Chapter 8
Ho-Jun and Sawao engaged each other in another amazing round of hand-to-hand combat! Ho-Jun fought valiantly, and he hammered Sawao with all the strength and energy he could muster! Sawao occasionally returned the favor to the mighty Namek warrior, and both fighters were looking more battered and bloodied as their fight went on! Their exchanges once again echoed across the landscape for a great distance like great thunderclaps!
Breaking away from the hand-to-hand combat, both fighters gave each other a bit of room! Sawao made a pointing hand with two fingers extended instead of one, grasped that hand at the wrist with his other hand, pointed his two fingers at the Namek, and fired a powerful energy bolt at Ho-Jun! Ho-Jun dodged the attack and fired a special beam cannon attack at the Saiyan, Sawao's blast exploding in the distance! Sawao dodged that attack, lifted his open hand up over his head, charged an energy ball in it similar to Nappa's fast ball energy attack, and threw it at the Namek as Ho-Jun's special beam cannon attack exploded in the background!
Ho-Jun swatted that attack aside, causing it to explode in the distance, and launched a masenko ball at Sawao! Sawao extended his hand towards the incoming masenko ball in a nonchalant fashion, snuffed the Namek's masenko ball when it slammed into his hand, charged a powerful energy blast at the end of his palm like the big bang attack of Vegeta, and fired the energy blast at the Namek! Ho-Jun reached out with both hands to catch the attack, but the attack slammed into his open palms and began driving him towards the ground! Ho-Jun grimaced and gave a drawn-out exertion grunt in his effort to repel the attack as his feet made contact with the ground and began sliding through the dirt, carving a pair of trails as he was pushed back by the power of Sawao's blast!
While Ho-Jun was trying to defend himself against Sawao's attack, the Saiyan moved so fast he appeared to teleport from where he was to a different point, high above the Namek and facing Ho-Jun's back! Sawao then lifted both hands over his head and began charging a large globe of energy high over his head, and the energy sphere began growing massively! Electricity crackled all around Sawao and his energy technique, and a massive glowing energy aura surrounded the Saiyan!
Ho-Jun dug down deep within him to find the strength to repel the powerful attack, and he tossed the blast he had been struggling with high into the sky! Turning in response to sensing Sawao's building energy, Ho-Jun was shocked to see a city-sized energy ball forming over his head! Sawao smiled evilly in response!
"Good job, Namek!" Sawao shouted as he prepared to attack the Namek with his newly-generated attack technique. "Now, let's see what you do with this!"
Sawao uttered a battle cry as he hurled the massive energy ball down at the Namek by motioning with both arms as if throwing the ball physically! Ho-Jun grimaced in horror and determination as he saw the giant ball of energy headed his way! He began charging a makosen-ha attack between his hands as the giant energy ball drew closer!
"I can't let that blast hit! It's more powerful than the one Kenichi tried to destroy the planet with!" Ho-Jun thought to himself as he prepared to repel the attack with a last ditch, desperation effort. "This is going to take everything I've got! He had quite a bit of time to generate that attack while I was dealing with the previous one! I hope I've got enough time to generate enough power to repel this one! If I can't, this whole planet is doomed!"
Just before Sawao's attack would've hit him, Ho-Jun launched his makosen-ha attack into Sawao's giant energy ball, and the two attacks clashed against each other! They seemed stalemated for a few seconds as Ho-Jun continued to scream in the exerted effort to defend the planet and repel the attack! Sawao smiled evilly as he observed the contest with interest! After several seconds, Ho-Jun's makosen-ha blast began pushing Sawao's blast back towards the sky, towards Sawao!
Suddenly, Sawao seemed to be a bit concerned! Ho-Jun's cry of effort shot to a sudden crescendo, and his mahosen-ha attack completely overwhelmed Sawao's attack, sending both blasts streaking up at Sawao! Sawao just barely managed to move quick enough to evade the gigantic mass of energy! When he regained his composure, Sawao looked down to see Ho-Jun standing their on the ground below, looking up and breathing very heavilly! Ho-Jun looked exhausted!
"I ... did it!" Ho-Jun thought to himself as he struggled to catch his breath, his energy depleted. "I don't ... have anything left ... to defend myself with! ... I'm spent!"
"That Namek is incredible!" Sawao thought to himself as he noted the greatly fatigued Namek below him. "No one has ever thwarted my nova bomb technique before! He's a lot stronger than I gave him credit for!"
Sawao slowly descended to the ground to engage Ho-Jun in another staredown from ground level, noting the obvious fatigue of his opponent while he himself seemed to be still as fresh as a daisy. Ho-Jun forced himself to hold himself up and look ready to continue the conflict, shutting out the pain of injury and fatigue. The two warriors engaged in a lengthy staredown, completely silent.
About that time, Yoko and Kyoji arrived on the scene, and they hid behind a rock to watch what was going on. They had only just arrived, and they knew that they had to find out what was going on before they made their move. They became concerned when they noticed Ho-Jun's fatigue and the Saiyan's lack thereof.
"This looks really bad!" Kyoji muttered in fright and concern. "Ho-Jun's really tired! I can barely sense his energy signal, even at this range! And that other guy, he's so strong! There's no way we can beat him! Wait! He's got a tail! That means -"
"He's a Saiyan!" Yoko answered for him as they both began trembling in utter terror. "I hope he doesn't make one of those moon thingies like the other one did! There's no way we'd stop him if it increases his power by the same amount!"
"We have to get Ho-Jun a senzu bean and fast!" Kyoji muttered as he grimaced in the hopelessness of the situation.
"How about if you distract the Saiyan while I get a senzu bean to Ho-Jun?" Yoko inquired, not wishing to face the Saiyan herself.
"ME?!?" Kyoji muttered in total shock at the suggestion, not wishing to fight the Saiyan either. "What about you? Why don't you distract him while I get the senzu bean to Ho-Jun?"
"ME?!?" Yoko perfectly mimicked Kyoji's earlier response without even trying. "What am I supposed to do to distract him?"
"I dunno! Maybe you could show him a little leg or something!" Kyoji suggested after some deep thought for all of a second-and-a-half.
"WHAT?!?" Yoko cried out as she hit Kyoji upside the head in a fit of anger and offense. "Why, you little -"
Kyoji managed to react quickly, cupping a hand over her mouth and jerking her down behind the rock to hide her. She was baffled by his reaction for a moment.
"Keep it down!" Kyoji warned her while rubbing his head where she hit him a moment ago. "He might hear you, and then he'll come over here and rip off our arms and legs like rippin' off a fly's wings!"
"Oooh, gross!" Yoko muttered, trying to flush the disturbing imagery from her mind. "You're disgusting! Why don't you just go over to him and talk to him? Maybe you could gross him out!"
"Uh-uh! Not me!" Kyoji replied matter-of-factly. "I'm not gettin' anywhere near the guy! I wanna keep my arms and legs intact! Why don't you go talk to him? Maybe he'd get sick and hurl after hearing you blab non-stop about girl stuff!"
"Oooh! If we didn't have to save this planet, I'd kill you!" Yoko hissed in seething fury as she glared menacingly at Kyoji before they both looked back over the rock to see what was going on, noting that nothing had changed.
"Looks like they didn't hear your big mouth after all!" Kyoji muttered in a bit of surprise. "Now I really do believe in miracles!"
"Very funny, short stuff!" Yoko retorted a little more quietly than before as she slapped Kyoji provokingly in the back of the head.
"Hey! Cut it out! You're givin' me a headache!" Kyoji complained, rubbing the back of his head while glaring back at Yoko.
Meanwhile, the two warriors remained locked in a silent staredown for a few seconds more. Sawao finally broke into a bit of laughter as he pulled a packet out of his armor and smirked at Ho-Jun.
"What are you up to?" Ho-Jun inquired in a vicious growling voice, practically demanding to know in a sense of desperation.
"Just making things a bit more interesting, my green-with-envy friend!" Sawao replied as he knelt down and began planting ten seeds into the soft dirt. "Just be patient. I have a bit of a green thumb myself."
Sawao laughed as the ground began to bulge as though something was trying to escape from below! Ho-Jun was horrified to see ten green plant creatures emerge from the ground like crazed zombies digging their way from their graves!
"Allow me to introduce you to your new playmates," Sawao said as he folded his arms in front of his chest and watched. "They're called Saibamen, and they're grown specifically for combat! Kenichi's men were stronger, but my Saibamen are more numerous! I'll let them soften you up for me!"
Ho-Jun just stared at the vile creatures in disbelief, knowing that he didn't have enough energy to beat them. Kyoji and Yoko gawked at the creatures in utter horror from their hiding place behind the rock. Sawao released a sickeningly sinister laugh into the air as he anticipated quite the show.