"What's wrong, master?" a handful of students stopped and approached Tenshinhan, prompting the rest of the martial arts school to stop too. All of a sudden, the three-eyed martial artist stopped in place and began pondering about something. By now, the martial arts students were well aware of their master's ability to sense events and powerful opponents, so they were smarter than to brush their master's peculiar behavior away.
"Hmm… Something's wrong. Krillin, Yamcha, Son Goku, Bardock, Chi-Chi… They've all slowed down. They're not advancing to stop Chayote from reaching the God Temple," Tenshinhan looked up and scanned the army of students he took with him.
"All the more reason to hurry, master! We must reach and stop this Legendary Super Saiyan from interfering with Baby-sama's plans! We're the only ones who can. With all of us piling onto the Saiyan, we'll give you a fair shot of beating her into the dirt!" a particularly lively martial arts student of Tenshinhan's pumped his fist with an excited and malevolent look on his face.
"Chayote is not an opponent to be underestimated. Though you are correct, right now our best odds would be to keep going and strive to slow her down until the others can overcome their obstacles, reach her and work to prevent her from reaching the Sacred Land of Korin," Tenshinhan nodded, taking off with his students following him immediately after.
Before they could escalate too much, however, a bulky and muscular green-skinned figure posed itself in front of the martial artists. It was a man whose body parts appeared stitched and fixed together, built from several men and spare parts, and yet Tenshinhan knew that this browless goliath packed considerable force in his body.
"Super Artificial Human No. 8!" Tenshinhan hissed. "Get out of my way!"
"I cannot do that, Tenshinhan-san. Chayote told me and Dr. Flappe that you are unwell. Dr. Flappe asked me to hold you and your students here and give Chayote the time to reach the God Temple to retrieve the medicine that will make you well," Super No. 8 shook his head, speaking with a somewhat bumbling and rather high-pitched for a musclebound giant like himself voice. Despite the haunting appearance, Super No. 8 sounded more like a gentle giant than a genuine monster.
"I see, so this got in the others' way. Chayote used the miserable amount of time she had while Son Goku let us all know she's in on our plan to bring Baby-sama to Earth to assemble some team of rejects to feed to the grinder while she can retrieve the Super Holy Water. Fortunately for you, Super No. 8, Baby-sama is merciful and willing to let anyone join his new universe. Including the likes of you. Yes, you will make a nice servant to Baby-sama," Tenshinhan clenched his fist in a wrathful reaction before relaxing and chortling to himself.
"I won't let any of you pass," Super Artificial Human No. 8 proclaimed, extending his hands to the sides.
"In that case, we'll break through!" a student hovering behind Tenshinhan clamored with the rest of the swarm of fighters becoming unruly while Tenshinhan smirked, enjoying the rowdy crew he had trained and their resolve to put their skills to the test.
One by one, then all at once, the horde of martial artist monks all rushed the stalwart wall that positioned itself in between them and their target. With a backhanded smack, Super Android 8 smacked one student aside to hurl down toward a bustling desert city casino down below, then grabbed another student and smacked his head into Super No. 8's. Brushing the swarm of fists and kicks aside, Super No. 8 blew the martial artist he got his hands on away, then grabbed one of the lively warriors and began smacking the rest of them away like swatting a swarm with a swatter.
Tenshinhan appeared out of nowhere, stunning Super No. 8 in place with a step-in punch to the gut that dented the abdomen of the Super Artificial Human and nearly made it give way to the arm that punched it. With a swift and precise sweep, Tenshinhan tripped Super No. 8 up, then drove the back of his right arm into the Super Android's chest, sending him flying back. It seemed as if Tenshinhan was more than fine with earning every step closer to Chayote's location with violence.
The three-eyed warrior flew into the air with a roundhouse, then turned around again to deliver a punt straight into Super No. 8's abdomen, stunning Super No. 8 some more and making it blank out. With the Super Artificial Human soaring into the lower layers of the atmosphere, Tenshinhan hurled right at him with his bald head slamming into Super No. 8's back and bending the body of the Super Android backward. Another roundhouse and a flurry of snake-style jabs later, Tenshinhan rolled through the skies to finish it with a volleyball-style slam that sent Super No. 8 crashing down straight into the flashy casino's parking lot.
"Amazing, master!" the students howled, cheering for their mentor. "You did away with that monster like nobody's business!"
"Of course, Chayote never intended for these lowlifes to challenge us. All she wanted was for them to get in our way. To hold us off long enough…" Tenshinhan seethed by grinding his teeth and looking down at the fiery and dusty chaos down below where Super Artificial Human No. 8 left a terrible crater and caused a near asteroid-like crash that turned the flamboyant and elitist evening of gambling into an apocalyptic nightmare for the locals.
"You've dispatched of that monster, master, let's go!" someone from amongst the students hurried Tenshinhan to keep heading toward Chayote's location.
"No, this Super Android is far from done, he'll catch up to us and keep getting in our way. It's for the best that we put the beating on him and give him Baby-sama's flesh to help us. Then, we can have this abomination eat Chayote's son in front of her while the others hold her down. It sounds horrible, but it's the only language those savage Saiyans understand," Tenshinhan's glare focused on the flattened Super Android as he plunged down, ready to put his hands on his stunned opponent.
The martial artist monks nodded in approval, plunging down and positioning themselves over the fallen Super No. 8 with their hands aiming down and expelled a storm of Ki blasts, homing in on the gentle giant. Clamoring with righteous fury, Super Artificial Human No. 8 powered through, brushing the hail of Ki blasts aside before doing away with a few more fighters with careless backhanded strikes or vicious headbutts. Tenshinhan had trained them well enough to take one or a few blows without immediately exploding into a bloody mush. Of that Super No. 8 felt grateful, since he'd have hated to have the deaths of these young men on his consciousness, even if they were looking to hurt him.
"Please, Tenshinhan-san, you're sick. Stand down and wait for Chayote to make you get better. I don't want to fight you!" Super Artificial Human No. 8 pleaded with the martial arts master who positioned himself in between his students.
"That's okay, you can just take the beating and accept Baby-sama's gift then," Tenshinhan mocked the pacifistic views of his opponent before diving in through the thick ranks of his students and slamming a vicious ax-hand chop straight into Super No. 8's forehead that flattened him onto the bustling desert city street again.
Putting his arms in a cross-chop position, Tenshinhan soared in like a human missile just as Super No. 8 was rising off the ground and wiping the slobber off his lip. Super Artificial Human No. 8 toughened his entire body, stretching his arms to the sides and bulking up, and let Tenshinhan collide with him. Tenshinhan's body flickered with a flaming aura while red vapor pumped through from his mouth and nose as the Red-Hot martial artist powered through and flattened the Super Android again.
Taking off into the air, farther than the human eye could see him, Tenshinhan flipped over his front and plunged down to crash into the ground where Super Artificial Human No. 8 had fallen with his knee. With the air of this knee uppercut, Tenshinhan drove his knees into the cumbersome body of his artificial opponent and left him whited out on the ground, sprawled and nigh-lifeless. A splurge of metallic, reflective substance made its way from the eyelid surrounding Tenshinhan's third eye, expanding into a metallic membrane that wrapped around the fallen Artificial Human and founds its way through a few bruises he took from the vicious beating, seeping its way into the system of the Artificial Human.
Tenshinhan's martial arts students clamored in respectful fear when the giant rose back to his feet again. Tenshinhan, meanwhile, merely followed his movements with a sly smirk. The eyes of the corrupted giant glowed bright red as he looked up and scanned his surroundings again. A devious metallic protrusion comprising Baby's face bubbled and merged back with the broad forehead of the giant.
"Well, do you see now? Have you finally devoted your life to serving Baby-sama?" the students urged the calm Super Android to give them the answer now. Instead of speaking, Super No. 8 merely nodded.
"Excellent!" the students all cheered with one another. "Now, join us and help us stop Chayote from reaching the God Temple and purging Baby-sama's flesh from our bodies!"
"I refuse!" Super Artificial Human No. 8 vocally proclaimed, stunning the rest of the fighters lined up in front of him. Even Tenshinhan looked taken aback as no one had ever resisted Baby's alluring influence before or would resist it ever after. "I am a peaceful person. Even if it is for the service of Baby-sama, I will not inflict monstrous deeds of violence even if it is upon a savage Saiyan who absolutely deserves it. There are many ways to serve Baby-sama, and I choose any of the peaceful ones."
"Hmm… I see," Tenshinhan calmed down, realizing that this wasn't the case of someone defying the corrupting influence of Baby's flesh but merely Super Android No. 8's personality breaking through. In the end, the Super Artificial Human was still loyal, and that was all that mattered. He wouldn't get in the way. "Tsk, darn it! This has turned out to be a grand waste of time! We might be too late to stop Chayote now! The rest of you can scatter, you'd only slow me down, anyway. I'll see if I can still intercept Chayote from delivering the Super Holy Water in that case!"
With the Super Artificial Human No. 8 calmly staring at the accelerating star in the sky that just took off from right in front of him, and the rest of the students looking with disappointment in their strength and appalment, Tenshinhan blasted off at the top speed he could muster up, blazing up with King Kai's Fist and Hot-Red to reach the God's Temple faster than the blink of an eye.
Goku, Chi-Chi, and Bardock were speeding across the skyline until they stopped to note an incoming Ki signature. If it were anyone else than the person rushing right at them, they'd have likely not even stopped to reflect on it. Though, sooner than they thought, a teen with black spiky hair stopped right in front of them and gave his family a sullen stare.
"Gohan?" Goku blinked a few times. This was one of those rare instances where his shock overpowered his malicious ambition to prove to Baby that he was the superior host body to Vegeta. "What are you doing here? Did you finally decide to join Baby-sama?"
"As if! I'm just here to save my family from Baby's brainwashing!" Gohan clenched his fists with a determined look to face both of his parents, and his grandfather.
"All by yourself? And here I thought you were the smart one in our family…" Goku snickered before Bardock and Chi-Chi smacked him in the back of his head.
"You buffoon, this is clearly another one of Chayote's schemes," Bardock grumbled out.
"She's turned our boy against us! When you become the host of Baby-sama, I want you to do the same. Give her disgusting, hairy spawn Baby's flesh and have him beat his own mother senseless while she's powerless to resist!" Chi-Chi bawled in outrage.
"This isn't who you are. Just hold still and it will all be okay soon. I promise," Gohan said without dropping his guard.
"Hmph, Chayote sent the boy here to distract us long enough for her to reach the tower. Given how long he's kept us talking and the time it'll take for us to put the beating on a Super Saiyan, she might succeed in that," Bardock noted.
"The rest… The rest have stopped too!" Goku looked around at the endless blue skyline all around him while clouds passed the stunned Saiyan by all around him. "What's going on? Damn it… She must have gathered a group of fighters to hold everyone back! It's so much like a Saiyan to send someone else to die just so you can succeed!"
"All of us agreed to help willingly!" Gohan interrupted his father. "It's because all of us care a great deal about all of you. Just because the part of Baby inside of you didn't see them as a threat worthy of infection, that doesn't mean that they aren't your friends and wouldn't give up their lives and wills just for a chance of helping you."
"Tsk, you're out of your mind!" Goku barked back at his son. "Enough of this yapping! Let's get this over with, if Chayote intends to get in our way, we may as well get our boy back on our side."
Bardock extended his hand, firing an energy wave while Gohan skidded underneath it and kicked Bardock's feet from down under him. With a powerful uppercut right to Bardock's chin, the teen sent his grandfather flying while fending off both his incoming parents with an energized roundhouse that drew his aura in and then made his kick explode with a centered white energy mass. Goku and Chi-Chi crossed their arms up and skidded back through the air with bloody grazes on their blocking arms.
Gohan burst with a golden aura, evading a few of Bardock's jabs before lashing a left kick to his cheek and stunning his grandfather with his devastating blow. Turning his whole body around, Gohan flickered his right leg into the front of Bardock's face, kicking him flying away and stopping him from advancing further toward the God Tower and pursuing Chayote.
Goku exploded with the golden Super Saiyan aura and came rushing in from the side with an elbow smash that forced Gohan to block it. As his father turned around and whipped him with a roundhouse, Gohan ducked under it and tried to hit him with an uppercut, but Goku deflected it. The fact that the person being brainwashed was Gohan's own father, whom the teen had spent so much time sparring with, was troublesome. Goku answered with a flurry of fists that put Gohan on the defensive, covering his core body and head up, as he couldn't fend off all the strikes at once.
At least Gohan's swelling energy let him tough the beating out without shedding a drop of blood. He couldn't afford to fall so quickly, he needed to buy some more time. That was when Goku's kick socked Gohan in the chin and sent him flying. Frantically, the boy felt his hot and reddened face for any traces of blood. He spotted a few red smears on his wristband. Just like that, his fate was sealed. Though Gohan still felt confident that he could make it a struggle for his family. They were his responsibility to hold back and that would be exactly what Gohan would do.
The teen turned around to block his mother's kick, then leaned back and slipped the entire flurry of his mother's skillful kicks. After blocking a stiff upper kick, Gohan answered with a backhand swing to Chi-Chi's face simultaneously and sent her hurling back. Gohan flew in pursuit, hitting his mother with swinging kicks to the middle section, but Chi-Chi positioned her hands to absorb the shock of his blows. The movements of her hands, alongside with impeccable Ki control, floored Gohan. His mother somehow managed to control her Ki in the exact right way to answer his method of holding his erupting Ki inside his body until the moment of strike, similarly, Chi-Chi put an entire torrential wave of energy toward her gentle blocking movements, creating an effect of colliding tidal waves that canceled each other out.
Seeing his father rushing from behind, Gohan snapped back and put his hands crossed, and pointed outward by his forehead. "Super Masenko!" Gohan yelled, letting out a potent golden energy wave that forced Goku to slow down and think of how to deal with it. Goku covered himself up and hunkered down to weather the overwhelming wave of energy. He grunted and hissed as the strident golden wave threatened to blast him away and break through his defenses but just when it seemed utterly unbearable, it all stopped and Goku finally could cough and pant to his leisure with his grazed and lightly singed arms twitching by his sides. His orange gi had rips and tears in a few spots and suffered some damage and a few bloody stains let a couple of drops of red run down Goku's forehead.
"It's my responsibility as a member of our family, as someone who failed to protect you from this terrible fate to make things right, and I won't hold back. Nor will I let you pass!" Gohan snarled at his grandfather and his parents like a cornered wild animal. It would only be a matter of time until one of them slipped the parasite into him, but he would fight like hell until then. He'd give his parents all he's got, and he'd keep them as far away from the Korin Tower and the God Temple as possible for as long as possible.
That was his task. Ever since the two shared a moment on Planet Vegeta during Gohan's childhood, there was always a part of him that admired Chayote for her soldier's mentality. He admired how fearless and willing to do what she thought she had to Chayote was and, as a crybaby, easily frightened kid, Gohan wanted to be more like auntie Chayote. Right now, he had his moment to prove that he could be a soldier too. That he could hold his ground and make the tough call and not back down, cry, and run away when things got tough.
This was Gohan's mission, even if it would be his final mission as a conscious human being in control of his own body. Just today, Gohan was a soldier too and he would hold his assigned line in this mission he volunteered for. A mission Chayote entrusted him with. Even if Gohan's arms burned with fatigue, just like his father's body did, he'd fight like hell and not hold back, even if it was against his most precious people.
"I wonder if Videl is safe. I can't sense her Ki anywhere. That's good, she knows how to suppress it well. Stay safe," Gohan chuckled to himself before putting up the dukes for another round. With their battle cries, his family came at him all at once, and Gohan charged back at them. A cascade of deafening bursts resonated throughout the area. Golden flares went up and out in rapid succession while the ground in the wilderness underneath quakes and made the rocks tremble, split, and crumble from the sheer pressure of battle.
Soon, Gohan would be caught slipping. Soon, his parents or his grandfather would notice the dripping blood from his busted nose, no matter how much Gohan tried keeping it in and they'd slip Baby in. But Gohan would fight like hell, for as long as he can until that happens.