Chapter 006 - Piccolo's Training

Age 762

6 months after Goku's death...

The sun glistened in the water below them. High up on the cliff beside the large lake, two small children were peering down standing dangerously close to the edge. The ground around them began to tremble under the weight of the large tyrannosaurus rex heading straight for them, mouth gaping open as it went in to swallow the two up! At the sound of one close footstep the two children leapt over the edge, cheering out in excitement as they fell towards the large lake below them. Both splashed into the water at the same time; up above the dinosaur hadn't been able to slow down in time and had run off the edge of the cliff after them.

Corset emerged out of the surface and quickly began to swim out of the way of where the dinosaur would land, Gohan doing the same. As they swam the dinosaur crashed into the water behind them, causing the dispelled water to extend out in one gigantic wave.

Both Gohan and Corset were caught by the swell and carried towards the edge of the lake, both cheering out as it carried them across.

The dinosaur emerged from the surface and roared, doing its best to run through the lake towards the two children.

"He doesn't give up easily, does he?" Corset mumbled, peering over her shoulder.

"Nope, he's pretty stubborn," Gohan shook his head.

As the dinosaur neared the edge of the lake, both Gohan and Corset began to run, gaining a nice head-start on the large T-rex as it followed them out of the lake and across the flatlands.

Suddenly, the two children leapt up into the air – the dinosaur crashed straight into the large boulder in front of them! The shock of the hit knocked several loose rocks from the stack.

"Time for another slice," Gohan smiled, taking his sword out of the hold. He began to descend towards the ground, slicing his sword through the stubby end of the dinosaur's tail and landing on his feet.

Corset landed beside him. "He's not gonna have much of a tail left at this rate!"

"I feel a little bad for him but it'll grow back," Gohan smiled, eyeing up the slab of raw meat stuck to the blade of his sword in anticipation. "That's lunch sorted."

"At least his tail tastes nice – much better than fish!" Corset grinned drooling.

Up above them in the sky, Piccolo watched over them, a smile on his face. "... Well... it would seem they're still alive..."


The morning was misty; the night before had been cold. Luckily for the two children they'd fashioned some covers out of huge leaves they'd collected. The sun was barely coming up above the horizon, much less coming through the cave entrance...

Gohan yawned and began to wake, shivering from the cold morning air. "Why is it so cold?" He begrudgingly climbed out from his covers and walked over to the side; he and Corset had a small stock of berries they'd collected over the past week as they'd become increasingly efficient in collecting their food.

The rustling woke Corset. "... It's too cold and early..." she wailed. "... It's not even day... why are you up?" She asked. "I wanna sleep more."

"Sorry," Gohan apologised.

It was a further ten minutes before the two emerged from their sleeping place.

Neither were expecting to be thrown off their feet by an explosion! The explosion was caused by a bolt of light which had come from above, hitting the ground behind them and erupting.

Corset rose to her hands and knees, looking behind her and Gohan and gasping in horror. "No - the cave!" She cried. The cave was now just a pile of rubble behind them. "The cave's gone!"

"What?!" Gohan gasped; it was true.

"Congratulations, you've passed."

The voice came from above; both Gohan and Corset looked up. In the mist, a figure could just be made out. It moved down to the ground landing before them.

"You..." Gohan mumbled. "You're that Piccolo guy!"

Piccolo glared and folded his arms. "You've both managed to stay alive for six months. Now as promised, I'll begin the next part of your training."

Corset frowned, "... You're lucky we have all of our stocked food on us!"

"That's true," Gohan nodded annoyed. "We might not have had any food left if we hadn't taken some out here!"

"You think I care?!" Piccolo barked. "Now unless you want me to kill you right now, I suggest you stay quiet and pay attention. There will be no more discussion about this, do you both understand? Like I said, the next part of the training has begun."

"The next part?" Gohan repeated.

"You've learnt how to survive in normal circumstances. Now I'll teach you how to survive in battle."


The night sky had once again fallen over the barren wasteland. Gohan sat up against a rock holding his cheek looking pretty tired and battered. Nearby Corset was nursing one of the cuts on her arms. The two of them sat around a small fire alongside their mentor; Piccolo sitting cross-legged over the other side of the fire. He had to admit he was a little impressed with how they were behaving. It was nothing like how they were six months ago.

"... At least the past six months have taught you two not to be crybabies!"

"It doesn't make it less painful though... You're too strong Mr Piccolo," Corset replied.

"We won't be able to beat you, even with both of us attacking you," Gohan agreed. "... I think we're getting stronger now though."

"Yeah, I think you're right," Corset nodded.

"You still have a long way to go," Piccolo snapped, "don't forget, the Saiyan I and your father fought is nothing compared to the two we're about to face!"

Corset frowned, now feeling a little discouraged. "Maybe we're not strong after all."

There was a moment of silence before she spoke again.

"Hey, can I ask you something Mr Piccolo? ...How do you know training us will be worth it? What if when the Saiyans come we're not strong enough?"

"You'll have to be," Piccolo answered. "I'm running a risk by training you both; for all I know if I hadn't have trained you, I might have become even stronger and been able to defeat these fools! On the other hand... Both of you hold an incredible power within you. My training aims to make sure you can tap into that power at will, making it far more useful to us... When you focus your powers, you both could be far stronger than me."

Both Gohan and Corset looked at him in awe. Piccolo looked away from them and up to the sky.

"... Can I ask you a question Mr Piccolo?" Gohan asked. "Is it true that you fought with my dad?"

"Yes, and we will fight again once we defeat the Saiyans in a year," Piccolo nodded.

"My dad says you're not as evil as you used to be," Gohan smiled, "My mother and grandfather were sure scared of you though."

"Oh, you're the guy who tried to take over the world. My mama told me about you." Corset realised.

Piccolo was growing increasingly angry now. Furiously he spun his head back to face them. "Alright! Go to sleep the pair of you! I will not make tomorrow as easy as today."

Both Gohan and Corset flinched before doing as they were told, each settling down on the ground and curling up.

"Sorry," Gohan apologised.

"Night Mr Piccolo, night Gohan," Corset mumbled.

"Night," Gohan replied.

The two quickly fell asleep, Piccolo sitting guard beside them both.

Piccolo turned away and glared up at the sky, arms folded and legs crossed. The anger was written all over his face. 'Little brats!'


The wind began to pick up once again, blowing dust across the barren wasteland. The sound of high-pitched strikes echoed through the canyons, startling the animals nearby and forcing them to take cover out of fear. On top of one of the many protruding cliffs in the area, three figures could be seen; two jumping around and moving a lot whilst the tallest seemed to do very little movement.

Gohan charged at Piccolo, kicking out a couple of times; each kick being blocked by Piccolo's hand. Leaping back, Gohan rebounded off the ground and went to punch the demon - Piccolo suddenly vanished from view! Gohan landed on his feet and looked around in confusion.

"Wh-Where'd he go?"

Corset, who'd been watching from the side-lines, looked around for any signs of the demon, unable to see him at all. "He vanished again." She protested. "That's not fair, Mr Piccolo!"

"Deal with it!" Piccolo reappeared, kicking Corset in the back of the head and knocking her forwards. Corset crashed across the ground onto her stomach, skidding a little. She was dazed for a while but she could have sworn she heard Piccolo shout something along the lines of: "Don't let yourself be distracted just because someone's down. Focus!"

Corset slowly got onto her hands and knees, rubbing her sore stomach. "No fair. We can't see you."

"Stop whining." Piccolo bellowed. "Don't try to see your opponent – feel their ki – their life force. Follow their ki and you'll never lose track of where they are."

Gohan got to his feet and patted himself down, wiping the dust off his clothes. "... I don't get it... How can we attack you if we can't see you? Anyway, you moved too fast."

Piccolo had had enough. Angrily he sent out an eyebeam, striking Gohan. Gohan screamed out as he began to sizzle from the intense heat. Piccolo released him from the attack, the boy falling back onto his face.

"No fair!" Corset bellowed. "You said you wouldn't use eye beams!"

Piccolo extended one of his hands, grabbing Corset by the scruff of her shirt before she could react, tossing her up and slamming her back down into the ground! Cracks dispersed from where she hit, the wind knocked from her lungs and ribs throbbing with pain. She felt as if she'd been hit by a truck.

"If you've got time to complain, you've got time to act!" Piccolo snapped back. "Remember, we've got six more months until the Saiyans arrive. Nothing will be fair in battle so you've got to have your wits about you."


The months slowly dragged on by. Every day the two youngsters were woken at the crack of dawn, forced to train all day with Piccolo, beaten to a pulp and then sent to sleep. Their progress continued, their power slowly increased and their fighting technique improved. Whether they liked it or not, both Gohan and Corset were becoming fighters in Piccolo's own image.

"... Mr Piccolo, can I ask you something?" Corset asked one night. "I've been wondering this for ages now but ...when Gohan's dad died..."

Both Piccolo and Gohan perked up and looked at her; Gohan frowning slightly.

"... Did my mama die too?" Corset finished. She'd never had the courage to ask Piccolo in case he snapped at her, or in case what she dreaded was confirmed to her.

Piccolo snorted, "She lived. Luckily one of your friends had one of those magical beans on them."

"Magical beans?" Corset repeated, looking over at Gohan who shrugged his shoulders.

Piccolo rolled his eyes; it looked like neither of them had been told about them and he knew little of them as well.

"I'm glad mama's ok," Corset smiled. "She, grandpa and nana are why..." She hesitated.

"Why what?" Gohan asked.

"... Why I'm gonna fight," Corset answered. "My mama got hit by that bad man because she wanted to protect me. Now I get to protect my mama. I don't want her to be hurt again."

"That's a good reason," Gohan smiled. "I wanna make sure that my mother or grandfather don't get hurt either. If daddy really is coming back to life soon then I wanna be able to help him."

Piccolo snorted. "Those are the reasons Goku died in the first place. Protecting others will always get you killed!"

Both Gohan and Corset frowned at Piccolo's harsh words.

"Both of you get to sleep; tomorrow's going to make today look like a walk in the park!" Piccolo ordered. "... By the way, you'll both be getting new clothes tomorrow; yours are both rather torn up."

"Thank you Mr Piccolo," Gohan nodded.

"Can I choose what clothes I want?" Corset asked.

"NO!" Piccolo bellowed making the two jump. "Stop acting so spoilt. You're in my camp now – there's no choice for either of you. You will get what you're given and won't complain, got it?"

"Y-Yes Mr Piccolo."

"Good, now sleep!"