Twenty years, he had traveled across the universe for twenty long years in search of the prophecy, and he had finally reached his destination. An opponent worthy of him, one who could make him go all out in a battle. The rush of fighting an opponent who could go toe to toe with him, the feeling of adrenaline he had almost forgotten was flooding back into his senses.

His every move was aimed to kill, but even throwing the full weight of his blows at his enemy wasn't enough to end the duel. They rushed at each other again and again, tearing into each other with savage abandon.

Battered and beaten, the two combatants winded up for a final blow, their fists crossing mid punch and in an instant, they had struck each other square in the face. The force of the impact shattered their surroundings in a massive shock-wave, their explosive powers blowing each other away.

Ba-bump.

The large single eye on his face shot open in an instant, he blinked a few times and glanced around the room in abject confusion. The soft pink glow from his ship's interior filled his vision; it appeared that he was in his ship, seated atop his throne. The memories of the fight, the feeling of it, they were all false, nothing more than but a fleeting dream.

With one hand he pushed his wild mane of neon pink hair out of his face, shaking his head as if to force the dream from his mind. The only sound outside of a low electrical hum from the ship was the soft metallic clinking of his ornate earrings. He stood up abruptly; the metal floor creaking against the force of his movement.

He stretched his stiff body, cracking his neck to the side as he walked down the steps from his throne into the main room. His massive footfalls echoed violently through the silent vessel, which remained as quiet as the depths of space. Though he had no need for it, his crew insisted on leaving a post of guards at the door, but they were suspiciously absent.

Not even Geryuganshoop, his most loyal follower had made his presence known. The creature would often greet him after he awoke from a nap and inform him of what had transpired while he slept, but not a single tentacle-like appendage of his could be seen.

He stopped at the door that led to the main common area of his ship, pausing to gather his thoughts. Still unable to shake the feelings from his dream, the boredom of reality hit him even harder than normal, and the lack of even his comrade's normal infectious enthusiasm wasn't helping.

"Where have they gotten off to?" He thought to himself aloud, the silence around him becoming unbearable. He looked around the room once more, as if to see if it held the answer to his question, but nothing was out of the ordinary outside of how eerily still everything was.

He shook his head again and exited his throne room, passing through the bowels of his vessel, the flagship of the ultimate band of pirates in his star system, the Dark Matter Thieves. They had plundered countless worlds and defeated all who stood in their way, unstoppable; they truly were the scourge of the universe. But he had come this far into space for a different purpose.

His crew followed for the profit of it all, but he was searching for something he had yet to find, something his very essence cried out for. The prophecy had seemed too good to be true, seeming to be more like a trap meant to drive him to the ends of the universe in search of something that was never there, but he had to try. His soul burned with the desire to fight one who could match him in battle, for what point was there to being the strongest if the competition is too pathetic to even make you try?

In the long years since he had begun this new quest, he had seen many strange things in the universe, but none matched the prophecy he had been given. In that time, his crew had gone from something he only used for his own gain and changed into something he actually cared for. His comrades, his friends, the strongest creatures in all of space stood by his side… so where were they now?

As he walked through his massive starship, a feeling of apprehension formed in the pit of his stomach, one which worsened the more he searched. Gone, gone, gone! Everywhere he looked, every post that should be manned, was empty. None of his crew existed within either the various relaxation rooms nor in their own quarters either, where had they all disappeared to?

He came to the door that led to the recreation center, a room not often used by him, but frequented by the rest of the crew. He recalled the last time he had been here, during an unfortunate surprise birthday party thrown for him by Geryuganshoop. The alien closest to the entrance had yelled surprise too early, and his instincts got the better of him- it took close to two weeks to repair the hull damage from his reaction. And they never did find that crew member's body...

But even then, when hiding, he could sense their presence somewhat; even when they tried to mask their presence they gave off low level energy signals he could pick up on. Not today however. No matter how much he stretched his senses, he couldn't find a single one of them. Even after he entered the room, there was no sign of them, but what was worse was there were no signs of them leaving either.

How could a crew in the thousands just… vanish? No evidence of them leaving, or any attack on them existed, and all of their personal belongings remained where they had left them.

Mentally exhausted from his search, he fell into a nearby seat in the common room. The room shook from the impact and the chair's metal frame groaned under the pressure, but it held strong for now. His single eye looked around the room, passing over a poster on the wall of a female alien of unknown origin with three eyes, who was wearing quite the impractical looking spacesuit.

He passed once more through the training halls, equipped with all of the latest technologies in order to make his forces as strong as possible. Holographic training dummies, advanced simulators so realistic they almost seemed to be truly happening, and other miscellaneous equipment lined the room. He closed his single yellow eye, and the image of Groribas practicing his various 'killing moves' came to the forefront of his mind, but the alien was nowhere to be seen when he opened it.

The cyclopean alien clenched his fist, his metal glove making a violent scraping noise. Finally, he stood up and headed towards the ship's control room, maybe the computers would hold some answers. After navigating the maze like structure of his ship, he finally arrived at the main controls, where Geryuganshoop should have been stationed, commanding the lower ranks. But the invertebrate creature was absent like all the others.

The hum of the machines was louder here as the ship's massive computer was located nearby; he walked towards the source of the sound and sat before a console. He wasn't sure what he was looking for as he glanced around the screens, finally, something odd managed to catch his eye. Pulling up the ship's travel log, his eye widened in shock. None of the star charts in his system matched up, he was nowhere in known space.

In order to not have a single point of reference, not even his own ship's records, he would have had to travel a massive distance, how could that have occurred in a single night? It was utterly incomprehensible, the amount of time he had slept wasn't nearly long enough for this to have happened, and it still didn't explain his missing crew.

But then he noticed it, he hadn't paid attention to the local sensors until this moment, too distracted by everything else to care. The ship was 'docked', so to speak, above a planet. This was perfect, he needed to vent his frustration at this series of events, and the world below would suffice. Chances are it would be uninhabited anyways, as most worlds were in the depths of space.

He stood up and turned around so swiftly that a gust of wind was created by his movement, his armor's cape flowing out behind him. He entered the hangar bay, passing by the docked fighters and boarding craft used for raids, and stood before a large window looking down on the planet. His lips spread across his face.

The planet lived, he could see lush forests and sparkling oceans even from this high in orbit. This was better than he could have imagined, and without hesitation he pressed the switch on the hanger doors, opening the bay into space.

"This will do quite well," and with his final words, left for no one in particular as none were around to hear him, he leapt.


Piccolo was not having a good day, a common occurrence since he had taken on the task of training this brat. Sure, he showed potential, but he was unruly to say the least. His training of the boy was harsh, but if they had any chance of surviving the arrival of the Saiyans they would have to increase their strength exponentially. It was for this reason and nothing more that he was helping his former enemy's child.

In the months since they had begun, he felt his reluctant apprentice start to understand the basics of combat a bit more than he already had, but it wasn't enough, they'd need more than basic fighting skills to go up against this opponent, if Raditz' warning was to be believed. He hated to admit it, but he actually wished Goku were here, something he'd never have thought would happen before.

It had only been a month since they had started sparring, his initial training method had been quite hands off. He'd left him in the Break Wasteland, a harsh environment if ever there was one. The name of the wastes was apt, for it was quite possible that spending six months in solitude here would have "broken" the boy, and he wouldn't be able to forge him into a weapon that could be used if he couldn't even survive this test.

But the boy had pulled through, and now he had started his real training. He grew stronger every day, but the deadline grew ever closer, would he be ready in time? He wasn't sure, but he would have to be if they held any hope of surviving.

"That won't do at all, Gohan, your strikes have no power behind them!" After taking a flurry of blows from the young boy that were so weak he could easily shrug them off without even blocking, he brought his leg up in a straight kick, sending the boy careening into a nearby outcropping of rock. "You must be prepared to kill your opponent with each blow, if you cannot even grasp this then everything we've done has been pointless."

"I'm trying; I'm really trying my hardest, Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan unsteadily climbed to his feet, he shook his head and a cloud of dirt and debris flew out of his unkempt head of hair. "Y-You're just too strong, I can't be like you!"

Despite his complaining, the boy didn't give up his assault, rushing back in even faster than before. With a swift punch to the face, Piccolo expressionlessly sent his trainee back to the ground.

"Again, focus your anger into your attacks and draw out your latent power!"

Their sparring continued throughout the day, with only a short break at lunch to recover. He might be doing this to train Gohan, but he had to sharpen his own abilities too, he wouldn't allow those foolish friends of Goku to surpass him.

They were about to start the next round, when Piccolo froze. Every muscle in his body tensed as he felt it, an immense power headed towards him. This speed… was it them? He put his arm in front of Gohan and motioned for him to step back, before he noticed the boy had already hidden behind a rock.

"It's too soon, are they early?!" he took a combat stance as he saw what looked like a meteor fall through the sky towards the wasteland, right out there own position, and he could feel his own weighted cloak flapping behind him in the wind.

The blazing trail of the descending object finally made contact with the earth in an explosive way. The resulting shockwave blew the surrounding area apart, and even after bracing for it Piccolo found himself struggling to stay on his feet. As the dust began to clear, he could see what it was. Within the crater was no asteroid, nor any kind of spaceship, but a man.

The power level he felt moments ago was in front of him, standing casually at the center of the explosive crash. Piccolo could feel the energy within him, though he couldn't get an exact reading, was he masking his abilities somehow? What he could sense however, was that this figure was roughly on the same level as him, if not a bit weaker than he had become after his training.

Maybe he had been worried for nothing, if this is the best they've got, he could take him on his own. He glanced back towards Gohan, still hiding behind one of the remaining rocky outcroppings in the area, and signaled for him to stay out of the fight. He couldn't feel any others approaching, so either none of Goku's friends had noticed, or they chose to stay out of it. Either way was fine for him, he didn't need them interfering with his fight.

Piccolo rolled his shoulders back and stepped up to the edge of the crater, a smile crossing his face as he thought about the upcoming fight. He hoped this Saiyan threat he had worried about for half a year would at least give him a good workout, but this power he felt barely seemed to be able to do so.

The cloud of dust finally dissipated all the way, and he could fully see the form of the invader. Slowly walking out of the crater was a figure in ornate armor, white cape flowing out behind him. His skin was blue, with dark black markings extending across like cracks. His wild pink hair fell messily across his face, partially obscuring his massive single eye. This thing… was no Saiyan.

There was something about the confident way the approaching alien walked that made him hesitate, normally he wouldn't have allowed an enemy, even one weaker than himself to get so close, but Piccolo found himself unable to move. And before he knew it, the cyclopean alien stood only a few steps away.

"Who are you, are you one of the Saiyan's allies?" Piccolo raised his fists, entering into a combat stance. He couldn't feel any hostility from the azure alien, but he remained cautious.

The strange creature made no movements, his expression unchanging as he stared at Piccolo with that unnerving single eye. Even though the power level of this foe was lower than his own, he still felt a tension in the air, most likely do to the alien's imposing figure. It was quite a rare thing for someone to be even near Piccolo's own height, and this creature exceeded it. The seemingly endless silence was finally broken by the newcomer, his mouth revealing a set of dangerous looking teeth as he spoke.

"Don't you know it's rude to demand another's name without offering your own first?" the arrogance in his voice reminded him of himself in the past, this was a man who saw himself above all others. The alien raised his hand slightly, but he didn't take any sort of combat stance. He merely gestured as if to say "get on with it" before returning to being motionless.

"Tch, don't act so high and mighty, alien," Piccolo wasn't one to hide his feelings, and his announcement toward the man before him was apparent in his tone. "Fine, I'll tell you my name. I am the Demon Lord, Piccolo. So, as I was saying before, who are yo-"

The strange alien raised his hand to stop Piccolo, before cocking his head to the side slightly and interrupting his question.

"You're not worthy of knowing my name, Demon Lord," Ignoring the angered growls from Piccolo, the alien continued. "But, as far as I can tell you possess the strongest energy reading on this planet. I don't expect much, but try and give me a good fight…"

Piccolo felt the Ki within the newcomer alien shift into activity; he was finally planning to attack. So, he wanted a good fight huh? That was a request the Demon King was more than happy to oblige. He sprang into action as fast as he could, hoping to catch him off guard with an early assault.

Putting as much strength as he could behind it, he threw a punch at the cyclopean alien, hitting him square on the jaw. The blue alien's regal looking boots dug into the ground as he skidded to a stop a few meters away.

Smiling, Piccolo prepared for his next blow, when he noticed it. The stoic face of the alien invader had changed; his face now carried a dejected expression. Was he… depressed? He must have just realized that he was hopelessly outmatched, and with that in mind Piccolo gathered his energy once more and dashed forward.

Time for him to test the results of his training.


It was his own fault for getting his hopes up, but he still couldn't help but feel disappointed. His opponent was unable to offer him even a momentary distraction from the crushing boredom that had driven him across the universe, and from what he could tell he was the strongest being on this world. If this was all the planet had to offer, then coming down here was pointless.

The green alien before him unleashed a barrage of strikes at him, each with the same force as his first punch. But even then, they weren't strong enough to even dent his armor, let alone injure him. And that was assuming they even managed to hit him, he had easily evaded them all, save for the first.

To an onlooker, it might have appeared as through the self proclaimed Demon Lord held the advantage, for the space pirate had done nothing but dodge since the fight had started. Indeed, the creature known as Piccolo seemed to think this as well, judging by his expression.

"You're pretty good… at running away!" The green alien leapt into the air and fell in a downward kick. The blow was easily sidestepped by the space pirate, who barely had to put any effort into moving. "Fight back already!"

The green alien was starting to show signs of impatience with his constant dodging; the anger on Piccolo's face was almost palpable. But he only continued to avoid attacks, every exchange of blows ended the same, Piccolo would launch into a flurry and he would dart around him. The green alien's strikes might as well be in slow motion, reflex alone was enough for him to keep up with them.

He jumped away from the latest strike, stopping a short distance away from his opponent. As a feared space pirate, he had conquered many worlds, plundered the depths of the universe with his crew, but he was unhappy. Nowhere out there was an enemy who could best him, or even match his feats for a short time, and this exchange of blows was no different. This fight was truly boring, if all he was going to do was punch and kick he might as well give up now, at least some of the more exotic aliens he had bested before had unique powers or abilities to make a fight more exciting, if a bit gimmicky.

"Why should I bother with this fight, when you don't even take it seriously yourself?" His single eye locked onto his foe, staring at him unblinkingly. "If you want me to get serious, then stop holding back."

A wry smile crossed the Demon King's face, his frustration vanishing in an instant. Taking his cloak in one hand and his turban in the other, he removed them. Throwing them aside, they made a disproportionately loud thud as they hit the ground. So they were weighted, is that how lesser creatures train?

"If you insist, but don't come crying to me when you regret it, you asked for this!" the Demon King flexed his muscles, a serious look of concentration appearing on his face. Erupting from his body, a wave of energy filled the surrounding area, surrounding him like an aura. The cyclopean alien could feel the power within his adversary increase significantly, though it was still a drop in the bucket compared to his full power. Perhaps now he could get some enjoyment out of this battle.

Piccolo's legs coiled in a half crouch, and with a piercing roar he launched himself forward at a rate far beyond his previous velocity. He punched harder than ever, his fists turning into a blur before his eye. The blows rained down upon him faster and harder with each hit, the Demon Lord's arms stretched like rubber, making his range impossible to accurately calculate.

With a powerful kick, Piccolo sent the space pirate flying through the air and into a jagged protrusion of stone. The blue skinned alien crashed through the rocks and landed on the other side, appearing unharmed. He shook his wild pink hair, letting the fragments of rock fall to the earth around him.

Piccolo was on top of him before he had a chance to regain his bearings, launching a powerful three hit combo, each blow hitting him squarely in the face. The Demon king followed it up with a knee to the stomach, before backing up and throwing his hands out in front of his body.

Orange energy sparked from his hands as it gathered in his palm, the ground around the two fighters shaking at the immense power gathered by the Demon Lord. The attack's charge completed quickly, and with a roar he unleashed its power.

"Masenko!" A wave of bright orange energy fired from his crossed hands, blasting into the invading space pirate within seconds, the light completely engulfing him. At the same time, Piccolo finally landed, a look of satisfaction painted on his face. He clenched his fist and turned away from the explosion, walking slowly back to his cloak. "Humph, don't say I didn't warn you."

A gust of wind blew past him in an instant, nearly knocking him over. His expression changed from one of victorious confidence to complete shock. Standing before him was the same alien from before, completely unharmed from his attack outside of a few scratches on his armor.

The alien's toothy grin, which made him appear more like a shark than anything else, was completely different from his previous appearance. No longer did the alien look bored, but he didn't look intimidated either by Piccolo's fierce display of power. Piccolo instinctively stepped back from the man, the pressure being released from his stance was enough to unnerve even the Demon King.

"That's the way, Demon Lord Piccolo," the cyclops raised his hand, flexing it. he walked towards the slowly retreating Demon King, his single eye almost bulging out of his head. "You are worthy… of being killed by my hand!"

An explosive sound rocketed through the wasteland, Piccolo couldn't even see him move, did he break the sound barrier that easily?! His ears were ringing from the blast when he noticed it, his left arm was gone.

"..!" His eyes shot behind him, finally able to find the alien, who had made it behind him in seconds. In the alien's outstretched hand, was his missing arm, cleanly torn from his body before he could even feel the pain, how was this possible?!

"How boring, were you not even able to keep up?" He tossed the arm away like trash and turned back to face Piccolo. His expression was once again dejected as he looked at the green man before him. "You can't hope to win like that now."

"Oh this? This is nothing!" Piccolo focused his thoughts on his arm, and with a burst of energy, a new arm shot out from his bleeding stump. He balled the new hand into a fist and raised it towards him. "See? Good as new."

That regeneration… was on a level close to his, how interesting. Maybe this wouldn't be as dull as he thought, though he still didn't expect much. The space pirate raised his arms and entered a combat stance for the first time in the battle, his entire form extruded his killing intent.

In the blink of an eye he was right in front of Piccolo, their faces inches from each other. The demon king backed off, but was struck while he retreated, the blow slamming him across the valley. Before he could land, the alien continued his attack, running with immense speed across the ground and leaping up to grasp him in mid air.

Piccolo was thrown straight up, a barrage of fists he couldn't even see, let alone avoid, beating him from underneath. At the end of the furious combo of strikes, a hand wrapped around his ankle, and he was slammed against the earth. Piccolo rolled as soon as he hit the ground, narrowly avoiding the alien pounding the ground where he just was. The attack shattered the earth, forming a small crater where he landed.

Barely able to rise, Piccolo forced himself to his feet. He rushed in, throwing a punch at his foe's head. The alien vanished the moment the strike should have landed, and a fist dug into his back. The alien lashed out from every direction, dancing around him like a whirlwind.

What was this difference in their power? Even after he got serious, Piccolo had no way of keeping up with this explosive speed. The energy he felt within him was far lower than his own, so why couldn't he beat him? If it wasn't for his regeneration, each hit was enough to potentially kill him.

Piccolo dashed away as soon as the attack let up, he only had one shot left, and he had to take it. He placed two fingers from his right hand on his forehead and began to concentrate his power.

The air filled with electricity as he charged his attack, normally, the space pirate wouldn't have allowed him to, but he had to admit he was curious what he was going to do. But as the attack changed, he grew disinterested, is this really what he considers a trump card? It was slow, too slow to use in a real fight.

"Take this! The full power of my special beam canno-" Piccolo would never learn the effectiveness of his technique against this particular enemy, for before he could finish his sentence the alien was upon him. With a swift punch to the stomach, the pirate ended the fight. Piccolo's beam fired past the alien, its aim diverted by the last attack. The energy behind it was certainly impressive, but anyone could gather that much power with enough time, it was a worthless skill in a real battle.

Piccolo's vision went black momentarily, and when it returned, he was half embedded into a rock wall of a canyon. He coughed, spitting up purple blood, even his regeneration had limits, and this was a wound he couldn't quickly recover from, not after using so much energy in that failed attack at least.

"You were a worthy opponent, I can't remember the last time anyone has lasted this long against me, but the outcome is clear," his pink hair swaying in the wind and his cloak flowing behind him, the cyclopean alien slowly approached the defeated Demon Lord. "If you have any last words, say them now."

"It doesn't matter anymore, if I'm this weak…" he coughed again; the pain spreading through his body was almost unbearable. "If I'm this weak, I would have died soon anyways, I can't stand up against the Saiyans at this level…"

"Saiyans?" The alien stopped and cocked his head to the side. He wanted to know more, who were these 'Saiyans' he continued to bring up? "I remember you asking if I was with them, just who or what are these Saiyans?"

Piccolo dragged himself out of the stone wall, collapsing onto his knees on the ground below. Purple blood poured from his wounds, coating the dirt. Unable to even look up, he responded to the alien.

"Invaders… powerful aliens who will arrive here in a few months," he wasn't sure why he was telling anything to this creature, but he felt compelled to, for whatever reason. "One arrived around half a year ago, he was the strongest opponent I've ever seen… until you. We defeated him, but more are coming."

"Are they… stronger than the one you defeated?" a spark lit in the blue creatures single eye, could this possibly be the prophecy he had been told about? Maybe, maybe he had just arrived on the planet too soon, and his fated rival had not reached it yet?

"If what his words said is to be believed, they are… magnitudes stronger," perhaps he was feeling desperate, or maybe he was delirious from the lack of blood, but Piccolo said something he never expected to come out of his lips. "Save… this world. You're strong enough t-"

"Silence, I care nothing for this world," He reached down and wrapped his hand around Piccolo's neck, lifting him up into the air. "All I care about is fighting strong foes, so I will fight them, not for you or this world, but for myself."

If he could still feel his lips, Piccolo would probably have smiled, he had taken the bait. If he could get this man on his side, they could win, even though his energy readings felt weak, he was incredibly powerful.

"But, it's not like you'll be alive to see it anyways," The alien raised his other hand, curling it into a fist. "Die with honor, Demon Lord Piccolo!"

"Leave Mr. Piccolo alone!" The space pirate hesitated as a cry cut through the wasteland, followed by an intense spike in a lesser energy reading he had ignored before. Speeding towards him incredibly fast, a small boy flew at him, sending him flying with a flying kick to the chest. He lost his grip on Piccolo's neck, who tumbled to the ground, hacking up more blood.

The space pirate was stunned, for a brief moment, his new attacker had reached an energy level close to his own, and far exceeding the Demon Lord's. The pirate stood up; as he returned to his feet he heard a crack and looked down. His armor had broken, it was a minor fracture that could be fixed easily, but never before had an opponent of his broken his armor.

The boy tensed up as the pirate walked towards him, he held his arms up and stood in front of the downed Piccolo, no doubt intending to protect him. In was unfortunate then, that his energy reading had returned to its original level.

"Boy, why do you defend one who calls himself a Demon Lord? Your strike felt like his, are you perhaps his student?" he waited, and the boy finally nodded, he looked terrified, but he refused to back down. He turned back to Piccolo, ignoring the boy completely. "Demon Lord, how long until these Saiyans arrive?"

"Around five months, if nothing slows down their travel." Piccolo, possibly through sheer force of will, managed to return to his feet. He wiped the blood from his face with his arm and returned to a combat stance, but his form was shaky at best.

"Then I expect you to make him as strong as possible before then," He turned away from the two and began to walk away, but he paused for a moment and without looking back, he spoke in an emotionless tone. "I am Lord Boros; do not forget this name, Boy."

And then, Boros jumped. His leap so powerful the force of it knocked Gohan off his feet, and then he was gone, like he had never been there to begin with. After a short time of complete silence, Gohan finally let out a long sigh of relief.

Piccolo however, couldn't help but stare at the young Half-Saiyan, who had, if only for a moment, overpowered a foe he couldn't even scratch. He had seen the hidden potential of Gohan's before, he was able to injure Raditz as well, but this was something else, what were the limits of his untapped power?

"Y-You think he'll come back, Mr. Piccolo?" Nervously, the boy looked up to his unlikely mentor.

"Most likely, when the Saiyans arrive, but I really wish we don't have to cross paths again before that."