Chapter 41

For a Friend

Yamcha's body begins to lightly twitch in response to the sudden beating he endured as well as the lingering effects of using the Kaioken. He was alive but he could barely move and from what Nappa told him; his friends were in that things line of sight. Yamcha was too hurt to immediately say anything, so the thought just echoed in his head, "These Saiyans are real monsters, we chopped half an arm off but all that did is piss him off."

Piccolo on the other hand was unconscious, it's clear the big guy took his previous words personally. Krillin, with the others, cursed at the results of his latest strategy. "Damn it! Had I known that would just make him fight harder than I wouldn't have wasted the Ki on that move!"

Chichi jumped into the conversation, "Calm down Krillin, they are still alive! We still have a chance."

Krillin laid doubtful eyes on Chichi but upon seeing her stern and determined expression, he regained his nerve. Krillin knew that agonizing over this result wouldn't help so he took a deep breath before slapping both of his cheeks at the same time as a way to force himself to concentrate on what's important. Krillin then said with a stern look with the addition of a confident smile, "You're right, let's make our next move before that bastard beats us to it."

Tien forced himself to his feet with a heavy look in his eyes, "Well, what do you suggest?"

Krillin immediately turned to him and pulled out one of the few Senzu Beans they had. He handed it to Tien who grabbed it with his only remaining hand. Tien looked at it with a grim expression which is when Krillin said, "We'll keep him busy while you recover. I'm sure you can use it to reattach your arm. When you do, back us up. All we need to do is keep him busy, so don't use the Neo-Tri Beam again (Kikoho)."

Tien nodded and was about to crouch down to his severed arm when Chichi said something that sent chills up his spine. "Hey, where did Chiaotzu go? Wasn't he here a minute ago?"

Everyone looked around for him, but Tien alone had a terrible feeling about his disappearance. His thoughts drifted to the worried look Chiaotzu gave him earlier. Suddenly all of their attention was focused on the Saiyan who was now floating high above them. Nappa then loudly says, "That's it, I've lost an arm over these insects. Let's just blow them away and be done with it!"

A look of fear blanked over each of those in Nappa's line of sight. Nappa reeled back an arm and began to charge a large purple colored attack which was accompanied by purple lighting. Krillin frantically yelled, "Scatter!"

Before they could leap away from each other through another voice suddenly yelled up at Nappa, "What do you think you're doing Nappa!"

To everyone's surprise it was Vegeta who had done the yelling, and it had the desired effect. Nappa froze, the attack he was charging up had stopped having completely disappeared. Nappa hurriedly said with a frightened look, "S-sorry Vegeta, I got carried away!"

Vegeta, now in a much more restrained, yet still annoyed tone of voice said back, "Do not make that mistake again, I'm getting sick of your mistakes. We need as much information as we can get, we need to spend as little time here as possible!"

Vegeta then muttered, "We don't need to give Freeza any more time than we already have."

Nappa nodded back while saying, "R-right, no more mistakes, you got it Vegeta."

Right then everyone noticed something else closing in on Nappa from behind. Tien's eyes fixated on this individual as if something terrible was about to happen. Raditz suddenly yelled, "Nappa, another rat is behind you!"

Nappa blurted out, "Huh wha-?"

Right when Nappa looked over his shoulder it was too late, Chiaotzu, who had snuck up on him had grabbed onto his back and refused to let go as Nappa thrashed around while complaining wildly about the act. Nappa did his best to shake him off, but he was too small a target and was just out of his reach. "What the hell, get off me!"

Tien suddenly yelled, "Chiaotzu, what are you doing!"

All the color drained from Chichi's faces as she was beginning to realize that Chiaotzu was about to do something reckless. Right then Tien received a telepathic message from Chiaotzu, "Sorry Tien, I won't have enough spare Ki to tell anyone else but you. Could you tell everyone that I'm sorry it had to come to this and goodbye?"

Tien suddenly yelled, "What do you mean, what are you about to do?!"

Chiaotzu finished his message by saying, "Please stay alive Tien!"

At this time Nappa had begun ramming him into nearby mountains and rocky terrain. It hurt but Chiaotzu wouldn't let go, soon enough his body began to shimmer and give off a bright white light. Nappa began to dive down, back first into a particularly jagged mountain top after noticing the earthling begin to glow. However, right before he touched the mountain Nappa was enveloped in a massive explosion which vaporized the mountain Nappa was about to smash into.

Tien screamed out in grief while Chichi's now shaking legs gave out from under her. Tien fell down on all threes and Chichi fell to her knees sitting on top of them as she looked up at where one of her old friends used to be. Krillin screamed out angrily but there was nothing any of them could do. They all recognized that as a self-destruct move, you focus all of your Ki at your center and then release it all from within. It uses absolutely everything; it essentially turns the user's whole body into a Ki bomb. This obviously means they won't be seeing Chiaotzu ever again, nor will they find a single piece of him left.

What's worse is that this was his second death, the first battles with Demon King Piccolo claimed his life as well. Now it would be impossible to revive him. Yamcha on the other hand looked up helplessly at the sky, unable to do anything but stare at the cloud of smoke which was a result of one of his oldest friends demise. The pain in his chest grew worse when the smoke dissipated, and Nappa was revealed at the center without even a single scratch on his body.

Everyone froze upon seeing their friend and allies sacrifice was in vain. He was their first casualty, and it was for nothing. Krillin yelled, "No!"

Tien was in shock as he stared up at Nappa's surroundings vainly hoping to see Chiaotzu anywhere. He had hoped that Chiaotzu's self-destruction was just a flashy Super Explosive Wave and that Chiaotzu was alive. He knew it was pointless though; the force of the blast was all the evidence he needed. Not to mention the fact he couldn't sense his Ki anywhere. It might have not hurt Nappa at all, but it was certainly too strong to be considered a mere Explosive Wave. Nappa let out a shaky laugh before saying, "Well, it looks like I got rid of one of em' after all."

Chichi had a hopeless look in her eyes, staring blankly at Nappa. She was already struggling with the eventuality of general people dying in combat. Now faced with the death of someone she knew since she was a child, it shook her to her core. This is when Krillin, who was the first to recover from the shock of Chiaotzu's death, gave Chich a rough shake of the shoulders. Chichi looks at Krillin with a teary look in her eyes. He looked like he wanted to console her, but he knew this wasn't the time for that. Krillin with a stern expression said, "I know that it's awful, but we don't have time to grieve. They won't let us…"

Krillin then said, "It's up to us to buy everyone time for everyone to recover. Yamcha and Piccolo are still battered and…"

Krillin looks over at Tien who has a look of utter shock on his face, his body language also doesn't look like that of someone who's ready to fight either. Krillin looked back at Chichi and said, "Tien doesn't look like he's up for a fight either. It's up to us..."

Krillin stood up, pulling her to her feet just as he says, "He's not allowed to kill you, so if we work together, he'll have no choice but to pull his punches."

Chichi's expression turns grim as she looks at the ground but after a short moment a look of determination covers her face. She gives him a shake of her head and balls her hands into fists to show she's ready. Krillin smiled at her and shook his head back at her. He then walks over to a mentally defeated Tien and crouches down before giving him a solemn look. Tien refuses to look him in the eye, instead looking at the ground. Krillin, looking equally defeated, looked at the ground. A moment passes and Krillin's expression turns from defeated to serious. He stands up, turns his back on Tien and says without looking directly at him, "I'm sorry Tien, I promise I'll make sure no one else dies today! Join us when you're healed, alright?"

Krillin doesn't give Tien time to say anything back. He runs off with Chichi into the distance, hoping to bring the fight away from the ailing Tien. Nappa sees the movement from below and before they can get more than three meters from Tien, he makes a swiping motion with his index and middle finger done. The motion was made a little ahead of where Krillin and Chichi were going.

In the blink of an eye a medium series of explosions erupts in front of the pair stopping them in their tracks. When the explosions dissipated all that was left was a medium sized chasm which now blocked their path. They looked up at Nappa as the Saiyan said, "Don't go running off now. It would be cruel to leave your friend all alone."

Krillin and Chichi, both shot him malicious glares which he took in stride, continuing to grin at them. Tien on the other hand looked up at him angrily only for his expression to drop all of a sudden. He stood up while grasping his wounded arm. A calm look washed over his face as he said out loud to seemingly no one, "Sorry guys, I couldn't help as much as I wanted to."

Tien pulled out the Senzu Bean Krillin gave him and looked at it with regret, "Sorry Krillin, because of me you won't be able to keep that promise."

A half a second later Krillin sees a small object fly his way which he catches with one hand on instinct. He opens his palm and sees that it's a Senzu Bean. It doesn't take Krillin even half a second to realize where this came from. He quickly spun around to look at Tien but by that time it was too late to say anything in response. Tien aimed his one remaining arm at Nappa and fired off a one-armed Neo-Tri Beam (Kikoho). The blast was blinding as it enveloped Nappa in an explosion even brighter than Chiaotzu's self-destruction move. It was an even fiercer blast than the one he hit Raditz a while ago.

Everyone froze after the explosion dissipated into a smoke cloud. Yet again, the smoke revealed that Nappa was alive though this time his armor was slightly cracked, and his shoulder pads and armored skirt were destroyed, leaving jagged edges at where the protective gear used to be. Chichi stayed frozen in shock and Krillin's heart fell. He glanced over at Tien who looked up at the Saiyan with a look of anguish.

Nappa looks down at him and says in a slightly surprised tone, "Don't scare me like that."

Tien says a few words before falling to the ground, "I-I failed!"

Once Tien hits the ground he whispers one last time, "S-see you s-soon… Chiaotzu…"

Right then Krillin felt the last of Tien's Ki vanish, he was dead. This is when Krillin saw the piece of his shirt, he used to patch up Tien's arm floating away, having been knocked loose by the blast. Krillin fell to one knee as he began to realize how pointless his efforts have been so far. So far, he has been unable to do any damage to Raditz, leaving his defeat to Piccolo. Then he pinned his hopes on the Kienzan only for it to do little more than enrage Nappa. Lastly the promise he just made was left broken not five minutes past making it. Krillin couldn't help but feel like they had already lost the fight. This is when Vegeta says in an amused tone, "He fought like a man but died like a dog."

Raditz says in response, "That's two down but they both did themselves in."

Yamcha looked up in the air with disdain in his eyes, "N-no, not Tien too!"

Yamcha then looked over where Tien's body was and angrily gripped part of the rocky crater he was in and cursed his powerlessness as he tried and failed to drag himself out of his human sized crater.

Nappa, realizing his armor isn't doing him much good, he pulls his armored vest off and tosses it to the ground below. He then does a quick stretch as he says, "I-I'll get the bald one next…well the one that's still conscious."

Chichi blankly looks at Tien's dead body and then stares back up at Nappa. Her clear mind is soon clouded with an indescribable feeling of anger. Without thinking clearly, she yells madly at Nappa and charges up at him at full speed. By the time Krillin looks over at Chichi in response to her cry of anger, she has already reached Nappa. Nappa smiles as she approaches him, "I'd better be careful, or I might break this delicate flower."

Chichi sends out a barrage of spear hand strikes but she's so angry she's just throwing her attacks out blindly. Nappa doesn't even need to exert any effort in dodging them before deflecting two strikes, spreading her arms apart with a single strike. He then gets her in a bear hug and squeezes her tight in order to keep her restrained. Nappa then says out loud, "You're a fiery one, not many fighters I've met would go for the direct approach after finding out how strong I am."

Chichi seething with rage, she hisses at him, "Hands off of me you bastard!"

Before Nappa can say anything in response Chichi pulls back her head and then rams it forward right into Nappa's nose, hitting him with a strong headbutt. The unexpected blow actually causes him to let her go and back off by half a foot. He rubs his nose and says, "A-ah, that actually stung!"

Chichi doesn't waste this moment of opportunity and flies over him and delivers a barrage of swinging kicks to his unguarded head. They all land and he even flinches after each one, they aren't doing much damage, but they are enough to keep Nappa from putting up a defense. He mutters as he withstands her barrage, "Agh, she's relentless!"

On one of Chichi's rotations, she reels back her arms and charges up a Kamehameha wave and fires it points blank in Nappa's face faster than he can react. The Blue Ki Wave knocks Nappa all the way to the ground below. Yamcha saw the whole display and weakly said, "G-good to see she's getting hits in."

Yamcha's face contorted in pain as he forced his arms to move, soon his arms managed to force their way out of the crater but that's about all he can do. All Yamcha can do is use the time he has to recover his strength. After Nappa was launched into the ground Krillin had already leaped into the air in hopes of regrouping with Chichi. He was relieved that Nappa didn't do any real damage when Chichi charged him. This also proved to Krillin that Nappa would in fact hold back against Chichi, this new strategy might give them the advantage they have been looking for.

However, right when Krillin was halfway to Chichi a stray Ki blast cuts him off forcing him to stop where he was. He quickly looks down at the source of the attack. Nappa was already on his feet and had an outstretched arm pointing his way. Nappa then said, "Hold on now, you wait your turn."

Nappa then set his sights on Chichi which is when Krillin began to charge a Kamehameha wave, anticipating Nappa's next move. Nappa does as expected and makes a bee line for Chichi. By the time Nappa reaches her Krillin fires his Kamehameha wave. Nappa, however, makes his next move faster than both Krillin and Chichi can perceive. Nappa circles around Chichi so fast he seemingly disappears and then reappears right behind her, grabbing the back of her head.

Chichi curses, "Bastard, not again!"

Chichi claws at his hand but it has even less effect than when Raditz did it. Worse yet Nappa points Chichi's body at Krillin's Kamehameha wave. He taunted them, "Careful now, you don't want to hit your friend."

Krillin defies Nappa's expectations by not even hesitating to fire his Kamehameha wave when Chichi is taken hostage. Nappa's expression twists into one of surprise at Krillin's refusal to back down. What surprised Nappa more was when Krillin pulled his cupped hands upward while dragging the start of the Ki wave with them. Unexpectedly the Kamehameha wave itself changed directions bending upward avoiding Chichi. Krillin then pulled his arms even higher which made the Ki Wave bend downwards hitting Nappa's back causing a small explosion forcing him forward by half a foot.

Nappa rubbed his back which surprisingly was slightly burnt. It wasn't any lasting damage, but it was enough for Krillin to give Nappa a satisfied look. This earned him a glare from Nappa who, now angry, said with restrained anger showing in his voice, "You little…!"

Again, faster than they can perceive Nappa hits Krillin with a flying kick knocking him into the ground below forming another man-sized crater. Chichi yells frantically, "Krillin!"

Nappa said in response, "Don't worry about him, you're in way more trouble right now."

Chichi frantically attempts to peel back Nappa's grip but it's no use but that's when she suddenly stops. It wasn't because she had realized it wouldn't work or that it was useless. Instead, a look of pure awe covered her face, as if something unprecedented had just occurred. Nappa, Vegeta and Raditz didn't notice anything, nothing on the battlefield had changed. Chichi's sudden lack of resistance confused Nappa. Chichi then muttered with a shaky voice, "T-there's no way… i-it couldn't be…"

Krillin in the meantime pulled himself from the crater and while clutching his hurting head said with clear surprise, "No way, this power is insane!"

Yamcha muttered in response to this new Ki they were all feeling, "I can't believe I'd be this glad to feel this Ki."

Piccolo, who had only just woken up, smiled and muttered to himself, "He sure took his sweet time."

Piccolo began to pull himself out of his crater before saying, "I guess that "water" had the right effect, maybe it was worth the wait after all."

Nappa looked at them as if they had all gone insane. He then turned to Vegeta and yelled, "Vegeta, have they all gone crazy or what?"

Vegeta and Raditz both grab their Scouters and check for any new Power Levels. However, the second they check they freeze in place out of surprise and astonishment.

A couple minutes prior to this moment, Kakarot is still on Korin Tower and is still writhing on the ground. All of a sudden, his body stops shaking, it stops moving entirely. Korin's breath was caught in his throat, "N-no way don't tell me it killed him after all…"

A feeling of great sorrow washed over him as he frowned at Kakarot's "corpse". That is until a sudden tremor forces Korin back a step and he freezes in place. It was a short tremor but afterwards a seemingly endless wave of Ki flowed from Kakarot's body pushing outward in all directions. A light blue aura erupted from his body which threatened to push Korin off his own tower. He held on for dear life as Kakarot's body began to move. He slowly stood up and by the time he lifted himself from a kneeling position he looked down at his open palms.

Kakarot was left in awe at his own power, "This is incredible, is this what true power feels like? H-have I finally caught up to him?"

Kakarot lets the question hang in the air. He suddenly looks in a seemingly random direction while giving that direction a serious look. Kakarot then said, "No more stalling, I'm ready."

Without waiting for anything Kakarot rockets towards the battlefield, not waiting to hear what Korin has to say who finally manages to climb back into his tower. He mutters while out of breath, "I only hope it is enough."

Meanwhile Nappa was now giving Vegeta and Raditz a strange look after spying the shocked expressions on their faces. Raditz mentally says, "It couldn't be… his power is much too high to be Kakarot."

Raditz then stammers out a reply to Nappa's confused look, Vegeta then added "I don't know who it could be but there is a power level around 9,000 headed this way."

Nappa broke out into a cold sweat before saying in a slightly panicked look, "That's impossible, there no one on this planet could be that strong!"

Chichi confidently said, "Don't lie to yourself, you know who it belongs to."

Chichi does her best to peer back at Nappa with a confident look despite the grip he has on her and says, "You're just afraid to admit it."

Nappa glares at her and blurts out, "Y-your delusional, there's no way…!"

Nappa is suddenly interrupted by Vegeta who gives out a new order, "Nappa, Kill them all now!"

Everyone, including the other Saiyans, looks at Vegeta with shock and surprise. Vegeta immediately continued, "Whoever this power belongs to, if they join with the others then this fight could become difficult."

Nappa immediately said back in a questioning tone, "W-what about the Dragon Balls? Weren't we going to get some info out of this woman?"

Vegeta smiled and said, "They don't matter, we have more options. If the Dragon Balls are a Namekian creation, then we could find a new set on their homeworld."

A sinister smile crept onto Nappa's face as he looked at Chichi and said, "Looks like we won't be needing you anymore."

Nappa without wasting a second raises her up and then dives downward slamming her downward pushing her face first into the ground below. Chichi's body laid limp in the human sized crater. Krillin panicked, "Chichi!"

Krillin quickly cupped his palms together and fired off a full power Kamehameha wave. One much stronger than his previous ones but despite this Nappa raised a palm forward ready to repel it despite its apparent power. However, right when the beam was about to make contact a Kiai blast hit him from behind. It launched him forward and the surprise of it caused him to lower his guard. The Super Kamehameha Wave hit him dead center, launching him forward by ten meters.

Krillin looked over to see it was Piccolo who had recovered enough to rejoin the fight. Piccolo frowned deeply at Chichi's limp body. He went over to her and crouched down before feeling for her pulse. It was faint but Piccolo saw that she was breathing, barely. Chichi weakly looked up at him from the corner of her eye, she weakly muttered, "W-what are you…?"

Piccolo, however, didn't respond partly because she could only speak at what was barely a whisper. Piccolo's next action puzzled Chichi, he pulled out the Senzu Bean Krillin gave him. He slipped it into her mouth and then spoke in a demanding voice, "Chew."

She was surprised by Piccolo's sudden act of kindness, though not surprised enough to delay chewing on the magical bean. She swallowed it and soon found all of her wounds, along with all the pain had disappeared in an instant. She pulled herself up to her knees and asked, "Th-that bean was for you, why did you use it on me?"

Piccolo didn't wait too long before saying back, "Don't think too deeply on it, I was simply doing Kakarot a favor."

Chichi still looked confused, clearly unsure if that was the truth or not. Piccolo stood up without offering any further explanation. Instead, he used that time to regrow his missing arm though it took a chunk of his Ki. While stretching his new arm he said without looking directly at Chichi, "Be more careful, they lost their only reason to keep the both of us alive."

Chichi discarded her thoughts of confusion and simply nodded in confirmation. This is when Nappa pulled himself from the rubble he got stuck under after being launched away by Krillin. Nappa, looking furious, yelled, "That's it I'm done with all of you."

Nappa then looked over at Krillin and said, "Starting with you, small fry!"

Krillin gets in a fighting stance but is surprised when Nappa fires off a strong looking Ki blast which strays from where he was standing. By the time Krillin realized he missed on purpose it was too late, Krillin blocked it to the best of his ability but the Ki blast which had stopped right next to him exploded. Krillin survived the blast, but it did too much damage, he fell flat on his stomach unable to even move.

Chichi cries out, "Krillin!"

Piccolo lets out a frustrated grunt before raising his voice, "Focus, he isn't dead yet, he's tougher than that."

Piccolo then turns to Nappa and says while getting into his fighting stance, "We only need to buy a little more time! Once Kakarot gets here we'll have a chance to distribute Senzu Beans."

Chichi gives him a stern look and asks, "What's our plan?"

Piccolo immediately answered back, "I'll make you an opening. When that happens, jump in and we'll hit him with everything we have."

Chichi's fist tightness in response, she then says, "Alright but you better be careful. If you die, then Tien will be gone for good… just like…"

Chichi's tone grows quiet near the end of her sentence. Piccolo doesn't respond, he grows equally quiet with a troubled look on his face. He shakes his head before adopting a stoic look and saying, "Worry about yourself."

Piccolo charges headlong toward Nappa who grins and says, "Finally! Payback for my arm."

Piccolo stops short of the right hook Nappa throws his way. He then circles around him, but Nappa follows him, not being delayed by his failed right hook. Instead of launching a counterattack, Piccolo flies backwards while firing off a barrage of ki blasts to slow down Nappa who had already begun to barrel towards him.

The barrage doesn't slow him down in the slightest, "Come on, those sparky of yours barely tickle!"

Piccolo points both of his hands downward and uses a Ki Wave to launch himself high into the air by five meters. Nappa disappears in response, which is when Piccolo feels a horrible pain in his back which forces him down to the ground. Piccolo tries to pull himself up but finds he's pinned to the ground. Piccolo looks up and sees Nappa has pinned him down with a flying kick. Now stuck under Nappa's boot Piccolo stares up as he charges up a Ki Blast in one hand which was aimed at him.

Nappa then spoke in a foreboding tone, "Don't worry you won't be alone for long. Once we visit Namek, I'll send a few more Namekians your way."

Piccolo smiled back, "I get the feeling me and them won't be going to the same place but it's not like I'm dead yet."

Nappa immediately asks, "What makes you think you'll live a minute longer?"

Piccolo said back immediately, "The fact you're taking your sweet time while completely forgetting about that woman."

Right on queue Nappa is launched several meters forward by a strong flying kick from Chichi. Piccolo doesn't waste a single second jumping to his feet. He then frantically yelled, "Now! hit him with everything!"

Piccolo holds both his hands over his head one over the other and prepares his attack while Chichi cups her hands together and pulls them back as she leans downwards. Chichi chants, "Ka-me-ha-me…"

While Chichi's palms are filled with a blue light, the front of Piccolo's hands is covered by yellow electric filled Ki. They both pushed their hands forward and yelled at the same time, "Masenko/Ha!"

Piccolo fires a yellow Ki Wave while Chichi fires a Blue Ki Wave. Both attacks merge together and nails Nappa's back, slightly above the center of it. Nappa yells out upon getting hit out of either surprise or pain. He is then engulfed in an explosion creating a carved path in the environment where the two beams passed by. After the blast dissipates Piccolo and Chichi begin to pant, having used most of their Ki in that final attack. They didn't feel they had much of a choice given their desperate situation.

They can barely remain standing afterwards, showing that they are at the end of their rope. The dust cloud briefly created from the blast dissipates and reveals Nappa who is still standing. He is, however, not unharmed as he now has a jagged red scar on his back right where he was hit by the two beams. It was the first real damage they have done but it was obvious it wasn't fatal as Nappa spun around immediately after Piccolo and Chichi noticed the wound.

The glare Nappa gave them made it clear that that last attack was the last straw. Nappa looked furious as pulsing veins began to become visible all around his body. While seething he says while attempting to control his temper, "I'm done with you insects!"

He then said while giving the two fighters a death glare, "I'll send you to hell together!"

Nappa reels back his hand as he charges up the strongest attack he's used thus far. Piccolo can tell from the amount of Ki he's feeling from Nappa that if this attack lands their both dead. He gets the feeling even if they were hit at full power, it would still kill them in one shot. Piccolo gauges that he only has enough Ki to make one move. He can only barely move his legs, having misjudged how much he had left. Piccolo heard a soft thud and when he turned to look at Chichi he saw she was now on her knees, sitting on them. Chichi abruptly said, "Get out of here Piccolo."

Her voice had grown ragged as had her expression, showing how beat she was. Piccolo quickly exclaimed, "What are you doing?!"

Chichi said back just as quickly, "I used up all my Ki in that last attack. I don't even have enough strength to stand. Just get out of here."

She then looked at him with a half open eye and said, "When you see Kakarot, please tell him…to not blame himself. This was my fight and I'm fine with dying after giving it everything I had. I know I wasn't ready for this battle but I'm glad I took part anyway."

Chichi then closed her eyes as a show of accepting her fate. She put everything she had in this fight; she was just happy she was able to stand by her friends against a great threat. She wanted to help her friends to do what was right and she was fine if it got her killed. She awaited the incoming pain, mentally preparing by scowling deeply. What she expected was a blazing inferno but instead she felt some blunt force to her right side, it knocked her several meters away. Just as she felt this impact she opened her eyes and glanced in the direction of the attack.

What she saw shocked her, it was something she couldn't make sense of. At first, she thought she was seeing things but as she hit the dirt it became clear this was reality. She saw Piccolo with an outstretched arm, palm open aimed her way. She realized this was a weak Kiai blast and that Piccolo had hit her with it to knock her out of the line of fire. A split second later and she saw a yellow wave of Ki hit Piccolo dead on. He didn't even make an attempt to block the blast, he just locked eyes with her with a strange expression on his face.

The yellow blast tore the rest of the top of his Gi off which was accompanied by cries of pain from Piccolo. Once the blast dissipated, Piccolo fell on his back in rough shape with blood dripping down his lips. Chichi with what little strength she has left crawled back to his side. When she reaches him, she teared up out of shock at what just happened and at what they have just lost. She stuttered as she spoke, "W-why did you do that? I-I can be revived, without you T-Tien and the people they killed… th-th-they can't."

Chichi doesn't give him a chance to explain instead she continues with her rant, "Y-you're the Demon King, you shouldn't have done that! What? Did you start to feel bad about Father, about everyone else you hurt after all those years ago?"

Chichi was about to say, "Why did you choose now to grow a heart?! If this was about some attempt at r-redemption, then don't both–!"

Piccolo finally cut her off saying, "N-no!…not r-r-redemption, just a favor."

Chichi's thoughts slowed down allowing her to hear his shaky, dying words. Chichi stuttered with, "A-a favor?"

Chichi recalled Piccolo had said that a few times before, each time he helped her out in fact. Piccolo continued while seeming to ignore her confused statement, "That y-year in the Time Chamber was the b-best in my life."

Piccolo then said, "Th-those days of b-battle with Kakarot were the best I e-ever had. He didn't treat me like s-some old "Demon L-lord". He treated me like a w-warrior, like a rival worth his t-time, ah!"

Piccolo fought through the pain of his wounds as he continued, "I stopped thinking about how I would kill him in a year and just thought about growing stronger."

Piccolo let out a rough cough before continuing, "In the end It became about him and not my ambition. Before we left the chamber, he asked me if this is what being a "friend" was like."

Piccolo let that thought hang before saying, "I saved you because I knew that idiot would have hated it if you got yourself killed."

Piccolo let out a weak laugh before saying, "W-who would have th-thought such a warrior would have s-such a soft h-heart? A-and to think he infected me with i-it! That's why I did all of this, it wasn't about redemption, just a f-favor…to a f-friend."

Piccolo then looked at Chichi with shocked tears in her eyes and finally said, "W-When you see that fool after this…t-tell him that his friend is cheering him on in hell. He deserves someone backing him, why not the Demon King, killed by his own soft heart."

Chichi looked down at Piccolo whose eyes finally closed and who finally drew his last breath. Chichi is so shocked by Piccolo's declaration of friendship that she doesn't even react to Nappa approaching her. Nappa then says, "You don't need to worry, you'll be joining him in just a sec."

Chichi wants to do something to fulfill Piccolo's last wish, to impart his last words to Kakarot but she's out of Ki. She falls to her side but is able to give him one last defiant look accompanied by a blank scowl. Nappa grins back and just as he's coming up with how to finish her, Yamcha finally forces himself to his feet. He still feels like he can't do much, he's barely recovered but after seeing his friends and allies fall one after another, he's had enough. Ironically Piccolo was the deciding factor, his killer's death meant that none of his friends could be brought back.

His death meant Chichi, a friend he knew ever since she was a kid, an old friend he had tried his best to stay connected to after the Piccolo prediction, a new sibling-student who he saw trying her best to catch up to them just to protect her planet. This dear friend was about to die a very permanent death… He knew that being cautious didn't matter anymore. What was the point in being cautious if it got your friends killed anyway?

"Screw what Krillin wanted, screw Kakarot's advice, I stood around and did nothing while my friend up and died… one…by…one…!"

Yamcha then said with a cold look in his eyes, "And screw all those stupid warnings King Kai gave me. Because I refused to use the Kaioken I lost Tien and Chiaotzu, Kami is gone too. If I can't save Chichi or Krillin, then what use is this body anyway!"

"No Yamcha, if you go too far the damage to your body will be irreversible!"

Yamcha heard words of warning from King Kai coming from the heavens, but he ignored them. All rational thought had vanished from his head in response to all the loss he just experienced. Yamcha balled his hands into fists and glared at Nappa as his body grew hotter and hotter. His muscles began to bulge out, increasing in size until he suddenly said, "All or nothing Kaioken X2!"

Raditz saw Yamcha's body get enveloped in a red aura, he immediately recognized it from when he beat the Saibamen in an instant. Raditz quickly yelled, "Nappa ignore the woman! Watch–!"

Before Raditz could finish his warning, it was too late, Nappa was in the middle of turning around when Yamcha had already reached him. With fury in his eyes Yamcha launched him high into the sky with a single upwards kick. Both Vegeta and Raditz's face twist in surprise at the sudden power up. The last time they saw this it was against the Saibaman but that ended so quickly that they weren't sure what they saw at the time.

While in the air Nappa clutched the spot Yamcha hit him. It actually hurt, what's more there was a clear spot where he was hit. That meant Yamcha was doing real damage, it was more painful than when he would receive a clean hit from Kakarot back when they would spar. Realizing the danger in front of him he fired a Ki blast at Yamcha but the blazing earthling was too fast. He circled around both the attack and Nappa, flanking him and landing a knee where Piccolo and Chichi injured him. He howled in pain, after which Yamcha screamed, "That hurt, didn't it!"

Yamcha's body was also in a great deal of pain, but he refused to stop here, he wasn't satisfied, and he was sure Nappa could come back from this. To Yamcha that was unacceptable, even if it meant breaking his own body, he wanted to make sure Nappa stayed down. Yamcha then hit him with a double axe handle, sending him flying towards the ground. They were still a long way from the ground which gave Yamcha plenty of time to do more damage.

Yamcha then disappeared and reappeared in front of Nappa. He immediately broke into a Wolf Fang Fist covering Nappa's body in wounds from each scratch and punch he landed on him. Yamcha saw he was leaving wounds and so he ended it with a double palm strike which launched Nappa even further into the air. Yamcha circled around him one more time and dug his elbow deep into the same wound he put a knee into earlier. Yamcha screamed out as his own body screamed in pain but even, so he refused to stop here.

Instead Yamcha pushed it even further while yelling, "This is for Tien and Chiaotzu!"

Nappa and Yamcha yelled all the way until they both hit the ground below creating a large circular crater. Yamcha's red aura disappeared immediately after and a moment later he pulled himself to his feet and looked down at a downed Nappa. Nappa let out several pained groans and moans from the massive amount of pain he was in. Yamcha finally said, "Th-that back pain your feeling…?"

Yamcha took a deep breath before finishing, "You can thank Piccolo and Chichi for that."

Yamcha then fell on his own back, writhing in agony as he dealt with the side effects of overusing the Kaioken. He only hoped that Kakarot would get here soon, if he didn't then they would all be dead soon enough.

Author's Notes: Alright, I actually finished this earlier than my previous chapters. (like two weeks to two and a half weeks I think) This was partly thanks to getting really into this last section of the Nappa fight and because I was off of work for Thanksgiving Break. I hope I managed to use the Kaioken in a way that didn't screw up the story. This last section was why I wanted to avoid Yamcha using it too much since Yamcha at this level plus the Kaioken would finish the fight too early to allow Kakarot to arrive before Vegeta (and Raditz) killed everyone. Anyway, I hope I also did this version of Piccolo's "redemption" well. Since there was no way to add Gohan in due to the fact Kakarot's relationship with Chichi at this point is not at the level Goku and Chichi's was at this point in the story. So, I thought I should make it a friendly rival relationship with Piccolo, making them genuine friends. I also hope I did alright with the Chichi characterization here. Her old role was very much for gags and fairly minor stuff. Toriyama didn't delve too much with adding a strong female fighter as part of the fighting cast (like long term). Sure, we got #18 for the ToP but that's really far into the far end of the Super Manga. I was worried I'd find it difficult to integrate Chichi into that sort of role. I wanted to avoid the "Sakura effect". (this isn't a slight against Naruto by the way) By that I mean how Sakura's role in Naruto was somewhat inconsistent. Initially the anime/manga boasted about her smarts, trying to make her into a strategic character who set traps and stuff but then later became a brawler character with super strength to mirror Tsunade in the same way Sasuke and Naruto were mirroring their own teachers. That aside, as always if you want to share your thoughts please leave a review on the chapter. I'm open to constructive criticism so feel free to share this if you'd like. Anyway, onto the Power Levels (next chapter I'll get to show everyone exactly how strong Kakarot got thanks to the Ultra Divine Water)

Power Levels:

Kakarot: REDACTED

Krillin: 5,450

Tien: 5,400

Chiaotzu: 3,500

Chichi: 5,000

Chichi (Heavily Fatigued):100

Piccolo: 6,500

Piccolo (Heavily Fatigued):1,000

Vegeta: 10,000

Raditz: 6,500

Yamcha: 6,000

Yamcha (Kaioken X2): 12,000

Nappa: 8,000