku to build up way more stamina than he's ever had before, tiring Bubbles out greatly and giving the monkey multiple close calls with the Saiyan.
"Quickly, you're gonna enjoy it" The Kai waved his hand towards himself to which Goku responded with a quick jog towards his teacher. "What is it?" Goku tilted his head.
"The tournament on Earth ended with a draw between Piccolo and Raditz, though that's thanks to Bardock's questionable refereeing..." King Kai voiced his opinion, nearly steering off track.
"What do you mean, did the two fall into the ocean at the same time or did they lose consciousness?" Goku asked.
"Both actually, Piccolo passed out and Raditz got knocked into the ocean by Gohan" King Kai explained.
"Makes sense, what happened next?" Goku nodded, asking his next question. If his teacher had any doubts whether Bardock and Goku were father and son before, beside the fact that they looked identical, then he doesn't have any anymore.
"Now Bardock is fighting both of them" King Kai finished his summary.
"Cool! Fighting both Piccolo and Raditz sounds like a lot of fun, but fighting Bardock would also be really fun too…" Goku trailed off, wondering which one between the two sounded better, so he settled on taking them all on at the same time.
"Right, well I don't think Bardock could win this one" King Kai examined.
"What do you mean? I mean I guess two opponents would be harder to take on than one but he's crazy strong ain't he?" Goku reasoned.
"Yeah but if Raditz and Piccolo don't use teamwork against Bardock then he can exploit that weak point and beat them. He is an experienced Saiyan warrior who's gone up against many powerful foes, so bad teamwork could work in his favour. Though there is the case of Raditz getting much stronger…" King Kai explained, trailing off and starting an internal argument with himself.
Goku had a puzzled look on his face when King Kai mumbled something about Raditz being even stronger, which the Martial Arts teacher noticed.
"Surely you've realised that you keep getting much stronger all the time in short amounts of time right?" King Kai raised his eyebrow.
Goku thought for a moment then shrugged.
King Kai sighed.
"Saiyans have the ability to grow much stronger each time they fight, though another way for them to get even more powerful is if they live after coming close to dying, which Gohan can be thanked for" King Kai explained.
"What did Gohan do?" Goku asked, wondering how strong Gohan must now be to be able to nearly kill Raditz.
"He headbutt Raditz so hard in the chest he sent him flying across the ocean, broke his ribs and collapsed his lungs. Surprised your brother's heart didn't stop. Kids these days..." King Kai shook his head.
"Atta boy!" Goku smiled, gaining an even more disappointed look from his teacher.
"Achoo!" Gohan sneezed, sniffling and rubbing his nose.
"You good Gohan? You know if you suddenly sneeze it means people are talking about you somewhere" Yamcha put his hand on his forehead to block the sun out and exaggerated himself looking around.
Gohan giggled with a sceptical look on his face. "Thanks Mr. Yamcha, but I don't think that's true" Gohan composed himself and looked back towards the arena.
Bardock was stood a few feet away from Piccolo and Raditz, who were also a few feet apart from one another. Both of them didn't care about fighting alongside each other as long as they get to fight Bardock.
"This won't work now will it?" Bardock crossed his arms "There's gonna be certain conditions to this fight, and if you don't accept them then I'll just quickly beat you and this'll be all over".
Both Piccolo and Raditz frowned, though they didn't say anything.
"Number 1" Bardock put his hand up and raised his index finger "Anything goes, so flight isn't restricted anymore".
Piccolo and Raditz grinned at this rule.
"However, number 2" Bardock extended his middle finger along with his index "If anyone falls into the ocean then they lose".
Raditz and Piccolo didn't object.
"Number 3" Bardock pointed his ring finger up while forming a malicious grin "If either one of you falls into the sea, then you both automatically lose".
The grins were quickly wiped of Piccolo's and Raditz' faces.
"What?" The two warriors both shouted in confusion.
"Look at that, you're already in sync!" Bardock's grin grew even wider.
"I refuse to work together with the slug man!" Raditz shrieked.
"Likewise" Piccolo growled, though calmer than his Saiyan partner.
"Whether you like it or not, everyone will need to work together when we fight the Saiyans, and the way I see it is that you two have the biggest problems with each other" Bardock explained.
"He's right. Everyone here seems to be comfortable being around each other. Piccolo may have killed Krillin on accident, but everyone realises that he didn't mean to do it, and Raditz may have killed Goku but now he's training in Other World. The only two here that have problems with each other are them two" Tien thought over the previous events, and what Bardock said makes sense.
Raditz seemed to have calmed down, but he was still scowling towards his father.
Meanwhile Piccolo quickly realised that Bardock was right, and he'll work with Raditz. Though that doesn't mean he's gonna have to like it.
"I assume you're all ready now" Tien shouted from the island, standing in the spot Bardock stood to begin the bonus round.
All three fighters nodded, though two of them were more reluctant than the third.
Bardock stood with his right leg forwards and left leg back, both quite far apart from each other. His right arm was clenched in a fist by his side while his left arm was open and facing the ground but was hovering over his leading leg.
Piccolo also got lower, while Raditz was barely bending his legs to get into his stance.
"Ready…" Tien slowly raised his arm above his head.
"Fight!" The three eyed Human chopped down, starting the fight.
"Haah!" Raditz moved first, charging straight for Bardock with a right side kick to his opponent's head.
Bardock sighed before leaning to the left and spinning his body counter clockwise and launch a right roundhouse kick to Raditz' shin.
This caused Raditz to have no footing on the ground, and before he could do anything Bardock continued his momentum and span all the way around with another roundhouse kick, this time finding its place on Raditz' ribs.
Now being able to fly, Raditz attempted to slow himself down mid air however the force put behind the kick along with the arch that Bardock kicked at meant Raditz would hit the ocean and lose.
Thinking fast, Piccolo extended his arm and grabbed Raditz' leg. Along with Raditz pushing himself with Ki he managed to slow himself down. Before he could say anything though Piccolo retracted his arm and pulled Raditz towards himself.
Raditz landed next to Piccolo, pissed.
"Hey! What are you trying to pull here?" Raditz yelled.
Piccolo shifted his eyes back to Bardock, catching Raditz' attention causing him to turn to his father's direction.
"That was way too easy. I don't mind if we start with our strength low and go up throughout the fight but I don't know what you thought when you came at me on that level" Bardock frowned as he said this to Raditz "Power up to your max, you too Piccolo unless you want this to end quickly".
"Heh, thanks to the kid I received a pretty good Zenkai boost. If I power up now this could end quickly" Raditz grinned.
In response, Bardock fired a Ki blast towards Raditz, who dodged it by jumping up into the sky. To his surprise however, Bardock was above him, and before he could even think about dodging Bardock axe kicked Raditz back down towards the ground, creating a whole new crater to add to the arena collection.
Bardock swiftly flew back to his previous position "You better not be bluffing" He growled towards the hole in the ground.
Raditz emerged from the crater, cuts and bruises here and there along with more cracks in his armor. Piccolo didn't fix his armor before the fight began so at this point if anything the armor would get in Raditz' way.
Wiping away some blood from his lip, Raditz began powering up to his max, causing huge tidal waves of energy to surround him.
Not to be outdone Piccolo also charged up to his max, though the power emanating from Raditz was much higher than the Namekian's.
When the two were done, they were even stronger than they were when they fought each other not even 30 minutes ago!
"Finally, a challenge!" Bardock grinned, getting back into his previous stance.
This time Raditz and Piccolo both charged Bardock, going with left and right straight punches respectively.
Bardock raised his arms and blocked the hits, though the force from the two caused him to be dragged back through the arena, along with bruises forming on each arm. In retaliation, Bardock launched a right hook to Piccolo's temple (who was stood on the left) and landed it, however when he pulled his arm back to elbow Raditz the blow was caught by Raditz' left hand.
Staggering back, Piccolo quickly composed himself again and let a right roundhouse kick fly for Bardock's head.
Thinking on his feet, Bardock pulled his right arm into Piccolo's way, which Raditz still had a hold of. This resulted in Piccolo landing a powerful blow in Raditz' face, who let a muffled grunt of pain out from his now chipped teeth.
For a brief moment Raditz let go of Bardock's elbow, which gave him enough time to give Raditz a low left kick, sweeping the younger Saiyan off his feet with such force his legs ended up being above his head. In one smooth combo, Bardock grabbed Raditz' left foot, spun him clockwise and plowed his son's body into Piccolo.
"Jeez, Bardock is wiping the floor with Raditz and Piccolo! How is he so strong?" Yamcha gawked.
"Heh, he's just a lot more experienced fighting when the odds aren't in his favor, considering when the two combine their strength they're stronger than Bardock" Master Roshi explained.
"What do you mean Mr. Roshi?" Gohan asked.
"Well I mean Bardock is individually stronger than both Piccolo and Raditz but if they combined their strength then they'd be stronger, though Bardock knows how to fight against multiple opponents" Roshi explained his previous point in greater detail.
Right after Roshi was done talking Raditz charged Bardock again with a left roundhouse kick which Bardock ducked under. Going with the momentum and using the same leg Raditz set it down briefly before delivering a strong hook kick to Bardock's head, which this time was blocked.
Suddenly Piccolo flew into Bardock from his right, landing a powerful right straight to Bardock's nose.
Using the distraction, Raditz booted Bardock in the chest with a front kick causing the older Saiyan to fly backwards. Piccolo swiftly flew behind Bardock and spinning hook kicked him back towards Raditz.
Raditz front kicked Bardock again however this time it hit him in the jaw, setting him on another course flying through the air, this time straight up. Once again Piccolo reappeared beside Bardock, this time above him, and this time delivering a sharp axe kick to the top of Bardock's head, causing him to crash like a meteorite into the corner of the arena, absolutely destroying a quarter of the fighting stage.
"Well well, guess they can work together after all" Roshi chuckled.
As Piccolo set down to the right of Raditz, Bardock climbed out from the hole, which slowly began filling up with sea water.
"This just keeps getting better and better" Bardock grinned "Though they could fuck off with the kicking..." He thought to himself. When Bardock looked over the two, he realised that he should start getting serious about this, so he began charging up.
The amount of energy that came out from Bardock was just slightly higher than Raditz, though everyone realised that this wasn't the extent of his power.
When Bardock was done, he sprinted towards Piccolo and Raditz, who prepared themselves for the ridiculous amount of power headed their way.
Bardock was first hit by Piccolo, who attempted a right uppercut, which was parried with a left hook to Piccolo's forearm. Raditz struck out with a left hook himself, but was dodged by taking a quick step back before taking an even faster step forwards and putting more weight behind Bardock's right elbow that dug into Raditz' stomach.
Raditz spat some blood out, but Piccolo got revenge for him in the form of grabbing Bardock's scalp and pulling his head into his knee, smashing his nose and causing some blood to flow from it.
Recovering quickly, Bardock quickly stood up straight, smashing the top of his head into Piccolo's chin, tilting his head back and smashing his forehead into Piccolo's nose, resulting in Piccolo having a broken nose.
Since Piccolo is frighteningly tall compared to Bardock, the Saiyan veteran was up in the air after his last attack. This gave Raditz the perfect opportunity to appear above Bardock and smash his hands into his father's head, which were formed into an axe handle to deal maximum damage.
Bardock was launched back for the third time, having his body dragged through the ground and creating even more holes into the arena.
When he got back up, Piccolo greeted Bardock with chop to the Saiyan's throat which Bardock punched, bending the fingers in all sorts of directions and causing Piccolo to yell out in pain.
The shouting was suddenly stopped when Bardock grabbed Piccolo's throat and threw him at Raditz, who was rushing towards the two and was nearly hit by the Namekian.
"Rebellion Spear!" Bardock shouted, enveloping himself in a coat of Ki and tackling Raditz in his torso. The force behind the attack caused Raditz to go flying off into the same direction as Piccolo.
Bardock flew at amazing speeds to reach the two, and when he got between them he grabbed their arms, spun multiple times and launched them up into the air above the arena.
After managing to stop and recompose themselves, Raditz and Piccolo looked back down towards the arena and saw that Bardock began charging up Ki in his attack. Wasting no time, the two also began creating their final attacks and end the fight.
Bardock had a spiralling blue ball of Ki forming in his right hand, which quickly became bigger and bigger as the moments went by.
Piccolo began charging a yellow beam of energy from one hand, which was supported by the other. He didn't have any time to charge his Special Beam Cannon, so this was the next best thing.
Raditz raised his right hand above his head with all the fingers pointed forwards like a claw. Purple pinkish sparks of energy began dancing between his fingers before a ball of energy started forming in his palm. He'd use his ultimate attack but he absolutely had no time to charge up energy in both his hands, so this will have to do.
"Riot Javelin!" Bardock yelled, launching his attack straight up towards Raditz and Piccolo. The energy sphere quickly grew in size, spiralling more and more the bigger it grew.
"Explosive Demon Wave! / Shining Friday!" Piccolo and Raditz shouted, launching their own attacks towards Bardock. The pink ball swallowed Piccolo's Ki wave, fusing the two and turning their combined attack into a concentration of yellow energy with pink electricity mixed into an orange sphere.
The two balls of energy collided, sending waves of energy into the atmosphere, causing the wind, ocean and surrounding islands to go crazy.
On the spectator island, Gohan was finding it very difficult to keep himself glued to the ground and not fly off with the storm that was just formed thanks to the exchange between his teacher, uncle and grandfather.
The struggle continued for a few more seconds, when suddenly the sky became enveloped in fire. Everyone was shocked as to what was happening. Even Piccolo and Raditz were confused as to how the air was on fire.
Then, the fire became even more intense. When the two looked back down, they realised exactly what was happening:
Bardock was flying through the Ki attacks shrouded in fire.
"HEAT PHALANX!" Bardock roared, crashing into his opponents with the force of an entire battalion of Saiyan warriors.
The sky quite literally exploded.
"Oh my god, they're not dead are they?" Yamcha yelled, though hardly anything could be heard thanks to the wind and explosions.
Once the sky began clearing up, Bardock could be seen slowly flying down, with Piccolo and Raditz unconscious being carried in each arm.
Bardock landed back on the island which was used to spectate the fight, right in front of everyone.
Among other things such as broken noses, chipped teeth and dislocated fingers Piccolo and Raditz were both littered with second and third degree burns, causing Tien to wonder whether he should give the two a few extra Senzu's.
Bardock wasn't doing too well himself, having been sent into the ground multiples times which caused quite severe cuts with some parts of his body having next to no skin. Going through the two energy beams with his final attack also didn't help his already smashed up body, giving him enough charred flesh to make any Saiyan hungry.
"You uhh, you alright?" Yamcha asked.
"Never… Better…" Bardock grunted before collapsing to the ground. He didn't lose consciousness however, just lay there in the dirt.
"Looks like I'm gonna need to catch Bubbles quickly so we can continue training huh King Kai?" Goku looked away from the screen and looked at King Kai.
Before he could respond however Goku bolted off, tackling Bubbles to the ground and catching him by surprise because of it.
"Haha, look King Kai, I got em'!" Goku laughed, holding Bubbles up using both his hands.
"Bardock, Raditz and Piccolo have grown exponentially stronger. Should I skip out on Gregory's turn and go straight to the real training…?" King Kai thought, looking in Goku's direction.
Before he could speak though he heard loud noises coming from the TV and decided to look at what was going on.
"Oi, the hell's going on here?" A loud voice was heard coming from behind everyone.
When they turned around, some were confused, some were shocked and some were straight up scared.
"God help me..." Tien muttered to himself.
Currently it is 11:40, so I've managed to upload this chapter a day earlier than it should've gone up, and it's 700 words longer than usual! I count that as an achievement though weekly uploads shouldn't be rare and I need to stick to a schedule plus I said I was going to make the fanfic longer as time goes on and I'm trying.
Speaking of longer chapters a reviewer did say the chapters are short and I agree with that. I get lazy when I have to write fight scenes which is bad considering I'm writing a fic for dragon ball but I swear that will definitely improve. Also the fact that the fights were broken up to one per chapter was also getting tiring for me and I don't even know how bad it might've been for some of you but maybe this wasn't as bad for some of you.
So in short I'll be making fights much longer in the future and I'll try not to dedicate a fight per chapter.
But anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter and continue reading my story!