Chapter 10
With her blood roaring in her ears, Axle stared down at this white-caped namekian that looked in every way like the most poignant encounter of her life. He was hunched over with his hands clamped around his ears in obvious pain, his breath hissing in and out of his fangs.
Not Nail? He had to be. His face, his body, his… No. Not his expression. But… Unable to stop herself, she reached down and caressed the back of his neck, and dropped to her knees before him. She was half-tempted to beg the tormented look-alike to pretend to be him, if just for a day. She grabbed his shoulders, taking great efforts not to leap all over him again.
Suddenly he relaxed, and she watched in teary-eyed confusion as he slowly lifted his head and met her stare. This time, it was the gentle face she remembered, and a fresh set of tears rolled down her cheeks.
A small noise of relief escaped his lips and he wrapped her up in his arms, silently burying his face in her shoulder. It felt so good, she almost forgot his crazed reaction two seconds earlier.
"Nail?" she tried again, her voice shaky.
"It's me, Axle. It's me," he whispered without letting go.
She had to wait several seconds before she could trust her voice to speak. "How…what…?"
After a moment, he pulled back and cupped her face in his hands. "It's complicated," he said, his eyes creased in a paradox of anguished delight. "I fused-"
"Is this who I think it is?" came the captain's voice in Rameumptum from behind her. Nail's eyes lifted to glance unappreciatively at the intruder, and she turned her head just enough to be heard.
"Give me a moment, will ya, Two Stroke?"
"Hmph," the captain mused. "Well, I'll be. Even I don't know whether to kill the guy or kiss him. All I know is he better put you in a decent mood this time around, Axle. Moping really doesn't suit you"
"LEAVE!"
Two Stroke shuffled off, and she turned her attention back to the male who had dominated her thoughts, dead or alive, for the past four years. "You fused?" she asked, unable to stop her hand from tracing the contours of his face. "With who?"
"Did Etrack ever tell you about Piccolo?"
She nodded, still feeling as though seeing him, after so many years of thinking him dead, was surreal beyond her imagination. With great effort, she tried to stay focused on his tale. "The Great Katatsu's son. Sent to scout out planets with Etrack when the virus hit."
"Well," Nail took a deep breath and rested his forehead against hers, as though reinforcing that he wasn't dreaming by physically touching her. "Piccolo came here."
She blinked in a vague comprehension, recalling the unfamiliar expression on Nail's face earlier. "Are you trying to say"
"Piccolo split, and his darker half had a son, also named Piccolo. He showed up on our planet before Frieza destroyed it, and…we fused."
"But how did you…he…" Axle shook her head, trying to swallow the absurd concept, "both of you escape?"
"Dragon wish," he answered without smiling. "Most of the brethren were resurrected and sent to a new planet."
A new, wonderful concept dawned on her. The one thing that kept them apart before…was no longer an issue. "And you're here," she said, holding her breath in a barely contained excitement.
He nodded, and smiled ruefully. "Trapped inside Piccolo's body, and buried under his persona."
She studied him. "Still a lesser obstacle to overcome than turning an entire race against each other, Nail. And you're no longer the alpha son," she stated. "I'm not leaving."
"You have to."
"The hell I do."
"You don't understand. The earth is on the verge of destruction by a creature named Cell, whose capacity for evil makes Frieza look like a novice."
She contemplated his words, seeing the sincerity in his eyes. He wasn't exaggerating. "Then come with us," she countered, lowering her voice. "We only came to drop off these embezzling groglets anyhow." She jerked her head in the direction of the blue-skinned halflings. "They're seeking refuge with some relative named Pilaf after they raped three enterprises of their wealth. Contract is over. There'll be room for you on the ship."
His face creased in shocked disapproval at her unethical involvement with such criminals. It made her laugh, and she grabbed his ears and kissed him. His eyes flew wide, and then slanted in flushed scrutiny. She pulled back, and patted his cheeks.
"Agh, Nail. I would have bartered my entire crew to see that expression again. You have no idea what you did to me," she said, reflexively wiping the water from her eyes. "Or how I've missed you."
His expression softened, and he sighed and traced a talon across her cheek. "Oh, I think I do."
The gesture sent her heart from thumping in elation to fluttering in anticipation. He was standing here before her, looking just as he had… Wait. She frowned at the humungous white turban and broad-shouldered cape. Without asking, she yanked them off a stunned Nail, and chucked them to the ground, more than a little surprised at their weight.
"Is dressing like a dork part of namekian DNA?" She asked incredulously. "Or is it conditioned?"
He coughed surprise. "Piccolo won't like that you did that."
"Yeah well," she slid up next to him, and pinched his waist. He flinched. "He's not going to like a lot of things I'm going to do," she grinned.
"Axle," he said, visibly shaking himself to focus through her teasing. "I can't let you die here," he said, his face pained. "Return to me after the battle, if there's a planet to return to, and we'll work something out with Piccolo"
He suddenly grimaced at something internal. She realized that Piccolo probably had something to say about that last bit, and by the look on Nail's face, he was none too pleased. But her mind was made up.
"I lost you when I left Namek. Then I lost you all over again when it was destroyed," she said. "I'd rather die, here with you than lose you a third time."
His face creased in protest, but before he could speak she spun on her heels. "Stay here."
Her comrades were watching her from a distance, and she walked up to them, nonplussed about how constricted her throat became. She'd been with the crew so long, they were like family…dysfunctional, albeit, but family nonetheless.
"So did you finally get-teh things worked out-teh with the namekian-neh?" Sprocket asked innocently. She threw a strained look in his direction, and Gauge's, before locking stares with Two Stroke.
The captain knew her better than anyone in the universe, and she watched in honest regret as the jesting look froze on his face while his eyes sank. It took several seconds for the somber expression to weigh down the corners of his mouth.
"What isss it?" Gauge asked uneasily. Sprocket unfolded his arms and gawked at them both. Axle couldn't get the words past her tongue.
"You're staying here, aren't you?" Two Stroke asked seriously…quietly.
Her eyes stung and she sucked her bottom lip in between her teeth, and nodded.
A brief, but potent sadness flickered across his eyes right then, but it was quickly replaced by practiced acceptance. He smiled ruefully. "I always wondered when we were going to lose you, kid."
She took a deep breath and held her hand out. Two Stroke clasped her forearm with both hands in a firm shake. "May earth be good to you, Axle. You deserve a better life than the one I gave you, anyhow."
She shook her head, and managed through the lump in her throat, "No regrets, Two Stroke."
He nodded and released her. Wordlessly, she walked up to Sprocket, and Gauge, who had caught on by now what was happening. The groglets were immersed in their own circumstance, totally oblivious to her departure from the crew.
She threw her arms around Sprocket, and kissed his bristly cheek below his bulbous compound eye. He reluctantly hugged her back, as though delaying the gesture could somehow make her change her mind.
"He better be worth it-teh, Axle," he buzzed, unable to hide the emotion in his voice.
She snorted, and laughed to keep from crying. "You're telling me."
She disengaged from Sprocket and slugged Gauge in one of his shoulders. "No gambling your life away in my absence, Gauge."
The swatheswrap's black oily eyes glistened, and she suddenly found herself enveloped in eight hairy appendages. "Missss you…" he managed.
She choked, feeling the water in her eyes spill over. "I'll miss you, too." When Gauge released her, she stood back and met their eyes. "If I ever get a home set up here, you're all welcome to it."
They nodded, and before she completely lost it, Axle turned and walked away from the only family she'd had for the last fifteen years. Nail stood in strained indecision, as though contemplating knocking her unconscious and forcing her crew to take her with them. He was strong enough to do it, too.
"Respect my decision, Nail," she said reproachfully. "If I choose death over living without you, then it's my call."
He pursed his lips, and shifted weight from one foot to the other. Then, with no more warning than a glint in his eye, he lunged forward and embraced her, squeezing the breath from her lungs. "It won't be easy, Axle," he said quickly.
She didn't realize what he was referring to until a moment later, when a grating sound resounded somewhere in the depths of his chest and trailed up until it erupted from his mouth in a menacing growl. He pushed her back, his visage completely changed.
Piccolo…
With a snarl that curled up over his fangs, and a lingering glare, the offended namekian bent down and picked up his turban and cape, replacing them on his body in bruised dignity. He might have intimidated her had she not been so practiced in dealing with his kind of temperament. She prepared herself for a battle of wills. If she showed any weakness, he'd walk all over her.
"So where to now, Captain Charisma?"
He hissed at her. "You're not coming with me," he began, his voice more menacing than Nail's was kind. "And I'm not catering to your lovesick relationship. So just get back on your ship and get the hell outta-"
His words caught in his throat as she leapt forward and slammed him against a tree. It couldn't have possibly hurt him, but it did stun him. His earlier grimace softened with the onset of shock as he gaped at her.
"Not an option," she seethed. "You're stuck with me, namekian, so get used to it." Whatever reaction he had anticipated, it hadn't been that. It gave her a few extra moments to speak her peace before he regained his composure.
"Deal with my presence until Cell is defeated, and then we'll talk," she said and then smirked. "Unless you want to talk now."
His eyes narrowed and with a muttered curse, he roughly grabbed her shoulders and shoved her back. She would have caught her footing had it not been for a tree root sticking out of the ground. As it was, Axle tripped, and landed unceremoniously on her rump. She swore at him.
Apparently Nail didn't like Piccolo's treatment of her anymore than she did, because suddenly Piccolo cried out and clutched at his head in a futile defense of some mental torture her beloved was inflicting. Raspy, guttural breaths emanated from his mouth, and with a roar, he turned and punched a towering evergreen, obliterating its trunk to splinters. The thing shuddered and fell, snapping and cracking at its fellow trees on the way down. It landed with a booming, foresty crash, and the nearby blue-skinned halflings squealed in fright.
Only slightly unnerved, Axle stood to her feet. "You done?" she asked snidely. "You're scaring the groglets."
Piccolo stood there panting, his fists clenching and unclenching in fists. "You'll regret this decision," he seethed, and then with a muttered curse, he exploded into the air.
Axle took off immediately after him, having the distinct impression that, unlike Nail, Piccolo wasn't going to slow down just so she could keep up.
.
"How did it go?" Dende asked innocently as he left Gohan to his studies and trotted behind a very agitated Piccolo.
"It's absurd," Piccolo grated as he tried to distance himself as much as possible from the side of the Lookout that Axle would be landing on any moment. "Of all the gazillion life forms that could have been on the ship, and it just so happened that the vessel brought the one individual…"
"What?"
Piccolo stopped and turned on the younger namekian, unable to keep the bite out of his tone. "She woke up Nail, and now he wants his life back," he spat, the words bitter on his tongue.
Dende's eyes widened at the unexpected mention of his older brother. "Who?" he asked, more than a little perplexed.
Piccolo looked slit-eyed at the direction he'd come just as the ruffled female touched down on the tile. When she saw him, she made no effort to curb the daggered glare that narrowed her eyes. He took slight satisfaction in knowing that he'd pissed her off.
Dende followed his gaze, and his face scrunched in scrutiny, and then opened in honest surprise. "Axle," he breathed.
Piccolo tossed him a side glance, wondering how much the little guy knew about Nail's encounter with the female. She strode up to the both of them, not intimidated in the least, her gaze lingering on earth's new guardian.
"So Nail isn't the only namekian who decided to make earth his home, eh?" she said, more curious than snide.
It irked Piccolo to no end that she disregarded his presence. As though he didn't matter at all. "Nail doesn't exist anymore!" He barked. "So stop-"
She held her hand up to silence him, and rolled her eyes, huffing.
Piccolo choked at her audacity, too furious to make a coherent statement.
"What's your name, tenderling?" she asked the newest immigrant from Namek.
"Dende," he replied, captivated. "I remember hearing about you. Even after you left our planet, your presence was talked about often."
"Dende?" she asked, and dropped to one knee, staring him hard in the face. "I watched you hatch, scrub."
"That's what Nail said," Dende responded, and then laughed shyly as she brushed a finger against his rounded cheek.
"Well, I'll be…" she said, genuinely smiling.
Piccolo's indignation lessened as he noticed how quickly she shifted through emotions. He'd known her less than a half hour and he'd already seen anguished relief, aggressive intolerance, and now sincere delight, all in their purest forms on her visage. No wonder she had intrigued Nail.
The obstinate female was anything but boring…
"So what exactly is happening?" she asked Dende. Piccolo took advantage of her averted attention to walk away. Thanks to this whole fiasco, his own emotions were in turmoil, distracted by feelings that weren't even his.
Thanks a lot, Nail, he thought bitterly, coming to the far end of the platform.
Sorry, came the unrepentant tone.
Hmph. Piccolo recalled the terrifying sensation of being buried under Nail's consciousness…the drifting ambiguity, the floating blackness of a disintegrating self-awareness, interspersed with poignant moments of panic. He was amazed that Nail had managed to pull himself together enough to be heard at all.
Let alone scorching Piccolo's mind when he'd shoved Axle. Not to mention the gall Nail had at ignoring his frantic demands to relinquish control of Piccolo's body back to its rightful owner. It must have been four times before he finally relented.
You thought to keep me buried, you bastard.
I needed more time… his voice reverberated inside his head.
I shouldn't have given you the time you had! He sent subliminally. Now we're stuck with her.
He could feel Nail's uncharacteristic aggravation. An indisputable protectiveness over the alien that had disrupted both their worlds. Try to understand-
We're fighting Cell in four days! I don't have the time or the care to deal with your petty romance.
It's not petty. The words were filled with an aggression so untypical of his alter ego.The female definitely brought it out in him. Nail wasn't himself.
It's made you stupid, Piccolo berated. Weak.
Stop lying to yourself Piccolo, he countered just as spitefully. You resent my relationship with her because you covet it.
Piccolo grimaced and bit off a swear word. Of all the... He started to argue, but something stopped him. His thoughts were open to his swallowed personalities, and if Nail made that observation, then…
Agh! This was getting worse and worse. Stay silent, Nail, if you know what's good for you. You couldn't have picked a worse time to do this to me.
He felt the warrior's reluctant withdrawal from their heated conversation, and threw up what little barriers he had left. Dropping off the Lookout and plummeting to the ground below, Piccolo considered in a moment of demented rationale that he was actually looking forward to the fight with Cell - as it was probably the only thing that might get his mind off of Nail's sudden emergence, and the effect this obstinate female had…
On them both.
