Chapter VIII: The Battles Begin

Piccolo's eyes snapped open and he fell abruptly to the floor. Yamiv and Mr. Popo ran up to him.

"Piccolo!" Yamiv cried, helping him up. "Is everything all right?"

"No," said Piccolo, readjusting his hat. "Nothing is all right. They're here! The two dark fiends from my dream have arrived… I haven't sensed this evil for a thousand years, but I know who they are…"

"Who could they possibly be?" Popo asked.

"Nappa and Raditz," answered Piccolo firmly. "I don't know how or why but I do know that their power is terrible and they will stop at nothing to wipe out every being on this planet." He flexed his arm.

"I'm ready," he stated. "I'm going to get Boxer and 18 now." Piccolo gave one final look at the Guardian of the Earth and his assistant. "Farewell," he said, and fell off the edge of the lookout to the Earth below.

***

Boxer sprang awake as 18 burst through the door. "We're going to have company shortly," she explained. "If you value your precious company, you'll come with me so we can take the battle somewhere far away from here."

Boxer got out of bed. "18, are you even dressed for battle? I mean, what do you normally wear?" He noticed that she wore a white shirt with black horizontal stripes, a ripped tank top, her pearl necklace, jeans, and sneakers.

"I don't know what else I'd wear," she remarked, and left the room.

"Guess if she wears what's comfortable, I will too," Boxer reasoned. He put on the usual: a plaid button down shirt, jeans, and sneakers. "I guess I'm ready." He ran out the door to meet 18 and the two of them flew off far away from the Capsule Corporation.

On the way, Piccolo joined them in their flight. "Follow me," he said firmly and pushed ahead of 18 and Boxer. They followed steadfastly in his path until they came to a field in the middle of a bunch of mountain ranges.

When they landed, Piccolo explained the significance of the battleground. "This," he began, "Is where Goku and I first fought Raditz a thousand years ago. It seems only fitting to end the battle here as well."

"AH!!!" Boxer let out a startled yelp as he sensed a horrible energy. He began trembling and backing up towards Piccolo. "Piccolo… what is that?" he asked, barely able to speak. "I've never sensed anything that dark… that horrible."

"That," Piccolo answered, "Is the feeling of evil. Nappa and Raditz are almost here. They're coming. Don't be afraid. Fear is your enemy."

Boxer tried to swallow his fears and stand strong, and it worked to an extent. "All right, Piccolo; I'm ready to fight," he stated.

"Good," 18 interrupted, "Because here they are!"

Sure enough, up in the sky were Nappa and Raditz, heading right over them. "They're not here to fight us," Piccolo explained. "So we had better make it clear that we are here to fight them." He began to ascend and Boxer and 18 followed.

The three of them cut off the Saiyans' flight path, and the two evildoers stopped in their tracks. "Well, well!" Raditz exclaimed. "If it isn't the Green Man and two of his buddies! I surely thought that you'd be dead by now."

"I'm more than what I appear to be," Piccolo declared. "These two are my partners, 18 and Boxer. I'm sure that each one individually is more than enough to take you down, but we'll give you the honor of having what you consider a fair fight.

Nappa laughed. "Fair? The three of you don't stand a chance against the two of us!" He lunged at Piccolo, but Piccolo sensed the attack and grabbed his hand. "Ah…" Nappa squealed as Piccolo squeezed it tighter and tighter, until he thought it was going to explode. Not wanting excessive violence, Piccolo let go.

Raditz frowned. "Let's keep this fight at least somewhat fair," he said, eying Piccolo. "Shall we head to the ground to begin?"

Piccolo nodded and the five of them descended to the battlefield where Piccolo had defeated Raditz a thousand years prior. Nappa and Raditz exchanged glances and tried to stifle mild laughter.

"Let's do this one-on-one," ordered Piccolo. "Raditz, I've got you."

"I'll take the big ugly one then," 18 sighed.

"You'll be eating your words… and my fist in a minute!" Nappa growled.

"Hah!" Piccolo laughed. "Boxer, I'm sorry that this fight won't be too interesting… but maybe you'll see them put up a half-decent effort."

Piccolo leapt towards Raditz and punched him hard in the chest. The Saiyan went flying backwards. Meanwhile, Nappa tried to land a heavy blow on 18, but she nimbly slipped through his legs and elbowed him in the back, causing him to hunch over temporarily.

Raditz dashed back towards Piccolo and tried to use a flying kick, but Piccolo was onto his movements. Just before the kick hit Piccolo's face, the Namek ducked and reached backwards to grab Raditz's tail… only to find that it was missing! In his confusion, Piccolo neglected to stop a blow from behind, and Raditz nailed Piccolo in the back of the head with a mighty blow, causing him to go flying.

This was hardly enough to do any serious damage to the Namekian warrior, luckily, but he quickly relayed a telepathic message to 18 and Boxer.

"18! Boxer!" he shouted mentally. "I don't quite understand it, but Nappa and Raditz have gotten rid of their tails… I'm not sure why, because now they can't transform into the Saiyan Apes. Just scratch out the strategy of grabbing them by the tails." With that, Piccolo ducked from another oncoming blow by Raditz and agilely moved his legs far back up to kick Raditz high into the air. While Raditz went flying, Piccolo flew above him and linked his hands. Just as Raditz was about to pass him on the way up, he smashed Raditz in the head, sending him spiraling back down to the cold earth beneath.

On 18's portion of the battlefield it was much the same story. Nappa overestimated his strength far too much and was nowhere near as fast or agile as 18. As he kept trying to land blows that were slow in speed and not so numerous in number, 18 would easily dodge and counter with a move of her own. Eventually, the battle worked out so that Piccolo and 18 once again stood next to each other opposite Nappa and Raditz.

Piccolo grinned. "I'm sorry to say, gentlemen, but you've been taking up far too much of our valuable time. You're not worth the effort. 18, shall we finish them off now?"

18 opened her mouth to speak when all of a sudden, Raditz interrupted. "Green Man, I know you've only been toying with us, but we have only begun to fight as well. For you see, we have a few tricks up our sleeve, don't we, Nappa?"

"Yes, indeed!" Nappa clenched his fist. "Get ready to witness the light show of the century, folks!" He let out a war cry and began to power up vastly, as did Raditz. The ground beneath them shook, and Boxer fell to his feet.

"Get up!" snarled Piccolo. "You don't show weakness on the battlefield." Boxer immediately snapped to his feet and continued to witness the wonderful and horrible transformation that was taking place.

A golden aura began to shine about Nappa and Raditz. Raditz' hair stood up on end, and in a flash, it was golden. The bald Nappa, meanwhile, had his mustache turn gold. Their eyes disappeared to nothing but whites, and were replaced with pale green irises.

The frenzy ended. "See why we cut off our tails?" Raditz asked. "With our tails, we could only turn Super Saiyan while transformed, and that was too risky… it's easy to lose control. But like this, we can turn Super Saiyan just like Kakarot or Vegeta."

Piccolo and 18's expressions did not change. "I've defeated Super Saiyans before," 18 stated. "You're no different, save for the fact that you're weak."

Piccolo nodded. "No matter what color your hair may turn, you're no match for us."

"Well, we'll see, won't we, Namek?" Nappa asked. In the blink of an eye, he smashed 18 in the chest and she went flying backwards. Piccolo continued to look at Nappa.

"I see you've gotten faster," he noted. He turned back to Raditz and threw his weighted cap and cape to the ground. They landed with a heavy thud that surprised Boxer, to whom weighted clothing was unbeknownst. "Well, shall we?"

***

The Fighter Kai landed in front of the Temple of Shenron and looked around. Sitting on and around the steps were a few warriors and to the right was an airship in which three women sat.

Ignoring all of them, he approached the steps. Two of the warriors stepped aside and two stood in front of the steps. One of them wore a blue jumpsuit and the other wore a white shirt with a black vest and casual black pants.

"Are you warriors?" the Fighter Kai asked them. "You don't look very much like proper warriors."

"Looks aren't everything," the one with the white shirt replied.

The other one laughed. "You'll regret saying that if you would like to test for yourself."

"Strange," remarked the white-shirted one. "I can't sense anything about him. He wears some kind of mental shroud."

"It doesn't matter," the blue one said. "Mental shroud or not, against Saiyans, only physical strength matters, right Gohan?"

Gohan smiled and braced himself for battle. "That's right, Vegeta."

The Fighter Kai stared on. "I don't have time for you two. I have to save the Earth."

Vegeta threw his head back and laughed. "Save the Earth? You're a Kai, aren't you? It seems to me like you should be staying here and waiting for Nappa and Raditz to beg for your training."

The Fighter Kai maintained his cold stare. "I don't do training sessions. I only fight."

Vegeta took a step forward and smirked. "Same here."

"Garuda, the guardian of this temple, ordered us not to let anyone in," Gohan explained, "Whether they want to save the Earth or otherwise."

The Fighter Kai stared on. "Fine then," he said. "If I can't get through like that, I'll just have to out speed you." In the blink of an eye, Vegeta blocked the doorway a split second before the Fighter Kai reached it.

"You are strong," the Fighter Kai remarked. "Stronger than I thought."

"I'm just full of surprises," Vegeta replied, as the two of them descended back to the bottom of the stairway.

"Let me tell you this, Kai" Vegeta continued. "I have been training for almost a thousand years nonstop. I doubt you have done the same. My friend here has the potential to become the strongest fighter in the universe, and he can occasionally utilize his full power, drawn from his already amazing power level. Do you really think you can defeat us?"

"Yes," the Fighter Kai replied coolly.

"Your call," said Vegeta and lunged towards him.

***

Garuda put his hands over his head and fell to his knees. "What is this strange place?" he thought to himself. "I never expected the mortal realm to be so bright… so full of life and energy… these sensual feelings are too much for me."

"No!" he countered his own thought. "I cannot forget about the crisis at hand. I came here to help Piccolo and 18! If I don't arrive soon, the Earth may not have much longer. Then, I would never be able to live with myself, a supposed defender of the Earth. I have to find them."

He tried to stand up, but found himself shielding his eyes from the vast blue sky above. "The sky is so bright. I'm just not used to this!" He sat down with frustration. "And that star is out in the daytime… the sun. I can't even see straight. It's too intense!"

Once again, he tried to stand. It was a little wobbly, but he managed to stay on two feet. "OK," he reassured himself, "This is a good start. I just have to focus, and I'm sure it'll all be fine. Now, for some flying."

With a tiny leap, Garuda stayed in the air. After his footing had been established, he took off like a flash. "Now, I need to find them."

Garuda scanned the area and picked up a large but faint energy reading coming from a long way away. "That's them!" he made a sharp turn and was on his way.

***

Piccolo landed on the ground next to 18. She had been knocked completely out of commission by a joint blow from Nappa and Raditz. The power increase they received had been phenomenal; far greater than anything that Piccolo or 18 could have anticipated.

Underestimating the power of these Super Saiyans, 18 had miscalculated her dodging and blocking and had been knocked out much earlier on. Piccolo was holding his own rather well, learning from 18's mistakes, but he could only hold out for so long. It was clear that all he could do was defend; one Super Namek against two Super Saiyans (Super Saiyan 2s, Piccolo gathered) was a losing battle.

Nevertheless, he got right back up again, and Boxer called out to him. "Piccolo!" he shouted, "Let me help you!" Without turning around, Piccolo responded.

"Boxer, this isn't your fight," he shot back. "No matter how hard you've trained, these guys are way out of your league… just stay put!"

With that, Piccolo rushed back into the raging battle, heading straight towards Nappa. Nappa jumped back at the last second, but Piccolo's true intentions were revealed as he sharply turned and smashed Raditz in the stomach so hard that blood shot out of his mouth. As Raditz went flying backwards and shattered a mountain with his impact, shrapnel from his armor littered the ground.

Nappa stared in horror at what Piccolo had done. "Raditz!" he called. There was no reply. Piccolo began to grin, and then broke into laugher so hard that tears streamed from his eyes.

"So much for your strategy," he blurted out through fits of laughter. "Isn't that embarrassing, two of your legendary warriors defeated by me?"

Nappa stared wide-eyed at Piccolo and began moving backwards, trembling. "Now, Namek… I'm sure we can work out some kind of deal."

Piccolo, reduced now to just grinning, walked back towards Nappa until he had cornered him in between two crevices of a mountain. "Now, I believe I started something before this battle began," Piccolo said, grabbing Nappa's hand.

"AH!!!" Nappa let out a shriek this time as Piccolo squeezed his hand twice as hard and twice as fast as the previous time.

"Now, what was I going to do?" asked Piccolo jokingly as he was squeezing Nappa's hand ever-harder. He snapped his other fingers. "I remember now!" With his other hand, he let out a furious outbreak of punches all making direct contact with Nappa's stomach. He was bleeding from the stomach and spitting out blood every so often from the impact of the Super Namek's never-ending punches.

Letting go of Nappa's hand, Piccolo flew upwards and kicked Nappa in the face on the way up, stunning him for a moment. "That's it!" the Namekian warrior shouted. "This ends here! Special Beam Cannon…" he lifted his index and middle finger to his forehead… "FI-"

He let the energy go short and ducked as Raditz came flying over his head with a mighty kick. Robbed of breath and energy from the fizzled energy attack, Piccolo left himself open to attack for a split second. Luckily, the two Super Saiyans were too slow for him. He flew backwards and began charging up for another attack.

The two Super Saiyans flew towards him in a figure eight zigzag pattern. "Perfect," Piccolo thought and smiled. His attack was charged. "Special Beam Cannon…" he waited for the exact moment when the two Super Saiyans would be lined up…

"FIRE!!!" It was perfect timing. The two Saiyans never saw it coming, and stopped their pattern at the very wrong time (or in Piccolo's point of view, the very right time). The blast went right past them, but now they were lined up horizontally. In this confusion, Piccolo, like a flash of lighting, seemed to materialize out of nowhere when the two Saiyans were still gasping in shock at the lasting image that Piccolo had left while moving.

"Special Beam Cannon… FIRE!!!" He blasted a super-powerful version of his most trusted attack. Nappa, being the only one he could see, had his eyes go wide with horror. There was an enormous flash of light and cries of pain from the two Saiyans.

And then there was dust.