This is probably the part where I warn you that this chapter is a bit of a doozy. It ended up being longer than just about any other chapter I've written, but I really felt like this was the best way to get this across. Please enjoy.
The trio left the cold and windy mountains, flying down to a silent and deserted cliff. No sign of civilization. No active wildlife. Just nothing but a cliff over an empty field. This meant no distractions and no excuses.
Piccolo sat down on the small plain. Where could he even begin? He had lived a long life. What was important and what could have been omitted? Goku and Chi-Chi had sat down next to each other, facing him. They looked at him, waiting patiently for him to begin.
He sighed and crossed his arms. He supposed that he should start by explaining himself. "There's a lot you don't know about me," he said. "And… there's been a reason for that. I planned on taking all of this to my grave but I don't think I can, anymore. I want you to know that here and now. It may change your opinion of me. Try not to ask questions – please… just listen."
Goku and Chi-Chi looked at each other. They gave each other a nod, before looking back at Piccolo. "Okay," Goku said, in an uncharacteristically quiet tone. "We will."
Piccolo took a deep breath and exhaled. The best place to start was probably the beginning.
"Kami and I are not of this world," he began. "We were once a part of the same being – I have long since forgotten that name. I was sent from my home planet, amidst crisis. All I had was a letter telling me to wait, and someone would come for me. I waited by the ship that carried me here for years, before I decided to move on. Later, I was under the care of the guardian of the Earth. He had seen my potential and wanted to name me his successor.
"But, in order to serve as the guardian, one has to be pure of heart." He pointed at Nimbus. "Not much different to how you're able to ride that cloud. I worked hard to purge the malice and impurity from my body. But I had seen so much in my years of living here that once I was rid of it, it manifested into its own being.
He paused. What was the easiest way he could put this? "Kami was the pure being. My father was the evil one."
Chi-Chi gasped. Goku's eyes widened, in surprise. Piccolo knew he couldn't analyze their every reaction; he'd be more incline to back out, from this.
"There was a reason your master was so weary of me – my father did much to this world and none of it was good. He wanted to spread chaos and wickedness all throughout the world. He did his damndest to make sure everyone feared him. Battles, purges, genocides – you name any evil deed, and he probably partook in it. Kami tried to put a stop to it, even knowing that his death meant he would die, as well. But he didn't care: Earth has always been more important to him than his own life…"
The demon king laughed, as he looked down upon his other half. "When are you going to give up, my soft-hearted brother? You know that you can't defeat me. You might as well throw in the towel, while you still have some of your dignity left!"
Kami was down on one knee, clenching his teeth. His power was beginning to wear thin. He did not know how much more of it he could take. He was able to tell that his evil half was almost as fatigued, but he was doing a better job at holding it in. Kami found himself running out of options, fast.
"Even if you did manage to best me, what good would that do? You'd only bring your own demise, as well. This pathetic world isn't worth that trouble, and you know it."
Kami dug his fingers into the dirt. His aura began to pulse around him. "That's where you're wrong, Piccolo," he said, between his teeth. "The people of Earth are good, undeserving of your torment and misery. I was entrusted to protect this planet, and I will not fall to you!"
"And just what are you going to do, then?"
Kami glared up at his other half. He lifted his hand towards him. The demon king's cocky demeanor slowly began to fade away. He lifted a hand to his chest. He peaked down his shirt, looking for any signs of what he was doing. He began to sweat, not understanding what he was trying to do.
When he had his attention, once more, Kami clenched his hand into a fist.
The demon king suddenly gasped, and fell to his knees. He writhed on the ground in pain. He tried to take a deep breath of air, but nothing would help. Veins popped out of his forehead, as he struggled on the ground.
"What have you done," he demanded, in a tight voice.
Kami began sinking towards the ground, sweating and struggling to breathe, as well. "Your cold, cold heart is slowing. I've focused all of my energy into stopping it once and for all."
"But," he groaned in pain, "then you'll die, as well! Our hearts beat as one, you ignorant fool!"
Kami smiled and chuckled. "That's the idea."
The demon king pounded his fist onto the ground. He was slowly falling out of consciousness. His other half had finally bested him. And he didn't even care if he had to die.
"It… it can't end like this!"
The demon king gathered his remaining strength to get up, onto his knees. He had to make this quick, before his life was ended, for good. He never thought it would come to this, but he had no other options left.
He began to cough. He fell onto his hands, and leaned over the ground. As he coughed, he dry-heaved, as if he was forcing himself to vomit. Kami's fist unfurled, at the sight. He narrowed his eyes, attempting to dechiper what he was doing.
The demon king choked. A large lump formed, in his throat. His head was forced backwards, as something was forcing its way out of his mouth. Kami's eyes widened, and he quickly squeezed his fist, once more. But, it was too late. The demon king spit out a white egg, and it went skyrocketing away.
Kami suddenly regained his strength. He no longer felt the side effects of his actions. "What did you do," he asked.
The demon king chuckled. "My legacy will live on, brother," he said, with his final breath. "You will regret the day you defied me." His eyes closed and his breathing stopped.
"That was how I was born. My father intended for me to take his place and avenge his death. I inherited his name and memories. The first words I can remember hearing came from him: commanding me to finish what he had started. Truthfully, I didn't care about his empire of evil: defeating Kami was my one purpose. I trained for years, hoping to be powerful enough to defeat him, once and for all.
"Little did I know that Kami had been preparing, as well. When I went to confront him, he overpowered me with a new technique. He caught me in a wave of energy, trapping me inside of a Dragon Ball. He thought it was a fitting punishment – someone who thrived off the misery of others would have to serve others for all eternity. To make it worse – it could grant three wishes, instead of just one."
"Kami did that," Goku said, in disbelief. "But… he told me he didn't want the Dragon Balls to be available, like that. Why would he make another one?"
"I don't think he had figured that out, yet. He hadn't been guardian for long. He probably had a bit too much faith and trust in humanity, back then."
He looked down. "That was why you said…" He lifted his hand to his head, and ran his fingers through his hair. He shook his head. "It all makes sense."
He nodded. "Being trapped in that Dragon Ball was pure torture. Time passed differently in there than it does here. I could feel every agonizing second tick by. I was in complete solitude, from the outside world. It was almost a relief, when someone discovered the ball."
"Almost," Chi-Chi said.
He nodded. "I found out in a matter of weeks what took Kami decades to learn – the power the Dragon Balls possesses can do a lot, to a man. Even the most mundane of intentions can be easily corrupted and twisted into something cruel and malevolent. There were too many examples to name. I don't know how many lives I destroyed just through granting wishes."
He sighed. He knew he couldn't just leave it at that – it was far too vague. He wouldn't be cleared until he named some specifics.
"The first wishes I ever granted were for a young man, living in complete squalor. He had to care for his mother and five sisters all by himself. He wanted a better life for them all – possibly the most innocent desire that anyone can have. So, he wished for wealth. And with wealth came power, connections, and fame. He grew into a hero of the people, revered all across the land for his rags-to-riches story. The man had a taste of the high life and wanted more of it. His second wish was for even more wealth. I started growing suspicious, but had no choice but to grant the wish, anyway.
"He single-handedly bought out all of the authorities, bribing them into doing his bidding. He was made into a powerful leader, with all of the people loyally ready to serve him. He used this to get back at his enemies, starting rumors to send the mob after them and telling the authorities to look the other way. He had become a tyrant, mad with power and excess. But he still wanted more. He told me, flat out, that he wanted to become the most powerful man in any galaxy in the universe. Only then would he finally have everything. I did not want to find out what would happen, if he did gain that much more wealth. That was when I took action. He got his wish, all right. I sent him to a small planet in an abandoned galaxy with all of his wealth. I never found out what happened to him, after that wish.
He shook his head. "That was the day I started making limitations. They weren't like limitations Shenron has - I might have had the power to grant them, but I quickly learned that people were willing to listen to any provisos, if you listed them off. After I was done with that boy, I stopped granting the same wish twice."
Goku and Chi-Chi were still listening to him. They looked horrified by his recollection, but they didn't say anything about it. However, he had yet to get to any of the truly horrifying masters.
"Years later, an older woman found the Dragon Ball. She had been unlucky in love, hurt many times by her ex-lovers. She still hoped to find her one true love. So, she wished to become more desirable, and to attract the attention of more men. She hoped this would make her search easier: more suitors meant more opportunities to find her one true love. It turned out to be only good in theory. As more men approached her, her standards grew higher. None was good enough for her, anymore, and none could reach her impossibly high expectations. Then, she finally found her Mr. Perfect. The only problem was that he had no interest in her. She was not going to take that lying down. With her second wish, she wished for him to fall in love with her. After that, he became a devoted and doting husband to her.
"Of course, that still wasn't good enough; probably grew bored of it. With her last wish, she told me to replace him with a new boyfriend. The last I heard from her, some of her vindictive admirers got together and did her in, themselves. That was the last time I tried granting any wishes that involved romance. I only made one exception, after that."
Piccolo went on from there, listing off his old masters as almost a highlight reel of his life. He didn't skimp on the details – if they were going to know, then they should know everything. It was another reason why he did not want to return home, earlier. They might not have been so willing to share a house with him, after they knew all he had done. At least he would not have been kicked out, if that were the case.
"My final master turned out to be the worst of them all. He wasn't like any of the others. He didn't fall from good intentions. I never thought to call anyone this, but he was pure evil. He had one ambition: power. And he would seize that through any means necessary: it didn't matter how many people he had to kill to get there. He had been searching specifically for my Dragon Ball for decades. It took a while, but he finally got it. With it, he wished to become king of a race he had served for years. The worst part was that he didn't need any help I could give – he had enough raw power to put down any challenge that came his way. He was just lazy and preferred an easy way to the top. We fought back with everything that we had, and we only barely managed to take him down.
He looked down. "I couldn't tell you how much ill I caused, while I was in that Dragon Ball: I barely remember most of it, to be honest. The worst part was how little I did to stop it. I could have prevented much of it, if I had put my foot down more often. I have more blood on my hands than I can even comprehend. All I can do now is try to move on. And my first step was telling you."
Piccolo didn't dare look up. He dreaded to see the look on their faces. The long silence made his dread worse. This was it. He knew it. Soon, they'd leave and he'd be alone, again.
Then, to his shock, he was pulled into a tight embrace. He opened his eyes. Goku had his arms over his shoulders, pulling him close. Piccolo's arms hung loosely by his sides as he just stared, in shock. This certainly wasn't the reaction he was expecting.
Goku pulled back, and looked him in the eyes. He smiled, at him. "It's okay, Piccolo. Honestly."
Piccolo's jaw dropped, as he gawked at him. So, he was all about virtue and purity, but he was just fine with everything he had been told. What kind of sense did that make? He couldn't even speak, from the shock.
Goku must have sensed what he'd been thinking. "You were only put in those bad situations by other people. You don't have to feel guilty, about it."
He pushed Goku, and he fell onto his back. The push was harder than he intended, but he was still processing what he was being told. "How can you even say that?! After all I had done! After all my father did! How can you see me as anything but a monster?!"
"Because you're not," Chi-Chi said, shocking him even more. "A monster wouldn't be this torn up about his actions. A monster would have bragged about his actions, instead of confessing them. You haven't done either of those things."
"Right," Goku said, as he sat back up. "And besides: it wasn't your fault. My grampa used to tell me that where you come from doesn't matter: it's all about how you act, now. And, even if your dad was bad and you used to be bad, you're good now! Isn't that what counts?"
Piccolo just blinked. And he had thought that Bulma was too trusting.
"And as for your other comment," Chi-Chi said, "you're not your father. You shouldn't be judged the same way he was. Do you think I should be judged because of what my ancestors have done?"
Never. She was clearly a different person, than the Ox Kings of old. He shook his head.
"Then why should you be judged, differently?"
He was about to speak, but the words were stopped, in his throat. That was a good point.
"I still don't understand how you don't look at me differently, knowing that," he admitted.
"You made mistakes," Goku said. "Kami did, too. They weren't your fault. You still tried to make the best of them and try to help people. And you're a better person, now. I don't know about you, but I think that counts for something."
He made it sound so simple. As if just being better was enough to absolve him of all he had done. That boggled his mind. Only one other person had ever said something like that to him, before. He hadn't taken the time to let it sink in, back then, due to the urgency of the situation. Now, he was sitting before two more people who truly believed he was a good man.
He honestly didn't know how he was supposed to take that.
"We should be getting home," Chi-Chi said. "I'm sure dad's wondering what's kept us away, for this long."
He slowly stood back up, again. Goku hopped onto Nimbus, and helped Chi-Chi climb back onboard. They looked back at Piccolo, waiting for him to be ready. He nodded, and they took off, heading back to their home.
