Piccolo VS Mysterious Monster

"You filthy monster, you finally showed yourself." Piccolo stared at the creature before him, but before he could finish speaking, shock appeared on his face—he sensed many familiar ki signatures coming from this monster.

The monster said nothing, merely continuing to release its ki. The middle-aged man clutched in its hand woke up and desperately begged Piccolo for help. Piccolo did not respond. He was completely stunned, even his words coming out in fragments. "How... how can this be? The ki I sense from this guy... n-no, impossible! Wh-what is going on?"

"Help!" the man shouted. "I'm the richest man in this city!" He even pulled out a bundle of cash from his clothes. "I'll give you however much you want, as long as you save my life!"

Piccolo and the mysterious monster said nothing, merely staring each other down.

"Hey, did you hear me?" The rich man still refused to give up.

"Looks like talking won't do any good." Piccolo finally spoke, his gaze remaining fixed on the monster. "Come at me, then—at worst, it's only one worthless life."

The mysterious monster slowly loosened its grip, allowing the rich man to crawl toward Piccolo. Just when the man thought he had escaped disaster, the tail swaying behind the monster suddenly shot out and pierced his body. The tail frantically absorbed his life energy. The rich man's flesh and skin rapidly shriveled away, leaving only a set of clothes and scattered banknotes behind, silently proving that a living person had existed there only moments ago.

Although Piccolo had already learned of all this through Kami's memories, witnessing it firsthand still dealt him a tremendous shock.

"You're next, Demon King Piccolo." Having absorbed the rich man, the mysterious monster finally spoke—and directly called Piccolo by name.

Haaah—

The monster began releasing the energy within its body. A terrifying aura burst forth from that body, continuously sweeping away everything around it—the ground, buildings, and vehicles were all destroyed. An ever-expanding semicircular halo appeared in the city as dust flew and smoke filled the air, nearly obscuring all visibility.

At the same time, far away at Kame House, Gohan shot to his feet as if electrocuted. Krillin, who had been beside him the whole time, was startled by the sudden movement and hurried over to ask what was wrong.

"I... I just sensed two ki signatures that felt like Uncle Piccolo's!" Gohan said gravely, his brow tightly furrowed.

The others in the house stopped what they were doing and closed their eyes, focusing their senses. Moments later, they too detected those two waves of ki that were exactly like Piccolo's.

"Wh-what is going on?" someone cried out. Kame House fell into dead silence, broken only by tense, uneven breathing.

"Who exactly are you? How do you know the name Piccolo?" Piccolo stared grimly at the monster before him.

"Because I'm your brother."

"What?"

As soon as the words fell, the monster released its ki again. This time, what poured from its body was no longer Piccolo's ki, but a cold yet familiar power—Frieza's.

Piccolo's pupils contracted sharply. Before he could speak, that ki changed again—King Cold's. Immediately after, even more ki signatures poured from that dark green shell like images flashing past: Tien Shinhan's, Krillin's, Yamcha's...

Warriors elsewhere all looked in the same direction, their faces filled with shock and disbelief. Ki signatures that should not have existed had appeared there, and their intensity had even surpassed their original limits.

Finally, Goku's ki appeared as well. Gohan could not help turning to look specifically at his father, who was still lying in bed—Goku remained there, completely still.

"Who exactly are you? Explain yourself, now!" Sensing the countless ki signatures continuously emanating from the monster, Piccolo furrowed his brow and demanded sharply.

"There's no need." The monster's words were filled with absolute confidence. "Because before long, you'll become my food."

"I see. You don't intend to talk." Piccolo's grim expression quickly returned to normal, even revealing a faint hint of mockery. "In that case, I won't ask any more questions—I'll just kill you."

"Hahahaha! Demon King Piccolo has decided to kill me?" The monster laughed wildly, its eyes gleaming with greedy cruelty. Clearly, it believed that the strength Piccolo had displayed so far was still nowhere near enough to contend with it.

"For some reason, you know Piccolo very well, but..." Before he could finish, Piccolo suddenly stepped forward. His aura abruptly changed, like a volcano on the verge of eruption. An incomparably powerful wave of energy swept out, as though it would tear the entire space apart.

A surging aura continuously erupted from Piccolo's body. A circular crater spread outward from beneath his feet as stone fragments shot in every direction. Under that pressure, the monster was forced back again and again.

"But I'm sorry—you've got the wrong person." Having released part of his power, Piccolo looked confidently at the monster. Everything around him trembled under the pressure of his strength.

"What? I've got the wrong person? Are you saying you aren't Demon King Piccolo?"

The corner of Piccolo's mouth lifted slightly. There was no malice in his expression, only a long-lost sense of wholeness. "Not anymore."

"You wiped out everyone in this city. That makes things easier."

"What do you mean?"

Piccolo said nothing more. He extended one hand toward the monster, and a dazzling white light lit up in his palm—the glow rapidly expanded, illuminating the entire street as brightly as day.

"Disappear."

The energy wave roared forth. Cell, along with the remaining city buildings behind it, was completely swallowed by the attack.

When the beam faded, the city had been reduced to level ground. Cell was nowhere to be seen amid the smoke and dust.

But Piccolo did not lower his guard. His arm remained in the posture of firing the energy wave as his eyes searched back and forth through the ruins. The ki had indeed vanished, but his instincts told him—that thing would not die so easily.

While they were fighting, several other groups sensed the energy as well.

Trunks and Krillin, who were still on the road, could already see the semicircular halo created by the explosion of Piccolo's energy wave.

On the way to Goku's house, the androids detected the energy too. Android 17 stopped the car and went to the roadside with Android 18, both of them looking toward the direction of the energy eruption.

"I definitely sensed a very powerful ki just now, right?" Android 17 asked Android 18 beside him.

"Yes."

"Was it a volcanic eruption? Or... anyway, it was very far away."

"That ki erupted outside West City." Android 16, who had remained in the car all this time, unusually stepped out and joined the conversation.

"Android 16?" Android 18 was somewhat surprised that this normally silent guy had suddenly started talking.

"It may have been a collision between two powerful ki signatures."

"You have a power radar installed, don't you? Why did you keep it from us?" Android 17 asked.

"Because you never asked me," Android 16 answered with complete frankness.

"So that's how it is. Then tell me while you're at it—who's fighting whom right now?"

"I don't know. There's no data on either of these two energies, but one of them is powerful enough to rival you," Android 16 said honestly.

"What? Looks like Doctor Gero made another mistake—your radar is malfunctioning." Always confident in his own strength, even somewhat arrogant, Android 17 refuted him almost without thinking. "In this world, there's absolutely no one whose power can rival mine. What nonsense!" He turned and strode back into the car.

Faced with Android 17's impulsive reaction, Android 16 neither retorted nor argued. He merely gazed calmly toward the source of those two energies.

Android 18 walked over to Android 16's side. Glancing at her silent companion, she said softly, "Let's go, Android 16."