"Your wish has been granted," the dragon bellowed as his eyes glowed red.
King Piccolo laughed as he felt the weight of his age dissipate. His skin became smooth, his muscles returned to their much more well toned state, and the slight hunch he had been developing dissipated.
Tein watched in despair from his paralysed state on the ground. Their plan had failed. Master Roshi was dead and now so was his dear friend Chiaotzu thanks to this mad man. "I will take my leave now," Shenron continued.
"Yes, go back to your rest…" King Piccolo sneered, "Forever!" A powerful ki blast started to form in his hand.
"NO!" Tien cried. He closed his eyes. He couldn't watch what was about to happen.
King Piccolo fired his attack at the eternal dragon, intending to blow the reptile to bits...luckily that didn't happen. A pink blur flew in front of the dragon, and a loud clang resounded as the energy beam hit it. This gave the dragon time to dissipate and scatter the dragon balls once more. Tien opened his eyes to see a large pink shield where the dragon had been.
A look of confusion crossed his face, while King Piccolo's held fear and shock. "No...It can't be!" he shouted as the shield dissipated, "That symbol! It's…."
"King Piccolo!" a feminine voice called. The Namekian turned and Tien adjusted himself to look up and see Goku, a teenager with a tail, and a woman with pink hair brandishing a sword in the center of the trio as they all stood on one of the white pillars in the feild. She seemed so familiar...where had he seen her before? "I don't know how you came back, but I demand that you stand down now. You've caused enough harm," she stated firmly.
"Rose Quartz," the king growled, "What a displeasure to see you. And how quaint! You have a pair of little ducklings chasing after you! Take them back to their nest before I slaughter them along with you!" Suddenly Tien remembered her. She had been cheering for Goku at the tournament and tending to his wounds afterwards. What was she doing here now? And how did she know King Piccolo?
"I'm not going to leave Piccolo. I won't let your hurt these people or this planet any longer," she stated firmly, "I will give you a choice however. I will allow you to live if you chose to live here peacefully, or leave this planet."
King Piccolo chuckled. "You don't have the guts to kill me," he snarled, "You couldn't do it before, and you won't do it now."
Rose's eyes narrowed. "Try me," she hissed as she jumped down from the platform she had been standing on. Goku and Vegeta followed her. The trio faced off against the Namekian. His eyes moved back and forth between them.
"Three against one hardly seems fair," he said, "How about we even the odds a little?" King Piccolo then coughed up a pair of eggs from which two large, green monsters hatched. "Drum! Timpani! Take care of the brats," he ordered, "I'll deal with the gem myself."
The two monsters charged after Goku and Vegeta, passing Rose as they did so. She rushed towards the Namekian. She slashed her sword at him, though he seemed to disappear into thin air as she did so. before she could do anything else, he kicked her in the back sending her tumbling backwards. He then began firing ki blasts at her, laughing maniacally. A few hit her before she rolled out of the way and summoned her shield. She charged forward sword aimed to impale him. Her shield brushed off every attack that came his way.
King Piccolo began to get frustrated as she brushed off each attack. Suddenly, an idea came to him. "Heh… try to block this!" He began to charge two powerful beams, one in each palm. They weren't aimed at Rose however. She followed their line of fire and gasped to see they were aimed at Goku and Vegeta. As they fired, Rose acted quickly. She threw her shield in front of Vegeta and lunged for Goku. She grabbed the fifteen year old and formed a bubble around them. The energy blast deflected off the bubble and hit Drum, Goku's opponent.
"Woah…that was close," Goku muttered. Rose nodded as she looked for Vegeta. He had gotten knocked down by his opponent who took advantage of his surprised, but had quickly gotten back up and now had the monster on the ropes. She smiled as relief filled her chest.
As she dropped the bubble, she could hear King Piccolo cry out in rage and anguish. "Look what you've done!" he shrieked, "You'll pay for that!" He flew up in the air and began firing ki blasts rapidly.
Rose summoned another shield. There was no way she could defeat him from the ground. She looked around for an opening and noticed Tien was in the line of fire. She created a second shield for herself and handed the other to Goku. "Here. Now go get your friend to safety," she said.
"Need me to help you after that?" Goku asked as he grabbed the pink shield.
"For now, no, but I'll let you know if I do," she said. He nodded before running off towards Tien. Another energy blast came hurtling towards Rose. She jumped up and out of the way, landing on a nearby pillar. She noticed a line of them of varying sizes. One of them that was close to him was tall enough that she would have one clear shot at him. If she took it, she would have to kill him.
"Kami," she called to her friend telepathically, "I'm sorry but I only have one chance to defeat Piccolo...and I think you know what that entails."
"Do what you must," he replied, "I have accepted my fate. So long as my evil half goes down with me and the earth is safe, then I welcome death."
Roses gaze became steely and determined as she nodded. "Goodbye my old friend," she thought, "It has been a pleasure to know you."
she could hear him chuckle. "As it was to know you, Rose," he replied, "Now go and finish him. Grant an old man his dying wish and fix the worst mistake I ever made."
She smirked as she began jumping from pillar to pillar. "Don't call yourself old, I still have a few thousand years on you!" she teased.
"At least you don't look it," he retorted as she reached the last pillar.
Her smile faded. He would see her coming. "Goku! Vegeta!" she called to them mentally. The two Saiyans turned in attention, Vegeta having finished off his opponent. Although they couldn't respond, she knew they were paying attention. "I need you two to create a distraction for me," she told them telepathically. They nodded in understanding before sending a barrage of ki energy Piccolo's way, purposefully barely missing him.
"Bahahaha! Is that the best you got?" he taunted.
"No," a voice from behind him said, "This is." King Piccolo turned just in time to watch himself be sliced in half. His lower body went limp and fell to the ground first, Rose following it. His upper half hung in the air for a moment, clinging to life.
"This...isn't over!" he hissed. He started coughing up another egg, but this one was different from the rest. Inside it held a true Namekian, not just another green beast. The embryo held the essence of his parent: his powers, his likeness, almost everything. He spat the egg out, sending it flying across the sky before falling to the ground, dead.
Although Goku cheered with Tien at the tyrant's defeat, Rose saw what had happened. "Kami, are you still there?" she asked.
"Yes I am...I assume your plan failed," he thought back to her.
"Yes and no," she explained, "King Piccolo is dead, but he created another egg. Part of him has survived."
"Then you know what you must do," he said, "Track it down and stop whatever this is before it hurts anyone."
She nodded solemnly before turning to Goku and Vegeta. "Come on you two," she said, "Grab Tien and the bodies. Let's get them back to the temple and call your friends to pick them up. Then we need to get ready for another mission. our job isn't finished yet." They nodded and picked up their comrades before following the gem.
….
Once the others had been taken care of, they headed off in the direction of where the egg had been sent. They found themselves traveling through thick jungle brush in search of the egg. Vegeta and Goku had split up to cover more ground. Rose cut through the thick foliage with her sword, though only when absolutely necessary, to make a path for herself. They had been searching for hours when Goku called for her.
"Rose!" he shouted as pushed through the brush, "Come quickly! I think I found it!" She let the boy lead the way until they came to a clearing. In the center was a cracked open egg shell.
"Oh no, we're too late!" she muttered.
"No we're not! It's still there!" Goku explained. Rose looked confused until she peered inside the egg. Her eyes widened as she saw a tiny green form curled up. Her grip on her sword loosened slightly as she stared at the tiny creature.
"Oh good you found it," Vegeta said jumping down from the trees. "Now we can fix this mess once and for all," he said smiling.
Rose wasn't smiling however. She didn't move a single muscle. She simply stared down at the creature. It's eyes hadn't even opened yet. As she continued to watch it, she could see it shiver slightly in the cold air. It was completely defenceless.
"Rose?" Vegeta asked, noticing her hesitation, "What are you waiting for? Let's get rid of the little monster."
"No" she stated firmly as she sheathed her sword. The Saiyan prince looked at her in surprise as she reached out and picked up the infant. "He's an innocent creature. I won't hurt him," she explained.
"What?" Vegeta questioned, "Rose, this thing has the potential to kill everyone on Earth! We should get rid of it now before it gets strong enough to cause real damage."
"Rose, think about what you're doing," Kami mentally called to her, "This child could spell the death of all mankind one day!"
"So did Goku, yet we're all still here," she retorted to both of them.
Vegeta fell silent. "I agree," Goku piped up, "He's just a baby after all! He hasn't hurt anyone."
"Yes, but it has King Piccolo's essence!" Vegeta argued.
"But he's not King Piccolo," Rose stated, "I can sense it. There's something different about this one." "One's origins do not define what kind of a person they will become. If that were the case, then you, Goku, and even I would never have come together or be protecting the earth like we are," she explained as she looked down at the infant. His eyes lazily opened for moment before closing again. "and I'm not going to let you die if I don't have too," she telepathically messaged Kami.
Vegeta folded his arm over his chest. "Fine," he agreed begrudgingly, "I trust you Rose, but if the gremlin turns on us, I get to kill him."
"Very well, Vegeta," she stated with a sigh, shifting the infant into one arm, "Now let's go home." She turned and began walking back to the warp pad, the two Saiyans following after her.
"Are you sure about this?" Kami asked her.
Rose smiled and mentally chuckled. "Have a little more faith in me, old friend," she responded, "When have I been wrong about these things before?"
"I trust you more than anyone," Kami stated, "I just don't trust him."
"Well, good thing you don't have to, then," she said, "That's my job."
So this is how Rose met Piccolo. I'll probably elaborate more on him in the future, cause there is more to his story than just that. For now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think!