King

Chapter 24: Rally


Rayne's mind was racing. Master Roshi was out of the fight or dead. Neither her or Krillin could fight, let alone fight this monster together.

Piccolo was quietly appraising the fallen form of Master Roshi. Now or never! Using the ki she had been collecting over the past few minutes, Rayne forced herself to stand in a single movement. She felt her internal organs be lanced by her broken ribs, but she ignored this as much as she could and flung a small ball of ki into the ground in front of her. The resulting detonation flung up dirt in a horizontal cone in Piccolo's direction, obscuring Krillin and Rayne from his sight. Aware that she had very little time, she dashed over to Krillin and scooped him up in her arms. She then darted off to the left, exiting the flat green of their former battleground, and ducking into the first alley she saw. As their kis as weak as they currently were, she wasn't worried about King Piccolo tracking them down- instead, she closed her eyes and awaited a disintegrating blast that would surely follow if King Piccolo had spotted them at any point during their escape. It was easy to do. Her entire body was ravaged by exhaustion now- not to mention that any more movement might spear her heart with a shard of rib.

One second passed. Then a handful. After a minute passed, Rayne finally opened her eyes, letting out a pained sigh of relief.

Next to her, Krillin continued to clutch his collarbone, consumed by the pain of his injury.

She had done her job. They had time now.

Time to do what, though? What are we going to do?...

0o0o0

Even in death, the old man had claimed one last victory over King Piccolo. He had died with a smile on his face. I guess he's entitled to some satisfaction. He very nearly entrapped me.

Piccolo wasn't surprised to see the old man's pupils flee after his death. He felt inclined to track them down- but everything in good time. He had more pressing matters to attend to.

Turning from the corpse, Piccolo swung towards his spawn, Piano, who had been wholly consumed with watching his creator battle. 'Piano! Is that egg nearly hatched?'

Snapping out of his daze, Piano directed his attention towards the egg he was holding. He ran his hand over the surface- still thick to the touch. 'No, my lord! Perhaps another hour or so?'

Grunting, Piccolo swung back towards his original destination- the round, circular building that rose out from the ground like a mound. They're… there. Yes. One hand raised, Piccolo fired a small blast, weak enough to punch a hole through an outside wall of the building. When the dust cleared, the dragonballs, all arranged in a neat group of seven, laid undisturbed.

As King Piccolo entered the building and methodically placed every ball outside, Piano crept to his creator's side, still towing the egg in his arms. He could feel it starting to warm- it wouldn't be much longer now. He thought he saw genuine excitement on his master's face; it made his wrinkled face look much more foreboding than any snarl or grimace.

'You understand, Piano,' Piccolo said as he carried the last dragonball outside, 'the significance of this.' Even now, with my reduced power, I lord over this planet- but when I regain my youth, not even Kami will be able to stop me. I will become the strongest being on this planet by far. And, when that happens, no human nor living being will escape my rule.'

Piano gulped. His creator had a way with words.

Passing his gaze from his eldest spawn, PIccolo spread his arms horizontal, arching his entire body over the dragonballs. 'Rise, Shenron!' he commanded, 'and grant my wish!'

The wind, previously strong before, intensified even more, as the dragonballs started to glow. The latent magic of the balls exploded outwards and upwards, shooting a thick golden coil into the sky. The beam twisted, folding it on itself, darkening the sky with its otherworldly motion. Emerging from the maze of its own creation, the coil emerged into even more open air farther up in the sky, coming to a halt far above its twisted mass. Gold began to give way to green and glowing incandescence, as a dragon slowly took form, menacing before an unnatural night behind it. Across West City, citizens who were already terrified by the earlier attacks and shockwaves ran for their lives in the face of such an overwhelming sight.

Piccolo alone stood unawed; instead, his body was encased in confidence. He did not wait for the dragon to speak. 'Shenron!' he boomed, amplifying his voice with his ki, 'grant my wish! Restore to me my youth!'

Unfazed by the breach in custom, Shenron swiveled his massive, light-wreathed head down towards Piccolo. After a brief moment, the dragon's eyes began to glow red.

A blanket of golden energy appeared out of nowhere and enveloped Piccolo, covering him from head to toe. A muffled, exuberant laugh rang across the ground, as the light swallowing PIccolo intensified and forced PIano to look away. Then, the light abruptly dropped away, returning the scene to the darkness of the unnatural night.

Piccolo stood triumphant, every inch of his body smooth and vibrant green. His face was no longer a web of age- now, it was youth incarnate. His eyes shone with vigor, his smile flowed across his face with easy power. He was reborn, in every sense of the word. Even his gi had changed- the colors and fabric looked three hundred years younger.

Checking his jaw, Piccolo turned to face Shenron, who still lorded overhead. 'YOUR WISH HAD BEEN GRANTED,' the dragon began to say, 'GOODBYE… UNTIL-' Shenron audibly gurgled, as if his lungs had instantaneously filled with liquid.

Far below on the ground, Piccolo, still holding his gaze at the mighty dragon, had pierced one of the dragonballs with a ki beam. 'You don't leave on your terms,' he shouted, once more sending his voice across West City, 'YOU DIE ON MINE!' Changing the orientation of his hand from an extended finger to a palm, he launched a massive wave of energy at the dragonballs, still arranged neatly in a group. The blast momentarily hitched on them, as if battling some sort of unseen, protective magic- but the attack was too powerful, and overwhelmed whatever initially stopped it. The wave overcame the dragonballs, blasting both them and the area around it to oblivion.

Shenron did not die, nor fall to Earth. Silently, the massive, hulking dragon, which was quite easily the most impressive thing anyone in West City had ever seen, disintegrated and faded into nothing like a passing image. The sky cleared, afternoon light returning to shine on the city. Nothing remained of the eternal dragon.

0o0o0

Across the world, several miles above the surface of the Earth, an elderly, green humanoid collapsed onto the tiled ground, gasping from pain. Holding onto his walking stick with both hands, the old man panted, an odd contrast to the absolute serenity and quiet of the flat white tiles and small gardens around him.

From a central, magnificent building, an attendant rushed out, coming to the old man's side. 'Kami! What's wrong!'

Collecting his breath, Kami brought his eyes level with his servant. 'It is not pain I feel, Mr. Popo. It is… shock, and anger. The dragon balls are no more. The wickedness of this world knows no bounds.'

Mr. Popo helped Kami to stand, ruffling his white-blue, flowing robes as he did. 'Who would do such a thing, Kami?' Mr. Popo asked, a quiver of fear in his voice.

Kami took a moment to stare off into the limitless blue sky surrounding them on all sides. 'My evil half has been released from his containment.' When he turned back to Mr. Popo, his face betrayed no fear or sorrow, but the pain in his voice was clear. 'I fear darkness is about to descend on the world once more…'

His words cut across the silence of the Lookout, turning it from one of peace to unease.

0o0o0

Like a passing breeze, Korin had felt Master Roshi leave this world, carrying with him the best chance humanity had to defeat King Piccolo. The demon's monstrous ki, after briefly wavering, stabilized, then grew even more massive after the sky had clouded and darkened. Korin did not need the omnipresent sight of his superior metaphorically and literally above him- Piccolo's ki now felt as strong as it had been nearly three hundred years ago, when the Demon King was in his prime. So he has regained his strength. This day grows darker by the second.

Korin weighed what to do; he knew that Kami would be unable to leave the Lookout- just like during King Piccolo's first reign of terror- and would be forced to watch the world burn. Korin, however, was not Kami; if he so chose, he could leave this tower and fight Piccolo himself.

He had no doubt that he would lose. Only Kami himself could hope to defeat King Piccolo at his current strength.

Which left him with very few options. Stretching out ki, pushing his mind out to the farthest reaches of his senses, Korin began to search.

0o0o0

After making sure Krillin would be hidden, totally consumed by his pain as he was, Rayne skulked off back towards the battlefield. It had taken a few tense moments of careful movement to establish what ways she could and couldn't move. Regardless, she couldn't sit around while Piccolo continued… whatever he was doing, unobserved. She suspected that things would continue to get worse before they got better- and any knowledge she could gain in the interim would be the difference maker.

Thus, while crouching behind a chunk of building rubble, Rayne had a front row seat to witness the rebirth of Piccolo- his power, if overwhelming before, was now well and truly unfathomable. Even when he was standing motionless, waves of his ki would roll off his body, sweeping over her in dread oppressiveness. It took all her bravery to even look at the demon.

Piccolo had dispatched Shenron like- like it was nothing. A passing swat of his hand, as if the eternal dragon was an insect to him. Another crest of ki swarmed over her. That well may be true.

The Demon King was now talking with some sort of dinosaur creature- an ally of the Demon King, perhaps?- and was looking at an egg on the ground expectedly. So, most likely, more enemies are going to pop into existence. Great.

A strange feeling passed through her head, ki but not quite ki, but was gone almost as quick as it came over her. Briefly panicking, she shot her eyes back towards Piccolo- but the demon hadn't reacted in any way. So if it wasn't him, then who…

Before Rayne could finish her thought, a voice popped into her head, oddly strained. 'Hello! Hi, whoever you are!'

She could hear the silence in her head. 'This is… weird,' she thought.

'Yes, it is,' the voice replied immediately, evidently having heard what Rayne had thought. 'Our thoughts are connected to each other right now- but we don't have a lot of time, so try to keep your mental reacting to a minimum.'

Embarrassed at having her thoughts heard, Rayne mentally clamped her mouth shut.

'My name is Korin; I've been watching what's been happening with… everything, over the past couple hours. King Piccolo is alive and well- and that needs to change. I'm going to help you to defeat Piccolo, but you need to do exactly what I say. Am I clear?'

Rayne did the equivalent of a mental nod- somehow, she felt it being conveyed to Korin.

'Good. Krillin knows me well- I trained him for a few months before this tournament, though we never fully finished. I'm afraid we need to take drastic measures to defeat King Piccolo- not to mention save Krillin.'

'What? Save Krillin?'

'Use your ki sense. Feel his energy.'

She did as Korin as he asked- and realized what Korin was referring to. Krillin's life energy was pulsing erratically, as if it was clinging to life. Wrapped up in all the terror and chaos of the day, she hadn't even noticed. 'What- what are we going to do?' Rayne asked, panic creeping into her voice.

A soothing calm descended upon her- it didn't totally disquiet her fears, but she felt her mind clear somewhat. 'Krillin will be fine,' Korin assured her, 'as long as you do what I'm about to tell you. We don't have much time. Do you remember what you rode on to get to West City?'

How could I forget? It was a solid, speeding yellow cloud.

'Remember what I said before? No mental reacting?'

'Sorry,' Rayne said, remembering the dynamics of their conversation.

'You need to summon that cloud and convey to it to bring Krillin to me in my tower. It should remember where the tower is well enough- you just need to give it a little nudge. Do you understand?'

Again, Rayne mentally nodded. 'How am I going to summon it, though?'

'That should be easy. Just call its name and it'll come to you, as long as you have a good and honest heart. You remember the name, right?'

Nimbus. Yea…

'That's it,' Korin confirmed. 'Summon Nimbus and get it to bring Krillin to me- and only Krillin. Speed is of the essence- I'm afraid you'll have to stay there to make Nimbus as light and quick as possible.'

'Not a problem. Someone needs to keep an eye on Piccolo, anyway.'

'Good. Best case scenario, we have a very real chance of beating Piccolo today. However, it is critical to keep everyone in the fight until you can make a combined attack on Piccolo! As we speak your allies are rushing towards you, no doubt eager to fight Piccolo himself. You cannot let that happen, at least right away. Take advantage of Piccolo's confidence- let him send his minions after you first, so that you can defeat them one-by-one before taking Piccolo himself on.'

Rayne's head was spinning. 'Allies? What allies? Like Launch? She should be in the infirmary!'

'You'll see soon enough- but please, send Krillin to me now! Hurry!' The connection between them cut out- she felt Korin's energy fail at the last moment, collapsing their mental link. Rayne took a moment to mentally catalog everything that was dictated to her, screwing her face with thought. Okay. Time to get to work.

Rayne crept back towards Krillin, checking one last time that Piccolo was still consumed by his egg-watching; he was. She came to the side of the former monk. Knowing what she knew now, it was much easier to see the signs of creeping death- the damage to his clavicle was deceptive. She saw Krillin, even in his limited, pain-shot consciousness, gripping his upper chest and torso in agony. Korin, whoever you are, you better be up to the task of healing him…

With a heavy heart, she swung on her heels, facing an open alleyway behind them. Alright. I need to say the name- not too loud though. Taking in a deep breath, she expanded her chest, bringing in as much air as possible into her lungs. Then, with a great, yet quiet, exhale, she said in a loud whisper, 'Nimbus!...'

Again, she awaited a disintegrating blast to consume both her and Krillin. Nothing. I guess even evil monsters can be distracted.

A handful of seconds later, a yellow blip appeared at the end of the alleyway. threading peacefully towards them. Like a loyal dog, Nimbus came to a stop just before them and lowered itself slightly to the ground. Rayne carefully picked up Krillin and laid him on the cloud. She then placed her hand on Nimbus- so soft and fluffy, yet solid- and closed her eyes, stretching out her ki. She focused on the idea Korin had conveyed to her, a tower of refuge and observation, from which to look down on the world below. Like a part clicking into place, she felt something jolt through the cloud. Nimbus began to back away from her, rising up into the sky. A few moments later, once it had cleared the low buildings surrounding them, it sped off into the sky, heading south-west.

Solving one crisis at a time, she mused. That's how we'll win. Right...

A day ago Yamcha was alive. Time is cruel.

0o0o0

With all the pride of a new father, Piccolo watched with a smile as the egg before him began to shake and crack. Another vaguely reptilian and dinosaur-like spawn rose before him, dark green, winged, and round like a ball. I really must be out of practice. None of these spawns look even remotely like me. 'Cymbal,' the Demon King pronounced, even though the demon spawn already knew its name innately, 'I will confess, I had created you with the purpose of finding the dragonballs. However, as you well can see…' he gestured to himself, highlighting his youthful, vigorous appearance, 'that purpose has been served. So I ask you- what is it you would like to do instead?'

Strange bordering on comical, the dragon-esque creatures fell to one knee. 'I desire, my lord,' Cymbal said, with a deep hissing voice a horribly obese snake might produce, 'to decimate this world by your side.'

'Hah!' Piccolo chuckled. 'Quite! Indeed, you are my spawn. Would you like to start with this city, then? If you don't mind finishing my work.'

'My lord, nothing would please me more.'

With a wave of his hand, Piccolo directed Cymbal into the sky. The wings behind the creature moved for the first time, propelling the beast into the sky with heavy flaps. The spawn then came to a stop fifty feet in the air, and turned to face one end of the city. Maliciously, he brought up one hand, pointing down towards the city grid below. A pink glow began to surround the creature.

Something very strange, to Piccolo's eyes, happened then. A small blue ball of ki flew into the sky and exploded against Cymbal. The dragon creature was momentarily stunned, such that it started falling to the ground, cratering into the ground twenty feet in front of the Demon Lord.

Admittedly amused, Piccolo cast his eyes in the direction of the blast. The girl from before, holding one hand to where Piccolo had hit her, was panting with arm pointed towards the sky. Oh. Yes. I forgot about her.

More angry than injured, Cymbal climbed out of the crater, snarling with annoyance. 'My lord,' Cymbal asked, a nasty tone running through his voice, 'should I kill this pest?'

Piccolo gestured agreeably, saying, 'Please- by all means.' The Demon King made sure to make eye contact with the girl as he said this. She flinched.

Stomping his feet, Cymbal prepared himself like a bucking bronco, making deep runnels in the ground. For her part, Rayne hesitantly brought up her arms in a guard- if she was going to die, she figured, she might as well go down for a good cause. Delaying the death of a couple thousand people is definitely up there, but damn it, why did this have to take place in a city?

Cymbal charged her, brutishly swinging his arm horizontally. She dodged, ducking under the swing, and hammered a few blows into Cymbal's midsection. Her initial attacks seemed to do nothing as Cymbal brought his other massive arm around for a punch. Again, Rayne dodged, this time to the right and out of his range. She then stepped forward and hammered at Cymbal's legs with her own. A few hits this time was enough, as eventually the dragon creature stumbled backward as his legs were kicked out from under him. Rayne rushed after him, trying to land a follow-up elbow, but Cymbal flapped his wings and flew into the sky, up and away from her strike. Somewhat surprised at her strength, Cymbal took his time gaining his second wind while airborne.

Rayne frowned. Fighting flying opponents is such a pain. I really need to figure out how to do that. She glanced towards Piccolo- he made no indication that he would intervene, choosing to stand in place with his arms crossed and an easy smile on his face. Well, at least I have that going for me right now. A sudden spasm of pain shot through Rayne; she was barely able to stop herself from physically recoiling. Argh!... Hold it together Rayne, make them think I can keep this up for a while... I just wish I wasn't so injured!...

The sun was continuing to dip lower in the sky- the day was slowly but surely coming to an end. Rayne wondered whether she would live to see the night.

Cymbal's monstrous wings suddenly extended to their full length, cresting the creature downwards to his opponent. Rayne nimbly dodged as Cymbal swooped past her, trying to rake her with one of his claws. He deftly circled in the air and slammed into an unexpecting Rayne, who was slow to move from the last dodge. She was thrust to the ground face-first as dirt filled her mouth. Spitting, she rolled, avoiding a stomp from Cymbal. This game of whack of mole continued for a few heartbeats until Rayne unintentionally rolled down a gentle sloping hill at the edge of the flat green.

Piccolo and Piano appeared on the edge of the flat behind Cymbal, collectively staring down at Rayne, tangled in a heap of limbs at the base of the slope. Grimacing, she pulled herself to her feet. This time, she couldn't disguise her pain- her left arm was hanging loosely at her side. My entire body is failing, piece by piece!...

As if sensing her pain, Piccolo barked a laugh. 'This is the best these Earthlings can do? Truly? It seems that the old masters have deserted humanity- or,' he focused his gaze on Rayne, 'in your case, died.'

Glaring at Piccolo, Rayne forced herself to bring her arms up.

Cymbal flew down the hill at her, moving faster- no, that wasn't it, I'm slowing down- as Rayne found it much harder than just a few minutes before to defend herself. It took all her concentration and training to prevent Cymbal from landing a clean, devastating blow to her already weakened body. Her counter-attacks were weak, done more out of habit than to achieve anything. She moved backward to avoid a curving elbow strike, but then she was clotheslined as all of Cymbal's mass slammed into her through an arm crashing into her chest. Like before, he had used his wings to accelerate his speed to deliver a brutal blow. Her vision swam, her entire rib cage buckled and nearly caved in, as air flew out of her body as if driven by an irresistible gust of wind. Unable to even think, she fell backward onto the ground, motionless except for a few odd fingers or extremities.

Satisfied, Cymbal flew backward to land about ten feet away from his fallen opponent.

'Cymbal,' the Demon King said from the top of the hill, seeming to look straight through Rayne, 'you can end this. I think our brave defender has nothing left to offer us.'

Rayne desperately tried to prove him wrong- with every ounce of energy she compelled her body to rise- but it was hopeless. She couldn't even move any of her limbs. Lamely, she continued to lay supine on the ground.

Grinning maliciously, Cymbal stomped over to Rayne's beaten body. Rayne saw, through barely focused vision, a hand stretching down to point at her. Sickly pink energy welled in its center. A perverse feeling of injustice seeped through Rayne's body. If I was at full strength, if I wasn't so injured…

I'll meet you in the afterlife, Master Roshi, after all… Closing her eyes to accept her fate, she willed calm to her mind.

Even through her pained, beleaguered sensation, Rayne heard a distinct smacckk ride across the battlefield, as she felt the immense pressure lording over her be replaced with another. She opened her eyes.

Flexing his hand, Tien extended out his whole arm, as if the decisive blow he had delivered to Cymbal was part of his warm-up routine.

'Ready to the fight the World Champion, monster?'

0o0o0

Tien stood protectively over Rayne's body, positioned between the former red ribbon officer and King Piccolo. His earlier statement hadn't been directed to Cymbal- his cutting gaze towards King Piccolo made that clear enough.

To Rayne's relief, Piccolo laughed instead of immediately attacking Tien. 'So there are more of you! This should be interesting!' His eyes shot to the side, examining the other two newcomers- a medium-height yellow-haired girl and a pale, short… something. He had seen them approach, of course, but until now he hadn't seen the boy flung over one of the girl's shoulders. A boy with a curious, swishing tail behind him. 'So you're bringing fighters who aren't even conscious to fight me?' Piccolo said, bringing their attention to Kakarot draped over Launch's shoulder.

Ignoring the Demon King's question, Tien bent his knees, settling into his austere Crane School guard. Again, this looked… familiar to King Piccolo. For the first time since nearly being entrapped within the Evil Containment Wave, PIccolo felt genuine displeasure. 'I grow tired of pathetic fighters seeking to defeat me,' he said, half out of honesty and half out of fear, 'so I offer this; defeat my minions and you shall have a chance to fight me.' And, perhaps, I can find out which of these fools actually poses a threat, and dispatch them accordingly.

Rayne couldn't believe what she was hearing. A swell of hope took hold of her. We might stand a chance, if we keep him on the sidelines initially! She still hadn't collected the energy to talk- but she looked encouragingly at Tien regardless.

He obviously missed whatever she was trying to convey- he wasn't even looking at her.'Are you that afraid of us you'll hide behind your spawns!' Tien said, somewhat outraged of playing this game as he saw it. 'There's three of us and two of your 'children'; you would let us gang up on them?' While they were talking, Cymbal had painfully flown back over from the crater Tien had launched him into a hundred odd feet away.

It was then when everyone present saw the smile that had precipitated so much death, destruction, and ruin three hundred years past. In a quiet voice, Piccolo said, 'Count again.'

Tien began turning, to face the rest of the battlefield-

And a foot slammed into his sternum, knocking him into the dirt.

A winged creature, more slender and humanoid than Cymbal, descended from the sky, its power apparent

from that one move.

'Let me present my middle child, Tambourine,' Piccolo mewed, 'who has just returned from watching an entertaining tournament.'

The implication was clear- Tambourine's actions clicked into focus in everyone's minds- and Tien retaliated against the winged humanoid, colliding with the spawn and sending them tumbling further away from the crest of the slope.

Warily, Launch and Chiaotzu prepared for a fight.

'Uh, not to question you, my lord,' Piano asked, tugging at the side of Piccolo's gi, 'but I admit I'm not much of a fighter'

King Piccolo swung his gaze over Piano with a cruel air of indifference. 'Very well, then.' Twisting his face, Piccolo suddenly shot an egg out of his mouth, embedding itself in the nearby ground. 'That shall be your relief- whenever it hatches. Until then, you must prove your worth as a spawn of the Demon King Piccolo.'

Gulping, Piano nodded towards his creator, and walked down the slope to join Cymbal at the bottom. Cymbal himself was rubbing the side of his head. Angry welts ran up and down one entire side of his body, making the damage from Tien's strike clear. He was somewhat relieved he wasn't fighting the tall, bald one.

Launch and Chiaotzu wordlessly gestured to each other, then in a flash, broke off. Launch slammed into Cymbal, leading their fight away to Chiaotzu space. As this happened, Chiaotzu brought up his finger at lightning-fast speed, yelling, 'DODON RAY!' as it spiraled out across the battlefield. Piano hastily countered with his own dark purple, spinning blast. The Dodon Ray was barely stopped by the last-second attack; it detonated a mere few feet away from Piano. Seeing his first attack be canceled, Chiaotzu jumped away to find another angle.

Carnage was raging all around Rayne. She could do nothing but uselessly lay in the center of the battlefield, hoping against all odds that she wouldn't be caught in some errant attack. Things were happening too quickly for her to make sense of. The Crane students are helping us now? Why? Her brain wanted to strategize- but her heart was raging with anger, still. After all they did, all the harm they caused, they're- helping us! What kind of sick game are they playing! Incensed, she began to rise off of the ground; immediately, her body failed, as she fell back to the ground kicking up her own private cloud of dust. Her previous weariness now felt twice as strong. There's nothing I can do, then. Might as well accept any fate that comes to me now…

Strangely, at that moment Rayne felt a pair of hands tugging her off the ground, pulling her away from the center of the battlefield. Too tired to even open her eyes, she could only mentally murmur, What?...

0o0o0

Tien spun to avoid a jumping smash from Tambourine, then planted his foot in the ground and pushed off it, crashing into the winged monster. Fists and legs mercilessly pounded on each other before, forced by his injuries, Tambourine scraped his way clean, using his wings to float off of the ground. This human is legitimately powerful, the spawn of Piccolo thought, much, much stronger than I gave him credit for at the tournament. Still, as long as I can fly-

'Huahhh!' Tien lifted off the ground, flying up to where Tambourine was hovering and slamming a knee to the spawn's midsection. Reeling, Tambourine was helpless as Tien grabbed him in mid-air and twisted, knocking him back towards the ground with a heavy downwards kick. A small phoom rang through the air as Tambourine's collision with the plain threw up dirt a few meters overhead. Tien landed a few moments later.

Taking his time to climb out, Tambourine grimaced at his opponent. A human that can fly? Impossible! Not even the imprisoner could do that!

Noticing the disbelief clear on his opponent's face, Tien spat, 'are you surprised that an injured fighter can defend themselves, monster?' Unconsciously, Tien found himself flexing and releasing his fists- Yamcha's earlier death had affected him more than he would have expected. I barely knew him, and in the time I did know him, I thought of him as an enemy. But for him to die in such a way- unforgivable!...

Savoring the brief lull in fighting to regain his strength, Tambourine stated matter-of-fact, 'King Piccolo commanded me to eliminate any and all fighters at the World Martial Arts Tournament without being detected. I did as such.' Stealthily, Tambourine brought from behind him a hand full of ki. 'And I'll die,' he clenched his teeth, then flung his arm forward, releasing a golden, jagged beam of energy, 'BEFORE I TELL YOU WHY!'

Ki rushed out of the spawn, enveloping Tien's form briefly. Any hope of success Tambourine had was quickly extinguished, however, as Tien's aura crashed through the beam, driving Tien forward to slam a fist into Tambourine's stomach. 'You're not allowed to die until I know WHY!' Tien punted a gasping Tambourine away and pursued.

Nearby, Launch was ducking and diving in between Cymbal's heavy attacks. She was nowhere near her full strength- a few hours lying in bed was basically taking a quick breather- but luckily for her, her opponent seemed to be in the same situation. Cymbal appeared to be significantly weaker than he was earlier in the day- if his obvious injuries and panting were anything to go by. Still, Launch found herself pushing her energy to its limit to simply avoid any one of the brute's lumbering attacks. If I can just land one good blow, I'm sure I can gain the upper hand!...

Cymbal abruptly jumped up, flapping his wings as he did to elongate his upward arc. He vertically peaked and curled into a ball, obviously intending to smash into the area where they were fighting with maximum force. An idea popped into Launch's head. Oh, that could work WELL. She was going to have to dip into that reservoir like before- sorry, other me!- but if she used it momentarily, she was sure she wouldn't suffer that much. Pretty sure. Fifty-fifty. Alright, it's risky, but we like risks!

Digging her feet into the ground, she pulled on her ki, sensing the familiar pop! as she felt her energy intermix with another source. Cutting it off immediately, she shot that extra ki through her body. Just as Cymbal was about twenty feet above the ground, Launch made her move. Using her enhanced speed, she appeared above a surprised Cymbal, crashing her feet into his doughy core and accelerating him faster to the ground. One blow, and the spawn easily impacted the ground with twice as much force than he had planned. Satisfied, Launch jumped clear of the impact- understandably, she landed a few feet away awkwardly, rolling on her ankle. She also felt the familiar sense of exhaustion sweep over her like before- though nowhere near as pronounced. Straightening, Launch examined the crater.

Disappointingly, Cymbal emerged, damaged but still very much alive. 'You do know I was planning on hitting the ground fast, right? So it would make sense I would push all my ki to my front?' True to his word, his front looked undamaged by his collision with the ground. Launch did notice, however, something else.

'Your back isn't looking so good, friend.'

Grimacing, Cymbal took his time- cautiously- testing the range of motion in his back. 'Could be better. But you hadn't planned on damaging me there, did you?'

'Looks like both of us are pretty lousy tacticians'

'Yea, but at the end of this I'll be alive and you'll-'

Their conversation was cut off as a massive shockwave swept over their section of West City..

0o0o0

Piccolo was, if nothing else, intrigued by these fighters. The fact that they were standing up to his spawns, one-on-one, was impressive. Though perhaps he shouldn't be too surprised- they were born before he regained his insurmountable strength back. He glanced warmly at the egg half-submerged in the ground next to him. Him, though, he'll be an entirely different beast.

I wonder what I should call him? Something fearsome. Maybe- Hmm?

Piccolo's attention was wrenched away to a beam clash involving Piano and the pale, short fighter. He saw that his spawn was hemmed into a corner of the battlefield- I never did care to give him any fighting IQ- and thus, with nowhere else to go, Piano was forced to make a stand where he was. A swirling pink and yellow beam was rolling out of his eldest spawn's hands. Two thin, golden beams were blasting out of the pale fighter's fingers, one from each index finger. Their attacks met in the middle between them; their combined energy didn't disperse, nor detonate, but was instead roiling together in an ever growing sphere of white, volatile energy. Exemplary ki control from both of them to keep their energy that rigid so to merge like that. Perhaps I underestimated Piano.

Piccolo saw his eldest spawn resisting fiercely, even as the wind raged against them and the air around them grew hot from the resulting entropy. Sweat was staining each of their clothes- and yet, both of them pressed on, unrelenting. Not that they had much choice. For either of them to stop at this point would be ensuring their own death in the resulting explosion. One of them will die from this.

Piccolo swung his gaze back towards the pale fighter- and shockingly, the short one had floated up a few feet above his previous position, and had shot a thinner, gold beam, from one finger. His other hand was raised as well- and yet no ki was coming out of it. Piano can easily avoid this, if the pale one broke off the attack. He just needs to-

He heard a blood-curdling yell ring out across the battlefield. Piccolo twisted his head to see his eldest spawn be pierced by the gold, thin beam. Oddly, Piano's entire body was frozen in place, as if his entire body had stopped functioning at the moment of the pale one's attack. Piccolo only had a moment to process what he had seen when the pale fighter flung one final energy wave at the mixing sphere of energy between them. While it was initially creeping towards the pale fighter, the ball was flung away his final attack back down at Piano. Still motionless, Piano could only look on with terrified eyes as the blast consumed him, blotting out the outline of his body. The smoke cleared- not a single trace of Piano remained.

Three things were made apparent to Piccolo then. One: that his spawn was defeated by telekinesis, used by the pale fighter to prevent Piano from moving away from the piercing beam, and then once shocked, to prevent Piano from moving away from their combined blast. Two: telekinesis is perhaps the one thing that could guarantee his capture by the Evil Containment Wave, if used in conjunction. Three: Piano had served his purpose.

With a blinding flash of movement, Piccolo appeared in front of a winded Chiaotzu and simply swung his clawed hand in front of him, right to left. Chiaotzu's body was viciously raked, blood flying out, and would have fallen to the ground if not for Piccolo immediately hurtling a gold wave of energy at the fighter's defenseless body. It was over in less than five seconds- Chiaotzu was ash.

Far across the battlefield, a single, anguished voice cried out, 'Chiaotzu, NO!'

0o0o0


A/N: yep.

Reviews:

LWexe: I figure there's always gonna be 'that person' who disregards the ancient, evil legends in every DBZ timeline. Thus, poof; Piccolo is out and ready to play! And thanks for reviewing for the gazillionth time! I imagine you are the mouthpiece of the 10 people who like this fic and want me to keep writing.

Lala: Thanks for the review! Even a few words can become my 'look at this when concerned about the quality of my writing' resource.

Ahh yes, Kakarot is here, isn't he...