While the earthlings were busy fighting for their lives, darkness had consumed the day. Night settled over the lookout, it's strange, almost dream-like landscape now especially eerie due to the change in lighting. Adding to the mystique, a thin layer of mist shrouded the floor of the sanctuary from view.
However, not everything was abandoned. In the fog, at the very brink of the belvedere, was Kami. Unlike human beings, Namekian required virtually no sleep to function properly. Normally, the guardian would find things to preoccupy his time. After all, looking after an entire planet was a job that didn't really leave you much room to be bored. Nevertheless, the old man was feeling extremely restless lately and he had a gut instinct that he knew exactly why he was.
Piccolo. His alter ego troubled the other Namek. Although the Saiyan's were in the forefront of everybody's mind, Kami was having a deep underlying suspicion that the former demon may be an even more grave threat to the Earth's survival.
Although he didn't look it, at one point in time Kami was one of the strongest fighters in the known universe. And when he and Piccolo split, he was still powerful but nowhere near so. A soul divided requires a lot energy to sustain its existence, and most of his energy tapered away when he tore himself asunder. Still, he and his evil alter-ego were more than formidable even after the painful separation.
Unfortunately, the divide had taken far more from Kami than it did Piccolo. Despite his fair intentions, the new guardian's actions created one of the dire threats in the Earth's history. And sadly, he just wasn't Piccolo's equal on the battlefield. The first century or so was quiet, but then everything went down and the anointed guardian proved helpless to stop the bleeding. If it wasn't for Mutaito, then there wouldn't be a world today alas.
Centuries past and the guardian's youth eventually withered away. For awhile, the old man started thinking that perhaps he'd be able to die with the Earth safe and sound. And then Pilaf went and mucked it up, releasing King Piccolo again. Fortunately, the evil demon was just as much tethered to the perilous grip of father time as he was. Even wishing for his youth back didn't help much; his power couldn't grow and expand because his frail alter-ego wouldn't be able to handle it. Thankfully, Goku was able to capitalize on King Piccolo's weakness and beat the demon.
But not even Kami could comprehend King Piccolo's craftiness. Spawning Piccolo at the last second, and then infusing the boy with his soul, the demon averted death for the second time in a row. That scared Kami.
Before this new Piccolo, the purely evil part of him was completely tethered to Kami. Kami's limits were his limits and now that Goku had surpassed the demon in strength, the guardian could rest easier knowing that King Piccolo didn't have the sufficient power to win any longer. The reality of what Piccolo was shattered that resolution.
Piccolo's true soul though was distinct from his father's. Rather, Piccolo was the product of two souls harboring in the same body. A truly remarkable mess! Although his physical similarity to the original King Piccolo was uncanny, making the distinction between him and say…Tambourine much more hard to believe, the younger Namek was very much his own person rather than a complete reincarnation of his forefathers.
When Kami first learned of Piccolo's existence, nobody could really fathom the dread and anxiety that coursed through his veins. Being honest about that day, the older Namekian thought all was lost. With a new body bestowed upon him, Kami knew that nobody, not even Goku, was probably capable of defeating him mano-e-mano. The old guardian secretly resigned himself to the fact that there probably only one way of defeating Piccolo now: the containment seal.
Hope though had strange ways of surfacing. During the three years prior to the Twenty-Third Budokai, the guardian had assumed the younger Namek had been gathering resources just as his predecessor had done. However, when that fateful day had arrived, Kami was stupefied to sense that Piccolo's power was far lower than whatever he had envisioned it to be.
It made no sense to the guardian. He convinced himself that the first thing King Piccolo would do after spawning would be to merge their souls and accept the power intake that he got when his youth was restored. Inexplicably though, Kami's future prognosis didn't measure up to the truth that Piccolo made unintentionally clear to him.
King Piccolo had not merged with him. For whatever reason, Piccolo's unique soul had refused to accept the union in favor of retaining sovereignty over his own mind and body.
During the Budokai, Kami had chalked up the reason why his original theory had not come to pass from a pragmatic angle. Neither King Piccolo nor Piccolo knew what would happen if a tethered soul joined with a non-tethered soul. In fact, not even Kami knew. Would they die? Would this new Namek be tethered like King Piccolo was to Kami? Would this new soul be completely free? It was a complete mystery, and if there was one thing King Piccolo didn't like, it was mystery.
Now though, Kami suspected something more was afoot. Deep down, the guardian was thinking that Piccolo had rejected his father's advances. He couldn't understand why, or if his suspicions were true, but whatever those reasons were, the old guardian thanked them immensely.
However, what was true then may not be true now. Piccolo, whether he wanted to accept it or not, couldn't grow at the full throttle pace a Saiyan could. He tried his best, that much Kami knew for certain, but the guardian wasn't naïve enough to think that the other Namek would be satisfied with his progress.
Desperation can make somebody do something they wouldn't normally dream of doing. Kami wasn't calling his intertwined compatriot desperate, but he didn't know how the Saiyan threat was mixing with the other Namek's psyche. Who knew what Piccolo would really do if his back was truly against a wall.
Whatever it was though, Kami truly hoped that it wouldn't come to that. If there was a union between Piccolo and his sire, well…it could be the end of everything as they knew it.
`Where are we?' Although remarked with different forms and phrasings, every Z-fighter was thinking the exact same thing as they surveyed this new world they had been dropped in. Somewhere along the line,this place must've lost a fight with a lawnmower and a chainsaw.
All of them had seen their fair share of dilapidated neighborhoods and crumbling buildings back in the day, but destruction of this scale was almost unheard of to all of them. Every house looked to have been half way to complete ruin, and no street was free of rubble pits and craters bigger than those houses. Combined with the dreary reddish-purple sky and you got a place fitting for the apocalypse.
And if the place couldn't get any creepier, it was at that moment when a fully intact skeleton fell down a gully right in front of them. Understandably, this added a lot to tense atmosphere that already pervaded the scenery all around them.
The cheap horror movie thrill though devolved into intrigue when they looked closer. Immediately discernible to all of them, the dead soldier was, without doubt, a Saiyan.
Crouching down to inspect the corpse, Yamcha brushed his hand across the appendage in question. Sensing that the thing was very real, the former bandit took the same hand and pushed himself back upright. Turning to the rest of his comrades, the warrior promptly dispelled any notion that this was any figment of their imaginations. "He's definitely a Saiyan."
"Where are we?" incredulously asked Krillin, not really believing his eyes. This place was already making him feel slightly skittish and they hadn't even been there for five minutes. His warrior instincts were pretty much blaring like fire alarms, telling him to get out and get out now. Still, he kept his composure and stayed put.
"We're probably at wherever Goku was from," stoically answered Tien, his tone sharp and cutting. Like Krillin, the warrior was left very restless by his environment. As a former assassin, the place may as well have a sign posted in the area with "ambush ahead" written with bright neon strobe lights marking it. That said, where his bald friend turned his unease into anxiety, he turned his unease into focus. Nobody was going to get the leg up on him, not with his friends and allies on the line as well.
Suddenly, a noise darted through the area. Not particularly loud, but that wasn't the important part. It wasn't some natural incident, it was caused by something. They weren't alone.
"You hear that?" asked Yamcha, probing his friends if his imagination wasn't playing some demented game with him. Not like it mattered, he was sure that he could compete with any enemies that came his way.
Nodding his head up and down in affirmation, Tien silenced any lingering thoughts of the sound being in their heads. "The real question is where?"
"You guys want to scope this place out?" offered Yamcha, wanting to do something instead of hyperventilate. He was a man of action at heart; he couldn't really see himself just sitting on the sidelines twiddling his thumbs. It would drive him half-way insane.
Crossing his arms across his chest, the former assassin lightly flicked his fingers in Yamcha's direction, implicitly giving the other warrior the go-ahead.
Briefly scanning his surrounding, Yamcha signaled the group to advance into the causeway to their left, which was obeyed in return. It was a fairly easy choice. Unless you were content walking off a cliff or rushing headlong into the wall, you didn't have an option. Still, it was quiet. Too quiet.
Even after walking two feet, the brutality of the battle became apparent to all of them. Heaps of corpses could be found pretty much everywhere. Some were Saiyan, some weren't. Regardless, they could be found on the ramparts, in shallow graves shared with dozens of other men or even just littering the street like vermin. It was hard not to comment on.
"What happened here?" pondered Krillin out loud to nobody in particular.
"No idea," replied Yamcha, shrugging his shoulders. Whatever happened here completely escaped his comprehension, although he really wasn't putting much effort into solving the puzzle.
"Best be careful," advised Tien, his body as tense as a spring and eyes sharp as a hawk. It was damn clear to him that whoever caused this massacre was still loose and capable of attacking at anytime and anyplace. "We don't know what's out there."
"Oh please, I'm sure I'll be able to handle anything that comes our way," bragged Yamcha flippantly, his confidence in himself at its zenith. Outside of Goku, Piccolo and maybe Tien, Yamcha was confident that he was strongest fighter on Earth. And for his benefit or not, his boasts were fairly true. That being said, getting cocky isn't a smart idea at any time—justified or not.
Things died down shortly after that. Despite the apprehension palpable in the air, the excitement of the possibility of a good fight compelled them to continue. Saiyans they were not in battle lust, but all of the humans craved fighting just as much as the next mortal. They wouldn't have gone into martial arts in the first place if they were complete pacifists or gym warriors.
Of course, as they all somewhat assumed, they weren't alone. Two Saiyans had been watching them from the moment they had arrived. One short and stout and the other tall and well defined. Coiled like a viper and ready to strike, they laid in wait for when those insipid interlopers crossed their paths. Their destruction was nigh! Lucky for them, that moment was fast approaching.
By then, the earthling contingency of the Z-senshi had passed into another narrow pass. From the looks of the place, it was like some kind of track field with massive bleachers on one side and strange semi-circular executive suites on the other side. Although the true purpose of the area was unknown to them that was the image that was conjured in their minds.
Walking tepidly through the potential minefield, Chiaotzu momentarily wandered off to the side to gaze into a broken window display. In said display was a truly gory sight. A lone mannequin-like head, but not a bone-white skull like all of the other ones. Hideous and bloated with magenta-colored blood, the thing was an abomination of the humanoid form.
Equally bizarre and revolting, the flesh started to mysteriously melt off the skull when Chiaotzu made eye contact with it. Disgust turned into horror though when the melting flesh unveiled the brutal snarl of a very dangerous Saiyan.
Chiaotzu barely had time to jump before the entire display went up in smoke. Narrowly escaping death, the tall, dark-haired behemoth charged out of his hiding spot, fully intent on maiming the psychic right then and there.
Cursing himself for his lack of awareness, Tien pivoted around the very moment he first heard the explosion go off. His shock grew stronger still when the sight of a full-formed Saiyan barreling towards his friend became the focal point of his vision. The former assassin didn't need any prodding to bust into action.
"Chiaotzu!" screamed the man, cupping his hands in preparation to launch his strongest attack. If these men wanted his friends, they were going to have to climb over his dead body to do it.
However, the ruffian that surprised the Z-fighters wasn't alone. Passively coming to his comrade's aide, the other Saiyan fired a finger beam right into the space enclosed by Tien's hands, igniting the blast before it could come to full maturity. Both blasts detonating at the same time, the subsequent eruption clouded everything in sight in every direction. Fortunately though, that distraction also allowed Chiaotzu the space needed to get out of the firing line and return to the side of his friends.
As the smoke cleared, all of the warring parties came into view of one another. With the exception of Krillen, none of the other Z-fighters had any experience when it came to dealing with or fighting blood-thirsty Saiyans. Quite frankly, even after only a couple minutes, none of them could claim to be fond of what they saw.
From an appearance standpoint, they weren't much different than humans. They had a repugnant odor and their muscle tone was a bit more defined, but the only thing that really marked their heritage was the tails snaked around their waists.
Yet, it wasn't that which unnerved them. It was the aura they gave off. These weren't fighters—they weren't even soldiers—they were killers. Nothing else to it but that. If they wanted to survive this encounter, all of them would have to find the resolve to send these two to their graves personally.
"Who do we have here?" asked Scarface rhetorically, already knowing the answer as his amused sneer widened in size. A ventriloquist wasn't needed to figure out what he thought of the prey that stumbled into their den.
Sharing the same predatory smirk that his associate did, his much more diminutive friend verbalized what was already implied. "A bunch of weak little runts if you ask me."
"My thoughts exactly, Shorty," drawled the taller Saiyan, disdain dripping in his voice like a potent venom. Almost in a flash, the man's posture became as aggressive as his words were.
Matching the mad-man's aggression with his own brand of swagger, Yamcha raised his fist up confidently. These fools weren't going to get the mental edge on him. "Bring it on, you assholes! If you think you can scare us, well you better think again!"
Laughing obnoxiously at the display of ignorant bravado, the two low-class Saiyans advanced slowly in the general direction of the earthlings. Once again, the short one deemed it necessary to continue the back and forth taunting. "So? You're weak and have a mouth. Say, Scar, you ready to silence these fools yet?"
"Why you—"
Yamcha's epithets were cut short by the commencement of the battle. Coming with speed that the earthlings could only fathom, the big Saiyan elbowed Yamcha right in the nose before smashing his knuckles into the side of the former bandit's head when the man's hands vacated the area to tend to his bruised face.
"Dang, they're fast," remarked Tien, taken aback by how quickly they pounced. Not even Piccolo moved that swiftly when he fought Goku. This was madness.
Appearing behind the once-upon-a-time assassin, the Saiyan labeled `Shorty' grasped hold of Tien's bicep and jerked it backwards violently. Smirking sadistically at the jarred man as his head turned back, the Saiyan raised his palm to show a budding ki blast. "You have no idea."
But the threatening action never came to be. Acting out of the interest of his friend, Chiaotzu used his psychic power to paralyze the alien momentarily—buying Tien the time to yank his hand free and kick his opponent into the dirt before thanking his friend. "Thanks, Chiaotzu."
"Don't mention it."
However, there victory was short lived when their enemy rose off the ground in a flash angrier than a bull weevil. "You two are going to pay for that little parlor trick!"
Meanwhile, back with Yamcha, the former bandit had also been unable to defend himself from getting his gut rearranged by a violent front kick. Didn't stop his mouth from working though. "Cheap bastard."
That kind of bad mouthing would've warranted another ass-kicking, but Krillin chose a good time to spare his friend some breathing space. Conjuring his most dangerous attack, the Destructo Disk, the monk hurled the razor-sharp thing, forcing the tall Saiyan to dive out of the way lest he find himself cut in two.
Jumping to safety, the Saiyan dubbed Scarface snarled at his two fate-appointed enemies. "I'm going to kill the both of you really slowly for that."
"I'd just like to see you try," fired back Yamcha, his bravado refusing to be insulted by some nefarious neanderthal. Bring his dukes up; the bandit cautiously began to close the distance between himself and his enemy again.
Reciprocating the hostile action, the taller Saiyan put his fists up as well. Encroaching on each other's personal space, the two fights started swinging for the fences and one of the most dangerous boxing matches in recent history began.
Yamcha was hopelessly outclassed. His opponent, who not only held every major natural advantage like height and reach, had greater tenacity and strength as well. After only one minute of pure domination, the taller warrior ducked under a furious left hook and peppered his opponent with body shots.
Finishing the combination with one particularly nasty jab to the solar plexus, Scarface pivoted on his back foot and swung his right foot right into Yamcha's neck to complete the potentially deadly succession of blows.
In fact, provided they weren't in the Pendulum Room, that blow was strong enough to actually kill former bandit. The man heard his neck snap himself; it was broken for sure. And as he slid back towards Krillin, he really was surprised he wasn't convulsing on ground.
Landing next to Krillin, who had wisely knew better than to engage a Saiyan in close quarters, Yamcha looked up at his friend's horror-struck face. He couldn't contain his exasperation in himself. "These guys are insane. I never fought people this strong before."
"No kidding," commented Krillin ruefully, disillusionment rapidly growing on him. This was madness! How were they expected to keep up with this?
Back with Tien and his comrade, things were shaping up equally as bleak. Shorty wisely sensed that the true threat of the two was the midget with the whiter than white complexion. Despite the fact that he was by far the weakest of the group, he was also a powerful psychic. Psychics had powers that transcended sheer fighting strength, and that alone made him more dangerous than his triclops friend—whom he could defeat by sheer virtue of being far more powerful.
Because of this, the next phase of their battle was the Saiyan essentially just focusing his efforts on murdering the psychic while Tien did everything in his power to prevent it. Regrettably, certain things are just beyond your control. Inevitably, Tien did slip up and the shorter Saiyan made him pay by pile-driving his friend down an immeasurable chasm of rubble before firing a ki blast that was all but certain to kill the triclop's friend.
As he heard the blast detonate, Tien's body began to shiver with rage. He didn't care how he was going to do it, or what price he needed to pay to make it come true, but the former assassin was going send these two monsters straight to hell.
Conjuring yet another Tri Beam in retaliation, the Z-fighter fired the lethal beam straight at the cocky Saiyan. But to his shock, the alien effortlessly dodged the blow and phased in behind him.
"You're slow, I hope you know that," heckled the diminutive man, the boisterousness of his voice hiding a foul amount of venom. Like all Saiyans, however ironic, these two hated anything that could be considered weak. And in their minds, these earthlings were simply pathetic. "My mother could've probably beaten you. Then again, you probably shouldn't feel too bad. She's one tough cookie. Haha!"
That didn't matter to Tien, though. There heckling just made him more sharp, more exacting. And they were going to pay for killing his friend. Aiming his finger dead on at the alien's chest, the former Assassin fired his Dodon Ray, hoping against hope that the beam would finish the fight.
Once again, Tien's efforts proved ineffective. Dodging the piercing beam effortlessly, Shorty snickered callously as he turned around. "Too slow." To his surprise though, nobody was there.
Well, the Dodon Ray was too slow for the Saiyan, but Tien's retaliatory elbow wasn't. Phasing behind the cocky alien while his guard was down, the former assassin planted the pseudo-spearhead right into his foe's collarbone, eliciting a harsh holler from the short Saiyan.
Continuing to press his momentary advantage, Tien spun around and planted the side of his foot right into Shorty's chin. And to finish off his combination, he twirled again and gathered a ki blast. As he finished his rotation, the earthling fired, hitting his adversary dead-on and sending him sailing right into his ally clear-cross the battlefield.
Back with Yamcha and Krillin, tragedy had struck again. Like with Chiaotzu's psychic powers, Scarface had detected a serious threat when the Destructo Disk nearly whizzed past his face. Making the judgment that it was best to knock Krillin out of the fight quickly, the behemoth charged the monk with the intent to kill.
Krillin was better prepared to fend for himself than Chiaotzu was, but ultimately he too fell to a swift and furious ki blast that utterly destroyed him. But that wasn't the only place where history repeated itself.
Immediately summoning the most lethal attack in his arsenal, Yamcha volleyed his Spirit Ball technique at the brute. Dodging the blast with ease, the man wasn't prepared for the attack to turn around and come after him again. Fortunately, Scarface's reflexes were sharp and he was able to blitz out of the way before the attack could do another pass.
And that was pretty much where the battle was at before Tien's attack drilled Shorty into Scarface. Or, putting it more simply, Yamcha trying to hit Scarface and Scarface trying not to get hit by the Spirit Ball. Of course, that plan pretty much became dust after the two Saiyans collided, giving Yamcha the ability to hit both at the same time.
The detonation was intense. Easily more powerful than the brittle crust of land they were standing on could hold. The explosive force fractured the floor and sent the stricken falling down while Yamcha and Tien took to the air to avoid falling in.
Looking at each other cryptically, the two earthlings dived down through the smoke and landed in the pit that their enemies had landed in. From the look of the place, a pit was exactly what it was. Just a dark, dank cavern that appeared light blue due to the lighting—nothing extraordinary at all.
Waiting for them were the Saiyans. Although that attack packed a wallop, neither were grievous injured by the technique. Of course, that meant a mocking comment was in order courtesy of Shorty. "Hey, that tickled."
Not even thinking about what they were doing, Tien and Yamcha fired another ki blast at where the two Saiyans were standing. Once again, the attack missed when the two phased out of the picture and reappeared above them. "Hey, act fast!" shouted Shorty, firing off his own shot.
Unable to move as quick as his enemy, the strike hit Yamcha dead on, sending the former bandit crashing back-first into the ground. And while the cockier of the two Z-fighters was eating dirt, the triclops got double-teamed.
For all his experience, Tien was simply way too out of his league. He could dodge and faint past a couple blows, but eventually the two nefarious Saiyans broke through his guard and clubbed him down back towards his ally.
Landing beside his comrade, Tien picked himself off the ground and the two looked at each other for a split moment. It was very clear they had the same fire in their eyes. Those two were going to pay if it was the last thing they did. And, just as dangerously, they were on the same page.
Summoning another Spirit Ball, Yamcha pitched the energy ball at his two foes, which, as he surmised, missed its targets badly. However, that was only a diversion to allow Tien to use his multi-form technique without the chance of a potential interruption.
Safely in his split form, the four Tien's ran around the spherical room, taking positions that effectively penned in the two hostile Saiyans. Granted, they probably couldn't stop the Saiyans from breaking out if they wanted too, but it appeared that they were more amused by their cute little techniques than alarmed. Good, they were in for a nasty surprise.
Meanwhile back with the Spirit Ball, the two Saiyans were playfully dodging the Spirit Ball. They wouldn't deny the fact it hurt the last time, and that they wouldn't want to get hit again, but their desire to humiliate their prey overwhelmed any instinct of self-preservation.
That would be their undoing. Yamcha, as he somewhat knew he had too, ordered his attack to dive down and attack its prey from above. Unsurprisingly, the attack missed but it split the two apart sending them in opposite direction. Knowing what was to come, Yamcha closed his eyes and guided the ball so that it drifted back up again like an elevator moving up and down its shaft.
This was a planned maneuver. Just as designed, the paths the Saiyan's took to shy away from the Spirit Ball set them staring right into the face of two of Tien's clones. Smirking ruefully, the triclops extended his fingers and locked his hands into an offsetting position above his brow. And in a single phrase, the former assassin committed himself to the plan. "Solar Flare!"
Neither Saiyan knew what hit them. A singular pulse of eye scorching brightness encompassed the space. Having no concept of that type of attack, Shorty and Scarface had neglected to do the one thing that would've helped them: shut their eyes. And they were going to pay dearly for that.
Immediately dropping to the ground while wrapping their hands around their damaged eye balls, the two Saiyans hardly even recognized the fact that there were two other Tien's in the area. And unlike the other two Tien's that merely blinded them, these two had two fully charged Tri Beam's ready to be fired.
Sensing that the time was right, Yamcha flicked the Spirit Ball back down at the same time Tien and his clones released their Tri Beam's. Hitting at the same time, the explosion that came from this attack was far harsher than any before it.
Shielding himself from the debris being emitted from the blast, Tien relaxed as he allowed his clones to dissipate and return back unto him. By the time that was done, the blast-wave was not nearly as severe as it was before. Fortunately for them though, neither of the Saiyans were anywhere to be found nor could their energies be found either. They could only assume that they had bit the dust.
Looking over at Yamcha, who was the very picture of jubilance, the triclop remained stoic although inwardly he was pretty happy too. He avenged Chiaotzu at least.
"Do you think they are gone?" asked Yamcha, his voice almost over eager. If the fight was as draining to him as it was to Tien, then he couldn't be blamed if he hoped against hope that this was it.
"I guess so," commented Tien, still not getting any readings on anything. Not like it mattered anyway. They were out of energy, so it wasn't like it mattered if the Saiyans were still alive. If they were, then he and Yamcha were as good as dead.
Suddenly, the scene began to melt away. The dystopian ruins seemed to disappear away from their very eyes, and before they knew it, they were back in the Pendulum Room.
Gohan hadn't a clue how the heck he got back to his cave. Considering how badly sprained his ankles were, the boy found it a miracle that he even got back at all. But that was a small conciliation when compared to the honest-to-goodness humiliation that encapsulated the day. To be frank, he felt that the wool had been finally pulled from his eyes.
Let's be honest: who was he really kidding? He wasn't a warrior, and this entire day went to great lengths to show him that. He was about to die to a dinosaur. A bloody dinosaur. He had seen his father chasing down dinosaurs that big solely to put bacon on the table so to speak. Was that really the image of somebody with any chance of doing anything on the battlefield in the coming months? No, he'd make an embarrassment out of himself.
He really should've connected the dots sooner. At least then he could've been using this wasteful month studying or working towards his goal of being an orthopedist. Sure, he didn't always enjoy spending every waking moment of his life with his head crammed into his books, but that was what his calling was apparently. His mother said it so herself!
But this was all besides the point. His dad could save him! What happened with the dinosaur proved it. He asked his dad for help and he was saved by him. The boy didn't understand how, but you couldn't shake his resolve now that not even death could stop Goku. His dad was going to beat these bad guys, he just knew it now.
To add to his self-reproaching woes, the boy could hear the relentless pounding of rain pouring down from the heavens. Storm clouds thicker and darker than smoke had descended over the plain before he could find shelter from the torrent that would surely come. Although he escaped the worst of it, he did get partially soaked and that was proving to be very unfortunate now.
Even worse than that though was cold. Even though he didn't have any way of deciphering the exact time or the day, the boy was confident in the fact it was November now. He may not have majored in geography, but he did know this region of the world got really cold around this time of year.
`Blur,' shivered the boy, freezing like a hunk of beef in a blizzard. He wasn't completely adverse to the cold, he lived near Mt Paozu after all, but he was not accustomed to living through a winter in these wretched conditions.
Blowing out a white puff of air, even the snot glazed around his nostrils began to crystalize, making him even more uncomfortable than he actually was. Things were swiftly becoming unbearable, but the boy did not dare leave to find firewood or anything else for a multitude of reasons. One, he could barely move as it was. Two, the chance of finding food or usable firewood was essentially nil in these conditions. Three, the chances of getting lost were very high. Therefore, he had to find a way to make himself content for now.
Hours past and the boy's resolve was already starting to falter. Time had not made anything more bearable. In fact, it had gotten colder and the rain had turned freezing in the meantime. He was growing hungrier and all his appendages were almost numb from the cold and inactivity. Brief thoughts of succumbing to exposure passed through, but the boy firmly rejected them. Dang, he wanted to be home and leave this nightmare behind him.
That being said, the boy was getting restless. No matter how stupid it may be, he couldn't remain just sitting around doing nothing. He was going to go home. He couldn't sleep and languidly lounging around was making him desperate. He had to do something, even if leaving the cave was probably the most stupid thing he could do. If he continued to just sit around, he would certainly become hypothermic.
Fortunately, his Saiyans recovery rate had been working on his sprains. Yes, they still hurt something awful, but he could put pressure on them at least. They weren't going to stop him now though.
Picking himself up from out of the inner recesses of his hovel, the boy lightly advanced to the mouth of the cave. Each step forward testing his resolve, as the storm buffeting the wasteland grew stronger still in intensity. And he thought it sounded fearsome from where he was originally.
Still, he had made up his mind. Some stupid storm wasn't going to make him shy away. And if with that, he stepped out into the icy cauldron.
The icy winds were the first thing to attack. Super sharp, cutting gusts sliced through him from all angles, penetrating through the rags he called clothes with methodical ease, carving through tissue in a warpath straight to his bones. The shivering that was once melodic in the cave now broke it into all out spasms. And he thought he was cold before.
If that wasn't enough, he could barely move in the snow. Each time he put a foot down; the snow would collapse and bury his entire leg, which was uncomfortable to say the least when your bare skin was brushing with the frozen water. Nevertheless, each and every single time, he found the leverage to put one foot in front of the other again.
The boy realized how futile his goal was. He didn't know
where he was, what direction he was heading or how he was going to get to where he wanted to go. But that didn't matter one bit. Nobody could convince him that staying put was an option any longer. This was not a place he could ever make a home out of. And for that reason alone, he kept treading on.
Hours past and the austerely gazing visage of the moon still hung over the wasteland. By then, through persistence and a somewhat mellowing of the weather, the boy had somehow made it to the bank of the ocean. All out of energy, the boy crawled onto the sands and promptly collapsed due to exhaustion.
And here's the third installment of Epiphany. I know it's extremely late, which is my primary fault, but things haven't been exactly well for me recently. I won't bore you with the details, they aren't anything extraordinary or particularly depressing, but my motivation has been running dry lately. Fortunately, the next update should be quicker (it should be, I've already completed it).
Now for review redresses.
S: Seems that King Piccolo still has a remnant in his son, a remnant that could grant Piccolo power, albeit at a price. While I'm somewhat surprised that it can grant Piccolo so much power, I like Piccolo's reason for rejecting the possibility. In that it's primarily pride. Piccolo as of now doesn't care for anyone except himself, so the fact that it's pride that stops him from accepting the power just fits with his current character. (Ultimate Black Ace).
R: I hope this chapter put some more light into King Piccolo's presence within Piccolo (although it probably raised even more question in return), and what it could possibly do in terms of power and influence going forward.
Pride is definitely a defining factor in his refusal. I think another is the very real sentient fear of losing your soul. Merging with a soul within you is very uncharted territory, he doesn't know what will come, and I don't take Piccolo for a jump into the unknown personality.
S: Some differences in the beginnings of the human Z-fighters' part of the story. What changes, if any, will that bring forth I wonder... I doubt that it's nothing, because then there would be no point in writing the scene out. (Ultimate Black Ace).
R: Well, this chapter probably brought some slight clarity to why I did what I did. As for its influence on the rest of the story (particularly the Saiyan Saga), well I'll just say it is substantial.
Q: Wonder if this Gohan actually creates his own Ki Blast while by himself in the wilderness?
A: For now anyway, no. Remember that he doesn't even understand the concept of Ki all that well, let alone utilize it. The ki attack that he used against the dinosaur was another example of his anger overriding his nature fears and phobias that are ubiquitous at this period in Gohan's development.
S: I particularly liked the phrase "crescendo of terror", and there are lots of other examples of superb sentences containing awesome descriptive language that I loved to read(Roseblade22).
R: I put a lot of effort into my descriptive language, so I really like it when its mentioned.
S: "Standing before him was the real-life equivalent of the big dinosaur from Jurassic Park mating with Godzilla."
When I first read this, I legitimately thought that Gohan had wandered into two dinosaurs mating with one another. It gave me a little bit of a laugh, but I understood that that was not what you intended when I read on. However, I think different and more precise word choice could have prevented my confusion.
R: I guess this is one of the pitfalls of my periodic style at times. My pedantic can dissolve into incoherency at times, generally when I want to describe something a certain way and can't find the words to say it. In this case, I edited the word choice.
S: My favorite part of this chapters was Piccolo's fight with his self-created clone, his musings about his father's continued influence over him, and his difficult choice not to lower himself to gain more power. I found that his fight with a clone was a great symbolic introduction to the latter part of the segment where he felt conflicted in his choices. This was further emphasized by your decision to once again use the landscape to reflect his inner turmoil: "And as the sun slowly lifted up over the mountains, the area became equal parts dark and light." It was awesome to see such care and detail be put into a small portion of your story, and it really made Piccolo's characterization that much more in-depth for me. Awesome job.
R: Being honest, that darkness and light line I placed in almost knowing that you were going to catch it and commentate on it. But yes, that's one of my favorite lines I've ever written within the context it was. And yes, even I can admit that Piccolo scene was the clear best in the chapter.
S: Piccolo's characterization in this chapter was pretty good. I think that his thought process was exactly what it should be at this point in time - he's smart enough to acknowledge the necessity of an alliance with the Earthlings, even though he still has nothing but disdain for them. I'm especially interested in this dark power that's lingering in the back of his mind, and his sire's continuing presence almost as his own entity. So why isn't Piccolo giving in to it? A stubborn need to get strong through his own efforts and identify as his own person? (Ness Frost)
R: As you probably figured in this chapter, the dark power and King Piccolo are very intrinsically related. And how Piccolo reacts to King Piccolo's influences on him is one of the defining struggles of Epiphany, second only to Gohan's struggle to assert who he is.
S: I liked how Piccolo is still training for the arrival of the Saiyans along with the rest of the Z-warriors. Liked how Gohan was getting chased and then having his power save him, but instead of randomly teleporting him up a mountain (Which I never understood why) he killed the monster attacking him. Nice job (Jason9000)
R: Yah, I felt the way I used the dinosaur in this chapter was a bit more dramatic and meaningful than the way canon used said dinosaur. Then again, topping that shouldn't be difficult.
S: I enjoy how you accurately portray that even though he fulfilled his lifelong quest to kill his arch-rival, the victory still seems hollow and unfulfilling because of how exactly his rival bit the dust. (FinalFlashX).
R: Yah, Piccolo doesn't like winning by technicalities. That is pretty much established fact.
Q: Interesting take on how King Piccolo's "presence" inside of Piccolo affects him and I wonder if Piccolo would actually gain immense power from giving into the "dark side" (XD) or if that's just sort of something that's metaphorical and not an actual source of power. It will be interesting to see going forward
A: Believe me, the power increase by giving into the dark side is very real.
S: I won't spend a lot of time on the 2nd scene with the other Z Fighters because only not much happened. Really, everything that occurred happened in canon and the only difference is that the Z Fighters are going to the Pendulum Room sooner. Still a well-written scene, but I would suggest avoiding straight from canon scenes if at all possible, since they really bog down the story that the reader should already know since their fans of the show. I understand when you're delving into the psyche of a character and explaining their thought process and developing character in scenes from canon (like the opening scene) but this one didn't really have that so it was sort of repetitive.
R: This scene was a necessary evil. The next couple scenes need context that I feel is only doable if I remodel some canon scenes slightly. Not much can be done about this.
S: Really great scene here at the end. I really enjoyed how you went deep into Gohan's mindset and showed his self-doubt in his own abilities, along with his continued trust in his father. It was interesting to see and I love how you used a mundane event in canon and showed how the story is already sort of changing the events from canon.
R: Yah, I never intended for Gohan to just say `ah, who needs my Dad. I'm stronger than him and…well, I'll accomplish great things.' That never was Gohan. For most of his training period, he honestly didn't believe that training was his calling (and even when he returned after running away it had more to do with not being a coward and endangering the earth). Piccolo's conversation in the first chapter wasn't a conversion, just an opportunity to spread a seed of doubt into his faith in Goku and make him realize that perhaps he needs to be more than just back-up. Although Gohan doesn't necessarily believes it, he's not the type in my opinion to just disregard what somebody's saying if he can't logically refute it. Since he still has the belief and can't refute why he shouldn't, he's left in a very dissonant state of mind.
S: Great chapter.
R: Thanks.