Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Innocence Reborn ❯ What's Happened To Piccolo? Face From The Past! ( Chapter 17 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z, if I did, this would be an animated series.



Authors note: *grovels* I'm really sorry for the lack of updates - I seriously did intend to write this when I finished uni in the summer, but I forgot to re-read Kaeli's last chapter, and messed up my first attempt. Then, I went through writers block, and didn't get it done till now.



It's another short chapter, but I hope to get another longer chapter done for my next turn.



Chapter seventeen: What's happened to Piccolo? Face from the past!





Piccolo groaned, bringing up a hand to rest against his aching head - then realised that he couldn't move his arms.



Or legs.



Forcing his eyes open, they were suddenly thrust into a midrid of brightness, colours and shapes, and such, that it forced them shut again, squeezing tight as to not let anything through. It was quiet, in any case, but he couldn't hear any birds singing, which he expected to see, last remembering feeling very tired, and very dizzy while on his way back to the Son household.



In fact, he couldn't hear anything at all, and this worried him - letting out a small whimper in response.



Venturing to open his eyes again, this time it wasn't as bad, although he had to blink a few times to clear his vision, but it was better than being blinded.



"Huh..."



The reason he couldn't hear any outside noises, was that he wasn't outside.



White walls surrounded him in a room about ten feet wide and fifteen long - aside from a unfurnished wooden bed [aside from a thin sheet], there was no other furniture in the room. The light came from a bulb on the ceiling, unsheilded, so that the full power was focused directly on his head, creating a slight heated feeling, more uncomfortable than anything. There were no windows, and a door with a keypad on the wall next to it, and a small slot at the bottom. All of this gave Piccolo an understandably nervous feeling - if it was somebody concerned about him, then why this room?



And why these restraints...he squirmed, both his hands and feet were locked together with some sort of device.



His head still hurt, and all this thinking wasn't doing it any good. He wished Gohan, Goku or Chichi, maybe even Krillain, or even Vegeta, were here, but somehow, he doubted it.



Kami.



It was worth a try.



He hadn't initiated contact before, and was unsure of how to go about it, so settled for closing his eyes, trying to push the pain from his head far enough away to concentrate, then just think of talking to Kami.



Immediatly, he came up against a mental brick wall - trying again just gave the same result, and after a few more, his head ached worse than before, and he was no closer to contacting anybody. He then tried to break free from the chains - he wasn't strong enough on his own, and couldn't summon any ki energy to break them - just like the mental link to Kami, it was as if something was blocking his ability to use ki...



Finally, he gave up, slunking against the wall as much as he could, tied up as he was.



Gohan...where are you?



Piccolo didn't know that this room was only one of many, and that, in another, two figures were watching him, with images from a camera hidden very strategically in one of the corners.



The shorter figure, a dog, spoke.



"Why do you think the emperor wants him"



Mai, the women, shrugged, she was slightly more concerned with the grey hair she had found this morning, which was a lot easier to explain than why Emperor Pilaf had them capture the Namak. After all, they had never had anything to do with Piccolo, or his sire, Daimoho, the Demon King. They had always been after Goku and the Dragonballs, a quest, which had never stopped, though there were long periods when they didn't look for any at all, usually when Pilaf got it into his head to try something different, but it always ended up looking for the dragonballs.



"Probably something to do with the dragonballs" she finally answered "After all, we know that Piccolo is a Namak, and that they can make dragonballs" she shrugged, playing with a strand of her hair as she considered the options "And we know that he isn't really a kid, so someone must have wished him that way"



"Maybe, if we keep him here, Goku'll have to give the Dragonballs to Emperor Pilaf?"



Mai sighed "I hope so...all we've done for years is search for them, he needs a better hobby"



"TAKING OVER THE WORLD IS NOT A HOBBY!!!"



Shuu fell off his chair as Pilaf strode into the room, cape swirling, his voice seeming too loud to come from such a small figure. Height had never been beneficial to Pilaf, but he was still intimidating, especially to Shuu and Mai, and who, despite his fanatical obsession with the dragonballs, and often disasterous attempts, especially when confronted by Goku, was not somebody to be brushed off lightly.



Shuu, on the floor, exchanged a glance with Mai as he got up, brushing himself down, and turning to his boss.



"We...uh...just wondered what your plan was, emporer, that's all"



Pilaf glared "I heard what you both had to say, and you are right Shuu, we are going to hold him for ransom, and with all the ki dampening equipment, there is no way for Goku and his friends to sense their friend, so, we hold the upper hand!" Pilaf grinned "So they will be forced to give us the dragonballs, or he will not see the light of day again"



Shuu and Mai exchanged another glance, but wisely, remained silent.



- - - - -



Goku was dreaming of cakes, noodles, donuts and various other types of food, when he was rudely awakened by a hand shaking his shoulder.



He didn't even have time to blink, before he was woken, hurried into dressing, and rushed out of the house, with ChiChi telling him something about Piccolo being missing again, and that if he didn't find him, that he wouldn't be fed for an entire month.



A MONTH?!!



The threat of not being made dinner today, let alone a month, was enough to send him into the skies. But, even after scouring the mountains, plains and everything a good hundred or so miles around their house, he still hadn't found Piccolo, and was getting hungry.



Landing near a fruit tree, Goku absently picked one of the brightly coloured fruits, before the thought of sensing Piccolo's ki came into his head.



Seconds later, all that was left on the ground, was a half eaten piece of the fruit.



Additional A/N: I've not seen too many episodes with Pilaf in - only a few from Dragonball, and the one at the beginning of GT, so bear with me.