Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ.
A/N: I just have to face facts, I can't update like I used to. I hope to update most of my stories in at least ONE month. I'll try hard not to keep you all waiting much longer than that (unlike now -frowns-). I'll keep a check-list on my profile if anyone has question about the progress of any fic.
A/N 2: Gah! I know, I talk to much! But listen guys, since this is a chapter completely based on the DBZ movie "The World's Strongest" (which happens to be my favorite) I have completely changed it around. I try to be as consistent as possible…most of the time. Goku isn't back from space yet (seems none of the DBZ movies are meant to coincide with the series) so you won't find him in here anywhere. So please don't be confused about what's going on, I just made most of this stuff up to fit with the timeline of DBZ (and if any of this sounds corny, I'm sorry. I just had to come up with something other than Goku-saves-the-day with a spirit bomb).
THANK YOU! Ace, SuperSanne, Antigone-the-wise, ME, Volcanic, Grand-wolf, Xzanayu, Storm-of-insanity, … (remaining anonymous? It worked!), Jade, dmx, novaselena, Kasei Tomodatchi and all ya'll who don't review. GRACIAS!
Chapter 10
He wasn't all too sure why he was here or where exactly here was. He did know that he didn't like being here, and that there had been something very important he was trying to do. Unfortunately, none of these things could be answered right now and every moment he spent trying to figure them out, the less he seemed to know. It was cold, he knew that without doubt.
However, there was a larger question that bugged him worse than merely where he was but, rather, who he was. He couldn't recall even a glimpse of a memory, nothing before coming to this place of darkness. Why did he feel the need to find something, someone…to get out of this darkness? Something tingled in the back of his mind, scratched at his memory and seemed to beg that he recall what he'd been trying to accomplish before being here.
Then a light filtered into the darkened room, his eyes couldn't seem to adjust. The silhouette of a person passed in front of him, said something he couldn't understand, in a voice he couldn't recognize, then left. Once in darkness again his head pounded and throbbed as though he'd been hit very hard, but then the pain would stop as quickly as it had come. On and on the pain cycle went, and with every passing moment he could feel some part of him dying away.
Whether it had been hours or days, months or years, he couldn't tell. A Voice, a different one from before (a much more powerful one), ordered him to rise…so he did. The Voice ordered him to stand without moving on a small, round platform. When the time was right, he was to kill the intruders.
Who or what intruders were he didn't know, he did understand that they were something bad, something meant to be destroyed. And with the simple fact of knowing he would be fighting, with the adrenaline he could now feel flowing through every vein, he had a rush of excitement and thrill he couldn't begin to explain.
Apparently, he liked to fight. However, the question of whether or not he knew how still remained unanswered.
He could hear the latch above him unhitch and he began moving upward, slowly at first but then faster. Soon he was moving so fast he had some small trouble keeping his head up. And then, for the first time since the darkened room (which, for now, was all he had memory of) he was in the presence of someone other than himself. The Voice boomed and bellowed in his head that this was an intruder, a little creature that must be dealt with.
The child turned her face up toward him, her gaze as hopeful and trusting as he could have imagined anyone to look.
"Piccolo-san, I'm so glad to see you!" The little one said. "Have you come to help-"
She wasn't able to finish. A green, taloned fist struck her hard and sent her flying across the room. A little man, not much larger than the child herself, came and helped her up again. She looked again at her attacker; this time with such a face of betrayal even he noted the intensity of it. She shook her head and walked toward him again, ignoring the protests and attempted restraints of the short man.
She didn't have time to speak again; he attacked her quickly and fluidly. Without emotion, planning, or decision he kept moving his muscles in a routine that seemed as familiar to his being as breathing. She didn't put up a fight, he noted casually, for he sensed that she was capable of far more than she was putting out. He didn't care, though, that she seemed hurt, that two trails of wet saline tears were streaking down her dirty face. He had no thoughts, except those that the Voice chose to give him.
There came a moment when the girl stopped blocking, her arms fell to her sides and she stood mere feet from her attacker. Knowing this was an open place for a ki blast (though he was unsure of exactly how he knew this) he pulled his arm back and gathered energy into the ball of his fist. When he knew he'd gathered just enough to destroy her he lifted his hand to release the blast, letting his right arm hover in front of her face for a spit second, allowing for his aim to be flawless.
The bright light from the energy danced on her features, outlining every inch of her face. Then she closed her eyes, seeming to know there was no escape for her. He was going to release the blast that very moment; he knew that was the best means to kill her. But then the scene before him sparked something, a glimpse of something he once knew; something that had made him…happy.
"I like sunrise best, Piccolo-san." She said. "It's like a new day is starting and you can make it whatever you want it to be."
Piccolo looked to the setting sun, which was his favorite time of day, and nodded. Seemed they were opposites in everything, even in their view of the Sun.
"The colors are the same, though." The child noted, tugging at his gi legging. "When the sun sets and when it comes up again, there's pink, red and a lot of orange."
Piccolo turned to look at his student and nodded that he agreed. She was facing the sun, her face was highlighted an intense orange and she eventually had to close her eyes; apparently the light the sun gave hurt them. In a moment the sun was gone, her eyes opened again and she smiled up at him.
"Good night Piccolo-san, I'll come back soon." She said, hugging his knee cap tightly. She jumped up and hovered above his head, waving as she turned to leave.
"Bye!" She yelled back to him.
When she was out of sight, he flicked his hand in the air. "Bye kid." he whispered.
The glimpse was gone in a moment, in the blink of an eye it was over and he hesitated no longer in releasing the blast. The short man knocked the girl out of the way, barely escaping the deadly energy wave himself.
"Konna run!" The little man said. "He's different! He's not the same as before!"
The child stood still and did not run, so he took it upon himself to attack the small man. He dodged well enough, but didn't fight back as the child had. He ran away, mostly, keeping his attacker as far inside the laboratory as possible. There came a time afterward that the Voice was suddenly silenced, no longer commanding him to attack the intruders. The little man was unconscious; about to be killed when there came a scream that rang throughout the room.
An intense red light filled every corner of the darkened lab until it become too bright to look at. It was the child; she was screaming and crying all at once. A great energy surrounded her, causing a severe quake to take hold of the room. It didn't matter any longer that there were intruders, the Voice had disappeared. The golden mind-restraints fell off Piccolo's head, broken beyond repair.
All in one moment Piccolo was assaulted by an onslaught of every conceivable mental and emotional memory. Hatred for Son, Love for Konna, Fear of Frieza, Anger at Kami, they all took hold of him and threatened to destroy him. He knelt with the force of it all, holding his head in his hands tightly. Confusion, Betrayal, Kindness, Friendship, Honor, Trust, Devotion, Compassion, Anxiousness, Worry, Doubt…hundreds of feelings exploded within him and his breathing became heavy and shallow.
Along with the emotions came memories, all of them; his Sire's as well. Climatic moments in his life stood out from all the others, and he reminisced for a moment as the intensity subsided and left him in a state of awe. He didn't realize it had taken almost an entire minute to wade through all his memories and feelings, but when it was over he felt somewhat at a loss. He remembered clearly having looked for Konna, coming to the Ice Mansion and searching for her inside.
Less clearly he remembered being in pain, bands of electricity wrapping around his body and pulling him into darkness. Everything else was even less clear, like the bottom of a murky pond. It was there, he knew it, but everything he'd done between then and now was somewhere amongst the mud.
He saw Krillin in front of him, beaten pretty badly. He checked the man's pulse and sensed his ki, he was still very much alive. Less eagerly but more determinedly Piccolo turned in search of Konna. One of the few, vague glimpses through the mud that was his mind told him she was hurting. He had hurt her, he had hit her. He saw her face, two tear stains equal distance from her nose, her face dirty and marred from either battle or play (though he doubted it was the latter).
Orange light. He remembered orange light and how it highlighted her entire body, her eyes were closed…waiting. Something scared her, gripped her tight with fear and hurt. Betrayal. Someone betrayed her trust; he could see her face looking directly at him, shaking her head in an attempt to deny reality. Krillin trying to hold her back, yelling at her to stay away from him.
Who was "him"? Did he, Piccolo, hurt her? If only things were clearer, he wouldn't be so confused.
He snarled as he spotted her body, lying down in the center of a crater. It was not made by any Ki blast, of that he was certain. When he reached her he bent down and turned her over, she woke up immediately and looked up at him. It was not the reaction he expected to receive when she saw him. She jerked up and tried to crawl away from him, completely terrified.
"No, Konna." Piccolo said. "It's me. I'm…back."
Konna looked around and let out a breath. "Piccolo-san?"
"Hai. Don't be afraid." He said.
Wearily she smiled, faintly sighing with relief. She leaned up then sat up, looking around the room. He noted her right eye was beginning to bruise and swell, he hoped it wasn't his doing.
"Is Krillin okay?" She asked, standing up.
"He's alive." Piccolo said. "But we have a bigger problem."
Konna looked up at him, and he pointed to the massive machine that held a brain inside it.
"Did you do this?" He asked, indicating the crater and immense cracks in the floor and walls.
"Yes." She said. "I was angry."
"Hm" was all the response he could give. He walked toward the brain, called Dr. Wheelo, and noted that Konna's outburst had caused the wiring to break loose.
"So you're the one that was controlling me." Piccolo said.
"Kochin." Wheelo said. "Kill him now."
Kochin pushed a button on his staff, firing some laser beams at the warrior. Piccolo deflected them and growled at the old scientist. The Namekian attack quickly and, apparently, dramatically overpowered Kochin. After only one punch the scientist leaned against a table with switches, lights, computers and screens all around it, obviously too weak to put up much of a fight. Piccolo powered up and let loose a powerful ki blast at the old man, who didn't move quickly enough to escape it alive.
Piccolo had not intended to take out the entire computer network and wiring of the building, but he did nonetheless. The table the scientist had died at was now sparking and catching fire, the lights all flickered and an alarm began sounding. The woman in the group, the scientist with blue hair, jumped out of a containment pod that was now powerless.
"We gotta scram!" She yelled at Konna. "This place is gonna explode…like now!"
Konna's eyes widened and she ran over to pick up Krillin. She hoisted the little man on her back and yelled at Piccolo to take Bulma.
Piccolo huffed and walked forward, away from the woman and toward the child.
"If this place is going up, we don't have time for this." He said to her, powering up. "You can wish them back, but you and I are leaving."
"Hey, wait a minute!" Bulma yelled. "I'm not about to die in this ice-box. We're getting out of here too."
Piccolo ignored the woman and looked to Konna. "I'm not waiting all day, kid."
"You go ahead Piccolo." Konna said. "As long as you're alive, you can wish us back."
Piccolo growled and grabbed the girl's arm. "I said we're going."
Konna jerked away and glared up at him. "I'm not leaving them behind. They're my friend's too."
Piccolo let her go and, in a fit of absolute will power, picked up Bulma by the waist and took flight. Konna joined him soon after, almost laughing at Bulma's awkward attempt at making Piccolo let her go. Piccolo's sensitive ears picked up the sound of someone yelling behind them, he believed it was the Doctor. If the building would explode quickly enough, the machine body the doctor had would get caught in the explosion. That should certainly kill him.
"Konna, go on ahead of me." Piccolo said.
Konna nodded and kept flying, trying hard to keep Krillin on her back. Bulma screamed in Piccolo's ear and demanded to be put down.
"Shut up!" Piccolo said. "Or I will drop you."
Bulma fumed and crossed her arms, looking down at how far a drop that would be. Piccolo powered up and gathered energy in his hand, aiming it at the building they had just escaped from.
"What are you doing?" She asked. "You'll make it blow up quicker!"
Piccolo smirked and let loose the ball of energy. "Exactly."
He shot off behind Konna the moment the ball exited his hand, flying as fast as he could to get out of range. He caught up with the girl quickly, grabbed her up in his free arm and flew lightening fast past the slopes of the Sulmite-Subri. Seconds passed until the building behind them did blow up, and when it did it sent all four of them pummeling into a snow bank across a frozen pond. Konna slid the farthest, seeing as she was the smallest, the other three landed mostly within a few feet of each other.
Piccolo was the first person to get up and dust off the snow on his gi. Konna stood too, shakily, but stead-fast. Krillin was still unconscious and Bulma, apparently, had passed out.
"Well, that was fun." She said, earning herself a glare from Piccolo.
"Fun…is not the word." He said, throwing the sleeping woman over his shoulder and walking toward Krillin.
"I'm not carrying them both." He said.
"Is Dr. Wheelo dead?" Konna asked anxiously.
"I can't see how he survived an explosion like that." Piccolo remarked, as Konna again supported Krillin on her back. "We'll find out for sure soon enough."
The two flew back over the site of the explosion, which had melted much of the snow surrounding it. What looked to be a river now ran through what was once the huge Ice mansion and, there, at the bottom of that river was the metal shell of Dr. Wheelo. If he was still alive, he'd soon be trapped in another wall of ice. This time, though, there was no Kochin to get him out.
"I'm so tired." Konna said, landing on one of the lesser slopes of the Sulmite-Subri. "I can't fly anymore today…and it's getting dark.
"You'll freeze out here after sunset, we all will." Piccolo said. "Tough it up and keep going."
"But-"
"No buts. No more resting." Piccolo said, powering up and taking to the air. "Lets go."
Konna sighed and followed her sensei. She no longer carried Krillin, though; Piccolo now had one human in each arm. He also had to materialize enough clothing to cover the other three, who would have bad cases of frost bite if he hadn't. The two humans really didn't matter to him, but Konna was adamant about his helping them as much as her.
Another twenty minutes of flight passed so slowly, even Piccolo was feeling tired and depleted. He'd not rested once since being under mind control, and he wasn't sure how much rest he'd gotten before then, either. He looked back at Konna several times, making sure she was still back there. She was covered with clothing, her head was the only part of her body exposed, but still she shivered and rubbed her arms in an attempt to stay warm.
Not much father than when Piccolo had last looked back at her, Konna fainted. She lost altitude and plummeted toward the ground. Piccolo sensed her lack of energy instantly and turned in time to watch her start falling. Both his arms were taken, but he didn't care to let one of the humans drop and catch Konna.
He followed Konna and let go of Krillin, catching the girl with his now free arm. Krillin he caught with his legs and slowly levitated down to the ground. Then he laid Bulma next to him and kept holding Konna. Now, he was unsure of what to do. Normally, it would not of been a problem to carry all three out of the mountains. But he was so tired. He could feel his energy draining with every breath he took.
They would not survive in the open after sunset, not in the Sulmite-Subri. If the temperature didn't kill them the freezing wind and rain would. Then an idea came to him, he would blast them out a cave in the side of the nearest mountain. That way they were sure to live.
He placed Konna underneath Krillin, to keep her warmer, and then found the nearest mountain he could and blasted a hole twenty feet deep and ten feet wide. It was not quite that precise; when a ki blast is used it can't be controlled like that. But it was large enough, wide enough and deep enough to keep them alive and warm.
He brought in each of the humans and Konna, built a fire out of materializing cloths to burn, and covered up the entrance with snow. No wind could get in, and only a small hole was left for the smoke inside the cave to leave. All in all, he deemed it livable for the time.
Why he went through the trouble of saving the humans he didn't know. Konna, now that was a different story. He knew he would save her; he didn't really have a choice about it. But he also couldn't bring himself to just leave the others to die outside. Not so long ago he would have, without question. He wouldn't have batted an eye about letting two humans die, especially those two.
But Konna, whom he'd laid down between the fire and himself, she was his reason for doing all these strange things. He reached out a hand and touched her damp hair, she was still cold. So he picked her up and sat her in his lap, using a scrape of his cape to dry her off. She mumbled something and yawned, then lay still again.
When he was sure she was completely asleep, he put his hand in her head. He saw her eye again, now fully bruised a dark blue. She was a tough child, that was certain. No other seven year old would ignore it as she had, not even mentioning it to the one who'd given it to her.
Piccolo couldn't help thinking she was as close to perfect as anyone could get. He was proud to help her when he could, to be able to call her his friend. He intended to put her back down on the ground after drying her hair, but as long as the humans were sleeping he didn't mind that she stayed in his lap. In fact, he rather liked it.
Without much more warning Piccolo himself fell asleep, he had been so tired he couldn't stay awake any longer. It was a dreamless sleep, for Piccolo rarely dreamed, but he did recall small bits of what had happen while trapped in mind control.
He swore he'd never hurt her, that he'd never let anything bad happen to her. He swore again to keep that very promise, even if it meant keeping her safe from himself.
It was a promise he fully intended to keep.
X-x-X-x-X
She stirred and rolled over, moaned from the ache in her stomach, and leaned up. The moment she opened her eyes she realized something about this scene was very awkward. She might have screamed, had she not also noticed that everyone was sleeping. There was a fire and positioned around it was Krillin, herself and…him. Not only was Piccolo sleeping mere feet away from her but, as she looked closer, he had Konna in his lap.
After her initial shock, Bulma crawled slowly over toward the green being. She reaching out a trembling hand and, holding her breath, gently tapped Konna's forehead. The girl just moaned and rolled over slightly, sticking her thumb childishly into her mouth. Bulma grunted and tapped harder on her head.
"Konna, wake up." She whispered sharply. "Get out of his lap."
Piccolo opened his eyes and sat straight up, looking immediately at the woman who was on her hands and knees next to him.
Bulma smiled hesitantly and put her hands up. "I just didn't think she was comfortable like that."
Piccolo looked down and, seeing that the child was still in his lap, picked her up and handed her to the woman quickly. Embarrassment didn't suit him well, and he knew that his face had turned a shade darker (had there been more light to see by, Bulma might have noticed). She wasn't really ready to have Konna shoved at her, but she held the child gently all the same.
"I…" She started, but Piccolo cut her off.
"The brat was freezing." He said plainly. Then, a second later, he added more softly "Keep her warm."
He blasted the large pile of clothes and its warmth spread throughout the cave quickly. Bulma stared somewhat blankly at the fire for several seconds, and then nuzzled up next to it with Konna securely under her arms. She dared say she might get a few hours sleep, even if she was trapped in a cave alone with one child, an unconscious friend, and a…erm…scary looking green man.
But, she couldn't bring herself (for whatever reason) to call him a demon again. He was without doubt, in her opinion at least, different than before. And at the moment she was beyond grateful for that. Then she closed her eyes and fell asleep soon after, not giving another worried thought toward the warrior sitting awake across the cave.