Warrior no more

Clearing his throat after their party was nearly done, Raditz attracted everyone's attention.

Seeing that everyone has stopped their fun and were looking at him now, Raditz began laying down what he knew.

"What happened today was different from my expectations, none of this has happened in the future."

"18 her brother 17 were supposed to come and start their destruction today, but as you can see, 16 and 19 took over instead."

Picking up a glass of wine Raditz swiveled it around and looked at his reflection in the red liquid.

*Gulp*

Directly gulping down wine in a fashion only Saiyans can, Raditz clarified some more.

"Cell, that android form the future who had attacked Pie pie a while ago, that android's counterpart is in our present too, and is now active."

"And he seems to have absorbed 17 and 18, Gero is with him as well, with 16 running away, we have quite a bit of problem in our hands."

Although Raditz said it as such, Krillin relaxed a little after hearing that their biggest threat was an android Raditz had already defeated.

With an expecting look to him, Krillin asked Raditz.

"But you can beat him right? You already did it once!"

Raditz though wasn't so optimistic.

"The future Cell I defeated was imperfect Cell, on pure strength alone he was weaker than 17."

"I don't even know if his weakness comes from not being able to absorb as many people, or if this is how strong imperfect Cell is."

Picking up a large piece of meat, Raditz tore it from the bone with his teeth, and spoke while chewing.

"But if it's only that, it wouldn't be a big problem, I could still deal with it as I am now."

"The problem is that Cell has absorbed both 17 and 18, this changed him into his Perfect form, it's a lot like King Cold's transformation."

Tien with his hands folded narrowed his three eyes and voiced his questions.

"So how strong is he in his perfect form? Do you have confidence beating him?"

This was a question that mattered to every z fighter, so everyone looked at Raditz, waiting for his answer.

Raditz himself carelessly chewed the meat and thought for a while, before telling the truth.

"What I am worried about isn't his perfect form but his Super Perfect form, it's still a theory but there's a pretty good chance it exists."

"As for me beating him, maybe, recently I have powered up too much too fast in raw strength, I can't keep doing that unless I want to stop using ultra instinct."

Gulping down the meat chewed to shreds, Raditz kept the large bone down on the plate.

"I can still get stronger by regaining what I lost of my Ultra instinct, so I can certainly beat him, but I need to train for a while."

"Of course this won't be easy, I could only defeat 16 because he couldn't regenerate, and if what Bulma found is true, Cell can regenerate himself from even one cell."

Hearing that, the only one capable of regeneration in the z fighters, Piccolo, widened his eyes and exclaimed in shock.

"Regenerate himself from a single cell!"

Everyone had a similar reaction to this, they knew this type of opponent was way too hard to beat.

Unless they can vaporize the entirety of Cell, which they can only do if they overpower him or trick him somehow, they weren't defeating him.

The human z fighters clenched their fists in frustration, they knew they can't get that much stronger anymore.

If the opponent was above even 16, someone only their strongest fighters could deal with, they weren't touching Cell, no matter how they trained.

All this was something Raditz saw clearly and lowered his head, silently chewing his food while thinking.

'This is it, the first time they realise they are permanently outclassed.'

'This is the beginning of fall, the group won't last long, Yamcha, Tien, Krillin everyone will settle down and do their own thing after this.'

'The era of z fighters is officially over, and now begins the era of Saiyans.'

Raditz felt emotional, he knew how hard they trained and how competitive the bunch were.

Losing that spark by it being ruthlessly stomped out, is a thing none of them would like.

'This isn't your fault, it's how you were born that determines your upper limit, this is not in your hands.'

'You lost because of something you can't control, pity.'

As for wishing upon a dragon to make them a Saiyan or something along those lines, none of the z fighters would agree to such means of power, they would rather leave than shamelessly copy their rivals.

Strength was something each of them earned, wishing upon a dragon for that was a behaviour no warrior would ever do.

These kinds of thoughts went on in everyone's head, in their own different forms, and finally Yamcha decided to speak.

"Guys.. I don't think I can do this."

"I was defeated very quickly by 19, I won't be much more than a burden in the next fight."

".. sorry."

After saying that, Yamcha got up and silently flew away, but none of the z fighter's spoke.

Because they realised that Yamcha.

Had lost his heart.

Nothing they could do would bring that back, and this would be the reason he won't be called for the universe tournament later on.

As Yamcha, for all intents and purposes, was no longer a warrior from this point of time.

"Chiaotzu, you stay out of this too."

Soon Tien decided for his good friend Chiaotzu, he knew Chiaotzu would want to follow him if he tried to fight, but Chiaotzu had long since hit a limit.

Even before Yamcha did, so Tien spoke up for his friend, sparing him the humiliation.

"..Got it Tien."

Chiaotzu agreed with his head down and flew away to their home, this once more, was the death of another z fighter, Chiaotzu too was no longer worthy of being called a warrior after this retreat.

Even if it was the logical thing to do, it wasn't a way a proper warrior would have chosen.

So he too, later on won't be considered for the tournament of power.

But even under these conditions, some true martial artists prevailed, Krillin and Tien decided to stay, no matter how much the odds were stacked against them, they didn't budge.

'And this is why Krillin and Tien retained their heart, even when they are completely outclassed, the ability to fight against even that makes them real warriors.'

'Unlike Yamcha and Chiaotzu who only faught when it was possible to win, it is this difference in courage that brings in all the change.'

Another person who would have liked to stay out of this was 18, because she was no warrior, she was just an earth girl who was made into an android and gained great power.

But she smartly remained quiet, she was brought back by Raditz on some terms, if she stupidly decided she would stay out without consulting him, that would just put her in hot water.

In fact without showing it on his face, Piccolo was also wondering what he could do to gain strength, but unlike others, he already had an answer.

"... I am going to the lookout, I will pay attention to Cell from there."

"And Raditz.. find another Kami, we need the Dragonballs to remain active."

Without explaining futher, Piccolo also flew away, his destination being the lookout.

But nobody except Vegeta and 18 needed an explanation either.

If Piccolo was going to the lookout and told them to search for a new Kami, that would only mean the evil half and good half were about to meet once more.

Almost everyone here had been to Namek, Namekian fusion wasn't something new to them, although they never saw it happen they knew about it.

And just like that, the z fighters 'lost' three of their members, Yamcha, Chiaotzu and Kami, this wasn't a very good signal for the upcoming fight.

Advanced chapters ahead on patréon

www.patréon.com/ImagineMaker