Chapter 28
Tien could see his opponent take a slight step back at his sudden interference. Glancing over his shoulder, he could see that Gohan had flown over to help the wounded Saiyan. After being helped out of the crater his body had formed, Vegeta quickly shrugged the young boy away from him in an attempt to keep whatever dignity he still possessed by holding himself up through his own volition.
After surveying the scene behind him, Tien returned his gaze to the tall, snake-like warrior that floated in front of him with a cocky smile plastered across his face. The red flames of the human's aura danced around him as he turned his head back around to face off against the Ginyu. Tien could tell by his snarl that his opponent was slightly unnerved because of his stoic stare.
"So it looks like you want some too huh," hissed Burter before turning his head to address his comrades. "Sorry Recoome, but it looks like I get this guy as well. No one gets to rob me of my victory and gets away with it!"
"Fine, but Recoome really wanted to fight that guy," pouted the child-like brute. "He looked pretty strong, maybe it would have been a good workout for Recoome."
"Hey don't worry mate," said Jeice as he patted the brute's shoulder. "How about this, you can have the kid after Burter gets done beating this chump down. How does that sound mate?"
"YAY! Thanks Jeice!" exclaimed Recoome, his face lighting up at the prospect of being able to crush the young half-Saiyan. Tien just cast his gaze down at the jubilant giant beneath him, completely disgusted. How could he be so excited about the prospect of taking a life, especially a child's?
"Alright three eyes," taunted Burter. "Let's see if you can do any better than Vegeta did, though I doubt it."
Without saying a word, Tien quickly raised his crimson tinted arm and fired a golden ki blast at the Ginyu Force member. A smirk emerged on the blue alien's face as he quickly phased out of the way of the attack and moved several hundred feet in a split second.
"Nice try, but did you really think a pathetic attack like that could hit the fastest being in the universe?" shouted Burter triumphantly.
"No I didn't." The snake-like man's eyes widened and he quickly spun around to see that Tien was hovering only a foot away from him.
"How did you get back there?" asked a stunned Burter.
"What's wrong?" said Tien, in the same calm tone. "I thought you were the fastest in the universe? Surely you could keep up with little old me."
"Keep up with this you three eyed freak!" screamed Burter as he threw his fastest punch at the bald human. To his surprise, Burter found that his punch was seemingly effortlessly caught by Tien. With another shout, the alien retracted his punch and then attempted a swift kick to the human's neck, but this blow was blocked when Tien raised his arm and deflected the kick with his forearm. A snarl escaped from the Ginyu's mouth as he backed away from the crimson-clad warrior that stood before him.
"How did you get this fast?" hissed Burter. "When we scanned you earlier you weren't even near Vegeta's level of strength, much less mine!"
"Well, those devices on your eyes seem to fail you all most of the time," observed Tien. "It's actually quite foolish to rely on a machine that can't calculate a person's spirit."
"It will take more than your spirit to beat me," spat the blue alien. "Maybe you could get away with that against amateurs, but you're dealing with the Ginyu Force now! The most elite fighting force the galaxy has ever seen! Your spirit pales in comparison to our fighting capabilities."
"Is that right? Well, let me show you what a true warrior's spirit can do!" exclaimed Tien before quickly thrusting his knee into the blue alien's gut. Burter barely even had time to see the movement, much less react to the human's attack. He doubled over pain from Tien's knee strike, but the assault wasn't over yet as the three eyed warrior sent his opponent spiraling towards the ground with a powerful two-handed blow.
The Ginyu, however, managed to regain his equilibrium before crashing into the grasslands below, succeeding in flipping himself upright. His armored feet dug into the ground, creating parallel trenches as Burter skidded to a halt after touching down. The alien's entire body was still shuddering as it continued to feel the reverberations from the force of Tien's attack.
"You see," said Tien as he descended to land in front of the lizard-like fighter, "you have no strength to speak of. You're just a sad, pathetic excuse for a warrior that only preys on those that are weaker than yourself. In fact, I'm positive that you've never faced a true challenge in your entire life."
"You dare mock me!" shrieked Burter as a blue aura surrounded his body. "No one insults the Blue Hurricane and lives to regret it!"
With an enraged howl, the Ginyu rushed the stoic warrior and unleashed a volley of rapid punches and kicks that appeared as mere blurs as they flew towards their target. Keeping the same impassive expression he had worn for their entire fight, Tien proceeded to evade every single hit that Burter attempted to strike him with. The human warrior did not even take a step backwards as he dodged the onslaught, but merely held his ground and swayed his body to avoid the barrage of fists and feet that were sent his way.
Realizing that Tien had his feet planted on the ground, Burter attempted to break the human's defensive stance by feinting like he was attempting a punch to the face but then quickly shifting his body so that he swept Tien's feet from out underneath him. Like every other of the Ginyu's attacks, however, this foray failed as the three eyed fighter anticipated the sweep and jumped over the outstretched leg beneath him, driving his own foot into the side of Burter's head and causing him to fly across the battlefield until he landed roughly several hundred feet away.
"Hey you guys," said a stunned Guldo as he and the other members of the Ginyu Force looked on at the panting Blue Hurricane, who had just picked himself off of the ground in shock. "Are we sure about this guy's power level? Because there's no way he's only at 12,000 and man-handling Burter like this."
"Hold on, let me check," said Jeice as he raised his hand up to the scouter attached to his ear. A beep signaled that the device had completed its scan, and the long haired man glanced down at the number that flashed across the green screen. The red-skinned warrior's eyes widened and his mouth opened as he gaped in horror at the reading his scouter was receiving.
"Bloody hell!" he exclaimed. "The scouter's reading him at 60,000! No wonder Burter's having so much trouble with that wanker. He doesn't stand a chance of defeating that kind of power alone!"
"Wow, that's strong," stammered Recoome after hearing Jeice's declaration.
"Your bleedin' right that's strong Recoome!" cried out the ruby colored Ginyu. "Come on, that guy may be strong but there's no way he can resist the combined power of the Ginyu Force!"
"Right!" shouted the giant. With battle cries in perfect sync with each other, Jeice and Recoome rocketed towards Tien, leaving the frog-like alien behind on the sidelines. Seeing his comrades rushing to his aid, Burter also unleashed a fierce battle cry before joining the other members of the Ginyu Force in a three headed assault on the defender of Earth.
Knowing that he would need more room to maneuver, Tien quickly took to the sky. His assailants were hot on his trail though, and the enemies clashed in a three-on-one battle in the Namek skyline. The fighters all began to exchange blows with each other as they tangled in the air, with the three eyed fighter managing to evade all of the attacks sent his way. Even the punches and kicks that did manage to hit their target seemed to have little effect on Tien though, as he simply shrugged the glancing strikes off and continued his own assault on the Ginyu trio.
OoOoOo
On the ground below, Gohan and the injured Vegeta watched in amazement as the stoic fighter seemed to have the advantage in the battle, even with the odds stacked against him. A growl slipped out of the Saiyan Prince's mouth as he watched the human dominate the fight against the same foes that had Vegeta shaking in his boots earlier.
"It shouldn't be possible," seethed the flame haired Saiyan as he continued to watch the battle unfold. "There's no way a mere human could be more powerful than the Ginyu Force. Not even I could manage to defeat one of them and here he is taking on three of them at the same time, and winning no less!"
"Maybe he's just stronger than you," suggested Gohan.
"Hmmph," snorted Vegeta. "Where's your Saiyan pride? You should be furious that a member of such a pathetic race as the Earthlings has surpassed even a child like you in strength, much less the prince himself! But I forget, you were raised by that idiot Kakarot. No wonder you have no pride."
Gohan just glared at the older Saiyan for the insult to his father before turning his attention back to the fight. The boy didn't really know how to deal with Vegeta. He disliked the fact that the man constantly beleaguered him, all of his friends, and his dad and he was still terrified of the Saiyan prince. At the same time, however, Gohan felt pity for the man. Whether it was because he was the last true member of his race, or if it was the fact that it seemed like his life had just been a living hell each and every day, the half-Saiyan didn't know. But he did know that he felt sorry for the man beside him, even though he knew that the prideful Saiyan would never accept his pity.
Meanwhile, the skirmish in the sky continued at a furious pace. The limbs of the combatants had all combined to become a violent whirlwind that obscured the battle from actually being seen by the spectators below. In fact, the only way that Gohan could tell what Tien was doing was because of the streak of blood red light that shadowed his movements each step of the way as the clash between the human and the Ginyu Force bounced around the green sky above.
The brawl finally seemed to end when the forms of Jeice and Burter were expelled from the entanglement and sent streaking though the sky. That left only Recoome and Tien in the engagement and they were still pounding away at each other, though now that his squad members had been knocked out of the fight, the giant was not landing any hits on the three eyed man.
OoOoOo
Tien had to admit to himself though that his opponent was incredibly resilient. Now that the other two Ginyus were no longer there, he had been able to put all of his focus on Recoome and had hammered blow after blow onto the behemoth's body. Surprisingly, though, the man was still standing even after the beating that Tien was dishing out to him. Even with his durability, however, Recoome wasn't able to last long against the powerful Earthling and he was sent crashing into the terrain below from a mighty elbow strike to his skull.
He did not receive much of a reprieve from the fight, however, as Tien heard a shout and then sensed a powerful ki rapidly approaching him. Quickly flying upwards to evade the energy attack, the human watched as a red sphere of ki passed harmlessly through his legs before colliding with the plateau behind him. Upon impact, the energy bomb completely leveled the highland and pieces of rumble were blasted into the air before falling back down to earth several miles away from their original position.
Turning his head away from the destruction, Tien was met with a blue fist flying towards his face. Retreating backwards to avoid the attack, the human fighter found himself besieged by a flurry of attacks from Burter. Just as he was about to strike back at the blue alien, the red one suddenly joined in on the assault and the dynamic duo hammered away at Tien's defensives.
Finally, the Ginyus were able to break through their opponent's barriers and they both simultaneously slammed their knees into Tien's abdomen. While the triclops doubled over in pain atop the pair's knees, Burter struck his back with a vicious elbow and Jeice landed a right hook on Tien's cheek. After hearing a grunt of pain, the pair let out a harmonious howl of triumph as they leaped backwards from the victim of their Purple Comet Attack.
"Not so tough now are you," hissed Burter. "I tried to tell you that you didn't stand a chance against the Ginyu Force."
"That's right mate!" chimed in the alien with the long, white mane. "No one can withstand the wrath of the Ginyu Force!"
Evil grins had spread across the duos' faces, but those vanished when they heard chuckling coming from the bent over human. Standing back upright, Tien smirked as his opponents realized that their assault had done little damage to him.
"So that's all the exalted Ginyu Force has got huh?" mocked Tien. "I was expecting more, based on all of that talk you all have been spouting out about how you're the greatest fighting force in the universe. So far, I've been pretty underwhelmed."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"He's making fools out of us Jeice!" screamed Burter's voice through the red-skinned warrior's scouter.
"Don't worry mate," he assured. "I have a plan. Recoome are you on as well?"
"Recoome is here," came the giant's simple reply.
"Alright, we're going to have to hit him with everything we've got," stated Jeice, "and so far we haven't been able to do so through physical attacks. He's simply too fast and too strong. But, if we surround him and blast him with our energy attacks, there's no way he'll survive that!"
"He could just dodge though Jeice," pointed out Burter. "Even with the three of us firing at him, he could always just fly downward and out of the way."
"Yeah, you're right Burter but I have a plan for that as well," revealed Jeice. "All we have to do is position ourselves so that if one of our attacks misses, it will hit that kid and Vegeta! For some reason he wants to keep them alive, and since he's the noble type he'll just have to take the attack head on in order to ensure their safety!"
"That's brilliant Jeice!" proclaimed his blue comrade.
"Yes, Recoome agrees."
"Alright then mates," said Jeice as he prepared to implement his plan. "Let's smoke this daft bastard."
0o0o0o0o0o0o
Tien waited patiently, almost in a meditative state, as the Ginyu trio planned their next assault against him. They weren't really of any concern to him. No, the bigger concern was that now Frieza had possession of all seven Dragon Balls, which meant the tyrant was mere inches away from gaining immortality. While the three eyed fighter doubted that the Arcosian currently knew how to summon the dragon, one could never be certain. He may have already learned the secret by torturing one of the many Nameks that had fallen prey to the sadistic lizard's hunt for the mystical spheres.
Another concern now was also to survive this entire battle on Namek without the use of the Dragon Balls. Obviously, his initial plan of reviving everyone and then wishing everyone except for Frieza and his goons to Earth was no longer viable since the balls were back in Frieza's hands now and Tien doubted that he could steal them back again without a head-on fight against the galactic overlord.
But was that truly a viable option either? At the moment, fighting the seemingly all-powerful alien would be suicide. Tien simply wasn't strong enough at the moment to stand up against Frieza, who was on an entirely different playing field compared to the Earthling. Though, maybe if he were to allow Guru to unlock his hidden potential like he had for Gohan…
A frown emerged on the stoic fighter's face at the thought of simply gaining power through such a cheap and lazy method. He wouldn't have truly earned the strength that the Grand Elder would give him. It would go against everything he believed in! What was the point of training hard and working countless hours to obtain strength if someone could simply give you more strength than you had ever dreamed of?
Tien remembered, though, that he wasn't here for himself. He wasn't here to prove that he was one of the strongest warriors in the universe. No, he was here for those he had failed, the ones who had lost their lives because of his mistake, and if giving up his pride to receive Guru's gift was the price he had to pay to get Chiaotzu back, then so be it.
Finally emerging from his own thoughts, Tien glanced up to see that the Ginyus had surrounded him. The blue alien was in front of him, the colossal fighter was behind him, and the one with the long, snow-white hair was above him. The same devious smirk was plastered across all of their faces as Tien surveyed the situation.
"Alright you wanker," shouted out Jeice from above. "Go ahead and dodge this one if you like, but I'm afraid it will be good night Irene for your friends down there if you do!"
Quickly turning his head to look below, a snarl escaped from Tien's lips as he realized that the red one had positioned himself perfectly so that if the human moved out of the way of his attack, it would land right where Gohan and Vegeta were standing below. With the Saiyan prince in his current condition, Tien knew that the pair of spectators wouldn't be able to dodge the blast in time. It looked like he was just going to have to figure another way out of this one.
"Crusher Ball!" shouted Jeice as he lifted his knee into the air and raised his right arm into the air with his hand outstretched as an orb of ki, the same color as its owner's skin, formed in his palm.
"Recoome," Tien glanced over his shoulder to see that the red headed man was striking another one of this ridiculous poses, "Renegade Bomber!"
"Hiyah!" Turning his head again, he saw that Burter had formed the same energy attack that he had used in his attempt to finish off Vegeta. Clearing his mind, Tien closed all three of his eyes as he took a deep breath as the crimson flames of the Kaio-ken technique encased his body. With his eyes still closed, Tien clasped his hands together with his pointer fingers extended upwards in front of his chest as he slipped into a deep meditative state.
As the warrior from Earth mentally prepared himself, the three members of the Ginyu Force let out a simultaneous battle cry as they fired their respective energy attacks. Recoome began to pump his arms back and forth as he fired a volley of purple ki blast at his motionless target. Burter fired three large, blue ki spheres at Tien in quick succession and finally Jeice threw his most powerful energy attack, his Crusher Ball, which raced towards its destination pulsating with destructive power.
Right before all of these ki blasts could reach their destination, though, all three of Tien's eyes snapped open as he let loose a loud shout that unleashed a powerful Kiai. The translucent energy was emitted in every direction away from his body and when the Ginyus' energy attacks collided with the wall of energy that Tien had discharged their ki blasts were reflected back towards their respective owners.
The battlefield was overcast with a prism of light as the explosions from the Ginyu Force's energy attacks exploded across the sky after the owners of the attacks managed to evade the rebound. A strange mixture of purple, red, and blue filtered the sky and terrain below as the light from the explosions covered the entire landscape in a strange hue.
"Alright my turn," said Tien apathetically as he prepared to rush the snake-like warrior before him. He was ready to end this fight now, there were bigger problems to solve than these clowns and Tien had a feeling that time was not his ally at the moment.
As he prepared to begin his assault though, Tien found that he suddenly could no longer move and the red aura that surrounded his body suddenly vanished. He struggled to move forward, but found that his muscles no longer responded to his commands. Glancing around, the human fighter found that he was no surrounded by a strange, blue mist that seemed to be sapping all of his strength and keeping his body locked in place.
"Looks like you forgot about the last member of the Ginyu Force!" Tien moved his eyes downward and saw that the four-eyed alien was staring up at him, with both his arms outstretched and his fingers folded down on themselves, with a sadistic smile on his face.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
"What's wrong with Mr. Tien!?" questioned an alarmed Gohan as he watched the blue mist surround the older warrior and it seemed like Tien had suddenly been paralyzed because of the mystical shroud.
"It looks like that coward Guldo finally decided to jump in," observed Vegeta with a hint of disgust in his voice. Even though he disliked the human greatly, he still thought it was shameful of the toad to rob him of his victory over the Ginyu Force. No warrior should be made powerless because of some wimp that just happened to be born with psychic powers.
"What's he doing?" demanded the boy as he looked to the older Saiyan for answers.
Vegeta sighed at the half-breed's cluelessness. Wasn't he supposed to be smart? "As I told you earlier, Guldo is a pathetic waste of space except for one thing: he has extraordinary psychic abilities. Being able to hold a person in place wouldn't be beyond his capabilities."
"We have to help him!" declared Gohan, looking nervously on at the scene above where the other three members of the Ginyu Force had converged upon the three eyed warrior. With Tien held in place thanks to Guldo, the Ginyus were able to use him as a human punching bag, repaying him for all the hits they had received before the playing field had been tilted in their favor thanks to their teammate.
The flame haired Saiyan laughed, even though it was difficult thanks to his broken ribs, before replying, "We? I think you mean you brat. As humiliating as it is, I'm in no condition to be saving anyone, much less that fool. He should have remembered that Guldo was lurking in the background, waiting for the opportunity to pounce on him when he wasn't expecting it. It's really the fool's own damn fault if he was stupid enough to let Guldo of all people get the drop on him."
A rare snarl formed on the child's face as he gave the older Saiyan a look of disgust. "I can't believe you! Mr. Tien just saved your life and all you can do is ridicule him! No wonder you're always alone!"
Vegeta was slightly taken aback by the half-Saiyan's outburst; the brat had never challenged him before, much less verbally jab at him like he had just done. The prince still managed to give the young boy a sneer though before Gohan took off towards the short, fat alien that was holding his friend hostage. Determined to help Tien, the half-Saiyan let out a loud shout as he prepared to roundhouse kick the green Ginyu.
His kick never connected though, for at the last second a giant, muscular forearm phased into sight and blocked the kick. Springing backwards, Gohan did several flips in mid-air before landing several yards away to find that the brute, Recoome, had intercepted his attack to prevent the hold on the three eyed human from being broken.
"You must think you're pretty smart huh kid," said the barbaric man, "trying to get in a sneak attack against Guldo here so that your friend would be loose again. Sorry, but it ain't going to happen on my watch. So why don't you just go play with your toys somewhere else kid." The goliath burst into a fit of child-like laughter as he mocked Gohan, who stood with an expression of horror on his face as he stared down the mammoth fighter.
'Oh man, I don't stand a chance against this guy' thought Gohan as he stood paralyzed in fear as the Ginyu's energy seemed to hit him like a tidal wave. The sheer amount of power Recoome possessed was overwhelming when compared to his own strength. Gohan was distracted though when he heard a yell from above and saw that the duo of Jeice and Burter were still beating down on Tien.
'No, I have to try! I have to help Mr. Tien!' With this newfound determination, Gohan settled into his stance and faced down Recoome with tenacity. Still grinning, the bestial warrior was pleased by the child's new attitude. It looked he was going to crush the brat after all.
Kicking off the ground, Gohan rocketed towards the red headed warrior and cocked back his tiny fist in preparation for a right hook. The Ginyu was ready for this as well and raised his arm up to block, but the child-warrior revealed that his punch was only a feint and instead dove underneath the giant's guard and prepared to ram the man's abdomen with blows. It seemed that Recoome had anticipated this, however, as he quickly raised his knee upward, catching the small warrior off balance and sending him falling backwards.
Hitting the ground with his back first, Gohan managed to recover from the hit and propelled himself upwards with his ki in time to avoid the white boot that came crashing down where his neck had just been. After adjusting his body so that he was standing upright again, the boy quickly fired several small blasts of ki at the mentally challenged fighter. With a deranged smile on his face, Recoome effortlessly batted the ki blasts away as explosions rocked the ground beneath his feet and smoke obscured the brute from Gohan's sight.
Searching frantically for his opponent, Gohan was alerted by his senses when the barbaric man's energy signature appeared behind him. Jumping forward to avoid the behemoth's grasp, the boy twisted his body and fired a single handed, yellow ki beam into the dust cloud behind him. To his disappointment, this attack was also deflected and sent sailing harmlessly into the atmosphere.
When the smoke had finally cleared, Gohan was shocked to see that the man was poised like a ballerina dancer and still giving him the same toothy grin. Were these guys serious? They acted more like those embarrassing action heroes that his mother would never allow him to watch on TV than cold-blooded killers.
"Alright kid, you're going to get it now!" proclaimed the Ginyu as he quickly struck another pose. "Recoome Mach Punch!" A purple aura ignited around the giant's body before he dashed towards the still stunned boy and before Gohan could react, the powered up warrior had smashed his fist into the half-Saiyan's face. His body was sent flying through the air before slamming into the side of a nearby mountain and being lodged in its face.
"Why don't you just give up kid?" asked Recoome in his dim-witted voice. "You're no match for me."
Grunting in a mixture of pain and anger, Gohan thrust his ki outwards and carved out the section of rock he was stuck in. After freeing himself from the rocky prison, the son of Goku charged his simple-minded foe and rained down a flurry of punches and kicks on the Ginyu. These attacks proved to be ineffectual, though, for no matter how hard or how fast Gohan attacked his enemy, Recoome was able to dodge or block the attacks with little effort.
Beginning to wear down, Gohan slipped up as he over-extended on one of his punches and he paid the price for it as the red headed warrior swiftly rammed his knee into the boy's gut. As the half-Saiyan collapsed from pain, Recoome quickly followed up his knee strike with a hip thrust that sent Gohan's small frame spiraling through the air once again. This time he did not go far as the giant warrior quickly intercepted his flight path and snatched him out of the air, palming the boy's head.
"You shouldn't have tried to be a hero kid," remarked Recoome as he began to tighten his grip on Gohan's skull. The young warrior's eyes widened in agony as his skull began to cave in on itself, threatening to crush in on his brain. A devious grin emerged on the barbarian's face as he saw the lad's torment and to push it up a notch, he began to deliver powerful punches with his free hand to the half-Saiyan's kidney. Gohan screamed in pain as his entire body was forced to endure the savage beating.
0o0o0o0o0o0o
A howl of agony pierced Tien's ears, breaking through the sound of his pummeling, and he cast his eyes downward and a gleam of rage passed through his usually impassive eyes. Beneath him, he could see that the giant brute was deriving enjoyment from his savage beating of Gohan. How could he experience joy from this act of unforgivable cruelty?
The warrior from Earth also couldn't help but feel responsible for the child suffering. It was because of him that he was now being whipped to within an inch of his life. If he hadn't been careless and allowed himself to be caught in the toad-like alien's web then Gohan wouldn't have needed to step in and save him. Tien had promised to protect the boy after all, and now it seemed like he was going to fail him just like he had failed everyone back on Earth.
No! No, he wouldn't let Gohan suffer because of his weakness! He had let down too many people already, and Tien had vowed that he would protect the boy if it meant that it would cost him his own life. Rage began to boil to the surface as his mind became razor sharp with a new clarity because of his desire to protect his charge.
"Kaio-Kenx8!" he screamed. The crimson aura of the technique erupted around him and pushed the red and blue Ginyu Force members away from him, dissipating the blue mist that had held his body still.
"What!?" screamed Guldo from below. "How is that possible? He's somehow broken free from my Mind Bind! There's no way he should be that powerful!"
"Well he's not getting away that easily," hissed Burter. "Come on Jeice! Let's finish this guy off for good. There's no way he'll be as strong now after the beating that we just handed him!"
"Right!" exclaimed the other member of the duo. "Let's finish this mate!"
With twin battle cries, the Purple Comet pair rushed the stagnant human. When they reached their target the two began to hammer Tien with a barrage of blows, and to their surprise, each of their attacks connected with their target. It wasn't until after about 5 seconds of pounding, however, that they realized that their attacks hadn't had any effect on the crimson tinted warrior at all. He stood straight up just absorbing their hits, unfazed by the Ginyus' efforts to harm him. Jeice and Burter looked up in sheer terror, realizing that they had no defense against the kind of strength that Tien had just displayed.
"What the bleedin' hell…" began Jeice but he never finished because, as if on cue, Tien suddenly threw a lightning fast punch that crashed into the middle of the red-skinned alien's face. The force behind the attack was so great that the bones in Jeice's face caved in upon impact. As a crater formed around Tien's fist on the Ginyu's face, Jeice's life ended as his nose bridge was jammed so far back that it punctured his skull and stabbed through his brain. The snow white haired warrior's lifeless body plummeted through the air and landed on the ground with a sickening crunch.
"You just killed my best friend!" shrieked the blue alien behind Tien. As he turned around, the human could see that Burter was infuriated by his outer indifference.
"So," he bluntly responded, "you and your 'friends' would kill me and all of my friends in a heartbeat. Not so amusing when it happens to you is it?"
"I'll kill you! You sniveling bastard!" screamed Burter as he dashed towards his hated enemy, but Tien simply blinked out of sight. Coming to a screeching halt, the snake-like alien searched furiously for his opponent, but he didn't find him before a green boot collided with his neck. The alien's neck was forced into a 90 degree angle around Tien's foot, instantly snapping Burter's neck and killing him.
Looking downwards, Tien saw that the oaf had just tossed Gohan to the ground. Rage consumed him as he saw the beaten and broken boy struggling to stand while Recoome stuck another one of this idiotic poses.
"Alright kid, this is the end!" proclaimed the buffoon, as he began to gesture outlandishly with his arms.
"Recoome Eraser Gun!" he shouted before opening his mouth and firing an extremely powerful purple energy beam at the exhausted and routed Gohan. As the ki beam raced towards its target, Tien quickly phased in front of Gohan and fired a single-handed Dodon Wave straight at the oncoming energy attack.
When the golden beam collided with the purple energy, Tien's attack split right through the Ginyu's attack, dispersing it as it swiftly traveled through the violet ki. It only took a matter of seconds for the Dodon Wave to reach all the way back to the Eraser Gun's origin, Recoome's gaping mouth. Upon reaching the brute's orifice, the ki exploded, completely obliterating the muscular Ginyu's head.
As the smoke cleared, Tien quickly surveyed the terrain for the last remaining Ginyu Force member, but the green alien was nowhere to be seen. No doubt he had used his Time Stop ability to escape after seeing the three eyed fighter mercilessly execute his comrades.
After seeing that Gohan was no longer in danger, Tien released his hold on the Kaio-ken technique and dropped to his knees, panting. The beating that he had received while he had been paralyzed had affected him more than he would like to admit, and he had just pushed the Kaio-ken x 8 to its maximum duration, which was always exhausting.
"Mr. Tien," muttered Gohan from behind the kneeling warrior. "Are you alright?"
A chuckle escaped from his lips as Tien looked over his shoulder to see that the boy was struggling to stand. Like father like son he supposed. Goku would have been more worried about how he was fairing than his own condition as well.
"I'm fine," he responded curtly. "The bigger question is if you're ok Gohan?"
The lad just nodded as he continued to endeavor to stand upright. Stumbling, Gohan almost collapsed onto the ground but Tien quickly caught the half-Saiyan and helped him up. The usually impassive Tien was again enraged at the sight of the bruised and battered child and he found that he was glad that he had killed Frieza's goons. Usually, he felt some sorrow and regret for killing an opponent, but in this case he didn't in the slightest.
There was no hope for change in those deranged sadists; they simply enjoyed killing people too much. It was just a game to them, while to their victims it was life-or-death struggle against an opponent they knew they couldn't beat. They took great pleasure in watching their opponents squirm and try each and every way imaginable to escape death, but in the end they had always been unsuccessful in denying the Ginyu Force their ultimate victory. Tien could not feel pity for such monsters that delighted in the suffering of others.
"How touching." Turning his head, Tien frowned at the jeering Saiyan before getting off of his knees and gently patting Gohan's shoulder in a subtle sign of gratitude. While it had been foolhardy of the boy to attempt to take on Recoome by himself, Tien had appreciated the effort and the fact that Goku's son was willing to risk everything to save him.
"I'm going after the Dragon Balls," he bluntly stated. "We can't allow Frieza to make his wish and every second they remain in his possession is just more time he has to figure out how they work."
"Alright, but I'm coming with you," said Gohan weakly. "I want to help."
"I know you do," responded Tien, "but right now you're not in any condition to fight. You can barely stand. No, you did well today Gohan but it's time for you to go back to Guru's and rest. A good warrior knows not only when it is the right time to fight, but also when it is time to stop."
The boy looked downtrodden but he nodded his understanding. "Alright, I'll go back Mr. Tien."
Looking over towards Vegeta, Tien also addressed him saying, "You should head back there as well. You're not in any condition to fight either."
"Really?" asked Vegeta as sarcasm dripped off of his words. "I had no idea!"
Just frowning, Tien opened his mouth to say something when suddenly he felt a very powerful energy signature rapidly approaching their position. Whirling around, Tien saw that two bright colors of energy were streaking through the sky towards them. One was green while the other was a deep purple color.
"Get behind me," ordered Tien as he positioned himself so that Gohan was standing directly behind him as the forms inside of the two auras became distinguishable. One was the small, green alien who had escaped from his allies' massacre earlier because of his ability to freeze time while the other was the light-purple skinned alien with two obsidian horns that protruded from his head.
As the two landed about 30 feet away from where Tien and Gohan stood, the Captain of the Ginyu Force quickly surveyed the scene before him. His men's bodies lay scattered around the battlefield in various forms of mutilation and incineration in the case of Recoome. Tien watched as the horned alien looked over each of his troops' bodies before finally casting his gaze on the human warrior.
"So, the reading on my scouter was correct," he said, his voice sounding as if he was giving a report to a superior officer. "You were at 60,000 for most of your fight against my men, far higher than they would be able to handle on their own. Unfortunately, it seems I did not get here in time to save them. Alas, I slowed down when I saw that your power level had dropped tremendously but then it suddenly climbed all the way up to 96,000. Quite impressive, I was not aware you were capable of such strength. If I had known, I would not have departed so quickly last time."
"Ha!" Everyone looked over to see that Vegeta was laughing at the officer. "You may be strong Ginyu, but I know your power doesn't reach anywhere near the level that the human just reached. Only a Saiyan could achieve such strength in time!"
"But that's where you're wrong Vegeta," said Ginyu coolly. "You see, I too possess the coveted ability to raise my fighting power at will." The Captain smirked as he saw the Saiyan's reaction to his proclamation before continuing. "Granted, I did not think I would need to raise my power on this mission, but this should be finally the good test of my abilities that I've been looking for!"
"You get him Captain!" cheered Guldo. "Pay him back for what he did to the others!"
"Of course Guldo," assured the leader of the squad. "No one ruins my perfectly designed poses and lives to regret it!" After his declaration, the choreographer for the Ginyu Force's poses quickly struck his favorite and with a shout he began to raise his power level as his violet aura surrounded his body, radiating powerful waves of energy that blew violently in every direction. The ground at Tien's feet began to rumble and the loose debris began to rise into the air, seemingly drawn to the sheer power that Captain Ginyu was now emitting as his power rose higher and higher.
Knowing that he couldn't just let the elite alien fighter continue to power-up, Tien quickly powered-up himself as he ignited the crimson aura of the Kaio-ken around him and charged the off-guard Captain. Ramming his fist into the alien's cheek, Tien sent the purple alien flying across the ground and he attempted to follow up his attack with an onslaught of punches and kicks, but Ginyu managed to regain his composure and he blocked the first of the human's attacks.
The two then began a furious exchange of blows as Ginyu attempted to feel out the three eyed warrior's style and Tien attempted to end the battle as quickly as possible before his fatigue caught up with him. Each fighter's body was jerked violently by the other's blows but they quickly recovered in order to dish out a hit of their own.
After almost a whole minute of their clash, the Earthling attempted to end it by feinting an uppercut before ducking and attempting to sweep the horned alien's legs out from under him. The Captain saw this coming and he instinctively hopped over Tien's outstretched legs and then delivered a kick of his own to the triclops. The human was caught underneath the chin by the alien's boot and he was sent sprawling backwards from the impact.
Attempting to press his advantage, Ginyu pounced on the off-balanced warrior and managed to land two solid punches to the ribs before Tien lifted his forearm and blocked a kick aimed for his neck.
Taking advantage of a momentary lapse in the purple-skinned fighter's defense, Tien rammed his fist into his opponent's solar plexus, causing him to double over in pain. Keeping up his assault, Tien spun and attempted to follow up with a roundhouse kick but the kick never hit its mark as it passed through an afterimage.
Turning swiftly, Tien managed to cross his arms in front of his face in time to block a flying kick from Captain Ginyu. The power behind the kick caused the stoic warrior to slide backwards and his feet dug trenches into the ground as they attempted to stop his skid. Rapidly moving his head from side to side, Tien was able to evade the next couple of kicks before he thrust his arm forward and unleashed a powerful wave of ki. The translucent ki wave sent Ginyu tumbling backwards and the former Crane Student attempted to end the battle with a well-aimed Dodon Ray.
The golden finger beam raced towards its target, and Tien's aim was true, but his attack was ineffective. At the last possible moment, Ginyu batted the slender ray of energy away from him while he still was upside down in the air. With a grin on his face, the Captain flipped himself upright and slowly descended back to the ground as Tien cursed under his breath as he let the red aura that enshrouded his body fade away.
"I see that I was correct in my assessment that you would be a worthy opponent!" proclaimed Ginyu with glee. "But I'm just getting warmed-up and you already seem to be tiring and, unfortunately for you, your only allies are already on the sidelines severely injured. Yes, it's only a matter time before your defeat, and I wouldn't be expecting the cavalry anytime soon."
As Captain Ginyu began to laugh as it seemed his victory was assured, Tien panted as he tried to think of a way out of this mess. Like the goon had said, he was beginning to wear down because of his injuries from the beating he had suffered while in Guldo's Mind Bind and from having to use the Kaio-Ken at such high levels while not at maximum strength. Soon, his body wouldn't be able to take the strain anymore and it would simply give out on Tien, and then he would be as good as dead.
The mercenary was also right about there being no help available to him. Both Gohan and Vegeta were already in no condition to fight and there wasn't anyone else on the planet, besides Frieza, that was strong enough to fight head-on against the leader of the Ginyu Force. Not even Nail's strength would be of any use in this battle. No, it seemed that if Tien was to have any chance of victory he would need to use more powerful, and costly, techniques to win.
Just as Tien prepared to access the power of the Kaio-Ken again, a red streak high in the atmosphere caught his eye. Looking up, the human warrior saw that a metal sphere with the letter CC stamped into its side skyrocketed overhead like a meteorite and then crash landed several miles away. A smile began to make its way to the normally somber warrior as he the smoke from the crash-landing began to subside.
The new arrival on the planet had also caught Captain Ginyu's eye, and he asked aloud, "I wonder who in the universe that could be," before turning his attention back to the Earthling to be met by a confident smirk.
"The cavalry."
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed Chapter 28. A big thanks goes out to Ness Frost, who edited this chapter and hopefully will edit all future chapters of this story. I hope you all agree that the quality of the story has improved dramatically as I feel that almost all grammar and spelling mistakes have been corrected thanks to him. So hat's off to you Ness Frost and thanks for the help!
Power Levels
Tien: 12,000
Tien (Kaio-kenx5): 60,000 Time Limit=None
Burter: 40,000 {Speed=50,000 Strength=30,000 Ki Power=40,000 Endurance=40,000}
Jeice: 40,000 {Speed=40,000 Strength=35,000 Ki Power=50,000 Endurance=35,000}
Recoome: 40,000 {Speed=35,000 Strength=40,000 Ki Power=35,000 Endurance=50,000}
Guldo: Physical Power= 10,000 Psychic Power=90,000
Gohan: 30,000
Ginyu (Power Repressed): 72,000
Tien (Kaio-kenx6): 72,000 Time Limit=5 minutes
Alright, I already explained my thoughts on all of the Ginyu Force members power levels and how they worked in the last chapter. Gohan is at 30,000 because the training with Tien instead of Krillin on the trip made him much stronger than his canon counterpart. Also, thanks to Guru's unlocking his potential, Gohan's strength jumped from 1,800 to 18,000. So in EC, I used the same factor to multiple Gohan's power by and so he's at 30,000 instead of 18,000.
Now you might be asking yourself, why didn't Gohan do better against Recoome since there is only a 10,000 power level between them? Well it's simple, I have determined that the gap between opponents' power levels for one to be completely dominated is 20% over the weakest warrior's max. If one fighter is 20% stronger than the other, than he will completely dominate a fight and not be harmed by any of the other's physical attacks or basic energy attacks.
I choose 20% because the best example of this is the fight between Recoome and Vegeta in canon. Vegeta's power level was at 34,000 and Recoome's was at 40,000; roughly a 20% difference. Vegeta was able to cause some damage every now and then, so he wasn't completely dominated, but Recoome was still in control throughout the entire fight. As the gap between warrior's power levels lessen the closer the fights get. The easiest ways I can think of to explain how each percentage (in intervals of 5%) works in a fight and level of dominance in the fight is to give example from the actual show themselves.
Over 20%: This can be seen best in Frieza (Final Form) vs. Vegeta or Perfect Cell vs. ASSJ Vegeta. Complete and total dominance, nothing the weaker fighter can do is effective against the stronger warrior and only a massive increase in ki (like the Final Flash attack) can cause any damage to the stronger warrior.
20%: Like I said, the Recoome vs. Vegeta fight is the best example of this interval.
15%: Android 18 vs. SSJ Vegeta. This level of fight means that the weaker fighter is able to keep up with the stronger fighter much easier and their attacks are more effective, but there's still really no hope for the weaker warrior to win the battle.
10%: Piccolo vs. Imperfect Cell (the first time) and, in this story, Piccolo vs. Nappa. The gap between the two warriors' power levels is much less and the fight is a lot more even. Though, the stronger warrior's punching power and speed are still a step ahead of their opponents, but the weaker warrior now has a chance to defeat the stronger fighter with clever tactics and powerful energy attacks that raise the user's power level.
5%: FPSSJ Goku vs. Perfect Cell. The two warriors are almost dead even now, but the stronger warrior is still slightly faster and his punches hurt a little more. The fight is more or less even and either fighter could win.
Less than 5%: SSJ2 Goku vs. Majin Vegeta. In this category, the fighters' are the exact same speed and strength and it is a coin flip about who would win. In this kind of fight, it will come down to tactics and battle strategy to see who wins and neither warrior will be able to simply overpower their opponent.
Alright, I hope my system/explanation of power levels makes sense for you guys. If you have any questions about it, simply leave it in a review and I'll get back to you about it. Again, thanks go out to Ness Frost for editing this chapter and also to everyone who read and reviewed last chapter! You guys are the best readers I could ever hope for! Until next time!
Written by: FinalFlashX
Edited by: Ness Frost