Chapter 2: Gathering friends

Krillin was sure that, of course, he wasn't the only human with fighting abilities. He thought his friends might want to get stronger as well, and he knew that any threat couldn't be handled by him alone. So, he clicked a button outside of the ship, and it returned to the small capsule Krillin had found in the first place. Initially, he headed towards Yamcha, to see if he was interested in training. However, the baseball player was ahead of him.

"What? You've been training all along?" Krillin asked his friend in disbelief, once he had arrived to the desert where Yamcha was.

"Yes, I have. Look: those there are my weights for training. I put them on, and I try to improve my speed." He answered while pointing to some bracelets which certainly looked heavy.

Krillin doubted for a second in asking Yamcha to train with him, but he decided to tell him in the end. However, the Z-fighter refused his offer, claiming that these four months he had felt the results and that it would be a total letdown if he started all over with Krillin.

"Results, huh?" Krillin began. "Show them to me."

"I'd love to." Yamcha stated with a smirk on his face that could only mean he was quite confident in his skills.

After glaring to each other for a while, a strong and continuous series of punches followed the fighter's phrase. No one seemed to gain the advantage for a while, but Yamcha began landing some hard strikes on Krillin's stomach.

"Darn!" said Krillin for himself, while he kept punching and dodging. "At this rate, I'm done for!"

The close combat ensued for some time before Krillin went backwards, dodging one of Yamcha's punches, and threw a powerful Ki blast that hit the baseball player on its full.

"Wow, you really have been training hard, haven't you?" Yamcha complimented his friend.

"I practice a while with 18, just to ensure I don't get rusty with my skills," Krillin stated, rising his chin in signal of pride. "Thanks for the workout, Yamcha, but I have to look for Tien and Chiaotzu as well. I need a sparring partner."

As Krillin departed, his comrade bade him farewell. The human continued to look for two energies around a waterfall, looking for the humans who had once been students of the Crane Hermit. However, he began wondering himself again if he was lacking practice in sensing energies after all, since one of those powers was quite powerful, easily surpassing Tien's. As he arrived, he noticed it was none other than Mr. Buu, who was with Chiaotzu.

"Hey friend!" shouted Krilin.

"Krillin!" shouted Chiaotzu back. "What are you doing here?"

"I was actually looking for you and Tien. But… what are you doing with Buu?" asked a confused Krilin.

"I…made a deal with Hercule. I promised him to pair him with weak guys in the World Tournament and pair the strong ones with Buu. In exchange, he went on a tour around the world and left Buu training with me. He's helping me out with my telekinetic powers." claimed Chiaotzu, with that characteristic voice of his.

"Right… ummm…" Krillin knew to perfection that his almost-bald friend wouldn't drop his training with the powerful Buu to train with him, so he didn't bother to ask for it. Instead, he asked for Tien's location.

"He's at the West City, in a date with Lunch. Now, if you please? Buu's childish behavior makes it somewhat difficult to train."

"Buu help friend!" the pink blob exclaimed.

With his hopes down, Krilin left to West Hercule City (name which of course Chiaotzu didn't know) in order to recruit his last friend, Tien, so he could overcome the saiyans strength. Of course, he didn't have the time to wait for him to finish his date, neither the courage to stop them in mid-meal. He decided to raise his power level for Tien to notice it and go to him. So he did, and so his three-eyed friend came.

"Krillin! What on earth is going on?" Tien shouted as he saw his friend wasn't in trouble.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" answered Krillin, hesitant to tell his friend the important matter.

"You're kidding me!" Tien furiously snarled. "Are you telling me you raised your ki just for me to drop my date and ask me something?"

"It's quite important," Krilin lowered his voice, embarrassed at his behavior. He was sure that approaching Tien at that moment had been an incredible mistake, he was definitely going to reject his offer. "Would you… train with me so we can match the Saiyans' power?"

Tien got red with anger. "You're insane! In the first place, Saiyans have fighting in their blood. Moreover, your training wouldn't be as effective as them. And even if it was, they would train too, so they'd be an step ahead ALWAYS! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!" screamed the alien whose only difference with humans was the eye in its forehead.

Eventually brought down by Tien's analysis of the situation, Krillin headed home wondering if he should just not assist to futures battles in order not to get killed. He got his cell phone and told 18 he was heading home, and that he was sorry for his long absence.

"It's okay. I'm even glad you're coming home, instead of going to that little half-saiyan party we got invited to." 18 claimed.

"Darn! Trunks' birthday!" her husband remembered.

"Ugh, fine, go," 18 was surely regretting having mentioned it, Krillin thought. "But don't take long. I've already picked up Marron, but that's no reason for coming late."

Our hero powered up to the max just like he had done earlier, and stormed off to the Capsule Corp.