NOTE: I wanted to make this chapter longer, but I'm tired and this honestly felt like a good cliff-hanger.
Enjoy the chapter and leave a review.
Chapter 4: Leave it all to me! Fire and Ice Explode!
In a flash of light two bodies touched the grassy surface of the ground. Both Natsu and Gray stood in the empty field, looking around for their targets.
"Do you see them anywhere?" Gray asked.
"Nah, but I can hear some voices in the distance," Natsu replied.
"That has to be Goku and Raditz. Let's move in and please don't screw this up or Erza will have both our hides," Gray said.
"Tch! I should be saying that to you, Gray! Try to keep your damn pants on!" Natsu shouted back.
"My pants are on!" Gray shouted. He looked down just in case to actually make sure he was wearing his pants. Which to his relief he was. When he looked back up, he saw that Natsu was already running towards the voices, laughing up a storm.
Gray glared at Natsu's back before sprinting after the fire user in a huff. "Damn, flame-brain. I really hope this goes well. For both our sakes."
"Do you understand what I'm telling you, Kakarot?" Raditz asked. He stood in front of both Goku and Piccolo in the open field. Behind the three fighters was a large crater. Inside of the crater was a space pod that held a crying little boy inside of it.
"What I understand is that you better give me my son back or else!?" Goku demanded. The Saiyan from Earth knew that he was out matched in this fight. Normally he'd be excited to be fighting someone stronger than he is, but Raditz was different. The man showed up out of nowhere, claiming to be his brother, telling him he's from some alien warrior race, commanding him to kill everyone on the planet, and kidnapping his son. At the moment the only thing he was feeling was the desire to save his son.
"Pah! Listen to my words carefully, Kakarot. You, me, your son, and my companions in space can rule this universe in the name of the Saiyans. This little planet means nothing in the grand scheme of things! Drop this stupid sharade and join me!" Raditz commanded, growing tired of this back and forth.
"Don't listen to him, Goku! Scum like him aren't capable of listening to others. They're only good at listening to the sound of their own voice," Piccolo said. The Namekian didn't particularly care about Goku's heritage, but it would be troublesome if this invader somehow managed to convince Goku to join him. How was he supposed to rule the world if he were to get killed here?
Raditz turned his attention to Piccolo and scoffed at the Namekian. "As if you'd understand anything, bug. You'll be dead along with the rest of this pathetic planet," Raditz replied. Suddenly his scouter beeped, picking up two strange power levels approaching their position. From the readings of these power levels they didn't seem to be any challenge to him, but he may be able to use this to his advantage.
"Fine, count yourself lucky, Kakarot. I've got a new proposal for you," Raditz smirked. Goku continued to growl and glare at his brother.
"If it involves killing any humans then I refuse!" Goku yelled.
"Then congrats, these two new arrivals aren't human from these power level readings," Raditz lied of course. He had no idea if these mysterious power levels were human or not, but the two in front of him didn't need to know that.
"Explain," Piccolo demanded.
"My scouter has picked up two new power level readings that exceed the humans on this planet. If you two can dispose of them for me, then I'll leave this planet alone and release your son," Raditz lied once more. He wanted to be sure these new arrivals couldn't prove to be an annoyance, and if Goku and his companion can get rid of them for him, then all the better for him. However, if they fail then he'll just kill them all and sell the planet.
Piccolo smirked at Raditz. "Do you really think we'll just lis-"
"Fine. We'll do it."
"What!?" Piccolo turned to Goku in absolute bafflement. "Goku, you can't be serious!? What reason would you have to listen to this guy!?" Piccolo screamed.
Goku didn't look his rival in the eyes. The Earth Saiyan's focus was drilled entirely to where Gohan was, hearing the cries of his son barely echo out of the pod. Most wouldn't think Goku would be capable of being a parent, but having Gohan changed something in him. He wanted to protect his son more than anything, and there was no guarantee that he and Piccolo could beat Raditz. At this point, Goku was desperate.
"Hehe! I figured that this outcome may be better in the long run. Who knows, we might even get a good fight out of it," Goku scratched the back of his head, forcing a smile. Piccolo sighed in exasperation at Goku's actions, already feeling his desire to kill the fool grow more.
Raditz scouter beeped again. "Hmph, it seems they're here."
At that moment a torrent of flames impacted the ground, creating a small dust cloud to erupt. When it settled both Natsu and Gray stood in front of the three aliens.
"Seems we're right on time," Gray smirked. The young man took off his shirt, tossing it to the ground.
"Hehe, I'm all fired up!" Natsu cracked his knuckles, grinning from ear to ear.
Goku and Piccolo faced the wizards with focused determination, confusing the young men in front of them.
"Huh? Wait! Why are guys glaring at us?" Natsu asked, confused. Gray rolled his eyes and nudged Natsu with his elbow.
"Don't you remember the mission details, idiot? Raditz convinced them to work with him. We got to beat all three of them," Gray said. Natsu made a face at the information thrown at him.
"That doesn't sound right to me. If Goku wants to save Gohan so much, why join the guy who kidnapped him? I don't like it, so I'll beat some sense into him," Natsu replied. Not waiting for Gray to say anything back, Natsu charged at the Earth raised Saiyan with his fist ignited.
"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Goku blocked the incoming flame attack. Reacting without missing a beat, Goku grabbed Natsu's wrist. Pulling on the arm to bring Natsu forward, Goku sent a backhanded fist into Natsu's face.
Grunting at the hit, Natsu jumped back, sending a kick into Goku's ribs. The Earth raised Saiyan grunted as well, before regaining his footing. He sent a powerful palm strike into Natsu's chest, sending the son of Igneel flying back. Goku rushed after Natsu's flying body.
Gray got into a stance, glaring at Piccolo. The Namekian stayed in his own stance, waiting for Gray to make the first move, which the Ice-Make user was happy to oblige.
"Ice-Make: Lance!" Gray extended his arms forward, creating long curved ice lances and shoots them at Piccolo.
The Namekian expertly dodges each lance that came flying at him. He stretched out his arm at Gray, surprising the ice-wizard. The green hand grabs Gray by the throat, before retracting back towards Piccolo. "You're gonna have to do better than that boy!"
Piccolo sent a fist into Gray's gut, causing him to cry out. He then slammed Gray into the ground, before kicking him into the air. Gray didn't allow these hits to disorientate him, quickling placing his fist back into his palm.
"Ice-Make: Sword!" Gray creates a sword made out of ice. Landing on his feet, Gray charges back at Piccolo, swinging his blade. Piccolo gripped the blade, expecting to stop it. However, the blade sliced right through his hand, shocking him and Gray.
"Ah, shit! I didn't mean to do that!?" Gray shouted, worried. This moment of distraction allowed Piccolo to punch him in the face, sending him flying into the ground. Gray got back to his feet to see Piccolo regenerate his hand.
"Oh, so he can regenerate. Well, that makes this easier," Gray shrugged. "Ice-Make: Cold Excalibur!" Gray generated a massive sword of ice and charged at Piccolo.
"Fire Dragon's Flame Elbow!" A flame infused fist impacted Goku's face. Knocking Goku back from the hit. Wiping away the blood on his lip, Goku quickly dodged another attack from Natsu. He then kicked Natsu in the back, propelling Natsu into the ground.
As Natsu bounced off the ground, Goku sent a knee into the Dragon Slayer's gut. The son of Igneel coughed from the hit, but couldn't retaliate before Goku slammed him back into the ground.
Growling in anger, flames erupted from his body, forcing Goku to retreat back so as to not get burned. However, Natsu grabbed his arm before he could get any further away. "Fire Dragon's Grip Strike!" Natsu shot a large amount of flames at point-blank range.
Goku jumped out of the flames, panting from the extreme heat. "Gotta admit, I've been to some really hot places before, but this guy's heat totally takes the cake," Goku could feel his excitement growing, but quickly quelled it back down. Now wasn't the time to get excited, Gohan's life was on the line.
Natsu got to his feet and glared at Goku. "Why are you doing this?"
"Huh?" Goku tilted his head.
"Helping Raditz of all people. Why are you doing this if you're trying to protect something important?" Natsu asked,
"I don't have a choice in the matter. I have to save my son," Goku answered.
"Even if it means throwing away your own pride and morals?" Natsu looked the Saiyan directly in the eyes.
Goku's orbs widen at Natsu's words, tightening his fists in frustration. He knows that Natsu's right and that maybe he should just go back with the original plan to fight Raditz. But, Raditz promised to leave Earth alone if he wins this. "I can't stop here. Not until I guarantee Gohan's safety," Goku answered. He cupped his hands to his sides and a blue ball of energy appeared in between his hands.
"Kamehameha!" Goku fires the blue beam of energy directly at Natsu. Not wanting to take the attack head on, Natsu jumped out of the way. However, Goku materialized above him and punched him in the back of the head.
Natsu twisted his body to land on his feet and glared directly up at Goku. "If you're too scared to fight Raditz head-on then I'll do it for you!" Flames gathered around Natsu and he shot up at Goku.
"Fire Dragon's Sword Horn!" Natsu slammed directly into Goku's gut. The Saiyan from Earth gagged from the impact. Natsu used Goku's body to flip over him, then turned mid air to face the Saiyan's back.
"Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame!" A powerful ball of fire sent Goku flying towards the ground in a huge explosion of fire.
Goku groggily got to his feet, his GI was torn from the heat of the attacks. He found Natsu standing across from him. Though it was strange as Natsu was inhaling a big breath of air, Goku's shock didn't last long.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" Natsu released a giant torrent of flames from his mouth. The flames approached the Saiyan at a breakneck pace. He quickly gathered Ki into his hands to stop the attack from hitting him.
"Kamehameha!" Goku's blast met Natsu's attack head on. Both fire and ki collided into a clash, both fighters not wanting to give in to the other. Natsu felt his breath attack being pushed back by Goku's beam. Growling in anger, Natsu increased the strength of the flames to match Goku's output. The result of the clash was an explosion that covered the area in dust.
Goku stood ready to guard against Natsu if he came charging at him. Though, when the dust cleared, Natsu was nowhere to be seen. "What the? Where did he go?"
"GOKU!"
"Huh?"
When Goku turned around he was immediately met with a flame infused fist into his face. He was allowed no time to recover before another hit home again, then another, then another, another, another, and another.
"I'm gonna beat Raditz and save Gohan! Dragon Slayer's Secret Art - Crimson Lotus: Fire Dragon's Fist!" Natsu roared. He produced an intense amount of heat as he railed Goku with a barrage of punches. The Saiyan from Earth felt the power and heat of each fist drain away his strength before the final punch painfully dragged him across the dirt.
Goku laid on the ground defeated, while Natsu fell to one knee. Feeling drained from having to use an excess amount of power to take out Goku. Slowly he got to his feet and approached the Saiyan.
"Is your head feelin' better now?" Natsu asked, gazing down at Goku's tired expression.
"Y-Yeah...I wish I could do this myself, but I underestimated that strength of yours. Please, save Gohan," Goku requested.
Natsu blew some steam out of nose and smirked. "Of course I will and that's a Fairy Tail promise," Natsu gave a thumbs up.
Goku laughed cheerfully at Natsu's bravado. This guy really reminded him of himself. "I want to fight you again, under better circumstances."
"Same, I know you're a lot stronger than this," Natsu smiled. Goku just laughed before slipping into the world of unconsciousness. Natsu nodded his head and marched towards Raditz.
At the same time as Natsu's fight with Goku, both Gray and Piccolo were still fighting.
"HYAH!" Gray slashed at Piccolo with his Excalibur, but the Namekian dodged the strike once more.
To the Namek's frustrations, a large wake of ice spawned from the slash. Covering part of his body in ice. The ice halted his movements long enough for Gray to slam him with his Excalibur.
"Gah! Enough of this!" Piccolo shot two beams from his eyes at Gray. Raising his blade to block the attack, the beams shattered the blade into pieces.
Gray looked on in shock from his Excalibur being broken, and missed Piccolo charging at him. The Namekian sent a kick into his gut, before sending an uppercut to Gray's chin.
The Ice user went tumbling in the air, he wasn't given time to recover before Piccolo went around him. Gray felt multiple punches impact his body, knocking him to the ground. Piccolo rushed to the ground with a kick aimed directly for Gray.
Gray rolled on the ground to get to his feet, dodging Piccolo's strike. Once he was on his feet he jumped into the air. "Ice-Make: Death Scythe!" Creating a large scythe, Gray slashed at Piccolo. The attack landed, causing blood to spurt from Piccolo's chest.
Groaning in pain, Piccolo gripped his bleeding chest as Gray landed on the ground, twirling the scythe around.
"What is your business here?" Piccolo asked.
"Hm? Why is that any of your business?" Gray didn't want to indulge information about being from another world or timeline.
"It matters, because you're standing on my turf. I already plan to take over the world once the Saiyan and Goku are out of the way. So, you better have a good reason for being here," Piccolo said.
"Taking over the world? If that isn't the most cliché thing I've ever heard," Gray sighed.
"WHAT!?" Piccolo growled.
"If you're gonna be the bad guy then come up with a better reason than taking over the world. It's already been done to death already and I've faced enough guys with stupid motivations similar to that. And to be honest, the bad guy thing doesn't suit you much," Gray explained.
"What the hell would you know?" Piccolo growled, not liking being mocked.
"I know that I'm gonna kick your ass and then defeat Raditz. So, come on! I ain't letting that flame-head finish his fight first!" Gray charged back in with his scythe. Not wanting to get hit by that again, Piccolo extended his hand forward and shot out an energy blast.
Gray once again tried blocking the blast with his scythe, but it broke and was blasted back. Extending his arm out to grab Gray's leg, Piccolo swung the ice user around like a toy, then slammed him into the ground hard.
"Gah!" Gray cried out in pain. Gray wrenched his leg free from Piccolo's grip and slammed his hands into the ground. "Ice-Make: Ice Geyser!"
Piccolo saw the ice swiftly approach his feet, sensing the danger he jumped into the air just as the tower of ice spikes erupted from the ground. Piccolo extends his hand forward and shouts in anger.
"Explosive Demon Wave!" A powerful beam of energy shot from his hand, sailing at Gray with the intent to kill.
"Dammit! Ice-Make: Wall!" Gray generates a wall of ice to protect him from the blast. His eyes widen when the blast easily breaks through the barrier and hits him dead on. Gray cries out in pain from the blast as a huge explosion is created.
Piccolo lands on the ground and walks over to the center of the explosion. When the dust clears he sees that Gray is still standing. "Still standing huh? I'll change that quickly!" Piccolo charges a ki blast in his hand, aiming it at Gray. Suddenly, Gray started to break apart, before falling to the ground in shards of ice. "What the?"
"Ice-Make: Clone."
Piccolo hears Gray's voice and turns around to see Gray smirking at him with a giant cannon made out of ice, charging up power, and aimed directly at him. "Ice-Make: Cannon!" A giant ball of ice is shot directly at the Namekian. Piccolo tries to move, but finds his legs encased in ice.
The ball of ice hit the Namekian dead on, shattering his frozen legs, and sending him through the air. Piccolo felt his anger building at being tricked and prepared to regenerate his legs, however he was unprepared for another Gray to appear below him. Another clone that was charging up power.
"Ice-Make: Ice Bringer!" Gray created two large blades of ice and moved them forward in an X shape, slicing Piccolo with the attack.
The Namekian impacted the ground, defeated and exhausted. He turned his eyes to see Gray, who was also breathing heavily, approach him. Piccolo sighed and grunted.
"The Great Demon Piccolo, defeated once again. Ain't this a pitiful sight," Piccolo lamented.
"Heh, if it makes you feel any better, I am a human," Gray said.
Piccolo just laughed at the sense of it all. "As if that makes me feel any better," Piccolo said, before slipping into unconsciousness.
Seeing that his opponent wouldn't be getting back up, Gray saw Natsu making his way towards Raditz. He started following after the Dragon Slayer.
Raditz saw his scouter beep as both wizards approached him. He sighed in disappointment at what was in front of him. "Hmph, seems Kakarot and the Namekian failed to deliver. No matter, it just means I get to kill all of you for my own enjoyment."
Natsu growled in anger, both flames and lighting started to envelop his entire body. "I ain't gonna let that happen, pal. I made a promise to save Gohan and I plan to keep it!"
Black markings started to appear over Gray's body, and he released a breath of cold air as he glared at Raditz. "Only person dying here today is you, Raditz! You've caused enough trouble as it is!"
"I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS!" Both Fire and Ice shouted simultaneously.
Raditz scanned their power levels and chuckled darkly. He removed the scouter from his face, dropping it to the ground. "Then by all means, come and realize how weak you are compared to a Saiyan Elite!"
Chapter End