Chapter 9
Ho-Jun breathed heavily as he warily eyed the enthusiastic Saibamen preparing to attack him. Kyoji and Yoko watched nervously from behind the rock where they were hiding, still not able to decide who would provide the distraction while the other delivered the senzu bean to Ho-Jun. Sawao smiled sinisterly as he anticipated the Saibamen wearing down the Namek for him.
"What do I do now?" Ho-Jun thought to himself as he pondered his chances of surviving the clash against Sawao's plant creatures. "I don't have any energy left! I can't fend all of those things off at the same time! I can't believe it all ends here!
"I tracked Kenichi and his band of space terrorists all over the galaxy! I witnessed the carnage and the destruction they left behind in their wake, the devastated worlds and the slaughtered innocents! I saw women and children from dozens of cultures and planets all murdered by this psychotic band of fiends, and whole civilizations were wiped out at their hands! I never knew that they had a leader higher up than Kenichi! Just when I thought I'd finally avenged all the peoples and planets that perished at the hands of those scum, now I find out that I'm going to fall short in that mission, that the terror will continue on despite my best efforts!"
Ho-Jun grimaced in anguished realization of his plight. The frustration, the rage, the depression, the angst of his failure, they all washed over him at once in a brief moment before Sawao interrupted his suffering, smiling all the more.
"What's the matter, lizard boy?" Sawao taunted as he observed the Namek's plight with growing interest. "You don't seem so confident anymore. You don't like the odds, do you? You thought you could defeat me? Well, you were wrong!"
Suddenly, Sawao's scouter began registering strong energy signals approaching from the distance, and Ho-Jun noted the approach from behind him soon after. Kyoji and Yoko felt the new energy signals approaching as well and they turned to see what was coming as Ho-Jun looked over his shoulder to get a visual on what he was sensing. A band of Davorkian fighters, eight in all, appeared over the horizon and closed on the battle site quickly. They landed between Ho-Jun and the anxious Saibamen, prompting everyone to react with surprise.
"Hmmm," Sawao finally responded as he regained his composure. "It looks like the odds are just about evened up after all. Ten Saibamen against the, let's see - one, two, three four, five, six, seven, eight, - nine of you! Go get them, my pets!"
The Saibamen cackled as they launched themselves at their assembled playmates, ready to rumble! Kyoji and Yoko gasped in horror as they watched the battle begin! The Davorkians engaged all but one of the Saibamen, barely managing to match their power in that fashion! Ho-Jun grimaced as he was nearly overwhelmed by the Saibaman attacking him, being driven back as he tried to find the energy to respond to the attack other than to defend himself in desperation!
"Hey, look, Yoko!" Kyoji exclaimed as he pointed towards the free-for-all brawl-taking place before them. "That looks like a good distraction! Do ya think you can get that thing off o' Ho-Jun long enough for me to give him the senzu bean?"
"Oh, man! That thing? I don't know!" Yoko replied in a bit of trepidation over the suggestion. "I mean, I guess I could try! I mean, I'm as strong as one of those things now, but I better not break a nail or something!"
"Great!" Kyoji exclaimed excitedly as he stuck his hand out for the senzu bean. "Then we've got a plan! Let's do it!"
Yoko handed Kyoji the senzu bean and turned to look back at the action. The Davorkians were holding their own but just barely. Ho-Jun looked lethargic, reeling against the onslaught of the rabid-looking Saibaman. Yoko and Kyoji nodded to each other in preparation for the fight.
Yoko flew into the fray, hitting the Saibaman who was fighting Ho-Jun with a punch to the face and knocking it back! Ho-Jun fell back, a combination of surprise and being off-balance, managing to remain on his feet after staggering back a few steps! Sawao was completely surprised by Yoko's interference, and he marveled!
While Yoko took over in the fight against the Saibaman, Kyoji raced to the Namek's side with the senzu bean. Ho-Jun was entranced, watching the Earthling fighting against the Saibaman, still not noticing Kyoji's approach. No one else noticed the young lad's approach.
"Ho-Jun!" Kyoji called out to the Namek as he ran towards him, getting his attention. "Here! Catch this!"
Kyoji threw the senzu bean to Ho-Jun, and the Namek instinctively caught it. Ho-Jun then looked at it curiously, pondering its mystery. Kyoji then finally arrived next to Ho-Jun.
"Eat it! Quick!" Kyoji encouraged the mighty Namek warrior. "It's a senzu bean! It'll restore your full energy!"
Ho-Jun regarded the plight of the others. He saw that the Davorkians were losing to the Saibamen, but they were still fighting. Yoko was holding her own against the Saibaman she took off of Ho-Jun's hands. Sawao was too busy watching the action to notice the events transpiring between Kyoji and Ho-Jun. The Namek nodded and smiled before putting the bean in his mouth, chewing it up, and swallowing it down.
Moments later, his energy returned to full power, and it got Sawao's scouter going off like crazy! Powerful winds began gusting out of his form as his full power returned, blowing poor unfortunate Kyoji backwards in a tumble roll away from him! The other battles paused briefly as everyone took note of Ho-Jun's power returning to him, and Sawao gawked at him incredulously!
"This is crazy!" Sawao thought to himself as he stared in amazement at the Namek, his mouth hanging open. "He was all tapped out just a few moments ago! How is it possible for him to possess this much power?!?"
Ho-Jun screamed to the heavens as he completed his power-up, and he began glowing in a pale energy aura. Kyoji finally managed to pull himself back to his feet once more, dusting himself off as he recomposed himself. Sawao was incredulous at his scouter reading on Ho-Jun's power level.
"No way!" Sawao muttered in abject disbelief as he gawked at the Namek, double-checking his scouter. "His power level is over nine thousand now! It's not possible! How can this be?!? His power level is higher than mine now! Saibamen, ignore the local riffraff, and go get that Namek! I'll handle these guys!"
The Saibamen obeyed immediately, flying at Ho-Jun to attack and leaving the Davorkians to face the vicious Saiyan! Yoko was bewildered, standing dumbstruck as she watched it all! Kyoji was also enthralled by the action before him!
Sawao immediately attacked the battered Davorkians, pummeling them at will! The Davorkian fighters found themselves at a terrible disadvantage, and Sawao hammered them with his fists and feet in a brutal display of power and skill! His speed was too fast for them to keep up with, and his strength was frightening as he brutally injured and nearly maimed his foes in his fury! Within moments, all eight Davorkians lay prone on the ground at his feet, and then he turned to the Namek!
Ho-Jun stood, returning Sawao's gaze, all ten Saibamen lying at his feet motionless. Ho-Jun displayed a slight smile as Sawao glared angrily at him. Sawao grabbed the scouter off of his face and tossed it aside, seething in anger.
"Looking for me?" Ho-Jun taunted the brooding Saiyan, seemingly relaxed while the Saiyan appeared tense.
"You're going to regret this, Namek!" Sawao growled in seething rage as Yoko and Kyoji returned to their hiding place behind the rock.
"Really?" Ho-Jun tauntingly inquired as he assumed a fighting stance in preparation for their clash. "Let's see!"
Sawao likewise assumed a fighting stance, growling in his anger as he prepared to attack the Namek. The two kids watched with baited breath. Seconds passed as both warriors engaged in a staredown.
Suddenly, both fighters disappeared from sight! They then reappeared high in the sky, engaging in a hand-to-hand battle of epic proportions! They both seemed to be evenly matched in this fight! Their speed and skill seemed to be equal as they fought viciously in hand-to-hand combat in the sky! Ho-Jun concentrated on avoiding the impact of Sawao's attacks more than on landing any of his own, but Sawao's rage blinded him to the Namek's strategy!
"He's too strong! I don't want to take abuse on the receiving end of his fists and feet!" Ho-Jun thought to himself as he fought. "I'll just throw a few attacks his way to keep him from noticing that my main focus in on defense at this time! He'll get frustrated, then he'll get angry, and then he'll get fatigued after he goes all-out to get me! Then I'll turn the tables on him and finish him off!"
Their battle continued as the young children watched in awe of the mighty warriors, entranced in the spectacle! Ho-Jun landed a solid punch in Sawao's face, infuriating the Saiyan! Sawao screamed in his rage as he erupted into a mad flurry of hand-to-hand attacks, and Ho-Jun settled into a purely defensive mode, dodging all of Sawao's attacks with great effort!
"I have to be careful!" Ho-Jun thought to himself as he continued to evade Sawao's furious offense. "He's extremely fast and unbelievably skilled! He's an incredible fighter in an up-close clash! I should try to put some distance between us and draw this into a battle of energy where I'll have the advantage! I have more power than he does, but his physical strength is astounding! He's a lot stronger and tougher than I am am! I need to change the format of this battle! Now that I've gotten him sufficiently angry, I think I can pull this off!"
Ho-Jun quickly pulled away from Sawao and fired an energy blast at the Saiyan! Sawao swatted the blast aside and fired a huge blast at the Namek, but the mighty Ho-Jun managed to evade the blast by flying to the side! Sawao then began a rapid-fire multi-shot attack aimed at peppering the area with many blasts in an effort to hit the Namek with one of them! Ho-Jun began dodging Sawao's multi-shot attack with great effort before firing a masenko ball back at the Saiyan!
Sawao dodged the masenko ball and closed with Ho-Jun very quickly, hammering him with a mighty punch to the face! The Namek was knocked across the landscape and through a mountain, prompting the mountain to collapse on top of him! Kyoji and Yoko were horrified as Sawao unleashed a torrent of rapid-fire energy blasts into the rubble where Ho-Jun had been buried! The explosion sprayed rocks and debris high into the sky, and the two Earth kids were terrified! Sawao continued to pepper the site with a continuing multi-shot energy attack! The explosion grew larger as more of the landscape was swept up into the fury of the attack and scattered upward and outward!
When Sawao stopped firing, he hovered in the air, waiting for the smoke and dust to clear. Kyoji and Yoko watched on in utter horror, worried about the Namek. Sawao allowed a slight smile to form as he watched the smoke and dust clearing, but his smile faded to a look of disbelief as he saw Ho-Jun standing there in the midst of the carnage with his arms crossed in front of his face and smoke wafting off of him in the wind. Ho-Jun then looked up at Sawao and smiled slightly.
"Not bad, Saiyan," Ho-Jun said as he locked eyes with Sawao. "That was a good move to get in close and hit me with that punch to set me up for that energy attack, but you took too long following up with that energy attack! Nice try!"
"Oooh, you're dead!" Sawao growled in seething fury before escalating to a rage-filled yell. "Do you hear me, Namek?!? YOU'RE DEAD!!!"
Sawao charged up his nova bomb technique again, and Ho-Jun quickly powered up his makosen-ha technique! The ground trembled under their awesome energies as they generated their mighty attacks! Electricity crackled around the two warriors, and powerful winds gusted across the landscape! Small pebbles, rocks, and stones began rising off the ground as the sky became dark overhead!
After about half-a-minute of this, the two warriors fired their attacks at each other! The two energy attacks slammed into each other and began pushing against each other! The heavens trembled in the wake of their incredible power, and lightning flashed across the celestial canvass, painting a horrific portrait of the struggle between the Saiyan and the Namek!
The struggle continued, and the ground began shaking strongly over the entire battle site! Both fighters were surrounded by pale flaming auras! Kyoji and Yoko were forced to seek shelter further away from the battle! Another half-a-minute later, huge rocks began erupting out of the ground, and larger rocks began rising off the ground while some of the rocks and stones began splitting! Another half-a-minute passed, and Ho-Jun's makosen-ha attack began driving Sawao's nova bomb attack back towards Sawao! Both fighters pushed their attacks to their limits, and both were sweating profusely as they yelled in the great exertion of their attacks!
Ho-Jun's blast slowly pushed Sawao's blast closer and closer towards the disbelieving Saiyan, and Sawao was incredulous! Ho-Jun grimaced as he pressed his advantage, driving the attack closer still to the Saiyan menace! Almost half-a-minute later, the blasts slammed into Sawao and exploded in unbelievable brilliance, lighting the darkened sky like a nuclear explosion!