**********
Chapter 5
The Battle Begins
The four warriors stood in front of Kami and Mr. Popo.
Kami looked at them with some respect; they had trained hard for much
of an entire year to fight a battle they knew they probably could not win.
"I have done all I can," Kami said. "You should rest, I'm not exactly
when the Saiyans will arrive.
Gathering their things, Tien, Krillin, Yamcha and Chao-Zu walked off
to meet with Piccolo and Gohan on the lookout. They saw the two waiting
at the edge.
"Hi, Gohan, Piccolo," Yamcha said as they approached, less friendly
towards the latter. Piccolo grunted a greeting.
"Hi everyone!" Gohan called happily, waving at the four warriors. Piccolo
had a perpetual scowl on his face, not enjoying being so near his counterpart.
"Are you four ready, or will I be forced to save all of you from the
Saiyans?" Piccolo asked. Tien scowled slightly, but said nothing.
"As for us," Piccolo continued, "I am confident Gohan will be able
to handle himself in the battle," Piccolo said. "I outdid myself this time,"
he added with a smirk.
King Kai's planet...
Goku's scream grew louder and louder. King Kai tried hard to avoid being
thrown back, but was losing slowly. Finally the storm of ki subsided and
Goku fell to one knee, breathing very quickly.
"Kaio-ken 3! Excellent, excellent!" King Kai shouted happily. "Now,
you are ready to try the The Genki-Dama!," King Kai said. Goku stood up
and listened.
"Now, hold your hands up and concentrate on everything around. Feel
it's strength, and share that power," he said. Goku stood and raised his
arms and concentrated. He could feel King Kai's power...Bubbles...the tree
and grass on the planet...he felt it's energy. He felt it and silently
beckoned it to him.
He felt the ki flowing into him, forming into a physical form...slowly
but surely, until he could feel a solid ball of ki in his hands.
"Excellent! Excellent!" King Kai applauded, jumping up and down happily.
He could still hardly believe his protegé was going to beat Vegeta,
then kill Freiza, Kold and Coola!
"Now, try to hit this box," he said, composing himself as he noticed
Goku looking at him strangely. Using his psycic powers, King Kai lifted
a large wooden box that lied nearby and tossed it as quickly as he could.
Goku tossed the Genki-Dama and hit it, destroying the box. King Kai looked
in awe.
"Ok! Your ready, Goku! Now you can go back to earth and stop Vegeta!"
King Kai exclaimed. Goku smiled, thanks to King Kai, earth was saved.
"Thanks alot, King Kai! No offense, but I hope I don't see you for
awhile yet!" Goku said and flew off. King Kai broke into laughter, but
suddenly realized something...
"Goku, I forgot to factor in how long it will take you to return to
earth!"
"What? How long will it take, King Kai?" Goku shouted.
"Uh....oh no! You won't get there until afew hours after they arrive!"
he said.
"No! Damn it!" Goku shouted and flew off down Snake Way.
"Good luck, Goku," King Kai said as the warrior flew off.
The six warriors were tense. They could feel the three awesome powers
coming. They stood, ready to die if needed in defense of earth. The large
field had several trees and was surrounded by mountains. There were no
cities anywhere nearby; it was the best place for the battle.
"Ok, we need a strategy," Piccolo said. Sensing the ki's, he said.
"Let's wait until they land, then we'll decide what to do," Piccolo
said. The warriors nodded. Thoughts went through their minds; fear,
yet resolve: They would not allow the earth's inhabitants to die.
The ship landed a long distance away. The door opened and Raditz exited
first, followed by Nappa and then Vegeta.
"Allright, standard procedure, find the largest power and deal with
it," Vegeta said. Nappa and Radit nodded and simultaneously tapped their
scouters.
"Wow! There are half a dozen powers over 7,000!" Nappa exclaimed.
"Impossible! The strongest person when I was here a year ago was barely
over 3,000!" Raditz exclaimed. Nappa shrugged.
"Your power more then tripled in less then a year. No matter, they
can't beat us," he said casually.
"Let's go greet them," Vegeta said. The three Saiyans nodded to each
other and rose into the air before flying off towards the warriors.
"They're coming!" Chao-zu shouted at the ki's appraoched. The warriors
all shook slightly, teeth clenched and their hands balled into fists.
"They must know we're the only things that can slow them down," Yamcha
said.
"Get ready!" Piccolo commanded. The three Saiyans became visible. Nappa
landed first, arms crossed and smirking. Raditz second, some distance behind
Nappa, scowling. Vegeta hovered down slowly, emotionless.
"You realize you will all die now, right?" Vegeta said simply. The
Z immediatly began powering up quickly. Ki radiated around them. Nappa
quickly tapped his scouter.
"Wow! All over 9,000! Impressive!" Nappa said. "But, you can't beat
me," he added. Vegeta stared oddly at Piccolo for a moment, when...
"A Namek?" Vegeta suddenly said. Nappa squinted in the sun,
"You're right, Vegeta. A Namek. Better be careful, those guys can be
dangerous," he said. Piccolo looked shocked.
"W..what?"
"You don't know?" Raditz mocked him. "A bunch of peaceful slugs, but
they're actually pretty strong,"
"Anyways, the Namek is the strongest," Vegeta said.
"Now, how should we kill these fools?" Nappa asked. Piccolo stepped
forward angrily.
"Shut up! We'll defeat you!" he shouted. Nappa broke into laughter.
"You can't even beat the weakest of us!" Nappa said. "Hmmm, I have
an idea. Why won't we see how tough you are. You can each fight Raditz
one at a time and see how tough you are," Nappa said.
"What do you think, Raditz?" Vegeta said.
"Heh, sounds fun," the long haired Saiyan said. Piccolo growled.
"Idiots! This isn't some game!" he shouted
"Piccolo! If we go along it'll give Goku more time to show up," Tien
said. Piccolo calmed down.
"Fine. I suppose this could also be good for something else...Gohan,
you fight him," he said.
"Me?" Gohan asked. The other stared in shock.
"You can beat him, Gohan. Don't hold back!" Piccolo said. Gohan nodded
slowly and walked forward.
"Haha! That Namek is such a coward he hides behind a little kid!" Nappa
laughed. Vegeta smirked.
"I was hoping for a good fight," Raditz said dissapointedly as he walked
up and fell into a fighting stance.
"I'm ready when you are," he said. Gohan crouched down.
"Go," Vegeta said simply. Raditz flew forward quickly and attacked.
Gohan barely blocked in time and was forced back as Raditz threw punch
after punch. The two combatants began flying into the air as Gohan continued
losing ground. Piccolo, Vegeta, Nappa, Tien, Yamcha, Chao-zu and Krillin
all watched as the fight.
"Piccolo! Gohan can't win, he's barely blocking those attacks!" Krillin
shouted. Piccolo glared up at the fight.
"Gohan..." he muttered as Raditz faded behind and kicked Gohan hard
in the back, knocking him forward, but Gohan managed to stop and turned
around. Both stopped momentarily, catching their breath..
"You're better then I expected, but you're really no match for a Saiyan,"
Raditz said between breathes. The two then charged and began going back
and forth, disappearing and reappearing around the landscape.
"Raditz is fighting sloppily, he's having trouble with the kid," Nappa
scowled. Vegeta chuckled.
"You're wrong, Nappa. Raditz is fighting fine-the kid's pretty good,"
he said.
"Heh, who'd have thought?" Nappa said. Suddenly, there was a crash
and Raditz was flung back. Gohan pressed the attack and delivered several
powerful blows. Blocking a hit, Raditz quickly threw a powerful kick that
forced Gohan to back off, then Raditz charged forward and punched, but
Gohan dodged to the side and kicked Raditz hard. The Saiyan grabbed the
side of his armor and growled. The two landed.
"Allright, I'm ending this right now," Raditz said. Powering up, he
flew up high into the air. Pulling his arms back, he began charging his
ki.
"Gohan! Look out!" Piccolo shouted. Gohan looked in the direction of his mentor then stared back into the sky and was suddenly aware of the massive amount of ki being charged.
"Ha! You can't win!" Raditz muttered. Energy began gathering in his
hands. He began charging a large blast in each hand then placing his hadns
parallel of each other, charging energy. Thrusting his arms out, he shouted:
"Ka Sa Dan!" and the two energy blasts formed together and launched
out as an enormous blast.
"Gohan, no!" Piccolo shouted as the blast flew down. Gohan stood, frozen
to the spot, but lifted his arms above his head and began charging.
"The fool's going to try to counter it! He's finished!" Nappa laughed.
The blast got nearer and Gohan continued charging, and as the blast got
near, he fired.
"Masenko!" he shouted as he fired the large blast. It collided Raditz'
attack. The two began going back and forth, but one blast began slowly
to lose...
"Impossible! No!" Raditz shouted. Gohan's blast got nearer and nearer.
Throwing his arms up, Raditz took the blast head on and it exploded violently.
Pieces of armor were ripped off and flung about and Raditz was sent flying.
Crashing into the mountain, he wiped some blood from his face and clenched
his fist. Lifting into the air, he flew back down and landed.
"You brat! You could've killed me! I'll show you what I can really
do!" he shouted angrily. The two charged at each other and went back at
first, exchanging punches and kicks as they flew around the landscape.
Raditz began to slowly lose ground as they moved around quickly, fading
and attacking. Gohan began pressing aggresively, punching quickly as Raditz
flew back slowly. Raditz suddenly blocked and countered with a punch to
the stomach. Gohan doubled over and was caught with an elbow to the face
and crashed into the ground, but continued skidding down. He got up slowly,
dazed, but still able to fight, he crouched down.
"You can do it, Gohan," Piccolo whispered quietly. Raditz walked forward
slowly.
"Ha! Sorry kid, but I think this is it! Too bad!" he then suddenly
rushed forward and kicked. Gohan blocked, but in his haste did so too quickly,
and screamed as a snapping noise could be heard.
"No...Gohan's arm!" Tien shouted. Gohan began whimpering. Raditz jumped
back and began charging a blast.
"I lost..." Gohan said quietly. He fell to his knees, but heard a voice
call out,
"Gohan! Don't give up!" he looked in the direction and saw it was Piccolo!
"You can do it! You have to keep fighting! For everyone on the planet!"
"Allright Piccolo...I'll try," he said. Raditz regarded Gohan with
some respect. He had put up a titanic fight and would have defeated him
only six months ago.
"Goodbye kid, it was a nice fight, but it ends now!" he shouted as
he fired down the blast. Gohan made no movement. The blast got closer,
and Gohan suddenly rushed forward and slapped the blast away!
"What?!" Nappa cried out. Raditz froze in shock and was met with a
powerful headbutt. He instantly lost his breath and was sent flying with
a spinning kick. Managing to land, Raditz charged forward. Gohan rushed
forward to meet him. As they met, Raditz threw a punch while Gohan kicked.
A crash was heard.
"Impossible!"
Raditz landed hard, skidding through several meters of ground before
stopping, bleeding heavily and barely conscious.
"Damn...I think my ribs are broken," he muttered. Nappa scowled. No
way! How could a warrior HE trained lose to a kid?!!?
"You did it Gohan!" Krillin called out. Gohan smiled slightly as he
landed, clutching his arm. Yamcha bent down and felt it, and smiled.
"It's fine, not broken or anything, I think it was just paralyzed from
the hit. You'll be fine,"
"That's great!" Gohan said. Piccolo grinned.
"I am proud of you Gohan. You should take a small rest, we'll deal
with the others," he said.
Nappa stepped forward, growling. "I'll avenge Raditz! You're all gonna
die slowly!" he shouted. He then began powering up. The very earth began
shaking, energy flared around him. The warriors struggled to keep their
balance.
"What power!" Chao-zu shouted out. The warriors were all sweating at
the power they sensed. Cracks began forming in the earth around Nappa,
spreading out. Then his powered spiked and stopped rising. He smirked.
"He he! Raditz is nothing compared to me! You may have beaten him,
but you don't stand a chance against me!"
"Keep talking!" Piccolo shouted. Nappa began walking around.
"Now, who first...the midget, the mime, the three eyes man, the Namek.."
"No!" Vegeta called out. "Leave the Namek alive! We'll need him to
find the balls!" Vegeta said. Nappa frowned slightly.
"Allright. So, I guess that means...YOU!" he shouted suddenly. He rushed
straight at Tien, who barely managed to throw his arms in defense before
the powerful fist collided. Nappa threw several more powerful hits, still
hurting despite Tien blocking, pushing him back. Tien quickly faded back
and charged forward with a kick. Nappa blocked and, grabbing Tien's leg,
tossed him hard where he landed some distance away. He stopped for a second,
but Yamcha dove forward and attacked from behind. But Nappa felt his approach
and turned, countering with a punch that snapped Yamcha's face back and
began brutal body blows until knocking him away with a chop to the chest.
"He's too strong to fight directly," Tien said as he got up. Yamcha
nodded, one eye closed.
"What do we do?" Krillin asked. Piccolo stared. For once, he had no
idea what to do. No plan.
"Heh, too bad. Here's my special attack! Super Bomber!" Nappa shouted.
Pulling right arm back, he gather ki around his fast and threw it forward.
It flew past Tien and exploded. He turned and saw a large, smoking crater.
Where Krillin was standing.
"No! Krillin!" Yamcha shouted.
"Pathetic! I already killed one!" Nappa laughed. Suddenly, he stared
in shock, looking into the air. The others quickly followed and saw a short
figure.
"Krillin dodged!" Yamcha sighed in relief.
"Barely..." Piccolo said. Krillin landed slowly, holding his left arm,
which had a small cut.
"Be careful, I was no where near that and I felt it," he said. The
Z warriors stared. Nappa seemed invincible. The warriors prepared to charge,
hoping to overhwhelm him, but...
"Wait," Piccolo whispered. "I have a plan..."
**********
Well, I wonder what Piccolo's plan is? Well, not really, I know what
it is since I'm writing this.
Hint: Something he did in the normal series by now.
