Chapter 36: A Dangerous Secret
A few days after Piccolo's talk with Vegeta, he was meditating up on the lookout. Sparks flew off around him as he floated in the air. Raditz and Bardock were sparring with each other and hopping all over the lookout while they did it. Dende was standing around watching the two of them go at it and Mr. Popo was watering some plants. Piccolo's eye began to twitch and the sparks around him faded. He put his feet on the ground, stood up, and let out a big sigh. Mr. Popo overheard this and walked over to Piccolo.
"Is everything alright?" Mr. Popo asked Piccolo.
"No." Piccolo replied bluntly. "Not unless you know of a way for me to get a lot stronger in less than 3 weeks."
"Well, there's still the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."
"Yeah, Vegeta asked me to not use it until he got back. He said he has a plan. Besides that, would an extra 2 years of training really do me any good?"
"Of course it would."
"But it wouldn't do enough good to let me beat Goku."
"No, I suppose not."
"I hope Vegeta's got a really good plan, because I'm out of ideas."
"What about the dragonballs?"
"It hasn't been a year since we made the last set of wishes. We can't use them yet."
"Well, what about the black star dragonballs?"
"The what?"
"The black star dragonballs. I'm surprised you never thought to use them, I guess you figured the risk was just too great."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Really?" Mr. Popo inquired inquisitively. "Kami knew all about them, so I just figured that you would too. Since the two of you fused at least."
"Well I don't, so tell me the story of these black star dragonballs."
"They were made at the same time as the regular dragonballs. Just like Kami split into a good and bad half, so did the dragonballs. While the regular dragonballs are linked to Kami, these were linked to the Evil King Piccolo. If he died, they would turn to stone, just like if Kami died, the regular dragonballs would turn to stone. Since the two of them were linked though, both would die at once and both sets of dragonballs would turn to stone at once."
"Still though, that doesn't explain why I don't know about them. I should know everything that Kami ever knew."
"I can't explain it." Mr. Popo said flatly. "Kami always said though that they were incredibly dangerous and powerful and that nobody else must ever know about them."
"Including me. That Kami, he must have somehow sealed off that memory of them from me when we fused."
"Yes, I suppose that is possible. Really though, Namekian fusion is all very confusing to me."
"I've got a question for you Mr. Popo. Why didn't the black star dragonballs turn to stone when the evil king Piccolo died?"
"I suppose because you still contain his essence."
"Okay fine, so we've got an extra set of dragonballs, what would we wish for?" Piccolo then answered his own question. "That's obvious, for Goku to be his old self again."
"They don't grant wishes."
"What do you mean?" Piccolo said rather annoyed. "They're dragonballs, of course they grant wishes!"
"Kami placed a seal on them so that can't be done. These dragonballs are different; they hold almost all of King Piccolo's power. If you were to reclaim that power, then you could easily be at the level of a Super Saiyan 2." Piccolo gritted his teeth and got in Mr. Pope's face.
"Why didn't you tell me this back when we were fighting Cell! I could have been strong enough to beat him right away!"
"I thought you knew!" Mr. Popo said rather frightened. "And besides that, you could become evil."
"What?" Piccolo was clearly surprised by this new bit of information.
"Imagine you did claim that power and became stronger than Cell, but you became evil. You would have killed Cell and then the rest of us yourself. It was far too dangerous!" There was some silence between the two and Piccolo sat back down.
"Do you even know where these dragonballs are? Why wouldn't Bulma's radar have ever picked up their signal?"
"All 7 are here on the lookout. They are in a special room which keeps them completely isolated from the rest of the world."
"Take me to them." Mr. Popo was hesitant. "I need to see them for myself."
"Alright." Mr. Popo led Piccolo inside the lookout without Raditz, Bardock, or Dende even noticing. Mr. Popo led him down several familiar hallways and rooms, but stopped in front of a wall. It slowly slid open and revealed a very short hallway with a door at the end of it. Mr. Popo turned around and faced Piccolo. "Whatever happens, you must not touch the dragonballs." Piccolo gave a nod. They went through the door into a pitch black room. A torch quickly lit up and revealed that the room was very small. Mr. Popo and Piccolo could barely fit in it. At the back of the room there was a pedestal. On top of it lay the 7 black star dragonballs. "There they are." Piccolo gazed at them and slowly started walking closer. He stuck his hand out and slowly moved it closer to the dragonballs.
"Yessss." Piccolo whispered out in a voice that sounded nothing like his own. Mr. Popo looked up into his eyes. They seemed to be glazed over, almost like he was hypnotized. The color of them was also changing from white to pink and slowly getting darker.
"Piccolo?" Mr. Popo said with abundant concern in his voice. Piccolo's hand moved closer and closer to the dragonballs, but it seemed more like something was leading his hand to them. Piccolo's hand was now less than a foot away and slowly drawing closer. "Piccolo that's enough. I think we should leave." Piccolo didn't seem to even hear him though. His hand got closer and a small bolt of purple lightning flashed between his fingers and the dragonballs. "Piccolo, stop!" His hand was now only inches away from them. He smiled a grin which was not reassuring to Mr. Popo in the slightest. His fingers were so close to the dragonballs when Mr. Popo yelled quite loudly. "No!" Mr. Popo leapt into the side of Piccolo and knocked him into the wall. Piccolo's eyes closed and then he opened them up wide. The color had faded from them and he quickly looked around. Piccolo quickly left the small room and went back out into the hallway. Mr. Popo quickly closed the door and went back into the hallway with him, sealing the passageway shut again on his way back out.
"I…" Piccolo said aloud, but found himself unable to come up with any more words. His heart was racing faster than it ever had before and he was breathing quite rapidly. "I…" he said again, hoping that this time more words would follow, but they didn't.
"Piccolo, are you okay? You had me really worried back there." Piccolo glanced over at Mr. Popo.
"I…" This time more words did follow. "…need to be alone." Piccolo walked off, leaving a very concerned Mr. Popo behind him. 'That was the most intense, terrifying, and exhilarating experience of my life. Exhilarating?' Piccolo thought to himself as he stopped in his tracks. 'Yeah, it was.'