It seems I've been displeasing people with the direction this fic has gone. As I've said to a few, I'm sorry they feel this way. There isn't much more to this story so hopefully ya'll will stay on board. For those of you who don't like the current arc, no worries. It ends with this chapter.
For those of you who still enjoy this story, I'd like to thank you all. I hope these last few chapters keep you entertained.
A war cry was shouted as King Piccolo rushed in, imbedding his knee into his son's stomach. As Piccolo bent over the knee, spit flying from his mouth, the older Namek jerked his arms to either side of him, extending them to grab Trunks and Goten by the side of the heads.
Simultaneously, King Piccolo retracted his arms and swung them towards each other. The result was the two slamming into each other, their heads colliding. With another swing of his arms, the powerful Namek threw the young warriors away, their bodies flying away.
Moving his arms once again, King Piccolo grabbed Piccolo on both sides of his head and moved it up. Keeping his knee bent, he then slammed his son's head with his knee; repeating the action a couple times more.
With one final slam, the Namek raised his opponent's body, still gripping the sides of his bruised face. Gathering his ki, he forced it up his mouth and fired a ki blast, the beam nailing Piccolo in the chest and carrying away as his father released his grip. An explosion occurred on the surface of the Tree of Might, right where the ki blast impacted it with Piccolo on it.
A loud war cry came from the left of King Piccolo, causing him to look in that direction. Spotting Goten as he came charging in, the Namekian merely smirked and waited for his new opponent to attack. Apparently, the other saiyan had been knocked out by the previous skull-bashing, rendering him useless once he landed on the ground below.
With a balled up fist, the Son boy threw a barrage of punches at his older foe, each blow never landing as the green man blocked them all effortlessly.
"Is that all you've got?" King Piccolo mocked as he continued to block.
Growling, Goten quickly gathered some ki and fired a ki blast at point blank range. However, King Piccolo used a burst of speed to disappear from sight; the ki blast flying off into the distance.
Appearing behind the saiyan, the Namek held both of his arms above his head clasped together. With a swing, he jackhammered the warrior on the head, sending him falling towards the ground.
"That was simpler than I thought it'd be," King Piccolo commented as he looked towards the dark headed saiyan's crash site. "The power of this fruit is truly extraordinary."
"Then perhaps you'd want to fight someone that's stronger than a radish," a voice said from behind him.
Turning around quickly, the old Namek couldn't help but pale slightly at who he saw. Floating with his arms crossed over his chest, the gaudily dressed Slug stared at him with a smirk. Even if he had been off the planet for as long as he had, even King Piccolo knew of this Namek's status.
"I hadn't thought I'd run into you of all people," the old Namek said as he completely faced the recent arrival.
"That's obvious. You're knees are shaking just looking at me."
"How dare you?!" King Piccolo shouted, throwing up one of his arms as he charged up his ki and fired a ki blast.
Keeping his stance as well as his smirk, Slug waited until the last moment to swing one of his arms and slap the blast away, much to the surprise of his opponent.
"Not bad," Slug commended before moving the same arm and pointing it out in front of him, the index finger extended. "Now it's my turn."
With that, a bright yellow beam fired from his finger tip, flying straight at King Piccolo. The only thing the Namek could do was move to a side at the last moment, the beam slicing through his shirt as it passed by.
Turning his head to face his foe, King Piccolo was caught off guard as a fist slammed into his face, stunning him as it snapped his head to a side. The next thing he knew, a knee imbedded itself in his stomach, causing him to bend over it as he lost his breath.
With his smirk still in place, Slug grabbed his elder foe by the belt around his waist. Using his strength, he threw King Piccolo away, sending him flipping out of control as he flew through the air. Gathering his ki, the Super Namek fired a ki blast after the fighter.
However, King Piccolo recovered faster than he had anticipated, stopping his out of control flight with both of his hands clasped together over his head. "Take this!" he shouted as he swung his jackhammer, hitting the beam and sending it back at its creator.
Slug merely moved out of the way as the ki blast flew by him, exploding on one of the tree roots below.
"You're not as strong as I thought you were," King Piccolo called out as he crossed his arms over his chest. "I thought a Super Namek was much stronger than this."
"If I'm not mistaken, I'm the one pushing you around," Slug retorted.
"That's only because I allowed you to," the Namek replied. "I wanted to see how strong you really were but I see that my fears of you were over-exaggerated."
"A likely story."
"You doubt my skill? Then allow me to show you!"
With a war cry, King Piccolo charged at Slug, his hands balled into fists. A bit alarmed by the speed his opponent was displaying, the Namek crossed his arms in front of himself just as King Piccolo unleashed a barrage of punches at him. For some reason though, the older Namek was focusing all of his punches on Slugs arms, pushing the two backwards through the air.
Meanwhile, against the Tree of Might, Piccolo was slowly moving his body around. It had taken a bit to recover from his father's beating but he was at least in a position to attack his old man. He'd just have to time it right until he was sure he was completely focused on Slug.
Raising one of his hands up to his forehead, two fingers extended as he began gathering his energy.
All the while, Slug kept his defense up, even as he began to feel jolts of pain going through his arms. What was this guy up to? Was he trying to overpower him or something?
"Come on! Is this the best defense you've got?!" King Piccolo shouted. "You're arms are wearing down with every blow I land!"
A small frown worked onto Slug's face. This guy had no idea what he was talking about. Perhaps it was time to stop this charade and put him on the defensive. Gathering his ki, he focused it into his eyes, firing twin eye beams at a startled King Piccolo. Managing to move, the beams pierced the Namek's right shoulder, causing him to scream in pain.
That scream came to an end very quickly though, as King Piccolo felt Slug ram his head into his midsection, silencing him immediately. Reacting, the Namek grabbed a hold of the back of his opponent outer jacket; the feeling of Slug's arms wrapping around him making itself known as well.
Growling, King Piccolo released the grip of one of his hands and balled it into a fist. Bending his arm at the elbow, he began slamming the elbow down repeatedly onto the bigger Namek's back, hearing the grunts from his foe with each strike.
Getting tired of the hits on his back, Slug then rotated the two in the air, righting himself as he held King Piccolo on top of his head.
Not sure what the Namek had planned, King Piccolo drew one of his legs back and then slammed it into the bulky fighter's face; his knee making the contact. The blow had a bit of an effect as the elder Namek felt Slug loosen his grip a bit. That was all the fighter needed as he grabbed onto the leather straps on his opponent's back and pulled on them, allowing him to slip out of the bigger Namek's grasp.
Flipping over, King Piccolo put some distance between the two, turning around to find Slug with his back still to him; a perfect opening. Gathering his ki, the old Namek couldn't help but smirk as a bright yellow orb formed in his hand.
However, any thought of attacking was put on hold as the green man heard "Special Beam Cannon!" being shouted from the tree. Turning to look at it, the Namek was surprised as he saw a thin beam with a second one swirling around it racing towards him.
It was this feeling of astonishment that kept King Piccolo rooted to where he floated until he felt the urgency to move. Twisting his torso, the Namek had acted too late as the beam cannon nailed him on the right side of his gut; the beam exploding from his back as he cried out in pain.
'Damn it!' Piccolo thought as he held his extended fingers out. He had been counting on that attack to finish his father off; instead only wounding the man. How much power and speed had that old man obtained from the fruit?
Coughing out blood, King Piccolo held his wounded side as he gave a scathing glare at his son, his own flesh and blood. How could that runt do this to him?! If it wasn't for him, he wouldn't even exist!
But he had more pressing matters. He had a Super Namek to do away with and things had just gotten harder with this new injury. There was no way he could fight in this condition. Not to fear though; all he had to do was get his hands on another piece of fruit and he'd be unstoppable. He'd have Slug begging for mercy before he was done with him!
Unfortunately, he didn't have the chance to put that plan into action. Though he had been a bit displeased with the unwanted assistance, Slug wasn't one to let an obvious advantage slip through his fingers. Moving as fast as he could, he appeared next to his opponent and grabbed him by the back of his head. Holding his other hand a little ways in front of the Namek's face, Slug gathered a bunch of ki until a large golden ball appeared in his palm. Without hesitation, he forced the orb of ki into King Piccolo's face, pushing the back of his head into the ki as well.
With a muffle scream, King Piccolo thrashed his arms and legs around, ending up grabbing onto Slugs arms as he strained to move the appendages. Eventually, his resistance died off as he went limp.
Once he felt his ki against his other hand, Slug released his hold on the ball and watched as King Piccolo's decapitated body fell from the sky.
"So you scrimps are going after the Time Milieu," Slug said as he looked at Goten and Trunks.
After finishing off the scourge of King Piccolo, he gave the younger Piccolo a message to get the saiyan duo back on their feet and to come and meet him. The Super Namek then moved off a ways away from the tree, coming to rest on a root that stood high above the ground.
"That's right," Goten answered as he looked at the guy wearily. They hadn't always been on good terms; it was more like they just grudgingly accepted each other more than anything.
"You're messing with powers you don't understand," the Namek said, looking out towards the horizon.
"That's what we've been told," Trunks replied. "Anyone with an inkling of the Time Milieu has told us the same thing."
"And for good reason. Time is one of the most fickle things around. Change one thing and you may not like what you receive. You might not even exist if you change the wrong thing."
"And what would you know about it?" Goten shot back.
Slug looked at the young saiyan. "Not that it's any of your business but I met the very people who created the device you seek."
Both saiyans' eyes widened, as well as Piccolo's. Slug had been known as a recluse since the day he entered adulthood; how could he have known about a race from outside Namek?
"Back in my younger days, I was a very violent youth," Slug explained. "It got to a point the village elders couldn't tolerate my destructive ways. In an effort to suppress those feelings, I was sent to the Great Namek Elder, Guru. Despite being an oversized windbag, he succeeded in pacifying me, even if it was just a little.
"One day he was approached by these dying aliens. They seemed desperate for help and Guru seemed to know them. During their meeting, they begged the old man to help undue their greatest invention; a device that could alter time itself. The old man declined, saying that what had been made could not be unmade. However, he promised he would help them hide the device and let the annuals of time let it fade into nothingness.
"In order to hide the Time Milieu, Guru did something that I shall never forget. Before my eyes, he took seven large stones and transformed them into gems. He called them Dragonballs; something I had been told had been nothing but a myth by the Nameks. It had been said these balls could grant the wish of the one who gathered all seven of them; anything the wisher wanted would be within his grasp in an instant.
"Using the Dragonballs, Guru wished that the Time Milieu would be separated and hidden across the galaxy. The wish was granted and the time device left to be forgotten by history. Only a few knowledgeable men would uncover any information on the thing since then."
"How long ago was this?" Goten asked, completely in awe at the story.
"About seventy years, give or take," Slug mused. "Guru died about thirty years after that, taking the Dragonballs with him. The last time I had any interaction with any Nameks was at the old man's funeral until the humans arrived."
A silence fell over the four warriors. Finally, Trunks broke the silence. "So what are you gonna do about this tree? It doesn't look like it's gonna leave willingly."
"I suppose I shouldn't have killed King Piccolo as quickly as I did. He's the only one that knew anything about it."
"When are you heading to the Time Milieu?" Piccolo suddenly spoke, catching the two saiyans off guard.
"We were heading that way when we stopped here," Goten replied, a bit surprised by the question.
"Since I'm going with you, I'll head to Namek after we use this time thing and try to stop my father from planting the seed for this thing. I could use your help in doing so."
"Once we have Gohan with us, we'll definitely do that," Goten replied. "He can help us make short work out of these guys."
"Just be careful with the thing," Slug warned. "Don't think you can use this thing any time something doesn't go your way. You really should only use it once. Two times should be the max you ever do. And if you should do more, not even the Gods could undo the damage."
To Sigfried Wild: Glad you liked it. I've been losing my touch a bit with these last few chapters.