Son Piccolo Part 2: Tears of Namek
The evil space emperor's ship sits solitarily on the icy planet's surface. Its occupants have already exited the vessel. Several Frieza Force troops dart around the desolate landscape in reconnaissance. The focus of the emperor's attention rests on the ominous graveyard in front of him.
Over a hundred freshly dug graves are laid out. Only one body remains unburied. The frozen corpse kneels in front of the remains of his kin with muddy and worn hands. Frieza remains cool, curious, and confused. He turns to console his tall blue and beautiful subordinate.
"Zarbon, you are quite sure this is the planet Namek mentioned in the transmissions from Cui's unit?"
"Yes sire, there is no doubt that these are the right coordinates." Zarbon responds carefully, mindful not to upset his superior.
Frieza turns his palm up to rest his disappointed face on. "Then this is certainly a wasted trip. I refuse to waste a second more on this barren rock. If you come across Cui's body, please dispose of it disgracefully."
"...about that my lord. We have evidence that at least a few pods had departed the planet intact. It is likely that he had escaped his captivity."
"Oh?" The emperor shoots an almost amused but mostly bored glance. "Then please place a bounty on his head, and on all of those responsible for taking this opportunity to obtain immortality from me." He finishes with a weak but malicious laugh.
Before long the ship and crew launch from the planet and disappear into the fading clouded sky, never to be seen again.
Two months ago, on the quiet planet Earth, a pair prepared to set this tragedy in motion.
Piccolo, the son of Goku, stands in awe of the ancient space-faring vessel. It was the very one that had carried something akin to his father to the world he calls home. He carefully strokes the worn and weathered exterior as if to recall something nostalgic.
"Five months of searching, and I finally found it." His grin exerts both confidence and excitement.
"Five months too late, you should be ashamed it took this long." The annoyed little head of the daughter of Satan pokes into frame.
Piccolo's mood drops with his shoulders. Without turning to face her he spouts his meager defense "Videl, when every hill you come across looks just like the last pile of rocks you passed, you start to go a little insane. I think it's a miracle I found it to begin with." He shudders recalling the horror.
"You say that like it's a scrolling background. Don't be so dramatic." Feeling awkward having spoiled Piccolo's triumph, she gives the leg of the ship a bored kick. She immediately regrets the seemingly harmless tap as her foot causes the leg to cave inward. The disbalanced mass of the vessel tumbles toward her. "Eeek!"
Before it has a chance to crush her, Piccolo braces it with a hand. He lets out a sigh. "You should probably work on that. Controlling your strength is pretty important."
"It's not my fault, you and Yajirobe are terrible masters!" She brushes off the commentary, trying not to expose her embarrassment. "...and don't think I'll ever forget how many times you two almost got me killed! I should sue you for malpractice!"
Piccolo's stomach clenches. His mind can't help but recall all the stupid accidents that had occurred during the last five months of training. He remains silent while bending the support back into shape, unable to deny his inexperience as an instructor.
Sensing Piccolo's distress, Videl drops the subject. The two finally enter the ship and prepare to embark on their long-awaited journey to resurrect their fallen fathers. A seriousness simultaneously takes them as the launch sequence begins.
Piccolo turns his head to his tiny companion. He notices the signed photograph of Mr. Satan from his wrestling days firmly nestled in her hands. His empathetic stare catches Videl's attention.
"Huh? What's up?" She meets his eyes with curiosity. While she does, she quickly tucks the photo into her shoe in a discrete manner.
Piccolo breaks from his trance and formulates a reply. "I forgot to let Yajirobe know we were leaving."
"Taken care of. I left him a note this morning." She returns her attention forward. "If he's not too stupid or lazy, he should have no trouble finding it."
Not wanting to talk ill of his friends, Piccolo accepts the answer without a reply. Moments later, the spacecraft launches. With it, a new chapter of Piccolo's life begins.
The ship disappears from the sky as quickly as the launch had begun. It leaves behind the earth, perhaps too soon.
Elsewhere trouble ensues. Central City's efforts to reconstruct are hindered yet again by rouge bandits seeking to make fortune during the struggle to rebuild the old world.
Tien doesn't even hesitate. The bandit chief's gun bursts from the barrel. The surrounding bandits look on in horror as Tien releases the crumpled half of the weapon from his hands and lets it fall to the ground.
The roar of the metal scaffolding reminds the men of their situation. Several volunteer construction workers and their assailing bandits stand dozens of meters off the ground in the partially reconstructed building. A fiery blaze illuminates the base of the structure. A loud pop followed by a boom sends half of the men to their knees.
"I'll get you for this you bald three-eyed freak!" The chief lunges toward Tien with a medium-sized knife during an apparent opening, but Tien had never broken his attention. Without even looking back at his opponent, Tien evades the knife strike. He follows up with a chop to his foe's forearm. Like a pendulum, the chief's arm swings back until the butt of his weapon smacks his forehead.
The dazed bandit topples off the structure, letting out his final words as he falls. "Ahhhh!"
Now without distraction, Tien swoops up the remaining trapped workers and bandits. Each is safely delivered to the streets below. Once the building is emptied he puts his hands together.
"Kamehameha!" He shouts as a beam of energy collides with the fire and extinguishes it.
His work isn't done. Anticipating the aftermath, Tien leaps up to the face of the building just as it begins to topple. He carefully and precisely stabilizes it until it no longer creeks.
The surrounding people holler praise as Tien returns to the ground. His face remains stern and focused. "Let's get back to work"
Without even allowing a moment of reprieve, he picks up a massive metal beam and prepares to place it. The crowd hesitates before collectively sighing and following suit.
"Tien! Tien!" Chiaotzu calls out to his buffer balder counterpart as he bursts from around the street corner.
The outburst draws Tien's attention. "What is it Chiaotzu? I thought you were busy counting food rations?"
"I was, but there were more rations than I had fingers so I gave up! Also, that's not what I came to tell you!" The pale midget comes to a stop within a reasonable if not claustrophobic distance.
"Well spit it out already, what's the matter?"
"Those bandits hauled off Launch!" Chiaotzu flails his arms in distress.
Tien pauses for a moment with a blank stare, then resumes his reconstruction work. "That's uh… That's too bad."
"Aren't you going to rescue her?"
"Huh?" Tien gives a puzzled expression. "I'd love to but I've got a lot of work to do. Besides, she can handle her own problems." He scratches his head anxiously.
Chiaotzu gasps in disbelief at first, but gradually withdraws his surprise. "Well if you're okay with it, I guess it's fine."
An awkward silence follows, quiet enough to hear the breeze of the wind. Chiaotzu kicks a bit of dirt while Tien pounds a hammer into some nails.
Having become uncomfortable, Chiaotzu breaks the awkward moment. "So have you heard anything from that new Piccolo? I'm surprised he didn't bother helping with the cleanup. I mean, he caused half the mess after all."
The question rekindles Tien's memories of the events five months ago. He ponders for a second with a "Hmm" before properly responding. "I haven't heard much from any of them, but I'm sure they're doing fine.