To rid of temptation

'Domination.' He realized it, now, crushing the head of a fallen opponent, his body having been battered every which way and bleeding steadily, yet not a scratch on Nappa.

'Destruction.' To hold the existence of another, existence which he had been denied so long in the empty abyss, to crush it fully, erase him from this universe, almost revenge-like karma directed at the whole of existence.

'And fighting.' He liked this, this fighting, this thoughtlessness, he doesn't need to think, he doesn't want to think. He only needs to fall, to act, to follow the instinct, to give himself to the glory of battle.

And glorious it was. The blood pumping in him, the joy, the pure euphoria which tingled at his skin, excited his brain, he likes this, he loves it.

It does not matter if it's himself, his body, or his emotions that thought and felt like that, now they are one, in this one moment they have all coagulated into one mass, he feels it, it is his, and it makes him happy, joyful.

Fighting is his love, destruction his muse, domination his warmth, and he wonders what more there is. For the first time in so long, so long, he sees that even if nothingness is infinite only the finite can truly be enjoyed.

And for that, to enjoy the finite, he has to live.

"G-gah." A feeble hand gripped his own, blood smearing it, the grip was firm yet weak, putting all the power he has into it, yet that was not much when compared to him.

It reminded him, this feeble weakness of grip, that he too is weak, unable to dominate nor destroy another, it snapped him back to reality and made the emotions rage once more, what at the impending betrayal, and what at his weakness.

He knows the prince is too strong, he needs to hold out, hold out, and not fight the monkey, but be on his side, another that he bitterly notes he can't dominate nor destroy, the opposite is the path already trodded once, with grave consequence.

A part of him, suicidal in nature, still wanted to attack the prince head-on, test his mettle even though his destruction is assured, a hot-blooded impulse of a much younger time, yet that part of him was firmly held and reigned in, it would not be allowed to see the light of day.

*Bam*

A shot hit him in the back, little did it do against his armor, yet it notified him of another's presence.

He threw the child-man away, disposable he was, this new distraction is good. Any excuse to prolong the time, any reason to not kill, to not aggravate the monkey, to make himself seem more sadistic to the prince, merely toying with his opponents instead of stalling for time.

Turning, he tried to look at his attacker, yet another shock came from his side, throwing him far away and slightly into the air before he could see who had landed the original attack.

Again, flying little, another hit from below sent him into the sky. The hits are strong, yet they only stung, like when slapping a mosquito and you hit yourself, barely noticeable, but existent nonetheless.

Another, from above this time, sending him down with great acceleration, nearing the ground at rapid speed, all while he did nothing to even try to block or dodge.

"Go Gohan!" A shout came from above, the green man having yelled. "Now Chiaotzu!" And another from below, the triclops it would seem having started off the attack.

A gathering of ki came to his right, a part of him almost sneered at the lousy attack, catching it with his palm, the other he completely ignored, for the progeny ran off without even having blasted at him.

"Damn it Gohan! You coward!" An infuriated scream came from above, the Namekian most angered of all, Nappa just leveled himself, flying steadily to observe his opponents while their internal conflict was brewing.

Yet he had little time for that, it would seem his opponents too preferred to disregard emotions and instead favored cold logic over impulsiveness, as he was immediately tackled by two blurs, one pink, one green

The great green split into three, although only thru some obvious effort, each attacking from another direction in perfect sync, for they are the same person, while the pink blur sprouted another set of arms from his back, doubling his attack rate, using even his stump of an arm for attack.

By sheer speed, strength, and visual acuity, as well as plentiful combat experience, he blocked all of their attacks. Yet when he tried to punch they would deflect, just barely bending the force of his punch around them with their superior martial training.

However, such a strategy could not work long, for the moment it was figured out it can be overcome by sheer brute force.

"Gah!" The clones were punched too hard to deflect, and the man with three arms and three eyes got kicked to the ground, evasion could work for only so long, and blocking is out of the question, they all feared what would happen if they blocked.

*Piu*

A laser grazed his side, blackening his armor ever so slightly, the doll was flying at him again, a kick was all it took to send it rocketing back, dozens, if not a hundred meters, into a boulder.

Nappa's eyes widened slightly as he got an idea. He looked at the green man, already recovered somewhat and charging at him again, yet all he would get in return would be a tackle.

Nappa grabbed him by the waist and began to carry him, thru stone and earth, shattering it all, meters, more than a hundred for sure, out of sight, out of earshot, out of a perceptible range.

He grabbed the man by the neck, housing him up by the attachment point of his brain and body, so frail it is, a part of him wishing to snap it right then and there, but he held himself back on account of his current mission.

"31 moves, be prepared." Words were spoken, his grip loosened for a moment, allowing the breath to slide in and the green one to look at him strangely.

"What do you-" But he could not finish his sentence, for he was sent flying back towards his group with an overhead throw.

The cat and mouse game are not sustainable forever, eventually, the cat gets bored and offs the mouse, he can not buy time forever, ten minutes more is the most he can get, and by then the prince would be suspicious, possibly expecting his revolt, surprisingly smart he is underneath all that arrogance, better to begin the offensive now than later.

'First move.' He thought, blasting off after the thrown man, a kick to the stomach, blocks of attacks, energy waves hitting nearby, yet all missed.

'Seven moves.' The triclops with these arms attacked, several punches, dodges, a kick, and flight. Doll man got whacked thru the air, again that laser trick, great green charged, his eyes different now, no matter, warned he was, attack back.

'Seventeen.' Block, elbow to the nose, broken. No ki was used yet, at least not by him. The energy of the earth all but faded out, yet it still lingered in him, he knew its use, it is not on these 'opponents' that he shall spend it.

'Nineteen.' High speed, child-man was alive again, bloody, but standing. He fought back, a dozen punches sent his way, overpowered however, as an attack hit his back, a tackle and it was stomped out.

'Twenty-three.' Eight moves left. Punch, throw, spinning kick. He looked for targets, his fingers ran forward, a slice across the torso. A kick to the stomach, soon.

He looked at the prince, relaxing, displaying his clear indifference, laid back, yet his face was strange, screwed up somehow, their eyes met and he shouted out.

"Stop Nappa!" Strange, not good. A wrench in the plan, three moves away too. Yet he obeyed, the prince might suspect his plan, however unlikely it is, if he doesn't this might be good, stalling for more time. An attack now is impossible to win, even with all of them together the prince is too strong, they need the backup.

So he suspiciously did, mid-downwards-flight, about to attack the progeny, he flipping back and over to the prince, wordless, staring and silent, observant, expecting new orders... obedient, for now.

"This Son Goku you keep chanting about, he is Kakarot, right?" The prince asked a layer of suspicious inquiry, still ridiculing somehow, over his voice now.

"Yea, and when he comes he will defeat you all." The child-man, despite being most grievously injured one of all, spoke with such confidence in his voice, such bravado, vigor, he could have convinced one that he was speaking facts and not hopes.

"Huh. A year ago he could not even stand up to the weakening Raditz, what makes you so sure he will win?" A cocky, mocking smirk adorned his face, his chin raised high, the provocation could not be more clear even if the words were absent.

"Hah, what do you know? Goku has been training hard for you guys, when he arrives you will be put down." Great green spoke, just as much conviction and provocation in his voice as in the princes.

"Yea yea! My dad is super strong! When he comes here he will wreck you!" Even the boy seemed to regain the fire in his stomach as he squealed back at them, while still hiding behind the great green somewhat.

"Is that so?" The prince dangerously narrowed his eyes, the smirk still present, however. Now is critical, either he takes the provocation as a slight against his pride, massacres them all on the spot, or something aking to amusement at being challenged, buying more time for them.

"Fine then, we will wait for him."

An unexpected declaration to all, even Nappa, the more common result is for a brutal and immediate massacre.

Yet he did not react to it, neither would he complain against this boon, unlike the rest whose faces elongated like that of horses in confusion.

"However, only for three hours," The prince added on with his scanner back in hand, fiddling with some of its buttons, as the other hand raised to show three fingers. "Be grateful, your suffering has been prolonged."

No further comments were made, nor necessary really. The prince just sat down on an undestroyed rock, legs crossed, calm, collected, not a word more spoken, his demeanor entirely stoic and unchanging as he waits for the monkey to arrive.

The other party bunched up, whispering, talking, sometimes peeking over one another to look at them, and of course, healing up and recovering. They decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth, if the opponent decided to give them a finger, then for sure, they will take the hand if possible.

Nappa, one would assume that having spent eternity not moving or acting he could do it now too, yet he could not. No, the thinking was a problem. He thought too much, the only thing he could do for so long was just thought. Now there was more than nothing around him. Dust and sun, the clouds, the ground, it wall all familiar, yet new.

Cleaning, maintenance, he decided, was a good distraction. He took off his armor, feeling a good bit lighter, now with only boots, speedo-like underwear, and arm braces, although he took the boots and arm braces off too.

The armor rigged and ribbed, broken and cracked in some pieces, it is hard and heavy. At least it seemed heavy to the memories and perception of his past human self. Now it was light, yet if the past him tried it on, he doubts he would be able to withstand it.

Besides, it would not fit. The armor was gigantic, tall, and extremely wide, as is expected, it needs to be to fit on a frame like his own, where muscle run abounds, his chest alone wider than many doorframes, biceps bigger than thighs of normal people.

Such distractions, not even thoughts but more as passing comments, flew in his head as he cleaned the armor, boots, and braces. He was unfamiliar with this, the body at least. Nappa never paid too much attention to cleanliness, only truly cleaning the armor when it was completely drenched in blood, and even then just putting it in a stream is all he would do.

Not to say he wasn't taught how to do it, he had extensive training on account of his noble heritage, as well as the training he received, he just personally never bothered.

Thus even the prince gave him a strange look when he noticed what he was doing, but he paid the midget no heed. He cleaned the apparel with a scrap of clothing belonging to the corpse of the disposable, which he had taken under hostile eyes of the other team. He broke off any jagged pieces, rounding out the armor more, making it somewhat symmetrical, even if it is rather crude, he has no artistic talent beyond painting a portrait of red after all. It served no function, it did not make his armor any better, but it gave him a strange satisfaction in his stomach, even if it became somewhat objectively ugly.

Minutes passed, a truck with a camera crew had pulled up next to them, next is not the right word, more along the lines of a kilometer away, but it was already too close considering what this place was, the battlefield of the strongest.

But Nappa left them be. In the back of his head plans were swirling, he had to think, and he would, even if the distracting footnotes were at the forefront.

The wildest and exaggerated plans reigned about in his head along with the mildest and possible ones. From talking the prince into giving him a few more minutes to just smashing his skull in with a rock, neither was feasible, at least not without consequence, yet both considered. The best option would be to pair up with the motley crew of have beens and never will bee's across from him, at least as distractions, so that the monkey will not break his spine.

He knows the facts well enough, both the prince and the monkey are too strong for him to handle. Bitterness, or maybe rage, still having troubles differentiating between them, was in his heart as he thought about that, it made him rub the armor even harder with the cloth, but that could be left to be resolved for another time, now, survival was all that is left, and most important.

"Half an hour is left," The prince called out in his dull, uninterested voice. He had been doing that from the beginning, calling out the time, yet it was always in an hour, now it was beginning to get short.

The tension was always there, building thru the passing time, yet only now could it be truly felt. Neither side cared for the other. Peeks was thrown their way, but neither Nappa nor the prince had given them a single glance since the moment the countdown began.

"Time is up." Finally, the dreaded words came. Nappa sweated not, nervousness was not an emotion he could feel after so many years, a quiet rage shook him though, thinking about his "end".

"It would seem that Kakarot isn't coming," The prince stated, a disappointed amusement in his voice, Nappa had by that point began putting on his armor. "Pretty cruel of him, what a coward."

"My father is not a coward! He will show up and kick your ass!" The progeny, always the daddy boy, yelled out loudly, his teeth showing, like a dog, he is fierce when it comes to his father.

The prince just smirked, smirked, and stepped back, provocation evident, allowing Nappa to go forward with his armor donned, a silent fire burning in his eyes as he met glances with the great green.

The look they gave each other is strange, confusing even, yet certain confidence resided within both, they had both given each other a message, now how much the other party understood it, that is a mystery.

Looking at the team once more he noticed several changes. The triceps had a bandage around his lost arm, the child-man was no longer bleeding, the doll had a more put-together appearance, they looked better, more prepared, that is good.

Nappa took the tiniest of steps, yet it just seemed so menacing to the others, his huge frame, overwhelming power coupled with the steady footfall, gave an image of a walking mountain.

By the tenth step, he had already entered the striking range, so had they, and as he raised his foot for the eleventh the attack began.

-------------------------------------------------------------

P. S. The chapter title of the previous chapter is a reference to a song, Anti christ/devil child's (also known as AC/DC) Thunderstruck. Besides the obvious parallels of power and thunder which the MC exuded in the previous chapters, it also means having a good time and frightening someone, both things the MC did. There's also a part about getting abandoned by another/ betrayed, that is not getting help from them, which also draws some parallels to the MC (mostly his internal conflict). As for the verse I pulled for the title itself, I chose that one because the MC has now figured out there is no going back now, not after experiencing the addicting pleasure of life, giving in to his instincts and emotions.