Disclaimer: I'm tired…. Go to that… chaaapteerrr twooozzzzzzzzZZZzzzZzzz….
I think I have around 8 "devoted" readers to this story (at least, that's what I gather from the "hits" stats). I'd have to say, even if you kids don't all review, you have to be pretty good to stick with my wicked mind and how it twists things around, especially for so long.
"You're sure that nothing is broken?" Piccolo looked down at Atsarute skeptically. She had collapsed earlier onto the floor after putting in a new destination on the computer, and didn't bother to get herself up. Instead, she decided to lay there, with her hand sitting over the injured spot, as if shielding it.
Her eyes opened and looked back at him with dissatisfaction. "I said I'm fine. It's just some bruising. The bastard managed to hurt my chest wall, so now I'm getting some PVCs and my breathing is shallow. It's just a little annoying and I'll have to stay level until it passes."
"And how long will that be?"
"Oh, who the Hell knows? It doesn't matter; it'll probably be a while before we arrive, anyway." She grumbled a little bit and closed her eyes again.
Piccolo didn't move. "You didn't tell me where we're going this time."
Atsarute let a sneer go across her face, but her eyes didn't open again. "A colonized moon that's covered entirely by city. Because it doesn't have a government, per say, outside of some gangs, it doesn't have a name. It's pretty much known as the moon of the planet that it orbits. I'm going there to get some trading done."
"I see…" The Namek renounced his position and went for a chair, setting himself in and pulling over an alien liquor.
The general tightened her brow. "Aren't you going to meditate?"
"I still have some other things to talk about."
A growl came from her. "If you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly in the talking mood."
"That's fine. It'll probably be me talking mostly anyway."
"I can't promise that I'll be listening."
Piccolo scoffed and took a sip before starting. "I would like to know first, though… was Sanatoasu's behavior also an act? Like Kenturion?"
"No. He's really like that." She heaved a bit. "Though I think he gave you the wrong impression."
"How?"
She made another annoyed sound before continuing, not wanting to talk anymore than necessary. "That guy is so pure hearted… he doesn't lie. You heard what he said, when he had the blade to my throat. It was all true. But sometimes he has some naïveté concerning whether or not he should say the truth. Because of that, the things that he says tend to be blatant and sometimes even crude."
Piccolo opened his mouth to comment against it, but closed it when he compared the behavior to Son Goku, and realized that the two weren't all that off in that sense. He frowned and shifted to one side. "His attitude concerning you, however… you're going to have a hard time convincing me that he's pure in that sense."
Atsarute groaned. "The sad thing is he's actually incredibly pure in that sense. It's not like he doesn't get aroused; he does. Purity has nothing to do with the suppression of natural instincts. But the thing in particular he talked about and likes…" She stopped and put a hand on her forehead. "Okay. That's enough. Most of the pain has subsided and the PVCs are gone for now. I'm going to do something productive." She leaned forward and sat herself up.
Piccolo crossed his arms. "You're not going to get out of it, Atsarute. Tell me what it was that he was talking about."
She glared back at him in an almost puerile manner, her upturned lip almost a pout. "Puroeriun scales are small in comparison to many creatures, but, while folded, offer incredible protection against offensive blows and absorb and distribute a lot of shock. However, when we are touched in an opposite way, like that of pleasure, so to speak," she said the word "pleasure" in an almost demeaning tone, "our scales ruffle and fall around the affected area.
"When they do this, they produce a sound that is often pleasing to the ear. The sound is so minute, however, that few races can actually hear it. Puroeriun can hear it and even feel it sometimes if the humidity is high or if they're in the water. Races like Karigo-sei-jin and Namekku-sei-jin also hear it because their auditory systems are sufficiently advanced."
Piccolo raised a brow. "So he does those things to you because he likes the sound?"
"Eh, I guess you can say it like that. It's really a combination of the sound and how I react to it." Her chin rested on her standing knee and she wrapped an arm around it. "The thing is, I'm not used to the feeling I get when my scales ruffle and fall. I'm used to them flattening out and gripping down when in battle to protect me. But when they do that… gah… it just makes me feel vulnerable. Like someone can reach into my muscle and bone when it happens."
A small shock of victory came into Piccolo's senses. He just got her to tell him something incredibly personal about herself. "It bothers you that much?"
"Yeah. That's the reason I freaked out earlier when you touched my side out of the blue, and why I panic around those horny Namek boys. I think Sanatoasu gets a kick out of it, though. I enjoy sparring with him, but damnit, whenever he strokes my neck with the blade like that, I get pissed off each time."
The empty bottle clanged on the floor when it was set down. "Do you realize you just did the majority of the talking, Atsarute? You weren't even the one doing the drinking."
"Meh. I'll probably regret it later. Right now, I don't give a damn. I can't help but enjoy talking to you."
He smiled; then an idea came to mind and it into a mischievous smirk. He moved effortlessly quickly to Atsarute's side. She scarcely had time to turn her head to him when he gently scratched his nail against the nape of her neck. Her eyes shot wide and her jaw clenched, but a soft sound came. Ssssshhhhh…
"Sounds like a rain-stick," Piccolo commented.
"Wh-wh-what are you doing!" Atsarute's hand shot up to shield the place on her neck. A thick blush was forming across her face.
"That time before, you were making so much noise, I didn't hear it."
"So you decided that you could just come up and touch me without my permission!"
Since she didn't recoil too far yet, Piccolo reached out and did it again, this time against the arm that was trying to shield her. The sound faintly rippled through the air again. When she gave some sort of squawk and clambered away from him, he chuckled to himself. "I see why they find it so amusing now."
Atsarute recalled with a bustle of insults, most of which were in languages that Piccolo didn't understand. He didn't pay them any mind and continued to "scratch" at her, honestly fascinated by her flaring anger over the embarrassment and by the intriguing noise made by her scales.
"Quit quit quit quit quit quit quit! Yamero!" She pronounced rapidly, her demands turning more childish than intimidating as she scuttled away from the Namek. The retreat ended at her console chair, where she turned back at him and made another attempt at reclaiming a menacing demeanor against him with a sharp glare and a toothy snarl, summoning another animalistic gnarr from her throat.
A light on the console behind her flashed, and a sound rang through the room. Her head shot around. "Huh? A real-time feed request." She reached back and flipped a switch.
"Atsarute-sama!" One of her soldiers appeared on screen. "I'm sorry to disturb your business, but we just received a transmission that you really must see immediately!"
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
To go through training is often compared to going through Hell, and the fatigue that follows such trials of one's constitution can put a man out faster than a wrecking ball to the jaw. This being said, it shouldn't be unheard of for those who went through the "basic training" to all be in heavy, dreamless sleep.
Well, the sleep was dreamless for most.
Neil tossed and turned in nightmares that he couldn't quite comprehend. Before, the one who had the nightmares was Piccolo while they were under the influence of the mania. They were all afflicted with it, but since his mind and body was in dominance, and he was the one that wanted separation the most, the morbid dreams latched onto him. But now, Neil was the lone soul of the body, and the dreams pounded upon him. And the horror his mind was being subject to was a single antagonist.
It was a killer without substance; he could not possibly find a way to combat it. It tore through everyone he knew back on Namekku-sei, leaving behind only dismembered and gory corpses, purple staining the grass under them. At first, he thought the creature was Freeza, or some sort of manifestation of him, but its ki was not Freeza's. Whose it was, however, was a mystery; he had never felt it before.
The worst part of the dream is that he knew it was a dream, but he was unable to change it or pull himself out. The creature confused and dulled his mind so that he couldn't figure out how to change the dream, and he was so tired from the training that the heavy weight of fatigue kept him from escaping into consciousness.
He was completely under the thing's mercy.
But it never attacked him in murdering intent. It would whiz past, perhaps knick his arm a bit, but nothing more. When it seemed to have killed all other life on Namekku-sei before him, it stopped and sat before him, appearing as a mere absence of light on the ground.
"So you've got nothing left?" Neil scoffed bitterly, "Aren't you going to kill me now?"
It didn't answer. The only sound coming from it was its abnormal breathing.
"You won't kill me. Is it because I'll wake up when you do? Then you'll cease to exist?"
Nothing.
"You're what exists in Atsarute's shadow; I know it! I don't know why so few people can see you, and why only Goku can hear you. But you're latched onto Atsarute, and your goal… it has to do with Piccolo, doesn't it?"
It still didn't "speak", but somehow it projected to him, You won't be able to interfere. No one will be able to interfere. My wrath will assume completion.
"But why do you appear before me?" he bellowed.
Screams rang again from behind. He circled to see… more Namekku-sei-jin. This time, however, these were not natives of Namekku-sei; these were women of Katatsu-sei. More particularly, they were Toniko and Mollosuki. Both looked like they were dragged through the gore-soaked ground, with cakes of purple-brown mud on their skin and clothing.
Damnit! I don't care if this is just a dream! I don't want them to get killed too! Neil approached them slowly, thinking that maybe if he's near, it will keep away.
"Stay back!" Toniko shouted, making him pause his step. "Don't come any closer!"
He furrowed his brow. "Toniko!"
"Listen to us! Don't come here! No matter what!" Mollosuki cried. "No matter what!"
"You don't understand!" He yelled back to them. "It'll kill you if I don't go there! It won't harm me! I promise!"
They both shook their heads and repeated their begging requests. The thing now swept around them, making shallow cuts in their skin as it hissed by. He couldn't stand it. He had to come to them. He advanced reached them, wrapping his arms around both of them.
The spray of blood instantly met his face, and their bodies slumped forward into him, the grotesque rip lengthwise through their bodies causing them to fall into four separate, grisly pieces onto the ground.
I wouldn't have killed them if you didn't come to them. The test is complete. My wrath will assume completion.
The sight before him put him over the edge, and he ran upwards for escape, finally breaking through and pulling himself out of the slumber and up, now sitting erect in his bed.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
The woman on the screen was young and beautiful. Piccolo met her before, but not when she was in this state. Of this youthful state, he had only seen a picture, something that was supposed to be a memory of what was.
Komugiko-joou was young again.
Atsarute couldn't help but scoff, curious as to what made that queen change her mind of holding celibacy until her capture, and wondered what bloke would have agreed to marry her.
"General Atsarute has returned in full force!" The queen declared, standing before her throne while radiating her own glow of charisma. "There is no way I can simply sit and watch any longer! Therefore, I have decided to take back my strength and supplement our forces with one motion!"
Atsarute chuckled at the recording. "Shoulda' done that sooner. Crazy bitch. She must have married one of my enemies."
"'One of your enemies'? Somehow, that seems like that could include a big number." Piccolo smirked.
"I won't deny that."
"I have seen through the streams," Komugiko's image continued, "the truth behind the haze that surrounds Atsarute's revival. Deception and intrigue have found their way here. Some of those among you have taken under betrayal and sided with the Puroeriun Empire. Because of this, Atsarute was able to escape and steal away peace."
A man harnessed in some of the most threatening-looking armor that Piccolo had ever seen (even more so than the demonic look Atsarute's had) joined Komugiko on stage. He looked more like some sort of war cyborg than an organic being, with spikes and jagged razors situated in his armor, with particularly huge and menacing ones on his shoulder plates (to be noted, each shoulder plate looked about 4 times the size of Piccolo's head, although the man himself looked like he would be about the same size as him without the armor). The man visibly emitted his ki, and the spikes and razor teeth churned and moved on the surface of the armor.
"Damn, that's one offensive-looking piece of equipment. What kind of armor is that, Atsarute?" He took his eyes from the recording to the woman beside him. However, she didn't answer him; she was focused on the man that came on with a serious look.
"Atsarute?" He called again.
"I have married this man, Funzen, who inherited a great army from his general father, a valiant man who died and had his corpse desecrated by the cruel hands of General Atsarute. With his force at our side, I promise that Atsarute's savage sadism will be brought to an end."
PVC – Premature Ventricular Contraction. They make your heartbeat irregular, pretty much making it feel like your heart's beating in triplets. Not to be confused with "polyvinyl chloride" (the plastic stuff).
Yamero! – Stop!
Funzen – Anger, indignation, rage, wrath.
Okay, I bet a lot of you either forgot about Komugiko, or thought I forgot about her.
Oh yeah! Check out the OC character art page that I have the link to on my profile. I made a big update to it, including the art for Shuran, Molly, Toniko, and Atsarute, and I updated the summaries of later characters as well.