The Devils Cold Left Hand
1 Chapter 1: The Nightmare Returns
It was a normal summer day in the Capsule Corporation, but Bulma Briefs couldn't wait for her day to end. It had only been a couple months since they narrowly escaped the doomed planet Namek, and she had tried to settle back into her life. She sighed with annoyance at the papers scattered around her desk, her mind repeating to her how useless it was. After she returned to Earth she had only enjoyed a few brief moments to be with the ones she cared about, and then had been hit with the realization that she would never see Goku again, or Chaozu and Tien, "Or Yamcha…" she whispered, a silent tear sliding down her cheek. She pulled her chair back and left her office, telling her secretary she was taking the rest of the day off. She pressed the button for the massive glass window elevator and stepped inside, leaning onto the rail and taking in the sights of the CC building from fifty stories above.
The compound itself was about one hundred acres of land and mostly with just walk ways and gardens connecting the various research and development buildings, but now they were absolutely crammed with space capsules laid end to end. It had been a precaution, Vegeta had grimly insisted that Freeza was still alive, that for him it was an easy task to just travel through space without the aid of a space ship or life support, and that as soon as he had healed his wounds that he would be coming to Earth to finish them. When that realization had finally sunk in everyone decided on their own course of action, for Bulma it had been to design enough space ships the evacuate the population of where ever Freeza would land until the fighters could confront him, and if the absolutely unthinkable happened, to abandon the planet. The idea sounded ridicules; it would be impossible to build enough in time, but it wasn't exactly like passengers where in high demand right now anyways.
CC had put out an emergency broadcast worldwide, translated into every known language to alert the people of Earth, but had been met with mixed results. The majority of the population didn't believe it, thinking it was a hoax or publicity stunt, but there had been more groups that had seen the devastation just a half year ago when the saiyan warriors, Vegeta and Nappa, had laid waist to an entire localized city just a few hours drive from the CC building. But even then the results had been varied, some thinking it would be better to hide in their homes than evacuate, and worse yet the ignorant masses who thought they could raise an army to drive them out. "If only they could've seen it…they have no idea what could happen to Earth…" She hadn't seen any of the actual killing done by Freeza's mercenaries, but she had seen first hand the towns smashed in their wake, the dead bodies of the peaceful Namekians, from old men to just children, all killed in the same brutal fashions of Freeza's pitiless guards.
She forced herself to stop thinking like that, it wouldn't happen like that this time. They hadn't known what they were getting into on Namek, but this time they were ready. Vegeta had been training himself night and day like a man possessed in a specialized gravity room to become as strong as Goku was, and Gohan and Piccolo had gone to Kamis tower just a couple days ago to see about getting even stronger. This time when Freeza came looking to bully a population all he would find would be defenders to pay him back for his crimes.
***********
It was quiet on Kamis look out, even more than usual. Gohan tried vainly to concentrate on his studies, now and then glancing up at the room where Piccolo and Kami had entered a few hours ago. Mr. Popo was tending to the red orchids that lined the many walkways, but he too was anxious about what the two were talking about. All of this seemed ridiculous to Gohan, watering flowers and learning arithmetic while an all powerful maniac was on his way right now to turn the entire planet into a dust cloud, but when it came down between the evil warlord Freeza, and his mother, he was much more worried about what would happen if she found him not studying, opposed to what would happen if Freeza found him studying. Gohan was wearing a blue fighting outfit like his first teacher, Mr. Piccolo, but he couldn't wear it around his mom or she would freak. It was bad enough when he came home in saiyan armour; she had gone ballistic and broke into tears, convinced that he had joined some alien gang.
A bright flash and a high-pitched "Whoosh!!" of energy snapped Gohan back to attention. Mr. Popo gasped and shielded his eyes with his hands. "Oh no! Kami!" He exclaimed. Gohan stood up and looked through the bright light that poured from the open mouth of the elder nameks throne, and Gohan gradually made out the form of the tall, caped Piccolo. The figure walked out of the room and the glow surrounding him softened, then finally faded away until it was just he, standing impassively on the steps to the chamber, a breeze lifting his cape slightly as it passed. "Mr…Piccolo?" Gohan asked timidly. Mr Popo took two steps forward, tears already starting to form on his ebony smooth cheeks. "Kami…? Oh why Kami…" He moaned sadly. Piccolo walked down past them both without a glance, talking in a new deep calm voice. " I am not Kami…nor am I Piccolo. I am the namek who has long forgotten his own name." Gohan was stunned, now understanding that Piccolo's plan had to have been to fuse with the earth's guardian, Kami, to give him the super strength he would need to beat Freeza. The newly fused namek walked to the outer edge of the round, high up sanctuary until he rested his foot on the rim, then turned back to look at them. "I am a super namek now…but it would be best if you two waited on one of the space ships until this is all over. This sanctuary may not be safe." Mr. Popo shook his head softly. "I have always served the Kami here in this place, and I shall continue to wait here until he is replaced. I must share whatever is to befall this world." Gohan jumped forward with resolve, "That's right, and I'm going to help you Piccolo! No way your fighting Freeza alone!" Piccolo just smiled a bit and nodded. "Fine…but we don't have long now. Better get ready…"
***********
The atmosphere was now strangely pleasant at the C.C.; everyone had been given the day off to be with their families, or to move into the space ships for safety until the danger had passed. In the expansive backyard of Dr. Brief's mansion a small but closely-knit group of friends had gathered, even if it was just to enjoy the last few days of peace. At one table was seated Dr. Briefs, his wife, and the saiyan prince Vegeta sporting a pink shirt with the logo "Bad Man" printed on the back. More picnic tables had been set out to accommodate the 80 or so nameks that were staying with them until they could find another home. The nameks didn't eat, but they to were enjoying the hot summer day and playing earth sports like soccer and golf. Bulma was firing up the barbeque, and she could grill a pretty lean steak if she felt like it. It looked like such an unlikely assembly of friends, and it made Bulma hurt a little to think how incredible it would be if everyone could've enjoyed it. She could see it now - Tien and Chaozu racing and playing games while Yamcha would try to flatter her to get booze, and it would work. And of course Goku, scarfing down burgers as if they were going out of style and then letting out a long sigh and getting up to rough house with the rest. She would wear her best sundress and laugh over stories of the old days, they would talk about everything going on in their lives and Bulma would try to see if she could get Yamcha jealous over her new Latin secretary, Roberto…-
"Woman, aren't those steaks ready yet?!" The arrogant prince demanded impatiently. Bulma put away her fond memories of the past and slapped the sizzling slab of meat onto his plate unceremoniously, flashing him an angry, annoyed look. She was really getting fed up with his selfish 'I'm the prince so everyone does what I say' attitude. They had already given him a place to stay, free food and lodging, not to mention millions of dollars worth of training equipment for his daily workouts, but if they didn't need him to help against Freeza, Bulma would've tossed him out on his ass long ago.
"Now isn't this nice? All of us together like this sharing a meal together, on such a peaceful day…things are just perfect." Bulmas ditzy blond mother said to no one in particular. "Sure…real perfect, were chowing down on barbeque while a evil alien with enough power to destroy the world is on his way to kill us all." Bulmas mind snapped sarcastically. Suddenly Vegeta stood up and punched the table, cracking it down the centre. Bulma ran over to him scared, thinking he might've chocked on his food or something, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw the look on his face, a mix of anger and fear. "He's here…."
1 Chapter 1: The Nightmare Returns
It was a normal summer day in the Capsule Corporation, but Bulma Briefs couldn't wait for her day to end. It had only been a couple months since they narrowly escaped the doomed planet Namek, and she had tried to settle back into her life. She sighed with annoyance at the papers scattered around her desk, her mind repeating to her how useless it was. After she returned to Earth she had only enjoyed a few brief moments to be with the ones she cared about, and then had been hit with the realization that she would never see Goku again, or Chaozu and Tien, "Or Yamcha…" she whispered, a silent tear sliding down her cheek. She pulled her chair back and left her office, telling her secretary she was taking the rest of the day off. She pressed the button for the massive glass window elevator and stepped inside, leaning onto the rail and taking in the sights of the CC building from fifty stories above.
The compound itself was about one hundred acres of land and mostly with just walk ways and gardens connecting the various research and development buildings, but now they were absolutely crammed with space capsules laid end to end. It had been a precaution, Vegeta had grimly insisted that Freeza was still alive, that for him it was an easy task to just travel through space without the aid of a space ship or life support, and that as soon as he had healed his wounds that he would be coming to Earth to finish them. When that realization had finally sunk in everyone decided on their own course of action, for Bulma it had been to design enough space ships the evacuate the population of where ever Freeza would land until the fighters could confront him, and if the absolutely unthinkable happened, to abandon the planet. The idea sounded ridicules; it would be impossible to build enough in time, but it wasn't exactly like passengers where in high demand right now anyways.
CC had put out an emergency broadcast worldwide, translated into every known language to alert the people of Earth, but had been met with mixed results. The majority of the population didn't believe it, thinking it was a hoax or publicity stunt, but there had been more groups that had seen the devastation just a half year ago when the saiyan warriors, Vegeta and Nappa, had laid waist to an entire localized city just a few hours drive from the CC building. But even then the results had been varied, some thinking it would be better to hide in their homes than evacuate, and worse yet the ignorant masses who thought they could raise an army to drive them out. "If only they could've seen it…they have no idea what could happen to Earth…" She hadn't seen any of the actual killing done by Freeza's mercenaries, but she had seen first hand the towns smashed in their wake, the dead bodies of the peaceful Namekians, from old men to just children, all killed in the same brutal fashions of Freeza's pitiless guards.
She forced herself to stop thinking like that, it wouldn't happen like that this time. They hadn't known what they were getting into on Namek, but this time they were ready. Vegeta had been training himself night and day like a man possessed in a specialized gravity room to become as strong as Goku was, and Gohan and Piccolo had gone to Kamis tower just a couple days ago to see about getting even stronger. This time when Freeza came looking to bully a population all he would find would be defenders to pay him back for his crimes.
***********
It was quiet on Kamis look out, even more than usual. Gohan tried vainly to concentrate on his studies, now and then glancing up at the room where Piccolo and Kami had entered a few hours ago. Mr. Popo was tending to the red orchids that lined the many walkways, but he too was anxious about what the two were talking about. All of this seemed ridiculous to Gohan, watering flowers and learning arithmetic while an all powerful maniac was on his way right now to turn the entire planet into a dust cloud, but when it came down between the evil warlord Freeza, and his mother, he was much more worried about what would happen if she found him not studying, opposed to what would happen if Freeza found him studying. Gohan was wearing a blue fighting outfit like his first teacher, Mr. Piccolo, but he couldn't wear it around his mom or she would freak. It was bad enough when he came home in saiyan armour; she had gone ballistic and broke into tears, convinced that he had joined some alien gang.
A bright flash and a high-pitched "Whoosh!!" of energy snapped Gohan back to attention. Mr. Popo gasped and shielded his eyes with his hands. "Oh no! Kami!" He exclaimed. Gohan stood up and looked through the bright light that poured from the open mouth of the elder nameks throne, and Gohan gradually made out the form of the tall, caped Piccolo. The figure walked out of the room and the glow surrounding him softened, then finally faded away until it was just he, standing impassively on the steps to the chamber, a breeze lifting his cape slightly as it passed. "Mr…Piccolo?" Gohan asked timidly. Mr Popo took two steps forward, tears already starting to form on his ebony smooth cheeks. "Kami…? Oh why Kami…" He moaned sadly. Piccolo walked down past them both without a glance, talking in a new deep calm voice. " I am not Kami…nor am I Piccolo. I am the namek who has long forgotten his own name." Gohan was stunned, now understanding that Piccolo's plan had to have been to fuse with the earth's guardian, Kami, to give him the super strength he would need to beat Freeza. The newly fused namek walked to the outer edge of the round, high up sanctuary until he rested his foot on the rim, then turned back to look at them. "I am a super namek now…but it would be best if you two waited on one of the space ships until this is all over. This sanctuary may not be safe." Mr. Popo shook his head softly. "I have always served the Kami here in this place, and I shall continue to wait here until he is replaced. I must share whatever is to befall this world." Gohan jumped forward with resolve, "That's right, and I'm going to help you Piccolo! No way your fighting Freeza alone!" Piccolo just smiled a bit and nodded. "Fine…but we don't have long now. Better get ready…"
***********
The atmosphere was now strangely pleasant at the C.C.; everyone had been given the day off to be with their families, or to move into the space ships for safety until the danger had passed. In the expansive backyard of Dr. Brief's mansion a small but closely-knit group of friends had gathered, even if it was just to enjoy the last few days of peace. At one table was seated Dr. Briefs, his wife, and the saiyan prince Vegeta sporting a pink shirt with the logo "Bad Man" printed on the back. More picnic tables had been set out to accommodate the 80 or so nameks that were staying with them until they could find another home. The nameks didn't eat, but they to were enjoying the hot summer day and playing earth sports like soccer and golf. Bulma was firing up the barbeque, and she could grill a pretty lean steak if she felt like it. It looked like such an unlikely assembly of friends, and it made Bulma hurt a little to think how incredible it would be if everyone could've enjoyed it. She could see it now - Tien and Chaozu racing and playing games while Yamcha would try to flatter her to get booze, and it would work. And of course Goku, scarfing down burgers as if they were going out of style and then letting out a long sigh and getting up to rough house with the rest. She would wear her best sundress and laugh over stories of the old days, they would talk about everything going on in their lives and Bulma would try to see if she could get Yamcha jealous over her new Latin secretary, Roberto…-
"Woman, aren't those steaks ready yet?!" The arrogant prince demanded impatiently. Bulma put away her fond memories of the past and slapped the sizzling slab of meat onto his plate unceremoniously, flashing him an angry, annoyed look. She was really getting fed up with his selfish 'I'm the prince so everyone does what I say' attitude. They had already given him a place to stay, free food and lodging, not to mention millions of dollars worth of training equipment for his daily workouts, but if they didn't need him to help against Freeza, Bulma would've tossed him out on his ass long ago.
"Now isn't this nice? All of us together like this sharing a meal together, on such a peaceful day…things are just perfect." Bulmas ditzy blond mother said to no one in particular. "Sure…real perfect, were chowing down on barbeque while a evil alien with enough power to destroy the world is on his way to kill us all." Bulmas mind snapped sarcastically. Suddenly Vegeta stood up and punched the table, cracking it down the centre. Bulma ran over to him scared, thinking he might've chocked on his food or something, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw the look on his face, a mix of anger and fear. "He's here…."