Tenka'ichi Budokai!
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z. I do own my original characters. And I own approximately half of a muse.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Goku stopped shoveling his dinner into his mouth when he felt Piccolo's ki flare up next to Krillin, and Gohan regarded him cautiously.
"What is it, dad?" the boy asked, glancing anxiously out the window. "What just happened out there?"
Surprisingly, Goku remembered to swallow before answering. "Piccolo must have gotten into an argument with Krillin," he reasoned, scratching the back of his head.
"Good for him," Chi-Chi said, frowning in concentration – this was one of the times she wished she knew how to sense ki.
"Mom, please stop." Gohan kept his gaze out the window, though he knew Chi-Chi's eyes were boring into him, just begging him to look her way so she could stare him down and scold him for keeping the company of a demon. Namek, Gohan corrected himself. He might be a demon, but he's also a Namek.
"Well, whatever it is," Goku interrupted, "he just headed off for the Lookout."
The family sat in uncomfortable silence at the dinner table. They got along well enough together, save when Piccolo's name was mentioned. It was no secret that Piccolo was a thorn in Son Chi-Chi's side, and it was proved over and over again with each encounter between the two. Between them Goku and Gohan could divert the worst of it, but both knew it would eventually come down to one final argument. And 'argument' was putting it simply. Knowing Piccolo and Chi-Chi, it would end up as a full-scale war. Goku hoped desperately that Piccolo would be able to control himself when that happened. He did love his wife, as nasty as she could be, and he did not relish the idea of hunting the Namek down if something serious happened to her.
"Why is he going there, dad?" Gohan finally asked, looking over at the other Saiyan. "I thought he didn't like Kami."
"Uh, well, he doesn't, but…oh, that is not good." The boy's eyes widened as Goku's face ran a gamut of emotions, from guilt to embarrassment to dawning comprehension, and an expression that could only be labeled as fear. And anything that could scare his father (outside of needles) was dangerous indeed.
"What's not good?" Gohan pressed anxiously.
Goku slid his chair away from the table, oblivious to Chi-Chi's contemplative stare, and frowned. "I made him promise to go see Kami if he felt something was wrong with him. You saw him, Gohan. He was jumping at nothing we could see, and talking to something that wasn't there. I told him if he didn't promise that we would have to do something about it."
The demi-Saiyan pieced it all together in his mind and suppressed a shudder. "Dad, if it's that serious, should I try talking to him?" he asked.
Goku's frown deepened. "You might not want to, Gohan," he said slowly. "If something is wrong with him, you don't want to get yourself involved. You'll be hurt."
The boy scowled back at him, and Chi-Chi and Goku were both shocked with the action. "He's my best friend, dad," he said angrily, "and all anyone ever wants is for me to leave him alone. 'Stay away from him, Gohan, he's dangerous'. 'What on Earth do you see in that guy, Gohan?' That's all I hear from everyone! I don't want to leave him alone if he needs help, and I'm not going to!"
Goku caught his son's furious gaze as the boy began to push away from the table. "Gohan," he began.
"You can't stop me from helping him, dad!" Gohan interrupted.
"I wasn't going to say you couldn't," the older warrior replied. "I was going to ask you to wait until I was done. I would rather go with you than have you go alone."
The melting of his son's face from rage to joy made Goku smile despite himself. "Just stay in touch with his ki for a bit. I'm almost done." He shoved another piece of fish into his mouth as Gohan pulled himself back up to the table. He ignored Chi-Chi's perturbed stare.
Gohan closed his eyes and extended his senses to the Lookout, to Piccolo. He felt his ki surge, and Kami's weaken, and he twitched. Wait a minute, he thought, pushing himself farther to find the source of the exchange. I'm almost there! Gohan tentatively tapped into the mental link with his mentor – and the results were explosive.
Piccolo's ki skyrocketed, and the boy tasted something sour in the back of his throat.
"Piccolo?" he whispered.
Somehow the Namek must have heard him, because Gohan felt him consciously enter the bond as well, and he almost lost his end of the link when he felt his mentor's presence there. Piccolo felt weak – though his ki said otherwise – and something malicious lurked in the background.
Malicious? Gohan did a mental double-take. That wasn't like Piccolo at all! But the Namek seemed to be reaching out to him, to tell him something, and neither of them could…quite…reach…
Piccolo, don't leave, he begged. Please tell me –
A new sense that could only be labeled as 'malevolent' flared through the Namek's ki, and that was enough.
"Holy shit!" Goku exclaimed abruptly, spitting out a mouthful of fish and startling Gohan back into awareness. "What's happening up there?" He didn't register leaping to his feet and knocking his chair back, nor did he notice how swiftly he charged his ki around him.
"Dad, something's wrong with Piccolo's ki!" Gohan cried a heartbeat later, upsetting his dinner plate as he, too, jumped from his chair. "We have to get to him now!" The boy could not understand what was happening to Piccolo, but he felt an urgent tugging at his mind, as if someone was trying to forcibly drag him through the air. It didn't help that both Saiyans felt an impending sense of disaster if they did not hurry.
Chi-Chi cried out at the sight of her husband and son reacting as though the world was on fire. "What's going on?" she exclaimed, leaping to her feet as well. "What's happening with Piccolo?"
Later, when Goku found time to reflect upon it, he was surprised that the woman's voice harbored no hatred for Piccolo. As it was, he was barely aware of his steaming dinner, and he was in no condition to judge tempers. "Piccolo's ki is much too high, Chi-Chi," he replied through gritted teeth. "And there is something else there with him – he's fighting it. We have to help him!"
Chi-Chi nodded wordlessly, for once without anything to say.
And the first of the attacks struck Gohan, causing him to scream and drop to the floor. Bright colors exploded across his vision, clouding it. Kami, how it hurt! A knife in his mind, twisting, wrenching, tearing something away! Kami, make it stop! the boy cried in his thoughts, unaware that the Guardian would most likely be feeling the same thing. He dug his fingers into his hair and held on, as though the pain in his head would somehow dull the pain hammering through his skull. It burns! he screamed. Piccolo, help!
"Gohan!" Chi-Chi and Goku both shouted, the woman rushing to his side and lifting him off the floor. "Baby, speak to me!" she exclaimed, the words catching in the back of her throat.
"Oh, Kami," Goku said softly, watching with a sickening sense of dread as Gohan writhed in his mother's arms. "What horror is this?" Then, louder: "Gohan, can you hear me?"
The young demi-Saiyan moaned. "Dad, it's on the Lookout…with him. You have to get up there!" Gohan screamed again as another pain raced through him, lighting nerves on fire. "Please, dad, hurry!"
When the man did not move, Chi-Chi acted. "Goku, do what he says and get up there!"
"But – "
"Now!"
Goku was at a loss. He was never useless in a dire situation. Ever. This was out of his league, and he knew it. But if there was something on the Lookout with Piccolo that was attacking his son – no matter in what manner – he would find a way to destroy it, even if it meant taking down most of the Lookout with him.
Gohan cried out again, and that was enough for him. Goku balled his hands into fists, gritted his teeth, and burst straight through the roof into the sky, leaving pieces of wood and dust particles blowing about in his wake. "I am going to get to the bottom of this, even if it means my life," he muttered under his breath, charging his ki even as he sped towards the Lookout. "This ends now."
His words were lost on the wind.
"Oh, no."
Goku felt the bottom of his stomach drop as he surveyed the top of the Lookout. In the fading light, the sanctuary was dulled to grey. The once-pristine tiles were partially charred, all but a few, and those were cracked and spread across its expanse. Several of the trees were broken off in the middle as well as a pillar, like something had been thrown through them, and Goku shuddered. The palace itself was relatively intact, save minor structural damage, but the worst change in the Lookout was its very atmosphere. Something powerful, something evil, had waged a war up here. The very air seemed to crawl with something foul, and Goku did not put the mental barrage against his son past whatever had so damaged the Lookout.
He approached the palace slowly, carefully, aware of two other ki signatures still on the Lookout – Piccolo and Kami. Piccolo, he was certain, had been greatly affected by whatever monstrosity had visited this place and was quite possibly lying injured in an unseen crater somewhere. Kami's ki was off near the edge of the Lookout, and it felt weak.
Goku gritted his teeth. He dared not approach the Guardian. What if the thing that had been battling with Piccolo – he must assume that Piccolo had been fighting against it and not with it – had set him out as bait? Even now, could it be lying in wait with baited breath for him to approach Kami before springing its trap? Rushing forward with its jaws opened wide and blood-stained fangs bared…
"Where did that come from?" Goku wondered aloud. He hadn't had thoughts like that since the Tenka'ichi Budokai, when he learned exactly who and what Piccolo was. The Namek had been so similar to his sire then, but more dangerous and just as cunning. A deadly foe then, a worthy adversary not too long ago, and a friend now…Goku was glad Piccolo was on his side instead of carrying out the wicked tasks set before him. If Piccolo had given in to his demonic half after battling Frieza, this world would no longer exist, replaced by a shade etched into dust and brimstone.
The Saiyan grunted in annoyance. He could not find the ki belonging to whatever had created this mess and caused Piccolo's unbelievable ki spike. What if Piccolo really was jumping at something, something that only he could see? What if something is trying to take control of his mind, too? And more importantly, what if it was here all along? "Was I too blind to see something before my very eyes?" he mumbled to the wind.
His body tensed as he caught sight of someone lurking within the recesses of the palace, and his heart pounded. "This is nuts," he sternly rebuked himself. "I shouldn't be afraid of the dark. There's nothing up here that can harm me except for Piccolo, and I can out-muscle him if I have to."
"Is that so?"
Goku started as a form fluidly emerged from the darkened structure, heart racing along at the speed of light before he recognized the voice as belonging to Piccolo. Only then did he relax, and a semi-hysterical laughter almost made it past his lips when he realized he'd been charging his ki for the swiftest Kamehameha he ever would have formed.
"I hardly think you can do that, Son Goku."
The Saiyan frowned as Piccolo came closer. There was something different about him; every fiber of his being screamed for him to run away, to put as much distance between himself and the Namek as he possibly could. Foolish, he told himself, and he planted his feet in the overturned tiles. "What happened up here, Piccolo?" he demanded. "Why is this place such a wreck?"
The Namek snorted and halted as well. "There was a fight. I won."
"Well, who did you fight?"
"Someone who should have respected a dying request."
Goku's eyes narrowed with suspicion. Piccolo's voice sounded…different. More sibilant, harsher than before. Falling ill would change a person's voice like that, and it could account for the strange sensations coming from his ki – by some stretch of the imagination – but the warrior standing before him was certainly not sick. In fact, he seemed a little too well, if it could be called that. Goku could not remember a time since the last Budokai that Piccolo had stood so confident and – that's the word! – exposed before him.
Come to think of it, Piccolo had never had his guard down so much before this very moment. What was so different now that he seemed so relaxed? If the place had just seen a full-scale ki battle, he should not be so focused. And even more disturbing was the fact that Piccolo had not a mark on him. Goku caught himself staring at the Namek's arms, as if by magic bruises and cuts would appear on them.
"You seem a bit unsettled, Goku."
And he's usually more subtle than this, the Saiyan commented silently. "What if I am, Piccolo? I think coming up here and finding out the place is trashed is shocking enough." I'm no genius, but it doesn't take one to realize Piccolo is hiding something. Kami, I hope he is not the one who did this. Goku blinked a few times to clear his vision and scowled when he realized the Namek had his eyes closed.
Not only that, but he was also wearing an expression that could only be described as devious.
Something was definitely up. "Did you come up here to see Kami?" Goku asked, taking a step away from Piccolo. This close to him, his ki felt amiss, and the Saiyan did not know why. "Piccolo, answer me."
Piccolo began to laugh, then, and Goku flinched. Kami, how that laugh brought back bad memories, back from his first encounter with the demon-spawned Namek at the last Tenka'ichi Budokai. It was so similar to the mirthless laughter of the crazed warrior he had been that Goku found himself tensing up.
"What makes you so sure I'm even Piccolo?"
The Saiyan froze up, unwilling to even think about such a possibility. It was utterly ridiculous, that he wasn't himself. It couldn't possibly happen. But there was a small voice gnawing at the back of his brain, telling him not to dismiss this so easily, something was very, very wrong… "Stop – stop kidding around, Piccolo," he blurted, taking another step back toward the edge of the Lookout. "I need to know what happened up here."
Piccolo's voice went cold. "Do you, now?" he asked. "Then you might want to ask him yourself, wouldn't you?" The Namek bared his fangs in a wicked smile that forced a chill down the other man's spine, and he opened his eyes – completing one of the most horrific visions Goku had ever seen.
Oh, Kami, his eyes are red his eyes are red oh Kami they're red! A frantic string of thoughts raced through the Saiyan's mind, and he reeled away from Piccolo. "What…what are you?" he whispered, resisting with every fiber of his body the urge to run away. "What are you doing here?"
That – thing – chuckled, shattering the near-silence of the Lookout and Goku's temporary paralysis. "It's not obvious enough, Goku?" it asked, advancing upon the shorter warrior.
"What have you done with Piccolo?"
"I haven't done anything with Piccolo. He's here still."
Off in the distance thunder growled, a storm on the rise, which did not bode well for the Saiyan. He remembered all too well storms like these, and they formed quickly only when a – admit it, Goku, he told himself, say it! – demon was present. Piccolo had brought them with him at the Budokai, and Gohan had told him of several nasty squalls that had sprung up during his training with Piccolo. But the Namek was one of them now! He wouldn't do anything to hurt them, would he? He couldn't! A chill ran down his spine, and his skin crawled…and he found himself hard-pressed to believe what he had tried to convince himself of.
Goku glared back at him, regaining his composure. "You lie. What have you done with him?"
The being with Piccolo's voice smirked. "I showed him the way back to what he was. You made him soft; I made him strong again. And there is nothing you can do now. You're too late."
This isn't happening! Goku groaned to himself. I don't want to fight him like this! Before him the Namek settled quickly into an aggressive fighting stance, and he followed suit. "I don't want to fight you, Piccolo," he said softly, raising both fists level with his shoulders. "Don't make me do this. Please, don't make this happen."
Piccolo smirked again, smugly this time, and his eyes began to glow faintly. "Goku, I would not have it any other way. It's time to finish what I started years ago. It's time to get rid of you."
And with a cry more howl than shout, the possessed warrior charged forth.
* * * * *
All right, perhaps I exaggerated a bit. I was hoping to get this out faster. But that's beside the point. Just as a random comment, the Twenty-Third Tenka'ichi Budokai kicks butt. Piccolo just about gave me nightmares…and did a pretty good job of reminding me just why he's my favorite character. ^^
Thanks again for reading!
~Dreamwraith