Chapter 7: Caught Between a Rock and a Hot Place
Krillin felt sweat dripping from his forehead. He had been climbing for a full day and he still could not see the top of Korin Tower.
"Man I forgot how long of a climb this was." He said to himself. "Why am I even doing this, its one thing if Master Roshi wants to team up with Piccolo and Raditz but it's another thing entirely to want to completely heel them before any of us have a chance to get any stronger. Really, I think the old man has gone senile, maybe we should put him into a retirement home." Krillin chuckled to himself imagining trying to convince Master Roshi to move into an old person home. Hell all they would have to tell him is that all the nurses were pretty ladies and he would have his bag packed before any of them could say another word. Krillin continued to think of different scenarios of putting Master Roshi into a home until he finally realized that the top of Korin's tower was in site.
"Oh, awesome I can see the top." Krillin said excitedly as he busted into top speed to reach the top. Krillin reached the bottom of the stairs and ran up them surprised to see Korin standing there waiting for him.
"I've been waiting for you Krillin, what took you so long?" The talking cat said.
"What took me so long?" Krillin asked. "I climbed up here way faster than I did last time." Krillin complained.
"Yeah but you're much stronger now so that's expected. I would have thought that you could've made the trip in half a day by this point." Korin said as he began to chuckle.
"Oh ha ha, laugh it up." Krillin said grumpily. "Anyways do you have any senzu beans? I don't know if you know what's been going on but we definitely need some right now." Krillin asked.
"Nope, sorry, I'm fresh out. I just gave the last of my supply away to Mr. Popo." Korin replied.
"Who is Mr. Popo?" Krillin asked.
"Kami's assistant." Korin said.
"But what use could Kami possibly have for all of your Senzu beans?" Krillin asked.
"To give to Raditz and Piccolo." Korin replied amused by the reaction he got from Krillin.
"But I just climbed all the way up this tower for that very purpose. Are you telling me I came all the way up here for nothing?" Krillin wined.
"No of course not," Korin replied. "you gained a bunch of strength by climbing up the tower again, ha ha ha." Korin fell over laughing hysterically. Krillin just fell over and laid on his back.
"Of course, I try to do something useful and they just send someone else to do it and not even tell me what's going on." Krillin mumbled to himself feeling rather irritated.
"Oh calm down Krillin, you were going to have to climb up here anyways." Korin said finally gaining control of himself.
"What do you mean?" Krillin asked.
"Kami has agreed to train you, Yamcha, Chiaotzu and Yajirobe for the upcoming battle with the Saiyans. We just have to wait for Yamcha and Chiaotzu to climb up the tower before I send you guys up there." Korin explained.
"Are you serious? We're going to be trained by Kami, awesome." Krillin said excitedly, punching his fist into the air. "Wait speaking of which, where is Yajirobe? I thought he lived up here with you."
"Oh he's in his room pouting. When Mr. Popo showed up and explained to us what had happened and that Kami agreed to train you all, he said that he wasn't going to fight any Saiyans. I snapped and told him that he's either going to go train and fight or he was going to find some other place to live. Well he wasn't too happy about that but he's still here so I assume that means he's going to Kami's palace with you guys." Korin explained.
"Oh that Yajirobe." Krillin said as he walked over to the edge and leaned against the wall. "Well I can't really blame him; I don't want to fight those Saiyans either. Goku's brother already seems unsurpassable but when he heard that the other two were coming to kill him you should have seen his face Korin. From the look of it he might as well had dead stamped on his forehead. Even if Kami trains us I don't see how we could get much stronger than him. This very well just might be a fight that we can't win." Korin walked over and joined Krillin on the edge of his tower, looking out into the sky.
"Well Krillin you might be right." Korin said bluntly. Krillin just stared at Korin; this wasn't want he was expecting to hear. Korin continued, "You guys may train as hard as you possibly can and still be no match for these Saiyans. You may work yourself to the brink of death and back only to be mocked by these invaders on the day of their arrival. But don't let this possibility discourage you. No use it as a motivator. Whenever you feel that you can't push on in your training remember how hopeless you felt against Raditz. Remember the fear you felt when he first appeared. But most importantly remember that you all are the world's only hope for survival. Kami and I may watch over this planet and we will help you in any way that we can but we are old. We have no illusions of gaining the kind of power needed to even stand up to the force that we are up against. However you guys can. I believe in you and most importantly Kami believes in you. Never in Kami's 300 years as Earth's guardian has he ever sought out pupils. The fact that he is taking you all under his wing tells me that he believes you guys have the ability to far surpass Raditz's power. Now my only question is do you?" Krillin thought about it for a minute. Korin was right, every time that they had seen a new level of power that seemed impossible to reach, they somehow managed to reach it. Krillin was sure that he was now as powerful as Piccolo when he had seen him at the last world tournament.
"You're right Korin I promise that I will push past any limitation that I thought possible." Krillin said a new found confidence forming inside of him.
"I know Krillin." Korin said. "Ah, it seems that Yamcha and Chiaotzu have arrived at the bottom of the tower. Let's see how long it takes them to climb it. Care to wager?" Korin and Krillin shared a chuckle.
Earlier that day
'Alright this seems like a secluded enough spot' Piccolo thought to himself as he landed next to a lake in the middle of nowhere.
"Alright kid, you've slept enough it's time for you to wake up." Piccolo said to the sleeping Gohan, but Gohan just kept sleeping.
"I said wake up!" Piccolo shouted as he threw Gohan into the lake. Gohan was still asleep but promptly woke up, violently coughing when he tried to inhale a mouthful of water.
"Where…Where am I?" Gohan asked himself trying to figure out what was going on. When his eyes finally adjusted he looked up to see a grimacing Piccolo staring directly at him. He instantly started crying.
"Oh no, you're going to kill me just like you killed my daddy!" Gohan screamed as he tried running away but Piccolo grabbed him before he got anywhere.
"No I am not." Piccolo said, holding Gohan up to his face.
"Yes you are." Gohan whined. "You killed my daddy now you're going to kill me." Gohan broke out into a hysterical cry.
"QUIET!" Piccolo screamed "ONE MORE PEEP AND I"LL MAKE YOU WISH YOUR WERE DEAD!" Gohan instantly stopped crying.
"Good." Piccolo said more calmly. "Now here's the situation. Yes I killed your father but I had no intention of killing him; he only got in my way." At the mention of his father's death Gohan began to sniffle again.
"Don't you dare start to cry again!" Piccolo shouted and Gohan instantly stopped. "Don't worry your dad will be back. I'm sure he told you about the dragonballs. Well his friends are already gathering them to wish him back so you will see him again." Gohan seemed to ease up a bit after hearing that his dad was going to be coming back.
"Now that Saiyan that your father fought before he fought me told us that there are two more Saiyans on their way to Earth right now. These Saiyans have betrayed the one who showed up today so we have decided to team up to fight off these other two, however they are much more powerful than this one so I've taken you under my wing to train you for the upcoming battle." Piccolo explained.
"But I'm just a kid what good would I be?" Gohan asked nervously. Piccolo just laughed.
"Well after I killed Goku you exploded in a fit of rage and demonstrated an enormous power that lives inside of you." Piccolo told Gohan.
"But I don't have any power." Gohan whined.
"Oh no?" Piccolo then grabbed Gohan by the head and chucked him as hard as he could at the side of a cliff. Gohan started screaming at the top of his lungs until something came over him. His facial expression changed to a very serious look and his aura exploded around him as he launched a giant energy wave that obliterated the entire cliff and created a disturbance in the ground that stretched for miles. Piccolo was shocked.
'How could he be this powerful?' Piccolo thought to himself. Piccolo then began walking to Gohan who now laid on the ground in front of where the cliff used to stand with a shocked look on his face. 'It's ironic if we are to survive this battle, I must train the son of my enemy who may very well use what I teach him to destroy me. Oh well I did what I was born to do; I killed Goku what else do I have to live for?'
"So now do you believe me?" Piccolo asked Gohan.
"I did that?" Gohan asked him shocked.
"Yes and if you listen to and do everything that I say, you can learn how to use this power at will." Piccolo told Gohan. Gohan let out one last sniffle before he stood up and walked up to face Piccolo.
"Ok, so what do I have to do." He asked faintly.
"Well the first part of your training is reasonably simple; survive." Piccolo said coldly.
"Wha…What do you mean survive?" Gohan asked worriedly.
"Just what it means. Before I can train you, you must learn how to survive on your own. So I shall leave you for six months and if you're alive when I come back then I know you'll be ready for my training." Piccolo said plainly.
"But…But I can't stay out here on my own. I don't know what to do. I'm just a kid, how am I suppose to survive by myself." Gohan asked pleadingly.
"The same way that I did when I was a child. Trust me you'll be fine, I was and I only had a fraction of the power that you're capable of. Remember trust your gut. Once you realize the power dwelling inside of you then living on your own will be simple." Piccolo said this and took off to the air.
"Wait!" Gohan screamed running after. "Wait! You're just kidding right! Mr. Piccolo! You don't really plan on leaving me out here for 6 months!" All of Gohan's screaming was in vein as Piccolo was already out of sight. "But…I'm scared." Gohan said softly to himself as he began to quietly sob.
In Bulma's Airplane
Bulma and Master Roshi were on a direct course to find the next dragonball. They had just left Goku's house after explaining to Chi Chi about the events that took place earlier that day. The scene was horrible; she couldn't stop crying as she realized that she wouldn't be able to see her family for a full year. After Master Roshi tried to comfort her, she punched him as hard as she could infuriated that he would allow Piccolo to just take Gohan away that easily. He tried to explain to her that there was nothing he could have done to stop Piccolo but Chi Chi didn't accept that answer and she began to start crying hysterically again. After she had enough time to collect herself she apologized for hitting Roshi and told him that Goku already had three of the dragonballs and that he should take them with him. After Roshi collected them from Goku's room he and Bulma left without saying another word, leaving Ox King to comfort his daughter.
Neither one of them said a word. There was too much on their mind. The day had started out so perfectly. They had all missed each other greatly and hadn't seen each other for years. The party hadn't been going on for that long by the time Goku showed up and everyone was having a great time. It had seemed like one of those days where nothing could have gone wrong but they couldn't have been more wrong. Now two of their friends were dead and the fate of the entire Earth was now in question. They had hunted for the dragonballs so many times before but never with the stakes being this high. This wasn't some great adventure with the hopes of gaining some new memories, friends and skills. No this was serious; this hunt was for the fate of the entire world. Hell they were on orders from the guardian of the planet himself. After flying for a couple hours Bulma finally broke the silence.
"We're close to the first dragonball. I'm going to land and we'll have to travel the rest of the way on foot." She said to Roshi.
"Good" Master Roshi said. He looked out the window to take in the scenery and was taken back to see that they were near an active volcano that had smoke spewing out the top.
"Couldn't you have picked a better spot to start?" Roshi asked sarcastically.
"Sorry but this was the closes one." Bulma said as she brought the plane down to the ground. As soon as she landed they felt the ground start to shake violently for a short period of time and then it stopped.
"Ok Bulma well we're going to need to get this ball real quick." Roshi said as they walked out of the plane. "So where does the radar say the ball is?" Roshi asked. Bulma looked down at her radar and her face dropped.
"Oh you're not going to like this; it's saying that its right in the middle of that smoking volcano." Bulma said. Master Roshi face changed from relaxed to panicked in an instant.
"You mean like on it?" He asked.
"No I mean that I think it's inside of it. The radar saying that it's our altitude and according to its position on the radar; it's right in the center of where that volcano is standing." Bulma said.
"Oh boy." Master Roshi said. "Bulma are there any villages around here?" He asked.
"No we're probably at least 300 kilometers away from the closes village." She replied
"Good, I need you to get into the plane and take it into the air. Hover right it in the spot it's at right now and leave the door open, I have an idea." Roshi told her.
"Why what are you planning to do." Bulma asked.
"Never mind we don't have a lot of time before this volcano explodes." Bulma listened and got into the plane and started bringing it into the air. After she got so far Master Roshi signaled to her that she was good. Bulma just stared and then she saw what he was planning. He cupped his hands together and his body bulged up just like when he was trying to extinguish the flames of Fire Mountain all those years ago.
'He can't seriously be doing what I think he's about to do. He's going to get burned alive' Bulma thought worriedly.
"Ka…..Me…..Ha….Me…...HAAAAAAA" Master Roshi screamed as a wave of blue energy shoot out from his hands. It hit the volcano and created a huge hole in the side. Instantly lava came spewing out the side of the volcano and Master Roshi quickly ran out of the way of the path of lava.
'Where is it?' Roshi thought to himself quickly scanning the river of lava flowing right past him. Then he saw it, a small glowing ball floating on top of the river of lava.
'Alright this is it I only have one shot at this' He thought as he ran and jumped, hovering right over the ball. He started falling right towards the lava but before he fell in, he shoot a ki blast splitting the flow of lave and landed in the small separation. Quickly he grabbed the ball and jumped towards the plane just as the separation came crashing back together. He landed in the plane breathing heavily and looking scared as hell. Once he realized that his plan had worked, he let out a sigh of relieve and then started laughing.
"Alright Roshi, you're the best." Bulma shouted excitedly.
"He he he. Not too bad for an old man, eh?" Roshi said to Bulma. "I got in and out of there without so much as a scratch."
"Well I wouldn't say that." Bulma said giggiling.
"Huh? What do you mean?" He asked. Bulma just pointed down.
"Take a look at your shoes." Bulma said while giggling. Roshi looked down to see that his shoes were on fire.
"Ahhh" He screamed as he started scrambling to put out the flames. Bulma couldn't stop laughing.
"I guess you're not as fast as you thought you were." She said sarcastically as she continued to laugh violently.
"Oh, ha ha." Roshi said. "Well next time you can get the dragonball out of the pit of lava."
"Oh calm down I was just kidding." Bulma said smiling as she looked at her radar to see where to go next. "Hey we already have four balls. This hunt is going to be easy."
"Yeah, that's easy for you to say." Roshi said as he blew on his hot feet.
And so the preparations for the Saiyans are begining to take place. Hello everyone chapter 7 is here and I wrote this chapter trying to have more of a Dragonball feel rather than a Dragonball Z feel. Sorry if you were wanting me to jump right into some more action but don't worry, once the Saiyans arrive the action will be in abundance. So first off the Piccolo/Gohan story isn't going to be that much different from cannon so I won't be spending much time on developing that particular storyline. It kind of seems like it would be a waste of time to retell any of what happened in the original. Next I was asked to post some power levels and I will be sometime in the future but not until I'm ready to reveal them. There will be some differences depending on the character, since some of them are already starting to develop differently. One example is Krillin, I plan on making him stronger than cannon during this point and that was the reason I wrote his interations with Korin. Korin has now hyped him up for the fight and he is going to be training harder to help protect the Earth. Anyways that's about it for now. So thanks for reading and please leave a review if you have the time, thanks.
P.S. To the guy who said my summary's grammer sucked I changed it just for you but I doupt that you're even reading this so I guess I'm just talking to myself oh well...