"Oh come on Cell, would you give it up already?" Frieza growled, watching in disapproval as Cell sulked in the corner. "I haven't seen my son in years, how do you think I feel?"
"Happy, I would imagine!" Cell snapped. "After all, you are always saying that if you ever saw that traitor again you would kill him with your bare hands."
"Well I would." Frieza hissed and folded his arms angrily. "What sort of son doesn't even attempt to avenge his own father?" He muttered.
"Hey." Dodoria interrupted them, staring out of the window of Frieza's cave. "Frikiza's coming."
"Oh, yippee." Zarbon commented, rolling his eyes. "I'm sure she'll lighten the mood around here."
"We're not in, Dodoria." Frieza instructed.
"She isn't going to believe that." Dodoria replied. He looked at Frieza pleadingly. "Can I let her in?"
"Sure." Cell answered for Frieza. "She can tell us all about getting dry-humped by a deranged namek."
"Careful Cell, you almost sound jealous." Zarbon said with a taunting smirk, and Cell glared at him.
"Frieza!"
Frikiza's voice caught the boys' attention, and they all looked up to see Frikiza standing there with her arms folded and her tail waving from side to side, glaring angrily at the boys.
"Wow. Frikiza – did you knock first?" Dodoria gasped, amazed that Frikiza would ever be rude enough to enter Frieza's cave without permission.
"Oh Lord Frieza, it worked!" Zarbon exclaimed. "He has corrupted her."
"No he has not!" Frikiza screamed, her ki flaring up so wildly it made Frieza's cave tremble. "That's exactly what I wanted to talk to you about!" She turned on Frieza, her eyes burning with rage as she stared at him. "You!" Frikiza moved her gaze to Cell. "And you! In fact – all four of you! I can't believe any of you would do this! You have no right to meddle in other people's affairs! Do you have any idea how much damage you could have done? Oh – and FYI, I am not about to be corrupted, so all you idiots did was waste your time!"
"Oh, oh the contrary." Zarbon smirked. "We got some wonderful entertainment."
"Wh-What…?" Frikiza choked.
"Mm-hm." Frieza nodded. "Actually you should be thanking us – if it wasn't for our 'meddling', you wouldn't have had your fun with that big scary demon last night."
"Oh my God…" Frikiza whimpered, clasping her hands over her mouth as her eyes widened in horror. "You… you guys saw that?"
"Saw it?" Zarbon snorted. "Dodoria had nightmares about it – and I'm sure your stepsons did as well."
"What!" Frikiza shrieked. "The – the boys saw it?"
"Yeah…" Dodoria answered, looking at Frikiza sympathetically. "They were worried about King Piccolo, because he was wasted, so… they got a spy-screen and just watched it here. Then, uh…" He lowered his eyes. "We… all saw."
Frikiza suddenly turned pale. All the anger in her body seemed to drain away as the reality of Dodoria's words hit her. They saw it… They all saw it. The mutants saw it! Shit! Frikiza grabbed her horns frantically and her tail quickened its steady pace as she thought about King Piccolo's reaction.
"Oh my God…" She whimpered. "He'll go crazy –" She looked at Frieza and his companions desperately. "Did anybody else see it?"
"Not last night." Zarbon answered. "But everyone saw the night before – when you had your little bondage session in that chair."
"What do you mean, 'everyone'?" Frikiza seethed, her rage suddenly building up again.
"I mean everyone." Zarbon replied, and started listing the people that had watched Frikiza and King Piccolo's first night in the honeymoon suite on hell's giant viewing orb. "Us, the guards, Bibidi and Babidi, King Piccolo's mutants, King Vegeta – actually most of planet Vegeta… King Kold, Coola –"
"King Kold and Coola!" Frikiza screamed. "My – my family? My family were spying on me sharing a hotel room with Piccolo!"
"They're not your family." Frieza growled. "And it wasn't like I invited them…"
"Hehe." Dodoria sniggered. "Actually Coola thought you were pretty hot, Frikiza –"
"Silence!" Frieza hissed, cutting him off.
Frikiza stood stiff, with a look of horror on her face. This was horrible… It was humiliating – it was more than humiliating! The whole of hell had been spying on her – what if something had happened that first night? What if last night had happened on that first night? Everybody would have seen it… And last night! Frieza and Cell, and Zarbon and Dodoria had seen it! And the boys… King Piccolo's sons… Oh, God! What if King Piccolo found out they'd been watching? He would go berserk – actually, it would be worse than that! He would kill them! Literally – he would erase their existences!
"I… I have to go." Frikiza uttered. She glared at Frieza angrily. "You'd better pray he doesn't find out, because if anyone's going to suffer over this, I guarantee it'll be you, Frieza!"
"Ah, spoken like a true relative of mine." Frieza smirked. "There. I knew that monster would be a good influence on you."
"Shut up!" Frikiza shrieked, and sent a ki wave charging at Frieza. It missed him by mere millimetres and crashed into the wall behind him, turning it into nothing more than ash. Frieza didn't even have time to so much as blink before Frikiza was in front of him, clasping her tail around his throat. "You know what my one regret is when it comes to you?" She hissed. "That Goku didn't spit on you before he kicked your ass into outer space! And that Trunks didn't blow your ashes into a sewer! You belong down here, Robot Boy!" She yanked her tail off him and stormed out of the cave, leaving Frieza, Cell, Zarbon and Dodoria to remain there, dumbstruck. They stared at the pile of ash that had once been their wall with wide eyes, astonished that Frikiza could ever do such a thing.
"… … Wow." Dodoria finally uttered after a long pause. "That was… kind of an overreaction."
"That cucumber really has had quite the effect on her, hasn't he?" Zarbon remarked.
They looked at Frieza cautiously, and saw him sitting with his arms folded and a displeased look on his face.
"She seems to have forgotten who she is speaking to." Frieza growled.
"I hope not." Cell commented, finally cheered up enough to join in the conversation. He looked at Frieza and grinned. "She just made my day, 'Robot Boy'."
"Fuck you, Cell." Frieza muttered bitterly.
XXXXX
Back in King Piccolo's cave his mutant namekian children were staring at their master as he sat in his chair, wondering whether or not they should tell him that they had witnessed his 'moment' with Frikiza.
"What if he finds out we knew, and we didn't say anything?" Tambourine whispered to his brothers. "He'll think he can't trust us – and he'll definitely kill us!"
"Yeah, but if we do mention it to him, he might think we're mocking him and kill us anyway." Cymbal replied.
"Guys… do you think there's any situation at all where we don't end up dead?" Drum questioned. The three of them all looked at Piano for his wisdom, and he hung his head glumly.
"I'm… not sure." Piano sighed.
The mutants all suddenly jumped as what felt like an earthquake erupted out of nowhere, and they spun around to see King Piccolo glared at them, his fist slammed onto the arm of his throne.
"You fools! I can hear you!" King Piccolo roared, causing the mutants to all wail and tremble in fear.
"K-King Piccolo!" Piano stammered. "We're sorry – you have to believe us! We didn't mean to watch – we were just concerned about you!"
"Yeah, after Goku's wife gave you food poisoning, we wanted to make sure you got home okay – because we didn't trust Junior either!" Tambourine added.
"Uh-huh!" Drum nodded. "We didn't know you were going to try anything with Frikiza!"
The other mutants froze on the spot, and stared at Drum.
"Why… did you say that?" Piano hissed.
"Idiot!" Cymbal snarled.
"Shut up all of you!" King Piccolo boomed, his face darkening. "That isn't what happened!" Oh, this was humiliating… They'd seen it! They'd seen the whole thing! Who else knew? Had they told anyone? No… No, they wouldn't. They were his children after all; they knew him better than anybody. They wouldn't be foolish enough to tell anybody what they had seen. Still… It was a risk King Piccolo wasn't willing to take. He had to guarantee they would not breathe a word.
King Piccolo rose to his feet and stepped towards the mutants. He towered over them and stared down at the mutants menacingly. "Listen, Boys…" He began. "You are my children, so I am going to give you one chance to listen. Everything you thought you saw, forget about it. I was poisoned by Goku's wife, and everything that didn't happen between me and Frikiza… well, she's going to get fired for it." A smirk formed across King Piccolo's lips and he looked at the mutants triumphantly. "So, everything worked out for the best, didn't it? And you can thank me for ensuring that she will be permanently out of our lives."
"Wh-What!" The mutants gasped.
"You got Frikiza fired?" Tambourine choked.
"But – but we liked Frikiza!" Drum whined. "King Piccolo! How could you –" He stopped talking when he noticed a dark anger steadily forming in King Piccolo's eyes as the demon king glared down at Drum, warning him to cease his objection. "Uh… Well done, Sire…" Drum mumbled timidly.
"Yes!" Piano beamed. "I should have known – that was your plan all along, wasn't it? To get Frikiza fired! And to ensure we… never see her again…" He lowered his eyes, trying his best to hide his disappointment, but failing miserably. "Oh, how wonderful…"
"Yeah… wonderful…" Cymbal mumbled.
"You boys don't seem all that thrilled." King Piccolo commented, narrowing his eyes at them. What, did they like Frikiza? Why? She was a pest!
"Oh – we are!" Piano protested, holding his hands up defensively. "It's just a surprise, that's all! But a good one!"
"Yeah – we're really happy, King Piccolo – honest!" Tambourine nodded.
King Piccolo stared down at his minions, studying their faces. Hm… They were lying, weren't they? They were sad to see Frikiza go. Tch. Pathetic. Had those rehabilitation classes really done this much damage to his children? They were turning into saps! He'd have to toughen them up. Still, on the plus side… it didn't look like they were going to say anything about what happened – not that King Piccolo thought they would be stupid enough to do so. All he had to do was beat them around a little, and restore them to their former evil selves.
"No more classes for you." King Piccolo said. "And you're going to attack the rehabilitation centre."
"What?" Piano blinked. "But Sire – if we do that, how will we earn chocolate?"
"Don't earn it, steal it!" King Piccolo snapped. "What the hell is wrong with you! We aren't good people! We're demons, and we don't need anybody in our lives that isn't a criminal or a monster, do you understand! We don't need people like Frikiza – in fact, she is the last person we should ever want to see again! Do I make myself clear!"
"Yes, King Piccolo…" The mutants chanted obediently.
"Good." King Piccolo grunted, and returned to his chair. "Now. I want to celebrate – go to Frieza's cave and steal some of his wine."
"What!" The mutants shrieked.
"But – if he catches us doing that he'll kill us!" Piano cried. King Piccolo looked at Piano, and smirked.
"So don't get caught." He said.
"But –"
"Hey, look!" Drum gasped, pointing to the cave's entrance. "It's Frikiza!"
"Huh?" King Piccolo uttered.
He and the mutants all looked up to see Frikiza racing towards them. She darted into King Piccolo's cave and landed in front of the mutants, looking at them with a relieved expression on her face.
"Thank God you're okay…" Frikiza sighed. She looked at King Piccolo. "I thought you were going to kill them. They saw us, you know."
"Yeah… I know. They won't tell anybody…" King Piccolo uttered, staring at Frikiza in bewilderment. "… Hey!" He barked, suddenly becoming angry. "What the hell are you doing here? You're supposed to be fired!" He started to smirk. "Or did you come to say goodbye to the boys? They're quite fond of you, you know. You've destroyed my children!"
"I didn't destroy anybody!" Frikiza argued. "But…" She smiled at the mutants. "You guys like me?"
"Uh…" The mutants all blushed.
"Well… you're always really nice to us…" Cymbal answered bashfully.
"Aw…" Frikiza smiled. She looked at King Piccolo. "But – they know what happened, and you didn't try to kill them? … … That's nice." She looked at King Piccolo warmly. "I knew you cared about them."
"What! No I don't!" King Piccolo snapped. "Here, I'll prove it!" He rose to his feet again and pointed a ki ball at the mutants, causing them to scream.
"Hey! Frikiza – shut the hell up!" Tambourine yelled. "Are you trying to get us killed!"
"Don't worry, he won't kill you. You're his flesh and blood." Frikiza replied, and calmly approached King Piccolo. She placed her hands on his palm, and dispersed the ki ball herself. "Stop overreacting to everything."
"I am not – what the hell are you even doing here!" King Piccolo demanded, his entire body shaking with rage. "You're supposed to be fired!"
"I know – when Baba told me to see King Yemma, I thought I was getting fired too." Frikiza nodded. "But… it turns out he um…" She blushed slightly. "He just… wanted to extend my permissions here…"
"What are you talking about?" King Piccolo growled. "What permissions?"
"Well, um…" Frikiza looked away, her cheeks darkening even more. "Obviously, he saw what happened and um… he… he said that, just on this occasion it would be okay for me to… date a client."
King Piccolo froze. What? What the hell…? Why was she telling him that? And why would King Yemma say that to her, after last night…? … Oh. Oh, no… No no no! This was not happening! "So, I was wondering…" Frikiza continued. No… No Frikiza, do not finish that sentence. "Do you…" Frikiza looked up at King Piccolo, and smiled a little. "Do you want to date…?"
"Aiiii!" The mutants all squealed, their cheeks turning purple.
"Oh my God – Frikiza, are you asking King Piccolo to be your boyfriend?" Tambourine gasped.
"Yeah, she totally is!" Cymbal exclaimed, excitedly yanking Tambourine into a headlock.
"Oh – King Piccolo, say yes!" Piano begged. "We love Frikiza!"
"Yeah – please date her! She'll make our lives so much better!" Drum beamed.
King Piccolo stood in silence, staring down at Frikiza. No… No, why was she asking him that! Was she really expecting him to say yes? How could she possibly think, for even a second, that he could ever want to date the likes of her! A good-natured, bossy, naïve, foolish, bleeding heart lizard sap! No way! He was not interested in her! Didn't she understand that? He'd had food poisoning! Food poisoning!
"Silence!" King Piccolo roared, firing a ki blast at his mutant sons. They all screamed and leapt out of the way, and stared at King Piccolo with wide eyes.
"Sorry, King Piccolo!" They cried. King Piccolo ignored them. He would deal with those idiots later; right now he had to deal with her!
"No!" King Piccolo snapped, glaring down at Frikiza. "Frikiza – listen to me, you stupid little runt! I don't like you! Last night I was poisoned, that is the only reason I ever came near you! I don't want to date you and I never will – and you're a fool for even asking! Do you understand?"
"… Perfectly."
Frikiza answered quietly, her face softening and her tail falling to a heap on the ground. He'd… He'd said no. … Well, it was just like she'd thought. He wasn't interested in her. Why would he be? She was too nice for him, after all. He didn't like nice people, right? So… why would he like her? … It was stupid. It was stupid of her to even ask, and even more stupid of her to think that he could possibly want to date her. … Oh well. At least she'd asked… That was something, right? Maybe he could learn to be nicer, if he knew that it was possible for someone to like him. Maybe she hadn't just made a fool of herself for no reason…
The mutant nameks stared at Frikiza with wide eyes and dropped jaws, appalled at how their master could speak to Frikiza so cruelly.
"K… King Piccolo." Piano choked. He turned his eyes to the demon king. "Did you have to be so blunt?"
"Yeah… that was mean." Tambourine mumbled.
"Tch. And you boys care about that?" King Piccolo grunted, glaring at them. What was wrong with them? Since when were they so concerned about other people's feelings? This was pathetic! "What has she done to you?"
"A lot of good, by the looks of it." Frikiza pouted. She looked at the mutants, and offered them a smile. "It's okay – don't worry about it." Frikiza said. "I didn't think he would say yes…" She turned to King Piccolo and smirked. "You only like me when you're drunk, right?"
"I was not drunk!" King Piccolo yelled. "How many times do I need to tell you!"
"As many as you want, I still won't believe you." Frikiza shrugged. "Anyway." She straightened herself up and folded her arms, regaining her composure. "I'm still your counsellor whatever happens, and you need to have a session. So let's go."
"No!" King Piccolo snapped. "I'm not doing any more of those things!"
"But you said you would!" Frikiza argued.
"I said I would on the condition that nobody found out about last night – and they know about it!" King Piccolo growled, pointing at the mutants.
"And if you don't have your sessions, everybody else in hell will know about it as well." Frikiza replied, narrowing her eyes at him.
King Piccolo paused. That bitch… She would tell everyone, wouldn't she? He could see it in her eyes. She would love to tell everyone down here every last detail. The bitch!
"I hate you." King Piccolo snarled. "Do you really think this is going to make me date you? You aren't earning my affections, Frikiza, far from it. Every word you say makes me despise you."
"Fine." Frikiza shrugged. "I'll be outside. I'll give you five minutes to follow me, and then for every minute you take after that I'll tell someone all about last night –"
"Shut up, I'm coming!" King Piccolo barked. He looked at the mutants, and they trembled at the anger in his eyes. He was furious! "While I'm gone, make yourselves useful and get that wine – and some chocolate." King Piccolo ordered.
"But… Sire, how are we supposed to –" Piano stopped in mid-sentence when King Piccolo's gaze turned even more deadly, and his eyes glowed with venom. "… Yes, Sire." Piano whimpered.
King Piccolo grunted and walked past the mutants, heading for the cave's entrance.
"Come on!" He snarled at Frikiza and nudged her harshly, almost knocking her over. "But you're wasting your time. I'm not about to become a saint."
"Well Junior made a pretty good job of it." Frikiza replied.
"Do not mention Junior!" King Piccolo roared, causing everything within a five mile radius to fall to the ground.
XXXXX
Frikiza tapped her tail in annoyance as she sat opposite King Piccolo, who had been sitting in silence for the last five minutes.
"This again?" Frikiza hissed. "Seriously?" She narrowed her eyes at King Piccolo, who simply smirked back. The jerk. "Fine." Frikiza huffed. "If you won't talk, then I will." She looked at King Piccolo. "Why are you so hard on Junior? He's a credit to you. His power alone is something that you should be proud of." She watched as King Piccolo started to tense. He was becoming annoyed. It was working… "And he is a nice guy. So honest and caring, not to mention that he's so smart – I mean, he was pretty smart to begin with, but fusing with Kami really did wonders for him, right?" Frikiza listened as a low growl started to escape from King Piccolo's throat. Good. Almost… "And he's such a good friend. He's so kind, and loyal –"
"Loyal!" King Piccolo erupted, unable to hold his tongue any more. "He betrayed me! How is that loyal! He's a traitor!"
Frikiza smirked triumphantly for a brief second, then began to formulate a response.
"Yeah, right." She said. "Your 'traitor' son came out in the middle of the night to carry you back home when you were so 'poisoned' that you couldn't even walk – and this morning he came by to make sure you were okay!" Frikiza folded her arms and let out a sigh. "I wish people were that nice to me when they betrayed me."
"Hm?" King Piccolo looked at her. Betrayed her…? Who had betrayed her? … Hm. Come to think of it, why was Frikiza even in this universe? She was Frieza, wasn't she? Didn't she have her own empire in her own universe? Even if she wasn't in the same line of work as Frieza, she came from a wealthy family, did she not? She must have a small fortune of her own… Maybe she'd lost it. Maybe it had been stolen from her! "Who betrayed you?" King Piccolo asked, suddenly interested in Frikiza's history. Maybe it would be interesting enough to entertain him for a while.
"Huh? Oh…" Frikiza uttered, realising what she'd said. "No – nobody betrayed me… but I'm just saying, if anybody was to betray me, it'd be nice if they could be like Junior. He's a great kid – you should be proud of him."
"Tch!" King Piccolo snorted. "Don't give me that. Do you think I'm an idiot?" He narrowed his eyes at Frikiza and smirked. "You didn't say that by accident, did you? You were betrayed, weren't you? Is that why you're in this universe? Who was it?" His smirk grew wider as he watched Frikiza. She was becoming uncomfortable… Perfect. He was touching a nerve. Haha! "Now that I think of it," King Piccolo continued mercilessly. "You didn't bring your mother and sister with you, did you? Frieza seems to be rather close to his family, and yet you've never so much as mentioned yours. Why would that be?"
"Stop it." Frikiza hissed. "This isn't about me – it's about you."
"Oh, don't let me get all the attention." King Piccolo replied, his mood becoming greater by the second as he watched Frikiza become more and more agitated. "Go on, my dear. Why don't you tell me all about it?" He narrowed his eyes at Frikiza and grinned menacingly, relishing in her agony. "What did your mother and sister do to you?"
Frikiza hesitated, and bit her lip. She didn't know what to say. She was debating whether or not she should even answer him at all. It wasn't like he didn't have a right to know… After all she was trying to get him to talk about his personal life, so it was only fair that she should do the same… But he wasn't interested. Frikiza knew he wasn't. He was just being a jerk! He was just trying to irritate her. He didn't really want to know about her family; he couldn't care less! … But… maybe she could use that. If she turned it into a game of give and take, maybe she could get him to at least talk a little; she wouldn't have to tell him much – it wouldn't even have to be the truth. … Okay. Fine. Frikiza looked at King Piccolo.
"If I talk about my family, will you talk about yours?" She asked.
"You already know enough about Junior." King Piccolo growled.
"I suppose I do." Frikiza said. "So… tell me about your father instead."
"My father?" King Piccolo repeated. His father…? He didn't even remember his father! There was nothing to tell. … Ha. Well, that was perfect. King Piccolo would extract all of Frikiza's deepest, darkest secrets, and put her through the shame and humiliation of explaining how she came to be betrayed by her own family, and he would be able to tell her nothing in return. It sounded like a wonderful arrangement! "Alright, deal." King Piccolo agreed, and looked at Frikiza sternly. "Talk."
King Piccolo watched Frikiza, eagerly awaiting her story. Oh, this would be good. Frieza's brother and father were bloodthirsty lunatics; King Piccolo could only imagine what their female counterparts had put Frikiza through – and more to the point, what had she done to deserve it? Perhaps she had betrayed them first. Oh, please let it be that. That would be divine!
"Well… My mother and sister aren't the traitors." Frikiza said. "… I am." Oh, perfect! King Piccolo couldn't believe his luck. He didn't think Frikiza would actually say that! How could this possibly be? How could the sweet, innocent, pure-hearted Frikiza be nothing more than a filthy traitor? How humiliating!
"What did you do?" King Piccolo demanded eagerly.
"I stopped killing people."
"… What?"
King Piccolo looked at Frikiza in confusion. Stopped killing people…? How was that betraying them? Was Frikiza working as an assassin for them?
"You know the line of work Frieza's in, right?" Frikiza began. "The Planet Trade Organisation?" She watched King Piccolo nod, and continued. "Well, I was in it as well – and so were my mother and sister. They still are."
"So you had your own empire?" King Piccolo uttered.
"Yes." Frikiza nodded. "Technically, I still do – I just haven't expanded it in a few years… but, once upon a time, I was just as bad as Frieza. Blowing up planets, enslaving races, killing people…" She smirked a little. "Believe me, you think you're bad? Whatever you did to Earth, I did to hundreds of thousands of planets all over the galaxy. Your little horror show is nothing compared to what Frieza and I used to get up to."
"Is that right?" King Piccolo snorted. Well… maybe she had conquered more worlds than him, but he could still torture her. He knew just what to say to irritate her. "It's fun, isn't it?" King Piccolo said with a smirk. Oh, she would hate that… Haha!
"Yeah. It is."
King Piccolo's eyes widened. He hadn't expected her to say that. What the hell? Was she mocking him? How dare she! "It makes you feel alive, right?" Frikiza uttered. "Having an entire planet under your control, knowing that you get to decide whether someone lives or dies… watching them do whatever they can to please you, because they think it'll make you spare them." Oh God… she was describing it perfectly! And her eyes… King Piccolo could see it in Frikiza's eyes. She was being deadly serious. She meant every word she said. She… She enjoyed hurting people! She enjoyed ruling with terror! She was – she was like him! What the hell!
"So why did you stop?" King Piccolo demanded. "Why are you bothering with this counselling nonsense? We both know you want to be terrorising a world somewhere."
"No, I don't. Seriously." Frikiza replied. "Not anymore." She looked at him. "I used to enjoy it while I was doing it – but literally, only while I was doing it. As soon as it was over…" She lowered her eyes and her face darkened, as if she were ashamed. "As soon as it was over, I hated myself. All I could do was think about all those people, and how they didn't deserve to die… It was disgusting." Frikiza shivered and winced, almost gagging as she pictured her old life. "I tried not to feel bad, but… no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't stop regretting everything I did, as soon as I did it. So eventually, I guess it… it kind of stopped being worth it. I didn't want to feel that way anymore." She sighed. "I told my mother I was leaving the business, and she… got a little mad." Frikiza smiled slightly, and looked at King Piccolo. "The thing is – icejins are sexist. Men are expected to go out and work, earn money, fight for survival – literally fight. In our culture, the strongest man wins. You only stay alive for as long as you can fight away anyone that tries to take what you have." She shrugged. "But women, we don't have to do any of that. We're just supposed to stay at home and marry the best man we can. We're not even supposed to fight. So for my mother to build her empire, it was a huge thing. It took a lot of courage, and power, and bravery, and a lot of men have tried to kill her for it. So… when I told her that I was going to turn my back on it all, she wasn't exactly pleased."
"I bet she wasn't…" King Piccolo mumbled. Of course she wasn't. Frikiza's mother was completely right! King Piccolo would be furious if he spent his life building his empire, only for one of his children to betray it. How dare Frikiza do that! She had no right!
"Well, I guess she still cared about me a little." Frikiza shrugged. "Because she gave me the chance to run. Just once chance, though. She gave me a head start, but she and my sister are looking for me, and if they ever find me, they'll kill me. So… that's why I'm working in hell. I'm hiding – for a couple more months, hopefully."
King Piccolo paused. This was insane… What was wrong with Frikiza? She had an empire – she had Frieza's empire in her own universe, and the empires of her mother and sister, and all the power and wealth she could ever imagine, and she had just walked out on it? And why, because she felt bad about hurting people? That was pathetic! How could anyone be foolish enough to throw all of that away just for the sake of having a pure heart? It was ridiculous! It was repulsive!
"You're an idiot." King Piccolo snarled. "Do you know what the people down here would give to have as much as you?"
"I know." Frikiza smiled. "But it's not worth it."
"It is worth it!" King Piccolo yelled. "You could have had everything in the universe! Who the hell cares if you have to kill a few people to get it? That's life! It's the way of the world – get used to it!"
"It was more than just a few people!" Frikiza argued. "And the world doesn't have to be like that – and if having everything I want means I have to terrorise people, then I'd rather not have it!"
"You're a fool." King Piccolo spat.
"No I'm not!" Frikiza frowned. "Think about it – say I did carry on with that life. Sure, I'd have everything I wanted – in that lifetime. Then what about when I died? I would come down here, and it would be for all eternity. Do you really think a few years of having everything are worth an eternity in hell? Because I don't!"
"So find the dragonballs and wish for eternal youth, then you'll never have to go to hell!" King Piccolo protested.
"What, like you did?" Frikiza narrowed her eyes at him.
"… Shut up!" King Piccolo barked. Dammit, that stupid little icejin! She always had an answer, didn't she? She always had to have the last say! She couldn't just be quiet and surrender – like an icejin woman was supposed to! The irritating little bitch!
"Anyway." Frikiza broke King Piccolo out of his thoughts. "I've told you about my parent. Now you tell me about yours."
King Piccolo smirked. Ha. Well, she wouldn't win on this one. He couldn't tell her about his father because he didn't remember him. Hahaha! Take that, Frikiza!
"Sorry, I can't." King Piccolo shrugged. "I don't know anything about my father."
"Oh don't give me that!" Frikiza scoffed. "You must know something!"
"All I know is that he was a namek – and one of the other nameks told Junior his name was Katas, but I don't even know if that's right." King Piccolo said. He smirked at Frikiza mockingly. "Sorry. I tricked you."
"That's really all you know?" Frikiza gasped. "Don't you have any memories of him?"
"Nope." King Piccolo answered. "I didn't even know I was a namek until someone told Junior. Katas sent me to Earth when I was a child, and I haven't seen him since."
"Well… do you remember him sending you?" Frikiza asked.
"No." King Piccolo replied.
"You don't remember his voice?"
"No."
"Or what he looked like?"
"Dammit, I said no!" King Piccolo barked. "I have no idea what he sounded like, or what he looked like! I don't even know if his name was really Katas, I just know that he was a namek that sent Kami and I to Earth when we were children, with a note that said he would follow us, but he never showed up!" He folded his arms and looked away. "So I suppose he was a traitor too." King Piccolo grunted. "Maybe that's where Junior gets it from."
Frikiza studied King Piccolo for a moment. Really…? So he'd been left alone as a child…? Huh. A thought suddenly entered Frikiza's mind and she kept her gaze on King Piccolo, watching him cautiously as she asked,
"So you don't remember being on Namek at all…?"
"No. Why would I?" King Piccolo answered bluntly. "It was over three hundred years ago, and I was a child. How am I supposed to remember that?"
"Well, how far back do you remember?" Frikiza questioned.
"…" King Piccolo paused as he scanned through his memories, trying to pinpoint the earliest one. "… It was when I was on Earth." He answered. "I was… young. A child – but I'd been here for a while. I lived in the wilderness, near Katas' ship."
"And what was it like?" Frikiza asked. "Being a child on Earth?"
"Wonderful." King Piccolo smirked. "It was when I was born."
"What do you mean?" Frikiza frowned, looking at him.
"I'm the evil that was in Kami, right?" King Piccolo replied. "Well… I guess Namek was a boring place to live, because I never developed until Kami was sent to Earth." He sniggered. "I suppose there are just more bad influences here."
"Maybe…" Frikiza uttered. "… So… when exactly were you 'born'? Was it when Kami was a child?"
"Mm." King Piccolo nodded. "I grew stronger as he got older, and started living among humans… But yes. I was born in his childhood."
"I see."
Frikiza looked at King Piccolo. "Did you have his memories? I mean – all the stuff that happened to him before you were born, do you remember it?"
"Some." King Piccolo shrugged. "But not much. It was hundreds of years ago."
"But… you know how he felt right?" Frikiza uttered. "When you were part of him, could you sense his feelings?"
"Of course!" King Piccolo snapped. What, was she stupid? Why was she even asking him that? "We were the same being! Of course I could sense his feelings – I was his feelings!" King Piccolo growled.
"So," Frikiza began. "How did he feel? As a child, in the wilderness. What was it like?"
"… Scary." King Piccolo answered. "Not for me, of course. Kami was my weaker side. He was scared. He was scared of everything." King Piccolo spat on the ground in disapproval, and his face twisted in disgust as he thought of his good counterpart. "Tch. He was pathetic. I was the reason we survived in the wilderness. Kami was always too gentle. He always wanted to hide back in the ship, and wait for his daddy to show up and rescue him. It was my presence that made him venture off into the world." He snorted. "If it wasn't for me, Kami would still be in that ship now – and he would be nothing more than a corpse."
"You're the brave side of him, huh?" Frikiza smiled. "The strong side? The one that does bad things?"
"To protect us!" King Piccolo snapped. "Do you have any idea what it's like growing up in the wilderness? Everything wants to eat you! If I didn't kill our enemies then they would have killed us! Katas was supposed to come and help us, but he never did so I had to. You can't be 'nice' when you're surviving on your own. You have to be tough and mean, that's why - -" He stopped suddenly, and looked away. "… That's why Junior was evil. Like me. He was strong, and brave, like I was. We grew up on our own. We couldn't be nice boys. If we had, we would have been killed. If Junior had spent his childhood doing good things, he wouldn't have survived into adulthood."
"But what about now?" Frikiza looked at him. "Junior's nice now."
"Tch. Now he doesn't need to take care of himself, he has his 'friends' to do it for him. He grew soft." King Piccolo grunted. "He's weak."
"Not weak." Frikiza replied. "Just not lonely."
King Piccolo looked at her. Her eyes were soft, and she was smiling at him warmly… What? Why was she doing that? Did she pity him? He didn't need her pity! He wasn't a victim! "Piccolo…" Frikiza uttered. "I know why you were born on Earth."
"Yeah – I just told you, Earth has more bad influences." King Piccolo growled. "Namek was boring – too boring for Kami to be bad."
"I don't think it's just bad influences that made you." Frikiza said. "I think it was being scared… and left alone." She looked at King Piccolo. "Kami was sent here all by himself, right? With a note from his father promising he would come for him, but Katas never came… I can't imagine what that must have been like, for a little boy on a strange planet, all alone like that. He must have felt so abandoned… I bet it made him angry."
"Maybe." King Piccolo shrugged. "But it worked out well for me. I was fuelled by his anger."
"Right." Frikiza smiled. "All those feelings of anger, and fear… They made an evil inside Kami, right? And that evil… it turned into you."
"Mm." King Piccolo smirked slightly. "So perhaps I should thank Katas for abandoning his son – it gave Kami what he needed to create me."
"Yeah, maybe you should thank him." Frikiza said, laughing a little. She looked at King Piccolo, and her eyes softened again. "You know he didn't abandon you, right?" Frikiza said. "He died before he could reach you."
"Yeah, I know that now – but how was I supposed to figure that out as a child?" King Piccolo grunted. Frikiza giggled.
"Yeah, I guess."
She stared at King Piccolo for a while. It was hard to imagine him as a child… but he must have made a cute one, even if he was just an angry little brat. A lost, frightened little brat… having to face the world alone… poor thing. Frikiza shifted a little as a warmth flooded her heart, and her body was suddenly overcome with a desire to hug King Piccolo. He was so sweet. King Piccolo looked at Frikiza and frowned, wondering why she was suddenly looking at him in such a peculiar way.
"What's wrong with you?" He demanded. Frikiza didn't answer, and King Piccolo cried out as she suddenly threw herself at him. "Hey! What – Stop it!" He glared down at Frikiza as she wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "What is wrong with you!" King Piccolo snapped, his cheeks darkening slightly. She felt warm… "You know… If you don't remember Katas on Namek, then maybe that mean he was nice to you – nice enough for Kami to not feel angry." Frikiza spoke into King Piccolo's gi as she squeezed him tightly and wrapped her tail around the two of them. "I'm sure your father loved you."
"Yeah, so what if he did!" King Piccolo barked. "Who the hell cares! Get off me!" He threw his arm out and knocked Frikiza off him, then became enraged at the sound of her giggling. This wasn't funny! He hated her touching him! She was not permitted to touch him! … She did feel warm though… But still! This was inexcusable!
"Sorry." Frikiza smiled. "Anyway. Thanks for keeping your word – I guess I should reward you, huh?"
"Hm?" King Piccolo looked at her. Reward? What was his reward? … Another day on Earth, perhaps? Yes! All he had to do was tell her what a tragic child Kami was and he got another day on Earth? Why didn't she start with that? He would have told her about Kami hours ago!
"It's not another day on Earth… but it's almost as good." Frikiza said, instantly destroying King Piccolo's excitement. Bitch.
"So what is it?" King Piccolo muttered angrily. It was going to be crap, wasn't it? What was it, chocolate or something? Not worth it.
"I can make it so that you can sleep in a real bed tonight." Frikiza replied. "With access to food and drink – and a spy-screen that never runs out."
King Piccolo looked at her curiously. A spy screen than never runs out? Now… That did sound interested.
"Go on." He instructed. "Where?"
"My house." Frikiza said.
"What!" King Piccolo cried. "No! I told you – I'm not interested in –"
"Calm down, you'll be in the guest room!" Frikiza protested. "But I'm staying here tonight so I thought maybe you might want to use the spare room. It's almost as good as being on Earth – and we don't have to talk, you can come and go whenever you want, you don't even need to see me." She looked at him, and folded her arms. "Well… do you want to use it or not?"
King Piccolo paused for a moment as he considered her offer. It did sound good… The bed and food and drink were appealing, but what really caught his interest was that spy-screen. Did she say it never ran out? He could make some use of that. … … Fine. If he was in the spare room, and he didn't have to talk to her… It was better than being trapped in a honeymoon suite with Frikiza.
"Fine." King Piccolo grunted. "I'll do it."
"Yeah, thanks – this isn't a favour, you know." Frikiza growled. "You could at least try to sound enthusiastic, it's not like you have to stay." She got up and folded her arms. "But whatever. I'll give you the spare key after our class – it's starting in ten minutes."
"What!" King Piccolo gasped. Oh, it just did not stop with her, did it? Now there was a class? After that hideous counselling session? "Are you serious!"
"Yep." Frikiza nodded, and turned away. "Come on. We don't want to be late."
"Dammit!" King Piccolo roared, causing an earthquake that travelled for miles around.
Author's Note:-
Again, I will offer two apologies:-
1. Sorry it took so long to upload this chapter, I've just been so busy this week!
2. Sorry this chapter is so long! I was considering splitting it into two, but... I keep doing that, and if I keep doing it this fic will end up with like thirty chapters!
Anyway, I hope this one was worth the long wait :) I'll try to post the next chapter quicker - my aim is to put a new chapter up at least once a week, so every Monday I will aim to put up a new chapter, but if possible I'll do more chapters in between. Please do continue to review, your support motivates me to write faster hehe :-D