Editor's Note: Thank you so much everyone for your reviews! I'm starting to write a lot of fighting chapters which isn't my strong suit lol but would appreciate any advice and tips as I go along! :)
Vegeta woke up with a strong, angry breath.
Around him were the Z Fighters, Bulma and that girl. He could've reached out and strangled her himself if it weren't for all the onlookers standing right there, so instead he just shot a searing glare at her before jumping to his feet.
"Feeling better?" Bulma asked in a sing-song voice. His eyes remained fixated on Bulla.
"How dare you," he spat at his daughter. "You had a chance to kill Gero and the Androids and you just left like a coward. That is not the warrior's way."
Bulla scowled. It was not like she was expecting her father to take her into his arms upon her arrival, or even give her the courtesy of politeness—after all the stories she had heard from Gohan about his troublesome personality she knew better than to expect that. But for him to sit there and yell at her after she saved his life pissed her off to no end.
"Oh really?" She hissed. "The warrior's way? Just like jumping into a battle when you're outmatched and outclassed and refusing to take help even when it's offered to you? Is that the warrior's way?"
"You have some nerve coming here," Vegeta growled. Suddenly, he realized where he was. They were in Bulma's lab back at Capsule Corp., Goku humming away in his rejuvenation chamber, and the rest of Earth's fighters looking on with a mix of anxiety, embarrassment and elation—they couldn't believe this girl was giving Vegeta the business.
"Not that I don't love these tender family moments," Bulla quipped, "but I came here to protect you. Because in my time, you are dead and I am not. Oh, and by the way, you're welcome for the senzu bean you arrogant a-"
"Enough is enough," Bulma interjected. "We can all deal with this later. Right now we need to focus on what happened. Where did the androids go when you left?"
Even as her mother's words rang in her ear, she continued to stare down her father. As irked as she was, she knew that she needed to remain focused on the task at hand, but everything was a sensory overload. To be honest, she had not had much time to think about the events that just occurred earlier that day. In her world, Gero was killed by his androids at some point between their being born and their release into the world, or so she assumed. She had never seen Gero in her 19 years of life, and the androids had never mentioned him beyond that he was their creator, so she and the others had always thought he was dead.
"Gero—he has some sort of device that controls the androids, almost like a mind control device or something, but it physically hurts them when he activates it," she said feeling the eyes of the Z Fighters on her. "He must've confronted them after they failed to kill Goku, because he mentioned he was angry at them, and they made it seem like they had possibly injured him. Though, I didn't really get a good look to see if that was true."
"Interesting," Piccolo said softly. "They're imploding on each other—this could be good news for us."
"I thought so too," Bulla turned to him. "But then he mentioned that there is another monster out there somewhere that he made, one that is even stronger and is designed to take out the androids. They didn't seem to know anything about it, so I'm thinking Gero had a backup plan in case they turned on him—which they did."
"Did he say where that creature was?" Bulma asked, hopeful. Bulla shook her head.
"No, but he said he's the only one who knows how to stop it, which is why I spared his life."
Piccolo crossed his arms and closed his eyes. Even with Goku, this fight was going to be a lot harder than he had ever anticipated. Many times Piccolo had thought about if a situation like this were to arise exactly what his options would be, and though he knew his plan was a bit drastic, he thought it was probably the right thing to do. He was unsure the others would agree.
"I am going to visit Kami," he said calmly.
"Do you think he'll have some insights into what to do?" Yamcha asked tentatively.
"Something like that."
"While you go on your field trip, I plan on going back out there and finding those androids and finishing them off once and for all!" Vegeta clenched his fist, a wicked smile forming across his face.
"What is the matter with you!" Bulma shouted at him. "You just got beaten up by them and you want to go back out there by yourself?"
"Shut up, woman!" He spat back, which caused Bulla to position herself in between the two.
"Don't speak to her like that!" Her voice rang out like a bell—clear and loud and full of an undeniable force—and everyone in the laboratory stood at attention. "If you want to talk to her like that, the androids are going to be the least of your worries."
Vegeta got into a fighting stance, a glimmer in his eye at the anticipation of fighting this annoying brat, when Piccolo let out a loud yell of his own.
"Everyone, stop! We cannot start imploding on ourselves, too. I am going to the Lookout. Vegeta, wait here until I return. I promise you I can guarantee a fight, I just need a few hours to speak to Kami about a plan. And after you defeat the androids, I don't care what you do to one another—kill Bulla if you'd like—but right now I need you and I need her intact."
Disappointed, Vegeta backed down. He gave a hiss of indifference and headed into the Capsule Corp. compound without saying as much as a word to the others. Piccolo shrugged him off and quickly made his own way back to the front lawn, the Z Fighters following close behind. If they knew what he was about to do, he knew they would stop him immediately, but he also knew that no one would ask him his true intentions of the trip.
The Lookout was practically glowing against the cerulean blue of the sky, an odd juxtaposition for the events that were occurring below on this very day. Piccolo wasted no time running toward the Lookout's sprawling palatial home, but he didn't even need to rush—Kami and Mr. Popo were already waiting for him at the entrance.
"I see you are troubled, Piccolo," Kami commented as if he already knew the conflict in Piccolo's heart. "There is a great evil occurring below."
"Yes," Piccolo sighed. "The androids I told you about—they've come early and they're causing destruction. We need to find a way to defeat them."
Kami closed his eyes. Before Piccolo had even landed at the Lookout, Kami knew what he was going to ask him to do. They were connected, weren't they? And it wasn't as if Piccolo's idea was a bad one; if there was any reason the two should become one, now seemed like the right time. The only issue was the dragon balls, and the permanence of life without them.
"You want to merge, don't you?" he mused. Piccolo's eyes grew wide.
"How did you know?"
"Piccolo, you and I were always meant to be one," Kami's voice was quiet, but strong. "It was always our destiny."
Mr. Popo nervously looked on, wringing his hands over and over, worried about interjecting at such a delicate moment but knowing he had to.
"But what about the dragon balls?" Mr. Popo pressed. "If you merge…"
"I know the risks," Kami assured him. "As does he. Do you think this is the right thing to do, Piccolo? You know if we become one, the dragon balls will cease to be."
That was the thought that plagued Piccolo's mind on his journey to the Lookout. On one hand, Kami's strength combined with Piccolo's would give the Z Fighters the advantage they would most certainly need against the androids and this new, unknown foe. But if there were any missteps-any at all-there would be no coming back from it. The future that Bulla knew, the one full of terror and hardship, could be the reality for this timeline as well.
"It's a risk I'm willing to take."
Kami nodded his head solemnly as Mr. Popo reached out to him, his eyes pleading to his master to reconsider what he was about to do. But it was too late. In a great flash of light, the two locked arms and Kami gave himself over to Piccolo, his soul crashing into him like a thousand jolts of electricity running through both their veins. Time was moving slowly for them, but in reality, it took mere seconds to fuse together two lives that had been always inextricably connected.
As Piccolo headed back toward Capsule Corp., he couldn't help but feel a sliver of guilt for how good he felt. Kami was right-merging together with him felt like it was part of his destiny, something inherent to him that was natural and good and right. Despite the risks—despite there being no dragon balls—Piccolo selfishly was glad that he held Kami's power inside his beating heart now.
What was even better was now he felt like he had this innate ability to see, to really see, the world around him in a way that he had never felt before. There was this connection to the Earth and its people. The newness of it was what almost made him second guess himself when he felt a drop of energy from a nearby town.
It was as if a huge amount of life energy was sucked from a straw, pulled up into a vacuum and depleted into something else-but Piccolo couldn't put his finger on what. He was confused. Over his shoulder, he looked at the town where the energy was disappearing, wondering if possibly the androids were on another spree like the ones they had in Indigo City and Copper Town. But there were no explosions, no plumes of smoke. In fact, the city looked almost peaceful from the onset.
Piccolo changed course to investigate, landing smackdab in the city center. He somewhat expected onlookers to shift uncomfortably at the sight of a green alien flying ahead, but instead it was eerily quiet—there wasn't a soul in sight. There were no people anywhere.
That's when he noticed the clothes. There were clothes of all sizes strewn about the road and the sidewalks, and there were half-eaten meals, cups of coffee, newspapers and magazines just lying on the ground as if they were dropped in midair.
"What...what happened here?" Piccolo stammered, looking around in confusion and shock.
Not far from where he stood, Piccolo caught something moving out of the corner of his eye behind a tree surrounded by thick brush. Whatever it was had a ki, but it was weak, and while he couldn't quite make out why, something about the energy seemed strangely familiar. A stunning thought crossed his mind—was this Gero's new monster?
Suddenly, whatever was stalking him from behind the tree revealed itself. He was tall—taller than even Piccolo—and he had green, spotted skin. Behind him was a tail that furiously curled, pointed directly at Piccolo, a syringed tip at its very end. His claw-like feet clicked on the pavement as his chest puffed outward.
"Hello, Piccolo," he hissed.
"Who are you?" Piccolo asked.
The monster flicked his tail into the air.
"Why, don't you know me?" His voice had the tambour of a snake's rattle. "I am you. I am all of you."
"Stop speaking in riddles," Piccolo threatened. "And tell me who you are."
He jolted forward in a flash which took Piccolo off guard. He dove to avoid him, but his tail came whipping back, clobbering Piccolo in the face and sending him backward. He loomed over the Namekian with wide eyes and a sickening smile.
"My name is Cell," the creature said.
Piccolo shot up to his feet and quickly powered up. His newfound fusion with Kami proved to be successful—Piccolo's power was like electricity running through him, and as he increased his strength, the pavement below buckled and crumbled at his feet. Cell looked unamused.
Piccolo stretched out his hand, forming a ki blast and launching it toward Cell. The light enveloped him, taking down buildings and leaving almost nothing in its path. But from it Cell emerged without a scratch. He leapt over Piccolo to gain ground, forming a ki blast of his own and launching it, but Piccolo easily skirted out of its way. Piccolo charged again, this time landing a left tackle on Cell that hurled him several hundred yards from where they had first started.
A hollowed out building broke Cell's fall. It wasn't long before Piccolo was back, throwing a flurry of punches into the creature's body. Cell took it easily, and without much protest—he was blocking Piccolo's attacks, but barely tried to throw in one of his own.
Crossing his arms, he locked on to block one of Piccolo's punches and formed a blast of energy that shot Piccolo back again. As Piccolo got to his feet, Cell placed two fingers to his head to generate a strong ki blast, one that Piccolo knew well.
Piccolo looked on in horror.
"Special beam cannon!" He shouted, throwing it directly at Piccolo. It was the Namekian's signature technique.
As quickly as it was called, it was defeated. Piccolo sliced through it with his own ki blast, sending it off into nearby buildings where its powerful energy left craters in its wake. Cell was quickly heading back Piccolo's way, and he braced himself for another onslaught of attacks. As hard as Cell tried, none of his attacks were able to connect, but for Piccolo to keep up with the monster was a challenge. What was he made of?
Just as Piccolo managed to get one good punch in on Cell, he felt the creature's tail wrap around his leg and fling him up into the air. As he got his bearings, he felt a jolting pain in his left side that felt like a knife cutting through him. He looked down and realized the tip of Cell's tail was stuck inside, violently pumping something out of his body.
Piccolo managed to grab onto the tail, but he was already starting to feel weak in a way that he could never recall feeling before, like his life energy was being extracted out of him. Then it clicked. Cell—he absorbed all of those people, and that's why there were clothes on the ground. He didn't merely kill them, he took their life energy—and that's what he was doing to the Namekian at this very moment.
"Soon you will be all mine," Cell smirked. "Soon you all will be."
Suddenly, Piccolo saw a leg flash in front of him and connect with Cell's head, forcing the tail out of Piccolo's side. It was Tien. The force shot Cell like a bullet down to the Earth below, back to the rubble where Piccolo could see Yamcha waiting. When Cell's body hit the ground, Yamcha let out a powerful ki blast that enveloped Cell, and while Piccolo knew that would have no effect on him, he couldn't find the strength to yell to his friend.
"What is that thing?" Tien choked, holding up Piccolo's weak body.
"It's Gero's creation," Piccolo sucked in a deep breath of air. "We have to get out of here."
Cell emerged once more from the rubble looking a little worse for wear. He needed more of Piccolo's energy to continue fighting at this stamina, but you could tell the energy he did manage to steal was beginning to give him a second wind.
"Yamcha!" Tien shouted. "We need to retreat!"
"Giving up so quickly?" Cell laughed. Tien shot another energy blast at Cell, prompting Yamcha to shoot another one of his own, and it caused a brilliant explosion that was twice the size of Piccolo's. When the dust settled and they didn't see Cell emerge, they mistakenly assumed they had taken the advantage in the fight, but Piccolo knew better. He shouted down to them, still clutching his side, and motioned for them to get going somewhere else.
Tien and Yamcha gave each other quick glances when they saw a piece of rubble slowly move. They took flight and headed toward Kame house.
