Not a Spectator, But a Warrior

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

A bit of quick thinking on Chiaotzu's part results in Tien surviving the battle with the Saiyans, leading to a chain of events that shows everyone the truth: that Tien Shinhan is not a spectator. He is a warrior.

3. Saiyan Saga III

(Saiyan Saga III)

Memo: Agreed, it's about time Tien gets the love he deserves. I'm glad to see you're on board for it.

RandomDood: Goku is one thing, but I more wonder why King Kai never bothered to teach the likes of the Kaioken to the others. Piccolo is one thing, he was really only there for a few days, but the others were there for months, and frankly they could use that, especially since all of the Super Saiyan stuff happened.

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The relocation effort was about to come to an end almost as soon as it had begun.

'I guess I shouldn't be surprised.' Goku cast a glance at where Vegeta was trailing behind him as the two of them continued their flight across the various landscapes 'He's about as confident as they come, and he's keeping up with me so easy it's like- Wait, there!' and then he suddenly blitzed out of view.

'Looks like he's finally selected his final resting place. Good, now it seems like the real fun can begin.' Vegeta gave a smirk as he followed Goku's lead and blitzed out of the sky.

'Okay good, this spot should do just fine.' Goku looked around at the barren wasteland as he landed on top of a plateau 'As far as I can tell, there aren't any people or animals nearby to get caught in the crossfire.'

"A rather interesting choice, but fitting for one of your kind." Vegeta landed on a slightly higher plateau overlooking the one Goku stood on "Of all the places on this planet, you chose to use this one to mark your grave. You know you really should feel honored, it's not every day that a low class warrior like you gets the opportunity to spar with a super elite like myself."

"That'd mean a lot more if you and your buddy weren't responsible for killing a bunch of my friends you know."

"How touching." Vegeta rolled his eyes "Not long after Saiyans are born, their skills as a soldier are tested. The scum whose scores are ranked the lowest are sent off to the outer worlds, where the inhabitants there are weak and worthless, much like what we did with you Kakarot. To put it in simple terms even you could understand, you were cast out like a dog."

"You say that like I'm supposed to be bothered by that. As far as I'm concerned I was lucky, it led me to come here to Earth. If anything, I should be grateful for that. Besides, that doesn't mean an outcast from the lower class can surpass an elite if he puts his mind to it." Goku was met with a loud snort from Vegeta.

"Is that what you believe? I'll admit that's a nice attempt at a joke, but now I'm about to show you the wall that you will never have the ability to scale through effort alone." Vegeta dropped into a combat stance.

"We'll see about that." Goku dropped into his own combat stance, and with the drop of a rock, he charged forward and let the first fist fly, signalling the start of the battle.

Vegeta dodged the first punch and then caught Goku's fist in his own, then went on to dodge and block every blow Goku was aiming at him, before retreating backwards across several plateaus behind him, to which he ricocheted off of one of them with enough speed and force to deck Goku in the jaw.

'Crap!' Goku rebounded off the side a plateau and retreated into the air, managing to dodge an attack from behind, and he and Vegeta began trading blows in mid-air… which quickly went from even to him getting pummeled by Vegeta.

"What's the matter Kakarot? I'm sure you can put up a better fight than this, I saw you exert far more effort when you were fighting Nappa, so why not do the same for me? As your prince, I order you to show it to me!" Vegeta finished his onslaught by dealing Goku a smash attack to the head, sending him hurtling towards the ground below.

"Dammit!" Goku managd to rebound in time to land on top of another plateau and wiped a bit of blood from his face, but gave a smirk nonetheless 'Pretty impressive I have to admit, we've only just begun to fight and his speed and technique have far surpassed mine. I know he's about to try and destroy the planet and all, but still this is kind of exciting.'

"Good to see you're not about to give up on me." Vegeta's smirk didn't waver "Now why don't you go ahead and show me, or was that the extent of the strength you've been hiding away up to this point?"

"If you wanna see it then that's your call, just don't say I didn't warn you." Goku got into a new stance as his aura spiked and turnd a shade of crimson "Kaioken!"

"Kaio-wha-" Vegeta didn't get to finish before Goku suddenly launchd himself upwards with enough speed to slug Vegeta straight across the face, followed by a rapid barrage of attacks and an uppercut kick to the jaw that sent him flying, but he managed to recover before Goku could land a follow up attack and dealt him a kick to his own jaw in return, knocking the Kaioken out of him as both of them came to a stop in mid-air, with Vegeta giving another smirk as he wiped the blood from his lip "Okay I'll admit, that one wasn't bad… but if that's the limit of what you have to offer, then I'm going to be sorely disappointed."

'You've gotta be kidding me, this guy is brutal!' Goku gritted his teeth, but then gave another small smirk 'But then again, for all of the trouble I'm facing right now, I'm beginning to get even more excited. I never knew someone as strong as this even existed.'

'He's actually laughing, has he completely lost his mind, or has he just gone and given up all hope? No, perhaps that means he's hiding the fact that he's able to raise his power level even higher, through some sort of convoluted disguise! Come on now Kakarot, don't tell me you've given up already. I guess that means you're all talk after all. Well if that's the case, then allow me the courtesy of showing you something before I finish you off once and for all, and that is the overwhelming power of a Saiyan super elite! Tremble in fear at what real power looks like, and then you get to follow the rest of your friends into oblivion!" and so to prove this point, Vegeta began powering up, summoning storm clouds and various strong winds, the sheer force proving enough to shatter the plateaus around him as his body was engulfed in a sphere of Ki, which left even Goku nearly overwhelmed.

'No way, his power is incredible, it's like the whole planet is shaking! It's like he's turning into a mini-hurricane!'

"You want to see power Kakarot? Well I… am… POWER!" Vegeta let out a mighty primal roar as he finished powering up and let out a massive shockwave, the force alone being enough to send Goku flying as everything died down.

'You gotta be kidding me!' Goku was able to rebound in mid-air, only to falter when he saw that everything had settled down… with one big exception 'Okay that's pretty weird, the wind just up and vanished, the same with all of the clouds, and the Saiyan… Oh holy crap, that is one hell of a big power level.'

Sure enough, Vegeta was still floating in front of Goku, his body crackling slightly with visible bioelectricity, and his confidence never wavering, but now putting out enough power to leave even Goku stunned "And now Kakarot, it's done." he suddenly blitzed towards Goku and dealt him a fierce headbutt and elbow to the gut, sending him hurtling towards the ground.

"What the hell?!" Goku managed to rebound on top of a large plateau, casting a frantic look around, only to find no sign of Vegeta 'Where did he-?!'

"Hey watch out stupid, I'm right behind you!" Vegeta blitzed behind Goku and dalt him a sharp kick to the back, only for Goku retreat up another plateau to rebound, and then Vegeta himself lapt into the air "Now see if you can dodge this one! Shine Shot!" he summoned a large ball of flames and hurled it down towards Goku at blinding speed.

"Kaioken!" thinking as fast as he could, Goku's aura flashed crimson as he leapt into the air to avoid the Shine Shot, only for Vegeta to shoot another one at him, which he managed to dodge at the last second, but not without having part of his shirt burnt away and him receiving some burns across his shoulder, before he landed on top of another plateau 'Okay, that one was definitely too close.'

"Well done Kakarot, being able to dodge an attack like that one. Of course that one I made easy for you. After all, I don't think it would be any fun for either of us if you went and got yourself killed right away."

"Yeah, I kind of agree with you about that. But dammit, the speed and power he's showing off are unreal. Even the Kaioken 2X it's not enough to keep up with him. I guess that's only gonna leave me with one option.' Goku gave a smirk as he ripped off what was left of his shirt 'This might end up destroying my body but it's better than dying, the only choice I have right now is to pull out the Kaioken times three. But that still leaves the big question, how long is my body gonna be able to hold out once I go to Kaioken times three? Then again it's not like I have any other real options at this point, and I'll have to pull out all the stops just to survive.'

"Why bother with all of the hesitation? It's your move now Kakarot. No more of those little trick moves up your sleeve? Not that they're going to do you much good in the end. Even among the rest of the Saiyans, I was always the most powerful by far."

"Yeah, that definitely shows."

"Of course it does. I don't care if you've spent every moment of your entire life training for this day to come, it will do nothing to change the fact that you will always and forever be a worthless lower class outcast, and that's all you're ever going to be."

"I think we'll see about that soon enough."

What neither Goku or Vegeta had noticed up to this point however, was that a certain obese swordsman in the form of Yajirobe was watching the battle from afar 'I had already gotten this close, so sure I said, I'll stay and watch, but I never expected to see stuff like this! Both Goku and that Saiyan asshole are so crazy strong, it's really freaking me out! Plus the Saiyan has Goku over a barrel now, so… Maybe now oughta be a good time to bug out of here. I mean I could try to help him, but what good would it do? Yeah it's time to go, and besides I'm starting to get hungry anyway. Nothing about this is worth missing a meal over anyway.' and so he tried to slink away from the scene.

'Okay, it's now or never…' Goku gritted his teeth and his muscles began to bulg as he dropped into a stance, and a crimson aura slowly flickering into life "Come on body, you can't fail me now…"

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Needless to say, Goku's decision to push himself to use Kaioken times three wasn't going to go unnoticed, or without approval, via other parties.

King Kai in particular had been keeping tabs on the battle, and while disapproving of Goku's choice to push himself, knew that he didn't really have a choice.

On the other hand, with the news not being of any help, Bulma was keeping track of the battle in her own way, via the scouter she had picked up from Raditz's corpse, and was tracking Goku's increase in his power level, but once it got up to a certain point it exploded on her.

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Meanwhile, back with the main battle…

'Okay, it's now or never…' Goku gritted his teeth and his muscles began to bulg as he dropped into a stance, and a crimson aura slowly flickering into life "Come on body, you can't fail me now…"

'What the hell is going on? With all of the pressure he's building up, it's as if he's about to push himself to the bring…' Vegeta watched with anticipation as Goku's muscles continued to bulge from the strain he was putting on himself, followed by the steam he was emitting and the burst of a shockwave put out, and then enough sheer pressure to shatter the plateau Vegeta was standing on.

"Kaioken… times… THREE!" with a primal roar filled to the brim with strain, Goku released a massive shockwave and his crimson aura roaring into life, Goku launched himself forward and began his onslaught, starting with slugging Vegeta in the face hard enough to send him flying, then blitzed around behind Vegeta and kicked him in the spine, sending him hurtling upwards into the air, before flying into the air around and behind him.

"Take this you filthy peasant!" Vegeta tried to hit Goku with another Shine Shot blast, only for him to blitz out of view before it struck and for Vegeta to be met with a kick to the face hard enough to send him crashing through several plateas and into a nearby mountain. A moment passed before Vegeta let out a roar and a burst of Ki powerful enough to shatter the mountain he was in, the vein in his forehead throbbing with his rage "You wretched little…"

'Okay, yeah this hurts… Gotta keep moving…' Goku gritted his teeth through the pain as he continued his assault, blitzing behind Vegeta and dealing him a headputt to the spine.

Vegeta quickly recovered and attempted to deal Goku a Ki-enhanced fist to the face, only for that to fail when Goku buried a Kaioken fist in Vegeta's gut, causing him to cough up blood and nearly topple over in pain 'How… How in the hell is this happening?!'

'You gotta be kidding me…' Yajirobe on the other hand had stuck around and was witnessing the beating Goku was inflicting on Vegeta 'He actually made that freaky Saiyan bleed. He's just gotta keep this up, and Goku just might be able to win this after all…'

"DAMN YOU!" Vegeta attempted to let a desperate fist fly forward.

"Right back at ya!" Goku caught both of Vegeta's fists in his and began crushing them with his bare hands, earning a loud cry of pain.

"You filthy little…" Vegeta positioned himself so he was sitting on top of Goku's arms and attempted to land a smash attack to Goku's face, only to be met with a brutal headbutt, which was followed by Goku picking him up by the waist and smashing him into the ground, then landing an elbow to the face and continuing on with a fierce barrage of attacks before he was finally smashed into the ground on top of a plateau. When the assault was over, Vegeta himself had finally toppled over in a mix of pain and denial 'No, this can't be happening! I refuse to accept this, it's not possible for the power level of low class trash like Kakarot to be higher than my own! No this isn't happening, I refuse to accept this!' and so he pulled himself back onto his feet.

'You've gotta be kidding me…' Goku on the other hand had returned to the ground, reeling from the pain of pushing the Kaioken so far, complete with a muscle in his arm convulsing slightly from the pain 'Dammit, I knew this guy was gonna be tough, but this is unreal… No I have to focus, just ignore the pain…'

"You filthy peasant… I belong to the uper echelon of the most elite class of warriors that has ever been seen by this universe! I will not be bested, not be some worthless low born amateur like you! I AM THE GREATEST WARRIOR WHO HAS EVER LIVED!" Vegeta's declaration echoed through the wasteland, though it didn't really do anything to scare Goku.

'Okay he's mad, that's not good… And to make matters worse, pushing the Kaioken to times three really does a number on my body, even more than I thought it would. I don't think I'll be able to keep this up, if this drags out for too much longer than I'm done for!'

"Now to show you who's truly superior here." Vegeta was about to advance on Goku again as he wiped away some excess spit from his lip… only to find something else on his glove that pushed him over the edge "Blood… To think that my noble blood was spilled by the luck of such low class trash?! No, no I will not allow this to stand! DO YOU HEAR ME?! I CANNOT ALLOW THIS TO STAND! YOUR INSOLENCE JUST COST YOU THIS WORLD! I'LL BLOW ALL OF IT TO PIECES AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME!" and so in his rage, he burst up into the air.

"He's gonna what?!"

"You heard me filth!" now completely out of patience, Vegeta was cloaked in a purple aura as he cupped his hands at his side in a fairly familiar stance "Go ahead and try to dodge this if you can, not that it would make a difference! You might be able to save yourself, but your precious Earth is as good as obliterated!"

'Crap, he's got me! What the hell am I supposed to do?! I… I guess I'm just gonna have to take the risk, whether my body can handle it or not!' so Goku powered his Kaioken back up and cupped his hands at his side for his own signature attack, the sheer force of Ki levitating the rubble around them and his muscles bulging with visible stran "Let's see how you handle a three times Kaioken Kamehameha! Ka… Me… Ha… Me…"

"It's hopeless for you Kakarot, you don't have a chance in hell of standing against my most powerful attack! Now prepare to join this filthy orb and every person on it in oblivion! Galick Gun… FIRE!" Vegeta finally let loose his newly named Galick Gun, sending it plummeting down towards the Earth below.

"HAAAAAAAA!" Goku finally let loose his Kaioken Kamehameha, sending it hurtling into the air until it collided with the Galick Gun, resulting in a powerful beam srtuggle that shattered the mountains around them (while also blowing Yajirobe away in the process, not that either of them actually noticed), though Goku was visibly straining to keep it up 'Crap, his blast is exactly like my Kamehameha! I might have to push it to the next level…'

"It's over Kakarot, this is the end for you!" Vegeta barked out a triumphant laugh "You don't stand a chance in hell of besting me, not when I put all of my power into this attack! Now perish, along with the rest of this miserable planet and everyone on it!"

"We'll… see… about that!" Goku's muscles bulged slightly further as his crimson aura spiked higher amidst the mix of blue and purple enveloping the battlefield "Kaioken…"

"Noooo…!"

"Times…"

"No, no, no!"

"FOUR!" with as much power as he was able to muster, Goku pushed his Kaioken up to level four, increasing his power and sending the Kamehameha hurtling upwards, allowing it to easily overpower the Galick Gun and then hurtle towards Vegeta himself.

"No no no no no no- FUUUUUU-" Vegeta didn't get a chance to finish before the Kamehameha hit him dead on with enough force to send him flying up into the atmosphere.

With the beam struggle over and the battle appearing to be over for the moment, Goku finally let himself fall to his knees as he gasped for air 'Okay, that… that was too close… At least now I have a chance… to catch my breath…'

It took a moment before Yajirobe was able to pull himself out from the rubble that resulted from the clash, clearly taken aback by the display of power "What the hell…? Holy crap, he… He did it, he really did it! Way to go Goku, you magnificent bastard!" and so he rushed over to Goku's side, taking him by surprise.

"Wait Yajirobe, what in the heck are you doing out here?"

"Well I mean, someone had to keep an eye on you. Strong as you might be, you almost got your ass handed to you a couple of times."

"Yeah, I… I guess I did…" Goku let out a weak chuckle.

"But hey, way to put the hurt on that alien dude and launch him into orbit. I knew you were gonna come through in the end, so nice one!" he slapped Goku on the shoulder, only to be met with a scream of pain, taking him by surprise "Hey, what the hell gives? I barely touched you dude."

"Sorry, but… I may have pushed my body… a bit past its limits…"

"Well I guess I'm not surprised, you were actually on fire for a few minutes."

"Yeah, but listen to me… You gotta get out of here, like now. It's not safe yet."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yajirobe shot him a raised eyebrow, until the horrifying realization seemed to dawn on him "Wait, you mean-?"

"That Saiyan is still out there somewhere. There's no way that was all it's gonna take to finish off a guy like that."

"Ooh… Yeah well, who gives a crap if he comes back for another round? Let the guy come back if he wants, I mean you're just gonna blow him away again right?"

"Well, not necessarily… The truth is my body is pretty worn out by this point… I hate to say it, but I think that might have been all I have in me."

"You don't say… In that case… Oh would you look at the time, I gotta get going! Don't worry though, I'll totally be here in spirit!" and so Yajirobe promptly took off running away from the scene as fast as he could.

'...Never change Yajirobe, never change.' Goku breathed a sigh, but then his gaze hardened as he looked up towards the skies 'The question is, how long do I have before he comes back down to keep up the fight?'

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High above the clouds, Vegeta barely managed to free himself from the Kamehameha before it could launch him into the atmosphere, though he was still seething at the thought of Goku being able to overpower him. So he decided to swallow his pride and transform into a Great Ape in order to crush Goku entirely, and went on to look for the moon… only to find that it was gone, unaware that Piccolo had destroyed it long beforehand. Fortunately for Vegeta, he had a backup plan, knowing that it would reduce his power level slightly, but it would still turn the battle back in his favor.

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Meanwhile, back at the battlefield…

'Something doesn't seem right…' Goku frowned in thought as he glanced up at the skies 'What is he doing up there that's taking so long? Something doesn't seem right about this, it's like he's got something planned… That's not gonna be good for me. I doubt I'd be able to manage pushing my Kaioken that far again, but at least he can't be at full strength anymore either. Maybe if I can muster up enough strength to hit him with one all out attack, then I might still have a chance… I guess I might end up having to resort to using the Spirit Bomb after all… Assuming that I have enough time to charge it properly. Not to mention if I can stay focused long enough to actually pull that off.

"Kakarot!" it was at this moment that Vegeta finally landed back on the scene, standing atop a plateau in front of Goku.

'It's about time he came back down. This is gonna be tricky.'

"I have to give you credit where it's due, to blast the moon right out of the sky like that, but I'm afraid that was all for nothing."

"Blow up the moon? Why the heck would I do something like that?" Goku was met with only a condescending chuckle.

"Fine then, go ahead and play dumb as much as you like. But have to admit I'm curious, do you even know why it is that Saiyans transform at the sight of a full moon?"

"Wait hold on, we do what exactly? What are you talking about?"

"The moon appears lit only because it reflects the light of the sun, but when the sunlight is bounced from the lunar surface it causes a slight shift in the wavelength, and this in turn results in the creation of what we Saiyans choose to refer to as Blutz Waves. When the moon is full, the intensity of these Blutz waves is over 17 million zenos."

"Okay… I'm afraid you lost me on this one."

"Once these 17 million zenos get absorbed by the Saiyan retina, our bodies respond to a certain biochemical reaction produced in the trail, and it causes us to transform. Among the elite of our race, there are a certain few that are capable of actually producing a satellite with the emissions of zenos that are necessary to effect the change, and as luck would have it I am just one of those elites. We have your father Bardock to thank, since he's the one who created this technique in the first place! Now watch and see what happens when my Power Ball mixes with the oxygen in this atmosphere!" and so he summoned a white sphere in one hand "Sorry to have given you any false hope for this battle Kakarot, but this nonsense should've been over a long time ago. And I choose to let this be a lesson to all of the low class scum like yourself, who would ever dare to challenge their superiors on the battlefield!"

'Wait, he called that a Power Ball or something… When it appeared his Ki actually dropped off a little bit. Why would he risk a move like that? What's he planning to do?'

"And now I choose to end this pathetic excuse for a battle! Now then, burst open and mix!" and so Vegeta threw his Power Ball into the air and clenched his fist, causing the ball to detonate, blending its contents with those of the atmosphere, creating a blinding white light that came out of the orb, leaving Vegeta panting slightly.

"What the- What the hell is that? What did you do?"

"To put it in terms even you can understand, I just created my own artificial moon! Boy, I can only imagine how much that long lost tail of yours would come in handy right about now, not that it would make a difference! This battle is as good as over!" Vegeta let out a deranged cackle as he laid eyes on the Power Ball, his features growing more feral as his body began to pulsate, and he slowly but surely began to transform until he took on the form of a Great Ape, leaving him towering over a horrified Goku.

'No way, there's no way this is real!'

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Meanwhile, with the wayward heroes…

'What the hell?' Krillin's gaze snapped behind him as he and the others flew in the direction of Kame House 'What was that just now?'

"Krillin." this was when Tien drew his attention, bringing the trio to a stop "I'm going to assume you just sensed that too?"

"Yeah… something about that spike in power just made my skin crawl."

"Same here, and I noticed that as well." Tien pointed to where the Power Ball was visible in the distance "That was where we just came from, isn't it? And that's where the Ki we were sensing before came from, isn't it?"

"But isn't that a good thing?" Gohan looked up at them "It could be dad's power, right?"

"I don't think so… There's no mistaking where that power is coming from… It's coming from that Saiyan."

"This is crazy." Krillin muttered "The power that guy is putting out is totally off the charts right now."

"But it raises the question, what the hell is going on down there?"

"My… My dad might be…" Gohan's gaze hardened as he began floating towards where the Power Ball could be seen "I… I have to go back… My dad needs my help…"

"But are you sure?" asked Krillin "I mean you heard your dad, he told us to get out of there, that he had to fight that guy alone."

"I can't explain it Krillin, but… I just know that my dad is in danger… If I don't help him then that means something terrible is going to happen…"

"Hey come on Gohan, this is Goku we're talking about here. The guy eats danger for breakfast on a daily basis, and I don't think there's anything the two of us could actually do to help out someone as powerful as your dad?"

"Yeah, you're probably right…" Gohan clenched his fist tightly "But so what? I have to go back and that's all there is to it!" and so he took off towards the Power Ball "I'm coming dad, just hang in there!"

"Gohan wait!"

"The kid is right." Tien was the next one to float forward, gritting his teeth as he spiked his white aura "Even if there isn't much we can do in the grand scheme of things, it's better than sitting around doing nothing. I am not a spectator. I am a warrior!" and so he blasted off after Gohan as fast as he could, giving a small smirk as he did so 'There's no doubt about it Goku, he's your son for sure.'

"Tien, Gohan, hold up! Wait for me!" and so Krillin followed after the two of them.

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Meanwhile, with the battlefield…

'Holy crap, holy crap, HOLY CRAP!' needless to say, Goku wasn't doing as well as one would like against Vegeta's new transformation, dodging and weaving across the landscape to avoid the series of attacks being hurled at him 'So much for not being as fast when he's this big, guess that puts him a step over when Piccolo tried that one!'

"So tell me Kakarot, what do you think? Quite the impressive transformation, don't you think?" Vegeta let out a deep rumbling chuckle as he advanced on Goku, easily crushing the surrounding landscape with his massive size.

'I don't understand, what the hell is going on here?' Goku found himself forced onto the evasive, his mind racing as he moved to dodge Vegeta's advancements towards him 'So he's turned into some kind of giant ape monster.'

"How would you like me to let you in on a little secret? When I adopt the form of a Great Ape, my power increases ten times over!" Vegeta let a fist fly towards Goku, forcing him to dodge it and leaving a plateau to be shattered into rubble in his place.

'When the hell was anyone gonna mention that Saiyans turn into giant ape monsters when they see a moon?!' Goku continued to evade another sweep attack, but nearly froze as a series of images and memories began to flash through his mind 'Grandpa… you told me when I was a kid that the giant gorilla monster lurks around whenever the full moon comes out… Then Kami, he must have known about this, so he made sure my tail wouldn't grow back! Now I get why… Now all of it makes so much sense!' and then he landed on a large boulder, shaking slightly as his mind continued racing 'But if it's true… if I really am like this guy… then the monster that went and crushed my Grandpa Gohan to death, and the same thing that smashed up the tournament grounds all those years ago… That was me, wasn't it?'

"What's wrong Kakarot? Where was all of the bravado you showed before? Don't tell me that's the best you can do!" Vegeta let out a chuckle as he slowly advanced towards Goku with murder in his eyes.

'Grandpa Gohan… I owe it to you and everyone else to take this guy down… I don't care how strong he is, or what I have to do, eve if it kills me… And if I do die, then I'll find you in the next world and make it a point to say how sorry I am for all of the horrible things I must have done when I was transformed…' and then he went back on the evasive, but landed back on the ground a short distance away "Alright Vegeta, let's go ahead and finish this. I can't beat you if you're in that form, but maybe the Spirit Bomb can." and so he raised his hands into the air to try and gather energy for the Spirit Bomb, until…

"DIE!" Vegeta found him and brought down a fist, forcing Goku to break off from charging to evade and leaving the plateau he was on to shatter, but he still landed a kick to Goku's chest that sent him hurtling to the ground, and then he went for a follow up.

"K… Kaioken!" Goku's crimson aura burst into life as he propelled himself into the air to avoid the next attack from Vegeta, only to be met with his tail backhanding him hard enough to send him flying, forcing him to stop himself in mid-air 'Okay, yeah that hurts… a lot…'

"Aw, what's the matter Kakarot? Come on, am I too fast for you? What happened to a low class warrior surpassing an elite if he trains hard enough?" Vegeta launched his giant form towards Goku and landed a foot to his chest, sending him crashing into a plateau "Come on, I think we both know you can do better than that!"

'Dammit, there's nothing I can do! He just moves too fast for me!' Goku picked himself back up and clenched his fist in frustration 'As big as he is the guy moves like a rabbit, not even using the Kaioken 5x would work, assuming I could even handle that. And with him moving so fast, there's no way I'd have time to make a Spirit Bomb!'

"What, are you too shy to make your move then? So be it, I guess I'll just have to come to you instead!" and so Vegeta launched himself into the air and down towards Goku at full speed and with intent to kill.

'Come on, I only need 10 lousy seconds! Just give me 10 seconds to concentrate!' Goku gritted his teeth in frustration, his mind racing until he got a look at the Power Ball behind Vegeta, and inspiration seemed to strike with him 'Wait a second, that's it! Sorry Tien, but I'm gonna have to borrow one of your moves! Solar FLARE!" he leapt up into the air in front of Vegeta's face and let loose a blinding white light, leaving Vegeta stunned and roaring in agony, before he sped away from him using the Kaioken 'Okay good, that oughta slow him down at least for a couple of seconds.'

"MY EYES! DAMMIT MY EYES!"

'Okay good, I think I put enough distance between us!' Goku landed on top of a plateau a sizable distance away from Vegeta, then got into a stance and spread his hands into the air "Okay, it's now or never… I call upon the mountains… I call upon the seas… I call upon all living things on planet Earth, and ask you to share your energy with me. Just a tiny bit of your life force is all that I need. Help me to beat this guy, to create a Spirit Bomb. Come on please let this work, I don't have any other options!' slowly but surely, he felt the energy for the Spirit Bomb gathering in his body, leaving him surrounded in a potent white glow 'Yes that's it, keep going! Just keep it coming for a little longer and we should be good.'

"You arrogant, impudent little-" Vegeta let out a snarl full of pain as he began to unclench his eyes with his giant hands.

'Crap his vision is starting to come back, here's hoping that I can fire off a Spirit Bomb from this range before he's able to spot me. Please for the love of King Kai or whoever has the highest rank up there, just let this work!'

"Filthy coward, where the hell are you? Come out and face me NOW! Don't even think about trying to sneak away! I can smell your fear from halfway across this pathetic little planet! Just wait until I get my hands on you!" Vegeta let out a snarl as his vision finally came back all the way and he looked around, until his gaze landed on Goku in the distance.

'Time's up, looks like he found me! Lucky for me it's done, I finally finished gathering enough Ki for the Spirit Bomb, from every corner of the world!'

"DIE!" Vegeta let out a roar and pounced towards Goku in a rage.

'Now!' Goku condensed the energy from the Spirit Bomb into one fist and prepared to fire it directly at Vegeta, until…

"TAKE THIS! SUPER GALICK BLASTER!" Vegeta opened his mouth and fired a giant pink energy wave at Goku, hitting him dead on a split second before he could throw the Spirit Bomb, causing it to dissipate and engulfing him in the explosion that followed.

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Meanwhile, with the backup…

"Hold on, do you guys see that?" Gohan directed Tien and Krillin's attention to where the explosion of the Super Galick Blaster could be seen in the distance "I don't get it, what's going on down there?"

"I don't know, but it can't be good." Tien frowned slightly as he focused his senses, and then a certain sensation washed over him 'This is bad, Goku's Ki is dropping further by the second. At this rate… We have to hurry, let's pick up the pace!"

"Right!" and so the three of them carried on as fast as they could.

'Just a little further and we'll be there. We're on our way Goku, please just hang in there until we make it!'

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Meanwhile, at the battlefield…

"Now THAT was extremely satisfying." Vegeta let out a chuckle as he looked around at the damage caused by his Super Galick Blaster, only to quickly be taken aback by something else that caught his attention "What?!"

As it turns out, Goku was still alive after taking the blast, albeit left sprawled out on the ground and covered in wounds 'D-Dammit… he's so strong in this form… it's unbelievable… I guess that means I miscalculatd… So much for that big plan of mine… All I managed to do was make a waste of a perfectly good move…'

"So that's all from you then, is it Kakarot? I'll admit that you put up a good struggle, but it looks as though you've reached the end of your rope. Am I right?"

"Y-Yeah… you've got me…" Goku slowly pulled himself back onto his feet, gripping one of his arms in pain 'I used all of my energy… to make that Spirit Bomb… I don't even have anything left to use… I don't stand any chance of beating him now…'

"Looks like you're at your limit. Now I wonder… whatever shall you do?!" Vegeta took a few giant stomps towards Goku, forcing him to go on the evasive, but this didn't do any real good before Vegeta backhanded him hard enough to send him crashing into a plateau, and then brought down one of his giant feet on top of Goku's legs, causing him to scream in pain while leaving them drenched in blood "Oh sorry, that's my mistake. I really should learn to be more careful where I step, how clumsy of me. But then again, you should be grateful that I crushed your legs and not your skull." and then he held up one finger "This is the end of the line for you Kakarot, even if you do manage to come back to life again by some miracle, this planet won't be around anymore!"

"I… I guess that's it… You really beat me good… I knew you'd be tough… But I never guessed that… you'd be so much stronger than me…" Goku let out a bitter chuckle as his vision began to grow blurry "Now I see how much training… I have to do when this is over… Of course, that's if I even get to come back…"

"Well said. Now then, it's time to crush you like an Arlian!"

"Like… Like a what…?"

"Exactly! NOW DIE!" Vegeta prepared to stab Goku with his finger… only to be met with a sudden blast of energy from Goku that struck him directly in one eye, leaving him howling in pain.

"Yeah… you can call that… a little farewell present…" Goku let out a chuckle as he laid back on the ground in exhaustion "Cause now I don't have the strength… to lift a finger… So go ahead and just… do what you have to do to me already… Just take your best shot…"

"DAMN YOU!" Vegeta let out a roar of seething fury as he loomed over Goku, a scar now over his right eye "How dare you leave a scar on this face! Nobody dares to damage my face, not unless they want to spend the last moments of their life in agony! Just for that, I'm going to crush you like a grape!" so with that said, he went and grabbed Goku in both of his giant hands and began to crush him, causing him to scream in pain "Oh, is that not enough for you? Then perhaps this will liven things up a bit!" and so he tightened his hold on Goku until a loud crunch could be heard, causing Goku's screams to intensify "And what's that I hear? Is it the sound of every bone in your body breaking?"

All the while, Yajirobe continued to watch the battle unfold from his hiding spot, cringing at the sight of Goku being crushed to death 'Poor Goku… Man he's not just in trouble, the guy is good as dead… He's a freaking goner by now… Believe me man, I'd love to help you out, but… Look let's be real, I gotta look out for number one here… Besides, if he can do that to you, then what the hell could I do to him…'

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Meanwhile, with the backup…

"Okay down there, that should be where we find him!" by this point, Krillin and the other had made their way to the battlefield "I don't know where that ball of light came from, but I can tell by Goku's Ki that they're fighting right under it!"

"But it raises the question…" Tien directed their attention to where Vegeta's Great Ape form was visible in the distance "What in the hell is that thing?"

"Something bad, something really really bad. Both to the ground NOW, just make sure we get to cover!"

"Right!" so Tien and Gohan landed on the ground before Vegeta could see them, with Krillin doing the same "I'm going to guess you know what that thing is?"

"You mean the Saiyan transforming into a giant ape? Yeah, and frankly it's something I really should've thought about beforehand. Goku used to transform like that too as a kid."

"Wait, what?"

"Long story, but we've turned him back before so we might have a few ways to do the same with this guy. I'll explain when we get there, right now we gotta get there before Goku gets the life squeezed out of him!"

"Right!" so the three of them charged towards Vegeta and prepared to make their move, until…

"Hold it!" this was when Yajirobe came hurtling out from his hiding place, taking the group by surprise.

"Wait, Mr Yajirobe? What are you doing here?" asked Gohan, earning a few raised eyebrows the others.

"Hold on, you know him?" asked Krillin.

"Yeah, I ran into him when Piccolo left me alone in the wilderness for six months. He taught me how to hunt for deer and catch my own dinner."

"Seriously?"

"I threw the kid a bone so he wouldn't touch my fish, then went and ducked the hell out of there before Piccolo could kill me." Yajirobe told him dryly "And as much as I wanna be halfway across the planet, here I am trying to stop you three idiots from running off to die! That Saiyan guy has turned into some kind of giant gorilla monster thing! There ain't a damn thing the two of you can do to take that thing on, so don't even try it!"

"Yeah, we know that, but we can't just sit around doing nothing when Goku is about to get himself crushed to death." Tien shot a glare at Yajirobe.

"Hey don't give me that look, I already told you I don't wanna die!"

"Look we know he's powerful, but I've got a plan." Krillin broke in "We've seen this kind of thing with Goku before, back then we just had to cut off his tail or destroy the moon and that would shrink him back down to normal, so that should work on this guy too."

"Tough shit Krillin, there isn't a moon or anything here! He just turned into that thing when he shot that white ball up there into the sky." Yajirobe jerked a thumb at the Power Ball shining above them.

"So then… he created his own moon?"

"In that case, it might be for the best if we aim for that." Tien turned to Krillin "The two of us should swing around to the front and distract the Saiyan, all goes well and that should buy enough tim for Gohan to fire a strong enough blast at that orb and blow it up. If I understand this correctly, that should turn him back right?"

"That's my understanding at least. So let's go!"

"Right!" so the group split up, with Tien and Krillin taking off in one direction, and Gohan taking off in the other.

Yajirobe on the other hand was less than enthusiastic about playing along 'Try to get that guy's attention? What are you out of your freaking mind?! You haven't seen what I've seen, I've been here trying to hide from that freak this whole time! Even when you're a normal size, this kind of dude is not someone you wanna screw around with! Take my word for it!'

All the while, Tien and Krillin made their way towards Vegeta to try and distract him, and put the plan into motion as Gohan swung around to the back 'This is bad, Goku's Ki is almost entirely gone. This has to work, or he's as good as dead… Please Goku, hang in there just a little bit longer!'

"What's this? I think your friends are here." the twitching of Vegeta's ears alerted him to a new presence "How quaint, they get to join you in your final moments."

"Hey ugly!" Krillin leapt on top of a plateau in front of Vegeta, with Tien standing right beside him "You get one chance to let Goku go before we take you out!"

"Ah yes, the two bald companions. What happened to Kakarot's brat? Here I thought he would want to come just in time to watch his father fail, but I suppose having two dear friends to watch this pathetic moment of his would work as well. I was thinking that this moment needed that little extra kick. You really can't plan for good luck like this!" he let out a cackle as he placed one hand over Goku's head "Now both of you be sure to watch nice and close, we wouldn't want either of you to miss a single detail of the grand finale, now would we? It really is quite the shame he's already lost consciousness, but I guess that you can't win them all now can you?

All the while, Gohan had positioned himself in mid-air behind Vegeta, hands raised above his head with Ki slowly building in between his palms 'Come on, please let this work… Okay, I'm ready! Masenko!" he burst higher into the air and lobbed a Masenko directly at the Power Ball, hitting it dead on and subsequently obliterating it in the explosion that followed "YES!

"YEAH WE DID IT!" Krillin caught Tien in a quick high five… only for all of those present to falter when they saw that Vegeta was still transformed "Um… something is supposed to happen now, right? You know, like him turning back and all…"

"Ah, so that was your plan." Vegeta shot a smirk at where Gohan floated behind him "Not a bad strategy, at least in theory. Though perhaps I should let you know one little thing about the artificial moons we can create… the effects are long-lasting. Once we've transformed fully, we no longer actually need them around. That plan of yours was doomed to fail to begin with! I'll give you credit where it's due though, at the very least you fools knew well enough to go after the fake moon instead of trying to go after my tail. Not that it helped you in the slightest. And now that you've blown your one chance, you have no choice but to sit there and watch as I finish Kakarot!"

"That's what you think! Solar FLARE!" Tien leapt into the air in front of Vegeta's face and let loose a blinding white light, causing him to howl in pain and cover his remaining good eye, while also causing him to release Goku from his hold "Krillin!"

"I'm on it!" Krillin leapt out and caught Goku in mid-air, then went on to gently lower him back to the ground "It's alright buddy, we've got you… Tien?"

"Stay with him Krillin, I'll buy some time. All goes well, maybe the two of you can find a way to cut off his tail." Tien glared at Vegeta with defiance and spiked his Ki, his mind racing 'Even when he's transformed into a giant monster, he's as level-headed and calculating as ever. So much for being as impulsive and quick to anger as his partner. Right now, the only thing I can really do against him is buy time! Krillin, Gohan, you'll have to figure something out!'

"Challenging me proved to be your first mistake Triclops, and unfortunately for you, it's also going to prove to be your last!" the very second his eyesight was back, Vegeta let out a snarl as he charged at Tien, forcing him to retreat into the air, and subsequently let a fist fly towards him, forcing him to retreat back to the ground, and then he moved to stomp on Tien with one of his giant feet.

"Ki Blast Cannon!" Tien fired a quick Ki Blast Cannon at Vegeta's foot, not damaging him in the slightest, but the blast was able to propel Tien a short distance away, allowing him to take off running away from Vegeta, as well as giving him the space he needed to dodge the next attempt to crush him under heel, and then he placed his hands together in front of him "Tri-"

"DIE!" Vegeta let another fist fly towards Tien, prompting him to use another Ki Blast Cannon to propel himself into the air, but Vegeta anticipated this and backhanded Tien with his tail hard enough to send him crashing to the ground (while leaving his tail explosed, before hurtling down towards him "No need for you to worry Triclops, this not going to take long, and once I've finished with you, the other little brats will be following in his footsteps!"

"Krillin!" all the while, Gohan made his way over to Krillin and watched as Tien continued his attempts to evade Vegeta "Is he…?"

"Your dad is okay, just really messed up. But we've got other problems right now." Krillin jerked a thumb at the current game of cat and mouse going on "He's not gonna last long against that Saiyan by himself."

"Yeah, we… we gotta go help him."

"I figured you were gonna say that." Krillin gave him a small smile "No doubt about it, you really are Goku's kid. Now let's go."

"Right!" so the two of them prepared to move towards Vegeta… only to stop in their tracks at the sound of a loud slicing noise that also caused Vegeta to freeze in the middle of another attempt to pounce on Tien "What the-"

"He's all yours guys!" as it turns out, Yajirobe had swooped in when no one was looking and used his sword to cut off Vegeta's tail, then subsequently took off running past Krillin and Gohan at full speed.

"...Okay then."

"What… What in the hell?!" Vegeta was frozen in the middle of another pounce, and now he was practically shaking with rage "Where the hell has that one been hiding all this time?! No, this can't be happening!" and then the next thing anyone knew, he had shrunk back down into his normal form, now minus his tail and one of his eyes.

"So… that's it then…?"

"Not even close, but at least he's finally back down to our size." Tien made his way over to the others, shooting as smirk at where he could see Yajirobe hiding 'He's definitely not the bravest or the strongest, but I guess everyone has their moments, and he definitely came through for us in the clutch.'

"So um… what do we do now?" Gohan looked up at them "It's not over yet, I mean. We didn't really plan this far ahead, did we?"

"No, we didn't… and we've still got a lot of work ahead of us."

"You… You will all… PAY!" Vegeta let out a snarl as he turned his furious gave onto the rest of the group "All of you are about to suffer in ways you can't even fathom! I will make every last one of you regret every being born, and the torment I inflict on you will be legendary!" and so to prove this point, he blitzed towards the group and dealt Gohan a swift knee to the gut, sending him hurtling backwards a sizable distance, and then he wound up towering over him "And I see no reason why I can't start with you!" he dealt Gohan swift fist to the gut, leaving him hunched over in pain "From what I've been told, Saiyan half breeds are incredibly tenacious. Why don't see if there's any actual truth to that rumor?"

"Get the hell away from him!" Krillin launched himself at Vegeta to try and save Gohan, only to to be met with a kick to the face hard enough to send him crashing into a plateau, and then to the ground with a loud thud.

"Looks to me like someone is to impatient to waite their turn." with that done, Vegeta turned his gaze back to Gohan and began stomping down on his head "Now get up, amaze me with those hidden reserves of strength! Where's the bravado you showed against Nappa? Come on and fight me, this can't be all you're capable of! Or does the apple not fall far from the worthless tree of failure?"

"Not as far as you're about to fall! Dodon Ray!" a quick Ki beam shot at Vegeta from behind, only for him to deflect it with one hand, but it gave Tien the chance to blitz in front of Vegeta and fire a Ki Blast Cannon that didn't actually damage him, but had enough enough force to send him hurtling off the plateau, only for him to stop himself in mid-air "As long as I'm breathing, you're not going to kill anyobody else here."

"How touching… You definitely share in Kakarot's defiance. Let's see if you can bleed just like him too and now that I think about it, it seems only fitting that you get to die along with him. I find some poetry in that." with that in mind, Vegeta blitzed towards Tien and dealt him a sharp headbutt, sending him stumbling back and giving Vegeta the time to grab Tien by the arm and rip it out of its socket causing him to scream in pain before throwing him to the ground, and then going after him.

'Tien… Krillin… dad…' Gohan was left in a horrified stupor as he watched Tien being further brutalized by Vegeta, then looked at where Krillin and Goku lay on the ground respectively, before he finally stumbling his way over to the latter amidst the pain "Dad!"

"G-Gohan… son…" Goku cast a weak glance over towards Gohan, but lacked the strength needed to actually move his head to look at him all the way.

"Ah good, so you've regained consciousness… I have to give it to you Kakarot, if nothing else you're quite the stubborn one." Vegeta turned his gaze towards Goku and the others

"Listen son… I'm pretty banged up right now… so there isn't a lot that I can do but just lie here and… wait for Vegeta to make his next move… Gohan, I… I need you to fight for the both of us right now… I know he looks scary… but trust me… he doesn't have much power left…"

"Dad, I… I'm sorry…" Gohan knelt down next to him, shaking slightly as he gripped Goku's hand in his "He's so much stronger… and I see what he did to Tien and Krillin… There isn't anything I can do…"

"I know… but trust me…"

"Listen up rejects, because this is the order I choose!" Vegeta drew the attention of the others, from Goku and Gohan, to Krillin and Tien where they lay injured on the ground, and even the likes of Yajirobe in his hiding place "I'll start off with the Triclops since he's putting on such a brave show, then Kakarot for obvious reasons, followed by that whiny little brat of his. Then I'll go for the little bald one, and last but not least the fat one who dared to cut off my tail. I'll be sure to set aside something truly gruesome just for him.

"Listen Gohan… you just have to hold him off for a bit… you're so much stronger than him right now… and you have no idea just how much…" Goku gave a weak smirk "If you can just keep him busy for a little while… I can get Krillin or Tien to finish the job…"

"But dad I… I'm sorry…" Gohan practically had tears streaming down his face "I don't think I can do this…"

"You have to son… just think about all of the sacrifices our friends made for us… Do you think that Piccolo would want you to just lie down and die…?"

'Piccolo…?' that led to Piccolo's sacrifice flashing before Gohan's eyes, and he quickly wiped away his tears.

"It's all up to you now son… You can do this… I know it…"

"Dad, I… I don't know if can, but… I'll try…" Gohan gently gripped one of Goku's hands in his as the two shared the classic Son grin… right before Tien was sent flying directly over their heads and sent crashing into a boulder a few feet away "Tien!"

"You… You gotta go son…"

"I know… I'll do my best."

"Step aside brat, you'll get your turn in a minute, the same with your father." Vegeta floated right above Gohan and Goku and made his way over to where Tien was picking himself back up, then dealt him a sharp kick to the chest hard enough to make him cough up blood, before grabbing him by his now limp arm and began kicking him in the ribs repeatedly "It's trash like you that never know their place, so it's my job to teach it to you! And believe me, I enjoy this part very much. Now then-"

"Masenko!" a quick Masenko shot towards Vegeta, with him barely managing to avoid getting out of the way in time, courtesy of an enraged Gohan "You wanna fight? Then try taking me on instead!"

"Ah, the prodigal son himself finally works up the courage to fight."

"You got that right!" Gohan fired another Masenko at Vegeta, forcing him to dodge, but then he blitzed into the air and managed to kick Vegeta in the chin, before going in for a follow up strike, only for Vegeta to rebound and kick him in the race.

"Hang on Gohan, I'm coming!" Tien picked himself up and managed to pop his arm back into its socket, gritting his teeth through the pain, and then he managed to launch himself up to Vegeta and land an uppercut to his jaw.

"Filthy earthling trash!" Vegeta landed a blow to Tien's face and sent him hurtling back, much to his own satisfaction "Yes that's what you get, now learn your place!"

"And you learn yours!" Gohan pounced on Vegeta and landed an elbow to his jaw hard enough to send him hurtling backwards, allowing for Tien to recover, and the two of them quickly braced themselves for Vegeta's next attack.

All the while, Goku cast a glance towards where Krillin lay and managed to raise his voice as much as he could, despite the strain "Krillin… Krillin, get over here! I need you to hurry, just get over here!"

"I'm trying… I'm going as fast as I can…" Krillin pulled himself to his feet, albeit with a limp arm, and slowly limped his way over to Goku "Listen man… I don't see what chance… we have to beat this guy… It's like he's a machine… You should've just told Gohan to run… and the rest of us could stall him or something…"

"Just listen to me… There's something I need to give to you… It's the energy that I managed to gather up… for my Spirit Bomb earlier."

"...I didn't understand any of what you just said."

"I kinda figured… I used half of it on him earlier… kinda blew out one of his eyes… but there should still be enough left… to pack a real punch… It may not look like it now… but he's weak enough for you to take him… If you can pull this off then we got him… I know it…"

"If you say so, but I…"

"You can do this Krillin… I know you can…" Goku slowly held up a hand to Krillin "I just need you to… grab my hand and trust me…"

"Okay sorry, but I'm still kind of lost on-"

"Hurry and do it before it's too late!"

"But how do you know this is going to work?"

"Because it's the only chance we've got… now do it…"

"Okay." so Krillin grabbed Goku by the wrist, only to be met with a loud groan of pain "Why the hell didn't you tell me he broke your arm?!"

"Don't worry about it… just hold on a second… and brace yourself…"

"Brace myself, what the hell are you-" Krillin was cut short as a sensation washed over him, and then a pulsating white energy appeared in his good arm "What the- What in the hell did you just give me? I mean this power, it's totally incredible!"

"Just take it easy… Don't let it overwhelm you… Focus it just above your hand… You should be able to make it into a ball of energy."

"R-Right." Krillin paused in an attempt to concentrate, but a loud howl of pain broke him out of it momentarily.

"You filthy little bastard!" as it turns out, Vegeta had received an elbow to the scar over his right eye thanks to Gohan, and subsequently dealt him a smash attack to the head hard enough to send him crashing to the ground, only to immediately hold his eye in pain 'Dammit my eye, why does it always have to be the fucking eye?!'

"Hammerhead!" Tien launched himself at Vegeta and landed a swift headbutt to his torso hard enough to send him hurtling backwards, albeit being grabbed by the leg as soon as Vegeta was able to recover and thrown to the ground next to where Gohan landed.

'Tien and Gohan aren't gonna last longer… Come on, come on, if there's ever a time for me to come through for everybody, it's gotta be now!' Krillin focused as much as he could, and after a moment he managed to form a large ball of Ki above his hand "Okay, holy crap… So what do I do now?"

"Now you have to use it…" Goku told him, his voice weak "You have to put an end to this… and take that Saiyan down… You have to hit the guy square on… I don't have it in me… to charge another one of those… So this is our only chance… You have to take him down in one shot… Or we're as good as dead…"

"One shot huh? Well then, here goes noting I guess."

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Meanwhile, with the distractors…

'Okay, yeah that hurt…' Tien spat out some blood to the side and slowly pulled himself back onto his feet, then gently did the same to Gohan "You okay?"

"Not really… but we have to keep going…" Gohan wiped away some of the blood dripping down his face "I just can't believe how strong he is… and after all of the fighting he did with my dad earlier, he's probably too worn out to even fight his hardest…"

"I know, just imagining him at full power is a terrifying thought… But you said it yourself, we have to keep going. If we don't… we're not going to survive this.

"Yeah, I-I know."

"Good to see you're both still in fighting spirit." Vegeta gave a malicious smirk as he floated down to meet the two of them at eye level 'They're both feisty little pests, but I can tell that both of them are reaching their limits. So, shall we continue?"

"Right over here!" Gohan charged towards Vegeta, leading to the two of them engaging in a brief clash in mid air, until both of them broke away in mid-air.

"Shine Shot!" after breaking away from the clash, Vegeta hurled a ball of flames towards Gohan at full speed.

"Masenko!" Gohan managed to fire a blast to cancel out the Shine Shot at the last second, while also propelling himself back towards the ground… towards where Tien was waiting with his hands forming a diamond of sorts.

"Son of a-"

"Tri-Beam!" Tien fired a Tri-Beam at Vegeta with as much power as he could… only for him to dodge it at the last second.

"So that's it? Don't tell me that's your final shot!"

"Not even close! Dodon Ray!" Tien fired a Dodon Ray at Vegeta the second he reappeared, only for him to dodge it again.

"Masenko!" this was when Gohan joined the fray, firing a Masenko at Vegeta, only for him to dodge it, this process repeating itself even with both of them firing multiple attacks at him.

"Enough!" after dodging a few more blasts, Vegeta blitzed to the ground and began to make his way towards Gohan and Tien "Go ahead and join forces if you like, not that a few more of you is going to make any sort of difference. Not against an elite like me. It should be obvious to you by now, but you don't stand a chance. Your fates were decided the very moment that I set foot on this miserable planet. Now then, I think it's time for us to put an end to this!" and so he began to fire a Super Energy Wave Volley, sending a rapid barrage of Ki blasts hurtling towards Gohan and Tien at blinding speed.

"MOVE!" Tien's sharp command led to both him and Gohan dodging and weaving around the Ki blasts as fast as they could, barely managing to stay ahead of them, with Tien himself taking refuge atop a large plateau before one of them could hit him… and then he looked down only to see "Gohan!"

"It's useless fools, you can't run from me forever!" Vegeta let out a cackle as he charged forward towards Gohan's downed form "I hope you're watching closely Kakarot, because this is the last time you'll ever see your pathetic excuse for a son alive!

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Meanwhile, with the surprise attack…

'Okay, it's all or nothing at this point…' Krillin tried to keep himself steady as he leapt onto the top of a nearby plateau with the Spirit Bomb in hand, watching Tien and Gohan continue their battle with Vegeta 'Dammit, hitting him would be hard enough, but how the hell do I take out a moving target? If he isn't standing still, then there's no chance of this actually working, and sure as hell not from a distance.'

"See, that's the problem with your thinking." an unfamiliar voice rang through Krillin's ears and took him by surprise "Krillin was it? You're not supposed to aim the Spirit Bomb with what you see so much as what you feel, now sense the evil energy the Saiyan is putting out and allow the attack itself to do the rest."

"Okay, what the hell?" Krillin looked back, only to find there was no one there "Great, now I'm hearing voices."

"You're half right, but not for the reason you think. I'm talking to you with telepathy. I am King Kai, I'm the one who taught Goku how to use the Spirit Bomb."

"Wait, as in the actual King Kai?"

"Yes, thank you. Okay listen up, I think Goku already made it abundantly clear to you that you only have one shot at this, so you're gonna have to use it wisely. What you do with the Spirit Bomb you hold in your hand is going to determine the fate of not only you and your friends, but the entire world itself."

"So, you're saying everyone on the planet is depending on me? Well no pressure or anything like that." and yet despite the overwhelming stress, Krillin took a breath and tried to steady himself as he prepared to fire the Spirit Bomb 'Okay, remember what King Kai said. Feel the evil energy and let the attack do the rest. I've only got one shot to save all of our lives, so I'm gonna have to make it count. This has to work, it just has to… I have to focus on sensing out his Ki.'

All the while, Yajirobe continued to watch the scene unfold from his hiding spot'Holy hell that's one giant ball of Ki. I guess Krillin ain't screwing around with this one, but then what the hell is he waiting for? Hurry up and do something before the triclops and the kid get turned into a pack of raw meat or something!'

"That's it!" Krillin's gaze finally snapped up "I've got it!"

"Well then what in the hell are you doing just standing there?! Are you ever gonna throw that thing or not?!"

"Yajirobe you idiot! Well, might as well own it.'

"What?!" as it turns out, that little exchange between Krillin and Yajirobe alerted Vegeta to what the former was doing "What is he-"

"BOOYAH MOTHERFUCKER!" and so Krillin threw the Spirit Bomb towards Vegeta with all of the strength he had "ENJOY YOUR STAY IN HELL!"

"What the hell is that?!" Vegeta was taken aback by the sight of the Spirit Bomb… but he still managed to dodge it at the last second, leaving the Spirit Bomb hurtling towards Gohan.

"FUCK FUCK FUCK!"

'What the…' now Gohan was in the path of the Spirit Bomb "What is that…?"

"Gohan it's okay, you have to bounce it back!"

"Wait, dad? How are you-"

"Worry about that later, just do what I say! The Spirit Bomb was aimed at the evil energy that's coming from Vegeta, if you don't have any evil in you then you'll be okay. Just bounce it back towards him!"

"O-Okay…" so Gohan pulled himself to his feet and braced himself as he held out his hands just as the Spirit Bomb made contact… and it was sent hurtling back in Vegeta's direction.

"Oh no you don't!" Vegeta saw the Spirit Bomb coming and was about to move out of the way again… only to be stopped by multiple arms wrapping around him from behind "What the hell is this?!"

"I call this one the Four Witches Technique." Tien shot a smirk at Vegeta from where he had grabbed him from behind, along with two extra arms sprouting out of his back "It gives me the ability to generate extra arms for various purposes, like holding you in place. You're not going to get away this time."

"You filthy little-" Vegeta didn't get to finish before the Spirit Bomb struck the two of them, leaving them bathed in a brilliant white light that sent Tien hurtling to the ground while Vegeta himself was left screaming in agony and sent hurtling into the sky, before he disappeared from their view.

"It's… It's over…" Tien gave an exhausted smile of relief as he slowly pulled himself up onto his knees 'It's finally over…'

"YES!" Krillin on the other hand was far more jubilant in expressing his joy as he leapt to the ground and rushed over to the others "We did it Goku, we really did it! I can't believe it! I didn't think we could do it, but then we really did!"

"Yeah… we really did it." Tien's smile widened a little bit at the sight of Gohan and Yajirobe joining in the celebration of their victory, laughing in relieved triumph 'It wasn't without its fair share of sacrifices, but we managed to beat him in the end… Chiaotzu, Yamcha, Piccolo and everyone else… You can all rest easy now…'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

To say a rest was well earned after that display was a gross understatement.

"I told you that you could pull it off." Goku gave a tired grin to where Krillin and the others sat around his immobile form "Nice work you guys…"

"Yeah, though things definitely got kind of hairy there for a second." Krillin let out a chuckle full of exhaustion "But I guess we managed to pull it off in the end."

"And you did great… all of you…" Goku looked over at Tien "Though I gotta admit… I'm kind of surprised you pulled that off Tien… How did you know that the Spirit Bomb wouldn't hurt you if you didn't have any evil in your heart?"

"Oh, so that's what happened." Tien paused and looked down at himself "To be honest, I really didn't… I just knew that might have been our last chance to take the Saiyan down."

"Really? Dude…"

"We all knew that was our last chance, and if I had to give myself up to take him with me… then at least I would've been able to see Chiaotzu on the other side." Tien turned away to avoid the looks he was getting from the others, but then the sound of a falling object drew them to look upwards… just as the heavily wounded body of Vegeta came hurtling back to the ground with a mighty crash a short distance away, much to the fear of the others "You cannot be serious right now."

"It's okay. It's over. He's finally dead." Krillin breathed a sigh of relief as he slowly walked his way over to Vegeta's corpse "You were a monster, no doubt about it… But I guess it wouldn't be right to just leave your body out here for the wolves. The least we can do is dig a grave for you or something."

A silence overcame them… before Vegeta's eye suddenly snapped open, much to the horror of everyone else "That's a luxury the rest of you won't be getting!"

"You cannot be serious right now." Tien's glare hardened furiously as he instantly leapt back onto his feet 'He took an attack like that when he was injured no less, and he was still able to survive?'

"I have to admit, you really did a number on me… For a moment there, I even thought I was done for…" Vegeta slowly pulled himself back onto his feet, looming over the horrified forms of the others "While you may have succeeded in wounding me, it doesn't change the fact that I still have more than enough power left to take care of a pack of weaklings like you."

"I'd like to see you try!" Tien launched himself at Vegeta and prepared to initiate a Volleyball Fist, only to be met with a brutal fist to the gut, along with Krillin being backhanded and sent crashing to the ground.

"And once I've finally finished off the lot of you for good, I'll replenish my strength and then come back to destory this pathetic planet and every living thing on it." with the bloodlust clear in his eye, Vegeta limped his way towards Goku and Gohan "The five of you have forced me to use more of my power than I have in a very long time… and to think that you're nothing but a bunch of puny, spineless earth trash… Just the thought of it hurts my pride… Well I've had more than enough of this… I'm through playing your stupid little games… Now your time has finally come to an end… so prepare to be the first humans lucky enough to die by my hand!"

"Not… Not if I can help it…" Tien managed to pull himself back to his feet, albeit rubbing the new bruise on his stomach 'Krillin and Gohan are both spent, and Goku can't even move… I may very well be the only one of us still capable of fighting… So I will!'

"NOW DIE!" Vegeta let out a roar as he got into a stance and unleashed a Super Explosive Wave with all of the power he was able to muster, ripping through the landscape and leaving the other fighters to be blown away.

Tien was among those to be sent flying by the blast, and everything went black for him, at least for the moment.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few moments later, after the blast…

"Tien! Yo triclops, get the hell up already!"

'My head… everything's ringing…' Tien slowly opened his eyes and sat himself up, only to find none other than Yajirobe looming over him "Yajirobe…? What happened?"

"What do you think? That freaky Saiyan blew you guys away with that one." Yajirobe pointed to where Vegeta was standing in the middle of a crater, with the others remaining sprawled out among the rocks and debris "The dude took a hit like that and he's still kicking? What the hell ar we even still doing here? I say we get out of here and actually live."

"To fight another day?" Tien was met with silence, to which he let out a sigh "Yeah, I didn't think so. But that's just it, there won't be another day. We either have to beat him now, or all of us and everyone on Earth is as good as dead."

"Not like we got any other options dude! Goku and the others are down for the count, what the hell could you or me do?"

"Actually… there might be one thing." Tien slowly pulled himself up onto his knees "I may have picked something up from Goku when he arrived… If it works, it might give us what we need to take him down for good. Assuming it doesn't kill me, and even then the chances of that when it's this raw are pretty high."

"...Yeah dude, I got no idea what the hell you're talking about."

"You don't need to. I just need a minute to make sure I'm ready to use it. You might have to go out and stall him until then."

"Say what?! You want me to go out there and take him head on? What are you out of your gourd or something?!"

"At the very least, make sure that the others don't get killed until I'm ready." Tien pulled himself up into a meditative position "One minute. That's all I need."

"...You're gonna owe me big time for this." Yajirobe gritted his teeth as he gripped his katana and began to slink his way over to the others.

'Good. Here goes nothing.' Tien took a breath and began to meditate… as a crimson aura began to surround his body 'I barely have an understanding of the technique itself from when I was watching Goku use it, so at this point I have maybe a 10% chance of pulling it off. Plus if I mess it up, I get the feeling it's going to do a lot more to me than what the Saiyan would… but it may be the only chance we have.' he paused for a moment, then gave a small smirk 'I guess this makes it even more true, that I wouldn't be at the level I am now if not for Goku. He continues to reach for greater heights, and now he's actually pushing me to do the same… Now it's time for me to make this my own.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, out with the battle himself…

'You can't be serious…' as the explosion subsided and the smoke cleared, Vegeta cast a look around at the damage caused by his Super Explosive Wave, only to be less than impressed by the results, especially when he laid eyes on Goku and the others 'That attack was pathetic, I'm weaker than I thought. The three of them are badly hurt, but they're still alive…' yet he chose to grit his teeth and float his way towards the others My injuries are even worse than I thought they were… I have to finish them quickly… Before it's too late…' so he let himself down to the ground in front of his first target, that being Gohan… only to freeze at the sight of something long and furry poking out of his pants "What the-"

"Gohan…" seeing Vegeta loomer closer prompted Krillin to try and pick himself up, albeit with lots of difficulty, but paused when he saw Vegeta looking taken aback 'What the hell is he doing now?'

"That little brat… His tail, it actually grew back!"

"Yeah, what's your point? When Goku was a kid, his tail got cut off a couple of times and still grew back, at least before he got rid of it altogether."

"Hm… So there is a chance of it growing back after all." Vegeta paused and glanced up at the sky above 'At this point, it might actually be for the best that the brat destroyed my Power Ball when he did. If he had ended up transforming then he'd turn out to be a bigger problem than I need right now. Still, I'm at the point where I can't take any chances. I hope you're ready brat, because you're about to-"

"Die mother fucker!" a loud battlecry erupted as Yajirobe came pouncing at Vegeta from behind, slashing him across the back with his katana, causing him to fall to the ground, with Yajirobe being left to pick himself back up in a mix of triumph "Hey look what I did everybody, I went and killed the bad guy! Come on and check it out you guys, look what I did! See, I told you guys he wasn't that tough after all! I'm better than you! You hear that ya Saiyan reject? Nobody gets to screw around with Yajirobe and live! Tough luck for you!"

"You… You filthy peon…" Vegeta promptly cut Yajirobe's gloating short as he slowly managed to pull himself back onto his feet "You cut off my trail… and now to dare to strike me while my back is turned… You've already signed your death warrant… Now your suffering will be worse than you could ever imagine!"

"Uh… die die die!" now growing desperate, Yajirobe frantically tried swinging his katana in a frenzy to cut Vegeta down, only for every strike to miss and for Vegeta to slowly advance on him with murderous intent, so he resorted to begging "Wait time out, I was just screwing around with all that stuff before! You didn't really think I was trying to hurt you or anything did you?"

"Whatever pitiful attempts you made will be nothing compared to what I do to you."

"Hey come on, no way I'd ever start a fight with a guy as strong as you! In fact I was thinking maybe the two of us could try joining forces or-" Yajirobe was (mercifully) cut short by Vegeta's boot slamming into his face hard enough to send him tumbling backwards, followed by a fist to the face that sent him crashing into a boulder "Ow…"

"If you think a piece of worthless trash like you can spill the royal blood of Prince Vegeta and live to tell about it, then you are sadly mistaken!" Vegeta limped his way over to Yajirobe and prepared to fire a Ki blast to finish him off… only to be stopped by a hand grabbing him by the wrist, and then a fist slamming into his gut hard enough to send him stumbling back "What the hell is this?!"

"Retribution for all of the blood you've spilled today." as it turns out, Tien was the one standing before Vegeta, his muscles bulging and his gaze hard "I'm going to bring you down… whatever it takes…"

"Is that right?" Vegeta let out a scoff with as much bravado as he could muster "Please, I can tell you're barely in much better shape than the rest of the trash here. What could you possibly hope to do against me on your own?"

"The first thing that comes to mind is this… Kaioken!" in an instant, Tien's body was engulfed in a familiar crimson aura, albeit slowly flickering in and out of existence leaving Vegeta, along with everyone else present, almost completely speechless.

'Tien…' as one could imagine, Goku himself was particularly taken aback at the sight, but then he gave a small smirk "Well you weren't kidding… you said you could learn any technique… So I guess I shouldn't be surprised… You learned the Kamehameha from seeing it once, and the same goes for the Evil Containment Wave… I guess it's all going to be up to you now… As much as it is a huge risk, and the Kaioken kill you if you're not careful with it… But it might be the only real chance we have left…

"Believe me Goku, I'm not going to let anyone else down. Not now." Tien's gaze hardened as his crimson aura flickered in and out of existence, but he managed to hold it as he got into a stance, and before anyone knew it, two more identical copies of him appeared next to him "I imagine that Goku gave you quite the thrashing… and now I'm about to use it myself to bring you down once and for all. Or should I say, we will. Assuming my body can hold up with this technique long enough. Even without the Multi-Form, I can feel the strain taking its toll on my body. I'll have to finish this as fast as I can.'

"More like you're about to die trying!" Vegeta powered up as much as he could which really wasn't much now.

"We'll do a lot more than that!" Tien and one of his clones met Vegeta in the middle of his charge, both having blazing Kaioken auras, and the two of them began trading even blows, albeit with one taking a heavy blow to the gut that made him stop in his tracks… but then he smirked as he grabbed onto Vegeta with two arms, along with two extra arms that suddenly sprouted out of his back "Four Witches Technique. Now!"

"What?!"

"Right! Mystery Ray!" the second Tien (Tien 2 as I call him now) managed to hit Vegeta dead on with a white Ki beam from his third eye, sending him hurtling backwards, only for him to rapidly recover and charge at them again, but then they both leapt out of the way… just in time to reveal Tien 3 with another attack prepared.

"You filthy little-"

"Ki Blast Cannon!" Tien 3 promtply hit Vegeta at nearly point blank range with a quick Ki Blast Cannon, sending him flying backwards "Four Witches! Dodon Ray!" he then sprouted two extra arms from his back and fired a Dodon Ray from the fingertip of each hand, which pushed Vegeta back even further until he crashed into a plateau "Go!"

"Right!" Tien 1 and Tien 2 launched themselves towards Vegeta as fast as they could, to which they managed to grab hold of him just as he crashed into the plateau, one of them having a grip on his neck and the other landing a blow to his stomach.

"ENOUGH!" Vegeta summoned what energy he could to unleash a smaller Explosive Wave, blowing away Tien 1 and 2 while he launched himself towards Tien 3, dodging another barrage of Dodon Rays and hitting him with a smaller Shine Shot that sent him crashing to the ground in a heap, and then caused him to evaporate.

Fortunately, Tien 1 and Tien 2 managed to recover instantly, and with new strength due to the other clone being eradicated (meaning their strength is now divided by 2 instad of three), and the latter cast a frantic look over at the former "We're out of time, I need you to throw me!"

"I'm on it!" Tien 1 landed on the plateau and used his arms as a springboard for Tien 2, allowing him to launch himself towards Vegeta.

"Hammerhead!" Tien 2 managed to make impact on Vegeta with a swift yet painful headbutt, leaving him to hit the ground with a bang, and then he tried to pin him there "So much for puny spineless earth trash… That is what you called us, right?"

"That's what you are… and that's what you'll die as!" Vegeta struck Tien 2 with a Shine Shot at point blank range, causing him to evaporate, but leaving Vegeta heavily exhausted as he slowly pulled himself back to his feet "And then… there was one…"

"One that's about to bring you down Saiyan! Hammerhead! Volleyball FIST!" Tien came hurtling towards Vegeta, now flickering in and out of Kaioken as he surged forward, using another Hammerhead strike to send Vegeta flying, then he blitzed towards him and landed another headbutt, then unleashed a Volleyball Fist, dealing Vegeta two swift blows to send him flying into the air.

"Do it!" all the while, Krillin, Gohan, Goku and even Yajirobe watched as Tien continued his final assault on Vegeta "GO TIEN GO!"

"And now this ENDS! TRI-BEAM!" Tien blitzed into the air above Vegeta, his Kaioken aura dissipating as he fired a Tri-Beam with all of the Ki he had left, hitting Vegeta dead on and the force sending him hurtling to the ground in the explosion that followed. Once the blast itself subsided, Tien returned to the ground and fell to his knees "It's… It's over…"

"Tien, you… you did it…" Krillin gave an exhausted smile of relief "You did it…"

"I did my part… but it was all of us…" Tien let out a chuckle, but it quickly faded as several of his muscles began to visibly convulse as he fell onto all fours, coughing up a substantial amount of blood as he did so "I think… that's all I have left in me… Pretty reckless move on my part, I have to admit… but I don't think we had any other choice…"

"No arguments here, and it definitely did its part… it's finally over…"

Sure enough, Vegeta lay sprawled out on the ground covered in wounds… but he was still barely conscious, as proven when he pulled a small remote out of his suit and pressed a few buttons on it 'Curses… I think I'm done here…'

'You can't be serious, he's still alive?' Krillin let out a groan at the sight of Vegeta still being alive after Tien's assault, but his attention was quickly grabbed by the sight of a space pod dropping down onto the scene "What the hell is that thing?"

"Wait a second… that pod must be his spaceship… He's trying to get away…"

"Like hell that's going to happen Krillin slowly picked himself up off the ground and limped over to Tien's side "Can you… Can you fire another blast from here…?"

"I can… can barey even feel my legs…" Tien slowly pulled himself onto his feet using whatever strength he had left, still hunched over from the pain "I can barley manage this… But we can't let him get away… I know that much…"

"Agreed, but… Wait…" Krillin cut himself short as he glanced off to the side and took notice of something lying amongst the rubble, that being Yajirobe's katana "You think…"

"Do it… He has to pay for what he's done… For the blood on his hands… It's time to end this once and for all…"

"Right." so with that in mind, Krillin grabbed hold of Yajirobe's sword and slowly limped his way towards Vegeta.

"Finally…" once his pod descended to the ground, Vegeta turned himself over and began to slowly crawl towards it 'I can't believe it… I never thought a battle with humans… could come to an outcome… as pathetic as this… The prince of the Saiyan race… one of the greatest warriors in the universe… is actually being forced to retreat…' and yet he chose to continue crawling to his pod and prepared to enter, until…

"Stop right there!" now Krillin was looming over him with Yajirobe's sword in hand "You're not going anywhere… You killed all of our friends and threatened our lives… Well guess what? It's your turn now!"

'Dammit, I can't move… I don't have any power left…!'

"NOW DIE!" Krillin prepared to bring the sword down on Vegeta, until…

"Krillin wait, don't do it!" a familiar voice caused Krillin to freeze on the spot.

"Wait a second… Goku, is that you?" Krillin looked back to see Goku still lying immobile on the ground "Okay, why am I hearing voices and why don't they want me to kill the Saiyan? That was you, right Goku?"

"Yeah, it's me… Sorry if this freaks you out, but I still can't talk very loud… Please Krillin it's over, so stop… Please just let the Saiyan go…"

"You've gotta be kidding me, three of our friends are dead because of him, and you want us to just let him get in his spaceship and fly away like nothing even happened? If we don't finish him off now, he's just going to lay low until he has his strength back, and then come back here to wipe out the rest of humanity!"

"You're right… he probably will…"

"There's no "probably" about it, he definitely will." this was when Tien chose to interject on the conversation "Sorry to listen in, but I can't stay silent. Piccolo is one thing, we needed to keep him alive for the Dragon Balls. Even if he did end up having a change of heart, this guy isn't the same as him. Letting him go now means he's just going to keep doing the same thing that he did today, over and over again. After what happened to Yamcha, Piccolo and Chiaotzu… Do you really think he should have that opportunity?"

"Trust me guys, I get it… I know how strong he is, and I know how much damage he can do when he puts his mind to it… Nobody on Earth is safe as long as he's still alive, but I need you guys to listen to me… This might sound crazy, and I'll probably regret this later… but just now when it looked like Krillin was about to kill him… I couldn't help but think of how much of a waste it would be…'

"A waste?" Krillin shared a brief look with Tien "What the hell are you talking about?"

"After I finished training with King Kai in Otherworld, I thought I had gotten as strong as I could possibly get… but then I saw Vegeta fighting, and he showed how he's so much faster and more powerful than me… The things he was capable of, it was overwhelming… But I do have to admit, deep down I was pretty excited… Maybe it's because I'm a Saiyan too, but when I get to see someone who's as strong as that, I can feel my heart start racing, because I realize that I still have that much further to go… It makes me want to train myself even harder, to push myself until I reach their level… And listen, I know it's wrong, but please… You have to let him go, for me. I need to be able to fight him again at some point."

"...Fuck." Krillin gritted his teeth as he dropped the sword, allowing Vegeta to climb all the way into his pod "Fine Goku, if that's what you want. I don't like it, and I'm pretty sure that goes for the rest of them too. But if you think we should let him live, then that's enough for me. After all, if you hadn't shown up when you did then there's a pretty good chance we'd all be dead right about now. But you've gotta promise me something. The next time you go at it with this guy, I want you to make him regret that he was ever born."

"Yeah… you got it…"

"I don't agree with it either Goku, but I'll respect your wishes. And keep in mind, you're not the only one who wants to take another shot at him. Especially after everything he's done. And when he does come back, we'll be ready." Tien shot a glare at Vegeta "If any part of you is wise, you'd keep that warning in mind."

"Oh believe me Triclops, I will." Vegeta gave a weak smirk as he climbed into his pod and it began to start up "Until then, I believe it's about time for me to make my exit. But don't think that this is over, not even for a second. And don't think there's going to be another miracle for you to save yourselves from me next time. That much I can promise you." and on that note, the hatch to the pod closed, allowing it to shoot into the sky, then the atmosphere, and depart from the planet altogether.

"We'll see about that. Like I said, we'll be ready." Tien watched as Vegeta's pod disappeared from view, then glanced over to where Goku lay 'You know Goku, I do hear what you say about fighting a powerful enemy and seeing it as a benchmark for how far you have to go… and I get it. Once I finished training with Kami, all of us really, we thought we were invincible… and then I saw what the Saiyans were capable of. It was like something out of a nightmare… But when you put it like that, it can set an example of a level of power that it's possible for us to achieve if we train hard enough… So I think it's about time to start aspiring to that level…'

Power levels:

Tien: 1,830

Tien (wounded): 1,200

Tien (Kaioken, wounded): 2,400

Tien (Multi-Form, 3): 400 each

Tien (Multi-Form, 2): 600

Tien (Multi-Form, 3, Kaioken each): 800 each

Tien (Mult-Form, 2, Kaioken each): 1,200

Tien (wounded, post Kaioken): 900

Tien (wounded, post Kaioken, Tri-Beam): 2,700

Krillin: 1,770

Krillin (weakend Spirit Bomb): 10,000

Krillin (injured): 800

Gohan: 1,200

Gohan (enraged): 3,600

Goku: 8,200

Goku (Kaioken): 16,400

Goku (Kaioken 3x): 24,600

Goku (Kaioken 4x Kamehameha): 32,800

Yajirobe: 900

Vegeta (suppressed): 16,000

Vegeta (full power): 18,000

Vegeta (Galick Gun): 25,000

Vegeta (post beam struggle): 12,000

Vegeta (post Power Ball): 9,000

Great Ape Vegeta: 90,000

Vegeta (post Great Ape, injured): 4,500

Vegeta (post Spirit Bomb): 1,800

A/N:

Well here we are, the battle against Vegeta is finally over. I want to get this out there now, about Vegeta staying transformed despite the Power Ball being destroyed. I chose to base that off the events that happen in the Tree of Might movie, where a similar thing happened when Turles destroyed his Power Ball, yet Gohan remained transformed. The same happened in Dragon Ball Xenoverse when Bardock had transformed at one point.

I have a feeling I know what some of you are going to say, that Tien learning the Kaioken just from watching Goku use it once is probably BS. But keep in mind that his ability to learn other techniques just by observing has been shown in the original Dragon Ball series at least twice. First he learned the Kamehameha just by watching the others do it, and then he figured out the Evil Containment Wave by watching Master Roshi try to use it on King Piccolo. I don't think a very shaky and unstable version of the Kaioken is that much of a stretch by comparison, especially when he ends up like THAT afterwards.

Also as a quick note, Gohan mentioning how he met Yajirobe in the wilderness and learned how to hunt from him is a reference to that plot point in the DBZ: Kakarot game. Say what you will about the game play, but I like how it expands the story of DBZ further, and shows off the side characters more, even if it is usually just in side quests and the like. And for future reference, don't expect this to be the last time I mention and/or use details and content from Kakarot.