They came on in a sudden rush, fists and feet streaking right to left, up and down. But, with only a slight movement, Raditz blocked, stabbing under the attacks, then snapped his arms left and right, and each attack went flying harmlessly high off the mark.
They split their numbers in two to better coordinate the attack. The first group was Nia and Goku, the second group was May and Piccolo. Raditz threw up a wall of defense, though he was outnumbered, and it appeared he wouldn't be able to keep up with the four, he pushed himself towards one of the nearby corners, stopping short by an intersection that cut into a mountain.
With a jerk of his wrist, Raditz stabbed straight ahead with a chop, and they had to throw themselves backward, bringing their shin across as they did, trying to parry, but Raditz already retracted his fist by then and had settled back into an offensive rhythm.
Against this man, their sudden flurry of attacks seemed exaggerated, superfluous, and inefficient, for Raditz blocked, countered, and deflected each strike with a slight hand movement, or simply adjusting his footing.
For while Goku, May, Nia, Piccolo, and everyone else on Earth for that matter were Martial Artists, Raditz was a ruthless murderer, following a more aggressive fighting style, a killing style, one more effective against people in large groups, than a single person like their own.
The Turtle Style was an old fighting style, but it was considered almost irrelevant against multiple enemies, since it flew in the face of its fundamentals, but Goku, Nia, and May had always practiced vigorously, followed its fundamentals, and ultimately considered it among the peak of Martial Arts.
Now, as the battle played out between them and Raditz, the burly man's ruthless style was starting to show its brilliance. While they all leapt and spun, flourishing, whipping, slashing side to side with feet and insteps, chopping and thrusting with fists, flying all about with great acrobatics, all of Raditz's movements seemed far more efficient.
They seemed far more direct. He didn't flip, spin, twirl, or corkscrew. He followed a single line, front and back, his primary focus being the center line and center mass, his feet and hands shifting to keep him constantly in perfect balance as he came on suddenly with devastating strikes that had all four of his attackers stumbling backward.
"Come on now! You're starting to disappoint me!"
His words spurred them forward, Piccolo and Nia racing ahead, vanishing into another series of spins and chops, but Raditz only angled left and then right, then up just enough to send Goku's jumping kick shooting off to the side, forcing him to spin three times in order to rebalance.
The four had to retreat soon after getting their footing, gasping for breath.
"Come on. I was expecting more than this. Let's make it more sport-like." Raditz curled his lips in a wicked smile. "Put me out of my misery."
May steadied herself. Goku shifted from foot to foot, getting a better grip on the ground. Then he erupted into motion, flashing ahead of his comrades, ramming his elbow into Raditz's forearm, his limbs flashing all about as he attacked with twice the fierceness than before.
He kept a better measure of his strikes this time, though, reversing his angles as much as he could, turning a wide kick into a sudden thrusting knee, Raditz snarled, working furiously to keep them at bay. Piccolo pressed forward more forcefully, while May tried to expose Raditz's flanks, but the burly warrior continued to fend off the strikes, and then his momentum played out.
He was too far forward, while Nia remained in perfect balance, ready for a counterstrike.
And then, somehow to her horror, Raditz began pressing his own attack, his hands stabbing and retracting so quickly that most of her swift parries and quick kicks hit nothing but air. They had to jump back, and then back again, and again, as Raditz moved ever closer to hitting home.
Raditz stepped forward suddenly, breaking his steps so they were like a stutter, and swung his shin low for Nia's thigh. Rather than intercept the blow, Nia lunged back, but to her shock, Raditz shot right for her, never losing any speed and thrust his fist right back out, up high and across the other way.
There was no way she could block, nor could she slide back fast enough.
Raditz's fist smashed hard into her stomach, and as she lurched forward, choking on spit, gasping in agony, the long haired brute retracted his hand and snapped it back out along its original course, digging hard into Nia's side.
Nia stumbled backward, tripping and crashing hard against the ground on her knees, but even as she fell, Raditz was right in her face, his boot screaming as it reached terminal velocity, and with a sudden crack, he sent Nia bouncing across the ground.
Raditz shouted in joy, laughing as he slammed his fist forward, watching with glee as Goku's arm cut under it.
Goku reacted immediately, backpedaling while Piccolo and May rushed forward.
"Foolish. I would have thought you learned your lesson."
"I'm stubborn." May replied coolly, and she came on, so suddenly, so powerfully, entire body whirling with such speed that she seemed almost encased by her limbs. Punching, kicking, and spinning, she pressed ahead, even when Raditz struck, rather than shifting backwards to evade.
For the first time, Raditz allowed his little confident smile to lessen.
He had to work furiously to keep the four and their coordinated attacks at bay, dodging and blocking more than parrying. He tried to step out to the side, but stopped, and his eyes widened a bit when he realized that May, in the midst of that assault, had used a strange attack to block his exit.
"You have unusual powers, little sister!" He sincerely congratulated.
His grin widened, and with ease, Raditz put himself back on even footing with the four idiots, trading kick for punch and forcing them to dodge, block, and parry as often as they tried to strike.
"It will not be enough to save your sorry asses!"
He came on hard, thinking to drive them back and off balance as he had driven Nia back. But, to his surprise, they struggled to hold their ground, stubbornly trading punch for punch so forcefully and precisely that none of Raditz's attacks got through the combined defense.
"Go for his face!" Nia shouted, throwing herself right into a punch to give a punch in return.
Together the four of them pressed Raditz. Goku on the left flank, May on the right, and slashed at his face, their combined efforts finally forcing Raditz into a more defensive stance.
Raditz couldn't help but marvel at the speed and savagery of May, Piccolo and Nia, tempered by the fluid and swift movements of Goku. They were ferocious warriors. Their reactions were so fast, their combat instincts so pure, that they were able to sense and anticipate just not what he was going to do even as it happened, then use his attacks to their own advantage, but they could sense and anticipate what the other would do.
On her opposite side Goku and Nia struck with vicious, unpredictable blows, form perfect as the combined effort kept Raditz blocking and parrying.
They couldn't drive him back or defeat him.
They were at an impasse, none of their attacks able to connect with Raditz himself or the one vulnerable part of his anatomy. The power gap between them was wide enough to fit cities, but the gap keeping them from the tail was narrow, but it felt like it was miles away.
Had they been able to enjoy the same advantages Raditz's armor provided, their encounter would have ended long ago. Raditz could shrug off otherwise lethal blows, forgoing all sense of personal safety in a reckless assault of pure offense to crush them.
He came at May again, his fist changing directions so quickly in mid attack that it looked almost as if his entire arm was warping and bending. May barely held off the assault with a furious defensive flurry, breathing harder and harder with each stroke.
Each time she made a move, she was forced to expend desperate, frantic energy, to keep his fists or shins from stabbing into her.
He was wearing her down.
Another exchange drove her backward.
Raditz was starting to cut off the landscape, herding the four of them into a corner to limit their movement, trying to limit their agility.
Knowing she was no match for his strength, and there was nothing she could do about it, she took another step back.
Goku understood that they couldn't hold out. All of them were expending many times the energy of the efficient Raditz, and as soon as they tired...
He knew that he had to do something. He tried to come forward, but winced and fell back in his assault, body screaming with pain.
"Piccolo!" He yelled.
Goku watched in admiration as Piccolo, May, and Nia worked strikes in perfect harmony, spinning them over and about with blinding speed and precision, while keeping each transition fluid and measured, so nothing was exposed.
And, he watched with horror as Raditz's limbs surged, flashing ahead and back with equal precision, picking off attack after attack and even countering once or twice to just not interrupt the flow of the barrage, but to begin his own assault.
Goku's heart leapt in hope as Piccolo charged forward suddenly, while May and Nia both stabbed forward with a reverse high kick. He understood immediately, even before he noted May's other leg coming up and over the other way, pulling her into a half flip.
The attack would push both Raditz's fists out of the way, clearing the path for the victorious strike!
But, Raditz reacted impossibly fast, and the trio's down-cutting strikes hit nothing but air.
Goku's spinning reverse kick flew off Raditz's wrist, but he swung around his other leg, igniting his ki as it came into contact with an upraised forearm. He rushed to the burly Saiyan with a frenzy he'd never known. Nor had Raditz.
They battled fiercely, sparks flying from the clash of their radiant ki, but it was soon evident that the advantage was all Raditz's.
And he was pressing it.
They locked forearm to forearm. When Goku pushed Raditz back to break the clinch, the older Saiyan struck his head with a chop. He stumbled backward even farther, and Raditz pursued him relentlessly, coming upon his other three foes in the process. Blow upon blow, he forced them to retreat—back, onto the terrain that crossed the vast, seemingly bottomless mountainous region to the plains.
Each blow pummeled the four attackers, cutting into them like blades, like shards of malice. Piccolo was driven to his knees. He raised his arm to block yet another onslaught—and Raditz slashed Piccolo's right hand off at the wrist.
The hand, along with blood, clattered uselessly while Piccolo tumbled over his feet.
He stared at his twitching, severed hand and realized suddenly just how much he'd become like his father.
He had little time for anymore reflection. Raditz stabbed straight ahead clenching his fingers, then with a sudden twist, ripped the limb from its shoulder socket, sending Piccolo into a screaming fit.
Half of Piccolo's arm flew to the side, his hand still half clenched on the ground several feet away.
Raditz channeled his ki into his fist, moving far too fast for Piccolo to even trace. He fell on him like a shadow, viciously stabbing and kicking him, leaving him to stagger back until Raditz grew tired of the charade and rammed his elbow hard into Piccolo's cheek.
Piccolo hobbled painfully, finally losing his balance, the side of his face pushing along the ground.
"Piccolo!" May screamed, watching with fury as blood gushed out the wounds.
Goku went on the offensive immediately, driving Raditz back.
He fought hard to regain his fighting posture, but Raditz was relentless, thrusting repeatedly, keeping the young man stumbling backward and jolting in pain. Goku stopped, and lunged for Raditz, roaring and slashing hard with his leg.
"Goku!" Nia cried.
Raditz surged ahead and stabbed out, intercepting not Goku's kick, but sinking his knee into the man's gut, right below the ribs. Goku seized up. Spit and blood flew out of his mouth, his body, still rotating for the kick, now paralyzed with pain, he could only cry out, clutching at his gut while he tried to keep his vomit down and oxygen in.
Piccolo managed to gather himself onto one knee, writhing as his shoulder throbbed, breathing hard, face and body covered in blood.
"Has anyone seen an arm laying around somewhere? I spy with my little eye, a missing arm close by. I see a green man and brain damaged buffoon who just got stomped. Well, you didn't last too long...It must be mortifying to know you didn't have the spunk to make this good for sport..."
Raditz sneered briefly, turning his focus towards the two women.
"Looks like it is just you ladies and me now. One arm green man and Kakarrot are licking their wounds."
"Ngh...I'm warning you Raditz...If you even touch them..." Goku strained against the pain, pushing his knee into the ground.
"I'll be right with you, Kakarrot. Be patient. You will have time to beg for mercy at my feet."
"You eat shit. We'll never beg." May spat.
"We're going to see about that."
Raditz moved in again, his ki so violent that Goku could hear the sizzle as it split the air around them.
May and Nia leapt forward to meet the challenge, digging in their power to anticipate and block the strikes moving too fast for their eyes to see. They felt the ki flowing through them like fire, and they were barely able to keep the paralyzing edges of Raditz's strikes at bay, but it required them to concentrate all their attention on controlling the center line...
Leaving them vulnerable to the real purpose of the attack about to be unleashed.
May's skull exploded, a shriek of pain ripping out of her as Raditz's forehead slammed into her face. Pain turned her vision into a field of silver stars. The bones of her head jarring, a geyser of blood gushing forth from her nose.
Blind and dazed, she was able to parry the next strike only by instinct. But, Raditz pivoted as his strike was turned away and delivered a kick that buckled May in the side, and leveled an elbow against Nia's forehead, feeling the bone nearly give from the strike.
Screaming, Nia and May both collapsed, hands slamming into the ground as they braced their falls. Raditz crushed May's fingers under his boot, grinding them into the ground, then brought his knee up, cracking her right on the jaw.
An elbow rocketed down, crashing right into Nia's temple and cheek with a hard thud.
With a last, desperate burst May and Nia tried to hurl him backward with a ki blast.
Raditz moved through the blasts, easily deflecting them with the shield he had wrapped himself in at the very last second. He moved in close to finish the job.
His stabbing blow skimmed off Nia's knee and into his own hand, igniting a jolt of pain as it struck him. He rushed the two with a frenzy. May and Nia battled back fiercely, bolts flying from their clash, but it was evident that the advantage was still in Raditz's favor.
He tried to press it like he had from the beginning, but May and Nia rooted themselves, locking blows, body to body. When Raditz pushed back to break the grappling contest, May hit his head with a flying knee.
Raditz took a quick step backward, surprised, Nia and May lunged after him. Blow upon blow, they forced Raditz back, each stroke of their movements stabbing into him.
Raditz raised his arm to block yet another onslaught—and Nia slashed Raditz's right ankle with a sweep while May slashed his left ankle with her own sweep.
Raditz dug himself in, along with the duo, trading blow for blow. The first blows hit with thunderous impact, breaking Nia's right wrist with a sickening crack.
The next strike took Raditz higher up on May's left arm, dislocating her elbow.
A simple kick to the face sent blood shooting out of their mouths and bolts of pain shooting through their faces.
May and Nia both fell to the ground after staggering around, barely conscious as Raditz stepped back, and reached out with his hand to grab them around the throat with a crushing grip. He raised his arms, lifting the well endowed women as if they were mere children, then hurled them across the ground.
May felt another bone snap as she crashed, but her body was passing it's state of shock and there was no longer any pain. She lay motionless in a crumpled, bloodied, twisted heap. Blood from her nose and mouth clogged her throat.
A coughing fit racked her body, and she heard rather than felt the grinding of her ribs.
Nia wasn't able to feel which bone broke or snapped when she crashed into the ground, her body was long past its state of shock as well. She couldn't feel any pain after the third punch she suffered after Raditz broke her wrist.
Bloodied and crumbled, she struggled to move from her spot, struggled to get back up to her feet, but with her wrist refusing to obey her command, throbbing painfully, she could only cough harshly as she fought to sit herself up.
She caught a glimpse of a pair of blood-flecked boots towering over her.
"Luula and Yamma...I'm going to give you both one last chance. Join us or you will suffer greatly before you die."
Goku's eyes widened, disbelief and terror starting to pierce into his expression. "Raditz stop!"
"This doesn't concern you Kakarrot!"
"The hell it doesn't! That's my sister and friend!"
Raditz spat in his direction. "Well feel free to come over here and stop me."
May spat out blood. "I am not Luula. My name is May! You go to hell."
"Okay then." Raditz grinned, relishing the moment. "You're first, Luula."
"Raditz!"
"It is unfortunate, Kakarrot. It must be done. You will all pose nothing but problems, so you understand why I have to exterminate all of you."
Goku didn't know what to say.
Every lattice that made up the reality around him shattered.
There is no good in this man!
Raditz waited until the last possible second before unleashing the rage built up within him in a tremendous rush of power. He channeled it through his tendons, ligaments, his heavy muscles and heavier limbs, moving so fast it seemed as if time had stopped for everyone else.
He smashed his boot atop her chest, crushing down viciously, feeling the bones buckling and giving way. He then raised his boot again, crashing it atop her chest.
This time the ground beneath her splintered under the impact and May screamed.
Goku shook, entire body trembling with reverberations as he forced himself to his feet.
Piccolo watched Raditz with fury, burning with nothing but pure hatred at the hopelessness of his situation. Before he had been amazed at how swift and fluid they had been in their assault on Raditz, using his aggressive style against him, but now, he was feeling something he hadn't felt for a long time.
Fear.
True fear.
He was down, beat to a pulp, and with one arm.
"May...Damn it..." Piccolo seethed.
He may have hated her, he may have detested her, and he may have wanted to kill her with every ounce of his will as much, if not more, than he wanted to kill Goku...However, that was his choice. It was his business. They had a long history going back decades.
Hearing her scream in agony, being tortured by her own brother, before his eyes, and he could do nothing but watch made him sick to his stomach. It filled him with dread knowing the inevitably he was going to be ground down by the same boot that was grinding her.
Raditz paused in his torture, glancing at his shoulder.
"I've had enough of you!"
Goku smashed his fist into the man's nose, pushing as hard as he could.
Raditz could already see the strikes Goku snapped out became less fluid, the counters more sporadic than smooth, and the transitions far less powerful as he gradually wore down his defenses. The fog of exhaustion was slowly clouding his mind, and he knew it was only a matter of time until his foolish brother made a fatal miscalculation.
Yet even though he was battling, Raditz's real struggle was with himself. Time and again he had to pull back to keep from lunging through an opening presented by his brother's increasingly desperate and futile assault.
He understood that the crushing victory he sought would only come through timing.
In the end he was rewarded.
Goku slowly became more and more frustrated as he continually tried and failed to bring his burly opponent down. As the prolonged physical exertion began to take its toll, his swings became wild and reckless, until he abandoned all pretense of defense in an effort to end the duel he sensed was slipping away from him.
Raditz waited until the last possible second before he let loose the murderous energy bottled up inside him in a tremendous rush of power. He channeled it through his muscles and limbs. In the blink of an eye he connected with Goku, ten different times, smashing his forearm across the shorter man's face, nearly shattering his cheekbone, then spun through and brought his shin crashing into his opponent's lower leg.
The lower bone splintered under the impact and Goku screamed as he buckled to the ground, both hands clutching the maimed limb.
"EEEYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
For an instant Piccolo wasn't even aware of what had happened in its entirety. It took him a while to register the blur of action that had occurred so much quicker than anyone's eyes could see. It took him longer to register that Goku was still writhing in agony, voice breaking.
He lay crumpled on the ground, shaking and clutching at the chunk of bone just about to protrude from his leg.
"Gh...Ngh...M...y leg...My leg..." Goku whimpered.
Raditz didn't even hesitate a split second before moving in to finish him off, savoring the moment.
"Enough, Raditz!" Nia shouted.
Raditz stopped his next punch from connecting with Goku's bloodied face, glancing over at the pitiful woman hobbled on the ground.
"It's over."
"Raditz!"
"I told you. Wait your turn."
"Where is your honor? Where is your loyalty? How can you sit there and beat him!? His bone is about to stab through his flesh, stop this!" Nia demanded with a vicous screech.
Raditz glanced at her. "Dead is dead. We Saiyans value pride over everything else. That includes family, honor, and loyalty. We only have children and relationships for reproductive means, and as you know we use incubation chambers! you had so much to learn about your proud heritage."
"You're sick...You...Have to stop..." Nia strangled out, her wounds squeezing her.
Hardly pausing after staring at Nia for a few moments, Raditz smashed his boot into Goku's chest, grinding it down into the flesh until blood oozed from the wound. Goku let out a silent scream, unable to even gasp as the oxygen was push inexorably from his lungs.
"Your turn, Kakarrot."
Goku nearly strangled out a cry of pain as the boot came back down, compressing into his torso with nothing but impact. Lifting his boot free of Goku's clutching hand, Raditz jeered and began to ground down on him, exerting more and more force.
There was a sickening crunch as his boot smashed down, grinding Goku's body into the ground, sending his arms flailing.
"EEEYYAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"
Goku's voice shrilled across the landscape.
"I told you to stop it!"
Nia's emotions blistered, and she charged ahead.
"I said stop hurting him!"
Reaching full velocity, the young woman was ferocious, her three limbs arcing to cut Raditz in half.
Her rage moved her along, as it had with Tien and King Piccolo.
With a sudden burst of sheer power, May flew forward as well, her blows working so mightily that their precision and power was much higher than when Goku had been at the peak of his dance. Raditz held strong, parrying, striking, and blocking, each moved backed by his full power.
Just as he was about to launch a counter, though, Nia was gone, leaping high and turning a backflip into a triple somersault to land right behind him, in perfect balance, striking hard. Raditz reversed his angle and stabbed out behind him with his forearm, intercepting the blow.
He swung back around, jamming his elbow into May's forearm, stopping the blow, and nearly sending hairline cracks through the bone.
He spun about, driving both of them into the ground as he went, nearly heaving them through the earth.
"Forget about someone!"
With a growl of rage, Raditz unleashed, letting his ki and blood thirst flow through him as if his physical form was a mere conduit for its power. His tempo increased suddenly and dramatically, dozens of steps forward, continuing to press, perfectly balanced all the while.
His fighting style was one based on balance and aggression, he initiated the attack, used counters, and depended on the back and forth charges, sudden retreats, and now he came at the trio with a series of cunning combinations that had them moving left, right, and up.
Never could he strike low, though, for the trio never seemed to be on the ground, leaping, flying, flipping, lunging, and spinning, shooting all about, parrying each blow and offering cunning counters between the three of them, that had Raditz increasing his punches with thrice the effort, skipping backward.
Raditz hooked his fist up high, turning the angle of his elbow in anticipation that Goku would dodge left. But Goku, in complete anticipation of the movement, veered neither left nor right, but rather, dropped to the ground, giving the opening for Nia to dive forward with a kick.
But, Raditz was prepared, already retracting the missed attack, and began a second and third stab with his knife hands, this time down low, but Nia had anticipated that, too, and went right back up behind the stabbing hand.
A sudden kick by May forced Raditz to take a quick step back, just a little off-balance, for the first time, but with another change of angle he sunk his knee into her back, sending her flying across the ground head first to a sliding stop close to Piccolo.
Goku and Nia flew away, up and back.
Furious, Raditz pursued, thrusting hard for their head and torso.
And, in his rage when his stab missed yet again, he reverted to a cracking hook punch. Snarling rabidly, Raditz ramped up the intensity and velocity of his attacks—sixteen per second, twenty, thirty, fifty—until finally, at one hundred strikes per second, he nearly overloaded their defenses.
So, the duo used defense to attack. A subtle shift in the angle of a single parry brought Goku's fist in contact not with the fist of the oncoming strike, but with the wrist. The blows struck, and while Goku couldn't overpower the attack, it winked out of its path a hairbreadth before it would have split through his forehead.
Nia took the opening, sweeping Raditz with a kick, but he brushed it aside.
Blocking twenty strikes from three people wasn't hard for Raditz, normally, but there was something haunting about how ferociously persistent they were to defend this world.
"Incredible. Nia and Goku are actually pushing that guy..." Piccolo's voice shook with shock as he came to a stop in front of May.
There was no restraint. There was no control. Wounded as they were, Nia and Goku both became a whirlwind of battle, they were truly cutting loose.
Moving a bit lower, he helped her, and May took his help with her free hand, slowly supporting herself with his bodyweight.
Piccolo scowled. "Tell me you have a strategy to beat this guy."
May winced, wiping at the blood on her forehead. "Do you have an ace?"
Piccolo glared at her, but nodded determinedly.
Again, he felt the tug of the determined ki from May.
"I do. I haven't been able to test it in battle. I planned to use it on Goku or you the first chance I got, but then this long haired joker showed up talking nonsense." Piccolo explained.
"Heh. That's irony, Piccolo. You're using this to get rid of a stupid space pirate instead of killing me. I'm sure it must put you out of your element." May slowly pushed herself away from Piccolo, trying to find a stable base.
"It's good for a test. I'll be using it on you soon enough."
May smirked slightly, amused by the whole prospect. "I have something to look forward to in that case, you're not the only one who's been training really hard."
"What about his tail?"
May winced slightly, moving forward. "This guy is strong, but he can't stand up to our combined concentrated ki blasts. He's going to dance with us-Kamehameha, super style."
"Do not include me in your island dancing bullcrap. You're going to have to last a minute against him."
"We're just going to use his arrogance against him. If I had to guess, he is almost five times stronger than we are...However, if your technique can drill through that armor, our dance will be able to amplify the damage of your technique twice fold. Energy waves may not work, but I am certain three combined energy beams and your technique should be enough..."
"If you can get this guy mad enough to flounder..." Piccolo trailed off.
"I got it. Just make sure to hit this guy when it counts. Don't hit those shoulder plates-hit the center mass or his fat fucking head."