Project Cloud


Chapter 11 - Ready to Kill

Despite having to tolerate one leg being out of commission, Tien didn't let that stop him from getting around. Now having been wrongfully exiled from Crane School, he really didn't even know what his next move was going to be. He didn't know anyone asides from Chaotzu, Tsuru-sennin, and Tao Pai Pai. Since Tao Pai Pai was dead and long gone, he couldn't have him take him in. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to take him in anyway. And though he already felt separation anxiety from not being able to see Chaotzu, Tien knew that his friend would be hurt if they were even to remotely make contact with one another. It was better to spare his friend by maintaining his distance.

So he was all alone now.

He figured why not just stay right along where he happened to be, though. He didn't know anywhere else really and believed that this would be the perfect area for him, if he were to find a nice and secluded spot somewhere along the shores.

The weird looks he received from some bypassers as he carried on with crutches got on the tri-clop's nerves. Some found him completely normal while others found him to be somewhat weird, even anthropomorphic people, which was much more of a phenomenon than him!

Still, he couldn't help but wonder just what his next move would be once he was fully healed. Hell, where would he sleep? How would he eat? Would he just turn into a criminal with super human capabilities - robbing and hurting people for his own financial gain?

"Well, if that's the case…" Tien mumbles.

Just up ahead along the sidewalk, Tien spots a group of people all together surrounding a glass window, through which they were watching television. Just a couple blocks back, he saw a few old people and children watching through, but this was different. People of all different ages, shapes, and sizes were together watching this. The petrified looks on their faces caused Tien's stomach to shake.

His intuition told him something was wrong.

"And so my seat as of king of the world...has been contested...and taken. From this moment on...though it pains me to say it...the king of the world shall be the Demon King Piccolo…"

It's then that Piccolo appears and knocks the King out of the way on live television, solely to correct him. "THE GREAT DEMON KING. Get it right." He then places his attention over to the audience, looking as refreshed as ever. "Citizens of the world...I am King Piccolo, your new monarch. I believe you have sufficiently grasped the extent of my powers from the urban devastation I showed you earlier…"

Referring to the destruction of an entire city that just happened mere moments ago during his rise to the throne, Tien watches as people begin to shake in their boots.

As Piccolo goes on discussing how he hates justice and peace, Tien begins to shake in anger. He heard the stories - yes - he knew all about Piccolo. He wielded so much destructive power in his old days of tyranny that even Tsuru-sennin was reluctant to talk about the horrific events in great detail. If Piccolo was feared by his own master, a man who feared nobody currently living, then Piccolo's reputation was definitely something to not make a mockery out of.

He just couldn't believe this was happening.

"Let me just say that I do NOT plan to bind you all into slavery or anything like that," Piccolo continues. "In fact, I want you to do anything that you want. From this point moving forward, I am going to abolish every law-enforcement agency. You can steal, destroy, injure, and murder! No one will stop you! Evil shall be unfettered! Those who brandish the sword of justice shall be exterminated by my demons! This will be a glorious world of terror and hate!"

"This must be some elaborate ruse by the government to start a new world order!" a man blurted at the television, garnering the attention of those around him. "They want us to start going around causing chaos like chickens with our heads cut off so that they can come back and establish their own order!"

If only he realized just how wrong he was.

Still, Piccolo wasn't done speaking.

"And this, my subjects, is the only beginning. Before I am through, all of your greatest horrors will come true. Sure enough, as citizens of this planet, you must be aware of how many provinces this world is currently divided into." He then points his fingers to his head. "If you thought 43 - bravo." Piano, Piccolo's current only demon child, brings him a box that is implied to be a lottery box. "Today, May 9th, marks my ascension to the throne. And so every year on this day, May ninth will be Piccolo commemoration day. I shall draw one of those cards. And whatever number I draw...shall be the province that I personally destroy. The demon ray of obliteration is instantaneous. You shall not even have time to feel pain prior to death. I will, however, enjoy the sight of millions of faces twisted in terror. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! And just think only the luckiest of you will get to live for the next 43 years! Those who don't like my ideas are always free to come here and stop me! You're even free to launch a military assault! And free, of course, to die an early death! And now, without delay - in honor of the First King Piccolo Commemoration day - let us hold our first lottery shall we?"

After all of this, the same guy who didn't believe in this supposed nonsense called this a joke and just walked off.

For the first time in his life, Tien was consumed by fear.


"Province 29 is Westy City!" Oolong shrieks.

Bulma and all the others are currently on a helicopter, headed towards Tights' island. They listened to every single word Piccolo spoke as he had all the radio and television stations taken over just so that his new reign of terror could reach the eyes and ears of all those who could see and/or hear.

"Take a right over here and head to the King's palace," Yamcha exclaims. "We can team up on him and beat him up!"

"That's a very bad idea," Bulma says.

"What? Why?" Krillin walks up to Bulma. "You saw how we worked together to take down one of his goons, right? What makes him any different?"

"That's exactly it," Bulma responds. "Goons. You realize that eleven times out of ten, the goons have less influence than the one that they are following orders from, right? And it's obvious that with these guys, it's all about strength. For one, we don't even know how much stronger he is and we don't even know what he wished for!"

"We still have to try," Upa says.

"Well, you guys don't worry yourselves with that. With my suit, the problem will be taken care of."

"Oh, I totally forgot about that!" Oolong blurts. "That thing is some badass stuff! You handled Goku like childsplay, I was told."

"I still have to do some testing with the suit in order to come to a point to make replicas without messing anything up. The one I'm using right now is still a beta and isn't remotely what its full potential could be."

It didn't take long for them to touch down on Tights' island at all. For the rest of the trip, everyone's hopes had gone up to Bulma being the one who could actually save the day. Everyone was able to smile a bit more as they ran countless scenarios through their minds as to the multitude of ways that Bulma could end Piccolo's life.

Everyone followed Bulma to her personal laboratory, which was actually a hidden bunker attached to the big mountain on the island.

But as fortune would have it, all of those smiles and high hopes came crashing down just as soon as they saw the table in which Goku was on to be empty...and her suit...gone.


"Unbelievable how all of this is taking place at this moment," Dr. Gero contemplates out loud as he rubs his chin. For the past five minutes, he was replaying the tape of Piccolo, looking at the sheer evil from within. Gero himself had come across many heartless bastards within the Red Ribbon Army, though none like him. It would only appear that the stories were true after all.

He then shifted the spy robots to live footage, witnessing as Piccolo was spitting out a demon child prior to his departure for province 29. "Though none of this is at all a big deal. We will eliminate him and take over the world for ourselves."

Goku, who had just been woken up moments ago, gulped down entire gallons of water one by one. Subsequent to his tenth, the kid felt a bit rejuvenated, yet nowhere near back to full power. The fact that someone was capable of beating him senseless was mind blowing, yet he didn't react to it all that much. All he knew was that he wanted to fight Bulma again...just to prove to her that he's the superior.

But as it would appear, there were more important matters at hand.

"I'm going to beat him until he can't walk anymore before I kill him," Goku tells Gero.

"No, no, no," Gero shakes his finger. "I don't want him dead." As Piccolo turns around in the camera to talk to his new demon spawn, a smirk comes across his face. "Much like you, Piccolo is very much an odd specimen. I don't want you to kill him. I can see him...beneficial to my own personal use."

"By changing him," Goku implies.

"Precisely. I want him brought back alive, though as of right now, the matter isn't anywhere urgent. Your condition isn't anywhere remotely near optimal to take him down. Granted, your stamina would be an advantage to use against him during your battle, but you're far too weak at the moment."

"My stamina will hold me off," Goku tells Gero. After chugging yet another gallon of water, the young boy shoots out the doors of the laboratory with speed that Gero couldn't even catch.

The doctor only sighed and put his head down. Out of the corner of his eyes was the very suit that he had stolen from Bulma.

Such technology. It was extraordinary. With his own genius intelligence, it was all possible that he'd be capable of weaponizing it to an even further degree.


From the moment that shit started to hit the fan, Bulma decided that she was going to be the one to take the leadership role. Through it all, she had been calm and collected - enough to the point where it seemed that this hellish situation at hand didn't seem to faze her in the slightest. This caused everyone to calm down as well and feel confident that they could still prevail.

However, with Goku no longer being in her possession, nor her battle suit, everyone else's nerves begin to rattle as they witnessed Bulma's body shaking She had everything thought out. Sure, even if it was just Goku that had been taken away, she would still be able to effortlessly bring all the leverage back to her with the usage of her battle suit.

But without? She was nothing.

"Bulma…" Yamcha begins to console her.

"We're fucked…we're so fucked…"

There were only two scenarios as to how this would play out.

While she had an intense and horrible feeling of utter failure running through every fiber of her being, she tried her best to think about the two possibilities objectively.

Gero wasn't going to allow Piccolo to just take over the Earth. And Piccolo wouldn't just allow Gero to think that he would be able to dethrone him. If Gero were to win, he and Son Goku would continue on with their maniacal plans. And unless she somehow took the suit back, the both of them would be unstoppable.

If Piccolo won, Gero and Goku would be defeated.

Though highly unlikely, Bulma would be able to somehow recapture the battle suit from Gero and use it to defy Piccolo, defeat him, and help restore the world back to normal.

"What do we do now?" Puar asks.

"We have to let them fight it out," Yamcha says. As hard as his heart was thumping, he knew that fighting all together was their only best option. "And we fight who's left. I'm sorry, guys, but I don't know what else to do."

"Yamcha's right," Tights agreed. "It's almost a death wish, but what other choice do we have, really?"

Krillin swallowed down hard on a big ball of saliva. The cold sweats gave him chills as his feet trembled. "To think I'll die a virgin. Totally didn't see that coming - not this soon anyway."

"We got this, guys!" Upa butts in. "Stop being so pessimistic!" Everyone just turns their heads to Upa, seeing the young red-skinned boy with a pure look of determination and rising fury. "If there's anything my father ever taught me - it's that the mind has more power than the body. Our words tie into how we think and our words are just as strong as our fists - stronger even! If you say you can't do something, then you're speaking it into existence. But if you say that you can - no matter how hard the goal is - we can come out on top!"

"Master Roshi always said the same thing, too," Turtle points out.

Upa nods. "So no matter what, we go in with our heads high. Okay!?"

"Alright," everyone says in synch.

Though not optimistic in how they responded to his speech, Upa smiles. At least they agreed with him and didn't oppose to his words.


West City. There was pretty much nothing left of it. The big explosion shook the entire world so that Earth's citizens would have a true reality check to what it would be like being ruled over by some callous, anarchic, bloodthirsty demon for the rest of their life.

But the destruction of an entire city - now turned into a wasteland, didn't scare Son Goku in the slightest.

The young boy, going against Gero's suggestion of waiting until he was in one hundred percent condition, came right to the area that had just been reduced to dust.

"So a child comes all the way to an entire city, which I just destroyed, solely to defy me? I would assume that all of this is far too new to you - you surely won't be able to adjust to the terror that is going to be spread across this planet. You've come to have yourself an early death by confronting me."

From up above in an airship, Pilaf points out how it's that same kid from before. He says he can't believe that this boy of all people would be the one to defy Piccolo.

"He has a deathwish…" Mai mumbles.

"Well, let's just keep watch," Shuu says

Piccolo looks over to Drum, who's just got done chewing on the bones of some leftover victims. After he finishes crunching down on the corpse, Piccolo gets his attention by calling his name.

"Show this insolent brat the power of a demon warrior!"

"Ehehehe, with pleasure!"

Drum, though just born mere moments ago, is able to retain all his father's memories, including the techniques that he's aware of. Utilizing the after image, he makes an attempt to trick Goku to catch him off-guard.

Goku remains still and cool, keeping track of Drum's every movement. After just a couple of seconds, he notices a pattern of him zig-zagging in front, on the side, and behind him, doing his best to stir up confusion.

Once Goku decides to attack, he does so without mercy. With perfect timing, Goku attacks Drum as he's just ten yards in front of Goku.

One solid elbow to the face was all it took to detach Drum's head from his shoulders and send it rolling over to Piccolo's feet, shocking him and Piano. Mai, Shuu, and Pilaf's eyes were so big that they were on the verge of plopping out their sockets and rolling on the ground alongside Drum's head.

Goku didn't stop with Drum, though.

No later than when he killed him on instant impact, Goku blitzed Piccolo and rendered him a vicious knee to the chin, sending him sliding. Piccolo recovered by flipping on his two feet, but a knee coming down onto his shoulder blades was more than enough to cause him to crouch down in pain. Son Goku proceeded to maneuver in front of the Demon King and kneed him in the face prior to kicking him dead center in the gut.

On his throbbing back, Piccolo was in absolute disbelief! A literal child had not only caught him by surprise, but continued to beat on him with a brief combo.

And the worst of it all?

The brat made him bleed!

Veins popping out of his forehead was a sure indicator to Son Goku that Piccolo was absolutely livid. It almost brought a smirk to his face. The boy sees an oncoming blast and hops in the sky to avoid it. He also spots the next coming right at him and deflects it back at Piccolo, who brings it directly back toward Son Goku with a forceful kiai push. The young boy blocks it, which brings smoke all up in his face on impact.

Piccolo takes advantage, flies behind Goku, and kicks the kid in the back of the neck to send him crashing down, resulting in a giant crater, making it appear as if a meteor just struck down on their battle zone.

"Now, how do you like that!?"

Goku rises up from the crater, in mid-air.

"He knows how to fly!?"

"What's there to like about that?" Goku asks. "You just wasted your own energy."

"What!?"

Seeing as to how he was speaking - paying attention to his posture - it was very evident to Piccolo that this kid was above him in power. As much as he didn't like the idea of going all out, he knew it was better to embarrass the other rather than be embarrassed.

"You should be happy, brat. Of all people, you're the only person who's ever hurt my body and pride. For a kid with such a small brain as yours, you may yet to understand just how big of a milestone you have just made, but nonetheless, it doesn't mean anything in the long run. These grounds will be where your body decays."

"I know you're holding back. So try your best. Let's see if you're all bark or all bite."

Piccolo started to chuckle. "Cocky little runt!" The demon warrior began to put his vascularity further on display as he clenched his hands and began to exert out all the suppressed ki he's been hiding.

The ground shook, but Goku didn't budge at all.

Once Piccolo let out a vicious yell to unleash his full power, a burst of wind protruded from him with enough force to send a normal person's legs into the clouds. Yet again, Goku didn't budge.

Chuckling, feeling himself to inevitably win, Piccolo asks Goku, "Are you ready to die?"

Goku, getting a bit more serious, poses into his fighting stance. Had he been at one hundred percent, he would slaughter Piccolo with absolute ease, but his body was nowhere near healthy enough. Regardless, all he had to do now was rely on his stamina and it would only be a matter of time until Piccolo had an opening in which he would take advantage of.

"No," Goku responds. "But I'm always ready to kill."