In respect for his wishes, the rest of the group all took a small step back, symbolically giving Krillin the space he had requested. A crackling glow of yellow light began to take shape in between his hands as he increased his energy even further in preparation to strike. The saiyans didn't appear to be particularly perturbed by this, Vegeta simply ordering yet another one of his random minions to attack. The creature obeyed, making a dive towards Krillin. It didn't make it far, however, before Krillin unleashed a devastating blast straight towards the oncoming threat!
Sensing that the power he was throwing around was likely to have far reaching consequences, the remaining warriors took the chance to scatter while they still could!
"Let's go, you two!" Tien called to both his best friend and the girl currently loitering near his position.
Not that she necessarily needed the warning, but she appreciated it all the same as she hurried after him. At this point, she felt fairly confident that she'd be able to trust Gohan's well-being to Piccolo, glancing over to find to her satisfaction that she was correct.
"I'm not sure what he's planning to do, but I know this much, we don't want to be here when the blast hits!" he warned the boy, quickly shooing him out of the way.
They weren't the only ones. Several of the Saibamen were following suit, frantically fleeing from the area around the waiting saiyans. The beam followed a trajectory that to anyone watching, would assume that Krillin's intended targets were the two men themselves. However, he adjusted the flow of power at the last second, altering the course of the blast to veer off from the saiyans and make it's way into the air instead.
With a final yell, Krillin moved his hands to split his attack into several branching paths, all simultaneously raining down on the unsuspecting underlings. The others in the group let out gasps of impressed surprise at the maneuver, but Krillin simply watched with a smug smirk as the beams successfully connected, taking out all the remaining Saibamen, or so it seemed. He even managed to land a hit on the saiyans as well!
"Whoa, Krillin! That was awesome!" Rinka cheered in delight.
"Way to go!" Tien seconded her.
Krillin panted in fatigue after unleashing so much energy so quickly, but he nonetheless still seemed rather pleased with his work. He didn't argue as he continued to receive more congratulations from the others.
"Yeah, thanks you guys," Krillin replied, once he'd managed to catch his breath. "That was for you, Yamcha," he added in a whisper.
A sudden snarl from the shadows unfortunately cut the moment short, as one of the little mutants who'd apparently succeeded in avoiding Krillin's impressive attack launched himself towards his closest opposition! Which, to the trepidation of his concerned sister, just happened to be Gohan! The boy let out a cry of shock, and was able to throw himself back in time to avoid the initial strike.
Luckily for him, Piccolo happened to be right nearby. With reflexes that would have made a cat jealous, he reached out and instantly snapped up the arm of the would be assassin! It only took a moment for the gremlin to realize it's mistake, trembling in fear as it slowly glanced up into the face of what it now realized to be it's doom!
Gohan continued to stare at the still reaching appendage in a stunned state, before visibly relaxing as Piccolo pulled the handful of claws safely away from his pupil.
"Enough," he told the creature, lifting it towards himself while delivering a powerful punch to it's undefended abdomen. With a flick of his wrist, he launched the little monster into the air, and blew a beam of yellow energy out of his mouth that instantly reduced it to dust. And that was that.
Floating off to the side, Rinka watched the few remaining particles that were left of the final mutant waft gently to the ground and blew out a sigh of relief. As much as she felt loathe to admit it, she couldn't help the sense of appreciation that they had someone as powerful and intimidating as Piccolo on their side, not to mention also looking out for her little brother.
Speaking of which, the small boy had meandered up towards his hero wearing a grateful grin. "Thanks for saving me, Piccolo!" he gushed at him.
"Stay focused, Gohan. Don't make yourself an easy target," the green man instructed in a surprisingly gentle tone. However, it quickly shifted, his expression growing sharper to match. "You're lucky I was there this time, but next time you better be prepared to save yourself," he warned.
Rinka once again had to stop herself from arguing. After all, she might not always be there to be able to defend him either. It would be for the best if Gohan could improve so he would be able to watch out for himself a little more.
A low, dark chortle brought their attention back to the problem at hand. "So much for our little game." The casual comment wafted from beyond the now clearing dust cloud. "Oh well, it was fun while it lasted," Vegeta decided, as the two saiyans fazed back into view, revealing that Krillin's divided attack had been virtually useless on that front.
Everyone appeared rather startled at how wholly unaffected the pair was, as they both dramatically stepped forward.
"Surprise, surprise. This is our favorite part, you know. You should see the looks on your faces!" Vegeta taunted, Nappa laughing with his own share of amusement.
"They look like they've seen a ghost," he added. "What do ya guys say we get the real fight started? Any volunteers?" he opted to suggest.
"I – put – everything I had into that shot!" Krillin stressed in lament.
Although, when you thought about it, they honestly shouldn't have been that surprised. He had divided it five ways, after all, which had surely reduced its potency. Not to mention, it was obvious that these two's power was vastly superior to that of their home grown underlings. Even so, it was still a shame to find that the blast hadn't even managed to singe their armor!
"What are we supposed to do now?" he couldn't help but wonder in dismay.
"Hey Vegeta, why don't I handle this?" Nappa offered, as the saiyan menace stalked closer to the now more widely dispersed group. "There's no sense in both of us getting dirty," he reasoned.
"As you wish," the smaller saiyan casually agreed. "But Nappa, make sure you don't kill the Namek just yet. Remember, he's the one who's going to tell us where the Dragon Balls are," Vegeta reminded him.
"Right, I got it," he acknowledged before he began pacing around, staring them all down like some sort of twisted version of a school yard pick-'em game.
"So, I can't kill the Namek. Fine," he paused, considering his other options. "Then you!" he finally bellowed out, lunging straight for Krillin's position!
Krillin resolutely stood his ground, determined to not let himself get intimidated. Except, in the end it ultimately didn't matter, because before he could make it to his target, Piccolo appeared!
"No! Here!" he called out, throwing himself in front of Krillin and into the roughneck's path.
A moment later, the Namek summoned a swirling vortex of electrical energy, so potent that just being near it made your hair stand on end! He launched it towards the stampeding saiyan, only to have him veer to the side at the last moment. It continued on, decimating the plateau behind him. However, Piccolo was more concerned with the behemoth still barreling closer!
Despite his size, the massive alien man proved to be surprisingly agile. Continually ducking out of Piccolo's field of vision as he frantically attempted to get a read on his location, until eventually finding a drop in his guard. Nappa hefted his leg up towards the frazzled Namekian, successfully delivering a devastating blow to his temporarily vulnerable midsection. Piccolo was rapidly blasted backwards until his body made contact with one of the smaller stone formations, reducing it to rubble from the force of his momentum.
"Oh, no! Piccolo!" Gohan cried in alarm, but was robbed of the chance of running to check on him by the imposing figure of Nappa slamming himself onto the ground before him, blocking the path.
"You're a saiyan! You should be enjoying this, kid!" he bellowed towards the boy.
Grunting with an irascible glare, Piccolo pulled himself back to his feet. The good news being that he didn't appear too worse for wear despite the formidable strike.
"Are you okay, Piccolo?" Tien inquired with concern nonetheless.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a broken rib or two," he assured him, only betraying a hint of struggle to hide the pain.
Not desiring to give him any time to recover, Nappa began to concentrate his power, his guttural growling betraying his intentions even before the others could feel the sudden, drastic rise in energy! The ground beneath their feet started literally shaking from the intensity!
"I've – I've never felt a power like this before!" Tien called in a tone that was equal parts intimidated and impressed.
"Hey, Tien! Look out!" Chiaotzu suddenly called to his friend in warning, anticipating his rapidly destabilizing footing. "It feels like the whole planet is shaking apart!" he continued in a wail over the thundering clamor!
"Oh man! This is bad!" Krillin was quick to add, while Rinka hovered in the air near him to prevent herself from stumbling.
Meanwhile, Gohan wasn't fairing as well, resorting to dropping to all fours so he wouldn't fall over!
"Get up! Stand firm, Gohan!" Piccolo berated when he noticed the boy's position. However, despite his clear attempts, Gohan was unable to bring himself to his feet due to the violent trembling. "I said, get up! Now do it! Don't let yourself be overwhelmed by your opponent," he continued to bark out.
"I'll try," Gohan managed to reply as he struggled to stand, his voice straining from the effort.
The poor kid! It was clear he was doing everything he could to try and appease his mentor, but the sheer magnitude of what they were up against kept leaving him stymied at every turn! Meanwhile, Rinka was busy fighting her own internal battle of wanting to rebuke Piccolo for continually being overtly hard on her brother, but simultaneously holding back with the understanding that infighting wasn't going to do them any favors! Quite the sticky wicket.
After a bit, the amount of force coming off the bald brute was so intense that even Piccolo had to wrestle to keep from being blown away by it! All the warriors were doing everything they could just to remain upright! Even the weather took a drastic turn, lightening firing down from the ominous clouds. Until finally, out of all of them, Chiaotzu decided he was done simply sitting there and staring!
Sensing the increase in energy flowing from his friend, Tien whipped towards him in concern.
"Chiaotzu, be careful," he tried to warn, but it was already too late as Nappa noticed as well.
Turning in his direction with an incensed glare, the massive alien let out an unruly holler as he fired a glowing beam of energy in the little guy's direction. Not having the opportunity to muster any kind of defense, it nailed Chiaotzu square in the middle of his chest, fiercely blasting him backwards! He connected hard with the rock behind him before dropping to the ground, as Nappa continued to power up without so much as batting an eye!
"Watch him! He's almost ready to attack!" Piccolo howled out as much.
"Yes! Now! Which one of you wants to die first?" Nappa threatened, his eyes scanning over the group.
Big surprise, no one bothered to take him up on the offer.
"Well, if there's not a volunteer, I'll choose!" he exclaimed, giving Rinka a strong sense of déjà vu as his eyes landed on Tien this time.
A moment later and Nappa charged, Tien doing what he could to defend against the onslaught. Unfortunately, even simply attempting to block proved to be damaging, as the warrior pulled away his now injured forearm with a cry of pain! Nappa reared back, making ready for his next strike, which Piccolo immediately picked up on.
"Watch out, Tien! Above you!" he shouted in warning, but to no avail.
Before he was able to react, the saiyan thug slammed down on him with an excessively overwhelming amount of strength! The impact was so severe that Tien's arm was rent completely in two, the upper half coming clean off! Blood gushed from the severed limb as the man let out a scream of utter agony!
Rinka was unable to stop the horrified shriek that escaped her throat at the sight! Her hands instantly shot up to clasp themselves over her mouth to prevent anything further from escaping.
"Tien! No!" Chiaotzu wailed in alarm, his friend clearly struggling to push past the pain.
"Ha! He's been, disarmed," Vegeta joked in poor taste.
If circumstances had been different, there's a good chance that Rinka could have found such a lame pun to be amusing. However, as things currently stood, she was simply struggling to keep her rising revulsion in check!
Nappa, on the other hand, didn't seem to be bothered by any of this, continuing his assault. Thankfully, Tien was ready for him this time, managing to expertly duck out of the way and into the air. Now that he had gained a bit of distance, the warrior was able to charge a sizable amount of power in his remaining hand, but it still wasn't enough! Not wanting to give him the chance to try anything, Nappa leapt after his quarry, smashing one of his massive legs into the middle of him and sending him careening back to the earth!
"No, no! Mr. Tien!" Gohan cried sympathetically in response.
Not knowing if it was the child calling his name, or his own headstrong resolve that motivated him, but Tien was successful in pushing himself up. He grunted in exertion as he did so, but it was encouraging to see nonetheless. Nappa, however, obviously did not share the sentiment.
"Huh! Why the stubborn, little. . ." he trailed in annoyance at the struggling warrior. "He just refuses to die!"
"No! We need to get his tail somehow," Piccolo muttered, grinding his teeth at the frustrating situation.
The sound of angry panting suddenly drew Rinka's attention, and she glanced to the side to find Krillin growing increasingly riled as he stared at his fallen comrades.
"No!" he growled in fury. "This ends here!" he announced before suddenly taking off in the direction of where Tien still lay.
"Krillin! Wait! It's no use–" Rinka attempted to call after him, fearing that he was only going to end up getting himself killed, but it was already too late. He wasn't listening.
"Where do you think you're going?" Nappa questioned skeptically at his sprinting form, releasing a massive energy attack in his direction.
Krillin thankfully did not end up getting caught in the explosion, but it didn't stop him from being thrown backwards from the force of it, simultaneously halting his progress towards Tien. The rest of them had to duck to avoid the blast's blinding and other harmful effects! As the smoke began to dissipate, it revealed that while Krillin had been missed by the onslaught, it certainly wasn't by much! They all gazed over the edge of the now gaping precipice in the ground with awe!
"Incredible! There's – there's no bottom to this thing!" Piccolo stuttered in shock.
"That's just a pockmark, you Namek lizard!" Nappa scolded with a boisterous chortle. "Wait till I really get started!"
Curious, Rinka plucked up a fist sized stone and tossed it into the trench. The others joined her in listening for a solid minute, but they never heard a sound.
"Did – does it punch through to the other side of the planet?" she wondered aloud.
"Most likely, but not to worry. I doubt that attack hit the core, so you shouldn't see any noticeable effects," Vegeta surprised her by responding in a not only informative, but civil manner.
Rinka's mouth dropped open, her intention to comment further. However, Krillin cut her off before she could with a loud gasp of distress.
"Chiaotzu? Chiaotzu!" he called, glancing around in a bit of a panic when he wasn't able to locate the tiny fighter. "He's gone! He must have been hit by the blast!" he continued in a wail, causing Tien to begin frantically searching as well.
"I guess my aim was a little off," Nappa commented, giving Tien the motivation to rise to his feet and glare daggers at the brute. "Aw! What's the matter, three eyes?" he continued to chide.
"Nappa! Watch it! You're being careless!" Vegeta lectured, right as their missing member manifested himself directly behind the distracted saiyan.
Chiaotzu dove towards his back, before latching onto him with an iron grip!
"Chiaotzu!" Tien yelled to him with no small amount of concern.
Meanwhile, Nappa was dancing around in an attempt to rid himself of the unwanted addition, but was unable to quite reach the small warrior.
"Why – you – little –!" he grunted in frustration, pawing at Chiaotzu, but he refused to move. "Come here you little twerp!"
After several nerve wracking moments of confusion, it was suddenly and sadly revealed what the tiny fighter's intentions were as he focused to bring forth as much energy as he could possibly muster! However, eventually getting fed up with his lack of progress, Nappa decided to alter his tactics by slamming himself, back first, straight into the side of the nearest plateau, crushing poor Chiaotzu between his body and the rock!
"Chiaotzu! Get away from there!" Tien shouted at him with mounting anxiety, but still, he refused to let go.
Even as Nappa pulverized him over and over against every formidable rock face in the vicinity, still Chiaotzu stubbornly clung to his target! With each new blow, it was growing increasingly harder to keep watching the carnage.
"I can't look!" Gohan eventually cried, hiding his face away in terror.
"Watch, Gohan," Piccolo wasted no time in arguing, disapproving of the display of weakness. The boy turned up to him with a look of confusion. "I said watch! Don't turn away!" he snapped back in reply. "Honor his bravery," he then offered in explanation of the demand.
So, Gohan forced himself to turn back to the gruesome scene.
"You're asking for it!" Nappa growled irritably at the fact that he still hadn't managed to dislodge the small warrior.
"Chiaotzu! Get off! That's enough!" Tien desperately tried to reason with him, but he didn't listen. Instead, Tien's expression shifted into a startled look as he seemed to be able to hear something that the rest of them could not. "What? What are you talking about? Chiaotzu?" he asked in a strained tone. "You're not going anywhere! Just stop it!" he then argued.
Even as the one sided conversation was happening, Nappa was rising further and further up into the air, growing a rather smug smirk as he did so.
"No, don't! Chiaotzu, please! This isn't the answer!" Tien continued to plead, with more emotion than Rinka could ever remember hearing from him before.
A moment later, and Nappa took a massive swan dive back towards the ground.
"No! Stop it! Get off!" Tien was practically begging him now, but it was clear that Chiaotzu was determined to continue on this course.
Enveloping the saiyan in a soft blue light, everyone was able to sense it as Chiaotzu's power level reached it zenith!
"What?!" Nappa barked in dismay, but it was already too late.
"Chiaotzu! No!" Tien shouted one last time, before both he and the thug of a saiyan suddenly exploded into a mass of brilliant light! All the rest of them could do was stare at the display with a stunned silence, and wait.
Tien was visibly shaking as the smoke began to clear, but he didn't need to see to know that his friend was gone. His energy no longer able to be detected. In response, the man doubled over before unleashing a gut wrenching scream of anguish and fury!
"What an extraordinary feat! You see, Gohan, size alone is not enough. You have to have heart and cunning too," Piccolo praised uncharacteristically.
However, none of that seemed to matter to the boy at the moment. All he could see was loss and grief, making him wonder how such a painful sacrifice could be seen as something worth celebrating. Even so, he struggled for all his worth to fight back the tears, for Piccolo's sake if nothing more.
Meanwhile, Krillin appeared as though he were about to loose it again as well. Noticing this, Rinka subconsciously made a move to slip a reassuring hand into his own, but was stopped short by a petrifying realization! They both stared up aghast open-mouthed as the figure of Nappa came back into view from behind the dissipating smoke!
He belted out a triumphant laugh as it was quickly made painfully obvious that Chiaotzu's kamikaze attack had been – worthless!
"Now ya see him. Now ya don't!" he seethed with degradation.
"Nappa! He almost had you! You barely managed a defense," Vegeta lectured him lightly.
"What?! It – can't be! Not even a scrape! So – so that means – Chiaotzu sacrificed himself for nothing!" Krillin wailed out in despair.
"Chiaotzu, he's gone. He's already been wished back to life once before. Now not even the Dragon Balls can bring him back! You – you'll pay for what you've done! Do you hear me?! You'll pay!" Tien shouted up his threat to the still airborne saiyan, who didn't seem at all perturbed.
"Fool! Go ahead, make your threats! It doesn't matter how angry you get. You still don't have a chance of beating us, and the funny thing is, you never did!" Nappa retorted, much to everyone's increasing frustration and rage!
"Why you, monster!" Tien hissed through his teeth.
"Guess your little friend couldn't save you, three eyes," Nappa shrugged as he landed back on the ground.
"Aw, man! This is crazy! What do we do, Piccolo?" Krillin whined, the air filling with mounting tension. "He's just too strong! There's no way we can beat this guy!"
"Stand your ground, Krillin. We're here for a reason," Piccolo simply reminded him. It did little to quell Gohan's fear, however.
"Chiaotzu. . ." Tien trailed in the distance, not wanting to accept that he was now, simply – gone.
"You miss him already, huh?" Nappa chuckled. "Well, don't worry. You'll be joining him soon," he morbidly assured him.
"Kay, that's it," Tien muttered, clenching his teeth as he cast a hard glare at the ground below. "This one's for you, Chiaotzu!" His tone shifted to a roar as he sprang to his feet, making a barreling dash right towards the smug saiyan.
Attacking with a flurry of fists and feet, despite being down a limb, Tien threw everything he had into his assault! Although, Nappa appeared to have very little trouble keeping him at bay.
"Not bad," even Piccolo acknowledged the ferocity.
"Just look at him go!" Krillin agreed in awe, as Tien managed to decimate a rock face when Nappa happened to duck out of the way.
Being temporarily distracted at the fact that he'd made contact with something, Tien wasn't prepared for Nappa's retaliation. The stunned expression plastering itself across the warrior's face spoke volumes as the saiyan sharply brought his knee up into the middle of his opponent's gut, sending him sailing towards the sky! Although, to Tien's credit, he was able to pull of a quick recovery, sticking the landing before immediately going back on the offensive. The fierceness of their battle was so intense that it was once again affecting the weather!
"So, did you wear yourself out yet, or you wanna try a little more before I stomp ya?" Nappa questioned when Tien took a moment to catch his breath, the jab only causing him to fly into another fury.
Nappa allowed him a few more attempted blows, before finally knocking him hard to the ground. It surprisingly did nothing to dampen Tien's spirit, finding the energy within him to pull himself back to his feet a few seconds later.
"Amazing! How can he get up after all of that?" Krillin wondered in admiration, his eyes narrowing in determination. "That's it! I'm going in," he apparently decided.
"Krillin wait!" Piccolo suddenly snapped, causing him to freeze in his tracks and turn back to the green man in confusion. "He's going to start attacking Tien, and when he does he'll have an unguarded moment. That's when we strike," he suggested instead.
The impromptu plan gave Krillin a moment of pause. He seemed to puzzle over the idea for a bit until ultimately offering a nod of understanding.
"Alright, good. Did you get that, Gohan?" Piccolo inquired as he shifted his gaze towards the boy, who also gave him a stymied nod.
"Wha – hey! What about me?!" Rinka demanded huffily at the obvious snub, fixing him with a pouting glare! Did he really assume that she wasn't going to be able to do anything to help? If nothing else, her joining in couldn't possibly make things any worse, after all!
Piccolo glanced in her direction and seemed to study her for half a second before responding.
"If you really think you can help, fine. Just try not to get in the way, and know that if you end up getting hurt, it'll be your own fault," he explained as though she weren't somehow already painfully aware of this.
"If I were really that afraid of 'getting hurt', then I wouldn't be here in the first place!" she scoffed in reply, not appreciating his assumptions.
"You have to admit, the girl has a point." Everyone flinched at the voice, before slowly rotating to find Vegeta skulking behind them, listening in. "Even with that plan, you're going to need all the help you can get. Nappa's too strong to fight head on, after all. Don't take your eyes off them. You'll miss your opportunity," he warned, while sounding almost encouraging as he did so.
Despite knowing that the comment was coming from a place of skeptical satire, Rinka couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of pleasure at the recognition. It was more than what she usually got, from anyone other than Krillin that is.
"Heh, confident huh? Well, you just wait until Goku makes it back. We'll see if you're still so cocky," Piccolo shot back without missing a beat.
"Oh? Interesting. Who's Goku? Is he really that strong?" the shorter saiyan wondered dubiously.
"You'll find out soon," was all the reply Piccolo gave him.
Meanwhile, returning their attention back to the matter at hand, Tien was barely managing to hang in there as the saiyan thug was delivering a merciless beating!
"Let's go, guys!" Krillin exclaimed after watching the warrior take a particularly nasty hit, readying himself to pounce.
"Hold on, Krillin. Just a few more seconds," Piccolo stopped him before he could.
"What's wrong? Oh wait, don't tell me. I think I know what you need! A nice trip to the afterlife! One way, of course," Nappa taunted the prostrate Tien as he slowly rose into the air above him. "Ready!" he hollered once he'd decided he'd gained enough distance, making his way back down with rapidly increasing momentum.
"Gohan, wait! Krillin, let's go!" Piccolo decided to take that moment to shout out.
"Right!" Krillin confirmed, both of them disappearing an instant later as they made their move.
At the same time, the boy proceeded to wildly glance around in a frantic and panicked manner at the unexpected command, surprising his sister when his bewildered gaze eventually landed on her, searching for guidance. So, since Rinka hadn't been given any specific instructions, she assumed that meant she should stay on the ground and wait with him. Rushing to place herself right along his side, she flashed the kid a hard look.
"Get ready, Gohan!" she told him, taking a poised stance and watching for some kind of cue.
Nappa continued towards Tien, only to be interrupted before he could reach him by Piccolo's sudden appearance behind him!
"What?" Tien voiced in confused surprise.
Piccolo then proceeded to deliver a strong swipe at the saiyan, sending him careening off course, and straight towards where Krillin was waiting! The smaller warrior was ready to receive the volley, slamming Nappa with a solid downward thrust from both his closed fists.
"It's now or never, fire you two!" Piccolo yelled down at the kids.
As she began to charge a ball of energy in her hands, Rinka happened to glance to the side only to find that Gohan was, once again, frozen in a state of stunned fright! He was shaking hard as he stared at the big brute currently shooting towards them.
"Gohan, what are you doing?! We don't stand a chance if we don't attack together!" Rinka found herself shouting at him with dismay, but to no avail.
"I – I can't," he replied in a whimper of terror, as the girl's holler grabbed Piccolo's attention. He cringed at the realization of what was happening!
"Gohan!" he roared in desperation.
"Now, Gohan!" Krillin also added his voice to the urgency.
"B-but Rin – I'm scared!" he admitted to her as his trembling only increased, before finally letting out a cry of panic and fleeing for cover!
"No, Gohan!" "Oh, no!" Came the dismayed responses from above.
Meanwhile, all Rinka could do was grit her teeth in frustration and continue on alone, taking the tiny window of opportunity she had left to launch her energy blast right into the middle of the hulking horror! He was engulfed in the flash of energy for a moment, but it only ended in more disappointment as he was revealed to have only suffered mild burns from the attack.
"Ah! That stings, you little shit! " Nappa berated the girl as he patted down his smoldering armor.
Rinka lobbed a wicked glare in his direction, only to flinch hard at the sound of Vegeta erupting into cackling laughter behind her.
"You'd better watch out, Nappa! You know what they say about a scorned woman," he joked at his partner's expense, which only served to anger him further.
"You're going to pay for that!" the big guy roared in fury, instantly diving for the girl.
He moved so fast, that she never got the chance to attempt any kind of defense! A vicious backhand sent an eruption of pain across her face, sending her flying, only stopping once she'd smashed her way through a boulder!
"Rinka!" Krillin called in alarm, despite knowing there was nothing he could do.
Gohan had found it in him to slightly pull himself together at this point only to watch his sister disappear beneath a pile of rubble.
"Sorry, guys. I just, froze," he managed to mutter out, bending over in a fit of sniffling whimpers.
"I'll give you some credit for that one," Nappa turned to tell the still airborne fighters, now that he'd managed to calm down a bit. "It was a good move. You two almost had me there for a second," he admitted. "Almost," he then snarkily added. "To bad for you, you're little girlfriend wasn't able to deliver, maybe if both those kids had attacked, but oh well," he appeared to shrug it off, before clenching his fist with a new wave of determination. "Now you're gonna die!" he hollered.
Both Krillin and Piccolo took defensive stances, waiting for the inevitable onslaught.
"Your little band just keeps on getting smaller. Looks like it's down to just the two of you now," Nappa chuckled.
"He's right, you know," Krillin pointed out to his green compatriot, who could only seem to glare down at his supposed disciple with clear resentful exasperation as the boy continued to cower behind the nearest rock formation.
"Gohan!" he hissed, firmly gritting his teeth.
During this time, Rinka succeeded in recovering enough to be able to pull herself out of the rock debris, rubbing at her throbbing cranium. Seeing this sent a wave of relief through Krillin, and he blew out a thankful sigh. Maybe their numbers were a bit better than they thought.
"Alright, what do you say we get down to business? Who's next?" Nappa asked moodily.
"Nappa! We still need the Namek to tell us about the Dragon Balls," Vegeta snapped at the muscle bound, meat head.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. Looks like you're up, little man," he sneered in Krillin's direction.
"Heh, you hear that, Piccolo? You're in luck! Maybe I should tell them I know all about the Dragon Balls too," Krillin quipped, making an attempt at lightening the mood.
"Be my guest, but I don't think it'll make much difference in the end," Piccolo pointed out morosely.
"Point taken," the smaller warrior was reluctant to agree.
"Now, let's try a direct attack, before he powers up again," Piccolo suggested in lieu of any other ideas, making the bald monk flinch in worry that the Namekian was simply grasping at straws at this point. "You're familiar with the multi-form technique, aren't you?" he then opted to add, giving at least some kind of strategic spin to the proposition.
"Yeah. . ." Krillin trailed dubiously.
"Well, let's do it. Both of us!" he voiced in encouragement, hoping his less than enthusiastic partner would be willing to take his lead.
Concentrating their energies into multiple directions at once, both Piccolo and Krillin managed to each split themselves into triplicate! Meanwhile, the kids below both blinked up at the strange technique in confusion, Rinka even rubbing at her eyes to make sure it wasn't some kind of adverse affect from the knock she'd taken to the head. But no, there was still three of each of them when she looked again. Why hadn't anyone taken the time to teach her that little trick?
"Well, guess that's one way to improve our numbers," she mumbled, jumping slightly at hearing Vegeta let out a skeptical snort in response to the comment.
"Perhaps, but not your chances," he emphasized in a snide sneer, leaving the girl to force down a nervous gulp. She'd been afraid of that.
"Ready?" the Piccolos called.
"Yeah!" the Krillins replied emphatically.
The now crowd of divided warriors went on a full physical assault, doing everything they could to batter the single saiyan from all directions. It was a veritable flurry of feet and fists, moving so fast that it all seemed to blend together. Despite all this, however, Nappa seemed to have no trouble keeping pace with it all, successfully blocking every single strike!
Eventually, the big brute even managed a counterattack, hitting Krillin so hard that his 'clones' recombined back into one body. While he may have held out a little more than his human companion, it wasn't long before Piccolo also suffered the same outcome, proving Vegeta right.
"Piccolo!" Gohan suddenly exclaimed towards his downed mentor, making a mad dash to his side. Fearing that he was going to end up making himself a target, Rinka leapt to her feet to quickly follow.
"Piccolo?" the boy questioned in concern once he reached him, but the green man proceeded to shock both kids when he responded by clasping a clawed hand around Gohan's head, before violently flinging him in Rinka's direction! The girl was so startled that she barely managed to catch him, letting out a loud grunt when he connected hard with her chest.
Gohan stared at him with a hurt and confused gaze as the apparent alien pulled himself to his feet.
"Piccolo, um. . ." the boy tried to talk to him, but found that he didn't really have any words.
"I have no time to babysit, Gohan. If you can't help, go home to your mother," he ordered without even bothering to turn around, his tone dripping with venomous disdain.
"Well, so much for the 'big leagues'," Rinka found herself scoffing sarcastically with an exaggerated eye roll. After all, he couldn't say they hadn't tried to warn him. . .
At that, Piccolo visibly flinched, before finally rounding on the girl with a mask of absolute madness across his visage!
"UGH! That is enough! I have had it with your smart remarks! I don't want to hear another word out of you! So, shut your stupid mouth, you snotty, little brat!" he roared down at the girl with unrestrained rage! He flipped on his heels a second later before taking to the air, hollering out Krillin's name in a vicious demand!
The reprimand had been so unexpectedly intense, that now even Rinka found herself shaking from it! All she could do was hold her brother tightly against her, as he stared up in shamefaced longing at Piccolo's retreating form. Rinka on the other hand was glaring at the ground, fighting with everything she had to keep the tears in her eyes that were now threatening to fall. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction that he'd gotten to her. She refused!
A sudden sound grabbed her attention that caused her to cast a glance in Vegeta's direction. She found him watching all the drama with an infuriating smirk. Although, after what had just happened, it gave her a moment's pause where she began to seriously consider what the possible repercussions would be if she attempted to switch sides!
The soft trickle of gently falling stones alerted both of the kids towards the other area behind them. That's when they noticed Tien attempting to pull himself around a boulder before finally collapsing to the dirt. Rinka couldn't help the gasp that escaped her at the realization that she'd nearly forgotten about him! Subconsciously shifting Gohan onto her hip to allow herself easier movement, she dashed towards the injured man, setting her brother down on the ground next to her as she knelt right beside his prostrate body.
"Tien! Tien? Can you hear me?" she asked in a shaky tone as she gently nudged his shoulder. She began to fear the worst as she stared into his unresponsive face.
Meanwhile, back at the battle, Krillin was starting to feel any sense of hope he had slip away as they stared in to the face of their seemingly unbeatable adversary.
"Hey, uh, Piccolo – if you've got some killer attack up your sleeve, feel free to use it anytime now," he lightly urged him, despite it being mostly rhetorical.
"I wish I did. Come on, it's not entirely hopeless. We still have a chance. This guy is strong, but he's not too smart. He might make a mistake," Piccolo offered in encouragement, now having calmed down from his previous outburst. Being angry wasn't going to do him any favors, after all.
"Hey! Don't tell me you guys are still trying to come up with a plan! Give it up!" Nappa jeered, launching himself at them full force a second later, Piccolo and Krillin doing what they could to defend.
Meanwhile, returning to the group below, Rinka let out a small sigh as she did eventually succeed in rousing her fellow fighter, getting him to look at her through bleary eyes.
"Rin-ka?" he questioned in slurred disorientation.
"Yeah," she confirmed with a sharp nod. "Is – is there –" she swallowed hard before continuing, steadying her voice. "Is there anything I can do?" she asked sincerely with a longing gaze.
Tien just studied her for a long moment before finally shaking his head.
"No. I don't think there's anything, any of us, can do," he managed to grunt in reply, even speaking appearing to be a struggle. "You – you need to run! Take your brother, and get as far away from here, as possible," he instructed in as stern a tone as he could muster.
"But, Tien–" Rinka tried to protest, but he stopped her.
"Don't argue! Just go!" he snapped, shoving her away.
Despite feeling a bit hurt at his harshness, she knew there would be no point in fighting him on this. In fact, maybe he did have a point. What use was there in them staying here just to end up dead? Except, she turned towards the small saiyan who was currently eyeing them with a curious brow. Even if she were willing to try and flee, for Gohan's sake if nothing else, she had serious doubts that Vegeta was going to just, let them leave. Still, she opted to turn back to Tien with a look of resolve.
"Alright," she humored him, rising and taking her brother by the wrist. "For what it's worth, I'm – sorry, that it came to this," she told him sympathetically, feeling as though it was all she had to offer.
"Yeah, me too," was his final reply.
So, with a heavy heart, Rinka turned and began to drag her brother away from the area, to give the man the separation he wanted, and at least make him think she was honoring his last request, if nothing else.
"Wait, Rin. What – what are you doing? Why are we leaving. . ." Gohan trailed, not fully comprehending the situation.
"It's for the best, Gohan. Just trust me on this," was all the answer she gave him, not having the desire nor the energy to try and get him to understand. However, she didn't get far before a sudden, sharp retort stopped her in her tracks.
"And just where do you think you're going, girl? You wouldn't be planning on trying to leave the party, now would you?" Vegeta wondered towards the pair, the underlying threat to the question coming through loud and clear and all but confirming her suspicions. If they tried to leave, he was going to kill them before they could.
"Of course not. Wouldn't dream of it. Just, giving my friend some space," she explained, inclining her head in Tien's direction.
Once he was sure the two of them were out of the way, Tien found the willpower to push himself to his feet. He stumbled forward a ways in order to get a better look at the sparring fighters above.
"Chiaotzu, I'm sorry that I, failed you. I should have protected you, but I promise, I'm going to make it up to you. Right now!" the seasoned martial artist declared, growling with a newfound determination as he began to glow with charged energy! "I'll be, with you again, soon, Chiaotzu!"
With one last fearsome yell, Tien threw everything he had left into a single, final attack! The massive explosion of bright, yellow ki successfully catching the saiyan brute off guard as he was completely enveloped by it! The blast was so forceful that the surrounding warriors were blown back from it's after effects, having to shield themselves to avoid taking any residual damage!
"What? How?" Vegeta protested in surprise.
Once the energy began to dissipate, all eyes turned expectantly back towards the space where Nappa had been. Not that it was wholly unexpected, but it was hard not to feel almost consumed with utter devastation at what they found. The saiyan was, once again, still alive, and barely even damaged!
"Ugh! That was a close one," he commented, casually brushing himself off with no more distress than someone who'd almost lost their favorite pair of sunglasses!
The rest of the group found themselves simply staring at the man with stunned despair.
"There's, no way!" Krillin wheezed in shock.
"I know! This is insane!" Piccolo was quick to agree.
The tragedy of the situation was only made worse by the fact, Tien had just enough time left to recognize that his final attack – his last, desperate attempt – had been futile!
"No. . ." he rasped, his voice now barely audible as he collapsed to the ground. "I failed, again."
As Rinka felt the final dregs of his energy fade into nothing, she struggled to comprehend why. Why this was happening! What had all that effort been for? Working themselves to the bone for an entire year, only to be completely outclassed at every turn! Now they were down by three, and it all just felt so horrifically unfair!
Feeling Gohan trembling in her grasp reminded her that she still had a hold of him. His tearful whimpers told her that even he understood what had just taken place. The fact that he was forced to be subjected to this, at such a young age, it was just making things infinitely worse! All she could do was turn his gaze away from the view of the fallen warrior and take the boy in her arms, Piccolo be damned for all she cared!
"Too bad. It probably would have worked if Nappa hadn't seen it coming at the last second," Vegeta smugly revealed. Guess he hadn't been as off guard as they'd initially thought!
"Oh no! Poor Tien! He gave, everything! Everything he had to help us," Krillin lamented, his own voice sounding pretty shaky, until he raised his face into the sky and let out in a demanding cry. "Goku! Why aren't you here!?"
It was an excellent question that unfortunately – no one had an answer for!
"We need you, Goku!"
Ah, another nice, long chapter! I put a lot of work into this one, so I do hope everyone enjoys it! Part of me wanted to wait and post when this site wasn't being dumb with not tracking story status, but I decided that it's okay. Even if I can't see the views, I know people can still see the story. So, why deprive everyone just because the site is all jank? Lol.