Piccolo hovers in the air sitting in a cross-legged position. The fingertips of both hands touch and rest in his lap. His breaths are slow and deep. The turban and cape that usually adorn his head and shoulders lie on the ground below. Dawn breaks over the horizon. He descends to the Earth and uncurls his legs so his feet touch down on the arid soil.
He inhales deeply one more time before separating into two beings. His body flashes brightly for a moment and a clone walks straight out of him. After a few paces, it turns to face him. The two standoff looking each other over. They feel out one another's ki and the intentions behind its purpose.
"What exactly are you hoping to accomplish by bringing me here when you haven't settled anything within yourself," says the second Piccolo.
"This is how I'm going to resolve it," says the first. "The two parts of myself at war over how to proceed with my future will battle for supremacy."
"So the one who wins will assimilate the other? I like it," the second says.
The double sizes up the amount of ki it has as a strategy formulates.
I'll need to ration my energy, it thinks. Since our ki is divided between us, I just need to come out of every exchange with a little more of it. Eventually there will be a point that he runs out while I have a fraction left to win with.
It smiles and says, "shall we begin?"
They dash together, stop, and dart to their rights strafing each other. They both fire white hot lasers from their eyes hoping to catch their opponents by surprise. Dodging around the attacks, they clamp hands together and lock into a battle of might.
Piccolo attempts to sweep his enemy's legs with his right one. The clone responds by hopping and twisting sideways to angle over the low kick. It digs its nails into the back of Piccolo's hands and pulls him forward. With the foe off balance, it drives a kick into his ribs. It feels the cartilage bow beneath the strike.
Piccolo fires two tiny ki blasts from each hand to break free and gains some distance. He rubs his side where he was struck. His twin grins knowing it got the better of that ordeal.
"You can't win. You know that right?" says the double. "My resolve is absolute. All of my actions are aligned with the singular goal of getting revenge on Goku. You don't have any idea what you want."
"You think that, but you misunderstand," says Piccolo. "It's true I don't know what I want to do yet, but I know I want to choose it for myself. It's unnerving, but I won't live under someone else's expectations. And my focus is centered on that.
"Besides, you have yet to answer the question of what you will do after you get your revenge. What is your purpose in life then? I'm already prepared to face that reality while you are not."
Piccolo senses his enemy's ki deflate a little at the imposing question. He flexes his arms while lowering his center of gravity. His aura floods forth in a cascade of energy.
"Now bring it on!" he says.
He fires a ki bolt. The copy easily steps aside as Piccolo launches another. The double smirks and skips around it before tripping over something at its feet. Looking down reveals a hand popping up from underground holding its ankle. The shots acted only as a distraction to divert its attention while Piccolo slipped an elongated arm through the earth out of sight.
Piccolo whips up on his left arm tearing up the ground along the path of the tunnel his hand formed to reach his adversary. The limb retracts yanking the double's leg out from under it and reeling it in. The twin slides along the ground as Piccolo lunges forward with a raised fist. When the two meet, he drives a punch downward into the foe's abdomen inflicting a crater upon the dense dirt below it. The clone's eyes roll back in its head as a yellow mucus squelches from its mouth.
The doppelganger tries for a kick, but Piccolo merely levitates upwards while summoning yellow orbs to his hands. He unleashes a rain of palm sized spheres to batter the vulnerable target. Debris breaks free with each impact smothering the area in a dust cloud. Piccolo lands some distance away sensing out his opponent.
To his surprise, he feels no sign of its existence. Knowing that last attack was not lethal, he prepares for a stealth tactic from his ki suppressing foe. A life force flares into being and the copy rushes straight at him from the thinning cloud. He charges to meet the enemy head on.
Piccolo pulls back his right arm at his side with the fingers and their sharp nails pointed at the assailant. As he runs in, he thrusts it like a spear to impale his target. Unexpectedly, the foe makes no attempt to dodge or defend. Instead, his arm shoots through the double's chest who actually takes one more step towards him despite the arm sliding further through its body. The twin wraps its arms around his torso and free arm while the other is shoulder deep in its chest cavity.
As Piccolo struggles with the strange grapple, he sees an orange spark within what remains of the dust cloud. A second clone is preparing a Makankosappo! He starts to knee the person restricting his movement while simultaneously trying to move to avoid being a sitting target. He can neither get the mimic to loosen its grip nor move fast enough in any direction for it to matter.
"Prepare to die!" shouts the clone charging the attack. "I know this attack was meant for Goku, but it seems fitting to use it now."
It raises its index and middle finger where the technique is stored and shoves them at Piccolo. An orange and purple beam with a second spiraling around it tears through the air at him and the sacrificial pawn. It drills into the back of the copy holding him right before doing the same to his chest. The unblockable concentration of ki rips clean across them without any resistance. They flop lifelessly to the ground one after another, smoking holes in their bodies running from waist to shoulders.
The clone who fired the beam walks over to check its victims. It stands next to the second self it made which is not breathing. It places a foot upon its shoulder, and the body fades away returning what little life force remains to its owner. It then steps over to Piccolo who is hacking and writhing from the wound.
"Looks like we'll be doing things my way from now on," it says. It crouchs and reaches out a hand to place upon him. "Don't worry, I'll finish what you couldn't."
To its shock, Piccolo snatches his wrist out of the air. The gaping hole in his torso begins to regenerate slowly from the edges inward.
"No thanks. I think I'll keep my body."
"What! What is this?" says the copy straining to get its arm back. "You shouldn't have enough ki to regenerate from that attack. We should have been nearly even after the first two bouts, and the Makankosappo should have done more damage to you than it took me ki to use. So your life force should be lower than mine!"
"If we had the same amount of ki, you'd be right," says Piccolo sitting up as the last of his abdomen fills in. "But we don't."
"What do you mean? Whenever you divide, your ki is evenly split between the original and any copies."
"It usually does, but when I summoned you this time, I purposely shorted you ki and kept the rest for myself."
"You cheated!"
"I like to call it hedging my bets. Thanks for the training session, but I'll take it from here."
He grabs hold of his clone's forehead. He feels it resist his attempt to merge their spirits back together.
"Wait. You can't do this without me. Everyone else hates you. You don't belong anywhere. You need to complete the Demon King's goal. You are nothing without it."
Piccolo drops eye contact with his other half. He searches the ground for answers as the words fill him with doubt. He closes his eyes and inhales through his nostrils. When he opens them, he looks the clone straight in the eye.
"If all those things are true, then they will still be true even if I kill Goku for good and take over the planet," he says. "I'm tired of living a life where I don't listen to myself and make my own choices. I know I'll face new fears and pain because of it, but I cannot bear this burden any longer. I need change. I don't care if this is the wrong decision because the stress I already experience every day needs to stop. And I'll do anything at this point to make it. And it starts with you."
Piccolo intensifies the intrusion of his spirit into the body of his clone who continues to push back. He feels his spirit filter in like water finding its way through the tiny cracks of an otherwise solid rock. Eventually his excess ki erodes the barrier from within as it enlarges the little fractures until they begin to merge with each other into one connected channel. The clone flashes a bright white and begins to scream. Its body loses corporealness as it takes a gaseous form. Now an apparition, its spirit flows into Piccolo and disappears.
For once, the critical voice of the past five years since the tournament is silent. It does not whisper insecurities from his subconscious nor scream self-loathing statements in his ear. His mind is clear and the day seems bright.
…
Gohan and the dragon he helped hatch walk back to a cave for the evening. They carry gourds full of sloshing water and berries piled high on bark platters. Dried juices stick to his smiling face.
"Who would have thought those coarse, prickly plants we saw would flower so beautifully," he says. "I've only ever read about how desolate parts of the world like this are, but people need to appreciate the hidden beauty before judging it. Though I used to hate this place too I guess."
The dragon chirps happily.
"You think so too, huh Icarus?"
The dragon chirps a couple more times.
"Well let's eat our haul and get some sleep."
Gohan starts a fire in the cave, they eat their food, and then curl up together before dozing off. Finally relaxed after his ordeals on the mountaintop, he dreams of flying around the world on Icarus.
His fluid consciousness is invaded by a soft thump followed by another and then another. Each one louder than the last. The noise seems to follow him like heavy footfalls closing in. He rouses groggily from his slumber to find the noise more than just a nightly hallucination. A scuffling sound fills the cave as whatever approaches him drags its large feet with every step. Random clinks of metal against metal echo from around the bend leading to the mouth of the cave.
Gohan trembles with paralyzing fear. He looks to Icarus who is still peacefully asleep. Despite the fear constricting his mind, his body knows what to do and meekly crawls towards a boulder deeper into the cave. After barely getting passed it, his body collapses into a half roll behind it just as whatever is stalking them steps into view.
A giant tiger standing on its hind legs and clad in armor nearly fills the circular tunnel. At its side is a viciously curved blade too big for any human to wield. The mouth of the beast drops open full of saliva. The predator shuffles over to Icarus and reaches for the dragon with a hefty paw.
Its retractable claws glide out of their furry sheaths as the fingers drape around the back of Icarus' neck. One of the sharp nails gently slides around the dragon's throat before the paw forcefully latches down. Gohan watches motionlessly. His lungs do not breathe, and his eyes do not blink.
Icarus screeches in horror as he is lifted off the ground.
"It's my lucky day," says the tiger. Its voice is deep and growly. "I haven't had dragon in a long time."
The tiger turns to leave not even bothering to check for anything else. Gohan continues to stare as his new friend is taken away squirming against the abduction. Icarus spots him in a frantic search for help. He chirps for assistance. His eyes tear up with fear. Gohan still does not move. The tiger begins to round the turn with each step obscuring more and more of its rotund mass.
"I'm sorry Icarus," whispers Gohan. "I'm not a hero like my dad. I don't want to be a fighter. I want to be a scholar like my mom wants me to be."
"Stop struggling," says the beast.
It slams Icarus' head against the wall. A patch of blood forms there and begins to run down his face.
Gohan's long, unkempt hair begins to bristle upward. His fingers dig into the stone floor as they curl into fists leaving tiny furrows. Before he knows it, he has jumped out to stand behind the tiger. His breaths are heavy and his nostrils flared.
"Leave my friend alone!" he says.
The tiger stops and turns its head on a swiveling neck. Its eyes narrow at the sight of the tiny child.
"What do we have here? An appetizer?" it says.
Gohan charges. A swiping paw bats him aside.
"A weakling like you can't do anything against an apex predator like me."
Gohan rushes in again with the same result.
"I'll tell you what, if this dragon means that much to you, I'll give you a chance to rescue it."
The beast drops a dizzy Icarus to the ground and steps on his head with an unarmored foot. No need for protection when the paw is another potential weapon. Icarus squeals as pressure is applied.
"Stop it!" says Gohan.
The tiger leans forward pressing harder on the dragon's skull. Icarus squeals louder, his voice filling the space with anguished cries.
"I SAID STOP IT!"
"Or what? Are you going to stop me little man? I can smell your fear. Your anger may be putting up a show for the moment, but deep down you're a coward. You'll run away before risking your life against me. Unfortunately for you, you won't get the chance."
"I'm-I'm not a coward. I-I just don't like fighting," says Gohan. His hair begins to settle back into place
"Is that right?" says the tiger. It rests a forearm on the thigh crushing down on Icarus. The dragon's pained screeches smother beneath the big paw. "Well you may have convinced yourself that you stand for some higher moral purpose, but I know a coward when I meet one. And honestly, eating cowards gives me indigestion. So you can just wallow here with the shame of your pitiful fear."
Gohan looks to the ground grinding his teeth and clenching his fists. The tiger laughs triumphantly. Tears begin to drop from the boy's cheeks. He drops to his knees, his hands unclench and flatten on the ground. The beast removes his foot from a now unconscious Icarus and picks the dragon back up. It turns around to leave once again. Its laughs bounce about as it heads for the exit.
"If being a coward means I can't save the people I care about," says Gohan, "then I won't be a coward anymore. I won't."
He forms a fist and hammers it against the rocky floor.
"I won't!"
He smashes the bottom of his fist against the hard surface again.
"I WON'T!"
Again his hand crashes down. Cracks break open the stone and fill with blood from the bruising act.
Outside the cave, the tiger drags Icarus along the ground as it walks. A gust of wind blows passed the predator causing it to shutter and squint at the kicked up dust. When it opens its eyes, the tiger sees another dragon lying some distance ahead. The boy from the cave stands next to it stroking a hand along its neck. The feline warrior looks down at its empty hand which should be holding the delicious meal.
"How did he…" says the tiger.
Gohan stops caressing his friend and shoots a leer at the tiger. Something in his eyes forces the beast a step back and to reach for the sword at its hip. Its top lip curls up in a snarl.
There's no fear in him anymore. What's changed? the cat thinks. It draws the blade. "I wasn't going to kill you, but now you've pissed me off."
"You hurt my friend," says Gohan flatly. "You're going to pay."
The tiger's sensitive eyes instinctively follow the movement of the boy as he darts in with only a few leaping steps to close the distance. Before the beast can even swing the weapon, a gut wrenching pain stabs through the armor and into its abdomen. The warrior's spine curves away from the force transferring through its body from the strike. On its back, the cat struggles to lift its head and look upon the child.
"Runaway and never let me see you again," says Gohan.
The tiger does not hesitate to follow orders. It rolls over and scampers away on all fours, tail between its legs. When the animal is no longer in sight, Gohan brings Icarus back to the cave to tend to his injuries.
High above, Piccolo watches all as a silent spectator.
"So he finally found his fighting spirit," he says. "He's Goku's son after all. A little too much like him. Well, there's still time to fix that. You better get a good night's sleep Gohan because the real training begins tomorrow."