Hello again! Happy holidays to everyone wherever you may be! Sorry that it's been awhile, working lots of overtime during the holidays and spending leftover time with my family, but still kept up with writing this chapter so don't think I've forgotten about you! Especially now with the first big fight of the story: Saiyan Mama-bear versus the demon king!
Based on MasakoX's What If series "What if Gine went with Goku to Earth?", but a retcon with some changes of my own on how I think the story would have went down had Goku's mother escaped planet Vegeta with him.
DISCLAIMER: The following is a fan-based work of fiction. Dragonball Minus, Dragonball, Dragonball Z, Dragonball Super, and Dragonball GT are all owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, and Akira Toriyama.
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CHAPTER 13: GINE vs. KING PICCOLO
"Hey! That's Pilaf's airship!" Bulma exclaimed.
"What?!" Roshi and Gine turned to her, astonished. "Are you sure?"
"I am! Look!" She said, pointing towards it.
Gine looked up again, the airship was now close enough to make out details. It's bulbous forward viewport, it's giant wings, antennas, upper deck, and armed front to aft with turrets. A primitive war machine in Gine's eyes. And...
"Oh." She saw the word PILAF in huge letters on it's side. No doubt about it now.
"And King Piccolo is aboard that ship for sure?" She asked.
"According to the dragon radar, the other two dragonballs are on it. Unless Pilaf pried away those balls from him, it's likely got to be King Piccolo, regrettably." Gohan said, worried.
"No-no way!" Bulma stammered, her fear spreading among everyone else. Yamcha held her close to him, not helping his courage; Puar and Oolong turned into rocks to hide while Chi-chi and Chiaotzu backed away towards the Capsule Corp jet, ready to bolt.
"I knew Emperor Pilaf was evil, but he'd seriously side with King Piccolo?!" Yamcha sounded disbelieving.
Gine remembered from Kakarot's stories of the little blue creature that had a life mission on ruling the world, and had gone to such great lengths to do so while her son thwarted him every time. But she wondered what would drive him to side with it's destroyer? Was he a complete fool, or a hostage? Or did he finally snap and now wants to destroy the planet?
The airship came to a stop almost directly overhead. Whatever the reasons, she will deal with them if they tried anything.
"We have arrived, you're Majesty." A woman's voice boomed from the airship's PA system, surprising them all. "We should be directly over the dragon ba-"
"MAI, YOU'RE PRESSING THE WRONG BUTTON AGAIN! INTERNAL BROADCAST ONLY!" Came another voice, this one shriller and sounding somewhat demeaning.
"Ah! Sorry Mast-" The broadcast cutoff as the announcing woman panicked.
Everyone could not look away from the airship.
"Your Majesty?" Tien asked, "As in Pilaf or..." He let that hang, hoping against hope it wasn't what he thought it was.
A moment later, five figures gathered at the railing of the airship's upper deck to look down at them. One of them was far taller than the others. Even from a great distance away, the figure seemed giant. It was a shade of deathly ill-green, and Gine could feel the figure watching them from above, and could feel his dark and malignant stare.
"That's him..." Roshi whispered. A touch of cold fear in his voice.
They all, even the seasoned masters like Roshi and Gohan, trembled at the sight of what was above them.
But not her.
"Oh, why did we even bother coming out here today?!" Bulma whimpered, hiding behind Yamcha as he clutched her protectively.
Gine stared at the greenish shape of the being for a long time, her fists clenching and her tail whipping around like an angry snake ready to strike. She was ready to take him on, and eager to.
While she stared at him, he moved his arm to hold out something that glittered orange in the sunlight. Then he shoved them into his mouth.
"Did...did he just swallow the other two dragon balls?!" Tien said, astonished.
"Curses!" Roshi shouted despairingly. "He is more cunning than I thought. Now we'll have to beat those balls out of his rotten hide!"
"No problem." Gine said, cracking her knuckles.
Roshi looked at her like she was mad. But she knew what to do. She will deal with this herself.
Gine took her eyes off from look up and turned to them. "Bulma, are our dragon balls safe and secure?"
Bulma took a moment to let go of Yamcha and double check. "Uh, y-yeah. All of them right here!" She said as she held the bag that contained them. They started to cast a soft, pulsating glow.
"Good." Gine said, looking at the glowing orbs intently.
Then she looked around to address everyone present. "Alright, now, no matter what happens, we must keep these things safe. I'll fight this monster myself and I'll rip those balls out with my bare hands if I have too."
"Geesh." Oolong shuddered at that, thinking Gine could've worded that better.
"Once we get them, get as far away as you can and I'll destroy Piccolo." Then she looked up at the airship. "If they try to give chase or intervene, Yamcha, Tien, Launch... blow them out of the sky."
"Gotchya!" Launch said, proudly wielding a rocket launcher from thin air.
"Got it!" Both the other fighters confirmed.
"And... if should anything happen to you, or if Piccolo gets the upper hand?" Roshi asked expectantly, and he starred at her back with a knowing look as if she should mention something else.
Gine saw this, and said, "If that happens, then you can step in. But as you say, the Evil Containment Wave is only as a last resort."
Roshi nodded ever so slightly. "Only as a last resort." Not happy still that they were considering this option, but also knew that Piccolo had to be stopped, and by any means.
Gine nodded in return.
"Are we all clear on the plan?" She asked them all.
"Yes!" Said everyone in unison, acknowledging they were in it with Gine and whatever came next.
"Alright then. Everyone stay back." Gine commanded, and stepped forward. Roshi, Gohan, Tien and Chiaotzu on either side of her.
'KING PICCOLO!" Gine shouted as loud as she could to the airship. "WE KNOW YOU ARE UP THERE! IF YOU WANT THE DRAGON BALLS, YOU'LL HAVE TO COME DOWN HERE AND GET THEM!"
Everyone took a step back, terrified at Gine's gull to call out Piccolo.
King Piccolo did nothing for a moment, as if he didn't hear her.
But then, he floated over the edge of the railing, and dropped. He plummeted like a meteor down the several hundred feet to the rocky canyon floor, until he came to a sudden stop mere inches off the ground and landed on his toes about ten feet away from Gine.
"Thank you for the invitation. I look forward to your agony." He said, his voice a harsh deep sound.
Everyone shrank in terror, except Gine as she took in the sight of the planet-endangering demon causing all of their troubles. Aside from how decrepit and old he looked in his dark blue gi with the devil symbol, she was struck by how large he was. From up high, Piccolo looked tall. Up close, he loomed over them. It was as if he could squash them with his own footfalls, his size making up for how elderly and frail he looked. A sense of timelessness in his eyes gave her a feeling that he had been around for a VERY long time, and knew all the ways someone could suffer, and how to inflict it. It sent a chill up her spine. For she knew those eyes before. She had seen it in Frieza's in the rare public glimpses she had of him on Planet Vegeta.
"I never wanted to be THIS close!" Said Oolong as he, Chi-chi, and Puar cowered behind everyone else.
"I take that you are King Piccolo?" She asked him.
Piccolo smiled crookedly. "I am."
"Then you are the one responsible for making those monsters that killed all those martial artists and our friends!"
"Can you forgive me?" He asked mockingly, then laughed in a horrible croaking sound.
That laugh made Gine's blood boil. She had never seen such a hideous creature that not only embodied evil, but enjoyed it. Was even nourished by it. That the pain and suffering of others gave it fulfillment, purpose, and life. How could something so sadistic exist?
But then another thought crossed Gine's mind. Something about King Piccolo that made her think he seemed somewhat familiar.
It must have been twenty years at least since she had seen something like him, but couldn't place it just right. The green skin, the antenna on his head...
Then it hit her. "You're a Namekian!"
Piccolo raised an eyebrow.
"I'm a what?" He asked, confused.
"I've seen your kind before. Thought you were more like pacifistic-types rather than bloodthirsty killers." Gine explained. There was a collective gasp from everyone behind her.
"Gine, you know him?!" Roshi asked hysterically.
Gine looked back at the martial artist reassuringly. "No, not him personally! I know his species, from the planet Namek."
All of her friend's jaws fell to the ground. Yamcha pointed a shaky hand at King Piccolo. "He-he's an alien from outer space?!"
Gine glared at him. "You mean like me? Why yes, he is."
"Never heard of an evil Namekian before." She said, turning back to Piccolo. Then again, she asked herself how often she's ever heard of peaceful Saiyans.
His face was a picture of dumbstruck, "I-I'm from another planet?" He said, a touch of awe slipping into his evil voice.
Gine did a double take as if she didn't hear him.
"You seriously don't know you're from Namek?"
Piccolo didn't answer, still standing there digesting this little revelation. But to Gine, the answer was clear that he didn't. And if he didn't know what she was either...
"How would you know of such a thing anyway?" He asked finally, trying regain his composure.
An unnoticeable grin crept on her face. Piccolo is sure to be in for a shock.
King Piccolo noticed this, though, and glared at her. "Answer me, damn you! I demand you to tell me how do you know that!"
Gine looked at him defiantly. "You will receive no explanation from me."
Piccolo growled dangerously at her, "You dare defy me, woman?!" He yelled, anger boiling over in him.
"I ought to exterminate you right here and now and be off with the dragonballs!"
"Hmph" Gine laughed, not intimidated by his threats. "I'd like to see you try."
Piccolo's white hot anger at her was now blinding. He will no longer tolerate this insolent stranger refusing to budge and claiming to know more about him than he does himself.
Gine thumbed behind her towards Bulma. "All the dragonballs we collected are right there in the backpack she has."
"What?!" The blue-haired girl shrieked in terror, the eyes of the demon king scanning her and the bag she held. She wanted to disappear right where she stood.
"You can go ahead and take them... if you can get past me."
Piccolo's white-hot anger slightly dissipated, and the demon king chuckled at that boast she made.
"What's so funny?" Gine asked.
Piccolo smiled evilly again, now having regained his composure. "You are. You're either the bravest thing to ever live, or the stupidest, for standing before me like some great warrior baiting me for a fight."
He then nodded towards Roshi and Gohan. "And by the pathetic display of your martial arts master friends behind you, letting a woman stand before me instead of them. You humans are such cowards. I should feel insulted but seems quite hilarious in a way."
There it was again, just like Tambourine said. Gine wondered what was it with Earthlings and women in combat? She shook her head.
"Either way, it's time for you to pay for all that you have done." Gine declared as she got into fighting stance.
King Piccolo's fears evaporated. "Is that so?! Oh please, don't hurt me!" He ridiculed and he threw his head back in a loud, horrible bout of laughing.
Gine growled in her throat and clenched her fists hard.
She thought of Krillin, her sweet little boy's best friend. All the times he laughed, and joked, and looked up to her son, and her... and this monster killed him. And laughed about it. He murdered that little boy... he murdered all those people...
Piccolo caught his breath, "Ahhhh, that is hilarious. How could a woman possibly best the great King Picco-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Gine kneed him in the face so hard his head hit his upper back. If he had bones, his neck would have snapped.
The force from the kneeing sent Piccolo flying backwards at high speed, crashing through a large cropping of rocks without losing momentum. Gine launched herself after him, flying through the debris cloud of the destroyed rock formation and reaching him to kick his side to propel Piccolo off again in another direction. Then she phased underneath him to punch what would have been his spine in as he was sent rocketing skyward. With him completely stunned and thrown like a ragdoll, she launched herself at him again.
She showed no mercy and wailed on him, landing barrages of punches whenever she caught him in her throws and kicking him around while he was unable to counter. All he could do was take the beating, every blow bending his Namekian body in ways that would've destroyed a human's and turned their skeleton into shards.
Gine wasn't sure what her power level was. She had long ago stopped giving it much thought with Gohan's philosophy that brute strength was not everything. But a part of her felt nostalgic for having a scouter out of curiosity.
She then realized that the gang was cheering her on from the distance. All of them slack-jawed at how she was easily tossing around the great demon king they were so afraid of, and shouting encouragements.
"WAY TO GO, GINE!" They all shouted separately and differently. "KICK HIS BUTT!" She heard too, not sure from who but it gave her a little smile during the one-sided fight.
After another hard kick to the back of the head, he grounded against the solid dirt and skidded to a stop on his face. He groaned in agonizing pain, and Gine was amazed that he was still conscious, let alone alive. But she could tell he was suffering.
A part of her felt disgusted in herself for causing this much pain to someone. She had seen it far too many times in her life.
But... the other part reminded her that this monster killed her son's best friend. And was being delivered due punishment. It made her feel good, release even, that she was hurting someone so evil.
She landed in front of him, fists clenched to her side while Piccolo struggled to look up at her, coughing up purple blood.
"HOW?!" Piccolo yelled in incomprehension and terror. "HOW ARE YOU SO STRONG?!"
Gine felt a sudden swell of pride in herself. She's never heard an opponent so frightened of her, and admit that she was stronger than them. After all the times she had been put down by comrades and foes alike, she had never beaten anyone to within an inch of their life, at least those who deserved it. It was all by her own hands, without the help of Bardock or anyone like she used too. It made her wonder... was that what actual Saiyan pride felt like?
The moment passed and she suppressed the thought. She wasn't done with him yet.
Not answering his question, she tucked a foot under him and kicked Piccolo high into the air as he screamed.
Gine jumped after and sped past him. Then, with her hands cupped, she spiked Piccolo on the head the way she saw Tien do to Kakarot back at the tournament. The strike made his head flatten almost pancake-like in her balled fists. The pain in his cry was drowned out as he hit the ground far below with a thundering crash of thrown dirt and boulders raining down in every direction.
Seeing where she was now, floating overhead a fallen Piccolo in a hole in the ground like that other monster she dealt with earlier, she felt a sense of Deja Vu. And so decided to finish Piccolo off the way she did to his minion. To think this monster threatened to conquer the Earth, and she was going to do him in like he was nothing.
Before the dust cleared, she plummets herself into the crater he made. Piccolo had no time to react as she landed the heel of her foot as hard as she could into Piccolo's gut, sending the two of them deeper into the crater.
The strike didn't kill Piccolo as she hoped, but she landed on his stomach hard. Piccolo gagged as his neck suddenly bulged, his eyes watered in pain. The bulge got bigger and he slapped a hand over his mouth as if trying to hold back from vomiting.
Gine saw it, to her it looked like he was choking. Then she realized something.
As hard as she could, she quickly raised her right foot and stomped her heel into his gut again.
That did it; Piccolo hawked and two orange spheres where spat out of his gullet, sent flying back from them.
They clinked onto the ground, bouncing once and rolling to a stop. The one and four star dragon balls.
Piccolo's watery eyes looked dazed, but he saw what he regurgitated. Looking to her and back at the balls, he pushed himself away with his feet, twisting around to reach for them.
But she was ahead of him. Gine leapt over Piccolo, and kicked them away with the side of her foot before he could get to them.
"NO!" He cried out in desperation, before she swung the foot she used to kick the balls away to kick him the other away.
Gine swung towards the gang, pointing towards where she kicked the dragonballs. "GET THEM!" She yelled at them.
Before anyone else could volunteer, Yamcha ran around the rocks toward where she pointed. While he did that, Gine refocused her attack on Piccolo and flew at him with another kick to send him crashing hard into the canyon wall, only to be barreled through the wall with another kick from Gine.
As Yamcha went to retrieve the dragonballs, the gang could only watch still jaw-dropped at this spectacle of the Demon King's humiliating tossing about. Roshi felt almost sorry for the demon king to be beaten in such an undignified fashion. Almost.
Footsteps from the side of the gang's spot was Yamcha running towards them, a dragon ball in each hand.
"I got them!" He shouted, holding them up in triumph.
They all cheered as he handed them to Bulma. "That's it! That's all of them!" She said, realizing what they had just accomplished.
"Let's not celebrate yet." Roshi said as he turned back towards the battle. Gine had sent Piccolo tumbling end over end into an already destroyed outcropping of rocks until he came to a stop, splayed out on his front and groaning.
"GINE! IT'S TIME TO FINISH HIM OFF NOW!" He shouted to her.
Gine looked back at Roshi, and nodded. Then turned to Piccolo as he struggled to move.
She felt bad for dragging the fight on longer than necessary even if it was justified, but now she could put him out of his misery and end the threat of his existence once and for all.
She started towards him, ready to charge a dual energy blast that would completely obliterate him. Quick and painless, she thought.
King Piccolo looked up from where he fell, aching in horrible pain and barely seeing though his bloodied face. The woman held out her hands to her side, two bright white spheres of light forming in each. He also saw a tail whipping around behind her.
He gasped in horror. This could really be the end for him? The Demon King Piccolo and his reign of terror to be done in by some woman with a tail? How? How could this be happening?! THIS CAN'T BE!
He eyed her tail again, then he suddenly remembered.
"Woman, wait!" He croaked out in pain, "That tail..."
"What about my tail?" Gine said, not slowing down in her stride as she charged up her attack. She wasn't sure where he was getting at, but decided that he lived long enough and wasn't going to let him have his last words.
"The boy!" He blurted.
Gine stopped in her tracks.
"What boy?" She asked after a few seconds.
Piccolo coughed as he tried to prop himself up. Then he paused, starring at her for a long moment as if examining her.
"What boy?!" Gine asked again, more forcefully this time. But a twinge of worry was laced in it.
Piccolo caught it though. He kept starring at her as pieces started clicking together in his head.
"I see now..." He said, a sinister smile creeping across his face as an idea came to him.
"You must have been his mother." He said.
It must have been the use of that past tense, but Gine was suddenly scared by what it meant.
"I said: What. Boy!?"
The demon king chuckled. She didn't change her deadly expression, but her voice betrayed her bravado though. She was rattled, and it confirmed his suspicions of who she was. And best of all, she didn't know yet what he had already done.
"Oh, nothing. Just some little runt I killed just not too long ago."
Gine's blood ran cold.
"WHAT! BOY?!" She demanded, almost screaming hysterically.
Piccolo merely kept smiling evilly as he stood back up, spitting out some shards of broken teeth while doing so.
"He had a tail, just like yours. Pint-sized little brat, eyes and hair as black as night... and clad in that disgusting orange rag your companions shared."
Gine couldn't believe what she was hearing. That WAS Kakarot. He had to be lying. Wasn't he?
"I take it that you must have been his mother...it would make so much sense. Pity that I should be the one to break this news to you."
Gine shook her head, "You're lying. My son is a true Saiyan, he'd never loose to a freak like you."
Piccolo shrugged off whatever the strange title of Saiyan was, and pressed on taunting Gine.
"Oh, but he did. He fell by my hands in battle. He was quick and strong for such a pathetic little thing, but he could not stand up to my wrath, and paid the price for withholding a dragon ball and killing my children."
Gine felt panic rising within her. No, this couldn't be true. Could it?
Piccolo seemed like he could read her doubts. "I've made sure, myself. His heart was cold and still after I was done with him. Left him there to rot where he lay in the mud."
Gine couldn't believe him, but... he couldn't feel his heartbeat... just like she felt earlier.
"You must have felt it. Just like when I felt the life fade from Tambourine and Cymbal when they were killed. Surely you must a have felt the same. From one parent to another..." He said jokingly, gesturing from himself to her. "...like, a piece of you was torn?" He said, starring into her eyes, unnervingly unblinking and she failed to notice that they were glowing.
"No...y-you're lying!" She tried to say, but couldn't believe her own words.
She thought she could hear Roshi and the gang yelling at her from somewhere behind her, telling her to not listen to him. But their voices were distant and faded as if drowned out. She was too lost in fear of what may have happened to her son to register anything around her.
"Go ahead, try to reach out and sense him. I know you can, for someone as powerful as you." He asked.
Gine tried to tell herself this had to be a trick, it had to. But...she couldn't. What if Kakarot truly was dead? All she had left in the universe taken from her? A pit opened in her stomach as she could no longer stand the uncertainty.
She lost focus and zoned out in her senses, trying to feel Kakarot's ki signature. She couldn't feel it anywhere near her. Or...anywhere...
Her son's reassuring presence was a bright pillar of light among the little flickers of Earthlings across the planet, the brightest there is aside from her own. During his travels she picked up the ability from Gohan to sense energy signatures of living things. At the time she didn't believe it, saying to Gohan once that it'd be like using a scouter without a scouter. But after some focusing she was able to pick out the telepathic flames of every living thing's spirit around her. It was so overwhelming at first, to have the entire world open up inside her brain. After some meditation practice with Gohan to hone this new ability she was able to differentiate the separate and tiny specks of energy that were average humans, some brighter than others if they were martial artists. But she knew immediately which one was her son. It was impossible to miss, like the full glare of the sun against the glittering stars of night. Every now and then she used this to check up on him whenever he was away. Sometimes it dimmed or brightened, whenever he was injured or rejuvenated, but he was always there. Even when it was in the most dire of situations from Pilaf to the Red Ribbon Army, he was still there.
But now he was nowhere. She tried to feel something. Anything.
But...the great beam of light in the world, her world, was gone without a single trace of him... Maybe that was what she actually felt earlier in the transport. His light extinguished by Piccolo as he claimed he did.
Her chest clenched, unable to breathe as the realization was kicking it that her son was truly gone. Losing sight of King Piccolo for just a moment...
It was all the distraction he needed.
Faster than she could react in her worried state, Gine was struck in the face hard by a green fist. As she tumbled backwards, she thought of how much she had forgotten that it hurt to be punched in the face by someone even less than half as strong as her.
When she landed on her back, she was reeling from the surprise attack with her vision hazy and filled with spots. When it cleared, she saw Piccolo's arm stretched impossibly long. Apparently she also forgot that Namekians could extend their limbs to extreme lengths, the perks of a species not having bones.
With his still outstretched hand, Piccolo grabbed her ankle. Then as if in slow motion, he flings her high overhead and back down into the ground behind him in a powerful slam that knocked the wind out of her lungs. Still holding onto her leg, Piccolo flung her again in an overhead arch into the ground in another direction, having her face plowed into the ground while she was unable to break free or shield herself from the fall with just her arms.
Then like an overextended bungie cord, Piccolo pulled Gine towards him with his now shrinking arm. Closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye to meet her face with a solid punch, and another, and another...
"Did you think you could beat me?!" He yelled into her face with every blow, stunning her with each strike and preventing her from defending herself. Finally he let her go, and then the last punch sent her flying back.
He took the opportunity to go on the offensive and sprang after her. She managed to mentally regroup enough to meet his attacks with some pars and block a few hits, but only barely. She could faintly hear the voices of Roshi and Tien screaming in the background. But Gine couldn't spare the thought to figure out what they were saying, or what even to do to get out of this rut. She was too busy trying to get ahead of Piccolo, but couldn't figure out what to do next. One good hit from her would kill him for sure, but he gave her no opening to hit or escape, always answering a counterpunch with a vicious strike that forced her back into the defense and keeping her trapped on the backfoot.
She was still shook from being hurt for the first time in a long while in a real fight... and her mind was still reeling about the lurking fear of her son's death.
Piccolo pressed his attack further, laughing as he did so now that he was in control of the fight. Gine's guard started to slip further as he struck her more and more, her nerves becoming more rattled. He was savoring how he had turned the table so easily by getting into this woman's head, and seeing her so scared was worth as much if not more than the thought of beating her to a pulp.
But he soon realized that she was too strong for punches and kicks alone, no matter how scared he made her feel. So he backed off for a millisecond. Gine saw this, and it was enough for her to jump away... but it was what he wanted. Breathing room to fire his energy attacks.
Just as Gine landed, she gasped in alarm and leaped sideways as Piccolo fired off red laser shots from his eyes. Where she stood was blasted to smithereens with two closely-spaced parallel scorch marks. Then he turned his head to her and fired again, while she dodged and he kept her in his sights and followed her movements. He shot strike after strike, keeping her hoping around.
Gine struggled to keep up but he seriously had her on the run, not letting up his assault. Instead of blasting her with a broad-beam strike, these lasers were sharp and precise. Shots meant for concentrated damage and could go right through her if he scored a hit.
My baby... My little boy, all that I had left is gone! Her mind kept screaming at her. Gine tried hard not to focus on the pain now forming in her heart, but couldn't spare the energy lest she fail her defense and get struck.
Still, tears formed in her eyes. Her son was gone.
Gine screamed in despair as she barely missed another strike, the heat and debris splashing over her. She instinctively jumped up to try and get out of range. But now she wasn't even thinking properly.
King Piccolo smirked as he aimed his sight well above the now hysterical woman. He was leading his target, and she fell right into it.
He landed a beam shot right into Gine's gut, scorching her clothes and blinding her in searing pain. It felt like being stabbed with twin red hot irons.
The shot didn't go through Gine, but it propelled her in a long arcing fall. She landed hard and skidded across the ground on her back, groaning and clutching her singed stomach.
She rolled onto her side, clutching herself hard and breathing through gritted teeth. Damn, that hurt! Gine cursed mentally. She held up her bloodied hands to see two dark red burn marks on her abdomen that smoked slightly. Huh, first time she's been made to bleed in a while too, she figured.
Before she could asses that she wasn't injured internally from the shot, Gine looked up to see that Piccolo landed near her on a tall ledge of rock, his height making him seem like he was standing triumphantly over her. With the sun behind him casting a shadow over his bloodied and glowing eyed face, he exuded an air of pure evil.
The Demon King laughed maniacally. Oh how his luck had turned, he may have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat afterall!
Gine was at a loss, how could this shriveled-up Namekian, a slug with limbs, have overtaken her? Was she that pathetic?
"You and your son were truly alike. You are far stronger than I thought, but in the end you are both done in by your pitiful emotions. Whatever you are, you are no different than these humans. And you deserve to die as a weakling like the rest of them." King Piccolo gloated. He then held up two fingers to his temple.
"But don't worry, you'll be joining your little runt soon enough." He said as a glowing purplish light startled to crackle at his fingertips, pulsating with electricity.
Gine was in trouble now, there was no way to get around him and she was in no condition to charge him head on. And she didn't know if she could survive the blast he was charging, or if she could counter with one of her own. She was utterly defenseless and didn't know what to do.
Typically she would've drawn upon her anger as a Saiyan to keep fighting in a last stand, but she wasn't angry at Piccolo, she was at herself. This was the first time that she had been in a real fight in almost two decades since she left the frontlines of the Planet Trade Organization. She had never expected to be in another fight for as long as she lived on Earth, with only her son and Gohan to quell her Saiyan instincts with sparring. But she should've known that she could never escape her destiny as a Saiyan, to always be ready for battle, to kill or be killed when someone came along intent to fight her to the death and protect those she loved. And now, here she was against a foe that was going to kill her, and she could do nothing to stop him. And worst of all, all her efforts meant nothing.
She had let Bardock down. Raditz...and Kakarot... she let them all down. She couldn't save any of them, let alone herself. And Gohan... she wanted to weep for the man who gave them a second chance at life. And she let him, and all of her friends, down. Now this monster was free to conquer the world and make it burn.
"Now..." Piccolo growled, his evil smiling replaced with gritted teeth of murderous rage as his attack was now fully charged.
Not the first, but maybe for the last time in her life, Gine gave in to hopelessness... This was it. If there was any solace in this, she will be seeing her son... both of her sons, soon.
"YOU DIE!" Piccolo yelled, as he jumped to launch his attack...
Suddenly, Piccolo froze in mid-air.
"W-wha?!" Piccolo shouted in shock, his face a mask of incredulity as he realized he couldn't move. The energy he charged in his attack dissipated.
Gine too was surprised. She then heard running footsteps beside her.
"GOOD WORK, CHIAOTZU!" Tien shouted as he skidded to a stop beside Gine, sliding an arm around her to get her back onto her feet quickly.
"Huh?" Gine just stared at Tien, unsure of what was happening.
"Gine, hurry, get back up!" He said urgently as she struggled to get up, fighting the excruciating pain in her stomach. Tien helped her stand and then charged back to where he came, with him still gripping her tightly.
"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Piccolo suddenly cried out in fear as he looked down at the ground. He had almost entirely forgotten about the other humans this woman brought along. Then he looked at the others as Gine did.
She looked up to see Chiaotzu pointing a glowing finger towards Piccolo. Roshi stood beside him, arms outstretched and glowing a greenish-hue. She also noticed Gohan holding an electric rice cooker, it's lid open.
"What are you doing?!" She yelled, realizing too late what it was.
"ROSHI, NOW!" Tien shouted.
"EVIL CONTAINMENT WAVE!" Roshi's voice rang out in all directions.
Gine felt a great pressure in her core and a rush of wind and raw energy all around her as a whirlpool of emerald light enveloped the air like a hurricane.
'"NOOOO!" Piccolo was caught in the vortex. His entire form stretched and contorted into the swirl of the wave, his screams of despair distorted as he circled closer and closer towards Roshi like water down a drain.
Piccolo was shrunken down to a blinding white sphere and with a swipe of Roshi's arms, the green ball of light was thrown towards Gohan.
"CATCH HIM WITH IT!" Roshi yelled over the roar of wind.
Gohan carefully moved the open cooker into the path of the Wave, bracing himself. Then, the flow of light that was King Piccolo poured into the cooker, Gohan trying not to fall over from the force of the energy emanating from it.
Then the stream of green light ended, and the inside of the jar glowed with an abhorrent green blindness. Piccolo's cries of terror echoed from inside like a deep well. Gohan struggled to close the lid, as if Piccolo was trying to force himself out.
"CLOSE IT! CLOSE IT NOW!" Roshi screamed desperately, kneeling in pain.
With one great push of effort, Gohan snapped the lid of the cooker shut. The green light, extreme wind, and Piccolo's screams all suddenly vanished.
It was quiet again. Gine and Tien stood up from where they were knocked over by the wind.
"What just happened?" Gine said, amazed and still clutching her tattered midsection.
"The Evil Containment Wave." Tien said, just as awestruck as she was.
"I guessed right that it would do the trick of sealing away King Piccolo. But I never imagined it's power once I saw it with my own eyes..."
They starred at Gohan holding the unassuming rice cooker he held to for dear life. It looked nothing extraordinary, even after what they had just done. Chiaotzu stood close to him looking over the cooker in wonder. Off to the rocks behind them, Bulma and Yamcha emerged from hiding along with Oolong, Chi-chi, Launch, and Puar.
"So...it's done, then." Gine said with finality.
"That's right." Tien nodded without looking at her.
The great Demon King Piccolo had been sealed away...
A thud sounded as Roshi collapsed beside Gohan.
"MASTER!" Tien shouted, sprinting after him. Gine followed suit behind him.
Everyone gathered around Roshi, Gohan rolling him over on his back to help him breathe.
"Hang on, Master! We'll get you home soon!" Gohan said urgently, placing his hand on his master's head to transfer some of his energy to him.
Roshi weakly reached up and grabbed Gohan's wrist in protest. "No." He said, his voice faint and exhausted.
"What?!" Gohan didn't understand. His master didn't want his student to save his life?
"The seal." He asked.
"Right here, Master." Gohan held up the rice cooker. "The Wave worked, Piccolo has been sealed away forever now."
"Good." Roshi sighed in an immense relief. "That's all that matters. We must make sure... no one can ever find it."
"I know, Master, I know. Please, save your strength." Gohan tried to shush Roshi.
"The bottom of... the ocean won't do anymore... need to find somewhere... where it can never be found... until the end of time if... need be." Roshi continued, his voice growing softer and coughing once.
"We know Master, we will. But, we need to get you to a doctor or-"
"No." Roshi shook his head. "Not...enough...time." He said, coughing again with blood in it now.
"What?! But Master!" Tien shouted, now by his fallen teacher's side. Gine standing behind Tien as he kneed to talk to him.
"Master, I thought you said you took the life-sustaining potion!" Tien asked incredulously.
Roshi shook his head. "Never... touched the stuff..." He then looked over to Bulma.
"Bulma... the last... dragon balls that Piccolo...spat out..."
Bulma quickly looked through her pack, then pulled two orange orbs out. "Right here! The one and four star balls! We got all of them now!"
"Good." Roshi coughed wheezily. "I may not... make it to a doctor in time... The Evil Containment Wave took too much of my lifeforce... So... we will go with Gine's back up plan and... call upon the dragon... and resuscitate me alongside Krillin."
They all starred at him silently for a moment.
"Got it." Bulma said softly. She felt slight wrong about all this. Their Master and dearest of friends was dying, and he was asking them to let him die just to bring him back as if jump starting a car. It felt wrong to her, and so she almost started weeping.
Roshi turned to Gine, her eyes watering at the sight of her newest of dear friends dying. It was all her fault...
"I'm so sorry..." Gine choked out. "I failed you."
Roshi shook his head weakly from side to side. "No... that was... the most incredible fighting I have... ever seen. You did not fail... Piccolo is a deceptive monster..."
"But no more." Gohan declared, holding onto the cooker but unable to not shed a tear for his dying Master.
Roshi closed his eyes, his breathing slowed and they could all feel his life force leaving.
"Tell... Kakarot... I was...proud..." He whispered so faintly, until finally he went still.
They all stood in silence. The great Turtle Hermit Master Roshi was dead.
Gohan, for all the time Gine had known him, started weeping softly in front of her.
Gine couldn't fathom how to feel. They should all be jubilant. King Piccolo, the great terror of Earth had been defeated and will never cause harm to anyone ever again.
But... at the cost of Roshi's life. Gine couldn't forgive herself. She had let him down, let them ALL down. She thought she could take the namekian on, but even he could beat her and she was on the brink of giving up anyway. Was she that weak? Had she become so complacent in her being the most power being on her that she became too overconfident?
And Kakarot.
Her last piece of her heart. The absolute reason for her being was just ripped from her. Her little boy, all she had left in the cosmos... She started weeping with Gohan too.
"Well, what are we just standing around crying for?! Watering the grass to grow?!" Oolong shouted at them. "You heard him! Let's summon the dragon and bring him and Krillin back!"
They all looked at each other. Never before had they ever imagined they'd hear that kind of statement in their lives. Now completely unhindered by death, that a simple wish could bring the ones they lost back. This was such a weird day.
"Er, right." Tien said uneasily, but still held his hands in prayer over his fallen Master before he stood up. He looked towards Bulma, who stood with her back to the open grounds where the battle took place. The backpack slung over her shoulder.
"So, Bulma let's set up the dra-"
"LOOK OUT!" Yamcha suddenly yelled, pointing at the sky.
The warning came too late as a hail of gunfire came raining down on the gathering. Gine reflexively crouched down, grabbing Tien and Gohan beside her.
What the hell was happening? Where was all this coming from?! She wondered aghast.
"Chiaotzu!" Tien shouted.
Slowly the annoying pings off of her skin stopped, and the dust clouded started to fade as a wall of bullets frozen in flight hovered right above them. Chiaotzu emerged from the dust, holding up his glowing finger. Gine then realized it was him who held Piccolo in place when he was sealed away. She really had to thank the boy.
Gohan had thrown himself over Roshi's body to shield it. Gine momentarily panicked and wanted to rush after him and pull him under the cover of the rocks. But he was fine, mostly. He had moved his arm with blinding speed, deflecting every shoot that came near Roshi's mortal shell. He didn't deflect every shot though as Gohan's arm sleeve was riddled with holes and bloodied too. He checked under his cloak and made sure the sealed rice cooker was still safe.
"Everyone okay?!" She yelled.
"Chi-Chi's hurt!" Yamcha cried out.
Gine glanced over to see Yamcha cradling Chi-Chi. She coughed and cried out in pain as her stomach and leg poured blood from several gunshot wounds.
They rushed over to her, Gine looked over her to see that the shots missed important organs but looked extremely painful. The poor girl writhed, crying as he wounds flared and brought her to tears. Gine's respect for her grew that the girl much younger than her had to take a projectile shot through her unlike a Saiyan. She guessed humans were a lot tougher than she imagined.
Gine sprung into action, "Quick, Bulma, we need the medical-"
"Where's Bulma?!" She and Yamcha suddenly realized aloud.
A shrill scream came from above that they all heard.
"UP THERE!" Launched pointed. They all looked up and saw it.
"What?!" All of them cried incredulously.
"HELP ME!" Bulma screamed as she was lifted away by a robotic claw clutching her by the backpack, the claw on a cable leading into the belly of the Pilaf airship. What looked like it's machine gun turrets along it's underside had been what opened fire on them.
"It's Pilaf!" Yamcha exclaimed.
"They're taking her! And the dragonballs!" Puar and Oolong screamed in horror.
"OH NO!"
"GRRRR! Those cowards!" Launched grumbled. She pulled out her rocket launcher, pointing at the airship. Yamcha stopped her.
"No, wait! You could hit Bulma!" He cried out.
Gine stared at the infernal ship. This Pilaf Gang must've saw an opportunity to snatch their dragonballs when they were distracted. She had almost forgotten they were there.
The arm holding onto Bulma and the balls retracted into the belly of the ship, and they were flying away from them fast.
"Agh! They're getting away!" Tien screamed. And they all knew what it meant.
If they used the dragonballs. Then all of their friends will have died for nothing. Krillin, Roshi, Kakarot...
Or worse. If they were working for Piccolo, and if they tried to wish Piccolo free from his prison...
Gine growled furiously. That was it. She would have no more of this.
In a single leap, Gine jumped towards the airship with all the strength in her legs leaving a trail of dust and debris like a missile. Aiming for where the arm retracted, she crashed her way through the steal doors of the ships underbelly without feeling their impacts on her body.
Then through the deck above that, and through some very heavy machinery which exploded as she passed through it. Then finally the next deck leading into an open space inside the ship.
The airship suddenly lurched once she was inside, and Gine felt it pitch down.
She got into stance and took in her surroundings. It must have been the bridge, for the large window in the front loomed over her, and the ground rapidly approaching.
A crowd of three strangers huddled near the controls with Bulma being bound in place before them. A tall human woman with long dark hair and a military trench coat, then... a fox in a purple jumpsuit? And finally a blue midget with large ears and clad a black dress cloak for it's size.
Bulma flailed and complained, but screamed in horror again as the ship started to lose altitude even more rapidly.
"Mai! Quick, get us stabilized!" The blue creature shrieked, trying desperately to gain control of the ship. Gine guessed that had to be Pilaf.
"I can't Sire, the engines are gone! I can't regain control!" The tall woman, Mai, shouted back.
The mountains came forward quick. Gine realized she must've flown right through some critical systems for the engines when she burst in.
"Brace for impact!" Mai shouted.
Quickly, Gine leapt forward to cover Bulma just in time before the cacophony of crunching metal and grinding dirt and earth filled the world as the airship crashed into the mountains in a long skid until it came to a stop. Smoke billowed and engulfed them all as the engine's winded down and died.
Gine was covered in dirt by the impact, but barely moved from her spot. She panicked when Bulma didn't move beneath her, but she groaned in pain.
"Oooooww, Daddy, I don't wanna fly the plane anymore..." Bulma said deliriously, shocked that she was alive. Looking up in pain and rubbing her head, she recognized Gine and her face immediately lit up.
"GINE! you made it!" She hugged her tightly, unable to not show how grateful she was. But Gine winched when Bulma hugged her tightly around her injuries.
"Ow, OW!" She gritted before prying off Bulma. It was when Gine saw her hands on Bulma's shoulders that she knew something was wrong.
"Where's the backpack?!"
"They took it!" Bulma said, then looked around. "It's gotta be-"
In the rubble, Mai, Pilaf, and fox emerged from the dust and surveyed what was left of their flying fortress.
"NO! MY FLOATING PALACE! HOW COULD THIS-" His words stopped when he spotted Gine, and Mai and fox noticed too.
The three members of what must've been the Pilaf Gang, starred at her in utter terror that this woman who almost defeated Piccolo just charging through their walls to face them. She also noticed the giant chair in the center of what was left of the room, it's armrests made of bones. Piccolo's throne, she figured. And a dead pterodactyl lay at it's feet.
And Pilaf held on to Bulma's pack in his arms for dear life, looking like a child caught running off with a jar of cookies.
Gine pointed towards Pilaf. "Give that back." She said, sternly.
Pilaf said nothing, still shaking in fear. But remembered as if he ruled the world already. Then looked at his two minions.
"WELL DON'T JUST STAND THERE YOU IDIOTS! KILL HER!" Pilaf yelled at them as he tried to scuttle away from them, tripping over himself clumsily a couple times.
"Right!" Said the female soldier, and raised a machine gun at Gine while she strode after Pilaf.
"Prepare to die, in the name of Pila-"
Gine swatted her aside, not hitting her too hard but enough to send her crashing into the wall. She may had a concussion from that.
The ninja-clad fox cowered before her while Pilaf pushed him forward as if expecting him to fight. But Gine mercifully shoved him aside gently.
Pilaf tripped over himself again and found himself backed into a corner. Now he was alone and trembling with the stolen dragonballs against this strange and very angry woman with a... tail?
Gine gave Pilaf her deadliest glare, and pointed at the pack again.
"Give. That. Back." She demanded, giving this little creature one last chance to live.
Pilaf felt what was left of his courage vanish, and let his pride go.
'"Please don't hurt me! Here, here! Take it!"
Gine snatched it with a swoop of her hand, and turned around wordlessly.
Pilaf watched her go and... wait, what was he doing?! He couldn't allow this! This woman destroyed his airship! The flying fortress of the great Emperor Pilaf! The rightful ruler of the world! (Now that Piccolo was out of the way) He also thought to himself privately. How dare he let her walk away unpunished!
"Don't think this is over! You ruined my airship!"
Gine stopped walking.
"You think you can just walk in and take away what is rightfully mine, the ruler of the wor-"
Gine turned with her hand raised at him.
"You sided with that thing that killed my son." She said matter-of-factly.
"What?" Was all Pilaf said before Gine fired an energy blast at him, vaporizing him on the spot and the inside of the airship destroyed further in an explosion of hot metal and dirt. Bulma and the other now two surviving Pilaf Gang members shielded themselves until the dust settled.
Mai and the fox starred at where their master once stood, now just a few traces of ash. Too shocked and horrified to react.
"M-m-m-mast-" Was all the fox could blabber out. They slowly turned to Gine, pure terror running through their minds.
Gine lowered her hand, and glanced at them. They shrank where they lay in the dirt.
"You worked with him, didn't you?" She asked.
Mai and the fox panicked, clutching each other in fear and bowing at her feet.
Gine didn't know what to make of them, either as faithful followers or coerced slaves of the now deceased-Pilaf. But she had been through too much today already to care, and all she wanted was to summon the dragon to see if all of this was worthwhile or not. So she cleared her throat to get them to stop babbling and listen to what she had to say.
"Go. And pray that I never see either of you two ever again." Gine said to them, then turned away towards Bulma who looked just as shocked as they were. She walked for a bit, then stopped.
"I suggest you start running now unless you want to join your master." She called back to the two.
Mai and the fox got the hint and ran like demons were chasing them, clamoring their way over the debris and out of the wreckage of the airship. Once they were outside, they kept running and didn't look back.
Gine turned to Bulma, "Come on, let's get back and summon the dragon." She pointed in the general direction they came from, clutching the backpack and her wounded abdomen.
Bulma just nodded, "Right." She said eventually. "And let's get you patched up too! You look like hell, girl!"
Gine gave Bulma a look, "Stop calling me that, okay?" She said, too emotionally raw to let annoying things slide.
"Sorry." Bulma gulped. "Anyway, lets get going!" She said as Gine picked up Bulma and flew out of the wreckage back to the gang.
Meanwhile, the two surviving members of the Pilaf Gang had both finally ran out of breath before they realized they had put several miles between themselves and what was left of the airship.
Even after catching their breaths they didn't speak for a long time. Too shocked at seeing their master killed, and barely escaping with their lives at the hands of a woman who single-handedly beat King Piccolo.
"Mai..." Shu broke the silence. "What... what the hell just happened?"
"I don't know...but... Lord Pilaf is... dead." She said, struggling to articulate the words.
Shu tried to digest this too. "Master Pilaf...dead." He echoed, trying to come to grips with this new reality.
They both stood their in silence for a very long time...
Then broke out into cheers, chanting "WE'RE FREE!"
A/N: So there we go! The first big baddy fought and defeated! And or those who ARE curious about Gine's power level, it's approximately 650 by now.
Thank you all so much for your patience and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Up next, Gine will get her first glimpse of the Eternal Dragon Shenron, which will surely stun her with so much awe and wonder. And wonder she might... about certain possibilities she might ask of a wish-granting dragon. Stuff which I don't think was addressed in MasakoX's original series, but we can here!
Tune in for the next exciting episode of Dragon Ball Gine!
See you then!