Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Feeding Genius ❯ Welcome to Earth ( Chapter 22 )

Feeding Genius

Chapter Twenty-Two

Welcome to Earth

Disclaimer: This story is mine, DBZ isn't.

Piccolo's POV… interrupted by a snippet of Vegeta's! ^-^

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Everywhere I look there is confusion of some kind. You'd have thought that having experienced so much, these idiots would have concocted some kind of contingency plan. I cringe when I think, that for the moment, this is the best that the planet Earth has to offer. Well… it looks like I'll just have to focus through the arguing and remember to step in when the others have worn themselves out. Bakas! They have absolutely no clue!

I must admit, I'm finding it hard to pinpoint exactly what kind of lunacy I was suffering under when Gohan managed to drag me away from the lookout and into the midst of this madness. I hate cities and I can safely say that Western Capital is on the top of my 'must avoid like the plague' list. Then again, when you're a green alien responsible for terrorising the defenceless, destroying peace, and craving power for years, then you tend to stay away from most forms of civilization. Western Capital, I guess, is no different than any other city on this planet, but it encompasses everything I hate. Human contact, perhaps, is unfairly placed at the top.

Realistically speaking this mission is none of my concern. It's not like it's the end of the world. So what that this Faylorn character managed to defeat Vegeta? From all I can tell, all he wanted was the kid, and now he has him and is in hiding, then why should it concern me?

Well… as comforting as that blanket of coldness is, it'll do little service for me to dwell on it now. Perhaps the old Piccolo would have stayed behind, but much to my annoyance I am changed. My body is mine, but necessity has let my mind be shared with two others. They influence all my actions, giving me incite into the world of honour and caring, feelings I still scorn, despite what others may think.

So to be truthful there is only one thing (or should I say one person) keeping my feet rooted to the plush Capsule Corporation carpet right now. Gohan. He seems to have a strong emotional tie with Vegeta's son, perhaps engrained through his love for Goten, and as much as I hate to admit it, I can't deny either my help.

"Hello? Earth to Yamcha! This is Vegeta we're talking about. If he can't stop him then I say the rest of us are pretty much screwed."

"Feh! Like Vegeta's so great! Come on the guy might be powerful but his heads too far up his own ass to make him see straight. Besides it's not like he shows an ounce of concern for his family anyway. He was probably just showing off, got cocky, and let Faylorn catch him off guard. I won't make the same mistake."

"Yamcha-san - are you saying you're going to take on Faylorn by yourself?"

"Well why not Gohan? Its not like I haven't been training too. Besides, Vegeta always fights alone, but I'll have you guys to back me up if I get in any trouble, right?"

"Right!" Krillin and Gohan shout in unison. Tien just nods and looks away.

I roll my eyes.

"And if he gets past me!" Yamcha continues, "Gohan will have no trouble defeating him, and well if I die there's always the Namekian dragonballs."

He laughs for too long earning a look of incredulity from Gohan. Krillin, I gather, knows better. He is looking shiftily at the scared fighter and with his eyes squinted into astute sarcasm. "Snap out of it Yamcha. If you think this is an opportunity for you to get one over on the V-man, and yourself back into Bulma's panties then you're dreaming. Face it bro, she's too stoked up on Vegeta. It's been five years already. Get over it!"

"Bulma has nothing to do with this!" he protests, his face turning a bright scarlet. "Can't a guy, other than Goku, volunteer to go on a mission to help his friends without causing all this suspicion? Trunks is my godson - GODSON! I made an oath to protect him if Bulma wasn't around. Sheesh! Cut me a little slack. I mean… man! I know Bulma's happy now. I wouldn't do anything like that, we're just friends. It's all in the past… completely forgotten…."

The last of his speech trails into nothing under our combined stares. He shifts uncomfortably under the attention. He twists a foot into the lay of the carpet.

"It can't hurt though right?" he continues, trying to explain away the awkwardness. "From what I heard Bulma left because Vegeta almost single-handedly crippled Capsule Corp. What if she came back from space to find out that I'd rescued Trunks for her whilst she was away? It wouldn't be so awful, right? Then maybe we could build from that and she'd see that… that…" his shoulders sag. "I'm making an idiot of myself aren't I?"

"Hey! I wasn't going to say it buddy, but…yeah… pretty much." Krillin soothes, patting him patronizingly on the back. "But…man! We need to sort something out soon otherwise nothings going to happen." He looks to the floor, "Poor kid! As if having Vegeta for a dad isn't scary enough! Now this."

I think this is my cue. There's been about as much fluffing about as I can stand.

"Listen to the three of you!" I snap. "Talk about pathetic! You've wasted valuable time with this nonsense when we could be formulating a plan and doing something positive about bringing Trunks back home. Where is the map pinpointing the position of his last location?"

They all seem to look at me with equal shock. At some point during their arguing I presume they forgot I was still in the room. To give Gohan his credit, he blushes and looks down sheepishly at his feet. I wouldn't expect anything less than reverence from him, but eventually Yamcha and Krillin move as well to give me a visual on the map, hovering above the polished tabletop.

"The Aniquian heights." I say, the name leaping out at me through the contours of the hologram. "It's a pretty desolate place. Perfect for a hideout. The mountains are steep with flat tops giving the enemy a tactical advantage. Nothing flying in would go unnoticed, and the harsh weather conditions and treacherous terrain would make it suicidal for ordinary humans to try and reach it by foot."

I scan the hologram for a suitable location to launch an attack from. "Magnify section C-2." I order, abandoning my position in the corner, and letting my fingers trail over the three dimensional topography. "I take it this is our target?"

"Yes Piccolo-san!" Gohan replies, ever ready to help. "Dr Briefs seems to think it's an old temple. Apparently there are several around that area, which were abandoned centuries ago. According to a documentary he saw on them a few years back, they have secret tunnels and passages that link paths through all the mountains in this area."

"That'll cause a problem. We can't set up surveillance because the area is too exposed, and all we have is one location in thousands of possible tunnels, all underground and with only one way in and out. If Faylorn is on planet too then he has to know how to suppress his ki, and Trunks' otherwise we would have sensed both of them before now. I think from this moment on we should constantly keep our senses sharp and focused. You never know, Faylorn might slip up, or Trunks may find a way to contact us. We need to be prepared for every eventuality."

I look about the room.

"Gohan, go to Bulma's father and ask him to see if he can find anything more out about these temples and their layouts. As for us, well I think it won't do us any harm to get some training in whilst we're waiting for him. A trip to the mountains sounds perfect. Yamcha, you and Krillin will take the southern range. It seems the easiest course to our mountain, and shouldn't take more than two days to get to from our starting location - here."

"You've gotta be kidding! Two days in those conditions?"

"Too much for you buddy?" mocks Yamcha.

"No - that's not it at all. It's just…" Krillin blushes and looks to the floor. "I have very sensitive skin and I… well… I don't work well in the cold! Besides," he blushes more. "I'm supposed to be going out with Eighteen tomorrow night. She'll kill me if I don't show! Literally!"

"Well I don't know about that," replied Tien, turning to smile at his friend. "She seems to be pretty struck on you. She's a fighter anyway isn't she? I have a hunch she might turn up to help out, and if she doesn't then she'll at least understand that you had to help your friends. This could be Trunks' life we're talking about. Plus, do you want to be the one to tell Vegeta his sons dead because you didn't want to miss a date?"

"Yeah! I guess you're right. Man! Screwed if I do and screwed if I don't. Sometimes life's just not fair!"

"If you've quite finished!" I shout in frustration. Can't these idiots keep their minds focused for five seconds? Ugh! I don't know why I even bother. "Tien. You and Chaotzu will take the north. It's a slightly tougher and colder route, but I imagine you two will be more suited to the conditions than the others."

"Sure! Consider it done."

"Gohan and I will launch the main offensive from the air. Hopefully our presence will lure the enemy into the open and give you four the time to find Trunks."

"It's risky, you know that right? You'll be sitting ducks."

"Gohan and I are the strongest and quickest Tien, but we'll keep telepathic communication up at all times, that way if we run into any trouble we can regroup." I look around the room, pausing on each of the fighters' faces. "Is this agreed?"

"Well I'm in," says Tien.

"Me too," Yamcha agrees.

We turn to face Krillin.

"Hey!" he protests. "Don't look at me like that, of course I'm in."

"Good!" I say, turning to walk out of the room. "Get a good nights rest. We'll leave first thing tomorrow, and I don't want to hear…"

My feet stop. There is a sharp electrical pain that darts through my mind, making my eyes contract, and sweat bead on my brow.

"Holy shit!" stammers Yamcha behind me. "Can you feel that?"

I can't speak, but damn the human is right, I can feel it. Such… such enormous ki! Not as impressive as say Gohan's was at the end of the Cell games, but seeing as he hasn't trained properly for the last five years, it is more than strong enough to defeat every warrior on the planet now.

"Fuck!" Krillin swears in the background. "This isn't good. I can't get a location on it. Piccolo, can you?"

"It's still in space, but it's close." I say, instinctively slipping into Kami's thoughts, for greater reach and certainty. "Two things are for sure though, whoever it is, is going to be on planet within the next five minutes, and…" I pause, my mouth suddenly becoming dry. "They don't care who knows it."

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"I'm going to drop you on your ass in exactly five seconds, Onna, if you don't tell me what the fuck is wrong with it!"

"Ugh! For Dende's sake Vegeta! How the hell am I supposed to see a thing with you wobbling around like that! Now shut up and keep still!"

Bitch! Who does she think she's talking to? I am royalty. I could snap her neck in a nanosecond if I wanted to. Besides - how the fuck does she expect me to keep still or pay proper attention when her thighs are so distractingly clasped around my ears. "I will not take orders from some pathetic little Earth creature. Tell me!" I shout, trying desperately hard not to think about her scent as it bombards my senses.

"I…."

"Five."

"Oh no you don't mister!"

"Four."

"Vegeta! Stop being an ass!"

I smirk. It's been so long since I last had the pleasure of seriously pissing her off. Dammit! This is a mission of the up most importance. I shouldn't be enjoying it this much. "The rocks look especially sharp on this side of the gorge." I say with liquid precision. "It would be unfortunate for you to see just exactly how sharp they are first hand. Three."

"Ugh! You are…"

I raise a hand to silence her. "That'll be two. If I were you I'd hurry up."

"Okay, okay, okay! Sheesh! It looks like the central computer has frozen. It's probably a memory malfunction, but until it's shut down completely then the power will stay on."

"I've already tried turning the power off. That doesn't work. Try again."

"Excuse me! Who's the genius here? I'm telling you it's a memory problem, and if I'm telling you it's a memory problem then it IS a memory problem!"

Ugh! Does this woman's ego never end? "One." This is going to be fun. "Oh well, it was torture knowing you Bulma!" I smirk, hitting a pressure point at the back of each of her knees. Her legs spasm instinctively to the slight pain, allowing me to lift her from my shoulders, and dangle her precariously at arms length.

"You wouldn't!" she challenges.

Big, big mistake! My grip loosens a finger at a time.

"Hey Vegeta listen to me!" she panics. "If the computer was frozen, you wouldn't have been able to shut it down in the usual manner. You would have had to do it manually. Did you try the reset switch?"

I stop at the last fingertip, and smirk evilly. "Too late." I let her go.

"Vegetaaaaaaaaaaa! You fuck-head, I can't believe you dropped meeeeeee!"

I listen to her curse-filled scream for half a second, before giving in and swooping down to catch her. I do so, and with plenty of time to spare I might add.

She looks up to me as though she wants to rip me to pieces, very slowly, and very painfully. "Stop laughing you asshole! What kind of a stunt do you call that? You could have killed me."

"Quit bitching. I caught you didn't I?"

"Yeah! Upside-down and by the ankle! You freak! I'm sure that constitutes as spousal abuse!"

I frown, grabbing her with a forearm and turning her the right way around. "Tell me more about the space pod. Even if we get the computer running again, won't it need the memory to get back?"

"Yes." She admits, clinging onto me and burrowing her head in my shoulder as I fly back up to where the space pod impacted. "We'll just have to deal with that when we get to it. But first…" she practically kisses the ground as I release her and she steps elegantly back down onto terra-firma. Once she has done, the angles of her eyes automatically sharpen as she thrusts balled fists enticingly onto her hips. "You owe me! You'll have to go back in there and locate the reset switch."

Feh! Idiot! That's hardly a challenge!

"The trouble is," she continues. "I have no idea where it is."

What the…? "Oh fucking great! What happened to 'Miss Genius, and know it all Briefs.' You made the blasted thing!"

She blushes, "I made the space pod a permanent gravity room, I didn't design it - Dad did. It's probably located under the right gravity enhancer, in the central panel, but I can't be sure of it."

I scowl. "No matter! So long as I know what it looks like…."

"Well - it's a switch."

"And…?"

"It's rectangular and has a red light in the corner."

My patience is wearing thin. "How big?"

"About the size of my thumbnail."

"And that's it? It sounds like ever other fucking switch I see in there." I snarl, "It's a good thing for you I actually enjoy a challenge."

Making sure to leave a scowl in my wake I stomp off towards the hatch of the space pod. I make it to the door before….

"Hey Vegeta?"

"What?"

"You're actually kind of cute when you're grumpy!" she winks.

"Baka!"

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It surprising quite how little time five minutes actually encompasses when you are trying to think with speed. There is no time for preparation, there is no time for discussion, this is when you have to live on your instinct and your training - this is, in short, what every warrior thrives on. No one who doesn't fight can possibly understand how addictive adrenaline feels when the stakes are this high.

Standing out in the Capsule Corporation gardens I can actually see a glint of sun, spark from the metal hull of a spherical spacecraft as it hurtles towards the ground.

"Hey Yamcha!" shouts Krillin behind me. "Doesn't that look like one of Bulma's ships?"

We all look up with greater intensity.

"Hey you know what Krillin. I think you're right. I can even see the logo on the side."

Tien breathes a sigh of relief from beside me. "And to think I was worried." he says, slapping a hand confidently on my shoulder. "I never thought I'd say this, but… I don't think there's any need for concern. The ki must belong Vegeta. I can't believe I didn't sense how similar to his it was before. Feel it."

I grit my teeth, and concentrate again. Tien's right, there is a certain something about the energy that reminds me of Vegeta. Then again, there is also a side to it that most definitely does not. I can feel by brow wrinkle as I try to untangle the mystery. I chance a side-glance away from Tien.

"What do you think Gohan?"

"I don't know Piccolo-san. It feels like Mr Vegeta's energy, but its too… too…." He struggles to find the right words.

"Too… what?" I demand, with heightened anxiety.

Over the years I have come to rely on Gohan's senses more than my own. He has an instinctive intuitiveness that never seems to lead him wrong. I'm not sure whether it is his age, innocence, or parentage that has gifted him with it. Whatever one though, doesn't really matter right now, only the answer, and until I receive it I will not stand down.

"The energy it's too… too… girlie."

I almost fall over in shock, as the ship impacts behind me. Of course! Why couldn't I sense it? That kid really is something else.

I turn almost in slow motion to greet the space pod and what ever threat the female inside may pose. "Yamcha, Tien, Krillin!" I shout, "It's not Vegeta! Keep your guards up!"

The plume of smoke and debris that has been spewed up by the crash is taking longer to clear than I like. Even as my vision is blinded I can feel the ki moving inside the craft, and hear the mechanics of the door release hissing free.

I can only see a warped shadowed figure emerging through the destruction but I call out, "Who are you?" none the less.

"A new friend and ally" is the answer I receive, confirming that the being is female. "Or so I hope."

Time elapses with no casualties and I begin to breath a little easier. The fog has cleared and I can see our visitor more clearly. She is fairly short, perhaps no more that 5ft 2, and her skin is a dark chocolate. The thing that strikes me most about her though are those furrowed crimson eyes. It feels as though she is piercing and holding my body in a torturous death grip just with their intensity. Now I know why her energy felt so much like Vegeta's. It is as if she has stolen the look straight from his face and embedded it on her own.

Each one of the Z warriors is given the same look of poisonous contempt, as she scans the area, and the tips of her three long braids brush the new crater as she turns. There is silence all around, no one quite knowing what to do, or who ought to make the first move. Fortunately the lady in question seems to know how to play ambassador in these situations. She laughs heartily and bows, "Well!" she exclaims, "At least some members of your species have manners. I never expected to have such a greeting on my arrival. Fear is always such an intoxicating elixir. Bulma could learn a few lessons from you all!"

She smiles, her chest expanding to fill with the fresh evening air, allowing the setting sun to warm her face. "You there!" she says extending a long finger in my direction, "Namekian! I have a few bags in there with the old essentials in them. If you'd be so kind."

I'm left dumbfounded on the lawn, not knowing what to do or say, as she turns away and automatically takes Yamcha's arm, leading him towards the house. "Now tell me." She says, patting him affectionately on the arm, "Which one of the Z Senshi are you?"

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A/N - Mega, mega glomps and thank you's go to Debido for suggesting using Piccolo's POV. This is the first time I've written for him, I just hope I managed to pull it off. He was actually a lot harder to write for than I thought he would be, but a fun challenge none the less. I enjoyed this chapter, probably because after all the doom and gloom I had the chance to do something a little bit lighter. Anyway, hope you had a great Christmas and even better New Year.

*hugs*

Ember