I hope everyone had a happy new year! I know I did! I apologize ahead of time for any typos. I cranked this out as fast as I could.
Gohan shifted behind Piccolo slightly as another person landed before him. As Gohan glanced at him, he was struck by the long hair and for a terrifying moment, he was convinced his uncle was back from the dead...
"All right, Yamcha! You made it!" Krillin said enthusiastically, stepping forward to shake hands with the man.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world. Uh, Piccolo, good to see you, I guess. That Goku's kid?"
"Yeah, that's Gohan. Piccolo's been training him," Krillin supplied. "Gohan, this is Yamcha. He was part of our gang back when we were kids."
"Uh, hi..." Gohan said, stepping out from behind Piccolo. "You looked like my uncle."
Krillin began to laugh. "Ahaha! Time to get a haircut, Yamcha!"
"Nice try Krillin, but I've been barking up that tree for months," a voice from above them came, and two new people dropped to the ground with them.
"Hey Tien, Chaoutzu. Long time no see," Krillin greeted.
"You guys feel that ki influx?" Tien asked, wasting no time on formalities, and Piccolo knew he'd always liked the triclops a little more than the others.
Which was an almost non-existent amount anyways, but it was something.
He could tell the boy was already beginning to open up to the group as he began to edge slightly away from Piccolo and towards the others, smiling hesitantly at them, looking in wonder at the third eye of Tien, and the doll-like appearance of little Chaoutzu. He sidled up to Krillin's side, and the monk slung his arm across the boy's shoulders.
Piccolo wondered for a fleeting moment if perhaps he should be jealous.
The question quickly solved itself as the Saiyan ki signatures began to rapidly move in the group's direction and Gohan flitted back behind Piccolo instantly. The others dropped immediately into defensive positions, waiting with baited breath, though their stances belied only a calm reserve.
"Don't be scared. They'll pick you off if you're scared," Piccolo said lowly. He turned slightly to look at the boy, before resting his hand on his shoulder, pressing him down into a semi-squat, tapping his elbows in towards his sides, and then tipping his chin up."Relax, and remember your training. You'll be fine."
Piccolo caught Krillin peering at them from the corner of his eye with eyebrows quirked, and he raised his lip in warning.
"Well look at what we have here, Nappa. Our very own greeting party," a snide voice came from above. The group looked up to see the two beings who could only be Saiyans descend before them. The one who had been speaking was relatively short, though well muscled, with black hair spiked upwards. The other was massive in every sense of the word, towering over his companion. Piccolo gauged him to be only a few inches shorter than himself, though nearly twice as wide in pure muscle.
And the worst part?
That giant was seemingly subordinate to the much smaller Saiyan, as he stood slightly behind his counterpart.
"Nappa, what's the reading on them?"
As the giant began to click at the device over his eye, Piccolo instantly remembered what the scouter did. "Everyone keep their ki down. That eye piece can read our energy levels," he ordered quietly. "Our best bet is to fool them."
"Hm, hm, hm, let's see what we have here. The kid's at 1000. Not bad, runt. Not good, but not bad either... hm, the baldy is at 1500. Same for the punk with the hair like Raditz, the triclops, and the little clown thing. Namek's at 2000."
There was that word again. Piccolo reminded himself to ask Tsuki what it meant, provided he lived through this.
"They're lying, then," the small one said flippantly.
"What? But Vegeta, the scouter..."
"Don't you remember, Nappa? Raditz relied on his scouter, and he was fooled and taken by surprise. There's no way the Namekian is only at 2000 if he aided in Raditz's death. No, the kid's reading is the only one to believe. The rest of them are bluffing. Take the scouter off. It'll be no use here."
"But... well, whatever you say Vegeta," Nappa relented, removing his scouter. "Do you want me to just... kill them quickly?"
"No. Plant the Saibamen. Let's see what these guys can really do, and how much of their ki they're hiding from us."
"Ooh, the Saibamen. Each of these have the ki of Raditz, I think. And there are six left."
"Six. Perfect. One for each of you. It's almost like a little tournament. The prize? Your life," Vegeta said before cackling, crossing his arms over his chest.
Nappa bent down and began poking six holes into the ground with his finger, filling each with a single bean, covering them, and then covering them once more with dirt before pouring a green liquid over the area.
Almost instantly, the dirt began to dome and slowly, green beings, with teeth like fangs, evil red eyes, and grotesquely large cranium began to crawl out of the ground. Gohan edged as close to Piccolo as he could without actually touching him as he could. Piccolo frowned, thoroughly confused. Here were the Saiyans, one huge and imposing, and one with a mysterious air of confidence, each with a monstrous ki to match, and the boy was seemingly fine. These little beings, ugly as they were, were so much smaller, with a much less imposing ki. It struck him then that these little beings were the stuff of a child's nightmares.
And Gohan was still very much a child.
"Let's see the kid go first! What's a little boy doing on the battlefield anyways?"Nappa jeered.
"Isn't it obvious, Nappa? He's a Saiyan. A halfbreed, but a Saiyan nonetheless. Kakarott's son, Raditz's nephew. We're born for the fight. That's what he's doing here."
"Ooh, one from the Bardock clan. Let's see if he's just as weak as the rest of his family. Come on, kid, let's see what you can do!"
Gohan reached out and grasped the back of Piccolo's pant leg. Piccolo's hand unconsciously drifted the boy's shoulder. "No. The boy does not go first," he said neutrally, but with enough force to reiterate that he was not joking.
"Hey, who said you get to make the rules, Namekian?" Nappa said bitingly.
"Our planet, our rules. Don't like them, you can leave."
"You wanna go first then, Namek?"
"Thought you'd never ask," Piccolo retorted, removing himself from Gohan's grip. "You, on the left. Let's go," he said coldly, pointing to the Saibaman on the very left. It pointed at itself for verification before giving a loud screech and launching itself at Piccolo. The two met head on, before disappearing.
At least that's what Gohan thought. All he could hear were subtle booms, and occasionally a glimpse of the two. It was over before it even started. Suddenly, the Saibaman was on the ground before them, one arm broken off, and a leg bent in the wrong direction, mouth opened in a silent scream. Then, a beam of light descended from the heavens, blasting the alien into oblivion. Piccolo landed in front of them, a blank expression clearly stating that the task had been far too easy.
"Well that was boring," Nappa sulked. "Okay, how about the punk with the scar. Let's go."
"Fantastic. You, freak in the middle. Show me what you've got," Yamcha said pompously, dropping into his weakly based fighting stance. Piccolo could count at least four open weak points, and unfortunately, the Saibaman did too, for it went straight for them. Luckily, it appeared Yamcha was able to defend himself rather easily, putting the creature on the defense rather quickly, beating it into the ground.
He turned his back.
"Yamcha, don't!" Krillin shouted.
In the blink of an eye, the Saibaman leapt out of the hole in the ground, latching itself tightly around Yamcha's torso, its legs wrapped around his waist, its arms pinning Yamcha's against his sides. The creature began to glow and let out a final screech before self destructing.
When the smoke cleared, the Saibaman was gone, and Yamcha's body lay broken and burned on the ground.
The sound that escaped Krillin was almost animalistic, making Gohan clutch at Piccolo's pant leg. He vaguely felt the boy's tears dampen his gi as he buried his face against his leg.
"You...you...bastards! I...he... he was... AURRRGH!" he screamed, sending frenzied ki blasts in every direction. Piccolo noted with some scorn that Vegeta and Nappa merely flicked the blasts away with the backs of their hands, but was pleasantly surprised when the other blasts seemingly found their other targets, the Saibamen screeching as they were blasted into oblivion.
Except for one.
It appeared out of nowhere, catching both Piccolo and Gohan by surprise as it ripped the boy away from Piccolo, soliciting a yelp from Gohan. Before he could be dragged too far, Piccolo hyper-extended his arm and grabbed the boy by the collar of his gi, pulling both Gohan and the Saibaman back to him.
"I'd seriously consider letting go," Piccolo growled at the creature, "before I remove your filthy little hands. Am I clear?" In his free hand, a ball of ki began to glow brightly. The Saibaman hastily let go, clearly remembering what had happened to the last Saibaman to take on Piccolo. As it backed up several steps, Piccolo shoved Gohan behind him, grabbed the little cretin, threw it into the air, and blasted it into dust.
"Thank you, Mr. Piccolo," Gohan whispered.
"Remember your training, and it won't happen again."
"Okay. I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry. Just learn."
"Well Nappa, one down, five to go, and no Saibamen left. What do you suppose we ought to do about this little dilemma?" Vegeta mused, absently wiping dust from the chest of his armor.
"Oh, I'll do it, Vegeta. Please, I have been so bored for the past year..." Nappa practically pleaded.
"Whatever, just make it quick. You have thirty minutes," Vegeta said, putting the scouter back over his eye and setting a timer.
"Any survivors?"
"Yeah, leave the boy. We may have use for him," Vegeta said with a bored tone, though lowly, obviously not meant for the warriors' ears.
But Piccolo heard it.
And he couldn't help but feel relieved.
"Sure thing, Vegeta. So which one of you ladies wants to go first? Or would you rather attack as a unit?" Nappa called out, baiting them.
"So what's the plan, Piccolo?" Krillin asked, slightly worried.
"We fight together. He's too big to go at alone. It'd be folly. Tails are the Saiyans' weak points, but we don't know if it will be as big a downfall for this monster as it was for Raditz. Go for it, but if it doesn't work, drop it. Just land as many blows and blasts as you can, and for god's sake, do not hit each other. Try to keep him on the ground. If he's anything like Goku, Raditz, and Gohan, his advantage will be up in the air."
"What do I do, Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked.
"You stay here."
"What? But why?"
"I need you to keep an eye on Vegeta. If he so much as even looks like he's going to jump in, I need you to warn us. Got it?"
Gohan nodded his head in affirmative. "Yup. Got it."
The four adult warriors moved away from the boy then, giving him an ample berth of perceived safety. Nappa stepped up to meet them, overly confident.
Everything happened so fast, that Gohan was barely able to keep up. For a moment, he panicked, worried he had lost them. But upon glancing at Vegeta, he saw that he was very easily able to see them, just as the others had been able to see Piccolo and the Saibaman fight. But how?
Was he looking too hard? From here, it looked as though Vegeta's eyes were barely focused. Instead, his head was turning just a half second after each loud sound of impact was heard. So, Gohan focused on the noise, allowing his eyes to become almost unseeing.
And that is how he saw them.
It was clear from the onset that it was a losing battle, even though it was four against one. The giant was surprisingly agile for his size, easily blocking and dodging blows and blasts, all while landing devastating hits on everyone else.
And Gohan was growing angry.
Piccolo glanced down at him when he felt the sudden jump in the boy's ki. Vegeta must've noticed it too, for he looked away from the scene to look at the scouter's screen, then looking over at Gohan. Apparently, he decided it was of insignificant meaning, for he turned back to the fight.
But with each passing blow landed upon the warrior's, Vegeta couldn't keep himself from glancing at the scouter's reading as it gradual ticked up ki readings on the boy.
Then, the breaking point.
Nappa apparently grew bored with the charades, and sent a fist into Krillin's stomach, sending the monk spiraling to the ground in a heap, unable to breathe. He elbowed Piccolo in the solar plexus, sending him backwards several feet, and he coughed up blood. Chaoutzu went for the Saiyan's tail, and he caught him by the head, thrusting his arm back and throwing the small being like a ball, a large ki blast following after him.
Tien caught them both.
They died together, hitting the ground dead as the blast collided.
Nappa then kicked Krillin several feet in the air, and prepared to stomp on Piccolo's chest...
The ground where Gohan stood began to crack.
A mountain nearby crumbled to the ground.
The beeping and clicking coming from the scouter intensified before it practically exploded as it overheated, breaking away from Vegeta's face.
The boy was gone.
In his place was a very angry Saiyan.