Disclaimer: All rights to the name "Dragonball Z" belong to Akira Toriyama and Toei Animation. I neither own "Dragonball Z" nor do I profit from the writing of this story.

Author's Note: Enjoy.


It was the very early morning in Kami's Lookout when Korin, who had been sleeping so soundly, suddenly felt two enormous powers suddenly appear out of nowhere and near them them to boot.

Korin nearly panicked. He did not know who these two were but he knew that he needed to get the others away from here fast before any harm was done. It was not until about a couple of seconds more did Korin suddenly recognize the ki signatures. He nearly shouted with joy.

He quickly wakened the rest of the sleeping warriors.

"Hey, what gives Korin? Why you waking us up at this time of the morning?" asked Yajirobe in frustration, obviously not happy at waking up so early in the morning.

"Stuff it you lummox. Hurry, we must go." said Korin.

"Hmm...what's happening?" asked Chi-Chi groggily as she arose.

It was then that Mr. Popo walked in on the awakening warriors. Apparently, Mr. Popo did not sleep.

"They are done. Both the Turtle Hermit and the Mercenary are finished with their training. Come, we shall decide who shall now enter the chamber." said Popo calmly.

"But its so early in the morning! Can't that wait until later on?" shouted Yajirobe.

"Aww, quite yelling tubby! It's too early in the morning to hear you complaining!" yelled Chi-Chi as she too was in a foul mood at getting up so early in the morning.

"You're the one making all the racket! I still don't see how Goku ever put up with you." snorted Yajirobe.

"For your information tubby, Goku never complained. But I guess you wouldn't know. I bet you never even had a relationship with a woman before." shouted Chi-Chi back.

"Hey! You take that back! Not my fault all the chicks are into either slim jims or muscle bound morons. You would know, you married one of those muscle bound morons." said Yajirobe.

"I did not marry Goku just because he was muscular! I loved him, even when he was a child when he had hardly ANY muscles. And don't call my Goku a moron either! He may not have been the smartest but if it weren't for him fighting all those evil guys, you wouldn't be here right now!" yelled Chi-Chi.

Yajirobe made to shoot back when Korin finally had it.

"Both of you! This is not the time to be arguing, we have work to do. If you are not committed to protecting this planet, then by all means leave. If you are serious, then follow me so that we can decide our next course of action." said Korin sternly.

This promptly shut both Chi-Chi and Yajirobe up. They were about to leave when Mr. Popo then said something.

"Umm, Master Korin. What about him?" asked Mr. Popo.

Korin turned to find Mr. Satan still asleep, snoring loudly as a bit of drool dribbled from his mouth.

"Hard to believe he managed to sleep through all that racket." said Korin.

"He's very special indeed." said Mr. Popo.

"I'll say." muttered Korin as he went over to start on the monumental task in waking Mr. Satan from his coma induced slumber.


Soon, everybody was up and over at the entrance of the Hyberbolic Time Chamber. There, they saw a radically changed Master Roshi and Mercenary Tao, who was now completely human.

"I can tell that your powers have increased substantially. It does my heart good to know that both of you are so committed to this cause. We may have a chance to defeat those androids yet." said Korin.

"I don't do this for love of either you nor for the people of this planet. I just want to kill those androids with my own hands." sneered Tao.

"Any reason is good enough, as long as you are still on our side." said Korin.

"Maybe, but I could kill the whole lot of you and destroy the androids myself. There is no reason for the rest of you to train when I will kill those androids here and now." said Tao.

"I'm sorry, mercenary, but despite the great power you have obtained, you are still no match for the androids. I will even go so far as to say that even Freeza, if he were here, would be far too much for you at the moment." said Korin.

"Oh pooey. I don't know if I can take another year in there. It's so boring, and Tao never talks unless he's insulting me plus I forgot all my magazines back at my place." frowned Roshi.

"Oh, Roshi, Roshi, Roshi..." said Korin as he was sighing, waving his head left and right with his right paw on his forehead.

"Now, I'll only go back in there if Chi-Chi joins me. I think tha-"

"Not on your life, old man." sneered Chi Chi before Roshi could get too carried away.

"Darn it." said Roshi as he snapped his fingers as his plan was foiled which caused a small amount of laughter to go about (of course Tao did not participate).

"Anyway, we need to decide who is going next. Any volunteers?" asked Korin.

At once, both Hercule and Chi-Chi rose their hands. Korin frowned.

He did not want those two to get too attached. Both spending a year together in the Chamber might prove more detrimental than productive. He did not know whether their minds would be focused on the training or on other things that he dared not think of.

He had no worries when it came to Roshi, Tao, and even Yajirobe. When push came to shove, Yarjirobe could be quite dedicated and focused when he needed to be.

He hardly knew Chi-Chi and he knew nothing about Hercule. Both were talented fighters, yes, but were they willing to push themselves as hard as Roshi and Tao? It was not a matter of them wanting to train, he knew that they were serious, but would their concern over one another's safety prevent them from training as hard as they could?

He could not risk it and Korin groaned inwardly at the thought of becoming the bad guy here. But with the planet at stake, he could not afford to make mistakes. Those two could not train together, at least, not at the moment.

"I'm sorry you two but I can't have the both of you together in this one. Perhaps in the next session I will allow it, but right now I can't allow it." said Korin.

"What! Why?" asked Chi-Chi.

"What's this all about? Why can't we train together?" asked Hercule angrily.

"I have seen the both of you and how you talk and treat one another. I do not condone the two of you having any sort of relations but right now, I feel that it would be determimental to your training if both of you went in there. Besides, both of you are lacking in fundamental training. As such, Chi-chi will be training with me and Hercule will be training with Mr. Popo." said Korin.

"What a load of crock!" said Hercule.

"No way! I won't do it then! I refuse to be in the same room as you for an entire year, you stupid cat!" roared Chi-Chi.

"ENOUGH!" roared Korin in a strong, deep voice that almost wasn't his.

The depth and volume of his voice promptly shut the Hercule and Chi-chi up right away.

"Understand that there is a reason why I do this. Though I have great respect for your father, Chi-Chi, he was not thorough with your training. You lack key fundementals and have no experience when it comes to weighted training." Korin then turned to Hercule. "You, Mr. Satan, also lack fundamentals and your experience in weighted training is minimal at best. How could the both of you possibly know how to train if you don't know what to do? It's like the blind leading the blind, but that is not my biggest concern."

Korin paused a bit to let what he said sink down for a bit. He then continued.

"It is obvious, at least to me, that both of you care very much about each other. That is fine, but I feel that this affection between the two of you will prevent both of you from training as hard as you can. Not only that, but your priorities might shift to other activities that I care not to mention." said Korin.

Everybody knew what Korin was implying and they all blushed (except for Tao and Korin) in embarrassment.

"I am not trying to be cruel here, I am just doing what is best for the both of you. I promise that once you get your fundamental training down, the both of you can partner up if you want for the second session. But not right now. Please, understand what I am trying to say." said Korin.

Everybody was silent for a while as they tried to absorb what he said. After some time, Chi-Chi then spoke.

"I see where you are coming from. I hate to admit it but you are right. Still, don't think I'm going to enjoy staying with you for a year." said Chi Chi.

"Same here. I agree that you are right cat man but that dark fellow over there gives me the creeps. I don't know if I can hang with him for a year." said Mr. Satan.

"Not to worry. Mr. Popo will make sure that your training goes according to plan." said Mr. Popo with a smile, creeping Hercule out even more.

Korin then turned over to Yajirobe.

"I'm sorry friend. It seems that you will be training last and alone for this session." said Korin.

"It's alright. I'm really rusty and I work best by myself anyway. I don't mind having a sparring partner next session since I'm sure I'll have my skills down pact by then." said Yajrobe.

"Thank you for taking this so well Yajirobe, you don't know how relieved I am." said Korin.

"Hey! Cat! How are you going to train me anyway, you don't look so strong." said Chi-Chi.

"I have a name you know." muttered Korin under his breath before replying to Chi-Chi. "Well, it can't be helped. I did not want to have to show you all this until we started battle but no choice now." said Korin as his body then started to glow blue.

Everybody turned and watched as Korin's body shape was beginning to twist and contort a bit. Korin roared in pain before there was a brilliant flash of light that temporarily blinded everyone.

When the light faded, the sight that welcomed the warriors brought shock.

There, where there used to be a chubby, fat cat, was now a tall, strong warrior. He was tall, at least as tall as Piccolo with a bare chest of chiseled muscle. He wore a white loincloth about his waist and large, white boots. His face was stony and hard, with piercing blue eyes and a strong chin that held a small goatee. His hair was black and extended down to his mid-back.

His power was impressive. He could have at least been able to subdue the Sayain threat to Earth all those years ago had he chose to transform.

"K-Korin?" asked Yajirobe in disbelief.

"Yes, its me." replied Korin, though his voice was now deep and strong.

"B-But how?" asked Chi-Chi, who was in disbelief as well.

"It's a long story." said Korin.

"I was never aware that you could do that. Why didn't you tell us?" asked Master Roshi.

"Well, I might as well explain a few things. I was once a great warrior that wandered the lands below over a thousand years ago. I was truly strong, no human could match me. When I came upon this tower I climbed it, curious as to what dwelled above. When I got to the top, I came upon a fool who said that his power was second to Kami. I thought he was nuts and promptly killed him. It was then that Kami himself came to where I was, not even a second later. No, he was not the Kami you all know, he was a different fellow, cruel and mean. Anyway, he casted a curse upon me, which reduced me to a small pudgy cat for my insolence. He gave me the name Korin and the tower was named after me. He told me that as long as Kami lives, I would never be able to attain my true form again." said Korin.

"I see, but now that Kami is dead due to the androids..." said Master Roshi.

"Perceptive as always, Roshi. Yes, since Kami has died I was able to obtain this form once more. Unfortunately, even in this form I am no match for those androids. It is for this reason that I have come here to train and assist you all in the extermination of those monsters." said Korin.

"Impressive if I say so myself. Here I was thinking that you were just a foolish animal trying to play the hero. Go in there if you can then, Korin, and see what you can do. I just hope that wench does not hinder your training too much." sneered Mercenary Tao.

"You take that back!" shouted Chi-Chi.

"Stop it, both of you. We have work to do now. Come, Chi-Chi. It is our turn." said Korin as he started to step into the white void.

Chi-Chi turned over to see a very concerned Mr. Satan. Chi-Chi walked over to him and placed her hand on his cheek.

"Be careful. Don't do anything reckless." said Hercule.

"Don't worry. I plan to come back to see you." said Chi-Chi as she kissed him softly in the cheek before turning around to join Korin in training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.