A/N: So, the action's started eh? I'm expect this entire battle to last about four chapters or so. Yep, it's probably going to b the longest fight sequence I've ever written :) Anyway, thanks to all the people who left reviews, now do it again! And read my other stories! Go on, you know you want to!
shadreth: There will be a few tidbits as to this persons identity throughout this story and it's subsequent sequels. (yep, that's right, I said sequels, as in more than one.) However the exact identity wont be revealed until the final story of the series. ;) Sorry, you'll just have to wait :p
Chapter Nineteen - Falling Like Flies
Zarbon cracked his neck as he lifted Appla off the ground. He pulled back his arm to deliver the final blow. "Now you die Monkey." Appla just spat blood on his face.
Just as his arm started moving five feet slammed into back causing him to drop Appla, stumble forward, and trip over her. He landed face first but got back up quickly and turned to see who had dared to attack him. /What? It's the others... but how?/ "Where are Yang, Vashon, and Dodoria?" he demanded. /The kid and Namek are missing though.../
"Gone." Hotaru said confidently. "Though Yang did give us some interesting information. So just who is Raven?" Zarbon's eyes went wide. "Oh yes, he told us about her."
Vadora stepped forward from the group, she'd gone to find out what had happened to Gohan and Piccolo and joined up with them on the way back. "You can't seriously believe she can defeat Lord Vegeta or the Cold Family. If she could she'd have done it already."
Zarbon laughed. "She has her reasons I assure you, none of which I've been told, but I don't really care. And yes, I do believe she can succeed. It was one of her soldiers who first contacted me, according to him he's the weakest in the group. I don't know for sure though, my scouter overloaded."
It was Vadora's turn to be shocked. Even the weakest scouters didn't overload until 1.5 million! The strongest can go as high as 5 million. For anything more than that you needed a planet based system. If Zarbon was telling the truth... "There's no way."
Zarbon laughed again. "Don't worry, you wont have to face her in this lifetime because yours are ending against me." He lunged in at the group but his punch only grazed Krillin's shoulder.
Hotaru spun around behind Zarbon. "Yottsu Kinryoku!" Her silver aura grew thick and bright, glaringly bright compared to the one around Yamcha. Together the two charged in attacking Zarbon. Despite Hotaru's now quadrupled power due to the Kinryoku and Yamcha's more then four fold increase in strength thanks to both an Enhancer Ring and the Kinryoku neither one could land a punch. Vadora and Krillin were helping as much as they could while Tien gave Appla one of the last two Senzus to be used only if absolutely necessary. They all had agreed this was one such situation.
As Appla started to chew the bean there was a sickening crack. Turning around he saw everyone floating and staring at Yamcha who floated only a few inches above Zarbon's fist. From where he was he could see the problem clearly, his chest was caved in. He let out a few moans before collapsing to the ground. He convulsed for a moment, blood seeping from his mouth, before going completely still and his power dropping away completely.
"Yamcha!" Hotaru cried landing beside him. "No... I..." She stared at his body in shock before turning to glare at Zarbon. Her eyes flashed Orange for a moment and her pupils began to glow. Her silver aura faded away into her natural orange aura which swirled and pulsated. Since Zarbon didn't have his scouter on at the moment he couldn't tell the power she'd gained. The others, however, could feel her power. She was stronger now than she had been with the Kinryoku. She still wasn't as strong as Zarbon but was a little stronger than the now fully healed Appla.
She lunged at Zarbon, her eyes burning with hatred. A glowing orange fist slammed into Zarbon's face with a thunderous crack. She began to pummel him with all her might as the others watched on in shock. After a moment Zarbon recovered from the surprise at her power and began to defend himself. Appla charged in and joined with Hotaru in her assault. It was evident that they were wearing him down but it was also evident that Hotaru's power was slipping away quickly.
The fight lasted almost half an hour before Zarbon landed a powerful blow to Hotaru's stomach before kneeing her in the face and knocking her unconscious. He was about to blast her when Appla slammed her foot into the back of his head. The two began trading blows again as a now conscious Gohan helped Tien move Hotaru to safety.
Appla was stronger now than she had been but still was having some trouble dealing with Zarbon on her own. After about ten minutes of trading blows with him she began to tire. "That all you've got girl? Come on! I can go on like this for hours!"
As Zarbon began to get a greater advantage over his opponent Vadora turned to Tien. "Give me the last bean." she demanded hoarsely. "I'm the strongest one here and she needs help." Tien looked over to Krillin who nodded before giving her the bean.
"Be careful." he said as she swallowed the bean.
"I will." She turned toward the fight and sped in at them again. She managed to catch him by surprise with a sharp kick. Then the two women worked together to fight Zarbon but they were at a disadvantage still, even with the extra strength Vadora had gained.
"What I don't get is how you keep coming back." Zarbon said dodging a series of punches. "But it dosen't matter, I'll still kill you."
As Appla slipped around a punch and tried to land one of her own she glanced over at Vadora. "How long are they going to take?" she asked.
Zarbon looked at her curiously as Vadora answered. "They're your family. They said something about three hours... it's been about that."
"That's good to hear."
Zarbon pulled back and glared at them. "What are you two going on about?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Appla asked with a grin before firing a series of KI blasts at him. He dodged most of them and deflected the rest.
"I've had enough of this, it's time to end your petty attempt to beat me so I can blow the planet up." He floated up and backward stretching out his right arm, raising his palm, and bracing his arm with the other. In front of the open palm red and blue energy began to swirl and a ball of KI to form.
From where he stood Tien saw his chance to help. He launched into the air even higher than Zarbon currently floated. Unnoticed by the alien he placed hands into a triangle shape in front of his chest. The energy built between his hands quickly, he wasn't nearly as strong as Zarbon but if he put enough energy into this attack it might be enough to give Appla and Vadora a chance. Just as Zarbon was about to fire his attack a voice rang out from above him. "Tri-Beam!"
He looked up in time to see the attack coming. He shifted his position in the air and raised his arm to aim at the attack. "Dragon Flame!" he cried. The blue and red energy ball in front of Zarbon's hand flared massively and erupted into a stream of swirling blue and red KI. The Alien's attack slammed head on into the Tri-Beam and began to shove it back into the air with little trouble. It only took a moment for the blast to overtake Tien and the Triclops was hidden from view.
When the attack died Tien fell from the sky landing with a thud leaving a perfectly shaped hole in the ground. His energy was gone. Vadora turned from where he lay to look up at Zarbon who was still watching Tien's lifeless body. In a flash she surged up into the air at Zarbon. The alien saw the flash of light and turned toward her. He stretched his arm out again and quickly charged another attack. She was almost on top of him when he fired. Her scream was earsplitting as the wave engulfed her. A moment later she was slammed into the ground as the attack ended. She was alive, but barely. Appla didn't wait and charged straight in at Zarbon again. He simply backhanded her away into the distance, turned, and charged another Dragon Flame.
******
Kami looked up from his focus on the battle back on Earth as he sensed Goku and Bardock. "That's them." he said King Yemma as he turned to face the door to Snake Way. When Piccolo had died, because of the link they shared, he had died as well. However King Yemma had allowed him to remain at the check-in station to await the return of Goku and Bardock. He'd return them to the lookout and then return to Otherworld. As the two warriors landed Kami felt Tien's energy shift planes. /Not good, we have little time left./
Goku looked at Kami and blinked a couple times. "You've got a Halo?" he asked in wonder. "Wait, then that means..."
Kami nodded. "Yes, Piccolo has fallen. So has Tien and Yamcha."
"Oh no."
"Yes, and you'd better hurry, Vadora's power just took a drastic drop as well."
Goku and Bardock grabbed onto Kami and the three vanished to appear on the lookout a moment later. With a wave the two took off for the powers they sensed in the distance keeping their energy suppressed as much as possible. Sighing Kami returned to Otherworld. /I hope they can make a difference./
"What!" Bardock cried. Goku looked over at him worried. "I... I can't sense Appla anymore!"
"We have to hurry!" Goku cried putting on more speed.
******
"Dragon Flame!" Zarbon cried. Krillin and Gohan watched on in horror as the blast overtook Appla and a moment later she was gone.
Krillin grabbed Hotaru and picked her up. "Go get Vadora, we have to get out of here!"
"But... what about dad and Grandpa B.?" Gohan asked.
"They're not here yet! We can't fight him alone!" Krillin yelled. "We're not strong enough."
Gohan was about to do as Krillin said when he felt a power he recognized immediately. "DADDY!" he cried looking off into the distance. Zarbon looked down at the child like he was crazy. "Krillin, I can feel him! It's daddy and Grandpa B.!"
Krillin looked too and smiled. "You're right Gohan, they're here! They made it!"
Zarbon frowned, he couldn't see anyone. "What are you two midgets going on about now?" he demanded. "I can't see anyone and my vision's better than yours. And what's this about your father and grandfather?" He thought for a moment and then remembered Jaken's report from a about a year ago. "HA! Nice try you two, but Bardock and Kakkarotto are both dead! Jaken saw them die with his own eyes!" Zarbon smiled at himself for calling their bluff but wondered just the same if someone was coming. It could be possible they somehow knew someone was coming.
He picked up his scouter and put it on to check for power readings. /Well, the girls wont be any trouble, they're powers have dropped below a hundred. The bald guy's the strongest now... Hmm, what about any other powers?/ He looked in the direction the two on the ground were looking and his scouter picked up two powers. /Let's see... they're each at ten thousand... Ha! That settles it! Bardock was higher than that a year ago and there's no way Kakkarotto could be that strong! I don't know who these two are but they don't stand a chance!/
Next Chapter: Bardock's Furry!
shadreth: There will be a few tidbits as to this persons identity throughout this story and it's subsequent sequels. (yep, that's right, I said sequels, as in more than one.) However the exact identity wont be revealed until the final story of the series. ;) Sorry, you'll just have to wait :p
Chapter Nineteen - Falling Like Flies
Zarbon cracked his neck as he lifted Appla off the ground. He pulled back his arm to deliver the final blow. "Now you die Monkey." Appla just spat blood on his face.
Just as his arm started moving five feet slammed into back causing him to drop Appla, stumble forward, and trip over her. He landed face first but got back up quickly and turned to see who had dared to attack him. /What? It's the others... but how?/ "Where are Yang, Vashon, and Dodoria?" he demanded. /The kid and Namek are missing though.../
"Gone." Hotaru said confidently. "Though Yang did give us some interesting information. So just who is Raven?" Zarbon's eyes went wide. "Oh yes, he told us about her."
Vadora stepped forward from the group, she'd gone to find out what had happened to Gohan and Piccolo and joined up with them on the way back. "You can't seriously believe she can defeat Lord Vegeta or the Cold Family. If she could she'd have done it already."
Zarbon laughed. "She has her reasons I assure you, none of which I've been told, but I don't really care. And yes, I do believe she can succeed. It was one of her soldiers who first contacted me, according to him he's the weakest in the group. I don't know for sure though, my scouter overloaded."
It was Vadora's turn to be shocked. Even the weakest scouters didn't overload until 1.5 million! The strongest can go as high as 5 million. For anything more than that you needed a planet based system. If Zarbon was telling the truth... "There's no way."
Zarbon laughed again. "Don't worry, you wont have to face her in this lifetime because yours are ending against me." He lunged in at the group but his punch only grazed Krillin's shoulder.
Hotaru spun around behind Zarbon. "Yottsu Kinryoku!" Her silver aura grew thick and bright, glaringly bright compared to the one around Yamcha. Together the two charged in attacking Zarbon. Despite Hotaru's now quadrupled power due to the Kinryoku and Yamcha's more then four fold increase in strength thanks to both an Enhancer Ring and the Kinryoku neither one could land a punch. Vadora and Krillin were helping as much as they could while Tien gave Appla one of the last two Senzus to be used only if absolutely necessary. They all had agreed this was one such situation.
As Appla started to chew the bean there was a sickening crack. Turning around he saw everyone floating and staring at Yamcha who floated only a few inches above Zarbon's fist. From where he was he could see the problem clearly, his chest was caved in. He let out a few moans before collapsing to the ground. He convulsed for a moment, blood seeping from his mouth, before going completely still and his power dropping away completely.
"Yamcha!" Hotaru cried landing beside him. "No... I..." She stared at his body in shock before turning to glare at Zarbon. Her eyes flashed Orange for a moment and her pupils began to glow. Her silver aura faded away into her natural orange aura which swirled and pulsated. Since Zarbon didn't have his scouter on at the moment he couldn't tell the power she'd gained. The others, however, could feel her power. She was stronger now than she had been with the Kinryoku. She still wasn't as strong as Zarbon but was a little stronger than the now fully healed Appla.
She lunged at Zarbon, her eyes burning with hatred. A glowing orange fist slammed into Zarbon's face with a thunderous crack. She began to pummel him with all her might as the others watched on in shock. After a moment Zarbon recovered from the surprise at her power and began to defend himself. Appla charged in and joined with Hotaru in her assault. It was evident that they were wearing him down but it was also evident that Hotaru's power was slipping away quickly.
The fight lasted almost half an hour before Zarbon landed a powerful blow to Hotaru's stomach before kneeing her in the face and knocking her unconscious. He was about to blast her when Appla slammed her foot into the back of his head. The two began trading blows again as a now conscious Gohan helped Tien move Hotaru to safety.
Appla was stronger now than she had been but still was having some trouble dealing with Zarbon on her own. After about ten minutes of trading blows with him she began to tire. "That all you've got girl? Come on! I can go on like this for hours!"
As Zarbon began to get a greater advantage over his opponent Vadora turned to Tien. "Give me the last bean." she demanded hoarsely. "I'm the strongest one here and she needs help." Tien looked over to Krillin who nodded before giving her the bean.
"Be careful." he said as she swallowed the bean.
"I will." She turned toward the fight and sped in at them again. She managed to catch him by surprise with a sharp kick. Then the two women worked together to fight Zarbon but they were at a disadvantage still, even with the extra strength Vadora had gained.
"What I don't get is how you keep coming back." Zarbon said dodging a series of punches. "But it dosen't matter, I'll still kill you."
As Appla slipped around a punch and tried to land one of her own she glanced over at Vadora. "How long are they going to take?" she asked.
Zarbon looked at her curiously as Vadora answered. "They're your family. They said something about three hours... it's been about that."
"That's good to hear."
Zarbon pulled back and glared at them. "What are you two going on about?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Appla asked with a grin before firing a series of KI blasts at him. He dodged most of them and deflected the rest.
"I've had enough of this, it's time to end your petty attempt to beat me so I can blow the planet up." He floated up and backward stretching out his right arm, raising his palm, and bracing his arm with the other. In front of the open palm red and blue energy began to swirl and a ball of KI to form.
From where he stood Tien saw his chance to help. He launched into the air even higher than Zarbon currently floated. Unnoticed by the alien he placed hands into a triangle shape in front of his chest. The energy built between his hands quickly, he wasn't nearly as strong as Zarbon but if he put enough energy into this attack it might be enough to give Appla and Vadora a chance. Just as Zarbon was about to fire his attack a voice rang out from above him. "Tri-Beam!"
He looked up in time to see the attack coming. He shifted his position in the air and raised his arm to aim at the attack. "Dragon Flame!" he cried. The blue and red energy ball in front of Zarbon's hand flared massively and erupted into a stream of swirling blue and red KI. The Alien's attack slammed head on into the Tri-Beam and began to shove it back into the air with little trouble. It only took a moment for the blast to overtake Tien and the Triclops was hidden from view.
When the attack died Tien fell from the sky landing with a thud leaving a perfectly shaped hole in the ground. His energy was gone. Vadora turned from where he lay to look up at Zarbon who was still watching Tien's lifeless body. In a flash she surged up into the air at Zarbon. The alien saw the flash of light and turned toward her. He stretched his arm out again and quickly charged another attack. She was almost on top of him when he fired. Her scream was earsplitting as the wave engulfed her. A moment later she was slammed into the ground as the attack ended. She was alive, but barely. Appla didn't wait and charged straight in at Zarbon again. He simply backhanded her away into the distance, turned, and charged another Dragon Flame.
******
Kami looked up from his focus on the battle back on Earth as he sensed Goku and Bardock. "That's them." he said King Yemma as he turned to face the door to Snake Way. When Piccolo had died, because of the link they shared, he had died as well. However King Yemma had allowed him to remain at the check-in station to await the return of Goku and Bardock. He'd return them to the lookout and then return to Otherworld. As the two warriors landed Kami felt Tien's energy shift planes. /Not good, we have little time left./
Goku looked at Kami and blinked a couple times. "You've got a Halo?" he asked in wonder. "Wait, then that means..."
Kami nodded. "Yes, Piccolo has fallen. So has Tien and Yamcha."
"Oh no."
"Yes, and you'd better hurry, Vadora's power just took a drastic drop as well."
Goku and Bardock grabbed onto Kami and the three vanished to appear on the lookout a moment later. With a wave the two took off for the powers they sensed in the distance keeping their energy suppressed as much as possible. Sighing Kami returned to Otherworld. /I hope they can make a difference./
"What!" Bardock cried. Goku looked over at him worried. "I... I can't sense Appla anymore!"
"We have to hurry!" Goku cried putting on more speed.
******
"Dragon Flame!" Zarbon cried. Krillin and Gohan watched on in horror as the blast overtook Appla and a moment later she was gone.
Krillin grabbed Hotaru and picked her up. "Go get Vadora, we have to get out of here!"
"But... what about dad and Grandpa B.?" Gohan asked.
"They're not here yet! We can't fight him alone!" Krillin yelled. "We're not strong enough."
Gohan was about to do as Krillin said when he felt a power he recognized immediately. "DADDY!" he cried looking off into the distance. Zarbon looked down at the child like he was crazy. "Krillin, I can feel him! It's daddy and Grandpa B.!"
Krillin looked too and smiled. "You're right Gohan, they're here! They made it!"
Zarbon frowned, he couldn't see anyone. "What are you two midgets going on about now?" he demanded. "I can't see anyone and my vision's better than yours. And what's this about your father and grandfather?" He thought for a moment and then remembered Jaken's report from a about a year ago. "HA! Nice try you two, but Bardock and Kakkarotto are both dead! Jaken saw them die with his own eyes!" Zarbon smiled at himself for calling their bluff but wondered just the same if someone was coming. It could be possible they somehow knew someone was coming.
He picked up his scouter and put it on to check for power readings. /Well, the girls wont be any trouble, they're powers have dropped below a hundred. The bald guy's the strongest now... Hmm, what about any other powers?/ He looked in the direction the two on the ground were looking and his scouter picked up two powers. /Let's see... they're each at ten thousand... Ha! That settles it! Bardock was higher than that a year ago and there's no way Kakkarotto could be that strong! I don't know who these two are but they don't stand a chance!/
Next Chapter: Bardock's Furry!
