King Piccolo Saga: Part IV
Inside a small cave located west of the now barren wasteland, Mai stared down at the incapacitated Demon King's body as it steadily tried to mend itself. As she stood motionless, the henchwoman thought about the events that had transpired just hours ago.
"Well then! Good riddance!"
These last words from her former boss continued to reverberate around the walls of her mind, echoing and ringing throughout her consciousness repeatedly as if trying to make her feel guilty regarding her choice to align with Piccolo. She may have even regretted her decision more if not for the lingering possibility of death; after all, this was the Demon King Piccolo. Why would her boss, in his right mind, believe that Piccolo wouldn't pursue him after his eventual recovery? 'Ugh... Sometimes I just wonder if Emp... If Pilaf has any sense whatsoever.'
Mai did a one-eighty, pivoting on her heel as she faced the perpetual darkness of the moonless night sky. Stepping outside the mouth of the cave, she stared into the endless abyss of stars decorating the world around her. '...I shouldn't be regretting this...' she thought, conflicted with her decision. It just wasn't something she could let go so quickly—she'd spent quite the amount of time with Pilaf and Shu, traveling with them around the globe on numerous occasions. Life without them seemed impossible to conceive, but yet she had had no choice—it was the only choice. 'No, I made the right choice! It's only a matter of time before King Piccolo recovers and kills him.'
Just then, Piano came running past her, not even bothering to acknowledge her as he made his way into the cave carrying a bucket of water and also kicking up dust onto his outfit. "Here you are, King Piccolo!" the pterodactyl-like demon exclaimed. 'I couldn't see a darn thing out there.' he complained internally as he dusted himself off.
While already healed enough to use his one remaining arm to lift himself up from a laying down position into a sitting one, the act of doing so still caused him great pain, exhaustion and even frustration at the fact he was in this helpless situation.
Piano quickly knelt down beside the tall demon, placing the water-filled bucket on the ground in front of his master's broken and battered form. From there, he cradled Piccolo's aged cranium with one hand and submerged his other into the water, carrying some of the liquid on his palm as he took it out. The Demon King made painful moaning sounds as his most faithful servant poured the contents down his scorched throat, the water already beginning to soothe the aching burns within his lungs.
"Woman," Piano called, breaking Mai's concentration and causing her to do yet another one-eighty as she turned to face her new allies.
"Y-Yes?" she asked, eager to try and stay on the demons' better side. She'd witnessed the power each of them possessed, and if she'd learned one thing from the earlier battle, it was that either of them had the capability of killing her with a simple flick of their wrists.
"If you're going to stay here with us, at least make yourself useful by gathering more firewood!" Piano scolded as he pointed toward the centre of the cave—a burning fire was consuming the last of their log supply.
Mai scurried off toward the exit, but then a thought came to mind, forcing her to come to a skidding halt before she looked over her shoulder. "Should I get him some food, too? Water's nice and all, but it doesn't exactly have the best nutrients that he'll need to survive." Now that she'd mentioned it, the henchwoman had noticed something rather peculiar—Piano had been gone for quite a while, yet he"d brought back only a single bucket, its contents solely comprised of water.
"No," Piano answered with a scowl, as if irritated by the question. "Demons like him can survive with just water alone. Nothing else is required for him to function normally."
"Oh. Well, all right then," Mai replied, preparing to make her way out again. "I'll be sure to remember that."
"Master Roshi... beat King Piccolo!?" Goku was completely and utterly flabbergasted. He knew that his elderly master was strong, but to be strong enough to defeat a monster like King Piccolo?! "How could Master Roshi possibly manage to pull something like that off?"
"Yes, Master Roshi won," the milky-coloured cat replied with a rather feline grin. "And to answer your second question, it wasn't all him. That new guy Tenshinhan helped him out in the final stretches of the battle.."
"Haha! I knew Tien was a good guy at heart!." Goku pumped a fist in the air, excited that his two strongest allies were able to do the deed. "So what exactly happened, Master Korin?"
"Well, it's a long story, so I'll only include the vitals. Basically, Roshi was able to wish for his youth back—"
"Wow! He's actually young again..." Goku interrupted, curious as to what his master looked like now that he'd regained his youth. Surely he wouldn't still have such an aged form or gray hair, would he?
Korin coughed, returning Goku's focus onto him. "Yes. From then onwards, he tried to battle King Piccolo, yet his power simply wasn't enough to finish him off. Once Tien entered the fray, however, and the two worked together, they ultimately pulled out a win." The white-furred cat made sure not to add the detail of Shenron's death; he felt the monkey-tailed boy wouldn't take it very well at all, the fact that his best friend was now gone forev—.
"That's great!" chirped Goku excitedly. "Now all we've gotta do is wait for a year to pass and then we can revive Krillin!"
"R-Right... A-About that..." As Korin spoke up, Goku could not only hear the doubt in his voice, but he could also see via his facial expression that the cat was uneasy—something wasn't right.
"Huh? Master Korin, what's going on?" Goku asked skeptically, knowing something was awry.
A bead of sweat dropped down his furry face as he perched himself on his cane, preparing to speak. "Unfortunately, there are no more dragonballs..." he gulped, not yet ready to speak the harsh truth, but it had to be done. "Well... You see, in Piccolo's rage—he intended to be the one to wish for his youth back in the first place—the demon killed Shenron and now the dragonballs are gone with him..."
The monkey-tailed boy brought his fist up in front of him, clenching it and his teeth both in great anger. "Arg..gh... N...no..." Several images and memories of his deceased friend flooded in his mind. It had already been unbearable to lose someone so close to him, but the pain had intensified tenfold by learning his friend was lost to him forever.. Not only that, but Krillin was one of the very first people he had ever gotten to know and the person he had spent the most time with. Now that all hope seemed to be lost with the eternal dragon's death, Goku truly felt more pain than King Piccolo had ever laid upon him.
"Damn it! If only Shenron was still alive! We could easily resurrect him and all of the martial artists who died today!"
"I'm sorry, Goku," Yajirobe attempted to console him, awkwardly closing the distance between himself and the child before clamping a hand down on his shoulder. "but that's life. That's destiny. Think of those who all die in illness or in accidents." Though he had only just met the young boy, he felt pain for him. It was almost as if simply being in the boy's presence made him more empathetic than he was just a few hours before.
"Hmm... Yajirobe's right," Korin admitted. "The problem is that the spirits of those killed by demons don't rest in peace."
"W-What do you mean?" asked Goku, again returning his eyes to the anthropomorphic cat once more.
"They can't even go to heaven. They must travel the universe in suffering, never being admitted to heaven or the realm below… it's an afterlife of absolute torture."
"I'm glad I wasn't killed by a demon!" Despite his very small epiphany seconds ago, Yajirobe couldn't help but express a sigh of relief in this already tense situation, even if he did risk sounding insensitive.
Goku widened his stance and clenched his other fist as well. "That's unfair! What can we do?" Goku asked. There had to be a way to revive them. It simply wasn't fair to Krillin and all the other martial artists that had fallen to give up hope!
"Nothing," came Korin's demoralizing response as he looked to the ground. "Without Shenron, we can do absolutely nothing." Suddenly the anthropomorphic cat looked up, remembering that maybe, just maybe there was a solution. "I have an idea! There's one thing we could try!"
"What?" Yajirobe asked in his usual burly tone.
"Really?!" came the childlike cry of Goku.
"I had my head elsewhere. I forgot one possibility… but at the same time, I wouldn't bank your hopes on it."
"Tell me!" Goku shouted in excitement, running up closer to ask Korin face-to-face. "What is it?"
"Before I answer that, I need you to do something for me," the ivory-furred feline responded. While he had faith in Goku to complete the task, there was still a missing piece of the puzzle that had to be found before anything could be done.
"Eh? What? Anything!" came the hasty reply of the spiky-haired warrior, eager to go to any measures if it meant reviving his best friend. "Please tell me!"
"Bring Master Roshi here first. I… I do have a plan, but I want him to be here when I tell it."
"Ok!" the monkey-tailed boy exclaimed, overjoyed with the response. He turned around, climbing on the railing that palisaded a full circle around the inside of the tower. As he was about to fling himself over and down toward the earth below, he stopped, recognizing he no longer had his Flying Nimbus.. "Uhh... How am I going to get back there? Yajirobe's car is parked at the bottom and I can't drive!"
"Don't worry. I have something for you," Korin assured him, smiling knowingly. "A gift."
"Eh?" Goku stared back at the feline with a perplexed look on his face. "A gift?"
Just then, Korin walked over to the railing, pointing his cane to the sky. "Yes. Consider it a reward for having the courage to face King Piccolo." Then, just as quickly, he gave a feline grin.
"Nimbus!"
Within moments, a gigantic yellow cloud—much, much bigger than the previous nimbus cloud the monkey-tailed boy owned—came to a halt directly under the tower's balcony.
"What's that thing?" the overweight swordsman wondered. Never had he ever seen a cloud as big as the one currently in front of him now.
"Wooah! A huge cloud! Is that… a new Nimbus?!" Goku gaped in shock and awe. Never had he expected that he'd receive another Nimbus cloud; he'd thought it was truly one of a kind. Seeing another one of the flying clouds nearly made him burst with joy.
"Use it, Goku. It's yours."
"But… wait. My cloud was given to me by Master Roshi…"
"I gave it to him."
"Oh, cool!" With that, Goku jumped off the balcony, landing on the massive cloud. Luckily, the boy had the pure heart required to stand on it without falling through. "This is great!" he commented, beginning to sift through the substance.
"Wha...? He's walking on a cloud?" Out of all the weird, amazing, and what he previously deemed down-right impossible things that he found out in the span of a day, Yajirobe felt this was the greatest combination of each of the aspects. He would have never thought, not in a million...no...billion years that he'd actually see someone walk on what he knew as merely condensed water vapour floating in the sky.
After a few seconds of searching, Goku pulled a smaller cloud out from the gigantic one, holding it in his hands before embracing it and feeling its fluffiness. "I want this one!" he yelled.
"Is that so?" Korin shouted back. "Well, then, it's all yours. Now, off you go to find Master Roshi!"
The monkey-tailed boy jumped on his new nimbus. "Cool!" The cloud floated up to Yajirobe and Korin. "Are you coming, Yajirobe?"
The fat samurai gasped. "Are you nuts?" he asked, bringing up his hands toward Goku almost as if he were signalling 'stop'. "No way, I don't want to die! I'll just stay here!"
"Okay, I'm off! I'll be right back!" Goku said before facing downward. "I'm counting on you, nimbus!" he told the cloud. And with that, the monkey-tailed boy made his way to Roshi's house via nimbus at its top speed.
"Amazing!" Yajirobe exclaimed.
"It's just a nimbus—It's nothing too impressive."
"What about me? Can I have one?"
"You wouldn't stay on," Korin flat-out told him, to which Yajirobe gave him a blank stare. He knew he was nowhere near being pure of heart, so he decided to save him the embarrassment—and inevitable injury.
Though the activity in topic had died down considerably, they still couldn't come to terms with the news Roshi and Tien had brought them. Krillin and Goku's deaths were just too important to simply move on from.
"There has to be some way to get the dragonballs back..." Yamcha pondered, resting his arm on the back of the couch.
"Yeah!" the blonde-haired Launch exclaimed. "Krillin and Goku can't be gone forever!"
"I'm sorry," Roshi began, a grim look covering his mien. "Tien and I saw the dragon die with our own eyes. We just have to accept it."
Outside, as the nimbus was about to fly past the isolated home, the boy jumped off and landed in the beach sand. Goku then made his way inside opening the door with a SLAM as it hit the wall, catching everyone's attention.
"Goku!?" everyone in the room shouted happily. He was actually alive this whole time!
The monkey-tailed boy took one look at Roshi, shooting him a quizzical stare. "I don't believe it!... I-Is that really you, Master Roshi?! You ain't old anymore, just like he said!"
"Goku! Y-You mean you're not—" Roshi uttered before stopping himself. "—Uh, yes, child," the turtle hermit hastily replied, regaining his composure before answering. It was increasingly hard for the martial artist to hold back his feelings at Goku's survival. 'He... He's alive!? I don't believe it!... Then again, this is the same boy who took down the entire Red Ribbon Army by himself.'
"I knew Goku was still alive!" the blue-haired teen cried out in happiness, overjoyed that her best friend had returned to them safe and sound.
"Master Roshi! You've gotta have to come with me to Korin's tower!" the monkey-tailed boy demanded, wasting no time at all for the chance to revive his best friend.
"Huh, why?" Roshi asked
"Master Korin told me there's a way to bring Krillin and the dragonballs back!" the boy started, his tone full of both joy and enthusiasm. "But he told me that I had to bring you back there with me before he'd tell me how!"
The youth reached his breaking point. He turned away from everyone, remaining silent, mostly in part due to being in both shock and awe simultaneously. Seeing his student again brought on one of greatest moments in his long life. And now, finding out he was not only alive, but came with word of a great opportunity to bring back Krillin as well, he was simply overjoyed. "Goku..." Roshi began, still his back to his friends. He wiped away a singly tear from his eye before continuing: "You're one hell of a messenger... thank you."
"Yeah, so let's go!" Goku said, pulling Roshi outside by the arm. "You can't ride nimbus because you're a pervert, so hold onto my tail!"
With that, followed by Master Roshi's constant groans at the boy's responses, the pair quickly headed back to Korin Tower.
Some time later they arrived, stepping down onto the anthropormorphic cat's tower. The turtle hermit was introduced to Yajirobe right away, who had known of his reputation as the greatest of the greatest. Just then, Korin entered out of the shadows, meeting eye to eye with the youth.
"M-Master Korin, it's been a long time..." Roshi greeted him, bowing down in respect of his former mentor.
"Roshi, indeed it has been quite a while," Korin said sternly. "You look exactly the same as you did when you drank my sacred water... that being said, it's been 300 years since you last visited me."
"I apologize, Master Korin..."
"It's okay, I'm just messing with you, Roshi." A smirk crossed the feline's visage. "It's good to see you again; it's even better to know you aged well."
"Okay! So we're all here!" the boy shouted impatiently, interrupting the two's reunion. "How can we get the dragonballs back?" It was quite apparent that the boy's abhorrently short attention span was now even more succinct; all he could think about was ensuring that Krillin was back in the world of the living once more.
"By asking the creator himself, of course!" Korin revealed.
"The person that made them?" Goku asked, raising an eyebrow. "Somebody actually made them?"
Roshi nodded. "Yes, Goku, someone did. He goes by the name of Kami."
"Pffffttt! I thought you were serious," Yajirobe rudely interrupted . "Kami! Ha! This ain't the time to joke around."
"No, you're wrong," Roshi corrected him, the sincerity in his voice indicating he was telling nothing short of the truth. "Meeting Kami is the answer if we're attempting to restore the Dragon Balls.."
"Where do we go to meet Kami?" the monkey-tailed boy wondered aloud. He'd been training with Master Roshi for years and had been around the world quite a while, so the fact that he hadn't known anything about this Kami person was rather surprising.
"There are only a selected few who can see Kami. They need to be strong and brave. And, under normal circumstances, they need to be pure of heart."
"Normal circumstances?" the obese swordsman once again butted in.
Korin nodded toward the group. "That's right. Roshi, even though you don't meet the requirements for that last part, I think for the fact you defeated King Piccolo, God will make an exception this one time."
"Y-you want me to meet Kami?" Roshi asked, his jaw nearly falling to the floor. "I… I never thought I would actually get to meet him…"
"Exactly," the feline affirmed. "I have a feeling that you, the one who defeated King Piccolo, is precisely the person he'll want to see right now. In addition to not only having the strength to defeat such a demon, you also are the most knowledgeable of Earth's fighters in regards to him."
"Wow!" Goku goggled in amazement. "This Kami guy must be really strong!"
"Unbelievably so," Korin answered. "He may even be stronger than King Piccolo was..."
As the conversation continued, Roshi recalled something rather vital. "I apologize for interrupting, Master Korin, but you still haven't told me how to get up to the sanctuary."
"Eh?" The monkey-tailed boy looked toward the ceiling, trying to find evidence of such an area. "Up where? Sanctuary?"
"Ah, so you do know what I'm talking about after all..." Korin said, pleasantly surprised at his former student's words. "I can see why you're concerned. After all, with your inability to ride the Nimbus cloud and the fact that the sanctuary is far higher than even here, it seems almost impossible that you could make it up there."
"I'll just go steal a rocket for you then." offered the obese swordsman lackadaisically, leaning against a pillar casually. "If nothin' else can do it, a rocket sure can."
"Heh heh. That wouldn't work either. Even if a rocket came close to the sanctuary, it'd be rejected." the cat replied, prompting something inaudible from Yajirobe. "I'm surprised you don't remember that part, though, Roshi... The way to get to the sanctuary is none other than Goku's power pole."
The youth remained silent for some time, searching through his memories for the answer. "Yes, that's right! Its original purpose was to connect this tower to the sanctuary!"
Korin walked over to the boy gesturing something with his walking cane. "Goku, let us see the power pole for a minute."
"Uh, sure," Goku followed-suit, drawing the magical 'weapon' from it's holster.
"Alright. Everyone come to the top of the tower."
Mai re-entered the cave, looking toward the ground as she did so. With firewood in hand, she went toward the last log left and promptly dumped her findings near it.
"That ought to feed the flames a little while longer," she thought to herself.
As she shifted her gaze up toward her new master, she saw—to her great astonishment—that the demon had already recovered enough to easily sit up unhindered.
"Wha... Ma-Master Piccolo!" the henchwoman voiced in a surprised manner. If she hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes, she would have never in a million years believed that someone could heal so rapidly from a life-threatening injury—while he looked far from 100%, there was significant improvement from a few hours ago.
"How dare you address him like that!" Piano deprecated. "A mere human like yo—"
"Enough, Piano," Piccolo interjected, immediately silencing his offspring with a mere two words.
As a result, Mai bowed respectfully. "I'm sorry, King Piccolo. I was just shocked you're recovering so quickly."
The King of Demons mustered up a malicious laugh, grinning all the while. "I'm not known as the Demon King for nothing… and soon... very soon... I'll have recovered enough to have my revenge."
Korin walked over to a hole on the top of the tower, pointing to it. "Put the staff in the centre." the feline stated, handing the power pole over to Roshi, who quickly did as the cat asked. "Ok. Now, just extend the power pole to the sanctuary."
"Okay," Roshi replied giving a nod to his student, former mentor and even Yajirobe. "I'll be back soon."
"H... hey!" Goku spoke up. "Master Roshi..."
"Eh?" the youth turned to the boy. "What is it, son?"
Awkwardly scratching the back of his head looking as if he wanted to say something but couldn't find the words. "I... I just want you to know... I'll be training while you're gone, master!"
"Hahaha," the turtle hermit chuckled. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you, Goku."
"Oh, wait, I almost forgot!" Korin suddenly exclaimed, holding forward a small jingling bell. "Take this bell. It's a symbol of the selected person."
"Alright. Thank you, master Korin." Just then, Roshi firmly gripped the staff, fixating his gaze above. "Power pole extend!"
On command the scarlet staff extended high in the sky.
'Heheheh,' the feline chuckled internally. 'He'll definitely be in for a surprise when he gets up there...'
The power pole continued to plunge through the sky, never seeming to reach the end of its proverbial ascension to the heavens. 'Boy is it a long way to get there!' Many minutes passed and yet he was still nowhere near the top. 'Looks like I'm going to be an old man again before I get there...'
Some time later he finally reached the end, signified by a CLICK sound as the power pole completed its extension. Master Roshi was now the only human being in history to reach the height of the sanctuary without the need of a plane, rocket or any other means.
Almost immediately, the youth saw a small ladder in the corner of his eye. The ladder lead to the surface of the sanctuary and the martial artist quickly used this to his advantage.
It didn't take more than a few swift intakes of breath before the turtle hermit could feel the change in air pressure—whereas a single breath on his tropical island would've sustained his lungs for several seconds on end, Master Roshi felt as if he needed to constantly inhale and exhale, for at that altitude, the air was several times thinner than what he was used to.
As he took more steps forward he saw what seemed to be a large-bodied man with pitch-black skin facing him. He had big red lips, and was wearing a white turban on his head with a blue, ovular gem piece in the middle. Overall, his appearance was nearly identical to that of a genie.
Instantly, Master Roshi bowed in respect, figuring that this was surely the man he'd traveled so diligently to meet. "He-hello. You must be Kami."
"No," the figure simply replied. "I am Mr. Popo... His servant." The genie started inspecting the martial artist with his eyes, looking up and down. "How did you beat Piccolo? You're only human."
"Huh? How did you know?"
"Kami knows all. Kami is great."
"Oh, uh... Is he in that house?" Roshi pointed toward the inner chamber with his left pointer finger. "Can I see him?"
The servant grinned in a jolly manner, bearing a single tooth. "Do you have the symbol?"
"The bell?" The turtle hermit reached within his coat pocket, grabbing it as he pulled his hand out. "Right here!"
"You are the chosen one. You have the right to try the test."
"The test?" What sort of test was this odd genie implying? Subconsciously, the youth wracked his brain for any sort of test he'd been told about aside from the bell, yet nothing seemed to come to mind.
"It is..." Mr. Popo pointed a finger toward himself with that same toothy grin. "...a fight against me."
Big thanks to Super Vegetarott to editing this fine piece of work for me. Well, not much to say in this author's notes. Clearly one can see how things are starting to change throughout this chapter. Now for some Q&A:
EDIT: Wow, the day I update is the day Brock Lesner breaks the streak... go figure.
C: Oddly enough I can sort of see Piccolo opting to train Mai, he's so old and injured at this point spawning another kid may kill him and he'd want an agent who both understands the modern world and can kill for him. Mai would agree because, well, he'll kill her if she doesn't, but I imagine the power she just saw would interest, even if just as a means of survival.
R: Exactly! Thanks! I realized I neglected to mention that Piccolo could die if he gave birth to another offspring so I'm glad you gathered that without it having to be told.
C: For some reason, I alwasys felt that Master Roshi could have given Raditz a hard time if he wasn't so old. He wouldn't have won, but it would have at least made Raditz sweat to beat him. But that's just my opinion.
R: Hmm... I'm not so sure about that. Keep in mind that before regaining his youth here, Roshi's power level was 139, while Raditz's upon his arrival to Earth was 1,200 - 1,500. In my opinion, even after the training Roshi will receive here, he will still be no match for Raditz 1-on-1 (I know you said it was just your opinion but I thought I may as well add my two cents).
C: This was a very interesting chapter. It seemed to have a good flow and a very detailed and believable battle scene.
It will be interesting to see how this world will develop now that Roshi is the most powerful and Mai becoming a major contender in the world of warriors.
R: Thank you, Infinity!
C: This was a good chapter - and an interesting one - but I noticed several grammar and spelling errors that threw me off during my reading. Because the site changed their standards so that you can't copy and paste because of copying (whistles), I can't show you, but I will say that it took away from my enjoyment a little bit.
R: Sorry, I'll try to be more observant of my grammar from now on. Thanks for the heads up.
C: Oh I certainly plan on keeping up with this through-out its course lol, Was nice to have my review featured even with how long it was. Mai being trained by Piccolo was NOT what I'd been expecting, though if Piccolo Jr's training of Gohan is any indication it should be interested to see how Mai turns out. As for Junior, you could always have King Piccolo spit him out without dying... I mean Guru spat out a planet of Namek after the great flood, I'm sure King Picollo could send out one child... though even if not, the idea of King Piccolo being around longer then his canon version sounds quite interesting as well as I don't think I've seen that idea before, lol. It'll be good to see how Roshi adjusts to his newfound youth training wise... perhaps its like the next morning after and he notices either Yamcha trying to train or Tien actually training and decides to get involved... or something, either way I can't wait to read. One last thing... Mai's thought process on how Piccolo would hunt them down and take them out was something anyone with half a brain would realize, so it shouldn't be hard to accept your logic as she was the smartest of the three.
R: IIRC, Piano stated that King Piccolo was too old and (relatively) weak to produce another offspring, even going as far to say that it could even kill him. That's why Drum was created only after he regained his youth (and to combat Tien).
Thanks. I wasn't sure initially what people would think of Mai and Piccolo working together (mostly because of the scar DB: Evolution left on the fandom) but I'm very pleased to see it being accepted. However, let the record show that I didn't have DB: Evolution in mind when I started planning Mai to join his side! I swear!