Chapter 9: The Last Hope

Thought I'd put this before the chapter today, as it worries me.

Reviewer: You lost me at the introduction of "Canon Sue" Ten Shin Han in this chapter.

Oh well. Good luck and all that. I won't be reading again.

Me: I want to know. Is this right? Is Tien showing Sue-ish tendencies in this story? Is the line between having a character do something cool and having them steal the show that fine? If so, tell me. Because I don't want to do that. I mean, he's barely half DBZ Goku's power after King Kai's training, and is still weaker than Break Through the Limit Goku without Kaioken. Or maybe it's his personality and presentation they were talking about…I digress, I wrote the thing, so I'm going to be really bad at spotting this kind of thing. So: Is this person right about this? I mean, I don't have plans to make Tien the main character or anything. It's a story about Goku and Raditz. Other reviews of chapter 8 were positive, so I don't know. What's annoying is they were guest-reviewing or something (I confess to not knowing much about how this site works); so I can't send them a message to ask specifically what they think I did wrong.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled energy beam clash.

The gigantic purple beam of energy raced down towards the Earth, only to be met by the opposing attack, a blend of Raditz, Goku and Tien's attacks—red, blue and yellow. The explosion when the two beams collided sent out such massive waves of force the island Kame House had stood on completely sank beneath the waves. Tidal waves of unprecedented scale swept the coasts on all sides of the ocean which the battle was being fought on. News crews, hurrying to track down the aliens, found their helicopters grounded. At Capsule Corp, all the reverse-engineered scouters being used to track the battle exploded simultaneously, unable to handle the massive energy spike. All over the world, delicate scientific instruments scanning for electromagnetic waves suffered fatal malfunctions, sometimes detonating violently.

Goku struggled to keep pushing his ki forward, but maintaining his Kamehameha was an uphill struggle—even with all three of them working together, Vegeta's attack was beginning to push its way downwards—they were losing.

Raditz grinned. "At least I'll die…knowing I was right about just how conceited…this guy is…"

"Huh? What's that?" Goku found it difficult to concentrate on Raditz talking, with all the effort he was putting into his blast, but he tried to focus.

"'Galick Gun'…Galick was a great saiyan hero…he claimed to be descended from…the Super Saiyan…I can't believe Vegeta has the nerve…to compare himself with such a great warrior…" The three fighters started to sink lower in the air, trying to use as little ki as possible to fly, to put more into the struggle.

"Super…Saiyan?"

"I'll have to…tell you that one…in the next world…" Raditz turned back to face upwards, focusing on staying alive as long as possible. Goku grimaced. There didn't seem to be anything they could do—if they dodged out of the way, the Earth would be destroyed. "Tien!" Goku shouted. "Any chance you could…try that Kaio-whatever?"

"I don't think so!" Tien shouted back over the roar of Vegeta's steadily-approaching attack. "I've already pushed it way past the limit—my body has barely enough energy left to sustain this Tri-Beam as it is! I don't think I could do even the basic level Kaioken…"

"I know this is asking a lot of you, Tien, but you have to try! We'll all die anyway if you don't!"

"I…I don't know…it's too much…"

"Tien! Do you want Earth to be destroyed or what?!" Goku's eyes narrowed. He knew it sounded harsh, but it was the only way they could win. "Everyone will die! Chiaotzu! Do you want that for Chiaotzu? Does he deserve that?!"

Tien took a deep breath. All three of his eyes closed—a rare sight. He reached deep inside himself, summoning the last of his strength. "SAIYAN!" He yelled up at Vegeta. He didn't know if the prince could hear him, and he didn't care. "Even if it kills me…I can't let you win! YAAAAH!" The familiar flame-red aura exploded to life around him. The veins on his neck and forehead bulged angrily.

"We're with you, Tien!" Goku reassured him, redoubling his own efforts.

"Hurry up!" Raditz muttered shakily.

"KAIOKEN! TIMES! THREE!" There was a furious roar as power flooded out of Tien, pouring up into the combined beam and colliding with Vegeta's at full force.

Vegeta was grinning, almost laughing—at last, he'd created a situation these fools couldn't escape from. It was their planet or themselves, and of course they chose to die like heroes. "This is the end for all of you! There's nothing you can do now! Nothing left to…to…what is—" The colossal energy wave crashed into Vegeta, flinging him away into the sky, with one final scream of rage.

Tien collapsed, almost unconscious, and Goku caught him, holding his friend up in the air. "That was awesome! Nice work, Tien!" Tien gasped, drawing in ragged breaths as his muscles burned from the strain he'd put himself through.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news…" Raditz folded his arms, staring up at the sky. "…But I don't think that killed him."

"Are you serious?!" Goku's eyes widened in shock. "After that? Nobody could have survived it!"

"Vegeta could." Raditz scanned the sky above him for some sign of their enemy. "Never underestimate someone like that. But…he may be getting desperate…"

Vegeta hung in the air miles above, battered and bruised, smoke rising from small burns all over his body. "This…cannot be happening! I am the prince of my race! I should be able to crush this entire world! And yet these low-class warriors and this Earthling resist me!" His whole body shook with anger. "How can they? How…how dare they?! What right do they have to stand in my way? If I claim this world, they should obey me!" He hurled himself off through the air. "I WILL be immortal! I just need to find this world's moon…" Several minutes of searching yielded nothing. "What the…where is it? You can't just hide a damn moon!"

Raditz spun around as his ki sense flared up. "Here he comes!" Goku, still holding up Tien, turned in the direction Raditz was looking. "That's him all right…he's not gonna be happy…hey Tien, I think I'm going to have to fight. Can you fly on your own?" Goku looked down at the sea. "Otherwise you might have to swim…"

"I'll try…" Tien pushed away, holding himself in the air—a little shaky, but it was enough. "Okay…I can't fight, but I can hang here under my own power and leave you free…"

"All right. Raditz—you ready?"

"I don't think I've ever been ready to fight someone like Vegeta…" Raditz muttered.

Vegeta came to a halt in front of them. "I bet you're feeling pretty good about this battle right now. And maybe you thought destroying the moon would stop me transforming."

Goku took a second to realise what he was talking about. "Oh…that was Piccolo…"

"I don't care who it was! The point is…" he thrust one hand upwards, producing a pure-white ball of light. "…you haven't stopped me! This technique creates an artificial moon, which means nothing's changed! Once I transform, you're all going to die! Oh, and I wouldn't look too closely at it if I were you…" he grinned. "Only high-class fighters like myself have learned to control this form, so if you transformed you'd attack friend and foe alike—you wouldn't be helping your friends at all." The ball of light hovered in the air, and Vegeta stared up at it. "This battle is over!"

"His transformation will take a few seconds, right?" Goku frowned. Raditz had told him all about the saiyan transformation. "We've gotta think of something, or he'll kill us all!" Vegeta began to grow, reaching double his normal size in under a second.

Raditz glanced down at Gohan and Yamcha, staring up at the battle above. He remembered just in time—Gohan was part saiyan, too! "Gohan! Don't look up! Keep your head down—Vegeta's made an artificial moon, and you'll transform if you look!" Fur began to sprout all over Vegeta's body, and his face lengthened out into a snout.

"Right!" Gohan turned his gaze down to the ocean. "Hey Yamcha—I can't look at it, so will you tell me what's going on up there?"

Yamcha nodded. "Sure thing, kid."

Tien spoke up. "Goku, Raditz…there's something I could try. The other technique King Kai taught me—the Spirit Bomb."

"What's that?" Goku asked.

"It uses energy gathered from the entire world—every living thing, even the planet itself—to make an extremely powerful attack. I don't know if it'd stop Vegeta, but it's worth a shot."

"Then do it! Anything's worth a try if it'll help us win!" Raditz grinned. "We might have a chance!"

Tien stretched his hands out upwards, calming his mind. "The problem is, I'll need time to gather all the planet's energy, and I don't think we have much—uh…I think he's done…" Tien pointed, and the others looked around. Vegeta had finished his transformation, and was looking down at them with an evil grin.

"Now what will you do, insects?" He rumbled.

"Tien!" Raditz stared straight into the artificial moon. "You'll have your time! I'll hold Vegeta off!"

"But it's like he said—you won't be able to control yourself!" Goku started to panic. "How will you know who to attack?"

"The driving thought in my mind for the past year…" Raditz said, through gritted teeth which were already lengthening into fangs, "has been to beat Vegeta. Hopefully it's a strong enough drive to at least direct my anger when I transform…rgh…" He, too, began to grow, within ten seconds becoming a second gigantic monkey-like beast. "Raaagh!" Raditz's eyes narrowed, and he hurled himself at Vegeta.

"What?" Vegeta raised his massive arm to block the first thundering blow. "How is that…"

"He does remember!" Goku grinned. "Tien, how are you doing?"

"It'll take a couple of minutes, but I'm getting there." Tien smiled. "I hadn't realised how much energy this planet has—the Spirit Bomb will take care of Vegeta for sure!"

"All right…I just have to take care of something." Goku flew down to Gohan and Yamcha. "Hey, guys."

"This is intense!" Yamcha was still staring as Vegeta grappled with Raditz. "They've turned into giant apes!"

"Well, apes don't have tails…" Gohan pointed out.

"Oh, right." Yamcha rubbed the back of his head. "I knew that."

Goku put a hand on each of their shoulders. "You've both been really brave—thanks for all your help. But it's too dangerous here. I can't let my son get caught up in a battle like this. And Yamcha, I need you to look after Gohan. Will you do that for me?"

Yamcha laughed. "No need to hide it, Goku—this battle is far beyond me. You're just trying to be nice. But sure, I'll watch Gohan. C'mon," he said to Gohan, "let's get you back home. With any luck, your mom will never know you were gone!"

"Right…" Gohan took something off his back—a short red staff. He held it out to his father. "Take this, dad! I found it in your room at home, and it made me feel braver…'cause it reminded me of you…"

Goku took it. "My old Power Pole, huh?" It grew slightly longer to accommodate its larger wielder. "Thanks! Why don't I use it—to remind me of you!" He whirled the weapon around a bit. "It's been a while, huh?"

"Well, let's get going," Yamcha said. He and Gohan took off, heading for land.

Goku flew back up to Tien. "How's Raditz doing?" he asked.

"Not great." Tien indicated the transformed saiyans, trading blows which vibrated in the two onlookers' bones. "He's putting up a good fight, but Vegeta clearly has the advantage."

"I expected that," Goku replied. "Raditz told me that a saiyan gets ten times stronger when they transform—so since Vegeta started out more powerful, he's going to stay that way. Plus, having full control over the form lets Vegeta use his skill more efficiently—he's still able to plan and fight like an intelligent being."

"I think Raditz knew he'd lose…" Tien started to glow faintly with white light as he gathered energy from the planet. "He never planned to do anything more than buy me time for the Spirit Bomb…it's taking much longer to gather than I thought!" He grimaced. "I spent too much time practicing the Kaioken! It helped earlier, when I used it up to times four, but here it might mean my Spirit Bomb isn't finished in time, and Vegeta kills us all!"

Goku turned back to the battle. "Come on, Raditz…hold on a little longer…"

Vegeta sidestepped Raditz's lunge and grabbed the other saiyan's arm in both monstrous hands. He cruelly twisted it around, feeling the bones underneath snap under the pressure. Raditz howled and broke away, his arm hanging loose. Without warning, he shot a massive energy wave from his mouth which bowled Vegeta over. Raditz leapt after his enemy, but Vegeta caught him in mid-flight with his foot, then hammered both fists into Raditz's chest, ribs cracking with the force of the impact. Vegeta grinned, kicking Raditz down into the sea. After the massive impact of the monster hitting the water, there was nothing. The sea died down, and no movement came from underneath. Vegeta turned to the other two—they would be even easier to kill. Maybe he'd make Kakarot tell him how to find the Dragon Balls before killing him. Maybe not—there were bound to be others on this planet who knew.

"Damn!" Tien moaned. "Raditz is down, and I still need a little more time…"

"I don't think I can buy you more than a few seconds…" Goku tried to come up with a plan as Vegeta slowly approached.

"You've cause me a lot of trouble, Earthlings…" Vegeta growled. "But finally, I'm rid of you!" He opened his mouth, and a purple glow came from within as he prepared to fire an energy beam.

"Oh, that's not good…" Goku put himself in front of Tien—maybe he could shield his friend from the attack.

Vegeta roared, throwing his head forwards, but just as the beam was about to leave his mouth, he froze. Silence fell for several seconds, then was broken by a huge splashing sound—Vegeta's severed tail, hitting the water. "Ah…no…what…what did you…" Vegeta shrunk as quickly as he'd grown, his bestial appearance fading until he'd returned to normal. "No! Damn you…who could have…" he turned to face his attacker, to see a short figure, hovering in the air, holding a sword.

Goku and Tien gaped at the sight. "That looks like Yaijerobe's sword, but…that's not him…" Tien muttered.

"No, it's…it's…" Goku did a double take. "Gohan?!"

Gohan stood facing Vegeta, a determined expression on his face. Vegeta looked down at the child with a mixture of confusion and hatred. "How did you…you can't…" he tripped over his words in shock.

"My Uncle Raditz told me, if you cut a saiyan's tail off, they can't transform!" Gohan replied to Vegeta's half-spoken question. "And I couldn't leave him and my dad to fight you on their own—I knew I had to help them!" He leapt at Vegeta, swinging the sword, but the prince had got over his disorientation upon losing his tail, and kicked Gohan away.

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Yamcha shouted, hovering between Vegeta and Gohan.

"Get out of my way!" Vegeta launched an invisible kiai of energy, launching the two of them backwards. "I'm not here to fight children and Earthlings. That's what I had Nappa for." But, he thought, for the loss of his tail, he'd be back for the half-breed when he was done with the real fighters.

Goku appeared behind him. "Had? Tien didn't kill him, you know." Vegeta turned to face him.

"Ah, Kakarot. Back for more, I see." He smiled. "And actually, we all killed him. He was lying on the island—which, if you remember, sunk into the ocean when I launched my Galick Gun! It's been far too long for him not to have drowned—though Raditz might still be alive, he hasn't been under long…"

Goku, reminded of Raditz's predicament, pointed down at the sea. "Yamcha! Go get Raditz and pull him back up, or he'll drown!"

"But he's grown so large…" Yamcha shrugged. "I don't think I could lift him…"

"Then take the sword from Gohan and cut Raditz's tail off! Hurry!" Goku yelled. Yamcha did as he was told, diving under the water. "Gohan, guard Tien." Goku readied his Power Pole. "I'll take care of Vegeta." He wondered how Gohan had got hold of Yaijerobe's sword anyway—he'd have to ask him later. There were more important things to worry about now.

The two saiyans stared each other down. "What makes you think you can fight me, Kakarot?" Vegeta asked. "Tell me where the Dragon Balls are and I might kill you quickly and cleanly!"

"We've been through this!" Goku answered. "I don't care how powerful you are, I'm not giving up!" A thought occurred to him. "Although…if you want to go home now, feel free."

"Huh? You want me to run away—on the brink of victory?"

"Actually, you've already lost. The Dragon Balls were created by a being called Kami—and he's linked to Piccolo, the Namekian you killed."

"What?"

"If Piccolo dies, Kami dies. And if Kami dies, the Dragon Balls cease to exist!"

"WHAT?!"

Goku smiled. "So you may as well go. There's nothing to fight for anymore. Leave this planet in peace!"

"Nothing, you say?" Vegeta clenched his fists. "I have my honour to fight for! I can't let myself be humiliated by low-class scum like you and Raditz—much less these humans! Besides, if it's Namekians that can create Dragon Balls, I'll just go to their home planet of Namek when I'm done here—and make myself immortal there! And in the meantime, that makes you and all your friends useless to me!" He charged at Goku. "Prepare yourself!"

As always, thanks for reading, please leave a review so I can hear what you think.

About the beam struggle at the start of the chapter, in case anybody disagrees about which attack should have pushed which attack back when: the combined power level of Goku, Vegeta and Raditz is 23,000—slightly less than canon DBZ Goku's Kaioken x3 (24,000). So both of their attacks were repelled by Vegeta's Galick Gun. However, Goku won the clash by using Kaioken x4—PL 32,000. Tien's Kaioken x3 added 10,000, pushing their attack up to 33,000—just slightly higher than canon Goku's, so both were able to win.

Q&A:

Q: I believe nappa is still alive, will you keep him like that?

A: Sorry, he drowned. Apologies to Nappa fans out there. I can't put too many characters in the spotlight (we've already had a bigger role for Raditz, Piccolo (sort of—bigger in some ways, smaller in others), Tien, Yamcha to a small extent…

Q: So is launch going to be raditz' girl? Is vegeta going to be with bulma?

A: I answered the Launch/Raditz questions in last chapter's Q&A. As for the second question, same answer: can't tell you right now, spoilers. If I said 'yes' you'd know Vegeta's going to be on Earth at some point. If I said 'no' you'd know it's quite likely Bulma will get together with Yamcha…and so on…I can't say that kind of thing without giving multiple other plot details away. Plus, if I change my mind later on when it comes to writing that part, people will say 'but you said this would happen'…

Q: So I hope Gohan acts as stalemate-breaker

A: If you meant in the beam struggle, he did not. I mean, it wasn't a stalemate anyway. But Gohan did have a significant role in this chapter, so I hope that makes Gohan fans happy.

Q: I can't wait to see when we will see the Solar Flare and Spirit Bomb. And if we will see the Multi Form Technique at all.

A: Well, we've got the Spirit Bomb, but the battle isn't over yet, so maybe we'll see the others before it's done.

Q: i think tien would be stronger then 20000, otherwise that would mean that a normal kaioken does nothing to help. but we know this does help, so tiens power is probably around 25000 with kaioken x4

A: Not entirely sure what you're saying. Base Tien=5000. Normal kaioken=between 5 and 10 thousand. X2=10,000. x3=15,000. x4=20,000. If you mean that basic Kaioken should double his power, Goku actually states that's what Kaioken x2 does, and in fact 'Kaioken x2' is just a short way of saying 'Kaioken used to increase my power to double its normal limit'. I don't know if maybe the Ocean dub or something had him say normal Kaioken doubles it, but anyway the most recent version of the saiyan saga I saw was Kai, and it makes much more sense if 'Kaioken' without a multiplier is just increasing his power, but not to as much as double its normal level.