On to the introduction of the Demon King!
Stuff:
Hyunkelakaor: That's a very good point, and trying to use the Kaioken was a big part of why Krilllin collapsed after that one attack.
Dimension Distorter: Krillin and Yamcha have been working on the Kaioken since Yamcha's attempt to use it on the last tournament, but they're not strong enough yet to use for more than a couple of seconds at a time. It's not quite Super Saiyan, but it'll be useful as hell in future.
As for Cell, I've got some ideas in mind for that saga the I think are... unique. Besides, who said there wouldn't be a 17 or 18? [evil grin]
KimranReech: Don't worry about it, I saw your fourth review first in any case. On the subject of Tights, I've heard (Please don't quote me on this) that Toriyama planned to introduce her early on, but kept putting it off until it was too late to realistically bring her into the story. HFIL was just a tongue-in-cheek joke on my part.
...
Chiaotzu had to bite back a swear as he felt Krillin's power jump - far higher than he'd imagined the monk was capable of at this point- before he saw the line of blue light erupt from the outskirts of the city, only a few blocks away from the tournament site. He could hear people shouting in the distance, but they didn't sound panicked, so he zeroed in on his friend's ki as it basically collapsed.
"Hey, Krillin, are you ok-" his call died in his throat as he floated down, seeing his friend being bodily carried by two familiar teens, though ones he hadn't expected to see for another decade at the least.
"Are you his friend?" the black-haired teen asked, Krillin's unconscious form draped over his back. "We need to find him somewhere to get fixed up, quick."
"Y-yeah, sure," Chiaotzu agreed, reaching out with his telekinesis to gently lift Krillin into the air, wincing as he looked at an obviously broken arm. "Thanks for helping Krillin out."
"We didn't really do much," the male twin shrugged- 'Lapis', his telepathy supplied, gently probing the surface layer of thoughts- "He saved me and Lazuli from some big... robot guy."
"Is-is he going to be okay?" the blonde piped up, looking nervous.
Chiaotzu offered what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "I'm sure he'll be fine, we have a way to help him recover," he hesitated, before going with his instincts. "Do you want to come with me, and wait for him to wake up?"
"'m fine..." came the quiet voice, as Krillin forced his eye open. "... hey, man... sorry 'bout the mess."
"Don't worry, Krillin, we'll head back to the tournament and grab some senzus."
The monk coughed, blood still dripping down the side of his face. "S-Seventeen and Eighteen?"
"They're fine," the psychic assured him, frowning as Krillin drifted back out of consciousness. "If you guys want to thank him properly, we'll be over at the Budokai stage. If you can't get there in time, ask around for Bulma. She'll be the girl with blue hair, with a pig and a cat with her."
He didn't wait around for an answer, creating a bubble of ki to carry his friend with him through the air.
OoOoO
Cymbal gulped as he felt the two powers following him - they were almost as powerful as his father! Fortunately, he had retrieved the last of the necessary Dragon Balls, and he could sense Piano nearby-There!
"What happened to Tambourine?" his pterosaur-esque brother enquired, catching the orange orb with some surprise.
"He's dead, one of those tournament fighters took him out when he tried to eliminate them all. Two more of them are following me - you need to get that to King Piccolo, because together, they could seriously hurt him." Cymbal grunted, expression downcast.
"Are the humans really that powerful?" Piano couldn't believe it. It had taken the most powerful human alive to seal away their father, and he'd been killed himself in the attempt.
"Yes. Apparently, this latest generation of humans has some powerful fighters. I will hold these fighters off as long as I can. Father will avenge me." the draconic mutant snarled, turning away and dashing away into the woods once again.
He could see a blob of orange out of the corner of his eye, moving to attack the spiky-haired fighter and hopefully catch him off-guard. He had just enough time for one final thought as a silver blade approached.
'That's not one of the tournament figh-'
OoOoO
Goku frowned as Tien berated the new guy, having been instructed not to eat the monster slowly roasting over a fire nearby. Maybe if he was really quiet...
"I don't get why you're mad at me! I just killed the monster! What, did you want to eat it?" Yajirobe asked, folding his arms. "'Cause I've done all the work of killing it already."
"We were trying to follow him back to his base, so that we could kill Daimao Piccolo!" Tien burst out.
"Pfft. That's just a legend." the swordsman grunted, rolling his eyes.
"Does a legend attack the Tenkaichi Budokai and steal Dragon Balls from the participants?" the triclops sniped back.
"... A dragon's what now?"
Tien gritted his teeth. He'd almost forgotten how... irritating the self-styled 'ronin' could be. "Never mind, you're obviously not interested. Goku! We need to get airborne, to try and find Piccolo before he can hurt anyone else!"
"Got it!" the saiyan chirped, stomach rumbling as he flew upwards, away from the deceptively delicious roast.
OoOoO
"My Lord Piccolo," Piano gasped, offering the orb in his hands to the towering Namekian. "We need to restore your youth quickly - the humans' elite are after us!"
"So, Tambourine and Cymbal... have both failed me," the Demon King rumbled, face carefully neutral. "You three, retrieve the other six Dragon Balls from the vault!"
"Right away, oh mighty King Piccolo!" Pilaf blathered, Mai and Shu dashing off to get the enchanted spheres. "And if I may be so bold as to ask, as per our agreement, how much of this world you are bequeathing to us?"
"Hm?" the Namekian quirked a brow, as Pilaf's subordinates returned, placing the Dragon Balls gently in front of their 'ally'.
"Of course, you would keep most of it, we would be satisfied with only one fifth of the land," Pilaf gulped, seeing a slight frown on Daimao Piccolo's face. "O-or perhaps a t-tenth? Fi-five percent would be p-plenty!"
"... I will honour our agreement, of course," Piccolo agreed, fixing the trio with a stare. "Leave."
"I-I'm sorry?"
Piccolo stood up, towering over them. "You have outstayed your usefulness, but as a token of thanks for freeing me, neither myself nor my sons will pursue you. Farewell, 'Emperor'." he laughed, as the floor of the cockpit abruptly fell away, dropping the would-be ruler and his patsies out into the open air.
"Hah!" he coughed out, turning to Piano. "Find a place for us to settle down, so that I can finally regain my full power."
OoOoO
"Damn!" Tien swore, as the sky turned jet-black. "We're too late to stop him!"
"Wait, I think I can sense something," Goku panted, Tien focusing his ki sense to feel the vile presence on the edge of his perception. "Bleh! It feels like poison!"
"That's Daimao, all right," Tien hissed. "Stick with me. I'll take on Piccolo, you'll have to keep whoever else is there off of me. Watch my back, alright?"
"G-got it!" Goku smiled, shaking off his unease at the foul ki he'd picked up on. "D'you think they'll be strong?"
As Daimao's power abruptly jumped up, Tien found himself nodding, a small smirk on his face. "I have a feeling they are..."
OoOoO
"Now, Shenron!" Piccolo called, a mad grin on his wrinkled features. "Return to me my youth, and my full power, for eternity!"
"Your wish has been granted." the dragon intoned, its eyes flashing briefly as a burning aura surrounded the Namekian. His wrinkles smoothed out as his skin turned a brighter shade of green, his muscles bulking up as his spine straightened out.
"Ha... Haha! Hahahaa!" Piccolo cackled, his power rising, as Piano stared in awe at his father/master. "Yes! I am once again ready to rule this world!" he continued, clenching his fists as he grinned madly up at Shenron. "But first, to make sure you can't be used against me..." he sneered, throwing out a hand to fire a lethal blast of yellow energy at the dragon. "Die, 'Eternal Dragon'!"
The explosion echoed throughout the clearing, the shockwaves flattening the grass and sending rocks flying through the air. Piccolo's grin widened, until he saw a faint glow through the smokescreen his attack had created.
Tien let out a sigh of relief as Shenron faded away, the Dragon Balls scattering in all directions as the triclops and Goku lowered their ki shield. "You're not killing anyone else, Daimao Piccolo. I swear it."
Tien dashed forwards, only for Piccolo to sidestep his lunge and wince in shock. "Th-that's impossible," he breathed, before focusing, vomiting a massive egg out in front of him. "With two of you, this could be an issue, so I'll have to even the odds a little..." he mused aloud, the egg cracking open to reveal a broad, scale-covered mutant, resembling a bulkier Tambourine. "So, Drum and I will have to put an end to you both, here and now."
Tien jumped back, Goku hopping into a fighting stance beside him. "Damn. We got here too late..."
Goku frowned, moving into a low stance. "Well, you're a little stronger than me, so if you wanna fight Piccolo, I'll take the two other guys."
"Hm," Tien gave a barely noticeable smile as he stared down the Demon King. "Fine by me. But once we're done here, we have to settle our match, since it was so rudely interrupted."
Goku didn't reply in words, but the excitement practically radiated off of him as he attacked Drum in a rush of punches and kicks.
OoOoO
Roshi stared in silence at an increasingly flustered Yamcha. "So, to sum up, you found yourself in the past through sheer dumb luck?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as Yamcha nodded sheepishly. "And were you planning on telling us anything about this?"
"I knew I'd have to tell Korin, 'cause he'd know as soon as he looked into my head, and I'd have to tell Kami so we could get in touch with the Kais," the bandit counted on his fingers. "I don't know who else we needed to tell-"
"Did you consider Goku? If what you say is true, he's in the centre of every conflict to come!" Roshi accused. "And I know it would be your choice. Krillin might be stronger, but he follows your lead. Or what about Bulma? Tights?"
"I get it, I get it! I just... I don't know. What was I supposed to say? 'I was useless the first time around, so I'm enjoying getting to be the hero this time'? I don't need everyone knowing how selfish I am," Yamcha groaned, head in his hands. "It's bad enough knowing how outclassed I'll be once the whole Super Saiyan thing starts."
"Selfish? Feh, no more than the rest of us. But you are being an idiot. If nothing else, tell Tights. You've been together nearly three years, you owe her the truth." Roshi pointed out seriously, absently scratching the scar on his sternum.
"...You're right, Roshi. Once we've sorted out this whole Piccolo thing, I'll tell her," the time traveller sighed. "Even if it screws things up between us, I shouldn't keep something like that from her any longer."
The old master nodded, satisfied. "Well, even if you are older than you look, I'm still more experienced, particularly when it comes to the fairer sex." he smiled goofily, his face reddening.
"Damnit, old man, we were having a proper talk and then you go and... Roshi it all up," Yamcha rolled his eyes, smirking as he zeroed in on Tien and Goku's energies. "I better go and play the hero. See you back at Capsule Corp." With that, he vanished, reappearing mid-punch in the middle of the melee, multiple mutant Namekians making the situation absolutely chaotic.
"So," he grinned widely at Tien and Goku, making a show of cracking his knuckles. "Which one's mine?"
...
Done! Next chapter will have the full battle between our heroes and Daimao Piccolo.
Edit: Turns out, this one brought the word count over 50k. Hooray!