Secrets and Revenge: Piccolos Story

Summary: Piccolo tells his side of Secrets and Revenge, what happend on his side and how he viewed the nightmare.

Rating- R bordering on NC-17. Its somewhat graphic, nothing like Chapter 3 of SnR.

Disclaimer: Lets put it this way..the day FUNi can properly dub an anime is the day I own DBZ and all its characters.

Comments: I enjoy feedback. Its what keeps a writer going and knowing that their stories are being appreciated. I had written this because I had gotten several emails asking me just WHY didn\'t Piccolo and Vegeta do the trademark burst in at the last moment and kill the bad guy.. well Piccolo tells it. So there.

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I’m jerked awake with a heart stopping feeling. The feeling that someone is there with you, in the very same room, as I open my eyes slowly, trying to get over the feeling that someone is there with me, someone very close by, and I fight sleep trying to gain my bearings.

This is unusual for me. I’ve never willingly slept inside a home before let alone a bed, not until two weeks ago; and there is only one person I’d ever do that for.

My yuushi, Gohan was adopted after his own unwilling hands murdered his family. His mother just a few weeks pregnant, he had unwillingly killed his unborn sibling, after being beaten, raped and tortured, by a psychotic half saiyajin with telepathic powers, slept soundly next to me. That brought a bit of relief.

I move to get up,n I n I realize I’m tied down by a tangle of arms and legs. I look over to my left and realize that Gohan has somehow entangled the blankets around him and me.

And this is the part where you sit back, re-read that sentence a few times and draw conclusions that if I were to be standing next to you and caught the expression, I’d probably tear your head from your shoulders and send you to your merry little afterlife.

Let me put it this way. The boy, I took from his mother at the tender age of five, trained for a year; the boy I sacrificed my own life for and taking a killing shot meant for him, the boy I’ve watched after from the time after that was just that. A boy I would consider my son. Nothing more, so those who read this, get your sick perverted minds out of the trash filled gutter. What I have to say will be enough to satiate your curious morbid minds.

I manage to disentangle myself from the blankets without waking the still healing kid next to me. He flops over to the rest of the bed and sighs deeply, slipping back into dreams. I head to the balcony of the capsule home, opening up the large sliding door and stepping outside into the still, silent, perfectly black n.
.

I don’t go far, I never go far now. Not since Shovri, not that it doesn’t matter that he’s long dead, doesn’t matter that Vegeta and I incinerated him on the Lookout. There are others out there that’d take ntagntage of the still very weak kid. I step off the balcony and let my body do what comes naturally, summon enough energy to fly low to the ground. The cold night air is meaningless to me, I don’t even feel it, and as it is I have things that are far colder in my mind than the air around me.

Taking my time, making lazy circles in the clearing that Gohan and I call home, I considered a few things. Like how to put this all down for those who were curious as to why, just why didn’t I help Gohan when he needed me the most. But first let me explain where we live. It might come in handy later.

Before, I lived in a large clearing surrounded by a dense forest, a cliff off to one side, complete with a small crystalline lake, and waterfall. I didn’t need a home, a roof over my head. I had no requirements but water, peace and quiet, and occasionally a sparring partner that I got in the form of Gohan and his tousan Gokou.

Now, the clearing was a little smaller. A capsule home provided as a gift from Bulma, a get-well gift of sorts, now took up one corner of the clearing. The home was a two-story sort of deal, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen, living room, and the necessary things someone like Gohan would need in order to live comfortably. Bulma used her influence and financial status to get Gohan the best at home education money could buy,videvided his food, clothing, and necessities for living. Complete with computer, Internet connection, television, books and whe got got old enough a car. She had even found a way for me to ley ady adopt Gohan, so that in case any questions were later asked or someone decided to get nosey, he wouldn’t become a ward of child services.

You’re probably asking, why not let n lin live in the home he was born and raised in?

Here’s my answer, in the form of a question: Would you want to live in a place, where a man made your entire existence a living hell for three days? Would you live in the home where you’re parents blood stain your bedroom floor, and your very own blood stains the walls where you tried to claw yourself away from a man who did the most unspeakable act in existence?

Yeah I didn’t think so.

I destroyed the Son residence after letting Gohan take what he wanted from the home; that trip alone had left Gohan shaking, and crying with grief; I ended up having Bulma take him back to Capsule Corp. and have him rest there. I blasted away at the house, one ki blast at a time, destroying the living room that the Son family had spent many nights in, laughing, talking, and being a family. The kitchen, where Chichi had cooked countless meals, where I had occasionally made the mistake of entering only to have a spoon come flying at me or worse one of her well used cast iron pans, a voice screeching at me to get out and to leave her Gohan alone, that I wasn’t going to turn him into a hoodlum. (I’m embarrassed to admit, I’d found myself stunned by a cast iron pan a time or two, never having expected to be attacked by any relative of Gokou) I blasted away until it stood as nothing more than a pile of smoking rubble. Then, Vegeta in one of his friendlier moments had helped me annihilate the debris, blasting at it until nothing but dust remained. A chapter closed.

Or had it really closed?

You wanted to know, you wanted to know why I didn’t help Gohan if I cared for him so much, and as I fly over thels tls to meditate I can’t help but wonder what else you’re thinking, that is until I realize, I don’t care. You’re asking me to open that book, and write more. I have nothing to hide, and this is why I’m doing this. To prove to everyone who’s probably thought of Vegeta and I in a critical way, that we had nothing to hide, and we had done everything we could to save the Sons, we had tried our edesedest to help them.

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It was going to snow. I could smell it on the wind, despite the supposedly wonderful sunset that people would probably gush over; the wind had that that frigid wet smell that guarantees a cold and miserable night. I stood in my clearing, sweating from a grueling work out I’d put myself through and sniffed the air. It was going to be more than just a light sprinkle. This was going to be a goddamn blizzard, one that’d keep the country people who lived out here in their homes, keeps the animals bedded down in the shrubs that provided shelter. This was going to be a snowstorm that would more than likely drive me into the cave behind the waterfalls until it passed. But first I wanted to talk to Gokou, get his opinion on something that had been bothering me.

I set off for the Son residence; it normally took no more than five to ten minutes of fly time to reach their home from my place; twenty if you were feeling particularly lazy and took a longer rout to the house. Or, if you half feared Chichi would have something heavy within grasping and throwing distance.

Gazing down at the dirt road, the occasional farm house, and even the occasional car or person on foot, I flew along lazily until I reached the large field that flanked the Son home from the left; landing, I happened to notice a large, rather well cloaked man stalking across the knee high half dead grass towards the same home that was my goal. I watched him walk by, and extended my other senses to get an idea of whom this guy was.

He was a totalnk. nk. It was as if he didn’t exist. I could see him, smell him, hell I could hear him breathing from nearly two hundred yards away, but the telepathic side of me, the ki sensing side of me told me he wasn’t there; that this man didn’t exist to my other senses.

Ever hear that saying: It raised little bells of alarm in my mind?

I had the fucking bells of Notre Dame going off in my head, and Quasi Modo was ringing his little hunched back heart out.

I heard him bang loudly on the kitchen door, watched as Chichi flung open the door and proceeded to ream the man out for being loud, that they weren’t deaf and perfectly capable of hearing someone when they knocked lightly on the door.

It made me edgy and tense, something didn’t feel right, something gnawed on my mind like a dog chewing on a rug.

The man towered over Chichi by a good two feet, hell he probably towered over me, and I was the tallest out of all the ones I’d fought beside. I watched from a small grove of trees as the man tried to placate a veritable walking dynamite stick. Apologizing and begging for a place to stay, Chichi eyeing him warily, sniping at him, asking him if he was a maniac killer or some such.

Then things got weird. The telepathic part of my mind suddenly looped on itself, disorienting me. As I tried to search out what it was, tried to seek out the thing that had set me even more on edge, the man had somehow convinced Chichi he was indeed harmless, and could be allowed to stay the night.

Keep in mind; this is the same woman who barely lets Gokou’s friends inside the house let alone a stranger. The same woman who’s capable of making Vegeta and I cringe at the mere thought of her name. Not that we’d ever openly admit that.

I watch as her sudden demeanor changes, she gets a glazed look on her face as if she’d just been struck dumb. She nodded and motioned him inside, then closed the door tightly behind her. She grew up in the country, so she too knew that snow was coming.

Standing there I tried to get a feel for what was going on inside. Despite what people may say, not all of us have grand psychic powers, nor are we able to see through walls. If I had really wantedknowknow what was happening, I’d have had to gone up and knocked on the door. Which, now I wasn’t going to do. The question I had wanted to ask was long forgotten; to this day I swear I can’t remember what I wanted to talk to Gokou about in the first place.

So, I stood there, like an idiot. I stood there trying to fathom why everyone in that home suddenly dropped off the mental face of the earth, and I was unable to read anyone’s ki levels.

Hindsight is always 20/20 as they say, and looking back now, I should have went right through a wall and hauled that bastard out by his tail tied him to a tree, and slowly peeled the skin from his body one epidermal layer at a time. But something stopped me, something that was along the kin of foreboding. A tiny voice inside my gut that said if I stepped inside that house all my deepest darkest fears would come to pass. A nightmare would come to life and no matter how strong and powerful I could be, nothing costopstop it.

I found myself heading back towards my home. I knew that the snow would hit tonight, and despite the fact I wouldn’t necessarily freeze to death, I particularly didn’t feel like being caught in a raging snowstorm. I also knew that once snowed in it wasn’t likely I was coming back out until it at least melted a little. It wasn’t that I didn’t like the cold; I just severely hated the blinding whiteness when the sun came out and blazed off the white fields.

Making it back home, I headed towards the side of the falls, where the cave I occasionally called home was, stepping into the darkened cave, my vision compensating, allowing me to see somewhat as I reached the back of the cave. I step over a various pile of things that Gohan thought he’d need out here in case he ever wanted to get away from home for a weekend (mostly that was a hint his parents wanted to be alone, as if this planet needed another half saiyajin running around, and I happened to be a handy babysitter); a rolled up sleeping bag, extra clothes, and a cache of sugar laden crap called candy lay in a neat pile by the wall. A pile of books off to one side, mostly extra study books, a few novels, some comics, and finally a lap-top computer he’d begged off of Bulma by doing extra chores that Vegeta flat out refused to do at her house. It worked off of a solar charger that Bulma had created, and Gohan occasionally came out here to do his homework after sparring.

I step over the stuff unconsciously, used to it being there. Sliding down the wall, I leaned against it, wondering what was going on in the Son home, seriously considering walking in on them and their guest; then I realized, Gokou’s stronger than I, he wouldn’t need help if the stranger tried to pull something. Even Gohan could probably handle whatever the guy tried to throw.

I lay down to rest, yeah, even I get tired, need to sleep. That’s what I did, I fell asleep, thinking, expecting that when I woke up, the world would still be sane; serves me right for assuming anything.

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You know, looking back on that now, I realized I should have gone with my gut instincts. As I stare at the clear night sky, I try not to sit and play the “What if I had done this instead of that” or “Why didn’t I just go and….” Game.

I’ve had to tell myself that at the time, I knew Gokou could handle whatever had been thrown at him. He’d faced tougher opponents, such as Nappa, Vegeta, and Frieza. At the time, I knew that if Gokou had known what had been going on, what the monster had done to his son, he’d have fought all the inhabitants of hell to make it stop. If there was one thing I could ever expect from Gokou was a complete, total devotion to protect his family.

Maybe you’ve read the other stories. I assume you have other wise you would not be reading mine. You know the half saiyajin was a psychic, capable of warping people’s minds; capable of making people see and hear certain things, while ignoring other sounds.

It irritates me to no end that this man, this half saiyajin man possessed psi-skills I would have once killed for. The ability to split your mind into parts, making one part control two people at once, making Gokou and Chichi see something completely different from the real scene, while controlling Gohan’s power, using him as a toy, practically doing it in front of his parents. Plus place a ki and psi-dampening shield around the entire house at that same time? I’m still amazed at how he did it. But, I’m straying from the vein of the subject.

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I woke up some time later; it was suspiciously dark and extremely quiet. I could sense the coldness, and knew automatically it had snowed; I just had no clue what time it was. Finding one of the lanterns Gohan kept here, I lit the thing and headed for the exit.

Snowed in, just as I had suspected, the cave was facing the wind, and of course a pile of snow had plugged up the entrance. Not a huge deal, if I’d felt like it I could have blown my way out of the cave easily; the thing was, I didn’t feel like it. I just wanto rto relax and not have to deal with the blinding whiteness the clearing would have become. As it was I sensed that the wind was still blowing, and that’d only kick up the settling snow, making it seem like it was still falling.

In short, I was being a lazy bastard. Not particularly feeling like doing anything today. Last nights meditation left me feeling a bit unsettled about the situation at the Son home. There were several explanations, several plausible and decent explanations as to why everything suddenly stopped existing on two acres of property when some guy who I couldn’t read or even sense showed up at Chichi’s door and she let him in.

For one, maybe the guy was a natural blank. You ran across those once in a while; not often, but there were people out there who had a natural gift for being completely invisible to the mind. There were also people whknowknowingly extended their ‘blankness’ to surround others. I’d seen it before, it was a rare thing, but not wholly unheard of.

Another possibility was that it was I. It was plausible that my own extra sensory perceptions tripped up, got tired, whatever. Or so I tried to trick myself into believing. I really didn’t want to consider anything else, or maybe I was just too afraid to.

I headed back te bae back of the cave, figuring I could meditate the rest of the day. Last night had brought strange visions, disturbing visions of darkness, the feeling of being trapped, vivid colorful pain that brought my dream to a disturbing end.

Sitting in the lotus position, I allowed myself to hover a few inches above the ground. It was my way of focusing my mind while it was concentrating on keeping me aloft. Falling into that familiar recesses of my mind; questioning myself on what I had dreamt, what it could possibly mean, and most importantly, why had I suchsuch a dream?

Foresight isn’t my forte, far from it in fact. But I do occasionally have visions and when I did, they oft times were important. But what could this one have meant? What was it that these flashes of site, sense and thoughts were trying to tell me?

My eyes snapped open; how could I have been so damn stupid?! I launched out of my position, and headed for the exit of the cave, blasting the snow out of the way. In a flurry of flying snow and rock, I exithe che cave and headed into the bright morning sky.

The visions, all of it had something to do with the stranger in the Son home. How could I have been so god damn stupid? There’s one thing a Psi learns early on; someone with higher Psi powers have a tendency of canceling a lower Psi’s powers out temporarily. That was what I had felt; was whateve was was bouncing my own telepathic reading back at me, and it was like trying to read a fun-house mirror image of yourself. You ended up reading something warped and distorted causing you to feel disoriented and confused.

I flew low over the trees, the tips sometimes hitting my chest and arms. I figured it this way, if I knew what was going on; he had to know that I’d eventually figure it out. Which meant I should have prepared for what happened next as I approached the house?

When I fly, I fly fast, and if you were to rate miles per hour I would guess my flight speed is around sixty mph or so. That’s fairly fast for someone outside a vehicle; the only thing keeping you from having your eyes dry out and going blind is the ki shield you surround yourself with to boost your speed and to keep you from sucking bugs, and your eyes from drying into raisins.

I hit a seemingly solid invisible steel wall at the equivalent of sixty miles per hour. I hadn’t prepared for it, powered up to take a blow like that at such a speed. I felt my body connect, felt rib ribs, my shoulder and cheekbone shatter; my mind said ouch, my voice growled in severe annoyance as I bounced off the invisible wall and shot back towards the trees; those taking out two more ribs and cutting me up fairly nicely.

I hit the ground with a grinding thud, making me see stars, little flashes of light interspersed with little globs of darkness. I strugglo rio rise, attempting to get back on my feet and made it half way there before I was slammed back onto the snow crusted forest floor once more pinned by something invisible. The pressure was immense, bearing down on me like a lead wall; I couldn’t scream as my sternum was cracked; all I could accomplish was a half choke on a spray of blood that flew from my lips. I had no way of fighting whatever was attacking me, and an even lesser chance of escaping. The black spots danced bigger before my eyes, my hands feebly clawed at the ground. That was the last thing I accomplished before passing out.

It was dark when I awoke. I’d had no idea how long I’d been unconscious, assuming that it had to be at least sometime around just after sunset; and I realized I also had no idea what had happened. My thoughts were a wandering mess; the foremost thought being is Gohan and Gokou all right? The second thought went to wondering if I was healed enough to actually move. Rolling onto my side, I was pleased to see that my ribs and sternum were nearly healed, as was my cheekbone and shoulder. They were stiff and still tender, but it was something I could easily ignore.

Gathering my feet under me, I used the help of one of the splintered trees to get myself back up to a standing position. Shaking off the wave of world spinning dizziness that ensued, I continued to clutch the tree until it had slowed to at least a roller coaster pace.

<< You’re Piccolo hmmm? Not quite the mind I had expected for an Alien. >>

I jumped having not expected the mental contact. It was sudden and forced, breaking past what mental barriers I had. I gripped onto the tree a bit more tightly, trying once again to regain the balance I lost with the telepathic voice, growling softly, mentally responding as well. << Who are you, and what the hell do you want? >>

<< I am merely communicating with you Alien to warn you to stay away from the house. It could mean a very painful demise for one such as you. My suggestion is to go back to your cave, and stay out of business that has nothing to do with you Alien. >> His mind voice was cold as he chuckled darkly.

<< If it has anything to do with the people I consider friends, it becomes my business stranger. >>

<< Tsk. Tsk. Poor stupid naïve alien. … >> A mental pause as he seemed distracted by something, then resumed; << Namek… Namek… ah yes, your specie is Namekkian. I recognize it now. Silly, useless race in the ah… North Quadrant isn’t it? Or was it south? I can’t remember anymore. I’ve run across your specie a few times in the past. Quite enjoyable to toy with, mentally and physically as well, nearly sends shivers down my spine thinking about it. But, for now I will content myself with the toy I have presently. >> My head was filled with dark laughter, the kind you’d hear in a scary movie, the one that follows you into thrknerkness, making you jumpy and tense.

I felt my mind being forced to open, establishing a forced link between me, Gohan and the other man. Gohan had no idea I was ‘there’, had no idea that I was pinned to the spot, and linked to his mind as well as to what I realized was a Saiyajin with Psi powers.

I suddenly had a view to Gohan’s world. In my minds eye I saw his room, his frightened face staring back at me- no wait, at the man. I was seeing through this mans eyes. The look of terror on the boys face was enough to make me shake. Not much scares me, but that look… on his face was indescribable. He had the look of a man who’d seen the very depths of hell itself, and knew that was what awaited him when he died.

Shaking like an enraged bull, I watched what he did through his own eyes I watched, I felt what Shovri did. I was emotionally linked to not only him, but Gohan as well.

Those three hours were like an eternity. Every single eon, on, thought, and physical sensation I shared with them both.

Some of Shovri’s emotions were new to me. The pleasure he felt at hurting someone in a disgusting way, the sadistic glee he felt as he hurt Gohan in a manner I had never witnessed before, then the sudden release of pleasure would have driven me to my knees if I hadn’t been forced to stand.

At tame ame time I felt the intense pain, the pure overwhelming fear, the spiraling hopelessness Gohan felt. The stomach knotting panic, then the intense sensation of pain in my stomach, someplace deep inside, I screamed (or I think I did) as he did. I lost control of my muscles, and again if I hadn’t been held there I’d have collapsed to the forest floor. I moaned and whimpered; I couldn’t help it.

What I didn’t realize until much later, was that everything that I had felt, had ended up becoming physical. Gohan bled, so did I; Gohan’s ribs broke, so did mine. Some Psi’s can do that, actually manifesting wounds onto a person while mind linked. (To this very day, Gohan has no idea I was there with him the whole time, and no one but Vegeta and myself will ever know, the only reason Vegeta knows is because he witnessed the second attack on Gohan, through me.)

<< You see, and know what I’m capable of now Piccolo. >> His voice snaked his way through the haze of my mind. I stood there weak, wanting to retch, to curl up into a ball and vomit the roiling acid of hatred and sickness out of my stomach. << Stay away. I have my goal in sight and I will accomplish it. Rape is such a useful way of curbing a pet isn’t it? Did you enjoy that? >> Again that, ice-shattering laugh. << Stay away from the Sons Namek, or you’ll be doing more than just feeling what happens. You’ll be experiencing it first hand. >>

With that the mind link severed. I hit the leaf and snow littered floor with a bone jarring thud; laying there gasping for air, barely believing I had control once again. I slowly closed my eyes and allowed myself to throw up, to vomit out churned stomach acids.

Slipping into darkness, I tried desperately to wash the blood red images from my mind.

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Writing that leaves me sweating, short breathed and shaking. Just admitting so much has left me feeling as if I lived it all over again; and at that thought I have to wonder, how does Gohan cope? How does he spend day after day going through his life, his studies, his training and not end up stark raving mad?

What does he dream at night? I’ve heard him cry occasionally, and I’ve gone to him, attempted to comfort him. I’m not good at that sort of thing, comforting. Half the time I end up fumbling it up; but I think the boy knows my intentions are sincere. At least he doesn’t call me on it; I’m not sure what I’d do if he did.

Next part.

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<< Wake up Namek. >>

I struggled out of a pain filled sleep, feeling sluggish, groggy, like I was trying to surface from a sea of honey. Except that the taste in the back of my throat was anything but sweet. The voice of Shovri was enough to make me feel nauseas and dirty.

<< Didn’t quite like that, did you? That was something foreign, different and unpleasant. Or was it? Perhaps you enjoyed what you saw; or felt. Maybe you dreamed of doing the same yourself? >> The words and the voice made me rollover and dry heave, just the thought of hurting someone like that… he continued. << Maybe you pictured yourself kneeling over the boy, listening to him cry as you lay over him. Wouldn’t you enjoy that? It’d be something new for you; do you not like new experiences? >>

I lay there on my side wishing that he’d just go away. What he said sickened me, made me angry and embarrassed at the same time. Anger I could deal with, it was the embarrassment that I hated, that emotion I had trouble dealing with. Or maybe it wasn’t embarrassment, maybe it was shame; shame at the fact I’d just witnessed something, been through something that I couldn’t discuss with anyone else. I allowed myself to close my eyes, not wanting to respond, but finding myself doing it anyways.

<< Wha- what did you- what sort of sick monster are you? How could you, do that to him? Oh gods... >> My words were cut off by another dry heave, any nourishment I’d had previously was already on the forest floor from earlier. I rolled onto my hands and knees, panting as Shovri laughed in my head.

<< What a sad, pathetic creature you are. You can’t even enjoy something so base, so simple. The one thing that continues a species line, how could you not enjoy it? >>

<< I’ll get you, you son of a bitch. I swear I will find a way to get you. >> Weak threat and often over used, I know. But at the moment I wasn’t really thinking straight. All I know was that I had to get back up on my feet and fight an invisible battle I wasn’t too sure I could win.

<< Nice threat there, Namek. Very nice ind tel tell me did it take you all this time to think of it by yourself? >> Shovri’s laughter echoed loudly in my head, driving me back to my knees. So much for getting back on my feet, and so much for trying to do something other than look stupid. I slumped in relief as I felt the connection between us break.

I ignored the retort, biting it back and keeping what I wanted to say behind my teeth. I knew I had to get help and fast, other wise Gohan didn’t stand a chance. Thankfully Shovri let me go, letting my mind become my own again and letting me get some orientation back.

Who could help me…. There was only one other on this planet remotely strong enough to handle this situation, one who was stubborn, pig-headed, and incorrigible and thoroughly a pain in the ass. Someone I despised more than anyone else yet had no choice but to respect at the same time.

Vegeta.

Yay me. Just what I wanted to do, was go to Capsule Corp. and practically beg Va toa to come and help me save Gohan from being violated by a psychic madman. I could just picture that scenario going over very well.

“Vegeta I need your help.”

“Need MY help Namek? What for? Where are your precious Gokou and Gohan?”

“Being mind controlled and assaulted by a psychic mad-man who’s a saiyajin?”

“Not my problem.” Door slams.

I sighed in a resigned manner. I didn’t have a choice; I knew I had no ability what so ever to face this man completely alone and on my own.

Heading back to my home, I gave some thought as to the best way to approach Vegeta; I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, nor was he going to be very willing to cooperate with the idea I already had formulating in my mind. Well, if it came down to it, I could alwaesoresort to beating on him until he gave in.

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At sunset I took off towards Capsule Corp. knowing I had a long argument ahead of me.

A covered garden greeted me with bright cheery colors as I flew to Capsule Corp. It contrasted against the wind and blowing snow I was fighting through. I wanted for the entire world to suck the color out of every petal, make them black, gray, lifeless. I hated color at that moment, I hated everything around me, from the green trees, and to the life forces I sensed buzzing around me like billions of bees. In that moment I wanted the world to die, because of Shovri. Because I knew deep inside that Gohan would never again look at the world with innocent eyes, never again would his eyes hold trust and kindness in them. That was if he lived through all this.

Landing in the garden, I shoved aside my hate and other emotions, knowing Vegeta would easily pick up on anything. He had a way for looking for things to insult you with and right now I needed everything I had just to deal with the ass.

“Oh! Hello, I hadn’t realized Vegeta was expecting you!”

Oh. Kami. Her. The most irritating woman on Earth next to Chichi and Bulma and even then that could be debated. I managed to muster what I thought was a polite grunt and nodded. “I need to speak to Vegeta right away, it’s an emergency. Can you please summon him for me?”

She hemmed and hawed for a moment. “Oh, dear well, I don’t know Piccolo. He’s awfully busy in his training room and I do so hate to bother him when he’s training. You know how cranky he can be when disturbed, why last week he nearly killed Mr. Briefs when I sent him to tell the man it was lunch time!”

This… was one of those moments in time when I wished I had never met Gohan. Then I could have killed her without feeling guilty, but then I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Gohan. I sighed in resignation and mustered up whatever patience I had in reserve and managed to keep my hands from wrapping around her perky head and squeezing it until it burst like a casaba melon. “This is a dire emergency Mrs. Briefs. I can’t go into details but if you’d please get Vegeta I’d be grateful.”

“Mom for Kami’s sake just go and get Vegeta! Stop giving Piccolo the damn third degree and telling him about Vegeta’s disposition! Guh, mother he KNOWS what he’s like.”

Bulma’s voice came before her body and to be honest I was severely relieved that she’d managed to call off the watchdog. “Bulma I need your help and Vegeta’s I don’t have time to explain it all in great detail, but if we can go somewhere and talk.”

Mrs. Briefs turned to scurry off to get Vegeta and I turned to face Bulma fully.

Bulma blinked a few times and nodded, calling back; “He’ll be with us. Mom! Let him know we’re in the living room when you get him out. Tell him if he doesn’t come out right away, there will be hell to pay in the form of he gets the couch.”

I wasn’t sure what the couch had to do with anything in the matter of punishment but I shrugged it off. None of my damn business, nor did I really want to know. I followed Bulma as she made her way down the hallway and into the living room. She offered me a seat, but I was too tense and keyed up to sit or relax.

”You look pretty bad Piccolo. What’s going on? How come you didn’t go to Gokou if something is wrong?” Bulma eyed me with scrutiny and concern

“I don’t want to have to explain this twice Bulma; the first time will be bad enough. This has to do with Gokou and his family. I’ll just let you know for now something is horribly wrong and I need help in getting this sorted out.”

A grating and slightly accented voice rang coldly in my ears. “So the mighty namek has come to ask me for help. How touching. Out with it, I don’t have time to play crusader to weaker species.”

I gave Vegeta a flat look. “Remember some years ago that you claimed you’d only be the one to kill Gokou? Well if you don’t help me, and cooperate with me fully, you’ll have nothing left to fight but us weaker species.”

Both of them stared at me openly before Bulma sat down slowly on the couch and murmured, “I think you’d better tell us what’s going on, what’s happened.”

So, I did. I told them everything I felt comfortable telling. Bulma went pand and cried while Vegeta actually looked sickened as I told him what Shovri had done to Gohan, and how I hadn’t been able to get through the shield that had been set up around the house. He paced as I spoke and I noticed that occasionally his cheek twitched at some of the words I said. By this time I had needed to sit down, other wise I think I’d have just collapsed onto the floor from sheer exhaustion and the inability to hold myself up any further.

It took Vegeta quite a few minutes after I had fallen silent to speak. “You look like shit Namek. If he did that to you without touching you, what do you think Kakorrot and his kid have in the way of chances?”

I shrugged and rubbed my face with my hand, responding; “I don’t know Vegeta. That’s why I came to you. Because I knew you have the tactical knowledge and the ability to handle a situation like this. I assume during your time with Frieza that you’d have come up on some races that have used powerful Psionics for defense. That and he IS a saiyajin, he admitted it himself. As far as I know most saiyajins don’t possess Psionic skills of this magnitude.”

“Of course we don’t!!” Veg snapped irritably as he paced the room. “Psionics wasn’t something Saiyajins really had in the way of possessing; our strength and battle skills were enough. We didn’t have any need for matters pertaining to thought and psychic powers.”

I couldn’t help but smirk openly at that comment; it was just too easy to retort back with; “Of course not Vegeta, you’ve proven that time and again.”

Bulma cleared her throat hiding a snicker, her expression amused despite the situation. Veg looked livid, but was willing to let the comment slide for now. “You know what I meant namek. So what do you propose we do hmm? Obviously knocking on the door won’t do any good. He already knows you’re there. Besides we saw them today.”

“YOU WHAT?!” I jumped up out of my seat, not sure if I was going to beat Vegeta’s head in or if I was just going to throttle him. “Why the mighty fuck didn’t you tell me before?!”

“Because YOU didn’t ask idiot.” Vegeta held up a hand and gave me the \'I dare you\' look before continuing. “I saw the man Shovri, but he hid himself well; I had no idea he was a saiyajin until you said so. Big man even for a Saiyajin, Kakorrot was here looking for a back up power generator because of the snow storm, Shovri seemed pretty curious about the Dragon balls, asking Kakorrot about them… that was until I showed up. Loud-mouthed female here almost told him about the Dragon Radar.”

I frowned at that, Bulma did have a nasty habit of telling everyone about the Dragon balls and the Dragon Radar. Glancing to Bulma I couldn’t help but feel irritated at that. It was her big mouth that had gotten us in trouble in the past. “Well, she didn’t thankfully. Bulma, can you please excuse us for a few moments? I need to speak to Vegeta privately.”

Bulma left quietly, I turned to Vegeta. “This man is sick Vegeta, I can’t stress this enough. Gohans hurt badly, and he needs help. He’s hurt inside, not only physically but mentally.”

Vegeta’s eyes narrowed and eyed me over once. “You know something namek. What is it?”

I felt my cheek twitch as I clenched my jaw. “All you need to know is that Gohan and I are close. Not in the way I’m sure a lot think behind my back but don’t dare to say to my face. I’m not an innocent Vegeta; I know what the others think.” My voice was a quiet growl. I turned my gaze from him to the plate glass window that was frosted over. “But I’m getting off the subject. Gohan and I have a sort of bond, it’s mental. It’s how I always know when he’s in trouble; it’s how I always seem to know just when he needs help the most. Laugh if you want, but I just didn’t randomly show up when he needed me because I felt like it.”

I think he actually had to think that one over for a few moments. I know at least three minutes passed before he spoke. “Such things aren’t uncommon. I can always tell when Bulma gets herself into a fix, or the brat decides to try and electrocute himself. Such things aren’t uncommon, and believe it or not, I had noticed. How could you not? You and the gaki are inseparable. Let the others think as they wish, it’s none of their concern as to what your or the boys affairs are, and I can assure you I meant no pun in that. I always just assumed it was more of a parental bond than anything. Considering that baka Kakorrot never seemed to pay much attention to the boy other than when he wished to fight.”

I was surprised to hear Va spa speak that way. In all the time I had known him, he’d always been firsfirst to find something and use it against you. I had half expected him to mock me, or belittle my words with caustic remarks and accused innuendos of his own. It was his way and I’d accepted that. Turning the conversation back to its original course I commented; “What do we do about Shovri, Vegeta? He’ll kill Gohan if he keeps it up. From what I can tell he’s controlling Gokou and Chichi mentally so they have no idea what’s going on.”

“I’ll need to go look for myself. If he does kill them meanwhile, I’ll have the damnable female start hunting for the Dragon balls. Chances are he heard about them and is using the Son family to get them. Gokou has a shockingly extensive knowledge on the Balls and their locations.” Vegeta snorted softly and smirked. “I should be proud of him, he actually knows something. Just wait in the hall or here while I suit up and talk to Bulma.”

I nodded once quietly, and sat back down. Knowing Bulma she’d want to know a million little details about Vegeta’s and mine private talk and it’d take Vegeta the better part of the hour to get away from her. And people wondered why I was so anti-social.

After about forty-five minutes Vegeta returned fully suited and with Bulma trailinhindhind him harping on the saiyajin about being six months pregnant and having to search out the Dragon balls all by herself.

“What do YOU expect me to do about it, woman?” Veg turned and snapped at her, his eyes narrowing. “If you want someone to join you call the pig!”

“Oolong?! Why would I want Oolong to come? He’s worthless.”

“I meant the other pig, Yamcha.”

“Hah hah. Very funny, maybe I will!” Bulma spat back.

I sighed and stood growling, stopping them both. “Look a much as I’m completely enthralled by the fact you two have such a fascinating relationship that involve death threats and ex-boyfriends, can we move on?”

I exited quickly before either one could respond. I heard Bulma telling Veg to be careful and to make sure Gohan and Gokou were taken care of.

Lifting off into the air, I looked behind me to make sure Vegeta was following before I sped off.

==========================================================================================

We stood at the same tree line I had my encounter with Shovri just a couple days ago. It was nearly nightfall, the sun setting in its usual fashion; only this sunset seemed ominous, final, as if something wasn\'t going to see its ascension on the morrow. For some reason, that disturbed me deeply.

Vegeta stared intently at the house as if he was trying to look through it, or as if he wished he could just burst through the door and take care of the problem within. I knew exactly how he felt. But I could also feel the shield that surrounded the house, it felt like black, oily, slippery in my other senses. If I had to say what it felt like in actual words, I\'d have probably say that it \'looked\' like to my minds eye like an oil bubble.

\"Well?\"

Vegeta\'s voice broke me out of my thoughts and I turned to glower at him. \"Well what Vegeta? You expected there to be blazing lights, a giant sign pointed at the Son home saying \'Big evil guy with psychic powers terrorizing this house\' posted here? There was nothing to see the first time, there\'s nothing to see now! We\'ll just have to-\"

I suddenly hall all access again through Gohans eyes again, this time without any warning. I just was suddenly there, and I could once again feel every emotion, every bit of pain and suffering the kid was going through. I could feel that he was even more deeply hurt than I had originally thought, or had been led to believe.

My breathing became rapid, as I heard what Shovri had to say, listened carefully as Shovri’s voice spiraled higher and higher in that familiar voice of insanity. I could feel Vegeta’s eyes watching my every move shrewdly, hoping to glean some sort of information off of my still body.

I watched in detached horror as Gohan murdered his own parents, as Shovri forced him to stab them to death, neither one prepared or even realizing what happened before their cooling bodies hit the floor. I could hear myself moaning, showing weakness in front of Vegeta as I slumped to my knees and was once again forced to witness and suffer through Gohans second rape. Bloody welts bloomed on my back and arms as Shovri scratched Gohan, my nails broke as I clawed into the ground as Gohan clawed against the walls.

The whole time Vegeta watched in tense silence. He knew that something had happened inside, had felt ki dropping, but wasn’t able to discern who’s and just why it had dropped. I, on the other hand knew. I saw it, felt it, could almost smell the blood. I probably would have willed myself to die if I hadn’t of had Gohan to think of.

After what seemed like eternity wrapped in more infinity, I was let go; my mind going blank and it was only then I realized I lay curled up in a ball, my muscles so tight they cramped as I forced myself to relax. My breath came in blood tinged gasps; coughing I spat up blood, my head spinning.

“Kakorrot is dead.”

Vegeta’s voice sent stars bursting behind my eyes, his voice alone sending waves of pain, and I couldn’t help but groan softly. “Just, just give me a second Vegeta. Alright?”

I heard him sigh in exasperation, but he’d have to wait. Laying there for a few moments longer I finally managed to convince myself it was okay to sit up and face the world. Sitting up I noticed Vegeta’s face was badly pale in the moonlight. He glanced to the house and murmured. “I heard the boy’s screams.”

I nodded once, regretting the action. Drawing up my legs under me, I managed to stand. Vegeta looked me over and frowned before digging for something hidden in his armor. I sighed gratefully as I realized he held a sensu bean that was being held out for me.

“You have no idea how grateful I am to see that Vegeta.” I accepted the small bean and swallowed it down quickly. I could nearly immediately feel the affects of the bean, giving me energy and the feeling that I was at 100%. It wouldn’t heal any wounds, but it’d at least stop the fatigue and some of the pain. Feeling like I could face the world for a little while longer I stared at the home.

“He killed Kakorrot.” Vegeta stated again.

I nodded and closed my eyes, the happy expression on Gokou’s face as heked ked into the room, cheerily telling his son they were going for ice-cream surfacing up in my minds eye. The shock, confusion and surprise replacing that eternally happy look as his own son drove that blade into him; Gokou totally unprepared had no time to defend himself. The strongest man alive in the world, stabbed to death, his wife’s screams suddenly cut off as she met the same fate as her husband. “Yeah, Vegeta; he killed, killed Gokou, and he killed Chichi too.”

Vegeta faced the house, I could sense his ki rising sharply and I sensed an outburst coming. “GODS DAMN YOU TO THE LOWEST HELLS YOU SON OF A BITCH HALF-BREED SAIYAJIN! I WILL BATHE IN YOUR FUCKING BLOOD BEFORE THIS NIGHT IS THROUGH! DO YOU HEAR ME?!”

Vegeta’s scream was nearly drowned out by the sound of his ki flaring and blowing trees over. I braced myself against the gale force of the power up, bringing my arm up to deflect the debris.

I think Vegeta would have continued with his tirade and stormed the house if Shovri hadn’t of made his appearance then. We watched in silence as the outer wall to Gohans room blew out, sending plaster and wood all over the backyard, and as Shovri, carrying Gohan over his shoulder flew out of the house and into the darkness.

It was then something happened that had never in the course of either of our lives had ever happened, nor would likely happen again. Powering up, my own Ki flaring like fire around me, I materialized my trademark clothing, and faced Vegeta. We nodded once in unison as something unspoken passed between us; standing side by side we stared out at the night sky, watching Shovri’s ki fade into the darkness, towards the one place we realized he was planning on g. Og. Our Ki fought each other vying for dominance, my pearl colored ki warring with his light crimson colored ki. For a few moments we stood there as if held by something more powerful than us, another being guiding our hands, minds and power.

Our ki flared together syncing perfectly then breaking apart only to morph into one again. Both of us kicked off the ground and followed our prey.

===============================================================

We flew together to the lookout, both of us spiraling higher and higher over the earth, the sun viewable from such a height, spiraling higher passing the halfway point, just a few moments behind Shovri. We’d flown at our top speed trying to catch up and it had paid off.

As we topped the lip of the actual Lookout Vegeta’s eyes focused on Shovri as I booted Dende, the current guardian out of the way. The last thing we needed was him getting in the way and ending up dead. I sure as hell wasn’t going back to New Namek to find another Guardian and I was definitely not taking his place.

Vegeta and I landed on the lookout and focused solely on Shovri. The man looked maniacal as he stood over Gohans body and demanded that Dende hand over the statue that housed the dragon’s essence. He paused only long enough to stare at us as Vegeta snarled; “NO ONE KILLS KAKKOROT WHILE I’M AROUND!”

Shovri laughed, and claimed he’d do as he’d come to do and that he’d be damned if he’d allow anyone to stop him.

I barked a cold laugh as I brought up my own mental defenses, throwing off a light telekinetic wall at Shovri. \"Don\'t think you really want to fuck with me you child molesting bastard. I got two more of me in here... \"Tapping my own head I opened up my mind showing Shovri that he indeed had two more separate minds in my head. And low and behold…. One the young warrior and brother to Dende, Nail, the other one happened to be the former guardian Kami. I continued, \"And to be quite honest. You. Don\'t. Stand. A. Chance.”

Veg snarled and went from normal to super saiyajin in what seemed like with no effort. Again that feeling of being controlled by another force came over us, and together we walked towards Shovri our bodies lightly contacting, my left hand, his right outstretched towards the half saiyajin man. Slowly, with purpose we walked towards him, both of us taking perverse pleasure in seeing his face grow from smug too horrified as we both used our signature attacks on him, each of us taking more pleasure hearing hireamream as he died.

=======================================================

The moon is full tonight. Like it was that night we went after Shovri. I hover on the edge of the cliff and watch life pass. Thinking back on all this leaves me feeling….. Feeling…

Feeling cleansed? Purified? Honest? Confessed? What is it I’m trying to say? I choke on my own words as I write this stupid thing. I sigh in frustration as I try to convey every thing that happened those few days, as if what I’ve said doesn’t justify or even touch the surface of what truly happened; what Gohan honestly felt, what I felt or how Vegeta felt. Emotions was never my strong suit, and the effort of trying to write them down is enough to leave me feeling frustrated and annoyed with my inadequate ability to convey things.

So much emotion is built up in me over that, over …this. I sometimes feel the old anger of my father rise up in me when I see people. All because of Shovri; I sometimes laugh at the thought that I’m becoming as bitter as Vegeta. I tell myself it will pass, but sometimes when I’m alone like this, I wonder….

It’s Gohan keeping me from withdrawing, from closing myself off completely to the world and becoming what I was meant to become. Its Gohans faith in me and his belief that I can protect him from the evils of the world is what keeps me from becoming what he fears.

I wrote my story. You know everything now, and as I watch the moon in its infinite brilliance, I feel somewhat vindicated that everyone knows now. I know I said in the beginning that I wrote this because you were all morbid and curious.

I take that back now. I wrote this because I felt like I needed to, had to, so that you the rest of the world would know exactly how things happened.

All of us lost a lot those winter days. We all lost a bit of innocence, some of us more than others, all of us lost a bit of security and faith in man-kind, some of us lost a bit of faith in the gods and … lastly I think some of us lost faith and a bit of hope in ourselves…

To some of those that read this its just a disturbing story, something that happened to someone else, something that happens in dark alleys, in story books written by horror novelists, something you read in the news paper while eating your half a grape fruit, glass of milk and piece of toast, afterwards you tsk softly and murmur something about it being a pity and the world is going to hell in a hand basket.

But to those of us that lived it, experienced it, its more than a story, it’s a daily reminder that indeed the world is going to hell in a hand basket, that people like Gohan is one of the countless thousands that things like that happen to on a daily basis.

And its people like Gohan who, when this world does indeed go to hell on the express will be considered true survivors.

~Fin