Chapter Forty-One
Author's Note: Everyone is asking for Goku to appear when he's appeared already in the last couple of chapters. I have great things in mind for every character we all love. Things really begin to heat up after King Piccolo's rampage on Earth, that's all that I'm going to say. Thanks for all of the support, favorites, and everything. We're almost at 20,000 views? That's actually crazy and I never thought I'd get anywhere close. BTW, my Kakarot will show both good and bad sides of his Saiyan side. Also, check the TOC to see what the next saga will be!
"This is for Krillin!" Tambourine heard the tall, raven haired boy scream at him after he had taunted him over the small runt's death. The Namekian felt winds kick up around him as a crimson aura engulfed Yamcha as he lunged forward with a kick. "Eat this!" The man added, suddenly using his speed to nearly disappear from his sight and appear right in front of Tambourine.
The green monster was caught by surprise at his opponent's speed and was unable to absorb or even try to block the blow as Yamcha's foot dove into his cheek and sent Tambourine to the grassy terrain below and very hard. Tambourine's eyes widened at the speed that the bandit moved with, he had never seen anything like it.
"Why you?" The demon cursed, getting back to both feet and using his forearm to wipe a trickle of purple colored blood from his lip. Rising to his feet, the son of the demon king flared his energy and threw up a forearm to block the onslaught of blows that the desert bandit was lashing at him with. "Soumasen!" Tambourine chimed in, moving his arms downwards just as a pair of purple colored lasers shot from his eyes at his foe.
Yamcha stopped his advance as he saw the lasers shot his way at almost the last second. Attempting to sidestep his way to safety, the wolf bandit was half successful as just one of the beams managed to shoot through his shoulder just as he thought himself out of the range of Tambourine's attack. Stunned by how easily the attack burnt through flesh, Yamcha fell to the ground as he stumbled over the dead weight that his now ruined shoulder gave him.
"Got you," The son of Piccolo snickered, opening his mouth and grabbing the fallen Yamcha by his ankle with his sleek, purple tongue. Already off balance by his own equilibrium being stirred, the bandit was unable to stop Tambourine from establishing his grip and felt his body be pulled off of the ground as he was thrown through a nearby boulder and into the ocean surrounding the small island that he and Roshi were facing off against the demonic alien.
Just as Tambourine positioned himself to shoot after the tall fighter, he was interrupted as a ball of ki exploded in his face. Growling at the slight burn he felt as his green skin was singed by the attack, the demonic fighter quickly turned to see the great Turtle Hermit warding him off and buying his student some time to recover.
"You and your master won't make it to see your dreams come to fruition," Roshi vowed to the winged creature, holding his arms out as he continued to fire a barrage of small ki blasts at the son of Piccolo. "I'll make sure that you're all judged for your crimes!" The hermit added, keeping Tambourine at bay with his energy barrage.
"So the old turtle thinks he can keep up?" Tambourine growled, using his large wings to ward off the force of the human's energy attacks and protect himself.
Walking towards Roshi, the creature reached out to grasp the elderly martial arts master but was caught once again by the turtle hermit as his clawed digits reached for only an afterimage of his foe. 'Impressive,' The Namekian retorted, analyzing the technique for a weakness as he launched at another blurry afterimage of the ancient fighter.
Reappearing, Roshi immediately darted towards the demonic son of Piccolo in hopes of catching him off guard. Stopping just out of Tambourine's range, the hermit flipped to the right as he began to strafe the winged fighter as multiple afterimages were left behind by the old man. Reeling his left arm back and feeling the energy pulsate through it and swell at his wrist, Roshi launched his open hand forward and unleashed a spiraling blue beam of energy at his foe in the sea of Afterimages.
Left impaired by the dozens of cartwheeling old men that his eyes were seeing, Tambourine was left vulnerable as the blast collided with his face in a dust of smoke. Just barely managing to tilt his head and roll with the attack, the winged monster felt a gulp form in his throat as he narrowly avoided a very serious injury. He had to admit, the turtle hermit was definitely an impressive opponent with tactics he would never think to expect pulled out.
'Very impressive.' The demon started to say with a toothy smirk, marveling at Roshi's speed and coordination in his attacks. However, Tambourine had very little time to talk or think on his opponent's skill as the thought to have been defeated Yamcha suddenly reappeared above his eye level with a cocked back leg. "You!" He spat out before the bandit's energy packed leg slammed into and nearly through his stomach.
"That's what you get," Yamcha said between grunts, hardly able to hold himself up from the pain he felt in his shoulder. The beams had definitely struck an artery or something of the sort, his entire arm had been drenched in blood as he emerged from where he'd fallen. Still, the bandit had little time to care about that as adrenaline pushed him to continue fighting his friend's killer. 'I have to protect everyone! If Raditz can do it, why can't I?' The human fighter thought to himself between exasperated pants for air.
"Pathetic humans," The Namekian grumbled, staggering back as he tried to regain some of his breathing. "No more holding back. Time to show why my race is the superior one." Tambourine spat out in disgust as an aura of orange flames flared across his body.
Launching forward after a small standoff with his opponent, the Namekian kicked his foe with a newfound speed. Not holding back as the exhausted desert bandit was struck and knocked off his feet into the air, Tambourine lashed out with a flurry of punches and kicks with glowing hands. Although the skilled fighter was able to avoid most of the strikes, he had to admit he'd hate to see what happened if one of the claws hit a vital part and with his injuries, he had to come up with something to slow his demonic foe down.
Watching his opponent disappear from his sight just as Roshi had, Tambourine snarled as his body disappeared in the next moment. Roshi watched in anticipation, searching for the two brawlers to reappear at any time. He kept his guard up and his eyes on his small home, knowing that the lives of innocents were at stake with King Piccolo's minion in the situation. Suddenly though, a large ball of golden energy launched at his home and the turtle hermit grimaced. He hadn't seen it coming, he had to move quickly!
"Not while my woman's in there!" The voice of Yamcha screamed as the desert bandit reappeared. Surging his energy, he felt as his own energy swelled into his hands as he backhanded the golden sphere just before it could collide with Kame House. "Fight me coward!" Yamcha beckoned as the Namekian still was nowhere to be found.
"Watch out Yamcha!" Roshi said a second too late. Master Roshi's eyes widened and a scream began to escape his mouth as he watched the son of the demon king reappear at the edge of his student's peripheral in a sudden flash.
Harnessing all of his energy into his clawed hand, Tambourine shot his entire arm through the side of his latest victim before Yamcha could even realize that he had shown himself. The elderly martial arts master watched in horror as the demon smirked at the sight of fresh crimson blood splashing across his arm as it shot back out of the other side of Yamcha's torso. This was bad, very bad.
"No," Yamcha said as he felt the painfulness of four razor sharp blades piercing through skin, bones and even tissue. A large amount of blood shot from his mouth to his already bloodied gi shot from his mouth as Tambourine pulled his arm from the large wound.
The desert bandit wanted to scream as he felt his guts being ripped out of his body but he sure didn't have the energy to do much yelling… or much of anything!
Feeling most of his energy leave his body, Yamcha dropped to his knees and looked up as the sunlight seemed to beckon for him to join it. 'I failed you.' He tried to say aloud as his chest fell to the ground just as his head turned to see Mai's horrified face staring at him through the window of the pink shack.
Tambourine licked his lips as he cracked the bloodied knuckles that had just ripped through Yamcha's flesh. This was good. He had to admit, the two fighters were definitely skilled! Had he not leveled the playing field with his two foul plays, he was sure he'd have to actually fight for his life.
'Two turtles down,' The demonic offspring thought to himself, turning from the spectacle that was Yamcha's corpse back to the man he had come here to kill. Dropping into a menacing battle stance, Tambourine kicked the bandit's body to the side disrespectfully with a snicker. 'Just one old tortoise left.' He added, disregarding the smell of blood. 'My master would be very pleased with me. No other fighting school can match his army's strength."
"This is bad," Master Roshi said to himself, preparing himself to fight the son of Piccolo. "I must do what I can to protect everyone." The turtle hermit promised himself as he began to focus his energy with a clear cloak of flames dancing around his body.
"Yamcha," Mai said to herself inside of Kame House with Puar mouthing the same at her side, the two watching the battle go on even after the fall of Yamcha. Waterfalls began to form in her eyes as they never seemed to leave the sight of the disembodied corpse of her lover. His pupils had rolled to the back of his head, a sea of white looking back at her now. "Bandit…" The former Pilaf acquaintance sighed as she felt every last heartstring in her chest rip apart.
The raven haired woman felt her entire world crash down as the bandit's death replayed in her head. Seeing Tambourine disrespectfully kick his body aside, Mai felt her blood boil and anger replace all of the sadness. Turning to Puar, Yamcha's girlfriend rose to her feet and looked at the doorway. Maybe it was suicide, but she was going to make this freak pay!
"Puar," Mai sternly said, turning her statement into a demand as she reached an open hand out. "Sword."
Without an argument, the feline shapeshifter nodded and in a puff of smoke, in Puar's place was a broadsword very much like Yamcha's. Taking the sword, Mai started towards the door until Bulma met her with open arms.
"Don't be stupid Mai," The bluenette said coldly, trying her hardest to impersonate her lover as she flared her ki and her small muscles showed under her blue fighting gi.
Sighing, she could see the hurt on her friend's face and it hurt her as well. Not only was Yamcha a close friend of hers but this must have been the face Raditz had when she had been killed. Truthfully though, Bulma just really hoped that Mai wouldn't force her to knock her out to keep her safe. Everything in her wished that her Saiyan champion was heading to her and the others' rescue after seeing Yamcha go down.
"It won't do us or Roshi any good if you run out and get yourself killed!" Bulma spat out to a stoic Mai. "You know just as much as I do how powerful these guys are!"
"Don't think because you took a few classes that you can stop me," Mai growled back at Bulma, dropping her sword bearing arm down as she sunk into a fighting stance. The woman's eyes were blurry from crying but still as cold as a blizzard. "I'm not going to sit back and let these green bastards slice Roshi open like a pig. I don't care what happens…" Mai said, swinging the blade at the bluenette. "I know Yamcha would never!"
Bulma was caught by surprise as the blade swung her way. With the training she had undergone with Raditz, it didn't come fast by any means but just seeing Mai like this was what really hurt her. Casting the thought aside, the bluenette swelled some ki into her hand and met the blade in the middle of its trajectory. A small drop of blood dropped from a thin slice in Bulma's pale palm to the carpet below as the two women sat at a standstill.
"Mai," The bluenette pleaded again. "We can't start fighting here too."
"I'm not sitting back and waiting for Raditz to come flying to our rescue," Mai retorted instantly, her fist clenched around the blade as she saw the look of Bulma's face. Then, the next instant, she began crying in the bluenette's arms as she fell forward and Puar poofed back to his original form to hold her as well. "I can save lives too."
Bulma held her friend in her arms for a few seconds until a sudden crash and the sound of clouds shredding apart flooded the air. The six people in the pink home nearly lost their balance as the feeling of the island tearing apart in a small earthquake shook the Earth. Running outside, Bulma's eyes widened as she saw the south half of the island give in and sink into the ocean at the force she had felt seconds earlier. She couldn't see Roshi or Tambourine and this worried her.
Silence and anticipation flooded the area as the six spectators watched for somebody… anybody but Tambourine to reappear first. The calm ocean stirred peacefully as every last Earthling swallowed a gulp that seemed to form in all of their throats.
"Heads up," The voice of Raditz grumbled, reappearing in front of the bluenette scientist with Yamcha's corpse in his left hand and a barely conscious Roshi in the other one. Throwing both bodies to Chiaotzu, who used his telekinesis to catch the two, the Saiyan turned back to the crumbling piece of island just as Tambourine phased back into vision in front of his and the other's eyes. "You guys back up, I'm not holding back anymore." Raditz said coldly, looking at the dead body of his friend one last time before hunkering down into his fighting stance.
Tambourine tried to steady his breathing after being slammed through the ground and ocean by this new fighter. His green skin was badly bruised and he knew that several ribs were broken but he wasn't going to back down when it came to pleasing his master. Bearing his fangs and claws at the maned fighter, the winged demon flared his energy in a burst of flames.
"Cute," Raditz commented at the display boredly, taking the next moment to surge his own power and make his entire body of muscles swell with his ki. Every palm tree on the island and the entirety of Kame House nearly blew away at the winds the Saiyan was conjuring with his purple aura of harmless flames. "What's the matter?" He asked at the look of bewilderment on the face of the demon as he walked circles around the son of Piccolo. Why was he so shocked? He was the one who'd killed two of his closest friends already!
Power Levels
Raditz: 670
700 (angry)
Master Roshi: 350
Yamcha: 480
Tambourine: 570
Bulma: 130
35 (holding back against Mai)
Mai: 30