Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or Zoids CC. I do own Lorren.

A/N: Welcome to the fourth chapter of Abnormal Childhood which, along with the third chapter, is an early birthday present for my Lorren. So sit back, relax, and enjoy as we head back to the action. Here goes.

'This is ridiculous,' the young girl complained as she found herself once again knocked on her butt for the eleventh time in the past hour. 'You're too strong. There's no way I can beat you.'

'Does that mean you give up?' inquired South Kai, quirking an eyebrow. 'I never would have pegged you to be one who gives up and so easily too.'

'What do you want me to do?' She demanded as she got back up, crossing her arms.

South Kai smiled. 'I expect you to keep fighting no matter how much the odds are stacked against you. That's what a true warrior does. It's what Goku would do, what he did do when he was just a little boy.'

'But I'm not Goku,' Lorren murmured, her purple eyes casted downwards.

'No, you are not,' he agreed, laying a hand on her shoulder and kneeling so that they were at the same eye level. 'You are Lorren, my student who I have high hopes for.'

'Really?' Lorren asked, staring at him curiously.

South Kai nodded. 'You are stronger than you realize. Yes, there will always be someone stronger but that does not mean that you can't beat them. There's more to a fight than just brute strength. You need intelligence and heart too.'

Lorren paused for a moment, taking in what he said, before nodding. 'Anything else?'

'Yes,' he replied. 'No matter how great your enemy's power is, don't let it overwhelm you. Be brave and stay focused only then will you be able to win.'

~ Abnormal Childhood ~

It all happened so fast. First Yamcha had been standing there, grinning cockily like always, then he was lying face down in a crater motionless.

Krillin ran over to his friend to check his pulse but somehow I knew it was hopeless as he straightened up, shaking his bald head slowly.

"He's dead," I whispered as tears filled my eyes. I may not like Yamcha as my mom's boyfriend but that didn't mean I wanted the guy dead.

While we were mourning our loss, Vegeta was laughing like it was the funniest thing he'd ever seen which naturally only made Krillin angrier.

"You guys stay out of this," he growled at us as he turned to face the saiyans. "This is between me and them now. I'm going to take the rest of them all on at once like Yamcha was going to do."

Krillin raised his hands above his head and started to gather energy into his palms. Right before he released the energy, the rest of us moved out of the way. The energy shot out of his hands like a beam of light, going for the remaining Saibamen.

The Saibamen dodged. Krillin gritted his teeth and pulled his arms back, causing the beam of energy to change course. He then increased his power level even more making the beam split into multiple shots which not only hit the Saibamen, but the Saiyans as well.

Tien, Chiaotzu, and Gohan cheered. I just bit my lip, waiting. No way could it be that easy. No way could all of this be over already. If I had learn anything from Mom's stories about Goku, taking the bad guy down was never that easy.

I glanced up at Piccolo who was staring silently at the giant cloud where the saiyans had been and no doubt still were with his usual frown. I watched it too, focusing, and, not surprisingly, I could still feel their overwhelming power levels.

I sighed. "I knew it would have been too easy."

Piccolo glanced down at me, nodded once, and returned his attention to the cloud which was gradually beginning to disappear. At the same moment, one of the Saibamen, who had apparently escaped in a cave while the other three were blown to bits, emerged from its hiding spot and went for Gohan.

The Saibaman was fast, but Piccolo was faster. While Gohan retreated backwards quickly, Piccolo grabbed its outstretched arm, punched it once in the gut making it crumple in pain, and threw into the air before blasting it with an energy beam from his mouth/

"Whoa," I breathed as Piccolo turned back around. "That was awesome."

"Looks like Piccolo's gotten even stronger," noted Tien thoughtfully. "Well, I'm glad he's on our side this time."

"Thanks Mr. Piccolo," Gohan said in his puppy mode again as he stood by Piccolo's side.

I sighed, shaking my head as I heard a familiar laugh. My eyes shot to the cloud that was completely gone leaving Vegeta and Nappa once again in plain view. Both of them were completely unharmed.

"How?" moaned Krillin as he slowly came back down from where he had been hovering in mid-air. "I hit them with everything I had."

Great, if that was everything a man who has been practicing martial arts for years had, we were in trouble, even with Piccolo on our side. Goku, you'd better hurry before we're all lying face down in craters.

~ Abnormal Childhood ~

"Well, it looks like our little game here is over," mused Vegeta.

"Now can I go, Vegeta?" asked Nappa, impatiently.

"Yes Nappa," replied Vegeta. "Just don't kill the Namek. We need him to locate the Dragon Balls."

"Okay," Nappa said excitedly. It was like watching a little kid being allowed to open a present on Christmas Eve after asking for permission from their parents. I couldn't help but snort making them direct their attention to me.

"Something amuses you, girl?" inquired Vegeta, his smirk finally disappearing.

"Yes, actually," I replied, crossing my arms. "I find it hilarious how Mr. Tough Guy here still has to get permission from his mommy in order to do something and here I thought Gohan and I were the children here."

Nappa's face reddened as he clenched his teeth together, veins threatened to pull out of his head while Vegeta merely narrowed his eyes.

Suddenly Nappa rushed at me. I prepared to defend myself but Piccolo stepped in front of me, shielding me from his attack.

Nappa was too fast and strong for him. He ploughed through Piccolo, knocking him to the ground.

I gulped and took a couple steps backwards. This wasn't good if not even Piccolo could hold his own for more than a few seconds.

Nappa grinned as Vegeta laughed.

"Where's your cockiness now?" he inquired.

I did not reply. I couldn't remember how to talk let alone breathe.

"Stay strong, Lorren," murmured a voice beside me. It was Tien. He stared Nappa down while he talked. "Don't be afraid. Remember what we're fighting for; remember what you're fighting for."

What I'm fighting for?

"My mom and friends," I replied, my voice growing stronger with each word. "This planet and the people who live here. I'm fighting for them."

Tien nodded, glancing down at me with a smile. "Exactly."

I smiled back, squaring my shoulders. "Right, now where were we?"

"Easy," cautioned Tien, laying a hand on my right shoulder. "Let me take a crack at him."

I nodded and moved out of the way as Tien strode forward to meet Nappa. Baldie vs. Baldie.

"So you're next, huh," noted Nappa, taking a stance as he began to power up and man was it a power-up. Everything around us started to shake. Pieces of rock began to float in mid-air as the wind picked up. That wasn't all. The massive amounts of energy he was giving off were taking the forms of electric currents. It was so intense that my hair was standing up.

The ground under Tien's feet split apart as Tien jumped out of the way. Storm clouds began to gather. Lightning rained down, adding to the electricity that was already surrounding Nappa.

Unbelievably Nappa was still not done powering up. Mountains were crumbling as the ground split again, this time by Gohan's feet. Piccolo pulled him out of the way.

"He really needs to learn how to dodge," I murmured, turning my attention back to the strong, muscle-y guy who suddenly decided to blast Chiaotzu.

"Chiaotzu!" cried Tien as Chiaotzu fell to the ground a few feet away.

"Watch it," warned Piccolo as the air around us began to settle. "He's almost ready to attack."

Suddenly Nappa charged Tien, landing a blow on his arm causing it to come clean off.

"Hah, he was disarmed," noted Vegeta as he laughed uncontrollably while Tien writhed in pain. I glared at him. "Ooh, scary."

Tien struggled to get up, gathering energy into his remaining hand.

"He doesn't know when to give up, does he?" said Nappa as he started to lunge at Tien again. I stepped in front of my wounded friend, preparing to defend him but Nappa merely kicked me out of the way.

Air whooshed out of my lungs as I felt one of my ribs cracked. I flew backwards, hitting one of the remaining mountains. I coughed up blood as my back made contact.

I heard Gohan call out my name as I tried to fight my way out of the dent my impact had made. I wiped my blood off my mouth as I watched Nappa kick Tien in the gut repeatedly.

"Monster," I growled as I rose to my feet and flew back over to the battlefield.

"Are you okay, Lorren?" asked Gohan, worriedly.

I smiled. "I'm fine."

"We need to his tail somehow," muttered Piccolo.

"That might be easier said than done," I muttered back as Krillin tried to rush over to Tien but was blasted away by Nappa. "Definitely easier said than done."

"Krillin!" cried Gohan.

"Wait," I murmured, suddenly realizing someone was missing. "Where's Chiaotzu?"

Gohan and I looked but Chiaotzu was nowhere to be found. That is until we saw him attach himself to Nappa's back.

"What's he doing?" Gohan asked.

"He's sacrificing himself," I realized as Chiaotzu began to let off energy causing his body to glow. "Even though he's already been wished back once."

Gohan turned away but Piccolo ordered him to watch, to witness Chiaotzu's heroic sacrifice.

Meanwhile Nappa was trying to get Chiaotzu off his back by ramming him into mountains but Chiaotzu refused to let go.

After a few more seconds, Chiaotzu blew himself up taking Nappa with him or so we hoped. Nappa emerged from the explosion still alive and, even more annoyingly, unharmed.

"Oh come on," I groaned.

~ Abnormal Childhood ~

"Guess your little friend couldn't save you, huh, three-eyes?" goaded Nappa, laughing.

"You monster!" Tien growled.

"Aw man," moaned Krillin beside me. "This is crazy! What do we do now, Piccolo? He's just too strong. There's no way we can beat this guy!"

"Stand your ground, Krillin," ordered Piccolo. "We're here for a reason."

"A reason," I repeated quietly, remembering what Tien had said earlier. My eyes shot to him who was bent over in his grief while Nappa came back down to Earth.

"Aw, don't worry," Nappa sneered. "You'll be joining him soon, in the afterlife."

"Okay, that's it," said Tien through gritted teeth as he rose slowly to his feet. "This one's for you, Chiaotzu!"

Tien ran at Nappa, yelling at the top of his voice. He aimed kicks and punches at the alien with amazing speed but Nappa blocked him effortlessly. Still, it was incredible to watch.

"Not bad," admitted Piccolo.

"Wow, just look at him go," breathed Krillin.

"One armed and everything," I agreed.

After a moment, Tien paused to breathe before resuming his attack. Nappa mocked him as he knocked Tien to the ground. Nevertheless, Tien rose to his feet once more, albeit shakily.

"How can he still get up after all that?" wondered Krillin. "That's it. I'm going in."

"Me too," I announced.

"Wait you two," commanded Piccolo. "He's going to attack Tien again. When he has an unguarded moment, that's when we strike."

"Fine," I muttered, staying where I was.

"That's a good plan," noted a sarcastic voice behind us. We turned to stare at Vegeta who was smirking as usual. "Nappa's too strong to fight head on. Don't take your eyes off them. You'll miss your opportunity."

"You're pretty confident, aren't you?" replied Piccolo. "Well you just wait til Goku gets back. We'll see how cocky you are then."

"Oh?" said Vegeta, raising a dark eyebrow. "Interesting. Who's Goku? Is he really that strong?"

Piccolo laughed. "You'll find out soon enough."

"Yeah, when he ploughs your smug face into the ground," I told him as Nappa gut punched Tien. "Tien!"

"Let's go guys!" urged Krillin.

"Hold on, Krillin," cautioned Piccolo. "Just a few more seconds."

Nappa rose up into the air and launched himself back down at Tien

"Alright, Gohan wait here!" said Piccolo, preparing to spring into the air. "Krillin, Lorren, let's go!"

"Right!" We sprung into the air. Piccolo hit Nappa in the cheek sending him towards Krillin and I. We in turn hit him on the head sending him towards Gohan who freaked out and ran behind a mountain.

"Oh Gohan," I moaned as the three of us blasted Nappa, but it was too late. Nappa had already recovered enough to be able to dodge.

"Good trick," he said with a laugh, rubbing his right cheek. "Too bad it didn't work. Now you're all gonna die!"

Fantastic.

A/N: And there you have it. Happy birthday Lorren, my purple eyed hothead! Until next time, read review and show the love!