Chapter 38: The Namekians Can Never Rest
Their greatest enemy finally vanquished, the Dragon Team was able to breathe a sigh of relief at last.
"Did we do it?! T-They actually went ahead and won?!" yelled Pan in disbelief as Bra fell onto the ground from the sudden drop in adrenaline and said, "Y-Yeah… It looks like it."
"That was an incredible battle. The likes of which I'll never forget, this life or the next…" said Tenshinhan as he wiped blood off his brow, "But it seems the price we paid was heavy, wasn't it, Son…"
Goku wobbled his way next to Tenshinhan and said, "Yeah, you're right… The Dragon Balls… There's no way they could've survived a blast like that. They were all destroyed along with Yi Xing Long. All three sets of 'em… They no longer exist in this world."
"Hmph! True warriors never rely on anyone but themselves and their own strength! We'll manage without them, or the Potaras for that matter! That's the last time I ever combine myself with you, Kakarrot!"
"H-Hehehehe… Don't say that, Vegeta… I'll hafta return to the next world again in less than a day anyway, I couldn't fuse with you anymore if I wanted to. That bein' said, you all did a fantastic job, Goten, Trunks, Kuririn, and you too, Oob! Our gamble to leave behind that Genki Dama really paid off!"
"Aw shucks, it was nothin'…" said Gotenks as he rubbed his nose with his index finger before suddenly glowing brightly and splitting back to his components, who too collapsed onto the ground in fatigue. A Namekian healer jumped to their rescue and grabbed onto Goten, saying "Are you alright, sir? You dealt the most critical blow to that foul Dragon… I'll have you healed back to your full strength in no time!"
Goten flew upwards and said, "Nah, I'm good. Please join your efforts with the other ones healing the ones who almost lost their lives… like my brother. I'll just consider these wounds a badge of honor. One that'll remind me to never forget to keep my head clear, and to remember what was lost here today. More importantly… It isn't over yet."
Suddenly, a battered and beaten figure crawled out of the debris, revealing himself to be a Piccolo heavily wounded from being collateral damage to the fight. He then collapsed headfirst onto the ground and said, "I-I could use a healer, myself…"
"I-It's you! Yi Xing Long must just be possessing him again, we can't trust a word he says!" said Kuririn, at which point Trunks landed next to him and said, "It's the real Piccolo-san, I assure you. When we were downed by that monstrous Dragon… And when we were needed most, it was Piccolo-san who telepathically woke us up and got us to face him head-on and drive the Genki Dama into him. He was purified of the evil that controlled him by the power of the complete Genki Dama."
"Yes, I can sense it in his eyes… It's the real Piccolo-san. Hurry, please! I'm healed enough to recover on my own, please restore Piccolo-san's life energy! That Dragon completely drained him of his power while he was possessed!"
"G-Gohan… You've grown and matured. Without you, we wouldn't be alive here still…" said Piccolo as he coughed up some blood, at which point Kibitoshin arrived along with Dende and said, "It seems you all could use a hand. I have arrived to assist in restoring your powers."
Dende leapt to where Piccolo was and began the healing process, managing to instantaneously restore Piccolo's wounds. He and Kibitoshin then used all of their power healing Piccolo and the other wounded warriors, and everyone then took a moment next to the dried-up Namekian ocean basking in their bittersweet victory.
"Trials new and uncharted still await us… I know this because I have glimpsed the history of the past Evil Dragons in the mind of Yi Xing Long," said Piccolo.
"The past Evil Dragons? You learned of their history, Piccolo-san? Please do tell us!" said Gohan in sudden excitement.
"So your mind was linked to the Dragon's while you were possessed… Makes sense, since he was able to fool us utterly when he impersonated you, Piccolo-san," said Goten.
"It all began on the desolate planet of Cereal, a planet that the Saiyans invaded after destroying their original home planet of Sadla. Unfortunately, the planet did not house a great enough ecosystem to fuel the Saiyans' voracious appetites, and only the most tranquil and agreeable ones among the Saiyans stayed. The rest went to Planet Plant, the eventual Planet Vegeta, where they slaughtered the Tsufurian populace eventually… You should know that well enough."
"Hmph! You're taking about ancient history! I and my forefathers had nothing to do with Planet Cereal, it was a place where the dregs and riff-raff among us were stranded," said Vegeta.
"Yes. Unfortunately, the riff-raff were still despised by the remnants of the Cerealian population. So, they begged the sole Namekian among the planet's population who remained after the massacre to allow them to use his Dragon Balls to gain strength enough to expel the Saiyans, to which he agreed to do so, but only once. However, unlike the other sets of Dragon Balls, the Cerealian set were a set of two, smaller Dragon Balls… And ones without a year's time of inactivity after each wish. So, they went and abused the Dragon Balls by grabbing them before they scattered each time after powering up their best soldiers, and before long, all the Cerealians were gifted with their full potential. However, this turned out to be the plan of the evil presence that lurked within them, and two Evil Dragons were born of their last attempt to make a wish, to wish back the evil Saiyans to their planet to kill them all. The firstborn, one that had the power to paralyze and weaken his opponents, ensnared the surviving Cerealian warriors in his poisonous trap, while the other, who had the power of possession, consumed them all as fodder."
"Dear God… That's horrible…" said Bra, reminded of her own grisly demise at Baby's hands two years prior.
"Yes. They could be said to be instruments of hate and destruction, two lives of evil and darkness, born of a cycle of hate and hate. They then slaughtered the peaceful Saiyans before making their way to Planet Namek to gain access to the Namekian Dragon Balls, where the Namekians fused into one, all-powerful warrior, one who put up a valiant resistance. Realizing he had no use for the poison Dragon, the more powerful of the two Dragons betrayed his brother and killed him and absorbed his Dragon Ball, not unlike Yi Xing Long did today. That warrior was utterly defeated, and in a desperate attempt to win against this merged Evil Dragon, summoned the Kaio and Kaioshin to the planet Namek using Porunga. Unfortunately, the Evil Dragon consumed Porunga and the Namekian Dragon Balls as well, and even after having his potential unlocked by a powerful Kaioshin, the warrior was no match. He had to detonate his body to take down the enemy."
"But that can't be the end of the story," said Dende, "The Namekian Dragon Balls still existed!"
"Yes. Calculating that the Namekian would likely regenerate, the Evil Dragon expelled the Dragon Balls from inside himself at the last second and used them to possess his body this time… Not unlike how Yi possessed me. The Gods created a Genki Dama using energy from the universe over to try and defeat the Dragon, only to succeed in purifying part of him. And before his evil half could take control once more, the Namekian split himself into two, one free of the Evil Dragons' influence. That good half… was Katas, the father of the eventual Kami of Earth – your predecessor, Dende."
"!"
"Katas battled the weakened Evil Dragon for 40 days and 40 nights, and in the end they were able to rip the Namekian Dragon Balls from within him. However, in doing so, they expended all of their strength. Unable to expel the Cerealian Dragon Balls that make up his core, Katas sealed him within his body again and expelled all of his energy in an egg containing his child while the Gods gathered energy for one final Genki Dama – which Katas this time swallowed into himself, destroying his body and the dark Evil Dragon forever. The Evil Dragon vanished saying that he would one day return as long as mortals desired to use the Dragon Balls, and the good and evil halves of Katas briefly became one before they too died. It was a hollow victory – the Namekian home planet was consumed in a cataclysm caused by the release of the negative energy, and most of the surviving Namekians died. The Kaioshin forbade the sole survivor besides my former self Kami, the eventual Grand Elder that you all know, to use the Dragon Balls to revive those who died in the battle out of fear of the Evil Dragons, and so the Dragon became able to only revive a single person. The trauma of this event caused Katas' child to lose his memories… until I regained them today, that is."
"What a disastrous tale… One single hitch, and we could've ended up just like that. In fact, this planet isn't in any better shape than it was at the end of your tale…" said Goten.
"But this time, the end was different! The Dragon Balls may no longer be, but the Namekian populace was spared, and so was the Earth's! We sustained great losses here today – those who died can never return to us… But we stand tall, having lived through it all! Karma is not a circle in which past events of doom are repeated again – It is a spiral, where the encounters called fate give us the strength to better ourselves still. And that is proof that we won, over the vast powers of darkness!"
"Yes! You're right!" said the fighters gathered in the ruins of New Namek.
"So how about we get going? I'm really tired… I'd love to just lie down, take a nap and have one good meal before I take a good, long rest…" said Goten.
"You said it! I can't wait to go surprise Chi-Chi and have myself one last meal on Earth before I hafta go back to the world of the dead! That was the battle of my life, just now! And it was a satisfyin' one!" yelled Goku.
"Well then, allow me to take you all to Earth. The Namekians will have to go along with us, since this planet is ruined beyond repair. My teleportation requires no Ki signature to home onto, so grab hold onto me!" said Kibitoshin.
"It's over at last… I guess this is the last time I'll ever set foot on Namekian soil," said Gohan as he and the other warriors were enveloped in a white glow, as they were teleported to Kami's Palace. Only, they had forgotten a certain trio of miscreants…
"H-Hey! They went ahead and left, without us! W-Wait for us, damn it! Pilaf the Great King commands you!"
"They're already gone, sire… There isn't even a mouthful of water left on this planet…" grumbled Shu as he collapsed.
"Hmph. Shu's already lived past a dog's lifespan, I say we boil him and eat!" said Mai, only for her words to fall on deaf ears as Pilaf had a complete mental breakdown.
And so, everything seemed to be over… Or so it seemed.
Weeks later, an unexpected event befell the planet of Earth.
"K-King! Our King Furry, it is an emergency! You have to look at what our satellites caught on their camera!"
"Yes? What is the matter, Counselman Dupping?" asked the canine King of Earth, who had been reinstated to his rightful position after Baby's defeat two years prior, "W-What is this?!"
"I-It's a catastrophe! Next to Yunzabit Heights, a village containing dozens – no, hundreds of vile, disgusting green creatures resembling Piccolo have been found! Th-This MUST be where the foul demon calls home!"
"Yunzabit Heights… One of the most inhospitable places on this planet Earth… So it's from there that that demon bastard rose and plotted his takeover of Earth, eh?! And there are hundreds of them?! D-Dear God! W-We can't just let them go untouched! I order that we mobilize all of our aircrafts capable of carrying nuclear missiles, right this instant! And build many, many more, as many as we could possibly build in a month's time! In one month, we'll take that village and erase it completely from the map! I will not let down Earth and her people again!"
"Well, well, well… Perhaps events are destined to repeat themselves. To think a conflict like this would brew on this planet," said Piccolo as he looked down upon Earth along with Dende.
"T-This is bad! Any one of us could flatten the Earth's army, but doing so would bring no peace! We have to contact those at Capsule Corporation right this instant!" yelled Dende as he frantically called Vegeta telepathically.
"What?! The Earth's army wants a piece of the Namekians?! Bah! Fat chance! Any one of the Namekian adults could put down the Earthlings' pitiful army, in no time flat! I'm not getting involved in this," said Vegeta.
"This is no time for nonchalance, Vegeta-san! Innocent lives will be lost on both sides if this war becomes a reality! Please, have Bulma-san send a message to Goku-san in the afterlife, right this instant!"
"Feh! Alright, alright… I don't see what you're getting so worked up over, once a man has entered the military, he has resigned himself to dying on the front lines! It's the sacred rule of the battlefield! But I probably should let the woman know so she won't bitch at me…"
"V-Vegeta! Is this true?! That the Earth's Army plans to wipe out the village of Namekians from the map?! W-Why didn't you tell me earlier, this is horrible news!"
"Whatever, woman. This is nothing worth me interrupting my daily workout schedule over, I'm just letting you know so you won't yell at me again. Go tell Kakarrot and the Kaio or whatever bug fellow he's with. I did what Dende asked of me, I'm out," said Vegeta as he walked toward his gravity chamber.
Back in Heaven, where Goku had been with Kaio and Bubbles, they received an encrypted message that informed them of the dire circumstances on Earth.
"R-Ruh-oh… That don't sound good, Kaio-sama. Any seasoned fighter could put down the Earth's army and stuff, but then it'll just be battle after battle until a million people wind up dead! W-What can we do?!"
"Goku! You were the one who went ahead and defeated that Piccolo Daimao villain, weren't you?! I'll have your telepathically linked to all of the people of Earth, you go and show them mental images of you defeating Daimao, that could change their minds!"
"R-Really?! You can do that, huh?! Don't mind if I do!" said Goku as he took a deep breath, put his hand on Kaio's back and said, "Can you hear me? People of Earth, I am called Son Goku, and I am a deceased martial artist. You people have the wrong idea and think that those green people you found footage of in a desolate corner of the planet mean you harm, but I assure you that they don't. The Namekians are a peaceful people, who have fled from their home planet recently as it was caught in a fiery conflict. One which I was part of! But another conflict I was part of as a child, as you'll see in an image I will now show you, if you close your eyes… was the battle against Piccolo Daimao. I was the boy who defeated him, and he was but a shadow of the Namekian he once was… Because he was infected by hate and evil after a series of unfortunate circumstances from interactin' with humankind. And he split. But when he was reborn and ended up fightin' with me in the finals of the Tenkaichi Budokai, I could sense that the new him was different – and that people can change. And with your powers, we were able to take down the evil Majin Boo eighteen years ago… So I know you guys are capable of just as much good, now! Please listen to me, and cease your foolishness! They don't have to fight you, and we can all live in peace!"
"Hey!"
"Huh?"
"Who are you to give us these high and mighty commands, huh?! A dead man, he says, hmph! A joke if I ever heard one!"
"Yeah! Now that I think about it, that Daimao character used a bunch of magic too, right? And blew up a city to kingdom come! I bet it's that demon king douchebag again, tryin' to fool us with this nonsense!"
"Yeah, to hell with those fugly green goblins! Kill them all! We can't let them breed!"
"Kill them all! Kill them all!"
"Y-Ya can't be serious! After all I said and did, they still took my message and got even more rared up to fight 'cuz of it! What the hell do we do?! At this point, the only thing that could stop them would be mind control, and who could do that besides…"
"Besides?" said Kaio.
"Besides Babidi! I can't believe I never thought of this before! Babidi had telepathy better than you, Kaio-sama, and all kinds o' magic! Maybe he can pull somethin' for us!"
"Goku, I think this might be a little riskier than I'd be comfortable with… Plus, you do know we can't revive him anymore with the Dragon Balls destroyed, right?"
"But with the Uranai Baba hag's power at our disposal, we can at least bring him to Earth! And nobody has more magical power than Babidi does!"
"Very well. I'll inform King Enma of your intentions, Goku. The personal Hell of Babidi should be opening up in 30 minutes' time.
"Woohoo!"
Thirty minutes later, Goku found a small gap opening up in the clouds of Hell below the middle of the Snake Road, where he then entered. He found Babidi chained to a lever, which pulled him up from being boiled "alive."
"Hey hey hey, long time no see, Babidi! How's it goin' here in your own personal Hell?"
"You! It's you, the one who did the weird transformation in front of Majin Boo all those years ago! Have you been thrown in Hell yourself?!"
"Nah, my good acts in life outbalanced what little bad stuff I did, so unlike you, I'm just here t' make a proposition! Say, can you make yourself useful and stop someone from mobilizin' an army?"
"Well, well, well, it appears you are in quite a pickle! Whatever seems to be the problem?"
"Let's just say that the Earthlings you and Boo killed were wished back 18 years ago, but since then, peace on Earth hasn't been maintained so well! So I am here to suggest you help out with this little problem, in exchange for us doin' you a special favor!"
"The only special favor I need is to be rid of this ridiculous hellhole. The afterlife quite frankly sucks for me, if you were able to wish back the Earthlings, you can certainly do so for me, too, correct?"
"Sure!"
Goku thought to himself, "Wow, it's a good thing the Dragon Balls are gone, otherwise I might've had to really hold up my end of the bargain! But let's keep it cool and see what else I can make him do!"
"Excellent, excellent… But how do you plan to get me to Earth? A lack of a life puts me in a not so salubrious a position to do much on your tiny home planet!"
"Easy. We'll get you a 24-hour lease on a temporary 'life' so you can walk on the Earth again, wizard! And my friend Vegeta will be there to watch you and make sure you aren't up to no good… And the rest of my friends, too!"
"Hehehehehe… Are you sure you'd be able to sleep at night, leaving me right next to an evildoer? I'll have you know, I can recharge a person's afterlife energy, so that they can relive the 24 hours they already spent on Earth! It's as easy as flipping a burger for a grand wizard, such as myself! Hyo hyo hyo!"
"Y-You can do that?! Great! Then you'll recharge my energy, we have ourselves a deal~"
"Hehehehehehe… What I neglected to mention is that I rigorously trained my magic through my mental turmoil the last two decades that I've been dead! Not only will Vegeta be unable to withstand my magic this time, but I could even brainwash Majin Boo! I'll have you killed permanently as soon as you make the mistake of bringing me to life, you petulant, impressionable fool!" thought Babidi.
How will this conflict resolve itself now?
To be continued…