Chapter 8: The Woeful Earth Strikes Back

It could've been worse - much worse - as far as Gohan was concerned, but even still, the damage had been done. The scattered rubble and smoking remains of the surrounding crystalline buildings on the street were clear proof that the conflict had been fierce and unrelenting, and as Gohan's eyes fell on the silent bodies of four similarly dressed figures, his fighting spirit was energized even more with the prospect of turning the tide of the fight.

But while he still had a moment, he inspected the small girl's bruises and lacerations. Gohan knew that she'd given everything she had during the encounter, which was very impressive: the girl seemed a bit younger than he was and had outlasted a lot of her older teammates. Even in her dazed state, Gohan could physically see the purity that had radiated throughout the small amount of ki sparkling in her large red eyes. As her dazed and confused gaze finally focused in on him, Gohan was relieved to see that despite her smaller bruises, she was relatively unharmed, albeit shell-shocked.

"Are you okay?" Gohan asked. "You came so close to dying back there. I didn't think I'd be able to catch you for a moment."

The girl took a moment to respond, but when she did, it was in the form of a surprised gasp at the stranger holding her in his arms. The Masenko blast and the scary aftermath had obviously been too fast-paced for her weary mind to keep track of; she'd probably thought that she was still in the clutches of the enemy commander.

"H...huh...?!" She looked down and seemed flabbergasted at the smoldering red-orange fire beneath them. "What in the world just...?!"

"Relax for a minute, it's okay," Gohan addressed her slowly to calm her down. The tactic seemed to work, as the young girl turned back to him and nervously spoke. Gohan was amused at the bit of red color surfacing on her pale face as she looked at him, but he tried not to let it show.

"You...you're the one...who fired that beam...?" She stammered as her gaze nervously shifted around. She was either uncomfortable with being held so high in the air by a stranger, or she was just trying to fight off the redness in her face.

"Yeah, sorry about that close call back there," Gohan bowed his head in apology. "But when I saw that savage about to touch you, something inside me said that you wouldn't
be alive right now if I hadn't intervened."

The girl laughed lightly as she sheepishly smiled before replying.

"Well...thank you so much for saving me...but who are you? Where did you come from? I've never heard of anybody with your type of power on our planet before," she asked him with curiosity, still not fully recovered from what had just happened to her.

"Heh, I don't think there's time to explain exactly why I'm here," Gohan admitted to her as he motioned down toward the three aliens commanders. The female that had nearly killed the girl looked absolutely incensed at his interference, and her blazing eyes instantly incinerated his own gaze. Another alien - this one in damaged black armor and donning a cracked scouter - was waiting on the ground with peaked interest at the sudden turn of events. A trickle of blood was dripping from his lower lip, and his face, arms, and legs were coated in dirt. Judging from the mass destruction of the surrounding area as well as the fresh corpses, Gohan surmised that he had been the one most responsible for the deaths of the princesses. Gohan made sure to remember that if he was to lock horns with that particular fiend momentarily.

Still a third insect-like alien was grasping one of the princesses within his steel-strength arms. Both of them were a little more than surprised by his arrival and small counterattack on the female alien, but Gohan was relieved to see that the slender green-haired princess was alive, albeit weak and possibly wounded.

Two more twists that didn't add to Gohan's confidence were the two other figures that were severely wounded and laid out on the ground. The pure kis that radiated from their bodies told him that they were indeed two more of the Sailor Soldiers that Kami had mentioned. Unfortunately, the tan-haired one was crippled on the ground with an absurd lump in her back, and the smaller one - who couldn't have been much older than he was - had been scorched all over by a ki attack of some kind. From what Gohan saw, she didn't seem to notice the developing situation, as she seemed close to the point of death as he observed her comatose stare.

"I don't think your friends will last much longer," Gohan suggested as he turned his attention back to the girl. "The sooner that I can beat these three aliens, the quicker we can get help for them."

"What?!?" The girl seemed even more amazed at Gohan's nonchalant statement. "Are you serious...? You can defeat all three of those terrible monsters single-handedly?! You don't understand, these demons are awful: my friends that fought them were some of the most powerful protectors of the planet...and they...they..."

The girl was obviously getting overworked, her voice cracking at the mention of her friends. Gohan's heart sank as she struggled with futility to maintain her composure, but her could see faint traces of tears being blocked in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm...sorry," He rested his hand on the girl's shoulder, causing her to lift her face toward him. "I don't know what you're feeling about the loss of your friends, but I can promise you that I'll protect you from these monsters! They won't lay a hand on you as long as I'm around!"

"You'd...risk your life for me? Even though you've never met me before...?" She was taken aback even more by Gohan's words. "I mean...you don't even know my name, and I don't have the faintest clue of who you are or why you're here..."

The rapidly escalating situation seemed over the girl's head, but Gohan decided to help matters by lowering the two of them to the ground. He also decided to at least provide a small introduction for the time being.

"My name's Son Gohan, miss," He smiled politely. "What's your name?"

The girl still seemed nervous, and her face seemed to get a little redder at her mystery rescuer calling her 'miss.' As she struggled for words, she finally managed to croak out her name as the duo hit the ground.

"M-my name is Usagi," She stammered. "It's my mother's name, too, so you may call me by the name my friends gave me: ChibiUsa."

"Usagi? That's a nice name," Gohan replied. "It's nice to meet you! Can you stand up?"

"Yes...Son Gohan," She stuttered shakily. "That energy beam you fired and the fall gave me a start, but I think I can manage to stand up."

Gohan gently set her down, not letting go of her completely until he was certain that she could support her own weight.

"After that woman grabbed me, I didn't think I'd be alive long enough to walk on solid ground again," she commented. "I have to admit, though, I'm not used to moving so fast
in the air. I almost lost my stomach after you caught me."

"Don't worry, you get used to it after a while," Gohan laughed lightly. "Trust me, I've had my own bad experiences when I wasn't used to aerial combat."

Finding his attention drifting, Gohan turned back to the aliens for the moment. The female was still too close for comfort - if she wanted to get a quick shot at the weakened ChibiUsa, she could've very well been able to get past his defenses if her speed was great enough to dodge his Masenko beam. The giant was quick to step forward and stand beside her, looking on while casually cracking his knuckles.

"Well, you certainly are a quick little rat," The female spoke with a calmer tone than her expression had let on earlier. She chuckled slightly as she noticed his defensive stance as he stood boldly in front of the girl. "I'm not even sure why my scouter didn't detect the massive amount of ki until that beam was upon me. So why don't you tell us who you are and what you hope to gain by interfering with our extermination plans?"

"I don't think that's any of your business," Gohan retorted. "All you need to know is that your not getting your hands on this girl as long as I'm standing."

The magma-skinned alien burst out in a small laugh. "You? Stopping us from fulfilling our plan? Ha, I thought you were a tad stronger than the rest of the vermin on this planet, but I think you let that little surprise attack you had on me go to your head. My power goes far beyond what I planned to do to Serenity's daughter before you saved her; taking on a worthless runt like you isn't even worth my time."

Serenity's daughter...? Gohan was caught by surprise at that revelation. He turned to the girl to confirm his suspicion.

"So, your mother is NeoQueen Serenity!" He declared. "I knew you looked like the woman from the message!"

"Message? What are you talking about?" ChibiUsa arched one of her eyebrows in confusion. "You mean...you didn't know that I was the princess of Earth??"

"No, your mother sent for us," Gohan explained to her. "She sent some kind of probe back through time to my era. After we received it, a friend of one of your Sailor Soldiers
helped us travel forward in time to here. It was only the fact that we wound up arriving a huge distance away or else we would've been here earlier...and perhaps we could've saved your friends..."

ChibiUsa sighed heavily, a melancholy expression overtaking her inquisitive facade.

"Son Gohan..." she said to him. "I appreciate your sentiment for my friends and the people here...and even though I don't know who you are and where you come from...I can tell that your intentions are for real. But still, how do you expect to fight off three monsters at once while protecting the others?"

Now that Gohan had thought about it, it was a tremendous question, especially with the lives of the remaining Sailor Soldiers at risk. Another good question was why the aliens hadn't finished off those other three Sailor Soldiers instead of going for ChibiUsa. Either the princess's death alone would grant them some kind of advantage in their invasion, or the female was obsessively sadistic enough to pass up a victory in favor of allowing the victims to watch their princess die before their eyes. Gohan had to keep that weakness in mind for possible later use.

"Ah, how touching," The female laughed. "It seems you share some kind of bond with these Sailor Soldiers as well as their princess, just as every other human around here has - ready to scream their loyalty and lives to the queen even at the moment of your death. I wonder...you've succeeded with shielding the princess from our grasp for the moment, but are you just as concerned with protecting the other saviors of this planet?"

Gohan didn't waiver even with the prolific threat, but he couldn't help but feel himself tensing as the female casually crossed her arms. The prone Sailor Soldiers were a considerable distance away: he couldn't protect all of them with three threats in immediate striking distance of them.

"Son Gohan," ChibiUsa stepped closer to him and whispered softly so as not to alert the aliens. "Don't worry about me, please, you've got to help my friends!"

"I can't...!" Gohan snapped back at her. "Even if I leave you unguarded and let you get hurt or killed, there's still no guarantee that I'll make it to the others in time!"

"Oh, a bit indecisive, are we?" The female commander's arrogance was enough to nearly provoke Gohan into charging forward into her and her titanic bodyguard. "Very well, I think I'll lighten the amount of lives you need to concern yourself with saving."

She casually turned back toward the insectoid before Gohan could react and uttered a simple order.

"Zebus, finish her off."

The insect known as Zebus acknowledged by releasing one arm from his grip on the Sailor Soldier and ramming his armored forearm into her head. The jarring shock sent the unsuspecting Sailor Soldier to the ground with a dull thud. That hadn't been the deathblow, but it had been enough to stun her long enough for Zebus to gather a blue orb of energy into one of his palms.

"It would be my pleasure, captain," he hissed as the orb grew in size. "I was almost thinking that this day would pass without me making a corpse of one of these Sailor brats!"

As Zebus drew his hand back to launch the orb at the prone Sailor Soldier, Gohan didn't know what to do: either way, somebody was going to die, and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

Suddenly, as Gohan remained frozen at his indecisiveness, a figure darted from out behind one of the buildings and - with tremendous speed - delivered a swift flying kick to Zebus's jaw, sending the massive alien sailing backward onto the ground. The blue energy sphere flew out of the alien's hand and soared upward into the night sky, finally exploding several hundred feet away from the ground. As for Zebus, he appeared to be nearly unconscious from the jarring blow to the head.

"What...?!" The female commander was shell-shocked once again as she and her comrade gazed bug-eyed at the new arrival. "Impossible, there was another one?!"

Gohan, on the other hand, was quite relieved as he recognized the short stature, bald dome and orange karate gi. The figure turned around and nodded toward him.

"Krillin!!" Gohan called to him happily. "Thank goodness you got here! I must be getting a little slow if you managed to keep up with me!"

"Very funny, Gohan!" He laughed. "Relax, I'm not the only one who followed you here."

"Who is that, Son Gohan?" ChibiUsa asked, equally startled by Krillin's sudden appearance. "My gosh, can he move fast...I could barely see follow him during that surprise attack."

"Don't worry, that's my friend Krillin," Gohan answered her. "He's one of the others that have come here with me. The rest should be on their way: I just happened to get here
first!"

"Yes, and the decision paid off, fortunately for you," An iron voice from high above half-scolded the boy before he could explain more about the others to ChibiUsa. "Were it not for your actions in protecting Serenity's daughter, I'd have your head for deviating from our plan."

Gohan's eyes darted in the voice's direction, knowing in his mind that the threat carried no merit - he'd come to expect it from the voice's origin. As his eyes fixed themselves on the remains of a small building behind him, Gohan smiled with delight upon seeing a formidable cloaked figure staring down at him and the others.

"Mister Piccolo!" Gohan called up to him.

"What?!? It can't be--there are three of them?!" The female commander was in utter shock at the appearance of a third unknown. She also seemed rather perturbed at the origin of the third warrior. "But how is it possible for a Namek to be here on Earth?!"

Piccolo didn't respond; instead, he sprang from his perch and softly touched down on the ground in front of Gohan. After engaging in a slight stare-down with the two closest commanders, he turned his head toward the boy. ChibiUsa, unsurprisingly, shrank back slightly as the Namek's steel eyes bored into both of them.

"So that's Serenity's daughter," he said as he glanced around Gohan's back at the small child behind him. "She does bare much resemblance to her mother. It reminds me of you and your father, Gohan."

"Umm, excuse me..." ChibiUsa seemed a tad nervous at addressing the tall, formidable Piccolo, but Gohan certainly couldn't blame her: even after everything Gohan and Piccolo had gone through together over the times, the young Saiyan sometimes couldn't stay calm when facing the Namek. "Who are all of you? And how could you possibly know who my mother is but not know who I am?"

Piccolo lifted his mouth into a small smirk, amused with the confusion of the child.

"Relax, princess, you'll find out soon enough. I will say that we're not the ones you should be fearing," Piccolo responded to her. The smirk vanished from his face as he faced the awe-struck commanders. "Just let Gohan explain what he can while I deal with these fools."

While Piccolo said this, the female relaxed her stance and folded her arms. While the bald titan near her was still on the defensive from Piccolo's appearance, the female had seemingly regained her composure, albeit without the arrogance.

"I take that you are not part of the Crystal Tokyo Special Forces," she concluded as she studied the Namek. "The people of this planet haven't even come close to mastering space travel yet, so they couldn't have found your race's planet. And even still, I didn't even know that there were any warrior Nameks left in the universe. So tell me, where did you and your human friends come from?"

"We've come from nowhere you've ever explored," Piccolo replied sternly. "And you're right: my allegiance doesn't lie with the human defenders of Earth - I fight in the service of the planet itself, and you're going to pay dearly for what you've done with it."

"Prophetic fellow, aren't you?" The bald alien remarked as he checked the damaged scouter on his eye. He guffawed at the blipping digits that flashed across the screen. "Hah! A battle power of only 1500?! You were right, commander, there aren't any warrior Nameks left in the universe, at least any who actually have a decent strength!"

"Oh really?" Piccolo folded his arms leisurely at the insult as Gohan tried hard to suppress a smile. Just like the battle against Nappa on Earth, his mentor had hidden a good share of his power level to fool the aliens' scouters. "Then why don't you tell your friend to step aside and test your strength against me."

"Piccolo...!" Gohan whispered up to him, fearing that the Namek was inviting a double-team assault from both aliens. The Namek quickly stifled the boy's protests with a low wave of his hand.

"Hah! A fanged lizard like you beating me?" The monster cackled as he pounded his armored chest. "I take that you're a little unaware about what kind of destruction I've wreaked around here over the past hour! Take a look around, Namek, and witness the remnants of my onslaught!"

Whether Piccolo did or not, Gohan himself gazed around the ruined street area, and indeed, the armored alien hadn't been kidding about his rampage. Much of the ground was smoking from energy blasts, and the heat of pure ki energy still lingered on the night wind, stinging slightly at his skin. The worst sight on the field was that of freshly killed bodies; there were four of them to be exact. While one of them seemed to have a broken neck, the bodies of the other three had been immolated by ki energy, their burned skin still giving off wisps of black smoke and some of their clothes shredded and burned completely. Gohan's fists tightened as he caught the insidious amount of cockiness displayed on the face of the alien, who was obviously proud of his reign of destruction over the valiant saviors of Earth. Now, Gohan felt his blood beginning to boil, suddenly wishing that he had attacked the aliens full force to exact revenge for ChibiUsa's friends.

"Well, I suppose that such fodder is worth more to a scraggly vermin like you than to a giant like me," Piccolo smirked with mirth as he surveyed the scene. "Is this supposed to impress me? So you managed to overtake a bunch of children who were probably already fatigued enough from battle as it was. For someone with such a boisterous tongue, I'm disappointed by what you claim to be a masterpiece."

"What?!? Why you little..." The bald titan's cockiness faded into rage at Piccolo's response, drawing a bit of a chuckle from Gohan. "I've dealt with your kind before, Namek, and I can assure you of one thing - when I'm finished cracking your bones, you'll be pleading for me to finish you off!"

Piccolo spat forward toward the giant in defiance. The wad of fluid flew through the air and spattered across the dirt-hued cheek of the giant.

"Well, all I've seen is a lot of talk but no action," Piccolo fired back, serving only to infuriate the monster even more. "What's the problem - did those kids wear you out of all of your energy?"

"That does it!" The alien had reached his limit, exerting a small volt of his own ki energy to vaporize the trickling fluid on his cheek. He looked over toward the female, who seemingly appeared amused at the mocking of her partner. "Captain, let me handle this freak! I'm already warmed up from disposing of the Sailor Soldiers - let me get in one last good exercise today!"

The female let out a small sigh of exasperation.

"Fine," She nodded without much concern. "Just make it quick - I'd rather not waste anymore time in attacking the palace than we already have."

"Oh, don't worry, captain," He chuckled as he pounded one meaty fist into his other palm. "This won't take long, I promise you!"

"Gohan..." The boy's focus on the giant was broken as Piccolo talked down to him. "Listen very carefully - while I keep this monster busy, get over to Krillin and get those other Sailor Soldiers out of the way of these freaks."

Gohan was about to protest because of the greater numbers being against his mentor, but he decided against opening his mouth, instead nodding in obedience. The plan was a wise move on Piccolo's part - with the other princesses out of danger, the aliens wouldn't be able to use their lives to tip the scales in their favor.

"ChibiUsa, come with me," Gohan asked of the princess as he turned his gaze toward her. "I might need your help in rescuing your friends."

"Whatever it takes," She immediately agreed with him. She looked over toward the other child, who was still motionless against the wall. "Son Gohan, my friend Hotaru is on the verge of death! We have to get to her first!"

As the giant halted several feet in front of Piccolo, he began gathering his energy, surrounding himself in a crackling field of thunder. His skin began to tingle, electrifying the hairs all over his body. Gohan sensed that his ki level was rising steadily, but Piccolo still looked unimpressed.

"Now, Namek, prepare to join my other fallen opponents!"

The energized Tridyx let out a frightening shockwave as more ki was pumped into his body. But despite the distraction, Gohan could make out a slight nod from the tranquil Namek, and he took his cue, grabbing ChibiUsa's hand and dashing away in the direction of the dying child. Gohan could only hope that they weren't too late...

* * *

"That guy doesn't know what he's in for..." Krillin muttered to himself as the giant known as Tridyx energized his body with every ounce of power that he had. The light show was a radiant sight, but even still, it was all practically a fireworks display compared to what Piccolo could do.

"Uggh...." A groggy moan coming from nearby alerted his senses. Krillin looked over toward the insect-like alien whom he had effectively KOed only moments ago. Fortunately, the lanky, scale-covered beast was still motionless on the ground - the groan was coming from the Sailor Soldier that the alien had nearly killed. Apparently, the violent blow on the head had been enough to render her unconscious, perhaps with a slight concussion given the size of the insect's forearm and the proximity of the blow.

Krillin bent down over the Sailor Soldier, seeing her bright blue eyes flutter in and out of consciousness periodically. He lightly shook her shoulder, trying to revive her to the point where she could swallow one of the mystical senzu beans that he had gotten from Karin. Though just having one of the earthy beans disappear down her throat would be enough to activate its incredible healing powers, having her swallow one in her state would be a choking hazard.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he shook her lightly. "Come on, answer me!"

His efforts were futile, however, and the Sailor Soldier didn't respond to him at all; she was still hovering in the realm between conscious and unconscious.

Krillin!

Gohan's alerted telepathic cry brought Krillin's head up and in his direction. Gohan and the small girl were now against the ravaged building where the black-haired Sailor Soldier was slumped against. While the girl was shaking her friend almost in a panic in a fervent attempt to revive her, Gohan was staring intently in Krillin's direction, obviously concocting some kind of plan to rescue the other Sailor Soldiers. And when it came to rescuing those in danger, Krillin knew that Gohan - despite his short fuse - always managed to pull through.

I hear you, little buddy. Krillin sent his own telepathic thoughts across to Gohan's mind. Despite the interfering ki from the monster Tridyx, he was pretty certain by the perk of the boy's ears that his message was received. What do you have in mind for helping these princesses out? This one's still out cold thanks to that giant bug...

Krillin felt another echo inside of his mind, hearing Gohan's telepathic words filter into his thoughts.

Let's worry about the senzus later. For now, let's just get all three away from the aliens as soon as possible. Do you think you can get your Sailor Soldier over here? I don't want to chance moving the child with her condition...

No problem. Krillin nodded, lifting the Sailor Soldier up onto his shoulders. Despite her greater height, Krillin's strength was able to support her on his back quite easily. Without using much of his ki, the monk lifted himself into the air and floated slowly toward Gohan's direction, keeping a wary eye on the female, who was watching eagerly as her underling powered up in preparation for his battle against Piccolo.

Go ahead, I won't stop you from saving them.

Another sudden telepathic message took Krillin by surprise, nearly causing him to lose focus and tumble to the ground. The smooth yet dangerous-sounding female voice told Krillin as to who had mentally contacted him. He threw a confused, cautious glance toward the commander, who was still in the same position as she was in before, intercepting the conversation between Krillin and Gohan with incredible ease.

Surprised, I see. I don't blame you - not even your Namek friend seems to be comprehending our powers. But the Sailor Soldiers have already shown their fragility in battle - it doesn't matter to me if they live long enough to watch their saviors perish just as quickly as their friends did.

Krillin didn't bother responding as a small smirk emerged across the woman's face. Sadistic through and through, he had to admit. But even still, the opportunity to save the wounded had presented itself - it wouldn't be worth endangering the chance by provoking the female with words or actions.

He gently set the unconscious Sailor Soldier down in front of Gohan and the two Sailor Soldier children.

"How is she?" Gohan asked as he observed her limp body.

"Just a little banged up from that alien bug," Krillin said as he looked over at the girl that Gohan had saved. She was looking a little peaked and anxious as she tightly squeezed the slender hand of her wounded friend.

"Who's your new friend, Gohan?" Krillin asked, allowing a friendly tone back into his voice.

"Oh, I'm sorry, her name's ChibiUsa," Gohan answered. "She's the daughter of NeoQueen Serenity."

"Daughter?!" Krillin stared closely at the child's appearance, suddenly recalling Serenity's unique hair-style as well as her large eyes that had seemed to speak volumes of purity
within. The girl - despite her anxious state of mind - still seemed to possess the same gleaming sparkle within her round red eyes. "Yes...yes, now I see! My name's Krillin, your highness, it's good to see that you've survived this battle."

She didn't rise from the side of her friend to offer a formal greeting, but she did manage a smile and a friendly nod.

"It's nice to meet you, Krillin," she said. "And...thank you for saving Sailor Neptune. I don't know what I would do and any more of my friends have died..."

"Don't mention it, your highness," As he talked, Krillin dug into the small leather pouch that was tied to his belt. He retrieved a small, earth-colored bean from the pouch. "And don't worry, Gohan and I aren't about to let those aliens kill any more of your friends."

"What are you doing?" ChibiUsa looked at the bean with confusion. "This isn't the time for a snack!"

"This isn't an ordinary bean, princess. This thing can save her life," Krillin replied as he gently opened the black-haired girl's mouth, placing the tiny bean inside. "I just hope
she can swallow it..."

Though he didn't want to say it around the already panic-stricken ChibiUsa, Krillin knew that the chances of the child of swallowing the senzu were abysmal considering her
deteriorated state. Gohan hadn't been kidding when he said that the black-haired Sailor soldier had been close to dying - almost no ki was radiating from her scarred, brazed body, and her deep purple eyes were empty and apathetic underneath her limply hung eyelids. She had to swallow that senzu now if she wanted any hope of living.

His fears seemed to be confirmed, as she didn't respond for several moments after her body had taken in the senzu. But ChibiUsa - in her resolute endeavor to keep her friend alive - patted her gently on the back to get her body's natural impulses to respond to the object in her mouth.

"Come on, Hotaru, please..." A tear dropped from ChibiUsa's cheek as her efforts generated no response from the girl. "Setsuna...Ami...Rei...Makoto...Minako...they're all gone...I can't bear to lose you, too...please!"

Poor kid... Krillin could empathize with her condition of panic. Her plight reminded him of when Dende's father and brother were killed by Dodoria back on Namek and how the hysterical Namek child had desperately tried to revive his brother's smoking body...

The crystal tear dropped away from ChibiUsa's smooth cheek, landing on the razed hand of Hotaru with an inaudible splash. Suddenly, as if by magic, Krillin saw the youth's
hand squeeze back on ChibiUsa's; her hollow purple eyes gradually came back into focus and suddenly she was blinking, shapes coming into view as she raised her head to glimpse at the world around her. The monk smiled back at Gohan as Hotaru began moving her arms and limbs without any trouble, and the short, shallow rasps that Krillin had noticed before evolved into deep heavy breaths as her rejuvenated lungs basked in the cool refreshing air.

"Ch...ChibiUsa...?" Clear, audible words came out of her mouth. "What's going on? How am I even..."

As ChibiUsa's tear-filled eyes met with her friend's bright gaze, the tense anxiety that had enveloped her dissolved into pure joy.

"Oh, Hotaru!" She threw her arms around her friend, relief sweeping through her. "I can't believe it...you're okay!"

Krillin stood as the two friends rejoiced, turning toward the battlefield toward more pressing matters. Tridyx was nearly finished powering up, as a field of thunder was now completely surrounding his body. His ki level was somewhat greater than the previous time that Krillin had measured it, but even still, Piccolo's power far outweighed it. He'd seen the Namek fighter at full power against Frieza and Garlic Junior - he wouldn't have to go nearly as far to crush the cocky giant.

"What now, Gohan?" Krillin asked as he watched the scene before him. "Should we try to take out that female commander while her back's turned?"

"Hold on a second," Gohan held up his hand to stop Krillin's advance. "There's no sense in leaving the princesses unguarded against a sneak attack. Besides, this Sailor Neptune and the other Sailor Soldier over there are still in a lot of trouble."

Krillin glanced several dozen yards across the street. Another Sailor Soldier - this one with tan hair, a slender body and a gold and blue outfit - was laid out on the cold pavement with spinal and skeletal injuries so severe that she could have very well been paralyzed. The wounds didn't seem to deter the Sailor Soldier's fighting spirit - she was still glancing over toward the small group of newcomers with a fiery, dangerous glare, obviously untrusting of their would-be rescuers. She would be difficult to convince of their good intentions - Krillin saw the same aggressiveness within the wounded Sailor Soldier's dark blue eyes that he had seen within Piccolo and Vegeta.

"She doesn't exactly look too happy to see us," Krillin observed as he knelt down to check on Sailor Neptune. That seemed to cause a hostile reaction from her tan-haired counterpart, as she attempted to lurch forward in their direction, but the weight of her injuries forced her down to the ground and seemed to increase the intensity of her glare even more.

"Sailor Uranus..." ChibiUsa whispered as she observed her friend's seething rage. "Even at the brink of death, you can't put your anger aside..."

"Do you think you'd be able to convince her to let us heal her with a senzu?" Gohan asked with curiosity.

"Yes, I believe so," ChibiUsa nodded. "I don't think you'd have any luck on your own with her - Sailor Uranus would probably just as soon kill you than look at you if she had
the strength."

"Ah, the friendly type," Krillin forced a smile as he dug into the bag of senzus and pulled out another bean. "Still, we have to help her out, it's what we were brought here to do. Gohan, could you go with her?"

"Of course! You just stay here and take care of these two!" The young Saiyan hybrid replied. "Krillin, could I have one of the senzus? I'd be much more comfortable if I could heal her right away."

Krillin dropped the bean into Gohan's small, outstretched hand.

"Here you go," He conceded as he pulled one more bean from the earthy leather pouch before tying it closed again. "You'd probably have better luck with her anyway,
considering that the princess is with you. I'll stay here and take care of the other two!"

Gohan nodded in return as he motioned for ChibiUsa to follow him. The young princess did so at once, sprinting ahead of Gohan across the street toward Sailor Uranus. Krillin kept a watchful eye on the aliens as the duo crossed into the path of danger, ready to act if the female went back on her word.

"Um, excuse me..." The quieter, chiming voice of Hotaru interrupted Krillin's concentration as she stood up from her spot on the ground. She'd been awestruck since her miraculous return from the brink of death, and now she seemed composed enough to converse normally. Looking over at her, Krillin saw that the senzu's instantaneous effects had held up - her skin was completely back to normal after being horribly scorched. Though her clothes were still in tatters, the girl's body itself was perfectly healthy, aside from the fact that she was looking as little nervous as she addressed Krillin. "But...who are you? And how...how did you manage to heal me from that monster's energy blast...? I thought for certain that...that..."

"Relax, kid," Krillin put on a pleasant facade to calm the child down. "I can explain all about it while ChibiUsa and Gohan go and help your other friend."

He bent down and inspected Sailor Neptune once again, finding her limp body beginning to stir back to life. From the amount of ki left in her body, Krillin didn't think she needed a senzu - her injuries weren't life-threatening or debilitating at all. She just needed a few minutes to recover from the jolting blow to the head.

"Michiru-mama?" Hotaru bent down next to Sailor Neptune, and though she seemed to assess the injuries the same as Krillin had, the way she referred to her friend surprised the monk somewhat.

"Mama?" He asked Hotaru with intrigue. "Is she your mother, Hotaru?"

"I can explain that later…Krillin," She shook her head as she stared with bold intent into the monk's oval-shaped eyes. "But first, I think you owe all of us something. What did you mean when you said that your little group had been sent here to help us?"

Suddenly, before Krillin could reply, the female managed to pull herself up against the building, her senses returning to her as her eyes fell upon Hotaru.

"H…Hotaru…?" She stammered as she held the back of her head. The improved condition of her 'daughter' seemed to shock her back into reality even faster. "You're okay! Thank goodness, when I got here and saw you I thought--"

She stopped herself as she noticed the small monk standing near Hotaru.

"You…" She began as she studied Krillin carefully. "Where did you come from? Are you the one who saved Hotaru?"

"Most of the credit for that should go to Gohan and your princess," Krillin nodded over to the pair, who had made it halfway to the last wounded Sailor Soldier by now. Hotaru was keeping an eye on their situation, watching out for any possible ambushes, though she seemed to be eyeing the Saiyan hybrid in particular. "You were already out by the time I managed to ambush that alien bug, but I laid him out before he could kill you."

"So, you're the one who stopped the alien from killing me," The Sailor Soldier groggily shook her head, still feeling the effects of the heavy forearm smash from the alien insect. "I thank you…but just who exactly are you and that boy?"

Krillin took a deep breath as he readied himself for the monstrous explanation that was to follow. He could only hope that they could catch up with the queen so she could confirm their story - the last thing he wanted was being turned on by the people they had come to save.

* * *

Beyond the brilliant lightning storm originating from the alien giant, Piccolo's sharp eyes spotted two small figures sprinting across the road in the distance, away from the distracted gazes of the enemies. The last wounded Sailor Soldier was collapsed several yards away from there, and thanks to Gohan's efforts, she would live. With that problem aside, he could focus on the large obstacle in front of him.

Tridyx was certainly brutish enough to ensure a good warm-up exercise - considering the devastation that he had caused in the previous fight, the skirmish would be very interesting.

But that's all it will be. Piccolo allowed a small, mischievous smirk to creep into his face as he measured the alien's ki within his senses. Even at half power, this weakling wouldn't last two minutes against me. But I think I'll lay low for a bit, see how these aliens fight and what makes them tick. If they ARE anything like Frieza, then there may be more to this than we thought...

That thought had lingered in the back of his mind since spotting the first few armored soldiers upon their arrival. After hearing Krillin's suggestion that they were linked to the deceased warlord, he couldn't seem to shake the notion despite Vegeta's unruly objections. He'd have to draw his own conclusions from what he saw from Tridyx. If the fighting styles matched what Gohan had once told him about Frieza's soldiers and commanders, then things could've taken a huge turn.

Finally, after a few more moments, the black and purple lightning compressed itself into a tight field around the armored Tridyx's body, and Piccolo could pick out the titan's beady, coal-black eyes as he bent his knees.

"Now, Namek..." Tridyx's voice boomed over the thunder. "It's time for you to die!"

Using his amassed ki energy, Tridyx sprung away from his position toward Piccolo. The Namek saw the move easily enough and bounded into the air to avoid an energized roundhouse.

"Not bad," Piccolo muttered. Tridyx had been a bit faster than he had anticipated.

Tridyx followed Piccolo's aerial escape path, blazing through the sky like a sparking comet.

"So, you want to play, do you?" Piccolo chuckled as he observed Tridyx's cocky grin. Repressing his power level had completely fooled the alien's scouter, just like Gohan and Krillin had done on Namek back in their era. It was good to see that some things hadn't changed with the times. "Then let's see what you've got."

Piccolo slowed his momentum, ready to meet the awesome force rocketing in his direction.

"Ah, so you've chosen to embrace your coming death!" Tridyx bellowed as he drew back his huge fist. "A very wise move!"

The incoming swing was deftly dodged by Piccolo, much to Tridyx's surprise. Undaunted, the alien fired another roundhouse that grazed the Namek's turban.

"Hold still, you little fly!"

Tridyx launched a barrage of energized right hands toward the smirking Namek, and all Piccolo had to do was calmly duck and weave in between the monstrous fists without being singed by the radiant thunder. With his keen senses and sharp eyesight, the incoming swings were easy enough to avoid, though by the increasing intensity and anger on Tridyx's face, he was throwing huge quantities of his reserves into every punch.

"You're looking a little winded, my friend," Piccolo threw out the taunt as another roundhouse sailed past his face. "Have those kids slowed you down that much?"

As Tridyx angrily drew back another fist, Piccolo threw up a quick jab that caught the unsuspecting brute square across the jaw, throwing him backward.

"Why you...!" Tridyx held up an open palm, concentrating enough energy to form a sparking purple ki ball. "Take this!!"

He flicked the ki ball off his hand like a discus, sending it spinning in Piccolo's direction.

"Nice try..." Piccolo pumped his own energy into his two hands and held them forward, catching the volatile energy of the sphere within his grasp. Using a good amount of force, he managed to propel the sphere back in Tridyx's direction. The monster didn't anticipate the counter, as the orb exploded directly in his face. "Now let me show you how it's done!"

While Tridyx was clutching his burnt face in pain, Piccolo air-dashed forward and delivered a hard elbow into his exposed midsection that easily shattered through his black armor. As the chunks and pieces flew through the air, the giant lost his breath from the jarring blow, falling backward while spluttering and gasping for a breath. Piccolo took the opportunity to deliver a solid double sledge to the back of Tridyx's neck, sending the giant down into the street with a sickening crash.

"That was almost too easy," Piccolo muttered as he stared down at the smoking crater. That certainly wasn't enough to kill Tridyx - Piccolo hadn't been packing enough power behind the blows to shatter any vital body parts. He casually crossed his arms and floated down to the top of one of the decrepit buildings, waiting for the giant to resurface from the ground.

It only took several seconds for a thundering crackle to pierce through the cloud of thick dust. Moments later, a flashing figure punched through the cloud, shooting up in the air like a bullet. Observing the seething rage that had replaced the arrogance on Tridyx's face was a mirthful sight to behold.

"Namek scum...!!!" He roared as he cupped both of his hands together and forced all of his ki energy - which included the electrical field around him - into his palms. Seconds later, a huge column of energy exploded from Tridyx's hands and tore into the top of the building where Piccolo was standing. He immediately felt the ground where he was standing on being vaporized and had to quickly suspend himself in the air while readying himself for a defense. The Namek felt the brute force of the blast impacting him from all sides, the searing heat escaping a bit into the hastily erected ki shield and burning his garments.

However, Piccolo had felt the same type of ki build-up while approaching the battlefield - the first time, it had resulted in a monstrous explosion that had evaporated a few of the pure kis along with it. That recognition could've very well saved his life. Now that he was using a good portion of his ki energy to keep the beam from melting him into oblivion, Piccolo's respect for Tridyx went up a small notch. He also had to give the Sailor Soldiers a bit more credit for their own efforts, despite the end result of the fight.

After about an entire minute of enduring the fierce heat of the beam attack, Piccolo felt the intensity beginning to wear away as the purple energy dissipated, giving way to the
black night sky. Lowering his arms and releasing himself from his defenses, Piccolo gazed up and saw the fatigued mug of the giant alien staring at the unscathed Namek floating among the wisps of smoke that occupied the space where the building once stood.

"Heh, you're not bad after all…" He huffed. "That beam was packing more punch than the one I wiped those kids out with earlier…"

"I'm insulted that you're fighting me along the same lines as you would a bunch of children," Piccolo snuffed at he emitted a small concussion wave of energy from body, shuddering the ground but blowing away the annoying smoke trails. "But look at you now: you've been worn down to the point where you can't use half of the energy you fired that beam with. I can see it in you, do you know that?"

"Bah! Nonsense," Tridyx snorted, tapping the scouter on his eye. "You can't fool me - the only way you can read energy levels is with one of these devices, it's impossible to scan them with just your mind alone."

Piccolo folded his arms casually and laughed.

"Who said I was scanning your energy level? I can tell just be looking at you: out of breath, bleeding and bruised, no external energy anymore, even a child could tell that you're on the verge of exhaustion."

"Me, exhausted...?!" Tridyx growled as he clenched his fists, causing them to spark with raw electricity. "I can still fly circles around you with my power! And I'll prove it to you; let's see if you're defenses can handle this!"

Two more flaming balls of ki exploded onto his palms, and Tridyx was quick to hurl them in Piccolo's direction in his rage. The two projectiles was so hastily aimed that Piccolo
could easily dodge them by air-dashing off to the side.

"Not bad, but let's see you take this!"

Piccolo saw that Tridyx had generated two more fireballs in his palms, these more bigger and containing more ki than the first pair.

He doesn't quit... Piccolo shook his head, readying himself for another assault. But his patterns, his attitude, his techniques…I hope it's just coincidence…

* * *

"He's playing with him," Gohan paused in the middle of his run to catch a small glimpse of the fight between Piccolo and the alien Tridyx. He could tell that his master was easily concealing the lion's share of his ki, not wanting to alarm the aliens of their true power.

And if Piccolo went full circle with his energy, even Tridyx would be panicked to no end. But as to why Piccolo wanted his power to be kept secret was still a mystery to Gohan.
If he could finish the alien with a little more effort than he was showing, why didn't he do it and end the threat?

"Son Gohan!" ChibiUsa's voice drew him away from his curiosities and toward the body sprawled across the jagged, cracked pavement. The tall Sailor Soldier was trying her hardest to move, but from the wild crookedness of the middle of her back, Gohan knew from his studying of the human anatomy that her spine and much of the lower portion of her body had been obliterated from a solid thundering blow.

Gohan jogged toward the Sailor Soldier, approaching with slight caution as the female raised her head.

"Get away from me!" She shouted out in between her heavy breathing, causing Gohan to halt in his step. "You damn aliens...what right do you have interfering in our fight?!"

"Sailor Uranus, stop it!" ChibiUsa cried out as she bent down to look into her comrade's eyes. "How could you talk to him like that, especially after what you saw him do for me, Michiru, and Hotaru?? This boy is here to help us, Haruka--"

Sailor Uranus looked unconvinced as she gazed back at the princess.

"You don't know what you're talking about," she growled. "We have dealt with opponents who've stooped to more devious levels than this to destroy us…you weren't there for the encounter with Mistress Nine!"

"Hey, hold on a second," Gohan backed away a step, trying to appear innocent and respectful. "I know that our coming here all of a sudden seems really suspicious, but I can promise you that we are here to help you if you are willing to accept--"

"A warrior like me, accept help from an alien, especially a child?!" She snapped back at him.

Gohan glanced at ChibiUsa, who seemed insulted herself by the remark. He decided to ignore the jab - if he responded with hostility, things would only become worse.

"I'll prove it to you," Gohan said as he opened up his palm and revealed the oval-shaped senzu bean that he had gotten from Krillin's bag. "I can prove our intentions with this. Eat this and it'll completely heal all of your injuries and restore all of your strength."

He cautiously bent down toward the ailing Sailor Uranus, extending the bean toward her. As he expected though, the stubborn woman wasn't accepting the generous offer, spitting at Gohan's outstretched hand.

"Sailor Uranus!!" ChibiUsa reacted to her comrade's tenacious resistance with a flare of anger. "That does it, I don't care how you feel about Son Gohan or his friends, but as your princess, I'm ordering you to swallow that bean!"

The previously tenacious Sailor Soldier now seemed to be crestfallen as her princess's words. She gazed up toward the unwavering girl with scorn playing across her eyes.

"So, you would give so much faith to these foreigners but doubt those who have fought with you for so long…?"

The princess stood her ground, with her hands on her hips and a stern expression. That only served to agitate Sailor Uranus even more, and Gohan watched as she shook her head toward ChibiUsa, her hard gaze softening a bit.

"You disappoint me, princess."

With that, she plucked the senzu bean from Gohan's grasp and dropped it into her mouth, chewing and swallowing it in a few seconds. Apparently, her loyalty to the crown was easily enough to outweigh her personal rage.

Within seconds, Sailor Uranus was standing on her feet, her back straight and her other minor injuries completely healed by the effects of the senzu. Even the stubborn Sailor Soldier seemed to have a hard time admitting to herself - or to Gohan for that matter - that he'd kept true to his word.

"Sailor Uranus?" ChibiUsa broke her concentration as she was inspecting her newly-healed body. Instead of looking back at the princess, Sailor Uranus stared down at Gohan with a neutral expression, wordless and motionless.

Gohan offered up a friendly smile to her, trying to show relief that she was okay. In his mind, they had to win the respect of the princesses over as quickly as possible if they were to succeed in fighting back the alien force - neither team could win without the support of the other.

Folding her arms, Sailor Uranus spoke at him directly, not mincing words.

"Alright, you've convinced me that I should trust you for the time being," She said. "I already learned of who you were from Sailor Pluto, though I never expected that a child
such as you would be among Earth's greatest champions of the past."

"Um, excuse me!" ChibiUsa snapped at her comrade. "What do you think I am, Haruka?!"

Haruka - the Sailor Soldier's human name, Gohan presumed - glanced back at the girl.

"This is no time for petty whining, princess!" She coldly replied. Gohan saw that the tone in her voice had chilled any anger in the princess, who looked hurt at Sailor Uranus's
bitterness toward her.

She maintained that icy voice as she returned her attention to him.

"In any event, is your partner over there going to heal Sailor Neptune?"

Gohan nodded again, looking over to see the green-haired Sailor Soldier slowly but steadily standing up, recovering from the blow from the insect alien.

"It looks like she's okay, I don't think we'll need to use a--"

He was suddenly jerked forward as Sailor Uranus grabbed him by the collar of his gi. She stared him in the face with fiery anger as he struggled to breathe.

"Look, if you want to prove your worth to me, then I want you to heal her!" She hissed. "Not one bone in her body is to be bruised when you get done with her, understand?"

Gohan managed to force a nod, causing the Sailor Soldier to release him. He stumbled back onto the ground to catch his breath.

"Well then, shall we get moving before any more of us die?" She spoke down to him with sarcasm dripping in her voice. Without another word, she darted forward across the road toward where Krillin and the others were.

Gohan picked himself up off of the pavement, a little more than resentful toward Sailor Uranus for her ice-queen, holier-than-thou attitude. After all, they had practically saved her life as well as her friends…how paranoid could a person be after witnessing that?

"Forgive her, Son Gohan," ChibiUsa helped him up, staring after Sailor Uranus with disappointment and frustration playing across her deep red eyes.

"Does she act this way around every guest you guys get?" He puffed as he straightened his wrinkled gi.

"In a situation like this, I'm afraid so," ChibiUsa explained. "Some of her paranoia is residual anger from today…the rest of it I'm afraid she's had all along. Her pride has nearly
killed her more than once in her life."

"Then let's get back there before Krillin has to deal with her on his own," Gohan suggested. He started forward, but he turned back to the princess with a pleasant little smile. "Oh, and ChibiUsa, call me Gohan. There's no need to be proper around me."

ChibiUsa returned a nervous smile.

"Okay…Gohan. Let's go!"

Watching for any surprise attacks, the pair dashed across the street.

* * *

Slowly, but surely, Tridyx was wearing down. While Piccolo still had more than enough power to continue his defense tactics until he was ready to strike against the giant, the energy discs being tossed out by Tridyx were getting slower little by little and becoming much easier to dodge.

I'll give him just a few minutes more. Piccolo decided as he batted away another enery disc with his forearm. He had already concluded to himself that the style of the fighting that Tridyx was employing was quite similar to what Frieza and his commanders could do - which was all that he needed to know for future reference - but with Tridyx's dwindling strength and his stubborn nature, Piccolo highly doubted that he would be able to get anything else out of him relating to Frieza.

"Bastard!!!" Tridyx screamed as he began launching multiple blasts of gold ki from the palms of his hands. "Hold still, so I can kill you!!"

"This is getting nowhere," Piccolo muttered to himself, as he extended his arms around and put up a strong ki shield that did the job of deflecting whatever blasts came too close
to hitting him. "At least he gave me a few close calls earlier, but now he's nothing but hot air."

"Tridyx!!" A call from the ground caused the ki barrage to cease and Tridyx to turn his attention to his commander. Piccolo saw that the green insect alien had recovered from his jarring blow from Krillin and had joined the female commander to recollect himself. "What the hell's wrong with you?! You haven't even touched him yet, and according to my scouter, your power level is much higher than his!!"

"I…I'm sorry…commander," Tridyx nervously answered her. "But please, give me some more time, I swear I can destroy him…!"

"Bah!" The insectoid grumbled toward his counterpart. "You could barely take care of the Sailor Soldiers without getting yourself killed on more than one occasion. If it were in charge of their demise, we'd have flattened the palace and be long gone by now!!"

"You? In charge?" Tridyx yelled back to him as Piccolo folded his arms patiently, laughing to himself as the underlings bickered. Whenever petty verbal sniping broke through the surface of cool tempers in combat, it was the biggest sign that things were beginning to fall apart between those individuals. "Hah! That's funny, I think that you were the one who was blind-sided by that little human midget a little while ago!"

"Enough!!" She snapped back at both of them. "We've wasted too much time out here in this skirmish when we should have been claiming the palace!! Your time is up, Tridyx, now get down here before you disgrace us even more. I'll finish this Namek scum myself."

"Hmm…this could be interesting," Piccolo gathered as he scanned the female commander with his senses. Her battle power was enormous compared to Tridyx, and what more, it didn't seem like she'd been engaged in battle against the Sailor Soldiers at all up to this point, which meant she'd be fresh and untested.

The titan, of course, wasn't too pleased with his commander's orders.
"Of course, commander…" he grumble with a sneer. Turning back toward Piccolo, Tridyx began to laugh wildly. "Boy, are you in for it now! Nobody has ever come close to beating Commander Infernia, and when she's done breaking your bones, I'll be the one personally crushing your skull…"

He spat at Piccolo one more time before descending toward the ground.

Suddenly, before Infernia could even get the chance to power up, a two good-sized bright gold beams rocketed down from the sky, slamming into the ground only a few feet away from Infernia and sending the unexpecting commander and her ally soaring into the air into one of the base of one of the remaining buildings surrounding the area.

Tridyx was awestruck as he spotted his comrades crashing into the structure, freezing in mid-air.

"What the hell…?! It can't be…"

Piccolo smirked as he spotted Tenshinhan and Chaozu floating about a hundred yards away from them, energy sparking around their bodies and showing great satisfaction in
their successful strike.

"Did you miss us, Piccolo?" A voice asked him as a well-built figure shot up from the ground and up into the air next to him. "Sorry we took so long, those soldiers were everywhere."

"Is that so, Yamcha?" Piccolo was unsurprised. "That's why I chose the slower course of action that we took to get here on time. But fortunately, Gohan's hasty deviation did produce some rewards this time - he managed to save the queen's daughter from being killed."

"A shame we can't say that about the ones we did lose…although as long as we did manage to save some survivors as opposed to none, it was worth the effort," Yamcha replied, looking over at Tridyx, who was still awestruck at the sudden arrival of three more unknown powers. "I take that this is the guy who killed those princesses?"

"And he's proud of it, as well," Piccolo responded as he gazed slit-eyed at the bewildered giant. "But he has nothing left anymore. I took whatever the Sailor Soldiers didn't take out of him earlier."

"Impressive," Yamcha nodded as he glanced down at Gohan's small group below. "Well, you got to him first, so I'll give you the pleasure of finishing the job; I'll check on the others."

"Yamcha!" Piccolo called to him quickly, remembering an important detail that he wanted to know. "Where is Vegeta? I haven't seen him here yet. Didn't he come with all of
you?"

"He stayed back a bit more to deal with a few more soldiers, but I can feel his energy approaching the area right now. He'll be here shortly."

Piccolo gave him a quick nod, a bit more relieved to confirm the Saiyan's activities, and Yamcha rocketed down and out of sight, leaving a smirking Piccolo alone with Tridyx.

"Now, what were you saying?" He called across to Tridyx. "Looks like you're all mine now, friend!"

Before Tridyx could respond, Piccolo finally began summoning the dormant power within him. A small field of energy enveloped his body, making his muscles tense and tighten from the ki flowing into them.

I think I'll show our new allies what they've invested their trust in… He smirked to himself once again, letting all of his ki energy flow out of his reserves and into every cell in his body in one instant, not hiding any more of his power. Growling as more and more energy entered into his being, Piccolo felt more comfortable by the second. That's it…I forgot what it felt like to be at maximum power…I hope our 'clients' are impressed…

With a mighty roar, ki energy exploded out of Piccolo's form in a radiant white light, shaking the ground below him and forcing away the small wisps of excess smoke around them.

Tridyx, who was looking at blinking digits into his cracked scouter, couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"No…impossible…it must be broken…y,yes…it must be!!"

Piccolo relaxed his stance, white ki energy flowing from his body like sunlight.

"Still so confident in your worthless skills, Tridyx?" He sniped at him at he floated a bit closer to the paralyzed alien. "Well, why don't I share a secret with you? The power you've been contending with up until now has been nothing compared to what I can do in this form. I just wanted to see how weak you truly were and how much more satisfying it would be when I killed you at my maximum power."

"No….it…can…not…" Suddenly, he snapped out of his stupor and charged whatever energy he had left in his body and glared toward Piccolo. "No!! You're not stronger than me, you Namek bastard! I'll crush you and all of your friends!!"

"Fool, your time has come!" Piccolo air-dashed forward at rapid speed before Tridyx could charge any more energy into his body, and he slammed his elbow into Tridyx's midsection before the alien could even blink. Piccolo felt the alien's exposed midsection cave in upon the impact and heard the satisfying sound of Tridyx's ribs being shattered. He felt spittle and blood splashing down on him from Tridyx's mouth, and he smiled as he gazed up at the spluttering alien. "I'll see you in Hell, Tridyx."

As Tridyx was stunned, Piccolo brought up his free hand and placed the two forefingers against his midsection.

"Wait….s…top…!!" Tridyx wheezed, his energy too far gone to fight back against the Namek's power. "Don't…kill…me!!!"

"Makankosappo!!!"

The effect was instantaneous, as a corkscrew beam shot out from Piccolo's fingers, easily and quickly punching through Tridyx's soft exposed belly and exiting through his lower back. The force from the blast rocketed Tridyx backwards through the air as blood flew out from the gaping holes in his back, mouth, and stomach. His energy shattered completely, Tridyx fell like a stone to the ground below, landing flat on his back on the rooftop of a small building as a low gurgling noise escaped his mouth.

He casually drifted over to the structure, where the disheveled Tridyx was laying motionless, blood seeping out from underneath his broken body. Piccolo smirked at his work - the scum had never seen any of it coming. It was always satisfying to see arrogant, self-elevated warriors like Tridyx brought down so convincingly, especially when Piccolo got to do it himself.

As he began charging a sparking energy orb in his left palm, Piccolo saw the fallen warrior lifting his head up, staring with unfocused bloodshot eyes up at the victor of the fight.

"Bas…tard…." He coughed up another gob of blood. "Who…the hell…are you….?! Where did you…come from…"

Piccolo paused briefly, letting the red-gold sphere hover above his palm, enough energy contained in it to obliterate the building and anything in or on it.

"Who am I?" He replied to Tridyx. "I'm more than just a 'fanged lizard', friend. I am a Namek of the past Earth, and long ago, I swore that I would do anything in my power to protect this planet, no matter what era of time and no matter what kind of enemies I would have to go through."

He suddenly thrusted his palm forward, the energy orb glaring brighter than before.

"My name is Piccolo, and I AM power!!"

Piccolo launched the orb from his hand toward the alien, who looked to be too weak and beaten to even move. As Tridyx let out one last strangled scream, the sphere connected
with its intended target, and the resulting explosion was enough to create a monstrous column of red-gold energy that incinerated the entire structure…and Tridyx along with it.

As the smoke and wind kicked up by the blast ruffled Piccolo's cloak and turban, the Namek gazed down at the survivors of the battle who had taken cover behind another building to shield themselves from the explosion. He wondered what their new clients thought of that little demonstration. Of course, considering the newly resurgent energy he had sensed in the surviving Sailor Soldiers when the senzus healed them, Tridyx wouldn't have posed much a problem for much longer anyhow even if he, Gohan, and Krillin didn't show up to bail them out.

They must've been worn out coming into this fight if they couldn't take care of him with that much power. Piccolo concluded. Interesting…if the dead ones were the same way, things would've been more intriguing than they already are. And if they can't read energies like we can, then we will be the only one who will know of this…I'll have to keep a close eye on these Sailor Soldiers during this whole ordeal. But in due time…

Piccolo decided to check on the Sailor Soldier and regroup with the others first. With the entire team together, there would be time to deal with his concerns later.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a streaking comet halted a short distance away, and Piccolo was none too pleased to see Vegeta make his arrival to the field.

The Saiyan prince halted in front of him, turning his attention to the burning column before them.

"Don't tell me you managed to maul them so easily," Vegeta commented as he noticed Piccolo's lack of fatigue. "If that's the case, then I'll be terribly disappointed in this whole excursion - I was expecting at least a little bit of challenge from these aliens."

"Don't worry," Piccolo replied without casting his gaze on the prince. Instead, he was focusing his senses on the damaged building where the other aliens had been catapulted into by Tenshinhan and Chaozu. The energies were stunned, but very much alive, and seething with rage to boot. They wouldn't be contained inside those buildings for much longer. "There's plenty of better competition still left."

* * *

Sailor Uranus released herself from her cling to the building's side as the concussion wave from the green warrior's energy blast dissipated. Her muscles gradually untensed as she stepped forward on the street to survey what had just happened. As she stared at the smoldering column of energy in absolute awe, a train of thoughts raced through her head. Aside from being incredulous and even somewhat jealous at the green warrior's incredible amount of power, she found her mind numb, in a state of shock that it had never been in before.

She suddenly felt a gentle hand grip onto hers. Looking over, she saw the concerned face of Sailor Neptune staring back into her. She obviously felt what she was feeling regarding these strange new warriors.

Uranus gripped Neptune's hand tightly, staring up at the stoic face of the green warrior. Amazingly, he didn't seem to be even breathing heavily after easily dispatching of the seemingly invincible Tridyx. It was incomprehensible…almost unreal that such a powerful being could exist, especially on Earth of the past…

As the fire blazed high in the night sky, Sailor Uranus gazed over toward the dead body of Sailor Pluto.

"Setsuna…" She whispered. "What kind of curse have you brought upon us…? You brought them here…you said you knew what they were capable of…but you couldn't have imagined something like this, could you?! Why the hell have you condemned us to death, Setsuna?! Why didn't you know…"

The silent corpse of Setsuna Meioh had no answer, and as the green warrior and his other flying comrades descended to the ground, she felt her blood starting to boil.

"Haruka…" Sailor Neptune murmured to her. "Calm down, please. Remember, it wasn't just Setsuna who decided to bring these warriors forward to this era. The queen has faith in them, and they did save our lives, after all. Try to have faith in her Majesty…give these warriors a chance."

Sailor Uranus turned sharply to Neptune, scowling.

"Michiru…I can't and I won't just trust them on a whim. You know as well as I do that they could very well be just leading us into a deathtrap of their own devising. The fact that they didn't get here in time to help before the Inners were killed is proof of that…they may have given our lives back to destroy them by their own hands."

Neptune motioned back to the princess and Sailor Saturn, who were watching alongside the three aliens called Son Gohan, Yamcha, and Krillin as the rest of their would-be rescuers descended to the ground near them.

"For their sake then, Haruka…" she squeezed her beloved's hand, trying to soften Uranus's hard demeanor. "The princess and Hotaru seem to trust at least the first two who came to our aid, and for better reason than the others since they saved all four of us…can you at least tolerate them for now, until we can figure out what to do from here? The queen is still captive, and now the Inners as well as Setsuna are dead. We may need them to reinforce us while we think about a strategy with the king."

Looking over at the princess and Hotaru, they did seem relieved as well as renewed upon seeing the murderer of their friends being utterly annihilated by the green one. They were smiling brightly, as if a piece of the war had been laid to rest with Tridyx's death. The glimmer of brightness in the dim times of battle managed to persuade Sailor Uranus for the time being.
"Very well…I'll tolerate them for their sakes, Michiru, but nothing more," Sailor Uranus conceded. "They're nothing but foreigners to Earth as I see it, and I'll treat them as such
until I can be sure of their intentions."

The cloaked green warrior finally descended to the ground, with a muscular three-eyed man and a smaller child-sized figure landing right next to him. The shorter armored warrior dropped behind the trio at a small distance. At first, Uranus thought it was one of the enemy soldiers upon seeing his armored garb, but from the relaxed stances of the trio before her, he was clearly with them.

"Shall we?" Neptune offered, knowing that their 'saviors' probably wanted to talk with them first-hand about their arrival and status.

Uranus returned a nod. Taking a deep breath and connecting with the green warrior's iron eyes, she released Michiru's hand and proceeded forward, praying that her beloved's faith in the queen's choice was well-founded…