Chapter 44: Fighting Spirit

The five warriors stared at the foe in front of them, no one among them seemingly able to make a move. Piccolo switched his gaze to each of their faces, expressions ranging from frightened to angry, and he could already tell how this was going to end. A single drop of sweat leapt from Krillin's forehead to the concrete below, his breathing quickening as the inevitability of the next fight made his mind race with possibilities. The others seemed to share the former monks fears, though some of them were less expressive about it.

"Time is ticking." Piccolo taunted, crossing his arms, "at this rate it would be faster if I just got it myself."

Goku nearly growled, fists clenched so hard he almost lost feeling in them. The Namekian chuckled and shook his head.

"So, there's no peaceful resolution to this, is there?" The evil warrior mockingly stated, a faux wistful sigh escaping his lips. "Perhaps I can change your minds."

Before anyone could act, Piccolo brought his middle and index finger to his head and vanished from sight. Everyone looked around, though it was of course unlikely that he would teleport such a distance as to appear in their area of view. Mere seconds after his disappearance did Piccolo reappear in the same place as he had before, only this time with someone in his hands.

"Bulma!" Both Yamcha and Scar shouted, the woman's screams being muffled by Piccolo's hand.

"Let her go, now!" Yamcha shouted, taking a step forward.

"I might, but only if I get what I want." Piccolo's toothy grin sent a shiver up Krillin's spine, and only served to infuriate the others.

"You know where it is, tell him!" Yamcha yelled at Scar, though his future self was holding his tongue. "How can you be so quiet, this is Bulma's life at stake!"

"I know!" Scar shouted back, giving his previous self a menacing glare, "just be quiet, we'll deal with this." He shifted his attention back to Piccolo, taking a deep breath and walking forward. "Let her go, her death will only serve to silence me further." The human looked Piccolo straight in the eye.

"Heh, yeah? So make me a deal." Piccolo requested. Bulma kicked and screamed in his arms but the Namekian stood fast.

Goku reached out and placed his hand on Scar's shoulder, "we'll fight. Scar and I against you." Piccolo laughed at the concept that either of them, even together, could defeat Piccolo as he was now.

"Hey, don't forget about us." Tien walked forward, though it seemed Goku was uncomfortable with the idea of putting his friends in danger.

"I know the plan was to let you fight with us, but the three of you have already been brought back with Earth's Dragon Balls. If you died, you'd be gone for good." Goku explained.

"Even if you all attacked me, it would be futile." Piccolo started, Bulma's kicking beginning to annoy him. "None of you idiots even have a fraction of the power I do."

At this point Jeice and Cui had felt the disturbance outside and came to investigate, both of them recoiling when they saw Piccolo holding Bulma.

"Bloody hell, I should have guessed…" Jeice whispered to himself, slowly backing away.

Cui took a single look at Bulma and, though he wasn't likely to admit it, felt a twinge of anger rise up in him. He hadn't been working with her for long, but he knew she didn't deserve any sort of fate that Piccolo would thrust on her.

"It doesn't matter" Tien looked at Yamcha and Krillin, who nodded at him, "we're all in this, what's the point of all of this training if we can't defend the Earth?"

Goku looked worriedly at Scar, though it seemed that he agreed with the others. "Sorry Goku, but if they're willing to risk it all then we shouldn't stop them." He turned back to Piccolo, "let her go, it's us five against you. If you can defeat all of us, then I'll tell you the location of the Dragon Radar."

Piccolo raised his brow in interest, waiting to see if there was an addendum in case he lost. Hearing none he smiled, "smart, you know you can't win so you don't waste your breath demanding something should your pathetic assault defeat me." Scar didn't respond, but it seemed as if Piccolo was already on board with the idea. "Very well." The Namekian tossed Bulma to the side, causing her to crash against a wal. Yamcha rushed to her side as she stumbled to the ground.

"Y-you bastard…" Bulma forced out as she attempted to stand, though the strength couldn't come to her. Yamcha knelt down and held his hand to her back, turning his head to Piccolo.

"I'll make you pay for that!" He shouted, only receiving a smug grin in response.

Cui rushed forward as well, kneeling down and looking at Yamcha. "Don't worry about her, I'll get her to the medical ward."

Yamcha stared at him for a moment, though he wanted to stay by her side he knew she wouldn't forgive him if he opted out of the fight. He nodded and stood back up as Cui put Bulma's arm around his shoulder, lifting her up gently and walking towards Jeice. The two entered the building with haste, leaving the others to deal with Piccolo.

"I expect this deal to be honored. If it isn't, I'll lay waste to Capsule Corp., as well as to all of you." Piccolo's smug smile faded, staring down each and every one of his opponents.

"Fine, but we'll fight somewhere else." Goku ordered.

Piccolo shook his head and raised into the air, arms crossed. "I don't believe that was part of the deal." The Namekian floated backwards until he was a few yards away from the others.

Scar looked at Goku for a moment with worry in his eye, but he could already tell that Goku had a plan.

"Chiaotzu, I want you to get as far away from here as you can." Tien ordered his best friend, who had been frozen with fear the whole time, "I'll come find you when this is over."

"A-alright Tien…" Chiaotzu nodded, flying away. Piccolo noticed, but the pathetic fighter wasn't even worth wasting his time on.

"This city will be our arena." Piccolo shouted, outstretching his arms as if to display the tall buildings in the background. It was early in the morning, which meant that the longer the battle took, the more lives would be at stake as people began to come to work.

"Follow our lead." Scar ordered, raising into the air along with the other four fighters. They merely floated in the sky for a moment, Piccolo's menacing gaze piercing their guise of bravery.

"This should be fun." Piccolo laughed as the five began their ascent towards him.

Cui rushed down the hallway, Bulma in arm as Jeice followed close beside him. The infirmary was close by, though a barely conscious Bulma noted that it felt like a much longer trek. Finally arriving, Cui relinquished Bulma to one of the doctors on hand, who placed her on one of the many beds in the area.

"This doesn't look good." He admitted, turning Bulma to her side and examining her back, "seems as if she took significant damage to her spine, we'll have to get her to an actual hospital." The doctor sighed, looking over at the aliens suspiciously "you two… how did this happen?"

Cui shot the man a menacing glare. "Piccolo."

At the mere mention of his name the doctor's eyes widened in fear. That was a name forever etched in his mind, as he was old enough to remember the Demon King Piccolo himself. "I understand." He stated, picking up a phone and dialing a few numbers.

Jeice and Cui stepped away for a moment to talk "what's this about?" Jeice questioned, crossing his arms "why're you gettin' so worked up over her?"

Cui closed his eyes and shook his head, not knowing how to answer the question. He took a quick glance back at her before addressing Jeice. "This is her place, she gave us a home when we had none."

Jeice eyed him suspiciously "where the 'ell did you stow the real Cui?"

"Oh shut it." Cui demanded, flipping his comrade the bird "maybe it'd do you some good to show gratitude every once in a while."

"This comin' from a coward like you?" Jeice chuckled "maybe if you showed Frieza a little more gratitude you'd 'ave been a mite higher in the ranks."

Cui sneered at Jeice's remark, "I thought we agreed to stop talking about that pompous windbag."

"Y'see, that right there." Jeice shook his head "you never respected your betters, Frieza would 'ave wiped the floor with you if he heard you say that."

"Well Frieza's dead, and good riddance." Cui spat. The alien knew Jeice held some semblance of respect for his former employer, though certainly not to the same degree as Ginyu had. Jeice merely sighed and began to walk away.

"Have fun with your girlfriend then, I'll be training with the others." The red skinned alien taunted, half expecting Cui to follow behind. When it became clear he wasn't, Jeice cocked his head back one last time to see Cui standing over Bulma's bed. 'Hmph, gone soft has he?'

"H-hey, you alright?" Cui asked the blue haired woman. She couldn't answer, as the doctor had recently given her a sedative. "I guess I should know better than to talk to unconscious people." He joked, looking around the room. "Kind of a sombre place, reminds me of…" He gulped, his mind bringing him back to a certain room on Frieza's ship.

Cui pulled a chair over from one of the tables and sat next to Bulma's bed, shaking his head. The ambulance would no doubt arrive soon, and he had hoped that perhaps the five fighters would be able to lead Piccolo away from the city in time for the hospital to escape damage.

"Wh-what do you mean you can't make it?!" The doctor shouted a room away. Cui sighed, placing a hand on his forehead. He focused his mind for a moment, using the instruction that was given to him second handedly by Jeice to attempt to sense power levels. Truth be told Jeice had only barely learned the technique from Tien, though the Piccolo's immense strength seemed to pervade their minds when he arrived mere minutes ago.

"This woman happens to be Bulma Brief!" The doctor continued arguing, though it seemed to be getting him nowhere "c-closed? Are you insane? What the hell is going on out there?" Every sentence dug into Cui's head, making it harder for him to concentrate. He tried blocking out the noise, concentrating his thoughts on Piccolo, who would be the easiest to feel out. His eyes clenched tightly as he started to feel his power, the immense struggle outside in the city was… it was incredible, in a horrifying way. Cui shook himself out of it after a moment, and ignoring his massive headache he went to talk to the doctor in the room over.

The alien opened the door to find the doctor holding his forehead in disbelief and shock. "What's happening?" Cui asked, though it seemed the doctor was in his own world. Cui walked up to him snapped in front of the doctors face, bringing him back to reality.

"W-what? Oh, Bulma!" He shouted, lifting himself out of his chair and rushing to the side of his employers daughter. Cui followed, though after some probing he could tell that things were only going to go downhill.

"If the hospital can't send an ambulance, can you help her?" Cui asked the doctor, though even he didn't seem sure.

"She's clearly taken some spinal damage, I don't know if there's anything I can do with the facilities I have. My estimation is… that she may have some permanent injuries." He rubbed his forehead and sighed, Cui taking a step back in shock.

"Wh-what?" Piccolo hadn't even used a fraction of his power when he tossed Bulma away, and that was somehow enough to irreparably damage her? Cui clenched his fist, desperately wishing he was powerful enough to punish Piccolo for this.

"Look, just give me some time. I have a nurse on her way, and we'll examine Bulma more thoroughly, but we need to be left alone." The doctor ordered. Cui was hesitant, but agreed and walked out of the room with a grim expression.

The purple alien slammed his fist against the wall, a crater forming in the brick the size of a watermelon "I forget how fragile these people are sometimes…" Cui released his clenched fist and stared at the damage he had done to the wall, a brief moment of his past replaying in his mind. "N-no… not now." He grabbed the sides of his head and shook until the memory faded from his mind, a brief image of a broken face dissipating slowly from his consciousness. "I'll… I have to help somehow…" The alien looked down the hallway that lead to Jeice and the others, though the prospect of training now seemed more futile than ever. Piccolo was so massively powerful that it would take a miracle for Cui to ever reach that kind of potential. "What if…" He took a quick glance at the door to the infirmary as a nurse rushed by. As the door opened Cui caught a momentary look at Bulma, and an idea popped into his mind. The door closed quickly though Cui had already made up his mind, and instead of heading back to Jeice and the others, Cui made his way towards Bulma's workshop.

Minutes earlier…

The five fighters rose up into the sky, with Goku at the center. Though the Saiyan hadn't shown it in their earlier conversation, he was ready to release his anger on his green opponent. With a grunt of effort, the black haired warrior thrust his arms to the side and began to power up, the fringes of his spiked mane glowing gold as his aura expanded.

Piccolo looked on with mild indifference. He had seen this transformation before, though it was slightly more interesting seeing Goku utilize it. In fact, since he had been back on Earth, Piccolo had a noticeable lack of Goku fighting on his schedule, and this battle he felt would satiate him for quite some time.

The gold fringes on Goku's head started to overtake the rest of his hair, and in a moment his aura exploded into a brilliant yellow. The other humans looked on with wide eyes, not only did their friend increase in power with this transformation, but to them it appeared he was an altogether different person. His features were less relaxed, his lip curled into a menacing frown, and his eyebrows were pointed downward in a clear show of hatred. This was a side of Goku that the others had rarely seen, and not since he was in the hospital after the fight with Vegeta.

"You wanted a fight, Piccolo," Goku stared directly at his opponent, eyes not wavering even for the briefest second "well here it is!" The Saiyan screamed out, dashing at Piccolo with a speed the others could barely even see. Scar growled at Goku's headlong rush, looking at the others with a nod.

A bright crimson red aura surrounded the four humans as they charged in after Goku, following as closely behind as they could.

"Hmph, cockier than I thought you'd be." Piccolo scoffed. Goku zoomed in quickly and made the first punch, a left hook that Piccolo was able to duck to the left to escape. The Saiyan followed with a kick from his right leg, contorting his waist to give his leg some extra power. Piccolo caught his foot and tossed him into the air as the four humans finally caught up with their Super Saiyan comrade.

"Just like we practiced!" Scar shouted and the four spread around Piccolo. The Namekian smirked at their tactic, not even bothering to put up a fighting stance. Their aura's grew brighter as they rushed into Piccolo, throwing punch after punch that Piccolo would either dodge or block with ease. Goku recovered in the air and dashed down at the opponent, taking him slightly off guard as he zoomed in from above and landed a knee on Piccolo's face.

The blow pushed the Namekian into Tien, who took advantage of Piccolo's brief recoil to coil into a ball and thrust his feet into the Namekians back, pushing him towards the other fighters. Krillin kicked at Piccolo's leg while Scar elbowed his chest, giving Yamcha time to gather energy for his Spirit Ball technique.

CRASH

SLAM

Both hits connected, Goku levitated upside down above Piccolo and quickly grabbed his chin, shutting his scowling mouth and using all the momentum he could muster to flip his own body around and lob Piccolo through the air. Yamcha fired off his attack and guided it straight toward the Namekian, crashing the energy ball into his body multiple times as he flailed through the sky.

"Time for the big finish!" Yamcha exclaimed, bringing the ball high into the sky as Piccolo regained his balance. Yamcha then quickly brought the ball of ki down at a blistering pace, the Namekian merely having time to look at the ball as it crashed into his face and exploded upon impact.

BSSSHWOOOM

The explosion caused smoke to fill the air, and though Krillin and Yamcha were both in high spirits after such a successful attack, the other three fighters knew better than to assume Piccolo had even taken the slightest of damage.

"We need to get back in there, we can't give him even a moment to rest." Tien looked over at Scar and Goku, who both nodded in approval. The three dashed into the smoke filled sky, leaving Krillin and Yamcha behind briefly.

As the three strongest fighters entered the smoke, Yamcha felt a tap on his shoulder, and a chill was sent down his spine.

"Boo." A brutal knee to the back sent Yamcha into the sky, the others finally realizing that Piccolo had used instant transmission to escape the obscurity. Krillin turned just in time to see Piccolo grin at the former monk, and in an instant he was upon him, slapping him across the face and sending him careening into a nearby skyscraper.

Krillin's body crashed through multiple floors, a large hole opening up and creating massive structural damage on his way down. The small fighter managed to stop himself, though it seemed as if the building was already too damaged, and began to tip to the side as the hole Krillin had created began to crumple into itself. The fighter rushed through some glass on the floor he was currently on and dashed to the side of the building that was collapsing, raising his hand into the air.

"There are houses down there, I've gotta make sure the building doesn't collapse on em'!" Krillin encouraged himself, gathering energy in the palm of his hand.

Goku, Scar and Tien had already rushed out of the smoke and met with Piccolo, Goku taking point and throwing a right hook at Piccolo, though the Namekian used instant transmission to teleport directly to Yamcha, grabbing his leg as he finally regained his balance and tossing him with great force at the three fighters who were rushing up into the sky to meet the Namekian.

Tien braced himself as Yamcha crashed into his arm, sending the two toppling down to the Earth. Goku and Scar didn't so much as flinch, the both of them continuing their ascent towards Piccolo as Krillin finally gathered enough energy to create a destructo disk.

"Here goes nothing!" The monk shouted, tossing his attack straight at the building. It then exploded into smaller, but still razor sharp disks that sliced away multiple portions of the building into smaller chunks. Krillin then flew into the diced up building, blasting chunks into small debris as he flew by.

Tien pushed Yamcha off of his body as the two lay in a small crater on the ground, a small car stopped in front of them. "Well I'll be…" The man in the car said as he looked over to the collapsing building. Tien shook Yamcha for a moment, snapping him out of his unconscious state.

The two nodded and quickly rose to their feet, blasting off into the sky. Goku met Piccolo with a quick barrage of punches, all of which Piccolo was able to deflect. Scar joined soon after, using his enhanced speed to land a few punches to the Namekians face, though the blows seemed so weak to him that they barely registered. Piccolo swatted one of Goku's arms far enough away from his body to land a swift jab to his abdomen, the recoil sending Goku back a few feet away and leaving Scar completely vulnerable.

The resourceful human merely smirked, having used the very brief amount of time Piccolo had used swatting Goku away to coalless energy into his left hand. The ki surrounded his finger tips, and using a swift motion Scar thrust his hand into Piccolo's left bicep, the energy surrounding Scar's appendage having enough cutting power to dig deep into the Namekian's body. Piccolo shouted in pain as he blindly swung at Scar, though the human was able to barely dodge and retract his hand from Piccolo's body.

Piccolo growled at the human from the future, attempting to grab him, though the crimson aura surrounding Scar had increased in size and he used it to float back just out of Piccolo's grasp. The Namekian thrust out his other arm and blasted energy at Scar, his expression quickly changing from one of conceit to one of sheer terror. Using his advanced speed, he flew into the air, though Piccolo began to guide the attack towards Scar as he flew away.

Goku rushed back in and slammed his fist into the side of Piccolo's face, the Namekian losing control of his attack as it went wildly out of control and fell down to the city below.

PTTHUUUM

The explosion shook the city, causing a huge crater to form around the blast radius. Piccolo recoiled at Goku's attack and blocked his second attempted hit, but Tien came in from behind and locked his arms around Piccolo's shoulders, limiting his arm movement. Goku loosed a few powerful punches at Piccolo's gullet before the green fighter bashed the back of his head against Tien's, the human having no choice but to release his grip.

Finally making his way up, Yamcha grabbed Piccolo's leg, giving Goku yet another distraction and allowing the Saiyan to deliver a brutal kick to Piccolo's face.

SLAM!

Piccolo's head flew back, though Yamcha kept a good grip on his leg and threw him towards the ground as hard as he could. Krillin, having minimized the damage done from the falling skyscraper, quickly shot back into the battle by unleashing a barrage of ki attacks while Piccolo fell to the ground, Goku rushing down at his opponent while Piccolo's body was pummeled by Krillin's small blasts.

The Namekian recovered before Goku could make it to him and thrust his arms out, latching his left hand to the wrist of his right. "Destruction Wave!" He shouted as a violent blast exploded from his palm, catching Goku off guard.

"No! Watch out!" Tien shouted from afar, though Goku had little time to react he was able to raise his arms and catch the brunt of the attack with his forearms.

"GAH!" Goku exclaimed in pain as the attack pushed him into the sky. The Saiyan used valuable energy to push himself off of the blast to allow it to pass him by, but his arms were already aching and sore from his defense.

"Hehehe…" Piccolo chuckled, blood seeping out of the wound that Scar had made just moments ago. He looked around at his opponents, all of them seemingly gasping for air in what was arguably just a warmup for the Demon King. Yamcha shot a worried glance over to Tien, who looked back with wavering confidence. "I'm surprised you managed to put up such a good fight, all things considered." Piccolo tilted his neck to the side, cracking it as he grabbed his turban and tossed it aside. His cape was tattered, the multiple ki attacks making an impact that the others could quite clearly see, though they knew that damage to fabric didn't mean anything in a fight like this. Light flittered through the many small holes in Piccolo's cape as he tossed it in the air, the piece of clothing blocking the sun for Krillin momentarily. "Playtimes over."

Everyone's eyes shot open as Piccolo brought his hand up to his forehead, teleporting away. All four of the humans aura's exploded with violent energy, bringing their guards up immensely in anticipation of an attack from Piccolo, but none ever came. All five looked around the area, scouting out for places that the Namekian might be hiding, but unable to find one they began to worry about what he was planning.

"This can't be good." Tien said speculatively, the others nodding in agreement.

"Don't bunch together, he might try to use an explosive attack on us." Scar worriedly stated, hoping that they wouldn't lose a fighter to a sneak attack.

"You mean like this?" Scar heard a voice from behind, though he was unable to turn around swiftly enough before the blast hit him.

BSHWOOOOM!

The explosion shot smoke in all directions, though Scar was sent flying to the ground with a trail of it behind him. He crashed into a house on the ground, no one able to tell if he was conscious - or even alive for that matter. Krillin shouted with anger, bringing both hands behind his back.

"KAMEHAMEHA!" The monk screamed, firing a powerful beam into the smoke. The others watched with disappointment as it passed straight through.

"Don't get sloppy!" Goku ordered, spotting Piccolo behind one of his comrades. "Tien, watch out!"

The three-eyed human wildly tossed his elbow behind himself, catching Piccolo in the jaw with a surprisingly painful hit. The Namekian recoiled briefly, raising his hand up to his bruised jaw as Goku bared down on the now exposed villain. Piccolo began to bring his hand up, intent on using Instant Transmission once again.

"Tri-Beam!" Tien shouted, blasting Piccolo point blank and interrupting his strategy. As Piccolo recoiled further, Goku caught up and slammed his body into Piccolo shoulder first, dragging them both down to the paved road below.

The Namekians body slammed into the ground first with a loud 'thud'. A few pedestrians that hadn't been aware of the fight screamed out in shock and fled the scene, the Earth born Saiyan thanking his lucky stars that there seemed to be very few people out on the streets at such an early time. Goku quickly rose and threw his body down again feet first, catching Piccolo in the abdomen and forcing him to cough out in pain. Before Goku could get another hit the green fighter rolled out of Goku's path as he slammed his feet to the ground, Piccolo twisting his body to trip Goku and raise to his feet.

SLAM!

Piccolo stumbled forward after being hit on the back, turning his head violently to see Yamcha staring back at him. Piccolo reached out his arm to grab the human but was met with a brutal punch from Goku, though Piccolo was able to use the momentum from the Saiyan's assault to turn his body around and slam his elbow into Goku's back, sending him flying away a few feet. Yamcha flew back a ways, though Piccolo was soon baring down on him with a sadistic expression. Tien attempted to intercept Piccolo midair but was met with a flick of Piccolo's arm, tossing him aside just as Goku and Scar had been.

"No!" Yamcha shouted as Piccolo grabbed his leg, digging his claws deep into his calf and dragging him down to the Earth. The sadistic Namekian lobbed Yamcha at the ground and pointed his index finger at him, grinning wildly.

"This time you should stay dead!" Piccolo laughed as he shot a thin beam of ki at Yamcha. Suddenly Piccolo's eyes shot wide open as he heard a distinct buzzing noise. He moved quickly to the side, but it wasn't quick enough… His right arm had been cleaved completely off! "Wh-what!?"

Krillin, though panting and out of energy, smirked as he watched Piccolo's arm fall to the ground. "T-take that, you bas-" Piccolo was immediately in front of Krillin, grabbing his throat. Piccolo's nails dug deep, deep enough that Krillin could almost feel them digging into his trachea. "S-stop-" Krilin gurgled, unable to muster any other words.

Piccolo then felt a sharp pain in his chest once again. Looking down he saw a hand coming straight through his body; exactly the same technique that Scar had used before.

"Let him go." Scar almost whispered to the Namekian, sliding his hand out of his body and then striking him in the chest once more, creating an even larger wound. The pain was so immense that it forced Piccolo to release Krillin, though it was obvious to everyone witnessing the event that the monk had lost consciousness as he fell to the ground.

Piccolo flung his one remaining arm around to catch Scar in the head, but the resourceful human had already prepared himself and flew a safe distance away, staring Piccolo straight in the eye as he fumed with anger.

No words needed to be exchanged, Piccolo focused his energy and attempted to regrow his arm, but was caught from the side by Goku, who tackled him once more. As the two flew into the sky Piccolo rammed his right arm into Goku's back, the Saiyan reacting with a grunt and releasing his grip on the Namekian. Piccolo tried to use Instant Transmission once more, but a ball of ki slammed into his chest with a surprising force.

Piccolo grunted and fell backwards momentarily, looking towards the ground to see Yamcha controlling the Spirit Ball. Piccolo growled in anger, 'How is he still alive?' he thought to himself as Yamcha's ki ball slammed into him numerous times, each hit increasing in speed and ferocity. On one of its rounds Piccolo caught the ball in his hand and condensed it in his palm, clenching it tightly until it was almost nothing.

"Heh, gotcha." Yamcha smirked, clenching his fist. The ki ball in Piccolo's hand exploded violently, kicking up smoke. Scar and Goku both were already on the Namekians tail and caught him in the smoke, Goku using his interlocked hands to slam Piccolo into the ground. Scar let loose multiple balls of ki at Piccolo, though Piccolo was able to swat them all away with his one remaining arm and stop himself from falling at the same time. Goku zoomed in for another him, but Piccolo dodged to the side.

The Saiyan followed through with a series of punches and kicks, and despite having only one arm and being incredibly injured Piccolo was able to deflect most of Goku's attacks, occasionally using his knee to block incoming punches. Things became more complicated for the evil Namekian when Scar joined in, firing jabs and hooks at Piccolo's back that he was barely able to even address as he desperately attempted to come up with a plan to escape and regrow his arm.

"Leave some for me!" Tien shouted, grunting in exertion as two extra arms sprung from his back. He too joined the fray, using the advantage of his extra arms to deliver numerous blows as Piccolo was merely able to dodge and deflect the most dangerous of attacks.

Yamcha had already rushed over to Krillin's side, lifting his head and checking the injuries on his neck. He was bleeding, though it didn't seem life threatening to Yamcha. The former bandit took a piece of cloth from his belt and wrapped it around Krillin's neck to stop the bleeding, checking Krillin's breathing to make sure he hadn't wrapped it too tightly. "Damn, we should have brought senzu…" Yamcha told himself. Scar had thought about the option, but their supply was scarce and he didn't want Piccolo to use any that he may find on their bodies. Having taken care of his friend to the best of his abilities, the human rose into the sky and darted towards Piccolo and the others.

Goku was able to break through Piccolo's deflections and hit him in the bicep, pushing him back into Scar who kneed him in the back. Piccolo screamed out in frustration, his aura flaring up so intensely that both Tien and Yamcha were pushed away by the sheer force of it. Goku pushed forward into the gusts of wind that Piccolo was pushing away from his body, rearing his fist back and launching it at the nefarious Namekian before him.

"Behind you!" Scar shouted at the Saiyan. The golden haired warriors fist travelled through thin air as he caught a glimpse of green out of the corner of his eye. Piccolo rammed his knee into the small of Goku's back, a scream erupting from the Saiyan as his hair quickly changed back into its original black coloration and his body toppled to the ground.

The two warriors from the current timeline looked on at their strongest teammate in utter despair "Oh shit." The former bandit whispered to himself. They all were thinking the same thing, with Goku out of the picture, what chance did they stand of defeating this monster?

Scar hadn't even taken a moment to look down at Goku's unconscious body before jumping back into the fray, taking Piccolo off guard and ramming his body into Piccolo's chest with an audible THUD!

Scar travelled with Piccolo long enough for Tien and Yamcha to notice, the both of them rushing in to help. Piccolo, eyes widened in both shock and anger, rammed his clenched fist into Scar's back, the impact strong enough to force the future warriors grip to involuntarily release. Tien rushed in from behind Scar, fist rocketing straight for Piccolo's jaw.

SMASH!

"Kamehameha!"

Piccolo soared back a ways before stopping himself midair, eyes finally able to focus in on a large energy blast heading his way. Yamcha smirked as the blast hit Piccolo's stomach, the demon screaming in pain as the stream of ki pushed into him as hard as Yamcha could force it.

"D-damn you!" Piccolo shouted as he was forced away, bringing his remaining hand up and firing off a ki blast at his attacker.

Yamcha focused all his energy into keeping the kamehameha flowing, unable to notice the small ball of ki heading his direction. Tien rushed in to intercept it, but he was too late and the blast winged Yamcha's right shoulder.

"AH!" Yamcha released his control of the kamehameha and gripped his badly burnt right shoulder, his gi having been singed completely off where the blast had hit. "I can't… I can't move it…" he attempted to lift his right arm, but the pain was too great.

"It's alright, just stay out of it. He's weak now, let us take care of it." Scar assured his previous self, finally regaining his strength. Yamcha nodded and flew back a ways, his body shaking from the pain his right shoulder was emitting.

The two remaining fighters rushed forward, Yamcha's kamehameha still blasting Piccolo through the sky. Piccolo growled as he attempted to push himself off of the beam, his strength obviously having been sapped immensely by the brutal techniques the humans had used against him. He had underestimated them completely, a fact that he would not soon forget in the upcoming years. 'How could I have been so foolish!' He thought to himself, thrusting his body away from the beam and allowing it to travel past him. 'I need to escape, if I regrow my arm I'll be able to recover within a few hours. They won't be able to find the Dragon Ba-"

CRASH!

Piccolo coughed out blood as Scar's knee rammed into his already damaged stomach. Tien threw a punch at the reeling Namekian but was blocked by Piccolo's remaining arm, the green warrior kicking Tien away from himself and putting his hand up to his head.

"Not this time!" Scar shouted as he grabbed Piccolo's wrist, thrusting his arm towards Piccolo's abdomen. Piccolo had grown wise to this trick and lifted himself out of the way of Scar's hand, twisting his body around to kick Scar in the back. The warrior from the future relinquished his grip on Piccolo and flew back a ways, but stopped himself soon thereafter.

"Don't think this is over." Piccolo snarled as he attempted once again to use Instant Transmission.

"Dodon Ray!" Tien called from behind, and with pinpoint accuracy pierced right through Piccolo's left hand. The Namekian turned with a malicious scowl, but soon found that a pair of arms had made their way around his torso.

Piccolo twisted his neck around to see Scar holding him in place, a bright crimson aura bursting violently as the Namekian struggled to escape from his grip. "Wh-what!?" He shouted as he twisted every which way, though Scar held on.

"Do it Tien!" Scar screamed out, using all of his energy to hold Piccolo in place. His Kaio Ken was focusing on pure power; a single well placed attack would be the end of Scar and he knew it. Piccolo smirked and reared his leg back, intent on slamming it into Scar, but it was caught before he was able to make his move.

"Come on Tien, now!" Yamcha cheered on as he held Piccolo's leg tight, forcing his right arm to come up and grab the Namekian's last free appendage. Tien gathered what strength he had left and rushed forward toward an increasingly more fearful Piccolo.

"Kaio Ken times 20!" Tien screamed as his body felt and influx of power, the air around him being pushed away by the sheer force of his blood red aura. "Take this!" Tien reared his right arm back, as well as the extra right appendage he had grown out of himself earlier. Focusing all of his power on this one last punch, Tien threw his fist directly at a mortified Piccolo.

CRRRRRAAAAAASH!

The sky itself seemed to shake with the force of the punch, Scar releasing his grip on Piccolo as soon as Tien had made contact. The Namekians body fell limp to the ground, his eyes barely able to stay open. His jaw felt as though it had been dislocated by the hit, but he didn't have time to worry about that, he needed to get out of there while he was still conscious.

For one last time Piccolo tried lifting his arm to his forehead.

"HA!" Tien landed above Piccolo and released a ki blast that blew off the Namekians remaining arm, though all that Piccolo could make out from his squinted eyes was the top of Tien's face. "You… you bastard!" Tien retracted his extra arms and knelt down to get closer to his foe, clenching his right hand into a fist. "This… this is for letting me die!" He threw a right hook at Piccolo's face, slamming into it and turning his head to the side. "And this is for Goku" he followed up with his left fist, Piccolo's neck twisting his head to the other side.

Scar had slowly descended to the ground, almost completely out of energy from holding Piccolo in place. "T-Tien… stop…" Scar choked out, coughing as he landed on his hands and knees.

"Why should I?" Tien callously questioned, giving Piccolo another right hook for good measure "look what we did to him, we won! We can do the same against the Androids, we don't need his help!"

"We… we got lucky…" Scar said, panting as he spoke "… you didn't see what I saw, the Androids… they're monsters... "

Tien kept his eyes peeled on Piccolo, but scowled at Scar's comment nonetheless. "And he isn't? He's killed too many people, he ruined Goku's life, how can you expect me not to take this chance!?"

Truth be told Scar had almost completely forgotten about when Piccolo had killed him the first time, but it didn't matter to him anymore. Through most of his life he feared the Androids more than anything, and they had stolen away from him something more precious than anything Piccolo had. Perhaps it was selfish, but even if it meant that Piccolo could live to fight another day, he wanted to see the Androids suffer for what they had done. "Let him… let him go…"

Tien stared down at Piccolo for a moment, his anger so intense that his body was shaking. After a few moments, Tien merely shook his head in defiance. "No, I'm ending him now." Tien joined his fists together and raised them above Piccolo's face.

"G-guys, it's Gohan!" Yamcha shouted, terror filling each and every one of their hearts.

"No, not now!" Tien growled and brought his fists down on Piccolo's face, smashing into the side of his head with massive force. Clearly it wasn't enough to kill him, but Tien was determined.

"STOP IT!" Gohan shouted, zooming in and swatting Tien away like a fly. The human careened across the ground and crashed into a nearby building, Tien crying out in pain as he formed a dent in the side of the structure. The damaged human tried to use any of his remaining strength to stand up, but was finding difficulty in doing so. Scar and Yamcha were both speechless as Gohan looked around the battle site. Buildings were toppled, houses had crumbled and craters had formed in roads. As the boy surveyed the area he saw Goku, unconscious in the dirt. Just a few years prior Gohan may have flown into an uncontrollable rage, but now as he looked upon his father all he could feel was pity. Piccolo had taken everything from him, but that didn't change the fact that Gohan could no longer think of Goku as his father any longer. The man may have viewed him as a son before, but now… now Gohan was something else, and he knew it.

The boy stared at Piccolo for a moment in both amazement and disgust. The Namekian was barely, if at all, conscious, most of his body was mangled and bruised and both of his arms had essentially been removed. It was incredible that Goku and the others could do so much damage to Piccolo when Gohan could barely put a scratch on him during training. For a brief moment Gohan contemplated allowing Piccolo to die right there… all of the pain he had caused, all of the lies he had told, they were catching up to him now and Gohan wanted him to pay for the damage he had caused.

'N-no…' Gohan shook his head 'there are more important things going on, more important than either of us.' The hybrid Saiyan walked closer to Piccolo, looking back at both of the battered and bruised Yamcha's. "Hey, Mr. Yamcha…" Gohan stopped in front of his master and stared directly at Scar.

"Uh… me?" Scar asked, looking back at his previous self who only gave a slight nod.

"Yeah, Piccolo said you're from the future. Is that right?" Scar turned back and nodded at the child.

"Y-yeah…" Scar hoisted himself up by one of his forearms "you can call me Scar, by the way."

Gohan nodded and knelt down next to Piccolo, paying close attention to his eyes. They seemed to be closed, but his breathing was still erratic. "Piccolo told me that you fought powerful beings from your time. He told me that he didn't know if you were telling the truth or not." The small Saiyan raised his head and looked in the scarred man's eye. "Is it true? Or were you lying to save everyone?"

Scar looked at the child in bewilderment. Never before had he interacted with Gohan in such a way, or even seen him since the Androids attacked in his own timeline. After a few seconds of confusion, he nodded his head "yes, it's all true."

Gohan sighed and scooped up Piccolo in his arms. "Can… can you tell Goku something for me?" Scar and Yamcha both nodded at his request "tell him I'm sorry."

Without another word, Gohan lifted himself into the air and took off. His face showed little emotion, but Scar could tell that there was a deep turmoil inside of the boy. As Gohan left the area, both Scar and Tien finally were able to bring themselves back to their feet.

"I don't know… how to feel about this." Scar stated as he brushed some dirt off of his gi "Gohan seemed off, and he didn't even try to attack us."

"Maybe he's realizing what a jerk Piccolo is." Yamcha interjected as he made his way over to Tien, patting him on the back. "It's too bad you didn't get to finish him off."

Tien glared at Scar for a moment "Yeah, a shame."

The man from the future sighed and shook his head "look, we don't have time for this. I'm going to get the Dragon Radar, make sure that Goku and Krillin are taken care of, alright?"

"You don't look good yourself, how about we get a senzu bean so you're not hobbling all over the planet?" The former bandit asked, bringing up a good point.

"Alright, I'll head to Capsule Corp. first, then I'll get the Dragon Radar." Scar agreed, taking off into the sky. Tien looked on with a sour expression.

"He's a valuable ally, but something isn't right about him. All that loss… it must have done something to his mind." The three eyed human grimaced, perhaps he should have been the one to look for the Dragon Balls? It was too late at this point, and no doubt Scar would insist that Tien and the others get rest.

"Don't worry about it, Tien, I mean he is me after all." Yamcha smiled, trying to lighten the mood. Tien chuckled lightly, but he was in too much pain to laugh for long. "Lets get these guys back to Bulma's place, alright?"

Scar was quick to get back to Capsule Corp., after all the battle hadn't taken them far from the building itself. The man cursed himself for being unable to lead Piccolo away from the city, but at he knew that the Dragon Balls would be able to fix the damage. He had no idea how many people had died in the aftermath of the struggle with Piccolo, but it was early in the day and most people were still in their homes.

With a senzu bean digesting in his system, Scar dashed out of Capsule Corp. straight to where he had hidden the Dragon Radar. With the senzu bean giving him a renewed vigor, the scarred man pumped up his aura and zoomed at the highest speed he could muster without risk of damaging his own body. 'Can't take any risks, if Piccolo recovers soon then we're done for.' He focused his mind as he flew, attempting to contact the person he had entrusted the Dragon Radar to.

((Baba, can you hear me?)) Though he still wasn't used to it, Scar had learned how to telepathically communicate from Tien a good few years after the Androids had arrived.

((Yes child. I presume you're contacting me about the Dragon Radar?))

((Astute as always, no wonder they call you 'fortuneteller'.)) Scar could hear Baba stifling a slight chuckle.

((Don't you worry, I've kept it safe and protected by magic that even Piccolo would have a hard time getting through.))

((Thank you so much, I'm glad I could count on you. I'm coming now, if you can have the Radar ready by the time I get there I'd be grateful.))

((Absolutely, I'll have Spike grab it and have it ready for you.))

The flight took only a short time, and as Scar neared Baba's palace he could see a distinct figure standing outside of the door. He landed in front of Spike the 'Devil Man' and nodded. "Tell Baba I said that she can call on me whenever she needs something."

Spike scoffed and handed the Radar over to the man he knew to be Yamcha. "Maybe you can do some of the dreadful chores around here, Baba keeps me so busy I barely have any time for myself." The strangely dressed man closed his eyes and sighed. "I mean the least she could do is thank me for all the hard work I've put in for her, I've been stuck here for far too long already. She can't even conjure me up a nice meal, for pities sake-" Spike opened his eyes to see a vast empty area in front of him. He sighed once more and shook his head "no respect, what a shame. I could have gotten the Dragon Balls myself and wished for a better job..."

The sounds of wildlife echoed throughout the canyon as Gohan flew to the mouth of a cave near Piccolo's training spot. It was a familiar sight, not this particular cave but the setting itself. The walked partially into the cave and set Piccolo down on the rocky ground, examining him for a few moments.

The scene was quiet, birds chirped happily as they passed as if they had no cares in the world. Gohan, however, was in a bind harsher than any he had been in before. Piccolo hadn't said a word on the way to his training grounds, nor had he opened his eyes. All Gohan knew was that Piccolo was alive, and that if he didn't get him a senzu soon that some of his wounds may end up being permanent. Even so, Gohan knew of Scar's plan to summon Shenron so that Piccolo couldn't have his wish. Months ago Piccolo had promised to bring back his friend, Trokar, but now that Gohan knew of his treachery he found that scenario highly unlikely.

Gohan sat down a few feet away from Piccolo, watching him closely as he thought. He had saved him from Tien, but was it really worth it to allow him to live? Scar claimed to be telling the truth, but if they were able to defeat Piccolo then why would they be afraid of these mysterious foes?

"Must be strong" Gohan reasoned aloud, "really strong." The thoughts of who or what these creatures might be was chilling enough, but for someone like Yamcha to be willing to let Piccolo live after what he had done to him and his friends… they must be horrible.

Piccolo let out a pained groan as his head moved to one side. Gohan nearly jumped in fear, but kept his composure and stood back up. He couldn't end it here, though he was sorely tempted. No, if Scar was telling the truth then they really did need every single person that they could to be in the fight. 'I just have to make sure that Piccolo can't teleport to use the Dragon Balls.'

Another groan escaped Piccolo's lips, it was clear that he was starting to wake up from his stupor. "G-Goha…" The Namekian attempted to talk, but his jaw was still horribly mangled from Tien's brutal punches. Piccolo rolled his head to the other side, opening his left eye as wide as he could. Standing in front of him was his pupil, a conflicted look on his face. "Sen… zu…"

Gohan wasn't sure what to do; if he refused to give Piccolo the senzu bean, then he would surely be punished. However, if he gave him the bean, he would easily be able to track down Scar before he would be able to use his wish. The boy let out a low growl, walking forward towards an almost smirking Piccolo.

Gohan's steps echoed throughout the cavern, a certain heaviness could be felt with each movement. This was it, his moment where he would decide his fate for himself. No more manipulation, no more lies. He stopped suddenly in front of his increasingly worrying former master, his smirk having turned into a dejected frown. "This is it Piccolo, I'm not gonna be used by you any more." With a swift chop the neck, Gohan knocked the Namekian unconscious once again.

'I… I hope I made the right choice.' Gohan wondered, backing away from Piccolo's body into a wall, sliding down slowly. "This is bad…" He nervously brushed his fingers through his long black hair. "Don't worry Mr. Scar, I'll make sure you get to use your wish. Then maybe… maybe I'll go see my mom again."

"Ah, there you are!" Scar exclaimed as he thrust his hand inside of a pile of snow, digging out the 5-star Dragon Ball. The winds screamed through the arctic tundra, snow blowing all over the area as Scar tossed the final Dragon Ball to a small clearing where no small mountains of snow could be found. He brought out a brown sack filled with the other six Dragon Balls and dumped them next to the 5-star ball, making sure that they were all close together before he summoned Shenron. "Sh-should have picked a better place to use the Dragon Balls… Oh well, no time to lose."

Scar shivered as he stood over the magical orange spheres, a sense of euphoria spreading over him as he remembered all of the dreams he had of this exact moment. Ever since his son had died, he had imagined himself gathering the Dragon Balls and wishing him back to life, but in his own timeline that was simply impossible. Piccolo had absorbed Kami, which consequently rendered the Dragon Balls inert. Yamcha remembered Bulma's grief over the fact; she checked the Dragon Radar constantly, even after Piccolo had died… and especially after their son had perished. It was something she always kept close, even if it was unlikely it made her feel better somehow.

Now here he was, standing in front of the very magical orbs that could bring his son and his wife back to life. He knew that he had made a plan with Tien previously, but the thought of being able to see his son again was too tempting of an idea to pass up. A few tears streamed down Scar's face as he lifted his hands above the orange balls, reciting the words to bring forth Shenron. "Eternal Dragon, by your name I summon you forth; Shenron!"

With an amazing victory over the evil Piccolo, will our heroes now stand a chance against the looming threat of the Androids? And with Scar deviating from the plan, will his wishes spell trouble for the future? Find out next time on Piccolo's Choice!

Hello dear readers! I don't really have much to say here so I'll get straight to the point. The next chapter that I release will not be chapter 45, but rather chapter 0. I won't tell you what it's about just yet, but it will essentially serve as the true beginning of Piccolo's Choice. Now I can hold that off until after chapter 45, so if you want to see chapter 45 first then let me know in a review, otherwise I'm going to continue with my plan. Thank you all for your continued readership, and now onto the Q & A!

Q: Well, looks like Piccolo's not going to be reforming any time soon, Gohan is having doubts, Roshi is capable of snarking back at Goku and Krillin, old or not, his wit is sharper then a Kienzan. Seems Vegeta is gone, losing the Z Fighters a valuable ally, pity, I'm sure he'd have enjoyed being able to blast Piccolo, though at his current power I doubt it'd do much other then annoy him at best. Poor Goku, losing his son really did a number on him.

A: Yeah, I've been doing my best in trying to show how much Goku has changed since Piccolo has essentially killed the person his son used to be. He's definitely not the same Goku that we started with, that's for sure.

Q: This, I feel was a very big development chapter, as many have been, but in a different kind of way. This was the first time I got a real sense of passage of time since very early in the story, adding a new flavor of tension to the story we haven't seen in a while.

I must also say that this chapter had a damn near amazing Vegeta character study, especially considering your disliking of him. But not only that, there was a lot of forward character movement for everyone, even if some were only in small doses and I feel like all bases were covered in terms of what's currently going on.

Unfortunately as good a chapter it was, I do feel that there is a flaw in the basic plot line of it all, and pardon the pun here: Piccolo's choice.

That is, his choice to let Gohan live, or even Gohan's choice to stay with Piccolo. I'm not just saying this because I, like everyone else, would like to see this plot line come to a head at last, it's because I felt it really out of character for Gohan to give in like that again. I understand his fear of death, but continuing the plot line like this has a sort of pandering feeling to it, like it's getting really padded out. I understand that this is all to further build tension but really, it feels like the tension has sort of reached its limit in this.

As intriguing as the plot line, I truly feel like that the next time its brought up in such a big way, instead of creating further doubt in their relationship that a truly drastic decision/occurrence takes place.

A: Yeah, the Vegeta aspect of the chapter was probably my favorite part. I really don't like him as a character, but that doesn't mean that I can just write him off and say that he's useless. I have big plans for the character in the future, as well as in rewrites where I'll make him acting a bit less O.O.C. (his bowing to King Cold, for instance.) I love giving depth to any and all characters that I can without overextending them, though I think I may have gone a little overboard with Scar… He is pretty important to the story at the moment though.

As for Piccolo's reasoning for allowing Gohan to live, he's not the same Piccolo that we've come to see in the canon universe. He is very much an egotist, and in Gohan he sees an apprentice that he spent valuable time training; to kill him off would be to waste all of those years. Piccolo is willing to keep Gohan around, especially since he's so much stronger, because he still feels as though he can keep him in line. That may very well change in the near future, and I think Gohan will become all too aware of that soon.

The only reason that I have it being padded out so much is because I wasn't planning on giving it any sort of resolution until after dealing with the Android Saga, but one thing led to another and the story just kind of guided me there. Now I feel as though I have to address this issue, but I just want to continue on with the story instead of dilly dallying around in the 3 year gap for so long. In any case, I'll see what happens in the next chapter. Thanks for the review as always, and I'll try to get back to reviewing Android 1 soon!

Q: Well, I sure wasn't expecting this. See, Piccolo's Choice is one of the few fics to have earned themselves a spot in the "I will read another chapter of this to the exclusion of all other considerations" category, which is just a fancy way of saying that I really, really like it.

And I mean what can I say, this chapter really just speaks for itself. It's to the level of quality that I've come to expect. Considering that the only fault I can find with this chapter boils down to me getting confused about some things because it's simply been so long since I've read this story all over, I will skip the formality of breaking it all down and telling you how much I like every part of this chapter-it would almost seen redundant to say at this point.

What I can for sure tell you is that the more I read and consider this story, the more I start to wonder just exactly where it'll go. Things such as Cooler, who for the life of me I CAN'T understand what threat he might pose-if Goku isn't enough to beat him, Piccolo sure would be, as I don't expect him to take orders from him any time soon. He mentioned something about Piccolo not being the only Namekian he's concerned about, leading me to believe that Lord Slug might be coming along in the following chapters.

Then again, perhaps not. I can't even begin to think of all the variables you have at play for the androids and-God forbid-Cell. Maybe all of this would be clearer to me if, like I said above, it hadn't been so long since the last time I read this story, but even so, there's no denying that this story gets its readers thinking, and that's really its greatest strength. There aren't many stories, fan-fiction or otherwise, that can claim to be as thoroughly gripping and well written as this. You may think of that as a bit of an exaggeration, but I honestly believe that it takes a truly genius and inventive mind to be able to make a change as simple as taking what's rarely more than a supporting character, changing their personality up (in fact, it's more like NOT changing their personality in a sense), letting the butterfly effect take off and lead the story to a completely different direction.

For having written something so inventive, engaging and simply genius, you earn my undying praise and respect, Saucemonkey. May it be years from now, I'll look forward to each and every new chapter as eagerly as the last. Take your time, because as they say, art cannot be rushed.

A: Man, I don't know the last time I had so much praise heaped on me xD Honestly it's always a bit jarring to me when I get a review like yours, I've never viewed myself as a fantastic writer or storyteller, all I've ever wanted was to tell my story from start to finish. I started way back in 2010 without much experience under my belt, but with 5 years of writing this fic I've learned so much. Still, there's a lot to improve upon I think, and while I respect your opinion of me I think it's a bit off… I'm nowhere near the genius that you might think I am. All it takes to write a story is determination and the drive for self improvement, which I like to think I have (when I'm not taking one of my many infamous hiatus' of course.) As for your comments on Cooler and Slug, well we'll just have to see how events unfold, won't we?

Q: I really liked that bit with future Vegeta. It was a bit moving but also in character at the same time. I didn't expect Scar to think so fondly of Vegeta but I guess thats what happens when you are comrades in arms for so long against a common enemy.

A: I'm glad you liked the characterization that I created for him, I was really hoping it didn't come off as too out of character or anything. Scar is remembering Vegeta fondly, for sure, but he definitely has on some nostalgia goggles when thinking of any time before all of his friends and family were dead, and so all we can see so far are the good aspects of his character. I was toying around with the idea of another special detailing what we didn't see of the future timeline, and I still might depending on if I can get enough support to back it up.

Q: Great chapter glad u updated again you say piccolo just as strong as when he absorbed kami in cannon or a bit more but at the end of this chapter has he gotten any stronger because he potential should be higher with three namekians ? and he couldn't off reach it yet and how scar is strong would you say hope to see more chapters soon

A: Well I'd say Piccolo is definitely stronger right now, if only by a small amount. His time was mostly spent training Gohan and coming up with new techniques, but now that Gohan is having doubts Piccolo will probably just be training himself from now on. And if you're asking how strong Scar is at the moment, I'd say probably around 2nd form Frieza, maybe between 2nd and 3rd form. With a maximum Kaioken he can reach Namek SSj Goku levels, but that's at his very limit.

Q: Guldo could be quite useful against the androids.

Let's say for example on of the z-fighters has been wounded and is about to be finished off by an android Guldo could use his time stop ability to rescue them and hide them, especially as 17 and 18 can not sense energy.

Or he could use his ability to get his allies out of the way of any powerful energy blasts.

Or he could use it to help allies do sneak attacks from behind.

Or an ally could charge up an energy attack, then Guldo stops time before placing his ally right next to one of the androids, kind of like the Warp Kamehameha.

More or less it allows him to function like an instant transmission for any of his allies.

I also wonder what would happen if, say Bulma made a gas mask for him connected to an Oxygen canister. If the air in his lungs were filled were say, 90% oxygen or was at a significantly higher pressure then normal (because of his strength his lungs could probably handle more pressure) he might be able to hold his breath longer, though I'm not sure thats how it works.

A: As promised, I will get to your questions now! A very astute observation you've made there, and one that I haven't really thought of before. Guldo has always been an afterthought, but I really had to think about his placement in the story now that I remembered his powers thanks to you. He really does seem more useful now than ever before, especially against opponents who can't sense energy and who are so absurdly strong. As for the oxygen container, I don't know if Guldo or Bulma would even bring up the idea since neither of them have any interaction with one another, though now that Cui is getting to be friends with her, perhaps he can suggest a few ideas. All in all, great observations, you definitely made me rethink a couple upcoming scenes.

Q: How often are you going to upload your chapters? One chapter a week, for example?

A: I tried doing that for the longest time, but what I found was that I was rushing the chapters and they weren't the best quality. What I'm hoping to do now is get one out once a month, and by that I mean anytime during a month. Could be that I update April 3rd and then don't update again until May 30th, or it could be that I update June 28th and then update again July 5th. As long as I have a chapter out every month I think I'll be happy.

Q: That cryptic sentence from Cooler. "He's not the only namekian I have to deal with." Was that hinting at lord slug?

A: Could be. Could be something else entirely too, we do have an entire planet of Namekians out there, and Cooler may or may not have been privy to the knowledge of the Dragon Balls… I suppose we'll see.

Q: I just want to let you know Saucemonkey that I am forever indebted in you for creating this badass series and making Piccolo the evil, cynical, delusional monster he should have been. This series is so dark and sad that I actually feel sorry for the majority of characters misfortunes that could have been prevented if it wasn't for Piccolo's ideology of oppression and dictatorship through terror and fear. I hope that the Z-Fighters can come through with stopping both Piccolo and the androids before it is to late. With that being said, I have a few questions that I hope you will be able to answer...

1. Is Piccolo the evilest character in this entire AU (even beings that reside in Hell and Demon World)?

2. Is this AU planning on going up to the Buu Saga? If so, do you have any plans to do canon movies such as Battle of Gods and Revival of F?

3. Where does the soul of King Piccolo reside at (Hell, Limbo, inside of Piccolo, etc)?

4. What universe will "Piccolo's Choice" be designated as when DBM2 Project gets underway?

Thank you for reviewing my questions and I look forward from hearing from you soon.

A: I wouldn't say that Piccolo is the MOST evil, that is all subjective really. Piccolo will always have that inkling of good inside of him that made him a good person in canon, so to say that he is without any goodness is definitely false. However, the suppression of the goodness in him might make him more evil depending on how you look at it… as a famous dragon quoted "What is better - to be born good or overcome your evil nature through great effort." It's almost the opposite for Piccolo.

I have plans going past the Buu saga actually. I have, and always will, make it clear that I have no intention of ceasing this story anytime soon. I hope to get it done from start to finish, no matter how long that takes and no matter where the story takes me. I can't say how long I have the story going after the Buu saga, but I will say that we will have tons of unfinished business by the time Babidi shows his face.

The soul of King Piccolo, to me, has always resided in Piccolo himself. It has been stated many times that Piccolo Jr. is a reincarnation of King Piccolo, and so I don't think that KP in in hell. That being said, I have quite an interesting take on that in an upcoming chapter, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

As for DBM2, Piccolo's Choice was at first designated as Universe 3, but then changed to Universe 7. That being said, it would take a miracle for something like DBM2 to be created, and even though I still am absolutely on board with creating it, it would take a great deal of time and effort to get all of the authors on the same page. What I'm saying is, don't get your hopes up.

Q: Can't wait for the next chapter. Hope nobody gets killed fighting piccolo.

A: Well there you go, nobody died! Hope that made you a bit happier :P

Written By: Saucemonkey