Tien took his fingers off of Yamcha's wrist. He met Krillin's worried eyes.
"Well, he still has a pulse."
Krillin finally let out the breath he had been holding in. "So he's gonna be okay?"
The triclops narrowed his eyes. "I didn't say that. He used up all his energy. His body has nothing left to recuperate itself. And he took a couple of serious blows. Whoever this guy was, he was really powerful." Krillin's eyes went wide in panic. Tien shook his head. "We need to get him some help, or he might get worse…"
Krillin went to go pick up his old friend as he nodded to Tien. "Okay. Grab that dragonball and we'll get him back to the ship!"
Tien bent down to pick up the orb, but stopped suddenly. There was a great deal of energy approaching from the west. He turned to Krillin. "Wait! Put him down! We've got trouble! Company to your left!"
Krillin gently put down Yamcha, and felt a lump build up in his throat. This isn't good. We have to take care of Yamcha… we don't have time for another fight. Where the hell is Goku! He wearily took up his fighting stance and nodded to Tien. "I suppose we can't just run away, can we?" he attempted a weak smile.
Tien shook his head. "Not a chance. Do you feel how fast these powers are coming? You think you can outrun em?"
"So we fight, then."
They didn't say another word until the powers got close enough to see. The shapes of Dodoria and Zarbon formed as they both landed gracefully on the floor. Dodoria looked at Tien and sneered. Their eyes locked in a mental power struggle as Dodoria's lips curled upward into a menacing smirk.
"This is it? This is what Frieza sent us out to kill?"
Without breaking his staring match with Dodoria, Tien said to Krillin, "Hey, Krillin. These two work for that Frieza guy. I bet they know what happened to Goku and Vegeta."
Zarbon smirked. "So you are in league with the monkeys. How amusing." He tilted his head towards the unconscious Yamcha. "Is he the one who killed Kuwi?"
Krillin put himself in between Zarbon and his fallen friend. "So what if he is? Leave him out of this." Krillin's voice shook as he spoke, and his teeth were clattering out of anxiety.
Zarbon's smirk turned into a very unfriendly smile, with teeth showing. "Well, aren't you the brave little warrior." He said in a mocking tone. "Well, someone must be held responsible for the death of Kuwi. Are you two taking that role?"
Tien spit on the floor right in front of Dodoria's feet. Neither of them had broken the menacing stare that had gone on during Zarbon and Krillin's little exchange. He continued the glare, but inside he was worried. The power coming off of these guys is amazing. They could be almost as strong as Goku! I don't know if we can actually take them… Tien didn't have much more time for worry as he caught Zarbon give a barely perceptible nod out of the corner of his eye. That seemed to give Dodoria the okay, as he dashed at Tien.
The former assassin barely had the chance to throw up a block, and when the attack collided, he felt the shock go up his forearm. His training as an assassin kept him from showing his weakness, and he gritted his teeth and brought his foot up high enough to crack Dodoria's chin. He took the momentary lapse to gather himself. He's good, but he doesn't have the same kind of aura as his friend over there. He glanced at Zarbon, who had begun to clash fists with Krillin. Tubby over here waited for that one's orders. Pretty boy must be in charge. His aura is strong, but it feels like he has more power than he's letting on…I wonder if it's a good idea to let Krillin fight him…He was knocked out of his thoughts by a right hook from Dodoria. Tien turned his backwards momentum into a handspring that sent him flying back towards the large alien.
Dodoria tried to determine where Tien would appear and threw out a fist. Tien saw it coming and sneered, using a small burst of ki to swerve out of the way, bringing his knee around into Dodoria's side. Dodoria's armor cracked where he was hit, and his eyes bulged out as he clutched at the spot, which Tien couldn't help but notice was slightly discolored, as if it had been scarred. Dodoria forced out a breath. Right where the damn Namek put a hole through me! I didn't have time to stay in a recuperation chamber for long enough!
Krillin was not having such luck against Zarbon. The vain warrior had much more skill than his counterpart, and a bit more power to boot. It took all of the monk's speed just to be able to dodge Zarbon's blindingly fast blows, let alone go in for a counterattack. Krillin tried to roll to the side, giving him a chance for a low attack, but was met with Zarbon's foot. The blow sent Krillin into the floor, his head throbbing where he was hit. He checked his skull, and was relieved and a bit surprised that there were no dents. He took a second to shake off the dizziness and jumped up. No sooner had he focused his eyes, a blow came flying at him. He ducked to the side, and a large rock broke under the force of Zarbon's fist. A small piece of debris flew into Zarbon's eyes, momentarily blinding him.
"Damn!" he screamed as he clawed at his eyes. Krillin took the opportunity to land a jump kick to his stricken opponent's face. The attack sent Zarbon into the air, where he righted himself and quickly spun around, firing a blast behind him at head height. Krillin barely managed to duck in time, the blast nearly decapitating him.
Geez! He's friggin quick! How did he recover so quickly? Krillin tried to move to the side, but Zarbon let loose a second ki attack, which the earthling wasn't lucky enough to dodge.
Now that his previous injury from Piccolo was exposed, Dodoria was running out of steam quickly. Tien began to furiously pound on him with the Tsuru-Sennin openhanded machine gun jabs, causing the pink fighter to cough out blood. After what seemed like a hundred strikes, the triclops brought up both of his hands and threw them down in an axe handle attack on Dodoria's head. The alien smashed into the ground, making a small indent with his large stomach. Tien pointed a finger at his fallen opponent, no emotion showing on his face.
"Dodonpa!" A small beam of yellow energy fired out from his finger, fine and sharp almost like a laser, cleanly piercing Dodoria's back from where Tien assumed his heart would be. Frieza's fat officer's last breath was cut off halfway through. Tien turned to see how Krillin was faring, just in time to see him flying in his direction, smoke trailing behind the small monk.
The two humans collided, crashing into the ground. Krillin shakily got up onto his elbows and gave a small chuckle. "Hey-a, Tien. He's a lot more powerful than he looks. No chance you've got some kinda new technique, do you?"
Tien got up and smirked. "What would I need a new technique for? My old ones work just fine." He made a triangle with his hands, putting the charging Zarbon in his sights. "Kikoho!" The blast slammed right into Zarbon, putting him into a mountain.
Krillin and Tien walked over to the hole, smoke pouring out. Zarbon pulled himself out, anger radiating off of his face. "Fine. You foolish humans want to play rough?" Tien and Krillin both went to dash at him, but Zarbon reverted back to his monster form. Shockwaves of energy washed over the two humans, halting them in their tracks and sending them flying backwards. Tien quickly got up, a heavy feeling in his stomach. This was the hidden power I felt from him… it's huge! He went to attack, but his legs felt like they were glued to the floor. This power… it's paralyzing! The monstrous Zarbon moved so fast he seemed to disappear, his shape re-forming right in front of the frozen triclops. He cocked back his arm and smashed it sideways into Tien's temple, sending the earthling into the floor.
"Tien!" Krillin felt Tien's ki drop, similar to Yamcha's. That's why he needs some new moves. The Kikoho takes way too much out of him! He slowly managed to stand, his body screaming protests with every movement. Zarbon gave him an amused look, preparing to finish him off. I suppose I have no choice then. I'll try to catch him with my… His thoughts were interrupted as a green blur slammed into Zarbon, sending him flying. Krillin turned to see who had saved him, and nearly passed out in surprise.
"Piccolo!"
The Namek turned to him and gave him a confused look. "Piccolo? … how do you know how to speak Namekian? Anyway, I'm not the one from another world. That's you. My name is Nail."
Krillin scratched his head. "Another world?…"
"That's what Piccolo means in your language. Another world."
"How do you know my language?"
Nail frowned. "It is the language that Frieza uses. Because of his extended reach over the universe, the language has spread considerably."
Krillin shrugged. "Well, that's convenient…" They both turned as Zarbon managed to get up. His arms were shaking, and his breathing was ragged. Nail gave Krillin a small smile before he turned to face Zarbon.
"Go check on your friends. I'll clean up this trash, and then we can head to somewhere safe."
Krillin looked at Nail and hesitated. "You sure? He's… he's really powerful."
Nail's smile broadened as he let his ki flow outward, revealing his true power. Krillin's protests died out and he nodded. "You clean up the trash. Right." He mumbled to himself as he went to take care of Yamcha and Tien.
Zarbon cracked his neck. "You seem awfully confident, for a Namekian…" he pressed a button on his scouter and his eyes widened as a number popped up. "Forty two thousand? Who… who are you?" We had seen this power before, but we had assumed it was a cluster of Nameks! The normal Namek has a power of maybe one thousand… where did this one come from? He cleared his face of fear and stared at Nail. "No matter. I can still crush you in my enhanced form!"
Zarbon dashed at Nail, charging his ki into a pulled back hand. When he got close, he let all the energy out in one violent burst, the wave of ki washing over the Namek, who made no attempt to move or block. Zarbon grinned evilly, fully expecting to find Nail dead. When the blinding energy faded, Zarbon saw that Nail had not moved an inch. My attack! It…it had no affect! Zarbon felt a cold sweat forming on his brow, and an involuntary shake began near his knees.
Nail flashed another broad smile and brought one of his hands up. "Is this what you were trying to do?" He opened his hand wide, and without taking any time to amass any ki, he let out a wave that was much bigger and stronger than the one Zarbon had just attempted. When the attack died out, there was nothing left of Zarbon, clothing or otherwise. The loud shockwave from the blast had even drowned out his final death cries.
Krillin turned when he heard the blast and looked on in wonder. Holy hell! Thank Kami he's on our side! He killed that monster in one shot! Krillin managed to lift Yamcha up, supporting him on his shoulder. He turned to Nail and shouted, "Hey! You ready to go? These guys need help!"
Nail walked over and easily hoisted up Tien, who let out a small grunt. Good. That means he's still okay... Out loud, he said, "Okay. We shall take them to my master's house. He'll know what to do." With his free hand, he picked up the dragonball and checked it for any damages. As they lifted themselves into the air, he turned to Krillin. "Where did you get this?"
Krillin paused in midair. "A guy named… uh, Muri gave it to me. Told me I was gonna be a great hero or sumthin."
Nail smiled. "So Guru was right yet again. You are the one who met with Muri. Come. Guru will be happy to meet with you."
Krillin and Nail both shot off, taking care to not allow Tien and Yamcha to get hurt by the sudden increase in speed. As they flew off, Krillin found his mind wandering towards this Guru that Nail kept referring to. This Nail guy is so powerful… and he looks up to this Guru so much… I wonder what he'll be like…
AN- Quick one or two clarifications, yes, "Piccolo" literally means 'another world' in Namekian. Mr. Popo tells Bulma in the manga. Tien's 'Tsuru-Sennin open handed machine gun jabs' are when he begins rapidly jab with two open hands, like he does before his Neo TriBeam attack in Budokai 3, or if you haven't played it, he does it while fighting Goku in the Tien saga, when he pins him up to the wall with lightning quick attacks. I wouldn't have spent so much time talking about it here, but it is a kickass looking combo. Heh.
On to some other topics. The next chapter won't be very action oriented, which means I can add some dialogue. Yay. I love doing that. But after that, be warned. The next ten or so chapters will be very heavy in action, as the time has come for the Ginyu saga followed directly by the Frieza saga. Not a lot of room for development, so be ready.
Also, one important thing. About the Namekian dragonballs. They are the originals, and Porguna looks totally kickass. Also because of one or two things in the story, I'm changing his abilities. He WILL be able to revive more than one person per wish. I tried to find other ways around it, but there were none I'm afraid. You all must deal with this slight inconsistence with the series. You have been warned.
The only other thing I would like to discuss is characters. Just as a forewarning, don't expect things to go like the anime. (Sure are a lot of warnings in this author's note, huh?) While things have been sort of parallel, after Frieza, certain things and certain character's lives will take drastic turns. I only hope that if your favorite character's life takes a bad turn, or something you don't like, you will stick it through to the end. Who knows? There may even be some surprises at the end. The point of having this alternate universe is to change things, and I hope everyone will look beyond their favorite characters for this one. I promise I'll do my best to make it enjoyable. I want to also take this moment to thank all of my readers. This little adventure has quickly become my main project on mostly due to the enormous (at least to me) reaction I've gotten from you guys. We haven't even hit chapter 20 yet, and the 200 review mark is around the corner. Everyone really seems to be into this story, and I'm glad I could give it to you all. As I said, I hope all of my current fans stick it through to the end, and maybe we'll pick up a few more as time goes on. Also, just for reference, looking at a basic outline I did of the whole story, we are looking at around 80 or so chapters. So don't worry about it running out any time soon! Because I won't have to choreograph a fight scene for the next chapter, I may have it out by mid-week. Stay tuned! And as always, send me your reviews! I love getting em! (Then again , who doesn't?)
