These Dreams
Part Four
A Saiyajin tail.
I must have gawked at it wiggling near my face for an eternity. Apparently Piccolo wasn't the only to experience "side effects" from traveling between realities so many times. So that was the weird feeling tugging at my consciousness when I came back into the Anime world! My body had been slowly changing ever since I've been here and I didn't even notice! How stupid can I get?
The weird thing is...I felt like I'd always had a tail and nothing about its presence seemed un-natural.
But my logical mind knew otherwise, as Mr. Spock would say.
I freaked out.
I mean, I freaked out.
"WAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!" I took off running for the bathroom, pushing everyone out of my way and screaming like a mad woman, "OH MY GOD, I HAVE A TAIL! GET IT OFF!! GET IT OFF!! GET IT OFF!!! I DON'T WANNA BE A MONKEY!!"
And then I slammed the door on it by accident. Big mistake.
The pain struck with paralyzing
force. Agony rippled up my spine and throughout my body, driving me to
my knees. Waves of nausea turned my stomach over. I broke out in a cold
sweat, mostly on my face and in my armpits. The walls closed around me.
Blackness soon joined them.
Darkness faded and became a smoky gray mist around me. I sensed something...call it a presence...not far ahead.
The fog was so thick I couldn't see more than six inches ahead of me. I put one hand straight out and held the other diagonally below it in case something waist-high stood in my path. Then, I started walking the direction I faced without knowing exactly where I would end up. I still had the damn tail, it wagged and wiggled behind me as if alive in its own right.
Before long, I saw a silhouette in the swirling mist ahead. Good! Maybe it was Piccolo!
I raced towards the figure as fast as I dared while practically blind. Odd, the shape seemed a little tall for Piccolo. Too tall! That wasn't Piccolo! I backpedaled hard. My stupid tail had just enough weight that I wound up falling on my butt and sliding the rest of the way forward.
I skidded to a stop against two armored legs covered in moving blackness. Six toes the size of my forearm...three per foot...rippled lazily when I made contact. An angular head shifted. Cold, calculating eyes the same color as liquid mercury gleamed menacingly in the fog above me, a gaze so frigid that it nearly froze my soul.
Sweet dreams are made
of this
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the world and
the seven seas
Everybody's looking for
something
The dark creature's name choked me on its way past my lips. "V-Void..."
Oh God, I wasn't ready! I was all alone!
Some of them want to use
you
Some of them want to
get used by you
Some of them want to
abuse you
Some of them want to
be abused
The shadows around me deepened. I felt Void's cold, stinger-tipped tail caress my cheek. I gulped, she could easily push it right through my skull. The sharp protrusion reminded me of an oversized syringe needle. Flu shot from Hell!
"Well...hello. Fancy meeting you here, Cyndi." I felt the metallic stinger drift lower, dancing dangerously nearer to my jugular. The coldness made me cringe.
Sweet dreams are made
of this
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the world and
the seven seas
Everybody's looking for
something
I was so scared, more than I'd ever been in my life. Weird "itchy" knots formed in the pit of my stomach as my intestines stopped digesting food. My lips, mouth and throat went bone-dry. Blood roared through my ears and behind my eyes. Vision and sound came clearer to me. I was aware of everything. My heart pounded harder still against my ribs, making my whole chest visibly pulsate. I wanted to throw up. Sweat prickled all over my body. I couldn't stop gasping for air. My hands shook uncontrollably and my muscles tensed. If I had to use the bathroom, I'd have wet my pants.
When full of adrenalin, it is truly amazing what our bodies can do.
I felt the terror reach a climax within me. A white aura erupted around my body.
Some of them want to use
you
Some of them want to
get used by you
Some of them want to
abuse you
Some of them want to
be ABUSED!!!
"HIIIIYAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"
I launched myself up at Void's face with a flurry of ki-lit punches and lightning fast kicks. The whole time, I screamed like crazy. Hoping someone would hear me.
Void wasn't even phased by my sudden, desperate onslaught. She just stood there and laughed while I pounded her. Remember how Cell smacked Mr. Satan away? Void did the same thing to me. One punch sent me flying. That's all it took. She'd swatted me aside like a gnat.
"Weakling!"
"OOF!" I landed in a heap several yards away. Pain dug into my right side. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to move. It even hurt to think. I was spitting up blood. I wheezed with every breath and suspected some broken ribs.
Then a million things happened all at once.
Footsteps approached from the right. Void's footsteps.
A red beam sliced through the air. Void brushed it away, snickering loudly. "You! You're like an annoying insect!" She fired a white blast back at the source of the red beam.
Movement. The fog swirled as something moved quickly through it and landed behind me. Another red beam lanced past me. Void hopped back into the cooling mist.
I twisted my head painfully towards the beam's source. The figure stood with both legs planted and its arms up in a defensive posture. All I saw at first was a lot of white, then the details came into focus. A petite shape with purple on top, on the shoulders and stomach. Three-toed feet and a long reptilian tail. Black lips. Narrow, slanted red eyes.
"H-how did you get here?!" I choked.
Freeza stood down from his fighting stance, rose slightly off the ground and blurred from view. He reappeared at my side and knelt down, frowning as he examined my side. I flinched in pain when he touched it. Yep, definitely broken ribs. Freeza grabbed my shoulders and forced me to sit up. "That isn't important right now." His face was inches from mine, "You must wake up before Void gets back, or you'll die here. She's preparing another offensive as I speak!"
I winced, my side burning when he moved me. "Owwww....what about you?"
His pouty black lips twitched into a smirk. Ruby eyes gleamed mischievously, "My alarm will go off in about two minutes and wake me up in time for my shift at the bar. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."
That offered little comfort.
I wanna use you and abuse
you
I wanna know what's inside
you
Hold your head up, movin'
on
Keep your head up, movin'
on
Movin' on!
I guess I'll make the most of my time with him. "Hey...how's married life?"
Freeza chuckled, let me go and stood up, "It's great. Our little girl is getting so big. Sweet little Alexis, she looks just like her mother." He lowered his head, closed his eyes and smiled.
"I'm really glad you're happy. Hey, sorry I stopped writing, we moved out of my old place and the losers who moved in after us don't forward the mail. And I lost your address...so I'm sorry I haven't written in a while."
"Don't sweat it." He grew serious, "Void is coming back! You must concentrate on waking up! Do it now!"
Freeza then proceeded to fade away. His alarm clock must have gone off, thus waking him up. I wished something would come along and jolt ME out of here.
I stared up at the fog above me. Something large was moving down towards me. Something very large and BLACK!
Sweet dreams are made
of this
Who am I to disagree?
Travel the world and
the seven seas
Everybody's looking for
something
"Oh God..." I stared straight up at my inevitable demise and started praying, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee..."
I heard far-off voices talking. The mist parted as Void dropped closer. I concentrated on the distant vocalizations. Void's eyes bore into mine. Her tail was coming right at my face!
Some of them want to use
you
Some of them want to
get used by you
Some of them want to
abuse you
Some of them want to
be abused
"...Holy Mary, Mother of God..."
Those voices came closer. So did the black monster descending upon me.
My heart throbbed. I tightened my fists. Concentrated harder than ever before.
Void's stinger loomed in my vision. Tears streamed from my eyes, blurring my sight.
"...Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death..."
I'm gonna use you and
abuse you
I'm gonna know what's
inside
Gonna use you and abuse
you
I'm gonna know...
White light exploded in the sky.
...what's...
Metal gleamed an inch from my forehead! A sharp tip touched my skin...I was really going to die!
...inside...
"AAAH!!!!!"
...you...
And then I surged to awareness.
"Hey, I think she's coming around!" Bulma's voice drifted from far off. The next time she spoke, it sounded normal, "Hey, Cyndi, can you hear me?"
I barely made my voice work, "Y-yeah..." Vocal cords don't vibrate well when they're dry. "Water...thirsty..."
"I got it," a deeper voice cut in. Bulma's presence retreated and another came forward. I felt a large hand cup the back of my head. Something smooth touched my lower lip. Cool water filled my mouth. I swallowed fast so I wouldn't choke and took a deep breath. The hand withdrew from behind my head.
Getting a drink made me feel stronger. Awareness sharpened. I found myself in a warm bed, stripped to the waist with bandages wrapped tightly around my ribs. Piccolo stood on the right, his liquid black eyes gazing down at me. A massive green tower of flesh and muscle and bone, he seemed taller than usual since he was standing and I wasn't.
If I had any breasts to gawk at, I'd have been embarrassed when I realized I had nothing to cover them. A little heat crawled into my cheeks anyway.
But hey, it was Piccolo, and he's seen me more naked than this. I could say the same about him, too. That gi of his hides a world of wonderful secrets. I've touched his body and seen him react. I knew how and where to touch him when I wanted to arouse him, and he knew the same about me. I gave my virginity away to him while he was Real, and I saw into his soul.
That's when I stopped seeing him as a love god of some sort. He was...Piccolo. An outcast with little to no social life. A man, just as mortal as you or I. I've seen him laugh, I've seen him cry and I've seen him terribly ill. There is still so much more to him that I haven't yet discovered.
How strange I felt, looking up at him. Two years ago(my years, anyway), I stumbled into the Anime world. The moment I saw Piccolo, I lived every fan-girl's dream. Kind of like meeting a favorite celebrity - I got star-struck. Then I got to know him. Those goofy fan-girl feelings transformed. Now whenever my pulse races at the sight of him, it's because I'm glad to see him. I'll admit he's very nice to look at, but his sexy body isn't all I see.
...Piccolo would kill me if he knew I said all this. He hates people finding out about his soft side. Not that I blame him.
I reached out and took Piccolo's green hand in mine. "I saw Void...tried to fight her. She swatted me away like a fly." Hot tears blazed down my face, "She was about to kill me when I woke up."
"I figured something was going on. You squirmed so much that I barely managed to carry you here." Piccolo didn't move to curl up next to me, though I wished he would have. It wasn't his style, he was always subtle with his affection. Allowing his hand to be held, for example, I doubt he let anyone else do that.
"Freeza was there, too...in his Icejin form..."
"Freeza?" Piccolo blinked, "How is that possible? He's human now and lives in your Reality."
"I guess he doesn't always have human dreams. Right before I woke up, he said his alarm clock was going to wake him in two minutes or so, then he disappeared. Maybe he runs into Void from time to time...or she's going after him and he won't admit it."
"Hmm."
I shifted and winced as pain tore through my side. Tears threatened to fall, but I swallowed them, no time to be a baby again. A pained moan still managed to escape me. So much for being tough.
Piccolo bent down and grabbed my shoulders, his hands warmer than my skin. Until then, I didn't realize I was cold. "Hey, you shouldn't be getting up. You have four broken ribs and you bled into your right lung. It took the medics here thirty minutes to get you stable. I'll take you back to the Lookout in the morning and have Dende heal you. I didn't want to move you while you were still unconscious and risk having you thrash around more. You were out for almost twelve hours, by the way." His face darkened, "I want you to rest as much as you can. Your injuries are very severe...even for this Saiyajin form."
I felt my heart skip a beat. "I can't go back to sleep after that! Void knows I'm hurt and she'll come after me again! And I...I'm scared, Piccolo. She almost killed me!"
His left eye twitched. "I know, I kept trying to get to you. She was blocking me. Apparently she can only block one person at a time, since Freeza was there with you. If we train hard enough, we'll be able to take her together. Remember, it's all willpower. That means I have to train harder too if I want to be at her level."
"Mmm." I agreed. "Oh hey...sorry I wrecked your nice, peaceful birthday."
The Namek's lips curved into a slight half-smile, "Don't worry about it. A little excitement keeps life interesting."
"Heheh..." I winced again at the annoying stitch in my ribs, "I can't believe you're a spring baby. I was born in the middle of summer...July twenty-ninth. I'll be twenty-three."
"Hmph! I don't see why someone's age is of such importance where you come from."
"Laws. All laws. For example, you're not legally an adult until you're eighteen and you can't gamble or drink alcohol unless you're twenty-one." I blinked up at Piccolo when he rubbed the side of his face. The poor guy looked totally exhausted. Had he been sitting with me all day?
I got my answer when Piccolo displayed a yawn that let me practically count his teeth. Funny, I never saw him yawn before. Then he blinked a few times with moisture in the corners of his eyes.
"Man, you're exhausted. Here," I pulled the blankets down on my left side and patted the bed, "Take off your weighted gear so you don't crush me and come get some rest." I giggled, though doing so made my side burn, "I promise I won't molest you while you're asleep."
"Gee, that makes me feel safer," Grinning wryly, he dabbed at the moisture around his eyes with his knuckles. "I guess I'll catch a few hours..." I heard a thump as he shed his heavy gear and walked around to the other side of the bed. Then an idea struck him. He produced the dream catcher from his belt and hung it on the bedpost. "For luck," was the only explanation offered.
"Hey, you never know. It might really work."
Piccolo didn't answer. The mattress sagged when he sat down and bent over to pull off his shoes. I held the blankets up further so he'd be more inclined to get under them...thus saving me the trouble of fighting his weight to pull them up later.
Another hand grasped the quilted comforter and blankets. Then I felt Piccolo's long body slide under the sheets next to me. I expected to find myself facing a broad back...but Piccolo is full of surprises. He turned over and looked right into my eyes. Gravity forced me closer so I was pressed gently against his broad green chest. I could hear and feel him breathing. I even felt his heartbeat. Both of our heads rested on the same pillow, our faces less than four inches apart. We were breathing each others' breath. Our combined body heat quickly warmed the sheets and erased my goosebumps.
It was obvious that Piccolo liked the toasty bed. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he rumbled in wordless contentment with half-closed eyes.
"Nice and comfortable, isn't it?" I smiled. "I know you like warmth."
Piccolo blinked sleepily at me, "It's not too bad..." He breathed in through his nose, yawned again and bumped his legs into mine without apology as he made himself more comfortable.
I turned slowly onto my side and wrapped both of my legs around one of his so he'd stop wiggling around. Piccolo didn't offer any protest, not even when I rubbed his calf with my heel. He stopped fighting the exhaustion and let his eyes drift shut. I felt the muscular thigh trapped between my legs go limp. His head sank further into the pillow until only half his face stayed visible. He smacked his lips and exhaled again.
Aww.
"Sleep tight, Piccolo."
Piccolo made a sexy little noise deep in his throat to reply, "Mmhmm," and then he went out like a light. His face was so peaceful and sweet, all relaxed with his mouth slightly open and perpetual frown temporarily absent. He looked...how can I put it?...noble. I think that word suits him perfectly. Piccolo looked noble. Though sleep smoothed away the frown and the sneer, it didn't erase the awe his presence evoked. Who would be stupid enough to risk incurring the wrath of the sleeping demon?
Smiling slightly, I pulled the blankets up over his muscular shoulder, which rose and fell slowly as he breathed. I let my hand slide up to cup his angular cheek, gently caressing his smooth, leathery skin. Piccolo didn't even twitch. I shifted my attention to his upturned ear, tracing the stiff outer cartilage with one finger. No reaction, he was sound asleep. That made me giggle silently, Piccolo is sleeping next to me...he looks so sweet...
I craned my neck to kiss
his forehead, lightly so I wouldn't wake him. "You are the most beautiful
creature ever created." Then I curled up with my head up under his chin
and tried to get a little sleep for myself.
If I dreamed, I don't remember doing so. All I know is I opened my eyes and the sun was just coming up. Morning light streamed through the window, forming a large oblong of light on the far wall.
Piccolo's weight still rested beside me, though during the night he'd turned onto his back. Gone was the calm expression I witnessed earlier. Definitely dreaming this time, and not a nice one. Both fists crushed handfuls of the blankets. Sweat dripped off his brow. He breathed heavily and I saw his eyeballs moving rapidly beneath their lids.
My side still ached dully. Not as bad as last night, I managed to sit up without too much pain. I was fine as long as I didn't twist my torso more than an inch.
Piccolo growled low in his throat. He twisted his head to the side, lips and eyelids twitching. His breathing hitched. Then I saw rivulets of blood and fluid run out from under his right eye. The eyelid over it flattened. He hissed in obvious pain.
Oh no, Void had him!
"Piccolo! Wake up!" I grabbed Piccolo by the shoulders and shook him hard.
The Namek's hand shot out and wrapped around my throat. It squeezed so tight I thought my eyeballs were gonna pop in my head! I had no hope of breaking his iron grip!
"Piccolo! It's me, Cyndi! Get away from Void! If you can hear me..." Nothing. The fist around my neck remained firm. I struggled fruitlessly against the taut emerald skin. The lack of oxygen made me feel woozy. I got desperate. Having Piccolo mad at me for this was better than being dead. I grabbed both of his antennae, looped them once around my index fingers like dental floss and yanked them in opposite directions as hard as I could. The skin between them split open and started bleeding like a stuck pig.
Dammit, I forgot I wasn't human anymore. My tail bumped the back of my head as if reminding me. I growled at it.
"Argh!" Piccolo awoke instantly at the sudden pain. The hand wrapped around my scrawny neck instantly clutched the new sore spot. He shifted the hand to cover his right eye and sat up, snarling, "Dammit...I couldn't find her!"
I faced him. Too fast, my hands both pressed themselves against my wounded ribs to staunch the burning. "She did the same thing to me too...jumped into the fog."
"Fog? Hmph! It was completely dark. I had to use my sensing abilities to locate her." Piccolo clutched his eye harder, bared his teeth and bent forward a little in obvious pain. Probably a scratched cornea or something. The wound on his forehead was already gone, probably healed on its own.
I pressed a hand against his ridged, pink-muscled shoulder, "Is it bad? Let me see...maybe I can wash it out for you."
He chuckled coldly at me, "You can't wash this out, kid."
"You'd be surprised. C'mon, let me see." I grabbed Piccolo's ringed wrist and yanked it out of the away so I could see his injury. I instantly wished I hadn't. What I saw still makes me gag when I think about it.
Piccolo's half-melted eyeball hung freely from its socket like a deflated balloon on a string against his cheek. The dull white optic nerve was the only thing that kept it from falling completely out. Blood and fluids trickled freely from the slimy purple hole where the eyeball should've been. I gasped in horror and covered my mouth with both hands. My stomach turned over a little, but I swallowed to stay strong.
"Oh God..." I whispered, "C-can you regenerate that or is it permanent? I mean...you said if your head isn't damaged you can, and your eyes are part of your head..."
"Part of my head, yes. Now give me a minute." Piccolo grabbed the nerve between two fingers and tore it out of his skull. He did it like he was plucking a stray hair. Then he closed both eyes, concentrating. I heard a wet sloshing noise and watched the flattened set of eyelids suddenly regain their normal shape. Green slime oozed between them to join the blood and other fluids running down that side of his face.
Ew, gross! I never realized all the nasty sounds a Namekian's regenerating could make.
Want to know something else that's disgustingly funny? That green 'slime' left over after a Namek re-grows something is actually mucus pumped full of DNA. There's even more to it than that: Nameks can generate the same goo onto on a tissue-stalk situated in their throats between their windpipe and esophagus, tell their body to regenerate and it'll fool their system into 'regenerating' an egg ready to be puked up. It's the egg's size that forces it up into their mouths. So Namek's don't 'carry' their young. They produce and puke. Then they just regenerate the stalk and do it all over again. Makes sense, since Guru repopulated the Namek race that way. I remember Piccolo letting Nail explain it to me once a long time ago. Genetic boogers and instant babies. Yum, yum.
I bet you'll never look the same way at the leftover slime on a Namek's regenerated limb.
I climbed slowly onto my knees so I didn't have to twist. Plucked three gauze pads from the medical kit Bulma left behind and used them to gently wipe the green goop, blood and other fluids off Piccolo's cheek. He kept his eyes cooperatively shut until I finished cleaning his face. "Ugh...seeing you regenerate always looked cool on TV...but that sounded NASTY!" I chucked the gooey gauze in a random direction. "I've always wondered this...does regenerating hurt as bad as you make it look? I mean, you know...you always yell when you do it with an arm or a hand."
Piccolo opened both dark eyes and blinked after I stopped 'mothering' him. Unless you saw him a moment earlier, you'd never know anything happened to his eye. He smirked at me, "It hurts like hell every time. The worst is having to regenerate several large body parts one at a time. Ears and eyes are nothing. But both arms and legs...well I'd rather not deal with that."
"Like when Trunks knocked you over while you were...pardon the term...stoned? The TV didn't show you after Dabura's spell wore off...all my world saw was your foot. That must've been horrible for you."
He grimaced at the memory. "Yeah, exactly. Waking up without arms or legs and having my own internal organs spilling out into my gi wasn't exactly a picnic. Trunks saw what was left after I'd regenerated and took cover to re-materalize my torn clothing. Poor kid, I guess he deserved it after knocking me over in the first place."
"Yeah."
Piccolo lifted my arm, unwrapped part of the bandage and examined the ugly bruising on my side. I blushed when he pushed my hair aside for a clearer view, the room was cold and...well...it showed. So much for modesty. I covered myself with my hand while Piccolo re-wrapped my bandages. He ignored my embarrassment. "Think you can stand up?"
"Maybe...dunno 'till I try though. I'll need a shirt before we leave or else I'm not going anywhere. I don't need Vegeta seeing me butt-naked again."
This time Piccolo, who was donning his cape and turban, looked squarely at my chest. I was practically pointing at him. His cheeks turned a little purple, matching the heat spreading through my face. "...er...oh, yeah." He aimed a hand towards me and materialized a plain black T-shirt that went with my sweats.
I have to admit, Piccolo was pretty cute about the whole ordeal. He stood by the bed and let me grab onto his gi for leverage so I could pull myself up. New agony almost doubled me over. Tears blurred my vision. "Ohhh my God...I think you're gonna have to carry me, Piccolo. I didn't know it'd be this bad...how about we just lay back down and make out for a while?"
The Namek scowled, his dark eyes suddenly intense, "Get serious, we're wasting time! Now prepare yourself, being lifted will hurt. Brace your side and hold it tight until we get to the Lookout."
"Ack...okay, okay." I wrapped
my tail and both arms around myself, clutching the wounded side. Piccolo
picked me up like he always did. More invisible knives stabbed my ribs
from inside. I chewed hard on my bottom lip so Piccolo wouldn't see how
much pain I was really in. "O-okay...let's go."
I never thought flying back to the Lookout could take so long. Amazing how pain makes time crawl. I'll take my cramps over broken ribs any day!
Piccolo landed gracefully on the hard stone ground. He knelt and settled me gently in a sitting position, his face expressionless. Typical Piccolo, one moment he's open to talk to you and the next he's all business again. He keeps a heavy lid over his emotions, which can change instantly without warning. That iron control is what makes Piccolo so dangerous in a fight. The problem is he carries it over into everyday life, and dealing with his changing moods takes some getting used to.
"Ooh, finally we're here," I moaned, holding my side. My tail uncoiled itself and waved behind me, I don't think I'll ever get used to having it.
"Relax, Dende's on his way."
I nodded. More waiting, yay. I spent the time exploring my furry brown Saiyajin tail. Piccolo moved a short distance away and assumed his usual stance: arms crossed with his cape blowing in the wind.
"Piccolo!" Dende hailed us as he emerged into the cool morning light. He must've gotten some sleep, he looked much more alert than last time.
Piccolo faced Dende, nodded towards me without a word and resumed his previous position.
Dende came to me and knelt down, "This might take a minute." He closed his eyes, extended his hands and concentrated. A warm golden glow washed over my body. It felt like standing in warm sunlight on a chilly day. The warmth concentrated in my side and soothed away the constant ache. I was very aware of it when my ribs popped painlessly back into place. The swelling was the last to disappear.
Refreshed, I got to my feet. Tore off the itchy bandages hidden under my shirt. There wasn't so much as a mark there! I felt stronger, I could beat anyone! Wow!
"Yahoo!" I did a cartwheel, "I'm healed! I feel great! Wow, Dende, you're awesome!"
The healing Namek smiled at me, his cheeks slightly purple. "Thank you, anything else you or Piccolo need at the moment?"
"Um...I know this sounds very Goku-ish...but..." I wagged my furry brown tail, "can we eat? I don't need much just a candy - "
Piccolo shot me a very sharp look, daring me to finish my request, and I stared back like a deer in headlights. I remembered the promise he made earlier about what he'd do if he caught me eating chocolate. Though I didn't know what he'd do, I knew I wouldn't like it.
I changed my statement, "I'll just have a big, fat carrot..." There. If I can't have my chocolate, I'll just annoy Piccolo by CRUNCHING as loud as I can! Humph!
Piccolo's eyes cooled. He smirked at me and turned away. "You can eat it on the way into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. We have six months to get this training done right....that's all the time I have left to spend in there before I'm unable to return. We'll get plenty done, don't worry."
"Okay," I checked my pocket for the Capsule containing my backpack, medicine and pads. I had both, good.
Two minutes later, Piccolo and I, with a carrot in hand, were stepping through the almost-familiar brown door. As soon as we entered the stuffy half-Real, half-Anime room, I took a huge bite out of the carrot.
CRUUUUUUNCH!
It was so loud the dividing line between our realities rippled.
Piccolo winced and gave me a look that could melt bricks. I chewed obnoxiously with my mouth wide open so he could see me masticating my meal. He growled and looked away, "Cyndi! That's disgusting!" His voice thundered through the acoustically perfect room.
"Oh, and melted eyeballs falling on your cheek isn't?" I swallowed the gritty orange vegetable remnants, ate the rest in one bite and grinned, "You should've let me have the candy bar."
He frowned, baring his fangs, "Enough. You know full well that resisting the temptation is part of your training. Now come on, we can't keep messing around."
"All righty then." Okay, maybe skipping my first dose of medication was a bad idea. I hate how I act, but I wasn't sure if Piccolo was going to mix up that drink for me or not. I mean, if drinking alcohol with my medicine is dangerous, then how do I know the same isn't true for the other stuff? "Which side are we doing this on?"
Piccolo touched his chin with a finger, pondering. "Your side, you're too wild in your Saiyajin form and I can't risk the arrogance it brings getting the better of you. We can mix physical training in my side with mental training in yours...just in case Void goes beyond our dreams."
"Cool." Without hesitation I stepped into my side. My tail disappeared instantly and my hair lost its frizz. Weird, I didn't miss the tail or wild hair.
While I lost some parts, Piccolo gained a few. Unseen, of course. I watched him transform from Anime to Real...I've said it before and I'll say it again - I'll never get over how he looks in the flesh. His skin matches grass perfectly and his pointed ears put Mr. Spock's to shame. He also has dark, mysterious gray eyes with a large pupil in the center and...heheh...sexy Michael Keaton lips. It's just funny because his face is so angular and then he's got those softly-curved lips to offset it all. Too bad they aren't drawn on in the show, huh?
And they're kissable. Very, very kissable...
"Now, let's get to work," the tall Namek came towards me without missing a beat. I remembered stating a long time ago he was around six foot five inches tall like my dad...well, I goofed. Piccolo was way taller than that. I'm five-one and my head barely reaches the bottom of his pecs(and my nose is in the middle of my dad's chest!). That makes him more around six foot ten to seven feet even. Blah, I'm bad at judging heights!
Let me make it simple: Piccolo is damn tall. In the flesh he's ten times more imposing than in his Anime form. If you didn't know him, you would seriously run away in terror.
But I wasn't afraid of him. Quite the opposite. I gazed up at his handsome green face and smiled, "I'm ready."
"Good," Piccolo loomed over me with his arms crossed, smirking. I was in for it, I knew it as soon as his head lowered and his eyelids lifted to accommodate the shift, "...I'm going to enjoy this."