Chapter I

As the final of the 23rd World Martial Arts tournament continued, Kami had begun to doubt Goku's ability to win. He had somehow managed to rise to his feet despite the gaping hole in his shoulder from Piccolo's surprise attack, only to be rewarded with a savage beating. Kami dug his nails into his palm, silently cursing his inability to defeat Piccolo earlier with the Mafuba. Of course, this was the way the boy had wanted it to be. Goku loved to fight more than anything else. Despite his great advances in ki control and mental conditioning, the young man had retained his lust for battle. It was the one, seemingly deep-rooted desire that Kami and Popo had been unable to train out of him. Goku had got his wish, and now it seemed he had bit off more than he could chew. If he fell, it was unlikely that anybody would be able to stop the reincarnated Demon King from wreaking havoc upon the Earth.

Although. Kami thought to himself. There is something different about this Piccolo. The darkness in his ki seems somehow… less complete than that of his predecessor. Rather than just malice, Kami could feel a great deal of anger and confusion in his evil counterpart. He was certainly a whole lot less sure of himself than his 'father' had been. Perhaps, even if Goku were to lose, all hope would not be lost. Suddenly, Kami was snapped out of his thoughts by a scream of agony as Piccolo charged forward with tremendous speed and drove his elbow into Goku's shoulder wound. The Earth's greatest hero was sent skidding along the ground from the force of the blow. He had barely had come to a stop when the Demon King capitalised on his advantage, driving his knee into Goku's leg with all his might. It was a sickening sound, and Kami felt whatever small desire he had to try to reform Piccolo slip away in an instant.

"H-he broke his leg," said Krillin, a hint of defeat in his tone.

Piccolo's laugh was malicious, and just the sound of it chilled Kami to the bone.

"You took my father's arm! Now I will deprive you of the same!" declared the Demon King as he fired a thin beam at Goku's left bicep.

The smell of roasting flesh reached Kami's nose, and he felt sick to his stomach. Goku's cries of agony were even worse.

"I have taken from you the use of your body. Now I will take your life, Son Goku," he said the name with venom as he rose up into the air, far above the ruins of what was once an arena.

Kami knew what was coming. A final attack that would completely obliterate Goku. He couldn't let this happen. There was only one thing to do. He turned to the tall, three-eyed warrior standing beside him.

"Tien, isn't it? You can save Goku if you kill me. Junior will die too. It is the only way," Kami admonished.

The warrior met his eyes, clearly unsure of what to do.

"Do not worry. You can restore my life with a wish from the eternal dragon." It was a lie, Kami knew. The dragon balls would turn to stone the moment he died, but he was more than willing to sacrifice his own life to protect the Earth and its people. It was his divine duty as Guardian.

'Alright. If it's the only way, I will do it," responded Tien, and Kami could see that he had steeled himself for what he was about to do.

"No!" came a cry from the battlefield. It was Goku.

"I c-can still win! You h-have to trust me!" he yelled, his voice cracking from the pain.

Kami didn't know what he was thinking. He couldn't even move. The battle was over. Piccolo glowed with energy, electricity crackling around him. An enormous blast erupted from his outstretched hands and plummeted towards the ground at Goku.

"Too late now," said Tien, and he was right. All hope was lost.

The light of the explosion momentarily blinded everyone, and the sound came a fraction of a second later with deafening intensity. As the dust settled and his hearing returned, Kami's ears were once again filled with the Demon King's maniacal laugh. The newly-formed crater came into view and Kami realised with horror that there was no trace of Goku.


"Ahahahaha! He was completely obliterated! My vengeance is complete and now I can finish what my father started by ruling this w-" Piccolo cut himself off, his head snapping to the right as he noticed a still-living Goku blasting towards him headfirst. Somehow, that stubborn cockroach had avoided the blast and launched himself into the air for a surprise attack. Reacting instantly, Piccolo raised his hands up high and cupped them together, before bringing them down full force and smashing his opponent with a double axe handle at the very last second. The blow stopped Goku's forward momentum dead, and he plummeted to the ground with tremendous velocity. The impact was devastating.

"You rodent! You tried to sneak attack me! You should have known that wouldn't work, fool!" Piccolo taunted as he lowered himself to the ground. Goku was face down in the bottom of the crater, his limbs spread. He wouldn't be getting up from that blow. Standing over his fallen opponent, Piccolo raised one hand crackling with energy, poised to deliver the finishing blow.

"Time's up, Goku. This is for my father," said Piccolo, his tone menacing, with a hint of glee.

Suddenly, Piccolo felt himself engulfed by a green vortex. Agony invaded every fiber of his being and his body became warped and stretched as he fought to regain control of it. It's the Mafuba! He realised. That old fool, Kami had used his momentary distraction to once again attempt the accursed technique. Only this time, Piccolo was too drained to counter. He swirled around helplessly, his body wracked with pain beyond imagining. And then, in an instant, his world went dark, and he knew nothing but the cold.


Kami collapsed to the ground, exhausted from having expended all his energy trapping Piccolo in the little ceramic bottle. His eyes grew heavy as he watched Tien quickly grab it off the ground and seal it with the cork. Reaching out with his senses, he tried to find any trace of Goku's ki, hoping desperately that the young man yet lived. What he found perplexed him. It was Goku alright. Faint, but alive. There was, however, something unmistakably different about him. A realisation dawned on Kami as he recalled what he had learned about the nature of the boy's mind. Head trauma. The Guardian of Earth fought desperately to stay conscious so he could warn the others, but it was no use. He had no energy left.


It should have been me. Roshi had witnessed his master successfully seal Piccolo with the Mafuba all those centuries ago. He had tried and failed himself a few years prior, and died for his efforts. Now he looked upon the motionless form of Kami, and felt a slight twinge of guilt. Surely the Earth needs it's Guardian more than it ever needed a doddering old hermit like me. He looked over at Tien and could tell the triclops was having similar thoughts. They both knew the technique, but Kami had reacted faster. Before anyone could say anything, Krillin rushed over to Kami and checked his pulse.

"I don't believe it. He's still breathing! I thought the Mafuba was a guaranteed death sentence. Kami's life force must be so strong, even at his age," said Krillin, awed.

"Forget the old prune! What about my poor Goku?" squealed Chichi, indicating to where her new fiancé lay still, his face mashed into the ground.

Roshi opted to ignore Chichi's blatant disrespect for their Guardian, now saviour too, and was about to say something when Bulma spoke up.

"Yajirobe, you have senzu beans, don't you? What are you waiting for!? Goku needs help!" she demanded.

The fat samurai looked momentarily flustered from being put on the spot, before nodding and rushing over to the fallen warrior. He rolled Goku over on to his back and pushed the bean into his mouth. He was in such a bad way, that Yajirobe had to use his fingers to assist him with chewing and swallowing.

For a second, nothing happened, then with a sudden bolt of shock, Roshi's highly attuned senses picked up something terribly wrong.

"YAJIRO-" but he was too late.

In a flash, Goku had grabbed the fat samurai by the throat with one powerful hand, and blasted him through the chest with the other. There was no hesitation. No mercy. Roshi felt an icy chill rush down his spine. This was all wrong.

Goku stood up, still holding Yajirobe by the throat. Roshi could see now that he had crushed his windpipe instantly. He tossed the body aside like it was trash, and seemingly began to scan the group.

Roshi met his eyes, and in that terrifying instant, he knew that Son Goku was gone. Chichi however, was less observant.

"Goku! What's got into you?!" she screamed, running over to him.

"CHICHI STOP!" yelled Roshi, but she didn't listen.

It was so sudden and yet, for a moment, time seemed to grind to a halt. A sickening crack was the only sound as Chichi's head snapped around from the force of an effortless, but vicious backhand from the monster that looked like Goku. She skidded across the ground and stopped at Roshi's feet. Dead.