Piccolo sat on the edge of the lookout, meditating.  Big surprise.  It was a quiet day on the lookout, since they were above the clouds, it was a clear day.  No butterflies to interrupt him, no planes almost crashing into the tower, nothing to interrupt him.

                Except Dende.

                WAAAAHHHHH DDAAAHDDDAAAH DAAAAAAAAAAAH! SQUEEEEEEEK BLLLLAAAATTTTTT!

                Piccolo's eye's shot open at the noise.

                "No no, Dende," a counseling Mr. Popo said, "Purse your lips, Then blow into the trumpet."

                Piccolo slowly turned his head to look at the two.  Dende had taken up playing the accursed instrument two weeks ago, Mr. Popo teaching him how to use it.  After two weeks, he still sucked at it.

                He's a GOD for heavens sake; he should be able to play that no problem! Piccolo thought.

                BBWEEEEEEEPPPP! WWWAAAWWWWAAAHHHH BLLLLLLAAAA!

                Piccolo stood up abruptly, scaring the crap out of Dende and Mr. Popo.  They never saw Piccolo move from his meditative position, much less this fast!

                "I'm going down to Earth," He said, "I'll be back in a bit."  The other two were so shocked that they didn't respond. 

                Piccolo stepped off the edge and allowed himself to free-fall down to the planet. Then at the last moment, stopped himself just above the ground.  The Namek headed north, hoping to avoid other people by hitting the North Pole.  Then I can get some meditation done.

                The Namek arrived at an area then was an ice plan.  No one else was in sight.  Piccolo let out a rare smile, now he could have some peace.  He closed his eyes.

                "Aurr! Aurr! Aurr!"  It was a seal.

                Piccolo looked at the seal sitting on the ice.  Several others came up on the ice and started to mill about, taking interest in him too, pulling on his cape, sniffing him with wet, cold noses, and making one hell of a racket.

                "SHUT UP!" Piccolo yelled at the noisy animals.

                They all gave him a blank stare for ten seconds then all started up again at the same time.

                Piccolo flew off in search of another location.

                What about that old waterfall I used to meditate at?  That was always a nice peaceful location.

                So Piccolo took off in search of his old waterfall.  After fifteen minutes of flying, he found the waterfall in the middle of his forest.  He settled down beside the fall and closed his eyes.

                Only five minutes passed before the cars drove in.  Piccolo watched the spectacle with annoyance, then noticed people were snapping photos and pointing. 

                "What the hell are you people looking at!" he roared at them. 

                "The waterfall!" A young boy in the front called, "It's really pretty!"

                The rest of the crowd nodded and continued to snap photos of the waterfall.  Piccolo rolled his eyes and walked a little ways down the road so they wouldn't see him fly.  They should put up a sign or something to let us know these places are tourist attractions! He walked by a small sign that said, "Welcome to Pretty Falls!" Okay, that's not bad.  But a big sign with neon lights would have helped out! He walked by a large neon sign with searchlights that read in large red letters, "Welcome to Pretty Falls! Do not come here to meditate, you won't be able to!"

                Piccolo scowled, shoved his hands in his pockets, and flew off.

                He ended up in Arizona, far away from people, and in a quiet dessert.  He landed on top of a piece of land that jutted up out of the ground, folded his arms, and closed his eye's.

                He heard it slowly at first.  A small thumping noise that board into his skull like a heart beat.  Drums?  He looked to the west and saw a mass of movement that was heading towards him.  After a minute it resolved itself into a marching band.  Why the hell would a marching band be all the way out here! He saw the banner on the front off the band, it read, "Thousand mile marching band! East coast or bust!"

                Piccolo left.

                He ended up hovering over the Atlantic Ocean.  No land, no ice, just water.

                "Ahhhhhh," He sighed and folded his legs.  Perfect.

                "Dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum dum," It was another set of drums.

                Piccolo opened his murder filled eyes.  He had had enough.  He turned to the boat, and saw it was the same band.  They had boarded the boat and added a few things to there sign: An extra zero at the end of the one thousand and they had crossed out "coast" and written in "Asia".  Piccolo raised a hand and pointed it at the floating annoyance.

                With a pop of displaced air, Goku suddenly appeared right in front of Piccolo.

                "Hey! Piccolo! I thought I felt your energy, hey what are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere?  Oh Hey! A marching band! I love those things, but I bet you don't like them very much.  Must be loud. Hey! I bet that's why you're out here! You must have wanted some peace and quiet huh?  Ya know, you always seem to want some quiet, you just don't like it when people are hanging around you and barging in on you and-"

                "AAAAUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"  Piccolo yelled out and flew off as fast as he could.

                Goku stayed behind, talked to Piccolo for another five minutes, then flew next to the marching band, clapping along with the beat and grinning like a kid.

                Piccolo arrived back at the lookout.

                BBBYYYUUUUUUPPPPP!  RRAAUUUUNNN WWWWWHHHHHNNNNNUUUPPPP!

                Piccolo walked up to the trumpet playing Namek. 

                "Oh hey Piccolo! What do you think?  I think I'm getting better!" 

                Piccolo reached out a hand that was shaking with rage and crushed the end of the trumpet.

                "No more noise," he said with menace, then sat down and closed his eyes.

                Wow!  My 20th chapter!  I hope I don't run out of ideas!  I've still got a few in the works, so don't worry yet!   I was thinking about having the marching band follow him to the lookout, but I liked the way this one ended. 

                Let me know what you think of my stories!  -Brad