Before you start reading, I'm saying this only because I have too: I don't own dragon ball z in any way. Grr stupid copyrights! And I also want to give a big thanks to my first reviewer Yukiko Hagarashi! I thank you so much for reading my older version of this story. She is also a very talented fanficer. You might have read her story dbz high school. And also read her story Peace, Purity, and serenity. It's a must read. And on with the story!

Prologue

Piccolo stood awkwardly outside of the son household, a baby carefully cradled in his arms. His chest and throat still screamed in pain, but he didn't care. He had just given birth to a child, his child! How was he going to take care of him? And how could he break the news to everyone, especially Vegeta? Screw it. He thought as he raised his fist to the door. He knocked on it. Moments later, Chi-Chi flung open the door. Her eyes grew to the size of dinner plates.

"Who's that? Is that a Namekian? Are you babysitting? Why-"

"Out of my way woman!" Piccolo interrupted.

He shoved her aside and stormed into the house. For a moment, the thought of asking her for advice crossed his mind. But no way! That woman made him get a driver's license! He's a warrior, not a taxi driver! He shuffled down the hallway looking for Goku, possibly the only one who wouldn't make fun of him. Well except for Krillin, but that's only because he's somewhat scared of him.

"Goku, Piccolo is here to see you!" Chi-Chi called out.

Suddenly, Goku barged into the hallway, a towel draped firmly around his waist. He had just gotten out of the shower.

"Hi Piccolo, who's that?" Goku greeted, looking at the infant.

"I… uh hand and…egg." Piccolo replied somewhat embarrassed.

"WOW! Piccolo, of all people I would've never expected you to have a baby!"

His green cheeks flourished with red at Goku's comment.

"What are you going to do with him?"

The question struck him hard, like a Kamehameha. What WAS he going to do with him, keep him, give him to Goku… kill him? NO, he's his and he was going to keep him.

"I'm going to keep him. I have grown a little lonely."

Goku nodded at his response. He gazed down at the infant. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't sleeping. (Nameks don't sleep)

"So, what are you going to name him?"

Damn, another hard question.

"Hey kid."

Piccolo gently nudged the baby's pointed nose. His eyes flung open, like shutters letting in the morning sun. The second the baby's big onyx eyes met his, he knew exactly what to name him.

"His name is… hi name is Flute."

"Flute huh?"

He nodded his head in agreement. Flute. It was the perfect name for his perfect baby. He was the spitting image of his father, a perfect example of a chip off the old block. The only difference was his name. Hell, he was even born wearing the same clothes and armor as his father. His shoulder pads were no longer than a foot across, and his small turban could fit in the palm of his father's hand.

"Two Piccolos, this is going to be fun!" Goku stated.

Piccolo could see it now; he would train him to fight and meditate beside the waterfall, he would become best friends with Gohan, he could take him to Namek to meet Dende and grand elder Moori. He couldn't wait to teach him all he knew, show him all he saw. Piccolo didn't know it, but Goku saw great things in this boy, different things. He could tell that his friend's offspring was a very special boy. Bur what could make a simple Namekian child so special in the eyes of the one and only Son Goku?

CHAPTER 1

Piccolo hovered about 40 feet above the waterfall. The cataract's mist sprinkled onto him as he commenced his usual meditation sessions. Flute and Gohan sprinted around in the shallow ends of the water, letting out playful shrieks as they sent waves of water towards each other. Piccolo turned his now open eyes to the children, he glared at them. They were irritating him to the extreme. He expected this kind of behavior from Gohan when Chi-Chi wasn't making him study, but not from Flute.

"SHUT UP! Can't you see that I am trying to meditate?" Piccolo shouted, his voice echoing through the valley.

Flute and Gohan stopped frozen in their tracks.

"Gee, I'm sorry Mr. Piccolo." Gohan apologized.

"I am sorry father."

A sigh escaped his lips as he continued on with his meditation. Flute sauntered over to a large rock and sat down on top of it, Gohan following shortly afterwards. Flute's mind was filled to the brim with thoughts of his home planet: planet Namek. He being ecstatic was an understatement. His father was going to take him tomorrow, courtesy of Goku's instant transmission. And he could hardly wait. Gohan turned his attention to his friend.

"Are you excited about going to Namek tomorrow?" he asked.

"Oh yes most definitely… but something does not feel right."

"What do you mean?"

"I… don't know." Flute turned away from his friend and examined his surroundings. Trees, grass, rocks, oh and of course the waterfall. He was sensing this evil entity coming from what he was guessing planet Namek. He didn't know who or what he/she/or it was. All he knew is that the energy he was feeling wasn't a good one. Could any of the others sense it as well? He turned back to Gohan. His friend was staring at the sky, a mixture of anger and confusion masking his face.

"Do you feel that Gohan?"

"Yeah, yeah I do." His friend answered with an unwilling tone.

Piccolo's eyes shot open. He looked at the sky, then at Flute and Gohan. Their expressions matched his; a confused angered glare. Something was occurring on Namek, something bad, something he didn't like or feel good about one single bit, but what?

Planet Namek

A maniacal cackle filled the air as yet another lifeless Namekian dropped to the ground below him. The once peaceful village now lay in shambles. A Saiyan stood in the center of the village, arms loosely crossed. Two others stood behind him, each clutching a Dragon Ball under their arms. His tail flicked in an annoying pattern. He examined the village for a possible hiding spot for the Dragon Ball. He turned to the last remaining Namekian: the village elder.

"I am going to ask you one last time old man… where is that Dragon Ball? I have already killed all of your little friends, so it would be a wise decision if you would just hand it over. If you don't… well you'll join them all." He ordered with a sinister smirk.

The elder sighed uneasily and leaned on his walking stick. Thoughts ran through his mind. What should I do? He thought to himself. All of the others are dead, and if I don't give this monster the Dragon Ball, then I will be dead as well. He sighed another uneasy sigh, went into one of the houses, and returned moments later with the 3-star ball in hand.

"Her you have what you want. Now take it and leave."

The Saiyan turned to one of the henchmen behind him, and said, "Cice, retrieve the Dragon Ball, will you?"

"Yes Prince Tato." The man on the left replied with a nod. He swiped the Dragon Ball from the elder, walked back to his spot, and let out a slight chuckle.

"Ugh… finally you decide to listen. And for making me wait so long… you shall die."

The village elder could not believe what he was hearing, not one single bit. He had already given him the Dragon Ball, why would they still kill him? Before he could dodge it, a sudden ball of Ki struck him, sending him careening into a house.

"That little worm should've listened to me. If he did without any hesitation, he might still be alive. Now move out men! My scouter's picked up another cluster of power levels due 23 degrees east. It's more than likely another village!"

And with that they three mean blasted off in the air, flying towards the next doomed village.

Planet Earth

Piccolo, Flute, and Gohan all flew in a small clump in the direction of Goku's house. They had to get to Namek as soon as possible. They had sensed an evil presence coming from there. Gohan stared straight ahead; unaware of the possibilities of whom that power may belong to. Part of him couldn't wait to get there, and the other part of him was scared beyond beliefs. Flute felt the same way, he couldn't wait to see the other Nameks alongside his home world, but he was also threatened by the entity. He turned to Gohan, whose eyes were fixated on their destination.

"Um… excuse me Gohan. But do you have any idea of who this may be?" He asked.

"I don't know. But let's hope he's not as bad as Freeza." Gohan answered, still staring straight ahead.

"Who?"

"N-never mind." Gohan didn't like being rude, he was raised much better than that, but all of these questions being thrown at him was getting annoying.

A few minutes later, they all arrived at Son Goku's house. Chi-Chi was outside cooking ribs on the grill. Once they landed, she ran up to him and gave him a large bear hug. Suddenly, her happiness diminished, and an angry look grew upon her face. She pulled away from her son.

"Gohan you knew you had studies to do! Now why did you go outside after I told you not too! Tomorrow is your first day of summer school!"

"I'm sorry mom, but I wanted to go out and play with Flute. I didn't mean to go; I just wanted a little break. I promise it will never happen again." He answered, staring at the ground.

"It better not! Now go inside and work on your homework young man!" she ordered, gesturing for him to go inside.

"But mom, there's some trouble on planet Namek. I have to go and help them."

"I don't care if the prime minister's in trouble! (FYI Japan has a prime minister, not a president or king/queen.) You're going in you room and doing your homework!"

At that moment, Goku toddled out, hands on his stomach. He turned to look at everyone.

"Chi-Chi, that smells great! I can't wait till it's all done!"

"Thank you Goku." Chi-Chi said.

He flicked his eyes over to his son, his happy go lucky expression suddenly twisted into a serious glare.

"You all sensed that power huh?" he asked the others.

Flute, Piccolo, and Gohan all nodded unwillingly. Chi-Chi darted in between her son and husband.

"You can go Goku, but Gohan is staying here to work on his studies! And besides, he has his first day of summer school tomorrow. He is not going under any circumstances!"

Gohan sighed and started inside.

"Aw come on Chi-Chi, can't you give Gohan a break?" He turned to Gohan and said "Hey Gohan, come back here."

Gohan whipped around and shot his father a joyful glance. He had always preferred being with his dad more than his mom. Sure he still loved his mom very, very much, but he found it more fun being around his father. Chi-Chi glared at her husband. She really hated it when Goku didn't' listen to her.

"He is NOT going back to that dreadful planet! My baby almost got killed the last time he went there!"

"Dreadful? Who are you calling dreadful?' Flute butted in. He found it wrong when people made fun of him or his planet.

All of a sudden, Piccolo stepped in between Gohan and Chi-Chi. "Your son is very strong. He even defeated Cell, now if he can do that; he will be able to cope on Namek." He said.

Chi-Chi stared at the ground below her, sighed, and said "I guess really have no choice, now do i?"

Flute and Gohan let out a cheer. They all (except for Chi-Chi) gathered around Goku, putting their hands on his shoulders. Flute, who was too short to reach Goku's shoulders, grabbed a hold of his father's hand. Goku raised his index and middle fingers to his forehead, concentrated on planet Namek's energy, and announced "Instant Transmission." And with that, they all disappeared. Chi-Chi gazed sadly at the sky, letting out a long sigh.

"That's my Gohan."

"We're here!" Flute cried out as he slipped away from the others. Goku's instant transmission, like always, was successful. They were on new Namek. Flute stopped at the edge of a large lake, so big it could have been a sea. He breathed in the fresh air. I'm here! I'm finally here! He thought.

"Flute, get back here!" Piccolo called out to him.

He turned around and skipped back to his father.

"Yes papa?"

"Try to stay with us. We need to stay together until we find out whose power we're sensing."

Flute nodded his head. Goku turned to Piccolo, said "come on!", and then blasted off in the air. Piccolo, Flute, and Gohan took off after him, unsure of what lied ahead.

Tato's spaceship

Tato stared out of the giant dome window on his spaceship. (Looks like Freeza's ship) He twiddled a wine glass in his hand. He flicked his eyes down to the wine glass, watching the brown liquid slosh around. Suddenly, Cice entered the room.

"Prince Tato, our scouters have picked up a couple of strong power levels due 63 degrees north." He announced.

Tato turned around, and took a sip of his beer.

"Well, how powerful are they?"

"Um… the strongest power level is about… 6,000, sir."

Tao's neutral expression turned into an annoyed glare. He crushed his wine glass, the beer oozing onto the floor.

"You mean to tell me that you interrupted me during my down time to inform me about some weak power levels?" he sneered. "I should kill you. You're lucky, because I don't feel like wasting my Ki on scum like you. So scram before I do!"

Cice bowed once and hurried out of the room. He walked into the hallway, and stumbled upon his friend.

"Hi Cice." His friend greeted.

"Hi Bosa." Cice grumbled, pushing past Bosa.

Bosa turned around, a confused expression on his face.

"Cice, what's wrong!"

"I think Prince Tato was around Freeza to much before he died." He replied and stomped down the hallway.

Bosa followed his friend into the soldiers ward.

Piccolo and Flute were the first to make their landing at a destroyed village. Goku and Gohan did so soon afterwards. They examined the now desolate village. Dead Nameks, torn up plants, and shrapnel littered the area. Flute's eyes were glazed over with tears threatening to pour out. He knew something bad happened, but not something like this!

"W-who could've done such an awful thing?" he questioned.

Piccolo rested his hand on his son's shoulder. He looked down at him. Flute looked up at his father. Their onyx eyes met, each with looks over sorrow in their eyes. Flute could tell that his father was about to cry. With greatly surprised him, considering the fact that the only time his father cried, was before he died fighting the Saiyans.

Gohan walked over to His friend, and said, "Hey, it isn't so bad. We can just wish them all back with the Dragon Balls."

Flute and Piccolo turned their attention to Gohan.

"Really?" Flute asked, whipping his drying tears away.

"Hey, yeah, you're right Gohan. But we'll have to use Earth's dragon for that." Piccolo said.

"Hey guys. I think we should find a place to rest first. I need to go to the bathroom. Plus I'm STARVING!" Goku butted in, rubbing his stomach. "I should've eaten some of those ribs before we came here!"

Flute, Piccolo, and Gohan stood there dumbfounded.

"Ok, we'll rest for now but where are we going to stay?" Piccolo asked.

"Over there." Goku answered pointing to a plateau. They saw nothing special at first, but upon further inspection, they saw a cave smack dab in the center of the plateau. Goku blasted off, into the air. Flute shrugged and took off, after him. Piccolo and Gohan followed soon afterwards.

Tato's ship

Cice and Bosa stood atop the spaceship, waiting for Prince Tato to meet them there. He had scheduled for them to go hunting for another Dragon ball. That's when his scouter broke. He had started searching for a new one. Bosa looked over at Cice, who was now sitting on the edged with his arms crossed.

"When do you think Prince Tato is coming?" He asked, with an eager tone.

"Don't know Bosa, but I sure hope soon. Because I just want out get out of here, get paid, and get home!" Cice snapped.

"My God you didn't have to spaz out on me. It's your fault you're in hot water with Prince Tato."

"Shut up before I hurt you!" he spat getting to his feet.

At that moment, Prince Tato sauntered out, with a shiny red scouter covering his left eye. He stopped in between his henchmen, gave each one a glare, and took off.

"Well that was random!" Bosa announced.

"Shut up and come on!" Cice growled flying in the air.

Bosa followed them. About an hour later, they all arrived at another Namekian village. This one was different from the rest, it was peaceful and serene. Instead of dead silence, the sounds of children's laughter, and murmurs filled the air. But Prince Tato would soon put an end to this.

"Hello, weary travelers. What brings you to Namek?" Greeted the unsuspecting village elder.

"Oh not much, not much at all, we're just here for your Dragon Balls." Prince Tato answered.

"The Dragon Balls, eh? Well sir, what do you plan to use them for?"

"I don't have time for your chit chat old man. Give me the Dragon Ball!"

The village elder let out a gasp as the others gathered around behind him.

"How rude! You won't get the Dragon Ball with that attitude!"

Suddenly, Prince Tato shot a ball of Ki towards the village elder. The Ki struck him, his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, dead. His walking stick clattered on the concrete. Tato blew the smoke from his finger, and turned his attention to the other Namekians, looks of sheer anger and horror plastered on their faces. Some of the children were sobbing at the loss of their village elder.

"How dare you! You won't get away with that!" One Namek spoke out, charging at him.

Tato stuck out his arm, while the furious Namek charged at him. Ata the last second he moved his arm and struck the Namek on the back of his neck. He too fell to the ground, dead. A few of the older Namekians shielded the youths' eyes.

"Would anyone else like to try?" Tato mocked.

Silence lingered in the air as they came into what seemed like an eternal staring contest. Their eyes locked on the three ruthless villains. At the back of the Namekian cluster, a young man, probably about 17 years old, held onto the hand of a younger one, who was probably around 5. He knelt down next to the youth and whispered into his ear;" Cargo, as soon as he looks away, we flee. Do you understand?"

The child nodded his head reassuringly. The older Namek stood up and returned his focus on the violence. He looked around, now noticing 2 other dead Namekians. He cursed under his breath. Why did this evil man come to terrorize us? What did we ever do to him? Cargo thought.

All of a sudden, Tato's scouter beeped then Bosa's, then Cice's. Soon, a choir of beeps could be heard. The three paused for a moment to look at what ever could be causing the scouters to act up. This is it! The perfect opportunity for us to escape! The older Namekian thought.

"Come on Cargo." He ordered tugging on Cargo's hand.

They took off as fast as they could. Within minutes, they were already a few miles away from the doomed village. They landed on top of a mountain. Each let out a weary sigh, Dacolo's being shaky. The older Namek turned to him.

"What's wrong brother?"

"Gast, I'm scared. And- and our friends are dead! Why did we have to leave? I do not want them to die!"

Gast knelt down again. He rested his hand on Cargo's head.

"Don't worry. It will be alright. Their deaths won't be in vain. We'll Go to elder Moori, and seek help from him." Gast said with a weak smile.

Thoughts flustered about in his mind, negative thoughts. No, everything wasn't going to be alright. No, he had a right to worry; Gast himself was worried beyond beliefs. He couldn't assure that the other's deaths would or wouldn't be in vain, or if they would even make it to grand elder Moori's village. He couldn't be sure of anything whatsoever. He was flat out scared. But he couldn't tell that to Cargo. Poor Gast didn't know what to do.

He took ahold of Cargo's hand and led him down to a crevice, where they could rest, and take hold of exactly what was going on.

So that chapter 2 for you guys! I hope you enjoyed! Happy new year!