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DRAGON BALL HARDCORE

THE SAIYAN SAGA, part 2
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What was gonna be a day of hard training between the warriors of Earth turned into a stressful crisis. Eleven months had passed, and with their combined efforts they trained until each and every one of them had enough power to take on Raditz on their own; a bit of an unrealistic goal for such a short notice, but with Kami guiding them they pulled it off. While Piccolo and Gohan were off on their own, and Goku was still honing his new techniques that he learned with King Kai, the Saiyans arrived on planet Earth. And they began by erasing a whole city from existence in a single move, which wasn't even a hard feat for them. Those were Nappa and Vegeta, the respective General and Prince of the Saiyan race, and they were out for blood and dragon balls that day. Goku immediately took his bearings, and went back as fast as possible across Snake Way; now stronger and faster, it would take a fraction of the time to leave.

Krillin united with Gohan and Piccolo, noticing how stupidly strong Gohan grew to be, and Piccolo especially. Vegeta and Nappa soon found them out using their scouters. The three kept their powers at bay, but Vegeta knew they could hide their true power due to what Raditz reported. Piccolo and Krillin could feel how enormous their powers were. The difference was huge, but not hopeless. They can overcome it, if only they use their skills to the absolute maximum, and cling to the hope that Goku will arrive soon.

The two Saiyans demanded just one thing; the dragon balls. Vegeta told them about a legend of a long-lost race known as the Namekians, the same as Piccolo, who were prosperous and advanced thanks to their strange magic powers. It was said that with those strange spheres, they could grant immortality to anyone. Without delving too deep into it, Vegeta wanted immortality to take over the universe, and he wasn't leaving this rock without them in hand and all of these fools dead.

Soon, Tien and Chiaotzu arrived. Chiaotzu didn't manage to reach the expectations of a power that could defeat Raditz, because he decided to train his psychic abilities instead of his body. Tien argued that it was too risky, but Chiaotzu wouldn't let Tien go without him. Right after they arrived, Yamcha followed suit, terrified on the inside, but putting up a brave face as he knew that someone had to. Nappa and Vegeta were pretty generous, so they decided to do a little test. Nappa and Vegeta had found some sick things on a strange planet; little warriors that burrow from the ground like plants, and he had a pack of them with him. They were planning to use them as an army, so they should use these earthlings to test their potential.

He planted them right in front of the Z-warriors, and after a few seconds they popped out. Some gross green things that Nappa called Saibamen. Seven of them were ready to fight, and by what they could feel, they were just a little weaker than Raditz was. Tien was pretty confident, so he decided to go first. As they expected, the Saibaman was down in one blow to the chest. Vegeta was so embarrassed for the little guy that he decided to put him out of this misery with a blast; letting everyone there know that failure meant death.

Yamcha didn't want to feel left out, so he put himself up to fight the next one. This fight dragged along a little more than Tien's, but Yamcha still greatly surpassed them, ending the fight with a kamehameha to the Saibaman's face and not a single scratch. The Saibaman was on the floor, and Yamcha was calling for the next one to fight him. But fearing that Vegeta was gonna kill him as well, the Saibaman decided to blow himself up along with Yamcha. He was almost caught by surprise, but he was saved.

The Saibaman was stuck in the air trying to reach Yamcha. Chiaotzu was using all of his psychic power to hold him in place, and he shouted to Yamcha to get away from him, right as he exploded. Yamcha survived by a pinch, but Chiaotzu wasn't looking good after that, but his psychic powers are way stronger than before. Vegeta was surprised by the little thing's bravery, but he was getting bored. This was gonna take forever, so he suggested an all-out fight to get this over with. All the five remaining Saibamen jump in to fight Krillin, Piccolo, Yamcha and Tien, who was protecting Chiaotzu. Gohan could only watch, anxious because he couldn't see what was happening, and it was too hard to sense what was going on. He almost got killed by a surprise attack from one of them, but was saved by Piccolo and yelled at. In a few moments, the Saibamen were down, blasted all to bits by the Z-warriors. That was just a little diversion for Vegeta and Nappa, and they took the opportunity to read out their true powers while they were fighting.

The strongest was the Namekian, with the power of 3.000, twice of what Raditz had. The second was the Triclops, with a far second of 2.200, more or less. Baldie and Scarface were a close tie, near 2.000. The weaker ones were Kakarot's brat with 1.300, and the clown midget with 900. Just to be absolutely sure, they are all worthless, so Vegeta let Nappa out of his leash and said, "Have a good time with them, Nappa."

The huge Saiyans started the eeny meeny miny moe until it ended on Tien, and so he attacked. From them, Nappa began to wipe the floor with the Z-warriors present, not getting worried in the slightest. Eventually he cornered Tien, and with a full power swipe of his hand, cut off Tien's arm from the elbow down. To make a long story short, it was a total wash; even as they tried to attack all together it ended in failure. Nappa just had way too much experience and power, none of them could do a thing. He didn't give them the chance to take the offensive. Someone there knew they needed an advantage, or else they were all goners.

While he was distracted, Nappa felt someone hold on to his back. It was Chiaotzu, ready to throw out his life. Vegeta was seeing the numbers in his scouter continue to grow as Chiaotzu started to be enveloped in a bright light. Through his psychic powers, he told everyone that he can create a slight edge by giving Nappa a weak point, and that he had no other way of doing this. Tien shouts and begs for him to stop, shouting once again that the dragon balls can't bring him back. Chiaotzu was fine with that, but in turn of his sacrifice, he pleads that no one else dies. "Please, don't die Tien," and those were his last words.

In a huge explosion and a cloud of blue smoke, Chiaotzu was no more. Tien screamed in anguish. The glances of the past came like a flood. Ever since his first memories, Chiaotzu was his one and only friend at the crane school. He was weird, but as genuine of a person as one could be. For twenty years he didn't grow an inch or changed his tune at all, he was always the same meek kid. And now he was gone, saving his friends. The only way he would like to go.

But of course, that wouldn't just do the trick.

Nappa was indeed alive, but he didn't take it so well. The rear of his armor was destroyed and his back was awfully injured, bruised and bloody. He was in a world of pain right about now. Vegeta mocked him from being hurt this much by an earthling, and that made Nappa lose his mind. Now he was furious, but there was someone even more angry. Tien had just seen his best friend give up his life, and this bastard just brushes it off like nothing happened. He was in pain, low energy, but he wanted vengeance at all costs. So he prepared his Kikoho.

Nappa saw what he was about to do and rushed at him. The other fighters then made their move. Yamcha tackled Tien out of Nappa's way, just as he was about to fire his last Kikoho, while Piccolo appeared beside Nappa and punched him away.

Yamcha made Tien snap out of it; killing himself just to do a little more damage wasn't what Chiaotzu wanted,"if you want revenge, then we have to take the edge Chiaotzu gave us, that's how we get him back at him!"

The truth was that Yamcha was just as pissed; Chiaotzu saved his life earlier, he can't let that go in vain. He was ready to beat the shit out of Nappa in a rage. Nappa had been tossed towards Krillin by Piccolo, and he answered by bashing Nappa towards the ground. Gohan was there, just watching the whole thing play out, and after seeing the gruesome fight turn to death match, he was too scared to make a move, even as they shouted at him to attack Nappa, he couldn't. They thought they had missed their chance, but then Yamcha appeared in front of Gohan, and he jumped to meet Nappa in the air. He unleashed a full course Wolf Fang Fist combo, ending it up by kicking Nappa up to the sky as he, Krillin and Piccolo simultaneously fire energy blasts at him.

Their combined attacks do so much as to cover Nappa in cuts, bruises, and a bit of blood; his armor completely destroyed except his boots and underwear. In a fit of rage, Nappa flew straight to Yamcha, and punched him to the ground below, forming a crater on impact. He followed suit falling on top of him while he's recovering, and prepared a blast to wipe him out of this world. Piccolo tried to attack from behind, but Nappa was expecting it, and gave Piccolo a strong elbow bash on the head that sent him staggering back. Just as Krillin thought to make a move, someone else already got his back. No one was expecting it, but Gohan managed to regain his focus, and entered the fight with a precise kick on Nappa's face that sent him flying away. Seeing someone about to die a second time, he sprung into action with an unusual increase of power.

Nappa had been tossed around by the earthlings for a good while now and he was feeling ashamed. His back was hurting like hell after that suicide attack from the clown, and he wasn't able to keep focus. It was about time he killed one of them, so might as well start with Kakarot's brat. And so he fired a ki blast from his mouth; shining light coming towards the small boy like death itself.

At the last second, Piccolo decided to sacrifice his life to protect the only person he could call a friend. And so it was, he took Nappa's attack head on instead of Gohan, and fell to the floor. Realizing his ironic fate, he thanks Gohan for that opportunity of friendship, before passing out.

Gohan let out all he had in a desperate attack against Nappa, his power skyrocketed, and Nappa was at the back foot against a child; getting punched and kicked faster than he could see. But at the last moment, he managed to hold off Gohan's Masenko blast. He was about to bounce back against Gohan, but he was surprised as Vegeta shouted at him to watch out. Krillin threw a ki disk at him, the Kienzan. He was able to dodge with just a slight cut on his midriff. Nappa then threw a barrage of ki towards Krillin, and he was caught right on by the explosion, down for the day. With all his energy used up, so was Gohan. With most of the Z-warriors on the floor, and one dead, that seemed to be the end of it.

But just then, as Gohan was about to be stomped under Nappa's foot, he was saved by a very, very late Goku. Their last hope arrived on the battlefield, and he proceeded to easily defeat Nappa, breaking his spine, and ultimately having him dead by the hands of Vegeta.

The two last Saiyans would go on to have their battle somewhere far away, as Goku believed he had this on the bag. The others were also saved, but not by Goku. Surprisingly, Kami did come to the battlefield, giving Senzu Beans to all his defeated warriors, even using magic to mend Tien's arm back together. His last words to them, as they lie on the floor, is that after this terrible fight is over, they need to find a new guardian for this planet, someone less foolish than he and this code that he followed for so many centuries. Then, he went off towards Piccolo's body.

He knew Piccolo wasn't as bad as his father, but now he had proven himself. To let him die like that would be disgraced for Kami. It was time for the two to become one once more. Kami held Piccolo's hand, and light enveloped him. Kami was no more, but Piccolo woke up in shock, surprised to be alive and with no wounds anymore. He understood what Kami had done to save his life, but he didn't understand why. Why did he do it? And above all else, why did his power grow so tremendously, like six times more powerful than he was mere minutes ago? He felt sure that he could take on Vegeta with this power, but as they wondered what to do, the battle between Goku and Vegeta was raging on, not too far from here. They felt Goku's ki spike up for a moment, making the ground shake, and suddenly Vegeta's energy was really low.

…

Goku and Vegeta were eyeing each other from the top of the mountains, ready to rumble against the respective last pure member of their race. Goku had to fight on the defensive, using strategy to keep himself alive. He had learned a new technique with King Kai, the Kaioken, and by using it, he could deal considerable damage to Vegeta in short bursts, but it also caused him great pain to use it. Finally, Vegeta had enough of getting slapped around by this low-class trash like Goku, and he bursted up into the sky. From there, he prepared his own attack, the Galick Gun, and Goku prepared as well, with his Kamehameha. The two clashed in an energy struggle, but with the help of the Kaioken 4x, Goku overpowered Vegeta, and the energy took him for a ride in the atmosphere. Goku's body was as good as shattered glass, but he seemingly did it. With that, he saved the world.

The Z-warriors decided to head over, thinking that Goku had won. They found him shirtless and in severe pain on the nearby rocks. Yamcha and Krillin try to raise him up, but the moment was cut short when they felt Vegeta's power again. Piccolo now with a power of 18.000 felt compelled to finish him off for good, but just then what fell from the sky was not just Vegeta, but him in his Great Ape form. Everyone witnessed his power increase tenfold, too strong for any of them to do serious damage, even with their most powerful attacks.

Vegeta's first order of business was to swipe off those pesky earthlings without much effort, and he went straight for Goku; squeezing him and breaking all his bones. He only got free by using the last spare of his energy to shoot Vegeta in his big red eye. Yamcha, Tien and Piccolo did everything they could to try and cut off his tail, as Krillin and Yamcha knew by experience that it would shut off his monkey form. They distracted him while Krillin tried his luck with Kienzan, but he dodged it like it was a sixth sense of his. When Vegeta was aware of every single one of them, there was no way they could sneak on him. The Oozaru form granted him enhanced senses. Thankfully, there was someone who Vegeta didn't know was there. Someone moving at a snail's pace and as quiet as a shadow.

Yajirobe had been hanging around the battlefields, knowing that he had to step in eventually and risk his life. But he had been stuffing up his mouth for an hour or so because he was too scared to go, and by the time he gathered the courage, he was facing a Great Ape Vegeta. But while Vegeta was about to wipe out the entire horizon and the Z-warriors with a mouth blast, Yajirobe jumped in, and cut off his tail like butter. Thankfully, the tail wasn't as resistant as the other parts of his body. He did that and then ran away really fast.

The problem was: Vegeta, even not a giant monkey, was still Vegeta. As the warriors tried to attack him, they were knocked away without any trouble, and Piccolo was left in a one versus one with him. But after getting pummeled by that huge monkey, Piccolo was already out of strength. Goku and Krillin tried one last attempt with the energy Goku was gathering from the world, and from that he made a very small Spirit Bomb. He gave it to Krillin, and he managed to hit Vegeta with it. But by being so small Vegeta managed to survive it once again. He went back on the land and unleashed a full-body blast that destroyed all his surroundings, but didn't manage to kill the remaining Z-warriors. Gohan was blown away, and landed right next to Goku; both unable to move a muscle.

Goku was taking his time on the floor, realizing that he was that full-moon monster and killed his own grandpa so many years ago. But out of that somber discovery, came also an idea. The fake moon made by Vegeta was still shining up there in the sky. He told Gohan to look at it, and soon enough, Gohan took the Great Ape form, and thanks to Goku's directions, he managed to make Gohan target his fury towards Vegeta.

Vegeta was beaten to a pulp, and managed to cut off Gohan's tail before he killed him. But, the giant ape fell on top of Vegeta, breaking whatever wasn't broken at that point, and Vegeta decided to call it a day.

He called his pod there, and with all the Z-warriors defeated and bloody, no one could hope to stop him. Vegeta promises to come back once he's immortal, blow up the planet and kill them all; Goku challenges him, saying that they would defeat him again, and again, and again; no matter how many times he comes back. Just like that, the pod is sealed, and flies off into space.

…

The battle itself only had a single casualty; Chiaotzu, and none could tell what happened to Kami, but Piccolo assures he won't be returning. Bulma, Launch and the others arrived to patch up everyone on the ground. They didn't have any Senzu Beans, but a ride home was the next best thing. Bulma was worried sick for a full year, and she couldn't help but cry and berate Yamcha at the same time. He did win, as he stated, and he could go back to normal life. Goku was put on a suit of plaster for him to stay still, as Krillin told everyone of what had happened. Gohan was left in the care of Chi-chi; one year apart with her son made her understandably emotional. Gohan was barely allowed to say anything as she put medicine on his bruises. And of all the catching up, Tien was just silently sitting in the corner. Blond Launch slowly approached and sat beside him, trying to dry sorrows with booze. She wasn't liking Tien's demeanor. "If Chiaotzu was here, he would make fun of your serious face," she said.

The group could do nothing but gaze in silence, realizing that even after training so much, they would've all gotten killed by Nappa alone if it wasn't for Chiaotzu's sacrifice. But then, in what could be considered as simultaneous delirium, they all hear Chiaotzu saying words through their minds.

"I hope you're not worrying for me; up here is actually sweet. I screwed up once, when I was too afraid to challenge King Piccolo, and that's why I decided to be brave this time to make up for it. Even so, I guess I wasn't able to do much; but still you guys won, so no problem, right? Don't be sad, okay? Good luck, guys. And Tien... keep moving on!"

And so, his voice left them, and they were left with a little note of hope. Tien promised that he would take care of himself and everyone else. In heaven, Chiaotzu thanked King Kai for allowing him to say bye to his friends one last time.

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Everyone was satisfied with today, as much of a loss it ended up being there was still some hope. They won a fight of insurmountable scale, against all the odds. When everyone suggested commemorating, Piccolo then proceeded to bring them a little down by remembering what Vegeta said before leaving. Kami was no longer, and that meant the dragon balls are no longer too; but Vegeta gloated as if there was still a way for him to reach immortality. Krillin figured that it might have something to do with Piccolo's race, and that they might have their own dragon balls. That triggered some of Kami's oldest memories that were given to Piccolo. Having enough of talk, Piccolo blew a hole in the ship and flew off, going somewhere that he somewhat remembered.

Krillin is confronted with the fact that Vegeta is out there, and could probably return at any minute, but he was more conflicted with the immortal stuff. If these Namekians have dragon balls, and Vegeta knows where they are, then he can make a wish. That would be terrible; they had to do something about it, and Yamcha remarked that they probably should, but only once they are able to walk.

The Z-warriors had no idea what kind of intergalactic troubles they just brought upon themselves, but they will learn soon enough. In the most dangerous way possible. But for now, it's time to rot on a hospital bed for a week or so.