I would like to apologize for confusing you with the scene switching a few chapters back. I should be done with that…thanks for letting me know.
Just a bit of info: Goku actually has a brain in the manga, and that is how I will write him.
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ. I do own Kadrin and Morodath, a few miscellaneous characters and places, and the computer I'm typing this up on.
Chapter Ten
Piccolo raised an eye ridge at the scene unfolding before him. "Goku," he growled softly, "I'm beginning to think it's unhealthy to have you around."
"What did I do now?" Goku asked incredulously, eying up the two supposed Saiyans before him, the shorter of which wore a Scouter. "I've lived on this planet my whole life. I didn't even know I was a Saiyan until a few years ago! How could I have possibly betrayed these guys?" He blinked a few times as the wind shifted directions, causing his eyes to tear up.
"I'm sure you'd find a way," came Piccolo's sarcastic response.
The taller alien squinted his eyes in the sunlight. "Ah," he said after a moment, "so I am not seeing things, brother. There's a Namek standing with the traitor."
"Then I suppose you're glad you used the mixture, aren't you? It will make our job that much easier," the other man replied, removing the Scouter from his face and placing it into a pouch at his side. He then turned toward Goku and Piccolo. "Please excuse Morodath. He is not always the most polite person to be around. My name is Kadrin, and I am going to destroy you, Kakarot," he said with a grin, shifting his right hand to the hilt of the sheathed sword at his side.
"What's with the destroying?" Goku spat. "Are you too self-righteous to say 'kill'? I thought that's what all Saiyans did. Are you trying to prove me wrong?"
The alien who called himself Kadrin narrowed his eyes and snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. The only Saiyans left alive are yourself and the prince, Vegeta. We are no monkeys. Morodath and I are Elite. We are perfection, the end result of the merging of several handfuls of species."
This time it was Piccolo's turn to snort. "So you're just a couple of genetic mutts, is that right?" he asked, a wicked smirk on his face. He knew well that pissing them off would cloud their judgment, as it did with most living beings. Hopefully, these two were no exception.
The pun was not lost on either hybrid. "You'd better watch your mouth, green man, before we close it permanently," Morodath growled. Piccolo growled right back, and if a fight had broken out then it would have been easy to see who each of them would have gone for. The hybrid made as if he would lunge at him, and the only thing holding him back was his brother, who stopped him with a glance.
"All right," Goku said viciously, enough so that Piccolo looked over quickly to make sure he was still well. "Obviously, then, we're not here to talk. We're here to fight. So bring it on already!" The full-blooded Saiyan dropped into a crouch, both hands extended in front of him. Piccolo fell back into a defensive stance as well, genuinely surprised at Goku's sudden aggressiveness. What has gotten into him? he thought. He was not like this when I saw him last. Perhaps this is what being a Super Saiyan did to him? The green man never did like sudden surprises, a hold-back from the time when killing Son Goku was his goal in life, and the Saiyan's behavior was definitely a sudden surprise.
Piccolo didn't have time to ponder the thought further. With little warning, Morodath charged out of the ship and towards him. So it begins, he grumbled sourly as he leapt to the right, avoiding the flurry of jabs from the stocky hybrid. Out of the corner of his eye he caught the glint of metal as Kadrin drew his sword. At least that one is going for Goku.
"So that is what he is called on this planet," Morodath chuckled maliciously. "Goku. What a name. It's pathetic, don't you agree, Namek?" Upon seeing the look of surprise and outrage that crossed Piccolo's face, the hybrid laughed again. "Surely you don't think Nameks are the only species with psychic abilities, do you?" He paused his own onslaught long enough to watch the onset of his brother's. "Namek, you picked the wrong man to ally with," he growled. "Kadrin is one of the greatest warriors in the universe, second only to Lord Frieza and his family."
Piccolo growled low in his throat. I didn't even feel him enter my mind! What sort of creature is this? He jumped back and crouched down to avoid a sudden swing from his opponent.
"Kadrin told you what we are, Namek. We are the Elites," Morodath stated calmly as the green man attempted to knock his feet out from under him with a sweep. The man then lunged at Piccolo again, and Piccolo was forced to leap up into the air, pushing himself up with all his might so he flew several yards before the other warrior even realized he was gone. The hybrid punched a hole into the ground where Piccolo had just crouched. The Namek had been close enough to see the pale blue fire burning in his eyes. He gritted his teeth, knowing beyond a doubt that this fight would last a long time.
Goku was faring better, but not by much. He stood two paces away from Kadrin, who seemed as calm as Morodath about the fight. The hybrid was twirling his sword about in a circle like an oversized baton, a not-so-subtle reminder of who had the upper hand. It seemed to be wet, the Saiyan noted. After half a minute of a silent power struggle, Goku spoke up. "You haven't told me why you're here to kill me," he said, tensing his muscles in case the other man decided to attack again. His last stroke had almost given Goku a new haircut, and even now Goku was beginning to doubt his decision to send away Tien and Gohan. Piccolo was right; he simply didn't have the ki to outlast Kadrin if it came down to time, and right about now that was what it seemed.
The other man shrugged. "If you so desire, Kakarot. You were sent to this planet as an infant to destroy its inhabitants, yet here they all are today. You still have not finished your job, which should have taken you a whole of two years. You're an incompetent, Kakarot, and you must die." Kadrin paused for an instant before he continued, a wide grin painted on his face. "And I have an especial dislike for incompetents."
"Oh, great," Goku sarcastically exclaimed. "Is the rest of my life going to be spent killing off the maniacs that threaten my home? First it was my brother, then it was Vegeta, and then Frieza, and now you two? Why can't you people just leave us alone?"
"You admit to killing Lord Frieza?" The man stopped spinning his sword around and allowed its tip to rest in the dirt.
Goku winced as he caught a glimpse of Morodath's fist connecting with Piccolo's jaw, sending the Namek flying. "Yes, I admit it," he said, returning his stare to Kadrin. "It had to be done. The monster was evil to the core, and he would not reform."
At this the hybrid laughed, halting his brother's battle with Piccolo. He laughed harder at the expression of bewilderment on Goku's face. "Reform?" he said between gasping for air and laughter. "You, a Saiyan planet purifier, speaking of reform? Kakarot, you amaze me. You asked Lord Frieza to give up that which he most holds dear?" The hybrid was in danger of wetting himself in his mirth, so amused he was at the image of a Saiyan offering forgiveness to the murderer of his people. "I am glad I have to dispose of you," he said after a moment. "You are a liability to the remnants of your people. All two of you." The smirk that crossed his face reminded Goku of Radditz, when he had come to the Kame House and kidnapped Gohan. A chill ran down his spine at the thought of this man doing the same thing.
"I offer the same option to you and your brother, Kadrin," Goku said, shaking off his fear and placing his hands on his hips, determined not to let this strange man break him down. "If you leave this planet and its inhabitants alone and promise to stop hurting people, I'll let you go. You'd be free to leave."
Piccolo felt his mouth open in shock, and he was fairly sure Morodath did the same. The Namek was flustered enough that he nearly missed the slight jump in Kadrin's ki. Is he mad? he screamed in his mind. These two could cream us, as weak as he is! I'm strong, I've come a long way this past year, but there's no way I can possibly hold off the both of them! "Goku!" he shouted, aware that the hybrid a few feet away from him was going to recover from his surprise within the next few seconds. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You can't convert these guys! Look at his eyes! He's one of Frieza's people! It's in his blood…you can't change him!"
Kadrin turned his head towards Piccolo. "Well, well, for one of such a pitiful power level, you know more than you should. Tell me, Namek, how do you know of Lord Frieza?"
"I fought with him on my world, Saiyan," Piccolo spat. "I made him transform to his third stage before he defeated me."
The expression that crossed both hybrids' faces was priceless. "You?" Kadrin sputtered angrily. His face flushed crimson as he began to shake with rage.
You've done it now, Piccolo, Goku thought as he began to gather his ki, fully expecting all hell to break loose. You have no idea what you just started, do you? He was mildly surprised when Piccolo didn't answer him. He was usually very defensive about his plans and his fighting skills, and if he had not changed much since the fighting on Namek he would have come up with a scathing retort. Interesting. Why wasn't he answering?
"You faced off against Lord Frieza?" Morodath continued for his brother. "And yet you are still alive, but how? You're a weakling!"
Piccolo gave them his customary smirk. "Then you don't know how to sense ki, do you?" he said smugly, folding his arms across his chest. "I thought as much, primitive freaks that you are. If you could, you'd realize you were outmatched against him." He tilted his head toward Goku.
"You dare to call the Elite primitive?" the taller hybrid bellowed, activating his mental abilities for the first time during the fight. In his anger he blindly lashed out at the first living things he sensed, sending a searing wave of pain through the other three warriors as he tore through their minds. Piccolo dropped to his knees and clutched at his head, trembling slightly from the force of the mental attack; he had been the closest to the irate man.
"Morodath! Watch what you're doing!" Kadrin roared, clutching his temples as well and dropping his sword.
The younger brother was too wrapped up in his anger that he paid the man little heed, instead shifting his attack to Piccolo alone. The Namek was hard-pressed to keep the attack from damaging his mind; he gritted his teeth to hold back the pain. It was all he could do, and more, to keep Morodath from overwhelming his own well-set defenses. But for some strange reason, they didn't seem to be working. Why not? Nobody had ever been able to overwhelm his mind before, save the creature that had somehow controlled Uranai Baba's crystal orb. Could they be one in the same?
Piccolo shook his head violently as Morodath stopped his attack, ridding himself of the residual feeling that something foul had left its slime in his unconscious mind. It wasn't possible, he decided. That creature had minions of some sort, and unless Morodath had left them somewhere, he wasn't the one responsible for the previous attack. He couldn't be sure, though. There had to be some way to find out.
Goku was far enough away that the mental attack only grazed his mind. He winced briefly, taking note of how both Piccolo and Kadrin were affected, and how Morodath seemed out of breath when he dropped out of his rage. He winced in sympathy as Piccolo staggered in his attempt to stand. Hmm, he thought. I thought Piccolo had mental blocks up against something like that. Could that be what the "psi-down" did? If that's so, then what does "G" do? The Saiyan allowed himself a fleeting smile as Piccolo straightened his back and spat at the hybrid's feet.
Then the light bulb turned on. So that's why Piccolo's trying to piss him off! If he gets angry enough, he won't be able to focus on anything, and we'll be able to take him down! "Right," Goku grunted as he launched himself across the ground at the distracted man. "Bring it on." He twisted his body about so his right foot led the charge.
Goku expected Morodath to be focused on Piccolo and therefore less attentive where he was concerned. Not surprisingly, Goku was shocked when his flight was forcibly halted. He stopped a mere handspan away from the panting hybrid's face. Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a green and white blur, which was stopped just as abruptly as he was. Apparently Piccolo had had the same thing on his mind. Goku peeked over his pant leg and saw the hybrid's sly grin. He had one hand outstretched in front of each of them, holding them in place.
Damn, Piccolo swore as Kadrin picked up the sword again and began checking it for damage. This hulking monster has us both trapped in his mental nets, and I can't break out of it! Damn it! In his anger the Namek began to concentrate his ki, setting off the Scouter Kadrin had placed in its pouch. If I can break his concentration, perhaps he'll drop the net. How hard can it be to break a Saiyan's mindset? All you have to do is attack their pride. It worked with Nappa. "Wasn't one attack good enough for you, mutt? Couldn't finish me off weeks ago, could you?" Piccolo grunted. "Or couldn't your little winged friends do the job?"
Well, might as well kill two birds with one stone, as the Earthlings say, he thought as he began to further charge his ki. Goku caught on to his idea and began to do the same, tensing his muscles and testing the invisible restraints bit by bit.
"What are you babbling about, Namek?" Morodath said haltingly, a bead of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. "I…have no need for minions! I am Elite!"
"Then why did you send them ahead of you? Couldn't trust your own senses?"
The tall man ground his teeth in frustration, loosening his hold on the two warriors ever so slightly. "I have no scouts, green man," he spat, the hand focused on Piccolo trembling. "We are the most powerful warriors in the universe now! We have no need for such weaklings!"
"Is that why you need to kill Goku? Because he killed your overlord?" Piccolo rasped, containing a smirk. Well, at least he'd determined something. Even if his big mouth would get him killed.
"He is an incompetent!" the hybrid yelled, losing his last vestige of self-control. "Kakarot is a throwback to our glorious name, and he cannot remain alive! He is a traitor!"
"What are you doing?" Kadrin demanded as he reached his free hand into the pouch and fished around for the Scouter. He hastily jammed it on over his face and focused it first on Goku, then on Piccolo. Upon reading the numbers on the display, he cursed in two or three different languages and scowled.
"What…is it?" Morodath panted, his face flushed with the strain of holding both Saiyan and Namek. Their focused ki spike was beginning to take its toll on him, even after two or three minutes.
"Their ki has just about tripled, the both of them!" Kadrin growled, raising the tip of his sword to eye level as he began to stalk near Piccolo. "I can't explain it, but they've been suppressing their ki!"
"I told you how primitive you were, mutt," the Namek muttered as the hybrid came face-to-face with him.
"Tell me how you did this!" the man demanded, raising the sword to the green man's face. "How did you conceal your ki so effectively?" When Piccolo refused to answer him with anything but a smirk and a grunt, Kadrin swiped the tip of the blade across his cheek, drawing blood from the shallow scratch.
The Namek laughed sharply, the sound cutting across the man's ears like a sour note. "Is that all you've got?" he asked. Then, with a mighty burst of ki, Piccolo freed himself from Morodath's mental clutches. So powerful was the thrust that the hybrid was completely set off-balance, and the Namek was able to knock him out with a single swift blow to the temple. The taller man crumpled without a sound. Goku was dropped onto his back, and he clumsily rolled over and stood up.
"You idiot!" Kadrin seethed. "You tricked me, evil Namek scum! Filth! Refuse! Waste!" He punctuated each word by stabbing at the air with the sword.
"It worked, Piccolo," Goku breathed. "For a second there, I thought we were going to be trapped for quite a while. I didn't realize you'd been training so hard, though!"
Piccolo snorted as he watched the ranting hybrid pace in a circle about his unconscious brother. "A likely excuse." He then slid his hands under his turban and lifted it from his head. He threw it to the ground behind him, following it with his weighted cape. "What else am I to do on this planet?"
Goku shrugged weakly, following the hybrid's movements with his eyes. "Beats me. But all that ki spiking's made me a bit…tired. I think I'm gonna rest…for just…a…min…" The weak statement was followed by a dull thud as the man hit the ground, completely drained of energy. He was unconscious before Piccolo even had the chance to turn his head.
Shit. The sole word repeated itself in the Namek's mind as Kadrin stopped ranting like a madman. The hybrid took one look at the fallen Saiyan and began to chuckle. This is not good. Piccolo had to catch himself before he showed his shock to the enemy. The man suddenly grew serious, a deadly calm settled across his features.
"Namek," Kadrin said as he looked him dead in the eye, "I was beginning to wonder when Kakarot would collapse. I knew he was exhausted right from the beginning. It was fairly obvious, you know." He laughed once at the expression on Piccolo's face. "Come now, did you really think I wouldn't recognize a spent fighter? You're the one I want to fight, and now that you've been kind enough to dispatch Morodath for me, shall we begin?"
Piccolo felt his eyes bug out of their sockets, and he didn't bother to hide his surprise. "You mean to tell me this was all a set-up? Just so you could fight me?" he exclaimed, dropping into a defensive crouch through instinct.
The hybrid smirked. "I'm glad that you have brains, at least, Namek. This will be the first real battle I've had in a while. I can finally fight freely. And now there's no holding back." With a yell, Kadrin began to charge his ki so rapidly the very air they breathed crackled with it. The enormous amount of ki caused the ground itself to rumble and break apart, and still the hybrid yelled on.
He's been suppressing his ki! Piccolo grimaced as the other man's form began to crackle with concentrated energy. Within a few seconds his ki surpassed his own, and he knew he hadn't much farther to go before he reached his maximum power. How am I supposed to fight something like this? he wondered. It wouldn't be the first time, but I am not looking forward to this. He dropped quickly into a lunge, arms forward as if to ward off a blow. He was ready to fight, and he meant business.
Kadrin gave him little time to react before he flew forward, knocking the unsettled Namek back.
From miles away, Tien and Gohan felt the battle begin in earnest. The sound waves from the mighty blows exchanged were heard and felt from the Son residence, and neither of them knew what to make of it. Gohan looked at the older man, expecting reassurance that would not come. After nearly five minutes of following the fight, neither man nor boy were able to tell what was going on. "Tien, we have to go back and help them," the boy pleaded. "Piccolo needs us, I can feel it!"
The triclops shook his head, feeling Krillin come up behind him. "No, Gohan," he said sternly, eyes anxiously scanning the horizon. "We can't go in there. There's too much stray ki bouncing around out there, and we'd be fried to a crisp within moments of getting involved."
"But I can't feel my dad's ki signature!" Gohan whimpered. "There's got to be something we can do to help!" He made as if to leap to the rescue; his sparring partner stopped him as his muscles tensed.
"Bro, there's nothing we can do," Krillin said gently. "They're out of our league. Your dad said it himself. Besides, he said he'd call us if he needed us, and how likely will that be? One of them's down already!"
Gohan frowned as he turned his attention back to the battle. "But something doesn't feel right, Krillin. There's something different about Piccolo's ki, almost like there's someone else there with him. I just can't place it."
"Are you sensing Nail? Don't forget that he's in there too!"
The boy sighed. "You might be right," he conceded after a moment of silence. But deep down, he knew something was amiss. The mental bond he shared with his Namekian mentor was strong indeed, but there seemed to be something blocking it, if that was even possible. His seven-year-old mind might not be mature enough to understand why, but he almost always knew when something was wrong with Piccolo. "Please be all right, Piccolo, and dad," he whispered as he followed the Namek's ki. "Make sure you both come back alive."
* * * * *
I can't believe I've already finished the tenth chapter. Time flies when you're having fun, right? Well, as always, let me know what you think of it. 'Til next time.
~Dreamwraith