Disclaimer: There are seven other chapters all saying the same thing: I do not own DBZ. I'm sorry; I'm just a high school kid with no life and no job.
I'm a pesky fool. A pesky fool who can write so here you go.
Chapter 8: Torture and the Test BeginsPiccolo found himself locking eyes with a giant black dog with flaming red eyes and knife-like ivory fangs. The fire-sporting demon dog and the weakened Namekian warrior clashed. The two literally fought for weeks until suddenly the dog backed off and sat down, as if it were waiting for something. Piccolo would normally use this opening to his advantage, but he needed to catch his breath. His arm was still useless; the battle had not allowed the gem to collaborate to him yet. He felt his knees buckle beneath him. He suddenly felt two more chis appear behind and above him, as if they had teleported there. One was a soaring black raven with the same fiery eyes as the dog; the other a giant black scorpion, its crimson eyes greedily locked on the Namek. The scorpion raised its tail and struck, Piccolo moved to dodge but the raven released a piercing screech that cut through not only Piccolo's ears but his mind as well and immobilized him. The poisonous barb punctured Piccolo's chest. The Namek staggered backwards, he instantly felt the effects of the toxin. A third chi appeared beneath him, and as he fell into unconsciousness a giant black snake coiled about him.
Incoherent images blurred together forming a muddled picture, as if watching the world through glass with many rough edges. A few piercing voices, cutting through the confusion, and pain, unfathomable and endless pain. Movement was constricted, mind failing, body failing and a voice, louder than the external one, rang through his head. "I am the Death Hand, you now belong to me."
"No." Piccolo sputtered through coughs of blood as he pulled himself from this semi-conscious state.
"No? To what?" The voice that had tormented him earlier in his meditations sneered. This time though, there was a face to face with the voice. It is a harsh face, with protruding cheekbones and a hard jaw-line. It's pronounced brow making its eyes appear sunken within its head and its snaggle-tooth fangs denoting a sense of savageness. And savage this being certainly was. The man continued to speak; ranting about how the Death Hand belongs to him, how soon it would be under his control and how foolish his brother is. Piccolo ignored him, he focused his efforts inwardly, he needed to bar his mind from that of the Death Hand's. Piccolo knew he should have been getting progressively weaker, but he wasn't. On the contrary, he was now regaining his strength at an increasingly faster rate. "What's happening? Why am I gaining power?" He felt it building, at first he thought it was coming from the Death Hand. Soon he realized it was originating from him, building from his stomach. "Perhaps my training has paid off more than I thought."
"Yes, you are ready to ascend to the next level, a level none of my previous host have been able to reach." Piccolo felt a sudden surge from the Death Hand join the power in his stomach. Piccolo felt as if every cell of his body had exploded, he convulsed violently. His left side burned and began to transform. Much to the surprise of his capturer, Piccolo broke free and went on a rampage, his body tearing down anyone and anything within his path as the minds of the Death Hand and Piccolo battled for control.
Piccolo Sr. sensed the sudden surge from the safety of an inner chamber. He swiftly disposed of the demon servant and slipped away.
Meanwhile, the raging Piccolo battled with the brother of the Death Hand. A black hard coating formed armor around Piccolo's left side, it changed his arm to long clawed hand; the coating continued up his arm, form a jutting talon at his elbow then continued up to his neck, traveling down the left side of his back and causing a single long, black tattered wing; it then traveled down his leg, another talon at hi knee and a clawed foot. At last it covered the left side of his face, the white of his eyes trading colour with the obsidian of his pupil and the pupil becoming a demonic red, at the temple of his forehead a long, sharp horn formed and shocks of grey spikey hair covered that half of his head. The transformation could go no further though; Piccolo was holding it back. The battle raged on between the two, they seemed of equal power until Piccolo unleashed an enormous burst of energy that disintegrated almost everything within a radius so large it could be seen no matter what ones position within Hell was.
Piccolo stood in the middle of the destruction and the black armor returned into the Death Hand, he had won control, as well as a new level of power. He left the scene to a place he could meditate. Little did he know, someone stirred beneath the rubble, one whom does not take vengeance lightly. That was hardly the pressing matter on Piccolo's mind though, he felt physically and mentally exhausted and knew he could do nothing until he fixed that.
A while passed, Piccolo found himself at a strength that rivaled that of Goku, without the use of the Death Hand; with the Death Hand activated there seemed no limit to his power. Especially after he had found all of the summon spirits. His old enemies dare not threaten him, and his father seemed to have disappeared deep within the realm of Hell. Piccolo heard nothing more than whispers about the brother of the Dead Hand. Many said the demon was dead, but Piccolo's gut told him he was just gathering power, but he had to put that on the back burner, for King Kai brought him news.
Piccolo looked at the yellow clouds surrounding Snake Way, then at the stout, blue, sunglass sporting jokester. It was a very sudden and unexpected scenery change from Hell to this, "Never dawned upon you to warn me before you drag me here did it?"
King Kai gave a single snort-like laughter, "Well, I didn't think you were having such a helluva time down there so I figured you wouldn't mind." He broke out in a pot-bellied laugh. Piccolo waited for the laughing fit to pass. "Well, anyways, according to my records you've served the minimum sentence in Hell Piccolo." "Okay? So what does that mean?"
"It means you can start the Test of Rebirth."
"Finally," Piccolo thought, but all he did was nod, "What is my first task?"
"Well, you've actually all ready completed it. You see the first task was to defeat all of the summon spirits for the Death Hand. SO since that is out of the way, you will enter into a TDP."
Piccolo raised an eyebrow, "TDP?"
"Yes, a Time Displaced Planet. Throughout the universe there is a certain phenomenon that can envelope a planet and cause it to fall into a different rate of time, either faster or slower, than the rest of the universe. Since there is a time constraint in your case, I have requested that the strength of both your physical and character be tested on a TDP in which three years will pass for you, but only a week will pass for everyone in normal time. The others weren't thrilled with this idea, but they found a planet more than suitable for testing."
"Good, then get me there."
King Kai became serious, an oddity in and of itself, "Piccolo, this test will make your time in Hell seem like nothing. I looked into the planet your going to; there are a few who hold all the power and the majority of the wealth, but a fairly decent middle class, and then a group known as Ukgars (outcasts). These people are forced to live on the streets of the ghettos, they are forced to work long hours in labor camps and mines without pay. The government is supposed to be supplying food and shelter for these Ukgars, but they don't, and no one really cares. The skies are always cloudy, with frequent rain during the day, with the temperature mild, but at night the temperature drops so dramatically that even you will freeze to death if you do not find shelter. You will be an Ukgar, and what's more, your will have a device injected into you that will allow you to only tap into the your chi in the amount that an untrained human would have. It will not be easy, after all, this is a test designed for failure."
"Just get me there."
"Good luck."
Hope you liked.
Elieare
