Author note: Uniforms aside, the OC's appearance is up to you to imagine.
Amid the dinosaur screams of the wastelands, a witch sat atop a heap of rocks. She eyed her handheld's computer screen, which displayed a topographic map concentrated with gnarled, colorful rings.
"It's true... Awful," the witch said to herself, pressing the handheld device's beeping buttons to zoom the map out. "This area's entire mountain range is gone! This destruction. It's almost as bad as the loss of the Great Pyramids and Plateau over 20 years ago." She closed her eyes and gave the Dragon World Heritage Site a moment of silence. Though she'd volunteered some work in restoring those pyramids, there was a long way to go in excavating the remnants, which had mysteriously been blasted into the sand by some unknown force.
It was just like when the moon exploded. Twice! It was back and safe for years now, but how long would that last?
The witch slumped at the helplessness of it all. Pocketing her handheld and grabbing her broom, she stood up from the rock heap and stretched instead. She slapped her cheeks in determination.
There was no time for feeling sorry. Entire mountain ranges disappeared all the time on this planet. That was just a fact. Why, it was one of the planet's seven mysteries!
To put such destruction into perspective, in the last 25 years alone, over half of the world's mountains had mysteriously disappeared. Well... had. But thankfully, geological conservation was part of her job.
Her name was Reed Erwitch, a human and a geologist foremost, and a witch most of all. If that made any sense.
"Nice! The remnants are close. I'll complete the project and sign off," Reed said, clenching her fists to hype herself-up. A small fountain of energy snapped-up around her and dirt wafted away. Her brow furrowed beneath the brim of her oversized witch hat. "Re-emerging Collation"—she raised her broom and swung it—"Wave!"
With a loud zap, the wasteland flooded in blooming light, raising a flurry of rocks in the witch's wake. Shuddering for the sky, bits of grumbling stone and dust spiraled as their debris came together and slowly re-built the mountain. It was like its past disintegration was reversing in struggling slow-motion.
Reed held her hands high, her temples sweating as she focused. She strained. She grunted. Her eyes watered as her mouth pulled inward. At long last, the remaining rock debris patted down before her like a well-formed meatloaf.
The light subsided. The spell let out a sharp sound and vanished, and in the magic's wake, the re-built mountain stood tall, casting its shade down on Reed. It was almost as if it'd never been lost.
Reed collapsed on her hands and knees and gasped for precious air, totally sapped of strength. "Bhugugh, hwoo... done," she said, still out-of-breath. "Another mountain... back... from extinction." Sweat drenched her; proof of her immersion in her honestly pointless task. These mountains were never going to stop falling down.
After taking a few moments to steady her wobbly self, Reed sat up and weakly pulled a bag of melting gummy worms from her witch robe. "A completed job deserves a complete lunch break!" She closed her eyes cheerfully as she tapped the bag with the end of her broom. "Paloosha!" she said, which was her own magical word (and a precious gift given to her by the Old Witch of her village, along with said broom).
In a short burst, the bag of gummy worms transformed into a four-course tea tower.
The witch blissfully snacked on sandwiches and pastries, even as an ear-shattering caw pierced the heavens. Overhead, a dirt pterodactyl circled. From the looks of it, the creature had just selected the newly-rebuilt mountain as the ideal spot to brood on.
"Aww," Reed cooed, her heart filled with peace and inner contentment as she watched the dirt pterodactyl land. Rearing its neck, it spit a mud-like substance all-over the side of the cliff. It hocked up several more spit piles before desperately raking its beak through them. It was crafting a nice, new home. "How adorable!"
In this world, mountains were more than just chunks of rock. They were often invaluable homes and ecosystems for Earth's magnificent creatures. And half of the time, they were important historic monuments. Truly, it was a tragedy how they were all being blown away without any explanation, thought, or reason. It was puzzling, but that was what she was here for.
Encouraged by the busy dirt pterodactyl, Reed munched her lunch hurriedly and promised that she would restore even more mountains in the future. Taking out her device and selecting the current area on the map, she marked it "restored" and selected the day's date.
After finishing her meal and packing-up, Reed got on her broom and lifted off. "If I keep going," she said to herself, looking at her device, "I'll finish this range by the end of the week."
Fate had to laugh, as the sunlight suddenly dimmed. "Huh?" Reed emitted, looking-up and seeing what appeared to be storm-clouds. "That's peculiar." She clutched her hat brim as she looked on. "The weather report didn't say anything about rain today..."
Out of the sky, a form dropped and vanished. In an instant, rocks and debris exploded through the air.
The nearby dirt pterodactyl screeched. With a similar cry, Reed held onto her broom as the creature flew past her—its eyes bugged-out and tongue lolling as it was flung, flapping, for the horizon.
Energy crackled in the background, and as the choking dust settled, the bare sight before Reed set her teeth apart. She could hardly spit out her next few words: "It's... gone!"
The entire mountain that she'd so dutifully rebuilt that afternoon was leveled to the ground. In an instant.
It happened so fast! Reed found herself hyperventilating from the loss. Clutching her broomstick, she gulped down her anxiety and surveyed the horizon.
Far off, near the canyon she'd repaired only last week, she heard and saw a booming implosion. That canyon ALSO fell. "No way!" she cried, holding her head in absolute shock. This would HARDLY be the end of it. After a short minute, a repaired ten-million-year-old plateau was powdered into nothing. Further off, several semi-active peaks, detonated! All around, precious underground channels were being caved-in with systematic blasts. Everything her eyes could see, Earth's precious geography, was being blown away like someone stomping through her lovingly-gathered leaf piles.
Quivering with despair and then anger, Reed leaned on her broom and took-off through the sky.
As if appeased by all the geological destruction he'd done, Piccolo stopped his training mid-air and closed his eyes. A sensation snapped in the back of his skull and he frowned. He hadn't mistaken it. That speck of a power-level he'd avoided during his training run was coming closer. Though it wasn't an outright evil one, it was vague, like an ember about to catch on fire. It truly was an insignificant spark of a power level, suspiciously so.
Unexplainably, he was entrenched in dread.
Half-disturbed and half-expectant, Piccolo stood still in the air and waited to deal with it.
The air whistled as a human came closer. "Hey you!" Reed yelled. "Are you the one responsible for this carnage?!"
Piccolo went on guard. "Carnage?" he repeated, his words nearly catching in his throat. He looked back on the empty landscape and relaxed. He would've sensed any power-levels if there WERE any. "Carnage... That's a strong word to use, considering there's no one even around," he answered at last. "Explain to me, exactly, what kind of 'carnage' am I responsible for?"
"Will DO," Reed said, producing a massive wall map and un-rolling it. "Observe... You are here." She pointed at the map. "And all these landmarks"—she slapped the map from corner to corner—"once existed, quite majestically, UNTIL you blew it all up." The laminate wobbled loudly. "You understand? Destroying mountains is bad!"
Piccolo grunted, dismayed at what was happening.
The witch's lecture was far from over. "Look around. These wastelands began forming 50 million years ago," she went on, "when a major tectonic cataclysm caused this unique formation of the mountain range before us"—she jabbed a finger at the map and traced to the outer edge—"along with the plateau of this canyon here, which HAD been shaped 30 million years ago by the Ancient World Glacial Melt Event, along with these semi-active peaks, all which were, on this very afternoon, slain where they stood!"
Piccolo couldn't believe his ears. "Slain?" he emitted. They were JUST mountains.
Reed rolled-up the map. "That's right!" she said, not done yet. "All over the world, mountains and other such features are disappearing at an alarming rate, causing a rapid decrease in biodiversity!" She clenched a fist and beheld the sky. "That's because these geological features are important habitats for Earth's creatures. Not only that, but they're landmarks and monuments steeped in lore and tradition! Legends! Like the inlet cove of the largest dragon horde, or the demon mouth mountain, where starving families once hurled their aging kin into the bottomless abyss below!"
Big-eyed, Piccolo floated back.
She instantly honed in on his discomfort—and recovered the distance. "Do you understand now?" she asked, pressing in. She held onto her broomstick and leaned forward, puffing up and staring at him in anticipation. Upon seeing how bewildered he was instead, she deflated. Of course. "Ah, forget it. Maybe blowing-up mountains is fun somehow," she said, knowing that no one ever understood her job anyhow. "But even so, maybe try putting those mountains back together sometime instead. Ok? It just might be fun as well. Who knows!"
Words evaded Piccolo. How was he supposed to un-blast rock? How was he supposed to perform such a backwards action? Destroying mountains was all he knew! It was all anybody knew—at least within his questionable friend group...
His gaze unfocused, transfixed by this total conundrum.
"You know," Reed started, "you're the first person to ever really listen to me... without laughing in my face..." She held her chin in reflection. "So I'll let it go, but just this once." She nodded. "Well. I guess I'll see you around, then... maybe." She half-heartedly waved and left as she'd arrived. Flying down to the still-smoldering rubble, she landed and went back to work.
Though Piccolo knew he'd been excused from his crimes against the background scenery, he remained shocked nevertheless (and floating in mid-air). He couldn't believe that, after five months of isolated training, and several decades of routine destruction, he suddenly had to deal with such an awkward interaction—and under such a taxing accusation to boot. The whole reason why he trained in these kind of places was to avoid such problems!
Not that he felt THREATENED by her or anything. Piccolo just wasn't sure how to deal with human women sometimes... Though—he always put extra effort in, manner-wise, and was pretty sure he was better at it than some people he knew. At least, according to Chi Chi.
For real though, why was this witch hanging around in such a dangerous and barren place? And what did she mean by the last thing she'd said? Was she really OK with her life's work constantly be misunderstood, just because it's hard for anyone to believe that a bunch of tall, pointy rocks were there long enough to be significant?
More importantly, why did he have to feel so bad?
The witch's power-level spiked once more.
Seeking understanding, Piccolo watched, arms folded. He noted that maybe he'd gotten too careless lately, especially since he'd landed so close to a civilian during his training. As he mentally chided himself, his eyes traced the workings of the witch's restoration technique.
Rubble levitated, and as Reed called-out, "Re-emerging Collation Wave!", light and rocks flung across the sky like an electric hailstorm... A hailstorm that might as well have taken place in a world devoid of gravity.
Slow!
As advanced as the magic was, the laughable pace was distressing.
Piccolo watched as the underground cavern he'd uncovered in a blast-run was carefully pieced back together and closed-up by a reforming, low hill. Watching the last hundred pieces lumber into place, however, was mental agony. It was like waiting on the microwave.
After a tedious process, the magical restoration completed and the witch's finished spell gave out with a dull tone.
After such an admittedly supernatural display, Reed took one proud look at her accomplishment and fell flat on her butt. "Whew!" she puffed quietly to herself, clearly still pushing her sad human limits. "Looks like I can do three in a day now. An improvement! I'll..." She panted. "Get it done eventually..."
Piccolo perked his ears, hearing her from afar with his excellent hearing. His brow twitched as he stewed in his bothersome guilt. Eventually? At this rate, restoring these landmarks would take the rest of her natural life! After witnessing her technique once, he understood it completely. It wasn't just a spell, it also involved ki.
Piccolo knew what had to be done. Facing the semi-active mountain peaks he'd brought down earlier, he raised a hand and powered-up. He focused on the land before him and sensed the residual traces left over from their pre-existing, natural fused state. Such an ability took a heavy load of control over a moderate amount of ki rather than brute force. But it was also mixed with a re-purposed strain of magic he was familiar with. He conceded that it might not be such bad training in itself. "HAAAAAA!" he yelled-out and released his own Re-emerging Collation Wave, bringing the targeted mountain debris together. Rocks were seemingly teleporting through the air.
Yanked from her rest, Reed crawled to her knees and gaped at what Piccolo was doing. Right before her very eyes, the entirety of nearly a month's amount of work was being done in mere seconds. Gravel shot into place with the intensity of reverse falling stars as multiple mountains were forcefully slapped back together with total accuracy, the line of them growing and towering in the sky. The precious underground channels were resettled beneath their canyons. The massive plateau twinkled, re-emerging from its powdery grave. After the last rocks packed the spires of the semi-active mountain peaks, Piccolo's spell ended and its dissipating energy wave rang through the sky with a brighter and clearer tone than anything she'd ever seen or heard.
Reed rubbed her eyes and then dropped her hands at her sides, her entire concept of magical restoration left in shambles. "Whaaat?!" she yelled out. "What the... Wh… How?!" She gnashed her teeth, shaking away the temptation of jealousy. "I've never seen so many done at once! Is that even possible? Of course... something so incredible just actually happened! How did he even DO that?" She gripped her awestruck noggin, unable to contain herself. "S...strong! He's way too super strong!"
Not sure what to make of such noisy praise, Piccolo looked at her once and turned away. Him? Super strong? Did he have news for her—not that he'd be around much longer to share it. Relieved of his guilt, he flew off.
The witch followed him.
Piccolo tsked, bothered. She gained on him in no time at all.
"What do you want now?" he asked.
She was riding close behind, shiny-eyed and expectant. "I want to talk to you!" she called-out.
Knowing he had to deal with this for it to go away, Piccolo hovered down and landed on one of the mountain peaks he'd just restored. The witch descended after him and they stood face-to-face.
"Really now, there's not much to talk about," Piccolo said. "I only did what I saw you do."
"How?!"
"I... learn fast?" He coughed and regained his wise aloofness. "I've been training for decades as a fighter, steeling my resolve. My limits are different." He scowled.
"Oh, huh," Reed answered. "But how?" She wasn't getting just how different he was, even as he towered over her like a giant string bean.
Piccolo sweated. "Over the years, I've learned that humans have an impressive and unique potential," he began, (vaguely monologuing), in hopes that she'd lose interest and leave, "but in comparison, I'm more specialized in other particular ways, being I'm descended from a world apart. It's a difficult lesson to learn, but this is where it stands. Strength is often an absurd birthright of sorts..." He gripped his arms. "But there are paths beyond that. With constant training, it's possible to attain new heights, regardless of such differences. This is the only explanation I can offer."
The witch appeared troubled. "Well, I can... I mean... I can definitely tell you're up-there. And for it to really factor into your magical abilities..." She held her mouth. "I see, interesting! So it's all because you're a true martial artist." She nodded. "Wow... I really want to become one, too!"
His fangs snapped. Did she even listen? He might've danced around it a bit, but he basically said it was because he's a freaking ALIEN and she's not! And if that wasn't clear-cut enough, the signs were literally right in front of her! From Piccolo's green, pointy-eared appearance alone, anyone else would've cast him as a demon and dropped the conversation (and ran).
"Don't you get it?" he let out, unable to contain his disbelief. "It's all because I'm not human!" He pointed at his face so she could properly understand.
Fidgeting, the witch laughed and raised her hands. "Right, sorry, of course!" she said. "I wasn't trying to be insensitive regarding, uh… oh no." She rubbed the back of her head. "I DID recognize that, too, I just wasn't sure whether I could bring it up, is all..."
Piccolo closed his eyes and bore it all. This was pointless. And just so stupid. If he flew away now and didn't stop, maybe he could escape. It was dastardly, but it was a thought.
"So..." the witch started, aware of the silence she'd brought on. "About what I said before..." She poked her fingers together. "Actually, I..."
Just as he was wondering if her brain could perhaps be broken, Piccolo's ears twitched. In that moment, he heard ten-billion tons of movement rumbling beneath the earth's crust. He moved. Grabbing the witch by the arm, he powered-up and dragged her across the skyline screaming. They gained altitude and distance until the shock wave hit them.
Far behind them, the mountain they once stood on exploded, spilling hot magma and soot in suffocating abundance. Piccolo pulled the witch against him and shielded her with his back as the ensuing force threatened to tear them down.
Smoke pulled in atmosphere-high wisps as the eruption blackened the air—at least until Piccolo's aura burst and swept as much as it could clean. As the threat of volcanic fallout subsided, so did Reed's terror. Through gasps of fresh air, she exited her bubble of hyper-vigilant near-death rage and realized, quite pointlessly, that she was being held in two huge arms.
It was strange. Now that she considered it—she'd never been held so carefully before in her whole life, and abrupt sensations abounded. The all-encompassing warmth. The strange thrashing in her chest.
She sweated like a bagged bread roll left out in the sun.
After a considerable wait, the sooty air settled to a visible haze, and Piccolo flew them back to the ground. As he stood them steady, he pityingly glanced at the shivering witch still glued to his chest.
Truly a sad sight. He had to frown. It was a reminder that Earth's civilians were a wobbly-kneed bunch in constant need of saving.
It couldn't be helped.
"Are you alright?" Piccolo asked anyway, dreading she'd pass out, since that'd present a whole new slew of problems. He waited for a response but none came. The witch's heart was still pounding noisily in his ears, though, so he took that for an answer and let her go.
He half expected her to drop like a rock, but instead, Reed carefully took her footing and stared face-down, very interested in the ground.
Piccolo asked again: "Hey. Can you still hear me?"
Magicking her broom from seemingly nowhere, Reed clutched it close and nodded with a squeak. She hid behind it and turned away.
Piccolo bore his teeth. What an ingrate. Not that he needed any thanks. So the witch finally decided to keep some distance from him. That was understandable. Her heart was still rattling around in her chest and he could sense that she was in a state of disarray, though her mind was still surprisingly shrouded. Well, that worked out in his favor, so he couldn't complain.
"Then. I'm leaving," he said.
As soon as Piccolo took one step into the air, he found himself reeling backwards. He choked, startled by the awful force Reed was now exerting on his already dense cape.
"Hold on!" she cried, tugging. "I didn't say thanks! I mean... I'm sorry, I know it might be sudden, but I... I really have to ask you something!"
Forced to land, Piccolo snarled. "Alright! I'll hear you out, so let go already!" He blocked with an arm.
She released him and he scrambled to regain his composure. It was in that precise moment, as he cautiously backed away, that he noticed it.
The witch's blushing face. Her glowing energy and glistening eyes. "What I wanted to ask," she started, "Is... I... y-you..."
Piccolo realized her lovey-dovey feelings at once and choked. He'd seen this phenomenon before, but never knew he'd ever have to deal with it himself! As it seemed, just because he'd saved her life, the witch had gone and developed some misguided feelings about him! How bothersome... Humans on Earth always clung so desperately to such cliches and sentiments, so much so, that it'd given him a distaste for it all long ago.
Not that he was bitter! (And not that he wasn't aware of love being literally universal.) He just lived apathetic in the face of it. Apathetic... but not clueless. He'd seen love play out plenty of times before—and he'd witnessed its many troubling varieties. His wiser self even knew of it causing entire wars during Earth's long history.
Piccolo closed his eyes as he fell deeper into his internal tangent.
Not that love was totally a bad thing in itself... Sure, it was kind of overrated and pretty asinine, but he knew a handful of people who found true strength and a better way of life through it, along with doting partners. And happy home lives. And peaceful picnic get-togethers. And cute kids.
Not that he cared about any of that!
So maybe there were equivalents to it back on Namek (well, barely), but that was another story for another time.
Regardless of how his psyche had evolved over the years, Piccolo knew he'd always been a loner. And he just wasn't interested.
"Look," Piccolo began, reaching into the depths of his know-how in order to let the witch down easy, "I'm not exactly from Earth..." He'd never dealt with this before, so he figured it'd take some trial and error to master the perfect brush-off.
"Wow! Even better," Reed exclaimed. "That means you know lots of new moves to try."
His eyes betrayed his terror. What did that even MEAN?! "I wouldn't say that!" He grit his teeth and stopped himself from raising a barrier. "I don't think you'll find what you're looking for in me!" It took everything to keep his panic from showing.
She pushed closer, readying her hands. "If this is a test, then I'll go the extra effort. I'll apply myself!" She appeared ready to climb him.
"Wait a moment!" He recoiled as she advanced on him—a ridiculous sight being how small she was in comparison. "You definitely have other, normal options!"
"Absolutely not!" The witch formed an X with her arms and shook her head. "You're the first guy to really catch my eye! It has to be you!"
"Hold on, you might be saying it has to be me, but in reality, you don't actually think that's a good idea. Because... it's not!"
"Yes! It is, I promise!" She clasped her hands together and begged; "I'll work hard, I'll gladly die trying if need be, so please, please!" She shook her hands—as if beseeching luck itself to throw her a winning roll. "Please train me!"
Piccolo froze. "T-train... you?"
It couldn't be. Had he somehow completely misread her?
The witch nodded, her cheeks still blushed and her confusing energy still warm and fuzzy.
No. She was just weird.
Piccolo crossed his arms and scrunched his eyes shut. "Fine. If you're that serious about it, and you're willing to go through absolute hell," he said, "I'll train you." His forehead beaded with perspiration. He knew he was being let-off easy in light of what could have been, but still. He couldn't help but feel disappointed. Somehow.
With his mind wandering towards dejection, Piccolo stared off into the distance. He had to wonder. Wasn't it pointless to measure his self-worth in some Earth measure that just couldn't and would never apply to him, a big green space goblin? And after everything that'd happened to him—after continually being de-regulated to a second-rate warrior despite containing the shadow of a kami, was he really now content with just standing around between brief stints of training, doing nothing, while entertaining bizarre feelings about some hypothetical future happiness?
Actually, a good part of him was used to standing around like this, for centuries in fact, but he was just being facetious.
The witch's voice snapped him out of it. "Are... are we meditating now?" she asked.
He sweated more. "Yes," he emitted, closing his eyes and pretending to reach a state of total zen. He said he'd do it, but was he really going to train her? Wouldn't he have to fight her at some point? What if sparring and grappling got awkward? Sure, she was a witch, but she also seemed like a normal young Earth woman. He could already feel his panic resurging.
Feeling it was tantamount to her training, Reed followed suit and concentrated as well. "Ok," she said, eyes dutifully closed. "But... first, if you don't mind me asking, could you tell me what your school's style is called, or perhaps... your name?"
Put on edge, he found himself blurting it out: "It's Piccolo!"
"I see! My name's Reed Erwitch." She sounded so happy at just being able to manage standard introductions with him. "So what are we starting with today, Great Master Piccolo?"
He flinched. "Alright, first lesson! Don't call me that." If the others heard, they would certainly misunderstand!
"Then, Mister Piccolo?"
"I feel like this has happened before..."
"Teacher?"
He cleared his throat. "Next lesson!" He suddenly decided to assign her a fool's errand. He pointed at the distance. "Destroy one-hundred mountains!"
"Destroy... Mountains?! B-but..."
"Do you have a background in martial arts?"
"Not... completely?" Reed looked discouraged already. She bit her lip and pored over the ground.
"Then you have a whole week to destroy the equivalent of one-hundred mountains," Piccolo said, relieved how this plan was already crushing her will. "If you fail, start over. If you fail twice, the required amount will quadruple to four-hundred mountains just to earn a mere passing grade from me." He knew it was cruel, but he decided that packing her with high-intensity, low risk training would be the best strategy in any case. "Fail after that and you might as well quit."
She said nothing.
Taking her speechlessness as a cue to escape, he raised himself into the air. "I'll be watching your progress," he said, "from afar." He flew off.
Reed quivered, processing the task she'd just been assigned. "Only one week to do what?!" she echoed, the wind fluffing dust across the wastelands faster than her piddly grasp on time could handle.
Flinching, distraught by her short time limit, she faced the nearest mountain and powered-up. Lifting her hands above her head, she squeezed them together. "Wizard," she called out, her teeth clattering out of nervousness, "Cap!" Palms slung out, a blue burst dilated forth and beamed the mountain in the distance. The entire rock crumbled apart into a tidy heap. Out-of-breath already, she reclaimed her broom and re-built the mountain once more. She blasted it again, only to rebuild it. And then again. And again.
At the end of the day, Reed managed to blast and rebuild the mountain fourteen times, a record-breaking effort on her part which dropped her into a coma before nightfall.
The next seven days would truly be her own personal hell.