Oh my god, you guys, I am so sorry this took so long. One of my professors decided to randomly assign a research paper, and that has taken up all my time. FINALLY got this up. Beware, there is the use of a certain vulgar word in this chapter.
Piccolo felt like he had been punched in the gut. He tried to gasp in air, but none would enter his lungs. He heard Tsuki take a deep breath herself.
"What do we do now?" he heard himself croak, though he didn't recall the words forming in his head.
In a fit of despair, the goddess dropped to her knees and ran her shaking hands through her hair. "I don't know," she whispered. "That boy is...was...was our hope." She let in a wracking breath. "Mother, I need your help..." she practically whimpered, sounding very much lost.
He wondered for a moment if he should go to her, say something, anything... but he was at a loss.
Then, suddenly, she collapsed, her body sprawling on the ground. Piccolo moved to go to her, but was stopped as a translucent being rose out of Tsuki's body and stood fully. The being turned her amber gaze upon Piccolo, and she held a shadowy hand out toward him.
"Come, Piccolo. Step forward so that I may see you," she spoke gently, with a lilting, lyrical voice.
Piccolo found himself stepping forward almost against his will. "Who are you?" he asked finally.
She smiled softly. "My name is Gami. I am Tsuki and Amat's mother."
Piccolo felt compelled to bow and did so, slightly, so that his body barely moved, but she saw it.
"Aren't you...dead?"
She smiled and nodded. "My spirit lives on in my daughter. But yes, I am gone. My realm is now of god's past. Where your boy is."
Piccolo perked up. "Gohan?"
She dipped her head. "He is well. Missing you, but well. He's ready to come back."
"We can't bring him back. The dragon balls..."
"I know, I know, Piccolo. Ordinarily, I would not intervene... My daughter means well," Gami said gently, looking fondly upon Tsuki. "And she is handling this whole situation admirably. Had I foreseen Amat going so..."
"Psychotic?" Piccolo supplied, grumbling.
She smiled wanly. "I wouldn't put it in so many words, but yes. The unfortunate thing about gods is that we do not have set fates. There is nothing predetermined about what we do, how we live. If there were, I could have rewritten my son's fate. Alas, I cannot."
"What's going to happen now? Without the kid..."
"Oh, come now. I may be dead, but I think we can pull a few strings here..."
Piccolo perked up. "Can you bring Gohan back?"
Gami shook her head. "No. But, I think I can do some reversals. Now, let's see...Hm..." She frowned slightly. "He did make a right mess of things. There's only one way to do this. This is going to take some work," she mumbled to herself. "Well," she said, addressing Piccolo now, "the only thing I can do is turn time back to right before Amat changed everything."
"But, won't he just do it again?" Piccolo asked.
"No, not this time. I'll solidify this fate. He will not be able to change it. I'll erase everyone's memory of this so that it was like nothing ever happened. Everything will go back to how it was before this happened."
"So, I won't remember any of this?"
"Unfortunately not."
"No, I think that suits me fine," Piccolo said, smirking slightly.
Gami smiled back. "I can see why my daughter likes you so much." Piccolo cocked a brow. "She never got close to anyone. Not after what happened with the Supreme Kais. But you, you she seems to connect with. I'm glad."
"She sure has a funny way of showing it," he muttered.
"Yes well, Gohan would know all about that as well." She smiled then, raising her hands. "Well Piccolo, it's been a pleasure."
"Wait... do we even have a chance? Should we bring him back?" he asked quickly.
She looked upon him for a moment. "A legend will save you all," she answered.
He heard her say something in a strange language, and then her wrists flicked out, and he saw nothing.
"I don't want to change who I am."
"You won't. I promise. You'll merely grow stronger. I swear."
Piccolo begrudgingly crossed his arms over his chest and hmphed. "Fine."
Tsuki smiled. "Good. It's settled then. Now, I promised Nail he could speak to Dende one last time before you two merged." She raised her left hand and waved it lazily. "There. Now, when you wish to merge, all you must do, Piccolo, is place your hand on Nail's chest. He knows how to do the rest. Good luck."
And she was gone.
"Go then, Nail, my son. Say goodbye to your brother. You have made me proud," Guru's deep, gravelly voice praised.
Nail bowed. "Thank you, Lord Guru," he said before ducking out of the building, Piccolo behind him. The motley trio turned to look at them as they came through the door. Dende smiled as Nail approached him, but that smile disappeared as he noticed the solemn expression on Nail's face.
"Nail, what's wrong?" Dende asked as Nail put his hand heavily on the boy's shoulder.
"It's time to say goodbye, my little friend," he said.
"What? But why? Where are you going?" Dende pressed, confused.
"I have to go, Dende. I must merge with this Namekian," he said, gesturing to Piccolo, "for the betterment of our race."
"What? No! I don't want you to, Nail!" Dende protested.
"I know, Dende. But you are strong and it will be you who will bring the rest of our race back to life. That is your destiny. This is mine."
Dende nodded tearfully. "Okay, Nail. Goodbye, my friend."
"And to you," Nail said before turning to Piccolo. "Well, I guess this is it." Piccolo hesitantly put his hand on Nail's chest. "Look brother, I don't want to do this anymore than you do. But by doing this, you become one of the last hopes for this planet. So don't make me do this in vain, got it?" Nail asked sternly.
"You don't have to worry about that," Piccolo replied, equally as stern. "Just get this over with."
Nail nodded and hummed one low note deep in his chest, his eyes closed in deep concentration. A light surrounded him before he began to fade away. Piccolo began to feel himself grow stronger, stronger... His ki began to soar at an alarming rate and he smirked.
Nail was gone and a new, confident Piccolo was in his place. Krillin's mouth hung open like an idiot in awe, and Vegeta looked more than a little pissed.
Piccolo vaguely wondered if he was stronger than the Saiyan.
"What the hell is this?" Vegeta practically snarled.
"That was amazing!" Krillin exclaimed at the same time.
Piccolo crossed his arms over his chest. "That is how we win this oncoming tangle with the Ginyu Force."
"Oh, like hell it is," Vegeta replied. "I demand to know how you did that."
"Are you blind or just stupid?" Piccolo snapped.
"No, I saw it, idiot," Vegeta snapped back.
Piccolo turned to go inside. "Come then. Guru said he will unlock your inner power."
"Our inner what now?" Krillin asked, following the Namekian. "You mean he's going to make us stronger...holy shit that's a big Namekian..." he mused.
"Oh good, I see your fusion with Nail went well, Piccolo," Guru drawled. "That will have unlocked all your inner power. The human and the Saiyan, however, I sense have some ki which can be brought to the surface. Come forward human," he said.
"Er, okay..." Krillin said, stepping up to the huge Namekian. "So what do I do? Do I just..."
He was cut off as Guru's giant hand rested on his head. A bright light went from Guru's hand to Krillin's body and Piccolo felt his ki grow substantially. Krillin looked very pleased, practically bouncing with excitement.
"Shove aside, cue ball," Vegeta snapped, pushing Krillin out of the way. "You, old man, do the same for me," he demanded.
"Ordinarily, Saiyan, I would be unable to unlock your inner ki due to your cold heart. You are lucky this is such an unusual circumstance. You have killed my people for selfish gain, and show no remorse for your actions."
"Why should I?" Vegeta challenged.
Krillin slapped a hand to his forehead. "Ugh, Vegeta, wrong answer."
Guru grunted. "There is nothing I can do for you, then, Saiyan. Your hatred makes your inner ki inaccessible to me and to yourself. It will be your downfall."
"Why you insolent-" Vegeta sputtered, growing angrier by the second. Ki glowed brightly in his hand, and lightning-quick, Piccolo shoved the Saiyan back with his forearm against his neck, pinning him to the wall. "Get off!" Vegeta snarled at the Namekian. He raised his knee to nail him in the gut, but Piccolo's own knee shoved the offending one away.
The two warriors glared at each other, both growling. Krillin wisely stayed out of the way, Dende hiding behind him. Vegeta slammed his head forward to try to smash against Piccolo's, but the Namek jerked back and increased the pressure on the Saiyan's throat, causing him to gag slightly and cough.
"That is enough!" Guru ordered loudly. The two cut their eyes to him and Piccolo increased the pressure once more before pushing himself away from Vegeta. Vegeta looked for a moment that he was going to launch himself at Piccolo before snarling and preparing to storm out before Guru stopped him by saying, "You need to find something in your life you have affection for. Let it melt your frozen heart, just slightly. I cannot do this otherwise."
"There is nothing," Vegeta snapped.
"Think, Vegeta," Krillin urged. "Friends?"
"I killed them all," Vegeta said blandly.
"Er... family?"
"My father was cold and gave me to Frieza. When he realized his mistake, Frieza killed him. I hated him, and still do, for being so weak," Vegeta spit.
"Well, what about your mom?" Krillin pressed gently.
"My mother...my mother..." he trailed, glancing to the ceiling. "She died. Mysteriously. Assumingly by Frieza's order..." he continued, lost in memory.
"There it is," Guru said, placing his hand on Vegeta's head and performing what he had done for Krillin. Vegeta's ki shot way up, leveling off near Piccolo's. He smirked triumphantly.
Neither Piccolo nor Krillin brought up his mother again.
As the trio began to fly back towards the ship, Piccolo halted abruptly and looked up. Krillin felt it a second later, and shortly after, Vegeta did too.
"Great, all five are here. Excellent," he said lightly, almost jovially.
"So, what should we expect?" Krillin asked, slightly nervous. All the incoming kis were stronger than his, with the exception of one.
"Hm. Guldo is short, fat, and has no real fighting skills. He can, however, stop time in order to gain the upper hand. Recoome's as stupid as he is large. He isn't strong, per se, but he's huge, and uses that to his advantage. Jeice prides himself prides himself on sneak attacks, and Burter on speed. They usually work together. Captain Ginyu is the one to worry about. He doesn't look like much, but he's strong, fast, and smart. He'll fight dirty. But the biggest issue you have to watch out for is that he can switch bodies with his opponent. So don't stay still for long."
"Well that's reassuring," Krillin muttered. "Who fights who?"
"They'll decide the fighting order themselves."
"That hardly seems fair," Krillin pouted.
"Oh trust me, cue ball, you don't want to miss this."
The three warriors made their way over to the crash site in good time, arriving just as the Ginyu Force stepped out of their pods. They looked around in curiosity before settling their eyes on the three. All eyes quickly snapped to Vegeta, pinning him with dirty looks. The Saiyan raised his middle finger to them casually.
"Greetings, fuckers," he said almost happily, friendly even.
Krillin shot him a look of complete disbelief at his gall, but the five looked completely unsurprised.
"And to you, Lieutenant Asshole," the one called Jeice said, equally as friendly, and the two smirked at each other. Piccolo wondered perhaps, if long ago, that the two had once actually been comrades in arms.
"Come now, Jeice. You know we're here to dispose of him. Don't go getting all attached now," Captain Ginyu said patronizingly.
"Of course not, Captain. Mere habit, that's all," Jeice assured.
"Good then. Well comrades, shall we?"
"Yes Captain!" the four answered in unison.
As the group began to dance around and strike ridiculous poses, Vegeta sighed heavily and put a hand to his head. Krillin, on the other hand, was having a hard time keeping his composure. His shoulders were shaking with suppressed laughter, the occasional snort escaping him.
Piccolo smacked him upside the head. "Stop that," he hissed.
It didn't work. The moment the five struck their final pose, with Recoome in the back strutted like a ballerina, Krillin lost it and fell to the ground in laughter. Vegeta kicked at him, and he jumped up quickly to avoid the impending broken ribs.
"I got dibs on the pipsqueak!" Recoome said, offended by Krillin's laughter.
"Now now, Recoome. You know the rules," Ginyu said. "Play fair. Now, I must report to Lord Frieza. Take care of these three meddlers. Vegeta, it's been a great displeasure knowing you."
As he took off, the remaining four began dancing around in a circle chanting "rock, paper, scissors," repeatedly until Guldo exclaimed victoriously, "I got it! The short one is mine!"
Krillin began stretching out unworriedly, immensely glad that the one who had an equal ki reading was up against him. "Do I stun, or kill?" he asked, cracking his neck.
"Kill," Vegeta said immediately. "He'll do the same to you, if you give him the chance."
Krillin nodded in affirmation. He phased out of sight instantly, startling Guldo, who looked around frantically. Krillin phased in behind him, knocking him on his front before phasing out again. Guldo flipped himself, took a deep breath, and held it.
Krillin suddenly smashed into Piccolo, knocking them both to the ground. "What the hell?" he exclaimed, scrambling up and off of the Namekian. "He was right in front of me!"
"You idiot. He froze time and moved. I told you he does that. Now he's hiding," Vegeta said snidely.
Piccolo jabbed his thumb over his shoulder. "He's behind that boulder," he muttered.
Krillin phased out again and Guldo suddenly came tumbling out from behind the outcropping of rocks, landing on his rump. As he made to hold his breath, Krillin plowed into his gut, expelling the air from Guldo's lungs. He let out a cough, and as Krillin prepared to punch him in the throat hard enough to stop his heart, Vegeta knocked him away.
"Back off, short stuff. I have to make good on my word for this little annoyance," Vegeta snapped. "I told you I would end you, you four-eyed freak," he said darkly. He put his foot on Guldo's throat to keep him from taking a deep enough breath to freeze time.
"Vegeta, that's not in the rules!" Recoome protested loudly.
"I'm not part of your stupid group. There are no rules!" he snapped. And with that, Vegeta picked his foot up and stomped it down, hard, effectively removing Guldo's head from his body. There was an audible gasp from the other Ginyu Force members.
"Should we just kill them all now?" Piccolo asked as Vegeta scraped the bottom of his boot on the grass to remove the blood.
"Let Recoome go by himself. I find him rather entertaining," Vegeta said flippantly. "No doubt he'll want to avenge his little friend. Have at it."
Recoome, lumbering and angry, began to warm himself up through a series of ballet moves, glaring the whole time at a completely unfazed Vegeta. Just as he was about to launch himself at the Saiyan, Piccolo rushed him, elbowing him heavily in the gut, and kicking him in the knee, audibly busting it out. Recoome let out a howl of pain as he dropped to the ground holding his knee and Piccolo positioned himself behind him. He grabbed him firmly by the head with both hands and quickly and effectively, snapped his neck. Recoome's lifeless body slumped to the ground.
As Piccolo stepped away from the giant, Vegeta took a swipe at the body with his foot, satisfied to hear the resounding thud. He turned his smug gaze to Jeice and Burter. "Two down, three to go. You, Namek, take Jeice. I'll take Burter. Baldy, you got grab that little punk Namek kid and bring him to the ship. We'll finish up here."
"What about the other one? Captain Ginyu?" Krillin asked as he started to rise to the air.
"He'll come as soon as his stupid scouter picks up these two are dead," Vegeta said, waving him off like an annoying bug. As Jeice began making his way to Vegeta, the Saiyan moved to shove him away, directing his attention to Burter instead.
"What, Vegeta, you don't want to fight your old pal?" Jeice taunted, sneering.
"We were never friends," Vegeta retorted.
"Oh yeah, monkey boy? And who was there when Frieza beat you that first time with the bandages? Who was there to give you tissues to dry your weakling tears when you found out your planet and your people were destroyed? Huh? Who? ME!" Jeice snapped, and the hurt was evident in his voice this time.
"We stopped being allies the moment you joined this stupid group!" Vegeta snarled. "You turned on me. I'm merely returning the favor."
And with that, abandoning his plan, Vegeta turned to attack his old comrade, the two colliding and throwing punches. Piccolo turned away just in time to catch Burter's fist, which had been aimed at the Namekian's head. Almost bored, Piccolo crushed Burter's hand, sending the alien reeling away with a screech of pain. Piccolo sent a blast at the alien, burning him away in an anticlimactic end, before turning his attention back on the two warriors fighting it out.
It was quite evident to Piccolo that the two had been training together for a very long time. They each knew the other's moves, the weaknesses, the strengths, the attacks. It was almost hard to watch as Vegeta began repelling Jeice with a ferocity that wasn't quite aimed at the orange being, but at the reason for all of this pain.
And so, when Jeice's body slammed to the ground, Piccolo was unsure of what Vegeta would do next. Vegeta landed before Jeice's prone form, who seemed unable to move. He lifted his head finally, and smiled slightly. "You've gotten better, Vegeta. Much. But it's not enough to be a match for Lord Frieza. You know that. Come on, let's end this right now. If you come back with me, and swear your allegiance again, he'll let you live. You'll be hurting for days, but you'll be alive. Come on, see reason."
Vegeta shook his head vehemently. "There is no going back," he said lowly, extending his hand in front of Jeice's face. He said nothing as he blasted Jeice away, his face blank.
And with that, the Saiyan and the Namekian waited for Captain Ginyu, who's ki was bearing down on them rapidly.