Now is it just me, or has there been a sudden influx of demon-Piccolo stories? It's a pretty neat phenomenon either way.
If you catch my ode to a certain mid-Eighties fantasy movie, let me know. And kudos to you if you know which movie, too.
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, nor will I ever. Unless you believe in the whole "say it three times and make it your own" thing.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Goku grinned like a madman and used the demon's own momentum to swing him down into the broken tile floor. Just as quickly Shadow leaped clear of the ground, before it could begin to burn him through. He aimed a fist for the bridge of the other man's nose and sent the other into his gut when it was blocked.
Goku was in over his head, but he was still smiling.
It must have been his ascended state. Battle never ceased to thrill the Saiyan, and his blood was singing as it was. But even he knew he was outmatched, over-classed, and overwhelmed. Piccolo had always been a tactician, making up for what he lacked in brute force with his mind and his speed. And now that the demon had brought with him so much strength, so much power, Goku could not hope to match him for long. It was a wonder he hadn't suffered a serious injury.
"Can't you do anything better than that?" he spat, twisting the corners of his mouth into a sneer worthy of Vegeta himself. He could feel his son and the Saiyan prince approaching the Lookout now…they would be here within the next two or three minutes, and then the three of them could gang up on their possessed ally. Friend. Goku was willing to admit that Piccolo was no enemy of his, but a rival for power and someone who probably understood him better than he did himself. The Namek had admitted to their awkward friendship once before…but a whole lot of help that did the both of them now that they were locked in mortal combat. He would need the help of the other two Saiyans to bring down the demon inside the Namek.
Shadow chuckled and flipped back. "Do you care to see it?"
"That power's not yours. It's Piccolo's, and you cheated. You're yellow, that's what." Goku brought himself down to the surface of the Lookout and let his aura expand once more.
"Black as midnight, black as pitch, Son Goku," the demon replied, his own ki clashing loudly against that of the Saiyan. He and the other warrior leaped forward at the same time, their fists creating a dull roar that rivaled the crescendo above them.
They fought for what seemed to be an eternity, though it was no longer than a minute. The green man had the upper hand, of course. He was aiming to kill; Goku was trying his hardest to keep him alive. Shadow had no qualms against taking advantage of the Saiyan's weak state of mind. Namely, his conscience. The Saiyan has morals, he mused, but it should not surprise me. Of all that I have learned from both Daimao and Ma Junior, it is this that will be his downfall. He says he will kill the brat, but can he really? He snorted at the thought. Not likely.
Shadow allowed the other man's fist to graze his shoulder and spun with it, driving his knee into the Saiyan's gut when he came around. The rhythm of the blows was soothing to him. Goku was doing everything he possibly could just to graze his skin, even as a Super Saiyan, and he could not. The demon was simply too nimble, too swift for him, and he took obvious delight in watching struggle to get a punch or ki blast in. "How does it feel, not being able to land a single blow, or having to watch every ki blast you hurl deflected back to you?" he hissed. "I find it…fascinating. Thrilling. How long it has been since I last felt this way." A crooked sneer crossed his face.
Goku rolled with the demon's next punch and used his momentum to put some distance between them. If he would only give him enough time to charge a ki ball or a Kamehameha…but he wouldn't. He had already tried once, and the instant the creature recognized the posture he had leaped forward and cuffed the side of his head hard enough to knock him several feet away. He needed a distraction.
Gohan's ki flared once off the edge of the Lookout, and the older Saiyan couldn't help but grin. So close, so close, and then the demon would be gone. He chuckled. Perhaps it would even have a physical form in this realm, and when Piccolo got his body back he would be able to tear the demon apart. After all, he was the Demon King. The other demon would have to obey him, right? An image of a small black creature roasting itself on the floor of the Lookout at Piccolo's orders filled his mind. He could practically smell the smoke…
"What are you laughing at?" the demon demanded, dropping to the other man's eye level.
"That." Goku flicked his eyes behind the hovering warrior, and Shadow scowled.
"I thought we were beyond games," he growled.
"We are!" bellowed a third voice. The demon whirled around in time to catch a fist in the side of his face. He felt his cheekbone shatter under the blow and hissed as he fell, his body bouncing off the tiles with his momentum.
Vegeta floated down to the floor, followed closely by Gohan, and both Saiyans were scowling. "Kakarot," he snapped, "why haven't you gotten the job done yet?"
Gohan ran forward, coming as close to his father as he could without being repulsed by the man's ki. "Dad, do you have the senzu beans?" he asked, half-extending one hand in expectation.
Goku could not bring himself to tell his son that Piccolo had destroyed the only senzu there were and had then proceeded to eat the last one. "There are none," he said finally, ignoring the boy's outstretched hand. "We have to go without'em this time."
Gohan's eyes grew incredibly wide. "What? How…where could they have gone, dad?" he squeaked, his eyes darting from Vegeta to Goku to Piccolo and back. "What happened?"
"He destroyed them."
"What?" came Vegeta's answering snarl. The Saiyan prince gave the other man an incredulous glare and began rapidly clenching and unclenching his fists. "How could you allow him to do it, Kakarot? Huh? Were you just not quick enough? You, the Super Saiyan?" The man's eye began to twitch, from frustration or anger Goku could not tell.
Goku had no chance to reply. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of the green man blurring, and he threw himself to the ground. The demon's fist went sailing harmlessly overhead, but he rebounded quickly and went for Vegeta instead. The Saiyan was caught unawares and was driven off the Lookout, the demon mercilessly pummeling the front of his body.
Gohan dove into the fray and slammed his tiny fist into his mentor's side, catching him off-balance and pushing him away from Vegeta.
"I do not need your help, brat!" the prince roared, smacking the child to the side and charging after the other warrior.
Goku flew after him, gathering ki in the palms of his hands.
"Like shooting fish in a barrel." Shadow raised his hands above his head and grasped the back of one wrist. "Masenko!"
The attack hit Vegeta head-on, and the Saiyan prince fell to the floor.
"Vegeta!" Goku called anxiously.
"Pitiful man," the creature jeered. "Only one hit to take down the Saiyan prince. Pathetic." He held both hands in front of his body and readied another attack.
The Super Saiyan quickly fell back into his famous signature stance. "Ka…me…ha…me…"
Shadow heard the man and acted too late.
"HA!"
The blue-white ki hit the demon with all the force of a demolition truck and tore through his budding ki ball. Shadow was flung heavily to the ground but rebounded off the floor before his hands could do more than sting.
Goku snorted and flew in to press his attack. The demon's gathered ki was gone, right? And there was no way he would find enough time to charge another attack, right?
Wrong.
As the Super Saiyan came within close range, Shadow shot the man a wicked smile and thrust one hand forward. And with that one hand he channeled out enough raw energy to power Capsule Corp. for well over a year. Nail had used it on Frieza. Later, Piccolo surprised Kadrin with it. And now the legendary warrior received the same welcome.
Goku was too close to Shadow to shield himself from the ki blast, and the front of his body took the brunt of the attack. His arm caught on the remains of a column when he struck the ground and bounced back up, and pain flared down his side and across his chest when his shoulder snapped. The demon gave him no time to recover, darting through the remnants of his own attack to bring both fists down on the back of the man's head. Goku went down like a ton of bricks and stayed down. His aura vanished, and his hair and eyes darkened once more.
"Dad!" Gohan cried.
A green fist reached down and seized the back of the bright orange gi, hauling the fallen warrior up to eye level. Goku's gaze met that of his enemy, and he shuddered. "This will be the last time we lock eyes, Son Goku," Shadow hissed softly, "and that is a promise. Any last words?"
Goku scowled. "Yeah. Go to Hell."
He stared at the demon's free hand, watching the ki it slowly gathered build up in its palm and trickle out from between outstretched fingers. The red and black energy crackled ominously before him.
Then, curiously enough, the demon roared in pain, and he whipped his head around so quickly it made Goku dizzy. "How dare you?" he bellowed, hurling the ki blast at the human warriors instead of the Saiyan and causing them to scatter.
Goku couldn't help but smile. "The cavalry has arrived," he mumbled, flashing Yamcha a thumbs-up.
"Good aim, Yamcha," Tien complimented, stretching his arms out to either side of him and floating back into place.
The scarred man smirked. He'd had to bend himself over backwards to avoid that one. It would have burned his torso off on contact. Just being in close proximity with the demon's ki made his orange gi turn a dusty brown color. "Couldn't figure out why I still had that dumb bottle anyway. I guess it served its purpose."
The demon growled, and now Goku could see the faint imprint of a water bottle along the side of his face, cutting across the raw weal of Daimao's mark. Figures, he thought. The ball player and his drink. Can't go anywhere without it. At least this time it came in handy!
Shadow badly wanted to wipe that goofy grin from the Saiyan's face, but a sudden scream from off to the side seized his attention. "Now what?" he snarled, hissing in pain as the sound rose in both volume and pitch. He swung his gaze around and caught sight of…
…Gohan.
What? Goku thought incredulously.
The boy was positioned in a crouch, clutching at his temples as if he was trying to wake from a terrible nightmare. His mouth was open in the most desperate cry he'd ever made, and he was trembling…with rage or fear, it was not clear. But the most shocking detail was not his actions or his expressions, but his appearance. Gohan's hair flickered between gold and black, his eyes from teal to dark, and his ki sparked violently about his body. A wave of raw ki surged around him in a blazing pyre of light.
The demon, perhaps accessing some memory of Piccolo's, dropped the Saiyan and frowned deeply. The boy had a hidden power…and by all appearances, he had just found it. "What are you doing, boy?" he growled softly, falling into a lunge. "You should not be this strong." Behind them the humans gasped. Gohan, too?
"You…hurt…my dad!" The demi-Saiyan rolled the words off his tongue like venom, his voice barely rising above the din. "You hurt him…and you hurt Piccolo! You won't get away with this! I won't let you!"
You can't face another one, Piccolo whispered smugly. You're dead.
Shut up! the demon snarled back. "You would not hurt your mentor, your friend, would you, boy?"
He was rewarded with a cold glare. "You're not Piccolo. You're not my friend."
Goku pushed himself back along the floor and scooted out of Gohan's way, his one good arm trembling as he struggled to keep himself upright.
Shadow did not feel the fist that buried itself in his ribcage, cracking newly-healed and bruised ribs alike, until the bones grated against each other. He gagged on blood as it forced its way up his throat and spattered along both the boy's face and his own. What…how… he thought fearfully. His father, the stronger of the two…
Did you think I wouldn't make good on my promises, demon? Piccolo hissed. I don't go back on my word. You'll feel all of it, even if it takes me with you.
Damn you, Ma Junior, Shadow thought angrily, barely evading Gohan's other fist. The boy's hair had gone dark again. He wasn't quite strong enough to ascend, but he was pretty damn close. Too close for the demon's comfort. One more insult, one more misplaced strike would push him over the edge, and it would finish the demon. He hadn't the energy to engage in a full-out brawl with another, fully-energized Super Saiyan.
Gohan drove his knee into Shadow's chin, and the demon felt it shatter beneath its force. This time he did cry out.
I did not want to do this so soon, he moaned silently, but I have no choice. He reached out his mental hands for the boy, intent on damaging the brat beyond recognition if he had to – including reducing him to the brain power of a vegetable. It would keep him alive, and the boy would no longer be a threat. Gohan was so close, and his mind had no mental blocks to keep him from scorching the insides. He could wipe his memories or fire his nerve endings so rapidly his senses would overload. So close…
Shadow's vision swirled suddenly, and he found himself frozen in place.
"What?" he had time to gasp before his stolen body collapsed weakly to the ground. His answer came in the form of a low chuckle – the triclops and that emperor, he figured, and he knew it was over. He had reached too far without caution. He was caught at his own game.
Chiaotzu nodded stiffly to Tien. The demon was caught between two bodies, and he had sealed off both ends of the tunnel. "Go…Tien…" he panted. "He's fighting…"
"Gotcha. This is for all the people who have suffered because of you and what you've done. I hope you cease to exist when we're done with you." Tien's expression was bitter as he caught his own hold on the demon and began to pull. Between Chiaotzu and himself, the creature – as weakened as it was – would never break free.
Shadow shrieked, and the inhuman sound was forced from the Namek's throat, a raw scream that ripped at the voice and throat of the body's owner. He tried latching his mental claws onto anything, any surface, any handhold he could gain in either the Namek's or the demi-Saiyan's mind. He found none.
Ssseer! he pleaded, his voice reverting as he slowly began shifting into his own form. Help me! He screamed again when Gohan appeared above him and landed in a crouch on top of him, breaking two more ribs and forcing the demon down against the floor. The tiles that would sear the life out of any evil to make contact with them.
The reply was not comforting.
You have failed us, Shadow, his superior replied calmly. Thus you face the consequences of your shortcomings. Erasure. You will be no more. Daimao's rumbling voice growled at him in the background.
NO!
Cloth was melted away between demon skin and sacred ground, and flesh began to scorch and smoke. Shadow struggled to free himself from Son Gohan's grasp and failed. He shrieked again when the blinding pain began to move along his joints, through his muscles and organs, deep in the marrow of his bones.
It turned a deaf ear to his mental cries, and Shadow felt despair for the first time in his life.
It cannot end thisss way! he moaned, feeling the ties that bound him to Piccolo snap. Not like thisss!
You'd better believe it, Tien snapped in his mind. You and yours have caused the Earth enough trouble. The Lookout will turn you to ash.
And so it did. Shadow wailed and thrashed wildly now, each beat of his heart sending fire through his veins and searing his body. He could feel. Each individual cell, every shred of skin on his back, he felt the agony of the sacred fire burning into him through them. Even the agony he suffered in Hell paled in comparison to this. But with each breath he drew, with each cry he released, Piccolo screamed with him.
This thought comforted him, until with a mighty heave, the Namek and Tien forced Shadow from Piccolo's mind.
Blessed numbness!
Shadow, a dark, formless blot against the white tiles of the Lookout, darted off toward the darkened recesses of the sanctuary. If he was quick enough, he would be able to reach the shadows and work his way back into Hell. Without a physical form he could not feel the Lookout's power…he might still live! He might…
"Taiyoken!"
How could he have forgotten? He hissed and clutched at his face in agony.
"You're looking for a dark corner, aren't you?"
The triclops. Damn him!
Tien's well-aimed kick passed right through the demon, and he scowled. "I should've known. You were one of the creatures present when Piccolo was pulled in weeks ago, weren't you? You're nothing more than a shadow here. No physical substance on this plane."
Shadow writhed on the ground and moaned.
The triclops allowed himself a smirk. "But you're still blinded by ki. You can be killed here, can't you?"
At the sound of his voice the demon raised his sightless face to the man and snarled. "He'll come back for you all! This will not end with me…no, this is just the beginning! Mark me, human, you have not tasted the last of the Demon Lord's power!"
"Then let's see if this works." Tien formed a triangle with his hands and raised it to his chin. "Kikoho!"
Shadow was disintegrated before he could protest.
In his own realm, Daimao roared in anger when the smaller demon's body spontaneously ignited, his own flesh fueling the flames that licked his body. His plan had literally backfired, and there would be hell to pay.
-----
Unless something happens, there's only one more chapter to go, and the epilogue.
Here's my question for you…would you like to see a sequel to this, or was it long enough? It's basically up to you, the readers, so either leave your response in your review or e-mail it to me. I'd appreciate your opinion either way.
And me being the dip that I am, I should get back to studying for my Organic Chemistry Final tomorrow. Ciao.
-Dreamwraith