Dragon Ball: Insurgent

The Red Badge of Courage

"Every murder turns on a bright hot light, and a lot of people have to walk out of the shadows."

- Mark Hellinger

Leek watches as her partner continues to push himself harder and harder. Against three middle-class Saiyans, even an elite would be pressed. Yet Olve takes each of them as they come. He flips the first onto his back, before countering another attack with a swift kick the to the older man's chest. With a small red blast of energy, the fight ends as quickly as it began.

"Bravo, you certainly showed them," Leek congratulates, sarcastically clapping as she takes a sip from her water skin, "But you know, you should drag your fights out a bit longer, make it more interesting for me."

"Maybe if I could fight someone like Nappa or Bardock again you'd be entertained," Olve complains, wiping his face with his tunic, "You know, it wouldn't hurt you to train too."

"It's much more fun to see you work up a sweat," Leek says while batting her eyelashes, "It'd be sexier if you'd take your shirt off though. Let me see the results of all that hard work."

"You're funny," Olve says, walking away, with Leek jumping off her little spot to follow whim, "What's the report from the front?"

"We suffered pretty heavy loses yesterday. Paragus' division was hit pretty hard. The numbers are still coming in but I'd say losses of about seventy-seven percent," Leek pauses and shakes her head, "But Lord Vegeta now controls ten percent of the Legume City."

"Perfect, now Paragus will have to rebuild his army. We can move my father's forces forward and take a few more blocks before the week is out. Tell my platoon that all lower-class warriors are to appear at the front when we move out. We'll run through their ammo with the peasants, then send in the elites. It'll be perfect" Olve says with a smile, "Maybe we'll even be able to snuff out Raichi or Myuu. Little bastards have been keeping their noses to the ground for the last two years."

Leek stops walking. Crossing her arms, she tries to better understand her partner. They had met when they were little kids, and back then Olve had just been another scrappy kid looking to get stronger. Being the son of an elite certainly helped him, but he is becoming something else. Standing at almost seven feet and built like a tank, Olve is just as powerful as he looks. In their sparring sessions Leek is barely able to land a solid hit on him without taking massive damage herself. But with that power, came something else. There was a new darkness to Olve' personality.

"Is there a problem?" Olve asks, finally noticing her staring.

"I think we should wait for Paragus to recover enough to cover us," Leek tells him, "We could lose most of our men."

Olve laughs, "When did you get all soft on me? The weak are mean to serve the strong. When we take this planet people like you and me will live like kings ourselves. And if we have to burn through a few hundred soldiers to make that dream a reality, I'm ok with that."

"Bardock was in those lines you know," Leek reminds him, "These are sons and daughters of Saiya. You can't just throw their lives away like this!"

"I'll do as I please," Olve tells her, gritting his teeth, "No one deserves this glory more than me, understand that? We are here to win a war, not to discuss morality. If you can't fight, then you're no use to me and will be disposed of. Is that understood?"

Leek clenches her fists, but only responds by nodding her head. She waits for Olve' next orders, who briefly looks down at his feet.

"We move out in six hours," He tells her in a more gentle tone.

Tien is the first to react. His hands come together in a square shape and he locks onto the Saiyan prince. Yellow energy begins crackling in his hands as the Saiyan simply stands there, not even bothering to attempt dodging. Being ignored like this makes Tien angry, as he remembers how he felt against King Piccolo. He, just like Goku, has spent his entire life training. Every day of his childhood had been spent slowly, painfully, building up his strength. As more and more powerful enemies began appearing, he pushed himself harder and harder to match them. Yet, there was always someone who simply ignored him like this. But he would show them. These Saiyans will pay for underestimating humanity's power.

"TRI-BEAM!" The triclops yells, sending the attack crashing into Vegeta.

The explosion kicks up enough dirt to temporarily blind the other fighters. Instead of waiting around though, Tien is able to lock onto the Saiyan's energy. Flying through the debris, he begins assaulting the Saiyan with a flurry of punches and kicks. Tien had not been fooled for a second that his attack would have put the Saiyan down in one hit, there was no way their adversary would be that weak. The surprise attack is enough to at least shock Vegeta, who jumps away and into the sky. Tien follows without hesitation. Beginning with an arm bar, he tries to bull rush his adversary, only for Vegeta to deke to the left. Undeterred, Tien winds up a roundhouse, again only meeting air for his efforts. Vegeta s floating above him now. The Saiyan's arms are crossed and he still wears that same arrogant expression. Tien forces himself to remain clam; he does not allow fear or frustration cloud his judgement. With a snap of his fingers a line of yellow energy races towards Vegeta's heart.

For a moment, Tien thinks he has him. The Dodon Ray is a technique that pierces, its main advantage over the Kamehameha. Even against powerful opponents it can do massive damage if given the chance to hit. The three-eyed earthling is reminded of the sheer gap in power between him and his opponent when Vegeta remerges unharmed. The only sign that Tien had even hit him is a little singe mark on his armor. Looking at it, Tien realizes that Vegeta had actually let down his guard for that attack. The former assassin would have thought that even an elite warrior would have blocked the attack with his arms, but Vegeta was showing him that there was nothing he could do to harm him.

"This isn't even a proper warm up," Vegeta taunts whilst cracking his neck, "You're quite skilled earthling, that technique of yours might have even hurt Nappa. Though if your current level of power is any indication, the only one among you worth fighting is Kakarot." The Saiyan opens up his palm and begins charging a sphere of energy, "See you in hell."

"You're arrogance is your greatest weakness," Tien says with a smirk.

The triclops smiles when Vegeta's attack suddenly stops. He can see him trying to move his arm to fire the attack, but looks as though it were bound by invisible ropes. Hatred seethes from the Saiyan's face as he turns his head enough to see what Tien already knew. Floating about three yards away is Chiaotzu, straining his abilities to keep Vegeta paralyzed.

"You…you worms," Vegeta spits, fighting against the tiny psychic.

"Should have paid better attention," Tien smirks, charging up another shot, "TRI-BEAM!"

"Shouldn't you try and help your friend?" Goku asks, confused by Nappa's lack of involvement in the fight, "He could die."

The rest of the earthlings and Nappa are observing the battle from the ground. None of them had moved to help Tien, save for Chiaotzu. Piccolo had tensed in preparation for Nappa to come to his friend's aide, but it never comes. The bulky Saiyan only watches while rubbing his muscles. For someone that kept calling Vegeta his "prince" there is a lack of concern in his eyes.

Nappa only laughs, "Prince Vegeta killed by those clowns? Now that's rich."

"He's right," Piccolo comments, looking at the scene with a stern expression, "Your friend is a fool Goku."

Once again, Tien unleashes a wall of pure energy. This time, however, he puts all of his energy into the attack. Sweat rolls down his face as every muscle in his body screams at him for using so much power at once. The force of the attack is enough to force everyone below them to move out of the way. Despite feeling cold from using too much of his body's energy, Tien still cannot help but smile at his accomplishment. Chiaotzu had performed brilliantly, paralyzing Vegeta long enough for him to get in the sort of attack they needed.

A breeze from the northwest comes through, moving most of smoke from the attack out of his line of sight. It smells faintly of cooking meat. While unexpected, it is more than enough for Tien to think of victory. The triclops lets out a laugh and begins to float down, "Great job Chiaotzu. Couldn't have done it witho…" Tien begins screaming, cutting off his sentence. Vegeta had not been damaged by his attack. Not a single mark mars his enemies' armor. None of that matters though when compared to what the Saiyan is holding. The smell from earlier becomes clear to Tien. That had been the first hint to what had really happened in the second between Tien's attack and its impact. Vegeta laughs, as he shows Tien what he had used to block his attack. Clenched in the alien's white gloved hand is his friend's twisted face.

The Tri-Beam, like most energy attacks, functioned by producing high amount of energy that more often than not became heat energy. Young warriors in the Crane School were subjected to these types of burns on a frequent basis as a part of their training. More powerful attacks used on weaker students often cooked the skin of its victim. In his youth Tien referred to this as being "barbecued". That is what he had done to Chiaotzu but by an extreme magnitude. Large patches of his friend's skin have been charred to a reddish black, leaving distinct differences between his normally white face. Most of his clothing had been burned away, what was left being grafted onto his skin. Tien prays to every god he can think of that it was a dream, or at least that he had killed his friend painlessly. Tears run down his face and he wishes he could rip his still beating heart from his chest when he sees that Chiaotzu is still alive. The warrior's toy body twitches every few second as he struggles to take in small, ragged breathes.

"Like I said, nothing but worms," Vegeta says, throwing the body for Tien to catch.

Tien begins cradling his friend, feeling the heat still left over from his attack. Luckily, he is unconscious. He is careful not to move too much as he transfers his energy to his friend, the only thing he can think of to keep his best friend alive just a few minutes longer.

"It'll…it'll be ok…Chiaotzu," Tien whispers to his friend as he starts to drift back to earth, "I'll get you out of here, don't worry about anything.

His voice crack as he feels his friend's breathing beginning to slow down even further. For the second time in his life, Tien can feel his heart breaking in two. "Please come back to me, Chiaotzu. Please come back."

But there is no response from his tiny friend. In death, he seems even tinnier. The Saiyans have enough decency to at least allow him to place his friend on the ground. His body is still shaking as it dawn on him that he had been the one to kill his best friend. From the cracked, oozing flesh, some of Chiaotzu's still warm blood gets on his hands. Tien does not bother to wipe it off.

"I'll be right behind you, my friend," Tien vows, glaring back at Vegeta, "I will avenge him!"

"I'd like to see you try," Vegeta taunts, "Come at me, see if that anger makes any difference in this battle. The sooner, I kill you, the sooner I will get to fight Kakarot."

It is not Tien that lunges for the Saiyan prince first, but Goku. The normally passive, even docile, Saiyan is consumed by his own fury. This time, the Saiyan prince has to briefly go on the defensive. Mountains break and animals run for their lives as Tien tries to follow the battle taking place above his head. He catches brief glimpse of the fight, the two warriors looking like little more than flashes of orange and blue. Every time Vegeta lands a hit, Goku goes flying through the air or crashing to the earth. Yet his friend continue to get up and fly at Vegeta, ignoring his injuries or the fact that Vegeta is able to slap him around as easily as he did to Yamcha. Speaking of Yamcha, the scar faced fighter grips his shoulder as they watch the battle.

"We'll bury him when this is over," Yamcha assures him with a smile, "Right now, we gotta do something. For Chi-Chi and Krillin. And now Chiaotzu."

"I'm going to make him pay," Tien says through gritted teeth, "He'll pay for this!"

Suddenly a flash of yellow energy moves past them. They look up to see Goku actually biting Vegeta's arm. As the Saiyan prince tries to rip him off of him, Nappa had moved to intervene. Tien and Yamcha nod to each other and fly to intercept him, but are beat out by Piccolo. Their former enemy kicks Nappa hard enough to send the large Saiyan sailing towards a mountain. A t the last second he readjusts himself to fore an energy blast from his mouth. Piccolo blocks it by firing a Special Beam Cannon right back. Hanging in the air, the two humans watch as twin colossal battle begin to play out before them.

There was only one time in his entire life that Goku felt this powerless. He had been five, still small enough to sit on his Grandpa's knee. They had always lived peaceful, rich lives. But, and maybe the appearance of these Saiyans explains it, Goku knew he wanted more even back then. So when his grandfather said they would spar for the very first time, Goku had been ecstatic. In his day, Goku's grandfather had been the strongest man alive. Their first "fight" consisted of little more than Goku trying very desperation tactic he could think of while trying to avoid being killed by a single one of Gohan's punches. Eventually, he had gotten a hit in. Goku had managed to hit his grandfather as hard as he could in the face. Yet, the old man had not even filched. Goku walked away with bruises and a cracked rib, though a big hot meal after more than made up for it.

That sense of being powerless had returned in this battle. While no longer a little boy, Goku felt like an amateur compared to the prince. Every move the Saiyan made was perfect, a killing blow with very shot. Nothing short of bone crushing power was being used against him. For every strike Goku managed to land, Vegeta would deliver it tenfold. Running away was not an option, the prince would catch him before he got as far as a meter. But for Goku, there was no reason to run. He had something to fight for and loves it. So before Vegeta even connect his next punch right for his gut, Goku begins charging up an all too familiar attack.

The second he is sent flying, Goku cups his feet together. The blue colored attack is enough to knock Vegeta off balance. Ignoring his bruised ribs and shattered wrist, Goku flies forward and hits Vegeta as hard as he can right between his eyes. Even the Saiyan prince is forced to put some distance between them. While Goku would like to go after him, he just cannot. If Vegeta wants to give him a minute of rest, Goku will gladly take it.

"You know Kakarot, I'm not impressed," Vegeta says, "After watching your fight with Radtiz, and I expected a bit more out of you. Given a year to prepare, and you're still little more than a warm up."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but at least I'm having fun," Goku tells him with a smile, "You're incredibly strong, but you hurt one of my friends. I can't let you get away with that."

"And just how do you plan on stopping me?" Vegeta counters, flying towards him

Goku braces himself. He grabs a few of Vegeta's punches, but the Saiyan quickly powers through his defense. Punch after punch connects with his stomach as Vegeta savagely attack him. They crash into a cliff, with Vegeta literally putting him through it while the Saiyan does not show any signs of relenting. A blast of energy forces Goku to the ground in a bloody pile. To add insult to injury, Vegeta actually spits on him as he places his boot on Goku's head.

"Your face is disgusting. A lower-class warrior like yourself never stood a chance against a super elite like me. To even think that you could defy me is an insult to my honor. You don't deserve to live."

"My…name…is…Goku!" The Saiyan raised on earth yells back through the dirt, "And…I'm not going to lose to someone like you!"

With that, an explosion of energy comes from Goku as he initiates the attack this time. He had learned from Piccolo that he could channel is rage to raise his power, letting the dark thoughts in his heart come to surface. When he knees Vegeta in the stomach he remembers Chiaotzu's tiny body lying in the dirt like a doll. When he blasts him in the stomach with a Kamehameha, he pictures Chi-Chi dying in his arms. Each time someone had died it was because he was too weak to protect them. As Vegeta come sat him again he resolves to make this time different. Taking a deep breath, Goku flies to meet Vegeta head on.

Piccolo can tell that Nappa is exhausted, at least compared to their first battle. While the bald Saiyan is not moving with the same quickness as before, the intensity is no less than what Piccolo was expecting. Using his extendable arms, the Namekian manages to keep the Saiyan at bay. It is clear that even though they are close in power, this Nappa is a true warrior. Despite being alien to earthling fighting techniques, Nappa understands enough about the basics to anticipate and counter Piccolo at every turn. So it is no surprise when Nappa does manage to grab ahold of his wrist and throws him into the dirt. Being yanked like that makes Piccolo's head spin, but he has to move in order to avoid Nappa's energy wave. Piccolo kicks himself back to a more advantageous position and fires back a wave of his own. The two beam collide in a short power struggle. The epicenter moves back and forth between them, threatening to overtake Piccolo the second he makes a mistake. Eventually, the two beams explode.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Piccolo hears Nappa yell through the smoke.

He can hear two familiar voice. Yamcha and Tien had engaged their enemy in his moment of weakness. The two humans appear to be moving in slow motion to Piccolo, but the complexity and lethality of their techniques is to be admired. Yamcha is going high, clawing at Nappa's eyes with that idiotic wolf technique. When he moves for the finishing howl, Nappa side steps and throws the human aside like a toy. The second he does though, Tien takes his place. Gritting his teeth, Piccolo moves into help. Whereas the triclops was always composed in his battles, this time he is like a raging bull. Punches and kicks do not aim to be lethal strikes, but to cause the most pain. Recklessly, Tien fires a series of ki blasts in rapid succession. Weakened rom his earlier uses of the tri-beam, Nappa is easily able to tank his attack and respond by head butting Tien hard enough to break the human's nose.

"You earthlings are brave. Stupid, but brave," Nappa says, almost like a compliment. His aura flares up in the same lightning pattern, "I'll give you a warrior's death!"

"As if!" Piccolo yells, slamming his shoulder into Nappa, knocking the Saiyan off balance. Panting, he wipes away a trickle of purple blood running down his face, "We're fighting, and I plan to kill you myself."

They reengage in a blur of motion. Nappa continues to pure energy into his aura, burning Piccolo's skin when he makes contact with it. It quickly becomes a race to see if his natural healing factor can outperform Nappa's aura. Their blows are powerful enough to send each other flying back, only to crash into each other with energy blasts or their own bodies. Every now and then Tien tries to intervene, only for either Piccolo or Nappa to slap him aside. Their fist create the sound of sonic booms each time they collide.

"You're not bad Namek," Nappa says after they disengage again, "I'm actually break a sweat.

The Saiyan spits out a bloody tooth and Piccolo smiles, "Seems like I've broken more than that."

"Don't get cocky," Nappa tells him, pointing towards the battle taking place between Goku and Vegeta, "The prince isn't going to lose to Kakarot. His power level is 18,000, more than three times anything Kakarot can produce. Even if you beat me here, you still don't have a chance against him with your strength."

"Maybe, but if you knew Goku you'd know that he never gives up," Piccolo says touching his chest, "He's an idiot, but if anyone can beat your prince it's him. And I'm the future ruler of this planet. I am not about to just hand it over to a couple of aliens."

Yamcha can hardly keep from shaking. Right in front of him both Goku and Piccolo are losing, badly. He can barely follow Goku's battle and has been delegated to a spectator in the fight with Nappa. It always happened like this, him just being put on the side lines when the real fighting starts. Before, eh used to be ok with that it was safer this way. Ever since Krillin vanished, Yamcha had pushed him to prevent this kind of thing form happening. He begins forming a sphere of energy above his head.

"This is for you buddy," Yamcha mutters under his breath as he aims the ball for Vegeta's big head, "SPIRT BALL ATTACK!" With a roar, he lets the attack fly towards its target. It moves right between Nappa and Vegeta, who can only watch it get faster and faster. Yamcha smiles when it becomes clear that Vegeta is not paying attention to anything other than Goku. In a second, it will impact with the Saiyan's head, giving Goku a moment to gain the upper hand.

ZZZTTT!

Yamcha's attack is caught in the Prince's hand like a baseball. He can only stare at it as Vegeta slowly turns towards him with the sphere in his hand. To his credit, Goku tries to stop him from doing whatever it is he plans to do, but Vegeta blasts him away with a purple ki blast. A stone drops into Yamcha's stomach as both Saiyans now have their eyes set exclusively to him.

"You are just determined to die today, aren't you earthling?" Vegeta says with smirk, "This attack was pitiful, did you really think it would work on someone like me?"

"I…I…Was kind of hoping it would," Yamcha confesses as his blood runs cold.

"Perhaps you need another demonstration of the difference between us," Vegeta tells him, blasting Goku away with casual ease. He holds up the energy ball in the same way Yamcha did, "This is your power."

Yamcha's Spirit Ball suddenly expands into a crackling purple mass about ten times the size of his attack. Vegeta smiles, "And this is mine. Goodbye."

Before eye can retaliate, Tien fires another tri-beam at him. It does not even reach Vegeta, with Nappa suddenly flying in front of his prince to take the hit. Nappa's armor is broken in several places but other than that there is no real damage. Tien curses as the two Saiyans laugh at him.

"Vegeta! Your fight is with me! Leave them out of this!" Goku pleads, "Ignore them!"

"Oh, Kakarot. You understand so little. My honor has been questioned by these humans. They think they can stand against the Prince of all Saiyans? I am Vegeta, a name that has struck hear into the hearts of countless men. They must be punished."

Yamcha's corrupted attack is thrown toward Tien. The triclops does not even try to move, simply floating there as he waits for his inevitable death. His friend, and most of the earth beneath him, are consumed by the hellish purple fireball. The impact of the attack leaves much of the earth below them black. No doubt Chiaotzu's body had disintegrated, as Yamcha cannot find his friend no matter where he looks. The once green field is now a scorched wasteland.

"No…Tien," Yamcha mourns, falling to the ground in disbelief.

"What lousy fireworks," Vegeta laughs, before turning back to Kakarot, "Alright, we can continue our fight now that the insects have been dealt with."

Just as they are about to go at it again, they hear something that Yamcha thought he would never hear again. Tien's coughing. All of the combatants look around to see a strange sight for sure. On what looks like a carpet, Yamcha sees Mr. Popo accompanied by two other smaller figures. The smaller of the two waves to them, and Yamcha sees their outlines of their tails in the distance. After exchanging a few words, the two figures jump off as Mr. Popo disappears once again.

"That's not possible," Nappa begins to says, shaking his head, "How can there by two more Saiyans? Unless...Kakarot! Vegeta, one of the kids is Kakarot's brat!"

"Gohan?" Goku says, ignoring Vegeta and flying to meet his son, "Is that really you?"

"Hmph, I'll give you ten minutes to say goodbye to your son Kakarot," Vegeta taunts, motioning for Nappa to move to his side, "After that we continue our battle. Feel free to lick your wounds."

Though surprised by the sudden act of mercy by the Saiyan prince, Yamcha and Piccolo both move to meet up with their reinforcements. Yamcha had not seen Gohan for a few months now, and the boy has improved dramatically since then. Lean, tight muscles are clearly visible on the boy's exposed arms. The boy's orange gi is dirty, but seems to fit him perfectly. His hair had grown out too, and he had tied the end of it with some makeshift rope in order to keep it from going crazy. Still, long, dark, messy bangs are threatening to fall into his face. Slung across his back is Goku's old power pole.

"Gohan, what are you doing here?" Goku asks, his face cracked into a smile despite the gravity of the situation, "You should be with your grandfather…wow you got way stronger! Have you been training?"

Gohan nods, tears beginning to form in his eyes, "I…I wanted to help. Daddy, I missed you so much!"

The little boy runs into his father's arms, bawling like a baby. Goku wraps his arms around his son, ruffling his hair and whispering assurances. Occasionally he lets out a yelp of pain as Gohan hugs too hard, but soon both of them are laughing just from being around each other. Despite everything they had been through together, Yamcha has never seen Goku look so happy than at that moment. It also makes him forget about the two Saiyans waiting like hungry animals.

"I don't mean to break up this cute moment, but we have a job to do," Piccolo reminds them with a cold expression, "Your son and the other Saiyan should be a big help, but neither of them are strong enough to change the course of this battle. I think we can beat that Nappa guy, but Vegeta is just too strong."

"These should help!" Gohan happily tells them, handing out a senzu beans to each of the fighters, "Korin gave me a few to hold onto. That's what took us so long. I also got your old power pole daddy, just in case! Mr. Popo took Tien back for now, but he should be back pretty soon if Kami sees him."

Yamcha nods and shows them his own store of the magic beans, "And there are three more in here! We can defiantly beat these guys now!"

"You did great Gohan," Goku compliments his son, eating the bean, "But, I want you to stay back. These two are a lot stronger than any of us. It's safer."

"I'm fighting!" Gohan protests, "I trained just as hard as you! I can help!"

"He has a point Goku," Piccolo says, "Your son may be young, but I sensed his power when we fought Raditz. We're going to need it in this battle."

"Then let's get to it," Olve says, breaking his silence for the first time.

Goku turns to acknowledge the one armed Saiyan for the first time. As he looks him over Goku's eyes go wide in surprise, "Olve! What happened to your arm?!"

"I do recall you having two of those," Piccolo comments, clearly showing his disapproval, "Still, we can't refuse help in a fight like this."

"Olve, maybe you should back to Kami's place," Goku gently suggests, "You should be there in case something happens to Tien."

"Hey dad, don't mention the arm ok," Gohan tells his dad, backing away as Olve' nostril's flair, "He's still kind of sensitive about it."

Yamcha sees that Olve is worse for wear as compared to Gohan. His once white tunic had turned a light brown from lack of proper washing. A blue undershirt and matching wristbands can also be seen. The boy's patchy tail is twitching nervously as he looks over to the two Saiyans in the distance. A determined look is on his face as he steps ahead of the group.

"If Olve wants to fight, let him," Yamcha says, slapping the boy on the back in a joking manner, "We'll show them! He's been training with me after all."

"I vote he goes back to the Lookout," Piccolo snidely remarks, "His call though."

"I want the big one," Olve states, glaring at Nappa.

"You know, that's not a terrible idea," Piccolo tells the group, sizing Olve up, "The difference in their power-levels isn't so far that Olve would die out right. In fact, he might be able to distract the big guy long enough for us to wear down Vegeta."

"That's suicide Piccolo," Goku says, stepping away from Goh and in front of Olve, "No way. I'm not letting either of the kids fight these monsters by themselves."

To everyone's surprise, Olve actually moves to push Goku out of his way. It comes so suddenly that Goku does stumble back a few feet. The air between the two Saiyans becomes charged, and Yamcha decides that being so close to them might not be the safest place. Olve actually growls at Goku and drops into a fighting stance.

"Olve come on, don't do this now," Gohan pleads, standing next to his father, "We have to work together."

"A Saiyan never lets someone take his pride," Olve responds, glaring at Goku, "I don't care if he is your father, he has no right telling me what to do. Those two need to pay."

"They kidnapped you didn't they?" Goku says, dropping his fist and running his hand through his messy hair, "You've got something to prove."

Olve nods. Goku steps aside, taking a knee next to Gohan, 'Ok son, the rest of us are going to be taking on Vegeta. I don't know what kind of training Kami gave you, but just be sure to follow my lead ok? Don't do anything too risky. If I say run, then run. If I say hide, then you hide. Got it?"

"You sure about this Goku?" Yamcha asks, looking from Nappa to Olve, "He's just a kid too."

"He's not my son, Yamcha. I get what he's feeling, this is what he's trained for. It would be wrong of me to stop him."

Piccolo nods, removing his weighted clothes for the first time. The heavy turban and cape crash to the ground. Goku does the same, removing his boot and under shirt. Yamcha does a double take when Gohan does the same, removing his blue undershirt as well. Even Olve adds to the pile, taking off his shirt, boots, and a pair of wristbands. Only Yamcha had not worn weighted clothing to the battle. Each of the fighters around him suddenly feel twice as strong.

"Ok guys, let's finish this!" Goku yells, flying towards Vegeta and Nappa with the rest in tow. Yamcha notices that Olve runs instead of flies, but chalks it up to wanting to conserve energy. Surely he must have at least learned to fly since their last meeting, right?

Nappa notices a train of ash coming towards him. A moment later, the earthlings land triumphantly only a few yards away. He was right, the small boy with Kakarot is spitting image, and still retains the trademark tail of his race. The last to arrive is, of all things, another Saiyan. Nappa recognizes him as the boy that Radtiz had picked. He mentally curses himself, he now owes Vegeta a space soda. He had bet that Kakarot or the Namek would have killed the boy the second they got the chance.

"So eager to die? You still have a whole minute left," Vegeta asks, reading each of their power-levels with his scouter again, "My my, you have all certainly gotten much stronger during our little break. Evidently you were holding back Kakarot, a bold move indeed. Still none of you stand a chance against us. Very little has changed if I am to be honest."

"Sorry for the wait, but now we're going to fight you seriously," Kakarot answers, giving the boy a short nod before turning back to Vegeta, "You said you can take on all of us at once right? I say, prove it."

Kakarot and the rest of his friend drop into their fighting stances. Vegeta responds in kind. Nappa is about to join them when the Saiyan boy bull rushes him. The attack separates them from the rest of the battle. The two of them are now covered in the ash left behind from Vegeta's direct attack. The younger Saiyan glares at Nappa and drops into a posture similar to that earthling named Yamcha. Napa smiles, seeing that the Saiyan is missing an arm.

"You wish to defy the great Nappa? Learn your place boy," He says, beginning to gather his energy.

"Let's go!" The defenders of earth all yell at once before beginning the battle anew.

AN: Hey guys! I actually updated on time this week! Wow, it must be a record or something for me. I got some really nice reviews last time, so thank you for everyone that left a comment. It means a lot to me! As always please feel free to leave a review and be sure to follow if you want to see more. Alright, until we meet again (probably next Friday)!

No power-levels this week, next week for sure though!