The Z-warriors with the inclusion of Vegeta gathered around as Raditz and Nappa squared off. Kakarot and Co of course were on the left side of the chamber supporting Raditz while Vegeta stayed far away to the right, though to say he was supporting Nappa wasn't exactly accurate. If the much older and more experienced saiyan couldn't win even this fight, he would end the man's life himself.
In the center of the chamber Raditz slid into a stance that was decidedly different from the one he had used a year ago when facing off against his brother. It was clear to all except Nappa and Vegeta that his style had evolved during his time on Earth to better incorporate his new skills and abilities.
Although Nappa recognized that Raditz's demeanor and stance had undergone great changes since they last met, he wasn't aware of just what exactly those changes entailed. Raditz had grown much stronger during his time on Earth.
Nappa grinned and raised a clenched fist at the saiyan. "Ha! This will be fun, Raditz. Try not to go down too easily!" The man boasted. Raditz's brow narrowed in thinly veiled anger. He closed his eyes and took in a steadying breath. He reached deep within himself and felt his essence, just like his brother had taught him. His Ki and everything that made him, him. Raditz's Aura was a sickly purple that bubbled within him.
Each individual's Ki was a representation of their soul and thus, each was unique and manifested in different ways. The primary emotions that acted as the driving force behind his brother's efforts were love and tranquility. For Raditz, it was white hot fury.
His eyes snapped open, "Things have changed, Nappa! Behold the power of a third-class warriror!" He roared. With a gush of wind and pressure Raditz's purple aura snapped to life around him. The energy wavered, flaming edges licking the air violently.
Nappa paled and took a step back. The pressure he was feeling... This was not the same Raditz he remembered. He pulled out a scouter from his bottle suit and quickly scanned the man before him. "Power level 4000!? Impossible! It's the same as mine!" The saiyan shouted in incredulous disbelief.
At this Vegeta uncrossed his arms and frowned. "4000..? Raditz..? But how?" He growled. Kakarot having an astronomically high power level was one thing, he had never really met the man and was never able to ascertain his potential but.. Raditz? At 30 years old Vegeta was sure the Bardock's oldest son had seen the limit of his potential, yet here he was, multiple times more powerful than ever before after only a year with Earth's inhabitants.. It defied all logic.
Nappa crushed his scouter in anger and scoffed. "Damn things just broken! There's no way your puny ass has a power level that high! Here I come, Raditz!" The saiyan warned as he took a ground shaking step forward. He propelled himself toward his intended victim with all the ferocity that was afforded to him by his forty years of experience on the frontlines.
Raditz was almost entirely in disbelief at how choreographed and straightforward the large man's attacks were. He seemed so much slower than he remembered.. 'Was this how I was when we met, brother..? So undisciplined and sloppy..'
Nappa's attack was a single right arm, overhead swing. He intended to use the mighty, meaty appendage as a makeshift club to bash in Raditz's head. Unfortunately for him, the spiky haired saiyan was ready. In a completely unpredictable manner Raditz stepped in to Nappa's attack so the two men were nearly chest to chest. Nappa's eyes widened, unsure of what the long haired man had planned.
'Foolish!' The bald saiyan thought, believing Raditz to have sealed his own fate by making it impossible to dodge. The large brute brought down his arm in a wide arc but it was then that the nature of Raditz's maneuver became evident. Rather than backing up or attempting to form any sort of guard, Raditz reached up with his left hand, cupping Nappa's elbow and preventing him from completing the swing.
A year ago this would have been completely impossible. Nappa would have quickly overpowered his former ally and left him crushed and bleeding in a crater. As it was, Raditz had closed the gap between their powers. He had more than enough skill to match the large brute before him. Arguably he even had more, having learned proper Ki control and various techniques produced by martial arts masters from Earth.
The only thing that kept the two more or less even was Nappa's over four decades of experience in fights.
Instinctively, the large saiyan knew that Raditz would follow up with an attack using his free right arm. Sure enough within a second of having caught the elbow, the long haired saiyan pulled back his right palm and gathered a tight ball of energy within it.
He thrust the palm forward with intent to release the spiraling energy into the commander's massive chest, but Nappa's left hand snapped out and caught Raditz by the wrist, dispersing the energy.
The two glared and growled at one another as they found themselves deadlocked. The ship began to rumble and shake as the two began to power up and push against one another with increasing force, Nappas right arm pushed down on the younger saiyan while Raditz pushed forward with his own
"Haaah!"
"Hiyaah!"
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There was an explosion, creating a shockwave of transparent force as the tension between the two warriors gave way. Nappa's arm crashed down into the back of Raditz's head, while simultaneously Raditz's palm snapped forward, gathering more energy and blasting the brute backwards.
Nappa's back impacted the wall of the chamber before he slid down to one knee. Meanwhile Raditz's face smashed against the tiled floor, the man's entire body bouncing with the force of the impact. Both warrior's eyes widened and they gasped in pain as they scrambled to regain their individual composure.
Nappa was the first to recover as he had more or less landed on his feet anyways. Shaking the cobwebs from his head he roared and charged at Raditz who raised himself up on both arms. Looking up, the spiky haired saiyan’s eyes grew large as he saw the charging bull that was Nappa heading right for him. The large saiyan's arms were outstretched wide and Raditz knew based on the man's wingspan that he was not swift enough to avoid the rampaging beast.
He grit his teeth and yelled, launching himself upward just as the older saiyan arrived at his downed position, bringing his arms forward as if to scoop Raditz up into a bone crushing hug because.. Essentially that was the plan. Nappa blinked several times in surprise and looked up at the smirking Raditz. Maintaining his horizontal positioning with flight, the man drew back his hands, forming a cross with his body and charging up a bright purple Ki blast.
"Double Sunday!"
The room was filled with a blinding, almost pink light as Raditz unleashed his attack. Nappa gasped and crossed his arms, raising his Ki in defense. A veritable explosion of force rocked the chamber and caused the other warriors present to briefly cover their eyes.
Once the after effects of his Ki blast faded, a smoking and scraped up Nappa could be seen. He seethed in anger. The man's entire body stung, as if he were slapped with an open palm over every inch of his skin at once. Raditz landed with a crouch and frowned. 'How the fuck is he so durable..?' He internally wondered.
He didn't get much time to contemplate his situation however as Nappas stomped his foot and roared. "That's it you son of a bitch! Time to get serious!" Clenching his right fist infant of him he began to power up. "Haaaah!" An aura that literally seemed to be composed of electricity burst to life around Nappa, bathing his hulking form in a bright yellow glow. Golden, bio-electric lighting arched across his body at seemingly random intervals.
"I call this my saiyan battle spirit mode! Honed throughout my many years in the service of the King Vegeta and now, his son, who is unpatched in power and potential! By sheer virtue of serving the strongest I have comfortably claimed the title of second in command! And not you or even your brother will take that honor from me, Raditz.
With the rest of the Z-warriors everyone shared a collective sense of worry for the saiyan they had come to claim as a shaky, yet dependable and powerful ally. Kakarot's face in particular sported a heavy frown. 'I don't like this.. his power's increased by another half of what it was.. Raditz can still win but.. That saiyan has the experience and skill to use his powers..'
On the opposite side of the two battling warriors, the prince of saiyan's face mirrored Kakarot's own. 'Nappa had to resort to using that technique? Preposterous! Against this low-class?' Even if he had been a faithful servant and incredibly useful mentor, Vegeta was never satisfied with the man's pathetic power level. And now, watching him humiliate himself against a third-class.. truthfully Vegeta was beginning to question the value of his mentor..
With the two combatants, Nappa charged at Raditz, now being much faster than before.
'So fast..!' The long haired saiyan gasped internally, backstepping to try and buy himself a precious second.
As it were it was just enough to avoid being taken out by the large brute. The large saiyan's first swing was an uppercut that missed him by mere inches.. At least he thought that was the case until Nappa brought his hands up with his pointer and middle finger pointed upwards. He flashed a wicked smirk at the other saiyan as a bright yellow light began to gather under Raditz.
"Shit!" The man yelled indignantly as he discerned the true purpose behind Nappa's movements. Acting almost by pure instinct he pointed a downward facing palm at the ground beneath him, which was rapidly becoming more radiant as Nappa's energy reached a crescendo beneath him. Raditz's plan was an unorthodox move he had witnessed his brother use twice now, both for offensive purposes and for cases such as these where one simply could not rely on their physical body to move fast enough to avoid an attack…
Just as the energy beneath him erupted (causing the audience to shield their eyes or in some cases, jump backward) Raditz fired a purple beam at the ground which acted in a manner akin to rocket propulsion carrying him out of harm's way just in the nick of time.
Now it was Nappa's turn to gasp in surprise as the long haired saiyan's technique continued to thrust him through the air at increasing speeds until he smashed headfirst into the large brute.
Nappa's armor shattered in the chest area and the wind was driven out of his lungs due to the force of the impact. He stumbled backwards, eyes widening with pain and his vision going blurry with tears. "Gah!" He sputtered.
Raditz winced and clutched his head. "Son of a bitch.." He mumbled, feeling dazed. Knowing this was likely his best chance the man shook his head and attempted to press his advantage taking a mighty step forward and rearing his fist back.
He swung with all of his considerable might, causing streams of visible wind. Under normal conditions, Raditz may have had just enough of an advantage to finish Nappa off. Unfortunately…
Nappa roared and blasted the younger brother of Kakarot away with an intense mouth beam. The saiyan had been slowed and dazed due to what was most likely a serious concussion. The beam carried him across the entire chamber until he crashed into the far wall in a miniature explosion.
"Raditz!" Kakarot screamed, disappearing and reappearing by his brother's smoking form in an instant. His eyes were entirely white and his mouth was agape. He was covered in blood and his armor was shredded in multiple areas. The Z-warriors feared the worst..
Kakarot gasped in relief, "He's alive! He's breathing, but barely! Krillin got me a senzu bean!" He demanded, supporting his near deadweight brother. "Hold on, Raditz, I've got you.." He said tentatively. "Krillin!?" He roared in anger, looking up at the stammering Earthling.
The bald monk took a shaky step back, frightened by the intensity of his best friend's rage. "T-They're gone Goku.." He said reluctantly. The aforementioned saiyan's face went pale as he looked at the limp form of his brother leaning against him.
He realized in his foolhardiness he had made a grievous oversight. He had used most of the senzu beans while training in preparation for the arrival of the saiyans in case things went south. He had never considered the fact that once on board, they may very well encounter turbulence, so to speak. How could he have been so shortsighted? They had only just met these saiyans; they couldn't trust them.
He began to shake, helplessness overtaking him. He should have stopped that fight.. He knew the moment his brother rushed at Nappa in his dazed and confused state it was all over. But he had been doing so well and Kakarot's saiyan pride told him it was wrong to interfere. Now he was paying the price for his indecisiveness and ill preparations.
Suddenly he was brought out of his emotional stupor by Vegeta's voice ringing out loudly through the air. "Don't just stand there you ignorant clown, get him into one of the healing pods!" He ordered. Kakarot's eyes widened and his mouth formed an 'o'. How could he have forgotten about the saiyan's healing pods already? They were some of the first things Raditz had told him about as they boarded the ship and discussed it's layout and functions.
"Right!" He yelled. And with that he blasted off towards the infirmary with his brother in his arms.
Vegeta made his way over to Nappa who was seething in anger but also huffing from exertion. He saw the prince coming and hobbled over to him.
"Son of a.. *huff* bitch actually almost got me.." He said with a wince as he clutched his chest. Vegeta crossed his arms and glared at the man who towered above him. It was quite comedic to see their difference in stature yet to know how completely outclassed Nappa was by the much younger prince. "Absolutely pathetic! God damn it, Nappa! Come on.. We have work to do."
End of chapter 14.