Endgame

Chapter 40: Born Again

A/N: Hi all. I'm working with a lot of writing enthusiasm, so enjoy a nice heaping of an early chapter (though don't expect another chapter to come out Saturday- the chapter after this one might take a while).


Like a leaf being pulled along by the wind, Kakarot let himself be led by his brother closer to the edge of the city. The field they crossed to do so was filled with newly grown grass from the passing spring- it presented an unending, monolithic depiction of youthful green. That one detail stuck out to him- the grass, such a vibrant color…

They reached the edge of the city proper sooner than Kakarot would have liked. A few passing pedestrians gave them weird looks, but the cities of Earth were so heterogeneous and varied that some human-looking people with tails didn't raise anything more than a handful of eyebrows. Raditz seemed to delight in their invisibility. 'Kakarot,' Raditz uttered so that only they could hear, 'do you have any idea what I did in space? What Saiyans do?'

Kakarot's eyes were focused on the cityscape around him. He gave a faint shrug.

'We are warriors who purge planets of all life and civilization for the highest bidders. Before I can trust you to work alongside me, I have decided you must complete your initial contract.' Raditz's eyes flicked between Kakarot and the various people walking around them. 'You will purge this city, and then together, we will purge this planet.'

Kakarot reflexively turned to the way they had come from.

Raditz appeared before him in an instant. 'Don't even think about it,' Raditz intimidated, the edges of his crossed forearms pressing against Kakarot's chest. 'You've already tried my patience once today. To do so twice would be ugly.'

'How ugly?'

Raditz's face twisted into an unstable, sadistic snarl. 'Don't tempt me, brother.' A twinge of anger shot through his eyes. 'What's so hard about killing a bunch of weaklings!' He yelled, drawing the attention of some passersbys. Perceiving he had been heard, Raditz leveled a hand at the closest person nearby, a balding middle-aged man, and shot a blast in their direction.

A neat hole punched itself in the person's chest. A second later, they dropped to the ground, dead. The other people around them immediately burst into cries and ran away.

As Kakarot watched people flee in terror, Raditz's voice bounced around in his head. 'No one ought to live without the power to defend themselves. Either you are strong enough to protect your own existence, or you die. This planet has lived detached from the natural order of things for too long. And we Saiyans are nothing if not slaves to that order.'

Before Kakarot could respond, another blast ripped from Raditz's palm, churning down the length of a road. Slabs of concrete and a shower of twisted metal car parts were thrown up in the air, raining down in the surrounding area a few seconds later. What was once a road with five-or-so running cars was now a ruined ditch.

'Come now,' Raditz whispered, 'show me how strong you are, Kakarot.'

In a deep, deep part of Kakarot that he had grappled with and ultimately buried long ago, something resonated with Raditz's statement. Power, it cloyed, you have power Such a simple declaration- to hear his brother say that he had strength. Slowly, Kakarot raised one arm, aiming down a sidewalk on which a few terrified and stunned people fled. Despite the fact that there were stronger people on this planet… he had forgotten how laughably weak everyone else is compared to himself.

A blast lurched from Kakarot's palm, consuming a few people in bright, raw energy. It was… easier than he thought it would be. Another blast ripped from Kakarot's palm and ran across the ground, crashing into the base of a building and causing it to collapse. A few anguished screams burned into the air before transforming into drawn-out sobs.

Raditz took a step back from his brother, a smile cresting onto his face. He watched as his brother threw another blast into the city, then another, as the buildings around them began to topple to the ground. So there's still something salvageable left in him, after all. A sick feeling of relief washed over Raditz. For a time, things were looking a little dicey…

Still… He gazed up the sky above them- they still had some time before night fell. Tonight will be the most crucial time of all...

0o0o0

Right after drawing herself another cup of coffee- she had a feeling she was going to have to stay up for another straight twenty-four hours- Bulma seated Chi-Chi at a table near the family entrance on the first floor and sat at the other end. 'Alright…' Bulma sighed as she settled into her seat, '...you have a baby.'

Chi-Chi blinked. 'Yes. It's Kakarot's.'

Bulma stared at Chi-Chi for a moment before stirring her head and downing an entire cup of coffee in one go. 'I'm sorry,' Bulma said, wiping her mouth and chin, 'I think my sleep deprivation is getting to me. You said that that baby's father is… Kakarot?'

'That's what I said.'

Bulma jarringly started to bellow with laughter. 'Hilarious!' she exclaimed, swinging the empty mug around for emphasis. 'Kakarot the psycho has a child… that is hilarious... who would be the mother, anyway?'

Chi-Chi gave Bulma an odd look. At well below full capacity, it took Bulma's brain a few seconds to catch-up; when she eventually realized what Chi-Chi was conveying, her face sagged. 'You… can't be serious.'

'Bulma,' Chi-Chi said with angelic patience, 'why would I be carrying around a baby if it wasn't mine?'

'And… and you're sure Kakarot is the father?…' She asked faintly.

'I'm pretty sure.'

Bulma looked Chi-Chi up and down once more, then nodded. 'Well, alright. That's the new reality. Chi-Chi is a mom to a half-alien baby.' She narrowed her eyes at Chi-Chi. 'You… knew that, right?'

'Yes, Bulma,' Chi-Chi sighed. 'But, considering what's going on, these aren't important questions at the moment…'

'Hmm?...' Bulma absentmindedly groped for her mug and made a drinking motion- she didn't seem to notice there was nothing in it. 'Oh, yeah… things are not good right now.'

'Everyone is okay, right?' Chi-Chi asked. 'I vaguely sensed a bunch of people here earlier, but now…'

'Oh, they're fine,' Bulma said, physically waving away Chi-Chi concerns. 'They're speeding off to fight Raditz and Kakarot with Piccolo in East City as we speak.'

'Err… what? With Piccolo? Do you mean they're fighting Kakarot and Piccolo? Or is Kakarot helping them to fight Piccolo? And who is Raditz?'

'No, no… Tien, Yamcha, Krillin, and Launch are fighting alongside Piccolo against Raditz and Kakarot. The green guy is helping us out against Kakarot's evil Saiyan relative, Raditz!'

'I… have so many questions,' Chi-Chi managed. She stood. 'And if that's the case, then I need to go after them immediately.'

'Why?' Bulma stood as well, sensing Chi-Chi's restrained anxiety. 'I wouldn't recommend going… as you are now… '

Chi-Chi seemed to realize something- she glanced down at the baby in her arms. 'Oh… of course I wouldn't take Gohan…'

Bulma sobered up some, smelling bullshit from a mile away. 'Chi-Chi,' she said as delicately as possible, 'don't lie to me. I can always tell when someone is lying to me.'

'Oh, Bulma,' Chi-Chi protested, 'I'm not-'

'I'm not like the other bumbling idiots,' she said definitively. 'You were going to take that… baby…' Bulma's face softened. 'Gohan, yeah?' Chi-Chi nodded. Bulma hardened her face once more. 'You were going to go to East City with Gohan, weren't you?'

Chi-Chi frowned. 'Yeah…'

Bulma was silent for a moment as Chi-Chi's gaze roamed the ground in shame. 'Why?' Bulma eventually asked, sighing.

'Kakarot is in trouble.'

'From us?'

'No. From himself. I need to try and get through to him one last time before… the worst-case scenario can come about.'

Bulma thought on this for a moment. Beneath a layer of coffee-induced mania, she felt incredibly tired, and she suspected that tiredness was messing with her decision-making process, but she couldn't deny that she wanted to help Chi-Chi. Who am I to tell a mother what to do with her child, right? 'Alright… how can I help?'

'Really?'

'If you think it's the best thing to do, then let's do it.'

Chi-Chi nodded. 'Alright. I need to get there fast. Like, really fast. Fast enough to catch them in a few hours fast.'

'Hmm…' Bulma tapped a finger to her chin. 'I have a plane that can do that, but someone would need to fly...'

'Couldn't you?' Chi-Chi asked.

'Me? Me!?' Bulma cackled, always a disturbing sound to hear from another rational human being. 'Hah! No way! I am way too tired. I'd for sure cause a crash or something like that.'

'Good to know…'

'But!... I think I know someone who wouldn't…'

0o0o0

Packed together on Nimbus like sardines, Krillin, Launch, Tien, and Yamcha had nothing better to do than to stare off into the distance or make small talk. As such, a combination of the two characterized their trip. 'Is… uh… Chiaotzu feeling any better?' Yamcha asked of Tien, who was flying right alongside Nimbus.

'No.'

'Oh.'

'I spoke to Chiaotzu briefly,' Tien elaborated. 'He's… still sick.' A look of intense concentration momentarily passed over Tien's face. 'Could it have been something he ate?... Dunno.'

'Bad luck, either way,' Yamcha said, essentially blurting out his thoughts to everyone else.

Silence descended on them again. The sound of air rushing past them was just loud enough to distract them from the imminent fight of their lives.

'We should talk strategy,' Piccolo said after some time, drifting closer to them mid-flight. 'If my hunch is right, we'll have to fight both Raditz and Kakarot at the same time. Raditz is far above our ability to handle on our own- so we'll have to throw as many of us as possible at him. By comparison, Kakarot is much weaker.' A corner of Piccolo's mouth tugged up. 'We shouldn't need more than one person to kill him.'

'Kill him?' Launch asked. 'Look, I don't like him as much as the next person, but he's-'

'He's a threat for as long as we let him live,' Piccolo snapped back. 'If he's left alive in any capacity he'll kill one of us. I guarantee it.'

Launch's expression soured. 'Oh? And what makes you the right person to decide that? Since when have you suffered-' she said that last word with the greatest amount of sarcasm possible '- by letting someone live?'

Piccolo snarled, but before their conversation could escalate any further Tien spoke up. 'I'll do it.'

Launch and the others turned to him. 'What?'

'I'll kill Kakarot. I was trained as an assassin. And I've killed other people before- people who were much less dangerous than Kakarot.' He nodded to them. 'Let me fight him.'

Launch was about to speak when Piccolo growled. 'I don't care who among you does it- as I intend to fight and kill Raditz- but if you want to survive this fight, one of you will need to kill Kakarot, if I haven't already done so myself.' With that, he distanced himself from them.

'Tien,' Launch finally said once Piccolo had withdrawn, 'I appreciate the gesture, but we shouldn't exactly be listening to what Piccolo is saying in this scenario. He's… not like us, alright?'

'He recognizes a threat and works to eliminate it.' Tien gave Launch an expressionless look. 'I don't see a difference between the two of us in that regard.'

Launch sighed and pinched her nose. 'Look, I know people can have checkered pasts, trust me, I should know-'

She abruptly stopped talking; her and every present person's head craned to something in the distance to the front of them. 'Do you feel that?' She asked uneasily.

'I do,' Tien answered. 'It's a slaughter.'

Yamcha tightened his grip around Krillin. 'We need to go faster-'

'Nimbus is already flying at top speed,' Krillin announced solemnly. 'Has been from the beginning.'

Unsettled as they were, none of them noticed Piccolo's frowning face several feet to the right of them.

0o0o0

With his head buried in his arms, King Furry hadn't even heard the door to his modest office close. It was only when a hesitant staffer tapped him on the arm did he sigh and lift his haggard head. 'News?' he asked in a quiet voice.

The staffer swallowed and nodded. 'The attacks are virtually identical in form,' she said, handing a file to King Furry. 'Devastation linked to a single individual.' She swallowed again. 'My King, if this is anything to go by, then…'

'I know,' he said solemnly. 'We couldn't do anything last time. I doubt we'll be able to do anything now.' Abruptly, King Furry banged a fist into his desk, fury lighting his face. 'We should have known better!' He rose, fuming. 'Attacks like that don't just happen for no reason! They're part of a larger trend! What we should have done…' he said, failing off.

'...Sir?' she asked once his anger had fully dissipated. 'I know your other advisors have offered alternative solutions- I know you've voiced opposition to them before, but perhaps I can bring them in-'

'-No,' he shook his head, sitting down. 'I won't endanger people's lives in order the save their lives. No military operations, no bombings. I won't even hear the mention of it again.'

'Then what do we do?'

King Furry looked at her, adjusting his glasses. 'Nothing, except maybe hope for a miracle. It's out of our hands…'

0o0o0

There was a knock at the door preceding a tired-looking Bulma entering the room. Somewhat sleepily, she blinked her eyes a few times before speaking. 'Hey,' she addressed Retu, who was sitting by Suno's unconscious side, 'I need you to do a favor.'

Retu hadn't seemed to have heard her enter, but at her request he sighed and turned to her in his seat. 'What is it?' he asked flatly.

'You know Chi-Chi, right?'

'Sorta. I met her a few times.' Retu straightened in his seat. 'Why? Did she finally arrive for the party?'

'Uhh… yes,' Bulma said slowly. 'Can you join me in the hall for a moment?'

Retu squinted at her, but he obliged and stood on his crutches. A few seconds later and he exited the room. Before him, with a baby in her arms, Chi-Chi gave him a nervous smile. 'Hi…'

He glanced back-and-forth between the baby and Chi-Chi a few times. 'Huh.'

'Chi-Chi needs to get to East City very quickly,' Bulma explained to Retu. 'You've been testing the controls for the new FTVs, right?'

'That's correct, yes.'

'Would you say that "testing" is another word for "commanding knowledge"?' Bulma said, making explicit use of air quotes.

'...No… I wouldn't say that…' Retu said hesitantly, glancing between Chi-Chi and Bulma, 'but I get the feeling my opinion isn't very relevant at the moment…'

'Ding ding ding!' Bulma chimed like a bell. 'I can't fly because I am horribly sleep-deprived. You're the next best pilot, so…'

'Yeah, yeah,' Retu said, dismissively waving his hand toward Bulma. 'I understand. Shows what I get…' he grumbled.

'So you'll do it?' Chi-Chi asked.

Retu gave Chi-Chi a look. 'You know there's a big battle going on in East City, right? It's essentially a war zone.'

'Yes.'

'And you think you can help?'

Chi-Chi didn't hesitate. 'Yes.'

Retu looked at her for a moment. 'Alright. As long as you know what you're getting into, I'll fly.' He turned to Bulma. 'Keys, please.'

0o0o0

At a certain point, the distinction Kakarot maintained between his arm and the caustic energy that shot out from it blurred. He made no effort to choose his targets or go about what he was doing in an efficient way- instead, he gave in, utterly and totally, to his urges whenever they seized him. What looked like a mother and her son fleeing skirted across his vision; with one casual wave of his arm, they disappeared from existence. A car he despised seemed to explode under his gaze, throwing up a thousand jagged and sparking metal fragments into the air. A crowd of terrified people, trapped in a corner by the resulting explosion, was bisected by one of Kakarot's blast like a knife cutting through butter.

Never before had Kakarot felt such satisfaction. Seeing and hearing countless lives be extinguished by his own hand gave him a sickly sweet feeling in the pit of his stomach, warring against a deep, droning anxiety rapping against the inside of his skull. What would Chi-Chi think of this? To see me doing this-

No! He shot another blast out from his palm, screeching down a wide city block. Get out of my head! Blasts rushed out from his palm, scattering away from him and initiating a cascade of explosions farther into the city. He quickly dove in deeper, his heart beating to match the frenzied, bloody scything through the city. I am no tool! I have no master!

Kakarot finally understood what he lacked- what his brother had tried to instill him. The indescribable rush of choosing whether someone lived or died simply on the basis of preference. The whisper of the wind as it took away the ash.

Perhaps he shouldn't be surprised. He had never tried to eradicate a whole city.

0o0o0

High above the carnage, Raditz watched intently as his brother charged and unleashed another catastrophic series of blasts into the city center. Kakarot was now deep within the city, packed so tightly among the frightened masses that no matter what direction he attacked, he was sure to kill someone.

Raditz's mind was buzzing. Things are going as planned, more or less. Initially, he had been worried about his brother- he had seen too much to like in this planet- but, as it turns out, all he needed was a forceful kick towards the nearest urban center. Watching his brother wreak such breakneck chaos was, needless to say, an encouraging sign. Who knows how long it would have taken to break him back into our way of things otherwise… Even the thought of reteaching Kakarot basic Saiyan etiquette was exhausting for Raditz to consider. Though this shouldn't be an issue now. He watched as his brother dove through a skyscraper, using his ki to slash a diagonal cut through the building. The upper part slid and crumpled to the ground below.

I'll have to reign him in eventually- can't have him killing every scientist on the planet. Someone has to build us a ship, after all. Perhaps those natives from earlier know someone-

Raditz' scouter beeped- immediately, the Saiyan turned his attention to the west. Though he couldn't see it, five familiar signatures were closing in on the area. Right on time. Let's get to it.

0o0o0

Before they could see the city, they could see smoke, then flames. Only after did ruined buildings and rubble start to bubble into existence below them did Nimbus, Tien, and Piccolo slow their speed. None of them said a word as they came to a stop in the remains of a once beatific plaza, now reduced to a burnt husk of its former self.

Standing in the middle, Kakarot faced them, one hand gripped around a severed appendage in his right arm. When he saw the newcomers, he tossed the leg away. To varying degrees, he recognized all of them- and smiled. 'Old friends…' he muttered to himself.

Disembarking last and shooing the cloud away, Krillin stepped forward, his gaze sweeping across the hellish landscape around them. Finally, he landed on Kakarot. 'You,' he seethed; a righteous fury began to boil up inside of him. 'Two times I let you live. Two times I thought better of both myself and you. Most people don't receive a second chance, let alone two. And this!...' he swept his arms out to his sides, indicating the devastation surrounding them, 'this is what you do!' His yell roared out of him, bouncing off the wreckage all around them.

When Krillin's words finished echoing, Kakarot took a deep breath, filling his nostrils with the smell of his handiwork. 'Sometimes you limp along in life before finding your true calling. This,' he said as he stretched his arms to his surroundings, 'is my calling.'

The scene of a deranged-looking Kakarot standing like a god before such a scene of carnage forever burned into their memories. 'You're… a monster,' Launch eventually said, her body churning with anger. 'The acts you've done today are beyond evil!...' She began rolling up the sleeves of her blue-and-black gi with such force that she actually ripped them up her arms. 'Before you die you're going to know what it means to feel pain!' Next to her, Tien glared at Kakarot noiselessly, the only sign of his anger being the incessant twitching of his face.

While his friends were confronting the madman, Yamcha felt himself grow smaller in the back of the group. Everyone else had so easily either brushed aside Kakarot's actions or used them as a fuel to light a fire underneath them. Yamcha had done neither. Instead, his eyes were tracing every spot where a building should have been. I've been here before… he mentally stammered to himself. When this place was bright and beautiful and filled with happy faces… When the only misfortune that happened here was when I and people like me picked pockets. In disbelief, he spun, taking in the full view of the city around them. Is this really the same place?

'You should all run while you have the chance,' Kakarot jeered at them. 'That way, there's a chance that some of you manage to survive the day…'

Up until this point, Piccolo had been silent, but Kakarot's words seemed to briefly catch his attention. 'It's always sad to see vermin emboldened when propped up by a stronger slavemaster,' Piccolo said dismissively, his eyes tracking something in the sky.

Kakarot's nostrils flared, 'You'll regret that-'

Piccolo held up one hand, effectively silencing Kakarot. 'I don't deal with underlings.' Even as he narrowed his eyes at a rapidly descending figure, he turned to his human allies. 'One of you can deal with Kakarot on your own. The rest of us must strike Raditz head-on. Understood?'

'I understand perfectly,' Tien growled, stepping forward. 'Kakarot is mine. Once I kill him, I'll do the same to his brother.'

Piccolo seemed to smile at the former assassin's blunt viciousness. 'Then the rest of us will face Raditz. And none too soon…'

The aforementioned figure finally landed next to Kakarot, their wild black hair jostling from the impact. Smirking, Raditz eyed the newcomers. 'It's time you learned proper purging procedure, Kakarot.' Still smarting from the earlier verbal exchange, Kakarot side-eyed his brother. 'Rule number one,' Raditz said with the tact of a teacher, 'determine or confirm the strength of your opponents.' He promptly pressed a finger to the side of his scouter multiple times, once for each person arranged before them. 'Their power levels are 376, 348, 342, 291, and 276 respectively,' gesturing to Piccolo, Tien, Krillin, Yamcha, and Launch in that order. 'You claimed that reading I measured you at earlier wasn't your full power; should I assume the same is true for them?'

Kakarot nodded. 'They hide their power well. They could be twice as strong as what you're currently measuring.'

One of Raditz's eyebrows arched. 'Really? Color me intrigued.' With little effort, Raditz tapped into his own power, easily bringing most of his energy to the surface. 'Perhaps this will be a fight worth remembering, after all. Nonetheless,' Raditz continued, changing subjects, 'rule number two for purging planets: eliminate the elites among the natives to cripple their resistive efforts.' He gave a low chuckle. 'It makes the process much easier.'

'Anything else I should know before we begin?' Kakarot asked, struggling to mask the excitement in his voice. Side-by-side with my brother, defeating the demons of my past… this will be a battle!

'Remember to keep them alive for a short time, if possible,' Raditz replied, cracking his knuckles. 'I will have questions for the unlucky few that survive to the end…'

Across from the two Saiyans, Yamcha felt uneasy at the lack of discussion going on among his teammates- it was deadly quiet on their side of the plaza. 'Shouldn't we be talking strategy?' Yamcha asked anxiously. 'Surely we're not going to just jump in there blind, right?'

A quick scan of his friends' faces told Yamcha that they were far too angry to strategize. Piccolo didn't even bother looking at the scar-faced human. 'Stay out of my way,' he said bluntly, 'and we'll get along fine.'

Discouraged, Yamcha lapsed back into silence.

Raditz made brief contact with Kakarot; the next moment, the fight roared into life.

0o0o0

There was a faint knock at Rayne's door before Bulma slinked it, looking like she was on the verge of collapsing. 'Hey…' she said, clearly exhausted. 'How are you holding up?'

'Uhh…' Rayne replied. 'Okay. You?'

'Great…' Bulma muttered as she collapsed into a chair propped next to Rayne's bed. 'I've had the craziest day…'

'I can imagine.' Rayne briefly glanced out the window. 'It never feels good sending friends to fight alone…'

'Hmm?' Bulma made some sort of surprised sound. 'No, not that.'

Rayne cocked her head and turned back to Bulma, curious. 'Then what?'

'Oh, Chi-Chi showed up. With a baby.'

'What baby?'

'Her baby.'

Rayne took a moment to physically shake her head in shock before asking, 'When? And who's the father?'

'I would guess the baby is a few months old. And the father is Kakarot.'

'Kakarot? Kakarot?' Rayne said, barely containing her shock. 'I… can't believe that. Where is she?'

'East city. Or going, that is.'

Upon hearing this, Rayne nearly tumbled out of her bed in shock. 'She… what!?' she gasped, trying to stem the wave of pain flowing through her. 'She's going to East City? And you let her!?'

'She's a grown woman,' Bulma explained calmly, 'she-'

'No!' Rayne yelled. 'She's bringing a baby to a battlefield! Don't you see the problem with that?'

Truthfully, Bulma did not. For the first few seconds, at least. 'Oh…' she said, her eyes widening. 'Yeah… I forgot… there's probably a pitch-battle happening there as we speak. Whoops…'

'Whoops!?' Rayne screamed. Then, with visible pain on her face, Rayne surged to a standing position, barely keeping herself upright. When Bulma rushed to Rayne's side to help her to stand, she was batted away. 'Get your fastest ship!' Rayne commanded Bulma. 'We're going to East City immediately to put a stop to this!'

'But you said it yourself that there's a battle going on there!' Bulma protested. 'And you're injured! And…' she added quietly, 'I kinda already gave Chi-Chi my fastest ship…'

'Then get your second fastest ship!' Rayne rumbled through clenched teeth. 'NOW!'

0o0o0

Piccolo, flanked by Launch and Krillin, charged straight at Raditz. The Saiyan conqueror smirked as he backpedaled with their momentum, deflecting a series of blows from Piccolo before slamming a palm to the demon's chest, staggering him. Once this reprieve was granted, Krillin and Launch surrounded Raditz, each one trying to land a blow, but with careless ease Raditz dodged their strikes and then spun 180 degrees, lashing each on them in the face with a fist. As Piccolo steadied himself and Krillin and Launch rushed to pick themselves off the ground, Raditz whipped his head back and gave a deep laugh. 'You'll have to flail better than that!'

While the four of them occupied the center of the plaza, Tien had pursued Kakarot as he ran off to the side. When Kakarot reached a building, however, he jumped and bounced off the wall and twisted, leading with his right leg. Far from being caught flat-footed, however, Tien halted and grabbed Kakarot's leg mid-flight, swinging the startled Saiyan and slamming him into the ground. As soon as Kakarot landed on the plaza's cobbles, he bucked like a horse, crashing against Tien's block and pushing the human back some. Kakarot quickly jumped off the ground, surging forward with a heavy punch. Tien wasn't fazed as he caught the fist in one palm. 'Haaah!' Tien yelled as he twisted, lurching Kakarot off his feet and throwing him back to the ground again. As Kakarot sputtered and gnashed his face on the ground, Tien stomped one leg onto Kakarot's back. 'You're going to die here!' he roared.

Two more stomps came down on Kakarot's back. On the third, however, Kakarot rolled and grabbed the human's leg between his hands. 'Brave words!' Kakarot yelled, before snarling and twisting Tien's leg painfully to one side, jarring Tien's knee and throwing the human warrior off balance. Kakarot was fast to stand and threw himself back on the offensive.

While these two engagements were occurring, Yamcha initially hesitated jumping into the fray. When he glimpsed Krillin get backhanded into a ruined building, however, he shook himself out of his stupor. I won't let anyone die today! Not again! With that, he blasted into combat.

0o0o0

As Rayne was being wheeled out on a stretcher by an utterly exhausted Bulma, Yajirobe intercepted them on the landing pad of their plane. 'Hey!' he yelled as he ran up from behind them. 'Don't leave without me!'

Both of them gave him a suspicious look. 'You're coming?' Bulma asked, halting.

'Yes!' He glared when neither of them dropped their looks. 'It's not that surprising, damn it! I'm a fighter too!'

Bulma briefly looked at Rayne, then sighed. 'I don't have the energy to argue about that, unless you want me to cause a fatal plane crash. You,' she swung to Yajirobe, 'stay in the back. Is that clear?'

He nodded eagerly, like a kid allowed to go on a school trip. 'Alright!' He cheered, throwing a fist up in the air. 'Let's go!'

From her stretcher, Rayne groaned. 'An eager Yajirobe… Kami help us…'

0o0o0

After Launch was elbowed in the gut and doubled over to the ground, Piccolo found himself facing Raditz alone. The demon grinned. 'Are you ready to meet your end?' he taunted, as he clenched his arms and lowered himself to the ground. 'Prepare yourself!' Thick coils of purple energy began to surround Piccolo, snaking up and around his body. The air felt heavy, as if a thick rain was about to patter down.

Unimpressed, Raditz idly watched the number on his scouter rise, first hitting 500, then 600, then- 'What!?' Raditz exclaimed in disbelief as the number kept rising. 'Where is this power coming from!?'

Piccolo's only reply was a fanged smile- the next moment, he raked the ground in between himself and Raditz, throwing up a cloud of smoke.

Raditz held back for a moment, trusting that his scouter would detect any sort of energy attack his opponent might launch. In that split-second second of hesitation, however, a green limb shot out through the smoke, lengthening like a cable and grabbing Raditz by the collar of his armor. Caught unprepared, Raditz felt himself be wrenched off his feet and pulled into the cloud of smoke. Before he could do anything else, he sighted another limb speeding towards him, similar to how the other limb had stretched before. A threatening purple glow emanated from the second's surface.

'DEMON LASH!' A deafening explosion sounded from within the cloud of smoke, pushing away Piccolo's limbs from the impact zone. Confident that his attack had hit, Piccolo charged into the still-expanding debris cloud, intending to follow-up on his previous attack.

He made it a few feet before a muscled arm crashed horizontally across his gut, knocking him backward out of the cloud. A gust of wind then buffeted his front, dispersing the dust in the air across the plaza.

Now visible, Raditz retracted his right arm casually. Chips of armor were flaking off near his midsection, but other than that he looked utterly unharmed by Piccolo's attack. 'Clever trick,' Raditz mocked, 'but cleverness is useless without the strength to back it up.'

Growling, Piccolo sprung forward again.

Nearby, Tien found himself deflecting a number of quick, stinging attacks from Kakarot. It's like he fights without any tactics or strategy… Tien's line of thought was interrupted as a stunningly strong punch rammed against his blocking shoulder, causing his entire body to shake. But because of that, he's so hard to counter!...

Guessing that Kakarot would next try to strike his midsection, Tien hastily turned and brought up a block around his chest. Thus, he was shocked when a strike crashed against his legs and washed him off his feet, sending him tumbling to the ground. Before he could get a bearing on his surroundings, a leg pinned him to the cobbles. Behind a sickly red glow, Kakarot's grin was leering down at him. 'Farewell! It was a pleasure-'

A leg crashed against Kakarot's side, knocking him off Tien and sending him careening into the nearest walled remain of a building. Tien felt a hand grasp his own a second later and lift him off the ground.

'Thanks for that,' Tien said to Yamcha, who kept his gaze locked on Kakarot, 'but I think you would be better used elsewhere.'

Yamcha looked at him skeptically. 'You looked like you were in trouble there for a second.'

'His style is unconventional.' The wind abruptly kicked into life around him, as Tien's features assumed a strange glow to them. 'But his power doesn't compare to mine. Go help the others.'

Yamcha gave him a hard stare, then nodded, running off. By this point, Kakarot had disentangled himself from the wall he had been planted into. An angry glare rounded his face. 'Coward,' he said, spitting.

Wordlessly, Tien lowered himself to the ground and charged at Kakarot once more.

0o0o0

What Krillin reckoned to be a minute passed before he got a hold of his senses again. Groaning, he noted that his body had been used to splinter a desk in half. That was unpleasant… Removing himself of the rubble as fast as he could, he ran back outside to the plaza.

In the distance, he saw Tien and Kakarot locked in a brutal brawl, limbs and blocks crashing forcefully off of each other. Closer to Krillin, he saw Piccolo and Raditz squaring off- but it was eminently clear that Raditz was toying with the demon. Piccolo was moving arguably twice as slow as the Saiyan invader.

Near the two combatants, Launch was writhing in agony on the ground. She's not getting up anytime soon.

Belatedly, Krillin noticed a figure creeping around to Raditz's backside, a dull light shimmering off their forward arm.

Another blow crashed into Piccolo. A distraction, then! Krillin charged forward.

0o0o0

'Feeling tired?' Raditz mocked as he appeared behind Piccolo and smacked him in the back, pushing the demon a few feet forward. Just as he brought up another limb to smash the demon to the ground, a kick rammed into the back of his right leg, nearly causing Raditz to topple over. Snarling, he turned to face the assailant, swinging a fist diagonally- but Krillin had anticipated this and had ducked to the right prior to landing a heavy shoulder-ram into Raditz's chest. Flailing, Raditz truly lost his balance this time, as he frantically tried to backpedal backward. Inadvertently, this caused him to smash his back into Piccolo, jamming them both on their way down to the ground.

Raditz was quick to retaliate; he jumped up (using Piccolo as the springboard) and delivered a forceful punch into Krillin's gut, causing the human warrior to gag up a bit of blood. 'Was it worth it to momentarily flip me on my back, human?' Raditz snarled as he twisted his fist deeper into Krillin's gut.

With a streak of blood trailing across his teeth and out of the corner of his mouth, Krillin flashed a smile. 'As a matter of fact, yes!' He then twisted out of Raditz's reach, using his smaller height to duck beneath a reaching grab.

The next thing Raditz knew, his backside was lit aflame as a rapid pace of blows crashed and cracked against his armor. 'WOLF!' Yamcha yelled from behind the Saiyan, as his body started to burn and shake from the amount of energy he was storing. Raditz made an effort to turn, but amazingly, he felt two arms grip him by his waist and flip him in mid-air, completely scrambling any sense of location. 'FANG!' Yamcha delivered a series of crushing swipes into Raditz's midsection, utterly obliterating any sense of invulnerability Raditz' armor had had before. Raditz barely had time to breathe before he felt another pair of arms flip him again, now again facing away from his attacker.

'FIST!' Yamcha brought one arm back and absolutely slammed it into Raditz's back, releasing a pent-up collection of energy that took the ethereal form of a wolf biting down on the Saiyan's body. A brief explosion sounded, followed by Raditz's body spinning away from the impact.

As this was happening, Yamcha stood motionless for a second. He has worked hard to improve what moves he had in the past two years, even if it meant he didn't have the time to create any new ones. More than anything else, however, he had worked to improve his Wolf Fang Fist; he always felt he had excess energy ready to release by the end of it.

He smirked. Tough luck, buddy. With a quick raise of his arm, a blue lance of energy erupted from Yamcha's arm, crashing against Raditz's backside and causing a deafening booomm that briefly enveloped the Saiyan with bright light.

0o0o0

Piccolo had regrouped as best as he could, expecting another imminent blow from the Saiyan, but to his surprise he glimpsed Raditz thump into a still-intact skyscraper, knocking away whatever structural integrity the building still had and causing it to collapse. Curious, the demon scanned the battlefield. The smaller human, Krillin, was on one knee, obviously recovering from an earlier attack. Tien and Kakarot were engaged in combat farther away. Launch was still on the ground.

That left the grinning, cocky human, who was flexing his right hand back and forth as if he had just shot a gun. Piccolo vaguely remembered once complimenting that idiot's fighting acumen. Perhaps there was something constructive behind his intended insult at the World Tournament, after all.

0o0o0

Kakarot's head craned to one side, just catching the sight of his brother speeding out of sight.

Tien immediately capitalized this, launching a quick series of jabs at Kakarot's shoulder that nearly wrenched it out of its socket. Grimacing, Kakarot twisted, intending to smash his other arm's elbow into the overextended Tien, but the Crane fighter effortlessly caught the blow. Tien quickly surged forward and rammed a knee into Kakarot's abdomen, causing the Saiyan's body to warp around the blow. Three more impacting strikes and Kakarot was skidding across the ground, his sternum aching from receiving such a devastating series of blows. Not finished, Tien leveled one finger towards the Saiyan and released a quick burst of dodon rays, each one drilling into a section of Kakarot's chest and burning a hole through the patchy brown shirt that covered his chest.

Staggering from the assault, Kakarot was totally unprepared as Tien appeared behind him and pressed a hand to his back. 'Hyaaah!' Tien yelled as a golden blast point-blank blasted Kakarot in the back, bunting the Saiyan into the air with a wisp of smoke dogging him.

The battle's length had started to wear on Kakarot. He landed several feet away and struggled to get up at first. His shirt totally unraveled, falling off of his chest and to the ground. All the while, Tien, whose face was utterly bent into a menacing shape, strode towards him.

0o0o0

Some time passed before Launch was able to push her awareness beyond the immediate and piercing pain of her own body; when this occurred, she became aware of a few things. First, everyone was still alive. I guess there's still a reason for me to get up. Two, Raditz was absent from the plaza. So, either he's preparing to destroy the entire area, or he's been pushed out temporarily. Either way… She made a few agonizing attempts to stand- every time, she fell back on her butt, spasming from the pain emanating from her gut.

A few seconds later, she felt someone lift her to her feet.

'One hit…' she mumbled as Krillin steadied her. Even with his support, she found it difficult to stand. 'One hit I wasn't prepared for, and he nearly KOs me…'

Krillin found it within himself to give her a mischievous smile. 'Discouraged?' he asked.

'Me?' Launch gave Krillin a pained grin. 'Never.'

Krillin went silent then, his eyes glimpsing something beyond Launch. 'Good to hear…' he started saying, then mouthed.

0o0o0

In the gloom, Raditz meticulously examined the last displayed number of his scouter. 850. That puny human from before, who could only muster a strength of 291, just peaked at 850. Perturbed, Raditz's mind lingered on this detail. Such potential...

At that moment, he made an abrupt shift in thought. These Earthlings aren't very durable. But give them enough time to collect their energy, and they're a real threat…

Professionally, Raditz rose and walked out onto the plaza.

0o0o0

Krillin, Launch, Piccolo, and Yamcha were silent as Raditz emerged into the day's light. Coming out at an angle, both sides of his body were briefly visible to them. In the front, the armor pressed against his muscular chest was chipped and frayed, as if a hundred clawed hands had scraped across it. Despite this, the armor still looked structurally sound.

Raditz's backside was an entirely different story. In about a one-foot radius, the armor was utterly gone from his back, exposing charred, welting skin to the day's air. All around this supposed double-impact of Yamcha's attack were cracks and fissures in the armor, running out from the center like lightning.

Eerily, he appeared undisturbed by the recent turn of events. 'Now then…' he growled, before locking his eyes on a distant fight across the plaza and vanishing.

0o0o0

As Kakarot's hands scraped across the ground, his mind roiled with indignation. This is outrageous! A human beating me? His newly awoken Saiyan pride burned with fury. I won't have it!

Spinning, Kakarot intended to rush Tien and slam a twisting kick, but his kick swung through the fighter. The next second, a blow crashed against his back, knocking the Saiyan flat on his face.

This time, as Kakarot took his time to stand yet again, the air around him shifted. His instincts screamed- frantically, he rolled onto his back.

About twenty feet away from Kakarot, Tien had arranged his hand into a triangle, energy crackling around his hands. 'This is your end!' Tien roared as the wind kicked up and whipped across Kakarot. Sensing that the human was collecting enough energy to actually kill him, Kakarot began to panic, desperately pushing himself off the ground-

But it was too little, too late. Tien's hands raised incrementally to track the Saiyan, right before a solid triangle of energy formed within it. 'TRI-BEAM, HAH!' Like a three-dimensional object sliding into reality, a triangular prism shot out from between Tien's hands, obfuscating Tien from Kakarot's sight. An overwhelming light filled Kakarot's vision, conspiring with the thundering sound rolling off of it to completely close off his sensation to the rest of the world.

In those few brief seconds of sensory turmoil, as Kakarot made peace with his end, he felt surprised towards his own feeling of sadness. He would miss this world. But no more conflict. Sad, but no more-

The light flowing past Kakarot suddenly faltered, causing him to open his eyes in response. Standing before Kakarot, Raditz stood like a statue, raising one hand towards the center of the blast.

A circular red blast erupted from Raditz's palm, clashing with, then pushing the tri-beam into the sky and off-course. Some hundred feet in the air, the two blasts finally failed and exploded, detonating in a massive cloud of energy. Kakarot felt himself be pushed back to the ground by the residual force of the explosion.

Tien panted, his muscled arms drooping down. 'Damn,' he said, biting his lip, before realizing what was about to happen as Raditz flashed him a threatening smile. Damn...

Faster than anyone present could track, Raditz appeared behind Tien and wrapped his arms around the human warrior, bear-hugging him from behind. Tien cried as he felt his feet lift off the ground and his chest and arms compress to a dangerously small size.

For a second, it seemed that Raditz was intending to draw out whatever he had planned to do to Tien, but as soon as Tien's body was off the ground, the Saiyan committed one quick and forceful hug, so quick as to be unseen if not for the audible sound of bones breaking echoing across the plaza.

Tien gasped once- then fell out of Raditz's arms and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Frowning, Raditz regarded the fallen warrior, before turning to the rest of his opponents. 'No. More. Games.'

Raditz's leg then crashed down on Tien's chest, filling the air with a horrifying crunching sound.


A/N: Sorry to leave you with this cliffhanger, but… that's my writing style, I think. I like to make chapters as distinct from each other as possible.

But things are kicking into high gear! Endgame is endgaming! Prepare for the end.

Reviews:

Luke: Yep… not exactly great.

OneofTen: Hello again! My one of ten fans delivers yet again! Hope you enjoyed what Raditz brought to the table this chapter.