King

Chapter 27: We'll Meet Again

A/N: I came down with some funky sickness towards the end of this week, so if this chapter didn't go out on time, now you know.

edit: It came out on time. As always, I respond to reviews at the bottom. And there were a lot of reviews this week.


'So… what was that about?'

Tien snorted. 'What part? The fight, the fight after that fight, or Krillin riding off into the sunrise on a solid yellow cloud.'

'To be fair, Krillin rode away from the sunrise, not into it,' Launch corrected him.

Tien glanced over at her, then shook his head in disbelief.

'What's wrong?'

'Nothing, just… thinking.'

'About Chiaotzu?'

Tien frowned. 'Yeah. About Chiaotzu.'

0o0o0

Night had fallen like a receding curtain, slowly blanketing the light of day. After placing Yamcha's body in a capsule, Bulma had remained at the World Tournament long after the other officials and spectators had left. She stood on the edge of the ring- officially, the grounds would be shuttered tomorrow until the next tournament- watching her surroundings for any and all motion. The area was familiarly dead. She knew she should have been concerned for her friends who had all run off to fight and defeat whoever had killed Yamcha, but she couldn't pull herself away from… whatever she was doing. What am I doing? This isn't me- I should be fixing my problems, not submerging myself in them…

Then again, there was nothing to fix here. She held the capsule in her hand, threading it back-and-forth between her fingers. This is beyond my power to fix.

She heard someone approach her from behind. Must be Puar again. Thought she went off to skulk-

When Bulma turned, she was greeted by a tall, dark-skinned man. He looked- familiar- 'Nam? Are you Nam?'

The man relaxed at being recognized. 'I was worried that you would not know who I am.'

'I remember you from the last tournament- and Krillin always spoke very highly of you.'

Nam seemed to simultaneously smile and sadden, but quickly pushed whatever he felt behind his inexpressive face. 'And I will always speak highly of him, even though…' he shook his head, fully dispelling whatever was lingering in his thoughts. 'Forgive me, this has been a trying day.'

'You're- you're Retu's uncle, right?'

He regarded her with deep-set eyes, looking old beyond his years. 'I am. It is because of him I am still here, waiting to take him home- and, fortunately, it is because of him I am able to speak to you now. The monster who killed your friend, Yamcha, is dead, as well as his evil allies and the demon that created them. Yamcha has been avenged.'

Bulma stared at Nam. She consciously stopped fidgeting with the capsule. 'So you mean?...'

'It's done. Throughout the night I attuned my senses to an undergoing fight halfway to the north. It finished not too long ago. It was a close thing- but your friends are made out of stronger stuff that I could have ever imagined.' Nam paused, thinking. 'That is all I wanted to say. I hope by the dawn you have found some solace in my words.'

'I- thank you.'

Nam nodded, bowed, and walked away.

Bulma watched him leave, then turned again to face the ring. A stillness had descended on the area- or am I noticing for it for the first time?- giving the area an aspect of surreal beauty.

She pocketed the capsule. Time to go.

0o0o0

Krillin actually fell asleep on the way to Korin's tower- he awoke to the sun holding itself high in the sky. He nearly scared himself off Nimbus when he realized he was miles above the ground. One wrong move in his sleep- nope, nope, nope, not thinking about this until I'm back on solid ground. Man, I really need to learn how to fly…

Korin's tower appeared before him, dividing a low-lying cloud like a knife. Nimbus deftly flew to the edge, allowing Krillin to climb over the railing. Korin awaited him, his signature staff in one hand. 'You're alive. Not that I didn't know this… but it's good to see you in the flesh,' The cat smiled, puffing out his white fur cheeks as he did.

Krillin had practiced what he was about to do in his mind ad nauseam- as such, his execution was perfect. 'Korin,' he said, falling to one knee and hanging his head in respect. 'Kami, I beg you- please revive everyone killed by King Piccolo.'

'Kami? God? Me?' Korin's whiskers bristled.

'Yes!' Krillin gazed up at Korin in awe. 'I didn't realize it at first, but then I started thinking; you're immortal, you can speak to people telepathically, you possess an incredible awareness of what's going on in the world-'

'Krillin-'

'-your tower, like yourself, looks over everything around us for hundreds of miles, metaphorically and literally-'

'Krillin…'

'I mean, it makes sense why you would pose as a short, pudgy cat, no one would suspect-'

'Krillin!' Korin smacked his staff into the tiles, producing a shockingly loud pommp. 'I'm not god!' he yelled, 'I'm just a short, pudgy cat, apparently!'

Startled, Krillin quickly rose. 'I'm sorry!' he apologized profusely, 'I- you had all the answers- I just thought-'

Korin sighed loudly and pinched the bridge of his nose, cutting Krillin off. 'Just… take this.' Korin produced a simple pole from behind him, its wood a deep red. 'You'll need it to get to the Lookout.'

'The Lookout?' Krillin accepted the object, inspecting the roughly one-meter pole. What's that?'

Korin flashed a grin. 'Where Kami lives, of course.'

0o0o0

Bulma found Puar easily enough- she had already been told the news by Nam- and together, they flew to West City in silence via a spare helicopter Bulma found in a spare capsule at the bottom of her bag. The sun was rising as they entered the city limits.

They didn't expect to find Bulma's hometown to look like a war zone. 'What happened?' Bulma mumbled, as her eyes scanned the devastated landscape before.

'Bulma,' Puar said, pointing with one tiny paw, 'look ahead.'

They had been flying towards Bulma's dedicated helipad on Capsule Corp. property- but they found not only that gone, but an entire third of the building missing. Bulma hastily landed the helicopter in the first flat piece of land she saw, fearing the worst.

As soon as they landed, a middle-aged man and woman sprung out of nowhere and tackled Bulma. 'Bulma! You're okay!' the woman said, holding back her tears. 'We weren't sure you were in the building- oh, we were so scared-'

'Mom-' Bulma decoupled herself from her parents, still holding their hands, 'Dad, what happened?'

Dr. Briefs, the illustrious head of Capsule Corp. dabbed at his teary eyes with a handkerchief. 'There was an attack. It all happened so quickly. Someone just went through our entire security force. Your mother and I had barely any time at all to escape…'

As the reunited Brief family broke into relieved chatter, Puar looked over the area around them. There was no mistaking a massive clash had taken place. Eerily, she noted some massive footprints scattered around the area. I don't wanna know. I think… I don't want to know about anything that happened here.

Not fifty feet away, Tien and Launch were creeping closer with that same heavy knowledge.

0o0o0

Krillin did as Korin requested- he climbed to the very top of the tower, stuck the pole in a round, thin hole, and yelled at it to expand. His expectations of anything happening were very low. To be honest, he hoped using the pole wouldn't work so he could take Nimbus up to the Lookout in spite of Korin's protests. Nimbus will disintegrate above this tower, Korin had lectured Krillin, and when that happens, you'll drop to your death. This pole is the only way to get up there. Something to do with Nimbus being linked to Korin's power, if Krillin remembered correctly. Whatever. Krillin kicked at the pole, fulfilling the last step Korin had told him to perform.

Mere moments after Krillin carried out these instructions, the pole shot upwards like a magic beanstalk, rocketing into the sky. Soon enough, Krillin was faced with another never-ending ascending pillar that, presumably, he had to climb. Looking up, he couldn't even see the pole end- it went up for so long that it simply disappeared from sight. Of course. It's exactly like climbing Korin's tower. Why would I expect anything different?

Resigning himself to his fate, Krillin began the second most arduous climb of his life. The wind blew stronger up here, whipping clouds past Krillin at random intervals. Rain and hail struck at him from any and all directions, ranging from a minor annoyance to a serious hindrance. Luckily for Krillin, he had grown a lot stronger since his last endless climb. The real issue was figuring out how to climb onto the Lookout once he got there- the base of it was much wider than that of Korin's tower.

As Krillin scurried up the side of the floating building at a 45-degree angle, he abruptly came to an edge without a railing. With a clasp of his arms, he pulled himself up onto level ground. Panting, he rolled over onto his back.

When Krillin opened his eyes, he was very nearly scared out of his skin to see a smiling figure with skin as black as tar standing over him. 'Aaah!' he quickly scooted himself away in surprise- right off the edge. He would have fallen off the Lookout if not for the figure grabbing him by his shirt.

'You're late,' the figure said with a hint of mirth in their voice, as they pulled Krillin back to a standing position. 'You should have arrived hours ago.'

Once Krillin had steadied himself, he inspected the figure. He noticed that they weren't just dark-skinned- they were entirely one shade of black, like stepping into a room with no light. They wore a white turban and white, puffy pants, complemented by a red vest. They seemed- they were- Krillin tried to focus on the figure's outline- but it was almost like they were continually shifting before his eyes, never holding one shape for more than a second at a time. Krillin rubbed his eyes, refocusing. 'Sorry, what did you say? I'm late?'

The figure cocked their head to one side. 'Did you not ride the pole to the top?'

'Ride- ride the pole?...' Krillin felt embarrassment flood his body as his brain caught up. I was supposed to ride that thing? Crap… I thought I might have missed something Korin said at the end... He suddenly felt the urge to walk off the edge again.

Krillin's emotions must have been sprayed all over his face because the figure gave him a small, sympathetic smile. 'No worries. The guardian of Earth does not sleep- you could have visited at any time.'

Despite his incident with Korin earlier, Krillin wanted to be 100% sure- 'are… you the Guardian of Earth? Are you Kami?'

The figure shook their head, 'I am but a humble servant-' they shimmered once more- 'and my master is ready to see you.' In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from Krillin's sight, then appeared off to the side to his left. Their head was bowed in what seemed like reverence. Due to them moving, Krillin for the first time had an unobstructed view of his surroundings. He gaped.

White, gleaming tiles covered every square inch of the Lookout. It stretched on for an insane distance- the Lookout was easily ten times as large as Korin's tower. Already, he felt importance and sanctity permeate the air. Gardens lined what seemed like a central pathway down the middle of the Lookout, plants of what looked like every ilk living peacefully among each other. Krillin even thought he saw some butterflies moving in between them. Beyond this, a massive complex occupied most of the opposite side of the Lookout from Krillin, a central yellow domish platform poking out of its center flanked by smaller white ones.

Of all this, however, Krillin's sight was captured by a solitary person standing still in the dead center of the Lookout. Even at this distance, Krillin could feel an unimaginable burden of duty seize him; as respectfully as he could, he started to walk forward.

The person's features came into focus slowly. Billowing white and blue robes fluttered about them, like branches from a tree. In their hands was a solid wooden staff, more majestic and aged than anything Krillin had ever seen his teachers possess. He came closer. Their face- no-

Krillin staggered mid-step, about twenty feet away, and slowly began to backpedal. 'No…' he muttered, 'that can't be right… I saw you die…'

Green antenna stuck out of a green, wrinkled forehead, which rose out of a green, wrinkled body. There was no mistaking it- King Piccolo!

Right before Krillin could decide what he would do- run? fight? hide? The person spoke. 'You have nothing to fear from me, Krillin,' the voice said, infused with an immediately comforting sense of wisdom, 'I am not the one you fear. I am the one you seek- Kami.'

Krillin blinked, then directed his eyes at the figure again. A closer look confirmed what the voice had said- small differences in clothing and appearance made it clear that this was indeed a different person, and if they were to be totally believed, God. 'You're… Kami?'

'I am him, yes.' Kami's eyes seemed to pierce through Krillin, as they were watching a hundred things occur beyond him. 'I understand that you have a request of me.'

Remembering his mission and temporarily putting aside his questions, Krillin bowed his head. 'Kami, please, I beg of you- revive everyone killed by King Piccolo. None of them deserved the death they received.'

Silence hung in the air. Krillin lifted his head, and unlike before, he found Kami definitively looking at him. 'You understand little,' he said bluntly, 'and you see even less. I see that a few truths must be made clear to you.' Kami lifted his staff and tapped it to the ground, as if he was thinking how to proceed. 'Your friends- and everyone else killed by King Piccolo- are not in their proper places in death. King Piccolo was not just physically powerful; he also possessed great spiritual prowess. He used his power to send any and all victims of his rampage to a spiritual dimension of limbo, where they could be kept in between this world and the next. Even now, they linger there.'

Krillin couldn't understand, nor believe, what he was hearing. 'How is that possible?' he asked. 'How could King Piccolo even do something like that?'

'Hmm.' Kami grunted softly. 'It is not a coincidence that I look similar to the monster you defeated. He and I were one, once. Because of this, he possessed much of my own knowledge of the spiritual. As it stands, now that he is dead, the only thing that would rescue these people would be their full resurrection.'

'And you can do that-'

Kami thumped this staff to the tiles, cutting off Krillin. 'I cannot directly resurrect the victims of King Piccolo. Only the dragonballs could do such a thing. And, as you know, King Piccolo destroyed them.' Kami abruptly turned from Krillin. 'Such as it is, there is nothing I can do.'

A jolt went through Krillin's body. He had expected needing to beg, maybe even threatening Kami- doing anything to convince the Earth's guardian to revive everyone who had died. He hadn't expected… futility. As he was coming to grips with this realization, the figure who greeted Krillin earlier just appeared at the side of Kami. Unlike before, they weren't smiling. 'Kami,' they spoke to the half-turned guardian, 'I know you have your reasons-'

'Mr. Popo…'

'-but to withhold information in this circumstance would be unbecoming of your title as Guardian.'

Kami turned to his assistant, a mix of hurt and annoyance playing on his features, then sighed. He turned back to face Krillin. 'Mr. Popo is right. You have come this far; you deserve the hear the full truth.'

Krillin frowned, waiting for Kami to go on.

'It is true that the dragonballs were destroyed. What you do not know, however, is that the dragonballs were, for all intents and purposes, a part of me.'

'A part of you?' Krillin asked, trying to decipher the cryptic statement, 'You mean… Shenron is within you, or something?'

'It is not that as simple as that. Shenron is separate from me, yet wholly dependant on my will to exist. It is through my power the dragonballs are created and maintained, and from where they receive their power to grant the wishes asked of Shenron. I am the font, if you will.'

Krillin began to look at Kami differently; mentally, he had to accommodate the image of the old, green humanoid with the strength to summon an entity as majestic and fantastical as Shenron. He gulped, half-believing the dragon could emerge from Kami at any moment now to destroy him for asking a stupid question. 'So you created the dragonballs?'

'That is correct, yes.'

'Then that means you can create them again!' Krillin perked up at his own realization. 'Or, at the very least, you have the power within yourself to do everything the dragon could!'

'It is not that simple,' Kami said with a gloominess in his voice. 'I cannot do what the dragonballs do- and even if I could, I would not want it that way.' He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it, apparently deciding against elaborating further.

'...Well, if that's the case, you can create the dragonballs again, right?' Krillin offered. 'And then we can use them to fix everything?'

It must have been a trick of the day's light, but for a brief moment, Krillin saw Kami's head dip. Briefly, the entire top half of the head became shaded in darkness. Then, as soon as it had come on, the darkness dispersed as Kami tilted up his head again. Krillin made eye contact- his eyes were of a totally different severity than before. 'I refuse,' Kami announced.

This time, Mr. Popo did not react in the slightest- they continued to stand at Kami's side, hands folded behind their back.

Confusion roped across Krillin's brain. 'You refuse, or you don't have the power to do so?'

'I refuse,' Kami said a second time. 'This people of this planet have proved themselves unworthy of the immense responsibility and power of the dragonballs.'

Krillin was flabbergasted. 'But- after all you said- you're going to leave them there? In the private twilight you described them in? All of them?! What kind of guardian are you!?' Krillin found that his fists were clenched and shaking with anger. How can he stand there and do nothing, when he has the power to fix this!...

Kami didn't flinch from Krillin's angry gaze. 'Perhaps I… was being too dramatic. The realm your friends are trapped in is not unpleasant- it is simply blank, like the mind of a newborn. Souls that exist there experience nothing. For a being such as I, the idea of the absence of anything- any sensation, or judgment on the individuals who pass on to the realm beyond death- is abhorrent. I believe King Piccolo created this dimension to purposefully torture me, knowing it was so grievously upset me.' Kami finished quietly, as if for the first time considering the truth of his statements.

'Alright,' Krillin exhaled, trying to calm himself, 'even if that's the case, why now? Why refuse to recreate the dragonballs, here and now?'

'Surely you are aware of how they were last used. Before he destroyed them. Piccolo had Shenron restore him to his youth. He used my own creation to bolster his own power. And he was not the first to use the dragonballs in such a selfish, detrimental manner. I may not be omnipotent, but from this place, I possess near omniscience for all matters on Earth. I have seen countless evil persons attempt to use the dragonballs for their own nefarious purposes.' Kami hardened his gaze, and like before, seemed to stare right through Krillin. 'Commander Red was one such man.' The Guardian's sight refocused on Krillin a few moments later. 'You, of all of the inhabitants of the Earth, have the most experience with these evil individuals- twice you have stopped the unmistakable evil the dragonballs have either directly or indirectly caused. They motivated the Red Ribbon Army to wage a campaign of destruction and intimidation across the globe, uprooting the lives of many innocent people. They allowed King Piccolo to nearly eradicate every good person who would oppose him in this world- if not for your intervention. At this juncture, creating the dragonballs again would invite even more misery to descend on Earth,' Kami finished. He looked at Krillin for a moment, and when the former monk seemed to have nothing to say, he turned to walk towards the main building of the Lookout. 'You know how to leave. Please, do not linger-'

Kami was halted, both verbally and physically, by Krillin's voice calling out, 'but we stopped them, didn't we?'

The Guardian of Earth faced Krillin again- in just a few seconds, the posture of the human had changed entirely. Whereas before he seemed hesitant, now he beamed with confidence. 'You can't dispute that, can you?' Krillin went on. 'Piccolo regained his youth and we still beat him. Even with the power of the dragonballs behind him.'

Kami looked over Krillin strangely. 'You are aware I observed that entire fight. You were able to defeat Piccolo largely because he spent himself trying to destroy another enemy of yours. Tell me; would you really call Kakarot an ally of yours beyond that fight?'

Krillin wasn't fazed by the question. 'So what if he's not? Sometimes it makes sense to let two enemies wear each other out. When fighting for the survival of the Earth as we know it, wouldn't you do the same?'

Kami… felt inclined to agree. 'You may have a point,' he responded after a moment, 'but that does not change the facts. The dragonballs play into the worst desires of the sentient beings that live on Earth- the possibilities they entail overwhelm all conscience and morals.'

'What about us? We used the dragonballs for good. Master Roshi-' Krillin remembered- his master was dead. It still didn't feel real.

'There will always be... outliers,' Kami said, ignoring Krillin's momentary verbal hitch. 'You and your friends using the dragonballs nobly does not influence how they will be used in the future. Can you guarantee their proper use?'

Krillin did not shrink in the face of a such a consequential question; he responded immediately. 'Yes.'

Neither of them saw Mr. Popo smile at Kami's side, consumed as they were with their face-to-face discussion.

A few moments passed as Kami studied Krillin's expression, determining the truth of his reply. The Guardian of Earth eventually relaxed, murmuring to himself. 'Perhaps I misjudged you. I sense no doubt in your mind- you intend to carry through your promise.'

'Of course,' Krillin held his gaze, 'if it means everyone can be revived.'

'Answer me this one question,' Kami asked, his sight trained on Krillin. 'How can you guarantee the dragonballs will never be used improperly again if you lacked the strength to protect them this time? You may be committed… but I doubt whether you can uphold such a responsibility.'

'I'll train for however long or hard it takes for me to achieve the amount of power needed to fulfill my promise. And if that doesn't work out, I know my friends will be doing the same. All of us together… we're stronger than any one of us on our own.

Kami furrowed his brows. 'Hmm… Then I will offer you a deal. Stay here and train under me. I will teach you all that I know so to guarantee the safety of the dragonballs. You will attempt to achieve the strength required to hold to your promise. You… are unaware of the continuation of a threat to this world, correct?'

Krillin cocked an eyebrow. 'Continuing threat? You mean Kakarot?'

'Hmmph. You will understand what I am referring to in time. And as for Kakarot-' Kami turned his head away for a moment, peering out over the edge of the Lookout. 'He continues to live, but his fate is… up in the air, so to speak. But I digress. Do you accept my deal?'

'Yes.'

Kami extended one graceful arm, placing his hand on Krillin's head. 'Then I declare you my pupil. Now; you might want to move back.' With his other hand, Kami gestured to Mr. Popo with his staff, who out of nowhere produced a small, unremarkable statue. 'This will be a bit bright.'

Krillin barely had enough time to walk back five steps before the entire Lookout was bathed in iridescent light.

0o0o0

'It's really over, then?' Supported by her parents- one at each side- Bulma sought out confirmation with her eyes.

Tien nodded. 'Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Master Roshi… no one died needlessly or unavenged. We did what they would have wanted us to do.'

He spoke with a finality that reminded them of the new reality they lived in- a reality without dragonballs. 'It… doesn't feel real,' Bulma said quietly, more to herself than to anyone else. 'Everyone was alive twenty-four hours ago. How could this happen? How could all of this happen?'

No one really knew how to answer- everyone stood around, unable or unwilling to respond.

Bulma' nose wrinkled, like a thought crossed her mind. Carefully, she started to decouple from her parents. 'I need to check something. Mom and Dad, is my room still… there?'

Mrs. Briefs nodded. 'Most of the building is still standing.'

'I'm going to go get something,' Bulma excused herself, 'I'll just be a moment.' At a speed a bit too fast to be characterized as casual interest, she rushed off.

'So…' Tien spoke, trying to fill in the awkward silence between Bulma's parents and everyone else now that Bulma was gone, 'you're Bulma's parents?'

'In the flesh. I am Dr. Briefs, president of Capsule Corporation.'

'And I'm Mrs. Briefs,' She extended a hand, shaking with an uncomfortable looking Tien. 'You must all be friends of Bulma, then?'

'Uhh, sure…' Tien replied haltingly.

'Capsule Corp, huh?' Launch scrunched up her face, trying to remember where she had heard that before. 'You guys… uh... make cars?'

Dr. Briefs flicked his eyes to Tien, but he looked just as confused as Launch.

'Er… no,' Dr. Briefs replied. 'We make capsules. Hence the name, "Capsule Corp".'

'Oh. Do you make them yourself?'

'Not really. I just make the schematics and prototypes. Normally I'd be in my lab right about now... but I think they're still putting out the fires.'

'Oh.'

More silence. Tien couldn't bear it- he was about to ask about their hobbies when he heard the tell-tale sound of running. Oh thank Kami. Bulma joined them once more, out of breath but eagerly grasping something in her hands. She came to a stop, panting, and revealed in between her hands the dragon radar.

'Guys!' she exclaimed between breaths, 'The Dragon Radar! It's…'

'What?' Tien said, 'What's it doing?'

Bulma spun the device around, showing it to everyone. Seven small yellow dots were present on its grid. 'It's working!'

0o0o0

'It is done.' Kami lowered his hands as the flaring of light died down. Using the dragon statue as a model, seven dragonballs had been created out of seven spheres of ki- then, they had been lifted and repelled away from each other, like a bunch of un-like magnets grouped too close together. The dragonballs sped off the Lookout, falling down to the Earth below. Throughout the entire process, Krillin couldn't take his eyes off of Kami, who had remained expressionless and resolute as he worked literal magic.

The calm and tranquility that had defined the Lookout earlier returned to it once more.

'Your friends may now do what they seek,' Kami said, accepting his staff from Mr. Popo, who had held it for him while he was preoccupied. 'The dragon will do all that it can to carry out their wishes.'

Something in Kami's tone flagged that last statement in Krillin's mind. 'You sound like something went wrong,' Krillin said.

Kami stared at Krillin silently, then turned his head away, shaking it. 'In my old age, I've forgotten the limits of my own power, as ironic as that is for me to experience. Shenron will not be able to revive everyone killed by King Piccolo.'

Krillin was immediately irritated, feeling like he'd been misled again. 'What do you mean, Shenron can't revive everyone? You promised that you'd be able to do that!'

'I know what I promised,' Kami said, 'but my power has its limits. As you know, the Shenron can only grant one wish when summoned, though that wish can be used to revive any number of people if it is worded correctly. The dragonballs cannot, however, revive the same person twice. It is beyond my power to do so.

'If they can't revive the same person twice-' Krillin's mind was whirring- 'which means- that means-'

Master Roshi. He can't be brought back.

He didn't feel sad or heartbroken. Instead, he felt like a part of him had been lost- maybe his childhood or innocence- and never again would it be regained. A whole chunk of him had crumbled with the utterance of a single sentence.

Kami looked on with sadness, despite having seen this type of realization- that a loved one would never be seen again- thousands of times during his tenure as Guardian of Earth. Searching for words of consolement, he said, 'I am sorry, but this is the way death is sometimes. We do not always know when we will last see the ones we care about, nor will we always receive a chance to say a final farewell- in this world, at least.'

Krillin looked up at the much taller guardian, his eyes twisted with anguished realization. 'So… one day, I will meet him again, is what you're saying?'

'In a way, yes. Even I one day will pass beyond this world. It is the fate of all living beings.'

Taking a deep breath, Krillin wiped away a single tear running down his cheek. 'That… puts things in perspective, then.'

Kami paused a moment to let Krillin have a moment before changing topics. Eventually, he asked, 'Do you still intend on being my pupil, even though I cannot fulfill my promise in full? I would understand if this changes things.'

Krillin rubbed away another tear. 'No, I- I think, if Master Roshi were here now, he would want me to do this. To become stronger to continue to face down evil whenever and wherever it may arise. If you say there is a threat out there waiting to strike, I can't sit by idly. I need to be prepared for whatever may come.'

'Mmm.' Kami studied Krillin with his eminently wise eyes. 'So be it. You are committed.' Abruptly, Kami turned away from Krillin, staking his staff into the ground as he walked away.

'Uhh… Kami?' Krillin asked, 'are we going to train now, or later?...'

'Me? Train you? You misunderstand. You will train with my assistant,' Kami motioned to Mr. Popo, who was standing and smiling exactly like he had been doing for the past hour, 'until they deem you ready to be trained by me.' With a flourish of his robes, Kami turned and walked into the main building on the Lookout. 'They will show you to your chambers. Good luck.' he called back, clacking the tiles with his staff as he went.

Krillin turned to Mr. Popo- whose expression had gone entirely unchanged. This should be… an interesting few years. 'I will return to watering my plants,' Mr. Popo announced, sensing Krillin wanted some alone time. 'Talk to me whenever you are ready to be shown to your living quarters.'

The Turtle student nodded gratefully to Mr. Popo as they produced a watering can out of thin air and happily turned to their plants. Left alone, Krillin walked out to the edge of the Lookout. Instead of looking at the vast space below, however, he looked up.

Master Roshi, I hope... you're happy, and satisfied with what's going on up there and what's going on down here. I wish I knew you better… I wish I knew how much you were prepared to give up to protect this world, for all its flaws. Not that I would have tried to stop you… but then, maybe I could have told you everything that's running through my mind right now. Before the end... I… I'm not sure…

Hmm.

I'll tell you when I see you next. We'll meet again, someday. I promise.

0o0o0

Imbued with newfound hope, everyone pitched in to help Bulma gather the dragonballs as soon as possible. They weren't quite sure what had happened to cause them to seemingly come back into existence- but no one was going to question the miracle. They managed to gather the dragonballs in just a few hours. Again, they didn't question the geographically bunching of the dragonballs.

'We're getting pretty good at this, aren't we!' Bulma enthused as she placed the last dragonball among the others in the remains of the garden surrounding Capsule Corp. Her excitement was obvious. Yamcha's coming back!. In preparation, she had clicked Yamcha's capsule and had thrown it behind the nearest pile of rubble. I just need to ignore that there's a dead body there for a few more minutes. Out of sight, out of mind, right?

Weary from yesterday's fight and utterly exhausted from rushing to gather all the dragonballs as quick as they could, Tien and Launch sat nearby. Regardless, they still looked on with weak smiles. Puar nodded happily to Bulma's statement.

It was just the four of them; Bulma's parents had reentered the damaged Capsule Corp to fully catalog what the Briefs family still had left.

Bulma looked over at her companions once more, then turned to the dragonballs, her arms spread wide. 'Rise, Shenron!' she yelled.

Nothing would ever seem familiar or boring about summoning the dragon, as it turns out- Bulma and Puar looked on with the same newfound awe Tien and Launch had as Shenron weaved and grew right before their eyes, forming a massive, spectacular figure towering over West City. Even Bulma appeared as a fantastical figure as golden light outlined her silhouette. 'I AM THE ETERNAL DRAGON,' Shenron boomed once fully unwound, 'SPEAK YOUR WISH.'

'Dragon!' Bulma proclaimed, 'Bring back to life everyone killed by King Piccolo! That is our wish!'

Shenron swung his massive head down to regard Bulma, his long, strand-like whiskers wreathing through the air. Briefly, Shenron's eyes began to glow red, but this light faded after a few moments. 'I CAN GRANT THIS WISH WITH BUT ONE EXCEPTION.'

Everyone in attendance snapped to attention- Tien actually went so far as to stand up. 'Wh-' Bulma stammered, 'what is this exception?'

'THE ONE KNOWN AS MASTER ROSHI, WHO DIED AS A RESULT OF TRYING TO DEFEAT PICCOLO, CANNOT BE REVIVED. HE HAS ALREADY BEEN REVIVED ONCE.'

'You mean… you can't revive the same person twice with the dragonballs?...' Bulma paled. 'Is that what you're saying?'

'THIS IS CORRECT. ANY ONE PERSON CAN ONLY BE REVIVED ONCE UNDER MY POWER. I AM SORRY YOU WERE NOT AWARE OF THIS LIMITATION.'

Bulma glanced back at everyone else. Relief and sadness were mixed into one uninterpretable mess. Everything wasn't fixed in the end, after all. I guess there are always a few things that can't be fixed. For everything else, though… 'Shenron… this wish is acceptable.'

'VERY WELL.' Shenron's eyes glowed red once more- and his will was done.


A/N: That wraps up this arc (and a good chunk of a lot of this story so far, actually). It was a blast, huh? Huh!? Moving forward we're going to be delving into a 'peacetime' section of the story; the only reason that I'm mentioning this now is because, looking back, I don't think there was ever really a point where things calmed down and shit wasn't flying everywhere at once. Now that we've reached a major narrative point of pause (and I have a lot more characters to play off one another), I'm going to take this time to do some fleshing out of the world and the people that live in it. Probably. We'll see how it goes.

And we're closing in on the end of DB- which is something I honestly can't believe is happening! I am beyond excited to get to all the crazy ideas I have for DBZ- but all in good time. I cannot express how grateful I am for everyone's support. Every person at every stage of this story who has interacted with it some way deserves a world of thanks. During my looooonng hiatus from September '17 to April '18, I was convinced I was never going to pick up this story again. Yet here we are, 18 chapters into the resumption and going strong. This is all because of you, the reader. You all make me super proud to be a writer doing what I'm doing. I hope you're as excited as I am for the next arc!

Oh, and power levels for all you curious souls, with the qualifier that this is accept-at-your-own-discretion. Keep in mind that unless stated otherwise, these numbers represent full strength and aren't accurate for the majority of the fights (as everyone involved was weakened at some point or another).

22nd World Tournament:

Kakarot-175

Master Roshi-190

Krillin-165 (150ish before climbing the tower and being trained by Korin)

Chi-Chi, injured- 120

Rayne- 145

Yamcha- 145

Launch- 120 (200ish briefly during her fight with Tien)

Retu- 115

Nam- 120

General Blue- 120

Tien- 180

Chiaotzu- 140

West City Battle Royale:

Piccolo (old)-200

Piccolo (young)-260

Kakarot (full power oozaru)-1,750

Kakarot (weakened oozaru)- 300

Piano- 150

Cymbal- 150, 120 weakened

Drum- 220

Tambourine- 170

Post-Water Krillin-230, much lower by the latter stages

Reviews:

Luke, #1 and #2: Who knows what Piccolo's referring to? I guess we'll find out in a few chapters… hehe.

LWexe: Oh man, if I had everyone fight each other at the end of the battle with Piccolo… that would have been so strange.

Wawa: All accurate observations. Things tend to escalate when Kakarot is involved. He has been, to some degree, the neverending nightmare for most of those characters.

If only there was a wise master who could have steered this discussion in the right direction… hmm…

I just re-read your review for the second time and I thought of a convoluted explanation for how Chi-Chi caused King Piccolo to be summoned. Humor me.

Chi-Chi was at Muscle Tower tracking Kakarot. If she had gone to West City instead, she would have joined in on the inevitable assault on Red Ribbon HQ. Because they had another person with them, the gang is able to get to Commander Red's building before Staff Officer Black has a chance to pull off his coup d'etat. They face and easily overpower General Blue with their numbers, and convince him of the error of his ways. Reformed, Colonel Blue bonds with Colonel Violet over their shared experiences and they eventually marry, living happily ever after. Piccolo's rice cooker continues to rest within a forgotten Red Ribbon Army stash.

So yea, Chi-Chi basically ruined everything.

WritersBlvd: Thanks for the kind words! Awesome that you're digging the characters! I'm sorry there aren't clearer resolutions to your wondering in this chapter but they're coming! In terms of narrative, I felt it made more sense to address certain events in the next arc.

DendeDaughter: Krillin has done it. Sort of. And yea, Chi-Chi's gotta do something...

CleMackey9697: Sometimes I wonder whether I leaned too hard into the 'psychopath' mindset with Kakarot early in this story. I mean, realistically, how much can an on-flight recording on his space pod mess him up?

But now that I think about it, actually...

Lala: There's definitely some sort of psychological thing going on. Yamcha is back though!

Guest #1 and #2, who both said nice things: Thank you! I'm pumping out the words with gusto now! And I love the human characters too!

Mirai: Holy text, Batman, that's a detailed review! My thoughts as I read through;

I didn't know that the fandom usually leaned into that 'uber-smart' approach to Saiyan Kakarot. Like you said, bumping his head caused his 'saiyanness' to be expressed but it didn't cause some sort of radical IQ boost. Saiyans do a lot of stupid things in canon so I agree that depicting them as tactically/ anything-else intelligent all the time would be unrealistic. Every single major Saiyan in canon I can think of nearly destroyed the world at some point by playing into their 'Saiyan' instincts. But to get back to your main question; I wasn't consciously trying to buck the fandom with how I depicted Kakarot- it just seemed natural considering what I know of DBZ.

On your second topic; you make a good point about Vegeta/Nappa (and by extension a lot of other Saiyan- Saiyan relationships). Saiyans are pretty insular and unsocial with other people in general. Vegeta disposed of Nappa- who was to Vegeta's knowledge literally the only other Saiyan in existence other than Kakarot-- as soon as it was obvious that he wouldn't be useful anymore. The only positive relationships we see between Saiyans in DBZ either happen early on (and involves a non-Saiyan Saiyan Goku being a father to Gohan) or develop over the course of many years of the story (like Goku and Vegeta's friendly rivalry). Considering that Kakarot has been trying to come to grips with an unclear goal of eliminating all life on Earth… making friends isn't easy.

Your kind words are super kind! Thank you!