"Niy admires you, you know," Mia said lowly, frowning as she circled
around Piccolo.
Piccolo just stood there and lowly growled, ready for Mia's attack.
"She knows that the part of the reason Earth still exists today is because you were here to defend it," Mia said before the Namek narrowed his eyes in anger.
"The Great and Evil Piccolo who once sent shivers into people's hearts not makes them melt. I can read your mind like an open book, Piccolo."
Piccolo hissed in rage as Mia spoke his most hated fault, never minding the fact that she had pried into Earth's strongest psychic. He charged at Mia, but she easily grabbed his arm and used his own momentum to toss him out of the way.
"I can sense your guilt, Piccolo. You blame it on Goku, but the real reason you are so soft is because of another face close to him. Dare I say his name?"
Piccolo pounded the tile floor so hard with his fists in anger as he lay across it that for a few seconds all of Kami's lookout vibrated violently. He jumped to his feet and spat a giant blast of ki from deep inside his throat. Mia's wings suddenly splurged from her back and she dodged the blast by circling around it in flight.
"You think Gohan made you soft?" Mia shouted, charging at Piccolo and knocking him aside with a giant slap of her great leathery wing. "You made yourself soft. Your soul is weak, Piccolo. The evil you had once hardened it, making it almost invincible, almost immortal. The love you have for Gohan undid what you spent years of work hardening and toning." Mia swirled around him using the long talons on her wings, hands, and feet to cut him in a tornado of slashing and slicing green flesh. He yelled in pain and his body jerked as each violent stab caused his body to spin and fly in different directions. "It is your caring, Piccolo," Mia said as she grabbed his limp neck and lifted his sagging body up with her arm, poised to make one last slice across his neck, "That will kill you."
"You are wrong," Piccolo growled deep inside of his throat as his eyes flashed and two laser beams of key burned into Mia's soft cheek. She screamed as she brought her hands up to her face, letting Piccolo drop to the ground. He struggled, but he successfully got his blood-drenched body to stand firmly on the tiled floor. "A heart is a muscle just like the meat of your arms and legs," Piccolo hissed as he kicked Mia in the abs and lifted and through her body into the floor. "And like any muscle, it must be strengthened and trained to be of any use." He jabbed his foot hard into her knee and Mia cried at the sound of a sickening crack and she knew something inside of her was no broken. "Gohan taught me that," Piccolo said quietly. "Before I encountered him, my heart was hard, but it was shriveled and puny and I was weak. But training with him and Goku showed me the power I had forsaken. I grew stronger, much stronger." Piccolo lifted up Mia by her broken leg as Mia screeched and cried in pain. "And if you ask me, that's the reason Vegeta will never be as powerful as Goku. His heart is too weak. The only reason Niy won't stand up to this Emperor is because her heart is too weak." The Namek used his other hand and twisted Mia's ankle until it crunched sickeningly, leaving her in so much pain all she could do was whimper softly in response. "And you're the same way," he snarled, effortlessly flinging her battered body across the cracked floor.
Mia felt tears swell and roll down her flinching, tense face as she lay sprawled on the ground. Her heart wasn't weak. Niy cared for her, like her mom. So Niy must love her, right? Mia wasn't alone as long as she had Niy. Niy must love her. And Niy wanted her to win. Niy always won. Mia wanted so badly to win for Niy, to prove that she could live up to Niy's expectations. Mia felt inside her an urge; an urge to grow, to be bigger, to be wiser, and to be stronger. It was so strong that her mind focused on only that one thought, and her body began to change.
Piccolo rapidly covered his eyes as a blinding white light shot from Mia's body. He squinted his eyes, and focused on her shadowed figure. He watched her body become much taller and longer. Her talons narrowed and spread. Her body thinned, and her chest grew into a blossoming bosom. Her wings flattened and grew to compensate her much taller size. Her face once round and child-like lengthened and matured before his eyes. The light flashed away as it had come, and before him Piccolo gaped as he saw Mia- the 7' 10" adult version get up.
"Hello, Piccolo," the deeper-throated Mia spoke. Everything about her seemed to have changed, but Piccolo still noticed the same glimmer of innocence in those same crystal blue eyes. "It seems you were wrong," she said getting up, her leg perfectly healed. "My heart must be strong, because I have just gotten stronger."
"You're only deluding yourself," he snarled, actually looking up into the taller Mia's eyes. "Niy doesn't love you," he said, purposefully reading her mind, "You're just a minion to her, a slave. You're just going along for the ride because she doesn't want to ride alone."
Mia frowned, and Piccolo thought it was the most marring expression he had ever seen. "She does love me," she shouted, enraged. "And I don't need to prove it to a selfish bastard like you!" She sprang off of her feet with a subtle step and throttled herself full speed at the Namek.
* * *
"Niy, are you okay," Goku shouted as he crawled out of his hiding place with Vegeta's body over his shoulder.
Niy's focus instantly darted to Goku as soon as she had heard the first note of his voice, and after noticing it was just him, gathered control of herself by exhaling her anxiety.
"I'm fine," she said, centering her mind in on herself, making sure all of her was there in her consciousness. "I've won."
"Yeah," Goku said, "That was a very impressive fight. You reached levels of power I haven't begun to reach for yet."
Niy eyed Rezan's figure and watched as her orange, now dusty hair, wavered slightly in the light breeze.
Goku furrowed his eyebrows. "From what I hear of the Emperor, I don't think he would appreciate it too much if you couldn't keep a steady control of your powers."
Niy's eyes widened as she realized he had spoken her deepest fears aloud.
"All this preparation to join his side. .it would all be a waste," Goku said.
Saddened, Niy frowned, closed her eyes, and lowered her head. She could feel the truth ring from his words and it vibrated hurtfully in her ear.
Goku put his empty hand onto her shoulder, even though she was taller than him by a couple inches. "You have so much power and you have so much you could teach us. You are Earth's only hope of survival. I'm asking this not because I think it so little, because I know how great it is, to save the world and all, but we really need your help. Please help to defend this planet from the Emperor. The planet needs you."
Niy opened her mind and let the thoughts plunge into her head. She wanted so badly to stand there and argue with him, but to do so would be to fall into self-delusion. Instead she opened her eyes and stared into his. His eyes were big and black and she saw a willingness to listen and learn and grow and give. It humbled her in a strange way to look at him like this and she immediately moved her focus away, guiltily.
"We will wait for your son to come, and then we will begin the training," Niy mumbled, bending over to throw Rezan's body over her shoulders.
Goku blanked and then felt the familiar signal of his son's ki come closer with each second. Goku smiled. "Thank you," he said to Niy.
Niy's face was in a blank expression, but she acknowledged his gratitude with a blink of her eyes and turned to wait for Gohan.
Piccolo just stood there and lowly growled, ready for Mia's attack.
"She knows that the part of the reason Earth still exists today is because you were here to defend it," Mia said before the Namek narrowed his eyes in anger.
"The Great and Evil Piccolo who once sent shivers into people's hearts not makes them melt. I can read your mind like an open book, Piccolo."
Piccolo hissed in rage as Mia spoke his most hated fault, never minding the fact that she had pried into Earth's strongest psychic. He charged at Mia, but she easily grabbed his arm and used his own momentum to toss him out of the way.
"I can sense your guilt, Piccolo. You blame it on Goku, but the real reason you are so soft is because of another face close to him. Dare I say his name?"
Piccolo pounded the tile floor so hard with his fists in anger as he lay across it that for a few seconds all of Kami's lookout vibrated violently. He jumped to his feet and spat a giant blast of ki from deep inside his throat. Mia's wings suddenly splurged from her back and she dodged the blast by circling around it in flight.
"You think Gohan made you soft?" Mia shouted, charging at Piccolo and knocking him aside with a giant slap of her great leathery wing. "You made yourself soft. Your soul is weak, Piccolo. The evil you had once hardened it, making it almost invincible, almost immortal. The love you have for Gohan undid what you spent years of work hardening and toning." Mia swirled around him using the long talons on her wings, hands, and feet to cut him in a tornado of slashing and slicing green flesh. He yelled in pain and his body jerked as each violent stab caused his body to spin and fly in different directions. "It is your caring, Piccolo," Mia said as she grabbed his limp neck and lifted his sagging body up with her arm, poised to make one last slice across his neck, "That will kill you."
"You are wrong," Piccolo growled deep inside of his throat as his eyes flashed and two laser beams of key burned into Mia's soft cheek. She screamed as she brought her hands up to her face, letting Piccolo drop to the ground. He struggled, but he successfully got his blood-drenched body to stand firmly on the tiled floor. "A heart is a muscle just like the meat of your arms and legs," Piccolo hissed as he kicked Mia in the abs and lifted and through her body into the floor. "And like any muscle, it must be strengthened and trained to be of any use." He jabbed his foot hard into her knee and Mia cried at the sound of a sickening crack and she knew something inside of her was no broken. "Gohan taught me that," Piccolo said quietly. "Before I encountered him, my heart was hard, but it was shriveled and puny and I was weak. But training with him and Goku showed me the power I had forsaken. I grew stronger, much stronger." Piccolo lifted up Mia by her broken leg as Mia screeched and cried in pain. "And if you ask me, that's the reason Vegeta will never be as powerful as Goku. His heart is too weak. The only reason Niy won't stand up to this Emperor is because her heart is too weak." The Namek used his other hand and twisted Mia's ankle until it crunched sickeningly, leaving her in so much pain all she could do was whimper softly in response. "And you're the same way," he snarled, effortlessly flinging her battered body across the cracked floor.
Mia felt tears swell and roll down her flinching, tense face as she lay sprawled on the ground. Her heart wasn't weak. Niy cared for her, like her mom. So Niy must love her, right? Mia wasn't alone as long as she had Niy. Niy must love her. And Niy wanted her to win. Niy always won. Mia wanted so badly to win for Niy, to prove that she could live up to Niy's expectations. Mia felt inside her an urge; an urge to grow, to be bigger, to be wiser, and to be stronger. It was so strong that her mind focused on only that one thought, and her body began to change.
Piccolo rapidly covered his eyes as a blinding white light shot from Mia's body. He squinted his eyes, and focused on her shadowed figure. He watched her body become much taller and longer. Her talons narrowed and spread. Her body thinned, and her chest grew into a blossoming bosom. Her wings flattened and grew to compensate her much taller size. Her face once round and child-like lengthened and matured before his eyes. The light flashed away as it had come, and before him Piccolo gaped as he saw Mia- the 7' 10" adult version get up.
"Hello, Piccolo," the deeper-throated Mia spoke. Everything about her seemed to have changed, but Piccolo still noticed the same glimmer of innocence in those same crystal blue eyes. "It seems you were wrong," she said getting up, her leg perfectly healed. "My heart must be strong, because I have just gotten stronger."
"You're only deluding yourself," he snarled, actually looking up into the taller Mia's eyes. "Niy doesn't love you," he said, purposefully reading her mind, "You're just a minion to her, a slave. You're just going along for the ride because she doesn't want to ride alone."
Mia frowned, and Piccolo thought it was the most marring expression he had ever seen. "She does love me," she shouted, enraged. "And I don't need to prove it to a selfish bastard like you!" She sprang off of her feet with a subtle step and throttled herself full speed at the Namek.
* * *
"Niy, are you okay," Goku shouted as he crawled out of his hiding place with Vegeta's body over his shoulder.
Niy's focus instantly darted to Goku as soon as she had heard the first note of his voice, and after noticing it was just him, gathered control of herself by exhaling her anxiety.
"I'm fine," she said, centering her mind in on herself, making sure all of her was there in her consciousness. "I've won."
"Yeah," Goku said, "That was a very impressive fight. You reached levels of power I haven't begun to reach for yet."
Niy eyed Rezan's figure and watched as her orange, now dusty hair, wavered slightly in the light breeze.
Goku furrowed his eyebrows. "From what I hear of the Emperor, I don't think he would appreciate it too much if you couldn't keep a steady control of your powers."
Niy's eyes widened as she realized he had spoken her deepest fears aloud.
"All this preparation to join his side. .it would all be a waste," Goku said.
Saddened, Niy frowned, closed her eyes, and lowered her head. She could feel the truth ring from his words and it vibrated hurtfully in her ear.
Goku put his empty hand onto her shoulder, even though she was taller than him by a couple inches. "You have so much power and you have so much you could teach us. You are Earth's only hope of survival. I'm asking this not because I think it so little, because I know how great it is, to save the world and all, but we really need your help. Please help to defend this planet from the Emperor. The planet needs you."
Niy opened her mind and let the thoughts plunge into her head. She wanted so badly to stand there and argue with him, but to do so would be to fall into self-delusion. Instead she opened her eyes and stared into his. His eyes were big and black and she saw a willingness to listen and learn and grow and give. It humbled her in a strange way to look at him like this and she immediately moved her focus away, guiltily.
"We will wait for your son to come, and then we will begin the training," Niy mumbled, bending over to throw Rezan's body over her shoulders.
Goku blanked and then felt the familiar signal of his son's ki come closer with each second. Goku smiled. "Thank you," he said to Niy.
Niy's face was in a blank expression, but she acknowledged his gratitude with a blink of her eyes and turned to wait for Gohan.
