Chapter Fifty

The Battle Begins! Hurry, Son Goku!

The air seemed to buzz with tension as the warriors stood in their guards while the Saiyans stood completely at ease.

"Oh, look, Nappa," Vegeta said genially as he gestured with one hand at Gohan before his voice dropped with thick contempt that bordered on disgust, "It's an abomination." To Gohan's credit, he did not falter under Vegeta's murderous gaze, and even moved away when Suno tried to shield him. "I suppose introductions are in order, more on principle than anything. Since none of you are Kakarot, I don't care who you are. I, however, am Vegeta, King of all Saiyans. This," he said with a gesture to the giant, "Is Nappa, my…" he paused and rolled his wrist as he searched for the right term, "My Grand Vizier by default." Nappa looked slightly hurt by the last half of that title while he tapped at his scouter.

"Let's see here…" he muttered, "We've got… 356, 427, 500, 211, 335, 194, 677, oooh, a whole 1,034," he chuckled and folded his arms over his chest. "Very impressive."

"So what were you before your planet got blown up?" Krillin asked out of a curiosity he really couldn't explain. He supposed that he was stalling for Goku but other than that… why would he care?

"Well," Nappa began as he stroked his beard, "I held a rank in the Saiyan Military– which, to be fair, was eighty percent of our race– and given my status as an elite, I suppose my rank would have been…" it had been twenty years and so it took Nappa a few moments to recall his long-useless title. "Ah, yes! A Major General!"

"A Major General?" the humans all asked at once. Piccolo held his face in his hand and groaned again.

"Yes!" Nappa declared proudly as he stuck out his chest. "I was a Major–"

"No!" Vegeta insisted sharply as he stamped his foot on the ground. "No singing!" Nappa looked somewhat deflated while Vegeta massaged his temples. "Just… just dispense the Saibamen. That should kill most of them." Despite having no pockets, Nappa produced a small glass tube with a liquid and six green beans inside from… somewhere.

"What's a Saibaman?" Launch asked as Nappa cracked the glass open and sprinkled the six beans onto the ground. They quickly burrowed into the ground as the soil drank up the strange liquid.

"Just a guess," Yamcha muttered as the ground began to rumble and bulge, "Nothing good." No sooner had Yamcha said that than six red-eyed, green little monstrosities burst out of the ground, shrieking and clacking the three claws on each of their hands.

"Yeah," Chaozu agreed with a gulp, "Not good." Nappa smirked before catching a trio of news helicopters out of the corner of one eye.

"Look, Your Grace," he gestured with his chin. "Spectators!" he raised one hand and created a ball of ki, casually bouncing it in his palm. "Want me to kill 'em?"

Vegeta shook his head. "Leave them be, Nappa," he said with a dismissive wave before grinning wickedly. "I want this world to watch its heroes die."

OoOoOoO

"As you can see," the same solemn moose-anchor was saying as footage from the helicopters was being shown, "The strange beings believed to be responsible for the destruction of East City have come face-to-face with some of the world's greatest martial artists. We have identified former Tenkaichi Budoukai Finalists Yamcha, Launch, Son Suno, Krillin, and Chaozu as well as Budoukai winner Tenshinhan and the being that calls himself the reincarnation of Piccolo Daimaou." Bulma surmised that they either hadn't seen Gohan or were ignoring him because they didn't want to drive the citizens into a further panic that a child was facing the Saiyans. "Conspicuous by her absence is one Son Goku. We will stay with this story as it develops." Bulma had met with Roshi, Puar, Turtle, and Baba at Kame House to watch this nightmare on the news.

"It'll be okay," Bulma muttered to herself. "Goku'll get there. It'll be fine."

OoOoOoO

Chi-Chi brought her chair as close to the television as she dared, every movement leaving her with baited breath. Her Yamcha was going to be fine, she assured herself. He'd been training hard and he'd gotten strong. They were all strong. Everything was going to be okay. She wished she could go to him and fight by his side but she just…

OoOoOoO

King Furry's council was seated around a table in his war room, watching the news on an enormous monitor.

"Your Majesty," insisted General Scaline, an alligator-man, "We can't expect these fools in pajamas to save us! We have to strike now and overwhelm them!"

"These fools in pajamas," the king reminded his advisor sternly, "Have saved the world before when our weapons could not. I will not risk drawing ourselves into this conflict until it is absolutely necessary!"

"These creatures destroyed East City!"

"All the more reason not to engage them! I will not endanger the lives of any more of my people!" Furry folded his hands over the table and frowned as he looked at the screen. Where was she?! Where was Son Goku?

OoOoOoO

Yamcha noticed one of the Saibamen moving towards him and shrugged once he realized that the weird little freak seemed to want to go one-on-one. Why not? Hardly the strangest fight he'd ever been in.

"Let's see what ya got," Yamcha challenged the Saibaman as he got into his stance. It shrieked in response and lunged at him. Yamcha hopped back as it made a few swipes at him with its claws and threw out a few kicks of his own to keep the little freak at a distance. The two leaped into the air and traded strikes at lightning speed, reaching higher and higher into the sky.

"They're so fast," Gohan muttered as he strained his eyes to keep up.

"Try to follow their ki, Gohan," Suno told him. "It'll make things easier on your eyes." Yamcha ducked under a kick from the Saibaman and unleashed a barrage of devastating punches before blasting it down to the ground with a ki beam where it crashed violently into a crater. He descended and landed with his back to the Saibaman, grinning and giving his friends the thumbs-up.

"These little guys aren't so tough!" Krillin looked behind Yamcha's leg and watched the Saibaman start to crawl out of the crater.

"Yamcha, watch out!" Krillin warned. Yamcha turned around as the Saibaman lunged towards him with its arms and legs outstretched.

"WATTAAA!" Yamcha cried as he threw out his leg and hit the Saibaman with a mighty kick. The plant-man burst into a firework of viscera as Yamcha smirked and slowly lowered his leg. Like they were gonna get the drop on him. The other Saibamen let out a horrible shriek before attacking as one. They all swarmed for Yamcha but the others moved in to attack, each disposing of the Saibamen in short order. Ten sliced a Saibaman in half down the middle with a powerful chop while Chaozu held one in place with his telekinesis and Launch drove her fists through its chest. Krillin blasted one apart with a ki ball and Piccolo put two holes through one's head with his laser eyes. Gohan did his best to duck and dodge the attacks of the last Saibaman before hitting it under the chin with a flip kick that sent it up into the air where Suno finished it off with a jumping knee that inverted its face. Suno gave her son an encouraging thumbs up and he smiled.

"You should have been able to take that one yourself," Piccolo scolded. "Don't rely on her to save you!" Gohan bowed in response and Suno huffed slightly. She definitely wasn't letting Gohan spend any more time with "Mr. Piccolo" if she could help it.

"What the?!" Nappa muttered in surprise as he watched his Saibamen get thoroughly dispatched. "This… this doesn't make any sense!" He tapped his scouter and frowned. "With these kinds of Power Levels…"

"Don't be a fool, Nappa," Vegeta scoffed. "Recall Raditz's battle with Kakarot and the Namekian. These creatures are obviously capable of disguising their Battle Powers. Put that scouter away." Nappa grumbled and took off his scouter, setting it down on a rock.

"Wait," Suno asked, "What's a Power Level?"

"The numerical value by which a creature's Battle Power is measured," Vegeta explained.

"Aaaand what's a 'Battle Power'?" Chaozu asked.

"The energy inherent in certain beings that allows them to fly, bolster their physical attributes, and shoot death lasers!" Vegeta went on with clearly mounting irritation.

"We just call that 'ki'," Krillin said. Vegeta's brows furrowed in confusion.

"The Nine Hells is ki?!" he demanded. The Earthlings shrugged and he groaned. "Nappa, none of them are dead yet," he muttered with a dismissive wave. "Fix that. Just make sure not to kill the Namekian, or this entire endeavour is pointless." Nappa stomped forward and Yamcha stepped up to meet him. He was feeling pretty good about himself right now and besides, it wasn't like this guy would be the first big bastard he'd taken down. He just had to ignore his fairly insane ki.

"Y'know," Nappa said with a chuckle, "Even if you're disguising your power, I don't need my scouter to see one thing about you as plain as day."

"Oh yeah?" Yamcha asked as he channeled all his energy. "And what's that?" He had less than a second to dodge a blow from Nappa's massive fist and the wind generated by the attack shore off a lock of his hair.

"You're already dead," Nappa told him. Yamcha barely even had time to dwell on the strange tingling in the back of his head that told him Nappa had stolen his line– despite never having said such a thing before in his life– as he desperately tried to dodge and block an onslaught of blows from the juggernaught. The attacks came at incredible speed and, worst of all, the guy knew what he was doing! Yamcha threw out a pair of Sokidan to whiz around Nappa's head to try and disorient him before smashing into either side of his head. Nappa shook his head for a second like a dog shaking off water before continuing his attack, otherwise unfazed.

'Okay,' Yamcha thought, 'This looks bad.' Before the others could step in to try and help him, Yamcha did the exact opposite of what any sensible being would do. He got closer to Nappa. 'Might as well take my best shot now,' he decided as he dug his feet into the ground and threw his hands out in front of Nappa's face to fire at point-blank range. "Kamehame–" Nappa's mouth opened wide and an enormous blast of blinding yellow energy ripped forth.

The dust cleared and the light faded. There was a blackened smear of soot in the dirt at Nappa's feet.

One second Yamcha had been there. Then he wasn't anymore.

OoOoOoO

Bulma stared at the monitor and fell to her knees in shock. Puar wailed helplessly and buried himself against Turtle's shell as tears began to run down Bulma's face. Even if their breakup had been messy and they hadn't been on good terms in years, Yamcha had been her first boyfriend, her first kiss, her first… everything. How could… how could he just be gone?

OoOoOoO

For a few long moments, Chi-Chi was too stunned to say or do anything. She couldn't believe it. She wouldn't believe it. He'd… he'd dodged! He was hiding! He'd… he'd done something! Her Yamcha… he was so strong, so brave. He wasn't dead. He. Was. Not. Then reality set in for her and Chi-Chi cried out in despair as tears streaked down her face and she collapsed to the ground. With her ki sensing and the slight delay on the television, she had felt Yamcha's death before she had seen it, even as her brain had refused to believe it.

He… he was her husband. He was her everything. Yamcha had given her strength to believe in herself and make something of herself when she was lost and confused. Now… now she was all alone. Why had he been taken away from her? Why? Her body wracked and thrashed with heartbroken sobs as she let out a scream of ultimate suffering. Eventually, her sobs died down and she was left a whimpering, blubbering heap on the ground with her face pressed desperately to the floor. She could still feel his presence, still smell him in the room, but he… he was gone. She could see his gentle and loving eyes, she could hear his infectious laugh, feel the warmth of his skin pressed against hers as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her and made her feel like the only thing in the world that mattered. She could feel all those things and more. She would feel the memory of them for the rest of her life. A life… without him.

"Give him back," she whispered between sniffles. "Please… give him back. Give him back. Give him back..."

OoOoOoO

Nappa smirked and dusted his hands off with an accomplished smile. Well, that was one down. Arcs of electricity crackled and danced around Nappa's body and he began to power up as the entire world seemed to shake beneath their feet.

"My powers aren't working!" Chaozu declared in a panic as he frantically threw out his hands. Piccolo frowned and began to sweat as the others stared in horror. They couldn't charge into this like blind fools. They'd need a cunning plan for this to–

"You bastard!" Launch screamed before she charged at Nappa in a red rage. Tenshinhan flew after her and quickly sprouted his two extra arms with Chaozu and Krillin close behind. Piccolo sighed and rubbed his hands over his face.

"Or…" he muttered to himself, "Or everyone could just attack at once like a pack of morons. That will clearly be just as effective." Launch stuck out two fingers on each hand and brought them to her side to charge a ball of blue-yellow light and thrust her hands out at Nappa.

"Dodonhameha!" she screamed, combining the size of the Kamehameha with the killing power of the Dodonpa. Nappa slapped the blast away and charged toward her with a powerful punch. Launch brought one arm up to block… and let out a bloodcurdling scream as Nappa punched her arm off at the elbow. The severed arm pinwheeled through the air in a spray of blood as Launch fought an inclination to fall to her knees. Ten swung around Nappa and charged in a rage as he unloaded with an enhanced version of his Dodon Danmaku, sending blasts from all twenty of his fingers. Nappa brought up a forearm to deflect his attacks as Chaozu came at him from behind. He spun around to intercept Chaozu's attack and hit him with such a powerful elbow that Chaozu's chest… exploded, sending his limbs flying off in different directions. Krillin flew forward and unleashed a massive blast that contained every ounce of ki he could muster. Nappa roared and threw his arms out to scatter everyone with a ki blast that shot up from the ground beneath him. Ten grabbed Launch as they were sent flying and set her gently down on the ground as she tried to will herself to stop bleeding.

"Chaozu…" Ten whispered as he suddenly realized that his friend was gone. Really gone. Forever. "No…" his voice was hoarse with rage and grief but, before he could react, Launch grabbed him by the back of the head with her remaining arm and kissed him passionately.

"I love you," she murmured against his lips before she shoved him away and flew up at Nappa. She did more than just radiate energy, more than simply surround herself in ki. Launch turned into a being of pure ki energy, a bullet, an attack that she launched straight at the murderous Saiyan.

"Launch!" Tenshinhan screamed in futility, knowing that she was long past the point of stopping, "Don't!" Nappa was at once too stunned and mystified to block Launch's attack and was caught full-on by the force of Launch's life energy, her genki, every drop of power she had in her body, all that she was and all that she had ever been.

The smoke cleared. Nappa was singed in places. His armor was in ruin, leaving him only in his boots and his black trunks. But he was alive. He was unharmed.

"No," Suno gasped.

"Launch…" Krillin whimpered. She had died for nothing. Tenshinhan was stunned into immobility by his despair. In the span of seconds, he had lost everything that mattered to him. His closest friend. His lover. He had failed them both.

'I have a plan,' Piccolo thought in their heads as he callously pressed on. 'When Nappa leaves himself open; Suno, Krillin, and I will strike. With his focus off of us, his ki won't be so bolstered in his defenses and we can overwhelm him!' Nappa flew down to Tenshinhan, no doubt planning to finish him off. 'Now!' Suno, Piccolo, and Krillin flew at Nappa in a three-pronged attack. Suno hit him from below with a flying kick that caught him in the chest and Piccolo followed up with a hammerlike backfist that caught Nappa just behind the jaw. Krillin finished the attack with a double palm slap that sent Nappa plummeting towards the ground, and towards Gohan. "Blast him, you little fool!" Gohan threw out his hands and charged his Masenko… but then he froze as Nappa got close to him and the blast vanished. He panicked. He was afraid.

Suno flew down to intercept, to save her son from any attack Nappa might have come up with, while Piccolo and Krillin dove after her. She came at Nappa with a kick but he caught her by the ankle and swung her into Krillin and Piccolo, the three plummeting to the ground.

Tenshinhan, meanwhile, was still frozen. Then he had a thought and his gaze drifted not to Nappa but to the other one. To Vegeta. He brought his arms forward and put all four of them into a diamond pattern, one on top of the other, and flew at the little monster. He was the one in control, the one commanding Nappa. He wouldn't expect a direct attack. Tenshinhan could hurt him, could make him pay! He screamed as his whole body flooded with power and Vegeta was bathed in the deathly orange glow that gathered in his hands. He'd never hit someone with the Kikouhou at point blank range before. It would have to do something!

"Shiiiin Kikou–" Ten was silenced with a resounding "Crack!" as Vegeta backhanded him dismissively and his head twisted completely around. The light faded as his arms fell limply at his sides and he collapsed to the ground, dead.

OoOoOoO

This was horrible, King Furry realized, absolutely horrible! The warriors were dropping like flies! Where was Son Goku?! Could she even fight these monsters?! Was he witnessing the end of the world? Furry suddenly fell backward against his chair and clutched at his chest. His breathing was ragged as his eyes went wide.

"Someone get a doctor!" one of the advisors screamed as Furry slumped out of his chair. "A doctor for the King!"

OoOoOoO

Krillin went pale as Vegeta tugged at the glove he'd struck Tenshinhan with in mild disgust, like when you swat a mosquito against your leg. That's what they were, Krillin realized. To these Saiyans, they were all just… insects. All of their training had been for nothing.

"Nappa," Vegeta called up, "One of them almost touched me! See it doesn't happen again!" Nappa nodded obediently.

"As you command, Your Grace," Then he rounded on the warriors again and Krillin swallowed nervously.

"I wish Goku was here," Suno muttered, "She'd make you pay!" Vegeta held up a hand at that, looking mildly intrigued.

"Wait, Nappa," he ordered before turning to Suno. "This Goku is Kakarot, is she not?" Suno nodded and Vegeta laughed. "What do I have to fear from some low-class sow who couldn't even kill Raditz?"

"She's a lot stronger now!" Suno told him. "You'll see!" Vegeta tapped his chin in thought and sat down on a rock.

"You know what? I will. Nappa, to me. I want Kakarot to be here when I kill these last few friends of hers, not to mention her Earthly brood." Nappa scowled.

"Why don't I just kill them now?" he demanded. Vegeta eyed him coolly.

"Are you disobeying me?" he asked in a soft, cautious voice. Nappa swallowed nervously and for the first time he looked genuinely afraid. More than afraid. Terrified.

"N-no, Your Grace," Nappa stammered as he bowed his head and floated down to stand beside Vegeta. Somehow, despite everything else, that was the most terrifying thing Suno had seen today.

"I'll give her three hours," Vegeta declared, tapping a few buttons on his scouter and setting a timer. "Then Nappa will start killing you again."

'Hurry, mama,' Gohan thought. 'Please hurry!'

OoOoOoO

Goku sprinted down Snake Way, cursing herself for not putting more effort into her flying. She still had hours to go before she'd reach the end!

"Hold on, guys!" she said aloud as she pushed herself, "Just hold on!"

OoOoOoO

"You know," Nappa muttered as he and Vegeta waited, "I've been thinking."

"A dangerous pastime," Vegeta mused as he found himself looking at the clouds. That one looked like someone he'd murdered. So did the next one. And the next one.

"That whelp of Kakarot's is surprisingly powerful for one his age, considering the one that gave birth to him is of a lesser species."

"You mean the abomination?" Vegeta asked curtly. Nappa sighed but pressed on.

"I'm just thinking," he said, "If Kakarot dies fighting us then perhaps we can still make something of this trip and breed with some of the females on this planet." Vegeta openly scoffed.

"Preposterous!" he spat. "Produce half-breed monstrosities that might some day be powerful enough to overthrow me? Have you taken leave of your senses? Besides that point, in less than a hundred generations, the Saiyan bloodlines would be completely diminished, unless they were to interbreed. I should think not."

"We're right here, ya know!" Suno called from across the clearing, having listened to the whole conversation and the insults to herself and her son. Vegeta smirked at her.

"So you are," he quipped. "Do my words offend you?"

"Hell yes, they do!"

Vegeta chuckled. "What do you intend to do about them?" Suno fumed silently. "I figured as much."

"When my wife gets here," Suno muttered darkly, "She's gonna kick the shit out of you." Gohan gasped. His mother never swore!

OoOoOoO

After three slow, agonizing hours, the tense air was broken by a beeping from Vegeta's scouter. "Well, three hours have passed and your savior is nowhere to be seen. It seems that Kakarot is not only a traitor but a coward as well." Vegeta scoffed, "If these are her true colors then she would not even make good breeding stock. Oh well. Beggars can't be choosers. Nappa, kill everyone except the Namekian."

"Alright! It's about time!" Nappa said joyously as he stalked towards the dead men and woman and cracked his knuckles. "It's a shame Kakarot won't be here to watch her friends die but I'll make sure to have plenty of fun anyway."

Suno bit her bottom lip as she contemplated her options. She had been meditating during that three hour break and she couldn't even sense Goku no matter how far she pushed and she made it all the way to Korin's Tower. That meant that Goku was likely still in Otherworld, probably on the Snake Way thing Master Kami told her about. A part of her was highly tempted to just grab Gohan and run but she wasn't sure if she was capable of making it past Nappa and, even if she did, something told her that Vegeta was farther beyond her than Goku was when they first met.

Suno's thoughts were interrupted by a voice in her head, 'Listen up, everyone. Without Son Goku, this situation is basically hopeless.' Suno recognized the voice as Piccolo. Judging from the way Krillin jumped and the way Gohan suddenly became very attentive, he was speaking to them, too. 'If we work together, we might be able to beat Nappa normally but there's no way we can take Vegeta. His ki is just unreal. However, if we can grab his tail then he'll be completely vulnerable. Krillin, I want you to to distract Nappa while Suno goes for his tail with her Fubuki Odori. Once he's vulnerable, Gohan and I will blast him with everything we've got.'

Everyone nodded as they steeled themselves for the fight of their lives.

A/N: For those curious, here are the Battle Powers/Power Levels/Whatever you wanna call 'em, for everyone in the Saiyan Saga at the time of the fight with Nappa:

Tenshinhan: 1,830

Yamcha: 1,580

Launch: 1,340

Chaozu: 610

Suno: 1,950

Piccolo: 2,500

Krillin: 1,770

Gohan: 981