King Piccolo Saga: Part VI
It had been a long three days since the defeat which left Piccolo's form broken and nearly limbless. Holding on through his unfaltering power of will and intense hatred for the ones responsible for his current condition, the Demon King miraculously showed signs of making a seemingly impossible recovery.
"Master, not to question your decision," the pterodactyl-like demon began, his tone carefully devoid of any judgemental accusations. "But why are we still tolerating the presence of that human girl? You're already starting to get better without her help."
"I didn't bring her along for her to merely nurse me back to health," Piccolo replied. "I have other uses in mind for her."
"Like what?" Piano questioned.
"Isn't it obvious? If I show my face again before I get stronger, Earth's martial artists will be sent to defeat me again. There are more out there, those two that beat me were just the most powerful. Having someone else on my side to keep an eye out for me will prove quite helpful," Piccolo grunted. "I admit, I doubt I can defeat them next time on my own."
"But—"
"Reinforcements may be of some use, and I'm not strong enough yet to create any more offspring."
While it wasn't the answer he wanted to hear, the only surviving offspring of the Demon King was ultimately forced to accept his master's will. "I get it now... my apologies for questioning you."
"Don't let it happen again," Piccolo coldly remarked.
Not too far away, Mai had been out on her own grabbing more firewood. It was an action she had often found herself doing over the last few days.
She too, could easily see the progress her new master had been making. It seemed as if every time she came back—even when only leaving a few short hours at a time—Piccolo started to look more and more like how he did before his defeat.
'Oh boy...' the henchwoman thought to herself as she picked up the last block of wood she came out to grab. 'Three days and King Piccolo is practically healed already... It won't be long until he'll be ready to go after Pilaf...' Mai pondered running away several times, but she knew she had nowhere to go after abandoning Pilaf, and that even if she did leave King Piccolo's side while he was like this, then somehow, some day, he would find her and enact the same punishment on her as he was going to on the blue imp. 'As much as I hate the way things are now, I have to keep going along with it until I can find some way out of this mess.'
For several hours now, Master Roshi has been seated on the sanctuary floor in deep meditation.
"Meditation is the first step to aquiring sufficient ki," Mr. Popo coached. Only a couple of days have passed and the young master already seemed to be getting the hang of it. 'Perhaps there really is potential in him...'
"I already know how to access my ki energy," the turtle-hermit spoke, eyes still closed. "The only thing I don't understand yet is how to sense it in another being."
"Don't worry about that yet... quiet your mind and all will be clear."
"So it's true... you did survive our last encounter," Roshi exclaimed, clenching his right fist in anger while looking around at the bodies of his deceased students. "I'll kill you for this, Piccolo!"
The Demon King chuckled. "They put up a surprisingly challenging fight. It only made the act of murdering them all the more delightful..."
"Argh... Damn you!" The youth rushed toward the green demon, placing a carefully timed punch to his chin, which, however, didn't seem to faze him.
"All that time on the sanctuary and you still hit like a girl..." Piccolo started to form a small ball of ki energy in his right hand behind his back. With his left, he grabbed the turtle-hermit by the throat, lifting his body from the ground as he brought up the ki sphere in front of his face. "That fool Kami should have let your friends know of my whereabouts while I was... out of commission. That's a mistake I'll make you regret!" Just then, Piccolo drove the ki ball into Roshi's face, shining a blinding light in every direction.
Roshi instantly opened his eyes and stood up, perspiring while breathing heavily. "Hah... hah... I need to meet with Kami now!"
"Huh?" the genie was able to sense some disturbance within the youth, however he didn't think it was anything too serious. "Kami will summon you to teach you another lesson later. For now I want you t-"
"No!" the youth angrily cut him off before calming down. "Please. This can't wait. It's important."
On the beach outside Kame House found the gang basking in the solar rays. Yamcha was lying down in a hammock with Bulma by his side, while Tien was just about ready to leave with Chiaotzu. The other two boys were enjoying themselves more than training at this point, shooting water-dividing Kamehameha waves into the ocean.
"So guys, where are you planning on going to continue your training?" Yamcha coolly asked, wishing to get some tips for himself to follow.
"Chiaotzu and I are going to climb Korin tower," the triclops answered. "That's where Goku did most of his training, so I'm going to start there."
"Korin tower, huh?" the former bandit replied. 'That actually sounds like a good idea once my leg heals...' he thought internally.
Overhearing the conversation, Goku decided to chime in. "Korin is fun! Don't underestimate him, though! Oh, and when you get there, ask him about Master Roshi!"
"Hehe," Tien chuckled. "I wouldn't dream of it, Goku. I can't afford to not take things seriously if I'm going to beat you in the next tournament."
Goku smiled, giving a thumbs up.
"And will do. I myself am interested in what he's up to." With that, Tien and Chiaotzu took off into the sky. "I likely won't see you guys until three years from now, so for now, this is goodbye."
"Goodbye, everyone!" Chiaotzu shouted, already so high up he wasn't even sure if he had been heard.
Within seconds the pair were already out of sight.
"Hey, Goku," Krillin began. "Whaddya say you and I train together for a few months before going off on our own!" he suggested. Not only would it mean spending more time together with his best friend, but he would also get to see first-hand how he manages to become so powerful in a short time.
They knew they would have to part ways eventually, though at this exact moment, it was simply out of the question. Despite only being apart for a day, the two boys felt as if they hadn't seen eachother for a lifetime.
"Yeah, that sounds great!" Goku said happily. "Ah! Wait, I forgot to ask Master Roshi if I can use the nimbus cloud before the next tournament!"
Krillin scratched the back of his head. "Um... Y-yeah, I'm sure he won't mind this time! At least for the first few months!" he awkwardly laughed.
Back on the lookout, the genie reluctantly brought the youth before Kami. "One moment, please," The genie spoke, leaving Roshi behind as he exchanged words with Earth's guardian. A few moments later, Popo made his way back over, his facial expression as emotionless as it was during their first meeting. "Kami will see you now."
"Thank you, Mr. Popo." Roshi bowed, then proceeding to walk over to the aged deity.
"What seems to be the problem? Mr. Popo tells me that this couldn't wait."
"Yes, I did say that," Roshi began. "When I was meditating, I had a terrible dream. I think we should let my students know where Piccolo is hiding. Maybe if—"
"I know what you're getting at, and it is nothing to worry about. Piccolo does not know how to sense ki signatures like Mr. Popo and myself," Kami interrupted. "He will have no way of knowing that you are up here and not still down there with your friends."
The youth's eyes widened in disbelief. He thought the notion was the smartest course of action. "But that's only a temporary fix! I'm going to be up here for three whole years! If Piccolo comes up with some kind of plan, or if he's even just cocky enough to try and take over the Earth again, it's not going to take long until he realizes I'm not down there!"
Although noticing the anger in Roshi's voice, the aged deity simply chose to continue on with a calm tone. "Piccolo has never before been beaten like this in battle. It's not like him to attempt something without his assured victory Trust me—I know."
"At least promise me if something like that happens, you will let me leave the lookout to go help." Roshi insisted.
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
Upon hearing this, insteading of saying something he may later regret, the youth stormed off, hoping some more meditation would help calm his nerves and not induce yet another vision over the danger the Earth below may face.
"Kami..." Popo spoke up. "Not to be rude, and I mean no disrespect, but shouldn't we just ask Korin to tell Roshi's friends where Piccolo is recovering? Surely it'd makes things a lot easier if you are so adamant about he and yourself dying."
"I guess you could just say I'm evening the odds, Mr. Popo."
"Evening the odds?"
"Roshi is the first human being to have ever reached this sanctuary, meaning his potential for greatness is exceedingly high," Kami explained. "Before I pass on, I need to ensure the Earth has someone powerful enough—and wise enough—to lead them in case another threat like this pops up in the future. Combine our training, Roshi's youth, and add our wisdom to his already intricate amount of life experience due to living life for hundreds of years, I believe that he is the only one capable of succeeding me."
"Y-yes, I understand now. I'm sorry for doubting you," said Popo apologetically.
"There's no need to apologize, my friend," the Guardian of Earth assured him. "I understand there is a risk in not letting his allies below know what's going on... but it is necessary."
Mai returned to the cave in a brighter mood than before, playing along in order to appeal to side of her new master that values loyalty. "I'm back with the firewood you requested, master," she said, placing a helpful handful of firewood on the ground. "You're looking stronger than you were before!"
"I feel like I'm able to get back on my feet again."
"Hahah, you're so funny, Lord Piccolo!" the henchwoman exclaimed, thinking he was merely making a joke. It only took another second for her to realize that the Demon King wasn't exactly the type to display a sense of humour.
Letting out a loud painful roar, the stump that now replaced the formerly intact leg started twitching. Veins protruded from King Piccolo's cranium.
Mai couldn't help but feel concerned as she ran in front of her new master, throwing both hands up as if she were signalling him to stop. "Lord Piccolo! What's happening!?"
Feelings of concern turned into pure horror as the Demon King continued crying out in pain.
Piano, however, wasn't the least bit worried. "Stay back, fool!"
"Huh?"
With a distinct fleshy thrusting sound, a brand new leg bursted through the stump, the regenerated limb coated in green slime. He was perspiring profusely and visibly out of breath.
"AHHH!" Mai screamed in horror, never before seeing anything like what she'd just witnessed. 'What the hell is he?!'
"Quiet!" Piccolo barked, the sounds of her ear-splitting screams becoming increasingly irritating. Still panting, the Demon King stood up, attempting to regain any energy left he could muster.
"Do you see now?" Piano asked rhetorically. "Foolish girl, Lord Piccolo wasn't in any danger at all."
Sounds of another roar left the vocal cords of King Piccolo once more as he regenerated his remaining missing limb in an identical fashion.
"It's done," Piccolo smirked. 'We can begin training soon enough. They will never see it coming!'
It's been a long wait, but it's finally here! I was initially going to update my other story first but I lost motivation to continue it before another HRD chapter first, so here this is. It's a short chapter, but I feel it was necessary right now considering I haven't updated in a lot of months and I wanted to lay down some groundwork for later chapters.
C: It will also be most curious to see how Goku and Tien develop, especially if they train together for a while. And what about that Ultra Divine Water in that weird dimension guarded by the dark entity, I wonder if the Human fighters might benefit from drinking that the way Goku did, or perhaps that will be one of Kami's challenges to Roshi, survive the dimension and drinking the water.
The twist with King Piccolo surviving into the future and not Piccolo Jr actually has a lot in possibilities, and considering his history with Roshi, it could make for a rather tense situation when they have to ally in the future against stronger threats. And Mai, that woman always was just a bit too good for Pilaf, although I honestly think when it comes to the crunch, she still has a soft spot for the goofy blue dwarf, I also think if Piccolo odes hunt them down, she might beg him to spare Shu, because though Shu seems useless, he does actually have potential as a swordsman and might become something more if given the opportunity.
As for Pilaf, it might be amusing if he aligned himself with the Z fighters for protection. Got to wonder about Pilaf's ancestry too, he had all that wealth, near limitless resources and strongholds but he wasn't smart or powerful enough to gain it himself. What if his father or grandfather was a powerful martial artist from Roshi's era who turned bad and was killed by the good guys back when, leaving all his empire to Pilaf. Okay, now I'm just rambling like a lune, so I'll stop before I get more carried away in mindless conjectures.
R: Unfortunately, Tien and Goku won't be training together, at least not right now. I don't think I have any use for the Ultra Divine Water right now, but maybe in the future I'll come up with a need for it. I hadn't quite put much effort into thinking of a reason for it, but I really like what you came up with, there. If I include something like that, I'll be sure to give you full credit.
My reasoning behind that is because I believe Master Roshi and King Piccolo had more personal conflict with each other than Goku and Piccolo Jr. had, even if he did kill his "father". By sealing him away for centuries, not only did it kill his master, but it means Roshi also has known him and has known to fear him for the majority of his life. I'll be happy with just King Piccolo being in this story if it means I can write a more meaningful rivalry between the two.
Hmm... very good ideas in regard to Pilaf and Shu. I'm still working on what exactly I am going to do with them, but what I have planned so far for Mai, I hope you will like. I enjoyed reading your thoughts on Pilaf's ancestry as well, but I don't think I'm going to expand on him that much.
C: This chapter most certainly wasn't a bad one. Not in the least. The only major issues with it are Kami and Popo's dialogue being a touch informal at times and a slight issue with the flow feeling rushed at about the middle of the chapter.
R: Yeah, after re-reading my last chapter I partially agree, however, their dialogue was directly from the manga. Hopefully you find the dialogue here to be an improvement.
C: I can't recall if it was anime filler or not but I'm fairly sure Roshi would not struggle with the movement or blankness of mind a much as Goku did. He probably isn't a master to the same extent Popo is but his skill and experience would probably leave him.
R: Usually, Master Roshi may not have trouble with these things, but he still is adjusting to his younger body, and he has had a lot to think about right now as I have shown in this chapter.
C: Good chapter old pal. I wonder how much Goku will improve with Roshi training with Popo and Kami. He might be slightly weaker than he was in canon at the time of the tournament but Tien and Krillin might end up stronger since they'll probably train with him. Maybe even Yamcha! Nah he'll still lose in the first round.
R: Yep, probably. Classic Yamcha.
C: Impressive story, unique concept, good writing style that flows smoothly. I LOVE IT! Hope we can get more chapters soon I'm really looking forward to it.
R: You're welcome.