11: Piccolo And The House By The Lake

Turles stood as stiff as a brick wall, his stern gaze tilted upward. His dark eyes glared at the stars above with such hatred that it would make the Kais shiver in fear. A light wind blew across the surface of the bombed planet, blowing his white cape back gently. He didn't move or avert his gaze from the sky above him. Anger rooted him in place as if it were cement.

Kakarot, Turles thought, the name alone leaving a bitter aftertaste on his tongue. You think you can hide from me forever? True, we've managed to avoid each other for some time now, but I have found you. I know where you are. I have a strong feeling that you still reside on that futile planet the miserable humans call Earth. Your strong desire to protect that planet will lead to your downfall, Kakarot. Just you wait.

Amond and Diaz joined Turles on the rocky ruins of the planet's surface, both of them exchanging looks.

"Sir, are we going after them?" Amond asked.

"I'd gladly rip them apart." Diaz added with a devilish grin.

Turles remained silent for a few seconds, then turned swiftly and headed back to their ship. Diaz and Amond followed closely.

"Yes, we will go after them," Turles began. He stepped over rocks and concrete slabs as he spoke. "But first, we have a stop to make."

"Where?" Lakasei grumbled as him and Rasin hurried to keep up with their larger comrades.

"Why would we want to waste time with a pit-stop when we know exactly where they are? If you ask me, it seems like we're just letting them get away." Diaz said, crossing his arms.

"Believe me, I want Kakarot dead just as much as the next person, but to truly defeat him, we'll have to play a little game of strategy." Turles replied with a smile. "Kakarot is no shy gun when it comes to fighting. Off duty, sure, he's a moron. But he's powerful. He's obtained forms I didn't know existed. So, to finish him off for good, there's an old friend I'd like to visit."

"Who?" Amond asked.

Turles stopped and looked over his shoulder, his eyes casting onto each of his fellow soldiers with a gentle grin. "You'll see."

...

The flight to Piccolo would have been a short one, but with Basil, it morphed a ten-minute flight into an hour and a half struggle. She questioned everything she saw with a child's eagerness, her eyes ever-so wide and curious. It was nearly impossible for Goku and Vegeta to keep up with her energetic spirit. Vegeta tried with all his strength not to snap, but that was proving to be a very difficult task. It was like asking a wolf not a hunt.

Goku and Vegeta had to practically sandwich her between them in order to keep her from flying off. Basil hardly paid them any mind, as her focus was on the ground below them. The people were so small that they resembled ants, and the cars looked like tiny insects. Basil soaked it all in like a life-size sponge, her black eyes alive with a rainbow of colors.

Bulma and Chi-Chi had taken Basil to give her a much needed bath and a refreshing change of clothes before they left. They wanted to take her shopping, but Vegeta was already losing his patience and wanted to take her to Piccolo to figure out what they were going to do with her. Her insanely long black hair was cut short, so it ended at the base of her neck. Or, at the very least, most of her hair was cut. The rest was pulled into two braids on the sides of her head, the ends of the braids ending at her feet. Bulma had said that she would have cut all her hair short, but Basil had squirmed and fidgeted like a toddler. Chi-Chi said that Bulma had almost cut the wildly energetic Saiyan several times, on account of the fact that Basil still didn't understand what 'sitting still' meant. Instead of her worn and tattered Saiyan armor, Basil now wore a plain white T-shirt with shorts and sneakers, all of which were too small for Bulma but fit Basil perfectly.

Now, Bulma was busy with the task of building Jaco a new ship, since they had ditched his old one on the ruins of Planet Vegeta.

A small house came into view, accompanied by a large and bright blue lake. Basil's mouth gaped open at the scene that fell before her eyes. The house was pure white with circular, blue-tinted windows. It was slightly log-shaped, with two sharp points protruding from the roof. A small mailbox sat beside a dainty little path leading to the breathtaking lake before them. Two small waterfalls fed the body of water, which led to a much larger waterfall. Mountains and large rock formations enclosed the home, so that it sat all alone in its private paradise.

It's so pretty! Basil thought, a wide smile made entirely of joy appearing on her face. Wow. I wish we had these pretty houses on Planet Vegeta. And it's so quiet and peaceful. No fighting of any kind! Earth must be really powerful if it never has any fights on its surface.

Vegeta sighed internally with relief upon seeing the familiar Namekian-style house and slowed, peeling away from Goku. He grabbed Basil by the back of her shirt and descended. Basil squealed with happiness as she spotted birds flying past them, then squealed even louder when she saw fish underneath the water. Of course, she didn't know they were birds or fish. She just saw them as entertaining creatures.

The three of them landed softly, their feet touching down on the bright pea-green grass. Basil giggled gleefully and darted away from Vegeta's grasp, hopping around from one foot to the other. Goku tried to catch her, but ended up tripping on a rock and face-planting in the soft grass. Vegeta sighed loudly and simply stuck out his leg. Basil, upon attempting to bounce around him, tumbled over his leg and rolled across the ground, landing on top of Goku with a rather unflattering umfph.

"Piccolo, come out here!" Vegeta called, stepping over the two fallen Saiyans to pound on the door. "I know you're in there!"

"I think I broke something." Goku groaned as he got to his feet, flipping Basil off of him.

"Is Piccolo a Saiyan, too?" Basil asked, bounding up to Vegeta, resting her chin on his shoulder.

"No, now stop asking questions." Vegeta grumbled, then pounded harder on the door to the lonely house by the lake. "Piccolo! Open up!"

"Vegeta, try a more gentle approach." Goku suggested, coming along the other side of Vegeta, placing his hands on his hips.

Vegeta drove his elbow into Goku's stomach, then brought back his fist to practically smash the door down. Right before his fist made contact with the smooth door, it opened up rather quickly, and a large, blocky figure took up the entire door frame. Basil jumped back, hiding behind Goku. She had never seen someone as big and menacing as this stranger. She wasn't afraid of Goku or Vegeta, or even Turles and his friends. But this strange alien suddenly felt very intimidating. She didn't sense a strong power level coming off of him, but she was more afraid of his angry look. His huge frame didn't help matters very much, either.

He was fairly tall, with green skin and pink patches on his arms. He wore a white cape and a dark purple-ish blue Gi, pointy orange shoes, and a sky blue Obi. His ears were pointed and his eyes were somewhat narrow. He had solid facial features and a straight, well-defined nose.

Vegeta crossed his arms and locked eyes with Piccolo, not removing himself from his spot in front of the door. "Took you long enough."

"What is it that you want, Vegeta?" Piccolo asked, then his eyes landed on a cowering Basil, who ducked down lower behind Goku. "Is that the female Saiyan Bulma told me about?"

"Yep!" Goku said with a grin. "Her name is Basil." He stepped to the side, leaving Basil in the full view of the Namekian. Piccolo looked her up and down, his arms crossed firmly over his rather large chest. Basil held her hands over her chest, her face a bright red, as if she were embarrassed. Her tail tucked between her legs like a scared dog.

"She was on Planet Vegeta?" Piccolo asked, stepping out of his house to join them in the gentle wind and smooth grass.

"Yes," Vegeta said. "Apparently, she survived off of seeds."

"Do you know her age?" Piccolo walked around her, examining her, as if he didn't believe she was what Goku and Vegeta said she was.

"Not really, but I'm willing to guess she's somewhere around mine and Vegeta's age." Goku said with a shrug. "Maybe younger."

Piccolo stood before Basil with an intense stare. Him and Basil locked eyes, both of them unblinking and unwavering. She was still unsure if Piccolo was a friend or not. She slowly got onto the tips of her toes and stared deeper into Piccolo's eyes, her own eyes conveying curiosity and interest. Piccolo didn't move; he only stared back, as if he were attempting to read her thoughts.

Goku and Vegeta exchanged a confused look.

"What are they doing?" Goku whispered with a raised eyebrow.

"I have no idea," Vegeta replied, his eyes moving from Piccolo to Basil.

"Is it some sort of Namekian mating ritual?" Goku asked.

"I highly doubt it." Vegeta rolled his eyes.

Basil brought her face closer to Piccolo, searching his face for nothing in particular. Then, she had officially deemed him no longer a possible threat. With a wide smile, she jumped into his arms, laughing like a little child. "Hi, Piccolo! You don't look like a Saiyan. What are you? Are you an alien like the ones we fought on Planet Vegeta? Wow, you're strong! How old are you? Are you super old? You don't look young. What species are you?"

Piccolo dropped her with little regard to her getting hurt and turned to Goku and Vegeta. "Why did you bring her here?"

"What are we supposed to do with her?" Vegeta asked with a huff.

"We figured you'd know what to do with her. I mean, she is the only female Saiyan in this universe." Goku said with a wave of his finger. "We need to keep her safe. Turles wants to keep her so he can use her for breeding full-blooded Saiyan offspring."

"What?" Vegeta was taken aback. "Seriously? He told you that?"

"Yeah. He figured he was gonna win, so he told me his plan. He wants her to make baby Saiyans that would help him in taking over all the planets." Goku shook his head. "If he got his hands on her, it wouldn't be pretty."

"What are offspring?" Basil asked with a cock of her head.

Piccolo grabbed Goku and Vegeta and walked a safe distance away from Basil, making sure they were out of her earshot. "What do you intend for me to do?" He asked. "I agree that we have to protect her, but I can't harbor a Saiyan in my house. She's too rowdy and unchecked."

"Well, we certainly can't have her living near the city." Vegeta pointed out. "She already nearly killed someone. This is the most isolated place we could think of to keep her. There's plenty of room. I can get Bulma to give Basil a capsule house, which she can stay in until she gets used to life on Earth."

"She needs to be taught right from wrong," Piccolo stated. "Like a child. She's been alone her entire life, so it makes sense for her to not understand much about life. Earth is a complicated planet in its own right. Adjusting to this new way of living will take a great amount of time."

"So...will you teach her?" Goku asked hopefully.

Piccolo sighed, shaking his head. "I feel it would be easier for her if her teaching came from members of her own kind."

Vegeta took a step back. "You don't mean-"

"Broly!" Goku cried with a wide, child-like smile.

Piccolo and Vegeta stared at Goku as if he had a third head.

Goku laughed. "Vegeta, it's obvious! We take her to Broly!"

"Why the hell would we do that?" Vegeta questioned. "Doesn't Broly live on some far-off planet in the middle of nowhere?"

"Are you even still in touch with him?" Piccolo asked.

"Well, not really. We haven't talked in a while, but I know he'd love to know that a female Saiyan exists in this universe. Besides, Planet Vampa is totally isolated and barren. She can cause all the destruction she wants, without fear of hurting anybody." Goku put his hands on his hips, grinning triumphantly.

Vegeta looked over at Basil, who was currently hopping around like a frog while following what appeared to be an actual frog. He groaned and turned to face Goku. "Broly is dangerous. I understand that he has Cheelai and Lemo with him?"

Goku nodded. "Yep."

"Besides that, he still has unchecked power." Vegeta continued, rubbing his chin. "But, then again, so does Basil. Right now, we don't know how strong she could be. For all we know, she could be the female legendary Saiyan of this universe. But, Broly has immense anger issues, and Basil's insistent questioning of everything could be the thing to throw him off. Not to mention there's hardly anything to eat on that planet as it is. Adding another person could make finding food an even harder task. And besides all that, we need her to become accustomed to life on Earth, if she is to join us in protecting it. We can't have her protecting something she doesn't understand."

"While that is all true, we can't have her gallivanting around on Earth. We first need to show her the basics. And I highly doubt Broly would take kindly to a random Saiyan showing up on his planet." Piccolo said.

"Well, yeah, but we can't take her into the city. She gets too excited." Goku rubbed the back of his neck. "Man, this is hard."

Basil skipped over to them, her freshly cleaned and cut hair bouncing with each step she made. "Hey, what'cha talking about?"

"I suppose I could keep her here until a better plan surfaces." Piccolo said with a light sigh. "I trust you two will come by each day to teach her and train her?"

"Teach me? Oh, cool! Teach me what?" Basil looked from each of the men, an eager expression on her face.

"I guess so," Vegeta agreed. "That appears to be the only option we have."

"Oh, I didn't know training was involved! Cool! I had a lot of fun training Gohan, so training Basil should be a breeze." Goku laughed.

"You say that now, but just you wait until we actually have to train her." Vegeta said. "She's not as smart and tactful as Gohan. We'll have to go slow so she can understand."

"Slow?" Goku repeated, then sighed. "Ah, man! I thought this was going to be fun."

"Once she's fully trained, then you can have all the fun you want, Goku." Piccolo said, crossing his arms yet again over his boulder of a chest.

"You guys are gonna train me?" Basil hopped over to Goku and Vegeta. "What does that mean?"

Vegeta sighed. "I have a feeling we're going to be here for a while."

Goku could only nod in agreement.