I would like to thank Wicked Woman, Red Tigress, Suiren, and Aeroshockwave for reviewing the last chapter. Thank you for letting me know there's still someone out there who thinks this story is good enough to review. Here, at long last, is the first part of the fight.
Disclaimer: Insert a witty disclaimer here. I don't feel like making one now.
Chapter Eleven
Piccolo flew backwards a few feet before twisting his body around and flipping over, landing on his feet. He glared at Kadrin, whose Scouter still beeped every few seconds. The genetic hybrid had his sword out in front of him now, and he seemed fully intent on impaling him with it.
"Well, Namek, your ki increases steadily by the second," the man growled, "but you do not fight back. Why is that, may I ask?"
Because my ears are still ringing from your blasted brother's attack, is that a good enough reason for you? Because I can't see straight? Or is it perhaps because I don't pick fights with idiots? Piccolo's response to the man was a warning growl. Kadrin had simply been playing with him for the past few minutes, and he knew it. The scratch on his cheek was beginning to pain him, though it wasn't distracting yet. The flesh around it was swelling, he could feel it. He was also beginning to feel the strain of keeping ahead of the much stronger man long enough for Goku to stand back up.
"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" the alien taunted as he flew up to the Namek, sword leading the way. Piccolo grimaced as he barely evaded the strike, feeling the very tip of the metal tear a hole through his gi and graze his stomach. "I know there must be something you have to say to me," Kadrin continued.
Piccolo looked into the hybrid's ice-cold eyes and smirked. "You're right. I do." Then he threw his hands back above his head, crossing the left in front of the right. "Masenko!" he shouted as he loosed an enormous ball of ki, the summation of what he had gathered at that point.
Kadrin merely looked puzzled, until the blast came too close for comfort. "Ma-what?" he exclaimed, breaking off the word as he leapt unceremoniously out of the way, landing on all fours in a bare patch of earth. His sword clanged harshly as it hit a rock in the ground, but he didn't let it out of his grasp. The blast was close enough that he felt the heat begin to singe his hair before passing overhead. He lifted his head in time to see the Masenko burn its way through three or four pillars of rock.
"That's from Goku's son," Piccolo said as he flew low into the cloud of dust after him, head-butting him as he rose from the ground.
Kadrin stumbled back, crossing his arms in front of his chest as the Namek began pummeling him rapidly. The green man had speed; he could give him credit for that much. But brute strength? He'd taken a few hits from Kakarot, and that guy could've packed quite a punch if he hadn't already been so weak. The punches the Namek threw were thought out and rather intense, but they lacked the force a Saiyan could put into them. But still, if he had some different training…
"Namek," he said suddenly, quick-stepping back to avoid having his face slashed open by Piccolo's taloned hand, "I have a proposition for you."
"Not interested," Piccolo growled, spiking his ki and knocking the other man back. He charged a ki ball as swiftly as possible and threw it at Kadrin, hopefully hitting him before he could throw up a shield.
The hybrid swatted the ball away as if it were a fly. "I'll make you a deal. I'll leave this place, this Earth, but you have to come with us."
"What?" Piccolo had seen and heard some interesting things before, but this by far topped them all. "The only way you're leaving is in pieces, mutt," he snapped. "I'm not interested in your little scheme to live."
"On the contrary, Namek, I'm offering you a chance to live." Kadrin stepped forward and extended his hand in a mockery of camaraderie. "I want to know how a mere Namek was able to stand before Frieza and fight. Join us, and we can destroy the universe. Fight it, and die. What do you say?"
This man is insane. Piccolo shook his head in disbelief, that such a powerful being could be so unstable. "I told you I wasn't interested. I left that path over a year ago." He spiked his ki again, the ground rumbling with its force. The grass whipped about as if it was in a hurricane, and small stones began lifting out of the ground. Then larger rocks, and boulders, levitated and split…and the Namek attacked, landing his fist in the hybrid's sternum.
The two fought on for what seemed like hours (and most likely was). It was a simple routine: Piccolo attacked, swiftly and viciously; Kadrin blocked. If he spotted an opening in the other man's defenses he took it, and the roles reversed. Block, attack. Block, attack. Kadrin would swing his sword at Piccolo's face, and Piccolo would dodge it and return the attack with a roundhouse kick. Then one of them would drop to duck a high punch or kick and knock the other one over. That one would flip himself backwards before lunging forward and starting the volley all over again.
It was only when the sky began to darken ever so slightly that Kadrin managed to gain the upper hand. Piccolo may have had speed and wit on his side, but Kadrin had been created for battle. Every cell in his body was made for the fight, genetically enhanced and selected. Piccolo had no such advantage. He was a demon, true, and it lent him strength and stamina, but not nearly enough to match a demi-Saiyan on equal footing for hours. His Namekian heritage didn't prepare him for waging a war, the wishes of his father regardless. After what seemed like an eternity of fighting, Piccolo erred, his arm extending too far to one side when Kadrin leapt away from a punch.
The hybrid grabbed Piccolo's arm and spun him around in circles, allowing his ever-building momentum to carry them both around. He released him into the tree. Piccolo flew straight through it and landed hard, skidding along the ground and nearly hitting Goku's prone form. Kadrin followed through with his offense, swinging his sword before him as he flew forward. The Namek had enough time to leap back, but the hybrid's blade left a nasty gash on his leg.
Damn him, Piccolo snarled as he touched down lightly, watching as Kadrin charged a ki ball. He squinted as he felt something wet soaking the gi material around the wound, knowing that it must be at least moderately serious for so much blood to have already trickled out. He was able to deflect that one back at him, but the second and third ones he had to twist and contort to avoid. Second and third? And fourth?
Kadrin laughed at the expression on Piccolo's face. "Did you think you were the only one capable of throwing ki balls, Namek? It looks like that's what you thought." He paused to hurl the fifth ball at him. "Or perhaps you've realized that you're the one who's leaving in pieces!"
Piccolo growled as the hybrid charged the sixth ball. "Doubt it," he said as he prepared to deflect it. He lunged back to make himself a smaller target, as if he were Yamcha getting ready to hit a baseball.
Kadrin smirked, then threw the ki ball at him.
The Namek narrowed his eyes in concentration, and he began to pivot to deflect the ball. But just as the blast came into range, the injured muscles in his leg spasmed, and his concentration was broken as he shifted his weight to the other leg. It happened in under a second, but that was enough.
The ki ball hit him and exploded on impact, the force sending him flying backwards through the air. He felt the breath rush out of his lungs as he hit the ground, and it was a struggle for him to leap back up. How…how did he pack so much ki into one ball? Doesn't he know what he's doing? "How did you suppress your ki, Saiyan?" Piccolo panted, glaring as the hybrid's form appeared in the dust left by the blast. It vanished just as quickly, and the green man forced his ki senses into overdrive to find him.
"I was born to it, Namek. That's the beauty of being fawned over in a laboratory. I was created to do many things." The voice came from behind him, Piccolo realized an instant too late. Kadrin loomed out of the cloud of dust, smiling wickedly, with his free hand balled up into a fist. He had enough time to turn his head as the hybrid rammed his fist into his back. The Namek went into a roll, feeling more than hearing the blade of the sword whistle through the space his head would have been occupying. He stood up a few paces away, but Kadrin was ready for him, and the hybrid threw another powerful punch at the disoriented Namek.
Piccolo staggered under Kadrin's blow. How much more of this could he take, he wondered, as the strength behind the strike sent a ripple of pain through his bruised body. Goku, wake up! he silently begged the Saiyan's unconscious form, barely dodging yet another ki blast from the hybrid. He was beginning to tire, and he knew it. And Goku had been out for the entire battle. There's not enough power left in me to finish him off. Had the Saiyan actually been conscious to hear Piccolo's desperate plea, he would have fallen over in shock. Piccolo never asked, let alone begged, for help.
His quick reflexes saved his life.
He instinctively fell into a crouch and brought his arms up in front of his body to ward off a blow from the sword that could have cut him in two. The Namek cried out as he felt the sharp metal cut deeply into his arms. Piccolo rarely made any sound when fighting, and the very fact that he voiced his pain only proved how desperate the situation was. He knew he wouldn't be able to use either arm for a long time after the fight, even with his remarkable regenerative abilities.
"So you actually thought that you two could beat us, Namek?" Kadrin said, smirking. "You and that fool Kakarot honestly thought you could defeat the most powerful warriors in the universe? You're pathetic." The hybrid's face lit up slightly as he pressed his attack, causing Piccolo to stifle another cry as he was pushed back. "Even though you somehow managed to take care of Morodath, I am not so easily dispatched, as you found out."
Piccolo risked a glance at the hybrid he had knocked out. The dusky-colored alien looked as if he would be permanently out of the fight, but he knew better than to make such assumptions. He had made that error once before while fighting Frieza on the planet Namek, and it had nearly cost him his life. Then again, Goku did not look like he would be re-entering the battle in the near future either. Wake up! he thought again, ignoring the blood that ran freely down his forearms. At least he could hope that Morodath would never awaken.
"Namek lizard," Kadrin hissed. Piccolo winced at the menacing tone; not even Frieza, as sadistic as he was, had taken such a liking to tormenting his opponents the way the hybrids had. His wrists and forearms began to throb again as he scuttled away from Kadrin, drawing new blood as he tore his arms away from the sword. His regenerative system would be able to patch up the damage, but it would take more time than he currently had. And he dared not lower his guard to remove the nearly-useless limbs and regenerate them, not while Kadrin was standing before him.
Standing before him?
Piccolo blinked once and glared up at the genetically-created man. He hadn't even seen him move that time! His eyes widened slightly as Kadrin poised to swing the sword at him again. Not this time, you don't! he thought, gritting his teeth as if to show he was holding his ground. The hybrid smirked as the sword came down and was somewhat braced for the impact, rigid steel against soft flesh, but Piccolo leapt backwards and avoided the stroke. Barely.
"You're slowing, Namek," Kadrin said mockingly. "I won't even need weapons to press my advantage any more." To emphasize his declaration, he tossed his sword behind him. Then he charged towards the seemingly spent Namek, ready to strike.
The hybrid received his second surprise for the day.
As he lashed out at Piccolo's face, the battle-wise warrior shot up into the air and twisted his body around like a dancer, pulling his leg up and around in a roundhouse kick. Kadrin hadn't actually counted on a defensive maneuver like that, and he took the blow in his face, shattering the Scouter. He staggered back, slightly stunned, before bellowing with rage and flying at the Namek again. This time Piccolo had had the opportunity to charge up an attack, the same one Nail had used on Frieza…the hybrid was forced to swerve awkwardly to the right to avoid the sudden burst of ki.
"Damn him," Kadrin growled to himself. He glanced up at the Namek and was inwardly pleased. As he had expected, the attack had taken a lot out of him. He stopped not far from where Piccolo stood and laughed. The green man looked as if he was about ready to fall over, the shadows under his eyes and cheekbones emphasized by the light. "Namek," he said, "you can't beat me now. That one took more out of you than you thought, didn't it?"
Piccolo said nothing, curling his upper lip in disgust and baring his fangs. He knew that what Kadrin had said was true. He had put a lot into that attack, and it hadn't even grazed the hybrid's skin. He was exhausted. All he had done was buy a bit of time for Goku to recover. He swiped his hand across his eyes, wiping the sweat off his face. "Bring it on, freak," he growled as he settled back into a defensive fighting stance, a determined glare etched onto his face.
* * * * *
Yeah, yeah. It's a terrible place to end the chapter, but what can I say? And the next chapter is already typed up and almost ready to go. Feel free to let me know what you thought about this chapter, and hope to see you for the next one.
~Dreamwraith