"Unexpected Romance: Changes"
Chapter 7- "The Morning After"
By- Tiny
The Lookout was peaceful in the wee hours of the morning, the aged guardian known only as Kami gazing out over the world below, his keen senses monitoring the activities of his charges on the surface. He had been doing this job since before any of the people on the planet were even an itch in their parent's loins, and he was good at his job, but lately he had begun to feel that his job on this planet was coming to a close. Darkness was creeping into the corners of the world and something lay on the horizon that frightened the aged Namkesei-jin immensely, though he didn't as yet know what.
Kami knew it wasn't the upcoming battle with Slug, he already knew what was to be the outcome of that battle, even though it had not yet occurred and would not for a little longer as of yet. For some reason the future of the planet was unknown and eluded the guardian's foresight, and the only time that had previously happened was just before Piccolo was killed during the battle with the Saiya-jin. He had known his time as guardian was up at that point in the course of history, even if that little trip to the great beyond had been short lived and now...it meant his time was up once more.
His fears were only confirmed when he felt a slightly more disturbed and darker presence on the Lookout right behind him, causing the guardian's face to wrinkle a little more as he turned to face his visitor. It had been a long time since Piccolo and Kami had met face to face, not since their last fight with each other many years ago, but now the time had come that their meeting was of the utmost importance. The enemy would be on the planet in hours, they had come far faster than Vegeta or the others had anticipated, and Kami knew that the fighters of Earth would need every advantage they could get.
"I see you've been expecting me, old man," Piccolo growled, removing his cape and turban, "And if that's true, then you know exactly why I've come here and what it is I want with you Kami."
"I know what you want Piccolo and I know what must be done for my planet, but I am not going to do anything just yet," the aged guardian replied, "Popo is out gathering someone for me and I refuse to go through with your plan until he returns."
"We don't have time for this sentimental nonsense, you old bastard!" Piccolo snapped, his fist shaking, "I don't care if Popo is here or not, Slug will be here in a matter of months and I for one don't want to be caught unprepared!"
"You will watch your tongue while on my platform Piccolo and you will wait or this isn't going to happen," Kami retorted, "Popo is arriving now, so if you don't mind I wish to go and meet him and my guest."
"Guest?" Piccolo chuckled, "Giving tours of the Lookout now, old timer?"
"Something like that, now shut up," Kami rolled his eyes, walking over the dark genie known as Popo, "Popo, I see you have brought our young friend to see us at last! Did you have a good trip?"
Piccolo didn't pay any attention to the rest of the conversation as he studied the newcomer to the Lookout, getting a good look at the young man's features and studying his aura intensely. It was a human teenager, probably no more than sixteen or seventeen years old if he was a day, dressed in a pair of baggy white cargo pants and a black tanktop underneath a long-sleeve, billowy white shirt. His hair was the most pristine white color that Piccolo had ever seen with intense, yet wise looking blue eyes that almost felt like they were peering into the Nameksei-jin's very soul and analyzing it.
As for the young man's aura, it was almost as pure and innocent as that of the Saiya-jin warrior Goku's had been at that age, almost appearing to make him glow a faint blue color in the early morning sunshine. He was strong as well, radiating almost as much power from his compact form as that of the human fighter Krillin, something that shouldn't have been possible from a person still so young and innocent. It made no sense to Piccolo why Kami would call this young man to the Lookout so suddenly, and more curiously why he wouldn't go through with what needed to be done until he arrived.
"Piccolo, I would like you to meet Kale; he's been training under Kame-Sennin and his former students for the last couple of years since I found him," Kami explained, "I've also been training him personally by having him battle against foes you've faced in the past, through use of the Pendulum Room of course."
"I don't see what that has to do with..."
"Allow me to finish Piccolo," Kami interrupted, "Kale here is by no means a normal human teenager, as I'm sure you can tell by how strong he has become in only a short amount of time. This is not only due to the fact that, in his past life, Kale here was a great human warrior known as Olibu and now, in this life, he has been born with the adept skills of a guardian."
"Do you mean to tell me that you've held me up so you could find a replacement for your old ass!" Piccolo snapped, his aura rising, "Kami, if I didn't need you for my plan..."
"Then you'd have waited nonetheless, because you can't do this without him and you want to save this planet as badly as the next person," Kale finally spoke, striding up to the former demon king, "You are not as evil as you would lead us to think Piccolo, otherwise you wouldn't give a damn if your old friend came to this planet and razed it to the ground."
"The kid catches on quickly, even if he has picked up a bit of a smart mouth from his other sensei's," Kami smiled, handing his old, crooked staff to the young man, "Now, we are ready to finish this Piccolo...the time has finally come."
"About time we saw eye to eye on this old man, but let's get this straight now, we're using MY body for this, not yours!" Piccolo snorted, "I'm not going to go about fighting Slug in some old, wrinkled form."
"You mean...Kami, you can't!" Popo objected, "The Dragonballs will disappear...and what about your charges?"
"Kale will take care of all that now, he is more than ready, and he will be able to hold his own against anything that comes to threaten the sanctity of this planet," Kami waved his aid's protests off, "Besides, as Kale said, Piccolo is no longer as evil as he once was and I'm sure that he'll use this new power I'm granting him for the good of this planet. Now let's get this over with; Piccolo, place your hand on my chest and concentrate."
Piccolo didn't argue with the old man any more and simply placed his right palm over the emblem on Kami's chest, allowing the aged guardian's power to begin transferring into his own body. With Nail, it had been almost instantaneous, but with Kami something strange began to happen as the energy transferred, a blue aura surrounding him as a red one came over Piccolo's own body, the wind on the Lookout intensifying. Piccolo looked slightly stunned, but not nearly as much as Kale and Popo, who had run off to the insides of the Lookout and watched from a safe distance.
The entire platform was filled with smoke from where the wind had picked up around the two Nameksei-jin, but it slowly began to clear as Piccolo rose up out of the smoke-filled area, back in his full uniform once more. His body was practically aglow with energy as the great warrior rose to his feet, Kami nowhere in sight but his own energy pulsing through the Lookout in sequence with Piccolo's. It was the first time in almost a thousand years since the two Nameksei-jin had been one in the same, but the sheer sight of him, despite the fact he hadn't changed in appearance almost brought the others to awe.
"Kami warned me that this would be a sight...but I've never sensed so much power in one person!" Kale gulped, his blue eyes wide with wonder, "I never in my wildest dreams would have thought it...I wonder what his name is now?"
"I am a Nameksei-jin warrior who has long forgotten his name, and at the moment it doesn't matter, for war is upon us," Piccolo smirked, throwing his cape and turban to the ground with a thud, then looking back at the others, "So long, my friends. I must go..."
Chi-Chi awoke with a start in her own bed at her home, naked as the day she was born with her clothes strewn all about the room in various locations, not to mention a great deal of the room's furniture being smashed up. She recalled the previous night quite vividly, if not with a blush crossing over her face at the thought of the things that she had let the Saiya-jin prince do to her. Not that she had minded in the least how he had handled her or how she had handled him at the same time, but she did kind of regret it, seeing as she was still a married woman and a mother to a young, very impressionable son.
The human woman, still feeling a little ashamed of herself, slid out from under the covers and began to put her clothes on, opting for something a little less constricting than her usual kimono and left her hair in a loose ponytail. She wasn't accustomed to wearing jeans or loose fitting clothes of any kind anymore, not since she got married to Goku and had tried to become a good and loving housewife. Now that that image was shattered due to her night of passion with the Saiya-jin prince, she no longer felt it was necessary to hide the way she would prefer to be from anyone, including herself.
She didn't see Vegeta at first when she rose to her feet, though his clothes were still all over the place and didn't look like they had been gathered up, but she did finally catch up to him when she went out into the hallway. The Saiya-jin man was about halfway dressed, clad only in the lower portion of his bodysuit and a pair of boots, his face just as stern and rough as it usually was. It actually made Chi-Chi blush a little bit more being so close to the man yet again, confined in the same space where most of their clothes had been discarded the previous night, noticing that Gohan was right behind him, a big grin on his little face.
"Apparently, your son walked in on us last night and, as a condition of him 'allowing' me to be with his mother, I've been asked to train you," Vegeta grumbled, his eyes darting to the small boy, "Change out of those jeans and into something a bit less constraining to your movement; training begins in thirty minutes."
"Gohan...you actually...saw what we were doing last night?" Chi-Chi asked her son, Vegeta heading outside, "Why didn't you try to stop him, or to stop me for that matter?"
"Because I need someone to look up to in my life that will understand and, possibly, be accepting of how I am, not shun me like...others," Gohan smiled, a flash of pain washing over his face for a second, "Besides, your a grown woman, you don't need my approval."
"But your father...aren't you concerned about his feelings?" Chi-Chi asked, heading towards her room to change, "I mean.."
"I don't want to talk about HIM, so please just get ready and come on outside before Vegeta takes out his frustration on me!" Gohan gulped, running down the stairs, "Don't keep us waiting for too long!"
"Wow...I certainly wasn't expecting that kind of a reaction," Chi-Chi gasped, looking for a good set of training gear, "The boy really isn't like his father..."
Somewhere out in the depths of space, on a straight course for Earth with nothing but the worst intentions planned for the small blue planet, rocketed a massive frozen sphere with a couple thousand occupants. One of them, a very tall and sinister looking being with dark green skin and a crooked scar over his face stepped out onto his balcony, looking up at the stars as they zoomed overhead. He had been waiting for this day ever since he was banished from his home world many centuries before, though he had managed to keep himself youthful with the aid of a magician on his ship.
He could feel the powers down on Earth, one significantly higher than all the others standing out like a beacon of light, but that mattered very little to the dark warrior, for it was not enough to match his own strength. There were two he was concerned with, as they constantly grew in strength on an almost daily basis and, a few days prior, he had felt one rise to almost his power level. He was frightened of the prospect that someone on that little blue planet would even have a prayer of defeating him, but shook the thoughts from his mind as a smirk came over his face, the outer planet known as Pluto coming into view.
"Soon, the Dragonballs of this planet will be mine," the dark lord smirked, "And then, nobody will ever be able to stop me..."
Updated Power Levels
Piccolo: 3,500,000
w/fusion: 12,500,000
Kale: 1,850,000
Authors Notes: Not as much focus on the happy couple as one would have expected, but I needed to get to the moment with Piccolo and Kami, as well as introducing an original character as Kami's replacement. After all, I feel that the planet should be guarded and taken care of by someone who is native to the world, not by an outside power because "they can't do it on their own". Kale will play an important role not only as guardian, but also in the upcoming battles in the story, as he has a fighter's spirit and doesn't like sitting on the sidelines.
The next chapter will feature Vegeta as he tries to explain the principles of defensive and offensive fighting in his race's tradition, while Gohan does some perfecting on a technique he feels will be useful. It will also feature a spar between two of our human heroes, Krillin and Yamcha, as they prepare to face the enemy coming to their planet, determined not to let the Saiya-jin get that far ahead of them. To see what else awaits, stay tuned...