Chapter 7: Battle for the Earth
The two saiyans landed on the beach in front of Goku, Raditz and Krillin throwing up clouds of dust with the force of their impact. Nappa, a huge warrior with a shaved head and a thin moustache, stood slightly in front of Vegeta—smaller but even more intimidating. "Well," Vegeta said with a smile, "it's been a long time, Raditz. How's your baby brother? Oh, and I see you've got a little human friend who thinks he can make a difference." The saiyan brothers and their human companion stood silent. "Fine. I'll get down to business. Tell us where the Dragon Balls are, or we'll kill you."
"Not a chance!" Goku stepped forward. "People like you don't deserve that kind of power!"
"All right." Vegeta shrugged. "It makes no difference to me. We'll kill you, leave one alive, and beat the answer out of him. How does that sound, Nappa?"
"Not bad!" Nappa grinned. "A year of space travel's got me itching for some action!" His scouter beeped. "Hey, Vegeta, we got a couple more power levels headed this way." Piccolo soon became visible, landing with the group of Earth's defenders. From the opposite direction, Yamcha appeared.
"So these are the saiyans?" Piccolo glared at the pair of invaders. "Let's get on with it." Secretly, he was seething with anger—he couldn't believe that Goku and his brother had become so powerful. And as for the shorter saiyan invader…
"Indeed!" Vegeta pressed the button on his scouter. "Let's see now…there's a surprise. Kakarot's at 2000 and Raditz is at 4000…"
"What?!" Nappa did a double take. "Raditz can't possibly be as powerful as me!"
"Calm yourself, Nappa. Anyway, the Namekian here's at 1000, and the humans are both over five hundred. Now," he smirked, "why don't we stop playing around and show us your real power?"
"Back up a bit." Piccolo frowned. "Namekian?"
Vegeta snorted. "Is it something about this planet that makes visitors lose all memory of their race? The Namekians are a mostly peaceful species, but those warriors they do produce are usually high-calibre. They are fabled to be able to create enchanted items, some of which match the description of your Dragon Balls. Hmm, if there's a Namekian here…yes, it all starts to add up." He laughed. "Anyway. I know you can conceal your power levels—and besides the Namek was higher than this when he fought Raditz. So, let's see it!"
Raditz turned to face Vegeta. "All right, but you may be sorry you asked." He released his mental blocks, letting his ki flow freely. "Yaaah!" A purple aura flared around him. Goku did the same, his pure-white aura igniting. The sand around them began to levitate in streams, then dropped as they finished, exhaling in unison.
"Ah…" Nappa was visibly pale. "Vegeta, are you getting the same reading as me?"
"Yes, indeed." Vegeta, on the other hand, was still smiling. "Kakarot at six thousand, Raditz at twelve…impressive. I didn't expect that kind of increase in such a short time. I suppose I will have to deal with these two…you take the rest, Nappa. Judging by how much our renegade friends were hiding, I'd estimate the Namek to be about equal to you. Plant the Saibamen, let them deal with the humans so they don't get in the way."
"Right." Nappa was doing his best to stay calm. He knelt down, pushing six holes in the sand, and carefully putting a seed in each from vials he took from inside his armour.
Several seconds later, six grotesque green creatures, a couple of feet high, burst from the ground, screeching with ear-piercing volume. "Saibamen!" Nappa pointed at Krillin and Yamcha. "Kill the humans!" The Saibamen started to advance.
"Careful," Raditz warned. "If they think they've been beaten, they'll try to self-destruct and take you with them!" He saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and jumped into the air as Vegeta's fist flashed past his face.
"Nice reflexes!" Vegeta grinned. "Let's see how long they keep you alive against a warrior of the highest class!" He took off after Raditz, and Goku followed, knowing from what he'd felt of Vegeta's power that Raditz wouldn't stand much of a chance on his own.
The Saibamen stalked towards the humans. Krillin snapped his fingers as an idea entered his mind. "Get inside! Their numbers'll work against 'em!"
"Right!" Yamcha nodded, and the pair dashed into Kame House, the Saibamen in hot pursuit. The six creatures surrounded the house, all jumping in through different windows and doors. With the humans and Saibamen inside the house, and the three saiyans in the air, only Piccolo and Nappa were left facing each other on the beach.
"So, you want to fight me?" Piccolo threw his weighted clothes off, and stood in a combat-ready stance as Nappa charged. "Come get me!"
Nappa threw the first punch, but Piccolo dodged to the side. He leapt over the hulking saiyan, landing behind him and kicking at his back. Nappa jumped forward to avoid the attack, spinning to face his opponent and launching a barrage of brutal attacks. Piccolo parried each one, getting into the rhythm of the fight. The combatants separated, pausing for breath and weighing up their opponent. "I'll tell you the truth, I'm a little in shock at Goku and his brother surpassing me by so much," he said.
"You and me both…" Nappa muttered.
"So it's good that I've got a big, bald punching bag to take it out on."
Nappa glowered at him. "You'll regret crossing the saiyans!"
"You're all the same. Saiyan this, saiyan that. You're like a stuck record. Why don't you put your money where your mouth is?" Both fighters charged in, and the fierce combat resumed.
Inside Kame House, Krillin and Yamcha moved cautiously across the living room, waiting for their enemies to appear. Something green blurred into view, and Krillin kicked a leaping Saibaman out of the air. It rolled, jumping to its feet, and hurled itself at him.
"Behind you!" Yamcha yelled as a second leapt at Krillin's back. Yamcha intercepted it, punching it to the floor. The humans stood back to back, facing their opponents. "Let's take 'em out!" Yamcha said with a grin, charging to the attack as Krillin did the same. The four of them battled back and forth around the room, smashing furniture and opening up gaping holes in the walls. Krillin dodged under a jet of acid which melted the lampstand. "Change over!" He shouted. Yamcha somersaulted away from his opponent, and they swapped enemies. Krillin focused his energy as he flew towards the disorientated Saibaman. "KAMEHAMEHA!" He thrust his hands forward, the blue energy beam sending the Saibaman flying right through the wall, disintegrating it.
Yamcha dodged a flurry of wild attacks, narrowing his eyes. "Wolf Fang Fist!" he yelled, launching a whirlwhind of powerful blows which slammed into the Saibaman, knocking it through the floor and down into the building's foundations. The two warriors breathed heavily as silence fell. Abruptly, the Saibaman Yamcha had beaten jumped back up, screeching hysterically and trying to grab him around the middle. Yamcha sidestepped it, then kicked it away. It flew through the wall, exploding violently in mid-air outside.
"Good thing Raditz warned us they can self-destruct, or that could have been me…" Yamcha wiped sweat from his forehead, then jumped back as the ceiling caved in—three Saibamen leapt down through the hole.
"Here we go again," muttered Krillin, raising his guard.
In the sky above the island, Goku and Raditz rushed Vegeta, who vanished, appearing behind Goku and elbowing him in the head. As he tumbled away, Raditz dashed in, but Vegeta blocked all his punches easily, then rammed his knee into Raditz's stomach. "You'll have to do better than that!" he gloated, kicking Raditz away. The brothers hovered in the air below the prince.
"Man, he's fast," Goku whined, rubbing his head. "I can barely keep up."
"Indeed." Raditz managed to stand up straight. "I had my hopes up when we'd overtaken Piccolo and Nappa, but I forgot just how powerful Vegeta is…"
"Don't worry!" Goku prepared to attack again. "We can win this—sure, it won't be easy, but we never thought it was going to be!" They charged again. Goku disappeared as Raditz stayed on course. He kicked at Vegeta, who idly leaned to the side, slamming an uppercut into Raditz's chin. The brief second he'd spent dealing with Raditz had bought Goku time to get behind him, and he punched at the side of the prince's head. Still distracted by Raditz's attack, Vegeta couldn't dodge in time, and he fell head-over-heels away from them, rolling backwards and catching himself in the air. He floated up to face them.
"That was clever," he said, grinning. "Well, such a low-power attack didn't really hurt much, but I appreciate the effort. You did at least break my scouter," he indicated the smashed device on his face, before hurling it into the sea, "but I've already measured your strength and it's not nearly enough to defeat me. Of course, I appreciate the effort—it's not every day I actually have to pay attention to win." He rushed forwards, punching both his opponents simultaneously and sending them flying backwards. "Come on, you can do better than that!"
Piccolo blocked a punch to his chest, jumping up and backwards. He began to charge energy in one of his hands, but thinking about this he momentarily lost track of his opponent. Nappa appeared above him, using both fists to hammer him downwards. Piccolo hit the water and rocketed straight down into the seabed. The ripples faded, and the water stilled. A hush fell as Nappa hovered a few feet above the ocean, glancing around. "That's funny," he muttered to himself, "his power level just disappeared. I couldn't have killed him with that attack, so he must be hiding it—" Piccolo, having leapt up behind him, kicked the saiyan brute full force in the back, launching him back towards the island. Nappa hit the ground in a massive cloud of sand, and climbed back to his feet. "You know, that's gonna take forever to get out of my armour…" he grumbled, looking up at the hovering Namek. "All right, come on!"
Krillin and Yamcha dodged away from the madly attacking Saibamen. "Three on two is not good odds!" Krillin said, ducking under an attacker. "Hey Yamcha, I think I have a technique that'll take care of these guys, but not if they're coming after us like this! Can you hold them for a bit?"
"Leave it to me!" Yamcha stepped between Krillin and the Saibamen, a ball of energy rising from his upturned palm. "Spirit ball—go!" The ball flew at the Saibamen, scattering them, then as Yamcha gestured in different directions, it chased them around the room, keeping them busy as Krillin charged energy in both his hands.
"All right!" He fired a slow-moving beam which stopped in the middle of the room, then split into three. Each beam arced towards one of the distracted Saibamen, vapourising them in mid-air. "Heh…I hope the old man has insurance on this place…" Krillin looked around at the half-destroyed house.
"What would we tell the company?" Yamcha asked. "That little green men from outer space wrecked it?"
Krillin scratched his head. "Good point…"
"Okay!" Goku tapped Raditz on the shoulder. "We need to make sure we're working together, or we don't have a chance."
"Agreed. We're not going to win like this. The only other option would be to stall and wait for your human friend to arrive, but I'm not sure if he'll make a difference here."
"We can only hope…" Goku readied himself. "Until then, we're on our own. We've been training together for a year now. We know each other's moves, our styles—we should be able to link our attacks and catch him off-guard." Vegeta appeared behind them, startling them both.
"Making plans, eh? It's no use, you know—no matter how much training you do, whatever clever stratagem you have—I represent something you will never surpass. Low-class warriors like yourselves have no chance against an elite!" Goku and Raditz both threw close-range punches, and Vegeta caught one in each hand, smiling. "Try harder." The brothers nodded at each other, and attacked. Goku kicked at Vegeta's legs while Raditz swung his elbow at the prince's face. Vegeta caught Goku's foot, but had to leap aside to dodge Raditz's attack, leaving him disorientated. Before he could recover, they appeared in front of him, both punching him in the stomach. He coughed up blood, doubling over, and Raditz kicked him away. Goku appeared behind Vegeta as he hurtled back, but the prince hurled an energy blast, knocking Goku out of his way. Vegeta righted himself, breathing heavily, a vein throbbing angrily on his forehead. "You…dare!"
Piccolo lunged at Nappa, but the saiyan stepped out of the way, painfully wrenching Piccolo's arm and twisting it almost to breaking point. The Namek swivelled around, pulling his arm out of the hold, and fired a full-power energy blast at point-blank range. The explosion vapourised the water for half a mile back, practically deafening Piccolo. "Huh..ah…huh…" he tried to regain his breath, then stared in shock as the smoke cleared. Nappa stood there, almost unharmed—armour chipped in a few places, but essentially unaffected by the attack. One hand was held in front of his face to protect his scouter from damage.
"You know, Vegeta said you were about equal to me." Nappa dusted himself off. "And sure, your power is impressive, but I don't think you have the stamina to keep up."
"Shut up!" Piccolo growled, rushing forwards. Nappa punched him in the chest, stopping his charge, then kicked him into the air, sending him flying clean over the house.
"See? No stamina."
Krillin and Yamcha looked around, but saw no sign of any Saibamen. "Did we get them all?" Krillin asked cautiously.
"I..think so…" Yamcha headed for the door. "Well, let's go check on the others."
"Right." They walked out onto the beach, just in time to see Piccolo flying over their heads. "Well, that can't be good—huh?" Krillin's ki sense warned him slightly too late, and he turned to see the all-too-familiar sight of a leaping Saibaman. Yamcha, too, only saw it as it was almost on them, without time to react. However, inches away from them, it was knocked out of the air and flew into the sea. The human fighters turned to see their saviour.
A small boy with scruffy black hair and a monkey-like tail, wearing an orange martial arts uniform and with a short red staff on his back, stood on the beach next to them. "Leave them alone!" he shouted, launching a barrage of energy waves which crashed into the sea, detonating underwater and engulfing the Saibaman.
"G-Gohan?" Krillin asked, peering at the boy. "That you?"
"Yeah! I remember you!" Gohan smiled. "You're Dad's friends, aren't you?"
"So this is Goku's kid…" Yamcha crouched down. "Thanks for the help, little guy. That thing came pretty close to getting us both."
Gohan nodded. "My mom said I shouldn't be out fighting, or I might get hurt, but I wanted to see! Is…is it okay if I stay here?"
"I guess," Krillin said, shrugging, "but try to stay out of trouble, okay? Those two saiyans are way out of our league."
Vegeta snarled at Goku and Raditz. "You think you're so clever, eh? You're nothing! Just low-class, renegade scum! I am the prince of all saiyans! I cannot lose to the likes of you!"
"All evidence to the contrary," Raditz replied, grinning.
"This will not stand!" Vegeta held his arms out straight to either side, and fire blazed in the palms of his hands. "Remember this technique, Raditz?!" He swung his arms forwards, throwing a volley of fireballs.
"Kakarot, dodge!" Raditz flew to one side, and Goku sped away in the opposite direction. Vegeta kept up his bombardment as they dodged and twisted out of the way. As soon as they were far enough from each other, he stopped firing, and appeared in front of Goku, punching him away, before dashing over to Raditz, faster than their senses could follow and kicking him in the side, his foot raking painfully against Raditz's ribs.
"You see?" He shifted to a low stance as his opponents tried to recover. "Now, in case you still don't comprehend the impossibility of your task, allow me to show you the full power of a saiyan elite!"
Hey, everyone-I'm back from holiday, and as promised I have a schedule. I plan to publish a chapter on Wednesdays and one on Sundays for the moment. If I become busier, that could drop to one of those days a week, but I'll always aim to make both.
I hope you've enjoyed the start of the battle with the saiyans-this is the longest chapter so far, and it's been a while in the writing. I also hope that my somewhat different approach to the battle than canon DBZ-the various fights all happening at once, as opposed to working their way up through Saibamen, then Nappa, then Vegeta-works out well. It's mainly due to Piccolo being more powerful than in DBZ, and there being somebody to challenge Vegeta straight off the bat.
One question here:
Q: How Nappa and Vegeta react to Raditz siding with the z-fighters?
A: Well, you saw some of their reaction here, but the next chapter will have some more of Vegeta interacting with them. Remember that Vegeta's indifference at the start of the chapter-his quick decision to kill them-was before they started fighting.
And power levels for this chapter:
Gohan (calm): 1000
Gohan (attacking the Saibaman): 1500 to 2000
Saibamen: 1200 each
Yamcha: 1480
Krillin: 1770
Piccolo: 4000
Nappa: 4000
Goku: 6000
Raditz: 12,000
Vegeta: 18,000
Hooray for double-digit power levels. As always, if you disagree with me about any of these, put it in a review or private message, and I'll reply.