DB Multiverse

Starring at the ceiling, the tall Namekian tightened and growled between his gritted teeth, seized by a rage as sudden as it was deep.

“Those filthy bastards!”

Vegeta reacted right away with impatience.

“Where are they? I don't feel anything!”

Instead of replying to him, Piccolo suddenly changed of expression once again. His face was now showing utter stupefaction.

All of a sudden, without warning, the tall warrior fell on his knees, bent under the pressure of a violent pain under the surprised look of the two Saïyan. To see the proud fighter bending like this worried Son Gohan.

“Piccolo?! What's wrong? Are you sick?”

The Namekian supported himself with difficulty. He was obviously struggling to breath while the young boy rushed to help him. A grimace of pain distorted Piccolo's face, Piccolo who was holding his chest with his other contracted hand. He was trying to catch his breath, he tried to speak but merely managed to spurt out some words.

“Quick! They are...”

The young Saïyan reacted with self-control whereas Vegeta, impatient as ever, didn't show the mere hint of compassion.

“They are what? Go on!”

“Don't worry... I have a senzu bean with me.” said the boy, rummaging in his large belt.

Piccolo strongly gripped the young fighter, he raised his head to look at Vegeta, seeming to gather his strength in order to speak.

“Useless... Quick... Kami... sama... they are...”

He didn't manage to finish his sentence. Yet, it was more than enough for Vegeta that surprise had frozen just a split of a second. A moment later, an energy blast, punctuated with a short cry obliged Gohan to hold back the poor Piccolo who was unable to resist the powerful released shock wave. Vegeta hadn't taken the trouble to move away from them before transforming. He raised an arm toward the ceiling to tear apart height-wise the building without further ado.

The Saïyan disappeared at incredible speed in the opened way toward the sky while a womanish screech rang out from one of the upper floors.

For one moment, Son Gohan starred with surprise at the well of light that Vegeta had opened before looking back at Piccolo with worry in his eyes.

Now laying on his back, the voice of the Namekian who was lying in his arms was hardly more than a whisper. He gripped the child's fighting suit, this suit he had made like his own.

“Go... with him... quick... the palace... don't let him...” He choked one moment before looking at Son Gohan. “You know... I... trus...” the end of the sentence died with him... “you.”

The big body which had been tense due to an intense pain and an iron will until then, finally went limp as the Namekian's head fell backwards.

Son Gohan tightly closed his eyelids that big tears still managed to pass before running on his young face that pain distorted. His little hand clenched on the shoulder of his friend that had just died into his arms.

He forced himself to open his eyes and softly closed Piccolo's, those eyes that had remained open, starring at infinity, and then he gently put down the body on the ground, with great care. He closed the long white cloak to gently cover the dead Namekian with it. And then he slowly got up. For a moment, he remained motionless, his head lowered as a rain of tear fell on the ground, a rain of pain that he wasn't trying to hold back.

A door that someone opened slowly took him out of his contemplation and made him look up. Through the blurry veil of his tears, he made up Bulma who carefully looked through the half open door. She starred at first at the huge hole through which the sun was shining in on her, then she looked down at the rumbles that are scattered in the corridor until finally her eyes fell on the laying Namekian and the crying child at his sides. The surprised young woman gave a start before rushing to kneel at Piccolo's side, her voice shook when she realised that he wasn't breathing anymore.

“Piccolo... It can't be...” she looked up at Gohan, distraught in her eyes. The little boy hadn't moved. “ Gohan... Please, tell me it's not true!”

Tears are the small Saiyan's only answer. Incomprehension distorted Bulma's feature, her eyes filled with salt water and kept starring at the corpse of the Namekian and at the child.

“But... What happened? Please... tell me...”

Just then, the big body vanished in a hardly visible smoke.

Surprised for a while, Gohan still didn't answerer. He merely clenched his fists as his eyes hardened because of an inflexible determination.