Chapter 37: King Piccolo's Power
"Goten! Trunks!" Gohan yelled into the air. "Come on out you guys!" Gohan scratched the back of his head. "Where'd they go?" Gohan wasn't going to find them though, because they were up on Dende's lookout. Earlier that morning, Piccolo had come and picked up Goten and Kid Trunks for the day.
Up on the lookout Bardock was meditating while Raditz was taking a nap. Bardock had a sudden vision of the future. He was sitting down and begun talking. His words were "What a useless vision." Bardock opened his eyes. "What a useless vision." Bardock said aloud to himself. He then stood up and stretched. He spotted Raditz taking a nap not far away. "That seems like a pretty good idea." Bardock said to himself with a yawn. Bardock went off to find a decent place to take a nap. At that same time, Piccolo just finished telling Trunks and Goten about the black star dragonballs. Mr. Popo was also with them.
"Do you understand?" Piccolo said to them.
"I think so." Trunks replied back.
"Wait." Goten said. "You used to be bad?"
"Yeah, weren't you paying attention you dummy?"
"I'm not a dummy. I was just surprised is all."
"Okay." Piccolo began to get a more serious tone now. "I want to absorb the power of the dragonballs. I'll become a lot stronger if I do that."
"Okay."
"Well what do you need us for?" Kid Trunks asked him.
"Well…" Piccolo began with an uneasy smile. "…if things should go wrong and I become the Evil King Piccolo again, I'll need you two to kill me." The two children stared at the older namek in shock.
"Kill you?"
"Uh-uh, no way?" Goten said to him.
"Goten." Piccolo looked at him sternly. "As it is now, I'm completely useless against Goku. I'm not saying I can beat Goku if I do this, but I'll at least have a chance this way, even if it is a small one." Goten seemed to hang on Piccolo's every word. "But, I need to know if you two are willing to put me down if things go wrong. If you both can't tell me that you can do that, then I'm not taking this power."
"Why not just get my dad to do it?" Trunks asked him.
"Your father might not be strong enough to beat me after this." Piccolo couldn't help but smile at the thought.
"Yeah, I guess I can do it then." Piccolo got upset about his reply.
"I guess isn't good enough! This is my life we're talking about! I need a strong confident yes from both of you or I'm not doing this." Trunks looked down at the ground, his eyes narrowed into a serious stare. He looked back up and looked Piccolo directly in the eyes.
"Yes." He said this with unflinching conviction. "I can do it." Piccolo smiled, not at his answer, but because of the absolute confidence he felt in the young boy's answer.
"Goten. What about you?"
"Well…" Goten began. "…will you really be able to help my dad if this works?" Piccolo gave a nod. "Then, yes." Goten said it rather hesitantly. He then shook his head from side to side. "Yes! I won't be afraid."
"Good." Piccolo's smile seemed to have a very gentle feel to it. Piccolo then put his hands on the shoulders of the two boys. "I'm very proud of both of you. I'm sorry to put this burden on you two, but I'm not sure Gohan would have been up to it. He's a lot more attached to me than you guys." Piccolo turned to face Mr. Popo. "We're ready." Mr. Popo gave a nod and the group began to walk to the secret room. Around the corner, Dende shook nervously at what he had just overheard. Dende quickly walked to the outside of the lookout. He approached Bardock who was still looking for a place to take a nap.
"Bardock." Dende said to him.
"Hmm. What is it?" Bardock responded back to him rather plainly.
"I need you to go get Gohan and bring him here immediately."
"Why?"
"I can't explain right now. Can you just do this favor for me, it's really important." Bardock stared at Dende for a moment.
"Fine. I'll go get him."
"Make sure you tell him to get here asap." Bardock gave a nod and took off into the air at a casual pace. Dende looked down at Raditz who was snoring somewhat loudly. 'Gohan, I have faith in you. I know you can do what's necessary. Whether it involves taking down Piccolo or Goku.'
Meanwhile, Mr. Popo had gotten the black star dragonballs and moved them to a larger room. Mr. Popo set them all down and stepped away from them.
"So…" Trunks pondered aloud. "…how is this supposed to work anyway?"
"I'm not sure." Piccolo said to him.
"Well that's reassuring." Piccolo had spent the entire previous day in intense meditation to try and give himself the mental fortitude he would need to absorb the power of the Evil King Piccolo.
"Hmm." Piccolo hummed to himself. 'King Piccolo, your power was so immense. It was far greater than Goku could have ever handled at the time. Kami wasn't stupid though. He turned you into a complete weakling. Not a weakling compared to Earthlings, but compared to what you could have been. Now I'll use your power, but it won't be for Evil!' Piccolo confidently walked right up to the dragonballs. 'So far, so good. I'm not feeling anything like I did before.' Piccolo stuck his hand out. 'Here goes!' He grabbed the one star dragonball. He held it up in front of him and stared at it. The dragonball then slowly sunk into Piccolo's hand, as if it were being absorbed into his very body. The dragonball had been absorbed into Piccolo. He could feel his power level already beginning to rise. He picked up the 2 and 3 star dragonballs and did the same to them. 'This is good, I'm getting stronger and still in complete control.' Piccolo then picked up the 4 and 5 star dragonballs. The 4 star dragonball was quickly absorbed into Piccolo's body as well.
"How are you feeling?" Mr. Popo asked him curiously. "If you don't respond I'll have to tackle you again." Piccolo cracked a smile and turned his head towards Mr. Popo.
"That won't be necessary. I'm feeling fine. Actually, that's a lie." Trunks, Goten, and Mr. Popo all gasped. "I'm feeling better than fine. I can feel myself already starting to grow stronger."
"Do you need to rest?"
"No, I'm feeling pretty good right now. Anyway, 4 balls down, 3 to go." Piccolo then absorbed the 5 star dragonball into his hand. After that, he paused and didn't grab the remaining two dragonballs.
"How about now? Do you still feel alright?"
"Yes, I feel fine. I'm just mentally preparing myself for the next one." Piccolo picked up the 6 star ball. It felt unusually heavy to him. 'No, I can't handle anymore. I can feel it. If I absorb this dragonball, it will push me over the edge.' "I'm going to stop now."
"Really, how come?" Goten asked.
"I've just got a bad feeling about this next one is all. Absorbing the first 5 has made me stronger, so I'll just stop there."
"I think that's an excellent idea." Mr. Popo said with a large smile. Piccolo went to put the dragonball back down, but as he was moving his arm, he heard a voice in his head.
'No!' The voice yelled out. 'You've come too far to stop now!' Before Piccolo could put the dragonball back, it started to get absorbed into him.
"Aaaah!" Piccolo gasped in shock.
"What's happening?" Trunks yelled at him. "I thought you were going to stop!"
"I can't control it! It's absorbing into my body on its own!" The dragonball then completely sunk into Piccolo's hand. "Goten! Trunks! Fuse now! You have to stop me!" The white of Piccolo's eyes quickly turned to black and his pupils changed to red. Piccolo whipped his head back around and stared at the two boys. "King Piccolo is back."