And so begins yet another plot arc. It is in this one that you finally get some questions answered, questions that have been running throughout the entire story, whether you realize it or not. Also, a bonus for those of you who love a certain Namek: he's back in the game.



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Arcing into the air, Piccolo evaded the combat temporarily. Another dark form rushed toward him, but Piccolo kicked upward, sending it reeling. Normally he would have finished it off, but for now time was more important than victory. Besides, it didn't matter if he actually killed the creature, another one would just be created.

Flying at full speed, Piccolo ripped past other battles going on all over the Afterlife. Of all the calculations he had made, this had not been indicated in any of them. The only thing that could mean was that something outside of ordinary time had taken a hand. In a way, he had seen this chaos coming into play, but he hadn't imagined it would be now, or in this way. So now both Dai's and his own plans were thrown off.

To be honest, he knew relatively little about all those who were attacking. He had figured out that each of them were manifestations of some of his own dark feelings. Most of the others were frantically fighting a war that they couldn't possibly win, because more and more warriors continued to be generated from their own beings. Still, the blows they struck were real enough, and Piccolo dealt with them as he had to.

Most important now was to end the threat at the source. What disturbed him was that this attack was relatively useless, as if it was covering for something far greater to come. Right now, he needed backup. That wasn't something he was likely to get from anyone here, even if they would agree to help him. Landing, Piccolo looked around carefully. This was the place, and no other creatures were appearing around him. His back was covered, as all of the former Z Fighters were battling the main army, serving their purpose well.

Barriers that had cut him off before were now severed, and Piccolo reached his senses down toward Earth, in a simple message to a certain occupant.



Goku's head snapped up as he heard Piccolo's voice echo in his mind. Opposite him, 18 realized something was going on and terminated the attack she had been about to launch. Opening his mind, Goku allowed the message, whatever it was, to leak over to her mind as well.

Goku, Piccolo called, voice slowly gaining in strength, can you hear me?

"You're clear." Goku hoped Piccolo could hear his reply.

Good. Things up in the Afterlife are bad, we're under no less than an all-out assault.

"Who's attacking?"

That's the strange thing. Something is generating the attack, but it is indiscriminate. All of heroes are being attacked, but so are all the old villains. This attack is almost useless, but I'm sure there's something behind it. "How can we help?"

I was hoping you'd say that. I'll bring you here.

"How is that possible?"

Ordinarily, it would be entirely impossible. But everyone is attacked, including Kais and Kioshins, and the very barriers of the Afterlife have been shaken. Without all the ordinary barriers, my powers are at their peak. I should be able to bring both of you into the Afterlife. If anyone notices you, they'll probably send you back, and if we restore the barriers you'll be sent back as well.

"Do you think we can help?"

Right now, we have things handled. But I've sensed much more than this type of attack. In the future, I may not just want your help, I may need it.

"Alright. What do we need to do?"

Just stay there. Are both of you ready?

Goku glanced at 18, she nodded. "Yeah, we're ready," he told Piccolo.

I want to make sure you reach here without being seen, so I'll have to be very careful about it. Give me a few minutes and you'll see me.

His presence faded, leaving Goku and 18 alone on the field once again.

"So that was Piccolo?" 18 asked. Goku nodded.

"My first friend. But you know all about that already."

"Yes."

"It will be great seeing him again. It's been a long time, and our meetings have been brief."

"I'd like to meet him."

"I'm sure after we figured out the problem, you'll have time."

Just then a ring of energy floated from the ground around them, collecting into a wider band. Slowly it filled out into a column that grew bright enough to block out the rest of the world. When it faded, they found themselves in the Afterlife, standing on a grassy prairie. Piccolo stood with his back away from them, focusing on the horizon.

"Tally ho," he greeted them stoically. "You're just in time."

"Yes?" Goku asked, coming to stand beside him. Piccolo nodded to him.

"I sense something worse than all the rest elsewhere."

Feeling where Piccolo was focusing on, Goku felt something blackly evil. It reminded him strongly of Ebony, but this one felt slightly different, as well as much stronger. Behind them, a black form rose from the ground unnoticed. It leapt toward them silently, but 18 sensed its presence and smashed it directly. The shape hurtled backward through the air and dispersed on the tree it struck.

"First," Piccolo amended, "we have to deal with all the monsters your arrival created."

"What do you mean?" Goku asked, already turning toward the black shapes that rose from the ground.

"They're manifestations of things in yourself. Not too strong, but when they first attack they can be pretty annoying. We'll deal with the first wave and then move on."

"Alright."

By now ranks had formed in front of them. Piccolo charged energy in one hand while patiently waiting for the attack. Goku slashed forward through them, and then everything shattered. The manifestations rushed forward, supplemented by a few from Piccolo as well. While they were still close together, Piccolo fired his collected energy in a focused attack that took out the bulk of the pack.

Small black forms were flying from multiple directions as 18 leaped into the fray. Ducking a swipe, Piccolo imbedded a foot into his attacker's stomach, then whirled and took down a few nearby ones. Catching another's fist, Piccolo pushed him off balance, and used his other hand to finish off another behind him. Whirling quickly in a circle, the Namek sliced through the nearby ones. Above him, a black shape began careening downward in attack.

An orange flash cut it off midway down, and Goku skidded down, to stand beside Piccolo. The attack had ended nearly as soon as it had begun. Piccolo had forgotten quite how powerful Goku seemed in person, and 18 wasn't a lightweight either. In fact, with the training they had been doing, they were probably both superior to him.

Grateful they were all on the same team, Piccolo nodded to both of them.

"We need to check out that disturbance now."

"Can you tell where it is?"

"Afterlife Rim. It'll take us a minute or two to reach it. Unless you can pull off Instant Transmission."

"Can do," Goku smiled, one hand coming to rest on Piccolo's shoulder as the other touched his forehead. 18 quickly followed them, and the world dissolved around them.

"I've got to learn that one," Piccolo muttered as they materialized in a different location. He could have saved a lot of time when he was going from King Kai's planet to elsewhere. But that was behind him now, what was of more concern was the being in front of them.

Goku and 18 saw what looked to be a perfect double of Ebony, same darkness, same barely visible shape, with a much higher power level. Piccolo, on the other hand, saw a collection of evil, darker than any he'd ever seen. Soon after he sensed all the ties that went to him, coming from every direction, making him appear like the spider in the middle of a huge web.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Piccolo asked. Goku nodded grimly.

"I've faced this type before. This one's probably causing all these problems."

"Well, well," the creature turned to them, dismissing them with a flicker of its red eyes. "So you two are the ones that have caused so much trouble in my machinations."

Two? Goku's mind instantly searched slightly about him, and found no trace of 18. Pushing his senses a bit further, he found her suspended behind the creature, as of yet unmoving. Waiting for the best time to attack, he realized. All he had to do was cause a bit of a distraction, or let time elapse somehow.

"Not that it matters," the creature continued. "You're fighting nothing but symptoms. Nothing you can do can actually damage any of my plans. There's already enough power collected to wreck havoc throughout the Afterlife."

"Who are you?" Piccolo asked, and Goku figured he had sensed 18 as well.

"Ah yes, you mortals are always so concerned about names." Red eyes flickered again with disdainful amusement. "Names are but passing. But it would be impolite to continue to remain mysterious, wouldn't it? I've been called Eclipse before, and I suppose the name will work well enough now. So now, aren't you going to attack me?"

Hoping to catch him off guard, Goku flew forward as abruptly as possible. Midway there, he realized Eclipse was prepared to dodge, and could probably do so easily. He would have done so had not 18 plowed into his back, stunning him for the brief instant Goku needed to slam him at full power. A second later Piccolo added his own attack to the fray, a violent strike downward that sent Eclipse crashing into the ground.

For an instant there was silence, and then all weaved to the side as a torrent of darkness burst up from the ground. Boulders were thrown aside in the blast, and then Eclipse leapt up to fight them again. All three blocked his initial whirlwind of attacks, then Eclipse put all his strength into a blow that forced Piccolo to the ground and along it a few feet. The momentary distraction cost him, however, and both Goku and 18 slammed him again. Falling, he met Piccolo's upward strike, which sent him flying into the air again.

He flipped quickly, surprising both Goku and 18. Barely weaving to the side, Goku avoided his foot, but 18 was struck, sending her flying across the sky. Piccolo flew up, to meet a energy-filled strike from Eclipse. Hitting the ground with Eclipse close behind, Piccolo held both legs above him, ramming Eclipse in the gut, where he stayed long enough for Goku's sweeping kick to hit him again.

Flying into the air for apparent safety, Eclipse suddenly fell victim to a series of ki blasts that rushed across the sky. When 18 stopped her blast and flew closer, all of them saw Eclipse on his knees, smoking faintly. Glaring savagely at them, he slowly got to his feet.

"Very good." His form grew a bit more solid. "But my victory is not required for the plan to succeed. Go ahead, take your paltry victory. It hardly matters."

Sensing him about to do something, Piccolo slid forward, but Eclipse had already faded from view. 18 tried to catch the trail of where he went, but it slipped from her mind swiftly. Goku dropped to the ground and 18 followed suit. Piccolo glanced around grimly.

"We stopped the initial attack. There will be no more manifestations."

"I sense that wasn't the reason you needed us," Goku said dryly.

"I'm sure we aren't going to like whatever he accomplished," 18 commented. Piccolo nodded to them both.

"That's a certainty. I think this was just a coverup for whatever he was trying to get done."

"Do we have any idea what they were after?" Goku asked.

"Nothing really," Piccolo responded. "But I might have a wild guess. They gained a massive amount of dark energy from all this chaos. I'm not sure what they can do with that, but that might have been their goal. We should be on the lookout for something else."

"In the meantime, is there any way we can figure out more about these guys? It disturbs me that they know all about us, yet we know nearly nothing about them."

"I agree. And yes, we need to do some research."

"Where?" 18 asked. Piccolo stopped her before she moved further.

"You two can't go to the rest of the Afterlife looking like this. Someone would notice how alive you are and kick you back out again. The dimension is already stabilizing, and we can't afford any undue attention."

"Do you have a solution?"

"As a matter of fact," Piccolo's hands moved in front of him, and when they stopped he had formed a golden ring of energy, "I do."

"What is that?" Goku touched it experimentally. The ring was nothing but normal energy.

"Put it on your head," Piccolo suggested. Instantly Goku understood. When he placed the ring over himself, he found it remained hovering about a foot above his head. A perfect replica of a halo, or at least it appeared that way to Goku.

"It looks great on you," Piccolo commented wryly as he formed another ring, which he handed to 18. She placed it over her and glanced up at it. Piccolo smiled.

"That's better. With any luck, no one will give you a second look."

"Thanks." Goku turned, scanning the horizon. "Can we use Instant Transmission to get where we're going?"

"Probably not." Piccolo shook his head. "I doubt anyone is there."

"We'll fly then."

All three lifted off, and shifted into a triangle with Piccolo in the lead. He quickly shifted their path toward wherever they had been headed. They had barely begun flying when Piccolo twisted slightly in flight to face them, without losing any speed.

"I just remembered we were never properly introduced." He made an odd sideways bow. "Piccolo, at your service."

"And you already know I'm 18."

"Yes, I do. Goku knows everyone here, of course. Congratulations are in order for you both."

"You're a bit late, Piccolo." Goku smiled slightly.

"Ah well, I don't get around to seeing you much, seeing as how I'm completely dead. My phrase stands."

Their conversation abruptly stopped as another warrior passed in the opposite direction. He merely nodded to them and continued on. When he was out of hearing range, all of them breathed a mental sigh of relief.

"You know," Goku said, "you seem nearly the same as you did years ago."

"Maybe. You, on the other hand, have changed a lot."

"Have I?"

"We never notice the change in ourselves. Others often do."

"I suppose."

"Hey, I like what I see. You've done a lot of growing."

"Growing?" Goku cocked an eyebrow. Piccolo waved dismissively.

"It hardly matters. You're much more formidable than you have been in the past," Piccolo tilted his head slightly, as if listening to something. "Interesting."

"What?" 18 asked.

"There's a certain quality about Goku that I can't quite define. It has something to do with the transformation that all of us underwent when we discovered the truth. But whatever it is, it rubbed off on you."

"Should I take that as compliment?"

"Sure. Becoming like Goku is a good thing."

"Have I?"

"Not overtly. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure what you'd really be like."

"Aren't you watching us?" Goku interjected. Piccolo shrugged.

"Yes, but my senses are limited. You're a hard one to stay focused on, for some reason. I can tell most things about life down below, but details and people's personalities... that escapes me. Of course, I knew you'd be alright, Goku did marry you after all."

"I feel kind of the same. I have files on you, and Goku has told me more, but I wasn't really sure what you'd be like."

"Yeah, our situations are similar. Didn't turn out bad at all, did it?"

"No." Goku smiled at both of them. "Not bad at all."

They flew on in silence. Piccolo corrected his course slightly; it wouldn't be long now before they reached their destination. As usual, it was unoccupied. Using his peripheral vision, Piccolo glanced at the two fighters flanking him. In a way, both of them seemed familiar to him, but there was something alien about both. Some manner of kinship extended between them, but he really didn't know them all that well.

It was odd, in a way. They didn't really act like a married couple in any way he generally thought of as normal. In fact, had he not known about it earlier, he would never have known. He glanced at their kis briefly. That was one interesting thing. Whenever they glanced at one another, their kis brightened slightly. The thought stood out in his mind suddenly. Their kis? 18 should have had no ki, but he had sensed her even without trying to attune his vision to android energy.

What could have caused that? Piccolo began mentally hypothesizing, but gave it up midway through. Ki was an elusive concept when you tried to pin it down as to why it specifically was in people. Most likely, Goku's ki had been somehow infused into 18's, and her's had begun operating on its own. Interesting.

Suddenly their destination came on the horizon and sped toward them, forcing Piccolo to slow quickly to avoid overshooting it. In his thoughts, he had paid little attention to their location. Dropping to the ground, he waited for them to do the same, then turned to the massive library.

Few places in the Afterlife were as solid as this one was. Few spirits could influence it in any way, and that was why so few were ever nearby. Even most of the rulers generally avoided it, but some of the deepest secrets of the Afterlife were kept here.

Goku glanced up at the large gates, feeling the energies around them.

"Can we get through?"

"Perhaps." Piccolo walked closer to the gate and began examining it.

"If necessary, we can blast through," 18 told them. "Though I'm sure that would set off an alarm."

"Ah."

Both turned to look at Piccolo, who moved a single leaf pattern on the gate. It swivelled easily, then the gates swung outward noiselessly. Smirking, Piccolo motioned them inside.

"Impressive." Goku nodded to him.

"I haven't been wasting my time here," Piccolo responded. "Add magical lock picking to my list of abilities."

"Now what are we going to do here?" 18 asked as they entered the main door. Piccolo smiled.

"We're going to hit the books."



Dai Kioshin laughed, for a brief second his worries seemed to vanish. Problems with that Namek, or the saiyan on earth, or any of the rest of it seemed insignificant compared to what had just taken place. True, they had more lasting consequences, but for now they barely troubled him. Darkness had attacked, and they had driven it off successfully! The battles had been hard, with manifestations popping up in any location with people, but they had been won.

Someone had taken out the one at the center of the problem as well. It hardly mattered who. Whoever had done it, it served his purpose quite well. Still, perhaps this would raise interest in the Afterlife about Darkness. He couldn't have that happening. Not if his plan was to succeed. Had this train of events been allowed to continue, it could have ruined his plans. Things would turn out alright if Evil came, that would play into his hand. But Darkness was an entirely different variable.

It was really the unknown in the entire equation. Because it was naturally outside of reality, Dai found that as it influenced the world its power messed up everything. His view of the future, so clear before, was now hazy and non specific. With any luck, he could get rid of Darkness and go back to the plan. All in all, it would hurt him, and if others began to research Darkness, that would be disastrous.

However, he had been prepared for this. All the information of any real relevance had been transported to his private library. It should be safe there, but it never hurt to take precautions.

"Apprentice!" Dai Kioshin snapped his fingers. A brief second later, his apprentice appeared.

"Sir?"

"I have a job for you," Dai Kioshin began. As he spoke, a smile crept onto his face.