A burning skyscraper with one corner blown away leaned precariously in the breeze.  Then it gave a little lurch and fell to the earth.  All but one of the assembled warriors’ faces hardened in anger.  Only one face remained impassive, stoically scanning the scene below for any signs of the enemy who had destroyed the city.  A flicker of movement caught his eye and he motioned with one hand to his companions.  Hovering in the air were two human figures, their bodies silhouetted by the flaming buildings.  A flash of light came from one casually uplifted hand and a fleeing human fell to the ground, lifeless.

“That’s it!  I can’t watch this anymore!” a voice ground out in anger.  Five pairs of eyes turned to the speaker, a short bald monk dressed in an orange gi.

Krillan clenched his fists.  “I can’t stand here while they massacre more innocent people!” he said heatedly.  “We’ve got to do something!”  He started to lift off of the ground, his eyes intent on the floating killers.

“Krillan, wait!”  Yamcha’s voice rang out and the shorter man paused in midair, looking back over his shoulder.  “I’m going with you.  It’s what Goku would’ve wanted.”

Krillan nodded once, a grim smile crossing his face.  “Let’s go.”

Coal black eyes watched the two warriors fly off to meet the hovering forms.  Yamcha was the first to engage the opponents.  The figure, male, the observer noted, met his charge completely relaxed.  He effortlessly avoided the scarred warrior’s blows, batting the man out of the sky with a negligent swipe as if he were swatting a fly or a gnat.  Krillan had fared slightly better against his opponent.  The monk had somehow managed to land a glancing blow to the android’s midsection.  But the female had shrugged it off, sending the monk plummeting to the earth with a powerful overhand strike.

The observer grunted.  “The fools.  They are too weak.  Their opponents are just toying with them.”

Four sets of eyes turned to regard the short flame-haired speaker.  Vegeta ignored them, intent on following the events below.  Yamcha was slowly pulling himself out of the rubble of a ruined building.  A few feet away, Krillan unsteadily rose to his feet.  Their opponents watched the two men, but did nothing to hinder them in any way.

“The pathetic humans,” Vegeta spoke derisively.  “They stand no chance and should run away.”

“Is that what you would do, Vegeta?”  Tien demanded hotly.

The Saiyajin Prince turned his eyes away from the battle and replied, “No.”

Piccolo snorted derisively.  But Vegeta ignored the opening and instead returned to watching the battle.  Krillan and Yamcha had tried to attack again but were once again swatted away with ease.

“Guys, I think we should help Krillan and Yamcha,” Gohan suggested worriedly, then blasted off without waiting for a response.  Tien glanced briefly at Chaotzu, who nodded.  The two flew down to extricate Yamcha from the side of a ruined office building, while Gohan aided Krillan out of a nearby fountain.

The five warriors converged on the two waiting figures.  Floating in midair, the opposing forces faced off.

Piccolo rose into the air above the cliff and started to fly towards the impending battle, but stopped before going more than a few yards.  He looking back and saw Vegeta standing with his arms crossed watching the stand-off with an enigmatic expression on his face.  Glancing at Piccolo, the Saiyajin inclined his head once before rising up into the air and moving to join the others.

“We didn’t ask for your help,” the Namek stated in a quiet voice.

“I know.”

“You don’t need to be here.”

“Hn!” the Saiyajin snorted, refusing to answer the unasked question.

Narrowing his black eyes at the shorter man, Piccolo spoke once more.  “Why are you here, Vegeta?”

The Saiyajin’s eyes briefly unfocused and he seemed to be lost within himself for a moment.  Drawing a breath, Vegeta replied softly.  “I have to be.”