Krillin trembled as he too became aware of the Saiyan Prince's ki-considerably weakened, sure, but fearsome nonetheless. "Oh, come on!" he muttered, his fear evident. "What does it take?!" Piccolo simply scowled off towards the distance, eventually reaching a decision and turning towards Krillin.
"Can the fat one fly?"
Krillin was surprised by the question, but eventually responded. "N-no, he never learned how. Didn't really learn much of anything, to be honest..."
"Why am I not surprised?" Piccolo remarked, annoyed. "Alright. Give me what energy you can spare, and leave this place," he commanded.
Krillin looked up towards his unblinking eyes as he processed his request. "A-are you sure? Y-you really think you can take Vegeta on by yourself?"
Piccolo scoffed. "Whether I can or cannot is irrelevant. He has insulted my honor, and for that, I will not rest until one of us is dead. What's more, I am as of now the strongest fighter of this world, and you are the only one capable of getting Gohan and the others to safety."
"Since when have you cared about anyone's safety?" Krillin said, a question forming in his mind.
Piccolo stuttered slightly as he responded. "W-will you follow my orders or will you not?!"
"Okay, okay!" Krillin replied shakily, still intimidated by the Namekian warrior. "But you better not die out there, alright? We may still need the Dragon Balls."
Piccolo chuckled. "I doubt you'll have the chance to use them again regardless," he said ominously. "Now go!"
Krillin looked back at him, puzzled and vaguely concerned, before eventually shaking his head and placing his hand in Piccolo's. When he gave him what energy he could spare, he set about gathering the others. Goku used what strength he could to grab onto Gohan from Krillin's left shoulder, leaving Yajirobe to be carried over Krillin's right shoulder. As he took off, he spared one last look at Piccolo as he unleashed the entirety of his newly gained ki, powering up back to the maximum of his power. When the group had faded from sight, Piccolo paused for a moment as a memory of yesterday's events bubbled back up to the surface of his thoughts:
'If I am to die in this coming battle, I shall do so on my terms.'
Without another word, he took off into the sky and raced towards the location of Vegeta's ki signature.
Vegeta clawed his way out of what remained of the mountain he'd finally crashed into, every cell in his body still screaming in pain from the Earthlings' latest attack against him. Once he emerged from the rubble, he staggered, barely managing to get up onto his feet, before falling back down to his knees and striking at the ground in a fit of rage.
"Damn them! DAMN THEM!" he roared, each word adding emphasis to his strikes. "I am the Prince of all Saiyans! One of the galaxy's strongest warriors! I cannot-I WILL NOT-die on this forsaken mudhole!"
With a supreme effort, even as his body howled in protest, he powered up to the best he could manage in his current condition. He flung out a ki blast at a nearby cliff, both to test his power and let off steam, and was disappointed when the nearby area only shook slightly as a result of the impact. Having become familiar with the strength of his former associate, he cursed heavily.
"DAMN IT! I, Prince Vegeta, reduced to a power less than NAPPA'S?!"
He continued to strike out in anger, but eventually managed to calm himself. "All...all isn't lost. Even this severely wounded, I'm stronger than any of them individually, and Kakarot and his brat were incapacitated. I could still easily kill the midget before he uses that disc attack, and at that point, the only one powerful enough to seriously oppose me is-"
He looked up and saw a familiar green figure rapidly approaching his position before landing ten feet away from him.
"Tch. Of course you show up," Vegeta said scowling. Piccolo simply stood there silently, arms crossed. Vegeta glanced around the area. "Well, if you're here, then where is that midget friend of yours hiding, eh? Around here, perhaps?!" Vegeta launched a ki blast at a nearby rock formation, shattering it to bits, but grunted when he saw that Krillin was not there.
"I am no ally of those fools," Piccolo replied, chuckling. "I have come alone, to defeat you with my own power! And once you are dead, I will be free to rule over this world!"
Vegeta looked off at him, processing his statements, before chuckling. "Riiight. So why try and save the brat earlier in our last fight?" Piccolo simply grimaced. "And of course, if your midget friend isn't here, then he's probably off ferrying Kakarot and those other idiots somewhere 'safe,' correct? Between his stupid sentiment and his concern for your Dragon Balls, I highly doubt he'd leave you to fight alone."
Piccolo said nothing, the only indication of his emotions being a single bead of sweat on his brow. Vegeta chuckled once more. "That's what I thought. You act all sinister, Namekian, what with your talk about being the 'Demon King' and ruling this mudball with an iron fist. But you know what I think? I think, deep down, you're just as sentimental as the rest of those idiots. I think the real reason you've come down here trying to face me alone is because you think they'll get a chance to escape if you do. Well, let me tell you something, slug: they won't. I'll see to that myself."
Piccolo assumed a combat stance, conflicted. Part of him knew that, at least regarding Gohan, the prince's claims were true. The other part, the part still dominated by his father's spirit, refused to acknowledge this. "You're wrong," he eventually said, seething with a quiet fury as the two sides of him continued to struggle.
Vegeta smirked. "Is that right? Well...how about you show me?"
With this last statement, Vegeta powered up and let out a battle cry before flying towards his opponent with all of his speed. Piccolo kicked off into the air as well, and managed to meet the prince's incoming charge with his own, sending a shockwave rippling throughout the area as neither fighter was pushed back even an inch. Upon floating backwards a few feet, the Saiyan prince lunged at Piccolo and unleashed a flurry of strikes, growling ever louder as each one was blocked, albeit with difficulty.
Their clash continued for several minutes, neither side able to gain a decisive advantage. However, Vegeta, desperate for an opening, rushed Piccolo with a full on charge, allowing Piccolo to grab both of his arms. However, before he could respond, Vegeta suddenly jerked his head towards him with all of his strength, headbutting him and leaving him stunned. Before he could recover, Vegeta went on the offensive with another series of powerful strikes, sending Piccolo flying around the immediate area until Vegeta finished with a punch towards the ground. Vegeta then flew down, intending to wind him with another powerful strike, but Piccolo managed to recover and opened up his mouth.
Before Vegeta could react, a yellow beam of ki shot out towards Vegeta. Weakened as he was, Vegeta could only barely get out of the way, being hit in the side by the beam and knocked off of his intended course, sending him hurtling into the ground as well. As Piccolo got back up, he looked off towards the rubble Vegeta picked his way through. When both warriors were back on their feet, Vegeta spared one look at the Namekian and scowled.
"GRRR! I'LL KILL YOU, YOU FOOL!"
Piccolo simply smirked as the prince flew low towards him, and fired off a ki blast in response. Vegeta instinctively flew higher to avoid the blast, which to his surprise collided with the ground only a few feet ahead of his position, rather than flying past where he had been. A cloud of dust and debris momentarily blocked Vegeta's vision, forcing him to blow it all away with a kiai. However, the cloud served its purpose, distracting Vegeta just long enough for a familiar beam of ki to fly towards him and explode upon colliding with his right leg. Vegeta howled in pain as he heard the crunch of bones being broken, and he once again lost his balance and barely managed to land safely on the ground. Piccolo began walking towards him, his pleasure evident.
"How?!" Vegeta cried out in rage and pain. "How did you-?!"
"During my training in preparation for your arrival, I developed a rapid, two-handed version of the Special Beam Cannon," Piccolo replied smugly. "It's not nearly as potent...but it was evidently enough."
Before Vegeta could respond, Piccolo rapidly closed the gap and punched the prince in the stomach, leaving him winded and open to an accompanying kick which sent him crashing into a rock formation several meters away. Satisfied that the prince was nearly finished, Piccolo began calmly walking towards the fallen prince's position. As Vegeta clawed himself out of the debris, he continued to struggle to stand even in spite of his broken leg, finally managing a sort of half-crouch, half-stumble punctuated by another sickening crunch. Piccolo had been drawing two fingers towards his forehead, preparing yet another Special Beam Cannon to finally pierce the prince's chest and end him once and for all, but paused as Vegeta got back up. Piccolo hesitated for a split second, stunned by his tenacity, before Vegeta held out his hands shakily and began charging up a sphere of purple ki between them.
"THIS...ENDS...NOW!" he shouted in fury as the technique reached its apex. "GALICK GUN...FIRE!"
As the purple beam shot out towards Piccolo, the Namekian was taken aback, and only barely managed to respond with his own signature technique.
"MASENKO...HAAA!" he cried out as the yellow beam of ki flew to meet Vegeta's attack, the two beams colliding with immense force as each warrior sunk everything they had into the other's demise. At first, it seemed as if Piccolo's Masenko was gaining ground slightly, but at this, Vegeta simply yelled with even greater determination, and the Galick Gun rose to meet its challenge. Both warriors grunted in exertion and pain, veins bulging and popping as they continued to struggle for a solid minute. Nearby rock formations broke apart, a massive storm began to accumulate around the area, and the ground itself shook at the enormity of their power.
When neither technique could move past the other after two minutes had passed, however, the two warriors faltered ever so slightly at the same time, disrupting the cohesion of their respective beams for only a second. Nevertheless, this disruption was enough to cause a change in the swirling vortex of ki which stood in the center between their two attacks. What had previously been a balanced reaction of opposing forces attempting to overwhelm the other began to break down, becoming unstable as the two wells of ki began to mix. Before either fighter realized what was happening, a purely white sphere of ki formed as a result of this mixing, rapidly expanding outward and enveloping the entire region in a massive explosion. With one final scream, Piccolo and Vegeta were completely engulfed by the explosion of ki, while every rock formation and cliff in the area was completely atomized.
"H...how much longer?"
The question, spoken weakly by a rapidly fading Goku, was posed while Krillin was briskly carrying the group towards where he had sensed Yamcha's ki, along with every other non-fighter.
"Not too long-just hang in there, buddy!" Krillin replied tersely.
"Don't know...hold on..." he said, and Krillin knew that he was referring to his son, still unconscious as a result of the earlier battle and threatening to fall out of Goku's grasp.
"You're going to have to for a few more minutes, Goku, cuz I won't be able to catch him if you drop him!"
Suddenly, Krillin's own grip was threatened by a powerful gust of wind emanating from the region which they had departed. With a renewed effort, he managed to reestablish his hold onto his friends, and took off with renewed speed.
"What was...?" Goku attempted to ask.
"Don't worry about it," Krillin answered briskly, while his thoughts drifted to other channels. "If it weren't for this whole 'life link' thing, I'd be hoping that they take each other out, but as it stands...come on, Piccolo! You've got to make it through this!"
Suddenly, however, something Piccolo had said entered back into his mind, followed quickly by a hurried comment he'd heard from Goku before his own fight with Vegeta. Nervously, Krillin gulped, and angled his head slightly towards his companion.
"Goku?" he asked timidly.
"Yeah...?" Goku replied.
"When you were talking about Kami earlier...what were you going to say?"
Goku's eyes widened ever so slightly before drooping once again from the pain and nausea. He struggled to stay conscious enough to answer Krillin fully, but could only get out the words, "He...dying..."
Krillin gulped once more. "A-and you said before that if he dies...?"
"Dragon Balls...gone..." Goku finished before drifting off to sleep, only managing to keep his grip on Gohan through sheer instinctive reflexes.
Beads of sweat began to trickle across Krillin's brow. "The Dragon Balls...gone?" He stretched his senses out towards Tien, whose energy was only barely perceptible to him, as well as Piccolo's own distant energy. "That's why..." he muttered, perhaps finally understanding something of Piccolo's thought process after all this time.
"So...if Vegeta was wrong..." he resumed before stopping. He wasn't going to think about it. He simply shut his mouth and poured a slightly greater amount of energy into his flight, knowing now just how much more important it was that nobody else die today.
The brilliant white light which had settled over the desert finally dissipated along with smoke and debris kicked up by the explosion. As both Piccolo and Vegeta laid a fair distance across from each other, motionless, the full measure of the destruction they caused could be readily observed. Every rock formation in the area was gone, the ground being rendered uniformly flat for miles around. If there had indeed been anything alive in this desert, it would've been completely vaporized, not even the ashes remaining after their deaths. And, of course, both warriors were peppered with burn marks and cuts from errant debris and the force of the explosion, not to mention ruptures in blood vessels already under immense physical strain. For several minutes after the smoke cleared, neither one made any sort of move.
Once five minutes had passed, however, a loud whirring sound could be heard overhead as a silver spherical object began to touch down. As it landed, a small piece of scrap metal was kicked over towards it by an errant gust of wind-the remains of Vegeta's remote control panel, which had been torn apart in the explosion. Now, having activated its emergency retrieval protocol, the pod's access hatch swung open, in the hopes that its owner would be able to make it in. For several more minutes, nothing happened, until at last, one of the warriors' hands twitched.
With a panting groan of exhaustion and pain, Vegeta, scarred, burned, bloody, and broken, barely managed to roll his body over and crawl slowly towards the hatch, trailing blood as he went. After finally lumbering inside, the pod, registering that someone had indeed entered, shut the hatch and initiated its takeoff sequence. The loud whirring sound returned once more as its engines resumed operation, and no sooner did Piccolo at last begin to move as well. Unable to pull himself off the ground, his vision blurry from nausea, he could only focus on the image of Vegeta's pod taking off and preparing to exit the Earth's atmosphere for a single second before his eyes glazed over, and he collapsed once more.
When his eyes opened again, it was dark, although he could tell he wasn't in the same place. This time, Piccolo discovered, he could move much more easily, his regeneration having repaired most of his wounds while he was out, albeit leaving him with barely any ki left. He reached out with his senses, finding a handful of small signatures, but found he could not see anything. With a slight grunt of effort, he unleashed a small kiai, opening up the blinds on the window next to him and letting moonlight into what Piccolo now realized was a house. A familiar house.
Piccolo suddenly heard a door creak slightly, and got up with a start. He raised a hand, preparing to fire the largest ki blast he could currently muster, startling the person opening the door and causing them to throw it back on its hinges out of fear. Piccolo relaxed somewhat when he realized who it was: that one blue haired woman-or was it blonde?-whose name escaped him. To his observation, even in her panic, she seemed...distant.
"Why have you brought me here?" he asked pointedly, lowering his hand and allowing her to take a few breaths.
"It...it was Krillin's idea," she replied after a few seconds. "After he brought Goku and the others to the hospital, he went back to where you were. According to him, you were in pretty bad shape, and he wasn't sure you'd make it. Plus, if we brought you into a hospital, it'd give the doctors heart attacks, so..."
Piccolo scowled as the rebellious part of his psyche felt ever so slightly...touched by the gesture.
"Well, he has his answer, evidently!" he said gruffly. "He shouldn't have bothered."
As he said this, a step away from the woman towards the window left him slightly buckled, falling to his knees as pain flared up throughout his leg. Launch took a cautious step towards him, but one glare from him froze her in place. He shakily got back up before finishing his walk towards the window, opening it and allowing the cold night air and the smell of the sea to rush into the room. Launch took a cautious couple of steps towards him once more, her confidence slowly building the longer he didn't vaporize her on sight. Eventually, she managed to make it next to him at the window, whereupon they looked out in silence for a moment.
"What of the others?" he asked reluctantly, surprising her.
"Uh, f-from what I hear, Goku and Yamcha are stabilizing. Mr. Yajirobe's still there with a severe concussion, but they're optimistic. Krillin only suffered a few bruises-he just got discharged an hour ago. Took off into the sky immediately-no idea where he's gone. Gohan's injuries are more severe, but the doctors are hopeful that he'll be okay in a day or two."
To her surprise, Piccolo almost sounded like he breathed a sigh of relief at this news, before quickly smothering it with a cough. She decided to stop at that, hoping Piccolo would drop the subject, but unfortunately for her, he proceeded to ask the one question she hoped he wouldn't ask.
"And what about that Tien person? From what I could tell before, he seemed to be in pretty serious condition."
Launch froze, and her lips tightened as all of those horrible images from earlier in the day resurfaced. After a deep, yet incredibly shaky, breath, she managed to muster up a response.
"Y-yeah, he's...not doing very well."
Piccolo noticed the change in her tone, but, being so poorly versed in human emotional cues, couldn't quite decipher it.
"Is he dying?"
Launch started once again, causing Piccolo to raise an eyebrow in confusion. "Why is this human getting so worked up over a simple question?"
"N-no. At least, I...I d-don't think so," Launch replied shakily. "I shouldn't have left," she told herself. "I should've stayed. That's what people do, right? They stay with the people they care about for as long as they can, as often as they can, until they get better. Chi Chi stayed with Goku, Bulma stayed with Yamcha, so why did I-?" Once more, images flashed through her mind. All manner of tubes and wires poking out of Tien's body, keeping him alive on water and God only knows what nutrients they put into those things. The doctor's face when he looked at her. Her signature on all of those papers, granting her and her alone the right to decide when Tien will die-
"C-can I ask you something?!" she blurted out, so suddenly that this time, Piccolo was the one who was startled. She stuttered for a few seconds before continuing, "The Dragon Balls, they can do some pretty amazing things. Could they-?"
"Probably," Piccolo replied. Even he wasn't so dense as to not understand what she was trying to ask. "Although I don't understand why you can't just use a Senzu bean."
Launch's face darkened slightly. "B-Bulma asked about it for Yamcha's arm while I was-" she stopped herself from speaking further before changing tack. "He said that, as far as he knew, they only amplify the human body's natural healing process. So, if the human body couldn't possibly recover..."
Piccolo nodded relatively dispassionately. "I see. Couldn't hurt to try, but if they truly would not function, then he may be lost."
Launch's eyes widened slightly, panic setting in. She could already tell from this limited interaction that Piccolo was a man for whom blunt honesty was natural. "W-what do you mean? Can't the Dragon Balls-?"
"The Dragon Balls' existence is directly tied to the life of their creator, Kami, with whom I share a life link," Piccolo explained, to Launch's confusion. He sighed audibly before simplifying it: "If he dies, I die, and if I die, he dies. And through this link, each individual can tell when the other is close to death."
Launch's face fell. "Y-you mean-?"
"I'm fine, but the old fool probably has around a month, maybe a month and a half, at most. Which means, of course..." Piccolo added, brooding. So distracted was he by the reemergence of this knowledge that he failed to notice Launch hurriedly departing until he heard the front door closed with some slight forcefulness. Upon registering this, Piccolo at first wondered whether he should've mentioned what Vegeta had told him. Deciding to wait a few minutes, he then turned towards the window once more before an impulse seized upon him without warning.
"It's late. Most of the fools will be leaving. The warriors from before are weakened or worse, and your strength is returning."
He heard it clearly in his mind. His father's voice. The voice he'd had to listen to almost nonstop for the last 9 years.
"Don't-"
"Goku is alone."
"No-"
"He is the only one left who can oppose you, and he is battered and broken."
"Stop!"
"The Dragon Balls cannot save him anymore."
"He is likely unconscious! He's in no position to fight me!"
"EXACTLY!" His father's voice roared. "He can't stop you! His son can't stop you! The midget! The triclops! The weakling! Roshi-NONE of them can stop you now!"
"But-"
Piccolo jerked slightly as his father's voice rose to a crescendo.
"NO! I am sick and tired of you dragging your feet!"
He took a step towards the window.
"W-what are you-?"
"9. Years. 9! Years! I have spent almost an entire DECADE waiting for that insolent monkey to DIE!"
Piccolo stumbled.
"S...stop this! I...I am not bound to-"
"I am your father, you insolent whelp! I spawned you, with my last! Breath! So that you would carry on my legacy! So that you would conquer this world once more! So that YOU would strike down all that opposed me!"
His head jerked once more.
"What...is the point...now...?" Piccolo thought erratically, his inner voice sinking lower with each passing second.
"Unlike you, I'm not content to sit down and die. There is a way that I can avert my demise, and I intend to use it."
"What...are you...?"
"We were once one being, Kami and I. A singular entity whose raw power would make you shudder. In order to become Guardian of this pathetic world, he split himself apart into two entities. One of pure good...and one of pure evil."
"You...don't mean-?"
"Years ago, I would retch at the suggestion, but it seems that no other option exists. If I am to continue living, then I must merge with Kami and become that nameless being once more! But this time, I will conquer the consciousness of the old fool from within! And then, I shall wield power greater than anything this planet has ever seen before!"
Piccolo shuddered.
"Please...stop...!"
"No! I shall wait no longer! TODAY-!"
Piccolo thrust out a hand and blew apart the window completely with a ki blast. His eyes lost the quiet fire that characterized the warrior Piccolo Jr. had become. Instead, they became more focused, manipulative, and sinister-the eyes of the Demon King which spawned him.
"Today, Son Goku...will die...by my hand," Piccolo finished with a sinister grin.
He only dimly registered the door being thrown back on its hinges as Bad Launch came rushing into the room, machine gun in hand. Without a second's hesitation, she unleashed a spread of bullets upon the Namekian, but he simply caught them all in a flash with one hand and tossed them aside. Before she could react, Piccolo let out a kiai towards her position, the sheer force of it sending her flying out of the room and into the wall of the living room, before finally landing out on the beach. Launch lifted her head up groggily, just in time to see Piccolo fly out through the hole he created, en route to Wukong Hospital and with nothing but one singular, overpowering goal on his mind.
What a twist!
Believe it or not, this is actually something of a relic from one of my first ideas for a Dragon Ball fanfic, detailing King Piccolo's return to the world of the living. It was incredibly messy, but nevertheless, the concept of King Piccolo still kinda being alive intrigued me. So, here we are.
Anyway, power levels!
Vegeta(heavily wounded): 3,300
Piccolo: 3,500
Piccolo(2-handed Special Beam Cannon): 3,700
Vegeta(Galick Gun): 4,500
Piccolo(Masenko): 4,500
As always, hope you all enjoy, and don't forget to leave reviews! Have a fantastic night, and I'll see y'all next week.