Yo! Son Goku and friends! Saiyan Saga (Chapter 24)
Raditz
The large Saiyan stepped off of the platform, rotating his shoulders as the light breeze caused both sides of his open hawaiian shirt to flap around a bit. Gohan hopped on down, a metal clang ringing out in response, he looked to Raditz wearily and Yamcha as well as Krillin followed suit. Yamcha opened up his arms and Bulma fell into them. She daintily walked off of his embrace and The Wolf scanned over the environment.
"This is honestly pretty cool. It's about as cool as it is whack. I mean what the hell are those trees!?" Yamcha pointed to the strange thin trees that the planet had an abundance of.
The Wolf walked over and examined one himself, feeling up the skinny khaki coloured trunk and flying up to touch the orb-like bush at the top, flicking it and then laughing at its subsequent buoyant response. Raditz shot glances at everything that intrigued him, the green skies reflected in the clear water. The Saiyan meandered around almost in a trance, absorbed in the strange scenery. He paddled through the water with his left hand and nodded his head.
"I miss this." Raditz kept to himself as he looked at his shimmering reflection. "Say what you will about The Cold Estate, at least I got to visit interesting planets on a consistent basis. Staying on that tiny orb got to be a pain in the neck after a while. Couldn't even take a shit in peace."
"So?" Krillin questioned loudly, turning his head to Bulma.
"Hold your horses." Bulma shot back loudly, fishing the radar from her pocket. "We don't necessarily know if The Dragon Balls here even have the same makeup. They might noe eve-"
Be-Bee!
She stared blankly.
"...we got one like not even far to the north."
Krillin turned around and flew into the air studiously.
"Hey guys!"
Everyone but Gohan turned to face the scarred executive.
"Uhm. I don't know if we should be concerned but after I zoomed out, uhh. There's like four Dragon Balls together."
Bulma threw the radar underhanded at Krillin quite skillfully. It didn't go all that high but the turtle student dipped down using his flight to catch it. Krillin glared at the four orange dots on the scanlines of the radar before throwing it back down. Yamcha caught it mid-way with a leap, examining it before handing it back to Bulma.
"Lead the way." The Wolf called out, stretching his legs out on the ground.
Bulma leaned over and brushed her left hand across the top of Yamcha's head, feeling on his long hair strands as she walked by. She clicked the top node on the radar again before Raditz strolled up next to her. He squinted his eyes at the device and asked:
"So how does this thing work?"
"Oh." She exclaimed a bit nervous, not expecting Raditz' company.
The scarred executive handed over the radar and Raditz palmed it easily with his large hands. Bulma put her hands on the top node.
"See this?"
"Yeah."
"You touch the top and it goes outward. After three clicks you'll have reached the maximum area it covers."
Bulma clicked it again to reinforce her point.
"And then it will start to go inward three clicks."
"Ahh. Okay. I assume the orange dots are what we're looking for?"
"Mmhmm."
Raditz' eyes almost glazed over as he looked at the radar. As he eyed it, another Dragon Ball was added to the list of four that were gathered only a moment ago.
"Hey! There are five now! Someone's definitely gathering them."
Krillin looked back with a sharpened brow. He closed his eyes and tried to send out a pulse of Ki Sensing. He struggled but very little came back. Only a few small energies here and there. Raditz took the radar to the skies and booked it, Krillin following close behind.
"Guys!" Bulma whimpered out before Yamcha swept her off her feet. "Ohp~"
"Little man! Let's go!"
Gohan turned around from playing in the water and ran over to Yamcha, jumping onto his left shoulder and holding on tight.
Nail
"I see." A large, obese Namekian, titanic in stature sat idly in his massive throne as Nail and Slug stood across from him.
Slug looked down with a wicked smile on his face as he picked up the Dragon Ball. Nail couldn't help but look away from the elderly Namekian. The enormous green man's voice echoed down to them:
"I am disappointed, Nail. This is not the way." His reprimand practically shook the white halls of his spacious abode
"Are you going to stop me, Guru?"
"You know I can't do that. You knowing that I can't is why it's wrong."
"So being The Guardian of Namek is wrong? It's supposed to be my duty to protect my people."
Slug's face told of a different story, slight resentment tugged at his lips as he shot a quick predatory glance at his 'partner'.
"So you protect them by forcing your will onto them and giving them no other alternative?"
"If that means making sure I am the one protecting our people and not that stranger..." Nail pointed to his stout green chest to enhance his point. "Then so be it." He flailed his arms dramatically and exited the premises, Slug waved back at Guru with a shit eating grin.
The pair walked outside the building, overlooking a scenic view from the tall mountaintop that was Guru's abode. Nail breathed in deep through his nose before his antennae jived back and forth slowly. Slug dropped the large Dragon Ball from high up into the green waters below, a school of titanic fish almost as if guarding the wish granting orbs.
"Someone's coming." He stated plainly as he opened his eyes.
"Hmm?" Slug's gravely voice grunted out.
"It's not a Namekian. Someone else is here. I don't believe they're like Cooler either."
Slug sharpened his brow as well, turning around to face where Nail was looking. Soon enough a strange figure appeared over the horizon. Nail and Slug nodded at each other before meeting the threat in the middle. Nail's antennae jiving more vigorously now.
"They're after us." He said through closed eyes once more. "For sure." Nail deduced as he opened them.
Slug got in the way of The Guardian of Namek and rotated his muscular shoulders. The green beast shot a thousand yard stink eye at the strange figure with a black mound of hair atop his head. Raditz entered the thick atmosphere with a furrowed brow, Krillin only moments later.
"This them?"
"I guess so." Raditz replied, raising his previously sharp brow.
"State your business!" The thinner Namekian shouted out. No vest, only a white scarf, white pants, and the traditional Namekian wizard shoes.
"We're here for The Dragon Balls!" Raditz yelled with confidence. "You wouldn't know anything about those, would you?" He raised a brow and smiled cockily.
"No idea." Slug replied, cracking his knuckles, affirming that he did in fact probably have an idea.
"I see." Raditz responding with a cracking of his own knuckles.
Krillin grimaced as he felt their power through his Ki Sensing.
10,000 battle power for Nail and 8,400 for Slug. Now of course Krillin isn't measuring in numbers but he could tell that the thin one was near Vegeta's level. Luckily thanks to the Zenkai they got on Earth they were at 8,700 and 6,000 respectively.
"Raditz!" He yelled in a whisper.
"What's up?" He kept it low key also.
Slug just smiled at their ineffective tactics.
"That thin one is near Vegeta's strength. We'll need to either lure in that dumb one into a 2v1 or get rid of him first."
Raditz nodded a few times.
"Gotcha."
Krillin took on the aerial turtle stance while Raditz cracked his fingers and his wrists. Raditz took his stance preemptively as well.
Raditz' stance now had a muay thai flair to it. Both hands raised very high, left knee raised and left foot bouncing off of the air to receive and retaliate quickly. He developed it during his time on King Kai's while training with Kakarot. This is an ideal stance considering he wants to throw knees a lot.
The Namekians standing across studied them for a long while. Krillin and Raditz looked back curiously. The blue grass plains stretched out for miles, a curious scene for the Earthling, it was not exactly a reverse of Earth, the colours didn't exactly line up, but it was like he was staring at his own planet but upside down. Unease crept into his subconscious as he looked back at the green foes resembling Piccolo. The particularly large one didn't look like Piccolo per se but the thin one wearing only the scarf resembled him quite closely.
Krillin calmed himself with a deep inhale but Raditz didn't need such tactics, neither did the Namekians. Looming in the background of their confrontation was a towering spire of a brown stone and a white domey abode that had the same white and blue architecture of the ship the Earthlings came in on. Before they engaged, the two Namekians bickered, Nail forcing out his concerns.
"If we engage recklessly we'll get ambushed by Cooler."
"So what?"
"You're retarded if you don't think that's a problem."
"It's not a problem if we end things quickly. He can't just know unless he's actively using his Ki to sense us."
"That's his job, Slug."
"Then we get rid of em' quickly."
"I'm not sure we can. We'll win, but quickly? That's the problem."
"You worry too much."
Nail shot a sickeningly cold glare at Slug.
"There's a reason your ambitions are always out of reach, Slug."
Even though they were supposed to be partners, there was a growing animosity between the two. It didn't just go one way either, only serving to fan the flames.
Raditz took a composed look at the pair, Krillin as well. After a while Yamcha showed up, inventor and half-monkey in tow.
"I miss somethin'?" He yelled as he placed his girlfriend? and monkey-nephew down onto the ground.
"Nope." Raditz replied with a wide smirk. "You're just in time for the festivities, Earthling." He patted Yamcha's shoulder with a hefty hand, of course, denied by a shrugging of The Wolf's shoulders.
Raditz laughed heartily as the Namekians looked on.
"These guys are pretty good, huh?"
Krillin said no words, only nodded, forcing down a harsh swallow as he looked at his no longer existing arm. Yamcha spoke with confidence, chest high.
"No big deal, Krillin. We've always pulled through these kinds of situations."
"You're right. I need to cool it." He breathed in deep.
"Are we going to murder these fools or what!?"
"Let's go!" Yamcha cried out, white winds trailing off him as he burst forward.
Yamcha, Raditz, and Krillin VS Nail and Slug
Objective: Find the Dragon Balls!
"Wow. The disparity between his footwork and his flight is actually really bad…" Is the first thing Krillin thought as Yamcha was swatted away no problem by Nail, caught in a Namekian grapple with his long arms.
Yamcha hit a backhandspring as he caught the ground, rebounding right back into the air with his flight. Raditz rushed in time as well, trying to line up his aggression with The Wolf's. Slug caught onto this attack pattern and rushed in to stall his opponent. Krillin in turn halted his advance, throwing a curving Ki blast at Slug's mouth. Slug swayed back to dodge, freeing Raditz up to strike.
The burly Saiyan winded back a killer right knee and jammed it right on target, exploding off of Slug's jaw.
"What the-" He exclaimed, totally caught off guard.
Raditz looked around feverishly.
"Krillin!" He yelled with the exuberance of the Oozaru beating its chest before winding around and slamming a left roundhouse into Slug's back.
Raditz had perfectly scouted the turtle student's positioning and the Namekian plummeted down to his location. Krillin winded around in a beautifully elaborate butterfly kick and Slug put up his hands to guard as he careened toward the small bald man. Ki poured out of Slug as he attempted to brace but no attack came, the strange man just flared out his fingers and knuckles in a starfish display.
"SOLAR~FLARE!"
"GAGHHH!"
A singing white light burned into his open eyeballs and the Namekian slid across the ground, spraying the blue grass every which way in his wake. Krillin pursued his opponent's weak state as he hobbled to his feet.
"Damn…" He cried out limply.
Krillin stepped in deep with a dash only to be swung at fairly accurately. The turtle student backdashed the turning right chop in time. Krillin furrowed his brow in study. He shook his right fist.
"Right. Namekians' ears are very sensitive. I messed him up pretty good but Solar Flare won't work as well against them." Krillin ruminated as he took the turtle stance, right arm raised high. "Maybe they can sense Ki too… I'll have to consider all the options…"
Nail deftly dodged The Wolf claw by a hair, backstepping on nothing, using his Ki to pivot with flight. Nail drew back his left arm for a snappy jab using the stretching property of his Namekian arm.
SNAPP-SNAP!
Nail threw two jabs but missed both due to Yamcha's expert head movement, ducking under both with his shoulders. Nail furrowed his brow and powered up, energy building and then sparking off of him in golden flares. Yamcha widened his eyes as his opponent rushed fast. Raditz came from above with an indomitable left axe kick but was weaved effortlessly. Nail socked Yamcha in the cheek hard, his eyes whiting out from the impressive blow. Raditz thought quickly:
"He can't keep up this level can he!? That was a lot of Ki he used just to dash at him."
Nail turned around quick, shooting a loose ray of energy out of his right palm. Raditz tear dropped backwards in a swan dive, narrowly avoiding the attack. Nail pressured this decision immediately, an elbow drop from above, bolstered by the immense flight speed. Raditz was caught off guard, barely able to squeeze in a block with his left forearm. The Saiyan's feet touched the ground and it gave way under Nail's attack, kicking up dirt and dust, caving in the earth around them. Nail ricocheted off Raditz, bouncing up into the air as his adversary fell onto the upheaved flooring.
Nail did not halt in his pressure, immediately kicking off the ground as he landed from his jump. Ki trailed off in streams as Nail endeavored to strike Raditz' off-axis guard from the ground. Yamcha caught and parried the hit from behind, shoving Nail's right hand off target. The Namekian skidded by Raditz and The Saiyan got up to group with The Wolf. He shook off the light damage and cracked his neck. Nail didn't give them much time to breath at all, dashing backwards, turning to face them with a quick elbow. Yamcha dashed off of his lead foot and ducked under Nail as he flew over.
"This fighter wasn't nearly as fast in-" Is all Nail could think before Yamcha dug in his left claw deep, slashing a large wound from his chest and down to the abs.
Vwu~SCCCCCCCCCING!
"Grrrrrgh!" Nail grunted out as he jammed his elbow into Raditz' face.
The Saiyan stumbled back a ways but wasn't as damaged as Nail hoped, due to the reduced damage the pain forced him to make contact with. Nail grunted out and pressed onto the gash on his left side. Yamcha leaned deep into Wasteland Stance. He closed his eyes and listened for The Wolf instead. As predicted he could listen better than he could see, stopping The Wolf's advance with a large bullet of yellow Ki. It swallowed up Yamcha and sent him flying into Guru's Mountaintop. The mountain's structural integrity remained somewhat but large chunks of rock fell in response to Yamcha's weighty arrival.
Yamcha fell off the mountain limply, knocked out from the blast. Raditz sent out a pulse of Ki and confirmed The Wolf's unconsciousness.
"Damn." He grunted, rubbing the bottom of his chin, making fierce eye contact with Nail.
Nail's brow furrowed as well and he launched at Raditz in another show of speed, the older brother put up his hands to guard until a strange force impacted Nail's chest. The velocity was otherworldly; There was just Nail one moment and then from nowhere there was a being that resembled Lord Frieza. Even faster than he saw Yamcha move. Raditz didn't drop his guard for even a second, raising it higher in fact.
Cooler didn't strike Nail as much as he just got in the way and placed a hand on his chest. The maneuver was so graceful he practically halted Nail's momentum entirely.
"Is that Lord Frieza? It can't be..?" Raditz ruminated, his mind racing a mile a minute. "No, his facial shape… Is this…" Raditz' eyes widened at the thought. "Cooler!?"
Cooler shot an equal parts comforting and terrifying gaze at Nail.
"Nail." His soft voice rung out among the conflict. "Who are these people you're fighting?"
Cooler
"Guru would be disappointed in you."
"You wouldn't understand." Nail averted his gaze.
Cooler looked past Nail to see Slug slugging it out against another being with a bald head. He furrowed his brow and practically teleported over to the pair. He flung Krillin aside and grabbed onto Slug's yellow collar and dragged him over, throwing him with a hefty toss onto the ground in front of Nail.
"But I do understand." Cooler continued the conversation, vanishing in not with a teleport but with sincerely next level movement, dust barely kicking up despite the immense quickness. "I know what it's like to not be strong enough to make the changes you want to make."
"A power like yours? Get real." Nail turned around, his antennae wriggling and giving off signals.
Namekians can intuitively tell of someone's intentions through their antennae. Nail knew Cooler was a soft soul with good intentions and it hurt him all the more, unable to leave his pride behind. He was fighting against his biology and it was a losing battle.
Raditz came forward to examine, taken aback that the creature he assumed to be Cooler was taking the diplomatic approach.
"The Namekian people need someone like you to believe in and strive towards, Nail. I am not of them. I should not be the standard."
"But you are. You're the real Guardian of Namek, the position I worked so hard for meant nothing the moment you set foot on this planet."
Cooler's tail jived back and forth in slow increments as he took a moment's pause.
"You should not feel like my shadow, you stand next to me Nail. I have never for a moment considered you my lesser."
Nail couldn't meet Cooler's piercing gaze.
"We should spend our time with philosophy, farming, training. You've got a lot of life to live. Who's to say you don't surpass my strength one day."
"You know that won't happen." Nail finally made eye contact.
"Not if you're too busy giving up."
The pair stared at each other for a while. Raditz felt waves of pressure from Nail but lavish laps of calm, steady Ki from Cooler.
"Using The Dragon Balls is not how Namekians solve their problems. Porunga~" Cooler kissed his thumb and enclosed right index in a loving gesture. "~is only for things out of our control. We endeavor to solve our own problems, that is the Namekian philosophy."
Porunga is the original wish-granting dragon. The Namekians always give respect to their God with a gesture of faith. Swearing in Porunga's name or not following through with the respect is highly frowned upon. Slug is a known blasphemer and is really only tolerated thanks to Guru's unwillingness to banish people from Namek.
"What if outsiders come and challenge our philosophy? What then? They're here for The Dragon Balls as well."
"That is why we exist, brother." Cooler attempted to put a left hand on Nail's shoulder only to be denied. "We are Namek's Guardians. We will not let trouble befall our great mother so easily."
Raditz finally spoke up, his charm notwithstanding, pointing a finger declaratively.
"Are you that motherfucker Cooler?"
"Uhh." Cooler stifled a laugh, caught off guard. "That would be me, yes."
"The one who dipped?"
"Uhm… define dipped?"
"You just left The Cold Estate!"
"Yes. I did leave."
"That was when I was like five, that was a long time ago. Kakarot hadn't even been born yet."
"Excuse me?"
Raditz looked down at the blue grass deep in thought.
"Sir?" Cooler questioned, a warm hand on his left shoulder.
"Sorry. Just-"
"The memories of a bygone era."
"Yeah. How did you..?"
"I've done a great deal of studying body language. Did you know that Namekians can sense someone's intentions through a subtle analysis of body language using their antennae? I'll never be able to replicate something like that but I'd like to get as close as I can."
Cooler furrowed his brow and looked up and down at the summer beach fit Raditz was wearing.
"I can tell you've had a lot of tension building up until recently. I hope you're doing alright."
"Heh. Thanks for the concern." Raditz eyed Cooler back. "You don't remind me of Lord Frieza at all."
"You've met my brother?"
"Only once."
"Do tell."
"Well I just met him to ask for leave."
"Mmhmm. Yup, brother and father don't really respect those who can't stand on their own two feet. If you only send a message through the system they're never gonna approve anything." He rolled his eyes before shifting back to eye contact. "I presume you're a Saiyan then?"
Raditz nodded.
"Did you get your time off to come here? Where's your scouter?"
"No. I got my time off to-" Raditz looked over mid-conversation to see Slug charge Cooler.
The brother of Frieza paid no mind, tripping up Slug with his tail effortlessly.
Fsht~Swuhffff~
"You were saying? My apologies."
"Well you weren't the one who so rudely interrupted." Raditz laughed at the epic fail Slug had committed as the two spoke.
Cooler smiled as Raditz continued speaking.
"It's not all that important. I'm not really with The Cold Estate anymore."
"That's good. You going rogue I assume?"
The sly smirk Cooler had kind of thrown Raditz for a loop.
"Uhh, yeah." He scratched at the large quantity of hair he had.
"My man." He presented a fist-bump.
A deep genuine laugh was coaxed out of Raditz and he met the fist-bump in stride.
"We'll talk about this later, I need to finish my discussion with Nail. You already seem to know my name, what's yours, Saiyan?"
Cooler presented a handshake which Raditz complied with pride, shaking vigorously.
"Raditz, brother to Kakarot and Turles. Son of Bardock and Gine."
"Nice to meet you, Raditz." Cooler waved him off and turned around.
As Cooler returned to his conversation with Nail, Krillin trudged around them, holding onto Yamcha's conked out form.
"You alright?"
"I'll be alright, Earthling. You?" Raditz cracked his neck forcefully by pushing against it on the right side.
"Decent. Those guys were tough, we're lucky we got bailed out."
"Perhaps."
"So what's up?" Bulma poked her head into their conversation.
"That guy is like…" Raditz pointed to Cooler.
Krillin interjected.
"We'd never win in a million years."
"Oh."
"We're incredibly lucky that he's not aggressive since he seems to be on their side?" Krillin said with a bit of mysticism.
"Well from what I can tell, he's on this planet's side. They seem to be going against the Namekian principles or something to that end."
Krillin nodded at the statement and Gohan came in close.
"What's happening?" The little kid asked with wide eyes.
"Well, not much. We're not fighting, so that's good."
Gohan nodded and looked over at the thin, regal looking figure with a tail.
"Who's that?"
"That's Cooler."
Gohan deliberately took a step to the side. Raditz shifted his gaze.
"Is Yamcha gonna be okay?"
"Heh-heh." Krillin laughed out kind of dumbly. "We've been through a lot worse than this, he'll be fine."
Cooler put a firm hand on Nail's shoulder, looking up at his tall stature.
"We can set this right, there's no reason we can't train together and sharpen both of our skills for Namek's safety."
Nail looked to the blue grass below in defeat, sighing out through his nostrils. Nail nodded his head and Cooler's smile could eclipse the sun.
"Raditz!"
The burly Saiyan looked up and strided over in a jog.
"Nail said your party came here for The Dragon Balls? I assume these are your group?" He asked, pointing his tail at the others.
"Yes."
"If you can give me an adequate reason I'm sure I can get Guru's approval to let you use them."
Krillin injected himself into the conversation quickly.
"We have Dragon Balls on our own planet. A Namekian left this planet long ago to come to ours and made a set there."
Cooler's eyes widened at the fact.
"Really?"
Krillin nodded.
"But since he's gone, the set he created is also ineffective."
"Ahh, I see."
"We'd like to use The Dragon Balls to wish the guy who created them back so we can use our own Dragon Balls to resurrect the people we lost in the battle to defend our planet."
"Were you under siege?"
"Something like that." Krillin, tongue in cheek.
"What do you say?" Raditz asked with starry eyes.
"I'm sure Guru would allow it. Come, follow me."
Raditz and Krillin both fist pumped and then high fived.
"Oh wow."
"HAH-HAH!"
King Kai
The North Kai sat opposite of Piccolo, deep in thought, green hand cupped tightly around a coffee mug as he strained, green veins clear to see on his forehead as the younger brother and three-eyed man trained outside, causing shockwaves to ripple out and the dinner plates in the sink to rattle. A bead of sweat swam down The Demon's face and he stood up violently, knocking his chair over in the process.
"Gahhh!" He growled. "How in the world am I supposed to think during all this!?" His sharp brow and bared fangs pointed right at The North Kai as he drained a little bit of tea from his cup.
"It doesn't look like he's Telepath material, King Kai. No presence of mind."
Piccolo stared at the big cricket with an ice-cold demeanor.
"Settle down now, Gregory. What Piccolo's doing is far more strenuous and time consuming than what those boys are doing outside. Telepathy requires serious patience."
King Kai glanced at Piccolo and mimed with his hand at the chair. Piccolo grunted and stood the chair upright before sitting back down.
"I'm doing all this for a reason, Piccolo. If there is actual commotion and disturbance near you when you're trying to use Telepathy it will help build your sense of focus."
"I don't know if you know this old man but my ears are sensitive! It's pretty fucking impossible to just tune it out."
"Sure it is."
"Grrrrr…" He tightened his fist, antennae shaking in anger.
"Call back your calmer self and relax. We have as much time as necessary to work on it."
Piccolo closed his eyes and focused up again before the Kai heard something from far away.
"King Kai!" Baba's voice called from below.
"Baba?"
"I have some news."
"What is it?"
"Earth is under attack."
"What?"
"Yes, I waited it out because I was pretty confident the issue would solve itself but I was only half right."
"Okay?"
"Where's Kami?" Her croakey old voice asked through the communications.
"He's at my house, actually."
"Good. How far along is the Dragon Ball hunt?"
"Haven't checked, give me a sec."
The line hung still for a long time as King Kai searched the north galaxy for the right frequency, finally settling on Krillin as he held a large orange sphere in his hands.
"This is Dende, he is actually fluent in Dragon Tongue, also known as Porunga." Cooler relinquished to the group with a smile.
"Nice to meet ya." Krillin plopped The 3 Star Ball onto the ground and shook the small Namekian's hand before King Kai spoke to the group all at once.
"Krillin! Bulma! Yamcha! Raditz!"
"Yo! What's up, Blue Man!?"
"Would you be quiet for once!?"
"Ayy, you're the one yelling at us!" Raditz laughed out before he took a playful flop onto the ground, looking up at the green sky above.
"I need you guys to revive Kami as soon as possible, apparently there's something going on on Earth right now that Baba thinks is important enough to-"
Baba's screeching voice interrupted King Kai.
"The Lookout is totally ransacked, and Earth is under control by an evil mist. We need Kami to repair the palace and send The Sacred Water through the bottom shaft in the Shinsekai. The shaft is one of the only places still in one piece, it's a miracle honestly."
"Right on it, Baba! Don't you worry!" Krillin yelled back into the sky.
"Dende." Cooler patted the kid on the back.
"Poruuuuunga!" He calmly commanded, hands raised high.
The black clouds loomed overhead and a large green dragon descended down from the heavens, more humanoid in appearance. Its large burly chest for all to see, red eyes beaming down on its callers. It looked like a genie in a lamp almost, only arising from the much-larger-than-Earth's Dragon Balls. The beastly 'dragon' loomed over a much larger portion of the sky. On a technical level Shenron far exceeded the draconic deity of Namek but his long snake-like appearance was always drenched in the lightning-laden smoke of his summoning. Porunga was not so, his wide and ethereal muscular build was there for all to see in full form, not touching the clouds like The Eternal Dragon did. The Earthlings all stood in awe as Raditz cheered, lulling Yamcha to do the same.
"WHY HAVE YOU SUMMONED ME?"
Dende spoke in a foreign tone, totally unknown to everyone except Cooler. The dragon raised its right hand, furrowed its brow and asked:
"WHAT IS YOUR SECOND WISH?"
Krillin thought for a moment, hand tucked under his chin before he looked over at Yamcha, Raditz, and Bulma. He shifted his attention towards the sky.
"Hey Baba! King Kai!"
"What!?" Baba screeched back.
"Well I know Kami's seen better days, he's admitted that plenty of times himself, why don't we just wish The Lookout back to mint condition and Kami can take care of it from there?"
Raditz nodded his head to the side.
"What about the others!?" Yamcha looked on with concern.
"Well, Cooler told us we can only wish back people one at a time. Chiaotzu's the only one who can't be wished back by our Dragon Balls. Cooler?"
He raised a brow.
"You told us we have two wishes on this planet, right?"
"Yes."
"Is it possible that we could come back here, this time next year and use The Dragon Balls to revive our friend?"
Cooler's cheery demeanor visibly sank.
"Ehhhm. That's not really my call to make, you'd have to talk to Elder Guru again."
"Well if we got Elder Guru's permission, would it matter?"
"Well, no."
Cooler didn't tell them, but long ago in ancient Namekian history, it was frowned upon to use the Dragon Balls various times in succession as sentient beings are inherently selfish in nature, wishing for things attached to one's self stores negative energy in The Dragon Balls across all versions. The only way for it not to be so is if all parties involved are pure of heart and endeavor to make a wish that will only serve to help the world and those around it. If one is to use the Dragon Balls roughly 7 times before letting a century pass between each wish, dire consequences could arise. It is practically mythos but the Namekian people regard it as fact even though there is technically no evidence to suggest it as such.
"Dende, could you wish for The Lookout to be wished back to normal on Earth?"
Dende kept a bright smile, following along and nodding his head.
"Porunga, gulu~ twan Earth gutou~ The Lookout twanai~?"
"IT IS DONE. FAREWELL."
In a flash 7 glowing streams shot out in different directions and the black clouds slowly dissipated.
"Well, that was easy." Yamcha scratched his x-shaped scar and raised a brow. "I only had to fight like once and that was before we even got hands on any Dragon Balls."
"Now, he's at your place, correct?" Baba asked.
"Mmhmm." King Kai replied, standing up from his chair and walking out the door. "Kami!"
"Hmm?" He turned to the Kai with a smile on his face. "You called?"
"You're going back to Earth."
"Oh wow, I am?" He questioned, chipper just as Baba appeared to his right.
"Let's go, we ain't got all day."
"You never were one to slow down were you?"
"Not when I got shit to do."
The pair vanished into stray lines, King Kai taking a swig in the sight of the new nothingness.
Kami
Baba and Kami appeared on the white tiles much to the dismay of many onlookers. Baba just shook her head, placing her fingers between her eyebrows and vanishing.
Va-Vuish!
"Now what the hell is going on?" Silver cried as he leaned against one of the palm trees. "We're lucky we didn't get smooshed to bits when this thing was magic'ed back together. Who the hell is this dude!?"
"Heh-heh-heh."
"Good ta' see ya, Guardian."
Kami's eyes widened as Korin fell over. Kami caught him mid-way and waved his hand over the cat's white fur, turquoise crystalline orbs glittered over the injuries. Korin's whiskers twitched and he spoke:
"You still suck at healing."
"Heh-heh. Good to see you too, friend. Thanks for taking care of my post while I was gone."
"Nah, we barely made it through. You shoulda' seen the wreckage. Ehhh~" Korin let out a squeak as he stood on his own two paws, leaning against his staff. "Could you help Yajirobe? I give that tubby guy a hard time but he's one of the reasons we made it through, I'm glad he was with us."
"Of course." Kami walked over to Yajirobe, face up on the dirt, his brown striped robes stained red from his injuries and his enemies'.
Kami repeated the process, closing the wound half-way and stirring the samurai's consciousness.
"Whaw?"
"Hello, Yajirobe." Kami's bright smile and warm right hand stood the samurai on his feet. "Thank you for doing my job when I could not."
"You're damn right, it ain't my job to be fighting all those demons. I thought we were through that stuff when Goku killed King Piccolo. Don't ever ask me to do that again!"
"I will try to remember that." The sun glinting off Kami's bright whites.
"You didn't answer my question, old man! And while you're at it, you mind throwing some of that magic sauce at my ribs? This shit hurts like a mother!"
"Not at all." Kami responded before getting to work.
"Ahhh~ that's the shit. Uoooooo~" Silver jittered back and forth like he was getting electrocuted.
"What is your name, sir?"
"Uhhhh." He looked to Copper who just shrugged his shoulders.
"I mean it can't get any worse can it? He doesn't even look like a bad dude either." Copper leaned off of the palm tree and rounded the area to present a handshake to The Guardian of Earth. "My name's Copper. Nice to meet you." The man's mouth almost hung open from a ghastly slash.
"Well met, Copper. I am The Guardian of Earth. You can call me Kami." He reiterated, waving his hand over the black man's ghoulish injury, helping to stitch his mouth back into one piece.
"Silver. We just uhh~"
Copper gave him a blank stare.
Kami's antennae could tell that these people weren't villains but their intentions were definitely selfish and were willing to put others under the bus to accomplish said goals.
"... We came here in a sky car we stole from Capsule Corp. We wanted to see how high the not-yet-released models could go. Way higher than that submarine vehicle we had."
Kami smiled, his antennae weeding out some possibilities.
"Heh-heh. Nothing ventured, nothing gained huh?"
"Yea-hah. You get it. Maybe not our most morally correct moment, but we helped fight off whatever those monsters were. That shit was crazy."
"Do tell."
"Well there was this enormous, what colour would you call that, General?"
"It wasn't light at all. A deep green." The man thought to himself for a moment, pausing to think. "I think like maybe a forest green." He looked back at Silver for confirmation.
"Yeah, yeah."
"It was Garlic Jr." Korin spoke, almost coughing up a lung.
Kami's eyes widened.
"Are you serious? The Garlic Clan still lives?"
"Yup. He came here for The Dark Crystal."
The Guardian of Earth just stood stunned.
"Long story short-"
"We also fought a bear with a fuckin' sword. You can say thanks for that."
"Thank you." Kami laughed out a bit, his smile very genuine in front of the strangers.
"Ahhh…" He grunted out, barely standing up against his staff. "It'd be easier if I just showed you."
"No need, friend. You and Yajirobe did your duty. I must let you rest first, my treat."
"Dah."
Before Korin knew it he was fast asleep in the guest beds Kami had used for the others, Yajirobe in a full starfish the next bed over. The Guardian of Earth walked down the steps to meet his two new acquaintances at the bottom.
"Now, can you boys tell me the whole story?"
"Hell nah." Silver laughed out, clutching at his gut, wincing at the pain.
"We got here when most of the fighting was done I think. It really can't be stated just how much blood was all over the place. When we were done the place was in pieces."
"Literally. The shit was just floating off, like~ see ya. Then for whatever reason it all just magically came back together. Never seen anything so strange in my life."
"Start from the beginning, what all did you see?"
Copper and Silver stared at each other for quite a while, using various head and neck movements trying to get their stories straight.
"We were coming up here to test the vehicle and all of a sudden that green guy we were talking about jumped us from the top of that tower just below here."
"You mean Korin's Tower?"
"Is that what it's called?"
Kami nodded.
"Then yeah." Silver glanced at Copper. "We rode next to Korin's Tower and at the top he jumped us, we didn't really have anywhere else to go so we just went up to get away from that freak."
"Did you see anything else?"
Silver scratched and prodded at his poofy red locks and thought for a moment, looking to Copper for reassurance.
"No not really… Oh!"
Kami raised a brow.
"There was some dude drawing a large and involved symbol on the ground." The pair glanced at each other lightning quick. "There were a few small orange orbs as well, we don't know where those went."
Kami was taken aback thoroughly.
"Uhhm. Thank you boys, but I need to get you out of here and back to where you need to be."
"Fine by me sir, but have you seen a woman with purple hair around here?"
"No, I have not."
"She's our coworker." Silver interjected. "We lost her during the chaos and we haven't seen her since."
"Hmm. I do not want to posit the worst but…"
Silver looked to the ground embedded with melancholy.
"Yeah… I never got to ask Blue either…"
"What was that?"
"Nothing."
"Where is your car, boys?"
"Oh shoot." Copper rubbed the back of his head. "My apologies but I think it might be flooding the bathroom right now."
The trio quickly wandered around the hallways, making it to the smooth white tiles of the bathroom, a still beaten up blue vehicle and a subdued brown bear unable to fight against the weight. Silver busted a gut upon the sight.
"I don't know man, I think it just hit me. We really beat the dog shit outta that guy. High five!"
Copper didn't hold back and the pair smiled like idiots at their admittedly impressive accomplishment. Kami waved his hand and the car lifted off of the beast, he breathed a sigh of relief at the event and the room shook under the stress of the vehicle plopping down as well as his bear groan.
"Better?"
"~Yeah… better."
Kami took a few steps towards the bear and the previous Red Ribbon employees started freaking out at the bear standing to its full height. Kami conjured his magic on his brown belly and wounded foot.
"Why are you helping me?"
"Well you are hurt, are you not?"
"Sure, but what if I just ended your life right here and now?"
"Heh-heh. That would be something, would it not?"
"My mistake, you musn't judge books by their covers. I learned that the hard way when a child with a tail beat my ass."
"Heh-heh. Sounds like someone I know."
"Tell me about it. What's your name, Sage?"
"Kami, I am the Guardian of Earth. This building is my lookout."
"I see." Muramasse looked about the room that had been turned to normal.
"And you?"
"Muramasse." He took another predatory once-over around the room. "I would call bullshit but this room turned right around just before you came in here so I guess I can believe it. You use The Dragon Balls?"
The pair in the back took a more neutral pose, leaning against each side of the staircase.
"Yes. My friends wished me back to life and I am forever grateful."
Muramasse raised a brow.
"Is Lucifer or any of those boys still kicking up there?"
"Definitely not Garlic. That green mound of steroids got jumped by Blue and that bald guy into that red tornado." Silver jumped into the conversation from across the room.
"Well I'll let you in on something since you did me a favour, Sage, those Dragon Balls are not long for this world. Or I guess I should say that this world is not long for those Dragon Balls."
Kami eyed him curiously.
"If what Garlic's father told us was correct, due to the fact that he didn't have the Kami powers bestowed upon him he'd have to do a bunch of run-arounds to get the balls to passable wish-granting strength and one of those conditions was:" He cleared his throat and scratched lazily at his furry neck. "After The Dragon Balls' usage they would spread across the galaxy instead of just the Earth. And if they didn't reset their initial positioning in a year's time the planet they were used on would explode."
Kami just raised a solitary brow.
"Say what now?"
"Great, do you not know about The Dragon Balls?"
"No, no, I do. I created this planet's set in fact. But my allies didn't use the ones crafted by Garlic."
"What? Are there two sets?"
"Boys!" Kami's tone had a slight pinch of anger to it. "About those orange items you were telling me about before?"
"Uhhh~ yeah?"
"Did they have stars in them?"
"I dunno. I didn't check."
"I am not sure I believe you."
Silver visibly sweat it out, shrugging his hands.
"Beats me."
"Show me where you saw them last."
Silver just tugged at the bottom of his collar as if he was letting the hot air out and the now quartet hoofed it to just in front of the palace. Silver pointed out and even The Bear Thief agreed.
"Interesting." Kami stomped his brown staff on the ground.
"The place was a mess, Kami. The Dragon Balls could have fallen down to the Earth for all we know."
Kami got a more accurate sense from his antennae at Copper's statement.
"If I remember correctly, just below here is a small tucked away room where the Kami before I used to seal away rare and powerful artifacts from mortals." Kami reiterated as he tapped and prodded away at the tile.
Before long Kami breathed out harshly from his nostrils and let loose, almost all of the tiles moving out of the way and levitating in the air, exposing the floor below. Murmasse just cracked his neck and stood guard as the trio descended.
"There's no entrance or anything." Silver let out, investigating the dusty, cobwebbed room, patting onto the dirty walls.
"You can only dig this thing up with enough force or the Kami tile magics." Kami kneeled down and got a closer look at The 7 Black Star Dragon Balls. "How interesting."
Copper got close and examined them as well.
"So close and yet so far…" Copper ruminated, actually holding a for real Dragon Ball right in his hand.
Kami's antennae twitched and then subsided at Copper's non-committal intent. He nodded.
"These two were definitely after The Dragon Balls. I wonder how they got their hands on a radar?" He mused, touching the bottom of his chin with his left hand. "Well, come on boys. They are safer with me than somewhere else."
The pair nodded and climbed out of the small cubby hole just before The Guardian of Earth closed it for good. The tiles satisfyingly clicked into place one after the other.
"Well, Copper. How the hell are we gonna get down?"
Copper just blinked a few times lazily before Kami came to their aid.
"Fear not, gentlemen. I can fly, I'll take you down to The Sacred Lands in a moment. I have some business to attend to."
The Guardian of Earth disappeared into the winding corridors of the palace and the three just stood awkwardly. Muramasse shot uncomfortable looks their way the whole time.
"I mean, gotta do what you gotta do. I say let bygones be bygones."
Muramasse wasn't having any of Silver's bullshit.
The bear politely walked to the edge of The Lookout and just pondered by his lonesome, pawing and wincing at his foot wound.
Kami eventually got to one of the back rooms, the walls and flooring a popcorn kind of texture, various pots littered all about with many types of kanji and symbols.
"Here we are!" He declared, grabbing a large jug of water.
The Guardian of Earth lifted up the heavy container with a wave of his staff and it followed behind him as he walked past his throne room, through the halls, down the stairwell and in front of the double doors of The Shinsekai, green vapors channeling just around the outside. Kami stomped his staff on the ground and the doors opened with a calm wave of pressure, no disturbances or yelling of any kind as he walked past the graves and into a small pit. The Guardian of Earth snatched a black vial that was standing upside down and draining into the outside, replacing it with the jug he had carried all that way.
The blue mist channeled out of the bottom of The Lookout and Kami breathed a sigh of relief before talking to no one in particular.
"I am sorry to have failed you gentlemen, I will try my best to do better next time." The Namekian got down on his knees and offered up a prayer before walking out with his staff and closing the massive doors.
Krillin
"I don't know, I guess it just feels less real since we're not back at home."
"Yo, Porunga was fuckin' nuts! You see those boulder shoulders?"
"Bruh."
"What is bruh?" Cooler asked earnestly. "I've only heard you two say that." Cooler pointed to Yamcha and Krillin.
Krillin and The Wolf just laughed at the ignorance of their new acquaintance.
"It's slang. Uhh, shorthand for brother though that's not really what me and Yamcha are using it for."
"Hagh-Hagh! Are you really explaining to him what bruh means!?"
"He's nice!" Krillin backhanded Yamcha with a smile on his face. "He helped us, remember? Least we could do. Ah-hem! What I was saying was-"
The five Earthbound companions finally got back to their ship, Bulma and Gohan riding the mechanism up.
"How we use bruh is more like a statement of uhm~ defeatism? I guess?"
Yamcha shook his head in a kinda yes kinda no way.
"Absurdism?"
"Bingo." The Wolf shot a finger gun.
"Yeah, absurdism."
"Interesting, the root word is still brother right?"
"Yeah."
"So why is it a statement of absurdism?"
"Well on Earth, language evolves everyday. It's difficult to go for long without new meanings for words and stuff. Scroll on social media long enough and you're bound to find something whack."
"Social media?"
"There's not enough time for that Cooler, we'll see you around." Krillin waved off the brother of Frieza and hopped onto the circular pad, riding it up with The Wolf and the older brother.
"I wish you all luck!" Cooler called out with his hands cupped around his mouth, soon enough the ship vanished into the unknown, soaring past the green atmosphere up above.
Krillin saluted his new acquaintance back as the hatch closed and he entered the ship.
"Man, all that for something relatively quick." Bulma stretched it out around the back half of the ship, grabbing a drink from it.
"That's what I was sayin'." Yamcha agreed, falling into one of the chairs, reclining deep.
"I'm just tryin' to get back home." Bulma yawned, coaxing a yawn out from Gohan as well.
"The fish were cool." Gohan stated, miming the enormous size with his hands. He put his hands on his cheeks and kicked his feet very child-like with a wide smile on his face. "Space is awesome."
Krillin took a deep breath and looked out at Namek as its green orb disappeared from view. He glanced over at his arm, drawing a reaction from The Wolf.
"How ya doin' bro? I noticed you kept staring at it the whole trip."
"Hard not to."
Yamcha just nodded, a bit sorrowful.
"It's not that important. The fact that I'm alive should be enough. He felt around the stump. Tien, Chiaotzu, Piccolo… they weren't so lucky."
Yamcha and Raditz averted their gaze to the sparse walls of the ship as they soared back home. Raditz sighed out and peered at Gohan, trying to give it one last chance.
"Hey, kid?"
"Here we go…" Bulma gritted her teeth, internally panicking.
Gohan turned to meet Raditz' non-confrontational mood, he squatted down to his level, tail jiving in front of him.
"I know you don't like me, and that's fair, but I want to try and make things right. Me and your dad are on good terms and I want those terms to extend to you and your mother as well. Is there anything I could do to make it up?"
Gohan's tail wavered slightly in response to Raditz' proposition. He thought for a moment, shifting his gaze to the ground.
"I'll do anything, kid."
Gohan thought long and hard about it, scratching his hair.
"Can you teach me about my tail? Dad says it was a long time ago and he's forgotten a lot since then. You still have yours."
A sly, shit-eating smile tore across Raditz' face.
"I think I can do that." He offered his hand for a shake. "Grown men shake hands when they make deals, Gohan. Are you a grown up?"
"No, but I'll shake hands anyway."
"Sassy one, this little bastard."
"At least I'm not a scumfuck."
Raditz' instinctively made a duck face and turned over to the rest of the crew, Yamcha and Bulma unable to control their giggles.
"What are you guys teaching our boy here?" He asked with pearly whites.
Krillin glanced back for a moment, a small smile formulating before turning back to the epic vastness of space. Bright colours and drained shapes vapoured across the stars in a beautiful fashion.
Korin
The cat awoke to a tapping at the foot of his bed, it was The Guardian of the Earth, standing guard over him. He smiled genuinely.
"You have finally awoken."
"Ehhh… Uuohh…" The cat groaned. "Holy smokes. This hurts."
"When I was putting my healing spells to work I realised just how bad you were injured, quite impressive you managed to fight back the evils of Garlic in your state."
"It wasn't this bad at the start, lemme tell ya. Oof." The small cat plopped onto the floor, looking around. "Where's dough-boy?"
"He is awaiting you at the tower."
"Hmm."
"Due to my resurrection The Dragon Balls are now reverted to their normal state, we still have to wait a year to use them again however. I hope that those boys are not too bored up there at North Kai's place."
"Wow, really? They're with a Kai right now?"
"Mmhmm."
"Time really flies, huh?"
"I suppose so. It has been a journey."
Korin took the conversation down the stairs and onto the main floor of The Lookout, gazing into the blue beyond and the two treelines.
"You did great. Garlic was a terrible threat to The Lookout. Thanks for looking after it while I was unable."
"Don't mention it, Kami, really. Those boys wouldn't have even batted an eye. They've gotten crazy strong. They would've wiped the floor with em', no sweat."
"But they were not here. You had to hold it down for them, in their stead. You would have been a great Kami."
"Come on…" Korin shook his head. "Now's not the time for that." He stated, putting his hammer staff behind his back. "I think that boy Krillin'd be a way better Kami than me anyhow."
"Do tell."
"Back when they fought Raditz I gave them three Sensu Beans to use for themselves but Krillin declined the other two because they weren't necessary. Thankfully for them Krillin saved up those two I tried to give to him because I wasn't able to grow any in between the second wave of Saiyans. I forgot not only once, but three times that I had spare beans. That boy's got a keen eye for resource management."
"Interesting."
Korin's whiskers twitched and he looked over to the much taller figure.
"I am sorry but I must insist. I am only getting up in years, I can see myself guarding The Lookout for a while, but not forever. That boy will not live as long as you, Korin. Can I count on you?"
"I was afraid you'd say that."
"Heh-heh-heh. You already have one defence under your belt, it is only natural one should dream."
The two stood still, soaking in the atmosphere of the blue skies and white clouds.
"I will need time to reflect, but I think I want to fuse back with Piccolo."
"What!?"
"He has come a long way, I underestimated him at The 23rd Budokai."
"Wow. That's way more unexpected than you trying to throw the throne at me."
"Offer still stands." He smiled brightly.
"Of course." He sassed back.
The pair sat in silence for a while again.
"That's crazy, you sure?"
"No-ho, not at all. I am unaware how fusion works, it has been so long since I was totally whole." He outstretched his veiny left hand. "I would assume the stronger body takes control, which of course would be his, mine is far too weathered now. But it is a fun thought."
The Guardian of Earth stood proudly, the wind softly impacting him and the little white cat.
"Look, Kami."
He shifted his gaze to that of the car hermit.
"If worse comes to worst." He looked up at Kami's face. "I'll do it, you have my word."
"I fear I may have pressured you too hard."
"Well, it worked. But!"
Kami paid close attention.
"Only if it's necessary. Only if there are no other good candidates, that sound fair?"
"More than fair, friend. Thank you."
"Nah, I'm just a fuckin' cat. No need to thank me."
The pair of old Gods just stood watch as the clouds passed by, a slow smile creeping over the both of them.