I seriously hate the Buu saga and all that comes after it. So, I'm rewriting it. Yeah, mine has far less action than the original and I guess that's why I'm not the creator of the cannon. Anyway, a word of warning for anyone who is looking forward to a big Buu confrontation. Here's a little hint about my story: just forget everything you know about Dragonball Z from now on. Trying to fit with the timeline is over-rated. I'm taking over now.
Chapter 26
Konna's hair flew wildly around her from the unforgiving wind and making her eyes stay tightly shut; her hair clips were long gone by now. Confusion was the very first emotion to set in. She distinctly remembered the strange pair of men who had attacked her. Even more clearly she remembered her initial reaction to there assault: protectiveness.
At first she had only thought of keeping Videl safe; she knew she could handle anything those men could throw at her. But Videl couldn't. So, she had done the only thing that she knew to protect her. Videl could fly very well…for a human. So throwing her far away from the danger seemed like a good idea at the time. She hoped it had worked.
A violent gust of wind shook her from her thoughts as she tried for at least the tenth time to figure out what had just happened to her. And where was the ki shield that normally protected them from all this wind? She thought "them" because even without looking she knew who was holding her. She was not the one flying or the one who had made the escape. That was why she was confused, none of this made any sense.
The moment those two lunatics had pounced at her, after Videl was safely over the railing, she put up a hand and sent a blast at them. There was a split second of time in which she noted the men looked absolutely terrified and tried frantically to turn away, but she knew they could never be fast enough to outrun such a close-range shot. Besides, it wasn't powerful enough to kill them, she didn't even know what they were doing yet.
Then, before she could give even one more thought toward that strange look of fear, she was hit by a train. Or, rather, it felt like she had been hit by a train. A large one traveling at 800 miles per second and made of the toughest metal imaginable. She was nearly sent into shock from the force of it but before her body could register the shock she was yanked up into the sky by her middle.
The iron-clad haul upward from the waist made her body curve unnaturally until her forehead very nearly touched her toes. To make it all the worse the after effect of such a strong wrench upward made her snap back in place with a terrible case of whip-lash. Her eyes were closed immediately against the severe wind that came from nowhere, her breath was rammed out of her in one large huff before she was conscious of the fact that she was flying.
It was the world's most frightening, painful roller coaster and she wanted off of it. Now.
However, before she could think clearly enough to pull away from whoever kept an iron clad grip on her she felt a fire burn from not far beneath them. The heat come up in a blaze of searing hot air as it engulfed her entirely. The stench of charred skin and hair scorched her nose. It was the smoke and ash of Death, she could tell my the rancid odor. Someone, or several someones, had just been burnt alive.
Then there was the sound. That horrible, terrifying roar that reminded her of an atomic bomb going off directly below her feet. That time she couldn't help but scream as a sudden pain rose up the lower half of her body like fire was consuming her. But it was over in a moment as somehow, someway, the train that had hit her flung her up to a carrying position. She was being cradled like a newborn now. The pain and smell quickly faded into the distance.
That was when she realized it was not a train at all that had her. It was a person and, without looking, she knew exactly who it was that had rescued her. Yet, how he had gotten to her so quickly or why he would even try, now that they were no longer together, was beyond her. But she would not question his actions, not while he was holding her. She felt safe and at home, so why ruin the perfect silence?
She noticed that Piccolo was ridged, his breathing labored, and his muscled arms around her tense. In fact, she had become so used to his relaxed feel when he held her that this new adverse reaction sent a stab of guilt and pain cutting through her. After several moments of silence and her eyes still closed against the wind she heard him clear his throat. She started a little at the sound and looked up at him for the first time, he was looking straight ahead into the distance and covered in a thin sheen of sweat.
"Thank you." She whispered as lowly as she possibly could. She knew he would hear her easily enough. Speaking seemed out of place though, her voice came out far more feeble and unsteady than she had wanted.
His eyes flickered down to her quickly and then settled on the horizon again. He nodded once and let her legs go, somewhat shakily. Once she was level with him he let her torso go as well, she flew easily beside him for a few seconds until she noted her father's ki coming up quickly behind them. Before he arrived she wanted very much to ask Piccolo about this strange rescue he had pulled off.
But she hesitated in doing so. She scowled down at the changing landscape beneath them. Suddenly she realized how very far away from the Tournament they had flown in such a short time. He had flown faster than she believed possible. Faster than she probably could have gone on her best day. That was amazing.
She smiled when she realized she had an impartial question she could ask him.
"Where are we going?" She breathed out and again her voice sounded almost childlike.
Piccolo looked over at her briefly and began to slow down his speed. She knew he could feel Goku as well and was worried that perhaps he was looking for an excuse to avoid speaking with her altogether. The thought made unwarranted tears gather in her eyes and she had to look away from him to hide them.
However, this fear of being given the silent treatment ended when she heard his rough and forced monotone voice boom lowly from next to her. Even in the short few hours she had been apart from him it seemed like she had not heard his voice for days. It was like a jolt to her system and the sound was a fire in her blood. Every sense was awake and she felt alive again.
"There is a new enemy we have to face." He said. His voice seemed darker than she remembered it, even through his raged breathing. It was cold. Rough. Even angry.
"Who?" She asked, this time her reservation and timidity shown through her voice like a beacon.
"I'll explain later." He answered stiffly, still not looking at her and his eyes fixed on the direction Goku would be coming from. He breathed in deeply several times, obviously trying to recover from his adrenaline rush from earlier.
They were at a dead stop now and he still would not look over at her. She took the opportunity to memorize him, as if she did not know him well enough already. She blatantly stared at him from the few feet distance they were apart. When flying she could make herself his height without effort. So she looked at every inch of him as he hovered next to her. His head was turned to the side and his arms crossed tightly over his chest.
He was a beautiful sight to her. Glorious, even. She would never allow herself to forget how perfect he was standing beside her like this. Silent. Brooding. Even angry at her, probably. She couldn't blame him for it. It was just this morning that their whole world had come crashing down around them.
Before she could pretend to be looking somewhere else his eyes shifted and caught her gaze. She knew she was blushing at being caught staring at him but he did not comment on it. Instead he scowled at her and pressed his lips into a thin line, he very nearly looked intimidating.
She could have been frightened. Were she anyone else on the planet she probably would have been. But she was incapable of being scared of Piccolo. Even as a child he had never terrified her like he had so many others. He intrigued her, captivated her with his bizarre ideas and behavior. He had always fascinated her. Today was no exception.
Still, her guilt kept her from explaining herself. The moment she was caught ogling him and his face hardened she looked down and away, expecting a rebuff or reprimand. He did neither. He sighed loudly and very deeply then uncrossed his arms.
"You okay?" He asked, his eyes roaming her up and down once. Like he was an antique collector examining a priceless piece of china that had just been dropped on tile.
"Just dandy." She replied sarcastically. She hoped her laughable reply would lighten the mood but it didn't help. He did not even chuckle at her. She felt idiotic and looked away, her eyes filled with tears again as she realized her relationship with Piccolo would probably never be reconciled. Not at this rate.
"That was a close one." He commented, perhaps trying to lighten the mood himself. She couldn't really tell. If he could see that she was crying he did not mention it.
"Yeah. You really…got to me fast." She said, trying to hint at her curiosity.
"Hm." He replied.
She was frustrated with the lack of response and tried again: "You must have been watching them very closely. I was on the front line and didn't see that blast coming."
Piccolo snorted once. "It wasn't a blast. It was an explosion."
She turned to look at him in shock, forgetting that she was trying to hide the drying tears. He was the one to look down and away once she faced him. She could only imagine how red and wet her eyes looked now.
"You're sure you're okay?" He asked again, softer this time but still facing away from her. "That really was very close."
She nodded and wiped her eyes. "Yeah. I'm fine. I just can't figure out what happened. It was so…fast. I didn't think anyone could react that fast, Piccolo. You got to me before I had time to even think of flying away."
Piccolo shifted uncomfortably and she desperately wanted to know what he was thinking. She dared not attempt to probe his mind, she could just see the angry sparks he would produce should she try.
"I was closer than you think." He commented quickly.
Konna waited for more but he never elaborated. Her curiosity was tangible and she wanted to growl at him in frustration.
"I couldn't feel you." She said, quickly stuttering into her explanation. "I-I mean your ki. I couldn't feel your ki nearby."
Piccolo scowled over at her. "That was the idea."
Konna felt her face scrunch and she looked away. She was unaccustomed to being spoken to so meanly by Piccolo. Since her childhood he had been more than civil with her. As of late he had been soft and sweet, or as sweet as Piccolo could get anyway. This was a new tone she would have to get used to.
She wanted to scowl right back at him. She wanted to be just as fierce and foreboding as he was. But she couldn't. She even tried but the moment her mouth opened her voice box did not obey. She continued to sound weak and vulnerable.
"Oh." She finally replied, then mocked her own inability to be forceful. Wasn't she ChiChi's own daughter? The one who would have given Cell himself verbal whiplash if given the chance? Who was known throughout the senshi to be as tenacious and biting as they come?
Where were those genes when she needed them?
"I recognized the Kai's." Piccolo began. "The Supreme Kai was a distant memory from Kami. He caught me watching from the temple and demanded that I not interfere when those men…tried to…"
Konna looked over at him when he stopped and she sighed again. Her father was getting very close, with Vegeta and Krillin following closely behind him now and she wanted desperately to know what he was talking about before they arrived.
"Tried to do what?" She asked.
Piccolo's top lip pulled up in a half snarl, his right fang easily visible and razor sharp. "That white jug they were carrying was a container for ki energy."
He looked over at her and seemed to be refraining from scanning her up and down again. His eyes locked on hers for several seconds and she could practically see his blood boiling behind them. She wondered at first if she was the one causing this rage but his voice began rising sharply as he spoke, or as sharply as his bass voice could rise anyway.
"They were going to ram that thing in your chest and drain you dry." He spat, his fists clenched into green iron clamps at his sides. If he became any more tense she feared he would break his fingers.
"Well, they didn't -"
"And you didn't exactly help." He growled at her, cutting her off. "You threw that human over the rails and left yourself wide open."
Konna felt her face flush at his strange accusation. Of course she had to protect Videl, she was one of the only close friends she had. She couldn't possibly have survived that explosion.
"She would have died." She said matter-of-factly. "She couldn't protect herself-"
"Neither could you! Not against that ki-sucking machine." He yelled down at her. She felt that familiar anger begin rising up in her at being reprimanded for saving Videl.
"Well it's not like I knew what they were planning." She said, wanting very much to sound authoritative but it came out meager at best. "You could have given me a little heads up."
Piccolo's stance shifted and he looked sharply to the left. "It doesn't matter now. It's done."
She felt it too. Her father was here, she could see the tiny black dot getting closer. In only a minute or so he would be standing next to them. The other two men were still a few minutes away, though.
But she couldn't keep herself from asking one more question while they were still alone. She imagined he wouldn't answer her anyway, but it was worth a try.
"Why did you save me?" She asked.
She could see Piccolo's scowl deepen and he looked over at her with one eye ridge raised.
"Would you rather I hadn't?" He asked sarcastically.
She had to smirk at that. Of course he wouldn't give her a straight answer. He was Piccolo.
"No, of course not." She said, her smirk fading to a frown. "But Supreme Kai told you not to interfere…isn't saving me kind of doing the opposite?"
Piccolo's stone-hard expression of indifference immediately greeted her. She knew that face well; he was hiding something. She wished she knew what is was.
"Goku's here." He said, and a mere five seconds passed before Goku's speeded flight stopped abruptly in front of Piccolo and his daughter.
She had never seen her father look so unsure in her life. As if breathing might send Piccolo over the edge Goku very cautiously eyed the green giant and nodded slowly.
"Thanks Pic." He said, indicating once with his head that he was speaking about Konna.
"No problem." Piccolo grumbled back.
There was an awkward silence that ensued for several seconds and then stretched on into a few minutes. Several times Konna would open her mouth to say something, anything to break her very tangible feeling of uneasiness. It never worked, she couldn't think of anything worthwhile to say and the men seemed content to stare into oblivion.
Finally, Goku broke and startled the two with his oddly high pitched voice: "So, um, I guess that means we forfeit the tournament."
He put his hand behind his head and characteristically rubbed the back of his hair and neck, chuckling nervously as he did so. She could feel rather than see Piccolo roll his eyes at her father. She decided to smile at her dad's attempt to lighten the mood but ultimately regretted not having started a conversation herself.
"Yeah, I guess we did." She offered.
"I didn't enter to start with." Piccolo said, his voice still a practiced monotone.
"Oh yeah." Goku said, his voice lacking its normally flippant quality. "So, um, why is that Pic? I thought you were all hyped up for it. You trained enough-"
"Not interested." Piccolo cut in, his voice nearly venomous in its rebuff. She saw her father wince at his tone and let the subject drop.
She could imagine why Piccolo wasn't interested. She was there and he had promised, if he had won, the money would go toward the college fund she was attempting to pad. She figured he would not be interested in fighting her much less donating his winnings to her. So yeah, that made sense.
Vegeta was the next to arrive and the tightly wound prince did not comment on the fact that the epic fight between he and Goku would have to be postponed. He grunted at the three and held his nose just a little higher in the air.
"Well…what's going on?" He mumbled sorely. His mood was no better than usual.
"Wait for Krillin. I'm not repeating myself." Piccolo said lowly, his voice either impatient or annoyed, she couldn't tell which.
Vegeta huffed and made an offhanded comment under his breath about "weaklings" and then something else about "Nameks".
"Knock it off." Piccolo growled at him. His tone was not in jest or mockery like usual. Not that Piccolo joked around with Vegeta, or vice versa, it was just a given fact that the two would always irritate each other. But, somehow, the way they always bantered almost felt like a strange, backwards form of sarcasm between them.
Piccolo was not being sarcastic now. He was not trying to get a rise out of Vegeta or goad him into an open verbal war. No, he spoke hatefully and with every ounce of bite he had.
Vegeta's eyes widened only enough that Konna caught it before he narrowed them and looked away. She expected a tantrum from Vegeta but, to her surprise, the prince only huffed once and continued to ignore everyone beside him, including Piccolo. She listened to the sound of the wind as it blew past them and the breathing of the three men she was with.
She had never noticed before that instant that she was somehow always surrounded by men. On the battle field, in the arena, sparring, running, chatting…always men. All the warriors were men, except Eighteen who didn't seem inclined to fight anymore. She had married Krillin and the two now had a daughter, Marron.
It struck Konna as odd that they would name their child after Krillin's ex-love interest. She didn't think she could handle naming her son after Piccolo. It would be difficult to say his name, her son's anyway. Besides, if her son didn't end up being bald, green, and tall as a cedar tree it would seem grossly out of place.
What a strange line of thinking. She shook her head and cleared her mind of the insignificant distractions as Krillin became a dot in the distance. It took another minute for him to come racing to them and halt with a jerk. He looked at Konna first and then to Piccolo; he ran a hand quickly through his thick black hair, which he had grown out now that he was no longer fighting.
"What's up guys?" He asked, the nervous timbre of his voice never failing to illicit her sympathy. He could be such the worry-wart. Always assuming the worst.
"We were attacked back at the Tournament…er, well, I was attacked. Piccolo saved me." Konna said, gulping as she shyly added the last part.
Krillin didn't seem fazed by her hesitance, rather he blinked at her and his eyes glanced toward Piccolo more than once. The tall Namek stared at him hard and his eyes darkened as Krillin continued to remain silent. Krillin's eyes were pinched with only the slightest edge of confusion and it shown in his voice.
"Yeah, okay." He said, as if her statement was too obvious to be mentioned. "Of course he did."
It was a well duh moment for her. She realized a little too late that Krillin was not in the know and had no inclination toward the tension that had presented itself between her and Piccolo. To Krillin they were still joined at the hip. The oddest pair of best friends on the planet. She shouldn't have to elaborate on the fact that Piccolo had saved her: it was a given.
Now she worried that Krillin would become suspicious of them but closed her eyes and wrote it off as paranoia. There was absolutely no way, no way Krillin would ever guess that. Her own parents had been clueless. She was thinking about this too much.
"Follow me." Piccolo said and immediately took off again in the direction they had originally been traveling.
Once they were all in a somewhat closely bound semi-circle, following Piccolo's lead, he began his explanation.
"There is a being here called Buu. He is locked up in a shell that can't be opened without huge amounts of energy. Those men that attacked Konna were after her ki energy." His voice was emotionless and void of any inflection. She had heard eulogies with more spirit.
"Those men at the tournament were collecting energy in a container. There's a wizard they work for that's trying to wake Buu up." He ended without tone or emphasis.
"And that's a bad thing, right?" Krillin asked.
Piccolo scowled over at him and growled a very rhetorical question. "What do you think?"
Krillin's mouth clamped shut for a few seconds and he looked down at the changing landscape beneath them. She felt bad for Krillin. He had always been nervous around Piccolo and now he was probably losing some of the assurance he had built up. Well, perhaps not losing it but it was easy to see that Krillin did not quite grasp Piccolo's worse-than-normal mood.
She hoped he would shrug it off today and give Piccolo the benefit of a doubt.
"So what did they want with you?" Krillin asked her, obviously finished testing the water with Piccolo's disposition.
"I suppose they wanted my energy." She gave Krillin a weak grin. "Better luck next time, huh."
Krillin seemed grateful for her more upbeat response. "Yeah." He chuckled. "That'll teach 'em to mess with the strongest kid on the planet."
She winced as he called her a kid. She didn't like being reminded of her age. She had hoped her maturity level would bump her up a few respectful notches in the eyes of the senshi but, in this case, that was a lost cause.
She would probably always be called a kid. She was the youngest fighter with any real experience on the battlefield. Trunks and Goten didn't count, they hadn't been through the battles and challenges she had faced. She had bonded with the senshi at so early an age she doubted any of them looked at her without seeing the eleven-year-old girl that had faced Cell. Or the seven-year-old that fought against Frieza. Or, better yet, the five year old that confronted Nappa and Vegeta all those years ago.
Perhaps, in their eyes, she would never age past adolescence. Maybe even to Piccolo she would never truly grow up. Never be seen as an adult.
"So what did you do to them exactly?" Krillin asked, his voice rising in curiosity and more than a little awe. He never quite got over the fact that she was capable of such destruction.
"Well, I kinda accidentally blew up that jar of energy they had." She said, flushing as she noticed Piccolo's eyes dart to her. "I didn't know what it was."
"Of course not, no body would have." Krillin yelped. "Well, I sure wouldn't have. Man, how were they gonna get your energy out of you? How does that even work?"
Konna shrugged, not exactly sure herself, and faced forward.
"Piccolo?" Goku asked. "You're the expert here. How could they get Konna's energy?"
Piccolo did not reply for several seconds and when he finally did he sounded like a professor giving a lecture. "The container had a sharp end that they would have…pushed into her. Her energy would have been channeled into the devise."
"Ouch." Krillin said, his arms instinctively covering his chest with slightly more protectiveness. "Talk about a major pain in the side. Jeez."
Again Konna had to smirk at Krillin. Even if it wasn't working for anyone else Krillin's uniquely corny brand of humor always put her in a better mood. As they followed Piccolo there came up behind them two more foreign ki signatures, the two were very fast and Piccolo began slowing as they neared.
When the two came into view they were a strange pair to see. One was very short and purple with elfin ears and spiked, Mohawk-styled white hair. He was not old, obviously the hair was a natural color of white even in youth. The one at his side was far larger and much older. His skin was dark crimson and his white hair was long and straight past his shoulders.
Along with their clothes the two would easily stand out among a crowd of humans. She wondered why she had not noticed them earlier in the Tournament.
"Greetings." The small one said. "I take it Piccolo has at least given you an overview of our mission?"
His tone was generally assuring and, well, nice. But the older, taller man at his side seemed far more tense. He had a sour look on his face like he was permanently in a foul mood.
"Not yet." Piccolo said, his overly nonchalant voice sounding a great deal more aged than he looked. For a reason Konna could not fathom Piccolo suddenly seemed both older and far more tired than a young man of merely twenty one.
"Hmph." The larger red man grunted. "You've certainly not made it any easier for us."
Piccolo scowled deeply, more deeply than normal, and his tense posture was nearing battle-mode.
"Let him be, Kibito." The small one said. "He acted instinctively."
"We were suppose to follow them to Babidi, how are we going to find him without them?" Kibito was not passionately arguing his point, he seemed to be more or less stating the facts. Facts he obviously did not like.
"And since when is it tolerated to disobey Supreme Kai?" Kibito added shrewdly, eying Piccolo with a slightly more antagonistic glare. Konna couldn't quite put her finger on it but she got the distinct impression that the smaller man was a very important person and the leader of the pair.
"He wasn't trying to be blatantly disobedient, Kibito." The short one placated. "Besides, it is best we have all the help we can get. These people are the most powerful beings the planet has to offer."
"Okay, um, somebody care to explain what we're talking about?" Krillin asked in his normal, nervous way.
"Allow me to introduce myself, I am Supreme Kai." There was a collective intake of air, not enough to be called gasps, but enough that it was noticeable.
"We are tracking a being named Majin Buu. He is trapped inside a protective shell that can only be released if given enough life energy." He looked around as if he heard a noise but then settled his attention on them again.
"We don't have much time. Babidi will figure out soon enough that Spopovich and Yamu were unsuccessful." Supreme Kai powered up and nodded once to Kibito. "You all must follow me."
Without any more ado the seven were off and flying into an unknown direction. Konna looked anxiously over at the two new additions to their group. She wondered at first if they were people to be trusted but, then, a Kai is always working for the good of the living. Whoever the living happened to be, right? And if Piccolo trusted them, they couldn't be bad.
"Nice to know you have faith in us, young lady." Supreme Kai said, grinning at her sideway from her left.
Her eyes widened and she couldn't help but blush slightly as she realized he was capable of reading her thoughts.
"It is true that our job will not be any easier without Spopovich and Yamu, but I have realized also that you all have the ability to read each other's ki energy. Is that correct?" Supreme Kai asked, his tone very orderly and proper.
Goku nodded "Yeah, we can read ki really good. Did you need us to find someone?"
Supreme Kai nodded. "Something like that. In the mean time I must explain our mission."
Supreme Kai slowed down enough that the wind did not interfere with his explanation. It seemed that Buu was far more powerful than anyone they had ever faced, including Cell. He had remained dormant inside a shell buried deep inside the Earth for many centuries. Even the Supreme Kai seemed nervous about the idea of Buu being released.
The one called Babidi was now on Earth for the sole purpose of freeing the monster named Majin Buu. The deranged alien had a desire to destroy the Universe. She could have rolled her eyes at the repetitive nature of villains. Didn't any of them have more originality than that? They were all the same. First Vegeta and his attempt to destroy Earth, then Freiza and King Cold, the Androids, and finally Cell.
All they ever wanted was to destroy. What was the point? Where would they go and what would they do if they ever actually got what they wanted? If the Universe was destroyed there would be nothing left to rule over.
Idiots. The whole lot of them.
Supreme Kai began snickering. "You have a good point, Konna. I have never quite grasped what the appeal of Universal destruction is either."
"So, Babidi isn't powerful but his magic is what makes him dangerous." Her father concluded. "That doesn't sound too terrible. I think it'll be a fun adventure. Let's get started!"
Supreme Kai and Kibito exchanged a troubled glance at her father's words.
"Do not take this mission so lightly, Goku. It is of the utmost importance that Babidi be stopped at all costs." Supreme Kai added gravely. "It took everything the Kai's had to seal away Buu the first time. I honestly do not think it can be repeated a second time."
Goku nodded as if he understood completely but Konna could see it. Perhaps the Supreme Kai did not notice but she did, her father's eyes still sparkled with the hope of a battle. A new enemy and danger that lurked around the corner. She was not necessarily thrilled about these new developments but at least they distracted her from her own problems.
Global annihilation had that effect on her.
"What I need from you all is your ability to sense ki energy. We must find Babidi's ship and it is somewhere on this planet." He looked around again as if he were trying to find something, but then settled his eyes on the senshi.
"The energy you are looking for is extremely dark. It will be alien to you and almost shielded. It's Buu you are sensing. He can't be missed and his energy is unmistakable."
"You said this Buu creature was buried deep inside the Earth." Vegeta pointed out gruffly. "How are we suppose to sense his energy from that kind of distance?" The last question was rhetorical and snidely delivered.
"I don't believe that Buu is still concealed within the Earth. Babidi would not have sent out Spopovich and Yamu to college energy if he had not yet found Buu."
Vegeta huffed and crossed his arms. "It's a large planet to comb through looking for an energy signal we won't even recognize. It could take days."
Supreme Kai nodded seriously. "Perhaps. But I do know a general direction we must be looking in. You see, I have been tracking Spopovich and Yamu for several days in hopes that they would return to the ship. But, obviously they were biding their time until the Tenkaichi Budokai. The strongest fighters and a very large crown provided them with their greatest opportunity to steal energy."
Konna frowned and cleared her throat to get the Supreme Kai's attention. "But, what made them attack me? How did they know I was the strongest?"
Supreme Kai slightly shook his head. "They didn't, but the meter on their machine shot up dramatically when you powered up to fight me. They knew then that you were their best bet for getting energy."
Konna nodded at him. She had trouble remembering the fight with him. Everything about the Tournament felt like an angsty blur. She had been moving without feeling, fighting without concentrating. She felt like a haze had been placed over everything that had happened from the time Piccolo had begun blocking her until the explosion.
Lost in her own thoughts for a few moments she was surprised to look up and find Supreme Kai's eyes on her. He was frowning, his brows knitted together slightly with a look of sincere sympathy for her. She blushed a deep crimson and looked down at once, her eyes closing tight as she tried to clear her mind quickly.
She was grateful that he had not said anything about her misguided, rambling inner voice. She knew she had probably annoyed Piccolo many times throughout the years with it.
"Well, let's get on with it." Vegeta exclaimed impatiently. She wasn't sure what Vegeta's rush was for. He had been bored with the peaceful times they had lived in for seven years, everyone knew it. His only excitement had been occasional training sessions with her father.
Without much complaint from the group it was time to separate and find the unfamiliar ki signature that was lurking near in the distance. Normally she would have flown nearer to Piccolo but today she sought out the company of Krillin. She found that his ignorance was a peaceful alternative to the unease she felt with the others.
Krillin was verbally quizzical about her sudden change of course.
"What 'ya following me for?" He asked her as she instantly changed directions as he did, separating them from the group by several degrees.
"Just figured a change would be good." She said. "Besides, two of us can cover more ground this direction than just one."
Krillin shrugged and kept flying. There was a comfortable silence that settled in for several minutes until Krillin randomly asked her a startling question.
"So, what's up with Piccolo?" He inquired with an easily recognizable amount of tense apprehension. It was a bit comical to think about. And she did not overlook the fact that he waited to ask until Piccolo was far out of earshot.
Still, the question caught her by surprise. She fumbled at first to find a nonchalant answer and came up dry.
"Oh, u-uh…I'm not sure." She cleared her throat and tried to hide any nervousness from her voice, innocently asking: "Was he acting strange?"
Krillin shot her a flabbergasted look, his brows raised dramatically and mouth slightly ajar.
"Are you kidding me?" He exclaimed rather than asked. "I haven't seen him in a mood this bad since…since…" Krillin shook his head and laughed tensely. "Well, not in a long time. Not since you came along, you probably can't even remember the Old Piccolo…eh, I don't blame you. I would forget myself if I could."
Konna noted the way he emphasized the adjective "old" as if he were speaking of two separate beings. She had not forgotten the way Piccolo had been the first months of their training together. He had been demanding, imposing, controlling…somewhat frightening from the perspective of a four year old. Though, she never truly feared him. She was only afraid of what he might do if she really ticked him off.
"Hm." She answered.
"Hey, are you okay?" Krillin asked. "You haven't been yourself today. You and Piccolo both are just…I dunno, not quite acting like yourselves. I mean, since when do you guys fly in opposite directions? And avoid each other like the plaque?" Krillin looked expectantly over at her.
"Well, I guess you could say we had an argument. But, things will get better with time."
Krillin's face was instantly relieved and he finally smiled at her. "Thank goodness that's all. I was getting worried. I thought something bad had happened and I was still in the dark about it."
Konna's eyes widened in shock at Krillin's uncharacteristically intuitive statement. He had hit the nail on the head without even realizing it. She did not correct him, she had probably said more than she should have already. But it didn't seem fair to keep Krillin concerned about something that would not have an affect on him.
It was several hours later that she felt her father's ki spike. She and Krillin were miles apart when it happened so she flew toward him immediately. He met her halfway and they both shot off like rockets toward the Southeast. She couldn't help the nervous butterflies that were building up in the pit of her stomach. She had the feeling that something exciting, or frightening, or dangerous was about to happen.
But she couldn't guess what it was. She only hoped that her father's ki was spiking because they had found Buu or Babidi. She hoped it was not because he was in trouble or because something had gone terribly wrong.
All she could do was hope.
Piccolo went toward Goku's ki as he felt it rise not too far away from him. He was alone but had not strayed far from the others. He was not sure why this was so but he felt like staying near the group was the wise decision in this case. He tried not to wonder where Konna was or if she had been successful.
He did not like being so close to her. It created a terribly uncomfortable juxtaposition betwixt his emotions. Half of which told him to steer clear of the little vixen and everything she made him feel. The other half was far harder to control. It was the half that bound him to her, that craved her like air and water. That was the part that he needed to reign in at all costs.
He had died that morning at her words. A part of him was still dying away and he could feel it more profoundly with every passing minute. A true and literal breaking in his heart, a ripping of his soul, he was surprised he could not see his flesh tearing in two as well. He could not understand why this was happening. Surely this was not all over one single person.
It was unbelievable that a half-breed human, barely adult aged female was causing him such torment. It wasn't even her that did it, at least not of her own accord. It was this string that tied him to her. This invisible cord that was wrapped around his body, mind, soul and heart. Every fiber of his being reacted to her. Despised her absence, relished in her presence, longed to touch her or be near her in any way.
He had not been like this six months ago. He had handled himself much better then. Why now? He did not used to be so weak, so vulnerable, so…hurt. Even in his dark days before Konna, in his nightmarish early years he had never hurt like this. He would take the darkness now if he could. Trade it all for the pain to go away.
He never imagined this kind of pain was possible or even existed. But, like in so many other ways, he had been wrong about this too.
If Loneliness was all he would have dealt with without Konna in his life, he would have taken it. If Darkness and Evil and Vengenous, Anger and Hatred were all…he would take those as well. He would trade it all. All these years off peace and warmth and…love. Especially the Love. He would run a wooden stake through Love if he could. Spit on it. Curse it to the darkest pits of the underworld.
He would trade all his time with Konna, every single minute of it, if it would take away his pain. This consuming, smoldering, mind-numbing pain. The pain only she could cause. Her persistent, worming, barrier-breaking affection that had melted the ice he had packed so tightly around his heart was to blame. In most ways he held her responsible for all this but even in his despair he could not fault her completely.
He was a culprit as well. He could have let it end thirteen years ago. It would have been easy, quick, and painless…for her. Nappa's blast would have annihilated her. She would have ceased to be in the blink of an eye. He had done that one all on his own. He had no one to blame but himself for saving her. Sure, she would have been wished back but by then she would not have sought him out. He would have been nothing to her again, nothing more than the sensei that let her die.
Besides, he probably would have gone right after her anyway. Nappa would have taken him out quickly and there was no way in HFIL that the others would have wished him back without Konna's stubborn demands for it. No, this was his doing as well. He was just as guilty as she was.
No. He was more guilty. At least when she said it was over she had meant it; he couldn't seem to let go. Today at the tournament it would have happened again. He didn't have to save her. He knew what was coming, she would not have survived that explosion. There was a very good chance that, given the complications surrounding her first death, she could not be wished back again. Dragons and wishes were never done deals, the others didn't seem to appreciate that fact.
Then the moment came and he could not let her die. He had waited and watched, wondering how the attack would play out. There was not a chance in the world those men could take down Konna. But, if Supreme Kai aided at all there was the distinct possibility that they could come close.
Then that foolish woman saved her friend and killed herself in the process. Of course she was clueless about the container but that didn't matter at the time. The moment he saw what she was planning to do he took off. He didn't wait to see how the blast manifested, if it hit correctly, or if the men had successfully shielded the container from it.
No. He just took off, adrenaline powering his flight to be lightening fast and clumsy. Even if her aim had been off and there was nothing to fear he had to make sure she was a safe distance away. He weighed the possibilities and it was too dangerous not to act.
But why had he done it? Why did his body react before his mind could tell him not to? Her death could have been the end of several parts of his struggle. Then, the thought of her death made him physically weak at the knees and nauseous. He could not imagine it, it went against the grain for his mind to picture it.
So, again, she was alive now because of him. But why did she still look at him so endearingly, talk to him so softly? He caught her staring at him many times after the rescue. Why? Why did she do this to him? It would be easier if she was angry. She needed to yell at him, hate him, curse him. Then he wouldn't be in so much pain, surely. He could be angry instead. He knew how to deal with anger.
But the pain was too much. He would not survive it much longer. For all the strength he thought he possessed he had still become such a weak man. She had made him weak. And if nothing else he should hate her for that…but he didn't.
"About time, Namek." Vegeta's comment rubbed the wrong nerve and Piccolo flew directly next to the Prince, making sure his superior height was easily noticeable.
Piccolo didn't respond he only stared down at him, making his eyes narrow in aggravation. He had never liked Vegeta. He barely tolerated him for peace's sake. Now, he did not give much thought to keeping the peace.
Still, he was not the same as before. He could not just fight Vegeta or go on a rampage because things were not the way he wanted them to be. He had self control. He had a conscience, more now than ever thanks to Kami. But, there was a part of him that always gave those hints. Those minor glitches of immorality that told him to snap that spikey-haired money's neck.
That same little voice told him to rip out Son's throat, bend the midget into a pretzel, take out yet another section of audience at the Tournament. It was a small, fleeting voice that did not rear it's ugly head often. It had become progressively louder today, though, but it was usually only present after his vivid nightmares. The memories his Sire had forfeited to him at his birth were usually a trigger for the figurative 'devil' on his shoulder.
However, that voice remained oddly silent most of the time he was ever with Konna. He had thought of her as his cure for a long time, it had never gave any inclination toward harming her. On the contrary, recently that voice told him to take her however he wanted. To do with her whatever he craved and not feel the worse for it.
It seemed the one thing his split and contradicting psyche could agree on was that Konna was not expendable. She held a purpose that was not yet fulfilled and a tremendous desire that was far from satisfied. And it was exactly that line of thinking that was going to land him into boiling water someday. So with a great deal of purpose he drove that irritating voice to the back of his mind. He covered it with years of discipline and restraint. He was a master of self-control.
He felt her nearing the group just as Goku motioned for them to follow. He hurriedly sped up to be nearer to Goku, who was at the front, than chance another encounter with the half-breed. It seemed easier to think of her as an irrelevant object. A nameless, anonymous, unimportant bystander was better than calling her what she truly was: his existence.
How pathetic. He was an utterly pitiful excuse for a man.
"It's Dabura." Supreme Kai said, the shock was easily evident in his voice. "What's he doing here?"
"Who's Dabura?" Goku asked, landing quietly on the rocky edge of a cliff. As Piccolo landed noiselessly after him he noted a small white building deep in the canyon. There was one creature, who resembled one of Freeza's henchmen, walking around outside looking impatient. Another was a very large, red, and nearly demonic looking giant guarding the doorway.
Both had the same "M" tattooed on their foreheads as Spopovich and Yamu. It was also the symbol that was painted on the building. He knew it must stand for "Majin", so this was the definitely the right place to find Babidi.
Supreme Kai was giving a brief description of Dabura but Piccolo only vaguely heard him. Not because his ears could not still pick up the sound but because the half-breed had moved behind him. She was standing only a few feet away and he could see her easily with his peripheral vision.
She looked so sad.
He shut his eyes tight and shook his head slightly. Those thoughts would not help him. It only made the pain worse. Her very presence made the pain immense, he wished she would leave. She distracted him in every way. He should not care that she was sad, or hurt, or nearly killed.
Before he could finish that thought Dabura was in front of them all, his movement from the building to them being nearly instantaneous. He looked down at them smugly as though they were insects and he was the exterminator. The first one to go was Kibito Kai with just one blast from Dabura's open palm. It was too fast to react to, he had moved too quickly for any kind of block or defense to be made. Piccolo instantly tensed and readied himself for a fight when suddenly, unexpectedly, Dabura spat on Krillin.
Piccolo looked back to find that Krillin was trying to wipe the white mess off his arm. The little man had a disgusted look on his face and Piccolo couldn't blame him. The white mess clung to Krillin's clothes and began to spread across his shoulders. Piccolo wanted to watch and see what was happening to Krillin but the Supreme Kai's aghast voice rang clearly out among the collective silence of the group, pulling Piccolo's focus to him.
"Oh no, I should have warned them." He muttered to himself. To anyone else it would have been a whisper barely audible but to Piccolo was it perfectly clear.
Something very bad happened when Dabura spat on someone.
Krillin wailed the next moment and Piccolo looked back in time to see the man completely turned to white marble. His features and face contorted in a picture of pure terror, frozen in what seemed to be cement.
Piccolo could feel the shock on his face. This was something completely new and strange. It was the most unusual form of attack he had ever seen. He should not have taken his focus away from Dabura for even a moment. He knew better than to do that, but the unorthodox spitting tactic wavered Piccolo's attention.
So, when Dabura directed the next wad of stone-creating saliva Piccolo's direction he did not see it until it was too late. It was already airborne and flying at him, no way to dodge it.
He anticipated feeling the slight hit of the revolting lump against him but he didn't. Instead his arm was dislocated and pushed slightly out of socket as someone moved him roughly out of the way. He whipped around, his shoulder and arm probably broken from the amount of pain he was in, to see Konna standing in the spot he had just been in.
Her face was downcast and staring down at the white wad of liquid that now stained her gi top. She held her arms and hands out away from it but it was too late. The white began spreading immediately to cover most of her gi top within seconds. The last things Piccolo saw before he could react was her face.
She finally looked up at him. She looked directly into his eyes and smiled at him. She was proud of herself, her eyes were brighter than he had seen them all day and she was grinning from ear to ear. She looked like someone who had just completed a lifelong goal and was standing in awe of her accomplishment.
Piccolo growled and lunged at her. His right arm and shoulder were practically useless but he didn't care. He barely registered the extreme physical pain that accompanied his rapid movements and protested heavily his use of that arm. He reached out his left hand and grabbed with all his might the bottom of her gi top, pushing against her hips with his severely injured right hand.
One hard tug and a low bellow from Piccolo as his right arm sent stabbing pains all the way up to his neck was heard before the loud "rip" of the fabric. He had been hurried but not too careless. He had ripped the gi from the bottom half up and it fell away from her and flittered in the wind for only a moment before landing with a loud "thud" on the ground.
It had turned completely to stone in midair. They could hear Dabura laughing all the way from the building. When or how he had gotten back there Piccolo did not know or care.
Konna sank to her knees beside him looking at the scrap of cloth she had just been wearing. Piccolo was already kneeling from the position he had to be in to rip her shirt off. She looked up at him wide-eyed and a fierce blush beginning to creep up on her cheeks. She looked down at herself to realize she only had her sports bra for cover. Her arms instantly went around her chest in embarrassment.
She looked up at him again and opened her mouth to say something but obviously thought better of it. She looked almost angry at him for saving her. Good, he needed her to be angry. Because at the moment it was all he could do to keep from imagining her with more clothes missing. She needed to yell at him, get furious with him.
He could react appropriately then. He could easily match anger with anger. But she didn't, she just looked at the ground silently and hunched her back dejectedly. She seemed defeated and Piccolo couldn't understand why. He had saved her. Again.
Against all the odds and all the times he had told himself not to. His first reaction would always be her safety. He needed her safe and well, he didn't have a choice in the matter.
He blinked a new gi into existence for her. He let it fall to the ground in front of her and turned to give her privacy enough to put it on. Goku, though relieved enough that Konna was okay, was more concerned now for Krillin. Supreme Kai explained that Krillin could only be restored back to normal if Dabura was killed.
Piccolo listened halfheartedly as he moved his shoulder carefully and tried to push it back into place himself. It did not work on the first try so he grunted in pain and moved to press his hand against a cliff and try his luck that way. It did not take much force for the cliff to crumble and his shoulder to still be out of joint with his arm.
"Here, let me." Konna offered, her voice startlingly smooth. "It'll be quicker and a lot less painful."
Piccolo knew he shouldn't let her touch him at all. No skin on skin contact. He would regret it later when his pain came back full force. His mind was screaming at him to tell her to back off. Yell in her face that it was her own fault his arm was out of socket, he wouldn't have minded being turned to stone. It would have been a relief to be made of stone after everything he had lived through that day.
But he didn't. He paused long enough to see if she would back away and rethink her offer. She didn't. So, he bent down so that he was squatting next to her and let her realign his arm and push it back into socket. He couldn't help the painful moan that escaped his mouth as she did, though she was far more gentle than she needed to be.
"I'm…sorry," she started, backing away to let him stand. "Um, about that. I didn't mean to hurt you."
He scoffed at her misplaced concern. "Forget about it."
She nodded and began to turn, perhaps to go to her father again. The man had decided to go into Babidi's ship and kill Dabura, Vegeta was just as enthusiastic about picking a fight. They both were not listening to Supreme Kai who vehemently warned them that it was a trap and to stay put.
Neither listened.
"Konna, Piccolo…you guys coming or what?" Goku called, sounding like a child who had just been given a toy for his birthday.
Konna nodded from next to him and took one step in her father's direction.
"Right behind you." She said, nodding for him to go ahead.
Goku's smile lessened only slightly and he glanced quickly toward Piccolo before shooting off toward the canyon below. Vegeta followed soon after so that Konna and Piccolo were left relatively alone. Supreme Kai was muttering about the stubborn Earthlings being too defiant for their own good before he, too, shot off toward the building.
"Thank you, Piccolo." She said, looking up at him with those sad eyes from before.
"I said forget about it." He grumbled, knowing full well he sounded cross and agitated. That was the point, she needed to get it through her head that she should be cross with him too. The sooner she stopped all the pleasantries the sooner they could move on.
Well, she could move on. He would be stuck in his depressive rut forever. No matter how many centuries he lived he would never be over her. He should hate her for that too, for making him so dependant on her…but he didn't.
"You keep saving me and I appreciate it. I have to say thank you." She looked past him toward the canyon. "Let's go, before Dad and Vegeta get themselves into trouble."
He didn't wait to be told twice. He watched Konna take a backward glance toward Krillin before he followed after the others, leaving her a few seconds behind him. The man was still cement laden and marble white in his frozen state of fear. Piccolo felt a twinge of pity for the human. He had never disliked Krillin. It seemed an unfair fate for a good man.
But what could he honestly say of fate? It had dealt him a losing hand. He had been given a gift many years ago. He held on to that gift with a grip so tight he let it slip right through his fingers. He would never believe in fate for anything again. He had learned his lessons and by all the kais these were hard ones to be taught:
Never trust anyone, eventually they will hurt you.
Rely on no one but yourself, then you will only have yourself to blame.
Leave fate to the idiots that deserve to live life the hard way.
Passion is for the fools who don't know to run as far from it as possible.
Loneliness trumps pain any day.
Love is a slow death.