It was now early in the morning, and the duo and 21 were sprawled out on their respective beds, still asleep.
All of a sudden, they heard a knock on the door.
Begu groaned,"Who is it now?"
Mafin groggily replied,"It's probably Bulma with the medicine."
21 yawned and said, "I better get up."
"No, no, it's fine, 21. I'll do it.", said Mafin.
The Pesutorian stood up, stretched himself out, and walked over to the door.
He opened it and saw Goku, dressed in his signature gi, holding a container that contained several vials of the medicine.
Goku exclaimed, "Hey Mafin! Bulma wanted me to deliver this stuff to you!"
"Thanks Goku.", said Mafin with a yawn.
Goku frowned and asked,"Are you alright? You seem a little tired."
Mafin rubbed his eye, "Yeah, we had to deal with some...stuff last night."
Goku inquired,"What kind of stuff?"
Mafin yawned and replied,"It's a long story, but it has to do with those vials you're holding."
"Oh, okay. Mind if I come in?"
"No, not at all.", said Mafin with a smile.
His eyes widened in realization and he exclaimed,"Except, we kinda have to get up first! So just please hold on a minute!"
Goku said, "Um, alright."
Mafin grabbed the container from the Saiyan. He quickly closed the door and ran over to Begu and 21, who were still asleep.
He slapped Begu across the face, making his friend yelp with pain.
Begu sat up and growled,"What the heck was that for?!"
Mafin nervously said,"S-Sorry Begu, but Goku's about to come in!"
Begu exclaimed,"Aw crap! And we're still wearing our clothes from yesterday!"
Mafin added, "And we haven't even brushed our teeth, OR showered up! I really don't want to walk around with bad hygiene!"
Begu exclaimed, "Then we gotta get ready!"
They both went over to 21 and lightly tapped her shoulders.
21 slowly opened her eyes and groggily asked,"W-What is it, guys?"
Mafin replied,"Goku's here."
"Wait, what?!", exclaimed 21 as she sat up, her glasses simultaneously falling off her face.
Mafin added, "And I have the vials with me!"
He gave the container to 21, who pulled one vial out, opened it up, and drank from it.
She closed the vial up, and placed it back in the container.
21 smiled and said, "Thank you."
Begu shouted, "Now let's go! We gotta get ready!"
21 said, "R-Right!", and quickly put her glasses back on.
Fifteen minutes later, Mafin (who was now wearing his Turtle School gi) opened the door for Goku.
He calmly said, "You can come in now."
The Saiyan nodded and walked in.
Mafin noticed that Goku was carrying a unknown red staff on his back.
Not wanting to bombard the Saiyan with questions, he decided to ask about it later.
Goku asked, "Where are Master Roshi and Krillin?"
"They're currently out looking for groceries. At least, that's what I read from the note that Krillin left on the fridge.", replied Mafin.
Begu (who was also wearing his gi) said, "So, all we have right now, in terms of breakfast related stuff...is cereal."
He pulled out a random cereal box out of the fridge,
"And not the good kind, more like the really generic, 'corn flakes' type kind."
21 (who was now wearing a red shirt with dark blue sweats) spoke up, "I actually think that cereal is pretty good."
Begu muttered, "I highly disagree, but I respect your opinion."
Goku frowned, "Huh. Sounds like a real bummer."
His expression then brightened, "Hey, I got it! I'll go get some fish for us!"
Goku put two fingers to his forehead and concentrated on the various ki signatures in the nearby ocean.
After a few seconds, he grinned, "There we go!"
He instantly teleported away, and teleported outside a minute later.
"Come out here!", shouted Goku.
The trio looked at one another and shrugged.
They all walked outside to see Goku with a massive blue fish sitting behind him.
He chuckled, "What do you think?"
Begu stammered, "Th-That thing's the size of Kame House!"
Goku looked back at the fish, and said, "Really? 'Cause it doesn't look that big."
"I didn't mean litera—y'know what, never mind."
Goku smiled, "Anyways, let's head over to Mount Paozu! It'll be much easier cooking the fish over there."
21 happily said, "That sounds wonderful Goku!"
Mafin grinned, "I agree!"
Begu shrugged, "Eh, sure, sounds cool."
The Saiyan smiled and looked up to the sky.
He shouted,"NIMBUS!"
Just then, a fluffy golden cloud arrived near him, much to the confusion of the trio.
Goku hopped on the cloud and explained,
"This little cloud is the Flying Nimbus! Master Roshi gave it to me when I was a kid."
Mafin exclaimed,"Ooh, that's right! I remember Krillin talking about it during one of our breaks!"
Begu asked, "How do you ride on that thing again? 'Cause we kinda forgot how it works."
Goku explained, "Well, you can only ride on it if you're pure of heart."
The duo looked at one another, then turned back to Goku.
Mafin asked, "So, can we try it out?"
Goku hopped off and said, "Sure! Just be careful though."
The duo nodded and climbed onto the fluffy cloud.
Mafin managed to successfully sit on it, while unfortunately, Begu fell off and hit the ground, face first.
Begu stood up and grumbled, "What the heck?! Why can't I get on?!"
Goku asked, "Have you done anything impure?"
Begu thought about it for a minute, and replied, "Well, a few months ago, I took a quick peek at Master Roshi's magazines and I kinda started to-"
"BEGU!", shouted Mafin.
"Woah! Okay! I don't need to know anymore, uh, icky stuff!", exclaimed Goku.
21 sighed, "Please don't talk about this inappropriate subject any further..."
Begu angrily crossed his arms, "Whatever! I'll just fly the old fashioned way!"
Goku turned to 21 and asked, "So, do you want to get on?"
The android's eyes widened in suprise, "M-Me? Are you sure?"
"Yeah! Trust me, it'll be fun!", happily said Goku.
Unsure of how this scenario would play out, 21 looked off to the side and nervously twisted one of her hair bangs.
She wondered if she would really be accepted on that cloud, or rejected due to her unsettling hunger problem...
21 looked back at Mafin, who sported a kind, reassuring smile on his face.
Mafin said, "Try it out 21! I'm sure it will accept you."
She replied, "O-Okay...I'll do it..."
The android carefully climbed on and, to her amazement, she was able to sit behind Mafin.
Goku smiled and hoisted the massive fish on his back.
He exclaimed, "Let's go!"
The group flew across the ocean, and soared straight into the clouds.
Goku looked over at the duo and called out, "Hey guys!"
Both Mafin and Begu turned to face the Saiyan.
"Yesterday, Gohan told me that you've been training with Krillin, both on the Lookout and on that old island. So, how about you two engage in a little sparring match with me?"
Mafin and Begu both went wide-eyed.
Mafin stammered, "W-With...you?!"
Goku nodded, "Yeah! I want to see where you two are at in terms of power!"
Mafin excitedly smiled in anticipation.
Begu grinned,"Oh, heck yeah, my dude!"
Goku chuckled, "Awesome!"
21's eyes widened, "You three want to face off against each other... already?"
Begu replied, "Hey, why not? I mean, it allows us to see how far we've grown!"
Mafin then spoke up, "Goku, I was wondering, what's that red staff on your back for?"
Goku replied, "Oh this thing? It's called the Power Pole, and it's a weapon that can stretch across various distances. I used it a lot when I was a kid, but eventually, I had to place it underneath Korin's Tower."
Mafin's eyes widened in disbelief, "So that's what that long, red pole is?! The one that's located in between the base of the building?!"
Goku happily said,"Yep! I was feeling kinda nostalgic, so Korin actually let me borrow it for today. It's pretty cool, right?"
"Yeah, it sounds incredible!", smiled Mafin.
Just then, Goku looked downwards and said, "Alright! We made it!"
Mafin, Begu, and 21 collectively nodded in response, and followed Goku all the way down to a random spot at Mount Paozu.
The Saiyan carefully set the large fish on the ground.
He ran over to a nearby tree and struck it down with one kick, causing it to collapse.
Goku then grabbed the tree, and threw it over a few feet away from where the group was standing.
He quickly flew over and rapidly kicked it into multiple pieces of firewood, which all fell neatly onto a small row.
The trio looked at the Saiyan with shocked expressions.
They were amazed that he was able to pull off an astonishing feat in less than a minute!
Goku thought, "That should be good enough!"
He flew downwards, grabbed some of the pieces and sat them on the ground.
The Saiyan looked over to the group and asked, "You guys wanna sit down?"
Mafin happily replied, "Yeah, sure!"
21 smiled, "Thank you Goku!"
Begu happily said, "Thanks man!"
The three of them sat down on the make-shift seats.
Goku chuckled and placed the large fish on the remaining pile of wood.
He fired a small ki blast at the pile, causing it, along with the fish, to be engulfed in flames.
Goku sighed in relief and said, "Now, we just wait for it to cook."
Meanwhile, Queen Shannon, who was perched on a tree branch in the far distance, saw that the four heroes were gathered around the large fish.
The spider queen said,"Well, well, Lee, looks like those two aliens are back, along with some new tall girl, and some big, spikey haired man."
She smirked, "And since I've trained a bit more since our last encounter, I better make sure that those aliens don't get in my way again."
Meanwhile, Lee (who was sitting right next to Shannon) stared in awe at a random butterfly, and mindlessly nodded.
He happily said,"Yeah! I, uh, wholeheartedly agree!"
Shannon frowned at her assistant, "You didn't even listen to a word I said, did you?"
Lee, still transfixed on the butterfly, asked,"What'd you say, my Queen?"
The Queen let out an annoyed sigh, grabbed her assistant by the jaw, and hopped down to the bushes below to enact her new plan.
Shannon said, "For our plan, let's gather a bunch of our spiders, and ambush the group! But, we'll do it AFTER they finish eating."
Lee perked a brow in confusion, "After? Why not right now?"
Shannon replied, "Because it's more fun that way! At least, to me it is."
She grabbed a nearby stick, and began drawing up a diagram.
The queen explained, "First, five of our spiders will web up a massive cocoon around the two aliens, that tall lady, and the big guy. Then, you and I will arrive, and after I chat with them for a bit, I'll take the four of them out in an EPIC attack!"
Lee exclaimed, "That plan sounds amazing, my queen!"
Shannon grinned, "I know! Let me tell ya Lee, this'll be our best one yet!"
A half an hour later, the group had finished off the massive fish, and they were all stuffed.
Goku let out a massive burp, and rubbed his stomach with satisfaction.
"Phew!", he exclaimed, "That hit the spot!"
Mafin said, "I agree."
21 sighed deeply, "It really did..."
Begu added, "Yeah..."
Goku then stood up and stretched out his legs.
Afterwards, he put two fingers to his forehead once more.
"I better let Chi-Chi know I brought you three over here this morning.", he said with a smile, "I'll see you guys in a bit! Bye!"
He instantly teleported away.
Begu turned to his friends and asked, "Is it me, or does his hair stay at the exact same shape and angle, no matter which way you view him?"
Both Mafin and 21 looked at one another with shocked expressions, then looked back at Begu.
Mafin replied, "Huh. Now that you mention it, it kinda...does!"
21 smiled, "It's rather amusing now that I think about it."
Begu snickered, "Yeah! I mean, does he use hair gel to keep the angle up like that?!"
The trio collectively laughed at the humorous thought.
The laughter died down after a few seconds, and Mafin spoke up, "So, 21, I was wondering. What was that medicine created from?"
21 replied, "Well, on the night before the party, I was told by Bulma that her intergalactic friend named Jaco helped her make it from some sort of alien flower...but I can't recall what exactly it was."
Mafin thought, "So, an alien flower was the one to stop her hunger problem. Interesting..."
Begu said, "We gotta be thankful that it managed to calm you down."
21 nodded, "Yes, that is true. And I'm even more thankful that Bulma finally solved this issue."
Begu chuckled, "Yep!"
Mafin sighed, "Thank the stars we'll never have to hear from Crazy 21 ever again..."
Begu and 21 collectively said, "Agreed."
Suddenly, Mafin and Begu sensed several big power levels nearby.
And they were very, very familiar.
Begu anxiously thought, "Please not them, why'd it have to be them, please not them, why'd it have to be them, please not them..."
Mafin thought, "They're back?! After all this time?!"
21 nervously asked, "U-Um, guys? What's going-"
"NOW!", called out a certain voice.
Five horse-sized spiders scurried out of various bushes and began circling around the group.
The duo got into their Turtle School stances and 21 stammered, "Wh-What the...?"
Mafin shouted, "21! Stay behind us!"
Just then, all three of them were quickly webbed up together in a massive cocoon.
Mafin growled, "Not again!"
Begu angrily shouted, "OH COME ON! WHY?! WHY DO WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS AGAIN?! I HATE THIS!"
"Aww, thanks! I hate you too!", said Queen Shannon, who crawled towards the group.
She sported a sinister grin on her face.
The queen thought, "Looks like the spikey-haired guy is nowhere to be seen. Ah, oh well. Doesn't matter, because at least I have these three right where I want them..."
Lee popped up from behind the queen and happily exclaimed, "Hi guys! How's it going?"
Examining the spider queen that was standing before them, 21 asked, "Mafin, Begu, is she the spider woman that you mentioned? Back when we first met?"
Mafin nervously replied, "Y-Yeah. Like I said before, it was a long story."
"Why, yes, it was a long story that ended with these fools running away from me and my glorious army!", said Shannon as she crawled up more closely to the two of them.
She smiled at 21, "Hello, tall lady! I'm Queen Shannon."
"A-Android 21...", said the android in an awkward tone of voice.
Shannon exclaimed, "Ah! A robot lady! That makes things even more interesting."
Mafin shouted, "DON'T YOU DARE HURT HER!"
Shannon rolled her eyes and turned to face Mafin,
"Yeesh, kid. Calm down. I wasn't gonna do anything yet. What's with the sudden hero yell?"
The Pesutorian awkwardly blushed, "W-Well, um, because...I want to show that I'm not terrified!"
Shannon smiled, "D'aww! That's cute. You wanna protect your robot friend!"
Begu chuckled, "Hey, at least he doesn't get loud and angry when a stupid plan fails spectacularly."
Shannon frowned at the Octorian, "Says the guy who went berserk over a certain phra-"
"Hey! What's going on here?"
Everyone looked up, and saw Goku floating above, glaring down at the spider queen.
21 sighed in relief and smiled, while Mafin and Begu happily exclaimed, "Goku!"
The Saiyan floated down and said, "I don't know why you're doing this, but you better let my friends go."
Shannon grinned evilly, "I don't think so, big guy."
She shouted,"Spiders! Attack this Goku person! Now!"
The five spiders did what was told, and proceeded to scurry towards the Saiyan, who held his signature Turtle School stance, and had a determined look on his face.
Two of the spiders leaped towards Goku, and he jabbed them both in the head via palm strikes, knocking them out.
Another spider was about to bite the Saiyan on the leg, but thankfully, he kicked the spider straight in the jaw, sending it flying, and it crashed into a larger tree.
Goku sensed two other spiders coming for him from behind.
He flew up in the air, dodging the vicious arachnids, and grabbed his trusty Power Pole.
"POWER POLE EXTEND!", shouted Goku.
The weapon proceeded to do so, which knocked the massive arachnids straight into each other.
Goku landed on the ground and sensed one more spider coming for him.
Lee leaped out at the martial artist from behind.
"I'M ATTACKING NOW!", he screamed.
Goku turned around, and using the Power Pole, he struck the assistant in the head and the legs, and sent him back a few feet with a kiai attack.
After that, the Saiyan safely placed the red staff back in its sheath.
He then faced the queen, who stared in shock at the Saiyan's power.
As sweat dripped down her brow, Shannon thought, "I don't believe this! Those two aliens fought me over the course of fifteen minutes! But, this man knocked out Lee and five of my spiders, in less than four minutes! What...is he?"
Goku sternly said, "Now then, let my friends go. I'm not gonna ask you again."
Shannon took a deep breath and thought, "Not to worry, I'll just attack him myself!"
She shouted, "NEVER!"
The spider queen leaped over to Goku and unleashed a series of palm strikes, which the Saiyan easily dodged.
Shannon then conjured up a ball of flame with her right hand, spread her fingers out, and the flames quickly spread across them. She proceeded to release several smaller flame projectiles at Goku, scattershot style.
The Saiyan swiftly blocked them all away with ease.
Shannon growled with anger, and began punching the Saiyan several times in the stomach, which still had no effect on him.
"Those punches would usually break a large tree in half! H-How is he this strong?", fearfully thought the queen.
She balled her fists in anger, then shouted, "I WON'T LOSE TO YOU!"
She blasted a massive burst of flames from both of her hands, and Goku instantly teleported away.
Shannon blurted out, "Wh-What?! Where'd he-?"
"My queen! Behind you!", shouted Lee.
Shannon turned her head to see Goku unleash a powerful barrage of punches and kicks onto her, all of which were incredibly fast and precise.
To finish off the barrage, the Saiyan sent a powerful kick directly to the queen's face, making her soar through the air. She ended up crashing through several large trees.
Goku teleported to where the queen was.
He said, "You know it's pointless to continue this battle, right?"
A disheveled Shannon growled at Goku, "Wh-Why...you! I am Shannon! The mighty queen of the spiders!"
Goku then laughed out loud, prompting the queen to ask, "What's so funny?"
"Your real name is Shannon?! What kind of name is that?!", replied Goku.
"I know, right?!", shouted Begu from a distance.
Bulging veins formed on the queen's forehead and she muttered, "I really should've stuck with my fake name..."
Goku then sighed, "Let's just call off this skirmish, alright? To be honest, it isn't all that exciting from a fighting perspective."
"You really think this battle is...entertaining?!", scoffed Shannon as she stood back up.
Goku replied, "This specific battle? No!"
He stated, "What you're currently doing is terrible, tying up my new friends like that. And from a fighting perspective, this battle also isn't that interesting, or informative to me either."
The martial artist smiled, "And I do love a good fight! It is in my Saiyan nature after all."
Shannon raised an eyebrow, "Saiyan? What's a Saiyan?"
Goku began to explain, "Well, uh, they're this alien race that was super powerful, and-"
Shannon spoke up, "You said 'was super powerful'. As in past tense. I'm guessing something happened to them?"
Goku nodded, "They were all wiped out by this tyrant named Frieza. That guy was a cruel monster, I'll give you that. He nearly almost made me lose myself."
Shannon thought to herself, "Frieza! That name again. Why did that purple alien mistake me for him during that rage-induced freakout of his? I better speculate on that later..."
She asked, "So, I take it that you're the last of these Saiyans?"
Goku shook his head, "No, not really. There's Vegeta, who's a prince. And there's also my mom, who's currently out having adventures in space."
Shannon's jaw dropped, "There are three of you?!"
Goku chuckled, "Yep! And there other powerful fighters here on Earth too, like my former rival Piccolo, my best friend Krillin..."
As he began listing off his allies, Shannon thought, "If those fighters are just as strong as this guy right here, then my spiders and I are screwed! Those two aliens will have nothing to worry about!"
She gulped and looked down in sorrow, "My...my plans are ruined. Again. What's the point in taking over the world now if this guy's powerful enough to stop me?"
The queen shook her head in disbelief and thought, "I gotta get out of here..."
Shannon whistled for Lee, who scurried all the way to her.
Lee asked, "Yes my queen?"
Shannon replied, "Let's head back to the cave. I was thinking about...rethinking this whole plan."
The queen looked up and saw that Goku was still standing there.
Shannon angrily spat, "Out of my way, Saiyan.
Goku said, "Okay. Just make sure that my friends are safe."
Shannon scoffed, "Fine."
He walked out of the way, letting Shannon crawl off.
She shouted, "Spiders!"
All five spiders stood back up upon hearing the queen's voice.
"Free those two aliens and that robot girl!"
The spiders nodded and crawled over to the group.
The large arachnids each tore open the strong webbing with their chelicerae, freeing the trio.
They saw Shannon crawl up towards them.
Mafin and Begu held their respective Turtle School poses, ready to face the queen once again.
"Don't...just don't.", said an annoyed Shannon, "I have no interest in fighting you two right now."
Mafin and Begu looked at one another, and shrugged in confusion.
She sighed, "I just need to think about what to do for...for..."
Shannon quietly scurried away, and Lee and the other spiders followed her.
21 frowned, "She seems saddened by something. What happened to her?"
Begu shrugged, "Meh, who cares. At least she won't bother us anymore for today."
Just then, Goku teleported in front of them, and asked, "Are you guys alright?"
Mafin smiled, "We are, thanks to you!"
The Saiyan chuckled, "Don't mention it!"
Begu smirked, "So, wanna have our match now?"
Goku excitedly replied, "Oh yeah!"
Author's Note:
-For those wondering how Gine (Goku's mother) survived Planet Vegeta's destruction, please read my other DBZ story A Strange Group Of Heroes, as that story is also set in the same continuity as this one.
