Hatred of a child
A/N: I like to thank again my fellow readers for the support of SWTHP. As of now; there are more than two thousand views to the story, which originate from thirty different countries.
-Gohan's POV start -
I remember it like it was yesterday, the day that it all changed, the day that would haunt me forever, the day my father died.
It all started the day my father returned from space, after he fought Frieza and his henchmen. After he got rid of the space tyrant as expected he, started to greet us with his usual smile.
He started to explain to us how he survived Namek and why it took him so long to return. When we returned home to meet my mother we started to see the signs of what was to come. He started to sweat and his breathing started to get irregular, when we asked him about it he just denied it all.
As the years passed I saw how my father, someone that I always looked up to all my life, just withered away. Every month, week, day and second he just grew weaker, until nothing was left of him.
It was one of the most traumatizing things I ever witnessed - worse than Raditz, and the saiyans and even more so than Frieza - but even though he was suffering he never stopped smiling, it gave me hope, it helped me believe that we could survive this battle like all the other battles before. To his last dying breath I believed in this and I know he believed in it too.
At the first year since his return, he would always start his day with a workout. He would always try to convince my beloved mother to let me train with him and the only thing it got him was a frying pan to the head.
Those were happier times, times filled with laughter and peace, I miss them… we all missed them.
-Mount Paozu, Gohan, age eight and a half, 17:45 PM-
'Dad's ki is plummeting. If it continues like this, I will not make it!' Gohan thought as he ran as fast as he could towards his house. Tears started to threaten to fall, as with every desperate plea. With every step he felt his father's life force dropping in an alarming rate.
With the bag slung over his shoulder, filled with the medicine he was sent to retrieve, he jumped and ran past the trees and shrubs, climbing the mountain his family lived in, everything became a blur for Gohan as he gained momentum with every step.
"Daddy!" screamed Gohan as he cursed himself for being slower than he was on Nemek. For three years he didn't train even once, and now he paid the price.
The sun started to settle in the distance as the shadow of the trees seemed as ominous as ever to little Gohan. He started to feel his legs tire as he gave all he had to reach his beloved father. 'Please be ok, please be ok,' he chanted in his mind as he felt his dad's ki drop to almost nothing. Those were his father's last moments and he wasn't there to say goodbye one last time.
The tears that previously threatened to spill out of his eyes finally went through with it as he started to see his house in the distance. Standing there were all the Z-fighters, Vegeta, Bulma and her infant son, Trunks.
Krillin saw his best friend son in the distance running the fastest he could, as his father probably clinged to his last moments in the living world. He tilted his head down, he just couldn't look at the young warrior's eyes. Even though at that time he couldn't do a thing for his friend, he still felt guilt and sorrow that just squeezed his heart, threatening to squish it.
Suddenly, baby Trunks started to cry his eyes out pressing his face to his mother's bosom, even in his young age he could feel the ki of a dying man that was about to pass from this world to the next.
Vegeta's eyes widened in surprise at feeling the life force of his rival and the friend of his mate almost completely gone. 'Kakarot, first you dare to forget your heritage, then suppress me, claiming the title of the first super saiyan in a thousand years and now you die before I could surpass you,' Vegeta's hands clench, almost drawing blood as he felt his hatred for his archrival grow with every second, "Damn you, Kakarot, damn you to hell," said the man under his breath.
Tien could only close his eyes and nod in respect to his onetime enemy, and then friend that went to hell and back to bring him and his comrades back to life, 'Rest in peace, my friend, may we meet again in the next life,' thought Tien as his small companion started to cry, thinking the same thing as Tien.
Piccolo could only grunt, still not knowing how to react to the death of Son Goku, he could only look at the sunset with a great burden in his heart, as he know that because Goku died from natural causes, even the dragon balls - with all their power - could not bring the man back.
He heard his student's shout for his dad when he still was climbing the mountain of his house. Piccolo never knew his father personally, but he did carry his memories before his last moments, the first emotion he felt when he hatched from his egg was sadness and rage, so he could sympathize with his student's distress.
When Gohan reached his home he could only shake his head in denial as he couldn't feel his father anymore, he stopped running as his eyes widened and he started walking slowly, 'My daddy is the strongest man in the universe, he can't die,' he thought to himself like a mantra as he took one step at a time towards his house.
Bulma wanted to go to Gohan and embrace him and help him with his grief, but she stopped when Krillin put his hand on her shoulder, shaking his head to tell her with it that it was too soon for consoling.
Gohan stopped walking, staring at the front entrance of his house, fearing the moment he would open the door. Piccolo looked at his distressed student, knowing that this time he would need to take the jump into the unknown alone.
Gohan stared at the doorknob for another minute as finally he took a deep breath, grasped it with his left hand, and turned it ever so slightly. When he got inside the living room the first thing that greeted him was Yamcha looking straight into his eyes. "Gohan I-I'm sorry," was the only thing he said as Gohan started to run to his parents' room.
When he entered the room he was greeted with a sight that would from that point on hunt him to the grave: His father, the strongest man in the universe, laid at his bed, eyes closed, his chest without any indication of breathing. The man that raised him, his father, his hero, laid dead.
His master, the old turtle hermit tilted his head down to give his last respects to his most talented pupil, with a lone tear falling from his eyes, looking at Goku's Inanimate form.
His mother's sobs were heard as she cried into her late husband's chest, crying his name over and over again.
Gohan could only look in shock at the sight before him, he didn't say a word, he felt his world shatter around him and desperately tried to remember what he last said to his newly-departed father.
"Daddy, will you be ok?"
"Gohan what did I always teach you?"
"When there's a will, there is a way?"
"Remember those words Gohan, and remember me through them"
"Daddy!" cried Gohan as he much like his mother jumped to his father's chest, crying his eyes out. His mother rose from Goku's chest looking at her son crying for his father, she separated Gohan from her dead husband as youngling was reduced to nothing but a hurt child.
Chichi took her son's head and tilted him up when he opened his sad brown eyes and looked at the same browns of his mother, he felt her kiss his forehead wiping his tears with her fingers. "Mommy, daddy's gone" Gohan said with a sad and defeated voice.
"No, Gohan," was the only thing his mother said as she needed a second to stop herself from breaking down too. She took her right hand and pointed it at her son's chest, "he will always be with us, he will never leave us, and as long as your heart beats, he will look after you"
Gohan nodded and hugged his mother crying into her dress like he was four again. As his mother moved her fingers through her son's raven locks, she started to sing to him the same lullaby she sang to him when he was nothing more than a baby, and felt how her son fell asleep at her arms.
-Gohan's POV-
Vegeta... What can I say to describe him? Arrogant, cocky, proud, saiyan, those are the thing I can describe him as. As a child, the man terrified the heck out of me. I was scared of the man he was, I was scared of his past, and I was scared of what he represented.
My father couldn't hate, it just wasn't in his nature. Of course, he would always get serious when the time called for it, or even angry, but he would always pull a smile afterwards and, like a fight never happened, try to befriend his opponents or try to change them to the right path.
Unlike my father, however, I could never do that. I think the first time I was introduced to that emotion was when my 'uncle' Raditz came to earth. I can still hear my father's screams sometimes, but as a small child I still couldn't decipher that emotion and just thought of it as a reaction of fear.
The second person I learned to hate was Nappa, Vegeta's former right hand man, the monster killed every warrior we threw at him. We put our greatest effort on our attacks, and the son of a bitch just kept smiling. I think I really started to hate him when Mr. Piccolo took a life-ending blast for me, and got laughed at by the same person that fired it, but again, I still didn't know that what I felt was hatred, I was just a scared kid back then.
The third person I hated, oddly enough, made me feel ashamed a little. It was the prince of all saiyans himself. The man time and time again boasted about the honor and pride of the saiyan race, while in reality he was nothing more than a deranged man that would sacrifice everything for his lust for power. I never did forgive him, maybe if I had more time to know him I would have felt differently, but because of his action and those of his comrades I grew to hate the saiyans. Yet, like the times before, the pin just didn't drop.
I never knew what was hatred, I was just a small child in a big, cold world, I witnessed so much death and destruction, I feared for my life, and I cried so many tears, but hatred? No. No matter what I didn't know I had it, but it all changed at that day, when the child learned to hate.
-Diablo dessert, Gohan age nine, 13:34 PM-
It had been a month since then, and the androids emerged, the remaining Z fighters met at Yamcha's old bandit base.
Krillin, Gohan and Piccolo as of that moment were the last live Z-warriors on the plant, after a month of fighting the android threat a third of earth population was diminished, the first to fall was the proud saiyan prince.
On the first day of the battle, the androids emerged at West City, the third city on Earth to be attacked, in their journey of death and distraction. Now, most would think that the prince challenged the android siblings from sheer arrogance, but the truth was that Vegeta's last moment were spent fighting not for himself, but for his newly-born son and his mate, he died so his pack would live on.
In the second city was Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu, it was five days later, the androids continued their search for Goku, not knowing that his time at that plane had already passed. When they got to his house Gohan was there to stop them, but for the first time and not the last he failed against the androids.
The only reason he survived was because of Tien and Yamcha that he asked to help him in training against the androids. The battle only took one minute to be over, one minute that gave Gohan and his mother time to escape from the mechanical murderers' clutches.
They fled to what was remaining of West City, to the only standing building of Capsule Corp, Chiaotzu stayed behind, until this day Gohan didn't know the exact details, but the little guy survived for five minutes, not because he fought but because the Androids flayed him to death.
It only took six days to take out more than half of the Z-fighters, and for three weeks and a Half the Z-fighters with their best efforts survived, now in the former bandit's chamber, they met to discuss their plans against the androids.
The secret Z base's inside consisted of various maps, and large empty underground places to train in secret for the androids, they also acted as tunnels for a tactical retreat. At that time the Z fighters looked at a map of the globe, with a couple of red exes displaying the cities that fell to the android menace.
"It's just not working, we dice out all we got, again and again, and those metal bastards just keep on walking!" Yelled Krillin in anger, as he rubbed his left empty eye socket that he lost a week before, against the android that called herself 18.
"Krillin, settle down, we need to keep our heads straight if we want to beat those monsters," said the namekian as he turned his glance to his young student, "Gohan, how is your transformation going? For the last week I felt your ki take irregular patterns, is there any progress?" Asked Piccolo as Gohan started to stutter.
"I-I. No, Piccolo. I'm sorry, every time when I feel I get there, it's just slipping between my grasp, like something is missing," said Gohan as he could not look at his mentor's eyes from the shame of failing him again.
Suddenly a hand was placed on his head rubbing it in a way that made him feel safe. "Gohan, it's all right, you are getting there; I can feel it. You are already as strong as your father when he transformed, the only thing missing is the trigger," said Piccolo as he gave him a reassuring smile.
"As bad as I feel to ruin your student-teacher moment, we need to see if they move in some kind of pattern, and It would really be helpful if you two could bring you're take to this mess," said Krillin as he studied the map.
It went like that for hours, they tried to think of everything but no matter what they did, the attacks had no patterns, no clues to where they struck, and no indication on where they would actually strike next.
"Maybe they don't have a pattern, maybe its all a sort of game for them. Before, they didn't hurt anyone. Even after Vegeta, challenge 18, they just broke his arm and pride, I think that now they lost their reason to exist, something in their program change," said young Gohan as Krillin and Piccolo paled from the thought that all that death and distraction was just part of some sadistic game.
"If what you're saying is true, Gohan, then we are pretty much… well… screwed over. If until now they have attacked without reason - which was the only could count on to hunt them down - and we already established that we can't sense their energy," said Krillin, his hope diminishing with every passing second.
"Krillin, I…" Gohan started to say as everybody in the room sensed thousands of energy signals started to vanish from the other side of the world, Gohan felt like he wanted to throw up as he felt the death toll climb with every second that passed.
"We have to do something, I can't stay here like a cowering child any longer!" Screamed Piccolo in anger, as Gohan and Krillin nodded with him, and in a matter of seconds the Z-fighters exited their safe haven and ventured to the clutches of death.
-Ember city, 15:12 PM-
Where once stood with glory a city filled with life and laughter, now crumbled a concrete graveyard that drowned in the blood of the innocents, and in the center of it, hovering some dozen meters above, stood two beings: one male, and one female, responsible for the tragedy that baffled the once brimming city of life and dreams.
Above the burning city, those two figures floated while only gloating and laughing at the screams of terror and death. Blood soaked the soil that was once filled with life. Life that once burned bright much like the fire that now consumed it. From dust all comes, to dust all returns. It was all a tad too repetitive, really.
"D-did you see this guy's face when that building crushed him? 18, I dare you to say that wasn't worth at least ten points," said 17, as he was barely able to breath from laughter at the demise of an innocent civilian.
"Destructo Disc!" a yell was heard as a sharp disc of pure destructive energy soared past and made a cut on 17's cheek. The androids averted their gazes to the thrower, a bald man with a black eye-patch and a determined face, with nothing but conviction in his lone eye.
17 brought his hand up to his cheek, wiping the blood off with his thumb. At the same time, Krillin started to sweat as he charged another Disc to throw at 17.
"Oh look, 18, your bold, little one-eyed boyfriend came to play with us. Don't worry, lover boy, we would never dare forget about you," said 17 with a sinister intention as he gave a cold smirk to the last purely human Z Fighter.
'Ok, Krillin, it's now or never. You can't falter now,' Krillin thought as he made another Destructo Disc and threw it at 17's neck. 17's smirk grew into a grin as suddenly a green shield surrounded him, negating the attack completely.
"18, stay out of this, the bald one is mine," said 17 with a dangerous edge to his voice. When Krillin saw the glint in his eyes, he knew that at that moment the battle had really begun. In the blink of an eye, the human and the android disappeared and reappeared in several different places while exchanging quick kicks and jabs.
While Krillin gave his all to the exchange of super-powered blows, 17's threatening smirk never left his face, 'That smirk - he's playing with me. The guy isn't even trying to defend seriously, he just lazily goes with the pace that I'm moving.'
As time passed, 17 decided to stop playing and go to the offensive. He ducked under one of Krillin's swings, and thrusted his right elbow into his chest. Krillin's remaining eye rolled almost completely to the back of his head from the agonizing pain, while 17 cupped both his fists and smashed them downwards into Krillin's head.
The attack hit, leaving an echoing crunch behind it. Krillin's ears ringed as he felt like his skull just gave in from that one blow. He fell from the skies to the burning city, while 17 flew after him towards the fiery death trap below.
Krillin continue to fall as he suddenly moved his head towards 17's direction, giving him a sly smirk. 17 didn't have time to think about it as Krillin stopped mid fall, and started to make a funny face with his tongue out. The android couldn't help but growl in annoyance as he prepared to unleash the same punch he used to finish off the small warrior before, only for him to go right through an after image of that same warrior.
"What th-?! Where did he go?" said the android as he floated in the air between the three major buildings that surrounded him.
"Right here, big guy," said Krillin under his breath as he placed both of his hands in front of his face and spread them while screaming, "Solar Flare!" unleashing a great blinding light in the area. Not having anticipated this, the android was blinded from the move and without the ability to sense his opponent he lost track of him and his surroundings, as Krillin appeared a couple of feet behind him and cupped his hands to his side.
At the same time, three other voices could be heard chanting alongside him, giving their all at a do-or-die attack.
"Special Beam cannon!" a corkscrew-like beam in the color of yellow with a purple outline came hurtling out of the ground as the flames below obscured the location of the shooter.
"Masenko-haaa!" an orange beam with a bloated tip carrying most of its power was shot from one of the windows in the buildings to the west.
"Kamehameha!" a white and blue spiraling beam that obliterated everything in its path came from behind the android.
The three attacks traveled past the sound barrier to their goal, each one with the potential to decimate planets. When Android 17 finally got his sight back he could only look wide-eyed at the incoming beams of destruction and say.
"Well, shit."
When they met they made a huge explosion that swallowed entire blocks with their destructive force, lightning the area in a way that could have been seen from space, in a way that aliens could have mistaken it for a star.
A few minutes of agonizing wait passed before the silence was broken. "Krillin, did we get him?" asked Gohan as he appeared from behind a building, directing it at the tired and exhausted human fighter.
Krillin couldn't even make out a syllable; he was too tired for that after his joint attack with his fellow warriors. His head rose to face the still-dissipating dome of smoke, as only when it was gone they would really know if they succeeded or not. He wore his heart upon his sleeve as he held nothing but a last strand of hope... Hope that was suddenly crushed when he heard an eerie slow clap coming from the dome.
"D-damn i-it," said Krillin as the dome of dust got carried by the wind, revealing Android 17. He now had various cuts and bruises, his clothes were tattered, and blood dripped from his mouth.
"How? We just put everything we had into that attack and he just acts like it was a gentle breeze," said the terrified Gohan as the Android's cold gaze was now locked on him, promising only pain and suffering.
With one last clap, he disappeared and reappeared right in front of Gohan, kneeing him hard in the stomach. Gohan felt like his organs were liquefied from the devastating hit, he could only float there in place looking at the android, as his eyes rolled up from the pain, making it look like his pupils had gone completely white, until he felt himself get propelled into a building that was to his left. Only after the crash he understood that he had gotten a roundhouse kick to the head.
"Gohan!" was heard loudly, as a stretched green arm burst through the rubble on the ground and gripped 17's legs, throwing him into another building in a different direction. Piccolo emerged from the wreckage below, snarling as he started to randomly throw yellow ki blasts, missing his mark with every blast.
"What's wrong, jolly green giant? Forgot your glasses?" asked the laughing android, as Piccolo stopped firing blasts and gave a shit-eating grin. "Well, it looks like you're all out of fuel, huh?" asked 17 as suddenly he heard his sister yelling at him.
"17! Look behind you!" shouted his sister as she sat on the corpse of an elderly man. She started to play with her hair, starting to get bored from the battle.
17 turned his gaze from his opponent to give a retort to his sister as he finally noticed the ki blasts surroun-'fffffuuuuccccckkkkk,' he thought as he desperately looked for a path that would let him escape .
"Oh, you don't know how long I have waited for this," said Piccolo as the veins in his forehead started to bulge, and with no hesitation he crossed both of his arms, screaming "Hellzone Grenade!" All the combined blasts shot towards 17, swallowing him whole as a giant explosion that could be seen for miles manifested itself.
"Piccolo, go check on Gohan, I will hold the fort until you get back," said Krillin as his green comrade flew to the building which young Gohan had been thrown to while the explosion subsided, leaving behind a bleeding and angry android.
"Seems like now you don't have any excuse about going shopping with me next time we enter a city," said 18, as she looked at her brother state: his jeans wore cuts everywhere, his right sleeve was torn, and half his face carried burns.
"Fine, I will go shopping with you, just get over here and help me finish off the vermin," retorted 17 as his sister floated over to his side.
Krillin started to sweat as the android talked like it was all a sick game for them, he clenched his fists enough to draw blood, and with an angry shout threw himself into the lion's den, knowing what awaited him.
When he came close enough, he threw a fist directly at 18's face, only for it to be caught by her hands. "game over little man," said 18, as 17 released an energy beam from point blank range at Krillin. Krillin yelled from the visceral pain as he felt like every part of his body getting ripped apart from the attack.
18 started to laugh as Krillin's arm was torn off, as the beam carried him to the ground. When he reached it; Krillin was barely clinging to life and the androids prepared another energy attack at the tip of their fingers, firing it straight at Krillin's face.
Krillin could no longer scream as the beams pierced his skull, boiling his remaining eye right out of its socket, frying his brain to a crisp. In seconds, his head exploded from the pressure. Just like that, Krillin the Z fighter, died, leaving behind two others.
Inside the building's wreckage, Piccolo searched with all his senses for his charge. The interior was filled with dust obscuring his sight, the noises from outside deterred him from hearing in which direction his student laid.
As the seconds flew by, Piccolo started to be filled with dread as no matter where he searched, what stone he lifted, what dark corner he scoured, there was no sign of young Gohan. It was like he had vanished from the face of the earth.
When he started to lose hope for his student's survival, he suddenly barely noticed a plummeting energy source clinging to its life. Piccolo didn't wait a second longer, he started to run in the ki source's direction.
"Gohan, no," Piccolo could only whisper as he took in Gohan's state of being. He was spread on the ground, trails of blood were seen leaving Gohan's mouth, nose and ears. Every breath was labored.
"Mister… Piccolo," Gohan said with tears spilling from his eyes, "Krillin is," he just couldn't finish the sentence because of all the physical and mental pain. He struggled to get up, everything around him was a blur, clinging to consciousness.
"Gohan, don't speak, you need treatment," said Piccolo as he took Gohan in his arms, cradling him, as he started to float.
'It's too late for this city. Gohan is in no shape for battle, and we just lost Krillin to those monsters. We need to make a tactical retreat - it is our only hope now,' thought Piccolo as suddenly the building they resided in started to shake, and great explosions were heard from outside.
At the same time the remaining Z-fighters resided in the ruined building, the androids started to throw blasts in every direction, laughing their hearts out as block after block was erased before them, effectively killing any surviving human that was left in the city, until were once an already-ruined city stood, now an empty wasteland laid were a single building barely could keep itself standing.
"So? Want to end this game? As you see, I need new clothes," said 17 as his sister started to give an evil smirk in return.
Suddenly, the building exploded leaving behind a floating figure; a namekian that chose to sacrifice everything, just so his only real friend in the world could live to fight another day.
"17, if I am not mistaken there were two of them, the grumpy alien here, and a little runt that you just roundhoused into the building that just got demolished over there, does this mean he is the last one of Goku's friends?" asked 18, as she searched with her cold piercing eyes for the son of their arch enemy.
Piccolo never felt so much frustration in his life. His most recent attack only slowed the bastards down, and he had just failed another city. yet even if that was one of his greatest failures, he couldn't stop himself from smirking.
"Stay out of this, 18. The freak is mine," said 17 as he eyed Piccolo like a predator ready to pounce on its prey. Piccolo screamed his lungs out as he powered up to his limits and some more, ready for his final round with the android.
They both stared to each other's eyes. one was fighting for the future of his world, while the other was fighting for his own sick enjoyment. One great and final shout was heard before they both ran at each outer.
When they reached each other, Piccolo started on the offensive with a leg swipe, effectively making the mechanical murderer lose his balance. Piccolo didn't even blink as he was ready to kick 17 in the head, while said android was still falling.
17, regaining his bearings just in time to evade Piccolo's kick, used his leg to gain momentum to jump above Piccolo. He started to spin in the air, gaining speed every millisecond until his form seemingly turned into a blurry ball, and when a second passed since his jump he used all of his momentum to kick downwards with his right leg.
Piccolo saw the kick in the last second, jumping backwards to see the his former location become a large crater from 17's blow, much to his shock. Piccolo didn't stand in bewilderment for long as 17, that not even a second ago had dug a hole the ground with but kick, used the same leg that he kicked with to jump at Piccolo.
Piccolo didn't miss a beat as he side-stepped to his left, making 17 miss him completely. He grasped 17's right leg with his left hand in midair, and used his elbow to strike at 17's knee cap. 17 saw that coming in the last moment and he bent his body upwards to catch Piccolo's elbow and trust his left leg straight at Piccolo's face.
Piccolo lost his grip as 17 landed with his hands on the ground and used it to right himself with a somersault back to a standing position. "I gotta hand it to you, big green, you're faring pretty wall with me at forty percent of my power, but let's face it, this cat and mouse game between us just became repetitive and boring. Let's take this battle up a notch, shall we?"
17 started to release a considerable amount of killing intent, which made Piccolo sweat and fall to one of his knees from the sheer pressure and intensity. Piccolo started to snarl with his pointy teeth, and with all his strength and with an audible gulp, rose and returned to his demon fighting stance.
-Ten minutes earlier, before Piccolo's final stand-
Piccolo was still holding Gohan as he used his splitting ability that another Z-fighter, Tien, developed years ago.
The original Piccolo gave the injured body of Gohan to his clone, giving it a silent command with his gaze to protect the child with everything in his arsenal. The clone took Gohan's battered and bruised body and a second later blew a large hole in the wall, exiting the building and using the androids' own blasts to hide he and the child and escape from the battlefield.
'Now I can only wait for the right time to strike,' thought Piccolo as he sat and crossed his legs to meditate while he could still hear the androids howl in crazed laughter as they wiped out what was left of the burning city around them.
-Back to Piccolo's fight-
Piccolo jumped backwards as he released a ki blast at the ground to spread a cloud of sand in the residing area as he flew as fast as he could around the android, using the still spreading dust and sand to make a sneak attack from behind, starching his left arm as he put his right fingertips to his forehead, storing ki to them.
-Five minutes before the battle-
Piccolo's clone had already gotten out of the battlefield with Gohan in his arms, the boy going and out of consciousness through the entire trip.
"Piccolo, please, you have to forget about me, you need every ounce of strength. You-" Gohan couldn't finish his sentence as he started to cough blood on Piccolo's fighting gi.
Piccolo could only smile at the bravery his student displayed before him as they flew to Kami's lookout, where they could get senzu beans to save Gohan's life and to leave him under the watchful eyes of Bulma.
"Kid, do you remember how before the sayians, I always instructed you on how to leave behind the fear of death?" asked Piccolo, as Gohan fought with everything he got only to stay awake, he could only nod his head as a reply, as tears started to spill from his eyes.
Piccolo started to give Gohan a little energy from his Ki reserves, to replenish Gohan's life energy and to keep him warm. "So you also remember that for a teacher to sacrifice his entire purpose and being, to ensure his student will someday surpass him, is his greatest reward," said Piccolo as Gohan started to think of why Piccolo started to bring it up all of a sudden.
At that time, Gohan first thought that Piccolo meant that a teacher will just put all his free time to ensure his student would gain the experience from his master, but Gohan's eyes suddenly widenned when he figured out what Piccolo wanted to say to him.
-Back to the battle-
Android 17 cursed doctor Gero at that moment, "Why didn't the old windbag give us the ability to sense energy? it was one of the most basic things he could do," said the annoyed android. Suddenly, he started to see a dark shadow inside the smoke around him, and it only took him a second to know it was a fist that was aimed at his face.
17 smirked. "Seems like someone became desperate! A fist. Really?" asked the cocky android as he crossed both of his forearms to block the attack, only for the fist to open up in the last moment, releasing a weak energy blast.
17 jumped back as the blast missed its mark. "Ok that was just sad, right…now?" 17 noticed that nobody was connected to the hand as he followed the rubber-like arm with his eyes, only to get face to face with a snarling Piccolo, with his other hand outstretched and aimed right at the android's chest, where his heart laid.
"Special beam cannon!" yelled Piccolo as he released all his energy into another do-or-die attack, 17 could only scream as he felt the attack struggling to pierce his chest, and by that shoot him through the heart, only for a medium-sized energy blast to strike him in the side, throwing him off the first beam's trajectory.
Piccolo fell to his knees, out of breath. He put what energy he had left onto that attack, and now not even ten percent was left of his total energy. All in all, things were not looking good for Piccolo.
Blood was spilling to the ground from 17's chest, he gritted his teeth as he rose up from the ground, and, for the first time, he showed to the world his real face: not that of a person, an android or even a murderer. That, right there, was the face of a savage beast.
17 screamed to the heavens as he instantly appeared in front of Piccolo, bringing his knee to Piccolo's midsection, making the green alien hunch from pain; only to get a cupped fist to the head which succeeded in bringing him down to the ground a second later.
17 didn't stop there. He would make sure to do ten times worse to the alien than what he felt from getting a fucking energy beam to the chest. 17 started stomping on Piccolo's spine again and again as he laid incapacitated on the ground, making Piccolo scream from agonizing pain.
-One minute before the battle-
Piccolo finally reached the lookout. There waited for him his other half, and the heiress of the Capsule Corp cooperation with her baby boy. When he landed, he started to walk to Kami with Gohan in his arms.
When Bulma saw the state of Gohan, she gasped and ran to Piccolo to question him, only to get a challenging glare in return. She stopped running as her infant son, Trunks started to wail in her arms, awakened from the almost non existence killing intent Piccolo released at that moment.
"Kami, he needs treatment immediately. Take him to a room and give him a senzu bean," Piccolo rudely ordered, as his old counterpart took Gohan in his arms, accessing the state of the boy before him.
"W-wa-wait," said Gohan as he felt his heart broken from knowing that he would never see his mentor again. He wanted for him to wait, so he could take the bean so that he may help in the fight.
Piccolo could only look with pity at the boy, knowing the burden that would rest on his shoulders because of what would transpire. "Gohan, I'm sorry," was the only thing Piccolo said as Kami pressed a pressure point on Gohan's neck with extreme expertise, making him faint on the spot.
With no second to delay, Piccolo's clone disappeared as the its essence returned to the original, bringing with it his memories, all of which he spent with his pupil. Back at the battle field where Piccolo meditated, he suddenly opened his eyes and with one sentence started it all, "It's time."
-Back to the battle-
17 started to grow bored of Piccolo's screams, as he took Piccolo up with a hand around his neck, choking him in the process. Piccolo, even with all the pain, still didn't give up. He clawed 17's chest where he had shot him, making the android let go of his throat.
17 growled in annoyance as he started to throw punches at Piccolo, every one of them hitting home. Piccolo just couldn't follow 17 quick jabs in his current state. Every punch or kick was a blur for him. The only thing he could do was protect his vital points while 17 treated him like a sandbag.
Piccolo started to tire as suddenly a punch landed on his cranium and he fell against a wall that once was part of a tall building, just getting hit more and more,be it to the legs, chest, or face, nothing was spared as the cruel android landed more and more unrelenting hits on him.
'Gohan, I'm sorry, you were my first friend. You showed me compassion and acceptance where everyone else would reject me. I just wish that it wouldn't turn out this way. Your greatest strength was your peaceful nature, you were never meant to be a warrior, but a man of peace,' thought Piccolo as he got lost in his memories, until it all faded to black.
17 had grown bored of the namekian. He wasn't even concentrating on the fight (or slaughter, to be honest) anymore, so he raised his power to forty five percent and, with one strong kick, broke Piccolo's neck, killing him instantly.
"What a bore, I didn't get to have any fun," whined 18, as she shoot a ki beam at Piccolo's carcass, vaporizing it in the blink of an eye.
"Come, 18, I need new clothes" said 17 as he and his sister flew to an unknown location.
-Kami's lookout, a day later-
"Piccolo!" screamed Gohan as he woke up from his sleep with cold sweat covering his body. His gaze landed on the genie of the lookout, Popo, that bowed his head to him and pointed at fresh clothing on a chair near his bed, and then leaving the room without a word.
Outside the room sat bulma and her son, Trunks, that played with his set of building blocks, building a little tower.
They heard footsteps, coming from the building behind them, and when Bulma looked at the source, she found Gohan wearing a replica of his father's gi looking confused and lost. She instantly rose up and ran to him.
"Gohan, thank goodness you are ok. I feared the worst," said Bulma as she looked at Gohan's eyes seeing him putting the pieces together, until his eyes widened and he fell to his knees, starting to cry.
"Bulma, it was horrible. Where's mister Piccolo? I can't sense him anywhere," said Gohan as Bulma started to sob and cry. When Gohan saw her shake her head, he instantly knew what she was trying to tell him.
And with not another word, he jumped from the edge of the lookout to the former battle ground, "Gohan, wait!" Screamed Bulma for not as the demi-saiyan didn't answer her shout, "we need you."
It took Gohan half an hour to reach the crater where once laid a prospering city, "Piccolo!" screamed Gohan for his mentor "Piccolo, please answer me!" Gohan became desperate as he fell to his knees, striking the ground with his fists as he started to cry.
'First, my dad,' Gohan roared to the heavens and his mind was struck with grief and rage, 'then my friends!' the wind around Gohan turned into a miniature hurricane as he continued striking the ground, at that point he was bleeding from the knuckles of his hands, 'and now Piccolo, and it's all because of them!'
Gohan's hair started to stand upwards, as if like a heartbeat his muscles expanded and returned to normal size at that same second. "It's because of them," Gohan finally told himself as the skies started to darken and lightning started to strike the ground around him, his eyes at that point permanently changed to aqua green, as tears continued to fall from them. "I HATE THEMAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHHH!" screamed Gohan as golden light enveloped him.
-Gohan's POV-
That day, a child died and I was born. That day the man of peace died, and a warrior rose. That day I promised to myself that there would be no more mercy in my heart - no second chances - and to every enemy I would face there would be only one thing that awaited them...
...Death
-Vegeta's badlands, 16:23 PM-
"I," Nez ignored Gohan's words as his fist started to glow purple, "Am," he landed in front of Gohan, the lad's face dark as at that point the shadow of the sunset obscured most of it. When Nez's fist was centimeters away, his head rose with a grim look as he finished his sentence, "alone."
"Splech," was the noise that echoed as the ground was painted red with saiyan blood.
Blood fell in gallons to the ground as Nez, with the same crazed smile, looked up at the person that had just driven his fist through his chest and squash his heart with no hesitation. Gohan's face was smeared in blood as he looked at the eyes of Barnah, declaring with a yell, "and you're next!"