For those of you interested, there is a short one-shot companion story to this one, showcasing the friendship of Vegeta and Jeice. It is entitled "Of a Friendship". Also, sorry this took so long. Final papers and assignments all came pouring in at the same damn time.
Captain Ginyu let out a snarl as his scouter showed both Jeice and Burter's ki flat line. Guldo's death had not come as a surprise, weak as the little thing was. Recoome's death wasn't expected, but not entirely shocking, though the time it took him to die was certainly disconcerting.
But, when his two best warriors were wiped off the map with relative ease, Ginyu was enraged. Lord Frieza brought a weary hand to his head and sighed. So the Saiyan had gotten stronger, and he was no longer working alone. Unexpected and problematic indeed.
"Captain Ginyu," Frieza said, "please make sure that little monkey is taken care of, and the Namekian too. I don't care how you do it, but get it done."
Ginyu bowed. "Yes, Lord Frieza. It would be my pleasure."
Vegeta raised his lip at the captain as he landed before them. He glanced at Piccolo before saying lowly, "Remember, don't stay in one place for too long." He dropped into a non-committal fighting stance.
"You, Vegeta, have become quite the thorn in my side. You've managed to kill my finest warriors. You realize that now I will have to kill you myself, and I will be sure to make it most unpleasant. You as well, Namekian. You shouldn't have gotten involved with this one."
Piccolo ignored the inherent threat. "What's the plan of action?" Piccolo asked quietly, dropping into a neutral spar stance, neither offensive nor defensive.
"Fight together. That way we can keep him distracted so that he can't change bodies with us," Vegeta whispered, subtly changing his stance to an offensive one.
It was pathetic how easily the captain went down. His cockiness made him greatly underestimate his opponents' abilities. As he made this realization, he began to panic, and he grew sloppy, taking more hits than making them. In desperation, he began trying to change bodies on a whim, aiming and repeatedly missing.
Vegeta made the killing blow. Piccolo kicked Ginyu forcefully in the back, sending him into Vegeta, whose fist impaled through his armor and into the alien's gut. In a final act of self-preservation, Ginyu unleashed a final attempt at switching bodies with Vegeta. Piccolo yanked the Saiyan out of the way, and the beam from Ginyu's mouth made contact with a flying creature.
Vegeta was almost in hysterics as the body that had been Ginyu's tried jumping into the air and flapping its arms frantically before crashing back to the ground. The flying creature that was now Ginyu bared its vicious fangs at Vegeta, squawking and snapping at his feet. Vegeta playfully kicked at him, punting it back several feet.
"It's a good look for you, Ginyu," Vegeta stated. "Bright, flamboyant plumage, but yet you still get to keep that nasty scaly skin. Very fitting."
He turned his back and began walking away.
Piccolo didn't say anything as the creature started to charge the Saiyan's retreating back. He watched passively as he jumped forward and snapped his powerful jaws around the base of the Saiyan's tail, which instinctively unwrapped itself from Vegeta's waist. With a final chomp, the strong jaws cut through the appendage and it fell off. Vegeta let out an uncharacteristic yelp of pain and shock.
As had been the case with Gohan's tail removal, there was no blood, just a hole in Vegeta's suit where the tail had protruded. The creature Ginyu sat triumphantly on the ground, Vegeta's tail still clamped in his jaws. With a snarl, Vegeta stepped menacingly toward Ginyu, who stood and tried to run. Before he even got a few steps, Vegeta's foot stomped down on the creature, and Piccolo heard the bones crack. He stamped his feet several more times for good measure. Piccolo smirked at him, and the Saiyan raised his lip and flipped him off.
"Don't you dare say a word," he snapped.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Piccolo replied. "Come on, Krillin and the kid are already back at the ship. Let's get the boy back," he said, raising to the air. "And maybe we can wish you back your tail," he added.
He barely dodged the ki blast sent at his back.
When they arrived, Dende, Krillin, and Bulma were already outside, the dragon balls together, steadily blinking and glowing.
"Hey guys, that was fas-uh... where's your tail, Vegeta?" Krillin asked, tilting his head.
Vegeta snarled at him, but did not answer. "Just summon this stupid dragon. I want my immortality."
Dende looked up at him sharply before looking questioning at Piccolo. That had not been a part of the deal. Piccolo merely nodded his head.
"We have to do this fast. Dende, you know the order of the wishes to be granted, yes?" Piccolo asked. Dende nodded in affirmation. "Alright. I need you to do them rapid-fire. As soon as the dragon is summoned, Frieza will here within moments."
Dende nodded again and held his hands out over the dragon balls. He began saying something in a foreign language, Namekian, the words rolling off his tongue easily. The balls stopped blinking and glowed anew, steadily becoming brighter until they were a golden white, and the dragon shot into the heavens.
"Oh my god," Bulma whispered, her hand over her mouth. "He's enormous."
"And way scarier than Shenron..." Krillin added.
Dende hurriedly began speaking again as the dragon Porunga rumbled his discontent at being awoken. The dragon kept his unwavering red gaze upon the child, occasionally nodding at what was being said. Finally, he opened his mouth and boomed, "It shall be done."
Piccolo's heart leapt into his throat as the words boomed across the land. Instantly, the kis of the dead Namekians returned, and slowly faded away. Dende was smiling brightly as he began to fade away, the dragon and the balls slowly fading with him.
Vegeta began to panic. "HEY! What the hell? What about my immortality?" he shouted in frustration, unleashing a blast where Dende had stood. "You, Namekian! You had something to do with this! What did that little punk wish for?"
Piccolo wasn't paying any attention to him, though. Instead, he was enraptured by the sudden influx of Saiyan ki.
A shadowy hand.
A bright smile.
Black eyes and raven hair.
Gohan.
The boy stood before him in all his glory and familiarity.
"Gohan!" Krillin exclaimed happily, entrapping the boy in an embrace, which the young Saiyan returned whole-heartedly. He hugged Bulma as well, though he did not know her. Then, finally, his eyes rested his mentor and he smiled warmly, taking a step toward him. He hesitated slightly before him, unsure of how exactly to greet him. Piccolo wasn't a "touchy" type.
Gohan's silent question was answered when the Namekian placed his hand firmly on his head and ruffled his hair gently, smiling down at him. Gohan beamed at him happily, a small tear running down his cheek in pure bliss.
"Great, so he brought the brat back, but he didn't grant my immortality? What good is that going to do us?" Vegeta snarled, startling everyone out of their reverie. Gohan's eyes darted to the Saiyan, truly noticing him for the first time, and he grew worried. He half-stepped behind Piccolo, not truly afraid, but not sure how to gauge the warrior's presence.
"Speaking of which, why hasn't Frieza come this way yet?" Krillin mused. "Shouldn't he have seen the darkened sky?"
"Problem solved! Alright boys, let's pack it up and leave this planet before he even realizes we're gone," Bulma said, clapping her hands.
"We can't just leave," Gohan said boldly. "The Lady Gami said it won't be over until he is destroyed. You may leave, but I cannot," he stated, sounding wise beyond his extremely young years.
"Oh yeah? And just what good are you going to do against him? Don't you have any idea what you're up against?" Vegeta snapped, angrily crossing his arms over his chest.
"I do. I can sense him, way over to the east. I can't leave though. I gave my word," he said bravely.
Gami... Where had Piccolo heard that name before...? Why was it so familiar?
"Piccolo, talk some sense into him!" Bulma said, exasperated.
Gohan looked up into his mentor's eyes, his face etched with determination. For a brief instant, his eyes flashed blue.
A legend will save you...
Why was that voice so familiar?
"Where did all the Namekians go?" Krillin asked finally, changing the subject.
"They were wished away to another planet, far from this one," Piccolo answered finally, not taking his eyes off the boy.
"Fantastic," Vegeta growled. "So they're safe, but we aren't? Great. Then we must go to Frieza's ship."
"Are you nuts?" Krillin exclaimed.
"I need new armor. You others could use some as well. Frieza isn't there, and I killed everyone else on the ship," he stated matter-of-factly.
"Where do you think he is then?" Gohan asked.
Vegeta's eyes cut to him. "Probably scrounging around for the dragon balls still. He doesn't know we've already used them. So let's go now, and get this over with."
"WAIT! What about me?" Bulma asked, panicked.
"What about you?" Vegeta asked.
"You can't just leave me here! What if he comes here?" she shrieked.
Vegeta shrugged.
"You'll be fine, Bulma. He wouldn't do anything to you," Krillin reassured. "You're no threat to him."
"Don't you guys dare leave me!" she cried as the four lifted into the air. "DON'T!" she screamed after them.
The four warriors flew quickly, but with as conservative ki usage as possible, trying not to alert Frieza to their presence. Gohan flew as close to Piccolo as he could without accidentally bumping into him. Ordinarily, the Namek would have brushed him away, but he found he was quite grateful for the boy's nearness. Happy about it, even.
As they landed, Vegeta raced into the ship, the others at his heels. He took a left into a room full of lockers and tore four three of them open at the front before heading to one in the back, carefully opening the combination lock.
Gohan and Krillin took out the Saiyan armor from two of the lockers. Gohan held up the tiny blue suit up to himself; it looked like it would barely fit. Krillin's black suit certainly wouldn't.
"Hey Vegeta, how do you put this stuff on?" Krillin asked.
"They stretch to any size. All of it does," Vegeta answered, stripping down from his old blue torn suit and pulling on a fresh black one.
Krillin and Gohan followed suit. Gohan carefully stripped down from his gi, and Piccolo finally noticed it wasn't burned or anything, as if he hadn't died in it. He struggled to pull on the blue suit, finally opting to sit on the floor and pull it on. He stood to put on his armor, marveling at how the seemingly sturdy material easily stretched and conformed to his body. He tapped at it once it was on, testing its strength. Seemingly satisfied, he pulled on his boots and gloves.
"How do I look?" he asked Piccolo, looking up at him from beneath his wild hair.
"Like a Saiyan," Piccolo replied, brushing his hair from his face. "We need to do something about this mess," he said. "Can't have it getting in the way." Vegeta tossed the Namekian a pair of scissors, and he caught them nonchalantly. He took chunks of the boy's hair and began cutting them short, wild locks falling to the floor in raven clumps.
"Hey Vegeta, how come you armor doesn't have the leg and shoulder guards?" Krillin asked. "Seems a lot more efficient for fighting. Less interfering."
"Because, nitwit, I made this myself. Armor is a little more reinforced. There isn't another type like it. This is just a prototype," Vegeta answered, pulling his gloves on.
"Okay, okay. No need to get snippy," Krillin said, holding his hands up. "Hey Piccolo, don't you want to put on a set?" he asked, directing his attention to the Namekian.
"I'm not wearing that ridiculous outfit," Piccolo answered as he snipped another chunk of hair off Gohan's head.
"You know, Piccolo, if we make it out of this alive, you could have a side job as a barber," Krillin teased.
Piccolo shot him a look and raised his lip in warning before turning his attention to the boy. With a finally snip, he set the scissors down on a nearby table. Gohan ruffled his hair with his hands briskly, shaking off the loose strands before shooting his mentor a smile.
"Thanks, Mr. Piccolo," he said happily. "My head feels a lot lighter now!"
Piccolo nodded in return and ruffled the boy's hair. Gohan smiled up at him before his face turned serious and he looked out the window in concentration. Piccolo felt it too, a sudden rush of ki come barreling down upon the ship. Krillin's head jerked up and Vegeta whipped around.
"We need to get outside. Now," Piccolo said. "Here is not a good place to be cornered."
The others nodded and they quickly moved outside. Frieza landed, his tail whipping back and forth in annoyance as he stood before them. His eyes slid to Vegeta first, and he sneered, causing the Saiyan to growl low in his throat, his teeth clenched together.
He looked upon the others passively, eyeing Piccolo with subtly curiosity, and Krillin with boredom. But, when his eyes landed upon Gohan, he raised his brows in slight surprise. The boy met the monster's stare with cool determination.
Frieza smiled.