Bulma paced around inside the entry hall of the palace nervously. "I can't just stand around here!" she cried for the hundredth time. She looked toward the guards but they'd learned to ignore her by this point. With a sigh she moved over to where Chaotzu sat, head in his hands. "Can you tell what's happening out there?" she asked sitting down beside him.
"Tien and Raditz are fighting the second strongest of the four high powers." he said frowning a little. "He's a good deal stronger than them but it feels like they aren't having much trouble..."
"Probably Salsa." one of the guards said turning to the two Humans. "Cooler's right hand lackey. I saw him fight a few years ago. He's strong but he's not very skilled. He's one of the types that thinks power is everything, but without skill you can't use it."
Chaotzu nodded. That made sense with what he'd been feeling. Tien and Raditz were both highly skilled fighters, they'd have little trouble picking apart someone that had no skill, not matter the other's power.
"What about Vegeta?" Bulma asked.
"Cooler's stronger but they seem to be going pretty evenly at the moment." Chaotzu said. "And I felt the fourth strongest guy heading over to the third a little bit ago, shortly after Mango reached the area and transformed."
"Transformed?" the guard asked suprised. "How could she...?"
"Vadora must have used a False Moon." Bulma said standing up and walking over to a window and looking out of it. She couldn't see the False Moon, either wrong direction or too far away. "First Zarbon, then Namek, then Slug, those other two, and now this... I keep walking into trouble lately." She stood there in silence for a moment before looking back behind her. The guards were looking the other way and she bit her lip. /Time for a little excitement Bulma.../ she thought, and then began to slowly creep along the wall toward the exit.
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Saiya City:
Raditz saw him coming but the alien's speed was too much for him to successfully dodge. He managed to move to the side enough for the punch to only graze his jaw but it still hurt like hell. The Sai-jin slipped around to Salsa's side and then spun and slammed the heel of his foot into Salsa's chest cracking his armor. The blonde warrior floated back holding his chest and coughing up blood. "You... curse you... rotten Monkey! I'm stronger... than you!"
"And yet you suck." Raditz said grinning. "Hey Tien, mind if I finish this loser off myself?" he asked looking over to the three eyed Human.
"Sure, go ahead."
Raditz grinned and raised an arm holding it out beside and behind him. Pink energy began to dance around his hand as energy gathered. His grin turned into smirk. "Say good-bye Salsa, it's time for you to die! Thunder Crash!" He pitched his arm forward as though he was throwing a baseball and hurled the orb of sparking pink energy at the elite warrior.
Salsa's eye widened as the attack surged toward him seemingly in slow motion. He wasn't used to having a challenge in a fight and certainly hadn't expected any Sai-jins to be able to even give him a workout. And yet, here he was, about to be killed by one of them! One almost half his strength at that! "No! Not today you worthless Monkey!" he cried thrusting his arms forward at the last instant. There was a spark of blue around his hands as they contacted the energy orb. A loud crack sounded and the orb was knocked charging back toward Raditz.
The Sai-jin pulled back as his eyes widened in shock. "What! Damn!" He quickly pulled his legs up and crossed his arms. A second later the energy sphere slammed into him and exploded. The blast knocked him flying back and down toward the ground. He smashed through ten buildings before slamming into the street. He groaned as he unfolded his legs and moved his arms before climbing to his feet. His arms and legs were seriously numb and yet still stung like hell. He reached up and rubbed his throbbing head as he looked back up at Salsa.
The alien was floating there smirking down at him and he growled. Raditz bent his legs, and in a flash of red and burst of energy that tore up what was left of the streets he charged up at Salsa once more. The alien smirked as Raditz neared him. As the Sai-jin lashed out with a vicious right hook he slipped to the side dodging and then slammed his fist into his stomach. Raditz's eyes snapped open in pain and he coughed up blood. "No, Sai-jin. It's time for you to die!"
Salsa pulled back and then held out his arm, open palm inches from the other's face. Blue energy sparked across his palm but he never got the chance to fire. Tien had charged in and launched a spinning kick at his face. The Human's heel slammed into the alien warrior's face with a loud crack that sent him flying into the distance. "I'll take it from here, your power's dipped too low." Tien said glancing back at Raditz. The Sai-jin simply nodded while holing his stomach.
Tien turned back around and then shot up into the air. He made sure there was enough distance between them before he stopped and then cupped his hands and placed them before him. Looking down between them he saw Salsa finally pulling himself to a stop and then looking around for him. Golden energy crackled between his palms as he channeled his energy. The building attack set Salsa's scouter off and he looked up.
"I've got you now!" he called surging up toward Tien. "Say good-bye Human!"
"You first! Tri-Beam!" There was a flash of gold between his palms and then the energy surged down at the charging alien.
Salsa's scouter beeped madly as the energy erupted forth and neared him quickly. 200,000... 300,000... 400,000... 500,000... the scouter exploded as his eyes widened in fear and shock. He didn't even have the chance to block, the attack slammed into him and drove him down into the ground with a powerful explosion as they hit. Tien relaxed, his muscles shrinking slightly after expending so much energy.
He felt it before the explosion, Salsa's energy had faded and then vanished. The head of the Armored Squadron was dead. He turned and saw Raditz floating slowly up to him, his hand still holding tightly to his abdomen. "You should probably hit the Regen Tanks again." the Human said as the Sai-jin finally reached him. "That last blow you took did quite the number on you."
Raditz nodded. "I'd heard Salsa was a brute force fighter. Able to focus his power down to a pinpoint for blows several times stronger than him. Just never thought I'd experience it." The Sai-jin turned his head at that point and proceeded to loose the breakfast he'd had that morning. Wiping his mouth a moment later he shook his head. "And I need to learn that Tri-Beam of yours..."
Tien smiled. "Well, if you still insist on coming to Earth after this I'll try and teach you."
"Oh, I'll be there." he said before wincing. "I'm going to go get to a tank."
"Right. I'll go see if Mango and the others need some help." The two nodded and then Tien shot off toward the Training Center while Raditz slowly made his way back to the palace.
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Training Center:
Dore slamed head first into the concrete. Vadora floated in the air above him smiling at the ground as she pulled her arms back, red energy sparking about her hands. "So this is the power of the Armored Squadron?" she asked as she saw a bright flash of light and then felt Neizu's energy fade. "You're outdated, just like the Cold Family! The Sai-jins are the supreme power of the universe now. Say good-bye Dore!" She thrust her arms down and the red balls of Ki that had formed pulsed larger and merged. "Inferno Cannon!"
The large ball of Ki before her swelled, flashed, and exploded into a stream of energy. The wave of Ki surged down and smashed into the ground rocking what remained of the Training Center and knocking a few Oozarus off their feet. The energy swelled as it hit and then exploded blasting a large crater into the ground. Lowering her arms Vadora smirked. That is, until she noticed Dore's power behind her. She spun around and saw him floating there, arms crossed, his one shoulder fin busted off, covered in dirt, but little worse for the wear.
"How did... but you were..."
Dore laughed. "I waited right until your attack started and then moved out of the way while you were distracted." he said with a shrug. "You're not half bad for a monkey, but you can't beat me."
"We'll see about that!" she called launching in toward him. He waited for her and once she reached him they began exchanging fierce blows, his doing more damage and getting through more often than hers. Flashes of light and thunderous claps rang out with each landed or blocked blow. Suddenly he slipped around a punch and moved behind her. His foot shot out and smashed into the back of her head knocking her down toward the ground.
She pulled to a stop only inches up and shot back into the air, her red aura trailing behind her and the burst of power blasting out a crater in the ground. She reached Dore faster than he expected and managed to crack her fist across his jaw knocking him higher up. Vadora shot after him but he recovered before she reached him and deflected her kick before slamming his knee into her stomach and then wrappaing his arms around her and pulling her into a bear hug. "Heh, I'll just snap you in half!"
Vadora struggled against him as she felt the pressure increasing. She thought of trying a higher Kaio Ken but decided to wait until there was no other option. It looked like that wouldn't take long though, much more of this and her bones would start to break. She was just about to up her Kaio Ken when her eyes snapped wide in pain and shock, a crack coming from her now broken left arm. The sound of the arm breaking was drowned out, however, by her cry of pain.
Dore laughed. "One bone down, a few hundred t..." he was cut off as a foot smashed into his head. His grip on Vadora loosened and she broke free.
She turned and saw Tien floating there, a red aura pulsing about him. With a smile she floated over to him, her left arm hanging limp. "Good timing. I guess that means Salsa's dead?"
"Dead and gone." Tien replied looking over to her. "We need to end this fight quick though. My power's drained and yours is too."
Vadora was about to reply when Dore came charging in and smashed his fist into Tien's stomach. The Human doubled over and gasped out in pain, his eyes going wide. The large green alien pulled back and then spun about in the air aiming a powerful backhand for Tien's face. The tri-clops brought his right arm up to block at the last second and the large alien's energy encased hand smashed into it with a loud crack. Not the normal crack of a simply blocked attack but the crack of breaking bone.
The last remaining member of the Armored Squadron was about to attack again but was caught off guard once more as Vadora's foot smashed into his back. "You're not very good at rescuing people." she said with a grin and glance toward Tien. "So... now what?"
Tien scowled as he fought the pain in his arm and his own tired body. Suddenly he smiled and raised his left arm holding it across his body and toward Vadora. "Lend me a hand?" he asked. She glanced at him again and saw his hand, and it's position. Instantly her good arm came up and matched it forming a triangle between the two of them. Both charged energy into their palms as Dore recovered once more and raced toward them. He was only a few feet away when their voices called out together. "Tri-Beam!"
The large green alien grinned and stretched his arms out intending to simply tear through the attack. As the attack formed, a second before the two before him called out, his scouter flared up. The power reading started at 200,000 and climbed rappidly. By the time the energy was surging toward him it had shot passed 450,000 and he had no way of defending against it. He barely had the time to realize this before the golden energy overtook and obliterated him.
Panting Tien and Vadora lowered their arms. "The others can deal here." Vadora said turning toward the Moon Ball in the sky and obliterating it. "We should go to a regen tank." Tien nodded and moved around to her other side. They wrapped their arms around each other and flew off toward the Palace using the other as support.
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Training Grounds:
Vegeta backflipped in the air and came down slamming his feet into the ground and gouging out two long trenches with his feet as he slammed his hands into the ground as well using the friction to stop. He snapped his head up grinning and then reached an arm up and wiped a trickle of blood off his chin. An explosion of purple engulfed him as the ground beneath him erupted into a shower of debris and he launched forward.
As the Sai-jin Prince charged he drew back his right arm and closed it into a fist. Reaching Cooler he lashed out with a hard right hook but the Changeling slipped around it only to be met with a kick to the side of his stomach. Brushing off the blow he countered with an elbow uppercut that connected squarely with Vegeta's jaw lifting the warrior into the air higher. He spun attempting to smash his tail into the Sai-jin's head but the Prince reached up and caught it. With a quick twist and downward drop he slammed Cooler face first into the ground smashing out a large crater.
Still gripping the tail he planted his feet firmly in the ground and then lifted the Changeling into the air, brought his arm across his body, and then slammed him back down into the ground again. He moved to repeat this but as he got Cooler above his head, the alien's arm reached down and grasped his wrist. Using Vegeta's momentum against him, he flipped over in the air and then slammed the Prince down into the ground.
Cooler then pointed an arm down at him and was about to blast him when suddenly a bright flash of purple flared up and an explosion emanated from where Vegeta was. The explosion knocked Cooler flying back and clear off the crater. As he righted himself the Sai-jin Prince came charging out of the dust toward the Changeling. The alien quickly brought his arms up and blocked the incoming punch before slamming his knee into Vegeta's stomach and then backhanding him away.
The Sai-jin Prince crashed to the ground a few hundred yards away before sliding to a stop. He climbed back to his feet slowly, panting heavily, as Cooler landed across the way only slightly winded. "I could do this all day." Cooler called after a moment as he brushed some dust off his shoulder. "It makes for a good workout."
Vegeta growled and was about to take off into the battle again when he felt a hand on each shoulder. Looking back he saw his father on his right and Pug on his left. "You did well Vegeta." his father said slowly. "But I don't trust this Changeling. He's up to something, he's too cocky."
Pug nodded slowly. "Yes. I'll take this battle from here."