To Hell and Back

18 stood out on the balcony of her home. It was a two story house that had been mostly purchased with the prize money she had received from taking dives to Mr. Satan in multiple World Martial Arts Tournaments. She admired the view that her not-so-hard work had allowed her to have. From her balcony, she could see far out into Satan City. At times like the late evening, such as right now, the way the sun set over the horizon and reflected off the many skyscrapers gave the city an orange tint as if it were covered in beautiful flames. It also proved convenient, as her superhuman eyesight allowed her to keep an eye on her husband while he was out and about on his job as a police officer.

"Hey, 18! I'm heading out!" Krillin called to her.

18 turned back, expecting to see her husband dressed in his police uniform. But her eyes widened as she saw him dressed in his old Turtle Hermit gi. "Krillin, what's going on? I thought you had to work tonight."

Krillin chuckled nervously as he explained, "Ah, my friend's covering my shift for me." Her face was rather still, though he could tell by her glare that she wasn't just going to let him leave it at that. After a few years of being with her, he'd learned how to read her mostly emotionless face and empty eyes. There were subtle hints that gave away her emotions, such as a small furrow of the brow or a corner of her lips curled up.

"That doesn't answer my question," 18 pressed with a dead tone. "Why are you dressed in your martial arts outfit? Where are you going?"

Krillin's nervous chuckles did nothing to sway his wife's concern. Finally, after a long sigh, he admitted, "Well, I know we agreed to give Marron a relatively normal away from all of the fighting that we used to do, but I've been thinking lately: what if that Lord Beerus guy comes back? Or worse, something else? I couldn't even jump in and help out like you and the others did back then. So, I'm gonna go stay at Master Roshi's for a while and have him retrain me. Then I'll take responsibility for my own training, and aspire to get stronger like I used to! Maybe even train with Goku again."

18 folded her arms over her heart that skipped a beat. The corners of her mouth shifted, depressing into a small scowl. "Krillin, we've talked about this. I can understand that you want to get stronger to protect us, but you're not cut out for threats like Lord Beerus."

"Jeez, you didn't have to be so blunt," he pouted.

"I'm serious, Krillin," she stated sharply. "I'm lucky Lord Beerus didn't kill me, and you know how strong I am. You need to leave fighting guys like that to Goku and Vegeta. Just think about what could have happened if you jumped in and he decided to destroy you! Marron could be without a father right now."

"Thinking about that is why I've decided to start training again," Krillin answered. "18, I know you're concerned, but don't you trust that I can handle myself?"

18 turned away from her husband and retreated outside. She fixed her gaze out on the city, and within seconds, spotted a purse snatcher with a stolen bag tucked underneath his arms. She could already imagine her husband swiftly taking the thief down. At times, she would stand and watch him as he patrolled the city or chased after criminals. Never once did he return home injured. Maybe upset that the many lowlifes and scum he put away had the gall to do what they did, but there was never a scratch on him. But this is different, she thought. Majin Buu and Lord Beerus certainly weren't anything close to the kinds of jerks Krillin deals with everyday. She couldn't help but think about what it would have been like if Krillin fought Beerus. The image of him being destroyed played in her head countless times.

Krillin could see the confliction brewing in his wife, how her body became more rigid, and her arms were crossed tightly around her chest. He went to accompany her on the balcony. "Listen, I know you're concerned, but I've faced strong enemies before and came out fine. Besides, the more I train, the more I can make sure that you, me, and Marron will be okay!"

18 gripped the railing, nearly warping the metal underneath her hands. Her husband's naiveté frustrated her to no end. Despite that flaw, it happened to be one of the reasons why she fell in love with him. It was still hard to believe that he smashed the remote Bulma designed to activate her all of those years ago, and even went as far as asking Shenron to remove the bombs planted in her and her brother's chests. He even did these things against the wishes of his friends that he'd known for ages, knowing full and well of the consequences. But it made her realize that she could trust him, as he was the only one who stuck up for her.

"Fine," 18 said with a defeated tone. "But after you're done being retrained by Master Roshi, I want you to come back and train with me."

Krillin jumped. If he still had hair, it would certainly be standing on end right about now. Fortunately, he had shaved just before putting his gi on. "Y- You?! You want me to train with you?! I thought you only liked fighting for the money.

18 smirked at her husband and suggested, "Well, maybe I've got something to protect as well. Besides, if you really want to get stronger, then you should come train with me. Goku may be crazy strong, but knowing him and his recklessness, he'll probably wind up killing you. I've seen you fight, and I know all of your weaknesses. Train with me and I'll toughen you up real good."

Krillin rubbed the back of his shaved head in thought. "Well, you do have a point," he admitted. "Goku's all about power. I don't know how much stronger I can actually get, but if I wanna stand a chance against tougher opponents, then I've really gotta hunker down and work on my weaknesses as a martial artist and not just focus on strength alone."

"That's the spirit," 18 smiled.

Krillin's face began to turn a bit red as he confessed, "You're so much stronger than me. I don't know how much you can get out of training with me, but I promise I'll try to help you improve, too!"

"Does that mean you're not gonna go out tonight?!" cried the voice of a young boy from above them.

Krillin looked up and saw two very familiar boys hanging alongside the edge of their roof. "What the hell? Goten, Trunks, what're you guys doing here?!

"We really wanted to come on your job with you tonight!" Trunks announced.

"Yeah! You know, fight some bad guys and throw 'em in jail! Like my brother and Videl used to do," added Goten.

Krillin's chin dipped to his chest as he let out a long sigh. "Guys, my job is dangerous, and I've got a duty to protect and serve. I can't just let you two come along. You're both way too young for something like this!"

"Oh come on," pleaded Goten in his high-pitched, whiny voice. "We've fought people a lot stronger than criminals!"

"Yeah," Trunks agreed. "We fought Majin Buu! I'm sure we can handle ourselves against a few criminals! Besides, you're not even that strong and you seem like you're doing okay!"

18 shot glares at both of the young boys. Her cold, lifeless eyes made them shut their mouths immediately. She looked back to her husband, expecting to see him a bit despondent at their remarks, but he seemed to be okay. In fact, he even appeared to be a bit annoyed at them. His tone changed, lowering to a serious growl that she had never heard before.

"I'm not saying that you two are gonna get hurt," Krillin retorted. "Please, you're the sons of Goku and Vegeta; there isn't a weapon on this Earth that can do any harm to you. But my concern isn't necessarily for you. Its for the people of this city that I protect every day when I go out on my job. Let me ask you, what do you boys think you should do when someone's got a gun and they start firing at you like crazy?"

Both of the boys looked at him rather cluelessly, and then back to each other. They could see that this was a serious question, and they whispered to one another for a brief moment before one of them responded, "Uh, deflect them? Like how they do in the movies?"

"No," Krillin stated firmly. "You either catch those bullets, or you stop them with a sharp blast of kiai. But if you stop them, you need to make sure that your blast isn't too powerful. Now its cool that those guys in the movies deflect those bullets like that, but I stop them or catch them because if I deflect them, one of them could hit an innocent bystander. See, my job isn't just about catching the bad guys, but also making sure that no one else gets hurt in the process."

The boys looked at him. While their eyes were lit up with interest, he could see by their slumping shoulders that they felt bad for making him angry. But Krillin knew what it was like to be a kid and be so enamored in the idea of something that it made you blind to the reality of that idea. He learned it firsthand when he went to train with Master Roshi, as the strict regiments were certainly not all fun and games.

Krillin reached out with a warm smile and ruffled the boys' heads. "Hey, maybe one day when you two are a little older, I'll take you out with me and show you how it's done!"

Goten and Trunks immediately sprang back to life and began to pester him with all sorts of questions, such as if he ever had to shoot someone, or if he was ever involved in a high speed chase. As they assaulted him with questions, he felt a vibration coming from his hip. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to see a text message flash across his screen.

18 watched as his smile faded and was replaced with a concerned frown. "What's wrong?" she questioned.

"Well, I was gonna keep my cell phone on me in case they really needed me at work. Looks like they do. There's an old man threatening to jump off a building."

"And they're making you handle that?" asked 18.

"Not exactly. My friend asked if I could. I guess I've got a knack for talking to people."

"Well then, you'd better hurry. I heard there's supposed to be a storm brewing soon," she warned.

. . .

A dejected Goku continued to trek through the bowels of Hell in the Other World. Though nothing had really changed since his last visit many years ago, via taking a fall off of Snake Way, the place was still rather interesting. There were plenty of mountains to climb, and the blood fountain still retained its coppery smell. Aside from the few ogres that worked throughout the realm, bodiless souls aimlessly roamed the lands. Since passing through to the Other World and being judged by King Yemma, many of ill repute were deemed unfit to keep their bodies, and their existence was reduced to nothing but a small, puffy cloud form that was similar to a small Nimbus. Hardly any of them had memories, and most were subjected to an eternity of wandering. Only a few could talk, but those that did, seemed only to be capable of incoherent mumbling.

"Man, maybe I should have gone to King Yemma before I came down here. Maybe he could've pointed me in the right direction…" Goku said with a sigh. He clutched his stomach as its roars of hunger echoed throughout the mountains like the roar of a lion. His stomach continued to howl and soul approached him, seeming to be attracted by the sound. The soul pranced around him, as if it were happy to see him. "Oh, well hello there! Maybe you can help me? I'm looking for someone, but I don't quite know his name or where to find him."

"Oh, Bardock!" cried the soul. "It's been an eternity! I was beginning to think I would never find you!"

"'Bardock'?" Goku repeated. "Uh, sorry, but I think you've got the wrong person. See, my name's Goku."

The soul stopped and looked up at him. Then it looked him down, and then up once more. With a huff, it questioned, "But your hair? And your… face…" It suddenly fell quiet as it gazed at the man's face. Its voice suddenly took on a rather feminine tone as it asked him for his name once again. Goku repeated his name, but she huffed and clarified, "No, your Saiyan name."

"Oh!" Goku chuckled. "Sorry, it's rare that I get asked that. My Saiyan name is Kakarot, but I go by Goku. I was raised on Earth by grandfather, Gohan."

"K- Kakarot?! Truly?!" the soul cried.

Goku could sense a rising emotion within the soul he now felt comfortable addressing as a female. "How'd you know to ask for my Saiyan name? Can you tell that I'm a Saiyan?"

"Well, I would hope I would be able to! I was hoping you would know who I am, too! But I know the last time you saw me was when you were a baby, so I can understand. But what in the world are you doing here, Kakarot? Don't tell me my son is dead?!"

"No way!" chuckled Goku as he pointed to the top of his head. "See, if I were dead, I'd have a halo above my- WAIT, YOU'RE MY MOTHER?!"

"Yes, silly!" giggled the woman. "My name is Gine! I can't tell you how happy it makes me to know that you aren't dead. But what are you doing down here?"

"Oh, gosh!" exclaimed Goku as he grew a bit red as heat and blood rushed to his face. "This is so weird! I can't believe that you're actually my mom! I was trying to find my father because I needed to ask him something."

Gine let out a disappointed sigh and revealed, "I'm sorry, but I haven't seen your father down here at all. What did you need to ask him?"

"Well, back when Vegeta and I fought a long time ago, he said that my father was an average warrior, but a brilliant scientist. I needed to ask him about artificial moons and tails!"

"Oh," chirped the Saiyan woman. "I'm sure I could be able to help you out! I did help him figure out how to create an artificial moon, after all."

"You did?" Goku asked with a smile. "Oh, wow! Okay, well this is great, then! I've got an idea. How would you like to have your body back for about… 24 hours?"

"Oh, that would be lovely!" she gushed.

"Alright, then grab on!"

"I don't have hands, silly."

"Er, right," Goku said as he carefully took the soul into his arms. He had never held one before. Her essence was so warm and familiar that he almost didn't want to let her go. In a flash, he teleported him and his mother right to the Check-In Station. Much to the chagrin of King Yemma, Goku had popped up at the very front of the line. "Yo, King Yemma! How's it goin'?"

"Goku! What's the meaning of this? You can't just barge in here like this!" yelled the ogre in his booming voice.

"Right, sorry about that," Goku said with a rather dismissive tone. "Say, could you grant my mother here a 24 hour pass like you did before with me and Vegeta?"

King Yemma looked down at the spirit Goku cradled in his arms, and he began to bear his sharp teeth at the man. "Goku, you can't just bring spirits from Heaven or Hell like that and just expect me to do what you want! We have rules and regulations to follow! Do you have ANY idea how much paperwork that is? We can't give those passes to just anyone!"

"Aw, please?" pleaded Goku as he held out his mother's soul. "C'mon, I just wanna spend some time with her! I've never even seen her before!"

Though Gine had no body, and therefore no face, King Yemma could tell she was putting on her best puppy-dog eyes, as was Goku. "You two sure do act like you know each other by the way you're both begging me. I'm sorry, Goku, but the answer is no."

"But what if the world is in danger?" Gine suddenly questioned. "Would you allow me to help him then?"

King Yemma gave the woman's soul a curious glare. "Danger? What sort of danger?"

Goku smirked at his mother, having felt mischievous intent within her. "Oh, yeah, King Yemma! There's this, uh… real bad guy, you see! And he's gonna take out half of the universe with a sort of… um… a gauntlet! Powered by Dragon Balls!"

"H- Half of the universe, you say?" questioned a quivering King Yemma. "Good Heaven and Hell, that's almost just as much paperwork as when Majin Buu rampaged around the universe! And you say your mother here could help you?"

"Yeah! She sure can," Goku insisted. "C'mon, King Yemma, you'd better hurry! We only have a day to do this and we need all the time we can get!"

King Yemma quickly rummaged through the drawers of his mahogany desk and pulled out his massive stamp. Beads of sweat were already pouring from his head as he frantically searched for the necessary forms. The second he found them, he stamped them and shoved them aside. "There! Now hurry and go before half the universe is wiped out!"

"Thanks, King Yemma," Goku said with a snicker. He wasted no time in teleporting out of the realm and back into the world of the living. They appeared on the Lookout, underneath the midnight sky of the Earth. There was a sudden weight in his arms. He looked down to see his mother had gotten her body back, and he now held her. She was a rather slender woman, and her hair was long and wild. A brown, furry tail fell from her lower back, coming out of a hole in her traditional black Saiyan armor. "Oh, wow! You really are a Saiyan!"

Gine looked up at her son, and then up towards the sky. It was nothing like the reddish-pink tones of planet Vegeta, but she could at least tell it was well into the night. "Where are we?"

"This is Earth; it's where I grew up!"

"My goodness," said the woman as she hopped out of her son's arms. "The gravity is so light here! I feel like I could just fly away like a balloon if I'm not careful," she said with a chuckle. "Now, where is this, exactly?"

"This is the Lookout," Goku stated. "Its where the Guardian of Earth lives. He watches over the entire planet from this place."

Gine wandered over to the edge and looked down. The only thing she could see were thick mounds of clouds. "Wow, your guardian must have great eyesight if he can see all the way down there!"

"Well, he can sense energy, so he doesn't actually look down."

Gine turned to the man with her eyebrows risen a notch. "What do you mean? You can actually sense energy? As in you don't need a scouter?"

"Nope!" Goku declared. "Funny thing, whenever we would power up or transform, those things would always break anyway. They do a pretty bad job of sizing someone up."

"Transform?" asked the woman. "Ah, you must mean into a Great Ape!"

"Oh man, I've got a lot to show you."

. . .

By the time Krillin reached the building, a storm had brewn over the city. Rain poured from the pitch black sky and lightning struck the land. Goten and Trunks had followed along, much to the chagrin of the officer, but he knew there was nothing he could do about them. "You two stay here," he demanded.

Goten and Trunks heeded Krillin's warning as he inched closer to the building. It was hard to see through the rain and dark, but he could just barely make out the shadow of a small man clinging to the edge of the building as if his life had depended on it. "Hey, are you okay?!" he called out to him.

"Leave me alone! Get away from me!" the man cried. "I just want to die!"

Lightning crackled just inches from the building, and thunder roared across the skies. The wind began to whip harder and harder, nearly blowing Krillin away. But he held his ground and called out to the man, "What's going on? Why do you want to jump? Surely things can't be that bad?"

"What can you possibly know about being old?!" the man asked in an accusing tone. "No one cares about you when you get older! They just ship you off to a nursing home and forget about you!"

"Is that what your family did to you? If so, I'm sorry to hear that! But killing yourself isn't going to make a difference! Please, take my hand and come down from there!"

"No!" the man refused. "What are you, some sort of hero?!"

"No, I'm just a cop! My name's Krillin! Can you tell me your name?"

Though no one could see due to the darkness, the man seemed to smile ever so faintly, as if he recognized the name. "My name… is Hoi."