CHAPTER 39:
Flashback #4: The FINAL FLASHback…okay, maybe not so funny ; )
Saved!
Piccolo sat staring at the ball as the two Kais were conversing by the coffee machine. Although the ball was offering a good show, his mind was on other things. He could really care less about the Kikaruan civil war that had broken out. It really angered him that the whole "Goku incident" as they called it, was like a halftime show for the main event that was taking place on some random moon. These Kais really had nothing better to do. And, the Kais were absolutely worthless. Piccolo snarled in anger, having worshipped the Supreme Kai all his life, and finally spending alone time with two, only to realize their incompetence.
Piccolo kept wondering where Goku was, what he was doing, how he could get out of a dimension… But it all seemed impossible. Or, almost impossible. However, Goku had done some things in the past that blew the cap off Piccolo, such as being able to instant transmit to the Other World. Normally, only Guardians were the only mortals capable of such an act, but Goku managed the task effortlessly, as if it were innate. It still boggled the Namek somewhat that his friend was an all-around prodigy, yet somehow managed to be the most naïve little kid inside, no matter what his age. It sometimes left Piccolo wondering what Goku would have been like if he had never bumped his head as a child. Whatever the case, Piccolo thanked all the Kais (excluding the two idiots he was with) for the fact that Goku was on his side. Then again, Piccolo smiled, Goku wasn't always his friend. They two had an interesting past.
Piccolo sighed as his vision went past the ball and unfocused on the grass around it. The past was the past, though. Now, he put a lot of faith into Goku, and the fact that he was missing for several hours was not a good sign.
It wrenched him inside to think of all the possibilities that could explain Goku's absence. Perhaps Goku did die. Perhaps what the Kais said was true – that Goku would never make it out of that dimension. If that were the case… what would Piccolo do?
As he tried to think of strategies to defeat the parasite infecting the world, he realized that there was very little he, himself could do. Any hope of attaining Mystic powers was shot when he realized that Pan, of all people, was the only one capable of grasping them.
He sighed audibly and grasped his head in an effort to think. Focusing his eyes somewhat on the ball, he saw several Kikaruans throw ki blasts… or something that resembled ki blasts, at each other. On each of their hands, something glowed brightly, but wasn't the source of the power they used. But, whatever was going on, Piccolo could really care less. It wasn't his war. He had problems of his own to worry about.
Piccolo adjusted his seat on the grass and crossed his arms, looking up to several clouds in the multi-hued sky. What am I doing here? He groaned to himself, I'm just sitting around waiting for word from a good-as-dead Saiyan while the one person that matters right now is on Earth and completely vulnerable to that parasite. Piccolo realized he had to go back. If Goku was gone, and Gohan was possessed, then someone needed to protect her. And he wasn't about to rely on Mr. Satan for any contributing help. Even less so, Majin Buu. He still hadn't forgiven the blob for everything he did in the past. Call it hypocritical on his part, but he felt uncomfortable leaving Pan around such an ex-villain-turned-good. He'd sooner trust Perfect Cell. He knew the old phrase, the 'most dangerous time is when one feels safe', and it would be a severe err on her part to rely on those two idiots for shelter.
That girl had to learn how to rely on her own. That included cutting her off from everyone she knew in the past. Some intensive wilderness training might do her good, but that might be difficult to conceal from Valese. He'd think of something eventually; but, for now, he had to concentrate on heading back to Earth.
He stood slowly and adjusted his hat. He wasn't quite sure how to word it to the Kais that he wanted to go home. He had come here expecting to train, but finding out that Pan was a liability, his plans had to change.
As he was about to turn and make his valediction announcement to the Kais, something caught his eye and threw his mindset off.
Frowning slightly, he watched the war scene fizzle slightly in the ball, and then watched it grow dark. The image crackled into buzzing snow and the ball began to emanate small electric bolts along its central equator. Piccolo blinked at it and felt slight sweat forming at his forehead. He turned his head to the Kais and said in a low tone, "Supreme Kai…" He nodded to the older one, "Elder Kai… um…" He shifted and glanced down, "I think your ball is, uh… broken."
The Kais' conversation cut short as Ancient Kai looked over to him and blinked in surprise, "What do you mean broken? My ball can't break!" He hobbled over to the ball, followed closely by Kibito, to get a closer look. "My BALL!" He stopped and shook his fist at Piccolo, "What did you DO?!"
Piccolo's eyes widened as he threw up his hands defensively "I didn't do anything! That thing started crackling on its own!"
Ancient Kai peered at him a slight moment and then sat cross-legged before the ball. Leaning over, he harrumphed in an irritated voice and tilted his head somewhat to gaze into the ball. Extending his hands, he started muttering ancient chants to the ball, but it just sat there in a snowing static.
After about a minute of this, Ancient Kai shot a quick glare at Piccolo and looked to Kibito, who had made his way over as well. "Kibito, you handle it! I'm not good at fixing these things."
"Me?!" Kibito Kai blinked, "How would I know how to do it? This is your ball!"
"Oh hush hush, you're younger than me!" Ancient Kai raised his nose and closed his eyes with a superior huff, "I'm too frail to handle these things."
Kibito Kai held in a growl and knotted his brow as he almost reconsidered the teachings that one should always respect one's elders. Although Piccolo had to suffer Ancient Kai for a respectively small amount of time, Kibito knew he'd be stuck with the nutcase for another few millennia, if not longer. Even after a good twenty Earth years of having to deal with the elder Kai, Ancient Kai still found new ways of coming close to pissing him off. And that was a very hard thing to do, especially for the Supreme Kai. He had always been the mellow type… that is, until Ancient Kai sprung out from the Z sword. It all began when the Ancient Kai failed to tell Shin Kai and Kibito Kai, his two halves, that the Potara fusion would be permanent. His failing memory had, since, found more ways of messing with Kibito's life.
Kibito sighed dejectedly and sat down next to Ancient Kai, looking into the ball, "Alright… I'll see what I can do."
Kibito Kai put his hands on the ball and closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on changing the channel. He figured that the problem might stem from one of the quadrants. Kikaru was on the very edge of the North Quadrant, so perhaps Vidal, in the West Quadrant, might be accessible. Using whatever channeling powers he could, he tried to concentrate on accessing the medical planet. Opening his right eye slightly, he peeked at the ball to see if he was getting any results.
Ancient Kai noticed Kibito slacking and raised his fist, "No good, no good!"
Kibito sighed and tried to access New Namek in the South Quadrant. That, as before, yielded staticky results. Having full knowledge of the East Quadrant, since he used to be the Grand Kai of that region, he concentrated on several industrial moons and planets that might give some positive results. But, as before, nothing came to the ball.
Kibito frowned and looked down to the glass, "I don't know, Elder Kai… I think…" He felt a slight bit of color come to his cheeks as he pulled back a stray hair that tickled his forehead, "I really do think the ball is broken."
"Nonsense!" Ancient Kai sprang to his feet and pointed at Kibito Kai, "This ball was created by my grandfather's grandfather's grandfather! The quality back then was immeasurable compared to the things they have now!"
Piccolo, watching the entire scene in silence, did everything he could to hold back a smirk. No wonder the ball was a piece of crap. That thing was almost as old as the Earth's solar system itself. He was surprised the thing didn't just shatter into dust the second he touched it.
Kibito Kai, too distracted to read Piccolo's thoughts, sighed and put his hands over the ball again, "Alright, I'll try a place more local. Maybe it's just having a bad day?" Kibito closed his eyes and concentrated on the North Kai whose planet was relatively closer than the planets of the living world.
The ball sputtered for a moment, turning several hues of colors, and then brightly began to display the short blue Kai chasing some small nude pink couples across a field.
Kibiti Kai jumped up and pointed to the ball, "Look Elder Kai! I'm getting something! Look!"
"Oooooh!!!" Ancient Kai leaned over across the ball with a growing grin on his face as he noted the nudist females, "Oooohhh!!! Look at those vixens! Ohh ho ho ho! Ho ho ho!"
Piccolo took a quick glance and then released a muffled shriek as he looked away, "Elder KAI!" His cheeks and ears flushed multiple shades of red, "Have some decency!"
Kibito shut the ball off so it turned white and shook his head, "He's always like that. You should have seen him several years ago when he discovered a planet called 'Despido.' Apparently it is tradition there to run around in the flesh every Sabbath for them, to celebrate the birth of life in its basic form." He leaned closer to Piccolo and said in a lower voice, "I had to put a channel blocker on the ball just so he'd stop staring at the women."
"YOU did that!" Ancient Kai pointed at Kibito Kai for a moment and relaxed it by his side, "I should have known."
Kibito Kai shook his head, "It doesn't matter right now, Elder." He looked at the translucent white ball a moment, "I'm curious to find out what is causing this static."
Ancient Kai huffed a little bit and then straightened his ruffles somewhat, "Well, I believe I may have a general idea of what's going on."
Both Piccolo and Kibito raised their eyebrows at once, "You do?"
"This reminds me of a story…"
Both Kibito and Piccolo let out large sighs, knowing what was to come.
"You see, I used to be best friends with Celestial Kai, back in the good old days, when Celestial Kai was the Grand Kai of the North, but also my bodyguard, so to speak, because Celestial had always been a greater fighter than I. Yes, yes, he was always much better than me in the tournaments…" Ancient Kai's eyes rolled up as a smile crossed his face, "Yes, I remember there was this one time when I was younger, he and I decided to spar together just to see who was stronger, and he beat me! But I'm so glad we did it when nobody of importance was really looking except the East Kai of that time – but he retired soon afterward; I made sure of that." Blinking and staring at a few clouds, Ancient Kai's smile broadened, "Yes, yes, it was that day when I was first exposed to cappuccino. And then I made sure it was always on the list of beverages at all the convenience stands –"
"–Excuse me, Venerable Elder," Kibito twiddled his thumbs patiently, "What point is your story trying to make, exactly?"
"Wait, wait, I'm getting there!" Ancient Kai waved his hands and then looked to the ball to organize his thoughts, "So anyway, after we went out to cappuccino, I decided to challenge him to a rematch, but we wanted to do it in a place where no Kais would oversee us fighting again, since we knew that East Kai might let the news out that we were having a little too much fun. But then again, it might have been because we had a few drinks beforehand, and we didn't want people to know we were slacking on the job…"
Piccolo coughed and sighed exasperatingly, throwing the old Kai off for a moment as he was losing his track of thought. Pausing for a moment, Ancient Kai blinked and then smiled triumphantly as he remembered where he was going in the story, "Yes, yes, and so we decided to go to the Living World, on a planet that had not been inhabited yet. And there, we could spar all we wanted and make a little getaway home for us. However…" He paused a moment to add suspense and brought his right index finger to his chin, "We didn't exactly know where to go, since the ball only displays planets with life forms. We were making a shot in the dark, and so, along the way to this supposed planet, we got… erm… lost."
Piccolo raised his brow ridge, "Lost?"
"Yes, that's what I said, didn't I? You're not going to make an old man repeat what he says, are you? Lost! LOST! We got lost."
There was a long pause as both Kibito Kai and Piccolo sat patiently, listening to hear the end of the story. Or, perhaps the beginning, knowing how Ancient Kai liked to go off on tangents.
Another long pause ensued… and then another. The silence became overbearing.
Piccolo could feel his temple throb as his mouth began to contort into a snarl. His patience snapped as his body tensed into a wave of hatred and anger, "YES?! AND THEN WHAT?"
Ancient Kai's eyes widened as he intook an enormous gasp.
"Shhh!!!" Kibito raised a hand to Piccolo, "That's no way to talk to an elder Kai!"
Piccolo's eyes widened as he realized the disrespect he had just shown Ancient Kai. "I'm… I'm terribly sorry."
"You should be!" Ancient Kai huffed. "You almost made me lose track of where I was taking my story."
Kibito shifted uncomfortably, "Venerable Elder… Is there any way you could speed this up? I mean…" His cheeks flushed slightly, "You know, abridge it?"
"You know, if it weren't for you two, the story would have been done by now." Ancient Kai closed his eyes and took a deep breath and relaxed his body, moving his legs so he sat cross-legged on the ground. "I was going to say, after we got lost, we decided to take out the ball and find where we were." He opened his left eye somewhat to see if either of them were going to interrupt before continuing, "And it was then that we realized that the ball was staticky."
"So this has happened before?" Kibito looked at the white ball and then back to the elder Kai.
"Yes… Yes, it turns out we were in something called a, um… 'Hyberpolnick Time Corridor', or something along those lines."
Piccolo frowned, "The Hyperbolic Time Chamber?"
"That's what I SAID didn't I? Didn't I? REALLY." Ancient Kai huffed, "I get no respect."
Kibito ignored the past few words that were exchanged as his mind was racing, trying to make sense of the staticky situation of the ball. "Elder Kai…" He looked up and saw that both Piccolo and the old Kai were looking at him, "Isn't the Hyperbolic Time Chamber in another dimension?"
"Yes, yes, that's right." Ancient Kai nodded, "We later found out that the ball gets staticky if taken outside of a dimension that is neither the Living World or the Other World."
"Then would that mean…" Kibito Kai blinked, trying to make sense of it all, "Perhaps there is a disturbance in between dimensions? I mean…" He looked to Piccolo and to the elder Kai again, "The Living World is not available to us at the moment, but we were able to see the North Kai's planet clearly, since it is within our realm."
"It is likely." Ancient Kai nodded and stared blankly at the ball for a moment. Then, a grin crossed his old features, "I know!" He reached out and slapped Kibito Kai across the back, "You can go check it out."
"Me?!" Kibito's eyes narrowed, "But I went last time!"
"Yes, yes, and you are a rookie, and you need more experience with these things!"
"Would you quit calling me a 'rookie'?!" Kibito sprang to his feet and shook a fist at Ancient Kai, "You're just an old geezer who's too lazy to do anything for himself!!!"
Ancient Kai's eyes widened, "Why you–!!!"
"–Would you two just quit it?!" Piccolo snarled and slammed his foot on the ground, "All I've ever been hearing out of you is babble babble babble, quarrel quarrel quarrel, bicker bicker bicker…!!!" He roared and tore at his hat, "Why don't you two just DO something about it instead of arguing?!"
"Yes, he's right," Ancient Kai crossed his arms in front of him and looked away, "You should do something about it, Kibito."
There was a long pause as the Supreme Kai closed his eyes and clenched his fists at his side, trying to keep control of the rising anger that the elder Kai seemed to evoke from within him.
After a time, Kibito sighed dejectedly and looked to Piccolo, "I'll see what's going on between the dimensions…" He frowned and then looked to Ancient Kai, "But whatever it is, I'm bringing it back here, so you can deal with it."
Ancient Kai huffed, "Fine."
Kibito vanished into a POOF of air. Piccolo looked at the area where Kibito Kai used to be and then turned to Ancient Kai, "Well at least that was handled appropriately."
Just as suddenly as Kibito had vanished from the planet, however, a POP resonated through the air and the long-haired Kai reappeared with three other people in tow. They all landed on the ground and sprawled outward on top of each other in a mountain of surprised groans.
"That was quick!" Ancient Kai blinked and then looked to the ball, which was sputtering with renewed power, "Ooh, GOODY!" He grinned widely, "Now I can get back to my show!!"
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Piccolo stood and approached the mountain of bodies cautiously. It was hard to believe that there were actually people in-between dimensions. Their outfits didn't really look like Kais, and he couldn't get a grasp of their faces, but whoever they were – to be able to get stuck in between life and death and still survive – they were definitely tough cookies.
A large moan erupted from the bodies and soon after, a young boy's head popped out of the pile, blinking as he looked around. With a second blink and third, the boy opened his mouth and managed to out "Huh?" and a "Where am I?" before his eyes settled on Ancient Kai, "Elder Kai?" He blinked as his vision spanned the horizon and took in the second figure, which was approaching him. "Piccol-OH–?!"
The boy was sent sprawling as Kibito Kai poked his head out from underneath the mass of bodies. "So… heavy!!!! Can't… breathe!!" He crawled out of the bodies and stopped beside the boy, panting heavily. After gaining the air he needed, Kibito stood up and brushed himself off slowly, puffing out his chest somewhat toward Ancient Kai, "It looks like the inter-dimensional warp needed some clean-up duty."
Ancient Kai looked up with a nonchalant glance just out of mild curiosity and then looked at the ball again. But, after a second had passed and his vision finally sunk into his head, Ancient Kai blinked and looked up again to see the boy beginning to get on his feet, "Ohhh!!!! HAHA! Goku, you are alive!" Ancient Kai got to his feet and hobbled toward the boy as quickly as he could, stopping right before him and giving an irritated glance toward the other Kai, "I was sure that Kibito had killed you."
Goku smiled widely at the group and then turned his gaze to look at Piccolo to achieve an even wider grin. "Wow! Piccolo! You're here! I didn't know you died! But….. wait…" Goku's face grew serious as his eyes widened slightly. Goku stepped back with wavering eyes, "You aren't – You aren't KING Piccolo are you?!?!"
"NO!" Piccolo groaned and put his hand to his head, "Augh… Why do you always have to be such an idiot."
"Well… I'm sorry, how should I know if you are him or not? I mean, he's dead isn't he? And we're in the Other World, right?" Goku looked to Kibito Kai and blinked, "What am I doing in the Other World, anyway?!" He looked to Ancient Kai, "I need to get back to Earth! Something terrible has happened down there!"
Ancient Kai nodded, "Yes, yes, we know all about Valese."
Kibito Kai nodded as well, "We heard it from Piccolo. He was there when Valese possessed Gohan."
"No, but not he's got Vegeta! And even inside Vegeta, Baby managed to get Trunks and… and." Goku trailed off as his eyebrows went up in confusion, "Wait a minute, who's Valese?"
Piccolo raised his brow, "Who's Baby?"
Ancient Kai's ears perked up, "Baby?"
Kibito made a glance to Ancient Kai and nodded, "Baby."
"AHA!" Ancient Kai pointed his finger up and threw his head back in a cackle, "NOW I know what you've been talking about, Piccolo! Oh yes, oh yes, this is a grave, grave situation!"
Piccolo blinked and felt his eyes go wide and his mouth frown slightly in confusion. "Would somebody like to explain this to me?"
A nasal voice from behind Goku interrupted everyone, "Oh wow!"
Everyones' eyes turned to the new voice and saw a rather round green man with black across his eyes wobble up to them. Along the way, he turned around to face a smaller version of him who was getting on his feet. "Where are we now?"
"Heyyyy!!! You guys made it, too!" Goku ran to the larger green man and greeted him heartily, "That was a trip!!! Guess where we are! This is great! Come on, guess, guess!"
Kibito coughed and stepped up to Goku, putting a gentle hand on the boys' shoulder while looking at the green man, "You are on the Planet of the Kais. These are very holy grounds."
"Bah, don't listen to him. We're all family here, right?" Goku grinned at Kibito, whose ears had turned a pinker shade from slight embarrassment.
"Well, then!" The green man said happily, "I'm sorry, I didn't formally introduce myself! My name is Sugoro and this is my son, Shusugoro." He patted his son on the back, "We're shape-shifters by trade."
Ancient Kai's eyes perked up at this and a lecherous smile spread across his fragile lips. "Shape-shifters, eh?" He quickly hobbled over to the larger of the two and said into his ear, "You don't think you should shape-shift into, you know, one of those naughty magazines, do you?"
Sugoro gasped and jumped back, "Excuse me?!"
"Elder Kai!" Kibito bonked him on the head and growled, "What have I said about you treating guests that way?!"
"Sorry! Sorry!" Ancient Kai grinned and looked over to Kibito. "I was just kidding around."
"Holy grounds, huh?" Sugoro raised an eyebrow and gave a quick grin.
"Daddy?" Shusugoro tugged on Sugoro's shirt slightly, "What are 'naughty magazines'?"
Everyone except Goku seemed to turn a slight shade of red. A brief silence interrupted everyone's conversation as awkward glances were made from the boy to the ground.
Goku looked around for a moment, raising his eyebrows a bit, before turning to the kid, "Well, you see, Shusugoro… When a man and woman love each other very mmMM–!!"
Piccolo grabbed Goku and hissed, "SHHH!!!"
The Namek dragged Goku several meters away before releasing the boy and pointing to his face, "Tell me what's going on down on Earth, now!"
"I believe that we could explain things slightly better than Goku, now that we realize that Baby is behind all this." Kibito Kai walked up to them and smiled softly at Piccolo. "I'm sorry I wasn't familiar with Valese, before." He looked to Goku and back to Piccolo, "I always had the impression that Valese was a girl, and you made her out to become some parasite."
Ancient Kai walked up to them and nodded, "Yes, which could have been probable, since Seventeen and Eighteen started off as humans as well at one point."
Piccolo blinked as a wave of embarrassment swept over him, "Then who's Valese really?! Why did I hear Goten talk about..... ahhh…" Piccolo knew the answer before anyone else had to say anything.
Kibito Kai grinned slightly as he was the first to fill in the blank, "I believe he was probably talking about his girlfriend, Piccolo." He chuckled, "Yes… I believe confusing girlfriends and mortal enemies does tend to become a problem for guys sometimes!!! Hehehaha!!"
Kibito Kai started laughing hysterically at his own joke as Piccolo groaned. Goku raised his eyebrows a bit and blinked, "I don't get it?"
Piccolo shook his head toward the boy, "Don't worry about his sense of humor. I think it's just a Kai thing."
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As Goku finished up his story, everyone who was sitting around him thought a moment in silence. It soon became quite evident to Piccolo that he was dealing with a far more formidable foe than he had imagined at first, but hearing how Trunks had been able to fight and win the battle against Baby – he soon corrected that mistake on his part – was a slightly uplifting thought to hear. So it was possible to fight Baby. Not all hope was lost. He just wished he could have known what kind of mindset Trunks had experienced when fighting the parasite inside of him. If he knew the trick as well, he wouldn't be so intimidated about the thought of the parasite possessing him in mid-battle just like it did Gohan.
"So what are we going to do?" Piccolo looked to Kibito and Ancient Kai as if they would somehow know the answers.
Goku looked up and shook his head, "Well, I know what I'm going to do. I have to get back to Earth and fight Baby!" Goku stood up and made a fist, "I'm ready to go whenever you guys are!"
"Oh no you don't!" Ancient Kai stood up and waggled his finger to the boy, "I have something special planned for you." He grinned slightly, "Yes, yes! You're going to need some training!"
"Training?! Really?!"
Kibito Kai nodded, "That's right, Goku. If you go back the way you are now, you're just going to get defeated again."
Goku beamed at Ancient Kai, "You're going to train me?!" He jumped and spread his hands high, "YES! WOW! That's AWESOME!"
Piccolo's ears perked up as his heart rate began to increase, "What about me? Am I able to train as well?"
Ancient Kai turned to Piccolo and shook his head, "Unfortunately, Piccolo, there's nothing more I can do for you. I sense that Goku has a hidden power I can help bring out in him, but you, Piccolo, have reached all your potential."
"If you like, I can take you back to Earth." Kibito Kai nodded to the Namek. "You had shown an interest in ensuring Pan's safety."
"Pan?" Goku looked to Kibito Kai, "How is Pan doing?" He blinked and his eyes went wide as something crossed his mind, "OH NO!!! PAN!" He brought his hands to his cheeks, "What is going to happen to her?!" Goku took a step back and looked down, "Oh no… Oh no, the poor girl… She won't be able to sense my ki. She probably thinks I'm dead! She's going to see that Trunks is possessed… and Gohan… and… Oh no…!"
"Don't worry, Goku." Piccolo put his hand on the boy's shoulder, "I'll watch out for her."
Goku grabbed his shirt and looked up to stare him in the face, "Don't endanger her! Wait until the right time before you train her. I don't want to lose her to Baby!"
Piccolo let out a quick chortle, "Believe me, Goku, I don't want to lose her to Baby, either." He turned and thought with a smirk, And after I'm done with her, you can bet that you wouldn't want her on your tail.
"Tail, huh?" Ancient Kai put two fingers to his chin as he looked at Piccolo and then turned his gaze to Goku. "Yes… yes, that might actually be a very good idea…"
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After a great while, of spoken valedictions and other forms of farewell, Kibito Kai and Piccolo stepped away from the crowd and faced each other on the grass field. Kibito put his hand on Piccolo's shoulder and gave a reassuring smile. "Is there any last thing you want to say to Goku or our two other guests?"
Goku walked up and said "I have one last thing to say."
Piccolo turned to Goku and gave a nod of acknowledgement.
"Piccolo… Tell Pan that I'm alive, okay? And I'll be back for her." Goku's eyebrows knotted downward, "And I won't let her down."
Piccolo looked at Goku for a moment and then turned to Kibito, "Alright, let's go."
"Promise me you'll tell her I'm okay!"
Piccolo kept his gazed fixed on the Kai, "Let's go."
"Piccolo!"
Kibito Kai nodded to Piccolo with an understanding. Piccolo did not need to express in words why he refused to comply with Goku. Kibito already knew.
Piccolo looked to Goku one last time, "If this should be the last time I see you, Goku, take care." He nodded slightly, "I promise I will do everything in my power to make sure Pan gets the training, both physical and mental, that she needs to prepare for this battle."
Suddenly, with a POOF, both Kibito Kai and Piccolo vanished into thin air.
Goku sighed and frowned toward the grass. It pained him to know that Pan would not know of his survival, but he knew that Piccolo must have a greater purpose in mind. Piccolo had always been one to rely on strategy more than strength. It would be good for Pan to have him as a sensei. Piccolo did wonders to his own son when he was a child; he was sure that Pan would benefit from Piccolo's company just as well.
He just hoped, more than anything, that Pan would survive long enough to see him again. It would break his heart to lose his only granddaughter.
"Alright then!" Ancient Kai walked up to Goku and slapped his hands together in excitement, "Onto our training!"
Goku turned around and nodded to Ancient Kai. "What now?"
"First off," Ancient Kai looked up to the sky and put a hand to his mustache, tugging slightly in thought, "I think… I think I could really go for a cappuccino." He looked to Goku and pointed to his giant coffee machine, "So hop to it! Chop chop!!!"
And with those words, the horrors of Goku's training had just begun…
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They materialized into a mound of melting snow, a cold breeze whipping by them both. The night was haunted by a mysterious red glow, the source of which was hidden by a mountain's peak.
"So this is where I leave you," Kibito nodded to Piccolo as they stood on a mountain overlooking Satan City. "I trust you know your way around." Kibito Kai tilted his head slightly as a strong breeze began to whip back his long white hair, "Good luck, my friend."
Piccolo gave a smirk, "Yeah. But I don't need luck."
Kibito stepped back and bowed respectfully to Piccolo, "Farewell."
"Wait." Piccolo held up a hand, "Tell Goku that if he comes back before Pan is ready, I'm going to send him right back to the Other World. Make sure he gets the implied meaning there. He can be a little thick-headed sometimes."
Kibito Kai laughed, "Alright, I will. Take care."
Piccolo nodded, "Yeah. Bye."
He watched Kibito Kai vanish and turned to face Satan City in the north. Standing still, he closed his eyes and reached out for all familiar kis.
Just his luck. Pan was masking hers, and for good reason. He'd just have to find her on his own. Unfortunately for him, that implied walking. Until he found a way to suppress his ki while in flight, he'd have to keep in mind that any unnecessary release of ki would be detectable by Val–Baby.
He'd find Pan, though. And when he did, she'd get a run for her money. He'd make sure of that.
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-1/16/05-
---This Completes the Flashback Sequence---
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Quick Note: I'm curious about something. For any of those who play any of the Budokai games (1, 2 or 3), who is your favorite character to play? In Budokai 2, my favorites were Krillin and Kid Trunks, and in Budokai 3, since I haven't unlocked Trunks yet (still haven't played the game through as Vegeta - he's the last on my list of characters to play), the ONLY character I play is Goten. Goten roxor ; ) But I'm curious about your favs.