Artificial Human #20 doesnt want to go back to Dr. Geros laboratory in order to defeat Vegeta, so instead hes hatched a clever scheme. With Piccolo, Gohan, Kuririn, and Tenshinhan conveniently split up, seeking out the elderly cyborg, 20 plots to pick them off, one by one, absorbing their energy. Then once he has sucked them dry, he is confident he can beat Vegeta. And since Piccolo is the strongest after Vegeta, he decides to target him first.
20 clutches to Piccolo and begins to steal his ki. Seemingly helpless and defenseless, Piccolo telepathically calls out for his student... Something the cyborg hadnt banked on him doing.
From the spike in Gohans ki, the rest of the Z-Senshi is alerted to 20s presence, and pounce all over him. Oops. But its Piccolo who steps forward. Taking a Senzu from Kuririn, Piccolo warns Vegeta not to interfere... this is his fight.
20 smirks, thinking himself at an advantage...
"This is perfect! Ill just absorb his energy once again! And once I do, Vegeta wont pose any--"
Uuuuh, no.
Piccolo completely dominates #20. But before striking a finishing blow, Piccolo drops some science on him. You see, Piccolo and friends can control the amount of ki they possess, unleashing a lot in short bursts when needed. This is something we, the audience, have known for some time, but 20 is clearly oblivious toward. Piccolo goes onto say that this is why stealing energy from him made little difference in their fight... because he just repressed his ki, anyway.
Let me break this down for you. #20 attacked an unsuspecting Piccolo with his energy-stealing palms, and instead of raising his ki to alert the others, Piccolo calmly telepathically called out to Gohan to come and save him. Could this have been Piccolos plan the entire time? Perhaps! I mean, he would have lowered his ki on purpose. Certainly in that mountainous terrain, Piccolo knew 20 was at a stealth advantage... so why not be ready to strike? And even if it was simply a spur of the moment, quick thinking... Piccolo has proven, once again, even during the quagmire of dicks that is the post-Freeza, pre-Buu DBZ, that he is the best fucking character in this whole fucking show.
Vegeta snaps the show back to reality (Z-ality... okay Ill stop.) by telling Piccolo to finish off the Artificial Human, unless hed rather he did it. But Piccolo reminds us that he has no qualms wrecking this cyborg, given that hes the evil embodiment of Kami (sorta... but Piccolos identity crisis is a topic for a whole different blog post).
Thats when Trunks shows up, surprising everyone! Piccolo is so surprised he says his name out loud.
Vegeta recognizes the name and finally makes the connection.
And Trunks doesnt know who this Artificial Human is... but hes not from the future he came from!!!