IV
"Woah! What was that?" Piccolo asked himself, his path to Hell stopped abruptly when he felt a massive ki erupt suddenly. He remembered it vaguely, but couldn't place who he sensed with it before, but he remembered that fighting that ki wasn't much fun. He grunted and closed his mouth, which was gaping open, and activated his own aura. In the seven months he stayed in solitary, he practiced powering up. It was easy to do if you reached your max regularly, like he did. And now he found that he could do it in only a few seconds, merely by letting it all loose in a quick burst. And that's what he did now. Piccolo tightened all of his muscles and let his white aura swirl around him, his veins bulging momentarily under the stress until they became accustomed to the new power a couple seconds later. True it wasn't as dramatic as the Z Warriors usually made it, but this way was much more efficient. He cocked his head again, searching for the ki he lost momentarily while he powered up. After he found it, he pushed two fingers to his forehead and rushed to meet it.
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"What do you mean you don't know who Gogeta is? You must know who he is! He sent me here!" Zanji said, tightening his grip on Goz's throat. The gatekeeper let a small cry escape his lips as he felt his veins bulging. "I want to know who he is, and where he is. Now!"
"I... don't... know!" he sputtered out, fading in and out of consciousness.
"Well do you know what that makes you?" he asked as his eyes narrowed and his face became overshadowed with a grin of malice. "That makes you... expendable!" Zanji threw out the arm holding Goz into the air behind him. He hit the wall of a cavern and fell down, bruising his entire body, but not breaking any major bones. At least, hopefully not breaking any major bones. Goz couldn't tell since he wasn't... awake. As the green menace was approaching Mez a figure faded into view a few yards in the distance. Yellow turned to see who it was, then gasped aloud as he saw who it was.
"Piccolo!" Red turned with him, following the others example. His reaction was the same. Zanji mimicked the other two and nodded his head slightly to see who it was. And he nearly broke down in shock when he saw him.
"You're the one! You're the one who held me while that energy wave overtook us. You'll do just as well as Gogeta if I can't find him, green man."
"Go... geta?" Piccolo struggled for a second to figure who he was talking about. But he realized that it was the fusion that Goku and Vegeta used to defeat him twenty-six years ago, Zanji must have picked up the name when one of the Z Warriors was talking to the fusion. The namekian looked into the sky of pink and the distant white of cover clouds. Maybe he should call upon the others? No... No, he was the guardian of Hell for a reason. It was his business to deal with this. Zanji had escaped, and by the looks of it so had two others. The red, Tomatto, and yellow, Selary, were a tag team Vegeta brought in a few years earlier. Tomatto was incredibly fast, while Selary was impossibly strong. Separately they weren't much of a challenge, but together they were more dangerous then...
"Die!" Piccolo looked up just in time to see a bright green ball rushing toward his position. The namekian jumped into the air to avoid it, easily sending the ki attack sailing away into the distance, where he heard it impact the wall of the mountainside that was stationed back there. The sky darkened for a moment while the blast sucked in light, but everything was quickly brightened again as it dissipated. Piccolo, from his high position in the air, saw Zanji disappear. On instinct, he immediately turned around to intercept the blow he knew was coming. He wasn't fast enough and Zanji's fist slammed into the side of the namekian's face, forcing him back... seven inches. Zanji's jaw dropped for a few seconds, but then he clenched his teeth and threw another punch into Piccolo's face. This time, however, Piccolo was prepared. When the fist connected it sent rivets through his body, but he remained stationary. The wind from the impact blew behind the two fighters and created a three foot crater in the ground below, only a few feet away from where Mez sat, dazed from his last encounter.
Piccolo smiled. This was going to be fun.
"Woah! What was that?" Piccolo asked himself, his path to Hell stopped abruptly when he felt a massive ki erupt suddenly. He remembered it vaguely, but couldn't place who he sensed with it before, but he remembered that fighting that ki wasn't much fun. He grunted and closed his mouth, which was gaping open, and activated his own aura. In the seven months he stayed in solitary, he practiced powering up. It was easy to do if you reached your max regularly, like he did. And now he found that he could do it in only a few seconds, merely by letting it all loose in a quick burst. And that's what he did now. Piccolo tightened all of his muscles and let his white aura swirl around him, his veins bulging momentarily under the stress until they became accustomed to the new power a couple seconds later. True it wasn't as dramatic as the Z Warriors usually made it, but this way was much more efficient. He cocked his head again, searching for the ki he lost momentarily while he powered up. After he found it, he pushed two fingers to his forehead and rushed to meet it.
------------------------
"What do you mean you don't know who Gogeta is? You must know who he is! He sent me here!" Zanji said, tightening his grip on Goz's throat. The gatekeeper let a small cry escape his lips as he felt his veins bulging. "I want to know who he is, and where he is. Now!"
"I... don't... know!" he sputtered out, fading in and out of consciousness.
"Well do you know what that makes you?" he asked as his eyes narrowed and his face became overshadowed with a grin of malice. "That makes you... expendable!" Zanji threw out the arm holding Goz into the air behind him. He hit the wall of a cavern and fell down, bruising his entire body, but not breaking any major bones. At least, hopefully not breaking any major bones. Goz couldn't tell since he wasn't... awake. As the green menace was approaching Mez a figure faded into view a few yards in the distance. Yellow turned to see who it was, then gasped aloud as he saw who it was.
"Piccolo!" Red turned with him, following the others example. His reaction was the same. Zanji mimicked the other two and nodded his head slightly to see who it was. And he nearly broke down in shock when he saw him.
"You're the one! You're the one who held me while that energy wave overtook us. You'll do just as well as Gogeta if I can't find him, green man."
"Go... geta?" Piccolo struggled for a second to figure who he was talking about. But he realized that it was the fusion that Goku and Vegeta used to defeat him twenty-six years ago, Zanji must have picked up the name when one of the Z Warriors was talking to the fusion. The namekian looked into the sky of pink and the distant white of cover clouds. Maybe he should call upon the others? No... No, he was the guardian of Hell for a reason. It was his business to deal with this. Zanji had escaped, and by the looks of it so had two others. The red, Tomatto, and yellow, Selary, were a tag team Vegeta brought in a few years earlier. Tomatto was incredibly fast, while Selary was impossibly strong. Separately they weren't much of a challenge, but together they were more dangerous then...
"Die!" Piccolo looked up just in time to see a bright green ball rushing toward his position. The namekian jumped into the air to avoid it, easily sending the ki attack sailing away into the distance, where he heard it impact the wall of the mountainside that was stationed back there. The sky darkened for a moment while the blast sucked in light, but everything was quickly brightened again as it dissipated. Piccolo, from his high position in the air, saw Zanji disappear. On instinct, he immediately turned around to intercept the blow he knew was coming. He wasn't fast enough and Zanji's fist slammed into the side of the namekian's face, forcing him back... seven inches. Zanji's jaw dropped for a few seconds, but then he clenched his teeth and threw another punch into Piccolo's face. This time, however, Piccolo was prepared. When the fist connected it sent rivets through his body, but he remained stationary. The wind from the impact blew behind the two fighters and created a three foot crater in the ground below, only a few feet away from where Mez sat, dazed from his last encounter.
Piccolo smiled. This was going to be fun.