"Trunks, we have to do something!" Goten cried as people continued to pour out of the light.
"I'm open to suggestions." Trunks said.
"We plow through them." answered Sakura. "Take out as many of them as you can as quickly as you can." She gazed down over the crowd of opponents that were gathering below them. Apparently they'd gone unnoticed so far. The invaders seemed to be assembling into formations. If they could break them up before they were able to get organized... "We'll split up into groups. Goten, Trunks, you two take the left side. Cheri, Akemi, you take the right. I'll take the middle."
"But... Sakura...." Akemi said softly.
"I know." she replied. "But we have to hold them here until the others get here. It's dangerous for all of us, not just me." She looked up from the invaders and at her sister. "Don't worry, I'll be careful. You just make sure you don't get hurt either."
Akemi bit her lip for a moment as she thought and then nodded. "Ok."
"Alright, move out!" Trunks cried, blasting off.
"Hey, Trunks, wait for me!" Goten cried, shooting after him.
Cheri and Akemi giggled as they took off as well. And then Sakura surged down at those directly below her. She thrust her arms out and let go with a series of energy blasts which rained down on the unsuspecting creatures and exploded taking out small chunks of them before they even realized they were under attack.
However, the explosions soon got the attention of those on the ground and they quickly located her. A few of the uglier ones, as far as Sakura was concerned, surged up at her. One that looked like an over musscled hairless wolf-man creature with bat wings, one that looked like a slab of meat with a half dozen arms, no legs, and snot covering its body, and others she didn't want to look at close enough to tell what they were.
She avoided contact with the snot covered one and quickly blasted it in what she thought was the head and then turned to dodge a punch from the wolf-man-bat-thing. As she kicked it in the back she sent a blast of orange energy down behind her punching through another that had tried to attack her from behind.
"Stand back." said a voice that sounded rather familiar to Sakura.
She turned toward it and saw a large and muscular man with bright red hair floating up toward her. Unlike the others, he looked normal. And he was wearing battle armor. /Why does he look..../ "RECOOME!" she cried, as his face clicked with the pictures and videos she'd seen. /I should have realized... Akemi said the Armored Squadron mentioned him. But then... how many of the others our families have taken out are in this army...?/ She swallowed and shook her head, not liking those thoughts.
Below her Recoome laughed as he floated up higher. "Must be my lucky day." he said, grinning. "I was looking forward to revenge against that Tanarian for what she did to me. Killing you will be a nice start."
"My mom could wipe the floor with you." Sakura said, slipping into a combat stance. "She's a lot stronger than she was then. And I'm stronger than she was, too!"
"I've gotten stronger too, girly." Recoome said. "Come on, let's see what you can do!"
Sakura's eyes widened as Recoome charged in at her. "Sanjuu Kinryoku!" she cried, her orange aura vanishing in a burst of silver as she just barely dodged around a punch from the large warrior. /Damn, he's stronger than me. Still, it's not too bad, I just need to hold him off for a few minutes./
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Meanwhile Goten and Trunks had fired off attacks of their own wiping out a good portion of the attacking army and drawing attention to themselves. But even the strongest of the creatures that charged them fell easily as the boys kept up their assault. "This is like shooting fish in a barrel." Trunks said. "There's a lot of them but they're not much challenge."
"Yeah."
"Oh, so you want a challenge?" asked a voice from behind them.
The two boys froze and turned slowly to look behind them to see who had spoken. "You... you're Frieza!" Trunks cried, shocked.
Frieza laughed. "Nice to know you monkeys haven't forgotten to be afraid of me." he said. "Hmm, you look...." he trailed off as he looked toward Goten. And then his eyes widened and darted back to Trunks. "You! You look just like... like them!"
"Them?" Goten asked, confused, glancing toward Trunks.
"I think he means your dad and the future me." Trunks said. "Remember, your dad beat him on Namek and my future self killed his father."
"Oh yeah!"
Frieza shook his head and then smiled. "Well now, isn't this nice? I was looking forward to my revenge and here I get to start it right away."
Goten and Trunks glanced at each other. "You ready Goten?"
Goten nodded. "Uh-huh! Time to go Super!"
"Right!" Trunks agreed. The two turned back to Frieza and then grinned as they flashed golden and transformed.
The former Tyrant's eyes widened and he drifted back a little in surprise. "Super... Super Sai-jins!?" he cried. And then he clenched his hands into fists. "Super Sai-jin brats! Well, Super Sai-jin or not, you're still just monkeys! I will have my revenge!"
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Cheri swerved around an energy blast and then fired her own taking out a half dozen of the creatures that made up most of the force coming through the light. As she fought them off she had to wonder just how what Akemi had seen was supposed to happen, how Sakura was supposed to be killed by one of these weaklings.
The Tanarian Princess' full power was about three times her own non-Oozaru power and she wasn't having the slightest trouble, even without going to full power. Neither was Akemi, though the younger girl was at her full power in her current form. It just didn't make any sense. The only explanation was that there were....
Her train of thought was cut off as a huge ball of purple energy nearly slammed into her. She'd just barely dodged around it in time. Turning to look at who had thrown the powerful attack her eyes widened. She easily recognized the purple alien from her history books. "Ginyu!?" she cried in shock.
"Yes!" Ginyu called, charging up toward her. "The great Captain Ginyu has returned!"
Cheri's eyes widened further at the other's speed. "Kaio Ken!" she cried, her silver aura vanishing in a burst of red as she just barely dodged around Ginyu's punch.
"What!?" Ginyu cried, turning to face her. "You... know that move too?"
"Huh?"
"That Kayo Ken thing."
"It's Kaio Ken, and duh, I'm using it, aren't I?"
Ginyu snorted. "No matter, you're still just a kid. Even with that move you couldn't hope to match my power! Ha!" In a burst of purple he surged in at her again and she realized, just from his speed, that he was right. He was still a lot faster than her.
"Cheri!" Akemi's voice called out. The call made Ginyu slow and turn slightly leaving him open to a punch from the half Sai-jin as the younger girl joined her. "He's strong!"
"Yeah." Cheri said, shaking her hand to make it stop stinging. "You need to transform again...."
"Ok." Akemi said, closing her eyes.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
"Do you guys feel that!?" Yamcha cried as they flew toward the arena. They'd only just taken off and were still more than nine minutes away.
Piccolo scowled. There were hundreds of powers ahead of them. Most of them were fairly weak compared to them, and even to the kids, but there were a few higher powers appearing on occasion as well. "Wait a second... I know that energy...." he said, his scowl deepening.
"What is it Piccolo?" Krillin asked.
"Hmm?" Vegeta began, focusing on the distant powers at the arena. "That's the boys... they've transformed.... WHAT!? FRIEZA!"
"What? Are you certain?" Nova asked.
"I don't know..." Vegeta said, slowly. "It definitely feels like him. But he should be dead...."
Raditz snorted. "So should all of the corpses flooding into the city."
"Only one way to find out for sure." Piccolo said, his aura flaring up brighter as he increased his speed.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Sakura brought her arm up and blocked a punch aimed for her head with a resounding crack. The impact made her arm sting and sent tingles of numbness all the way down to her fingers and up to her shoulder. The difference in power between her and the large man she was fighting wasn't exceptional but it was clearly in his favor.
Blocking his attacks or deflecting his energy blasts left her sore and stinging. Dodging around his large arms or legs was tiring. His size slowed him down some but he was still a little faster than her. And the width of his limbs meant she had a good span of distance she had to avoid in order to avoid being hit.
Dodging around another swing she brought her fingers up to her temples and focused. She had a lot of trouble with any moves that relied on mental abilities but she knew this was one she could use because it didn't require vast amounts of power and relied more on ki than mental energy. "Kuro Omoi Seichuu!" she cried as Recoome charged her.
The large man froze in his tracks and Sakura lowered her arm with a sigh. But she knew she didn't have much time, he was already starting to inch foward again. Quickly she cupped her hands at her sides and began gathering energy. "Kaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee." she cried, blue energy flaring up between her hands and then shifting silver as she continued. "Ryoooooooo. Kuuuuuuuuuuuu."
Down below her Recoome had opened his mouth and she saw red energy building inside his throat. Obviously he wasn't going to just let her blast him, unable to move or not. She scowled as she called out "Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" and thrust her arms down at him, the silver stream of energy surging out quickly.
Recoome's counter shot off a couple seconds later and the beams met about three quarters of the way to him. As soon as they met she felt his attack pushing back against hers. /Damn it!/ she cried mentally. She'd not had time to channel enough power into her attack, even using the Kameryokuha. Even as she added more power to the attack she felt it being pushed back faster and faster.
Recoome was able to channel more power faster than her. There'd be no way she'd be able to increase her attack fast enough to even stop his counter, let alone overcome it. With a grunt of frustration she ended her attack and shot up into the air so that Recoome's mouth beam passed harmlessly beneath her.
As she looked back up from watching it pass her eyes widdened, Recoome was only a few inches away. She'd barely even had time to register his approach before his right fist slammed into her face and knocked her flying backward. Recoome quickly shot after her and caught up with her slamming an elbow down into her stomach and knocking her down into the ground.
Grinning and laughing he landed a few feet away. He clenched his hands and hunched over as his aura flared up. "Time to end this, time for you to die. Recoome! Ultimate! Bomber!" he cried.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Goten and Trunks grinned as they flew, back to back, and each slammed an outstretched leg into the back of Frieza's head. The former ruller was smashed face first into the ground with a loud crash but he quickly rebounded with a grunt and growl. A second later he landed on his feet facing the kids again.
"You BRATS!" he cried, clenching his hands into fists. His purple aura flared up around him as the ground beneath his feet cracked and his muscles swelled. "Time to stop playing around. I will crush you with just 75% of my power!" He finished powering up and punctuated his declaration with a burst of energy.
"Whoa, Trunks, he's stronger than us." Goten said, wide eyed.
"Well duh." Trunks said. "He's stronger than Grandpa so of course he's stronger than us. But that just makes it more fun."
Goten grinned and nodded.
"Fun, eh?" Frieza asked, smirking. "I can assure you it wont be fun for long. I will show you a nightmare!" and with that he launched in again.
Goten and Trunks quickly dodged in opposite directions and Frieza shot an energy blast after each of them. Though he quickly ignored Trunks and surged toward Goten. As the young Sai-jin deflected the energy blast his eyes widened in shock. Before he had a chance to react, Frieza's fist smashed into his face and sent him flying backward.
The former tyrant shot after him and quickly caught up to him. As he did he grabbed his head and slammed it down into his knee as he thrust his leg up. The young Super Sai-jin's head snapped back and then Frieza's foot smashed into his stomach knocking him down into the ground. He was about to fire an energy blast down at him but a leg suddenly appeared before him and then a foot slammed into his face and knocked him back.
Frieza flipped over in the air and was about to charge in again but all three of them came to a stop as a loud and bright explosion sounded not more than four hundred yards away. "What was that!?" Goten cried, as he watched the towering burst of red energy surging into the sky like an erruption.
Trunks blinked a couple of times, a knot forming in the pit of his stomach. "G-Goten. Can you... can you sense Sakura?" he asked.
"Huh? Why wouldn't I be..." he started, but then trailed off as he realized he couldn't. "Trunks... you don't think she was...?"
"Oh man... Goten, you stay here and deal with him!" Trunks said, his aura flaring up around him. "I'm going to go and find Sakura!"
"Right!"
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
"I think not!" Ginyu cried, firing off a ball of purple energy at the five year old. Akemi's eyes opened wide as she felt it nearing and she quickly slipped to the side. Cheri launched in at the horned alien and began trying to attack him but Ginyu was able to dodge around all of her swings.
"Damn it, this is getting us no where. Akemi!"
"I'm trying!" the girl called back. She'd drifted away from the two of them and closed her eyes again but she couldn't focus. "I can't... I can't get it to work!" she cried after a minute. "I can't transform!"
Cheri cursed under her breath as she dodged around a kick. She could tell Ginyu wasn't even really trying which meant he definitely wasn't at his full power yet and she couldn't even hit him. She could always transform but... she didn't know if that would be such a good idea. Transforming would leave her tail exposed and that could put them in an even worse situation. If Ginyu grabbed it, or worse, removed it....
"I'm sorry." Akemi said as she came up beside her friend and joined in on the battle.
"It's ok Akemi." Cheri said. "Not your fau-oof!" her sentence was cut short as a knee slammed into her stomach and then Ginyu smashed an elbow down in into her back driving her into the ground.
"Hahaha! This is child's play!" Ginyu laughed.
While he was gloating Akemi smashed a fist into his face but the attack had no effect. "Uh-oh." she said softly, floating back. /What do I... my powers!/ she thought with a smile. She closed her eyes and focused again. She felt Ginyu charge at her but she pushed that from her mind and continued to concentrate. She just needed a second more....
Ginyu was almost on her when she opened her eyes and thrust her arms out. An instant later he smashed head first into an invisible barrier about three feet away from her. Akemi grinned. "Hehe, it worked!"
"Nice one Akemi!" Cheri called up as she climbed to her feet, untying her belt. There really wasn't any choice left. The adults were still a while off which meant it was up to her to keep Akemi safe. "Keep him busy for a bit!" Dropping her belt to the ground she hunched over and let out a yell as she gathered her power.
Ginyu had just recovered from his impact with the non-existant wall and was about to try and attack Akemi again when he heard the yells from below. Looking down his eyes widened as he saw the other girl growing in size. "What is... she's transforming into an Oozaru!? No, I wont allow it!"
"No you don't!" Akemi cried, reaching out and closing her hand as though trying to grab him.
"W-what is this!?" Ginyu cried as he suddenly felt pressure around his body and began to slow down. Akemi was unable to stop him completely but she'd seriously impeeded his movement. Grinning the girl thrust her arm to the side and flung the alien away from her friend. Then she thrust her other arm out and down and fired off a blast of energy at him.
Ginyu recovered in time to defelect the attack but then noticed that Cheri was now fully transformed. /Damn, I'll have to deal with the Oozaru first, then that little brat./ he thought. He'd been just about to charge when the explosion flared up a little more than five hundred yards away. He glanced toward it, recognized the attack as Recoome's, and then turned back to find both opponents distracted. /Haha! Perfect!/ he thought, launching in.
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
"What was that!?" Krillin cried as an explosion flared up in the distance.
"Recoome." Yamcha said softly, recognizing the energy.
"That's where Sakura was..." said Videl. "I can't...."
Piccolo growled. "We have to hurry."