Chapter 37

Uneven Rematch

Yamcha stood confidently in front of his friends, happy to see them after more than a year had passed. Yamcha was currently wearing what looks like his Turtle Hermit Gi however, the front symbol was King Kai's Kanji while the back was a big version of the Turtle School Kanji. Nappa was the first to say, "There goes another one."

Raditz then said, "That's the other human I mentioned was missing."

Nappa wryly laughed and said, "He's just another body to add to the pile."

Vegeta didn't find him too impressive despite the showy entrance. He did, however, take note of something else, "He had a red aura, those are quite rare."

It's then when Yamcha joins his friends, ready to have a quick reunion with them before getting down to business. Krillin was the first to say, "Thanks, man. I'm pretty sure I would have been a goner if you hadn't shown up."

Chichi then butted in with a mildly miffed expression, "Kakarot's not going to be happy when he hears about this. He told us about those sorts of stunts."

Krillin nervously rubs the back of his head and hesitantly says, "Sorry, I got distracted. Besides, their whole "playing dead" act was more convincing than you think."

Krillin hesitated to explain he was focusing too much on her condition after the battle, this "distracted" excuse would have to do. Tien walked up to Yamcha after which they gave each other a fist bump. Chiaotzu floated up to him and asked, "What was that move you just used? You were all red and stuff!"

Yamcha turned to the Saibamen and said, "I'll show you, just let me take care of the rest of these freaks."

Krillin interjected, worried for his old friend's safety especially now that he's finally back to life, "Hold on now, are you sure about this? You know what happens if you die again."

Yamcha turned his head around and gave Krillin a confident look, "Don't worry, it'll be over before you know it."

Yamcha didn't wait for Krillin's response, he marched toward the Saiyans. After a few steps he stopped and called out to them, "How about we make this quick. Have all your little monsters come at me at once."

Yamcha then leaned backwards focusing his weight into his left leg which slides backwards until he stopped at a leaning crouch. He then placed his hands in front of him with his palms halfway open with his fingers arched in a way he looked like he was going to claw at his opponent. Yamcha held this posture and awaited the Saiyans response, assuming they would agree.

Nappa scoffed while side-eying the new human, "Cocky bastard, just who does he think he is?"

Raditz examined Yamcha noting he seems to have changed a little since the last time they met. He then mused, "Is he just overconfident or can he back it up?"

Vegeta gave him a sadistic smirk before letting out a wry laugh before looking at the Saibamen and saying, "Go ahead, this should be fun."

He then said while crossing his arms, "Go, tear him apart. Do not hold back!"

A mere second passed upon being given the command and every single Saibaman grinned hungrily and dashed toward Yamcha in unison. They bared their teeth and began to cackle and roar as they charged toward him. Yamcha's friends focused on him, wondering what his first move would be. Just as they were charging him Yamcha took the time to clear his mind. He closed his eyes in order to focus, a deep breath escaped his lips. The Saibamen were nearly upon him when his eyes shot open and he yelled, "Kaioken: Wolf Fang Fist Assault!"

Yamcha's body was then surrounded by a fiery red aura, his body bulked up slightly. The first Saibaman that reached him was sent flying by a right-handed claw swipe. Yamcha then dashed forward delivering a single strike to each Saibaman he came across. They were turned to mush by the impact, Yamcha went through them one by one. He delivered a downward elbow strike to one and then dashed toward the next one hitting it with a knee. This went on as he delivered a right hook, a left karate chop, a strong gut punch, until he reached the very last surviving Saibaman delivering a double palm strike in the same pose as a Kamehameha Wave. Which launched its already dead body toward the Saiyans.

Vegeta reacts quickly, putting a single palm forward and vaporizing the body with a single short, ranged Ki Wave which dissipates almost immediately afterwards. After that last attack Yamcha's red aura disappeared after which he stood up straight and then quickly flashed a cocky grin at the Saiyans. Yamcha then wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead before boasting, "So much for your little monsters."

Right when they thought it was over a Saibaman leaped out of nowhere aiming its reeled back left arm for his face. Yamcha immediately recognized the fresh claw marks over its chest. It was the first Saibaman he attacked, he cursed under his breath. He held back too much with that first blow. Yamcha wanted to dodge the claw strike heading his way, but something was wrong, for whatever reason Yamcha's body refused to listen to his commands.

This is when he suddenly heard a loud voice, "Tri-Beam (Kikoho)!"

Suddenly a rectangular wave of Ki hit the Saibaman vaporizing it in an instant. After a second passed Yamcha looked back towards his friends and saw that Tien was aiming a Tri-Beam at where the Saibaman used to be. Tien let his hands slump to his side and then exhaled roughly. Yamcha laughed nervously as he waved awkwardly at his friends. Krillin and the rest had a mix of exasperated, worried and pitying expressions. Nappa muttered, "I guess he is somewhat strong."

Vegeta frowned while crossing his arms before saying, "An idiot is what he is."

Yamcha after a short moment takes a breath and returns to his friends who are a little farther from the Saiyans than they were before in order to keep from being in earshot of them. Once he rejoined them, he looked at Tien and said, "Thanks for the save."

Tien doesn't respond, simply giving him a nod. Krillin, Chiaotzu and Chichi voice amazement at his quick victory. "That was amazing!" Said Chichi.

"How'd you do that?!" questioned Chiaotzu.

Krillin added, "This must be the result of your training with King Kai."

Yamcha nodded and then began to explain, "Yes, King Kai taught it to me. It's called the Kaioken."

Yamcha then said, "The way King Kai explained it, you control all the Ki in your body and amplify it. If you do it right it will boost your strength, speed, durability, just about everything by a specific amount."

Krillin crossed his arms and remarked, "That's a remarkable ability. Your speed definitely increased; you blew through them so fast I couldn't keep track."

Chichi then said, "With a technique like that you should be able to take at least one of them out before Kakarot gets here!"

Tien crosses his arms, frowns and shakes his head, "I doubt that."

Everyone except for Yamcha looked at him surprised, Yamcha's expression slightly fell but he kept a grin on his face. Tien then says while looking at Yamcha, "A technique like this is too good to be true. There's a serious downside to it isn't there?"

Chichi asks, "What downside?"

Tien immediately answers with, "I'm guessing it's similar to my Neo-Tri Beam."

He then says, "It must take a serious toll on your body. That's why you froze up when that last Saibaman attacked you."

Yamcha scratched the back of his head and said with a smile, "You got me, nothing escapes your eyes."

Tien then asked, "Does the technique involve using your life force, like my Neo-Tri Beam?"

Yamcha shakes his head at the second mention of Tien's technique, "I already explained, it's about using all the Ki in your body, not my core life force."

Yamcha then explained, "If you don't control your Ki perfectly while in this state then it can wreak havoc on your body."

Yamcha then closed one of his eyes and placed a hand on his other arm, "E-even at the lowest l-level I can handle, I can only u-use it for so long before it starts messing up my body."

Yamcha spoke in a pained voice as he fought back against the waves of pain his body was dealing with right now, "H-honestly, I think I overdid it already. I limit it to s-short bursts, I-I must have used it a second too long. I'm j-just glad I stopped when I did, i-if you use this state too far or for too long it could even cause permanent damage."

Yamcha then said under his breath, "It was probably a bad idea to bring it up to the second level."

Yamcha then did his best to stretch his back and return to a more composed demeanor. He then peered over at the Saiyans, "I'm gonna hold up a good front for those three. The last thing we need is for them to figure out I'm vulnerable."

Tien is the first to ask, "With how bad the effects are, did you fail in mastering this technique?"

Tien was blunt with his question, but this was important. They needed to know how effective his training really was If they were to utilize him against the Saiyans. Yamcha looked troubled before he let out a dejected sigh.

He scratched the back of his head and said, "By the time I was brought up to speed about the Saiyans coming, King Kai and I were about to work on this technique as well as another one."

Yamcha frowned and exhaled again, "But after learning about them coming, King Kai had me focus on strength training. We only started technique training two months ago. I got both techniques down just recently; I just needed some practice to perfect them."

Krillin dejectedly said, "But then the Saiyans arrived early, ending your training early. I take it, you received Kami's message about their arrival."

Yamcha shook his head, "No, King Kai decided to check how close they were. To his surprise they were already in our solar system."

Krillin took a step back in surprise and spoke in an exasperated voice, "What? Why weren't we not told?"

Yamcha frowned deeper and said, "He thought I'd arrive in time, which I did, mind you."

He then flashed a nervous expression and said, "I only arrived a couple minutes after you guys left the Lookout, but I overexerted myself getting there. Mr. Popo helped me recover with a quick snack, since you already grabbed the beans and by the time I arrived you were about to be grabbed so I had no choice but to fly in with the Kaioken."

Krillin scratched his bald head as he said halfheartedly, "I'm guessing you'll need us to cover for you until you recover."

Yamcha hesitantly chuckled before giving Krillin a quick nod. Krillin let out an exasperated exhale in response to that. Tien then crossed his arm while looking around at the battlefield, he said, "I wish you didn't waste it on the Saibamen, if we played along with the Saiyans game after you killed the first one then we could have bought time for Kakarot and helped you conserve stamina."

Yamcha gave him a quick bow with his hands clasped together like a prayer, he apologized, "Sorry, Tien but I wasn't sure how serious the situation was. Krillin nearly got grabbed so I wasn't sure if I should risk everyone else getting a crack at them. Taking them, all out seemed like the best option."

Tien let out a sigh and said, "I guess I can't blame you given how late you arrived. You probably didn't know that Kakarot told us all about these monsters. Krillin just let his guard down is all."

Krillin was next to apologize, "Sorry again, I should have known better."

Meanwhile, with the Saiyans right after Tien killed the last Saibaman; Nappa took a step back in utter shock at seeing the complete decimation of their Saibamen. Nappa then exclaimed, "What the hell?!"

Raditz aimed skeptical eyes at Yamcha who was now talking to his friends. Vegeta stared at the conversation unfolding wondering what they could be saying. Instead of worrying about what he couldn't hear, he instead comments, "The game ended early."

Vegeta then frowned deeper and muttered, "I wonder about that aura."

Vegeta gazes at his Scouter meaningfully, "Perhaps I should have kept that piece of junk on."

Vegeta shook his head and said out loud, "It doesn't matter, Raditz!"

Raditz with a serious look in his eye gives Vegeta his undivided attention, "Yes?"

He asks the question while knowing full well what he's about to say. Raditz smiles upon hearing Vegeta say, "You have the same orders as the Saibaman, don't kill the woman. The rest you can do with as you please."

Raditz rammed his right fist into his left open palm while speaking in a low menacing voice, "Finally, it's my turn!"

Raditz chuckled in satisfaction while eyeing his killers. He believed he was going to enjoy this far more than any of his other fights. This made sense to Raditz, to kill your own killers is a once in a lifetime chance. His thoughts of revenge are interrupted when his eyes fall upon Chichi. He mutters, "The woman, what does Kakarot have to do with her?"

Raditz then pops his knuckles and says, "I guess I'll find out soon enough."

Raditz takes several steps forward until he now stands around the corpses of the Saibamen Yamcha and Tien just killed. He crosses his arms and awaits his opponents to decide on a battle strategy. He wants to see what they have planned before jumping in. Last time he lost because of Zarbon's interference. They wouldn't be so fortunate this time around.

They saw this and in response turned to Yamcha and asked, "Do you want a Senzu Bean?"

Yamcha shakes his head and says, "I'm not quite dead yet, we need to save those for anyone who's on death's door."

Yamcha then shrugs and says, "Besides, I don't want these guys to figure out the Kaioken quite yet and I still doubt my basic power will be enough for these guys."

Tien nodded and added, "Kakarot wanted us to save all our trump cards for this "Vegeta" anyway."

Krillin glances at the trio and throws out a guess, "I assume it's the short one. He has been the one giving out all the orders."

Tien nodded and said, "I'll bet it's him, if what Kakarot said is true then we should be cautious from here on out."

Yamcha focused his vision on Raditz and said with a serious look in his eyes, "Nevermind Vegeta, looks like we'll be busy with the guy we killed last time."

Tien popped his neck as he said in a low tone, "Nobody better hold out on him just because he's related to Kakarot."

No one objected to that, not even Chichi. Instead Yamcha suggested their strategy for the upcoming fight. Yamcha's body tensed as he prepared himself for Raditz's first move, "I'll draw his attention, they should think I'm the biggest threat here."

Tien shook his head, "Not in the state you're in, you won't last a single minute the way you are now."

Yamcha gave Tien a sad smile and said, "Sorry but it's not really my choice. I was a bit too showy when I killed their Saibamen. No matter what we do, I'll probably be their first target."

Yamcha's smile turned more genuine, "We might as well take advantage of that. Just like last time, go for his tail while I keep him distracted."

Yamcha got in his Wolf Fang Fist stance and said reassuringly, "We've beaten him before, we have all gotten stronger. We can do this!"

They all gave him a shared resolute expression before getting into position. Krillin was a few feet to Yamcha's right, Chichi was a little behind Yamcha and slightly to his right. Chiaotzu guarded his flank and was a few feet to Yamcha's left. Now in position they watched as Raditz's expression turned from a grin to a sneer. Raditz then stated, "So I get the first move."

Raditz then opened his palms in a grabbing motion and moved his arms to his sides, while placing his forearms in front of him. His muscles began to bulge as he said, "Bad move, If you think you're the only one to improve then you're going to regret this!"

A purple aura sparked around Raditz which is when he let out a fierce yell. His power rose and the corpses of the Saibamen were blown away, flying in all directions. Yamcha and the other earthlings could hardly believe what they were feeling. His power had increased considerably since their first fight. They were certain he would be stronger, but they hadn't expected he would get this much stronger. This is when Raditz proved his words from earlier, before the earthlings could react Raditz had closed in on Yamcha.

Krillin and friends had a split second to see Raditz grab Yamcha by the throat and pull him high into the sky. With their original strategy already in tatters they give chase. Raditz said while pulling Yamcha higher into the sky, "You moron, I know a bluff when I see one!"

Yamcha held onto his outstretched arm, choking him, trying his hardest to pry his hand away from his throat. It was pointless, not only was Raditz stronger, but Yamcha's body was still worn out from the Kaioken earlier. Raditz looked over his shoulder and saw the other earthlings gaining on him. He cracked a sinister grin and muttered, "Come and get me, you trash."

Raditz then slowed himself down to allow them to catch up to him. Raditz delivered a sharp kick to Yamcha's mid-section. At the exact same time of this blow, he released his grasp on Yamcha's neck, sending him flying. With both hands free, Raditz turned around, facing the other earthlings while continuing to fly towards Yamcha. Raditz saw that Tien and Krillin were the closest to him so they are the ones he would aim his two open palms at. He then yelled, "Double Sunday!"

Two Purple Ki waves shot out of his palms rushing toward the two earthlings. Krillin dodged downward while Tien dodged to the left, their speed was halved from the effort. Raditz nonchalantly crossed his arms and said, "Come now, insects! Don't you care for your friend?"

Raditz flipped himself around while looking at Yamcha, "Perhaps I should motivate them a little more."

Raditz picked up the pace and soon caught up to a still soaring Yamcha. Yamcha, whose body was once dead tired, was now wracked with pain. He had hoped he'd get a breath in when Raditz released his neck. The kick to his stomach had interrupted the breath Yamcha wanted to make. Worse yet his body was in so much pain from the blow that he couldn't recover from the shock of the attack.

The pain wasn't over, Yamcha watched as Raditz with his arms crossed closed in on him. Yamcha gritted his teeth and thought to himself, "I might have to push it!"

A red aura began to appear around Yamcha's body but a new, more intense wave of pain in response to his Kaioken. Yamcha's body froze up again, causing his red aura to dissipate. Raditz approached him, he didn't even bother with a punch, his arms remained crossed as he did a quick front flip ending in a drop kick. The blow had even more force than the hit to his stomach. Now Yamcha was barreling towards the ground below. Even worse is the fact Raditz still had his eyes on his falling foe. Seeing the deadly look in his eye Chichi grunted angrily as she attempted to close in on him. She doubted she could do damage, what she wanted to do was grab his attention long enough for Yamcha to land.

She was a second too late however, Raditz quickly fired off a barrage of Ki blasts which soon peppered Yamcha's body causing medium sized explosions to envelop his body. The explosions persisted until Yamcha's body slammed into the ground creating a crater double his size. His Gi had been torn badly, the upper left portion of his top was torn to pieces though his blue undershirt was in good condition.

Chichi yelled angrily in response to the barrage and recklessly charged toward the Saiyan in front of her. Raditz snickered before turning towards her and flipping himself upside down. He began to effortlessly block and deflect a barrage of her kicks with only his legs. He didn't bother to use his arms, keeping them crossed. Raditz blocked a roundhouse kick with his right knee and then blocked three more with his other leg. Chichi began to get frustrated with the continuous failed strikes and the cocky and showy posture Raditz had adopted. Right when she was about to change gears, Raditz suddenly said, "I'll deal with you later."

Chichi blurted out, "Huh?"

She didn't need much more warning as she saw him pull his leg back to prepare for an overhead strike. By the time Chichi took note of the motion she quickly raised both of her arms, placing her forearms above her head to block the attack. She didn't think she had time to dodge given the difference in their abilities. She was proven right when Raditz did a front flip ending with a knee to her block so fast she barely raised her arms to the correct position before taking the hit. Chichi successfully blocked it but the force of the blow still launched her far from Raditz.

Chichi's arms hurt despite her best efforts, but she powered through the pain. Chichi cupped her hands and pulled them behind her, she quickly yelled, "Kamehameha!"

A blue ball of Ki filled her cupped palms after which she thrust her hands forward firing a blue Ki Wave at Raditz. Raditz saw it coming but stood his ground. Instead of dodging he placed an open palm forward, catching the blast. Immediately after making contact, he made a swiping motion to his right, redirecting the blast away from him. The Kamehameha-wave hit a mountain in the distance, completely obliterating it in a large explosion that could be seen in the distance.

Krillin intercepted Chichi, catching her, attempting to stop her descent. Tien and Chiaotzu charged ahead, approaching Raditz who was still upside down. Tien launched a barrage of jabs which kept Raditz preoccupied with blocking them, though Raditz persisted in using only his legs, crossing his arms again. The barrage was easily defended against, but this was part of Tien's plan. Tien was only trying to keep him focused on him while Chiaotzu circled around him. Chiaotzu was aiming for Raditz's tail, he was starting to use his Telekinesis to pull the tail toward his open palm.

Raditz however, felt something begin to attempt to pull his tail from his waist. It wasn't a strong grasp, so he knew someone hadn't actually grabbed it. Raditz was quick to put a halt to whatever the earthlings plan was. Raditz landed a roundhouse kick to the right of Tien's head, at full speed. Tien was launched to Raditz's left, he used the momentum of this kick to spin himself around and flip back to a top-right position.

With Raditz facing Chiaotzu now his telekinesis failed. Raditz said under his breath, "That trick won't work this time!"

Raditz then put both of his opened palms forward and yelled out while firing a double handed Purple Ki wave which sent Chiaotzu flying toward the ground below. Tien's eyes widened as he exclaimed, "Chiaotzu!"

He then shoots a death glare at Raditz who meets it with a sneer. Tien then yells, "Krillin, grab Chiaotzu and keep everyone clear!"

Krillin grimaces at the order and mutters, "He's really going to use that move this soon?"

Krillin shook his head and said to himself, "It's not like we don't have much of a choice, he's way stronger than we thought he would be."

Krillin then turns to Chichi who was by his side and with urgency in his voice said, "Stay clear of the Saiyan, everything above and below him is a blast zone!"

Krillin then rushed to Chiaotzu who just hit the ground followed by an explosion. He checked his pulse and let out a relieved sigh, "He has a pulse…and I can feel his Ki, good, he'll live."

Krillin then looked up and saw Tien fly high into the air passing by Raditz who didn't make any attempts to stop him, simply allowing him to fly by. Raditz lets out a chuckle and mutters, "This could be interesting."

Tien stops two meters above Raditz and places his hands together and begins to gather Ki. He then opens up his hands making a diamond shape with his hands as yellow Ki begins to gather between his fingers. He then angrily says, "To hell with what he said, it's do or die. He can deal with the other two when he gets here!"

He then yelled out, "Neo-Tri Beam!"

Tien fires a large yellow wave of Ki in the shape of a large block and soon the battlefield is momentarily blinded by the light of the attack.

Author's notes: Finally, this chapter took much longer than I intended it to. Hopefully Yamcha's implementation in this version of the Dragon Ball story is done well. This is a very different version of him from the original seeing how in the original he was mainly used to prop up other characters. I wanted Yamcha to stay an actual player in future fights since this version of the Dragon Team is really focused on teamwork. I liked the idea of using the Kaioken to amplify Yamcha's Wolf Fang Fist, which was the reason behind the combination of Wolf Fang Fist and Kaioken Assault. Hopefully I made it clear that Raditz received training from Nappa making him significantly stronger, therefore not making him a joke in this fight. Anyway, thank you for reading, leave a review if you want and until the next chapter is released, here are the new Power Levels. (for the record, the chapter would have been released sooner if not for going down for a day and a half.)

Power Levels:

Krillin: 5,450

Tien: 5,400

Chiaotzu: 3,500

Chichi: 5,000

Yamcha: 6,000

Yamcha (Kaioken): 12,000

Saibamen: 3,200

Raditz: 6,500

Nappa: REDACTED

Vegeta: 18,000 Max Power