Piccolo's Last Stand

"Three valuable hours... wasted." Vegeta smirked, taking his scouter off, "But of course the traitor would also be a coward..."

"M-my daddy's not a coward!!" Gohan shouted.

"Then where is he...?" Krillin glared at Nappa and Vegeta, muttering. His forehead began to sweat.

"Why isn't he coming?!"

Nappa took one step forward, cracking his knuckles, chuckling,

"Finally... It's PAIN time... I'm just sorry Kakarrot isn't here to see it."

Nanake gulped and took a step back.

"So it's time to die, huh...?" Krillin gave a weak smile, "Feel like I'm a fucking Kamikaze... Damn it..."

"Nappa." Vegeta spoke to his comrade, "Remember to keep the Namek and the girl alive as well. We could use her in the hunt."

"Gosh Vegeta... I thought she was a traitor like Kakarrot." Nappa mumbled a bit confused.

"Traitor or not, she's still quite valuable, don't you think?" He smirked. Nappa caught on and smirked himself,

"Right. I get it now. You can count on me." He turned back to the four fighters, grinning evilly.

"Without Son Goku here, we have one last chance." Piccolo spoke to his comrades, "Although it's a long shot..." He turned to Krillin, "Listen clearly... Krillin, was it? You draw his attention while I go for the Saiyan's only weakness... the tail."

Nanake shivered and wrapped her tail around her waist.

"...Oh yeah...!" Krillin nodded.

"Once I have him powerless... then, Gohan and Nanake, you two strike with all you've got! Understand?"

Gohan gulped and nodded shakily,

"This time... I w-won't run away... I pr-promise...!"

"See that you don't." Piccolo glared ahead, "Consider Earth's fate to be in your hands."

Nappa chuckled at the four planning.

*ZING!*

Kami's senses perked up.

"It's GOKU! HE'S CLOSE!"

*ZING!*

"Goku's almost there!" King Kai gritted his teeth anxiously, "Such unbelievable speed!"

*ZING!*

Goku skid to a stop into the lobby where King Yamma sat at his desk. Kami appeared and shouted at him,

"GOKU!"

"KAMI!"

"GRAB HOLD! HURRY!"

"THANKS!" Goku grabbed ahold of Kami's arm and they zapped to Kami's lookout. Goku panted, being out of breath and held a thumb up,

"The training went well! Now I'm off!"

"You're our only hope!" Kami spoke hurriedly.

"Good luck Son Goku!" Mr. Popo clenched his fists.

Goku rushed off the lookout and recieved two Senzu beans from Korin, the cat who lived in Korin's Tower. After he ate his, he called his flying golden cloud,

"NIMBUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUS!!!!"

He rushed off to where the others were.

"OKAY! HERE GOES!" Krillin shouted as he charged at Nappa.

"Eager for DEATH are you?!" Nappa laughed as he prepared himself to swat Krillin's attack away.

"They must have a plan..." Vegeta snickered to himself.

("Draw his attention......!!!!!!") Piccolo grit his teeth, watching.

Krillin blasted ki to the ground, shooting himself upward. Nappa watched completely confused as to what was going on.

"NOW!!" Piccolo shouted and phased out and back in behind him, gripping his tail. "GOHAAAANN!! NANAKE!!!! NOWW!"

Gohan and Nanake rushed fast at Nappa, powering up.

"WE DID IT!" Krillin cheered, up in the air.

"FOOLS!!" Nappa roared and brought his elbow down hard on Piccolo's head. Gohan and Nanake shrieked and tried skidding to a stop. Gohan succeeded, while Nanake who had picked up great speed, couldn't stop and flipped clear over Nappa and tumbled across the ground until she hit Vegeta's legs like a bird hitting a tree. She looked up and gasped wide-eyed. Before she could move, he had already snatched her up and put her in a painful headlock. She screamed loud.

"It... can't be..." Piccolo stuttered, losing consciousness.

"Hey! Don't die yet!" Nappa shook him, hanging onto the back of his shirt, "We still have to ask you about the dragon balls."

"N...No..." Krillin shook violently as their last hope was just crushed, "Please... No..."

"What fools do you take us for?!" Vegeta snickered in Nanake's ear, "Did you think we wouldn't protect against such a WEAKNESS?!"

"W-we'll beat you SOMEHOW!" Nanake growled through grit teeth and strained sobs as she quivered in the pain of his headlock.

"I look forward to it." Vegeta purred, blowing in her ear, making her tremble and bite her lip.

Nappa dropped Piccolo to the ground and smirked,

"I can't play with him anymore... How about YOU, kid?"

He grinned evilly at Gohan.

"You're got Saiyan blood in you... You can give me a real fight, can't ya?" He chuckled, looming over him, "Heh... What a father you've got... Leaving his little boy... to DIE..."

He kicked Gohan in the gut with his massive foot, sending him flying. He quickly followed, backhanding him, sending him straight into the wall of a cliff.

"GOHAN!" Nanake shrieked, struggling even more, trying to overcome the immense pain, "STOP IT! He's just a little boy!"

Nappa laughed at Gohan who lied motionless on the ground,

"Hey! Don't die yet! I wanna play!"

Gohan slowly and shakily stood up and Nappa chuckled grimly,

"Good boy...fight like a Saiyan..." He took off in a split second and charged, roaring, "AND DIE LIKE ONE!!!"

"DAMN YOU!!!" Krillin shouted, kicking him in the face, intercepting the bull on the rampage and swung a lucky uppercut, then punched him, sending him flying, which he persued instantly. Nappa regained control and tried swinging a punch at him, but Krillin skillfully flew out of the way in the knick of time, backflipping away and landing on his feet. Nappa skid to a stop and glared at the little man. Vegeta chuckled and loosened his grip a little on the headlock he had Nanake in.

"Hm! He can move at least."

"Stand still and FIGHT!" Nappa roared, charging at Krillin. Krillin shot his right arm in the air, palm upward. He grunted and a huge, glowing, round, flat light with jagged edges spun above his hand.

"DESTRUCTO DISK! ENGAGE!" He hurled it straight at Nappa.

"Eh?!" Nappa stopped and watched this disk swirl towards him. He chuckled and said, "Parlor tricks!" He stood with open arms, ready to take the seemingly weak shot.

"Nappa---DUCK!!!" Vegeta roared angrilly at him.

Nappa turned, wide-eyed and back just in time to move his head, missing the disk with it only grazing his cheek. The disk traveled on, chopping several cliffs and pillars in half, buzzing along on its merry little way.

"Use your HEAD, Idiot!" Vegeta grumbled through grit teeth. Nanake stared wide-eyed and stammered,

"That could have... oh my God..."

"Damn......!" Krillin scowled.

Nappa stared at the fine cut on his cheek with blood dripping from it. He growled at Krillin, powering up an emense attack,

"You... little... shit! You CUT me!"

"Uh-oh..." Krillin muttered.

"I'M REALLY GONNA LIKE THIS!!!!!" He zoomed towards Krillin, with his attack charged, making his entire arm look aflame. He hurled his attack straight at him, and Krillin dodged in the instant before it hit. The attack exploded on the ground he once stood on, and he still got the intense afterburn of it all. Nappa smirked up at him,

"ONE MORE BLOW!!!!"

Before he could throw another attack at Krillin, Piccolo hurled an attack of his own, hitting Nappa hard in the back. Nappa howled in surprised pain and whirled around, growling. Krillin hit the ground with a thud and didn't move.

"It can't be!" Nappa growled lowly at Piccolo, "You're a lot tougher than you look!"

"BWAA HA HA!" Vegeta burst into a fit of laughter, "Having trouble there Nappa?!"

Nanake smiled at Piccolo, hope returning once again.

"The EARTH..." Piccolo growled through grit teeth and a clenched a fist, with veins popping out of his forehead, "...doesn't go down easily...!!"

"YOU STUPID FREAK!" Nappa shouted, "Now you've made me mad! I took it easy on you because we want you to tell us where the dragon balls are!! But NOW...!!!"

Piccolo's senses shrieked and his eyes widened. He looked around, shouting, an almost fearful look on his face,

"Wh-what?! What do I feel...?! A tremendous POWER... approaching from afar...!!"

Vegeta glared suspiciously as Gohan brightened up and smiled happily,

"I feel it too... It's... it's HUGE... But it's familiar!!"

Nanake gasped and whispered more to herself than anyone else,

"I can feel it too... Who is it...?"

Vegeta heard her words, and hurled her to the ground, hissing,

"SHUT up." He pressed his foot down on her back again, keeping her on the ground.

"You're tricks are getting tiring..." Nappa grumbled.

"At last..." Piccolo chuckled lowly and evilly, "IT'S HIM!"

His chuckling grew into a triumphant roar,

"It's SON GOKU!!! He's COMING!!! I should have known that fool would make us wait!!!"

Gohan jumped up and down cheering,

"Daddy!!! Daddy's coming! He's really coming... Hurry!! HURRY!!!"

Nappa growled angrilly with disbelief,

"Kakarrot?! Where?! I don't see anybody!!!"

Vegeta scoffed, keeping his boot firmly down on Nanake's back, securing her where she lay as he picked up his scouter,

"They seem to have the power to detect power levels... feh."

He placed the scouter over his ear and activated it,

"Let's see then..."

*ZING!*

Goku soared quickly upon Nimbus, searching for power levels.

"Two BIG ones... two even BIGGER ones... and two SMALL!!!" His scowl deepened frantically, "It's not ENOUGH!!! Please don't let anyone be DEAD!!!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs to his cloud friend,

"FASTER Nimbus... FLY FASTER!!!!"

*ZING!*

Vegeta read the reading on the scouter and froze, wide-eyed. Nanake peeked up at his face and narrowed her eyes suspiciously before daring to smile and hope. She closed her eyes and whispered to herself,

"Yes..."

"Vegeta! Are they telling the truth?!" Nappa called over to him, chuckling, "I HOPE they are... heh heh heh...!!"

Looking in the direction of the reading, Vegeta growled and clenched his fists,

"I don't know if it's really Kakarrot... But he'll be here in four minutes..." He paused and turned to Nappa, "...with a power level... of 5000!!"

".....5000.....?!" Nappa exclaimed in shock, "Th...That's impossible...! I-It has to be a mistake..."

Scowling, Vegeta thought to himself,

("It may be. These fools seem to be able to VARY their power. Meaning... 5000 could just be for STARTERS...!"

Piccolo smirked and taunted in Nappa's direction,

"Heh... I think your partner's actually WORRIED...!!"

"NAPPA!" Vegeta suddenly exploded, "Kill those two NOW!!!" He pointed at Gohan and Piccolo, thinking Krillin was dead since he wasn't moving.

Nanake gasped wide-eyed.

"Their HELP could actually make Kakarrot a challenge..." Vegeta clenched a fist, "...But their CORPSES might well shake him up!!"

"WHAT ?!" Piccolo's eyes widened, shocked.

Gohan gasped, shivering, feeling numb all over.

"B-but what about the Dragon Balls?!" Nappa hollered,

"FORGET ABOUT THE DRAGON BALLS!!!" Vegeta snarled, shouting back, "We don't NEED them!"

He smirked, and informed his comrade of an alternative,

"I never believed the legend of the Namekian power spheres... but if Kakarrot's really returned from the dead, then it's TRUE!!! That means there must be MORE balls on this fool's home planet. A little rampage through NAMEK would be a lovely way to wind down after the destruction of EARTH, hmm?"

Krillin opened his eyes after hearing this and cringed in anger, still motionless.

"I still say your scouter's busted... Kakarrot can't be anywhere near 5000..." Nappa grumbled, "But it's a good enough excuse to start the killing..."

Gohan growled and then shouted over to Piccolo,

"PICCOLO! You've got to RUN!!! I'll hold 'em somehow 'til daddy comes!! If you die, then the Earth-God Kami will die... and then the Dragon Balls will be gone forever!!!"

"Psh." Piccolo scoffed with a smirk, "Don't be stupid boy.... You can't hold them on your own."

"Something really bad is about to happen... I can feel it..." Krillin stammered, "An' I can't move... can't stop it... can't do anything!!!"

"So... the little rat's going to hold me, eh...?" Nappa chuckled before exploding into a mad rage, blasting towards him, "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!!!!"

"GOHAN!!!!" Piccolo shouted, chasing Nappa, who was laughing as he closed in on Gohan. Gohan hissed and shouted angrilly as he jumped at Nappa, kicking him hard across the face. Piccolo barely moved aside as Nappa was kicked right by him and into the wall of a cliff. Vegeta scowled, watching this as Nanake cackled beneath his foot,

"Ha HA! Alright Gohan!"

The cliff crumbled and there was silence for a few seconds until Nappa burst through the rocky rubble, roaring with rage. Gohan, Piccolo and Nanake gasped int shock and fear as Nappa sumersaulted to the ground a hundred yards away from the two still standing. His eyes twitched as his voice rumbled,

"...NOW...!!! I'VE HAD ENOUGH...!!!! He powered an emense attack up and swung his flaming fist back to throw it at Gohan. Gohan, stammered vowels, while Piccolo and Nanake stared wide-eyed and speechless.

"DIE!!!!!" Nappa roared insanely and hurled the attack straight at Gohan. Nanake shrieked as Vegeta snatched her up with a smirk and flew high in the air out of the way of the afterburn,

"NOO!! GOHAN!!!" She screamed trying to reach an arm out to him, while the other tried to free herself.

Gohan stood numbly, too afraid to even think to move. Piccolo ran as fast as he possibley could and skid to a stop in front of Gohan. Krillin, Gohan and Nanake watched wide-eyed as Piccolo howled in pain, shielding Gohan completely from the attack. After it was over and the smoke cleared, Piccolo glared at Nappa while he spoke hoarsely to Gohan,

"G-Gohan... Run..." He then fell forward, motionless.

Gohan gasped and crawled to his side, turning him over,

"Piccolo... W-why did you save me...?"

Piccolo opened an eye and choked out,

"I told you... to run... H...hurry..."

"PICCOLO! Don't die! Daddy'll come soon! Please... PLEASE DON'T DIE!" Gohan sobbed.

*ZING!*

"One of the powers if fading!" Goku shouted, "Someone's dying!"

*ZING!*

Kami huffed, feeling weaker and weaker,

"It seems... that Goku didn't make it in time..."

*ZING!*

Piccolo smirked and looked up at the sky,

"Oh the shame... Piccolo... the great... the incorruptible evil..." he chuckled, "...saving a child... how pathetic..."

He turned his head to Gohan, sniffling beside him,

"It's because of you... that girl... and your dad... y-your softness infecting me..." he smiled a little, "But you know, boy... you and that girl...were the only ones to ever really talk to me..." A few tears dwelled up in his eyes as he continued,

"The couple of months I spent with the two of you weren't really... so bad... tell Nanake that..." He closed his eyes and his head fell lifeless onto the ground with his last whisper,

"...Don't... die..."

Vegeta landed, snickering with Nanake held tightly to him. She shrieked, with tears streaming down her face,
"NOO!!! NOOOOO!!!!! PICCOLO!!! PLEASE NO!!!!"

*ZING!*
"I-it's gone...!" Goku gasped as he felt the dying power disappear.

*ZING!*

"Good-bye Mr. Popo..." Kami bowed as he faded away from his sobbing friend's sight, "I leave the rest to you..."

"K-KAMI-SAMA!!!" Popo bawled.

*ZING!*

"YAAAA!!!!!!" Gohan stood up, screaming by Piccolo's lifeless body.

Vegeta's scouter beeped wildly as Gohan's power rose as quickly as his anger.

"MASENKO..." Gohan's arms rose over his head, gathering energy.

Krillin's eyes widened as his senses pricked up,

"Th-that power... Is that... GOHAN?!"

Vegeta's eyes widened, reading the scouter as he held Nanake tightly to stop her struggling,

"POWER 2800...!! As I thought! Their powers fluctuate tremndously!!!"

"2800, eh?!" Nappa smirked, getting ready to recieve this attack.

"DAHHH!!!!!!" Gohan shouted, firing the huge beam straight at Nappa.

Nappa roared, volleying the attack back at him, making it hit a cliff behind him. Gohan's power dropped substantually and he stammered vowels as Nappa chuckled,

"Not bad for a shrimp... that actually stung a little bit..."

Vegeta smirked once again at the reading,

"His power level dropped all the way down... It looks like he used it all up just now..."

Nanake whimpered and began struggling again in his one arm. Vegeta grew annoyed and took the back of her neck in his free hand and smashed her forehead against his. Nanake cringed in pain, and when she shakily opened an eye she met his cold, glaring ones, staring back into hers. Her eyes widened as she trembled.

"Now what do I have to do to make to shut up and stay still?" He asked in a calm, quiet, and threatening voice. She flinched, squeezing her eyes shut with whimper. He snickered and stroked her chin with the index finger of his other hand and drawled, with a mock soothing voice.

"There's my girl. You'll be good now... right?"

She nodded once, shaking horribley and he smirked,

"That's more like it."

He set her down on her feet but kept his left hand clamped tightly around her right wrist as she dizzly touched her forehead with her shaking, free hand.

Gohan fell on his knees as Nappa stomped closer and closer to him,

"I'm sorry Piccolo..." He smiled weakly, turning to Piccolo's body, I couldn't beat 'em for you... I c-can't even run away anymore..."

Nappa approached the child and raised his foot to stomp hard down upon Gohan's body, howling with laughter,

"I can't wait to see Kakarrot's face when he finds his son crushed to a pulp!!"

His foot came down like thunder with great speed.

Krillin squeezed hi eyes shut, not wanting to see, and Nanake shrieked, reaching her arm towards Gohan,

"NOO!!!!"

When Nappa's foot crushed down into the earth, to his surprise, Gohan wasn't underneath his boot. Vegeta twitched and growled in shock as Nanake and Krillin looked on in disbelief. Gohan floated nearby on the golden cloud Nimbus. He stuttered, unbelieving at the golden soft puffs beneath him,

"N-Nimbus?"

"What the hell is that...?!" Nappa stammered, and Vegeta growled as he followed his scouter towards the sky where a man in blue and orange gi stood, floating in mid-air. He descended quickly, landing on the hard earth for the first time in a year. Nappa raised a brow, Gohan smiled, laughing happily and Nanake asked softly with a timid, hopeful smile,

"Is... is this...?"

"G-GOKU!!!" Krillin shouted.

Vegeta smirked evilly at Son Goku as he glared back,

"Well... Finally..."

Son Goku has finally returned, but not in time to save Piccolo or the others! Now only he, his son, Krillin and Nanake are left! But is that even enough to stand a chance against the terrifying Nappa and Vegeta?! Find out next time on DRAGON BALL Z!