𝗟 𝗜 𝗚 𝗛 𝗧 – 𝗚 𝗥 𝗘 𝗡 𝗔 𝗗 𝗘

Before he could even register the other’s appearance, the darkness lurking in her heart had made itself apparent -- it was insidious, like a smiling face concealing a knife in the dark. But a darkened soul wasn’t necessarily unwelcome, given the circumstances. Piccolo folded his arms across his chest.

One may wonder, if they crossed into the previously discussed timeline, why it is that Trunks’ hair is blue, and why it is that Piccolo’s facial features are so unfamiliar.

A world ravaged by death, left only with ruins of past proud civilizations, and the remnants of these former peoples either too afraid or too stubborn to die left to hide in the skeletons of their crumbled pride. 

Such a dark future sounds like a demon’s paradise, and for a time it was; while man was given it’s fleeting breath of relief in the wake of Babidi’s defeat by the hands of Trunks, Piccolo set himself apart once more from man, to begin to reshape an abandoned portion of the world in his image as he wished he could have so many years ago, staking out a domain in central city-- former capital of the Earth--and populating it with his ilk.

But just as the dawn of a new era began to break, the hopes of the future were seized. A false shepherd wearing Goku’s flesh entered play, crushing all he surveyed with holy wrath, even defeating King Piccolo (though not proving a force sufficient to kill him).

Just as all the others, the Namekians were forced to secret themselves away, in fear of what the future might bring. They took refuge with the remaining humans of Earth, and together developed a subterranean safe-haven, but perhaps more importantly created sigils and techniques which negated the ability to sense Ki throughout the expanse of the base, that they might be able to train unharmed by outside forces.

This was, as might be expected, an uphill battle; humanity needed a trump card: They needed the Dragon Balls. But their foes would never allow them to use such a powerful force--any dragon theoretically summoned would be doomed to be slain, and their summoners would be condemned to a similar fate. It was foolhardy. The Namekians created numerous sets of Dragon Balls, with varying levels of power, and with dragons of equally varying shapes; some took wing in the skies, some swam in the oceans; some were tremendous, some were little greater in size than a house; but it was always too much of a spectacle to be viable.

[ Fighting Style Review ]

No, it can’t be…!

“ Well, well, Even you’re looking to be appraised. I’ll… start off with what you did right, with Goku. ”

“ It was clear from the moment you two started revealing your true power that you weren’t just throwing your bodies against each other; this was a contest of your martial arts, and I hadn’t seen Goku truly pushed in that way for over a decade. ” 

“ The way you utilized most of your arsenal was something I hadn’t even seen in myself, Cell, and that had me closer to the edge of my seat than I’d ever been before. I was amazed, from beginning to end. ”

“ … Ready to hear where you went wrong? ”

“ Even when your life depends on it, you can’t take a fighting stance. Whether that was Frieza taking hold in you, or an original idea, if you just changed your neutral stance you might have lasted a few minutes longer against Gohan, or even pretended to have an advantage. ”

“ That was just your most obvious mistake, but the longer I had to think about your fights, the more it became clear: you may have our cells, visceral emotions, and you may have studied our fights, but not a single lesson we’ve learned went to your head, Cell. If you really knew anything Goku did, you would have been able to beat Gohan, maybe even after he surpassed the Super Saiyan. ”

“ And you may be crafty, but all that skill you showed against Goku takes a backseat when your temper starts peaking. ”