-----------------------------------------------------------
Save Myself
The Thing I Hate
-----------------------------------------------------------
The remains of the Capsule Corpse Lab...
"Watch yourself, Puar," advised Bulma as she picked her way across the rubble. "There was a lot of liquid Nitrogen in that tank when it exploded. There may still be puddles of it down here. And even if there aren't, anything metal is bound to be freezing..."
At the base of the stairway, a large anthropomorphic blue cat looked out apprehensibly. "Uh, then are you sure these gloves will--"
"Those are the same type of gloves we used in Yamcha's suit," Bulma cut it. "Same with the boots. Just watch where you step and you'll be fine."
Puar looked at Bulma with watery eyes. "But... Yamcha..."
Bulma exhaled loudly. "I know. I know..." Turning back, Bulma ran a gloved hand through her hair. "But that's not our... There's nothing..." Bulma broke off, realizing there was nothing comforting she could really say about the situation. "Look, just see what's left of the computer terminal. If we can salvage anything from that, we might be able to help him..."
After a moment, Puar nodded and began picking her way through the lab. "Okay..." Her voice wavered, obviously not convinced.
Letting her breath out through her teeth, Bulma turned back to her own task. From the outside of the building, she and her parents had watched Tien, Yamcha, and Piccolo leave the compound. And Bulma's father swore that Piccolo hand been carrying someone when he left. But that still left one person unaccounted for.
"Dende!" Cried Bulma, as she spotted a patch of green amongst the shadows. Bulma darted forward, and soon found herself at the young Namek's side. Dende was still on his side, doubled over and barely conscious. Additionally, there were small icicles beginning to form at the tips of his ears.
Crouching down, Bulma gingerly wiped some frost away from his eyes. "Dende," she quietly asked, "are you okay?"
Dende shuffled a little and moaned.
"I'll take that as a no." Bulma tightened her gloves in preparation. "Come on then, lets get you out of here…" Being as gentle as she could, Bulma picked up the Namek. After spending a moment adjusting her balance, she began picking her way back to the stairs. "Whuuuh…" She mumbled to herself, "Dende, you are definitely not a kid anymore…"
As she approached the stairs, Bulma took a moment to lean against the wall and regain her breath. "Hey Puar," she called out, "any luck getting that console back on-line?"
The cat looked back at Bulma with a confused expression on her face. "Uh, I guess. It was on when I came down…"
Bulma nearly dropped Dende. "What?! You mean you can still access all the files?"
Still apprehensive, Puar shrunk back a step.. "I think that's what I'm doing… Is that bad?"
"Bad? Heck no!" Bulma almost laughed. "That's the best news we've gotten since this whole mess started! I had figured that everything down here had been completely wrecked. That we'd only be able to salvage bits and pieces of thing. But if we still have all the readings… It's about time we caught a break around here!"
"But… If Yamcha is still… Gone…"
The delirious smile faded from Bulma's face. "Yeah…" Shifting her grip on Dende, Bulma began walking to the stairs with renewed determination. "Yeah, there's still that. But with those readings, we have a chance at striking back at the virus. And, well… A snowball's chance is better than no chance. Now come on and help me get Dende upstairs…"
-----------------------------------------------------------
High noon, in the desert mountains…
"…Grow does it feel?" With a haunting note in its voice, the beast that was once Yamcha walked slowly out of a column of smoke. The beast was now even more feral than before. What looked like three-day stubble had grown all over its face, and its nose had collapsed into something resembling a snout. And yet, the glint in its eyes was back.
Roaring in anger, the Oozaru spat another fireball at the approaching beast.
Without breaking stride, and almost without effort, the beast raised its arm and deflected the blast away. "Grow does it feel to groved aside? …To be krohsolete? ….To be krothing?!" With this last question, the beast took to the air. It charged like a blur, and the Oozaru was knocked back into a mesa. "Huh?! Grow does it feel?!"
The Oozaru slowly rose back to its feet. Shakily, it used one arm to support itself against the mesa. Its other arm was clutching its chest. The Oozaru no longer growled, and instead glared apprehensibly at its attacker.
"'Kause that's grut you are," continued the beast, now hovering where it had rammed the Oozaru. "Krothing. Grust dust klowing in the grind…"
The Oozaru charged in retaliation. As it ran, it roared furiously, and the glint in its eyes seemed to intensify.
"Ghou don't think so?" Mocked the beast, holding its ground.
A second later, the Oozaru lunged forward, swinging at its opponent. The beast, however, easily dodged the attacks.
"Ghov gourse you don't…" It continued. "You're a Sayghan! The most growerful race in the galaxy. The only race that matters!"
The beast dodged a flurry of blows, seemingly standing still while doing so. Infuriated by its failure, the Oozaru backed off for a second, then threw everything into a single haymaker punch. In a flurry of savageness, the beast slapped the fist aside, sending the Oozaru with it.
"Grullshit!" Snarled the beast. "You don't know anything about grower! About the gheart and effort that goes into it! You've never had to gry! You grust transform. Akain, and akain, and akain... Gou're practically bon transformed. You've never fought anyone on level ground...
"I've been fighting you're kind gror as long as I could fight. In all that time, I've never seen gou meet an equal..." The beast's face abruptly darkened. And as it watched the Oozaru start to back away, its voice dropped an octave. "Meet one now..."
-----------------------------------------------------------
The shattered remains of a mesa...
Still struggling to stand upright, Tien stared at the scene in abject horror. "This... This can't be happening!"
"It can Tien," replied Piccolo, with a hollow ring in his voice. "Remember what Vegeta said. The virus is boosting his--"
"Will you shut up about what Vegeta said?! Vegeta doesn't know what he's talking about!" Heaving after his outburst, Tien slouched against a rock. "And that wasn't was I was talking about..."
With an uncertain scowl on his face, Piccolo glanced at the two combatants, then back to Tien.
"When I was fighting Yamcha," continued Tien, much more quietly, "he lost control. He was talking to us back at the lab. He's talking right now. But when he was fighting me, he didn't say a word. It was like he snapped. Like the last bit of him just winked out..."
Piccolo stared at the fighters, with a faraway look in his eyes. "But now it's back..."
Tien shook his head, nearly loosing his balance while doing so. "No. It can't 'ave... And this..." Tien's voice momentarily gave out. "Yamcha was berserk before. But this... I've never seen him this... Furious. Ever. Not even at Vegeta..."
Piccolo stared in silence for a moment. "I don't think he could."
Tien weakly hung his head.
"The Yamcha we knew," continued Piccolo, "spent the better part of a decade desperately training for conflicts he couldn't possibly win. Conflicts that he knew--with dead certainty--would kill him. Those fights changed him. A lot more than they did us. Somewhere along the line, whether he knew it or not... Yamcha let himself go numb." After a pause, Piccolo grunted. "But the virus turned him loose. Like Vegeta said, it's riding his emotions. Letting loose the pain, the anger, the fury..."
"At the Saiyans," finished Tien, still not raising his eyes. "...He was fighting it, then. When he snapped. He was reigning in the grudge. And when he stopped wanting to fight, the virus took over completely..." Tien finally looked up. "But Yamcha's never forgiven the Saiyans. Not in his heart. So he saw one, all the rage came back. And the virus let him take control again."
"You've known him longer than I have," Piccolo gruffly stated. "Will he revert? Will he even try to hold back?"
Tien remained silent for a long moment. "If it was just about being killed... Even with the androids, and Cell... If it were just those years of helplessness, he would." Tien swallowed. "But he lost Bulma to a Saiyan. Every time he looks at that poor girl, he's seeing Vegeta. And he's thinking about Bulma..." Tien swallowed again, continuing in a mere whisper. "He won't hold back. He won't hold anything back..."
Piccolo's scowl hardened as he took in the battle.
"Yamcha's attention isn't going anywhere," commented Tien. "He won't let up until he or the Saiyan is dead... One of us should go back to Bulma's place. To make sure they're all right. While we still have time..."
There was a blue flash of light, and an ensuing explosion shook the field.
"We don't have time!"
By the time Tien looked up, Piccolo had already begun racing towards the fight. A split second and one realization later, so had Tien.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The fighting grounds...
"Go grahead," mocked the beast, floating in mid air. "Kfhight back. Krust try it!"
Grunting, the Oozaru began to push itself off the ground. But its arms gave out, and it collapsed back down.
The beast's expression contorted in anger. "Get huu--uuup!" After a second, the beast snarled dove at its prone opponent.
In a burst of movement, the Oozaru rolled onto its side. The beast rammed into the ground, and was driven in further as the Oozaru dropped an elbow on it. With a renewed burst of energy, the Oozaru rolled again, and began hammering the beast with its fist. The Oozaru punctuated each blow with an angry roar.
After a moment, though, the beast retaliated. Spiking its aura just as the Oozaru's fist struck, it sent the giant sprawling aside. Breathing heavily, the beast rose into the air. Its last spurt of energy spent, the Oozaru lay still on the ground, clutching its fist.
As it wiped some dust from its brow, a smile came over the beast's face. "Now... Khat's the kfighting spirit I wanted to see! The kind I hexpeked..." The smile faded, and the beast's voice lost its edge. "The kind your deserve... Kafter all... You're a Sayghan... You deserve to go out..." Letting its voice drop to a whisper, the beast coldly extended its arm, and aimed its open palm at the Oozaru. "...With a bang..."
A blue light flashed, and condensed just beyond the beast's palm. Like a bullet from a gun, the blast shot across the field and through the Oozaru's leg. Its howl of pain was lost in the ensuing explosion.
The beast raised its chin indifferently and silently waited for the dust to clear. When the Oozaru's silhouette became visible, the beast coldly readjusted its aim. There was another flash of blue light, and then a green blur knocked the taste out of its mouth. A second later, something rammed the beast in the back. The beast recoiled forward, straight into a haymaker from Piccolo.
The blow knocked the beast to the side, where it got a chance to see its attackers. Tien and Piccolo, hovering in the sky, were both powered up and readying their next attacks. Snarling, the beast threw out both of his arms, flattened palms at each of his attackers. Twin blue flashes lit the sky.
"Huuyyy--yaaaakkkk!" A seizure convulsed the beast, as if triggered by its attack. For a fraction of a second, it spasmed in mid air. Then, as suddenly as it started, the convulsions ceased, and the beast raced towards its two attackers. As it did, foam began flying form its mouth, and a hollow blackness filled its eyes.
"Kiaaaaahhhh!" A ki blast from Piccolo sent the beast spiraling to the ground.
"I'd say Yamcha just snapped," muttered Tien as he fired a follow up blast.
Halfway down, the beast regained its senses and dodged the second shot. Snarling, it flew upwards again.
"Safe bet." Piccolo dove to meet the beast.
In one smooth motion, the beast jerked to the side and grabbed Piccolo's arm as he passed by. A yank and a cuff to the back of the head sent Piccolo careening downward, while the beast spun around and continued its ascent.
Having expected the beast to have engaged Piccolo, Tien was unprepared to dodge the attack. The beast rammed Tien, catching him by the neck in the process. Still careening upward, the beast gathered a ki ball and fired it at point blank. The recoil of the blast violently ripped Tien from the beast's grip. After a quick teleport, the beast backhanded Tien back to the ground.
Another teleport brought the beast to the ground, next to where Piccolo had just crashed. Piccolo struggled to get up, and the beast immediately attacked. Letting battle instincts guide him, Piccolo dropped back to the ground and kicked the beast over him. Piccolo instantly jumped back to his feet and rushed the beast. But his lead blow was blocked and the beast savagely swatted him to the side.
Piccolo skid to a stop, and glared back at the beast. Already, it was flying across the ground to meet him. "So," Piccolo, muttered to himself, "back to this old dance..."
With a final burst of speed, the beast lunged at Piccolo. The beast brought his fists down in a an ax-handle smash, but his blow went through a blur and crushed the rocks below him. Snarling, the beast looked to the side, and saw Piccolo crouched in a defensive stance. The beast leapt again. But a roundhouse to the back of its head sent him spinning aside.
The beast pushed itself up to its knees, and let out a hiss of annoyance. As it looked up, its hiss ended with a start.
"I've always hated dances," commented Piccolo, standing tall. Behind him, a second Piccolo stood out of his crouch.
"Or any social event, really." Both Piccolos smirked mockingly.
The beast's eyes darted between the two Nameks, and then narrowed. A glow growl escaped its throat, and it leapt forward.
The lead Piccolo blocked the first blow with an open fist, and yanked the beast past him. Without missing a beat, the beast rushed toward the second Piccolo. Piccolo let loose a defensive blast, which the beast blew through. A forearm chop landed on Piccolo's shoulder, driving him down. The beast quickly pinned Piccolo to the ground, and began rapidly punching him in the head.
Abruptly, the first Piccolo grabbed the beast's arm, and jarred it backward. The beast snarled in pain as it was pulled off its opponent. Piccolo thrust the arm forward, securing the hammer lock. The beast's face tightened in pain.
"This could have waited," yelled the second Piccolo, pushing himself off the ground. "But you just had to go for blood!" Piccolo punctuated his statement with a hard knee to the beast's chest.
The beast doubled forward, its face frozen in a moment of pain.
With a snarl, Piccolo drew back and chopped the beast's head to the side. The second Piccolo followed up by yanking back on the beast's arm, and torquing up the hold.
The twin blows jarred the beast back into action. It violently threw back its head, bashing Piccolo in the face. As the second Piccolo tried to react, the beast kicked out with both feet, knocking him away. The beast finished the sequence by whirling around and driving its free elbow into Piccolo's head. The blow staggered Piccolo, forcing him to finally break the hold.
The second Piccolo was just recovering when the beast rushed him and kneed him in the gut. Piccolo doubled over in pain, and then an ax-handle smash to the back sent him to the ground.
Enraged, the first Piccolo charged. The beast smoothly grabbed Piccolo's outstretched hand and jerked him forward. The beast swung his other arm at Piccolo's head, but missed as Piccolo ducked under it. Piccolo was stopped short by another jerk at his arm. Snarling, the beast readjusted his arm, and viciously elbowed the back of Piccolo's head. Finally letting go of Piccolo's arm, the beast did a quick spin and kicked Piccolo to the ground.
Piccolo landed on top of his doppelganger with a grunt. Before either of them could react, the beast teleported above them. It barked out something indiscernible, and let out a ki blast. As the blast struck, the edges of both Piccolos blurred, and the two were forcibly merged.
The beast landed on all fours at Piccolo's side. Snarling, it rolled the prone Namek over and drew back a half clenched fist.
Abruptly, a laser-thin beam of energy sliced through the space between the beast and Piccolo. The beast pulled back just as a second beam pierced what would have been his head. Snarling, the beast turned to the side, and found itself staring down a very angry Tien. A ki ball gathered around the beast's fists as it reset its stance.
Before it could attack, though, a roundhouse from Piccolo knocked it face first to the ground. Tien followed up with a concentrated ki blast, who's backlash threw the beast back into the air. Piccolo grabbed one the beast's flailing arms and threw it against a nearby rock outcropping.
Recovering in midair, the beast hit the rock on all fours, and instantly rebound back towards its attackers. Not fully recovered from his earlier beating, Piccolo was knocked aside before he could react. The beast's follow through took it straight into Tien. Tien blocked the initial forearm strike, but the ensuing shops drove him steadily back.
Desperately, Tien tried to counterattack. But a bungled lunge left him off balance, and the beast easily tossed him over its shoulder. Tien landed on his back but quickly bounced to his feet. The beast moved to press its assault, but stopped short when it noticed Piccolo struggling to his feet not too far from Tien.
"Y'know..." Muttered Tien as he rubbed his shoulder. "It would have been nice if Yamcha had lost his experience along with the rest of his personality..."
Piccolo grunted. "Seeing as how most of that experience came directly against you... On my mark, break skyside. I'll attack frontal. The moment you see an opening...
Piccolo quietly trailed off, noticing the beast begin to step backwards. An unhinged smile came across its face, and it seemed to stand down. Piccolo's ear twitched. Tien swore.
"...Or not. Break for it!"
Both Tien and Piccolo dove to the side as a fireball engulfed the battle ground.
Snarling, the beast emerged from the fireball, with ki balls already forming around its hands. It was greeted by a roar that literally shook the Earth. Before the beast could reset itself for its attack, a fist sideswiped it and knocked it out of the sky. Letting out a subsonic growl, the Oozaru turned its attention to the two fighters still on the ground.
"Aim low!" Yelled Tien. In conjunction, he and Piccolo fired blasts at the Oozaru's shins. The blows took out the Oozaru's balance, and it fell down to its knees.
Before the Oozaru could react, an energy spike flared behind it. There was a flash of light, and the Oozaru went limp and fell forward. Tien and Piccolo both took to the air to avoid being smashed.
"Take Yamcha!" Commanded Tien. "We at least know how to deal with the Saiyan, so we'll concentrate--"
Tien didn't have time to finish his order. Without missing a beat, the Oozaru had shoved itself back off the ground. It whirled back to face the beast, instinctively taking a swipe at Tien in the process. Caught unawares, the Human had no chance to avoid the blow. Tien landed in the remains of a mesa, sending up a plume of dust.
"Tien!" Before Piccolo could do anything else, the beast fired a massive ki blast at the Oozaru. The Oozaru threw up a shield, letting the blast splash off it. After taking the brunt of the blast, the Oozaru surged forward, angling its shield to the side. Piccolo was engulfed by the redirected blast, and was battered to the ground.
"Heeeh-yaaaahh!" With his aura cackling around him, Tien streaked through the air. A missile kick struck the beast in its back, sending it careening into the Oozaru. The Oozaru was knocked back by the collision, while the beast ricocheted to the ground. Rolling to its feet, it snarled and fired a pair of blasts towards Tien.
In midair, Tien swiveled to avoid the blasts. The first one went by him, but the second changed course and struck a glancing hit. Tien quickly righted himself, and turned to face his opponent. The beast was already in flight, and charging him. But behind him there was nothing but fire.
"Dodonpa!" A lance of ki streaked away from Tien's outstretched arm. The beast instinctively cut his speed and veered to avoid the blast. Before it could speed up again, the fireball caught up to it. Howling, the beast lost control of itself and was carried along the surface of the shockwave.
Tien hastily though up a ki shield, and was buffeted by the fireball a second later. The shield held for a moment, then gave out. Grunting in pain, Tien was blasted backward.
The fireball quickly dissipated, leaving the beast panting heavily in midair. Too late, it noticed that Tien had also been carried by the tail of the blast, and that he hadn't stopped when the blast did. Lunging forward, Tien caught the beast by its leg. A sharp twist of its ankle kept the beast from immediately lashing out, and quick midair spin sent the beast hurling to the ground.
The beast landed back first on a slab of exposed bedrock, and bounced slightly back up. Before it could bounce a second time, the landscape was covered by another ki blast from the Oozaru.
Holding his position in the air, Tien scanned the smoke and waited for the beast to reappear. It didn't. Instead, a flurry of small ki blasts shot up into the sky. Still winded, Tien was unable to avoid them all, and a good number exploded against him.
Across the field, the Oozaru roared in pain. As the last of the explosions died away, Tien looked up just in time to see the Oozaru start swatting at something. A moment later there was an energy spike, and the Oozaru was blasted to the side.
Instinctively, Tien dropped into a defensive stance, figuring the beast would come after him rather than press the Oozaru. He was right, and it rushed him only a second later. But this time, the beast over choreographed its attack, and Tien had plenty of time to counter it. Before the beast could reach him, Tien teleported forward and landed a uppercut to the beast's gut. The blow stopped the beast dead in the air, and a series of follow up kicks sent it reeling back towards the Oozaru.
After a moment, the beast was able to kick Tien away and regain its composure. Breathing heavily, it began floating away from Tien in a defensive posture. Tien followed at a distance, keeping both hands in front of his face.
"Come on, Yamcha," beckoned Tien, "one on one... Head to head. Lets see who blinks first..." Slowly, Tien readjusted his hands into a triangle emblem aimed at the beast.
A low growl escaped the beast's throat, and it cautiously extended one half clenched fist. After a moment's hesitation, its ear twitched, and then its face hardened in determination. Its growl intensified, and a ki blast began to gather around its fist.
Before either of the combatants could fire, a deafening roar shook the landscape. The roar was accompanied by a massive power spike and a ki blast aimed directly at the beast and Tien.
Having seen the Oozaru recovering, the beast whirled to the side as the blast streaked by him. As it spun, it fired off the blast it had been charging, adding it to the barrage.
"Tri--Beam--"
The beast choked, realizing to late that its prey was not where it should have been. It spun around just in time to see Tien mouth out the last word.
"Cannon--" Lights flicked for a moment, before completely obscuring Tien from view, "HAAAAAHH!!"
Completely engulfed, the beast screamed in pain. The force of Tien's attack sent him flying backwards, and a second wave actually kicked him back through the Oozaru's blast. A third wave buffeted the beast, dissipating the last of the Oozaru's attack.
The beast screamed again, but this time in defiance. Its power level skyrocketed, and its aura convalesced into a wedge in the center of Tien's attack. With its whole body trembling under the strain, the beast lowered its head and pushed forward. Fully intent on Tien, it never saw what hit him.
"Maaaa--SENKO!"
Piccolo's supercharged attack dropped on the beast like a sledgehammer. The beast's aura collapsed under the blow, and the beast instantly went limp. Just as it did, it was hit by the fourth wave of Tien's attack, and driven into a distant mesa.
Breathing heavily, Tien lowered his arms. "You don't think that killed him, did it?" He called out.
Piccolo grunted. "If it did, we'll all know soon en--look out!"
Tien tried to turn around, but a backhand from the Oozaru drove him to the ground. The Oozaru took a step forward and threw a ki ball at Piccolo. Before it could attack again, small explosions went off around its face. As it tried to brush them aside, Tien quickly backpedaled to Piccolo's location. The Oozaru looked back up, and roared in anger.
"The same place!" Heaved Tien. "All that--and we're in the same damn place!"
"Not entirely," corrected Piccolo. "This time we're both hurt, and she's not."
"Oooooh, thank you!" Snarled Tien, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "If you're going to be smart, at least tell me you have some sort of plan."
Both Tien and Piccolo dove to avoid a ki blast.
"You know a split form," Piccolo gruffly responded. "She can't hit everything at once. With enough of us, we could overwhelm her."
"No," cut in Tien, calmly this time. "You're only at partial strength in split form. Same with me. We wouldn't even scratch her."
Piccolo grunted. "In tandem, then?"
"Worth a shot..."
As the Oozaru began charging forward, the two warriors simultaneously disappeared. They reappeared in front of the Oozaru and blasted it in the chest. The Oozaru was knocked backward before it even realized what had happened.
"You've fought these things more than I have," began Tien, "can they be taken out without cutting off their tail?"
With Tien slightly behind him, Piccolo dove forward. "I was never able to bludgeon Gohan into submission. It probably won't work here, either."
Piccolo struck a glancing blow on the kneeling Oozaru's shoulder. As it recoiled back, Tien took a swipe at the other shoulder. Tien pulled a quick U-turn and joined Piccolo in a tandem kick to the back of the Oozaru's head. The Oozaru fell face first into the ground, but instantly rolled to the side. Roaring, it let out twin bursts of ki at its attackers. Both Tien and Piccolo were driven back by the attacks.
Wiping dust from his mouth, Tien grunted. "Okay, question two. If we just de-tail it, how long with that thing be down?"
Piccolo exhaled. "Not long. Maybe long enough for one of us to get to Capsule Corps and back, but not much longer. Definitely not long enough for us to put her back in any kind of stasis."
"That's assuming there's anything left at Capsule Corps..." Muttered Tien.
Piccolo fired a quick blast at the Oozaru, than darted to the side. Tien followed suit with a slightly stronger blast.
"That trick you pulled earlier," began Piccolo, keeping his eyes on the Oozaru. "The one that backfired. There any chance that might actually work again?"
Starting to circle the Oozaru, Tien fired off another blast. "A chance."
Piccolo snorted. "We may have to try it anyway."
"S'okay," muttered Tien, "that's what I was planning on. After all, who want's to outlive their home planet..."
Piccolo was about to respond when a fresh salvo from the Oozaru forced the two to separate. A second salvo knocked Tien higher into the sky. He quickly stabilized himself, and fired a return blast. The Oozaru shifted to block the blast, and was knocked aside as Piccolo rammed it. Piccolo moved upwards to regroup, but was swatted by a flick of the Oozaru's tail.
"Taa--haaa!!" Tien fired off a quick blast, hoping for a lucky hit on the exposed tail. However, the Oozaru was already pushing itself up, and the blast struck its hip. Doubled up and roaring, the Oozaru fell back to the ground.
"Hit her again!" Order Piccolo as he jumped back to the air. "Same spot!" Piccolo punctuated his order by throwing a handful of shuriken style ki darts.
Complying, Tien streaked over the writhing Oozaru and fired off a few blasts. "New strategy?"
Piccolo fired another blast and quickly advanced. "Not really. Just beat her down until we get a clear shot at the her tail. Then we just hope for the best."
"Will--wyaaah!"
Still clutching its hip with one arm, the Oozaru angrily reared up. Its free arm slashed through the air, only just missing Tien. Before Tien could dodge again, the Oozaru spat a fireball at him. Tien was unable to avoid the blast and was sent sprawling.
"Tien!"
The Oozaru spun to face Piccolo, spitting an arc of fire across the sky. Cutting himself short, Piccolo through up a ki shield. As soon as the fireball began dissipating, Piccolo let his aura spike and threw the ki shield at his attacker. The Oozaru simply ducked to the side, and was advancing instantly. Startled by the fact that he had missed, Piccolo darted upwards too late. Before he could get out of range, the Oozaru swung both arms forward, catching Piccolo's leg between its hand and its forearm.
Piccolo screamed in pain, spiking is energy at the same time. Roaring in anger, the Oozaru jerked back. But then its face quickly hardened and it viciously slapped Piccolo to the ground.
Groaning and clutching his leg, Piccolo looked up. The Oozaru was towering over him, looking down menacingly.
Abruptly, a blast ricocheted off the Oozaru's armor. "...Back. Off..." The Oozaru slowly turned to the side, and saw Tien hovering in the air, with one arm extended menacingly. "So much for tandem," the Human muttered. "You still in it, Piccolo?"
While the Oozaru was focused on Tien, Piccolo quietly took to the air. "Felt worse than it actually was," he replied gravely. Upon hearing him, the Oozaru stepped back defensively, keeping its eyes on both fighters. "And fighting in tandem is still our best bet. Better than being batted aside one by one."
The Oozaru growled menacingly as the it glanced between the two fighters.
A long, deep howl broke the silence.
Tien looked up. "...The hell?"
A second howl followed, loud enough to shake the landscape.
Uncertain of itself, the Oozaru glanced about nervously. It took a few more steps back, then threw up its head and roared in defiance.
As he desperately tried to cover his ears, Piccolo looked past the Oozaru. As he did, his eyes widened in horror. "Tien, hit the dirt!" Even as he yelled this, Piccolo dove behind a battered rock outcropping.
Tien was backpedaling furiously when a giant brown blur rushed by him. Something struck the Oozaru, and the ensuing rush off air threw Tien off balance. As the ringing in his head faded, Tien righted himself, and looked back down at the battlefield.
"...No..."
The Oozaru was locked in combat. With a wolf. A giant, anthropomorphic, wolf. Somewhere around forty feet tall, with a brownish-red coat, and a mutated, but all too familiar energy signature.
Tien tried to clear his eyes, praying what he saw was just a pain induced hallucination. "Ya... This... This can't be happening..."
Breathing hard, Piccolo floated next to the bewildered Human. "We have to get to Capsule Corps," he said gravely. Though Piccolo was more composed, he was no less stunned. "We have to tell them what's happening. We have to get... Some to way to fight this. While we still have a chance..."
Tien was unable to voice a response. For a moment, neither he nor Piccolo moved, both transfixed by the sight of the monster that had once been their comrade...
-----------------------------------------------------------