"Chi-Chi!" Goku yelled out after bursting through the door alongside Gohan. The two dashed right past the kitchen and into the living room. After looking around for signs where everyone could have been, Goku dashed toward the stairs, headed to Gohan's room with the worried boy hurrying after his father.
"Gohan-chan, Goku-sa…" Chi-Chi turned around with a perturbed look on her face as she had been checking up on Gine on her knees and wiping the sweat off of the woman's face.
"How is she?" Goku approached his mother, examining her as the frail woman panted, overcome with sweat, and shifting her arms and legs around in an awkward, delirious squirm once in a while.
"Not great. Nothing I'm doing is working. Her temperature not only isn't dropping, it's rising. We may need to transport her to the big city hospital." Chi-Chi turned to Goku, pressing against his chest. The woman had utterly collapsed in her husband's arms as if apologizing to him that nothing she knew to do in such a situation was working.
"Can she even survive such a trip? Sick people don't make for the best high-speed passengers…" Ox-King scratched his hair under the decorative helmet.
"I'm sorry, Goku-sa. It's a wife's duty to take care of her family when she's sick. All the magazines said so…" Chi-Chi whimpered out in a sad tone but Goku lifted his wife off the ground and placed her by his right side with an aloof smirk that he met all of life's challenges with.
"Don't you worry about a thing. Dad's off to Korin's Temple for the Senzu. They'll get mom right back on her feet for sure!" Goku winked with a thumb up.
"I guess we just have to make sure that grandma is okay until he gets here with the Senzu…" Gohan whined out, approaching his mother's bed and leaning down to it. The young boy grabbed the edges of the woman's bed cover and pressed on it tight.
"Careful, Gohan-chan. We can't be sure if what she's got isn't contagious." Chi-Chi wiped droplets of crystalline tears from the corners of her eyes and leaned down to comfort her son. Even if she wouldn't bring people back on their feet after the nineteenth-minute mark, past the commercial break, and just in time for the episode of the sitcom to end, she'll make sure that her son gets through this and can rely on her as a mother.
That much was her duty as well and Chi-Chi would make sure she fulfills it.
"Hey!" Bardock yelled out after his clear aura burst, and he came to a full stop before the ancient stone temple atop a weathered ivory-colored tower. "I'm looking for a Korin! I need some Senzu to save my wife!"
"Settle down, will ya?" Korin rolled out from behind a corner, curled up in a ball. Whatever activity Bardock distracted him from, Korin looked grumpy and his gorgeous and fluffy white fur stood in messy curls. The sleepyhead yawned twice and licked his paw as he slowly dragged himself to the edge of the temple.
"Can you hurry? I don't have a whole day!" Bardock growled, raising his fist up to his chest.
"I hear ya, loud and clear…" Korin replied, licking over his lips before grabbing his staff again and just continuing to stare right at Bardock while the Saiyan warrior floated in mid-air and stared back at the cat. The two continued this way for about eleven seconds of awkward silence.
"Well…!?" Bardock grumbled, putting his dukes up in a threatening pose. "Are you gonna give them to me or not!?"
"I will." Korin licked his paw again.
"So give them to me now, you annoying cat!" Bardock shook his fist out in front of him, losing his patience. "Give them to me or I'll pummel you to a pulp and take them!"
"I'm glad to see you haven't lost your edge over the past three years." A strict, with a little spice of cocky regal nature to it, voice turned Bardock around as a Super Namekian descended from the higher temple with his arms crossed over his chest.
"You!" Bardock grumbled. "I may be in a foul mood, but I'm also in a rush. I can't be bothered to settle things with you now."
"I'm not here to fight you, Bardock." Piccolo closed his eyes calmly. "Kami wants to see you so why don't you hear what he has to say, then Korin will give you the Senzu and you can be on your way home to your wife."
"My wife may not have that much time!" Bardock hissed. "I don't have time for you Earthling deities!"
"You should be wiser and reconsider that position." Korin pointed the hammer-end of his staff at Bardock. "After all, it is those same Earthling deities that let you and your family live out the rest of your days peacefully on Earth. Your son may have earned that right by protecting the planet several times but you haven't. In fact, you've only redeemed trying to attack it once."
Korin's taunt made Bardock settle down and sulk in tormented wrath that he had nowhere to guide to for a few seconds. It was Piccolo's voice that brought the Saiyan warrior back to reality.
"What's the matter? You were so high and mighty just a few minutes ago when you proclaimed that no Earthling sickness could claim your wife. She's a Saiyan, after all, isn't that what you said?" the leftmost corner of Piccolo's lips tilted slightly.
"How did you…?" Bardock widened his gaze.
"Namekians have a peerless hearing. God's Temple enhances one's perception to encompass the entire world. Upa uses these properties to oversee the Earth, I sometimes do the same just to seek new ways to train and new opponents to fight." Piccolo pointed out. "You're going to bleed out more time arguing with me than you can hope to win by going against Kami Upa's wishes."
"Fine, but I'm holding that Earthling to making it quick! And you…!" Bardock turned to Korin, clenching his fists rock-hard. "You'll give me those magical beans the moment I'm back, understand?"
"Why I've got them right here…" Korin leaned his staff to show a sash hanging at the sharper end of the hammering point, but when Bardock blinked in surprise, it was gone again. "Kami Upa is my boss, you know. I won't give you squat until you speak to him…" Korin stuck out his tongue.
Piccolo and Bardock took off toward the God Temple. The two took almost no time to get there and had to make a sharp, arcing turn to land at the edge of the temple. Upa was already waiting by the edge as if knowing where the two would come up from.
"Speak, now!" Bardock demanded. "You're making my wife spend precious seconds in pain. I hope you know that."
"Don't worry, Bardock, I've sent Dende to the Son Family House a few minutes ago. He's not as powerful as you are so it will take him a few more minutes to get there, he's not accustomed to traveling all the way across the planet yet but that'll be a part of his training as the Kami apprentice and my successor." Upa explained.
"Don't speak like that, Kami…" Mr. Popo whined out.
"Dende? You mean that little Namekian shrimp?" Bardock scratched his head.
"That's right. He is a Namekian from the Dragon Clan, he has incredible healing abilities. Judging from what Tenshinhan had learned a handful of years ago during his quest in space–he might be one of the last Namekians alive." Upa replied.
"Huh? Those green cucumber-faces are all dead?" This news caught Bardock off-guard.
"Very few of them remain, yes. What Tenshinhan had encountered on Planet Namek when he reached it a few years back was a scene of destruction and slaughter. He came to learn that the Namekian Dragon Balls are no more and that only a few Super Namekians are alive–those fused from the desperate for survival Namekian race. They had hoped to go out in a blaze of glory, hopeless combat against the destroyers of their planet. Yet no matter how long and hard they sought for that heroic death, they couldn't find it anymore." Upa explained.
"What does that have to do with me or my wife?" Bardock demanded to know. "Why did this guy have to bother me about it and why now?" the Saiyan pointed to Piccolo.
"Don't flatter yourself." Piccolo showed his fangs with a playful tease. "I would have approached Son just the same as I did you if he was the one to come here. It'd actually have been even better because we may have a use for his Super Saiyan power."
"Okay… What's this all about, then?" Bardock calmed down, letting the fact that a mystical healer was rushing on his way to help his wife get over her sickness, so he didn't have to rush and break his neck.
"Whatever disaster befell Namek, it was calculated," Piccolo spoke in Kami's stead. "Tenshinhan explained that by the time he had reached Namek and met the last fused Super Namekians, the enemy had already withdrawn. It appears that they weren't just having fun there bullying the weak and defenseless. There was a method of some sort, a goal. Given how they've stopped terrorizing the planet the moment the Namekian Dragon Balls were gone, and all the Dragon Clan members were slain, it is safe to assume that someone didn't want those to stick around."
"Okay…" Bardock stretched his limbs out, looking a bit embarrassed by the fact he wasn't quite catching on just yet.
"There aren't that many creatures around in the universe that know about the Dragon Balls. Even fewer of them would know so much that they'd know to target Planet Namek specifically and know which Namekians could make them." Upa pointed out. "Lately I've been sensing something dreadful occurring on Earth, which was why I called up Piccolo during his latest visit to investigate it. I fear that whatever happened on Namek may have found its way to Earth as well."
"Right, because Earth has Dragon Balls…" Bardock pointed his finger as a smoking barrel at Kami Upa, finally catching a thin thread.
"That could be the case, yes." Upa nodded. "Something dark and disturbing, a gloomy foreboding, is hanging over my dominion. Something unlike anything we have met before and I might need your help to investigate the issue further."
"Sounds like you've got your forces stretched out pretty thin here." Bardock leaned back, resting his head on his crossed arms. "That was awfully gracious of you to send that little shrimp to my place to heal my missus, thanks for that."
"I must admit, the main reason I've sent Dende was that I am afraid that your wife's sickness might have something to do with the darkness enveloping the Earth. The creeping dread that we must uncover before it becomes too powerful to do something about it." Upa answered before picking up his twin tomahawks off his back and clanging them together while the skies darkened and a golden thunderbolt crashed at their point of impact. Where the deified man dragged the edge of his weapon, he left a round trail resembling a doorway. "The darkness had a pulsing end to its thread. It is located deep in the caverns of the Northern Region to the northwest of North City. You can reach that approximate location through this portal."
"Huh…? Now I'm doing your chores for you?" Bardock blinked a couple of times.
"You idiot! Your wife's gonna be just fine! If whatever's looming over Earth hits us with full force, we're gonna be through, Earth and your entire family included!" Piccolo hissed.
"Fine, I'm having the strangest feeling like I'm not getting my magic beans unless I pummel this sleeping darkness thing now, huh?" Bardock sighed. "What the heck, if that Namekian shorty is headed to heal Gine anyway, I may as well see what you've sniffed up."
"Actually, I would have given you the Senzu either way. The responsibility of protecting the Earth is mine, as its Kami. While Kami often relies on good-willing protectors to do their handiwork and act as their agents, I'd do this myself." Upa looked away with a hint of shame in his eyes.
"That's more generous than that bruiser deserves out of you," Piccolo sneered. "Since when have you been strong enough to deal with the trash littering our planet, anyway? Stick to your divine mumbo-jumbo and leave the fighting to us."
"That's well said," Bardock snickered while the two fighters lined up in front of the golden portal, ready to confront the darkness that is plaguing the Earth and festering in its hidden crevices, waiting until it peaks to strike at it in the open. Bardock walked through the portal, disappearing in a handful of flashy, golden sparks. The Super Namekian followed him soon after.
Krillin slid across the ground with a winded-up punch, hoping that the momentary distraction of whatever business seemed to keep this man from the rocket ship busy would keep him this way long enough. When the well-armed mystery man turned around in an instant and shot his foot straight up, socking Krillin in the jaw and extended his hand, expelling a violent blast of Ki which flung Krillin outside, Krillin's hopes were proven wrong.
"Krillin, damn it!" Yamcha cursed and charged right after the man. With this armed slayer of Chayote's men having already invested and moved his body to attack Krillin with a high kick, Yamcha saw more than a few openings in his exposed stance. Despite this, the enigma vanished in a blink, appearing behind Yamcha while twirling his still sheathed sword in his hand.
A loud and dull thud filled the bustling hallway of the skyscraper about at the same time as the sheathe of the man's large, claymore-style sword popped from pressure having slammed in the back of Yamcha's body when the swordsman moved in an instant.
"Solar Fist!" Krillin's shriek filled the entryway before a blinding flash crippled everyone but Yamcha and Krillin, who were extremely used to this move being dusted off and could react to their allies using it and protect themselves in their sleep at this point.
Both Krillin and Yamcha surrounded and began throwing fists and feet at the strange attacker from both sides. Though even blinded, he evaded the first flurries. It was only when the duo switched to a more organized combo of Krillin shooting his hands repeatedly at the upper half while Yamcha swept with his legs and kicked down low that Yamcha tripped their murderous opponent up.
Despite being stumbled, the still blinded swordsman offered his blade to block Krillin's rampant dive kicks while the short martial artist bounced around the room, trying to dive at odder and more difficult to block angles until one of his dives resulted in something successful.
"I don't know why you came here, but I know why you'll be leaving!" Yamcha said with a smug attitude as he cupped his hands beside him and expelled a quick Kamehameha wave at the swordsman. Thrusting his blade into the ground, the man attempted to weather the storm of energy, but it seemed to push him bit by bit toward the door that he had blasted open.
"You should have heeded my warning. Then again, perhaps death at my hands is a more merciful end than the one that history holds for you." The man stood up and pulled his sword out, flipping it over his shoulders as his free hand reached for his belt.
"Yamcha, the gun!" Krillin yelled out.
"I'm not afraid of some bullets!" Yamcha pointed to himself before a pair of focused Ki energy waves left the barrel of the man's short shotgun, wrapping around one another to form a more powerful and devastating attack. Shocked by the speed that massively surpassed that of a mere bullet and the nature of a Ki-channeling shotgun, Yamcha leaped over the Ki wave with it, nearly singing his crotch region due to how nearly too late the martial artist was. "Those aren't bullets!" Yamcha gasped to himself while the man shot around.
"Who… The hell… Are you, man?" Krillin panted and gasped as he dashed about to avoid getting blown up. "You're crazy strong. You should be able of more powerful Ki blasts than this…"
"Heh, I guess that gun won't let you channel as much energy as you want. You should have learned some actual martial arts then…" Yamcha taunted his opponent while the duo charged toward their opponent, attacking at once in synchrony while the swordsman from the rocket ship positioned his sword carefully to block every blow and give one of the two an occasional scare with a quick swipe of the blade's edge.
Krillin rolled back while Yamcha vanished in a wild blitz, creating multiple fake afterimages, though it didn't appear that they would catch the rocket ship traveler in such a simple trap. He merely sheathed his sword and looked to what the duo would throw at him, adamant to overcome it.
"Kienzan!" Krillin yelled out with his hand raised over his head, forming a rotating, sharp disc of Ki which the world's most powerful insurance salesman flung at the attacker after gaining some distance to it.
"Spirit Ball!" Yamcha quickly followed suit, shaping a Ki energy sphere, which he tossed after Krillin's attack. The baseball ace shuffled his hands in complex signs to direct his Spirit Ball to overtake Krillin's attack, prompting the mysterious attacker to lean his head nonchalantly to avoid the Spirit Ball.
The man felt forced to move his entire upper body aside so that the Kienzan flew harmlessly right past him. The swordsman focused his attention on Krillin and Yamcha once more, while the Kienzan arced skyward where Yamcha had positioned the Spirit Ball. With a clenching of Yamcha's fist, the Spirit Ball slammed into the Kienzan's edge diagonally, making the sawing Ki disc bounce off of it and change direction as it flew right back toward the swordsman.
The mysterious enemy crushed their dreams when he turned around and directed his gun at the Kienzan, dispatching of it with a resounding blast that made Krillin widen his eyes in shock. This was far more power than this person showed so far, almost as if he had been holding himself back to an extreme extent. When the man turned back to Krillin and Yamcha, he intercepted the combination attack by scooping Krillin off the air with a grab of his heel and swatting Yamcha aside before placing a hand by Krillin's chest and sending the martial artist flying and crashing through the skyscraper's walls.
"This is too much damage, too much noise. 21 must have caught wind of something by now." The swordsman muttered to himself as he stared up at the ceiling of the rumbling building. With a disgruntled tsk of his tongue and a scolding stare down at Yamcha, the mystery man took off in a mad dash up, leaving Yamcha to breathe again and check up on Krillin who laid in the rubble with his white suit in complete tatters and his body riddled with burns.
"That guy… Don't fight him… Yamcha… He was toying with us… Trying not to cause too loud of a ruckus…" Krillin winced. "It's not that his gun… Is ineffective… At channeling Ki… It's that he was trying not to… Blow up the building…"
"Rest up, buddy," Yamcha patted his friend after helping him out of the rubble and leading him away from the evacuating building. "Damn… Where the hell did that guy come from?" Yamcha still couldn't believe what they had just tangled with.
"That thing he said… About history…" Krillin said with occasional pauses and winces in between.
"No way, you mean he's a time traveler!?" Yamcha freaked out.
"It's just a wild theory… It would make some sense though… The Capsule Corps rocket ship, the familiarity with everything around him… This methodical pursuit of a goal… Why we've never met someone like him before despite scouring the universe…" Krillin looked down, staring at his shaking hands.
"I think he said we're gonna kick the bucket in a pretty mean way, right? That can't be true though, right?" Yamcha laughed out before the bitterness of defeat and being spared by the enemy merely because he saw them too small to bother with robbed him of that goofy nature.
"Who knows…?" Krillin shook his weary and banged up head to start seeing straight again.