Goku and Gohan spent their remaining seventy days on King Kai's planet training as hard as they could. In this time their strength grew immensely, and they learnt a variety of different techniques. They became so strong that they were able to run circles around King Kai, proving that the students had surpassed the teacher. The real issue however was whether it was enough to defeat the Saiyan's. They would soon have an answer, as the Sayian's were going to arrive in one day.
On their final day of training, King Kai wanted to review everything they had done. First, he made them catch Bubbles again. Both were able to do this in under a second. Next, they had to hit Gregory with the mallet. Both were able to accomplish this in only one point two seconds.
"Astounding," said King Kai, who still couldn't believe how much they'd improved. "Well then, now it's time to test the Spirit Bomb."
"I've been waiting for this," said Goku happily.
"I wish I knew the Spirit Bomb," said Gohan grumpily.
While Gohan's progress had been nothing short of exceptional, his young age meant it had taken him longer to master the technique of Kaioken and he hadn't had time to learn the Spirit Bomb.
"Oh come on Gohan, I'll teach it to you when we get home," said Goku.
This made Gohan a little less sour because the Spirit Bomb sounded like an amazing technique, and he was ok with waiting a little longer.
Goku took a stance and got prepared to charge the Spirt Bomb. He raised his hands to the sky and gathered as much energy as possible from the planet's life forms. Goku glowed with energy when the attack was charged.
"Good, now form it into a ball," ordered King Kai.
Goku did as instructed and created a sphere of energy in his right hand.
"Ok King Kai, whenever you're ready," stated Goku.
"Alright, here goes," said King Kai, who then used his telekinesis to float a giant red cube towards him. "Remember, don't use your eyes, feel it out!"
"Right," said Goku.
King Kai threw the cube as hard as he could. It flew right past Goku and started a journey around the planet.
"SUPER SPEED GO," yelled King Kai, making the cube go faster than the eye could see.
Just as King Kai instructed, Goku didn't look for the cube with his eyes, he used his other senses to predict where the cube would be. Upon discovering the cube's location, Goku threw the energy ball and the cube exploded, creating a shockwave that affected the entire planet.
"Well done Goku. If I'm honest, I didn't think you'd be able to handle the Spirit Bomb so skilfully," stated King Kai.
"It wasn't easy," admitted Goku.
"Just remember, the energy to form the Spirit Bomb is gathered from all forms of life. From trees, animals, plants and even the particles of energy that make up the air in the atmosphere contribute to a small share of energy in the bomb!" explained King Kai. "Therefore, you must be careful. While you have mastered the Spirit Bomb on this small planet, the one which you form on Earth with its immense number of lifeforms will have much greater power than the one you formed here! And if the sun is up while it's formed, you'll be harnessing and trying to control power of an indescribable magnitude, that could easily destroy the Earth if even the slightest error is made. If possible, I'd like you to refrain from using the Spirit Bomb, but if you must, only use it once. Got it?"
"Yeah, I'll stick to the Kaioken technique. That should be enough," stated Goku.
"Well, the time has come for us to say our goodbyes. The Saiyan's will be arriving on Earth tomorrow," said King Kai before realising something important. "OH NO!"
"What's wrong?" asked Gohan.
"I forgot to calculate the time it would take for the two of you to get back to Earth on Snake Way," stated King Kai.
"What, but I just thought you were going to zap us back to Earth," stated Goku, to which King Kai shook his head.
"But it took us nearly a year to get here," stated Gohan.
"Yes, but after your training here the two of you will be a lot faster. I predict it'll only take you two days to get back to Earth," said King Kai.
"But that means we'll get back a day late, it'll all be over by then," panicked Goku.
"That's enough. I'm not perfect, even I make mistakes," said King Kai angrily.
"I just realised something worse," said Gohan.
"What?" asked Goku.
"We could've asked Mum to gather the Dragon Balls to wish us back to Earth, but there's no way she'll be able to gather them all in time now," said Gohan.
Goku sighed.
"Then we'll just have to fly back. It's the only way," said Goku.
"Right, let's go Dad," said Gohan.
They were about to take off, but King Kai had a few more thing he wanted to say.
"Wait, before you go, I think there's something you should do first."
"What?" asked Gohan.
"Maybe it'll be a good idea to tell them that you're going to be arriving a day late and they'll have to fight the Saiyan's on their own until you get there," stated King Kai.
"How are we supposed to do that?" asked Goku.
Gohan then remembered something King Kai told them when they first got there.
"You said I could talk to you using my mind. Is that how we're going to contact them?" asked Gohan.
"Exactly," said King Kai before turning around. "Put your hand on my back and speak to them with your mind. Don't worry your thoughts will get through."
They did as instructed, and each placed a hand on King Kai's back.
Meanwhile on Earth, Bulma was back at Capsule Corp working on a machine. She'd been missing her husband and son dearly, so had been focusing on her work to keep herself distracted. Out of nowhere she heard a voice in her head.
"Bulma, are you there?"
"Mum, please tell me you can hear us?"
Bulma couldn't believe it, these voices sounded exactly like Goku and Gohan.
"Goku, Gohan, is that you?" asked Bulma.
"Yeah, we're talking to you from King Kai's planet," said Gohan.
"Listen, we've got some good news and some bad news," said Goku.
"What's the good news?" asked Bulma.
"We've completed our training at King Kai's and we're ready to fight the Saiyan's," stated Goku.
"And the bad news?" asked Bulma.
"We miscalculated the amount of time it'll take us to get back. We won't be back on Earth until the day after the Saiyan's get here," said Gohan.
Bulma was a little annoyed.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner? We could've gathered the Dragon Balls and wished you back. There's no way we'll be able to do that in a single day."
"Believe me Mum we recently came to the same conclusion," stated Gohan.
"Well, what are we supposed to do until you get here?" asked Bulma.
"I know this is a lot to ask, but the others are going to have to hold them off until we get there. Is there anyway you could give them a message?" asked Goku.
"I'd love to, but I have no idea where they are," stated Bulma. "I haven't seen any of them since Krillin and Yamcha went off to train with Kami."
"Don't worry then. We'll tell them ourselves," stated Gohan.
"I'm just glad the two of you checked in so I could know you're alright. Do you have any idea how worried I've been?" asked Bulma.
"Sorry Bulma we've been a little busy, but listen we'll be home soon. I promise," said Goku.
"You better be," said Bulma.
"We'll talk to you later," said Gohan and they left Bulma's mind.
They contacted Yamcha next who was training with Tien and Chaiotzu and wasted no time telling them what needed to be done.
"Ok Goku, you can count on us," said Yamcha.
"We'll buy you as much time as we can, but please get back here as soon as possible," said Tien.
Next, they contacted Krillin, who unknown to them was still training with Piccolo.
"Ok thanks for letting us know, we'll see you soon," said Krillin.
"Hmph, so Goku went to such great lengths to get stronger, and he'll be arriving a day late. Why am I not surprised?" asked Piccolo.
"Regardless of when Goku we'll be arriving, we have to do everything we can to defend the Earth until he gets here," said Krillin. "I just hope we've gotten strong enough."
"I doubt it," stated Piccolo. "But we've come too far to give up now, and I'm not about to let some space pirates take over my planet."
"Are you still obsessed with that?" asked Krillin. "After everything we've been through why are you still so content on taking over the planet, when you could be such a great asset in defending it?"
Piccolo didn't like the way Krillin was speaking to him.
"Don't push me Krillin, the only reason you're still alive right now is because I need your help to defeat the Saiyan's," stated Piccolo. "Consider yourself lucky to be alive."
"Piccolo, after all the training we've done together, are you sure you could still kill me without a second thought?" asked Krillin.
Piccolo didn't answer this, because as much as he hated to admit it, he appreciated the kindness Krillin had showed him.
Back on King Kai's planet, Goku and Gohan were about to start their trip back to Earth, but King Kai felt there was one more thing he needed to do.
"We can't have the two of you going into battle looking all ragged out now can we?" asked King Kai.
During their time on King Kai's planet, their uniforms had gotten a little ragged.
"You're going to give us new clothes?" asked an exited Goku.
"Yep," said King Kai before pointing his antennas at them. The tips glowed and Goku and Gohan's uniforms were replaced with brand new clothes.
"Wow thanks," said Gohan.
"And they're light as a feather," stated Goku.
"Well, I thought you'd appreciate that after all this time of training in such intense gravity," said King Kai. "The material is light but marvellously tough. It can even repel small attacks."
"Really? That's incredible," stated Goku, before noticing the symbol on the front. "Thanks for leaving the Turtle Symbol, though I have to admit, I was hoping to wear your symbol now that I've been training under you."
"Look at the back," stated King Kai.
Goku turned around.
"Dad, the big symbol on the back is the same as on King Kai's uniform," stated Gohan.
"Yup, I decided to leave the old symbol on the front, but I get the big one on the back," laughed King Kai.
"Do I have a new symbol?" asked Gohan, who could only see the Capsule Corp logo on the front.
"Actually, I decided to let you keep your old symbol, as I've realised your uniform is a representation of both your families," stated King Kai. "Your uniform is the same style as your father's, but I remember you telling me that the symbol you wear is that of your mother's company. So, I think your uniform is a perfect representation of who you are."
"Can't argue with that," laughed Gohan.
"Well, I guess it's time for us to go," said Goku. "Thanks for everything King Kai."
"No worries Goku, just remember, don't expect these two to give you a fair fight. You must be on your guard at all times," stated King Kai.
"I won't let you down I promise," said Goku.
"Yeah, I'll kick them into the ground before they even know what hit them," declared Gohan arrogantly.
This statement worried King Kai.
"Gohan, while I can appreciate your confidence, you mustn't get arrogant," stated King Kai.
"What do you mean?" asked Gohan.
"While it's true that you have gotten much stronger from training under me, you're still very young and don't have a lot of experience," stated King Kai. "You must be careful, as these Saiyan's will find a way to use your inexperience against you."
"Alright King Kai, I'll do my best," said Gohan.
"Good, now the two of you should get going as every second is precious," stated King Kai.
"Right," said Goku as he and Gohan turned to leave. "Thanks for the clothes King Kai, I'll wear your symbol with pride."
Goku and Gohan jumped from the tiny planet and started the journey back across Snake Way. Knowing that time was of the essence, they immediately used a new technique taught to them by King Kai called the Dragon Dash. This caused energy to cover their entire body and allowed them to fly much faster. This technique would allow them to make the trip in just two days, even though it had originally taken them nearly a year. They just hoped they could make it back before the Saiyan's did too much damage.
Back on Earth the citizens of an average city were going about their day, unaware of the dangers that were approaching. High in the sky, two alien space pods had entered Earth's atmosphere and were descending upon the city. Without hesitation they crashed through buildings, causing panic in the streets, before landing and creating two large craters in the ground.
Nearby citizens approached the craters to see who or what had caused the crash. They quickly deduced that they had to spaceships and that there must be aliens inside. What they didn't know was that these aliens were anything but friendly. The two aliens stepped out of the pods causing greater panic amongst the city's residents. One of the aliens was very large, bald, had a moustache and wore a purple scouter along with sleeveless body armour. The other was a lot smaller, had spiky black hair, wore a pink scouter and a blue jumpsuit, which he wore under body armour of the same style. The most unusual thing about these two visitors was that they both had tails, which they wore around their wastes like belts. The Saiyan's had arrived.
Although they weren't present at where the Saiyan's had landed, Earth's fighters immediately felt their presence. They were strong. Horrifyingly strong. They were so strong that they made Raditz seemed like an insect by comparison. The battle for Earth was about to begin. The fighters of Earth just hoped they could hold these two off long enough for Goku and Gohan to return.
Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think, especially if you know of ways the cannon could change because of this scenario. I'd also appreciate any suggestions on how the current story could be improved.
That being said I want to quickly address the suggestions that have been made for future parings regarding Gohan and Vegeta. I must confess that I've already made my decision on Vegeta, but if and when I get to the Buu saga, I might do a poll to determine Gohan's future partner. Until then I hope I don't dissapoint.
Thanks again for reading and I'll see you next time.