Disclaimer: Somewhere else. That somewhere being chapter 2.

We've been lazy. We've been busy thinking more about Us than Our fans. Katamari is on crack. Well… more likely weed or acid.
I rode on roller coasters!

"Piccolo-sama! You can't!" Arufuredo tried in vain to halt the Namek as he stomped down the hall towards the landing bay. "You can't just burst into the middle of a battle like this!"

"Who's going to stop me?" Piccolo growled back. "Atsarute's out there, about to do something incredibly stupid, and she purposely pushed me away. She knows that she's still under that curse, and yet she's in conflict against Funzen and Komugiko as we speak! What else am I supposed to do?"

"Consider Neil-san's warning to stay away! She did request it, right?"

"Che! Neil's likely delirious from the illness he's under!"

"That's not it, and you know it! That… formless thing… whatever it was… General Buritz or what… has been attacking him, and is forming a revenge on her! Neil-san's using what he's endured to be able to warn you!"

Piccolo abruptly stopped in the middle of a hall. "Then what do you suggest? That I stay here and stand idly by as this curse acts against her?"

"No, but… perhaps you can go to her war brig that's orbiting the planet that they're battling on. You'll at least be the first to hear anything from the battlefield, if nothing else."

He gave a tired growl. "Fine. Let's hurry, then."

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Atsarute's defense had changed drastically since the last time either Funzen or Komugiko battled her. They both wondered if it was due to some technique that she might have developed over the past while, or if she was changing her dodging and blocking styles for some unpronounced purpose. Funzen assumed that it must have had something to do with her unusual behavior otherwise, that the ghost of his father had warned him about.

Funzen had wanted revenge against Atsarute ever since his father was slain, and when he began to get feverish dreams about his father trying to reach him, he assumed that he was enduring a nervous breakdown. But when he decided to listen to his father, he found that his father was aiding him, leading a way for him to exact that revenge.

And here the prize was before him, scampering away from his and Komugiko's blows like a rat. He would feel some amount of satisfaction from the scene, except that he couldn't put one scratch on her.

Komugiko thrust her sword out, just to stab air again. Her reward was a kick to her head by Atsarute's booted foot, sending her face-first into the ground. Funzen tried to follow up with a strike while Atsarute was busy with the counter, but only earned a knee crashing up under his chin.

I have to limit her from moving around so much… he thought to himself as he wiped the blood from his mouth, She's obviously protecting more than her vitals by how she's dodging. She'll tire herself out more quickly with this kind of defence, but I can't wait until she's winded to strike. He looked over at a mountain, and recalled how this planet's rock was particularly dense and compressed. And a plan came to mind.

He motioned for Komugiko to follow his lead, and he went for a quick swipe. Atsarute dodged in the direction he hoped. He tried again, with the same result. Komugiko did the same, and the two forced their enemy back towards the mountain face with her own movements. Atsarute herself seemed to be too preoccupied with her defense to realize that she was being cornered.

Her back had touched the mossy rock before it dawned on her. She made a quick glance behind her before looking at her adversaries to weigh out her possibilities. Komugiko was giving motions to show that she would be attacking if she ran towards her. Funzen pulled out a bull-rush before launching himself shoulder-first towards Atsarute's head.

There was nowhere to run.

If Atsarute didn't jump upwards, her head would be crushed. If she did, she would still be wounded in the abdomen, but at least she would be alive. If she tried to duck, she would still be pierced by Funzen's other spikes on his armor, and likely be finished off by Komugiko.

Her mental decision, spurred by a new kind of instinct, was to not move.

Her cursed body with its primal instincts ruling over her reason made her jump.

Funzen's spinning stakes dug deep into her flesh like some sort of morbid food processor before she could fling herself off. She fell several meters away to the ground, an airborne train of blood following her before raining to the dirt as well. The pair looked at her with satisfaction as she dragged herself miserably up onto her forearms, staring down in horror.

"You finally got a taste of your own medicine, Atsarute," Komugiko growled proudly. "Your terror will never ripple through the universe again!"

Atsarute pulled herself onto her knees, still looking down at her gaping abdomen. Her mouth was open, her bottom lip was trembling, and only small, stuttered sounds catching in her throat came as her voice. Her weapon had dropped helplessly at her side.

Funzen came forward, lifting his sword high to do his final blow, a smile forming.

Wait! His late father's voice came to him. He's not here!

Funzen hesitated. "Who?" he said aloud, "Who isn't here?"

That Namek! I thought that he would surely come! I was sure that he'd be here to stop her!

"'Stop her'?"

She can't stop now. Hurry! Run, my son! Run!

Funzen's eyes shot down when Atsarute made a sudden motion. She had thrust her hands completely into her own wound. Before he could wonder, her head threw back, and she screamed. It was a shrill, horrible scream that chilled with its anguish and abnormality. He and Komugiko clamped their hands over their ears, squeezing their eyes closed as if it could help. Before long, blood ran down their arms from their ears, and they began to feel weak. An emotion seized them… the kind of emotion that would follow happiness and contentment right after they were ripped apart with pain and cold unfamiliarity. Their senses were pulling apart in different directions, being eroded by the scream.

Everything went black, and they fell to the ground. They were still alive, but because they didn't have minds to tell their lungs to breathe, their bodies quickly died of asphyxiation. Their hearts seemed to have only been working for that long because these muscles didn't seem to want to stop their rapid beats.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

News spread quickly, and all the acquaintances from Earth managed to pull up into the orbiting war brig along with Piccolo and Arufuredo. Many of them were timidly still as they waiting in the observatory, occasionally looking over to the immense window that gazed outside, down to the silver planet below. Its white wisps of clouds contrasted starkly over the dark oceans. One area churned as if being stirred, betraying a large storm at sea.

There weren't a lot of words uttered as they waited. A few of them would even jump whenever a sound came to announce reports of a new development in the battle.

Now they were each trying to find something to occupy themselves with: Bulma and her father both pulled out small computers; Gohan and Videl began to chat about whatever they could pull up about their mutual friends; Chi-Chi dragged Goku aside and tried to start a conversation; Arufuredo tried to do some work, until Vegita decided to start an argument with him; Kuririn tried to amuse himself with Vegita and Arufuredo's argument.

Piccolo meditated. He always meditated. He didn't even flinch whenever another report would come in. And with Piccolo's attitude, it was difficult to tell if he's doing so to keep himself occupied, or if he was seriously training for the purpose of training.

Looking over this scene was Jakkaru, the man left behind to see over the ship while Atsarute fought. This was an unusual assignment for him; jobs that required any amount of tact were rarely given to him. He was the trustworthy, right-hand man that would seem little more than a meat shield at several occasions (although Barricade and Big Man were better suited to be called "meat shields" than he). This was an assignment for Suraku, not him.

He felt as though Atsarute was pushing him away for some purpose, as if she didn't want him by her side for this battle. The notion seemed unusual; no matter how the battles have ever raged, he never left her side, and she always seemed grateful for this. Why wouldn't she want him there now? Not knowing made Jakkaru increasingly more anxious.

The console wined again. The sound didn't jostle the others as it had been doing, but they did turn silent in their conversations and avert their heads (all except Vegita, who was still raving at an inattentive Arufuredo, and Piccolo, still meditating).

Jakkaru pressed a button, bringing up the image of a soldier. "Report."

The soldier did some sort of salute before continuing. "Jakkaru, the battle has ended. The enemy has been completely eradicated. Komugiko and Funzen have been confirmed as dead. No survivors."

He nodded. "Casualties and wounded?"

"No casualties. The wounded are higher and more grievous than past battles with these forces, but nothing to worry about, except…"

"'Except'? Except what?"

"Atsarute-sama has been wounded. She has been immediately healed and is in no danger, but she was found in some sort of… madness… before she passed out."

"Is she still unconscious?"

"Yes, sir."

"Have her brought to the observatory when she reaches the ship. Will her medic be accompanying?"

"After the healing is completed and the troops are being transported back to the brig, she will come along with the medic that healed her. He seems to have some information regarding her behavior that he wishes to explain."

"How long will the healing take?"

"Not long. Atsarute seemed to have predicted this and assigned extra healing Nameks to this mission's medical unit. I have already set up the transports to return to the war brig, and we'll be there in fifteen minutes. If any healing is still required, I've ordered the wounded to be brought to the sick bay."

"Good man. That's all I have. Jakkaru out." He flipped it back off and stood. The soldier was true to his word, and the ship was soon bustling with more people. Things seemed to have gotten particularly hectic when Atsarute was brought up into the observatory, still reclined on a stretcher. Her clothes were torn and bloodied, and her whole body, even though it was without wounds, was ruddy and looked oddly weak.

The Namekku-sei-jin that treated her came forward to Jakkaru after the soldiers were ordered to return to their quarters to rest. "I wish to place a report on Atsarute-sama's behavior."

Jakkaru took a moment to look over the Namek boy, whose robes were sullied with bloody handprints. "Proceed."

"I was able to approach Atsarute-sama during the last leg of the battle, when victory was inevitable and our troops were really only cleaning up what remained of the enemy's forces. Funzen and Komugiko were dead nearby, but they didn't seem to have died from battle wounds. From what I could tell of their faces, they seem to have died from lack of air."

"Strange… What about Atsarute?"

"Atsarute-sama was still conscious at the time, but she didn't seem to have been quite sane at first. She was repeatedly muttering something in Sui-go, and her hands were wrist deep into her own organs. She appeared to have been pulling organs out of her abdomen."

"What? Why? Was she trying to kill herself, or something?"

"At first, that's what I thought, so I attempted to stop her. But she wailed madly and pushed me away. Then I realized that what she was pulling out of her abdomen was not her organs." He motioned to a medical container that was placed beside Atsarute when she was brought in. "I gathered this tissue that she had extracted up for inspection. If I'm correct, then it's not some small matter."

"I'll check over the tissues," Arufuredo quickly volunteered.

"Good work," Jakkaru said, "You're dismissed. Go clean yourself up."

He nodded a small bow and quickly left the room. Arufuredo picked up the box and brought it to one of the empty sickbays for the inspection. During this time, Atsarute kept still on the stretcher. A couple of her soldiers came in with hygiene equipment and began to wash off the blood and grime from her as she slept, though this action wasn't ordered by any of their superiors. They even removed her torn and bloodied garb and gave her a clean change of clothes, an outfit that resembled a sort of pajama sleepwear.

Arufuredo returned, his face grim, and he opened his mouth to speak what he'd found.

Atsarute sat straight up like a corpse without embalming fluid and hissed loudly, her eyes wide open and glassy. Many of them jumped. Piccolo snapped right out of his meditation.

Everyone was afraid to move, but Atsarute picked herself up. "Where is he?" She muttered, and she threw her head around as if looking for something. "Where is he?"

Piccolo stood and came up to her. "Atsa."

Atsarute seemed to look at him for a moment, but she pushed him away. "Where is he?" Her search seemed to have been getting more frantic as she knocking things over and slapped people away. Goku and Gohan could hear the breathing in her shadow louder than ever.

"Where is who, Atsa?" Jakkaru tried to ask, only to get shoved away as well.

The search seemed to stop, and Atsarute looked over at Bulma briefly before running up to her and grabbing her by the arms. The motion startled Bulma, and she squirmed to get out of her grip, but Atsarute only held harder, and her strength was beginning to hurt. Atsarute's glazed eyes looked at Bulma, or through Bulma, or into Bulma… it was hard to place what she was looking at… until she shook her head and released her. "No… that one's female…"

"Atsarute-sama," Arufuredo called out as she continued her search for this unknown person, and he held out a couple of objects that were too small and covered with blood to be able to determine. She approached him, staring at these objects, and she closed her eyes and placed a hand on her head as if she had a headache. "Ugh…"

Goku and Gohan tensed and stood straight. The breathing just disappeared.

"Ngh…what…?" Atsarute looked at the people around her.

"Atsarute-sama, are you alright?" Arufuredo said in concern.

"Yeah… yeah, I'm okay…"

"Do you need anything?"

"…Drink. A drink. Water." She stabled herself and looked over at Piccolo before she dragged herself to the door. "I'm going to my quarters… No one is to… disturb…"

When she had left, Arufuredo pocketed the objects and pulled out a medical device that he'd been testing with just a few minutes ago. He crossed over to Bulma and ran the sensor over her, looking at the readings.

"What are you doing?" Bulma was still blinking from the encounter.

Instead of answering, Arufuredo exhaled and put the device away again. "Congratulations, Bulma-san. You're pregnant."

"Wh-what? I'm pregnant?" She stepped back. "But why was Atsarute—"

"Because you're pregnant," he said before pulling out the objects from before again, "This is part of what she had pulled out of herself earlier."

Bulma leaned over to look more closely. "They appear to be… a small bone… and a piece of eggshell. What does that mean?"

He placed the bone in her palm. She took it as a motion to inspect it even more and brought it up before her face. "It's a femur, still in development." Then it hit her like a ton of bricks, and it showed clearly on her face. "She was…"

"I don't know what it triggered in Atsarute-sama, but it sure as Hell leaves a lot out of the ordinary in the wake. What the fuck happened down there?"

Piccolo removed the shell that was still in Arufuredo's hand and inspected it. It clearly resembled the shell of a Namekku-sei-jin egg. "The most dangerous things…"

I wrote this whole fucking chapter in one setting, and right after finishing a chapter for SITO. Proudness!
Maybe it's because of my new Poe action figure.
By the way, if you haven't realized it yet, this was the climax.