"If the power level has reached this point, then I'm sorry, Yamcha. I have to intervene in your fight."
Vegeta looked ready to flip the table. Beside him, Tien could no longer stand by. He pressed his palms together, forming a triangle, and aimed it at Vegeta in the sky, trapping the Saiyan within the frame.
The Tri-Beam. Tien's strongest finishing technique. In raw destructive power, it surpassed even the Kamehameha. With Tien's strength behind it, one shot would be enough to take down Vegeta as he was now. Even without the Kaio-ken, Tien's power level reached twenty thousand, without a doubt the strongest fighter among the Z-Fighters currently on Earth.
"Tien, let me handle this."
Yamcha's voice cut through. He set a hand on Tien's shoulder, stopping the Tri-Beam before it could fire.
Yamcha's expression hardened with resolve. "All these years, every single battle, you all charge ahead. Every time, I can't keep up. Every time, I'm only good enough for a supporting role. I pushed through countless hardships to get where I am now, to reach this level of strength. But the gap between me and you all is still way too wide. I can't even compare to Krillin."
The 21st World Martial Arts Tournament: eliminated in the quarterfinals. Fortuneteller Baba's tournament: a supporting act, a win over the Invisible Man, then a loss to the Mummy.
The Red Ribbon Army battle: he never reached the main battlefield, too scared of their overwhelming power, and sat it out entirely.
The 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament: out in the quarterfinals again. T
he battle against Demon King Piccolo: background noise.
The 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament: stopped at the round of sixteen, not even the quarterfinals.
And now? If Naruto hadn't arranged for him to train with King Kai, if he hadn't gone through the Explosion Training, with his abilities he'd probably have died in the very first round, blown up by a self-destructing Saibaman.
Looking back at his life, Yamcha had always been nothing more than an expendable side character.
Yamcha kept going. "All those years of training together taught me one thing for sure. My talent just doesn't match up to yours."
'I have limits.'
His fists clenched tight. The frustration in his heart was written all over his face.
'I don't know how much longer I can keep up with you. I don't know how much longer I can hold onto this path.'
In canon, Yamcha eventually abandoned the martial arts path entirely. And really, aside from a handful of exceptions, his strength still put him among Earth's top fighters.
"Tien, I'm not like you. I don't have your dedication to martial arts."
"I don't like things staying the same. I don't like grinding the same boring training every single day. I like new experiences. I like pretty girls."
"I'm just an ordinary guy who gets distracted by the world around him."
"So little by little, I drifted further and further away from you all."
"But even an ordinary guy like me wants to show off once in a while." Yamcha's eyes sharpened. His gaze cut toward Vegeta in the sky like a blade.
"So leave this Saiyan to me."
"Let me be the main character for once."
"This time, Earth will be protected by me. Yamcha."
Vegeta finished gathering his ki and swung his arm down hard.
"Die, Earthling!"
"Galick Gun!"
The red ki blast, charged with an aura of destruction, shot straight toward the ground.
Just then, Krillin arrived, carrying the heavily wounded Nappa over one shoulder, and saw everything.
'Wait, Vegeta, I'm still here. Are you trying to kill me too?' The severely injured and barely conscious Nappa could only watch helplessly as the blast rushed toward him. 'Why? Aren't we teammates?'
Vegeta had seen Nappa. He just didn't care. Whether Nappa survived a full-power strike was up to fate.
"Fine, have it your way." Tien shook his head. "I'll leave this to you. If you need help, just say the word."
"Thanks, Tien."
When Tien first appeared a few years ago, he and Yamcha had been enemies, each despising the other. Who would have thought they'd become friends, close enough to fight side by side and trust each other without looking back? Sometimes friendship works like that.
Yamcha watched the incoming Galick Gun and took a deep breath.
This was his moment.
"Kaio-ken X 3!?"
Red ki engulfed his body as his power level surged again. At the same time, he endured the full-body pain of the technique's side effects.
But the suffering was worth it. His power level now reached a staggering 26,000.
"Take this, Saiyan. This is my all-out strike."
"Kame... ha... me... ha!"
The blue ki wave shot into the sky and crashed violently into Vegeta's Galick Gun. Under the Law of Power Levels in the Dragon Ball-verse, a difference of over thirty percent meant easy victory. 26,000 against 18,000, an 8,000 gap. The disparity meant Vegeta's attack held for only a moment before shattering.
"Impossible!? That was my strongest move, the Saiyan Prince's ultimate technique!"
Fortunately, Vegeta reacted quickly. Realizing he couldn't win the beam clash, he dodged, narrowly escaping the lethal strike. If he'd stubbornly held his ground waiting for the wave to push back, he'd have been killed or seriously wounded.
'Why can't I defeat this Earthling? I am one of the strongest warrior in the entire universe!'
No matter how he fought, the opponent's power level always stayed a step ahead. Vegeta's lungs nearly burst with rage as he screamed at the sky.
"He knew all along I could dodge it." Watching Vegeta evade the beam clash, Yamcha showed no panic, instead, he looked like he'd expected this.
'That wasn't an ordinary Kamehameha. It's a version I specially modified.'
He raised one finger with effort, tracing a circle through the air.
'Spirit Ball Version!'
The Kamehameha that had just flown out curved and returned. Vegeta never expected the attack to turn back. Caught off guard, he failed to dodge in time and took it head-on.
*BOOM!*
The massive explosion in the sky shook the entire earth.
"We won." Seeing this, Yamcha broke into a joyful smile. But his body, drained from the enormous ki expenditure and suffering from the Kaio-ken's side effects, could no longer hold up. He collapsed with a thud.
"Yamcha!" Krillin dropped Nappa immediately and rushed toward him.
"He's fine." After checking Yamcha's condition, Tien said, "Just exhausted. A good sleep and he'll be fine. By the way, do you have any Senzu Beans?"
"I've got a bag." Krillin pulled out the small pouch at his waist, stuffed full of Senzu Beans. A rough count showed at least dozens.
Without the Senzu Bean Killer around, the supply had grown beyond what they could eat. The canon Dragon Ball Z had never fought such a well-provisioned battle.
After giving Yamcha a Senzu Bean, his injuries vanished instantly.
"Chiaotzu, take him far from here. Vegeta isn't dead, his ki just dipped." Tien nodded toward Chiaotzu. "Yamcha, you've done enough. Leave the rest to me."
On the other side of the battlefield, Raditz descended slowly to Nappa's side.
"You alright, Nappa?" He leaned over, studying his former comrade.
Nappa opened his mouth, but the movement pulled at his wound and he gasped. "Never thought Earthlings could be this strong."
"You joined them because they overpowered you, right?"
"No. I joined them of my own free will." Raditz stressed the words of my own free will.
"You bastard! Have you forgotten Saiyan pride?" Nappa's rage flared. He struggled to rise, to put Raditz in his place, but his injuries were too severe. He couldn't get up. "Joining the Earthlings ranks willingly!"
"Easy, Nappa." Raditz wasn't bothered. "Aren't you going to ask me why?"
Nappa froze, then followed Raditz's lead mechanically. "Why?"
Raditz didn't rush to answer. Instead, he removed a brand-new scouter from his ear and strapped it onto Nappa's.
"For this."
He released his ki all at once. The power level numbers climbed rapidly before Nappa's eyes.
'1500'
'2000.'
'3000.'
In an instant, it surpassed Nappa's level, and this was still far from the limit. The numbers kept climbing.
"Demon King's underling." Tien and Krillin sensed Raditz's ki at the same moment, both turning toward him. "What terrifying power."
Finally, the numbers stopped.
"power level 30,000?" Nappa gaped, too shocked for words.
A year ago, this underling had been at their beck and call. Now he possessed strength that vastly surpassed theirs.
What did a power level of 30,000 mean in the universe? Even in the Frieza Force, it would qualify for executive level. Frieza's right-hand men, Dodoria and Zarbon, were only in the 20,000 range.
Raditz had already surpassed them? How was that possible?
"Nappa, this isn't even my full power." Raditz spoke with undisguised confidence. He had now surpassed that self-proclaimed genius Saiyan Prince, Vegeta. "My Lord Demon King bestowed this strength upon me. If it were you, would you choose to join?"
Nappa found himself speechless. "But Saiyan pride."
"Nappa, let me tell you something else."
Raditz and Nappa had a decent relationship. Though Nappa, like Vegeta, had mocked him, many times he'd also thought of Raditz.
"Before I say that, let me ask you a question. How was our home planet, Planet Vegeta, destroyed?"
"And the Saiyan Army, nearly unbeatable across the entire universe, how is it that only a few of us remain?"
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