CHAPTER 10: PICCOLO'S DECISION!
Piccolo made his way towards the northern part of the continent until he had reached North City and began to float in the air attempting to sense Gohan's Ki.
"I know he was good at concealing his Ki but this is just ridiculous." Piccolo thought to himself. He suddenly felt a surge of Ki appear behind him, and when he turned around he saw that it was none other than Gohan.
"So its Piccolo who came first is it?" Gohan said crossing his arms. "I was for sure Vegeta wasn't going to relay the message. Course that wouldn't stop you from reading his mind to make sure he was telling the truth about me." Gohan said with a grin.
"So it's true then." He asked more as a statement.
Gohan nodded. "No doubt you figured out by now that I have no intentions of letting Goku and his friends live." He said as he got into a sitting position while still floating. "I will offer you the same thing I offered Vegeta. Join me and you can help me kill Goku. Hell I'll even let you rule this pathetic rock since I have no intention of staying here after I kill Goku and his friends." Gohan said eying his former mentor.
Piccolo just stared at Gohan in shock, he was expecting this but it still came as a shock that his former pupil's change of heart. "If I may, I want to know what caused this sudden change." Piccolo said watching Gohan cautiously.
"The change was gradual." Gohan said staring at Piccolo, "In fact it was so gradual I had no idea it was happening until it was too late. Gero kept me in a cell that nullified my Ki so that I was not only unable to use my Ki but I was unable to access it as well. Not only that but I was only fed once a day with just enough food to keep me alive and just enough water and that isn't all. I was deprived of sleep for almost the entire time I was there. I got maybe two hours of sleep a week if that. Being part Saiyan didn't help either. I started to feel the need for blood the need to kill, an urge I used to get once in a great while, and even more so on Namek. However unlike all the other times where I had the strength to suppress it, I couldn't. It got to the point where I was about to go insane and that's when Gero let me out. He had gathered a few citizens from North City and tied them up right outside my cell, just begging to be killed. I did just that, I killed them. The feeling of killing someone gave me a high like I had never felt anything like it before and the blood lust only grew." Gohan said staring at his fist with an insane smile chuckling. "That's not all either; Gero even went as far as to put the cell of that detestable freak Frieza into my body. Though I must admit, the process did give me some nice perks such as 'breathing' in space. Did you know Frieza couldn't actually breathe in space?" Gohan asked looking at the horrified face of his former mentor. "What would happen is in layman's terms, his lungs would harden so that the air in his lungs wouldn't escape and in doing so would also slow the process of absorbing oxygen down considerably so as to preserve as much oxygen as possible. I also don't have to breathe in oxygen to survive thanks to him. I can breathe in basically any atmosphere because my lungs, thanks to Frieza, can alter my hemoglobin enough to accept the new gas as usable. And I am getting off subject. Despite how much I hated Gero, he did give me a few things like as I said before Frieza's cells, diluting my Human DNA down to a fourth and letting me ascend and to thank him for all of this I made his androids rebel and killed him. A very fitting 'thank you' indeed." Gohan said cackling menacingly.
Piccolo stared in horror at the boy he once called friend, the boy who he saw as a son and the boy whom had he not met, would still be on the path of darkness, the very same path that Gohan had now fallen to. "You're think your strong enough to take on Goku?" Piccolo asked his voice shaking.
"Think? No, I know I can kill him. In fact I could have killed him at the Lookout if I so desired." Gohan growled and glared at Piccolo.
"Then why didn't you?" Piccolo asked.
"You know as well as I do that I am not the only threat here. Now I may be the biggest threat to the earth right now, but I am the only one who can destroy the other threat and vice versa." Gohan said slyly. "To be honest I still feel some attachment to you, Piccolo. You were there for me when my idiot father was off doing whatever it was he was doing. You are more a father to me than he was, however that doesn't mean I won't hesitate to kill you. So what will it be?" Gohan asked waiting for a response from the Namekian.
Piccolo swallowed hard and began to think, "If I reject his offer he will probably kill me on the spot but I can't possibly accept unless…" Piccolo cleared his throat and looked at Gohan. "I will join you on one condition." He said.
"And what would this condition be?" Gohan queried eying Piccolo cautiously. He knew the Namekian was planning something and he had an idea of what it was but couldn't be a hundred percent.
"I will join you if you allow me to be a double agent. I will go back to the Lookout and keep you updated on Goku and his friend's plans." Piccolo said.
"It's not like you could rat me out anyway since they already know what I told you only not as detailed. And since you don't know where my hideout is I guess I can allow that." Gohan said grinning at Piccolo. He knew Piccolo would try something along these lines.
"What do you mean I don't know where your hideout is?" Piccolo bluffed.
"Tell me, could you sense my presence anywhere in the vicinity?" Gohan asked still grinning. Piccolo growled. "I didn't think so. I knew either you or Vegeta would show up here so I kept an eye on this area and when I sensed you here I used Instant Transmission to get here, so as far as you know my hideout could very well be in Antarctic or the tropics of the southern part of the continent." Gohan said calling out Piccolo's bluff. "It was a nice bluff though." Gohan said putting his fingers to his forehead and vanished.
Piccolo grinned slightly before scowling again; he had trained Gohan well, a little too well. He began to devise a plan to try and take Gohan down and the only way was to try and form a truce with this other threat that Gohan was so adamant about killing before taking on Goku. He hadn't forgotten how Gohan let it slip that this other threat could rival Gohan's supposed powers.
Gohan was back in Gero's lab where he had been held captive and experimented on by Gero. The place had some bad memories but it was the only lab that he knew of that had Ki concealing technology and he needed that at the moment so as not to be found to early. His plan was coming along better and faster than he had hoped.
"It won't be long until Piccolo and Goku try to make contact with Cell and form a truce and thanks the little bit of reprogramming I did to Cell while he was here it will be possible. Then when that happens I will make my next move." He thought to himself as he pulled out the Dragon Ball out of his black GI. "I should get rid of this before they try to find it again." He said aloud. "I wonder if these things are truly indestructible as people say they are. Or is it that they simple don't want to find out?" Gohan smiled wickedly as he powered up to his Super Saiyan two form. He set the Dragon Ball on the ground and with a yell brought his foot down full force on the orb. Gohan scowled when he lifted his foot off the ground and the Dragon Ball was completely unharmed. "Must not have used enough force." Gohan thought to himself as he powered down back to his base. Gohan picked the orb up off the ground. "I know just what to do with you." He said eying the orb as he placed a small Ki orb in the room before he flew out of the lab towards the ocean. When he was out in the middle of the vast ocean he scowled as he drew back his arm and threw it into the ocean as heard as he could. The orb rocketed down to the ocean bed burrowing deep into the Earth's crust. "I'd like to see them get the Dragon Ball now." He said with a dark chuckle. "The only one who will be able to get it other than me is Cell and that's just what I'm counting on." He thought aloud before using Instant Transmission to get back to the lab. However unknown to Gohan the Dragon Ball had indeed been damaged and fractured on the inside when he stomped on it in the lab but it was not enough to shatter it, and after he had thrown it into the ocean it had completely shattered.
The creature known as Cell in his imperfect form, made his way across the landscape towards the northern area of the continent where he had sensed his main target before it vanishing. He had altered his course to intercept Piccolo who had been with his target moments before and was drawing closer. Piccolo was well aware that Cell was approaching him and stopped and dropped into his fighting stance when he saw the bug like creature a few miles ahead of him. Cell continued to fly towards Piccolo until there were only a few yards between the two.
"So you're Piccolo." Cell said in a low gruff voice as he eyed Piccolo as he crossed his arms.
"How do you know who I am?" Piccolo ordered.
"So Gohan never told you, I assumed that's why you were meeting with him moments ago." The creature said.
"You are sadly mistaken." Piccolo said "I met up with him for my own reasons." He spat.
"Does that mean you're his ally?" Cell asked as he tilted his head.
"I am not." Piccolo growled.
"I see, so then I won't have to kill you, yet." He said with smirk.
"What's that mean?" Piccolo asked easing up his stance now that he knew he wasn't in immediate danger.
"My name is Cell. I was created by Dr. Gero as a fail safe should Gohan and the androids rebel and to absorb the androids, however I was also created to kill Goku and his friends as a secondary objective." Cell said still watching Piccolo closely.
"I see. Then maybe we can work something out like a truce. I know your main objective is the same as ours right now. To take Gohan and the androids down and as of right now none of us are strong enough to take Gohan head on, not even you." Piccolo said. "We can help you get your androids and Gohan in return for our lives." Piccolo added.
Cell put a finger to his chin. Killing Goku and his friends weren't even that high on Cell's to do list, in fact he didn't care if they lived or died, all he knew was that he needed to absorb the androids and kill Gohan. Even though the thought of teaming up with Goku and his friends disgusted him to no end, he might have to, to become strong enough to fulfill his mission. He sighed, "I don't know why I'm doing this but the data I currently have on Gohan clearly states that I can't beat him unless I achieve my perfect form. Even then I might have problems taking him on, but if I take you up on your offer I'd have some back up that might prove to be useful." He thought aloud as his tail flicked through the air.
Piccolo began to sweat nervously as he attempted to see what how much power the creature in front of him; that called himself Cell, really had and was shocked to see he outclassed him in every way. He definitely wanted to avoid a fight with Cell now and attempted to try the truce more interesting. "We can even let you use the Time Chamber where you can train for a whole year in there and have only one day pass out here." Piccolo said confidently.
Cell looked at Piccolo with intrigue. "That sounds most interesting." Cell said with interest. "With something like this I can definitely get stronger than Gohan and absorb the androids and then with no one to stop me I can kill Goku and his friends, but for now I'll play it safe and side with Goku for now until Gohan and the androids are dealt with." Cell thought to himself. "Alright fine, you have yourself a truce, for now." He said hesitantly. "But if I don't absorb an android in three months the truce will be off. Got it?" Cell added.
"It's a deal." Piccolo said hesitantly, he honestly didn't want to let Cell absorb more than one android if he could help it, since he knew that none of them could enter the Time Chamber to train any more. "Now let's head to the Lookout to let the others know what's going on." He added. With that Piccolo and Cell powered up and flew to the Lookout. When they got there they both noticed that everyone in the Lookout was in a panic.
"What going on here?" Cell asked confused.
"I don't know but I'm going to find out." Piccolo said as he flew down to Goku. "What's wrong?" he asked.
"It's the Dragon Balls." Goku said solemnly.
"What about them? Did someone steal them?" Piccolo asked in concern.
"It's worse than that." Goku said looking towards six stone orbs that were laying on the ground.
"No…" Piccolo said in disbelief. "Someone must have destroyed a Dragon Ball." he was in shock. Who would possibly destroy a Dragon Ball willingly then he remembered that Gohan still had a Dragon Ball after he left the Lookout. "He wouldn't! But it's the only explanation." He dreaded. He began to try to telepathically contact Gohan through a mental link but had failed to get through. "I guess I'll have to go back and ask him in person." He thought to himself.
"So where is this Time Chamber you were talking about Piccolo?" Cell asked slightly frustrated as he crossed his arms tapping a finger on his arm impatiently.
"Who are you?" Goku asked looking at Cell.
"I am an android created by Dr. Gero. You can call me Cell." He said as he took a bow.
"A what?!" Goku asked in alarm. "Piccolo why did you bring him here?"
"Calm down Goku." Piccolo said in an annoyed tone. "He isn't like the other androids. His main goal is to take down Gohan not you." Piccolo added. "I've managed to work a truce with him to help take Gohan down."
"What? Why?" Goku asked slightly infuriated.
"Goku I know this is hard for you but Gohan is no longer one of us. He plans on killing you and the rest of us." Piccolo said. "I tried to get him to change his mind but he wasn't having it." He added.
Goku still infuriated at Piccolo for his suggestion was now completely and utter enraged. "You found Gohan and didn't bring him back here so that I could try and talk some sense into him?" Goku screamed.
"If I had tried to bring him here he would have killed me. He is far stronger than me and you for that matter, Goku." Piccolo said getting worked up at how he had failed to help his pupil.
It looked as if Goku was going to attack Piccolo when his stomach growled. Goku took a deep breath and calmed down. "I'm sorry Piccolo. I know you probably tried your best to help Gohan. It's just that I feel so helpless and ashamed for not being there for him when I could have been. All the times I went off to train when I should have spent more time with him." Goku said somberly.
Cell cleared his throat to gain some attention. "Piccolo if I may I still haven't seen this Time Chamber you were referring to." Cell said impatiently.
"I'll take you there. Now you can only spend a year in there at a time." Piccolo lied, he didn't want Cell to become so strong so that Goku or Vegeta wouldn't be able to take him down if he double crossed them later on. "It would be wise if you came out a day early so that you aren't accidently locked inside the room forever." He added as they approached the door.
"Very well then, I will see you in a year then." Cell said as he entered the Time Chamber.
A/N: Yes the Earth's Dragon Balls are no more. Also it is stated in the manga that they can be destroyed. During the fight with SSJ3 Gotenks and Buu on Earth (after they volleyball attack), Piccolo tells Gotenks to be careful with his attacks since the Dragon Balls are scattered across the Earth and if one of them got destroyed then they would be rendered useless.