DB Multiverse

The young Saiyan was starting to lack reactivity, or rather, he cruelly lacked experience. Of course, there had been the year with Piccolo, but it had happened so long ago... Besides, he had spent six months surviving. As for the year with Vegeta... for the first nine months he had learnt to take beatings, harsher and harsher beatings. All things considered, he only had three months of real training to really understand his Super Saiyan energy. It hadn't been long enough. Not long enough at all if he wanted to fight such a strong opponent, an opponent whose reactions were so foreign compared with Vegeta's and Piccolo's. Or even his father's from what he could recall of the very few times they'd trained before he got sick. And then the young boy had a big fault that he knew about and that had annoyed Vegeta: he had no fighting spirit, no natural aggressiveness. He needed the adrenaline rush from a fit of anger to able to give his best.

And now, his anger had subsided, along with the brutal drop of energy. Such an intense fight in Super Saiyan form needed a lot of anger and energy! So it was with weariness that the child looked at the tireless cyborg rushing to him once again. The creature's attacks had taken their toll and this time-out was increasing it.

But he had no other choice, he had to fight! For his grand-father, for his life, for Krilin. Krilin... What had those two monsters done to him to leave him in such a state?

Out of focus, Gohan was directly hit by the terrible double punch from the merciless 17, that had rushed back at him at top speed. The pain was so searing that it woke the young dreamer up. Getting a grip on himself, he turned round twice in order to give more power to his roundhouse kick, that his stopped by the invincible cyborg!

A more seasoned warrior would have known that such a kick wasn't to be attempted... not without a surprise effect. One can do it only if they are sure that the impact will be powerful enough to destabilize the opponent.

On the other hand, the cyborg didn't give the young assailant any time to react. He firmly grabbed the child's ankle then one of his arm and finally, literally broke the child's renal pelvis on his knee.

The chock was awful... The world seemed to turn and twirl around Gohan. The golden light of his hair flickered whereas little bright stars scattered in the sky. The cyborg knew he had won. Yet, he was cruelly smiling when he threw the small broken body into the air in order to crucify it with a direct energy blast.

It was without the golden light of his condition of Super Saiyan, and without reaction, that the boy was now falling.

But he didn't hit the ground.

In an unexpected static, Piccolo had stopped his fall. His face and his eyes said a lot about the feelings that were leading the tall Namek. 17 reacted right away and threw an energy blast to the new fighter.

“You damned fuckhead!”

Without moving anything but one of his hand, the extra-terrestrial neutralized the blast before it touched its target. The cyborg flew down and came near the intruder.

“You cheated... He had lost!” he vociferated.

“It's just a child!” the Namekian growled, his mouth distorted by hatred.

“Nobody had obliged him to play with the big boys!” 17 retorted.

Piccolo clenched his fist even harder. He so wanted to shut this insolent young man up, to avenge all of his murdered friends, to make him pay for the ordeal he just put the child through, this child he had almost adopted. But then, there was the truth: he was not strong enough to do it, his coming here already was a foolish idea!

His look went from one to the other of these bloody twins. From the corner of his eye, he also noticed Krilin. There were no help to expect from him. The small warrior, usually so lively, was just a soulless shadow of himself. Piccolo felt the weigh of the defeated child. Vegeta, what a bastard! He took responsibility for the child and in the end, he let him go as a lamb to the slaughter!