'Yes, of course I'll go out with you Bulma, Launch too, you say? Well, if you insist,' Roshi beamed as he transformed to his muscular form. He got up and swept Bulma off of her feet and placed her on his bed when Launch with her blonde hair trailing behind her came in and sat next to Bulma.
'We want to please you,' the beauties said in unison.
'I know,' Roshi cackled as he went towards them and started to...
"Wake up, you dirty old man!" an ancient female voice called out.
"What the hell?" Roshi muttered, sleepy and annoyed with whoever it was that had ruined his fantasy dream.
Turning around he saw an old, tiny woman dressed in black, witch clothing riding a mystical ball.
"Oh crap, what do you want, Baba?" Roshi asked angrily at his sister; they'd been arguing for centuries.
"Roshi, good to see you're still alive. I heard you had died of a stroke when your adult collection was destroyed by a stray turtle destruction wave," Baba replied drily.
"Kamehameha. It's Kamehameha!" Roshi bellowed.
This awoke Krillin, Tien and Launch who were staying at Kame House for the night.
"The hell is going on?" Tien shouted as he ran into Roshi's room, ki and aura flaring.
"Oh, I'm winding my brother up," Baba chuckled, causing Tien and the newly arrived Krillin to power down.
"Baba, you only turn up when bad things are going to happen. Why are you here?" Tien asked coldly, annoyed he'd been dragged out of his warm bed, and more rage-inducing away from Launch.
"Well, gentlemen, I am here to directly aid you. I noticed when reading all your energies that three of you have a form of mystical buffer that prevents you from using your maximum power and slows your progress. I'm here to remove these barriers," Baba explained in a moody tone.
"All well and good, but I know you wouldn't come to us just for that; you'd summon us. So, why are you really here?" Tien asked sceptically as he started to make coffee.
"Well, you're right, there is something else. I had a vision; it's not necessarily bad though..." Baba started to reply.
"Bullshit! Every single vision, prophecy or legend so far has been literally evil," Krillin interrupted cynically, his mood at this early hour was pretty foul.
"I'm with Krillin on this," Roshi muttered darkly.
"Fine, the prophecy is pretty much awful. I saw the aftermath of a great battle, all other combatants were unconscious or worse, they included some of you and some others I didn't recognise. A teenaged Gohan and someone else I don't know were the only ones of you left standing, then a kienzan attack caught Gohan by surprise and one of the injured went into the attacks path," Baba informed them all, not surprised by the sick look on the faces of all that were assembled.
"Well, the fact we have a future at least shows we survived the Saiyan invasion," Krillin sighed trying to find a positive aspect of the vision.
"Sadly, Krillin that may not be totally true," Tien replied, disheartened.
"Oh, Kami, it gets worse...how isn't it?" Krillin asked, already regretting asking the blatantly mood souring question.
"Her visions only show possible situations and outcomes, as time is not set, the events she described may not happen depending on many factors; such as how we now prepare for this disaster. Or, how we fare against the Saiyans," Roshi elaborated to the others, who became slightly less morose.
"So, if we prepare we may avoid it all, no real need to worry?" Krillin asked trying to get his head around the concept.
"We should still worry, Krillin, as it'll push us harder in our training," Tien replied curtly to Krillin's naive comment.
"Baba, is there any detail on who the combatant is?" Launch asked.
"No, the aura was too intense for me to see," Baba replied sadly.
"Ok, then who was it that saved Gohan?" Launch asked attempting to gain more insight into the possible event.
"Well, that's the problem…" Baba began before losing her nerve.
"Baba, tell me now or I will tri-beam you into the next island chain," Tien growled impatiently, raising his power slightly to emphasise his point.
"Fine, it was Raditz!" Baba yelled in reply.
"How is that even possible? He's dead, not only is he dead, we will never, I repeat, never revive him," Krillin gabbled in panic and outrage.
Launch went completely pale and Turtle woke up at the commotion while Roshi swore profusely.
Tien's response was simplicity itself: "This shit just keeps getting weirder."
"Look, if you all want to survive Raditz needs reviving. Without him, Gohan dies and the villain kills everyone. I know it's risky but he can't train in hell properly and by the time he needs to be revived all of you could kill him singlehandedly," Baba reasoned, trying to rationalise the situation.
"If the training works out, that is," Tien growled in response.
"It's not up to us to decide if we revive him," Roshi barked angrily.
"The hell it isn't! It's us he'll try to kill first!" Krillin snapped back.
"No, I see what Roshi means. Raditz is Goku's brother and killer, it's his right to determine his fate. If he feels he's in some way redeemable, I'll agree to revive him," Tien explained as he sipped his coffee.
"Goku thinks everyone can be redeemed, he'll revive him without a doubt," Krillin sighed in exasperation.
"Yeah, he does. It's a damn good thing he does too, or Yamcha, Chaiotzu and I would be dead, in prison or evil without his influence," Tien calmly pointed out.
"Fine, we'll ask Goku then. I'll get Kami to contact him tomorrow. If Raditz doesn't change, what will we do?" Krillin asked and also relented as he accepted the coffee Launch offered him.
"I'll kill him myself," Tien smirked confidently as he returned calmly to his coffee.
"There are times, dude, where I'm really glad you're not a villain anymore. That grin is completely sadistic," Krillin squeaked, completely creeped out.
"So, now that's sorted, who's strength barriers need unlocking?" Roshi asked Baba irritably. He was in a bad mood and was very much wanting to go back to sleep and more importantly get rid of his sister.
"Yamcha is the first. His are self-imposed due to his lack of faith in himself," Baba began to explain.
"Figures," Tien snorted, his opinion of Yamcha as a fighter since the 'leg incident' had been so low he regarded him as a joke.
"As I was saying..." Baba hissed through clenched teeth.
"Oh, do go on," Roshi muttered peevishly as he sat on Turtle.
"Yajjirobe is the next, he got corrupted after he ate one of King Piccolo's spawn," Baba continued, choosing to ignore her brother's hostility.
"That was the most disgusting thing I'd ever seen," Krillin commented, literally shuddering at the memory.
"Quite. Chaoitzu is the last one, Shen imposed some form of limit on his mental and mystical abilities when he was a boy," Baba informed.
"Another way the bastard screwed us over," Tien growled.
"Right, I must depart; I'll unlock the limits of the others tomorrow," Baba said just before she vanished.
"I hate her," Roshi growled as he stormed back to bed.
"Right, guys, we've got long day ahead tomorrow so we should go back to sleep," Krillin suggested as he staggered towards his room.
"Good idea, I'm knackered. I need to sleep," Tien agreed tiredly.
"I have a better suggestion," Launch winked at Tien as she went over and whispered in his ear.
Tien's face lit up and his ki rose considerably at whatever Launch said.
"Yeah, I'm not so tired anymore, do yourself a favour Krillin and wear headphones," Tien called out, grinning widely as Launch tugged him back to their room.
'Yamcha has Bulma, Goku has ChiChi, Tien has Launch, Chaiotzu has a girlfriend...even Roshi has an on off thing with a fan of his from back in the day...when will I have someone to fight for?" Krillin sighed to himself as he lay in bed, putting on headphones and trying to tune out the noise next door.
As the sun rose over the Lookout, the Z fighters stood assembled with scouters on.
"Remind me why we're wearing these things again," Yamcha asked, disliking the red tint to his vision.
"So we can monitor our progress accurately," Tien replied smugly, still happy from the night before.
"I've had Yajjirobe scan me and Chiaotzu already, I'm 490 and he's 470," Krillin said happily.
"I'll scan you next," Tien informed Yamcha.
"460. Well, it's pretty good," Tien said to Yamcha with barely contained disgust.
"Hey! I haven't powered up yet!" Yamcha protested.
"Fine, go ahead," Tien muttered impatiently as Yamcha charged ki.
"484. Better than I thought," Tien relented. He liked Yamcha, but if he was praised too much he got lazy.
"Let's scan Roshi and see how he's measured up," Chaiotzu chirped as he turned his scouter on.
With that Roshi transformed into his MAX power form which was tall and incredibly muscular.
"350. That's pretty good Roshi," Chaiotzu congratulated as he turned his scouter off.
"Yeah, it's not bad I want to get to a thousand though by the time you guys get back," Roshi replied as he powered down into his normal state.
"That's the spirit. Right then, people, we are all about to depart," Krillin called out as Kami grabbed his left shoulder.
"Ready, Krillin?" Kami asked politely.
He received a swift nod of assent in reply.
"Remember when I transport all of you, run as fast as possible. If Yemma catches you he'll send to hell," Kami warned gravely as he teleported Krillin to the start of the Maple path, the East Kai's personal road.
"I'm thinking one of us needs to train with Goku," Chaiotzu said to the others whilst awaiting Kami's return.
"There's no point. If we went we'd be detracting training time from Goku and as we are really not supposed to be there. Yemma will notice us easily and drag us back," Yamcha replied calmly.
"That's the smartest thing you've ever said," Tien smirked.
"At least I'm not ga..." Yamcha started.
"Finish that sentence and I will break one of your legs again!" Tien growled whilst glaring with all three of his eyes.
"Yeah, ok, I get the message," Yamcha replied quickly, unwilling to push Tien further.
"I can take you two simultaneously. Your destination is easier for me to reach that the others," Kami explained as he reappeared behind Tien and Yamcha.
"I'll miss you both, train well, my former pupils," Popo said as he waved farewell.
As Kami teleported the two warriors to the path of West Kai they began to pass out from the strain.
"We've arrived," Kami wheezed as he rested heavily on his staff.
"Oh, thank the... Holy mother of hell!" Yamcha exclaimed as he saw the immense cobbled path that led to the West Kai's planet; Hardship Way lived up to its name.
"I agree with Yamcha, why the hell it is so uneven?" Tien demanded, his eyes narrowing. It was bad enough it was a million kilometres long.
"It's to deter any attempts to pass it, you can fly over the worst bits and it'll make it harder so you'll gain more power on your journey than the others," Kami replied pointing out the benefits to this.
"Hmm, I suppose it's not too bad," Tien grumbled as he waved to Kami and took off on the path.
"I better catch up to him, bye Kami!" Yamcha shouted as he followed suit.
"Huh, I still have to teleport Yajirrobe," Kami grumbled, tired by the constant teleporting.
"Yo, Green God Guy, where are ya?" Yajirrobe shouted as he took out a sandwich from his travel pack.
"He will not like that..." Roshi warned with a chuckle.
"Roshi is right, I don't like that," Kami scowled at Yajirrobe.
"Grab my shoulder and we'll be off," Kami barked, he was having a very rough day.
"Ok, G-man," Yajirrobe grunted as he finished his sandwich and grabbed Kami's right shoulder. With that Kami teleported one last time to the great pathways of the Kais.
There was just one way to describe the pathway of the South Kai - boring. Well, if you were on foot it was, if you had a car it would be amazing. The whole path was a giant race way with undulating curves and incredibly narrow chicanes; it looped and weaved like a concrete ribbon.
"I wish I had my car right now," Yajirrobe marvelled as he vowed instantly to come back one day with it.
"Yes, it's a marvellous track. Unfortunately, Racers Way is the most bothersome path, it's narrow in places and steep. It is, however, only nine-hundred thousand kilometres, so it's shorter than the other paths," Kami explained with little enthusiasm.
"That's way too long! What do I do?!" Yajirrobe asked, panicking at the scale of his task.
"Run far and fast before Yemma catches you," Kami suggested as he teleported away with a smirk.
"Oh crap," Yajirribe groaned as he broke into a jog along the path, sweating profusely already.
"So...I wonder how Gohan's training is going?" Popo asked Roshi, trying to start a conversation to lift Roshi's spirit.
"If he's anything like his Dad, I bet he's doing brilliantly well," Roshi replied with a slight smile as he motioned for Mr Popo to follow him to Korin's tower.
'This training is going so badly I may just kill him,' Piccolo thought with genuine frustration and rage.
Gohan was dressed in a Gi identical to Goku's, aside from having the demon kanji on his back and in miniature on the front right side. It was torn already and he was getting up from an impact crater, covered in dust and bruises. Also, there was a sword in a scabbard lying several feet away from him.
"Mr. Piccolo, that wasn't fair! I had no warning!" Gohan whined to Piccolo, nearly crying and wincing as he walked towards him.
"The whole point is for you to learn instinctively to block," Piccolo explained impatiently as he considered changing tact. "I will give a warning just before I strike, you are to block, dodge or counterstrike, understand?" Piccolo asked, gritting his teeth in anger at having to concede.
Gohan nodded and relaxed ever so slightly. Seeing this, Piccolo decided to restart the training.
"Block!" Piccolo yelled mightily as he threw a punch at Gohan's face.
"What?!" Gohan gasped as he was too slow to react and was sent spinning backwards into rocks.
'This is going to be a long ass day,' Piccolo growled inwardly as he went for Gohan again.
The days passed by with Gohan going through survival training and being mercilessly sparred by Piccolo. He was constantly injured and losing, and after nearly a month of training had only gained 103 power level units.
As Piccolo fired a mouth beam at the exhausted and injured Gohan something in him clicked into place.
"Enough!" Gohan screamed as he began to rapidly power up, his aura becoming visible again for the first time in a month. "I will not keep losing!" Gohan raged as he manipulated Piccolo's beam, grasping it in his hands. "You block!" Gohan roared sarcastically as he fired the beam back at Piccolo.
'This is promising,' Piccolo thought as he calmly put a hand out to block the beam.
However, as the blast raced towards him he noticed it widen, Gohan was adding huge surge of energy into it.
'Crap, too late to dodge,' Piccolo thought angrily as he put a crossed arm defence up just before the blast hit him.
The force of the rage fuelled energy was so immense it put a nuclear warhead to shame, and Piccolo became engulfed in it, vanishing from sight.
As the air was filled with settling dust and smoke it was impossible to see Piccolo. The fact Gohan couldn't sense his energy anymore shocked him out of his rage.
"Mr. Piccolo, are you ok?" Gohan shakily asked as he stepped towards the direction Piccolo had been in.
"I'm fan-freaking-tastic!" Piccolo wheezed as he emerged from the dust cloud bloodied, bruised and clutching his stomach with his uninjured hand.
"I'm so sorry, Mr. Piccolo! Please don't be mad, I never meant to snap," Gohan apologised quickly, terrified of his trainer's potential wrath.
"Don't apologise, that was the most progress we've made in a month. Stay angry," Piccolo replied impassively, secretly pleased with the boy.
'Now to see the scouter records,' Piccolo thought as he programmed the scouter he kept in an armoured cape pocket.
'Let's see, his power before my attack was...108, disappointing as usual. During the attack; 508! Well done, Gohan! Now, when he reflected the attack...1158! Crap, I could've been killed. This is very promising,' Piccolo thought as he viewed the results.
"Gohan, raise your power level to the max, I need to scan you," Piccolo ordered, intrigued to see if he'd gained permanent power.
As Gohan powered up to his very limit, the scouter beeped strongly and flashed to life, reading a power level of 592.
"Gohan, by unleashing your emotions and Saiyan nature you just gained 484 power level units, in other words you basically gained a Yamcha. Well done," Piccolo praised gruffly, honestly pleased with the progress.
"That's good, but that side of me scares me... I hate it," Gohan admitted honestly.
"It is nothing to fear, you are not an animal, you can control that primal side. You lack faith in yourself, Gohan, but look at earlier; you were enraged beyond belief and where quite capable of killing me. Yet, you didn't. This is proof that you can control your Saiyan nature," Piccolo reasoned, realising he needed to tread relatively carefully or the boy's training would be hampered.
"Yeah, I suppose so... I have felt more in control since the incident..." Gohan replied more optimistically, thinking back to when Piccolo told him he'd transformed via moonlight and to revert him from the Ozaru form the moon had to be blown up.
"Good, now let's take the rest of the day off from sparring, I need to heal," Piccolo stated as he began to hover cross-legged.
"So, I can go home or sleep?" Gohan asked hesitantly.
"No, we're meditating instead and tomorrow you're starting a new month of survival training. I will still be sparring with you too," Piccolo growled with one eye half open.
Deciding not it'd be wise not to argue; Gohan adopted the meditation pose and went silent.
The month passed without any incidents, Piccolo would train intensively on his own for most of the week and then spar with Gohan once a week. The survival training had gone well, in the case that Gohan's power level grew to over 1000, but the hardship had affected his willingness to train. He had honestly felt abandoned as his mother rarely visited due to Piccolo's urging that Gohan needed independence. (very wordy and not very well explained. I would rewrite.)
"Gohan, you've only made limited progress, now we have to train harder. Later, we are going to the Lookout to fight simulated Saiyans. I won't lie it's going to be tough and painful," Piccolo called out as he hovered above a highly dishevelled Gohan.
"No," Gohan said, refusing to turn to Piccolo.
"What do you mean 'no,' you ungrateful brat!?" (seems out of character) Piccolo bellowed, angry at the defiance and lack of respect.
"You've not seen me in ten days, my mother hasn't visited me in 20, thanks to you. I've been out here alone, hungry, injured and scared for over a month. The only interruption being you turning up to ridicule me and then beat me up. So, I've given everything and you demand more despite giving me nothing back, why should I listen to you?" Gohan hissed, hurt by the lack of decency Piccolo had shown him despite his best efforts to befriend him. (seems OOC)
"My methods are harsh, but they work. You wanted revenge and I'm giving you the skills to exact it. Also, I haven't abandoned you. The food you've conveniently found was made by me, you weren't coping and I couldn't watch you starve," Piccolo replied in an oddly softer than usual tone. (even if h is softening, this is too quick, and OOC, Piccolo wouldn't justify himself like that.)
"How do I know you're not lying?" Gohan asked sceptically.
"Because if anyone else had defied me like that I'd have Masenko'd them unconscious and dragged them," Piccolo replied, showing he did at least respect Gohan. (stating the obvious, you don't really need to say that he is showing he respects him, because he just said as much.)
"I suppose that's true. Fine, I'll go with you. I shouldn't have disobeyed you. I was missing my friends and family more than anything," Gohan relented as he hovered up slowly, ready to leave.
"If it'll help you focus I'll have your mother come to the Lookout too and I'll have Kami contact Krillin," Piccolo grunted, hoping to cheer the boy up so his obedience would be continued.
"Thank you, Mr. Piccolo, I can't wait! I'm sure Krillin will have started his training by now and is having a great time." Gohan smiled for the first time in days, taking off quickly towards the Lookout, all the while appreciating Piccolo dealing with Kami for him, as the feelings the two Namekians were well known - they despised each other.
"Where the hell is he?!" Krillin cried out as he roamed the planet of the East Kai, Chaiotzu close behind him.
"She is here," shouted a blood curdling and shrill voice.
Turning around they saw a diminutive figure wearing red 'Jackie Ohh' sunglasses, dark patterned robes and had light lilac coloured skin with blonde hair. (The East Kai seems to me to have light green skin)
"You're a Kai?!" Krillin asked incredulously, trying not to laugh. (I don't think Krillin would be that disrespectful…)
"Krillin! We are here for the Kai's help, show some respect!" Chaoitzu shouted, worried that the East Kai would refuse to aid them - or worse retaliate.
"Oh, right, yeah, sorry," Krillin mumbled, realising he'd messed up. (stating the obvious)
"Not good enough," the East Kai growled menacingly, her eyes flashing blue.
With that, the two warriors felt an immense pressure on them and collapsed to the ground, barely able to move.
"What gives?" Krillin wheezed out as he struggled to move.
"I just turned the gravity back to its original intensity. Five times that of Earth. If you can complete a lap of the planet in 10 minutes I'll train you both," the East Kai explained with a sneer, enjoying her vengeance.
"My power level is 565, yours is 540; we're over a hundred times stronger than the average human, by rights we should be handling this easily," Krillin stated as he turned to Chaiotzu, still only on one knee.
"We aren't used to it, our balance is out," Chaiotzu replied as he powered up fully and got back on his feet.
"Eight minutes left," East Kai called out as she began heading to her home, which was smaller than her hangar-like garage.
"Shit, let's go!" Krillin shouted as he pushed his ki to the maximum and started to semi-jog along the small planet.
"3, 2, 1...oh, you made it," East Kai scowled as the two Z fighters collapsed in front of her, totally exhausted.
"Your training begins now. Five more laps, then sparring, followed by one-on-one tuition," the East Kai ordered with a smirk as the two Z fighters trudged off in an agonised manner.
"Tien and Yamcha had better be getting flogged like we are," Krillin growled as he struggled on, his lungs burning.
"You sadistic freak!" Yamcha barked as he was punched back into the energy barrier surrounding the Planet's perimeter.
He was in a bad state, his hair was matted, his gi torn in numerous places and he was plastered in bruises. To top it all off, he was wearing weighted gear in five times gravity, he was close to breaking.
"Don't push him," Tien growled as he did his two hundredth push up with the West Kai and his car on his back.
A small purple Kai with a monocle and helmet with a single point, that eerily resembled a WW2 nazi helmet, was sat in a dark green Chevrolet, lazily punching Yamcha whenever he got in range.
"I can't start imparting my knowledge until you idiots boost your power to a thousand," the West Kai explained sadistically.
"But Tien's only just over six hundred and I'm 567!" Yamcha moaned as he rushed in again at the Kai.
"Then, you better work harder," the West Kai replied icily as he sent a kiai at Yamcha, knocking him back.
"This place is awesome!" Yajirobe said as he made a yellow ki barrier while eating a sandwich.
"I aim to please," South Kai chuckled as he fired a series of yellow ki blasts at the barrier. The beams bounced off or were absorbed, then another sandwich materialised in front of Yajirrobe.
South Kai was a tall humanoid with nearly pink skin and rather large lips, he wore dark and blue robes as well as a jolly smile and a pair of red rimmed sunglasses. "Well done! With the right motivation you've perfected the Kai barrier technique!" South Kai grinned.
"Awesome, what's next?" Yajirrobe asked, eager to earn more food.
"Weight training followed by sparring with one of my other fighters and then a feast," South Kai replied cheerily as he materialised four 500kg weights that attached to limbs.
"Hmm, not too happy with that, but ok. I wonder how Goku's doing?" Yajirrobe said as he walked to the weights.
"I caught the monkey, King Kai," Goku wheezed as he collapsed under the pressure of the ten times gravity.
"Excellent work, Goku! Now you must hit Gregory the cricket," King Kai ordered, pointing to a mallet.
"Oh, for goodness sake!" Goku groaned as he pushed himself up.
'If I do it fast enough, maybe he'll bring Raditz up here. The others think it's important I see him and gauge if he deserves wishing back,' Goku thought as he jogged on holding a rubber mallet, the conversation he last had with Kami playing on his mind.
"I'm going to bloody murder you if you don't tell me where my parents and fiancé are!" Raditz bellowed in the face of a guard ogre he'd stumbled upon by a fountain of blood.
"The main body of inmates are past the fountain, but I swear there's no record of them down here!" The ogre whimpered, going rather pale.
"Why not? Surely there's nowhere worse than here to send them?" Raditz demanded powering a ki blast in his left palm subconsciously.
"No, you misunderstand. They are higher up in the first level of heaven," the ogre clarified quickly in the fear that Raditz would fry him.
"How is that even possible? They were Saiyans, we were a brutal race," Raditz asked in a shocked tone.
"Well, your mother was a non-fighting engineer and a good mother, so she did nothing wrong. Your father may have slaughtered millions but he did try to save your race and indeed had other acts of valour which outweighed his crimes, (perhaps reword it, nothing really outweighs the slaughter of millions of innocents!) and as for Ahiru, she was a medic and saved lives," the ogre hurriedly informed Raditz.
"Don't say her name again," Raditz growled as he released the Ogre. "Is there a way up there?"
"One. you can go to the Kai and plead for a transferral, there is technically no way to get to them but in two months' time a barrier will open under Death Mountain, through it is a month's flight to the North Kai's planet," the ogre blurted out hurriedly.
"Excellent, Kakarrot may be up there too... Two birds, one stone. Leave now or I will kill you," Raditz muttered to the Ogre, only to find he'd run away already.
'Two months to train and then it's showtime,' Raditz thought grimly as he began dead lifting boulders.
"I'm coming for you, Brother!" Raditz yelled as he charged his ki causing himself to be obscured from view by an artificial sandstorm.
Dear loyal readers,
I am incredibly sorry for the total lack of updates, I have had exams and have also had personal issues. Still this is no excuse, now I'm back there will be an update every few weeks at the latest. The next chapter should be ready in two-three weeks! Once again a massive thank you to my editor Apollo 1147 who is eternally patient and wise.