Chapter 8: The Warrior from Otherworld
"How d'you think they're doing, guys?" Bulma asked nervously, pacing up and down the room. She was in the Capsule Corp headquarters, where she'd met up with Roshi, Launch, Chi-Chi and Ox-King.
"It's hard to tell…" Roshi muttered. He could sense ki, but the others were all wearing reverse-engineered scouters Bulma had given them. "The news crews are still at the landing site and the destroyed city—they haven't traced the saiyans to Kame House yet, so we can't see what's going on…"
"Well, I don't think any of them have been killed, so there's something." Bulma fiddled with her scouter. "I mean, I measured everyone's power levels while they were training, so the six thousand is Goku and the twelve thousand is Raditz. The two smaller ones are Krillin and Yamcha, and the four and eighteen thousand are the saiyan invaders, 'cause they came from the direction of the destroyed city…" she scratched her head. "So I guess the other four thousand reading must be Piccolo. I never got the chance to scan him—he was way too hard to track down."
"That doesn't explain everything." Launch, still in her blonde/aggressive state, frowned. "I mean, just as the battle started, six little power levels appeared, and then disappeared. Then another one appeared, and it keeps jumping all over the place."
"I'm sure everything will be just fine, you guys." The Ox-King waved a reassuring hand. "They've never let us down before."
Chi-Chi bit her lip. "I don't know…that one saiyan is as strong as Goku and Raditz put together!" She put her head in her hands. "Oh, Goku…come home safe…"
Nappa hovered above Kame House, waiting for Piccolo to resurface from underwater. "Namek…Oh, Namek…come on, big green, I haven't got all day…" No response. "Ah well. First, I'll get this out of the way…" He pointed one finger at Kame House, and it exploded, pieces of charred wood scattering in all directions and sinking into the ocean. "That's better." He dropped to the ground, feet sinking slightly into the sand. The huge saiyan noticed Gohan, Yamcha and Krillin cowering on the beach, and gave a cruel smile. "Oh, I'll get to you—just wait right there. But first, I've got to…huh?" His scouter started beeping frantically. "That must be the Namekian, but…that's some crazy power…"
Piccolo emerged from the sea, two fingers held up in front of his forehead, teeth gritted and sweat pouring down his forehead. "All right, saiyan, let's see you stand up to this!" Electric bolts of light started flaring around his fingertips. "I've concentrated all of my energy into a single point!" Waves of force rolled out from his body. Whole schools of fish were flash-fried as the water around them boiled.
"Bring it on!" Nappa grinned. "I don't think you can sustain such a high-power attack—by the time it hits me, it'll lose most of its energy!"
"If you think so…" Piccolo thrust his arm forward, a beam of yellow, spiralling energy emerging. "SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!" Nappa realised his mistake too late, as the attack shot straight for him faster than he could avoid it.
At the last moment, Vegeta hurled himself down towards Nappa, moving easily at least twice as fast as Piccolo's attack. "DODGE, you imbecile!" He kicked his larger comrade out of the way of the blast, and it sped by, knocking a chunk out of Nappa's armour. Vegeta turned to see Goku and Raditz charging at him. "Hurry up and deal with these pests!" he snarled, launching himself back into the sky.
Nappa turned back to Piccolo—the Namekian was breathing heavily, completely exhausted. "Well," Nappa said, smirking, "you have pretty good energy control. If Vegeta hadn't intervened, I'd have lost my head. Too bad for you. Now," sparks started to build around his body, "my turn. Raaaaah…" The ground shook as Nappa's power built up within him. Piccolo's reactions were still sharp, tired as he was, and he knew he had to attack before his enemy had finished preparing his attack. Piccolo leapt forward, throwing a punch at Nappa's throat, but the saiyan caught it in one hand, and with the other he dealt Piccolo a devastating blow to the side of the head. Piccolo staggered back, clutching at his aching skull.
"Hey, Namek!" Nappa lifted his head, then threw it forwards, a yellow energy beam bursting out of his mouth. "YAAAH!" Piccolo looked up just in time to see the oncoming attack, and the blast hit him full-on. A huge smoke cloud formed, and when it blew away, Piccolo was still standing. At first it appeared he'd survived somehow.
"Damn…you…saiyans…" he growled, then stumbled, fell, and lay still. "I'll…revenge…" He fell silent.
Nappa wiped his mouth. "Hey, not bad! He lasted longer than I expected. Now then," he turned to Yamcha, Krillin and Gohan, still staring at him in shock, "who's next?"
In the air, Vegeta again faced Raditz and Goku, smiling slightly. "My sincerest apologies. I believe before I left I said something about showing you the full extent of my power?"
"Hmph." Raditz didn't see the point. "We get it, you're powerful. Well, we're strong too—why don't we show you?" He raised his guard.
Vegeta grinned. "Oh, I'm sure you are. But nowhere near this!" He spread his limbs outward, then sent out a huge wave of power.
"What the—" Goku shielded himself. "All that energy…it just came out of nowhere!" Storm clouds gathered, and a hurricane-force wind picked up. Tsunami-sized waves flung themselves outwards, and at the centre of the maelstrom hovered the saiyan prince, flinging around massive amounts of energy like it was nothing. Across the sea, whole buildings collapsed as tremors ran through the earth. Abruptly, Vegeta lowered his hands, and the storm died down. Silence fell.
"Now," he asked them, "do you see what you are up against? Now do you realise that it is impossible to overcome such power?"
"Well, uh…" Raditz was visibly shaken. "That is, ah, quite impressive."
"Yeah." Goku had been pushed back by the force of Vegeta's power, and had only just flown back up to him. "I really can't believe this guy…"
"Of course." Vegeta clenched his fists. "I could destroy this whole planet if I wanted to. And now that you know it's futile to fight me…let me make you an offer. Come with me. Rejoin the saiyan race! Think of the worlds we can conquer together! The battles we can fight, the glories we can win! Either of you would serve me much better than Nappa…"
"No way!" Goku gestured down at the planet. "Raditz already made me the same offer—and I've got everything I need right here! What you do is just wrong, no question!"
"Hmm. I expected that from you—you're an Earthling through and through now. One of the 'good guys'." Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "But…how about you, Raditz? I was going to kill you for incompetence, but with such a high power level that'd just be a waste now. You only allied with these lesser beings out of necessity. Join me! Together, we can dispose of this renegade trash Kakarot, cleanse and sell this world, and carve out an empire!"
"Heh…heh heh…" Raditz seemed to be laughing.
"Eh? What's funny?!" The prince growled.
"You know…" Raditz looked up at Vegeta. "You almost had me there. I was seriously considering accepting your offer. But…" His eyes narrowed. "That 'renegade trash' you're talking about is my brother! You want me to turn on him like that?!" He spread his arms out, building energy and igniting his aura. "Go to hell!"
Nappa advanced slowly towards the two human fighters, who stood shielding Gohan. "Oh, man," Krillin moaned, "that guy just killed Piccolo! We're doomed…"
"Not yet we're not!" Yamcha took a step forwards. "We took those green guys out, and there were six of 'em! I know we can take this one! Let's try our most powerful techniques right off the bat—don't want to take any chances."
"Okay." Krillin nodded to Gohan. "You might want to stay behind us, kid." He put one hand in the air, palm up, as Yamcha held his hand out in front of his face.
"KIENZAN—HAA!"
"Spirit Ball—go!"
The two attacks arced their way towards Nappa, who grinned. His scouter warned him about Krillin's razor-edged disc of ki, so he jumped over it, but he grabbed Yamcha's attack between both hands and—
"Did he just eat my Spirit Ball?" Yamcha asked, incredulous. Nappa landed in front of them.
"Hey, not bad! Anything else you wanna try before you die?" He kicked Krillin in the chest, the short warrior flying away and landing face-down in the sand next to Gohan. Yamcha grimaced.
"All right, that does it! You can't just toss us around like we're some kind of joke! Wolf Fang Fist!" He leapt at Nappa, but the saiyan caught both of his swinging hands, and headbutted him into the ground beside Krillin.
"Apparently I can."
The humans climbed to their feet. "Ow…somebody get the number of that truck…" Yamcha rubbed his head. "All right, we're not finished yet!"
"Right!" Krillin looked at Gohan. "Hey Gohan, did your dad ever teach you the Kamehameha technique?" Gohan nodded anxiously. "All right—think you can try it now? We're both gonna fire, so we want to add all our power together!"
"Right!" Gohan turned to face Nappa, and the three defenders of the Earth cupped their hands by their sides, focusing all their energy into a single point.
"KA…ME…HA…ME…" They all said together.
"Ooh, this should be fun." Nappa stretched his shoulder muscles. "Let's see it!"
"HAAA!" The three blue beams shot at Nappa, meeting just in front of him and colliding with the saiyan brute as one. For a moment, the light from their attack blocked out everything. Then, they began to see movement. Nappa was striding forward through their attack, pushing it back. He kept walking, completely unfazed, until he was standing inches away. Then he just stood still until they finally ran out of energy and their beams faded and died down.
Nappa stood towering above them, smoke rising from his ruined armour, his scouter smashed. "Hey, I almost felt that one." He grabbed Krillin by the head, lifting him clean into the air. "But I'm getting bored now, so I figure it's time to finish this." He effortlessly twisted Krillin's head a hundred and eighty degrees, snapping his neck like a twig. Still smiling, he dumped the body at Yamcha's feet. "You're next, Scar-Face, but I thought I'd give you a minute to soak it up."
Yamcha stood motionless, trying to speak. "N…no…Krillin…y…you…" He shrank back in fear of Nappa. Gohan, now in front of Yamcha, stared down at Krillin's lifeless body. His shoulders shook, and tears rolled down from his eyes. It wasn't that Krillin had been a great friend-he'd only seen him twice in his life-but Gohan had simply never seen anyone die before. "You…YOU KILLED HIM!" It wasn't the most eloquent of battle-cries, but coming from a child of five, it was enough. Gohan charged forward, slamming his shoulder into Nappa's gut. The half-saiyan child jumped up as Nappa doubled over wheezing in pain, smashing both fists into Nappa's face. Nappa howled and staggered backwards, and Gohan kicked him straight back into the water.
"What the…" Yamcha stared in disbelief. "Gohan?!"
Raditz charged at Vegeta, landing a solid punch to the prince's jaw. As Vegeta spun round, Raditz, still in a rage, grabbed him by his hair and smashed Vegeta's face into his knee. Before he could land another blow, Vegeta spun out of his grasp, raining punches on Raditz and knocking him away. Vegeta stood upright in the air. "Well, Raditz, I didn't think you had it in you…" As Raditz was about to reply, Goku interrupted.
"Gohan! What's he doing down there?" He flew down towards the island at full speed. "I've got to get him out of here—" Vegeta intercepted, appearing in front of Goku and kicking him away. "Oh, no you don't." Vegeta laughed a little, noticing Gohan's tail. "So, you've got a son on this planet? Well…let's see how well he does against Nappa, shall we? Your human friends, too." They hovered there, in a stand-off, watching events unfold. But the tension snapped when Krillin died. Goku flew at Vegeta, uncaring of the odds. "KRILLIN!" Raditz charged in after his brother, joining the brutal combat. For every blow they struck, Vegeta would give them two or three each in return. Every time Goku broke away to help his son, the prince blocked his way. "Damn you!" Goku yelled. "Hold on, Gohan!"
Gohan was breathing heavily, almost unable to believe he had just fought like that. But before he could fully recover, Nappa leapt back onto dry land, shaking water off himself like a dog. "Well! The kid's got spirit!" He raised one gigantic fist. "Maybe a little too much…" Gohan trembled in fear.
"Gohan! No!" Goku tried to reach them, but Vegeta knocked him away again, spinning to face Raditz.
Nappa's fist swung downwards—"DODON RAY!" A narrow beam of yellow light slammed into the side of Nappa's face, knocking him flat on his back. Everyone turned in the direction the attack had come from. A bald, three-eyed man stood on the beach, one smoking finger held out in front of him.
"T-Tien?" Goku's face lit up. "Tien! It is you! I can't tell you how glad I am to see you! Wow, you must have been hiding your energy real well—none of us even knew you were coming."
Tien's stern expression lightened. "It's good to see you all too. I'm sorry I took so long to get here—it could have been even longer, but luckily I remembered how long it would take me to get back down Snake Way, and left early."
"Uh…" Goku blinked. "Snake in the what now?"
Vegeta stared at the newcomer. This can't be…the human that died defending Raditz? Proof that the Dragon Balls do work, at least…
Nappa pulled himself to his feet. "I'll tell you the whole story later," Tien said, nodding to Goku.
"Why, you…" Nappa rubbed his cheek. "I don't know where you came from, but you're gonna regret that!" He made a grab at Tien, but swung at thin air, stumbling forward. "Hey, what the—" Tien now stood behind him. He ignored Nappa, walking over to Yamcha and Gohan. He noticed Krillin's body.
"Damn it!" He clenched his fists. "I was still too late!"
Yamcha indicated the water where Piccolo's body floated. "He got Piccolo too…"
Tien glared at Nappa. "Which means the Dragon Balls are useless! And even if they weren't, Krillin's already been wished back—it won't work again!" He strode towards the massive saiyan. "You're going to pay for this!"
"Shut up! You're nothing compared to us!" Nappa lashed out, but Tien caught his fist in one hand.
"Well, I can't say much for your speed…" he smiled. "But you look pretty resilient. Beating you could take a while, so I think I'll speed things up a bit."
He shifted to a lower stance, concentrating all his power at once. A flame-red aura blazed into life around him. "KAIOKEN!" Moving even faster than before, he started hammering away at Nappa, easily countering the blundering counterattacks and raining precision strikes all over Nappa's body. After a few seconds the saiyan could take it no more, launching a wave of energy in every direction which staggered Tien back. Tien jumped over Nappa, landing behind him. "All right, I need to finish this—KAIOKEN TIMES TWO!" He became a blur and disappeared. Nappa glanced around frantically, and a fraction of a second later, something impacted with his back. There was an audible crack as his spine gave way, and Nappa toppled to the ground, his face twisted in agony. Tien reappeared in front of him, his red aura fading.
"What the—what was that?" Raditz asked in disbelief. "He was almost as fast as me for a second there—and for a mere human…" Tien floated up next to Goku and Raditz.
"It's a technique King Kai taught me in the Otherworld. The Kaioken—it multiplies my strength, but I have to be careful, or it could damage my body if I use it too much. He said especially to never use it to more than double my power."
"But that's incredible!" Goku laughed. "Using that Kaio-thingy, you've surpassed me! All together, we might have a chance of beating Vegeta!"
Vegeta was speechless. A power high enough to crush Nappa…in a mere human…what was he?! Tien turned his three-eyed gaze on the prince. "Vegeta, right? Hey, Goku, Raditz—why don't you give me a shot at him?" He stepped in front of the saiyan brothers, before turning back for a moment. "Oh, and Raditz—good to see you on our side. You don't have to be like them." He focused back on Vegeta. "Now, you…let me show you the true strength of humanity." Tien was a realist—he'd felt Vegeta's power all the way from Kami's Lookout, and he'd seen him toss around Goku and Raditz like they were amateurs. And because of his Tri-Beam technique, he had experience with pushing his body to the limit, so hopefully he could manage this. Sorry, King Kai… he thought grimly. "KAIOKEN TIMES THREE!" Power exploded around his body, and Tien dashed in, the sudden burst of speed surprising Vegeta. A flurry of punches sent him flying backwards, and Tien spun around behind his opponent.
"Incredible…" Raditz couldn't believe his eyes. "He's more powerful than I am!"
A kick to the stomach sent Vegeta flying, and Tien raced forwards, pressing his advantage. However, Vegeta vanished before Tien's next attack connected. He appeared above Tien, crashing into him with both feet and knocking him away. Tien flipped upright, his aura evaporating.
The prince wiped blood from his face. "You will pay for that, human!" He resumed his stance. "Now, if you're done showing off, I've gotten over my surprise, and even with that boost, It'll still be easy to wipe all three of you from this world!" He flew at his three enemies, and battle re-joined.
Gohan and Yamcha stared up at the high-speed combat. "Wow," Yamcha muttered, "look at 'em go!"
"Can we win?" Gohan asked, wide-eyed.
"I don't know." Yamcha squinted, trying to keep up. "Whatever that attack of Tien's was, it must have drained him, 'cause he's stopped using it. And even with three of 'em, that Vegeta guy's picking them apart. They just can't match his speed…"
At Capsule Corp, everyone was thoroughly confused. "Uh…" Bulma hesitated. "Both of the four thousand power levels have vanished, so I guess one of the saiyans is down, but so is Piccolo…"
"That could be a good thing, y'know," Launch pointed out. "I mean, Piccolo was pretty evil too—he was only fighting for us 'cause he had to."
"Yeah…I guess. Anyway, what worries me is I'm not picking up Krillin's power anymore, and suddenly there's this big new one, which has been jumping up and down—sometimes almost as high as that other saiyan!"
"Oh…" Ox-King shifted nervously. "You don't think Krillin is…is…"
"I just don't know." Bulma sighed. "This far away, if he fell unconscious, or was just really tired, it wouldn't pick him up at all—so it's impossible to tell until the battle is over."
Chi-Chi folded her arms. "Well, I'm just glad I stopped them sending my Gohan out there! Can you imagine my poor little boy fighting aliens at his age? No, it's better if he just keeps up his studies. There are more ways to make the world a better place than fighting, you know."
"Yeah…I guess…" Bulma answered. Not really relevant…
Vegeta grabbed hold of Goku's leg and swung him away into Raditz, sending both saiyans flying away in a tangle of limbs. Tien hung in the air in front of Vegeta, struggling to think past the pain from the beating he'd just taken. "Well, that was quite a dramatic entrance," Vegeta told him, "but I think it's fair to say you haven't quite lived up to the hype. After what you did to Nappa, I was expecting more of a fight…well, I guess you are only a human."
Tien scowled at him. How is it possible for somebody so strong to exist? Even a Kaioken times three didn't faze him…well. I guess there's only one option. He closed his eyes, summoning up his strength, his third eye always remaining open, staring at Vegeta. Goku and Raditz separated, looking over at Tien as steam rose from his body. The ocean started to evaporate beneath him, creating a whirlpool of boiling water. Please, body! He thought. Don't fail me now! "Yaaaah…KAIOKEN…TIMES FOUR!"
On King Kai's planet, the blue-skinned deity's antenna pricked up. "Times WHAT?!"
Goku and Raditz saw only a flash of red as Tien slammed into Vegeta. The human warrior knocked Vegeta back and forth, one way and the other, past them and back again, much faster than their senses could follow. The fighters reappeared mere feet away in front of them, Tien kicking Vegeta away into the air. Tien relaxed, his aura disappearing. Veins stood out all over him. Sweat rolled down his body. He gasped for breath. "Take…that…you overgrown monkey…" Goku steadied his friend.
"Take it easy, Tien! You did great…"
"Hold that thought." Raditz tapped Goku on the shoulder, pointing to Vegeta, who was just starting to recover from Tien's ferocious assault. He hovered shakily in the air, one eye half-closed from a vicious elbow to his forehead. Bruises, cracks in his armour and dripping blood dotted his body.
"I…will not stand for this!" He roared. "I will not be beaten…by you…HUMAN!" He launched himself into the air, coming to a halt several hundred metres above the Earth. "Feel free to dodge this attack! If it hits the ground, it'll destroy your whole planet!"
"What?!" Raditz gasped. "Vegeta, are you insane?! You'll die with us!"
"That…is the difference between us!" Vegeta started to glow with purple energy. "I am a true saiyan! I will sacrifice anything for my pride! What do you know of honour?" He raised his hands next to his head. "GALICK GUN…"
"Kakarot!" Raditz charged energy in both his hands. "Human person! Prepare to deflect his attack!"
"You don't need to tell me!" Goku focused his power. "KA…ME…HA…ME…"
Tien raised his hands. "I don't have much energy left—but I'll give what I have! TRI-BEAM…"
The three warriors released their attacks simultaneously. "HAAAAH!"
Vegeta, seeing the oncoming beam, threw his hands forward. "FIRE!"
As always, thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know a lot of people have been looking forward to Tien's arrival, so here it is—hoping I handled it well.
And oh wow, questions to answer. So many questions to answer this time. Well, here goes.
Q: But one thing Nappa most likely is stronger then 4k. Team Four Star believes Nappa to be 6k, and Salagir believes him to be 7. The reasoning being if you read the Manga and even watch the Anime Goku expresses that Nappa is tougher then he thought and that without Kaioken it would take a long time to defeat him. This reflects that Goku is over 8k in power and if Nappa was only 7k then Goku fighting Calmly and tactically will always succeed against a Tired Nappa fighting out of Anger. This came to a head when Goku only barely stops Nappa's Chou Makou with his Kamehameha.
A: Nappa's 4000 is, in my mind, an overall representation of his ki, strength, speed, and so on. To me, he didn't seem to have much ki control, speed and so on relative to his PL, but it was still enough to defeat his vastly underpowered opponents. However, his stamina and resilience was much higher than the 4000 level, allowing him to take many hits from Goku and remain standing. (Plus, Goku's kamehameha is normally stronger-he had almost no time to charge it against Nappa). So this lower speed and higher toughness balance out at 4000, in my opinion.
Q: But I believe Goku should be much more tired and take much more damage if he is participating in this fight. As each hit Vegeta deals to Goku should be enourmas.
A: Well, I think in chapter 7, he was testing their strength—seeing as he made the offer he did, I don't think he'd want to kill them yet. And since finding out they won't go with him, he didn't have much time to fight them before Tien arrived.
Q: I personally believe Piccolo was probably a little over 4k in the default canon, so I think he should be tougher if he was 1.8k when Raditz Landed and he fought all out against Raditz.
A: According to the Shonen Jump scan I have, Piccolo was around 3000 in canon. He may have done less intense training in my story during that year because he wasn't as afraid of the saiyans (having already outclassed Raditz) and, well, he was also using some of the time to develop his Special Beam Cannon technique—something which, in-canon, he didn't have to devote as much time to; he already had it. So, he got a smaller boost from the training, but due to starting it a lot more powerful, he ended up a little higher than in canon. Also, exactly how much a given character can improve is not an exact science, and depends as much on what would make a good story as on logic (though don't worry-I use logic too).
Q: And it feels less significant with this explanation of Gohan being trained by Goku/Raditz. It seems their training shouldn't be as effective as Piccolo's, who absolutely knew of Gohan's power. Their is less emotional significance with this Gohan upbringing.
A: Goku and Raditz's training may well not have been as effective as Piccolo's. The most we've seen of his power so far was 1500-2500, whereas in canon it was up to 2800 against Nappa, maybe higher against Vegeta due to wanting to help his father so emotions and whatnot.
Q: I also feel they wouldn't have enough Sensu beans to do the training you decided. After all in Canon we only had 2 read for Goku when he arrived.
A: Ah...yeah. Well, I guess. That is quite possibly true. But looking at it now, if they hadn't been able to power up as much, either they'd have been almost equal to Nappa and Vegeta would have slaughtered them, or they'd have been even weaker and we'd have had a repeat of Three Episodes of Nappa Kills Everybody Until the Cavalry Arrives. I don't just want to repeat every canon battle with slightly different characters. Oh, plus the boost I gave them isn't much greater than the boost the human fighters got in-canon during that year, explained in more detail in the answer to the next question.
Q: The battle is very exciting, all the characters are being well explored and they all have their chance to shine! But some of the power levels are a bit... strange. How could Goku get almost as strong in the canon, since he didn't train with King Kai (and, through that, in a higher gravity)? And Raditz, how could he get almost ten times stronger after one year of training? Did he never train before in his life, lol?
Just some quick calculations: Raditz, as shown in the Bardock Special, as already (at least) a teenager when Goku was born, so let's say he was 15. When he arrives in Earth, Goku is already 24 or 25 years old (I'm not sure), so Raditz is about 40. He was a frontline warrior for many decade, and since saiyans have the zenkai ability, surely he was always getting stronger. And I bet saiyans didn't just sit on their asses when they weren't fighting!
What I'm trying to say is: Raditz got waaaaay too strong in this short period of time.
A: Well, in canon training for the saiyans, Tien went from 250 to 1830-between 5 and 10 times his power. Krillin and Yamcha got similar boosts, and Piccolo went all the way from 408 to 3500! This without zenkais-so I gave Goku and Raditz a slightly larger increase than the humans. Plus, while he'd been fighting all his life, it's very rare to get an entire, uninterrupted year dedicated solely to training. So it'd probably have some serious results.
Also, I'd have to disagree about Raditz's age. He wasn't in the Bardock TV Special as far as I know, so I assume you're talking about DB Multiverse's Bardock Special—first, that's not exactly canon, and second, he only looked about 7-12 to me. I'd put Raditz at only a few years above Goku—about Vegeta's age. (Anyway, I sent a private message explaining the power levels bit to the person who left this review, and they agreed it made sense. The age thing, I only just thought of.)
Q: So about the power levels, I'm wondering why Goku is still at half of Raditz's strength... He's been training as vigorously as Raditz... Has he not been taking advantages of the Zenkais?
A: I got a couple of questions about this, and the answer is simple: He started out lower. They've been doing the same training, and Raditz started it much more powerful than Goku. Actually-and this was due to me trying to show Goku's incredible hidden potential-Goku's improved more than Raditz, by quite a lot. Pre-training, Goku was less than a third of Raditz's strength; now, at half of it, he's catching up.
Q: How could Goku get almost as strong in the canon, since he didn't train with King Kai (and, through that, in a higher gravity)?
A: I sort of answered this above, but in addition to all that, Goku didn't use zenkais to their full advantage in canon, not knowing about them (though I'm sure they still helped somewhat, whether he knew about them or not). Plus, he spent quite a bit of time learning the Kaioken and Spirit Bomb—in this story, he didn't learn those difficult and time-consuming techniques. No, that's Tien's job in Break Through the Limit.
And finally, I have three people asking similar questions (well, one of them isn't exactly a question, but it's along similar lines to the other two):
Q: Also, you'll have to find a female to Raditz if you ever go into the Cell games, and since Bulma is going to be with default boy Yamcha (if Vegeta hopefully is permanetly killed in Namek) then I suggest... I don't know how about Lunch?In fact, if you pair Raditz with Lunch you'll have my undying loyalty for this fic because it would be (at last) something different around here.
Q: Are you going to pair Raditz with Launch? That's just how it appears. After all, it like Roshi said. How come Launch gets called by name and Roshi just gets called old man?
Q: I also like the subtle hints that the Shy Launch might have a crush on Raditz.
A: Spoilers spoilers spoilers.
Oh, yeah, somebody also said I might want to stop posting power levels, eh, I'll continue putting them here while they're still manageable. If we get into the hundreds of millions territory, that might be when I stop. But I'll still be consistent—X character is stronger than Y character, like in the second half of DBZ once they gave up on the numerical system. So, speaking of which:
Gohan (angry, fighting Nappa)—2000 to 2500
Tien—5000
Tien (Kaioken x4)—20,000
And finally, because I forgot to mention this last time, I now have chapter titles! For some reason I had difficulty coming up with chapter 4's title, which was irritating because at the time it was one of the most popular chapters (in terms of views/reviews), but anyway, they're here now. About time.
Oh, and one more question:
Q: Are Vegeta and Nappa (in the off chance he wins against Piccolo) use Raditz and Gohan's tails against them? Because they have yet to strengthen them.
A: FIND OUT NEXT TIME, ON DRAGON BALL Z!