Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ, the chars aren't mine, you know the drill
Darker Essence: An Alternate Universe
Chapter Two: Piccolo's Challenge
There was an ominous silence filling Kame Island. For a moment it even seemed like the waves had stopped crashing and the wind blowing. Just like that the Demon King had kidnapped Gohan right under their collective noses. Krillin hung his head in shame. Bulma looked as if she was about to cry. Master Roshi just sagged, leaning heavily on his staff. Unigame remained silent as usual. Goku however, was grinding his teeth furiously. It was obvious the kidnapping of his son, not to mention Piccolo's challenge enraged him. Goku finally broke the silence.
"I'm going" he said simply before walking towards the shore.
"Goku!" Krillin then shouted, "Goku wait! Let me go with you!"
"I'm sorry Krillin," Goku said, his back to his best friend. "I can't... there's no time for me to slow down for you."
Krillin sagged visibly. Goku either not noticing, or not reacting to his friend, simply looked up to the sky and yelled "Nimbus!"
Obediently the fluffy yellow cloud which Goku and Gohan had arrived on swooped down, making that odd trademark sound it did.
"Goku wait!" Bulma shouted to Goku. She fished in one of her large labcoat pockets and produced the Dragonball Radar. "Gohan had a Dragonball on him, right? So use this to track him"
"Thanks Bulma" Goku said, he clicked on the radar, and after giving it a quick glance, he soared off on the Flying Nimbus in the direction Piccolo had vanished in.
And just like that, the eerie silence filled Kame Island once again. Krillin kicked a rock in the direction of the water.
"Hey lamebrains!" Bulma shouted to Krillin and Master Roshi, from the cockpit of her jet. "Let's go already, Goku's gonna need our help!"
Krillin, despite being afraid of facing the Demon King again, couldn't back out of this one, so he got in the jet as quick as he could, followed by the elder Turtle Master. With a rev of the jet's engines, the yellow Capsule Corp Jet took to the sky, a trail of yellow-orange flame behind it.
Unigame, the last occupant of the island, just let out a sigh.
Piccolo landed on a tall cliff-face and immediately tossed the crying brat down. Already it was getting on his nerves as he glared down at the kid. You'd think that the son of the strongest human would be a little more than a sniveling crybaby.
"Listen here brat" Piccolo said, in a cruel a voice as ever, "you don't stop that wretched noise right NOW, I'll give you something to cry about. Got it?"
He growled, before bringing the sharp nail point of his index finger under Gohan's chin, as if to emphasize his point.
"Y-Yes... Mis—Mister Piccolo..." Gohan said as he tried to stop crying. However he was unable to hold back the occasional sniffle as he trembled in fear.
"Hmph." Piccolo grunted, as he crossed his arms. The wind was quite heavy, and the white fabric of his cape was flowing wildly. Piccolo eyed the landscape nonchalantly as he waited for Goku.
It was a mountainous area yes, but it was full of wildlife as well. Lush green grass, a variety of planet-life, not to mention the occasional animal or beast poking its head here and there. A beautiful place really, but under the circumstances it was hardly noticeable
"My dad... he's gonna beat you up good ya know." Gohan said bravely, poking his head out from behind a rock. "He's the strongest fighter in the world."
Piccolo let out a wicked laugh, which caused Gohan to duck back behind his rock and let out a whimper.
"Well that's what this is all about isn't it boy?" Piccolo stated, "I'm sure your dad will be along shortly. Then you can watch as I kill your father."
"Y-you won't..." Gohan whined, "J-just le-leave me alone... and my daddy won't hurt you.."
Piccolo growled and stomped his foot down on the rock Gohan was hiding behind, effectively crushing it and revealing the young child. "Shut up brat, unless you want to die before Goku gets here"
Tears welled up in Gohan's eyes as he bit his bottom lip trying to stay quiet.
Goku was close. He not only was the Dragon Radar telling him that, but he could once again feel Piccolo and Gohan's ki signatures. Pocketing the radar, Goku tensed up. He had to get Gohan back from Piccolo, which was all there was to it. He was now flying over a green mountainous area, a lot like the one he lived in.
His onyx eyes narrowed as he spotted his nemesis standing on a cliff-face, his arms crossed, a smirk on his face as he waited. With a leap, Goku jumped off the Flying Nimbus, his black boots landing on the opposite cliff face from Piccolo.
"Well, about time you showed up Goku" Piccolo said, "Was beginning to think you'd lost your nerve."
"Give me my son back Piccolo" Goku said with an uncharacteristic venom as he glared at the demon.
Piccolo cocked his head to the side, baring his fangs, as he kicked Gohan quite solidly over the edge of the cliff.
"Gohan!" Goku shouted, as he jumped down to intercept his son.
"You predictable fool!" Piccolo shouted before Goku felt the palm of Piccolo's fist slam into his face. Goku landed on the cliff-face where he started on his side as Gohan hit a lower ledge with a thud.
"Stay still Gohan!" Goku shouted, sending a solid kick at Piccolo whom was right on top of him. "I'll be there as soon as I can!"
"Worry about yourself fool!" Piccolo growled as he blocked the boot with both his hands, bringing his own foot up, hitting Goku quite solidly on his rear end.
Had Goku not been able to react so quickly, that attack would have left him in a very vulnerable position on his stomach, but he was able to fire a small white-blue ki blast from his hands, propelling him up from his attacker. Piccolo let out a small growl before raising his hand, and letting out a blast of his own, sending the yellow beam in Goku's direction. Goku who was had righted his stance(figurative term) was able to dodge it easily, it going underneath him. By now, Piccolo was giving chase, having taken back to the sky himself, as he let loose another fiery yellow attack.
Giving a grunt of effort Goku was able to deflect it upward. Piccolo gave a swing of his right hand, and tried to slice Goku with his nails, but Goku narrowly avoided the attack. So narrowly there were four neat slices on the front of his gi. Goku exploited the opening Piccolo made for himself by missing and gave him a deftly solid punch to the jaw, which sent the Demon King flying down towards the Earth.
Piccolo was not about to be defeated so easily, and he extended the flesh of his green arm and solidly snatched Goku by the ankle, before swinging him downward as well. Both fighters slammed into the ground at the same time, each impact raising up a cloud of dust. Almost instantly both warriors emerged at the same time, heading for the other. Goku and Piccolo traded a rapid series of punches and kicks, while Piccolo was giving ground, neither fighter scored a solid hit during the exchange until Goku managed to sweep Piccolo, and bring a fist up to his jaw, effectively uppercutting him and sending him back into the sky. As Goku gave chase, Piccolo immediately retaliated by sending a pair of eye lasers down at Goku and hitting him solidly on the chest.
Piccolo went back on the offensive and fired a rapid series of the twin blasts from his eyes. Other than the first shot that did a bit of damage to his chest, Goku was able to dodge them all. The missed shots did some heavy damage to the landscape, creating massive craters in mountainsides, not to mention raising a lot of dust.
Both fighters found themselves standing only a few mere yards apart as they both stopped as if both reaching a conscious decision.
"Well.." Piccolo said with a smirk, "that was a good warm-up"
"Yeah" Goku said returning the smirk.
Piccolo removed his weighted cape and turban tossing both to the side nonchalantly, Goku as well removing his weighted tunic, bracers and boots. Before long the two strongest warriors on Earth had resumed fighting stances and were about to face each other again.