Chapter 2
Above the clouds: Heaven
"Up, up, down, down." a large red ogre, wearing a horned helmet over long black hair, stamped papers, provided by small blue coworkers..
Left to his own devices, this is how King Yemma would have spent the rest of eternity: Quickly judging the wisps that floated to his station. Up from the mortal world, it was then either up to Heaven, or down to the blood-filled lakes of Hell. However, that was not meant to be this time.
"Right, they were left behind, Goku." Kami stated as he popped into the judges quarters. "They will be fine while you're gone. You just need to prepare, and get back to Earth before the Saiyans arrive in one year's time."
"Left behind? Darn. Okay, train, I can do that… but where are we?" Goku inquired, looking around at the vast room. The first thing he noticed was on himself, a ring of light floated above his head, the second thing he noticed was the air. It was cold, still, and scentless. Yet at the same time, it was oddly relaxing. A long line of clouds formed a chain, snaking as far as the eye could see, and likely much further. A giant ogre sat behind a desk, easily thirty times the height of Goku, and shorter, blue-horned ogres were quickly handing him papers, and grabbing the stamped papers he produced.
"Right this way." one of the blue ogres directed Kami and Goku. "He will see you now."
"Bah! The tree was left standing? Absolutely down for you, Mr. Amond." stamped Yemma. "NEXT!"
Looking up he saw the reason the line stopped. "Well, if it isn't Kami, what brings you in today? And please get to the point, an entire planet just got wiped out, and I have four billion souls to get through in the next couple minutes."
"Alright, I'll make this quick." Kami pushed Goku forward. "This is Goku, a Saiyan from Earth. His brother came to our planet to recruit him into their space pirate gang. Fortunately, he was able to defeat his brother, with the help of Piccolo…"
"Start at the important part, please." The ogre looked down on Kami.
"Apologies. In one year, two more Saiyans, far more powerful than the one that killed Goku, will be arriving. I'm requesting that he be able to train with King Kai in order to become powerful enough to protect our world."
"First step, run down Snake Way. That way, and when you get to the planet, tell him I sent you." King Yemma grabbed a stamp from inside his desk, applying it to a paper provided by a smaller ogre, and shouted "NEXT!" once more.
"Thank you, King Yemma." Kami bowed.
"Is that it? Really?" Goku asked while Kami and him approached the mouth of the long-stretching road that seemed even longer than the line for King Yemma's judgment. "Run down this road, and start training?"
"It may seem simple, Goku, but I assure you it is not." Kami leaned on his staff. "The road is a million miles long, and if you fall, you will end up in Hell. Once you're there, you'll be stuck. We will not be able to help you."
"I can fly, remember?" to prove his point Goku pulled his legs up and sat cross-legged in front of the green guardian of Earth.
"Yes, but the length of the path isn't just for King Kai's privacy, or his disdain for neighbors. It is there as a challenge, and training in itself. If you must, fly. But if you can, run."
"Alrighty, sounds great, then I'm off. See you around!" Goku dropped back to the ground, quickly stretched, and began running before Kami could say another word.
He entered through the mouth of a large snake statue, fangs gently combing his hair before it dropped back into place. Exiting through the back of its throat he found himself on a narrow trail made of solid stone. Curling back and forth, rising and lowering in elevation, the path was solitary in the fluffy void of the afterlife.
Spinach Wastes: Earth
"So, this is how he found us." Bulma picked up the scouter and put it on. Pressing a button caused the scouter to beep and display symbols near the faces around her.
"I can't read this." she took it off. 'How can we speak the same language, but not use the same writing system?'
"Don't ask me, you're the scientist. Think you can learn from it?" Krillin asked. "Raditz didn't give numbers, but he said one of the Saiyans could easily beat him, and the third could beat them both. It would be nice to be able to know how we're improving."
"Yeah, it'll take some time, but I should be able to get it translated for you." 'Not that knowing your power will make a difference on it.' Bulma stowed the scouter. "So, who's going to bring Chi-Chi the bad news? Not it."
"Not it."
"Not… dang." Krillin deflated.
"You're her husband's best friend, it should be you." Master Roshi smiled supportively, or maybe it was just because he wouldn't have to face Chi-Chi.
Mount Paozu: 58N 018, 439 East District
Krillin approached the door, hearing pots and pans rattling inside. Taking a deep breath he knocked on the door.
"Come in." The oblivious mother called from inside the home.
'Well, here we go.' Krillin opened the door to the living room with his hat held in front of him. Chi-Chi was in the kitchen preparing a meal, and Ox King was spread out on the couch. "Hi, guys."
"Krillin, how are you? Aren't you supposed to be with Master Roshi, meeting Gohan." Ox King stood up and approached the short bald monk.
As his name suggests, Ox King was a giant of a man, several times the height of Krillin, and several times the width as well. Despite his intimidating stature he wore a kind smile, white shirt, and brown pants held by a pair of suspenders.
"Well… we were, and… can I sit down? Chi-Chi, can you come here, please?" he sat in an oversized chair as Ox King retook his place on the couch, and Chi-Chi entered.
"What is it, Krillin, what's wrong?" Ox King encouraged.
"Well, you see… do you want the short version or the long version?"
"Let's go long." Chi-Chi took a seat next to her dad. Being as average in human size as a woman could be, it was curious how these two were related.
"As you know, Goku and Gohan were born with tails." Krillin started.
"Yes, and Goku had his removed. Wait, is Gohan okay? Did something happen to him"? Chi-Chi leaned into the conversation.
"Well, here's the thing. Right after they arrived on the island another man showed up, also with a tail. He said he was Goku's older brother, Raditz. Turns out Goku is not from this planet. He's an alien."
"What!?" Chi-Chi and Ox King shouted in unison.
Ignoring their interruption, Krillin continued. "Raditz tried to bring Goku into a space pirate gang, or something like that, but naturally he said no. Raditz decided to make his point and took Gohan."
"He did what? Where is he? I'll go get him myself." Chi-Chi explosively stood up, knocking back both the couch, and her father who was on it.
Shrinking back into the chair Krillin continued. "Piccolo showed up. He and Goku took off to rescue Gohan. Master Roshi and I followed as quickly as we could. When we got to the battlefield we saw the end of the fight, Raditz was killed, but Goku got taken by the same attack.
"G-Goku's dead!" Ox King asked the dumbfounded father.
"Don't worry about him." Krillin held up his hands, trying to keep listeners calm as possible. "We're going to wish him back with the Dragon Balls, but we need to wait a year so he can get training in the next life. The problem is that more Saiyans, which Goku is one of, are coming to Earth, to try to steel our balls and become immortal tyrants, or something."
"Goku, is dead?" Chi-Chi lost some of her oomph, and her hands fell to her side. With a new wind she shouted. "SO WHERE IS MY SON, KRILLIN?"
"He was taken by Piccolo, to train. Without him Raditz would have killed us all and… we need" Krillin was interrupted by a wail.
"You let a demon take my boy? You expect my boy to fight? My boy is half-alien!" Chi-Chi began hyperventilating and within a few breaths she collapsed.
"Thank you, Krillin. This must have been hard. What are you going to do now?" Ox King helped Chi-Chi back on to the couch in its new place, slightly inside the wall.
"Train, I guess. But I don't really know how. Goku and I are already equals with Master Roshi, and while he could teach us some, I don't think he's on the level of these pirates. We'll figure something out, though. We always do." 'I hope.'
Mesa Range
"I want my daddy!" Gohan yelled as Piccolo dropped him on the rocky ground.
'What have I got myself in to?' Piccolo asked himself. "Stop crying, now. Your dad is dead, and I'm the one that killed him. He was weak, and if you stay weak, you're going to die too, do you hear me?"
"I don't want to die!"
"Then you'll learn to fight. You will train, and in one year, we will fight off the invaders. Do I make myself clear?" Piccolo stood tall over the half-breed, arms crossed.
"I-I can't fight. I can't even see. I can't." Gohan took a deep breath to continue is whining, but a punch from Piccolo knocked the air out of him.
"That's why we're going to train. You're more limited now, but you still have that power, the power that knocked Raditz around." Piccolo thought for a moment. 'If the boy can sense energy, he should be just as capable against anyone who can't hide their energy.' "Can you sense energy?"
"Kind of..."
Piccolo charged a blast and pointed it at Gohan. Quickly reacting, Gohan backed away. "Can you feel this, or not?"
"Yes. It feels hot, burning, but not to my skin." Gohan quickly answered.
"Good, now dodge." Piccolo released the blast, intentionally aiming to the right of Gohan. Jumping to the left Gohan dodged the blast. "Good, now keep it up."
Piccolo charged a pair of blasts and set them free to either side of Gohan. Hitting the ground the blasts went over Gohan. "Good, you have some potential, now, return fire."
Piccolo began hovering over the ground and floated in an arc in front of the boy. "Reach out with your energy. Feel and find me. Then blast."
"I don't want to hurt you." Gohan stood up but did not raise his guard.
Immediately Piccolo grabbed his arm. "You couldn't if you wanted to." and with a spin threw Gohan at a nearby rock formation.
A screaming Gohan flew through the air. Unintentionally he flared his energy. His body felt it start to compress and he began to spin, attempting to land his feet against the rock. Sadly, he was too late, and his side smashed into the boulder, causing it to shatter like glass as the boy created a crater in it.
The first thing Piccolo thought was that this is going to take a while. The second thing Piccolo thought was the pain on his face. The third thought Piccolo had was maybe this won't take too long after all before trying to get the kid off of him.
Gohan wasn't letting up though. He felt where Piccolo was, and reflexively struck back. He landed a hard right hook on his new teacher before grabbing the front of his shirt in his left hand and wrapping his legs around him.
Piccolo was finally able to grab both of Gohan's hands, stopping the pummeling he was receiving, but this just made Gohan start trying to crush him with his legs. If Gohan was at full power Piccolo may have been in danger, but in an embarrassingly long amount of time, Piccolo was able to free himself and touchdown smash the kid into the ground. This last hit was too much for the boy, and he fell unconscious.
The next day
Gohan woke up in what felt like an enclosed place, with the sound and feel of a small fire next to him. Sitting up metal clanged to the ground, echoing.
Feeling for the source of the noises, Gohan cut himself on a knife. Feeling around more he found a staff. 'The Power Pole?'
"Piccolo?"
No answer came to him so he tucked the knife in to his belt and grabbed the staff. With a small ki he extinguished the fire, spreading hot wood and coals around the shelter. He reached out with his staff, not striking anything around him.
"Power Pole, extend." he said, nothing happened. Listening he heard echoes from one direction, and nothing from the other. Walking away from the echoes, he felt air flowing.
Following the air flow, he began climbing a small rocky path. He knew he should be able to just walk up it, but not seeing the handholds, he dropped to all fours and quickly ascended.
Hovering a few hundred feet away, with his power brought down to nearly nothing, Piccolo watched the boy crawl out of the semi exposed cavern. Before training the boy, he would have to sharpen his senses. And what better way to do that then to throw him to the metaphorical, and literal, wolves?
'I'm off to train myself, but I'll be back for you in a few months. If you live, I know you will be a powerful student. If you die, then you weren't worth training in the first place.'
Gohan sucked his cut finger as he looked up towards the sky, feeling the sun on his face. He felt energies around him but he couldn't identify them. As his stomach growled he focused in on one.
'Shelter, check. Fire, easy. Food, on it. Water, I need to find some. Creatures out here must drink, if I find them, I should be able to follow them to water.'
West City: Capsule Corp
The table was set, bowls were set up like Chinese Checkers pieces in the middle on a rotating section. Krillin, Yamcha, and Yajirobe sat around it, taking turns spinning the lazy susan and grabbing a bowl.
"That's right, on the Lookout." the short samurai agreed between bites of food.
"And he's the one that trained Goku, right? Yamcha
"That's right, and the food up there is great too, I hear. Not that you're suffering here. Can you guys really eat all of this?" Yajirobe started drinking from a new bowl.
"No, I think Bulma remembers how much Goku would eat when training, or whenever, and expects all fighters to eat like that. We try, but we can't finish it typically." Yamcha loosened his belt before leaning back in his chair.
"Well, I think I can help you with that." he opened his throat and poured a glass of milk into it. "Hey, do you guys know where Tien and Chiaotzu are? The invitation is extended to them as well. If we're going to survive this, we'll need all the fighters we can get."
Exchanging glances Krillin and Yamcha shrugged. "No, but I'm sure we can find them."
Three months later:
Mesa Range
In the distance a familiar power began approaching. He sensed it for months now, but this is the first time it seems to have acknowledged him. Gohan knew who it was, and knew he was being watched always, but as shown by his multiple injuries he knew he was not being protected, just observed, until now.
Disgustingly moist air hit his face as Gohan jumped forward. He impacted a rock-hard surface. Reaching out he found and grabbed rolls of thick flesh.
Being flung from side-to-side, Gohan held firm. The giant head he was on lowered as the dinosaur began a charge.
Extending his awareness, he felt a cliff closing in quickly. At the last moment he dropped to the ground, letting the apex predator take the hit.
Drawing his knife, Gohan kicked off the ground and quickly punctured the dinosaurs neck.
'I missed." Gohan thought as an uncomfortably small amount of blood showered on him.
The earth trembled as the beast stepped back. Hearing its breath arc to the side, and having his key compressed to the other, Gohan sensed and jumped and landed on the striking tail.
In a few steps he was back on the dinosaurs head. With a quick downward strike, he sunk his knife into the creatures spine and it collapsed.
"I would say that was impressive, but it really wasn't. The creature looked fierce, but it was weak." Piccolo had closed in on Gohan and now landed near the carcass.
"I wasn't trying to impress you, just get some food." Gohan said sharply. He began carving the dinosaur into manageable chunks. With a small energy blast, he destroyed a nearby rock, sending the scavenger skedaddling away.
"Now that was impressive, I didn't even feel them there." Piccolo approached Gohan as his shirt rustled.
"You couldn't because he barely had any energy." Gohan explained. "You could hear him though, couldn't you? He was panting, and literally licking his lips. He wasn't really being quiet."
'I was thinking that there would be an issue with people lowering their power, but maybe I was mistaken.' Piccolo admitted to himself. "You've survived this long, and like I said we will start training now. Your power has grown by itself. I can feel that, but it's not nearly enough. Are you ready?"
"Yes, I'm ready." Gohan stopped sawing at the carcass and stood up, facing Piccolo. "Please, train me so I can help. I don't want anyone else to get hurt."
"People are going to get hurt, and die. All we can do is make sure the last one of them dies before the last one of us." Piccolo thought back to his fight with Raditz. Only one of them died, but things were likely to get a lot worse before they got better.
"How do we start?"
"Practice is all we can do. Now attack me. And don't hold back, you won't hurt me."
Gohan didn't hesitate. Two steps into a charge, he heard Piccolo moving to the left and he jumped from one foot towards him. Raising his knife, he planned to hit his arm.
A hand grabbed his wrist and squeezed, making Gohan drop the knife.
"Your knife wouldn't even break my skin in a fight, don't use it."
Following through with the motion, Piccolo threw Gohan at the cliff that recently concussed the boys prey.
'He faked me out.' Gohan began his charge again.
He felt out for Piccolos energy this time, not leaving it up to chance. Feeling a ball of energy to the right of Piccolo, Gohan pushed himself to accordingly, causing the energy attack to cross harmlessly in front of him. Gohan grabbed the offending arm and pulled, attempting to get Piccolo off balance.
'Nice dodge.' Piccolo resisted the yank, and instead went to swing Gohan over his head and into his other fist.
'Stay low.' Gohan adjusted his grip, flipping from over Piccolos arm to under it, using the momentum to increase the speed of the kick he delivered to Piccolos face.
'Brat.' Piccolo took advantage of Gohan's firm grip and flung him back to the ground, following it up with a body slam, elbow connecting to the boys sternum. After smashing his fist in to Gohan's face, using it to right himself, Piccolo delivered a swift kick to the boys side, sending him back into the cliff. "Good, now do it again, better this time."
West City: Bulma's House
"900 and 1,100 that way, 500, 1,100, 1,300, and 900 that way, and 750 over there." Bulma spun in place, reading off the numbers from her scouter. "The first two, probably Gohan and Piccolo, are in flux. I think they may be fighting."
"Incredible, I didn't expect it to be that sensitive?" her father patted her back.
"I was thinking we could use it to check on everyone's progress, but now I'm thinking we could watch the actual fight from safety. We'll only get numbers, but we should be able to tell which are the Saiyans, if we keep an eye on it." she took the scouter off and put it on her desk. '6,550 total between our fighters. I hope that's enough.'
Kami's Lookout
"Kienzen!" Krillin tossed a disc of pure energy towards Mr. Popo. Passing through an afterimage as it continued off the Lookout and into the sky above.
"Dodon Ray!" Tien released a thin beam of energy from his outstretched finger. Appearing out of thin air, Mr. Popo caught it in the palm of his hand. Thrusting his other hand down, Mr. Popo made a cloud of dust appear around him.
Locking on to Mr. Popo's ki, Yamcha overhand threw a ball of energy at the genie. "Spirit ball."
As it flew, Mr. Popo leaned backwards, letting it pass inches from his nose. With a turn of his wrist, Yamcha redirected the ball to circle around and come at Mr. Popo from above.
"Halt." Chiaotzu held up his hands and glowed faintly blue. A similar aura sprung up around Mr. Popo, and he seemed to be frozen mid-step.
"Hold him, Chiaotzu." Yamcha curled his thumb, adjusting the Spirit Ball for the slight movement of its target before impact. The ball struck home, forcing Mr. Popo out of Chiaotzu's grasp, and to the floor.
"Are you okay?" Tien ran to Mr. Popo's side and helped him up.
Yamcha, while nervous about the blow he had dealt to his instructor, was proud that their teamwork let them hit the superior fighter.
"Yes, I am fine. Let's resume." Mr. Popo vanished in a blur of speed, reappearing on the top of a nearby column. He formed a small energy ball in each hand and threw them at Chiaotzu and Krillin. "Keep on your feet, and tag me again."
Another pair of balls formed in his hands, and these two were directed at Tien and Yamcha.
The group began evading the blasts, and formulating their counterattack.
Three more months later: Snake Way
'I wish I had a watch. It feels like I've been running forever.' Goku thought to himself as he rounded yet another bend in the road and climbed another hill, likely to be followed by a decline he can jump down and a curve at the bottom of it.
Instead of another dip at the top though, Goku saw a peak. The tail. Running up to it he stood on the tip, looking around. In front were orange clouds, behind were more orange clouds with the million-mile snake. Below he saw more orange clouds, and feeling the draw of the void he had to take a step back, to stop himself from jumping. Looking up he saw a distant planet.
'I was supposed to run, but I don't think I can run up there.'
Squatting down and recoiling up Goku shot himself like a missile to the planet. It approached much quicker than expected and Goku quickly found himself falling face-first into a narrow brick road.
"Ow." Goku struggle to pull himself up, feeling dragged down by the planet itself.
With effort he was able to sit up and look around. There were a few trees, a lovely garden, a round house, and a red classic car. On top of the car was a small brown monkey.
"Hi there."
Jumping off the car and running to Goku's side, the monkey sniffed the Saiyan before turning around and dancing, whacking Goku with his tail.
"King Kai?"
The monkey began scratching his arm pits.
"Oh, this must be the training." Goku got to his feet, turned his butt to the monkey, and began shaking his booty while scratching his armpits.
Looking back, the monkey began hopping from foot to foot, as Goku did the same the monkey began spinning in circles.
Goku copied the monkey in this manner for quite a while. The dance took them around the tree, Goku struggling for the entirety of it. When the monkey fell backwards he caught himself on his tail. Goku didn't have a tail to catch himself, and collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
"Wow, this is going to be tough, isn't it?"
"Yes it is." A blue-skinned man made himself known, walking out from the house and standing over Goku. It appeared as if he wore a black cap, topped with a pair of antennas. "Yemma told me to expect you. I know you were goofy, but I didn't expect you to monkey around this much."
"Ha, I get it… Who are you?" Goku tried to stand up, but only succeeded in sitting up, holding his weight on his arms.
"I'm King Kai, and this is my monkey, Bubbles. Thank you for playing with him, he'll sleep well tonight." At this, Bubbles climbed on to King Kai, resting on his head.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Mr. King Kai, sir. I'd bow, but I don't know if I have the energy." Goku lowered his head. "Hey, why can't I move around like normal?"
"The gravity on my planet is ten times that of Earth. Training here will hasten your progress greatly. That is, if you earn my training."
"Wait, you may not train me? No one told me that. What do I have to do to earn your training?" putting a hand to the ground Goku slowly began raising himself to his feet.
"You must-" King Kai began as Goku interrupted.
"Catch the monkey?" Goku asked.
"No, in order to be my student you must-"
"Master the gravity here?"
"Yes, but would you stop interrupting me? In order to become my student you must…" King Kai paused.
"Yes?" Goku, with the help of the nearest tree rose to his feet.
'I was expecting you to butt in again. You must, make me laugh." King Kai smiled.
Author's note: Edited by StevenBodner on 3/30/2021.