Piccolo tried to rest in the small space but he was never one for confined quarters. That was why he enjoyed staying more to the waterfall on Earth than on the lookout where Dende had asked him several times to live. Now the room he had been offered looked like a cavern compared to this hole. The woman had been sleeping restlessly for nearly twenty minutes now, Piccolo didn't like the look of what appeared to be a deep bruise underneath the filth that covered her. Oddly enough, the room hadn't reeked of sweat or filth, only the rot he had traced to the vents above his head.
Kami but his head throbbed. The little incident from earlier had left him feeling drained but he didn't dare sleep until he knew what kind of trouble he had gotten himself into. He hated being coddled after he had collapsed, he hadn't needed the woman's help, what had she call herself? Negate? That's what it was. At least she had feared him enough to leave him be, or was at least smart enough at any rate.
What irked Piccolo the most was that he didn't really remember what the hell had happened. One moment he was gazing up at the foreign stars of New Namek, the next he was seeing them after a sharp blow to the head. He did remember waking up in some room where they had clamped the ring to his wrist, he hadn't powered up then, all of the chi levels around him were so weak that he could have broken them with a flick of his wrist. When he tried to move though, his body was slow to react and they had laughed at him as he struggled to stand. Lunging at the closest one he stumbled and was caught in the filthy man's arms to a chorus of "He likes you!" and "He wants to dance." Growling, Piccolo had done the only thing he really could have with his drugged body and bit the hell out him. The man had screamed like a woman long after they had drug him away and thrown him onto the floor. A cattle prod had been pulled from somewhere and a burning sting had knocked him unconscious.
Negate mumbled in her sleep and gave a violent lurch before sitting up fully awake. A light blush spread under the dirt on her face when she fell back onto the bed with a deep sigh. A loud banging came from down the hall and she groaned. The door flung open and five men entered, one a sickly skinny guard with a greasy face sneered when he saw the woman sprawled across the bed. She stood on fatigued legs and held her hands out to the nearest guard who wrapped them in cord and threw her into one wall. Piccolo leapt to his feet, growling as the world swayed under his feet for a moment. Three of the men hauled him into a wall and pinned him there. The skinny man nodded at the men before turning back to the woman who was being pulled to her feet by the guard who had lassoed her. He growled out something to her that Piccolo couldn't hear for the ringing in his ears. The woman smiled sweetly before kicking him in the groin. The skinny man fell to his knees while the guard drove a fist into her ribs. She folded over and he let her fall onto the floor.
Piccolo heaved at the men on either arm and bucked at the man holding him against the wall. He recognized the face and snarled snapping his teeth, the man howled and leapt back covering the right side of his face. Piccolo lurched at the skinny man who now had gotten to his feet and was kicking at Negate balled up on the floor. The man turned and smiled at him, ignoring the moaning from behind him. Staring up at Piccolo his smile faltered.
"So you're the new one then." The man grasped a hold of Piccolo's gi top ripping a chunk out of the collar when he made to pull Piccolo down to his height. Frustrated, he punched Piccolo with his entire strength in the stomach. Piccolo didn't move, only looked down on him and smiled slowly. The man stepped back with a growl before snapping his fingers for the clipboard. "Number 01009 'A', assault on an officer, threat of an officer." The man with the pin-holed face grinned until Piccolo sneered at him. "That's going to earn you some work. We'll break your spirit and if that doesn't work, we'll sweat it out of you."
The guards left and as the door swung shut Piccolo leapt at the window. Negate hacked behind him and he turned to see her cough up a wad of phlegm that was tinted pink. She gave him a weak smile. "You've been bunked up with the wrong person big guy. I'm not exactly the guards' favorite." Moaning she stood and gripped her side as she slowly sat on the low bunk. She looked up at him squinting before openly studying him again. She grinned. "So are you made that way or is it added for some kind of trial?" Piccolo looked at her queerly. She pointed, "The lines that run across your arms and stomach."
Piccolo looked at his arms for a moment before giving her an odd look. "I was created this way, just like all Nameks."
"Oh." That same grin. Negate winced and pressed her side a little harder.
"Why?" Piccolo sat slowly again on the hard floor and crossed his legs with great difficulty. Negate shrugged and lay down carefully on her side. She regarded him openly as he crossed his arms and tried to meditate. Getting slightly annoyed at the feeling of being watched Piccolo snapped, "What?"
Negate sighed and rolled onto her other side gingerly with a weak apology. "Sorry." Piccolo closed his eyes and relaxed a little when her breath evened out in sleep.