CHAPTER 52:
A Death Worthy…
The rain pounded down so hard, it was hard for Piccolo to see through the waterfall and steam. The air was roaring, the ground sizzling, the clouds flashing from yellow to red as Piccolo dodged blasts, speeding toward Gohan through the storm. He landed several yards away from Gohan, scowling angrily as water dripped down his face.
Gohan stepped back and smirked slightly as he cocked his head slightly, "Back for more?" His smirk became a grimace as he bared his teeth, "You never quite know when to quit."
"Sorry, kid," Piccolo stepped forward, his hands clenched as he cracked his knuckles, "That just isn't my style."
"Heheh… Heheheh…" Gohan stepped toward Piccolo, his teal eyes reflecting the lightning that crackled around his body. He looked wild, his blonde hair a ratted mess as the rain weighed it down, and his nose scrunched angrily as he continued to grimace.
"Look at you," Piccolo stood his ground as he looked Gohan over steadily, taking in the Tuffle his friend had become.
It was hard for Piccolo to believe that this person was the same pupil he took under his wing so many years ago. He couldn't understand how Pan could possibly confuse her father with this monster. Gohan was insane, a madman, fighting without any real cause or purpose. And he was a threat to Pan. If Piccolo didn't arrive in time, she could have died. Piccolo scowled angrily as he narrowed his eyes to the fiend. Piccolo was going to teach Gohan a lesson he'd never forget.
"You're a rabid dog," Piccolo snarled to the Tuffle as he raised his fist. "And I'm going to put you out of your misery."
"Sticks and stones," Gohan grinned darkly, the lightning flashing red around his body, "Or," he dropped into a battle pose, lifting his chin up haughtily, "would you like to demonstrate?"
Piccolo snapped, his anger tearing through the roof as he screamed a rough, "HYAAA!" and charged forward, throwing his weight into his run as he brought his hands before him and fired rapid ki blasts as mud flew behind him in mountains of soil. Gohan stepped to the side and dodged Piccolo's punch, but as he made his kick, Piccolo grabbed Gohan's left leg and spun him down into the mud. Piccolo punched Gohan's back and released another shot, but Gohan rolled out of the way and jumped up with a kick that sent Piccolo sprawling back. As Piccolo lost his balance, Gohan dove forward with a punch, but Piccolo grabbed it and, twisting his body, he threw Gohan over his shoulder and sent the Tuffle back into the mud.
Gohan arose, fuming, his eyes glowing a pale red as he snarled angrily, "Eat dirt!" With that, he threw his hands before him and spiked his ki higher, blasting the mud around him toward Piccolo as he stepped back with a large scowl. Gohan turned and saw he was standing by a rather large boulder. With a heave, he grabbed hold of it, and lifted it from the ground. As Piccolo made his way toward him, Gohan threw it at top speed, and with a loud CRACK of power, it shattered into a thousand pebbles aimed toward Piccolo at several hundred miles an hour.
Piccolo had no time to think, and flipped back as the stones made their way to him, blasting them as he tumbled without his hands. Then he landed on his feet and immediately charged Gohan again, screaming as he threw blast after blast. As Gohan deflected them, Piccolo phased out and reappeared behind Gohan, spinning and delivering a roundhouse kick straight to Gohan's back. Gohan flew forward ten meters before stopping short and turning, blasting toward Piccolo with insane laughter.
"Hahehaheha," Gohan cackled as the red lightning bolts danced around his aura, "Now don't tire yourself out, Namek! I expect you to die violently!"
"Just try!" Piccolo phased out and appeared by Gohan's side, throwing a punch to his ribs. Gohan hit Piccolo's hand away and threw the Namek back as he flipped forward and with entire weight behind it, kicked Piccolo as hard as he could in the ribs.
Piccolo flew so fast, the rain whistled by his ears and landed on a grassy field at least a mile away from where he had been fighting Gohan. However, as he sat up, he was immediately struck in the jaw by a hard fist that came out of nowhere. Piccolo flew back again, but caught himself before crashing into a cliff. With one glance around, Piccolo noted the terrain to be right outside the local town. Immediately concerned for any casualties, Piccolo was determined to take this fight someplace else.
Piccolo flew upward, but was kicked down again by legs that were quicker than his arms. Piccolo flew as fast as a bullet down into the mud, shaking the ground as his body formed a large crater of mud and dead grass. Piccolo sat up and spit out some of the foul wet top-soil, warily looking up to locate his predator. As he stood up, his eyes darted from side to side, but his senses weren't working right. Gohan seemed to be everywhere at once, but Piccolo was smarter than that…
"Found you!" Piccolo spun and delivered a blow to the air behind him, knocking Gohan straight out of the air and through one of the walls of the crater. With a large shout, "HAAA!" Piccolo blasted the wall Gohan had just torn through, and the earth above the Tuffle caved in on him briefly. Piccolo took the time to fly out of the crater and land on the wet grass, breathing heavily as he tried to gasp for air.
"I'm getting too old for this," Piccolo growled as he wiped sweat and rainwater from his brow bridge.
His entire body was covered in soot, soil, ash, blood, mud, rain, and remnants of a tattered gi, but Piccolo still felt he had a good round left in him. As he waited for Gohan to emerge from the ground, he tried to calculate how tired Gohan must be feeling. Although he just recently raised his power level, there was no doubt that he was holding in signs of fatigue. Piccolo did arrive late in the game, after Panhad givenGohan a hard time.
Piccolo opened his senses to find Pan, and noted she was hidden in the trees close by, no doubt prepared to jump in at any point. Piccolo growled at the thought of her interfering again. That was one thing about kids nowadays. They had no sense of timing when fighting, and even more than that, there seemed to be a lot of disregard for honor.
He was jolted from his thoughts as the ground suddenly shook, and he jumped aside as a column of energy burst through the ground where he had just stood.
"What the!" Another column of light shot from the ground where he stood, and he flipped away in surprise, "That's impossible!"
Another column of energy burst through the ground, and then another, chasing him as he took to the air and flew as fast as he could from the light. But the columns burst from the ground before him as well, and then before he realized it, ten were bursting around him, throwing rock and soil into the air as the grass singed under the heat. The columns surrounded him and were closing in as Piccolo raised his power and snarled at the light beams. Suddenly, the entire ground below him burst into an explosion of light as Gohan tore through the earth and shot upward toward Piccolo in a screaming rage.
"You should have run when you had the chance!" Gohan flew upward toward Piccolo and brought his arms before him, red light flashing dangerously, "Dodge THIS one! Ka-Me-Ha-Me–"
"SHIT!" Piccolo glanced to the columns of light that were still making their way from the light bomb Gohan had planted in the soil, and flew upward to avoid the blast.
"HAAAA!"
"Ma-Sen-Ko-HAAA!"
As Gohan released his red Kamehameha, a powerful energy beam exploded into it from the perpendicular angle, sending the waves in a vector that spun away from Piccolo and exploded in the air.
"You bitch!" Gohan spun to the source of the opposing wave and then flew toward Pan, seething from rage and madness, "I'll teach you to mess with me!"
"Get away from her!" Piccolo fired a warning shot past Gohan's face before phasing before him and nailing him in the face.
Gohan flew back and lost control of his ki momentarily as he plummeted toward the ground, but within a few seconds, he got in control again quick enough to dodge three punches and dexterously spin from a kick. He raged and snapped angrily toward Piccolo, "Just stop getting in my WAY!"
"I'll BE in your way, you Tuffle trash!" Piccolo swung another punch to him, but Gohan caught it and delivered a hard kick to Piccolo's kneecaps, causing the Namek to howl in surprise and a sharp jolt of pain.
"Don't you get it, Namek?" Gohan swung his fist and tilted his head to dodge one of Piccolo's swings as he snarled, "You are not my mission!"
"We've already established this, Tuffle!"
"Namek!" Gohan snarled as his eyes flashed, "All you're doing is postponing her death!"
"Long enough to kill you!" Piccolo threw an empty punch and dodged several of Gohan's blows.
Gohan began to laugh suddenly, a dark low cackle as he continued to throw swings at Piccolo. "Heheheheh…" He opened his mouth wide as his laughter tore through the rain, "HAHAHAHAH!"
"What's so funny, Tuffle?" Piccolo flew back and landed on the ground as Gohan flipped and landed twenty feet away.
"You don't want to kill me." Gohan lowered his head and smirked darkly as his eyes peered to Piccolo through his eyebrows. "I know you are holding back."
Piccolo snarled and raised his fist as he felt his sweat roll down the sides of his forehead, "Stop flattering yourself, you freak!"
"Because," Gohan continued, his smirk widening as the sparks around him grew brighter and the wind, or something like the wind, caused his hair to spike upward again, defying all gravity, "If you kill me…" He continued to smirk until it became a snarl, "you kill your friend, … Piccolo…"
Piccolo felt something clench inside him, something he vowed he wouldn't feel when he fought this monster. He kept his face hard as he tried to gasp more deeply, to catch his breath since he didn't have much resting time.
"Piccolo," Gohan repeated, his voice softer now as he took a step forward, his eyes still cold as his lips were curved into a sneer, "I don't have to kill you." He took another step, his right hand clenching and unclenching as if preparing for a sudden attack, "You could become one of us…"
"HA!" Piccolo got into his battle stance and spit, narrowing his eyes angrily, "I'd rather die than become a slave to that parasite!"
"Piccolo," Gohan's eyes softened as he took another step forward, "You don't have to be alone anymore. You don't have to be an outcast." Gohan stopped and reached out his right hand expectantly, his palm up as if asking for Piccolo to take it, "Join us."
Piccolo blinked a moment as it registered in his mind what was going on. He frowned in slight confusion for a moment before his eyes turned cold and heartless again. "Heh," Piccolo smirked half-humoredly as he watched Gohan with a wary eye, "You have got to be kidding me."
"This is your last chance, Piccolo." Gohan's eyes turned to stone again as his smirk became a scowl, "Join us or die!"
Piccolo stepped forward, the rain battering his face as he snarled with cold eyes, "I'll see you in Hell!"
"Then DIE!"
Gohan's hair suddenly spiked to a brighter gold as he screamed and charged toward Piccolo with all his power. Piccolo stood his ground, tensing as he watched Gohan approach, preparing for Gohan to phase behind him, but the Tuffle kept his attack head on, and with a powerful left step into it, delivered a hard punch toward Piccolo's face.
Piccolo caught Gohan's wrist, and Gohan then swung his left fist forward, only to be grabbed by Piccolo too.
There was a split second pause as Gohan stood there, Piccolo holding both his wrists as Gohan smirked triumphantly to the Namek.
"Checkmate," Gohan sneered.
And with powerful arms, Gohan twisted his wrists and grabbed hold of Piccolo's wrists in the process. Within a split breath, he knocked the Namek's hands to the side and then jumped up and kicked Piccolo in the chest while his other foot SMACKED across his jaw.
There was a loud CRACK as Piccolo's neck fractured.
Piccolo flew back and landed on his back in the mud, wheezing with wide eyes, more from the surprise than the utter pain that coursed down his spine; but as his shock faded, he realized his body had reached its limit. He tried to lift himself, but that last move left him out of commission.
He looked up to see Gohan stand over him, a dark grin on his face.
Piccolo tried to breathe, but his body felt as if it were collapsing within. He closed his eyes and tried to focus his energy, but it was beyond his grasp, as he was in too much pain to focus his concentration. He wheezed as he tore at the grass around him with his swollen hands.
He opened his eyes and saw Gohan still smirking at him, the red bolts casting a pinkish glow to his hair. His eyes were still wild, but vacant. His smirk was emotionless as he looked down on the Namek.
"Good game," Gohan brought his right hand before him and nodded to Piccolo, "But you lose."
"NO!" Pan's voice came from the side as she must have seen Piccolo at the mercy of the enemy, "PICCOLO!"
Gohan brought his hand back and looked up to source of the voice.
"G…Gohan…" Piccolo closed his eyes as he felt his voice failing him, "Don't… don't hurt her…"
Gohan looked down to Piccolo and smirked again, "I want you to watch."
"Gohan!"
Gohan turned and left Piccolo on the ground as he walked slowly toward the brush where he sensed Pan.
"Come out, little girl." Gohan sneered slightly as his eyes darted from tree to tree. "Come play with daddy."
"You're NOT my Papa!"
"Wha?" Gohan turned to look above him too late. The fist smacked him back a few steps as Pan landed before him, tears streaming from her eyes.
Gohan suddenly stood straight and looked at her before glancing back to Piccolo. His shoulders began to shake as his body let forth a low cackle that began to rise, and it became louder and louder with each moment, until he closed his eyes and reared his head back in maniacal laughter.
"What's so funny!" Pan narrowed her eyes and made two balled fists.
"It's amazing," Gohan stopped laughing and dropped his smile completely, as he suddenly wore an angry scowl, "Your punch…"
"Oh yeah?" Pan sniffled back her tears and raised one fist in a bluff, "Feeling enough pain?"
"Actually," Gohan brought his arm up and wiped some mud off his face as he walked closer to her, "The contrary." He smirked darkly, "Being a second-level Super Tuffle…" he chuckled lightly, his eyes flashing red, "I barely felt that."
"What?" Pan stepped back, her eyes widening.
"You're no match for me, Saiyan." Gohan took another step toward her, "Heheheh," he sneered lightly, "This is going to be fun."
Pan panted loudly and stepped back again as she watched Gohan approach her in the pounding rain. She felt her chest clench from both fear and hearbreak as she realized he was right. She was still beaten from before, and he was more powerful than her even as a first-level Super Saiyan, or Super Tuffle, or whatever the hell he thought he was. Trying to contain her panic, she focused her thoughts more on concern for her sensei.
Pan's eyes darted to Piccolo as she was backing up, and saw he was weakly getting to his feet. She felt a huge wave of release course through her as she knew he'd be okay, that he was still fighting for her…
Until she realized what he was doing.
Her eyes widened as she looked to a now couching Piccolo and then Gohan again, who was approaching slowly. Her eyes darted back and forth as she saw the light form on Piccolo's finger against his forehead, and her eyes then snapped back to Gohan, studying him, his face, in a quick moment of panic.
Earlier, he had purposely missed shooting her. She was at point blanc range with that warped 'Screw Beam of the Devil', but he purposely missed her…
Her breaths quickened as she realized there was still good in him. He had been holding back this whole time. He had been able to kill her from the start, when she accidentally ran into him thinking he was Piccolo.
"No…" Pan shook her head as she felt she might explode from conflicting thoughts and emotions, "No…"
"That's right…" Gohan sneered as he approached, "There's no way to escape."
"No!" Pan brought her hands to her head as her eyes darted to Piccolo again and then back to the man who used to be her father, "NO!"
Gohan stopped several meters away from her and held out his right hand, "Just stand still and it won't hurt… as much…" Gohan snickered as a red ball formed in his hand, "Funny," Gohan tilted his head as dark humor danced in his eyes, "I never thought you'd actually cooperate."
"NO!" Pan screamed as she saw Piccolo bring his right hand forth and scream aloud,
"SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!"
It all happened in slow motion. Pan screamed and lept forward to stop Piccolo from firing just as Gohan's eyes went wide with realization and he spun out of the way. The beam of light made a slice through Gohan's left arm as he wasn't able to twist away in time, but as Pan was running forward, she went right into the line of fire.
It all happened at once. Piccolo released the beam, Gohan spun away, and the blast went right through Pan.
The dust cleared as the rain continued to pour down, the entire world in shades of black and white. Two doves flitted off in the distance as Pan sank to her knees, her lower right abdomen blown away from the blast.
"Uh… uhh…" Pan's eyes rolled up as she grew pale and collapsed onto her back.
"Ahhhh… AHH?" Piccolo's eyes went wide and he staged back a few weak steps as he realized what he'd done. "Ahhh!"
Gohan blinked and brought his right hand to his left arm's wound as it sank in what happened. "Oh!" Gohan smirked and then beamed from twisted humor as he rolled his head back and screamed out a hyena's laugh, "HAHAHAHAHAHA! I can't BELIEVE it! HAHAHAHA!" He continued to scream with his head back, the rain hitting his face, "HAHAHAHA! You did the job FOR me! Hahahahaha!"
"Wha… Wha…" Piccolo's eyes remained wide as he looked down at his bloodied hands, "Pan… PAN!"
"Heheheh," Gohan glanced at Piccolo a moment before walking several steps closer to Pan's form, "I knew I could count on you, Piccolo," Gohan turned his head to face him, grinning darkly in the rain, "You're the greatest! Heheheheh…"
"P-Pan… PAN!" Piccolo stumbled forward in a panicked daze and landed on his knees as he realized what he'd done, "Pan…"
Pan's form suddenly coughed weakly as she lay on the ground, moaning softly as her body began trembling.
"So here it is," Gohan walked up to her and probed her ribs with his foot, "The final moment of truth." Gohan took several steps back and grinned haughtily in the storm, the thunder crashing above him. When he next spoke, his voice was louder as he shouted against the storm, "A death worthy of you, Saiyan trash."
"Pan…" Piccolo gasped and got to his feet, staggering forward, "Pan, get up…"
"I hope you don't mind me finishing it off with our family tradition," Gohan grinned as he put his hands to the side, "Pay my regards to Goku." He started, with a determined scowl, "Ka…me…" A great blinding red light began to form in his hands.
"No! NO!" Piccolo stumbled forward, tripping over himself as he panicked, trying to concentrate on his power level while ignoring the pain and his fear, "Pan, get UP!"
"Ha… me…" The light became extremely bright in Gohan's hands as he cackled in the limelight.
Piccolo summoned forth all the power he had left. Everything to his body as he desperately reached out his hands, "Get up, Pan! NOW!"
Pan moaned and tried to move, without avail.
"HAAAA!" With a blinding light, a huge column of energy poured out from Gohan's hands shooting straight for Pan.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Piccolo phased out with the last energy he had and reappeared before Pan, grabbing her and shielding her with his body.
Piccolo took the blast to his back, screaming in agony as the energy wave tore at his clothing, burning him alive as his flesh singed in the heat and power of the second-level blast, and there wasn't anything he could to shield himself. He was out of power as his body succumbed to the blood-red wave of destruction that pounded them deep into the ground and ripped his flesh under the searing heat.
The blast seemed to go on for aneternity. It never ended, but was a constant wave of torture, of pain, of the wasted anger the Tuffle parasite planted inside Gohan's mind. He was the bringer of death now. He was a heartless cold machine, and this was his kiss on the world, the poison that erupted from his hands as he tore away Piccolos' life one second after the other, for what seemed to be minutes, or even hours.
And then it ended.
There was a silence.
The only sound for a time was the rain as it pattered on the grass around them. Even the thunder had died down as the silence continued and the dust cleared.
The two charred figures on the ground remained unmoving as the Tuffle stood there, triumphant and proud, still basking in his success, his glory, and his win.
But then the two bodies moved. Beneath Piccolo, Pan struggled to lift him off her so she could breathe, but each breath she took was painful and shot a wave of nausea through her body as she bled from her lower abdomen. She wheezed slightly as she summoned enough energy forth to push Piccolo's body from her ever so slightly.
"P… Piccolo…" Pan rasped, her voice spent, her body exhausted as she tried to slide his heavy body off of her, "P… Piccolo?" She paused a moment to see if there was any response, and when there was none, her eyes widened and her heart raced as she gasped in a panic, "Piccolo! PICCOLO?"
Piccolo moaned faintly, "Ahhghh," and weakly rolled off of her, bleeding profusely everywhere on his body.
Pan sit up, gasping from the pain as she twisted her body and shook his arm, "Piccolo! No, Piccolo, no!"
"Hehehehaha..." Gohan threw his head back and laughed manically, his body shaking from twisted delight, "HahahahahahHAHAHA!"
Pan ignored Gohan as she shook Piccolo gently, her eyes filling with tears, "Piccolo?" There was no response, as his breath came in ragged wheezes, trembling from pain, "Piccolo, no…" Pan shook him again, "Don't leave me. Wake up, Piccolo. Wake up!"
Gohan continued to laugh in the background, his voice echoing off cliffs so it sounded like it came from where at once – a maniacal laugh tainted with evil.
"P…an…" Piccolo moaned slightly.
"Piccolo, I'm here, Piccolo." Pan shook his arm, "Piccolo, I'm here!" She couldn't hold it any longer and felt her body shake with sobs, "Piccolo…"
"… K..Kill… that…. son of a bitch…"
Pan cried and laughed in grieving, "Heh…" She sniffled, "Piccolo…"
"HahahahaHAHAHA! Talk about killing two birds with one stone!" Gohan laughed, doubling over as he couldn't contain himself. He was wheezing, he laughing so hard, stomping the ground as he couldn't express how funny he thought it all was, "I gotta hand it to you, Piccolo! You're the best! Hahahahaha!"
"Pan…" Piccolo swallowed heavily as his glossy eyes turned to hers, "You need… to know…" He swallowed again and coughed up green blood.
"What, Piccolo? What?" Pan ran her hand down his shoulder as she tried to hold back a sob, "What… Ahh…" She cringed from her own pain and took a deep breath as tears once again welled in her eyes, "What do I need to know?"
Piccolo moaned and sighed weakly, "It's about Go…" He swallowed thickly and squeezed his eyes shut, "Go…khhh…"
A large blast went off by them, sending mud flying through the air and landing on their injured bodies.
"My GOD!" Gohan snarled, "Aren't you finished with your goodbyes yet? It's not going to be long until you see each other again, you know!" His eyes sparkled a moment as his body underwent another chuckle, "Heheheheh…" Gohan flexed his wrists, still cackling under his breath.
Pan bared her teeth and took a deep breath, "He's going to pay. I'm going to…" She squeezed her eyes shut, "I'm going to make him pay."
"…. That… a girl… I'm… p…roud…" Piccolo turned his head to look at her, his eyes soft as he gave her a genuine smile, "o… ahh… hhhhh…"
His head rolled to the side as his eyes closed.
"Piccolo…" Pan frowned and winced from her pain as she shook his arm, "Piccolo?"
There was another silence except for the rain and Gohan's cackling in the background. Piccolo's body was still.
"Piccolo?" Pan shook his arm again, "PICCOLO!"
Suddenly, his body grew cold to her touch, and before she realized it, he faded… and was gone. The only remnant left was his tattered gi and the blood that stained the soil.
Gohan crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, "Well, finally…"
"PICCOLO!" Pan gasped in a panic and clawed the ground where he used to be, "PICCOLOOOOO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"And now that THAT's over…" Gohan snapped his fingers and smirked, "For the finishing touch. Take two." Gohan snickered as he brought his arms to his right side, "Ka-me-ha-me…"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"What the–! WHA?"
Gohan was suddenly blown back by a giant surge of energy that sparked from her in blue flames.
"PICCOLOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Mountains, trees, grass,everything was blown away into rubble and shards and splinters. Within a split second, all the rain clouds parted in a giant sweep of energy. The sun came pouring in as all steam, all rain, all mist evaporated in the explosion of power that radiated from Pan.
The sun blinded Gohan as he staggered back, his eyes bulging as his mouth dropped in disbelief, "What, WHAT? This is… This is IMPOSSIBLE!" He felt beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he trembled in her wake, "How are you able to harness such power!"
Pan stood up and faced him, her stomach bleeding as her eyes were cold and vacant. Her long black hair was stiffer and her bangs naturally parted to defy gravity as she just stood there, purple lightning crackling around her as she looked demonic, her muscles expanding under her gi as it became tighter against her body.
"You're… You're…" Gohan staggered back again, shaking his head in incredulity, "You… HOW?"
"You're going to pay…" Pan lowered her head and growled menacingly, "You're going to PAY… for what you did to PICCOLO!"
Gohan took a deep breath as he collected himself, almost fully over his surprise. "Heh…" He stood straight and then got into a battle position as he sneered expectantly, "Now this…" he grinned darkly, "… is going to be a death worthy of a Saiyan…"
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–5/20/05–
