Dragon Ball Z: Attack Of The Saiyans Part #17 - Piccolo Takes Matters Into His Own Hands! Can Gohan Become A Warrior!?

Part 17: Piccolo Takes Matters Into His Own Hands! Can Gohan Become A Warrior!?

Howdy, folks, and welcome back! Last time, on Attack of the Saiyans, Raditz and Goku were killed by Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon, and we learned that there are two more Saiyans, both far more powerful than Raditz, are coming to Earth. Today, we're going to start our preparations for their coming, so let's head out.

So, yeah, we'll be seeing Gohan a lot for the next little bit. I hope you don't mind.

When the last chapter ended, Goku's body had just been taken by Kami. We'll find out why in a little bit.

In a surprise twist, Kami ends up Buffalo Bill'ing with Goku's skin.

Or...Maybe not. I dunno. _{_{If someone draws that, I might just die from laughter}}

An excellent question, Bulma. Only Piccolo and Goku knew about the Scouter.

: Uh, hey, Krillin...? Could you grab that for me?

: Uh...Sure. I guess he's not gonna spring back to life or anything...

Bulma is a super genius, if I hadn't mentioned this before. Which is evident from this shot, since she's looking at a piece of alien technology, for about four seconds, and has a fair idea of how it works already.

: I bet if I can take this home and work on it a little bit...We could use it to find Yamcha and Tien, too!

: We'd best go back to Kame House for the time being.

: Yeah. Not much else for us to do here.

: And once we're done over there, I'm gonna go start searching for the Dragon Balls!

: What is your plan, then, Piccolo?

: Search for the balls all you want. I don't care. Not even Kami has the power to raise the dead, after all. But in the meantime, I'm going to take care of Goku's son.

: W-what?!

: You're kidding me! What're you gonna do with him?

: With the right training, that Gohan kid could acquire a massive amount of power. We'll need that to fight off the two Saiyans due here in a year's time. I'll need to build up his strength before then. That's the only way to do it.

: But...But you can't just...

: I...I'm not sure this is a good idea.

I was going to incredulously ask Roshi how the fuck he planned on talking to Goku, but then I remember that his sister is Fortuneteller Baba and that wouldn't be too big of a deal.

: I'm taking Gohan with me...And I don't care if I have to kill you all to shut you up!

Piccolo approaches Gohan's unconscious body, strolling past everyone.

Can I just say I love that look on Piccolo's face? He's so goddamned

it's not funny.

And off he goes, ready to train Gohan so they're not all horrifically killed within a year.

In this next scene, we're going to learn something important.

Piccolo is actually a Jesus allegory, which is rarely hinted to, but occasionally shown, such as here, where it's revealed Piccolo can walk on water.

He balances it out by dunking Gohan, face first, into the water.

: Gack! Koff koff...Huff huff huff...

: We need to talk. Get out of the water.

: What?! W-who are you?! Waaaahhhhhhh!!!! Daaaaaadyyyyyyyy! I'm scaaarrrred!

Also, Piccolo doesn't know how to deal with children. He's going to spend most of this time yelling at Gohan.

Then again, who doesn't want to yell at a whining and crying child? Maybe my opinion on that is colored a bit, since I'm a cashier at a grocery store.

: All right, you. Listen to me carefully. Your father is dead, all right? You probably remember a little from the fight. He sacrificed himself to win.

: ...! Daddy's...?

: Whoa! Don't start crying again! I'll break your neck! I mean it! Did your father ever tell you about how the Dragon Balls work? I'm sure Goku's friends will gather them all up again so they can wish him back to life? But that isn't the main issue here. We managed to take care of the guy who kidnapped you by ourselves. But we'll have two more of them come here in a year. And they'll be even more dangerous. Even if they do resurrect Goku before then, there's no way we can win with just the two of us! We need your power, kid! You need to train, learn to fight. We must protect the Earth together!

: Huh?! Train me? I..I couldn't! I, I can't fight at all!

: It isn't a matter of can or can't! You must! We aren't gonna accomplish anything here, though...Follow me!

And so, Piccolo flies off, leaving the four-year old kid stuck in a pond, by himself, after just learning his father was killed and he could very well die in a year.

Before we go catch up with Piccolo, let's check out Gohan's skills and stats.

...

Okay, he's not that different from our characters when we first started. Granted, they had Skills, but these stats aren't too different.

Alright, he's four and can't use Ki blasts, so it makes sense that he can't even try to blow up these rocks.

Hey, this is a fun thing! When we use this item, our Ki-Blast meter on the field will grow larger.

Just like that. We can now use more Ki blasts on the field! You'll all notice that instead of a one-star ball on the meter, it's become a two-star ball, meaning we can blow up rocks that flash white.

Well, Piccolo didn't go far.

Jesus, c'mon, Gohan, you went like twenty feet.

: I can't be a warrior...I just don't have what it takes.

: Maybe you don't realize it, but you've got power inside you that nobody else on Earth does! You need to train so that power can come to the surface, so you can harness it at will!

: N-no way...I...I don't have anything like that...

Piccolo has a great idea, though.

He walks up to Gohan.

Takes hold of him and--

--Wings that little boy toward the biggest goddamned rock around.

Gohan, instead of having his brains splattered across the rocks, blows them the fuck up.

He blew them up real good.

This makes this the second time Piccolo has shit his pants in the presence of overwhelming power.

I don't blame you. You should be careful how much you piss him off, Piccs.

Who the hell else could've done it, Gohan?

: Whenever your emotions swell to their peak, you're able to unlock your hidden powers. It may only last for a moment, but my training will help you work on that. It'll make you the strongest warrior in the world. You understand me?

: But...But I don't wanna be a warrior...I wanted to be a scholar.

: I'm not saying you can't. It'll have to wait until after the Saiyans next year, though. Those guys want to eradicate us off the face of the earth. There'd be no future for anyone then.

: But...But I'm scared...

: Quit whining, brat! You want me to kill you right now?! There's no time to waste. We're starting now! Take your outer clothing off!

And so he does.

: *Sniff* I...I wanna wait for my daddy to get resurrected. Then I can learn how to fight from him.

: Heh. Well, tough. He's strong. I'll grant you that, but he's not cut out to be a teacher. He's too nice. He doesn't know how to be harsh toward anyone. I can tell that just by seeing how much of a spoiled brat you are. Hurry up and get ready. We need to move!

And Piccolo heads off to the next area, leaving us in control again.

Alright, let's go catch--

--This might not end well.

It'll be alright. These guys usually have an attack, but he didn't use it this fight.

He can use this to lower your Evade and Speed, which doesn't mean much to Gohan, since he's slower than shit.

He hits like our characters did at the beginning.

The Tumble Bug can also raise his Defense, but that doesn't save him.

And Gohan gains his first level!

...Great. Gohan gains a single point to his stats when he levels up. He still gets the two bonus points, and they go into Power and Skill.

That's our only fight here, though, so let's scoot over to Piccolo.

Gohan is about to be extremely upset when Piccolo answers.

This doesn't sound so bad, right? Survive, have a campfire, hang out with Piccolo...

Then again, Gohan has always lived in a house, so I could see how this could be intimidating.

...Wait, what?

You read that correctly; Piccolo is going to dump Gohan's four year old ass here, in the middle of nowhere, for six whole months.

I don't know if most of us reading this could survive six months in the wilderness. I certainly couldn't. Then again, I've enough metal in one of my legs to redo the drywall in someone's bedroom.

Oh, hey, Piccolo's not a total dick. Good for him.

: You're the key to Earth's future, kid. You'd better not forget that. Believe in the power you have. Learn how to harness it.

: But..But I...!

: See you. Oh, one more thing. Don't try to run away on me. This place is surrounded by vast deserts on all sides. Compared to that, it's like heaven here.

: W-wait! Where am I gonna find food? How can I take a bath? Where's my bed?!

: You think I've got any of that for you here, you coddled brat?

: ...No... You're so mean...

Including this as a screenshot because I think this line is cool as shit.

Well, Piccolo is either coming back to find a little badass, or a little pile of bones.

...Might be the pile of bones...

Still, let's fade out and go somewhere else.

Oh, Kami's Lookout! And there's Kami and Mr. Popo.

Mr. Popo is the caretaker of Kami's Lookout as well as a giant badass. He's pretty powerful, to the tune of being able to fight off Super Saiyan Goten and Trunks with little effort.

We've already met Kami, who is God. Or the Guardian of the Earth. Depends on the dub you're watching.

He's also noting that Piccolo isn't quite the Piccolo he used to be.

Here's an interesting thought concerning Piccolo.

I'm sure someone has said this before, and most of you have probably thought about it, and it's possibly even been stated in an interview or something, but Piccolo is changing.

He had been brought into the world for a single purpose; he was here to kill Goku. That was his entire purpose in life, to kill that one man.

But now, he's fulfilled that purpose. Of the two times that Goku is killed in Dragon Ball, this is the first. And Piccolo, who wanted nothing more than to kill him, did it.

And after killing him, he's going to train Goku's kid. Sure, at the moment, it's in the interest of self-survival, but as we know, he grows to actually care about Gohan. To the point where he's more of a father to Gohan than Goku is.

And it started after he killed Goku, after he finally completed the task he was brought into this world to do.

Maybe I'm way off on that, but it makes sense to me. And maybe I took too much space explaning it, but truthfully, I think it fits there, and I didn't feel like making any more portraits.

Oh, crap, they're still talking!? I thought for sure they were done!

: My death is Piccolo's, and Piccolo's death is mine. Heh heh heh. I may be a great man, yes, but that doesn't mean I enjoy knowing when I'm about to die. I'm sure he's realized it as clearly as I have. Perhaps he feels he must leave his mark on the world somehow before he goes. Even if that thing is the son of his nemesis.