Goku and Piccolo arrived back home in a few hours. As soon as they set foot on the ground, Chi-Chi opened the door, to let them back in. She gasped, when she saw their battle-damaged outfits, but was relieved to see them both okay. She ushered them back inside, where they were attempting to continue their planned picnic. Now with the rest of the family back, they could go on without worries.

Both Goku and Piccolo were quiet, during dinner. They were both pondering how they were going to explain this to Chi-Chi and Gohan. This was not going to be an easy topic to throw onto their laps out of nowhere; they'd be dealing with two nervous wrecks, if they weren't careful. They couldn't even focus on the delicious food because of it.

Of course, this caught Chi-Chi's attention. "Goku, are you okay? You haven't even touched your plate."

Goku and Piccolo looked at each other. Piccolo nodded at him. Instead, Goku looked at Gohan. "Gohan, could you go to your room? We need to talk to your mommy. Okay?"

Gohan, completely oblivious to the tension, stood up. "Okay, daddy." He hugged his mother, father, and Piccolo, before he ran back to the house.

Chi-Chi looked surprised, that her husband was acting so serious; knowing that made her fear the worst. "What is it? What happened while you were gone?"

Goku sighed, moving to sit next to her. "That power I felt… he came from some other planet to take over the world. And he turned out to be one of those bad guys Piccolo talked about."

Her eyes widened. "What?" She looked at Piccolo. "Is that true?"

Piccolo nodded. "He was the worst one, out of all of them. I thought he had died, but he came back, looking for someone else he hated. He was acting as if he wanted Goku, too. If it weren't for that other warrior…" He shook his head. "I don't even want to think about what could have happened."

"Well, at least you did. It's all over then, right?"

"Not really," Goku said. "That other warrior told Piccolo that a year from now, an evil scientist is going to send androids to attack West City. And he had two other worse ones in the works, too."

Piccolo continued where Goku left off. "According to him, he and I are the only ones who survive their wrath. But even with our strength, we aren't strong enough to take them."

Chi-Chi looked horrified, as the implications of what they said sunk in. She didn't want to think about her husband or any of their friends dying. If they weren't strong enough to defeat them, then just how powerful were these androids? What if they got Gohan, too?

"Oh god," she whispered, looking as if she was close to having a panic attack. Goku tried to pull her closer, but she pushed against him. "Why did you tell me this? I didn't want to think about you dying. How could you do this to me?"

Goku didn't move away, holding onto her arms. "Because it's not all bad. We have the warning: we have a chance to fight this. If we train hard enough and get stronger, then there's no way that these androids can defeat us."

She pulled her arms away and stood up, facing away from them. "Even after learning all of that, you still want to fight?!"

Goku stood up, following her and putting his hands on her shoulders. "If we don't, then who will? We have to be able to protect Earth."

She turned around. "And what about us?! It was bad enough today, when you ran out to fight some tyrant! What am I supposed to do – sit around and pray that you come home, safely?! What if something happens, out there?! What am I supposed to tell Gohan?! How am I supposed to explain to him that his dad won't be coming home, again?! I don't think I could take it, Goku!" Tears started rolling down her face. She hunched over and covered her face, sobbing hard.

Goku put her hands on her shuddering shoulders, once more. "But it won't. We still have a year, before this is supposed to happen. That's plenty of time to get ready for them. They won't be ready for us, when we get stronger."

She tried wiping her eyes, though the tears kept falling. "How can you be so confident? After everything you just told me, how?"

"Because I know I can. I have you and Gohan to protect – if I died, I couldn't protect you, anymore."

"And we won't be alone," Piccolo finally said. "The other Earth warriors are preparing, as well. You don't have to turn into a blubbering mess over hypotheticals. And if something does happen, we still have the Dragon Balls."

"Right. So, don't worry. We'll get strong enough to take them. I know it."

She sniffed. "I can't stop you, when you have your mind made up, can I?" Eventually, she nodded, still keeping her gaze down. "Alright… if you're so confident, then you can train and fight them."

"Oh, it's not gonna be just us."

She looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

"Piccolo and I were talking on the way back, and, well, we think Gohan's old enough to start training, too."

Her anxiety and sorrow immediately went away, exploding in an intense anger. "ABSOLUTELY NOT! I WILL NOT HAVE MY SON TURNING INTO A MEAT-HEADED DELINQUENT!"

Goku looked back at Piccolo and shrugged. He had a look on his face as if he knew that response was coming. Piccolo just rolled his eyes. He laughed, awkwardly. "Well, if you don't want to do that, then maybe you can start training!"

Her mood shifted back into shock. "Me?"

"Yeah. We were gonna tell you about it, anyway, but if you don't want Gohan to start training and fighting with us, then you should, instead."

"But… but why? It's been so long, since I last fought anyone. You don't expect me to go and fight alongside you, do you?"

Piccolo was growing tired of her contrariety, "If you won't let Gohan train, then how do you expect him to be safe, if the androids attack? Neither of us will be here to protect him. If you aren't the one to do that, then who will?"

"I can take care of my son just fine!"

"Not if those androids find you and take you out, first. If this threat is too much for either of us to handle, right now, then you wouldn't stand a chance. You told Goku to think about your son: how about you do the same. Either you train or he does, Chi-Chi: your choice."

As blunt and harsh as those words were, Piccolo knew that nothing else would get through to her. He might love her, but her stubbornness made her hard to reason with. Now that he had pulled that card on her, he knew he had her in a corner: the angered look on her face told him that much.

Wanting to ease some of that anger, Goku stepped in. "Hey, if you're worried about being out of practice, don't. You remember our fight, all those years ago: you gave me a real challenge. We can get that back, and then some. Come on, it'll be just like old times."

Chi-Chi's expression softened, and she sighed. "Fine. I'll do it. But just for Gohan. You better not go back on your promises."

"We won't let you down!"

Yamcha, Krillin, and Tien Shinhan made their way to Kame House, picking up a few of their friends along the way. Krillin was the one to inform all of the others about what they had been told – in a year's time, some menace would attack. If he escaped, then he'd release an even worse menace that would kill them all.

"You're saying there's a guy out there strong enough to take down Goku," Oolong shouted.

Krillin nodded. "I didn't want to believe it, but Piccolo sounded serious about it. We might have met our match."

"Not if we prepare for him," Yamcha countered. "Master Roshi, I know this is a lot to ask of you, but could you start training us, again? If we can get stronger in a years-time, we might be able to put a stop to him."

Roshi looked down at the table, stroking his beard. "I'm afraid there's little I could do for any of you, now."

Tien seemed shocked. "What? There has to be. You've been around for so long. Surely, you have something left."

"You boys have grown stronger than I ever thought possible. Your skills have long surpassed mine. I couldn't teach you anything that you don't already know yourselves. If this enemy were as strong as you said, then any of my skills would be useless against it. I'm sorry, but there's just nothing I can do."

That revelation hit the Earth warriors hard. When even the great Master Roshi was powerless to teach them anything, what hope did they have? What use was this premonition if they weren't able to prepare for it? The situation was becoming more grim and hopeless by the second.

"This isn't good," Oolong said. "If none of you have anything, then what's stopping this robot guy from turning us into pork chops?!"

Puar threw himself onto Yamcha, sobbing into his lap. "Oh, Yamcha! What are we gonna do? I don't wanna lose you!"

Chiaotzu looked down at the ground, solemnly. Tien put his hand on his back. "I say we still train," he said, to everyone. "Even if things look bad, we can still get stronger. Just look at Goku – he's always pushing himself to his limits. If we can do the same, then Gero won't stand a chance."

Krillin stood up. "You're right. I'm through with standing back and letting things happen. We should take charge and try to fight this, together."

"Count me in, too," Yamcha said."

The brief moment of motivation was cut off by yelling, from outside. "Hey! Hey!" The warriors looked back at Master Roshi, who just shrugged. He wasn't expecting any visitors, today.

Krillin walked to the door, and opened it. "Haven't you heard of knocking?" A short and stout man with long black hair was standing on the porch of Kame House, with a sword strapped to his back. Krillin nodded. "Oh yeah, you're, you're… what's your name, again?"

"It's Yajirobe! You know that! Stop asking stupid questions! Anyways, Korin told me to tell you to report to the lookout for special training."

"Hold on, you mean the Korin?"

"Fat white cat, staff, always has his eyes closed, pushy and rude: that's the one. Also told you to bring, uh, Lambchop and Ten-somebody. Whatever, you know who I'm talking about. You're supposed to come to the lookout to train for some stupid androids with Kami." When the others didn't respond, he groaned. He couldn't care less about running errands for Korin. "Look, just show up to the Lookout. Or don't. Do whatever you want." He walked back to his car. He quickly got back in and drove off, without another word.

"Hey," Krillin said. "Maybe we will have a chance, after all!"

Tien looked shocked, by the announcement. "Training with Kami… we all saw how strong Goku was, after his training."

"Yeah, and we're probably stronger now than he was, back then," Yamcha boasted. "If we start now, then those tin cans won't stand a chance!"

And so, with a renewed sense of hope, Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien left Kame House, heading straight for the Lookout. If they worked hard, they could speed through this training like nothing. And if they got stronger, then they could only imagine how much stronger Goku was going to be.

The Earth warriors had only a year left to prepare for these androids. Every second of every day counted. They had to make the most out of whatever time they had left, and hope that it would be enough to stand a chance against them.

Unknown to them, another far-off planet was experiencing a crisis of their own, as a different menace threatening their own population. And unknown to both of them, their stories would converge in the worst way possible.