Dragon Ball — The Heart of Adventurers

By LastationLover5000 and Demod20, edited by Firegod00

Chapter 15 — Grief and Power

"Y-YAMCHA!"

A cry of pain came from the Dragon Team's side, and it was surprising sound. Kuririn, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and even Pan, with her sweetness, screeched the name of the fallen warrior. Blood chilling, the four were struck with grief. Choazu fell to his knees, and Tenshinhan had to avert all three of his eyes. Pan could only stand there, shocked. It was the first time she'd seen death, and her onyx eyes were wide with terror. Her tail no longer wagged, sulking to the ground.

"It was...admirable," muttered Piccolo, arms crossed. "And more than I could have expected from someone like him. With his own life, he risked everything to take out the Saiyan. It failed, but you've earned my respect, Yamcha."

Raditz was more surprised than anything. Piccolo had come to expect this kind of behaviour from Earthlings, but it wasn't what he had known for his life. Selflessness did not define a Saiyan — it couldn't even be found as a synonym, much less an adjective for their species — and yet these Earthlings, this inferior species, possessed it in abundance. He felt a mixture of annoyance and intrigue; was it this same selflessness that had motivated his father and mother to send Kakarrot away as a young boy?

Was it this same selflessness that made his father so desperate to save his mother on the battlefield? To risk his life for her when other members of their species would have let her die and move on? And was it this selflessness that gave rise to their love, so antithetical to the Saiyan mentality? It hurt his mind to process these thoughts, and yet he couldn't deny that he was impressed with Yamcha's valor, if nothing else.

"I'll commend him, just this one time," replied Raditz guardedly. "It was a noble sacrifice." Looking towards the sky, he grinned tauntingly at Bocho. "What's the matter, strong and silent? Did the Earthling give you a bit of a scare?!"

Bocho, who was beginning a descent, flashed a dangerous glare at Raditz, but the traitorous Saiyan didn't flinch.

Kuririn had broke from the group, rushing towards his comrades fallen body. He couldn't feel Yamcha's ki anymore, but this had to be a lie. He wasn't as good at sensing ki as he thought, that had to be it. Up close, however, there could be no denying it. He didn't even need to check for a pulse. Yamcha's body possessed a gaping hole in his torso told the former monk everything.

It wasn't a lie.

Yamcha was dead.

"You think his death was admirable?" mocked Aspara. "It was pathetic. Battle doesn't net you a consolation prize, Earthlings! There's nothing to be admired about dying in battle; if you don't walk away victorious, you might as well be trash."

"I almost thought that one was going to amount to something," chuckled Nappa snidely. "And yet all he did was manage to give 'ol Bocho a good scare!"

"Shut...up!" Kuririn snarled. He was on his knees, hands clenching at the grass which was stained with Yamcha's blood. The tears that streamed down his face fell fresh onto the painted sod, but they couldn't wash the blood away. His shoulders and body shook; Yamcha didn't have to die. His body didn't need to be lying here like this!

"You're making a shameful display, kid." called out Kuka. "The battlefield is no place to shed worthless tears."

"I said shut up!" repeated Kuririn. He forced himself to his feet, hands coated in bright red blood. His eyes were stained with tears, but his face was grit with rage. Yellow ki began to spiral in his palms, siphoning the blood from it. The blood seemed to merged with the energy, and the yellow shifting to dark orange. His aura, blinding white, erupted around his body. "Yamcha put too much into his fight to be mocked by the likes of you! Kakusandan!"

He thrust his arms the Saiyans, and ki erupted from his palms. The force of the kikōha shocked his teammates, all of whom shielded their eyes from the blinding light.

"W-Where the hell was he hiding this kind of power?!" gasped Raditz, feeling Kuririn's ki spike with the charging of the technique and fall with the subsequent release. "It's tremendous!"

"He sure as hell didn't slack off!" Piccolo replied. "But it's too slow! It's like a giant neon sign asking to be dodged!"

Before the Saiyans could react with anything more than a look of surprise, Kuririn flung his arms upward. The blast followed his movements, bending into the sky and completely avoiding its intended targets. The former monk wasn't so sloppy as to let this be the end of it, and swung his arms down with a mighty shout. The blast expanded in the sky, and rained down onto the Saiyans as kikōha.

They crashed into their targets, exploding in a blinding flash and shaking the ground beneath them. The explosions obscured the Saiyans from view, but Kuririn had felt each and every blast hit its mark. The ground cracked and seared with heat, dust erupting around the entire Saiyan battalion. Kuririn lowered his arms, sweat beading down his face. His breath was ragged slightly, but his senses weren't dulled; he knew his attack had failed. The Saiyans were alive.

The smoke began to clear without the Saiyans even needing to move. Vegeta and Nappa were as unscathed as one would expect, and Vegeta could even be seen chuckling. Aspara was the next best off, with her armor cracked, but skin otherwise flawless. If anything, her pride had been wounded more than her body. The attack had struck home on Bocho, Kuka, and Gula. The former was more wounded than the latter two, due to his battle with Yamcha, but otherwise, their skin was singed, and Bocho was bleeding.

"I've got to say I'm surprised," Vegeta said as the dust was blown away in full. "I almost thought I would have to use my arms to block that."

"You're a spunky one, ya bald runt," said Nappa. "But spunk isn't gonna be enough to beat us!"

"T-They survived..." stammered Kuririn. "I put so much power into that attack...Yamcha...I'm sorry..."

"They're some sort of monster!" Piccolo growled, and the entire group — even the resident Saiyan Raditz — felt inclined to agree. This was the sort of fear one could only feel once in a lifetime. The primal, lurking fear; the knowledge that one's life could be snuffed out at any moment.

They were going to die here.

"It was a good recess," continued Vegeta leisurely. "But beyond the bald one with three eyes, none of you have been impressive. We're going to cut our time short and end this right now! The lot of you, make it simple: kill them all!"

A simple order from Vegeta was all that the Saiyans needed to get into gear. The Prince of Saiyans didn't even designate their targets; no, the Saiyans had been eyeing their prey from the moments they arrived, and had merely tolerated the one-on-one sessions as long as they could. But Vegeta had given his orders, and for once, even Aspara was keen to follow. In fact, she moved first.

The female Saiyan lunged towards Raditz, bypassing the entire rest of the group in her bid to murder the traitorous Saiyan. Tenshinhan and Kuririn blinked, but had only felt her presence slip past them. Only Piccolo and Raditz had seen Aspara move, and that was as well as anything; her small fist was caught in the larger palm of the male Saiyan, and the two were locked in a stare-down. Contempt was etched into both of their faces; it was clear this battle would be to the death.

"What's this?" Aspara grinned, adding pressure that pushed Raditz back. "Has my traitorous cousin grown some spine? You always were the biggest coward out of our group! We Saiyans are frontline fighters! Surviving off the effort of others is so unlike us! Do you perhaps get it from Gine?"

Raditz's eyes pulsed, his black iris becoming opaque for a but a moment. The Saiyan gripped Aspara's wrist, and thrust a powerful punch towards her stomach, her remark leaving him obviously disconcerted. "We haven't considered each other family in years! Don't go drudging up distant relations now!" His blow struck home, and he released her wrist; she slid back along the grassy ground, her eyes flashing with ire.

Nappa had stepped forward, cracking his knuckles and neck bones; he advanced menacingly towards Piccolo and Pan. The poor girl was still rooted to the spot with shock and fear. The Saiyan general didn't fail to notice this, grinning maliciously. "Would you look at that? The half-Saiyan whelp is too scared to move! That's fine; I'll take my time with you two!"

"Here he comes, Pan!" Piccolo took a stance, clenching his hand before his body, resting the other neatly at his side. He bent at the knee, sweat beating down his scalp. "Prepare yourself, whelp! Take a stance!"

But Pan payed no heed. She couldn't even move. Yamcha's death was playing back over in the back of her head, and she was terrified. She loved to fight. To spar with Papa, Mr. Piccolo, and Uncle Raditz. She loved training. But this was completely different. This was real, and she wanted no part of it. And yet, this coherent portion of Pan was locked away, far in the back of her brain. Every bit of her was screaming and crying, and telling herself to run.

Yet her body remained motionless, shocked into inactivity.

"You disgust me, kid," barked Nappa, before even Piccolo could reproach the girl. "There's nothing more worthless than a Saiyan too scared to fight. You're related to Raditz, aren't you? You, Kakarrot, Raditz...disgrace must run in your family. But don't you worry now...I'll fix that right up!" Nappa cocked a hand back, a it crackled and brimmed with electricity. His ki flared, and the older Saiyan flashed a sadistic smile. "I'LL START WITH YOU, WASTE OF SAIYAN BLOOD!" Thrusting his arm forward, he launched a blast of ki towards Pan. It rocketed past Piccolo, and the Namekian nearly missed the fact that the blast had moved past him.

"Such speed...how could anything move that fast?!" Piccolo's thoughts were filled with abject horror, but due to this, he missed the attack's true target — his ward.

Pan's eyes widened, black becoming white with shock. Time slowed down, and her mind went numb. With only the faintest idea of the fact that she was moving, her body rushes forward. Her tiny fists reached in front of her, gripping the heated ball of ki with ferocity. The ki crackled and ripped, boring into the ground as it tried to push Pan back. The girl gripped her teeth, and her tail spiked in indication of her rage; with a flare of her own ki, she forced Nappa's blast back towards him.

"WHAT THE HELL!?" Nappa exclaimed, raising his own hands to block the incoming blast. He didn't have the time to deflect it, and was hit by the brunt of his own strength.

"...I...have to agree..." Piccolo gaped at Pan, turning his head from the massive explosion that engulfed Nappa. "Welp, what was that?" The Demon King of old couldn't believe his senses. In that brief moment, the girl's ki had skyrocketed. It eclipsed his, Raditz's, and even Nappa's in that moment. But then it dropped again. It was such a bothersome, fluctuating power, and he found himself wishing to the gods that it could have stayed.

It hadn't escaped the notice of the rest of the Saiyan elite, all of whom turned to glance at the ridiculous ki which made their Scouters screech and their tails twitch. Vegeta, in particular, with a kind of dry interest. His eyes — already narrow — tapered further, and his lips thinned. "The brat...I see her combat strength fluctuates with her emotions. Ordinarily, it isn't anything special...but when it was that high, she was stronger than Nappa." The realization hit him, and even he couldn't help but grin. "I see now. Kakarrot. You mated with an Earthling and produced a half-breed. That explains the wild, uncontrollable burst of power."

Aspara, whose attention had been otherwise focused on Raditz, was sidetracked by the explosive strength of a such a small child. "There's no way that strength could have come from someone so young — even a Saiyan!"

Raditz saw his opening, and rushed forward, blasting Aspara with a powerful pink kikōha. It exploded at point blank range, blasting the Saiyan woman backwards. Raditz grinned. "Do you have the time to be diverting your attention away from me?"

The female Saiyan smirked, dusting herself off. She and Raditz lunged for each other, and their dance of death began again.

With Nappa, the smoke had begun to clear, but the angry Saiyan didn't bother waiting. He ripped it apart with his arms, dispersing the smokescreen with a gust of wind. His face was contorted in rage, and his arms shook. "That was a mistake, brat! All you've done is make your inevitable death that much more painful!"

Pan's breath was ragged, her little palms shaking, but she stood firm this time. Her black eyes were glinting, and even Piccolo couldn't help but enjoy a new sensation — pride in someone else.

"It seems you're finally prepared to fight, brat," said Piccolo, standing at the half-Saiyan's side, and taking a stance. "Just don't hold me back."

"I won't," she replied stubbornly. "I can fight too!" It wasn't that she wanted to fight Nappa. If anything, she wanted to put some distance between himself and her, about as much as she could. She still wanted to run. But her blood was starting to boil. Even if she tried to run, she'd die. So wasn't it better to die fighting? The youngest fighter present within the chaos clenched her fists, and mimicked her teacher's stance. "I'm gonna beat you down, baldie!"

"I see you've got some spunk, brat! Then come on!"

"And in the end, we're left with the runts," Kuka observed as Tenshinhan, Kuririn, and Chaozu all stood in opposition of himself, Bocho, and Gula. The lanky Saiyan sighed. "If I'm going to be thrown into this, I'd much rather be killing Raditz. Yet, Aspara isn't one to bicker with. Let's get this over with, Earthlings."

"Damn it..." Kuririn braced himself, sweat beading down his scalp. "Any bright ideas, Tenshinahan?"

"I'm fresh out," admitted the man shamefully. "I was hoping you might've had something up your sleeve."

"I do," replied Kuririn. "But it isn't something they're going to let me focus the ki for." The bald-monk eyed Bocho most of all. The man was a no-nonsense fighter. If he saw Kuririn try to gather the ki for that, he'd stop him instantly.

The only Saiyan who hadn't moved was Vegeta. The leader of the group, despite being perhaps the slightest next to Aspara, watched the whole display with amusement. To him, this would be nothing more than a light entertainment. The traitor, the half-Saiyan brat, and the defiant Earthlings. Quite a cast had amassed to fight his own troops, and he was going to enjoy every minute.

Elsewhere, across the continent, was the pair of sisters out hunting for Dragon Balls. Due to the haste of which the Saiyans arrived and the desperation in getting Bulma's husband to Earth sooner than he could arrive, the pair had split up to find the mystic orbs. Using the finest of Capsule Corp aerial tech they made quick time in scouring the globe, leagues ahead than was thought possible years ago when she was a teenager. So far they had got the Fifth Star Ball, the Four Star Ball -one that they had to begin with, thanks to Son's attachment to his grandfather's heirloom-, the One Star Ball and the Two Star Ball.

They had made good progress thus far. The first two balls were found in a casino and at the bottom of a lake. Acquiring the first just required Bulma in using her connections with the casino's owner to fork over the ball instead of going through a arbitrary task of getting it through the gambling process; even if she wanted to herself. The second was retrieved by Tights, who used a Capsule Submarine to gain the sphere. However, she had to carefully not disturb a behemoth aquatic beast that swam near it. She couldn't have raced fast enough to the surface if she had tried.

With Son's heirloom already in Bulma's satchel it was just a matter of her going after one, perched on a ledge near a Pterodactyl's nest. The sight of the monstrous reptilian bird brought back unpleasant memories from her earlier days; thankfully, Son had been there to save her. Not wanting to need saving again, she brought along several weapon capsules for ready use in her pockets. That being settled, she began to scale the cliff, keeping radio contact with Tights.

"You think the others are doing alright?" Her older sibling asked, breaking the tense silence as Bulma reached for a ginger grip above her head, using her feet to push herself up and grab the other hand hold.

"I'm sure they're doing their best to hold them off," She replied, refusing to wipe the sweat from her brow as she continued to ascend, blinking away the odd ball of moisture threatening to sting her vision. "I keep checking with my optical scouter, and it still doesn't look good. I think one of them has been taken out."

"Do you know who?" A hint of worry filled Tights' voice.

"It's probably one of ours, given it wasn't the strongest signal," Bulma bit her lower lip, her body heaving and shaking at the thought of her daughter possibly being among casualties in this fight. Shaking her head, she continued to climb as she grunted and heaved closer to her objective. "Whatever the case, we just have to accept the cost. So long as Piccolo doesn't bite the dust and Son gets here, we can use the Dragon Balls to wish back anyone who hasn't been killed before. Fingers crossed that I haven't jynxed us yet."

"Yeah, about that."

"What? Don't tell me you can't get to your ball?" Bulma inquired with a frown, her eyes locked onto the Pterodactyl.

"No, I can get to it. It's just...well," She trailed off, the sound of a weapons being primed heard from the backdrop. "They seem to be bandits. And they're all armed."

"Well Jaco never showed up to the line-up, so why not give him a ring? I'm sure he can take care of those mooks two seconds flat," The lavender haired scientist suggested, her hand stretching out towards the orb resting delicately near the nest. The scaled avian glared at her, releasing a throaty squawk mixed with an inhuman growl. Its beady red eyes staring at her with a mixture of aggression and hunger. Bulma's own eyes scowled back, pulling a capsule out and popping it free with a "Poof!" of smoke.

"I could, but then he'd never let me hear the end of it-"

"Then either get it, call Jaco, or wait for ME to get THERE!" Bulma snapped, shoving her personal plasma cannon -a tribute from her childhood- straight at the Pterodactyl threateningly. The sound of the weapon's systems being revved was enough for the creature to bulge its eyes and shuffle back defensively. The flap of its wings made the ball jiggle, and the woman's body shook with alarm. Using quick thinking, Bulma put the handle of the blaster in her mouth and grabbed the orb before it fell from the crevice from where it landed from the last wish made. Sighing with relief, she placed the ball in her satchel and pulled her weapon out to keep it primed at the creature, making sure it didn't get any ideas as she climbed back down.

"I'll call Jaco, sorry sis."

"It's...fine," Bulma sighed, her hands shaking with every grab of sediment and every prop her foot got a hold of. "I'm just scared for my girl. She's only played with Son before, and it never got out of hand...most of the time, anyways. And training is entirely different than fighting for your life. If Raditz was the least mean, I can't imagine what they'd do to her if she was backed into a corner. What am I-?"

"Bulma, breathe," Tights calmly advised her with a level tone. "You know your girl's a wonder, yes? You know Son's racing here as fast as he can, right? And we're doing all we can to get the Dragon Balls with the only two radars we have. So have faith in your family and just keep the momentum up on getting these mystic rocks together so we can summon the magic snake."

"Dragon."

"Whatever, you know what I mean!"

"Thanks, Tights, I-" She began to say, right until a sudden migraine shot in her head. Clenching her left temple, her left eye squinted as a feed of information flashed over her visual HUD. Numbers flashed all over the place till they settled in the thousands; a number she had never fathomed of seeing till now. Even from this distance, into the horizon, she could see a faint glow of what she could have mistaken for the Sun had it not been for it being glaring over her head just now. "Yeah, we need to get a move on. That last blast gave me a headache and a reading I don't want to believe."

"Jaco's here! I'll get my ball in a jiffy!"

"And I got Number Five," Bulma confirmed with her checking her satchel once more for her recent catch, its orange glint radiating from the Sun. "With your new one, that'll make six. Hopefully we don't run into Pilaf having the Seventh, or we'll be needing to lug Jaco around for awhile longer."

"I'm sure he won't mind, right, Jaco?"

"What do I look like, a pizza delivery boy?!"

"No, that's Son's job, actually."

"Well I'm certainly no Intergalactic Mailman, I can tell you that, so try and actually have good reason for calling a Super Elite."

"Beat those guys up."

"...again, I must stress the SUPER next to the ELITE."

"But, aren't you supposed to be a cop?"

"I'm a SPACE cop, not a MALL cop!"

"Aren't they both still cops?"

"MUST I MENTION I'M A SUPER ELITE-"

"-and muting that conversation for now," The lavender scientist sighed, popping her Capsule Plane out in a "Poof!" of smoke. Once started, she took off with a rumbling roar and soared into the horizon. Checking the radar, she felt her teeth chatter with anxiousness. Shaking her her head, she wiped away the sweat from her face and clenched the steering wheel tightly. "Hold on, Pan! Mama's going to bring Papa home soon!"

It was a long shot, but Tenshinhan knew that they had little choice. Their enemies were strong, and well coordinated. Of those gathered, it was clear the strongest of the bunch preferred to fight alone while the lower members had no qualm with operating as a team. Raditz was still fending off the angry Saiyaness, her agile and graceful maneuvers pushing the tall, burly Saiyan to his limits while Nappa's brute force and bull-like nature kept the diminutive Pan and statuesque Daimao Piccolo on his toes. Vegeta stood back and watched with a sneering grin, clearly enjoying the struggles the Earthlings put up while his own forces were doing their best to savor the fight as they aimed to slaughter them all.

So, when Kuririn said he had a technique that could give them an edge, Tenshinhan turned to Chaozu and they exchanged a nodding glance.

"Don't worry, Kuririn, we'll hold them off!" The three-eyed man shouted, his power exploding around him and gave him a fiery white halo of ki blazing around him. "Just don't miss!"

"I'll do my best!" He replied, raising his hand over his head and priming his ki over his outstretched palm.

"Do you see that, Gula?" Kuka, the muscular hair-braided Saiyan asked with a raucous laugh. "They've been barely holding up against our warm-up, and that three eyed guy said the midget and himi will 'hold us off'."

"Quite a brash one, aren't you?" Gula queried the three-eyed warrior, rubbing his chin with a thin smile as his narrow tired eyes stared at the incandescent aura blazing about the approaching being's body. The long, bladed tresses shifted as his aura slowly bubbled up and burned around him in a green tint, his single left hoop earring of gold plated bone bouncing under the pressure of his power. "Don't get cocky, Earthling. We're just getting into our groove-"

All at once, the two aforementioned Saiyans were caught off guard by the three-eyed Crane Fighter suddenly teleporting in front of them. Both reacted to his hands releasing a pair of Dodonpo at their abdomens, crisscrossing their arms to block the blasts. Skidding back, Chaozu followed up through a forward flip over Tenshinhan, raising his hands up and then thrusting them down, the pair of Saiyans suddenly feeling an immense pressure that forced them into the earth and into a deep chasm. After finishing his move, Bocho appeared behind Chaozu and the psychic barely formed a barrier in time to absorb the brunt of the chop to the back of his neck; still, he fell down to the ground with mouth agape and eyes dilated from the pain of the attack.

"Quick reflexes," Bocho, remarked simply, turning around to catch a rising punch from Tenshinhan's punch whom rose up to reach his altitude. The connection caused the earth to quake and the air pop, the two's ki flaring out and eyes glared at each other. In response, the Crane Fighter charged another Dodonpa in his free hand to launch at Bocho; missing only thanks to twisting his arm around and sidestepping in the air to avoid the bolt of golden-orange. Manipulating his energy, he instantly accelerated to plant a kick in his solar plexus that made him gape, clenching both hands into fists and launched a pair of invisible punches numbering in the dozens.

"Bocho, watch out!" Kuka cried out from below.

Bocho heard the alarm one second too late. So busy with his assault on the three-eyed Earthling that he didn't sense the subdued ki maneuvering behind him. Eyes widened and the face-painted Saiyan turned to face a shine of gold-white that shined vibrantly, the sound of a whirring saw wielded above the Orin Monk's hand and bald head. He didn't need to be told by the Prince -whose own expression was one of awe at the visible deadliness of the technique- to know that he needed to avoid being hit by it.

"This," Kuririn began to shout, hurtling the Kienzan at Bocho like a discus. "IS FOR YAMCHA!"

In the moment he focused on the new threat, Bocho was grappled by the three-eyed man from behind, using an extra pair of arms to put him in a headlock while using the others to clench around his tail-wrapped waist. Panic filled the Saiyan, the sound of the pair of Saiyans firing a salvo of kikoha to stop the saw was for naught as the discus of light cut through them all like butter in its aim to claim its target. Deafened and nearly blinded by the rotating blade of ki, Bocho clenched his teeth and eyes dilated to pins, his face becoming that of a snarling animal. At a meter apart, he let out a monstrous roar and let loose a burning inferno of flames, lit by his own energy and destroying the arms restraining him.

Unable to stop the Kienzan, merely make it zigzag at an unpredictable trajectory, he whipped his tail to bludgeon the arm-less Tenshinhan and maneuvered in a rightward spin. Gritting his teeth in a flash of pain, the spinning blade zoomed past him and struck the plane of plateaus behind him, slicing them apart effortlessly for kilometers and causing a quaking upheaval of the distant landscape. Turning to look back at the path of destruction it wrought, he did his best to not show his expression of his own injuries.

With a surprisingly sober tone, he seethed as he used his right arm to sear the semi-circle dismemberment from his right side up past the shoulder. As flesh cooked in a grizzly manner, he remained still and regarded Kuririn with begrudging respect, "I have to admit, Earthling, that technique got me beat. Even without the other playing martyr, I don't think I could've escaped unscathed. Had you curbed your tongue, I'd imagine you would've killed me if you cut through your ally from my blind-"

"Shut up and look behind you!" Kuka shouted, shooting into the air to engage a phantom blur wrapped in silver light. Reaching him just in time, his arm bracing against an incoming forefinger jab as the very still unharmed Tenshinhan scowled intensely at the defending Saiyan. As he swept a kick, he blocked and somersaulted, avoiding the suddenly appearing Gula, the wiry long-haired Saiyan slashing his arms around in his search for the most dangerous of the three.

"So, that was a Clone," Bocho verbally acknowledged, blocking a sudden kick from Kuririn, visibly sweating as he fought pain from his previous fight on top of the newest grave injuries. "Fascinating techniques. I should've kept my guard up better with three of you fighting me at once."

"Yeah, we're full of surprises!" The dwarf snapped back, spinning around over Bocho's arm and attacked his unarmed flank. Surprised when the Saiyan's ki flickered and he hit nothing but empty air, Kuririn countered with a foot Kamehameha to propel himself away from a ax kicking from above. Twisting it around, he guided himself to appear over his enemy's head and cup his hands to his sides. "Ka! Me! Ha! Me! HA!"

Bocho growled, his only arm raising up clad in a dull red aura, boldly thrust into the pyre of blue outlined white light. It bent and distended, warping around the point of his appendage. The struggle between the Earthling made a distinct flash in the sky, red and blue snapping to and fro from the point of contact. Vegeta looked up with arms crossed, an amused smirk adorned on his face. Nappa briefly glanced amidst his confrontation with Pan and Piccolo, the latter pair also taking a moment to see the Saiyan that murdered their friend and ally being met with full force. Raditz braced against a single arm of Aspara's, barely aware of the bald man's struggle while he focused on the menacing Saiyaness before him.

"Dammit!" Kuririn growled out, his hands pushing as hard as he could. "Just a little more! I just need a little more and I can take him down!"

"Forget it, Earthling!" Bocho cried out, his arm opening its clenched fist into a palm, priming a whirring burgundy orb in its epicenter. "You did well, but the outcome was guaranteed when you couldn't kill me in one move."

Unleashing a mighty plume of dark crimson, his ki steadily pushed back against Kuririn's. Tenshinhan looked with alarm, unable to go to his side as the two Saiyans continued to pressure him from both sides. Everyone still locked in their engagements, and he was stuck fighting two tough opponents. As he he employed the Four Witches technique to block and parry his two foes' flurry of melee attacks, he caught sight of something that took him by surprise.

Something that surprised everyone watching; including Kuririn and most importantly, Bocho.

A single bolt of Dodonpa smashed through Bocho's back and emerged out of his abdomen. Coughing up blood, his enormous attack faltered and began to be pushed back by Kuririn's Kamehameha. Spurred on by the interruption from the crouching but intensely glaring Chaozu from below, Kuririn howled and ignited his aura, his beam widening twice its size and smashing straight into the maimed Saiyan bodily. Without a word uttered back, he yelled out in frustration and fury as he was pummeled into the chasm the psychic had created and was consumed in an azure explosion that blasted brightly before both groups, the wind blowing by making hair blow and skin blister.

"Take...that...bastard," Kuririn heaved, winded from the ordeal, lowering himself to land beside Chaozu to regain his second wind with him. "Thanks man. You saved my butt."

"Let's hurry," The midget intoned to him, looking over with worry as Tenshinhan continued to hold off the pair of Saiyans with all of his concentration. "Tenshinhan will need our help fighting those two."

"Right," Kuririn nodded, slapping his cheeks to brace himself. With a stern expression spread on his face, he and the pasty-skinned Crane Schooler took to the air, arching around in arcs of ki to strike the pair of Saiyans on either side. Gula blocked Kuririn's rapid punches while Kuka staggered from Chaozu's small but powerful kick to his kidneys. Both occupied, Tenshinhan inserted himself neatly forward and launched a pair of punches in their stomachs, throwing them a sizable distance away with explosive kiai. Watching them tumble to the ground, they too, landed on the earth and regained their bearings as their enemies did.

"Guys, I don't think we can pull off another win like we did just now," Kuririn remarked soberly, sweat crawling down his bald scalp as he balled his fists at his sides. "That Kienzan and Kamehameha took all I had, and he needed Chaozu's Dodonpa just to be taken down for good."

"I know," Tenshinhan remarked, almost whispering as his eyes drifted from the pair of Saiyans towards the only one whose yet to make a move. The Prince, only slightly ruffled by the sight of another of his Saiyans biting the dust, renewed his sardonic grin at the dire state they all had. He didn't need the Saiyans' scouters to know that they were getting close to their limits. And with no sign of Aspara and Nappa tiring, they needed more than simply two small wins on their lower ranks. Closing his eyes, he sighed, reaching into the confines of his pants pocket and balling his hand around a small object. "Guys, we need to stun as many of them as we can. Kuririn, you know the technique I'm talking about, right?"

Kuririn didn't need reminding. It was the technique used on him and Goku during the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai. With their reserves of ki as it was, it was the best choice without wasting so much of their power. Nodding without talking too much, he looked back at the Saiyans, noticing their steady but wary approach.

"Let's get this over with," Gula sighed, rolling his neck side to side, making audible pops while Kuka spat out a wad of blood. "I'll make sure to kill the three-eyed one. You can have the two small fries."

"Ha! Don't get greedy, Gula! Remember, we both were fighting him, so we should have an even shot!"

"Then just make sure to finish them quickly so you can get a piece of him," He proffered to his colleague.

"Fine! Don't need to beg that much!"

"I didn't beg-"

"Hey!" Kuka declared, watching the three stand ready to meet them head-on. "Prepare to make peace with whatever you call a god here! I'm going to send you to your makers shortly, Earthling scum!"

In a moment, the Saiyan duo dashed forward, leaping barely after images of their wake as they broke the sound barrier in their momentum. Fists connected with a pair of hands, but they glided off the palms as three bodies somersaulted over them in forward flips and launched into the air in throttling blasts of ki. Infuriated at the idea of their prey escaping, Kuka turned and leaped after them with Gula suspiciously furrowing his brows and took after his partner a second later. They'd watch them ascend into the sky, till their silhouettes were embroiled by the high noon Sun, making their eyes wince and arms raise to shield their vision.

The exact opportunity had come, and all three splayed their hands to frame their faces, shouting with a massive projection of blinding rays towards the surface of the planet.

"TAIYŌKEN!"

Everyone who had dared to look up -or had no reflex to shield their eyes- were immediately blinded by the magnified tri-fold technique's projection. Kuka was immediately paralyzed, shrieking with agony as he fell to the ground with a crash while Gula growled and let himself drop with more dignity. Aspara happened to glance one second too late and was also struck by the technique. Piccolo had helped Pan look away in time, closing his eyes tightly and facing away until the lightshow ended. Raditz had closed his eyes but knew opening them would risk exposure, so he stayed still until the light had dimmed.

The one who was effected among all the others near worst, was Vegeta. He had never seen a technique like this and he was stunned just as much as his underlings. Growling, he put a hand over his face and swung the other around with visible anger.

"It worked!" Kuririn shouted with glee.

"We did it, Tenshinhan!" Chaozu cried with joy to his comrade. His sense of achievement was dimmed when Tenshinhan's face had grown stony and his eyes didn't meet his. Arching his head at an angle, he inquired quietly. "Tenshin...han?"

"Guys, I'm not coming back from this," The Crane Schooler solemnly informed them, his body lowering to face his enemy while he still had the time; the nerve to go through with this. "It was an honor fighting alongside you."

"Tenshinhan! What are you doing?!" Kuririn cried out, incredibly alarmed by the manner his friend was acting. "Come on, we can still win this!"

"You're right, you guys can. But not me," He gave them a thumb's up as he dropped to the ground with a clack. "Tell Lunch, I went out fighting. Can you do that, Chaozu?"

"Tenshinhan?" His friend queried with grief-filled confusion.

"Urgh! Confound this blindness!" Vegeta snarled, his vision slowly returning, a bit faster than the rest as Tenshinhan faced him. Seeing the vague outline of his enemy, he grinned past the clouded vision. "What's this? You think you can beat me without my sight? You're in for a sore awakening if you're that deluded-!"

"You're the one deluded here, Saiyan!" Tenshinhan bellowed, clicking capsule in his right hand and tossing it in front of his feet. In a "poof!" of smoke, revealed a small urn with small lid set beside it and a talisman attached to it written in the Kanji of 'Seal'. Raising his hands up, he cupped them before his face, an eerie green aura wrapping around his body that warped the atmosphere and turned it into a sinister lime hue. The vision just about returned to Vegeta when the sudden sensation of a howling wind struck him, all coming from the Earthling as he let out an ungodly roar. "Mafūba!"

Terror gripped the Saiyan prince like he never felt. A torrential green maelstrom swirled around him, stretching his body and tearing him from the ground. Eyes widened grotesquely and his mouth agape, he shrieked within the twister of siphoning energy. As everyone's senses slowly were restored, the insanity of the situation before them gave them ultimate pause. Those who knew of the technique's deadly toll and those who had no knowledge of this horrifying display of what they could only presume was witchcraft.

"This is your end!" Tenshinhan bellowed, guiding the Saiyan, watching him cross halfway to the goal that was the sealing urn before his feet. It rattled at his feet but maintained its upright posture. He didn't want to have this mess up; not when it mattered most.

"HEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLP MEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The Prince of the Saiyans shrieked out in an uncharacteristic plea for help. His cry made the Saiyans, for the most part, indecisive. No one truly loved their leader and his cruelty wasn't something not absent to their thoughts. Plus, the damning sight of the technique used was so unholy they dared not even get close; nor did they wish to.

The only one with the density and lack of awareness who heard his cry for help was his caretaker and 2nd in command.

"My Prince! I'm coming!" Nappa shouted, leaping from the Nameccian and half-breed to the still twisting Saiyan. In his mind, he didn't think to destroy the urn or attack Tenshinhan directly. Rather he reached out and with a mantle of dense kicoating his body, he intended to rip him straight out of it. It was something the three-eyed warrior hadn't thought someone would be insane or stupid enough to try, and his eyes bulged at the act.

However, instead of catching the Saiyan general's hand, Vegeta grabbed his wrist. Through an act of defiance to the whole technique's sealing pressure, he yanked himself from its suction and pushed himself away. All the while, casting a cruel smirk at a bewildered Nappa, pulling him into it as a give-and-take maneuver. Without realizing the betrayal, Nappa was put on the same trajectory as Vegeta. Steeling himself, Tenshinhan followed through and slammed him straight into the urn with a pulse of green light, smoke puffing from the top of the glowing container. Placing the talisman quickly atop the lid, he tossed it into the hole nearby before the drain of stamina hit him.

Sweat permeated his whole being, much like Vegeta's. But, unlike the Saiyan prince, it was more out of sheer fatigue than the cold sweat of fear that had gripped the otherworldly conqueror. Gritting his teeth, he felt his vision swam and his body sway, dizziness taking hold of him. Staggering about, he forced himself to keep standing through sheer will.

"If I had sealed Vegeta, I'd probably not have the strength to put the talisman on the lid. It seems the second strongest I was barely able to contain," He thought, heaving heavily as his body shook. Aiming a smirk at Vegeta's momentary expression of fright of what had transpired, he suddenly felt a white hot blade shove straight through his right shoulder. The pain was enough to wash away the fog in his mind, but had also made him step back, blood spewing from the chunk of his body now gone by the near instantaneous attack sent his way. "I couldn't even follow that! Did he shoot me?"

"Not so smug, are you?!" Vegeta gnashed his teeth, eyes struck with red veins as sweat was wiped away with one arm as the other formed a finger gun. Firing another bolt, Tenshinhan was hit in the lower right abdomen, making him gape and hoarsely croak with blood escaping his mouth, pouring in a viscous display onto the ground. He fired again, this one in his left thigh, followed by the right shin. The punishment continued as Tenshinhan's eyes slowly lost light and his mouth stained red along with his chin.

It was a gruesome display, one that made everyone helpless. Raditz could only grit his teeth, scowling at his old superior, remembering seeing that look of anger and callous cruelty. It reminded him so much of a particular icy tyrant that it turned his stomach. Piccolo was no stranger to such acts of maliciousness, but Pan was mortified, put into a state between grief and anger. Her power was rising and falling with every shot, eyes moistening and hardening. Piccolo had to visibly put himself between her and the horrifying sight to disable her source of pain.

As Tenshinhan fell to his knees, full of holes and bleeding intensely, eyes almost completely white-out.

"Good riddance, trash!" Vegeta sneered, his face now adorned with a wry grin, savoring the last priming of ki at his fingertip. Shooting it off slower than the rest, he saw an orange blur twist in its path, forming a conical shell of the same hue to block it. However, all it did was slow it down, the edge of the blast shattering the barrier and exploding in front of the interceptor. Seeing a charred, shocked expression of the pasty midget, he chuckled as he saw him fall dead instead. "Saving your friend instead of yourself? Rule number one in battle, never let down your guard! Do that, and your through; not like it matters now, haha!"

Tenshinhan's fading vision had focused on the falling form of his best friend. What counted as senses felt a complete silence from the child-like form ceasing its heartbeat. Tears moistened in the whites of his eyes, onyx orbs ignited with fury. Despite the copious amounts of blood loss and the damage he received, he managed to shakily stand up, pale yellow light trailing off him like embers of a faint flame. The sight of this defiance both humored and annoyed Vegeta, making him laugh, gesturing with an insulting air towards the near-dead man.

"What's the matter? Did your worthless, pasty freak dying make you mad? What a waste of space. A real warrior wouldn't sacrifice himself for a dead man," Vegeta mocked, watching Tenshinhan's arms shaking raise and clasp together. The sudden sensation of vibration in the air and another coat of bold yellow changed the scenery of the environment. Furrowing his brows, he wondered what he could muster at death's door till his Scouter began to bleep with noticeable alarm. "Wait! Wait-wait-wait! No, that's impossible!"

"I may be a roadblock to a guy like you," Tenshinhan grinned bloodily, forming a triangle with his hands, aiming it straight at the bewildered Saiyan prince. "But I'm going to be one Hell of a ditch for you to crawl out of!"

"Tenshinhan!" Kuririn cried out, watching helplessly as he felt the quaking power and the memorable technique used at a lethal detriment.

"Pan, move!" Piccolo called out, grabbing the daughter of Goku and Bulma, pulling her as far away as possible. Aspara was knocked aside by Raditz, who also booked it. The other Saiyans and Kuririn were the only ones who stayed as the sensation of a thick heat built up, a glowing orb forming in an orange hue around Tenshinhan's body. Transferred to his hands, it crackled with tendrils of ki, snapping and lashing out at the ground to break apart sediment and soil with wild abandon. The Scouter bleeped chaotically, soon cut off by a sudden shrieking wail as the instantaneous wall of energy soared through the air and rammed towards the confused Saiyan.

"KIKŌHŌ!"

A/N:

Demod20: Whoo boy! I didn't expect to be as invested in this latter half than I thought. First with Bulma and Tights, I liked how we took a brief break from the action to show how distressed our favorite wife is. Given her daughter's fighting on the frontlines and her husband has yet to return anytime soon, she's desperate to get him back home sooner rather than too late. Liked writing that urgency (plus a little Tights/Jaco humor never hurts). Then we have the big fight. Bocho puts up a good struggle, but Kuririn and Chaozu put up a bigger struggle than he thought. Then Tenshinhan's sacrifice, both with the Mafuuba and then the Kikoho, man I LOVED writing those scenes. It just emboldens me to believe that he's the best early rival for Goku for a reason, and I am determined that he never lags behind the main cast again; even beyond death.

Firegod00: Hey guys, Fire here with my once in a blue moon checkups. Just wanted to say thanks for reading the story and I hope you continue to enjoy the ride.

LastationLover5000: So, first off, an apology from me. This chapter was meant to drop a month ago. I don't even know precisely why, I just had a hard time writing last month. So, the reason why this chapter is a month late is 90% my fault, sorry, everyone! Regardless, this was a GOOD chapter for our story. The most interesting reveal was Aspara's casual announcing of her identity; Kakarrot and Raditz's cousin. To "miguelnuva", you were close, but not exact. Toriyama revealed in an interview some time back that Bardock most likely has siblings and just doesn't care. I'm making use of that here. In unrelated news, but related to us giving Bulma such an extensive section of the chapter, Hiromi Tsuru, longtime seiyū for Bulma (among other roles, such as Ukyō Kuonji from Ranma ½) for 31 years, passed away on November 16, 2017 due to aortic dissection. I don't usually care for celebrity deaths — if I'm to be honest, the exact moment a celebrity dies, no less than twenty other nameless people die in that same span of time — but Dragon Ball has been a part of all of our lives for years. She was a credit to her career, and while I can't speak much for an afterlife, not subscribing to the notion, I know I do speak for the three of us, and the fandom at large, when I say she will be missed. Rest in peace, Hiromi Tsuru.