Ginyu glided down a long and empty corridor. The cold, lonely steel seemed like the perfect representation of the man's heart. His footsteps were eerily silent, and the man barely seemed to possess a presence at all. The lighting of the corridor was fairly adequate but Ginyu seemed to move in-between the shadows, rendering him barely visible at all times. It was ironic that one who lived so long, had such little impact on the universe.

But that was Ginyu's prerogative. He honed his skills and learned how to move in a stealthy manner by instinct alone. As someone who relied on the element of surprise to steal the body of foes who severely outclassed him, he had developed one of the most cunning and sneaky styles in the universe. It helped that he had 1000 years to perfect his skills of course…

Yet, he didn't know about suppressing the Ki until he met the Earthlings.. He had always assumed the only way to suppress one's powers were external devices or restrictive transformations such as Lo… Like Frieza's.

Currently the former captain of the Ginyu force was making his way to the mess hall to obtain sustenance. Eating was an evolutionary fallacy in Ginyu's opinion, as was the excrementing that followed. They left one far too open and vulnerable and that bothered the purple man's carefully honed instincts. Unlike the savage, undisciplined saiyans who constantly stuffed their faces and shit everywhere like wild animals, Ginyu was a soldier who had trained his body and mind to the highest degree.

His powerful body needed only to eat and sleep once a week to remain in top condition. Ginyu's stomach growled, unfortunately he was at the tail end of that one week mark and it was beginning to show.. "Hmm.. Usually the boys would have told me the day before I got too hungry that it was time for grub…" He missed his team..

"You're the one who took my body.." A voice stated beside the preoccupied Ginyu.

"Agh, heuhhh!!! What!?" The man yelled, jumping back startled by Gohan. The boy's tone wasn't even menacing or hostile, it was simply the fact that he had caught Ginyu completely off guard. While Ginyu was fully capable of hiding his physical presence, his Ki meant this boy probably knew where he was long before they crossed paths.

Meanwhile the boy's energy was completely suppressed, so the scouter didn't read anything. With Ginyu being too caught up in his own thoughts to notice the child, he was caught completely off guard by the boy. It occured to Ginyu that if he had been an enemy, the captain would be dead...

'I have got to learn how he does that…' The man thought warily.

Ginyu looked down at the boy, who had tired bags under his eyes. It couldn't have been any later than 4AM. "I am." Ginyu answered simply. Gohan's head lowered slightly but his eyes remained locked on the purple alien's. "So then you felt it? That dark power inside me?"

Ginyu studied the boy carefully before saying. "I did."

Gohan's eyes widened. He had expected the man to lie to him or something, not blurt out the truth right to his face. That was a refreshing change from his parents who constantly coddled him and beat around the bush about things pertaining to his body.

"Am I becoming bad? Am I.. going to hurt people?" The boy asked with a quivering voice.

Ginyu sighed and crossed his arms. "There's no doubt in my mind you'll hurt people but honestly.. They'll probably deserve it." He said with a shrug. Gohan stared flabbergasted at the man's response. "Your powers. Your thoughts. Your feelings. None of that makes you good or bad. The only thing that matters is what you choose to do. Your actions."

Gohan stared at the ground for several long moments. Then he looked up. "You can't just take over people's bodies, you know? That's not right. I could have died, and so could you. Doesn't that matter at all to you?" The boy seemed almost frantic as he wrestled with the illogical disposition of one who would willingly harm others or themselves.

Ginyu raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Well I can't necessarily say you're wrong. But when you've lived as long as I have good and evil.. well you kind of just stop giving a shit about it all. It never seems to matter much anyways, it's all the same.. history always repeats itself. Things always happen the same way over and over." He said, twisting his wrist and spinning one finger around in circles in the air.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

He sucked in a breath. "Pay close attention brat and don't interrupt me. I have a lot to say. Good and evil… They're universally balanced by divine ordinance, you see… Frieza isn't the first of his race to rule the cosmos.. No, he comes from a long line of particularly ruthless people named Arcrosioans." He said with narrowed eyes.

"The reason they're so harsh and powerful is a direct result of the hostility of their homeworld which resembles an icy rock like a comet. They don't require anything but water and they barely need that. They can survive being diced into pieces, burned, shocked.. Anything short of completely vaporized. Fuck maybe even that. Anyways I digress…" He said, shaking his head and looking at Gohan to make sure the boy was still listening.

Contrary to Ginyu's expectations it looked like he still had the child's utmost attention. 'Surprisingly well behaved for a saiyan..' He thought before continuing. "A ruler always rises up. Usually an arcrosian. And soon after a hero rises to take him down. Usually.. A saiyan. Every two to three hundred years I see it happen. Good and evil are always balanced and rebalancing like yin and yang.."

Throughout the whole speech Gohan's eyes reflected his stupidification, especially when Ginyu mentioned the endless cycle between good and evil and the arcrosians' and the saiyans' involvement in that cycle…

"No way.." He muttered. It seemed obvious to him that in this Era Frieza was the evil tyrant.. but who was the hero?.. It had to be his father. That's what Gohan believed in his heart to be true.

"Anyways Uh.." Ginyu began scratching his head. "For what it's worth I'm sorry."

Gohan looked at the man and shrugged. "It's fine, everything turned out fine.. I'm more mad that you hurt my mom. Don't ever do that again." He said seriously. Ginyu nodded. "You have my word. From here on out.. I offer my life to serve you. And I will follow any order you give to my very death." He swore, placing his right hand over his heart.

Gohan stared speechlessly unsure what to say. Somehow.. he knew this wasn't a ploy. And the man had largely helped him feel better about his existential crisis.. It honestly wouldn't be too hard to see past the man's mistakes. Least of all not compared to everyone else they traveled with the last two years..

Ginyu coughed into his hand. "So umm.. shall we go get some grub then?" He asked, jerking his thumb towards the cafeteria. "Yeah." Gohan nodded with a closed eye smile. And with that the two were on their way.

Otherworld, roughly one week later.

Kami bent over his staff, huffing and puffing. "W.. wait, Piccolo!" He called, reaching out with one shaky hand. The man in question stopped roughly forty feet ahead of the guardian of Earth. He crossed his arms and turned with an annoyed growl. "Are you serious, old man? The end of snakeway is literally right there." Piccolo complained, slapping his forehead.

Kami sweatdropped. "Yes well.. You insisted on going the last 100 thousand miles in less than a day.. I'm not as young as I used to be. Although I must admit I feel as if my power has increased from this perilously long journey.."

"Good for you." Piccolo huffed in response. Kami shook his head. "That's the problem with you youth these days... No patience." He chastised.

Piccolo raised his arm and pointed it towards Kami. The old Namekian frowned, believing his younger half was about to blast him. Obviously he couldn't die sense he was already dead but he could still feel pain.. plus there was no telling what would happen if he fell off of snakeway this close to King Kai's world..

A second later his worries were assuaged as a burst of vibrant gold energy shot from Piccolo's open palm and enveloped the elder Namekian, restoring some of his energy. "Whatever." Piccolo tisked, turning away. His cape billowed behind him which was strange given there was no wind…

Kami sighed in contentment and the two of them walked briskly side by side, both wishing for a quick end to the final stretch of this frustrating journey…

Kami couldn't help but steal a curious glance at his younger counterpart. 'The old Piccolo.. never would have done such a thing. You have come far, my boy.'

Roughly an hour later the two of them were flying off of the tail of the massive 1,000,000 kilometer long serpent that was snakeway and towards a tiny blue planet floating in otherworld. Kami stumbled through the air and seemed to be struggling to maintain his upright position. "P-Piccolo.." He huffed.

The man in question growled before causing one of his arms to grow several feet long and grabbing onto the guardian of Earth's collar. He proceeded to help the man fly while looking at him like a disappointed father despite being far younger than his counterpart. "Can't you do anything yourself? You're hopeless." Kami for his part looked up sheepishly at the man and grinned.

"You certainly are different from before aren't you? You act tough but the old Piccolo never would have helped me like this in a million years ahahaha!" He laughed merrily.

"Shut up." Piccolo growled, shaking his head. "Honestly I should have just gone ahead and let you figure it out on your ow- Blah!"

A second later the man flailed comically mid-air as his center of balance and perception shifted. Obviously he was prepared for the gravity of the planet to take hold as he neared the surface, however, he wasn't prepared for that gravity to be ten times heavier than the Earth he was born on.

Currently he was wearing his weighted equipment, which was more dense than it had ever been due to materialization magic. That, coupled with the fact that he was also supporting the effective full weight of ten Kami's met that he was plucked right out of the sky by the sudden and massive influx in mass. The pair of Namekians landed with a thundering crash, burying them in a fifteen foot deep crater.

When the smoke finally cleared and they pulled themselves from the hole they made they shared a look. "That's your fault…" Piccolo began.

"How dare you..!" Kami countered, but he was cut off as an obnoxious laugh echoed out through the air.

"Ahahaha!" *snort*

The two turned and saw a man that was decidingly bug looking in nature. The man was short and plump, possessing light blue skin. Beside him was a cricket and a curious monkey.

He snorted and chuckled as he spoke. "Normally, in order recieve my training I demand that you tell me a joke to make me laugh but to be honest.." He snickered. "..Watching you guys fall off of snakeway and land on your asses like that was pretty hilarious bahaha!" The man held his mouth as he laughed.

Piccolo turned to look at Kami with a deadpan expression. "... This is the God of the North galaxy?.."

Kami nodded in response. Then the aged man sighed before saying, "I'm getting too old for this shit…"

End of chapter 38.