Nappa continued to intimidate the fighters with his monstrous energy. It was almost enough to push the fighters back just by itself. "Here I come!"
Piccolo grit his teeth as he was shaking from the amount of power the saiyan was emitting, despite knowing what he should have expected from how Raditz described the saiyans while they were training. "Be careful!
Nappa rushed forward with great speed. His target was Tien and he swung full force towards the earthling's defensive stance. Piccolo managed to push the 3-eyed human out of the way just in time and took the blow instead. The namekian screamed in brutal pain as the blow had shattered several bones in his arm.
Tien looked with surprise as his former enemy had taken a blow that could very well have been fatal. He raised his arms to prepare for an attack but before he could get them up all the way, Nappa rushed behind them and delivered a powerful kick against his back, knocking both Tien and Piccolo away from the other fighters.
Krillin and Yamcha felt they couldn't just stand back and watch, so they started to rush for their allies. Nappa noticed this and swiped his hand around with 2 fingers extended. This produced a powerful explosive wave that stopped the 2 earthlings dead in their tracks and left them in awe as they saw the resulting crater.
"I-I can't believe it. All he did was wave his hand and he did this? I can't even see the bottom." Yamcha stammered, frozen in place as his fear wouldn't allow him to move.
While Nappa was feeling joy at witnessing the terror of the earthlings, Chiaotzu and Gohan had snuck around the saiyan's eyesight, getting behind him so Gohan could fire a Masenko. Nappa turned his head to see the incoming attack and smirked. "You think an attack like that would work on me?" He swung his arm to knock the attack away, though it stopped midair just outside of his reach, done by Chiaotzu's telekinesis. Nappa looked shocked by the attack's ability to stop and in that brief moment where his guard is down, Chiaotzu let go of the blast and it continued its momentum, hitting the saiyan square in the face.
Raditz smiled widely as he witnessed that. That was incredible! You've really come a long way Gohan. I know for a fact that wouldn't have killed him but that had to have hurt.
As the smoke cleared from the blast, Nappa was rubbing his eyes, his face covered in scratches. "Damn it. Little bastards pulled one over on me. Guess now I'll just kill you first." He grit his teeth as his visioned cleared and saw his targets. He prepared a to fire a blast from his hand, though just when it was about to be fired, a ball made of energy came out of nowhere and slammed against the saiyan's hand, messing up his aim and rather than hitting the runts, he ended up vaporizing a bunch of rocks. When he looked to see where it came from, he saw the same energy ball floating above Yamcha's arm, the earthling still shaking in fear. "You! You're dead!"
Unbeknownst to the saiyan elite, Tien had recovered from the kick earlier. The triclops had flewn above Nappa and put his hands together to form a triangle between them.
Vegeta had been watching all of this unfold and decided to throw Nappa a bone. "Nappa, above you!" These words would cause the elite warrior to look up and see the fighter, though it was too late.
"Tri-Beam!" shouted the earthling, firing a heavy burst of energy from his hands, creating a perfectly shaped square crater that was quite deep. Despite the difference in power, the blast effectively pushed the saiyan deep into the crater.
Krillin saw this as an opening to try out one of his new attacks and turned to Yamcha. "Yamcha, do that attack again and buy me a little time!"
Yamcha nodded and tossed his Spirit Ball into the crater just as the saiyan was preparing to fly out of it. The attack smacked Nappa right on the head, angering the saiyan. Nappa swatted the ball deep into the side of the crater in his rage and prepared to fly out of the crater again. Yamcha swung his arms around to move the ball and make it tunnel through the ground and spring out of the ground right under the saiyan, slamming it against his jaw and knocking him on his back.
In the same time this was going on, Krillin had fired a rather large beam towards the crater. The beam moved quite slow, which is why he needed Yamcha to distract the saiyan and keep him in the hole. Once the beam was made it right to the center of the crater, Krillin swung his arms down, changing the direction of the beam.
Nappa looked up as the inside of the crater had gotten a heck of a lot brighter and saw the beam. He smirked at how easily avoidable the attack looked. Before he could make a move however, the beam broke apart into several large chunks of energy that crashed all over the crater. Many of the attacks landed on Nappa and those that didn't crashed against the side of the crater and caused the dirt and rock to collapse and crash down on the him.
Even Vegeta looked shocked to how well the earthlings were doing against his underling. Could this be the results of Raditz telling them what to do? No, they look rather shocked that this is working, so they're making it up as they go.
The pile of rubble exploded outwards as the saiyan elite rose out of the pile, looking absolutely furious. "I'm done playing around! All of you can just go to hell!" He prepared his hand for the same attack that he used to wipe out the saibamen, putting everyone in shock, including Vegeta.
"Nappa, you idiot! Calm down!" Vegeta shouted in an ordering tone, though it wasn't enough to break through Nappa's fury.
The furious saiyan rose his hand, creating an explosive force across the entire battlefield, getting both Vegeta and Raditz mixed into the attack as well. After the smoke cleared, Nappa regained his senses and exhaled deeply. "Damn, I got carried away and used a lot more power than I meant to." He widened his eyes to see his attack hadn't killed a single person, though did majorly damage every one of the fighter's he was up against.
"I-Is everyone alright?!" cried out Krillin as the dust and smoke cleared, seeing if all his friends were still alive.
"Yeah, I'm fine, kind of." said Tien. "Chiaotzu, where are you?"
"O-Over here.." Chiaotzu shouted weakly, more hurt by the damage since he was the weakest of the bunch.
"Piccolo, what about you?" asked Krillin, as he saw Piccolo across the battlefield.
The namekian was groaning in pain, both from the pain of the blast and the fact that during everyone's assault on the saiyan, he had forcefully ripped off his broken arm and regrew it. "I'm fine. Just give me a few minutes."
Nappa was clenching his teeth in anger as his attack was apparently too wide-spread to wipe out these fighters. His spine suddenly shivered as he felt a cold gaze directed at him. He turned his head and saw Vegeta glaring at him, the saiyan prince covered in dust from the explosion.
"Done with your little temper tantrum?" asked Vegeta. He watched as his partner dropped down to the ground let out a heavy sigh. "Honestly, you're an embarrassment."
"I'm sorry Vegeta, these earthlings were just being annoying, like bugs constantly biting me." said Nappa, scratching the back of his head.
Raditz let out a sigh of relief as he saw everyone still alive. I'm amazed they've lasted this long against Nappa. Unfortunately, his power hasn't dropped that much. Kakarot, where are you? His scouter suddenly started beeping, indicating a large rise in power nearby. He looked to see where it was coming from and his blood went cold.
Gohan was high in the air, charging another Masenko attack, though he was pouring all of his power into this attack. Since the saiyans couldn't sense power levels, they hadn't yet caught onto his plan. Before Raditz had the chance to tell his nephew to stop, the child unleashed the attack towards the 2 saiyans.
Vegeta saw the approaching attack, making Nappa realize it as well. Nappa swung his body around to block it with his hand. The blast created another smoke cloud, though everyone could already tell the saiyan survived. As Gohan lowered to the ground exhausted, the smoke started to thin out and reveal the saiyan, though he looked like he was in pain and his hand was twitching.
"D-Damn little punk. Tried to get the drop on me huh?" growled Nappa, aiming himself towards the brat. "Time to make an example out of you!" He threw his other arm in Gohan's direction, launching an incredibly large energy blast toward the halfling.
Gohan widened his eyes as the blast came rushing toward him, too weak on energy to dodge in time. Piccolo growled as he rushed forward and got in front of Gohan, preparing to sacrifice himself for his student. When the energy collided, there was a blinding light that kept everyone from seeing what happened.
As soon as everyone was able to see again, every fighter was stunned to see the results. As Gohan opened his eyes, he saw Piccolo just standing there, completely still. Piccolo was frozen in place out of shock from seeing the figure of the rogue saiyan Raditz standing there. The warrior had definitely been hit by the attack as his already damaged armor was almost completely gone, his entire torso explosed.
"Hehehe. How's that Nappa? I took one of your strongest blasts and yet I'm still standing." taunted Raditz, staring down his former superior, a small line of blood escaping from his lips.
"What's the meaning of this Raditz? I thought you said you had no intention of fighting us?" asked Vegeta, who was still surprised to see the coward Raditz voluntarily take a hit from Nappa. "Do I need to remind you that I told you to stay out of our way?"
"And who told you that you had any right to tell me what to do?!" shouted Raditz, who straightened up and grinned, energy starting to form over both of his hands. "You cast me out. That means I'm a free saiyan, allowed to do whatever I want!"
"Hmph, looks like somebody's gotten cocky while we were asleep. Forget what I said earlier Nappa. Go ahead and kill him." Vegeta smirked, ready to see the 2 saiyans fight.
"Heh, roger that Vegeta." Nappa started walking towards his former ally, stretching his fingers as his hand started to recover from that blast Gohan had dealt. "It'll be fun wiping out this low-class scum."
"It'll be even more fun seeing you try!" declared Raditz as he fired the energy from one of his hands at Nappa without hesitation.
Nappa tried to counter with a weak blast of his own, underestimating Raditz's strength. He soon found that to be a mistake as he saw Raditz's energy power through his own and hit him directly, knocking him backwards and onto his back. He quickly got up with a frustrated look. "What the hell was that?"
Raditz simply grinned as he held his other hand. The energy in that hand had grown even more than the other one. "What's the matter Nappa? Having a lazy day?" He then fired the other blast at Nappa again.
Nappa decided to dodge this one, not wanting to gauge its strength. The blast ended up hitting Vegeta instead, though he came out relatively unharmed, though his armor had gained a few scratches. Nappa gasped as it just dawned on him that he had just dodged an attack from Raditz of all people.
"Hmph, you look surprised Nappa. Lost your touch?" mocked Raditz, who was smiling confidently. This time, his smile was no facade. He was genuinely confident that he could keep up this fight. "Perhaps you should sit down for an hour or 2. Otherwise you'll just go into another tantrum. Wouldn't want to make a bad first impression when Kakarot gets here."
Nappa simply growled like a wild animal, veins visible on his head as he was becoming absolutely furious. First he manipulates us into making things go his way. Next he makes me dodge on of his attacks when I should never have to. Now he dare mocks me?! "That's it! You're dead!"
"Hold it Nappa!" commanded Vegeta, causing the larger saiyan to stop before making a move. He then looked at Raditz. "What are you talking about?"
Raditz raised an eyebrow as Vegeta became curious. "Oh, I guess you don't know." He smirked as he realizes he can make use of this in many different ways. "How about this? You want information on the dragon balls right? Give us 3 hours to wait for Kakarot. Then I'll give you the information even if he doesn't show up yet."
Nappa nearly snapped hearing the rogue daring to make demands with someone who can kill all of them. "You dare ask for time?! Tell you what, you tell us the info now and we'll give you a swift death!"
"Hold on now. This could get interested." Vegeta informed his inferior, walking forward to be in front of Nappa. "Tell me, what reason do we have to wait for Kakarot?"
Raditz starts to laugh. "As if it wasn't obvious. You saw what I was able to do just now. Kakarot's bound to be at least stronger than the earthlings here. How about it? A chance to wipe out both of the low class saiyan scum at once?"
Vegeta looked down to consider his options. "Very well, though I'll only give you 2 hours. Take it or leave it."
Raditz nodded as he walked back towards where he was standing earlier and sat down on a rock, the Z-Warriors moving in the same direction. "They shouldn't be able to hear us at this distance if we keep our voices down."
"Okay, do mind telling us what the heck all that was about?" asked Krillin, wanting to know the answer everyone else was wanting to know as well.
"It was all part of a plan that we hatched about a month ago." Piccolo answered as he sat down and crossed his arms. "Thanks to him, we knew what they were likely to do, so we used it to our advantage to stall for time."
"You mean you planned all of this out just to give Goku time to get here?" Yamcha was still a bit in disbelief to all this.
"Well, there were a couple of hiccups to the plan, like you all killing the saibamen so quickly. Though the biggest one had to have been you, Gohan." He glared at his nephew, who flinched and backed up. "You fired off that blast too prematurely and now any chance for me to launch a surprise attack is gone."
Gohan dropped his head and stood at the ground, looking depressed now. "I-I'm sorry. They looked like their guards were down." He blinks in surprise as he felt a large hand put itself on his head and ruffle his hair.
"Though you did a fantastic job in the long run." Raditz smiled as he lifted his hand from his nephew's head. "That damage you did to his hand weakened what he can do with it." He then raises his head up to look at everyone else. "You all did a swell job too. Getting him worked up like that messed with his ability to think clearly. I can use that to get an advantage when i fight him."
"But do you really think you can beat him? Our attacks didn't look like they did all that much to him." Chiaotzu asked, quivering as he turned and looked at the brutish saiyan.
"Even if you can, there's still that other saiyan. Considering that monster has been cowering whenever he raises his voice, that means he's even more powerful." Tien looked at Vegeta with his third eye, looking quite nervous.
"That's why the plan is essential. I can probably take Nappa myself, though Kakarot is the one who has to deal with Vegeta." Raditz closed his eyes and hunched down.
"But can we be certain that Son Goku will be strong enough to take him on by himself?" asked Piccolo, who was stretching his arm now that he had the opportunity.
"Even if he isn't exactly as strong as Vegeta, if he's somewhere close, then all of you working together like you did against Nappa should close the gap pretty easily." Raditz looked at the earthings specifically. "Especially if there's something you're holding back."
Krillin laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. Tien simply looked away as he tended to Chiaotzu's injuries as best he could. Yamcha just looked a little disappointed as he had nothing new to bring to the table, having used his best technique to slow Nappa down.
Nappa tried to overhear what the fighters on the other side of the battlefield were saying, but couldn't get any closer without raising suspicion. "So why'd you do it Vegeta? Why are you giving them the time?"
"Simple. To make that fool Raditz regret every decision he made coming to this wretched rock." Vegeta walked over and sat on a rock and put his scouter back on. "Raditz seems to be putting some hope on Kakarot. I simply want to see that hope fade from his eyes as we kill Kakarot right in front of him."
"Ooh, I didn't realize you were going for that kind of approach. Well thought, Vegeta." Nappa grinned as he turned to look at Raditz, his blood boiling to crush the saiyan scum.
2 hours pass by, with Goku being nowhere to be seen or sensed. Vegeta stood up and took off his scouter. "Looks like Kakarot's a no show."
Nappa grumbled but smiled quickly, being armorless for some unknown reason. "Oh well, he did say he'd tell us about the dragon balls even if he showed up or not."
Before Nappa could even turn around, Raditz swooped in and landed a solid kick against Nappa's face, knocking the brute across the battlefield. "But I never did say when I'd tell you about them."
Vegeta just stood there as he watched his partner get knocked away. "A liar as always. One more and I may have to get involved."
Raditz glared at Vegeta and turned back to Nappa, who was getting back up. "Good to know. I plan to only tell the truth for the rest of the day."
Nappa growled and rushed at Raditz, throwing a punch against the lesser saiyan. Raditz just narrowly dodged it, charging energy into his hand. Nappa took notice of this and swung his arm downward, causing the ground to explode underneath them.
Raditz flew into the air, having braced himself for the attack, but his built up energy having faded when he went on the defense. He sensed Nappa get behind him but before he could do anything, Nappa slammed both his fists into Raditz's back, knocking him down towards the ground. Nappa then fired a powerful energy blast at the downed saiyan. Raditz got back up and flew out of the blast range of the attack. "Damn, this isn't a good start."
Nappa landed back on the ground, clenching his fist and grinning as he walks over to the other saiyan. "This is why you'll always be scum. You're all bark and no bite. You'll never compare to a saiyan elite like me." He opened his palm and fired another energy blast at Raditz.
Raditz flew into the air to dodge the blast, seeing Nappa quickly rush at him. He covered his hand in his energy and swiped his hand, creating a wall of energy to cloak himself. Nappa charged through the weak energy but was surprised to see Raditz wasn't behind it. Raditz then charged from behind where Nappa came from and fired a beam of energy at his opponent, who looked behind for a brief moment and took the attack directly to the face.
Nappa shouted in pain as he was temporarily blinded by the beam. Before his vision could return, he felt hands grab his ankle. Raditz then started swinging the saiyan around in circles before tossing him at the ground, digging the saiyan's upper body into the ground.
Raditz laughed his head off as he saw the brute pull himself out of the ground, the low class warrior covering both his hands in energy behind his back. "Now what were you saying about all bark and no bite?"
Nappa growled as he rubbed his eyes and stared up at his opponent. "How is this possible?! A year ago you could barely handle Kakarot and the namekian. How are you able to keep up with me, a saiyan elite?!"
"Because it has been a year since then you brainless ape!" Raditz fired 2 beams spiraling around each other as they made their way towards Nappa. Nappa barely managed to dodge it, though Raditz snuck up on him and grabbed onto the back of his head, slamming him face-first into the ground. "You spent an entire year sleeping inside of a sealed pod. I spent a year training myself for this very moment. Tell me, what do you think is the better use of time?"
Nappa grunted as he tried to pull himself back up. He unwrapped his tail from around his waist and slammed it against Raditz, knocking him upwards. Nappa turned around and grabbed Raditz's tail and grinned as Raditz looked in pain from his tail being grabbed. "Training or not, you're still completely weak!" He opened his mouth to fire a beam from his mouth, his most powerful attack.
Raditz started laughing as he slammed his fist against the elite's arm, then springing his tail against Nappa's jaw, knocking his head back and mouth shut. Nappa stumbled backwards as he got dizzy from the blow to his jaw. "My tail begs to differ. I did spend the time to train my tail so I wouldn't have to worry about you doing that."
The inhabitants of earth just stood there and watched as the 2 saiyans fought on near equal terms. Though they couldn't believe that the saiyan on their side was getting the upper hand. Krillin and Gohan started laughing with joy as they realized that they might actually win. Piccolo jolted as he sensed an incredible energy suddenly appear elsewhere on the planet from out of the blue. The other fighters quickly noticed as well.
"I can't believe it. That energy, there's no doubt about it. That's Goku!" shouted Yamcha, catching Raditz's attention.
"He's here? Then that means I should finish this up quickly." Raditz then turned Nappa and rushed at him. The brute locked hands with the lesser saiyan and the 2 ended up in a power struggle. "I hope you're ready to die Nappa, because Kakarot's on his way now!"
Vegeta narrowed his eyes as he got curious about whether or not Raditz was lying or not. He put on his scouter and widened his eyes as he noticed a power level coming their way, and it was quite large. "Nappa finish him now!"
Nappa grunted as he kept trying to push Raditz back, but can seem to make any kind of ground. "What do you think I'm trying to do? What's the big deal anyway, it's only Kakarot."
"Whether it's Kakarot or not, someone is coming this way, and they have a power level of over 5000!" shouted Vegeta, who looked somewhat worried.
"What?! 5000?! Are you sure your scouter is accurate?!" asked Nappa, who was becoming just as worried as Vegeta.
Raditz could only help but laugh as the saiyans began to worry about Kakarot's power. 5000 huh? To think you were weaker than me when we first met and yet you've exceeded me. "I think I'll put an end to this little struggle!" He started surrounding his hands in energy once again, though it begins to crackle, starting to damage Nappa's hands.
Nappa grunts as starts to slowly slide back. "Gah, what the heck is this attack?!" His hands start to go red as they continue to take damage.
"Just a little something I came up with on the spot. Just for you my dear old friend." He growled and shouted as he pushed Nappa back, tossing the saiyan back as he continues the assault.
Nappa growled and broke one of his hands free and punched Raditz in the face, knocking the saiyan away. "Do you have any idea what level of punishment we'll do to you for striking down a saiyan elite?!"
"And do you not realize that doesn't mean anything anymore?!" Raditz said as he stood back up, wiping the blood off his cheek. "I've been keeping up with you this entire fight and you haven't been able to put me down. Being a saiyan elite means nothing anymore!"
Nappa growled as he was about to rush in, only to see someone ride in on a cloud. That person hopped off the cloud and stood there. It didn't take long for everyone to realize who this was. It was Goku!
All the Z-Warriors cheered as they run up to Goku. Goku turns to his friends and smiles. "You guys made it. I'm glad you're all still alive." He turns to look at Raditz and the other 2 saiyans. "So what exactly's going on? I thought they were all on the same side."
"A couple of things happen, and the saiyan that attacked us a year ago is now on our side." said Piccolo as he approached Goku. They had a momentary serious stare-down before looking back at the saiyans.
"Hehehe, take a good look you 2. Now that Kakarot's here, you're both going to die." said Raditz.
Vegeta closed his eyes and smiled. "And here I was starting to believe you'd keep your word." He opened his eyes and held out a single finger, firing a small energy beam straight at Raditz, piercing right through his chest.
Raditz's eyes widened as the beam penetrated his skin, causing the saiyan warrior to collapse. Everyone else's eyes widened as well as they saw the saiyan warrior collapse to the ground. Gohan looked mortified as he saw the uncle he'd just started to know was dying, his energy starting to fade. "Uncle Raditz!"
And that chapter is finished. Gotta say, this chapter was quite fun to write. Now, I was originally going to make this chapter a little longer by making Raditz say some inspirational words about Goku and compare him to how Bardock fought against Freeza's army, but I decided to take it out since I haven't given Raditz enough time to develop that much. Anyway, I apologize for making some of you way a but longer than usual. I was a bit busy with things and had 2 days of feeling a bit under the weather. Plus this chapter was the longest so far. Anyway, let me know what you thought about this chapter, what I could have done better, what you'd like to see next and other personal opinions. Tune in next time on Dragon Ball Z: A Saiyan's Tail.