Yo! Son Goku and friends! Saiyan Saga (Chapter 6)
Yamcha
Can you believe all of that happened in a day? Raditz arrived, kidnapped his nephew, fought his brother to the death, nearly winning a 3 vs 1 matchup, getting killed by Piccolo; his brother's nemesis, and then he gets saved by his brother from being sent to the cleansing machine? Anyway, these events are the following day.
Light streamed in from the small cracks of the building onto the shaggy haired baseball player. Yamcha's eyes squinted open groggily at the morning beams. Puar flew around with something in his hand while he was talking, he couldn't really make out what his small cat companion was saying.
"Yeah, I'll get Yamcha right away! Thanks Krillin!" Puar mused loudly.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh~" The man yawned deep. "What's up, Puar?" He barely got out as he was sidelined by more yawning, stealing his breath.
"Krillin is on his way to pick us up. We're taking his car! Apparently Tien got good enough with his ki that he can sense people's energy!"
"For real?" Yamcha was taken aback. "Damn. I'm kinda trash."
He was right. Yamcha was the worst by far now, not even close. Yamcha's financial standings were great since all he did was play professional sports and hang out in a clay hut in the desert. He spent no money on unnecessary items, the man had an actual fortune saved up. Yamcha could retire right now easily but his battle power was only 106. Krillin was more than twice his strength at 285. Forget Tien who eclipsed him 4 times over at 450 battle power. Goku had a lot on his plate as a father and let Tien and Piccolo surpass him but his battle power was still at 350, a respectable number considering he had less time to train.
"350 is not respectable Whis. I don't respect Belmod's and his battle power far exceeds that."
"Oh hush. He's a good martial artist."
"Ah-hem."
Yamcha strapped on his old bandit boots and pants, he left the top on the shelf and filed through a dresser for a white tank top. He took a white belt off the shelf and wrapped it tight around his waist. Yamcha looked to the ground for a moment, lost in thought before he heard a loud honk from outside.
"Yo, you awake in there? You better be paying Puar if you're just gonna make him your receptionist!" Tien practically screamed from the orange vehicle.
"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming jackass!" Yamcha yelled back as he left through the front door. "Puar, stay here and guard the hideout!" He commanded.
Puar saluted back and Yamcha met the salute before hopping into Krillin's orange skycar. The car purred its engine once again as it rose into the sky.
"Damn, you just wake up? You look like dog shit." Tien prodded with a cocky smile.
"Shut up, Crane." Yamcha sassed back with a smile as he covered his face with a baseball cap he stole from the house at the last minute. It was green with a large red T on it.
The car stalled in the air for a moment as Krillin looked to Tien.
"So where we going, Big Man?"
Tien closed his eyes and sent out a wave of energy. He took on a meditative pose with his hands clasped. Tien wore green pants that had a red belt. Yellow ankle wraps sat just above his black shoes, segmenting them. He also wore green wristbands that clamped tightly on his arms. Krillin wore the classic turtle hermit fit with the orange vest and parachute pants. He had black boots, a blue belt and small blue wristbands. The turtle logo was placed right over his heart on the front and had a big logo on the back like Goku's.
Tien felt a bigger pulse behind him and to the right. He sent one more pulse to be sure and it pinged back with the same amount of energy.
"If I had to guess I think Piccolo's back that way." Tien said as he turned around and pointed the opposite way from Yamcha's hideout. "It feels like how I remember his energy and it's large. Piccolo's stronger than both me and Goku still. That guy is a threat so we need to be careful."
Krillin nodded with sincerity before whipping his orange vehicle around and boosting towards where his friend pointed.
"So how's your training going, Yamcha?" Tien asked with a smile.
"Man I've just been playing baseball. No time to train."
"I see." He responded plainly.
"Yours?" Krillin perked up.
"Well I've been trying to train my body as well as my mind and ki. Just yesterday I was training in the mountains near Jingle Village. I'm thinking I might meditate in the volcano of Mount Kiwi next, I'm not sure though. How about you Krillin? I can tell you've gotten a lot stronger since last time."
Yamcha shifted in his seat a little.
"Well I've just been training on my off days. I've just been trying to find a job I like. I don't want to head into boxing or those other combat sports because I don't think it would be very fair honestly. Most people don't know how to use their ki so it would just feel wrong to me to do something like that."
Yamcha shifted in his seat again, his baseball cap hiding something.
"I've been thinking about maybe doing policework you know? The average person isn't nearly as strong as me so I could use these powers for good. I always feel this sense of responsibility nagging at my back. We have these incredibly strong bodies and I feel like we gotta use em' in the right way."
"Way to go man!" Tien congratulated Krillin with a ferocious pat on the back. "I think that's awesome, that's really noble of you. I fully agree with that decision."
Yamcha looked out the side of the car longingly, the dirt and dust of the desert ran into the green grass of the plains as they neared their destination.
"We still going the right way?" Krillin questioned.
Tien paused for a moment to consider.
"If you veer out to the left a little bit we're headed straight for it."
"Gotcha." Krillin replied quickly.
Tien put his hands together as he leaned over the dash, placing his elbows on it. He unlocked his fingers as he put his face in between his palms, rubbing his nose and mouth before fanning his arms out and stretching wide. He rotated his shoulders, his back muscles popping out. The three of them rode in silence for a while until they came across more mountainous formations in the plains. Tien closed his eyes again to pulsate more ki.
"We're here, follow me!" Tien commanded as he leaped out of the skycar.
Krillin landed safely and put it in park, he and Yamcha then exited the vehicle. Yamcha played with his cap a little as they got out, putting it in a more secure position. He fixed his hair to have a long ponytail come out the section at the back of the hat.
"So we just pulling up to beat his ass or?" Yamcha asked the group.
"We're gonna play it diplomatic. We don't need to fight Piccolo, we just need to find out what happened to Gohan." Krillin laid out in a gameplan.
Tien nodded in agreeance. Yamcha rolled his eyes. Tien led the charge and the other two filed in behind him closely. They passed through a crevice before coming across a small bed of water and some more rocks. Piccolo was drinking from the small pond before he turned to them.
"You looking for something?" He asked with a sharp look in his eyes.
Yamcha darted ahead of the group in an aggressive motion.
"We're here to look for our best friend's kid, and if you don't give us some answers my friends and I might have to lay you out like last time." He blurted out as he stood right in front of the large green man with a cape.
Piccolo peered down at the shaggy haired man before him.
"I don't like the tone of voice you're using with me right now, Mongrel."
"What was that!?" Yamcha leaned in and grappled tightly onto the front Piccolo's cape. "I'm not sure if you heard me right! We're the one asking the questions here, got it!? I'm not giving you any respect you don't deserve!"
"Yamcha, chill!" Krillin attempted to resolve the situation.
"Why should I chill Krillin, this guy murdered our best friend!"
Piccolo laughed heartily.
"Yeah I did! Haw-haw-haw!"
Yamcha's eyes pulsed with intensity, the veins shooting across like comets as he reared back his fist to strike.
"DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!" Yamcha screeched as he launched a punch at his adversary's face.
Piccolo just let out a small laugh-breath through his nostrils.
"Hmph."
Piccolo was much faster and counter-hit Yamcha with a low gut strike. Using his right fist and twisting in deep, blasting Yamcha back a distance and causing the scarred man to collide into some rocks.
"Great…" Krillin let out as he readied his stance.
Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha VS Piccolo
Objective: Find Son Gohan!
Piccolo stood calmly with his arms crossed, his cape wavering ever so slightly in the wind. A smile crept across Tien's face.
Because of the fact that they could both sense ki Tien knew that his team was at a big advantage. He could take Piccolo with just the support of Krillin. Piccolo was not very far ahead of Tien at all anymore, a far cry from their last encounter where even a wounded Piccolo stood head and shoulders above him. Piccolo knew this too and his only saving grace was that Tien was not as skilled a martial artist as Goku and had less sharp instincts. If he could somehow eliminate Krillin and Yamcha quickly things could go well but they didn't look good.
Krillin spoke in a whisper to Tien and grounded his turtle hermit stance even deeper.
"I'm gonna go first and check out his guard, fall in after me."
Tien nodded. Piccolo's large ears twitched slightly, catching everything the small man said.
Krillin rushed Piccolo with great speed aiming a left roundhouse at his opponent's temple. Piccolo dodged effortlessly, barely moving his head at all before returning it to a neutral position. Krillin landed on the ground and used it to rebound again in a flurry, throwing rapid punches and kicks. Piccolo weaved those easily as well and picked his moment, grabbing the little man's right leg and flinging him at the ground. Krillin caught the ground with great skill, back handspringing into a double backflip. He landed in a flourish, taking up his stance again.
A bead of sweat mounted on Krillin's forehead. He stared down his green adversary cautiously. Krillin sidled around to meet up with Tien using great focus. Piccolo let out a small nose laugh again. Tien rounded his shoulders in a masculine display before taking his crane stance. He picked up his left leg and slammed it on the ground, kicking up dirt and dust. Tien locked eyes with Piccolo for a moment before dashing at him.
Yamcha picked himself off of the rocks in a daze. His vision blurred like crazy as he saw dizzying After-Images of Tien attacking their foe. Yamcha cursed himself.
"Damn…" He let out as he stumbled over onto his right knee.
Tien shot several crane strike jabs at Piccolo, they were much faster than Krillin's and he could not just get out of the way easily. Piccolo studied his opponent for a while and capitalised on an opening: Tien reared back his left hand for a piercing strike to which he only caught Piccolo's cape. Tien's eyes froze for a moment as his opponent looked to clock him on the cheek.
Krillin came in clutch and blocked the lunge with his forearm in a drive-by aerial cartwheel flip.
"Oh my, this Krillin fellow is quite the acrobat."
"Ah-hem."
Piccolo grunted out as he had his moment wasted. Krillin and Tien readied their stances again before rushing the big green beast. Krillin spun in a dazzling butterfly flip like 5 times causing Piccolo to look cautiously for an attack.
"NO! WAIT!" The thoughts echoed through his mind. "The little one doesn't even attack half the time!"
Piccolo recalls the 23rd budokai where Krillin used the Solar Flare and flips similar to what he was doing now. Krillin only hit him like 4 or so times. The last one being a Kamehameha to finish. He only got hit by 3 of Krillin's actual attacks.
Piccolo's quick calculations came in handy as he backstepped and Krillin landed to the ground. Tien pursued his pressure but whiffed as his opponent had already moved. Krillin let out a quick scoff before the three of them returned to combat.
Yamcha shakily returned to his feet, they felt like jello.
"What the crap… He only hit me once…" Yamcha fell to his knees again. "How did they get so strong?" Yamcha's breathing was already wavy.
The sound of air wished and whooshed as Tien and Krillin threw strikes. Piccolo's defence was proving to be difficult to pass through, he hadn't taken any damage yet. Krillin leaped at Piccolo's face for another kick. Piccolo leaned back a bit before noticing his opponent hadn't even committed fully.
"Ka-me...ha-"
"Crap!" Piccolo was under a lot of pressure as his small enemy gathered energy in his hands and the bigger one was still on his ass.
Tien launched a lot of attacks back to back to buy time, but Piccolo had studied him enough and parried a strike with his left elbow. Piccolo then slammed a right into Tien's gut as a result and grappled him into a hold.
DMM-Fwsht!
"Go ahead and shoot, I'll stand right here!" Piccolo proclaimed proudly as he held Tien hostage.
Krillin panicked for a moment but held the energy.
"Ha-meeeeeeee…"
"WHAT!?" Piccolo thought to himself. "He's gonna commit!?" He thought feverishly. "No, wait."
Piccolo turned to see Yamcha throwing a high roundhouse at his back. Piccolo dropped his hostage and flung his right arm at the ground.
CLOKK!
His green hand clamped into the earth like an anchor, his veins pulsed clearly through.
"HAAAAH!" Krillin fired the beam at where Piccolo was going.
Piccolo skillfully flew through the air, zip-lining to his right arm in a large arc. He detached his right arm early and landed gracefully on a plateau above the three. The beam missed cleanly and Krillin let out an exhaustive breath.
"Phuuuuuuu…"
"Hah… hah…" Yamcha let out harsh breaths.
"Damn, he really did a number on you, huh?" Tien pressed sarcastically.
"Shut up."
Tien grinned with a shit-eating expression.
Krillin and Tien rose steadily into the air with their ki and met level with Piccolo on the platform. Yamcha scoffed again.
"Tch." Yamcha let out as he cleared the rocks in a leap, landing to Piccolo's right.
Piccolo looked at his enemies cautiously.
"I can get that shaggy haired mongrel pretty easy. One punch did him in, but that little one is a problem, he's pretty damn fast." He pondered.
Tien and Krillin closed in and landed on the plateau, surrounding him in a triangle formation. Piccolo ran his lower lip across his teeth as he thought.
Yamcha waited for no one and launched a wicked kick at Piccolo's back. Piccolo's reaction time was simply too great and speed simply too fast. He caught Yamcha in another counter-hit in the chest with his right elbow. Yamcha reeled onto his back as Krillin came in for a strike.
Krillin spun into a 360 flourish, whiffing intentionally with his right leg and trying to score with the back of his left. Piccolo put up his left arm and met with the small man's leg as Tien pushed up. The Crane went all in and his ki surged, causing the wind to pick up greatly. Piccolo's eyes widened with desperation.
"He was never that fast against the other guy. Did he just not use this technique!?"
Tien's crane strikes rained like machine gun fire, the wind swirled and harsh sounds played out as the jabs made contact with Piccolo's guard. More ki fueled into the strikes and the energy cracked the ground underneath them lightly. Tien roared out in a dominant war cry as he unleashed his barrage.
"huuuuuuuuuuuaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!"
"I CAN'T FUCKING MOVE!" Piccolo worried to himself.
"Nice one!" Krillin cried out to bolster Tien's confidence.
Krillin repositioned himself behind Piccolo much to the Green Man's worry. He revved up his ki while Piccolo was stuck guarding.
"NO TIME!" Piccolo clamored out between his teeth.
Krillin unleashed a devastating drive-by soccer kick at Piccolo's left knee causing his stance to crumble. Tien kept going with his crane strikes, his ki blowing sizable gusts around.
This is Tien's purpose on the Z Fighters, he is their finisher. Tien is the one who makes sure their opponents don't get up again. He has a knack for sensing good opportunities and now-or-never scenarios. His wherewithal to completely commit to spending his entire pool of ki on an attack is what makes his role on the team so valuable. Tien really thought to spend all of his remaining ki on his guard pressure in this moment of the fight and it was an excellent choice.
It did not take long at all for Piccolo's kneeling guard to crumble and he fell under the pressure of Tien. He held up a very shitty block for a few seconds before he was hammered by the full on force of the crane strikes. Krillin flew into the air and gathered some remaining energy.
"KA-ME-HA-ME…." The blue aura of the blast shone brightly. "Tien, move!"
Tien scurried out of the way, gasping for air after his heavy expenditure.
"Heh-huuuu~"
Piccolo was stunned but could still move, he shot his right arm out to zip-line again. Yamcha caught it as it flew, clinging the arm tightly to his chest and stepping onto the rest of the line.
"HAAHHHHH!" Krillin fired the blast and it made contact with the Green Man cleanly.
ZVEEEEEEEW! KOMMMMMM!
Brown smoke lifted from the blast and Yamcha felt the arm in his hand go limp. He breathed heavy breaths out from his chest as he let if fall. The baseball player fell onto his back and gasped out.
"Wha- tha fuc…" He breathed in squeakily.
Piccolo grunted and shifted slightly.
"Oh no…" Is all Tien could get out before Krillin reassured him.
"Heh-heh. He ain't goin' nowhere guys."
Tien laughed if off as he stood on shaky feet.
"Not bad Yamcha."
Yamcha shook his head.
"What do you mean not bad, I got my fuckin' ass kicked." He complained loudly.
"We won though, Champ." Krillin replied quickly.
"I dunno, I think I might just not be cut out for this stuff."
Krillin stood right on top of him, glaring him in the eyes and pointing an index finger.
"Look at me." Krillin commanded Yamcha's attention immediately. "You're not as strong as us because you haven't trained. Don't let me hear you beat yourself up about it." Krillin squatted down to pat Yamcha on the shoulder.
"We trained to get this strong, Wolf, you can get there too."
Yamcha looked away from Tien's strong gaze.
"..."
Krillin paused for a moment to consider the fight.
"You literally won us the fight, Yamcha." Krillin interjected. "If you hadn't stopped Piccolo's arm, he might have escaped my Kamehameha. I'm not gonna hear any more of your whining."
Yamcha sighed a big sigh as Krillin hit a bro-backfist on his stomach.
"You're right."
"We… might... need to keep training…" Piccolo barely got out, his voice shot from the damage.
The three looked to their adversary as he got to his knees. They were all stunned at the fact that he was still conscious. The Demon possessed a violent and intense look in his eye.
King Kai
There was no wind. A small green orb stood static against the pink sky. It had one paved road on it with a single red car. There were two buildings, one seemed to be a garage and the other was a dome, hut-like building. There was a well in front of the garage. There were about 5 or so trees on the green landscape of what could be called a "planet." It was more like an asteroid with grass.
A shorter and rotund blue man with teashade sunglasses looked up at the sky. He whistled as his black antenna wavered. He pressed up on his glasses and thought to himself.
"Oh wow. That's not what I expected." The man raised his brows high.
His antennae wiggled for a moment as he stroked his chin.
"Son Goku!" The man yelled out.
Goku was still on the snake-like path.
"Oh hey! King Kai!" Goku responded quickly, a smile across his face. "What's up!?"
"You don't have to yell, Goku, I already told you that."
"Sorry! My bad, I just get excited easily."
"Your friends just showed up to save your son, and what's more is Piccolo didn't do anything to em'."
"That's great, I knew Piccolo was a good guy."
"Punching Yamcha preemptively isn't what I'd call good." King Kai replied, leading Goku on a tad with the details.
"Nah, if I know Yamcha he probably pushed his luck. Hee-hee-haugh-haugh."
"Uncanny…" King Kai thought to himself. "This Goku fellow is very strange."
King Kai took a second to compose himself.
"Do you want to talk with your friends, Son Goku?"
"What would I have to say? That I'm gonna train?"
"Well their plan is to wish you back using the Dragon Balls."
"Oh!" Goku yelped and stopped running for a moment. "Yeah King Kai, I want to talk to them."
King Kai worked his magic, his sunglasses revealing Goku's position on Snake Way on one lens and his friends on the other. It's impressive really.
"Hey, hellooooooooooooooooooo." Goku called out longingly.
"GOKU!?" Krillin and Yamcha blurted out in a frenzy.
"Hi guys, King Kai said I could talk to you. What's up?"
"First of all, who the hell is King Kai?" Tien asked, taken aback, hands on his hips.
"Oh he's apparently some martial arts master but I haven't even met him yet. He's the one letting me talk to you guys right now. This is sooo cool." Goku rang out, very amused.
"What the hell are you talking about right now, Goku?" Yamcha questioned, very concerned, hands raised.
"Oh, I wanted to ask you guys. You're gonna wish me back with the Dragon Balls right?"
"Well… duh. I thought that was pretty obvious." Yamcha replied with sass, squinting his eyes and making a sarcastic face to the rest of the group.
"Well I just wanted to say thanks very much."
The group was just kind of dumbfounded, they stood around scratching their heads.
"You knew we weren't just gonna leave you hangin' tho right?" Yamcha asked, hoping to not hear the wrong answer.
"I've got a request before you wish me back."
"Anything Goku, you just say the word." Krillin responded with confidence, staring adamantly towards the sky.
"I really want to train with King Kai to improve my martial arts." Goku propositioned, shadow boxing while he spoke. "It's been a long time since I've gotten to train properly. HAH!" He threw out a stoic fist. "I also want to ask King Yemma if I can speak to Raditz, I really want to talk to him."
Krillin looked to Yamcha, who then looked to Tien who then looked to Krillin. They all raised a brow.
"If you guys wish me back too early then I won't be able to do those things and I'd really like it if you guys could do me a solid this time. I care about the training with King Kai a lot but I care about talking to Raditz more. I know it's a big favour to ask but I'd like for you to wait before reviving me."
"We got you man." Yamcha stated proudly as he pounded on his chest. "We'll wait for you as long as you need. We're always gonna be here for you Goku." Yamcha gazed skyward as well, he stared longingly almost as if he could see his friend from there.
"You're really good friends guys…" Goku thought aloud, reminiscing about the old days.
"But what about Gohan, Chi-Chi?" Krillin piercing the thoughts.
"I've got King Kai to help me talk to them. And I'm not taking no for an answer on Raditz, Chi-Chi is going to have to wait." Goku claimed as he folded his arms inward, making a pouty face.
Krillin breathed out a deep sigh, then proceeded to laugh it off.
"Never change Goku, seriously." Krillin stated with a bit of pride.
Tien and Yamcha locked eyes and then let out a laugh-breath through their noses.
"Whatever you say, Goku." Tien finally responded. "It's good to hear from you."
"It's good to hear from you too, Tien. I'm proud of you, you got so much stronger than me. Good job, I mean it." Goku's words descended down towards his friend.
Tien felt an unmistakable warmth in his chest.
"That means a lot coming from you." The three-eyed man replied.
"I've gotta go guys. I have to finish running Snake Way if I ever want to start my training with King Kai."
"You better kick some ass, you hear me!?" Yamcha screamed at the heavens.
There was no response.
"Well that was eventful. Why in the sweet hell would you decline being wished back so easily if your planet actually has Dragon Balls?" King Kai asked with bewilderment.
"Well I need to talk to Raditz at least." Goku responded.
"Heh, at this rate kid you'll never make it to my planet. If you keep this pace you might never be wished back at all."
"You wanna bet!?" Goku asserted playfully.
King Kai's antennae wavered ever so slightly.
"Oh my…" King Kai thought to himself. "I don't even think you could get here in 4 Earth months." He threw out the challenge to bait the young Saiyan.
"You said 3 months last time, you're on!"
King Kai recalls the last time someone made the journey through Snake Way. Goku had awakened a deep memory from centuries past.
"Pikkon?" The blue antenna'd man questioned loudly.
A stoic looking green figure gallantly walked the path of Snake Way. He wore white robes and a blue undershirt. His brown boots matched his long brown hat, resting on the top of his head regally. The hat had white cloth dangling down gracefully as well as a gold jewel embedded in the middle of it. He wore a brown belt that also matched his cap.
The green man sharpened his eyes and took on a focused stance.
"Easy there desperado." King Kai calmly soothed.
"Who's there? How do you know my name?" The green figure kept his wits about him.
"Sheesh, is your guard always up like this? I'm King Kai."
"Hmph." Pikkon grunted out. "Apologies, I seek training as advised by King Yemma."
There was a pause from the king's end.
"Wow." He finally got out. "You almost defeated a God of Destruction?" King Kai's mind was racing at the thought.
"But I didn't, I failed." Pikkon looked down with sorrow. "More importantly, how do you know all this?"
"Keep calm, Pikkon. I am a telepath, trained in the art of infiltrating the minds of others, I mean you no harm."
Pikkon's brow sharpened even more at the statement.
"I already see what you need Pikkon, when you reach me at the end of this path I will enlighten you."
Pikkon nodded in understanding and kept trekking through the path.
The North Kai is brought back to reality.
King Kai looked to the pink sky above and wondered to himself:
"It's that guardian's spirit. Goku reminds me of Pikkon. They're so different but they take the lives of others very seriously."
At that moment Goku came across the tail end of Snake Way, he was running so fast he almost flew right off.
"What the- but how- HUH!?" Goku looked around, perplexed.
Snake Way is a perseverance test, it stone walls those who hold doubt deep in their heart. Some take only moments to cross while others will spend lifetimes clearing the walk way. It's all about attitude and willingness to succeed. Goku' attitude was exactly the type Snake Way rewards. He was just too busy worrying about his wife, son, and brother Raditz to clear it for the first few hours. Goku's full belief in himself had him warp right to the end. Most start out optimistic but their lingering doubt and natural curiosity usually kill any chances they might have of finishing Snake Way quickly.
All Goku could do was scratch his head at the anomaly. He put his hands on his hips with sass and called out to King Kai.
"Hey! You tricked me! I thought I was gonna be there much later than this! That's your planet over there right!?" Goku questioned loudly, pointing a finger at the green mass in front of him.
All Goku could hear was feverish laughter from King Kai. His nasally voice dampered Goku's mood just a little.
"AHA-HAGH-hagh-hagh… Whew…" King Kai's giggles finally petered out.
"Do I just jump!?" Goku asked, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Yeah! The gravity'll pull you down quick."
"Ok." Goku threw his hands up again in a: 'fuck it' gesture before leaping off of the fish tail of Snake Way.
"Ya- HOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Goku yelled proudly with childish abandon.
Goku
Goku ate shit on the green grass hard. He was clearly not expecting the pull of the planet to be so intense.
FWOMPP!
"OW!" Goku involuntarily screeched as he attempted to pull himself together, having immense trouble.
"Huh?" The turtle student wondered aloud as he flexed and trembled while standing. "What is this place?"
"This is my planet, Son Goku, I thought I already told you that."
"No, not that I mean-"
"This gravity is 10 times that of your planet." King Kai cut him off.
"Ohhh~" He struggled. "Neat…"
Goku stomped around for a bit in a tight circle, assessing the terrain.
"Besides the gravity, this is a nice place you got here, King Kai!" He stated aloud, his tone was very genuine and pleasing to listen to.
"Thank you."
"Now about Chi-Chi…" He interjected.
King Kai nodded.
"Of course." He replied, his antennae jiving back and forth softly.
"Man." Goku let out involuntarily. "This really is tough, you've gotta be real strong if you walk around on this all day." He mused, playfully jumping and bouncing around like a child.
"Ahmehm." King Kai announced with a throat clear.
"Goku? Is that you?" Chi-Chi's voice echoed with inquiry.
"Oh! Hi honey! I'm in Other World right now on King Kai's planet, the gravity here is real heavy. You could say it's kind of a drag!"
King Kai burst a gut laughing at Goku's joke, he reeled onto his back in a dramatic display. Chi-Chi's mood was dashed utterly at the strangeness of it all. She folded inwards, placing her left palm on her face.
"You like that one?" Goku asked cheerily, the goofiest smile on his face.
"Goku, you die on me and the first thing you do is make a joke?" Chi-Chi wailed out through shaky breath.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you upset. Don't worry, my friends will have me wished back to life in no time when they find the Dragon Balls."
Chi-Chi took a moment to compose herself. Breathing in deeply through her nostrils, closing her eyes and brushing the wooden tabletop with her hands. She exhaled just as deep through her mouth and opened them.
"Do you know what happened to our little Gohan?"
"Well." Goku breathed out with a chipper voice and a smile. "You'll be happy to know that Tien, Yamcha, and Krillin went to go find him today."
"Honey…" She let out, distressed. "What happened to him when you saw him last?"
"Where do I begin?" He replied with a smile and a laugh. "A strong man named Raditz is my brother Chi-Chi. Apparently I've been something called a Saiyan this whole time."
"Heh-heh… makes too much sense. You're the strangest man I've ever met." Goku had finally broken through, her regular demeanor creeping back in slowly.
"Anyway…" He continued. "He kidnapped our son when I went to Roshi's for our reunion. I went to chase him and Tien showed up immediately to help. You need to remember to thank him next time you see him."
"I will…heh-heh." Chi-Chi wiped tears with her wrist, letting out comforting laughs that Goku drew so easily.
"Piccolo was there as well to back us up, I was so surprised. And happy. He fought tooth and nail against Raditz and that guy was no joke."
"Goku…" She whimpered out with sorrow. "You know I don't like him…"
"It's okay, Chi-Chi, I understand." For the first time Goku looked around without a smile.
There was a long moment of pause before Goku continued the story. Chi-Chi took the time to fix her hair, tying it back into a well done up bun.
"Anyway…" He said again. "It was a long fight and all we had to make sure Raditz didn't escape was a move Piccolo had ready. I held him in position for the attack and man was that thing strong, it killed both of us. I mean it really packed a wallop, tore right through my chest and everything!" He said laughing jollily.
"Gokuhuhu." Chi-Chi also had a small laughing fit. "How do you always talk like things are no big deal?"
"Well… I just don't see the need to get caught up in the details I guess. If I make the wrong move then who cares? I'll live with it."
Chi-Chi was moved by his words, there was a sageliness to her husband that she loved and admired as well as thought was stupid from time to time.
"I love you Chi-Chi, the way your hair smells is what I miss the most." Goku pantomimed feeling out the strands.
"I love you too honey, please come back to me…"
"I will, but I gotta go. Thanks to King Kai I can talk to Gohan as well so I'm gonna do that right now."
King Kai's antennae twitched and flexed again in accordance with the switching comm lines.
"Gohan!?"
There was no response for a brief period.
"Gohan?" Goku asked more low key.
Gohan
"Dad?" Gohan called out, his voice raspy.
"How are you, son?"
"Where are you, are you speaking to me with telepathy?"
"Yeah! I am! How'd you get so smart, Big Man?"
Gohan laughed heartily.
"Piccolo can do it and he taught me what it was. It's too hard for me to do though." He twiddled his thumbs as he answered.
"Don't worry, I don't know how to do it either!"
The pair shared a laugh.
"It's good to hear from you Gohan, I just want you to know that I'm proud of you. You fought for me, that was very brave."
Gohan's cheeks grew red and he didn't respond. A small thought formulated in the boy's head.
"Well if you can't do it, how can you talk to me?"
"I'm talking to you thanks to this martial arts master, King Kai! He's really something, honestly."
King Kai smirked at the young Saiyan's complement.
"I wanted to check up on you, just so you know my friends Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha are on their way to pick you up and take you back to the house. You remember Krillin, right?"
"Yep." Gohan replied in tandem with a big head nod.
"I'll be home soon Gohan, can you wait for me?"
"Yes."
"That's my boy, don't grow up too fast while i'm not there!"
"I won't!"
Gohan heard nothing else except for the gentle breeze, and the sound of grass.
The boy waddled around for a while, his eyes locked to the ground searching for something. He continued on his quest high and low for a while before he gave up. Gohan flailed his arms and dropped onto his butt in a showboaty and childlike way. The brown-tailed boy scratched his head and scanned the environment one last time before rising to his feet.
"I guess I'll just head back. I can't find the ball Piccolo told me to." He mused.
Gohan took stomping steps back to where he had seen the Green Man last, after a few minutes he returned to the pond with the crevice upon which he saw Piccolo greatly hurt and the rocks and grass around him singed and burnt.
"Piccolo!" He screeched.
"Whoa-huh?" Yamcha raised a brow curiously.
Gohan leaped to defend his new friend, landing right in front of him.
"Are you okay?"
"Tch. Nah, this hurts like hell."
Gohan stared daggers at the three of them before realising Krillin was there.
"Hey Gohan, glad to know you're safe." Krillin interjected kindly.
"Why did you hurt Piccolo?"
Krillin cracked his neck and paused to think, trying to find the right words for a younger kid.
"Yamcha rushed in too fast and pissed him off. We didn't want to fight, we just wanted to find out where you were and take you back home. You're supposed to be with Chi-Chi. I have NO idea why Piccolo has you."
Gohan gazed inquisitively at Krillin before a strange three-eyed man picked him up from behind and set the child next to his feet. Gohan was startled at the intimidating third eye on the man's forehead, Tien was tall too making it much more frightening.
"Sorry Gohan, but we were just talking to Piccolo. We've got to let him finish what he was saying."
Gohan looked on with intrigue as Piccolo opened his mouth.
"Whatever Raditz is… he's got allies. He can talk to them somehow through that pod… He didn't mention the Dragon Balls by name but he stated that Earth can grant wishes… It's vague but someone as strong as him could definitely get here with that kind of technology… Just something… to think about." Piccolo gasped out through shaky breaths, his clothes tattered and blue blood trickling slowly.
The three Earthlings all spared quick but telling looks at each other.
"Gohan…" He prompted. "Can you… Get me some water?"
Krillin waved his hand out.
"I got it Gohan, stay put."
Something struck Gohan pretty deep. He noticed that his dad's friends didn't seem to be all that hurt except for the long hair guy. But his friend was really wounded, his clothes were beat up greatly and he possessed a lot of scuffs all over. His dad's friends must have been really something if they beat up Piccolo so efficiently.
As Krillin neared the small body of water he took a capsule out of his orange vest. There were no labels or colours. He clicked it in and drained a significant amount from the pond, lowering its overall level. He shook it a tad and the slosh of water responded in kind. He smirked at the capsule and took it back to Piccolo. Krillin stood there waiting for him.
"Do you want to drink it? Do you just want me to pour it?" Krillin put up his hands in an inoffensive manner.
"Just hurry up and pour it!" Piccolo commanded with an angry look about him, his sharp teeth bared.
"Duh~" Krillin let out dumbly as he clicked the top node of the capsule, dumping the spray onto Piccolo's head.
It came out like a waterfall, all of the water that made contact with Piccolo directly sucked into him like a vacuum.
"Whoa…" Yamcha proclaimed.
In an instant, Piccolo's wounds started to heal and close. The veins on his body reverted, almost disappearing. The large green man stood up tall and cracked his neck on each side. He cracked his knuckles after as well and stared down at Krillin. Krillin met his gaze with an equally fiery look. Tien took a stance just in case.
"Tch. Great…" Yamcha asserted as he bared his wolf claws.
"Heh…" He let out in a huff. "I need more training. You guys beat me easier than last time. I WON'T let that happen again."
Piccolo peered at Gohan who looked at him with wondrous eyes. Piccolo performed what looked like a salute to the young lad. His thumb and pinky tucked in as his index and middle were locked out. Piccolo disappeared in a flash, the ki and gale winds blew back all of them easily.
Krillin looked on with a bit of uneasiness, just staring as the Green Man turned into a blip and then into nothing as he entered the aether.
"You okay Gohan?" The Crane asked as he squatted down.
Gohan nodded. Tien patted the boy on the head then stood up.
"Well what's our next move boys? Goku said we're not supposed to revive him yet. Do we just head to Capsule Corp. after we drop off the kid?"
"Phew." Yamcha exhaled heavily. "I need to get back on it is my next move. I suck!" He proclaimed loudly. "I let you guys dwarf me an' shit."
Yamcha met Gohan's gaze.
"Hah-ha. Sorry for the language kid!" He apologised, fixing his red cap and then scratching the back of his head and pulling out loose strands through his ponytail.
"I guess Capsule Corp. is the most logical. If Bulma and Doctor Brief have found anything else that could be helpful. I'm surprised Piccolo actually looked at the console." Krillin stated with raised arms.
Tien nodded at the assertion then stared out at Yamcha.
"You comin' with or do you want us to just drop you off?"
"Huhhhhh…" Yamcha let out a heavy sigh. "...Yeah, I need some time to think. Could you just drop me off at the hideout?"
"I got you, man." Krillin responded, dolling out a fist bump to Yamcha and then motioning for everyone to follow.
Tien picked up the boy and flew with him back to the car. Krillin flew too, prompting The Wolf to leap from rock to rock to keep up.
Goku
"Man I have no idea how I'm gonna get used to this!" Goku said with a jolly tone, walking around on the grass with heavy stomps.
"Well this is part of the training. Your body has to acclimate to the surroundings, in doing so you will get much faster."
"What's acclimate?"
King Kai raised a brow at the man.
"It means getting used to."
"Oh! Sick! Acclimate…" Goku looked to the ground studiously, his foot placement was calculated. "I've gotta acclimate."
King Kai couldn't help but snicker at the previous turtle hermit student. He looked on with a smile.
"Goku's the type…" He ruminated. "He's the type that can actually handle the Kaio-Ken!"
"How fast do you think I can get to that tree King Kai!?" He asked with fervor and glee.
"It'll be after my lifetime for sure." He shot back sarcastically.
"No way!" Goku yelped in response, increasing his speed and drive.
Goku stopped dead in his tracks for a moment. He grabbed at the yellow ring atop his head, peeling it off to look at it.
"Why do I have this thing but those blue guys, you, and King Yemma don't?"
"Halos are reserved for kind and pure souls, or those who have been granted their body due to other circumstances. Moreover, you can only have a halo if you're dead."
"Well why aren't you dead?" He pressured back quickly with a question.
King Kai shrugged his shoulders, Goku took that as a sign to stop asking and returned his focus back onto the tree.
"Well Raditz is one of those cloud things right?" Goku broke the silence.
"I mean he was an evil man."
"I don't think so." Goku lashed back immediately.
"Why do you think that?"
"He saved my son, and he only hurt me and my friends after he explained himself. It's not like Piccolo who didn't really lay out how he thought."
"Goku, you have too much faith in people." King Kai looked to the ground as he spoke.
"Why is that a bad thing?" Goku raised his voice a little.
"Ehhh… You can't save everyone. That's just not how it works."
"Okay…" Goku responded with his brows furrowed, staring at the brown tree bark. "I'll just save everyone I can, and I think I can save Raditz AND Piccolo."
Goku's strides picked up faster than before, his intensity mounting. Ki and pressure rolled off the Saiyan as if it were trying to escape and Goku broke out into a full on run instead of stomping. He sprinted at the tree with heavy strides and came crashing down, he stuck the landing with a combat roll and placed his fingertips on the tree. His breath came out steady but harsh.
"Heh... huu. Heh… huu." His intake and outake was well spaced out, no nervous breaths at all.
Goku picked himself up off the ground and dusted off some of the grass on his vest. He limbered up and stretched for a while before returning his attention to the small blue master with teashade glasses.
"So when do we start, King Kai!? I'm ready for my training!"
"This takes me back." King Kai thought to himself.
The master smirked a wide smile and looked at Goku with confidence.
Chi-Chi
Tien descended from the aether with Gohan in tow, setting him on the rocky path.
Tmp.
"This you, right kid?"
"Yeah! Thank you mister." Gohan bowed with deep respect to the tall man. Tien blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"No problem."
"Are you leaving?"
"Yeah."
"Good bye!"
Gohan bowed another time and Tien laughed at the ordeal before he rose high into the air and blasted off, small gusts of wind impacting the little boy and almost toppling him over. Chi-Chi looked out the window at the sound and her eyes widened at the sight of her little boy.
"Gohan!" She screamed as she flung the front door open and ran the length of the road. Gohan's face lit up too and the pair embraced in the middle of the path.
"Hee-hee-hee!" Gohan giggled out as she picked him up and put Gohan over her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" She asked with worried eyes, bringing the little boy face to face with her. She brushed his rosy red cheeks with the back of her hand. "You're so dirty."
"I'm fine."
"You had me worried sick!"
"I'm sorry." Gohan lamented as she set him down.
"Awh~ it's not your fault."
Gohan blinked a few times as his mother lead him back to the dome-like capsule house by hand.
"Gohan?"
The young Half-Saiyan looked up at the young wife, his tail wagging back and forth slowly.
"Where's your Dragon Ball?"
"I don't know. It got lost when the big guy got me."
"Hmm. Okay."
Chi-Chi peered out into the wild wilderness one last time before taking her little boy inside and closing the door. Deer ran by the house and over to a hot spring behind it as various creatures provided their voices to the chorus of the wild. A large orange cat of some kind eyed the deer taking a bath in the hot water before it pounced, missed, and pursued its limber target into the brush.