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Chapter 23
Furious Revelations

Kakarot gets a dangerous look in his eye before collapsing onto the ground writhing in pain, unable to move. Chichi glared at Piccolo but refrained from attacking him, realizing the situation everyone was in. She realized not only did the suggested weakness work on Kakarot, but everyone also who could beat Piccolo was too wounded to fight back. Chichi realized she was in a hopeless situation, previously Kakarot's defeat was the desired outcome however things have changed.

With the situation as it is, if Piccolo takes care of Kakarot then he's open to killing everyone on the Lookout. The only three who could have put up a fight are either too drained or too injured from their fight with Kakarot. She realized she was the only one who could fight however she knew that she stood no chance against a healthy Piccolo. Piccolo let out an unrestrained laugh as he yelled out to the heavens, "I've done it, I've won, Demon King Piccolo rises again destined to rule this planet!" Tien scowls at Piccolo saying, "So was this your real plan? Wait until Kakarot drops his guard and then you go for his tail after he beats us?"

Piccolo let out a chuckle before saying, "On the contrary this is better than what I had planned. I wanted to go for his tail right when he was summoning the Dragon. The splendor of summoning the Dragon God was so marvelous it would have been the perfect moment." Piccolo then said in a lower tone, "No, I changed the plan the second this fool decided he wanted to fight for the Balls. Now all that's in my way is the little girl who helped me conquer the earth." Chichi suddenly said, "Help you? Not on your life!"

Piccolo let out another laugh and said, "Foolish girl, you've already helped me. Do you think it was a coincidence he dropped his guard upon seeing you?" Chichi's expression hardened as Piccolo said, "If you hadn't stepped in the way of his attack he wouldn't be in this position nor would I be able to finish off your friends." Chichi balled her hands into fists as she struggled to restrain herself from lunging at Piccolo. She couldn't bring herself to say a word back since she agreed. She thought to herself, "Damn it, why did I have to jump in like that? Why do I keep screwing everything up for everyone?" Piccolo then said while looking down at Kakarot, "It helped that you left it hanging, unlike your brother who kept it around his waist." Kakarot let out a frustrated growl but remained stuck to the ground.

Kakarot then said, "So I'm guessin' all that rubbish about fearin' a future attack was just to keep my trust." Piccolo let out another laugh and said, "That's right, I didn't expect such a hardened warrior to be so easy to deceive. I'm the Demon King Piccolo reborn, I wouldn't settle for anything less than the Earth. I won't allow some aliens from deep space to take what's rightfully mine!" Kakarot said, "It figures, there's no way any of you could have beaten my brother with strength or tactics alone. He may be a coward and underhanded but he's still far stronger than any of you. Of course you'd go for his tail."

What Kakarot didn't say aloud was, "But that doesn't explain how they know, the reason they wrap it around their waist is to hide it from view. Even upclose it looks like a simple fur belt. How did they find out? I don't imagine Raditz got cocky and told them about it, not even Vegeta would do that." Kakarot then asked, "So, how'd you find out about the weakness, surely you didn't stumble upon it." Piccolo placed his right index and middle fingers on his forehead as he began charging an attack. Piccolo began to elaborate, "Since these are your final moments, I might as well inform you that we had help."

Kakarot listened intently as Piccolo continued, "A month before your brother arrived an alien spaceship landed on this planet. Your race must have held a great number of enemies for this group to form." Kakarot was puzzled by this, since any group that had risen against Freeza in the past had been crushed. The only exceptions would be the Galactic Patrol, an organization that polices the galaxy but is too weak to stand against Freeza outright or perhaps his brother's faction. They are part of the same empire but Freeza's brother isn't exactly on friendly terms with him.

Piccolo continued, "This organization called themselves the Chilled Battalion, they warned us of your brother's arrival. They told us everything we needed to know, your weakness, the fact he was coming in a month and they even provided a warrior we could use if we couldn't handle your brother. The only information they didn't provide is where he would land." Kakarot could feel his heart racing, several things were strange with this story. However, above everything that name, the Chilled Battalion was familiar to Kakarot. Other than that, the story made sense, it explained how they got their intel. Kakarot then thought to himself, "That name, it can't mean what I think it means." Kakarot had a terrible feeling about this, he asked, "What did this warrior look like?"

Piccolo wasn't sure why he was curious about the specifics but he answered anyway, "He was a flamboyant man with green hair, one might describe him to have a pretty face." Kakarot's uneasy feeling shifted into anger, and a name popped into his head, "Zarban." Piccolo lifted his fingers off of his forehead, it was now covered in yellow electricity, it glowed yellow. Piccolo then said, "There we go, with as weak as you are now, this is all I need." Chichi suddenly said, "Enough, that's enough!"

Piccolo looked at Chichi and questioned, "What do you think you're going to do? You're the weakest one here aside from Kami. Besides, don't you care about your planet?" Chichi locked eyes with him and said, "I've thought about it and I decided it doesn't matter." Piccolo blurted out, "What?! Have you gone mad? His brother will wipe everyone out, you saw his handiwork!" Chichi gave him her rebuttal, "What's the difference between you and them?" Piccolo blurted out, "What?" Chichi continued, "If you rule you'll do the same thing the previous Piccolo did. You'll throw the world into chaos and then slowly destroy it, one year at a time, just like you did to North City during your first reign. The way I see it we all die one way or the other. At least with him, my friends will live a little longer!"

Chichi dropped into a fighting stance when she said, "Besides, I don't need to beat you, I just need to make you let go of his tail." Piccolo let out an angry growl and yelled, "Foolish woman, I won't be stopped by a single insignificant human!" Piccolo aimed his electricity infused fingers at Chichi, he added, "At this range you can't possibly dodge it." Everyone looked in horror, Krillin and Tien attempted to stand but they didn't have enough strength to move.

Yamcha on the other hand thought to himself as he looked at Piccolo pointing a death move at Chichi, "No, I can't let this happen. When I see her I still see that little brat who gave me a dropkick as a hello so long ago. I can't let another person I care for die, especially at the hands of Piccolo. This won't be like with Gohan or her father!" Yamcha still couldn't lift the pillar off of him with his one arm however, he balled up his free arms fist and began punching the pillar repeatedly. After his third strike it finally crumbled to pieces allowing Yamcha to pull himself from the rubble. He felt a pain in his gut but gritted his teeth in response. His other arm felt numb but he could at the very least stand. Yamcha clutched his gut as he said, "Not so fast you freak!"

Piccolo gritted his teeth and said, "You too, have all of you gone insane?" Yamcha said back, "I don't give a damn about the Saiyan, the way I see it is we die no matter what I do next." Yamcha then let out a weak chuckle and said, "But like that's gonna stop me from stopping you from killing anyone else I care about." Kakarot looked at Yamcha with astonishment, Yamcha's determined declaration and effort to fight with such a battered body was respectable. Piccolo grinned and said, "Ha, you're no threat, you can barely stand." Piccolo then looked at Chichi and said, "Besides I still need to repay this Saiyan for his arrogance, to think you would dare command the Demon King."

Piccolo aimed his electricity infused fingers at Chichi, deciding he had the time to kill the person Kakarot grew the closest to given the advantageous situation he was in. Kakarot raised a furious glare at Piccolo, Yamcha immediately rushed in front of her, Piccolo laughed and said, "You saw what this could do, you moron, she's no safer behind you!" Yamcha immediately said, "That's what you think!" However, right as Piccolo yelled out, "Mokkonkosappo!" Kakarot grabbed his hand but it was a second too late. Kakarot let out a furious scream, "No!"

A purple spiraling beam was already digging into Yamcha's chest but with the last of his strength he knocked Chichi off her feet with a backwards side kick.

It hurt but Chichi knew it wasn't fatal, the beam passed right through Yamcha but missed Chichi by a hair. Yamcha fell to the ground onto his back. Krillin yelled out despite his lack of available stamina, "Y-yamcha!" Kakarot screamed out as he lifted himself up, "You bastard!" Kakarot then pulled the arm he held Piccolo by right off. Piccolo screamed out of pain but managed to will himself to take several steps back, right out of Kakarot's reach. Kakarot spun around and ran to the two of them.

Tien and Krillin feared for what was gonna happen next when Kakarot stopped over by Chichi. Luckily Kakarot didn't do anything to hurt her, instead he checked her injury. She had a bruise on her side but it wasn't serious, Chichi suddenly said, "What about Yamcha?" Kakarot turned to him but didn't need to use a Scouter or check his vitals to know it was too late. Kakarot said with a degree of remorse in his voice, "I can't feel his Ki, he's gone." Tien pulled himself over to Yamcha, not buying what Kakarot said, "That can't be, Yamcha speaks to me, talk damn it!" It didn't take Tien long before he froze, unable to vocalize his grief.

Tien suddenly muttered with anger in his voice, "When did it stop working?" Chichi wasn't sure what was being asked, which is when Kakarot said, "He's referring to my tail." Tien then yelled, "Your tail is your weakness, it worked on your brother but here you are standing straight!" "Saiyans are capable of training their tails, I learned from the high ranking Saiyans of my squad." Admitted Kakarot. Tien then growled, "And yet you didn't stop the attack earlier."

Kakarot didn't respond; he only grimaced at his failure to stop Piccolo. Piccolo said while clutching where his right arm used to be, "So you pretended it would work but for what reason?" Kakarot turned to Piccolo and said, "To get the answer to how you know about the weakness in the first place. I doubt they would have told me anything about an ally." Kakarot spoke to Tien and the other earthlings without looking directly at them, "I'm sorry about your comrade, he was…admirable." Krillin suddenly said, "Spare us your sympathies, you were trying to kill just a few minutes ago." Kakarot turned to Krillin and said, "That was before your friend saved Chichi. He has my respect for that if nothing else. I wish I didn't go so hard on em'." Kakarot then said, "Then there's the info Piccolo gave me about your "helpers"." Kakarot looked disgusted upon mentioning said helpers.

Krillin spoke with a clear mocking tone, "Let me guess, you're going to go and kill more innocent people, the people who gave us a fighting chance against your kind." Kakarot looked at Krillin a little surprised but then his face soon dropped into a sad scowl, he said, "I guess the same thing happened here." Krillin let out a single, "What?" Kakarot then said, "It is true that more than three months ago I helped wipe out an innocent world. It was much like this one now that I'm thinking back to it. Large forests, a beautiful sky and strong, desperate people."

Krillin said with an annoyed tone in his voice, "What the hell is your point?" Instead of answering, Kakarot changed the subject, asking Krillin a question. "Do you think it's the Saiyans that have been invading worlds?" Krillin immediately answered, "Who else would it be, you're a race of thugs and murderers." Kakarot let out an irritated response, "You're a fool, the Saiyans are not a people, not anymore anyway." Krillin immediately asked, "What is that supposed to mean?" Kakarot finally admitted, "You morons have been played, my species is practically extinct. I'm one of four…" Kakarot stops himself and then says, "Three… three surviving Saiyans, all male. We're essentially living off of borrowed time with no females to raise our numbers."

Kakarot then said, "There is no Saiyan Empire, long ago we joined the Space Tyrant Freeza and worked as enforcers and invaders in his Empire." Krillin and Tien still were not sure what he was getting at, which is when he finally said, "You morons have been played in the same way as the people on the planet Prune. The Prune people were conservationists but they fought back against us with advanced weaponry that should be beyond their years. When that didn't work then "he" must have been displeased, that's why he was sent here, not simply because of a failing of ours."

Kakarot began to look angry as all the dots were connected in his head. He finally said, "There is no Chilled Battalion, Chilled is an ancestor of Freeza! The men who gave you your "chance" are the very same men who send me and my Saiyan squads to other worlds to conquer, including yours! Freeza sent "Zarbon" to ensure my brother failed in his mission. All of us were being played from the start. The humans who wanted to defend their planet, my brother who wanted back in Freeza's good graces and I ended up in the middle of it all, it was all Freeza!" Kakarot let out an angry yell as his Ki soared through the air before slowly dissipating. Everyone's eyes opened wide as they were confronted with the truth of their situation.

Kakarot walked over to Piccolo who tensed up getting ready for whatever Kakarot had in store for him. However Piccolo froze as Kakarot passed right by him, ignoring his presence. Piccolo looked back as Kakarot stopped at the very edge of the lookout. Kakarot stared off into the sky, completely ignoring everything going on behind him. Kami approached Tien, Chichi and Yamcha's body. Chichi asked, "Can you do anything for him, Kami?" Kami stopped by them and said, "I cannot revive the dead, that is the job of the Dragon Balls but I believe he has earned the privilege to keep his body in the afterlife."

Kami suddenly stretched his arms outward and generated a strange white field with his open palms. Yamcha's body disappeared leaving behind a bloodstain. Tien asked what Kami did, he explained, "When someone dies, their soul passes on to the Check In Station in between heaven and hell. However, a special few earn the right to keep their bodies in the other world. Through this they earn the right to a number of perks, one of which I will have to talk to the great King Yemma about." Chichi asked, "King Yemma? Perks? I'm sorry Kami but I don't understand." Kami gave them a short laugh and said, "Don't worry about it for now, if what Kakarot said is true then there are steps we must take to ensure the survival of the Earth, it is my job after all."

Kami then grimaces at where Yamcha's body used to be, he added, "Even though I feel more and more unworthy of the title as the days go by." Right then Chichi saw something startling and she suddenly got up and yelled, "Watch out!" Kakarot however said, "Don't bother." Right behind Kakarot stood Piccolo who was about to plunge his fingers into Kakarot's neck but stopped upon hearing what Kakarot said. Kakarot then said, "Freeza was only using your planet to get to me. I'd say he achieved that, your planet may sell at a good price but it seems Freeza has bigger fish to fry."

Piccolo didn't budge, which is when Kakarot turned toward him and said, "It's pointless, Raditz has no reason to conquer your world If I'm the target." Piccolo didn't quite buy that, he asked, "What makes you his target and how does that change our situation?" Chichi wasn't far off as she listened in, "Freeza wanted me to do this mission first, but Raditz got in his way. I came here against his orders, when I bring my brother back, then I'll be the one to take the punishment for defying him. The planet you want to conquer isn't at risk anymore, your time would be better spent training in preparation for a future invasion." Piccolo looked nervous as if he was still deciding whether or not he should give up on this fight.

Kakarot then said with menace in his voice, "Trust me when I say I'm far from the strongest subordinate Freeza has, if you can't beat me now even with both arms then you're wasting your time here." Piccolo paused for another half a minute, still deciding if he should strike at Kakarot but then stopped. He dropped his remaining arm and said, "Fine but are you really willing to let me go?" Piccolo gave Kakarot a condescending smirk as he said while raising his remaining arm to his side, turning it upside down, "You were mad enough to rip my arm off half a minute ago, why are you acting so… reserved?"

Kakarot simply said, "It doesn't matter anymore, he's dead but they'll revive him eventually seeing how the balls have apparently been used multiple times to revive multiple people. You can't beat them regardless, even if you grow that arm back." Piccolo dropped his posture and questioned, "How did you–?" Kakarot interrupted him saying with a smile, "Remember how I said I met Namekians? I wasn't playing nice with them like I have with you." Piccolo let out a frustrated grunt and began to float off but stopped when he reached for the bag with the Dragon Balls inside which he tucked under his shirt at the beginning of the fight. He figured Kakarot would want them and figured there was no hiding from Kakarot while he had the radar.

However, when Piccolo searched for them, he found that they were missing. He looked back to see Kakarot holding it while smiling. He had apparently swiped them from his person when he passed by him. Piccolo let out an irritated groan as he floated away but before he left Kakarot said, "One last thing." Piccolo stopped and looked back at Kakarot again, "I know these words will be wasted on you and they might sound funny coming from me, but I might as well say that you're better off finding a different goal. You've been spared two times now, you only get so many chances at redemption, stop for your own sake." Piccolo scoffed and flew away, not caring for Kakarot's unusually wise words.

Right then Kakarot turned around and walked towards the surviving earthlings, passing by Chichi who didn't say a word but kept her gaze fixated on him. Kakarot stopped in front of Krillin who, with the help of Kami, had retrieved a bag from under Krillin's clothes. Krillin cautiously looked at Kakarot and said, "Is there a reason you aren't still trying to kill us?" Kami interjected, "I get the feeling he never was." Tien yelled back, "Like hell, look at us!" Roshi chimed in this time, "No, I have the sneaking suspicion he wasn't fighting to kill."

Tien and Krillin looked at Roshi with surprise, Roshi then said, "If he had I'm sure you wouldn't be in one piece, Krillin. That blast would have vaporized you." Krillin shot a glance at Kakarot who was looking away from him. Krillin asked, "You said whoever was left standing or killed?" Kakarot nervously said, "The kill part was meant for me, I needed a challenge, so I gave myself a handicap." Krillin groaned as he took a bean from the bag and ate it. Suddenly Krillin's wounds healed instantly allowing him to jump to his feet. Kakarot noted the healing bean and assumed that's how Yamcha recovered so quickly. It was evident Krillin was so drained he couldn't even grab a bean.

Krillin spoke in an annoyed tone as he brushed off the dust from what's left of his uniform, "You Saiyans are crazy, you act like every battle will be your last." Kakarot chuckled and said, "They usually are." Krillin tossed the bag to Tien's feet after which he asked, "I guess you're expecting me to willingly hand over our Dragon Balls." Kakarot plainly stated, "You did lose after all." Krillin grumbled as Tien got to his feet, "You really know how to rub salt in the wounds." Krillin then exhaled and said, "I'm only allowing this because we have no way to stop you, plus… with no actual weakness there's no way we can keep them from you."

Kakarot immediately said, "You won't have to worry about Raditz, with this revelation Raditz's reason for being here is a farce." Tien stood on the other side of Kakarot and said, "You mentioned something like that to Piccolo." Kakarot turned his head to Tien and responded, "Freeza, for whatever reason, wanted me on this mission. He tried really hard but Raditz took the fall and Freeza gave him the mission instead. I've openly defied Freeza by coming here so it stands to reason Raditz's reason for being here is just because he couldn't openly do anything without losing the loyalty of the rest of my squad. He won't care that Raditz failed his mission, since I've done enough to earn his ire the proper way."

Kakarot then said, "That is, assuming Raditz didn't get a good look at Zarbon, otherwise you would have mentioned Raditz saying something about him." Krillin said, "Zarbon acted as support, he was the first to fire, but he kept hidden, he seemed to want us to do the hard work. He said it was to protect his organization's identity if we failed." Kakarot scoffed and said, "It's more like he thought he was too damn high and mighty to deal with my brother himself, he was always an arrogant bastard." Tien looked uncertain but Krillin let out an exhausted sigh and said, "Just get the hell off our planet after you're done with your wish and give us the damn radar back!"

Kakarot gave them the radar from his bag, as he handed it off Kakarot found the interaction strange. He never expected he would have such a friendly exchange with a human, especially after everything that has happened since landing. Relatively speaking of course, the human in front of him was quite harsh with telling him to leave the earth. Though Kakarot admitted to himself that it was more than warranted, regardless of how he looks at it, Radtiz's crimes are Kakarot's crimes and Yamcha wouldn't have died had he acted faster. Kakarot acknowledged the damage his brother has caused and by extent the damages he caused, the deaths he allowed.

Before Kakarot turned around to leave, Master Roshi approached him and said, "It's too bad we met under such unsavory circumstances. With your potential, you would have made a marvelous Turtle School Martial Artist." Kakarot liked the old man's friendly demeanor. He appreciated the exchange he had with him earlier too, but he shook his head and said, "Unfortunately Saiyan children tend to be violent by nature. If I had landed here, one of us would be dead by now and I'm not entirely sure it would be you." Roshi let out a laugh and said, "Oh ho, quite humble of you, didn't expect that." Kakarot plainly stated, "It's the truth, at birth I was at a battle power of five. You and your students' mere existence makes this world a death trap."

Roshi gave him a confused look and said, "You make it sound like this "battle power" of five is a bad thing for an infant." Kakarot honestly said, "In my culture we are judged by our Power Level at birth. Low Borns like me would normally be sent to worlds with similar caliber of fighters and that's what makes this world a deathtrap." Roshi still looked confused and asked, "How so?" Kakarot answered, "The general populace are ranked at level five, with someone like you or your students around, even if your power levels were much lower long ago, it would have been impossible to beat the likes of you even with the Full Moon."

Roshi was confused by the mention of the moon, but he shook his head, deciding it wasn't worth the headache. Before leaving, Kakarot decided to mention something his brother told him, "You know, it's funny. Raditz told me before I was assigned to my squad, father was considering assigning me to this world. I guess in another life, we would have faced each other." Roshi chuckled and said, "Or something amazing could have happened and you would have become my pupil." Kakarot smiled but said, "Unlikely Old Master, but it's a nice image regardless."

Kakarot floated into the air and was about to fly off when Chichi suddenly intercepted him with a fiery expression. She floated in the air getting right up in Kakarot's face. Kakarot paced backwards by a couple steps, Chichi spoke with authority in her voice as she advanced on his position not caring for his personal space, "Hold it you evasive moron. Don't think I didn't notice you trying to weasel your way out of this conversation." Kakarot let out an uncharacteristic stutter, "W-w-weasel? Hey now I wasn't–?"

Chichi interrupted him, "Don't play dumb, Bulma already told me how you threatened her not to bring me along. Well, guess what mister, I get to decide where I go!" Kakarot couldn't get a word in edgewise, it was like fighting a brick wall that could punch back. Kakarot thought to himself, "That Bulma woman squealed on me." However, Kakarot was very much aware that she was right. He was hoping he could avoid having another conversation with her after what happened last time. He was glad to see her in such a high energy state, the last time he saw her she was crying. It was especially relieving to know that she was still able to face him like this. Kakarot let out an exhausted sigh and said, "Alright, we'll have that talk." Chichi smiled and while holding his arm, she floated down with him.

Roshi saw the situation and in response he pushed his students inside with Kami following them. Tien exclaimed, "W-wait is that safe, what's going on?" Krillin frantically said, "Now wait a sec, we can't just…" Roshi while forcing them along said back, "Oh stop fretting, let the youngin's have a moment in peace." Kakarot side eyed Roshi as he disappeared into the temple. He then saw Roshi peek his head out only to dive back in when he saw Kakarot's gaze. Kakarot thought to himself, "What does he think is gonna happen here? That we're about ta' get romantic, n' stuff?" Kakarot then turns and sees Chichi's unusually sweet looking face and suddenly thinks to himself, "What the hell, are we about ta' get romantic? No, no this is much too soon!" Chichi's expression soon dulls as she lets go of his arm and says, "Kakarot, do you want to die?"

Author's Note: Alright, I hope I covered all the bases now that I've finished up the big fight of the arc. After the next chapter I'll immediately get to writing up the roadmap for the next arc, the Saiyan Collapse or Saiyan Revelation arc. (name pending). While this one was about Kakarot figuring out Freeza's plot and recognizing the sins of his actions and by extent the current Saiyans, the next one will very much be about Kakarot's development and how his views on his kind and Freeza along with his Empire will drastically change. Again, feel free to give me your thoughts, this sense of engagement helps me figure out if everyone is enjoying the story and what parts they find enjoyable.

Power Levels:

Kakarot: 4,000

Piccolo (Reborn) (Unrestrained): 2,300

Krillin (Unrestrained): 2,200

Tien: 2,000

Yamcha: 1,500

Chichi: 800

Kami: 700

Master Roshi: 650