Yo! Son Goku and friends!

by Lucky8ofspades

If you've ever found yourself wanting Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, or Piccolo to contribute in the latter half of Dragon Ball, then this is the story for you. There is but one simple goal in this story. It's not about fighting, it's about martial arts.

34. Another Half a Year

Yo! Son Goku and friends! Saiyan Saga (Chapter 51)

Piccolo

5 months had passed and the group was ready for lift off on May 12th, Age 765.

"Everything's set!" Bulma yelled from atop the ship, thumbs up.

Gohan and Chi-Chi looked at Goku.

"Goku."

"What?"

"You're the sweetest man I've ever known."

"Honey~" He laughed out with rosy cheeks. "It's one outfit."

"But you love me so much that it's what you're wearing when going into space. You're an angel."

"Heh-heh! Hee-hee-haugh!" Goku laughed as Chi-Chi and his son hugged him tight, the red bandages at his waist shifting from the familial embrace.

For the trip Goku had asked Chi-Chi to make him a version of the outfit she wore at the 23rd Budokai. A blue Cheongsam. Unlike his wife's however, the sleeves were long. He wore silky red pants and black kung fu shoes. Red wrist bands and a red sash completed the look. He wore almost the exact same outfit so that he could remember her during his yearlong trip.

Goku turned to make his leave but Gohan called out to him.

"Dad!"

Goku turned around only for a red baseball cap to land in his hands, a white T on the front. He let a breath through his nose and smiled with glee, putting it on with firm resolve. Goku rolled up the sleeves to his shoulders and rotated them, jumping up and down. He waved them off with a smile and his salute before hopping all the way from the bottom and perfectly into the top hatch of the ship.

Tien and Launch walked the top catwalk to enter the ship more reasonably. Yamcha, Piccolo, and Raditz looked down at everyone from below. The Demon tapped his foot on the air in anticipation as Raditz just shrugged his shoulders and touched down on the ship. The Wolf left Piccolo hanging and landed next to Bulma on top.

"We're only missing one!" Bulma shouted out.

The group waited what felt like forever until Krillin entered the garage with a suitcase, wearing just a silky black t-shirt, brown slacks and brown shoes. He also stylishly wore the turtle hermit shades.

"Sorry guys! I'm running a little late today."

He touched down on top and threw his suitcase onto one of the blue couches inside.

"What'd I miss?"

"Nothing."

"Nice."

Bulma, Yamcha, and Piccolo all entered the top of the ship before the garage door slammed open.

"WAIT!" Someone yelled like a banshee, bathed in the sunlight. "We're coming with you, Master!"

"Oh boy."

"You thought you could get rid of us that easy!?"

"Who's that, Krillin?" Bulma asked from below.

"It's my students."

"You have a lotta nerve sayin' you're just gonna cancel classes for a year! Me and my sister aren't just gonna stand for it, ya know!?"

Yulin landed right in front of him as did Pao, but she bowed respectfully and had an aura of apology surrounding her.

"Just get in." Krillin pushed Yulin into the lobby with a forceful hand, causing her to fall on her face comically.

Yulin tore her red nose off the yellow paneling that was the floor and met eyes with Raditz from across the way. Her face ran deep red as they met eyes and Raditz laughed so loud it echoed through the ship.

"HAH-HAH-HAH! Nice entrance, girlie!"

"You didn't tell me he was coming."

"That's why I didn't want you here." Krillin responded as he held PaoPao's hand while descending.

She bowed to him and then the rest of the crew.

"We are on short notice, I aporogise for our nuisance."

"Not at all." Bulma replied, clearly excited. "I was worried I was gonna be the only woman again. The more the merrier, I made sure to pack at least 5 years worth of food in capsules in the storage closet. What's your name?"

"Pao-Pao. Nice to meet you."

"Bulma, I'm a friend of Krillin's."

Pao smiled sincerely, brushing the hair out of her eyes.

"You rocking the buns again?" Krillin asked with a smile.

"Uhh~ yes. Special occasion."

"Who are you?"

"Not in the mood, can you go make this guy go sit in the back of the bus or something… cause me and him aren't gonna get along."

"She's just mad I'm so sexy. Sorry, but them's the breaks."

Yamcha laughed like a gremlin as did Raditz.

"There is one problem though."

Pao and Yulin looked at Bulma.

"We only have rooms for the passengers that were supposed to be here so you're either gonna have to sleep on the couches or room with someone."

Piccolo walked back into the front lobby from what looked like a stargazing hallway with a long window.

"The girls can have mine, I don't need to sleep every 24 hours like you guys need to."

"Wow, a gentleman, I didn't think it was possible among you lot." Yulin responded as she got up from the floor and dusted herself off.

Piccolo smiled.

"On second thought, make sure that mongrel sleeps on the floor. Krillin's girlfriend gets the room."

Pao blushed but didn't protest, neither did the man in question, only Yulin.

"I take that back, you're all fuckin' degenerates!" She stormed off down the hallway much to the delight of Piccolo and Raditz.

"Uhh, Krillin?"

"What's up?"

"She gonna be good for this trip?"

Krillin shrugged his shoulders.

"Pao's gonna be fine but I didn't want either of them here honestly."

Yamcha laughed at his woman's statement.

"She reminds me of you, babe."

"She Does Not."

"Nah, she definitely does." Tien interjected with a smile.

Launch laughed and Bulma almost popped a blood vessel in anger but she reined it in.

"Okay. I see how it is." She replied, taking calculated steps towards the cockpit.

"Hey, Goku, been a minute!"

"Hi, Launch!" Goku and Launch hugged it out before she turned her attention to Krillin.

"Hey!"

They hugged it out too.

"You sure you wanna come with? This isn't gonna be like robbing a bank."

"I'll make do, don' chu worry youa' little head ova' me, hah." She slapped the top of his bald head. "Neck!"

Krillin couldn't help but stifle a laugh.

"I can't believe I was literally resurrected and the first thing you did was smack my head."

"Ha-Haaaa~"

The pair came close and high fived in a drive-by.

"Good to see you, Launch."

"Good to see you too, Krillin."

He leaned in close and mimed a faux whisper, she complied like it was a serious matter.

"He treating you right?"

"Yeah…"

There was a sweetness to her response that Krillin was glad to hear.

"Good."

"Uhh, Krillin?"

"What's up?"

"Can you show me to that room?"

"I have no clue, haha."

"Follow me."

Piccolo stood head and shoulders above Pao and Krillin. She was clearly a bit perturbed.

"He's cool." He bumped the back of his fist onto her shoulder.

"Phu~" Pao breathed out as she followed the green man around the ship.

There was a long pause of silence the two enjoyed as they walked around the tight but ultimately pretty large spaceship. The little sister shot several glances at Piccolo before she gathered the courage to speak.

"Youa' Piccoro, right?"

"That would be me."

"I saw the 23rd tournament."

"Did you?"

"Well I ran when Goku told the last of the tournament goers to but… It was a very cool fight before then. Ha-Ha."

"I've done bad things."

"..."

"So I wouldn't hold it against you if you held it against me."

"..."

"Here's your room."

Piccolo regally walked away without saying anything. Pao watched his cape flutter and barely levitate above the floor.

"What!? Bulma you're the best! Huh-Hah!" Goku leaped at Bulma and hugged her. Piccolo rounded the corner to see his rival in a fuss.

Bulma had made sure to install a training room on the ship and it was the biggest room by far also laden with the Ki Sourcing pads.

Goku ran off like a child giggling stupidly and Tien smirked, following after him.

"Well, I've got nothing better to do so~" Yamcha hopped off the couch and cracked his knuckles.

"Babe?"

"Hmm?" The Wolf turned his head.

Bulma waved him into the cockpit and he went there instead. Krillin and Piccolo stood there by themselves as Launch had followed behind her three-eyed man.

"How you been?"

"Tcheh."

"Wow, that serious?"

Piccolo walked over to the stargazing hallway, Krillin right on his tail.

"Krillin."

"What's up?"

"I'm sorry."

Krillin just busted a gut laughing, a burning anger simmered inside Piccolo but he endeavored to keep it in.

"Whew~ what the hell are you talking about?"

"My father."

His previous demeanor fell away quick and he averted his gaze to the garage. Bulma's voice broke out from the many speakers littered throughout the ship on the intercom.

Qua-Kmm~

"Attention all passengers, make sure to brace yourself for lift off~ We're going to be going on an expected half year journey to make it to Planet Vegeta~ We have refreshments in Bay Number 2 situated on the second floor~ Have fun, stay safe, and enjoy your flight~ Eh-heh-Haaa~ I always wanted to do that."

"Hagh-Hagh-Hagh!"

Ke-Klumm~

There was a deafening silence after the coms ended. The pair just stood staring at the stars for a long time.

"You died at my hands."

"But that wasn't you. That was your father."

"I'm born of him, yes. But the majority of my being is his. The way humans reproduce is not the same. I have… memories."

Krillin finally looked at Piccolo with wide eyes.

"They're fuzzy but… I have memories of my father. I can only really recall them in my dreams. I'm him and I see through his eyes."

Krillin almost gasped.

"Tambourine is a direct action taken by m~"

"Stop."

"..."

"It wasn't you. You've grown past that. There's nothing more to discuss."

"Bu~"

"I don't wanna hear it. We're cool."

Piccolo nodded and the two of them stared back at the sky, the ship had started to ascend and before they knew it they were looking at the stars.

Goku

"Gosh… Tien… phew~" Goku paced around the searing red lit area. The low light made the room look like a club. Goku wiped his brow of sweat and gasped for air. "You've… wow."

"That's my Tien!"

Raditz blinked.

"Kakarot, I was under the impression you were the strongest."

"I was."

Tien shot The Saiyan a cocky smile.

"Tien's got me beat clean now." He stepped to the side and sat down, opening up a bottle of water and taking a fearsome swig from it. "Ahh~ but not for long." He smiled. "I've really been waiting for an opportunity like this! No distractions! All training!" He stretched his legs out on the floor and glared at Tien like a hawk. Tien threw his white t-shirt to the side and Launch caught it.

Goku rotated his shoulders and breathed out a breathy exhale.

"Phuuu~"

Tien clasped his right hand over his left closed fist and shook it.

"Thanks for the great match."

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah, I've had enough for now."

Goku swung his arm and snapped at the end of it. Tien and Launch walked out of the training room holding hands. Raditz got up from the bench and walked over to his brother.

"Why do you keep losing?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's like… I don't know. I just feel like you're supposed to be stronger than this."

"What do you mean?"

"How do I explain it?"

There was a palpable air in the room, the droning of the machinery made it difficult to formulate one's thoughts.

"I guess what I mean is that your performances are strange."

"Hmm?"

"I don't know. Forget I said anything."

"I have many things to improve, Raditz. A martial artist's work is never done."

"That!"

"..?"

"I see you fight, Kakarot! I'm paying attention when you fight!"

Goku just scratched his head as his brother pointed a declarative finger at him.

"It just feels like you're toying around when you fight these others!"

"I'm trying new things, practicing."

"I just don't understand, don't you want to win?"

"Not really."

"WHAT!?"

"Learning is better than winning." Goku said plainly with his hands on his blue gi pants.

"But, don't you want to establish yourself as the leader?"

"Look." Goku put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "We've all got our strengths and our weaknesses… I don't see the point in trying my very hardest to win if I'm fighting my friends. I only try my hardest at the tournaments or when I'm fighting people who threaten my family or others around me. What's the point in breaking someone's arm in a spar?"

Goku's words got to Raditz.

"I don't want to speak behind Tien's back or anything but he broke Yamcha's leg in a match at the 22nd tournament. When I saw that I… I didn't ever want to be that guy. Someone who cares so much that they'd break someone's leg to win. I will do what I have to when lives are on the line but my friends..? No. I'm not gonna try to win, I'm going to try to learn what they can teach me first and foremost. Besides, if me and Tien really went at it he might just win anyway, no shame in that."

Goku patted Raditz on the shoulder twice.

"It's not like I'm letting them win, Raditz, it's not like that at all."

Raditz unclenched his jaw and shot a strange look at his brother.

"I… forgive me I…" The older brother looked at the draining red LED's above them. "Martial arts isn't really a concept where I come from. If you lose you probably don't get up again."

Goku's chipper demeanor was torn into sadness at his brother's statement.

"Now that you said it… I can see."

"See what?"

"That you try more shenanigans in sparring. You clearly fought differently against Vegeta than you did against Piccolo or Tien. Your priorities are in different spots."

Goku smiled and led his brother out of the room.

"I'm starving, are you hungry?"

"Thought you'd never ask. Watching you get your shit get rocked was pretty exhausting!"

Yulin

The ship was quiet and Yulin was left to her own devices as she walked the empty halls of the ship.

"Yulin?"

The sisters met in the stargazing hall, Pao crashing into her with some intention, ramming shoulders. They shared a light laughter.

"Can you believe how much better we've got?"

"Heh, Yeah. It's still nowhere near enough."

"You always say that."

"It's cause it's always true."

"..."

"I can feel it now. I can feel his energy. It's like… wow, ya know?"

"Yea."

'Like I don't measure up… at all." Yulin's eyes glazed over in shock as she shook her head. "Like I can't fathom that I'm that much weaker, it's… just a crazy thing to think about."

"Why do you care so much?"

"I need to prove to Tien that women belong in martial arts. That's the first priority."

"But you said yourself that he doesn't berieve that anymore."

"Whether he does or he doesn't is irrelevant. He said that to me once and I need to make him eat his words."

Yulin and PaoPao looked out into the shifting colours and dots of the galaxy. Pao yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"You're looking like a thottie right now, I didn't know you had it in you." Yulin joked with a smile, bumping her sister with her butt.

"You think?" She looked at herself with embarrassment.

"I'm kidding~ I'm just used to seeing you in your training gear. The stuff you usually wear is so traditional."

"I just want to wear what fits the occasion. Heh-heh."

"Wear what you want, sis, I'm not the fashion police. I'm just sayin that if you got the hots for teacher, maybe the scantily clad crop top and leggings might be the way to go."

"But that's unprofessional."

"And so is your hots for him."

She blushed and put her head in her hands.

"You don't have to say it so loud."

"Krillin! Pao likes you!"

"Shu-hut it!" She tackled her sister onto the ground and they both broke out into laughter.

"I don't see what's wrong with it, if you want him I say go for it."

"Heh~ but he could get any girl he wants."

"Could he?"

"You don't think so?"

"He's shorter than you! And you aren't tall!"

"I think that makes him cute."

The sisters stood back up and stared back into the black beyond.

"Heh~" PaoPao breathed out another long sigh, head in her left hand as she lost herself in the sauce.

Bulma

Bulma and Yamcha sat smooching up in the cockpit like teenagers before Bulma pulled The Wolf off of her.

"Yamcha?"

"What?"

"What do you think the name is gonna be?"

"Shoot." He sat back in the co-pilot chair across from her. "I'm not having a daughter, that's for sure."

"Wowwww~"

"Too bad so sad, so uhh let me think of a name for my son."

"So you're not even considering the possibility?"

"Hell no! You kiddin' me!? I want to make sure I can raise a player!"

"Wo-how-howw, I see how it is!" She wore a cheesy and cheery smile despite the comment, clearly enjoying the banter.

"And you can't be a player without a chad name."

"A chad name?"

"Yeah, like Yamcha. That shit is chadly."

Bulma just gave him the stink eye of legends.

"What? Am I not allowed to hype myself up?"

"Yamcha." She plugged his nose. "You say dumb shit like Wolf Fang Fist. You don't deserve no hype."

"You just be lettin' me stay at Capsule Corp. and hit for no rent while I yell Wolf Fang Fist. I really don't see what you're trying to say with this line of logic right now."

Bulma stared animalistic daggers at her man, putting her hand on either side of his chair, tongue in cheek.

"Look babe, we're trying to talk about our future son so I'd appreciate it if you stopped treating me like a piece of meat."

"I can't belieeeve you're using that on me right now."

"So I think we should name him Neo or Beowulf."

"You are the dumbest person alive." She said while flicking his nose.

Yamcha looked out into the sea of stars with a goofy smile.

"Whatchu got, Smarty Pants? I'm seeing a lot of criticism and not too much work on your part."

"Well I want a girl so~"

"That's too bad because we're not having one… but go on, I'll humour you."

"I'm thinking Bulla."

"Bulla? … You know, that's not bad. I feel like it kinda sounds like you, that'll work."

"What else you got? We're not naming our boy Neo or Beowulf."

"Hmm…" Yamcha leaned back in his chair as Bulma climbed on top of him, laying her body on his. "I don't know. Heh, I guess I never thought I'd get a girl to love me…"

"Baby..? Are you okay?" She questioned, brushing back his long black hair strands.

"It's just hitting me right now I guess. Like I understand why a girl probably wouldn't want to name their child Neo or something. Like I think the boys would be hype for that name but I don't know… I've always had a tough time seeing things from a woman's perspective. My bad."

She laid her face on his neck and they rode it out for a long time, the stars shifting slowly.

"Yamcha?"

"..?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, Bulma."

PaoPao

Pao stood patiently outside the room labeled:

Krillin

She knocked and looked to the left while bouncing on the balls of her feet, checking her hair in the reflection of the window.

"What's up?" Krillin asked as he opened the door. He instinctively looked her up and down without thinking.

"Herro!" She blushed brightly as she rubbed the back of her head. "I know you said you cancelled training but we're still hea' so."

Krillin sent out a pulse of Ki Sensing.

"I'm pretty sure Yulin's asleep, are we gon~"

"No that's fine!" She interjected quickly.

"Are you sure? It's not wise to worry so much about your growth compared to others."

"That's not it~"

"Well then why is it such a big deal that I don't grab your sister?"

"She's…"

Krillin raised a brow and looked at her with some intrigue.

"Phu…"

"Are you feeling alright?" Krillin asked, checking her temperature on her forehead. Her flushed cheeks ran an even deeper crimson.

"I'm fine."

"No you're not." Killin closed the door behind him, locking the two of them in the hall. "What's up?"

"..."

"..."

"I reary like you."

"I could tell."

"Reary?" Her jaw almost dropped to the floor.

"Yeah, from the moment we met in that bamboo forest. You didn't like me at first but I could tell you were really fond of me after our fight."

She almost broke down right in front of him, systems malfunctioning.

"I… I kind of wanted you to say no when I asked you at the 24th."

"What do you..?"

"I think it's bad practice to date your students no matter the profession. It's… not conducive to a good learning environment and…" Krillin breathed out and rubbed the top of his head, clearly straining to find the right words. "I like you too, Pao. That's why I wanted you to say no, then I wouldn't have to have it weigh on my mind."

"Oh…"

The pair sat in silence in the hall for a long time, the low engine hums being the only thing heard for what felt like an eternity.

"I can't just learn from you and date you?"

"I want to say yes but… what if I teach you these incredible powers, we break up and you use them to gain leverage over a weaker partner than you? It's not~"

"Then we don't break up."

They stared into and past each other like there were universes in each other's eyes.

"That's not how life works, I think you know that. You can't just make those kind of statements, we're not kids."

"I know."

"..."

Pao grabbed his hand. Krillin stared into her once more.

"I'm sorry, Krirrin." She leaned in for a kiss.

He hesitated, she hesitated too. Krillin went forward and hesitated again.

"No." Krillin shook his defiantly and pulled back all the way.

She nodded and looked to the ground, red rosy cheeks. Krillin's face was flushed with red as well.

"No, not tonight anyway."

She looked at him with hope.

"Goodnight, PaoPao."

"Heh-heh. Goodnight." She brushed her hair to the side and bowed to him before skipping away and around the corner, her heart beating out of her chest.

Krillin

Krillin woke up in a mixed state, slightly tired but mostly full of thought. He threw his yellow sheets off to the side, they crinkled up and he forced a yawn out as he walked over to the bathroom.

The bathroom was quite impressively sized honestly since there were 6 full rooms each with king sized beds, bathrooms with full walk in showers AND bathtubs.

He brushed his teeth while deep in thought, hard to dismiss the creeping thoughts in his subconscious.

"Does it really matter that much that she's my student? I know she's at least 20 years old. It's not like I'm some creep dating a highschooler."

Krshkshshkshkrsh~

"No! I can't think like that, if I do, I'll give her special lessons and divide my attention more than necessary! Or… I won't do enough training and give her slack when she doesn't deserve it!"

Kshksh~

He stopped to ponder even more thoughtfully.

"But Pao's not like that. She's driven, Yulin is a beast and Pao makes sure to keep up. She's not like me. Pao isn't gonna give up on being like her sister like I did for Goku…"

Kshkshkrshkshkrsh~

He spat out the toothpaste and looked at himself in the mirror. He laughed a bit and shook it off, rising out his mouth.

"What am I saying? I never gave up. Giving up would mean I don't train at all and that's not true. I just don't compete, that's all."

Krillin eyed himself in the mirror, putting his right hand on the counter top.

"Okay! Be a man and choose, Krillin. No sense in fence sitting."

Krillin opened up a cabinet on the right side, fishing out some mouthwash. It was a bright pink. The New Turtle Grandmaster unscrewed the lid and funneled a bit into the cap before he poured it down, swishing it ferociously in his mouth.

"Principle! Be a man of principle! That's what Master Roshi always said, if I can't practice what I preach, how can I ever expect my students to take me seriously!? Besides, it's not like I'm going to be training Pao forever, soon enough she'll decide to take her training into her own hands and we'll see how it goes from there."

He spat out the bubbly salmon coloured liquid and turned around to leave, grabbing some lounge clothing from his dresser. As he walked out into the hallway he saw Launch tapping her foot on the ground and staring out from the stargazing hallway. Her hair was indigo.

"Hey Launch!"

"Hello." Launch turned around and it was definitely still the aggressive and assertive personality, though seemingly more toned down.

"You're still locked in?"

"I sure hope so..? Whaddyou mean by locked in!?"

"I mean no sign of the other Launch."

"Only me now, Krillin."

He stood next to her and stared at the slowly moving stars.

"Though you know..?"

"What?"

"I… I feel like when I got the blue curls goin', I feel… more mellow. Like the anger really isn't there very often anymoa'."

"Interesting."

"I used ta' still be heated with tha' blue hair but in these past couple months I find it hard to hold a gun in my hand unless I got the blonde."

Krillin's eyes widened.

"Wow."

"I know! Me too! When I'm like this all I feel like doin' is cookin and cleanin', ain't that the shit?"

Krillin just let out a laugh.

"Tcheh. It don't make no damn sense neitha'. I shit you not, it's harder to even use swea' words, I gotta force myself."

After that, Krillin didn't want to say anything.

"I gotta go, Launch, I'll see you around."

"Bye Krillin." A more cheery and less gruff voice came out of her automatically as she waved him off with a feminine hand. "Damn it…"

Krillin furrowed a brow and walked around the corner. The New Turtle Grandmaster walked the halls before he came upon what must have been Tien's room due to the sign on the front door. It was a bit early but he knocked anyway. There was a long pause before Krillin heard his friend's feet touch the floor and lazily walk over. Tien opened the door, his third eye still cringing from the bright lights of the hallway.

"It's a bit early don't you think..?"

"I usually wake up pretty early."

"Five? That's not my style man, what's up?"

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Ehh~ ...sure."

Tien attempted to close the door but Krillin stopped him, miming to get inside his room.

"Oh."

The pair filed inside as Tien rubbed his eyes, still in his boxers.

"Eugh~" The three eyed man yawned as Krillin sat on his bed. "So what's up?"

"It's about Launch."

"What about her?"

"I think she might be naturally reverting to her previous state."

It was almost as if that one statement was like a direct shot of adrenaline, Tien perked right up and focused his attention on Krillin.

"Right!?" He looked around the room as if she was in there with them, which of course she wasn't. "I've been thinking the same thing."

"No one knows where she's from, Tien. Goku and I picked her up from robbing a train what…" He stopped for a moment to think. "Wow! 15 years ago now, holy shit." Krillin put his palm on his face.

"You've known her for a long time."

"Yeah. I knew her four years before you did. Not once did she tell us where she was from or why she was like that, but you know…"

"Yeah."

"Have you told anyone else?"

"No one's asked. Not that I wouldn't tell them but like… it's her business, ya know?"

"Yeah, I feel you."

"I'm worried she'll separate again."

"You think she's going to?"

"She's a strange enough individual as it is, I don't know."

"Would you mind if she separated?"

"Of course not, I made my piece with it during my training for the 23rd. If my girlfriend has bipolar disorder then I guess I have to love both halves. It's herself that I'm worried about, the reason I got so tense at the end was because She didn't like sharing the body. They didn't know of each other's existence and that's what made it work. I'm worried that she'll freak out if there's another proper separation."

Krillin put his hand up to his face in thought, his right elbow resting on his knee at the edge of the bed. Tien walked over and sat next to his friend.

"You got any ideas, Krillin? You were always smarter than me."

"I don't know man, last time I had an idea calm Launch died."

Tien scratched his neck awkwardly.

"We don't even know if what we're thinking is even gonna happen, might as well just pay attention and see what comes of it. No sense in worrying about it now, I have no idea how to even approach what we're talking about right now."

Tien fell back into his bed, arms crossed behind him.

"If we even really knew what Launch was we could have a better informed opinion but we don't, so let's just leave it be and keep our eyes out, okay?"

"Sounds fair."

Tien and his friend fist bumped, Krillin waved as he exited the room.

Piccolo

"What the hell are you doing down here, Mongrel?"

"Me!? What the hell are you doing down here in the engine block!?"

The sounds of the mechanical compounds were massive and difficult to speak over, luckily, Piccolo could carry the conversation for the both of them.

"There's nothing else to do on this ship other than eat, fight, and... other things. My own potency with telepathy is a curse I wouldn't wish on anyone right now."

Raditz just turned his head and raised a brow, confused.

"They're all horny, Raditz! I come down here to tune it out. It's disgusting and I don't ever want to think about it! My only reprieve is Goku and Krillin."

"Hah-Hah! What a joke! I bet you're listening in on purpose, Green Man! What a pervert!"

"You shut your goddamn mouth and walk away."

For some strange reason Raditz was compelled to leave.

"This place sucks, have fun getting your eardrums blown out, weirdo."

Raditz climbed the steps and gave one last glance back at Piccolo's floating meditation. Piccolo inhaled and exhaled at timed intervals, his cape rising and then descending slowly rhythmically.

"I wonder if I could use it in combat now?" Piccolo thought to himself as he maintained focus under the droning pressure of the machines.

Piccolo recalls the fight with Vegeta.

"I grabbed his ankle off the backstep and then what happened..?"

Piccolo recalls a hundred pictures a minute like he were combing through a scrapbook or timeline of animation.

"Ahh~ I remember now. I was charging the Kaikosen, he noticed which prompted a defensive reaction. He backstepped which I had planned an option for. I caught him with my extended claw and fired."

Piccolo recalls the motive for his decision-making at that point.

"The armour… it was the armour. If I wasn't so focused on the armour I could have killed him right there. If I had planned ahead with a Special Beam Cannon I could have ended the fight before Goku even showed up. Hmph!"

Piccolo furrowed his brow trying to formulate new strategy and study his old ones.

"No… I didn't have enough ki, that's why I didn't…" Piccolo's lip squirmed as he thought about it. "Besides, the Kaikosen didn't last long enough for me to charge it in his face. Unless it's at full power it's not gonna pierce through a defending target. I would have also had to start charging with my off hand if I wanted to land it, leaving me defensively and offensively spread out against someone who could kill me in a single strike. Tch. So what else could I have done?"

The events rewinded in Piccolo's mind and he pressed play right at the point where he caught Vegeta's ankle.

"Okay. I still had enough energy for a pretty good mouth blast."

He sped by and relived the moment he destroyed the armour.

"That mongrel is way too strong, even in his weakened state I doubt that blast would have enough to defeat him if I shot at his face. What else could I have done besides destroy the armour?"

He rewound again, this time right after the zipline into range 0.

"Ahh, the eye beams!" He roared, eyes forcing open at the epiphany. "I'm not killing him with the eye beams but I could have seared that Mongrel's eyes into nothing!" Piccolo got so hype he stood up, feet firmly planted on the metal grating of the catwalk. His awakening would have caused a ruckus had the machines not been whirring and humming their own loud tunes.

"I could have easily stalled for time if I got his eyes, even if it weren't the killing blow the debilitation would be too crippling for him to win."

"..."

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv~

Piccolo nodded his head, returning to his meditation and closing his eyes once more.

"I'll need to remember that. Kaikosen into Special Beam Cannon isn't a bad finisher either but it takes most of my energy to perform and isn't easy since I'll need to charge two techniques up at the same time, making it even longer to dedicate ki to where it needs to go. Hmm… Lot to think about.

Tien

1 month has passed on the ship. Everyone was pretty bored so they almost always pulled up to sparring sessions whenever they happened.

"Wow… uh. Thanks for showing up?" Tien stated with a raised brow, literally the whole ship was there to watch him and Goku spar. "Mm-hmm!"

"You nervous, Sweetheart?"

"I mean I just didn't expect it, that's all."

"There's nothing else to do, just don't get your sweat on me guys."

"No promises, Bulma!" Goku said with a wave of his hand, stepping into the middle of the arena.

"Guys! Make sure to set it to Number Three!"

Krillin, Piccolo, Yamcha, and Raditz all put their hands on the four panels in the room, drawing and x with their formation. The middle of the room had a yellow padded area which lit up at the touch of the Ki Sourcing pads. A strange mystical light drew up around the circles as the numbers climbed up and up. Yulin came up and kicked at it, her foot actually making contact with the light. All three of Tien's eyes stared mesmerised by the energy that blocked outsiders.

"What the~"

"Mmhmm." Bulma nodded with a killer smirk. "I made it so that we could get front row seats at no risk."

"Kinda small, Bulma. I liked it better when it was just me and Goku in here. More space." Tien shot back to counter.

"Trial run, okay!? You can't nail every design on the first try, you know! We have to put it on number three cause everyone's in here."

Tien smiled like a jackass and settled into his crane stance, shifting his left leg up high and slamming it down on the tile. Goku hopped up and down, bouncy and buoyant.

"Come on, Son Goku. If you lose again, what's the point? I'll just make Tien my rival instead."

"Why not? He's good."

"Tch." He shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"Ready?"

"Whenever you are, Goku."

Tien VS Goku

No Objective

Goku bounced up and down with his guard loosely raised, not in the turtle hermit stance. The Crane sidled forward before dashing in deep. Goku sidestepped with ease and punished the linear approach with a left thrust kick into the cylindrical light-dome wall that surrounded the two of them.

Da-DMM!

"Yeah!" Yamcha yelled with a raised hand. "Get his ass, Goku!"

"Huh-Hah!"

Goku followed through with a right knee but only made contact with the light wall as Tien backstepped.

"Man this place is tiny…" Tien said aloud as he shifted his footwork.

The pair pranced around the small arena until Tien went on the offensive again, rearing back his left arm to chop. Goku forced the issue, backing up to draw The Crane in only to hop off the back wall and slam a wall-jump right roundhouse onto Tien's face.

Wsst~WHUMPP!

"Uh~hahh!"

Goku landed and pressured the weakness immediately, hitting on Tien's right temple with a backhanded right fist. Tien raised his guard in response but Goku swiped it away with a highly skilled left inside crescent kick, guiding his block out of the way before he capitalised on it by fully committing. Spinning around and landing a tornado left roundhouse at the bottom of his foe's jaw. Tien was thrown right into the yellow glass barricade and let out a gasp as he crashed into it.

Goku continued, throwing a right upper to check. Tien parried the strike with three crane hands, palming the punch and sending it upwards. He reared back his right elbow to connect with Goku's face but it was to no avail as he had already started a backhandspring to get out of range.

"Damn!" Tien cursed himself as he dashed after his rival.

Tmp-tp-WHOKK!

Goku spiderman'd up the wall with two wall jumps and turned around with a brutal right roundhouse at Tien's large back, thrusting him into the cylindrical wall once again. Piccolo nodded with deep interest. Raditz' eyes widened.

In a blitz of speed, Tien was already off the wall and attempting to sweep the leg with a wide arc from his left. Goku jumped Tien's attempt and shot out a right thrust kick as a punish. Tien had seen through it though, his left hand at the ready to catch but nothing happened. His three eyes widened as Goku landed on the floor.

"That fucking bastard…" Piccolo said to himself with the widest and most wicked smile.

This was Goku's new version of the After-Image: Strike. Goku would use his ki to lay After-Images but instead of leaving them which is now useless against enemies who are using Ki Sensing, he would only barely have them come off his frame. They would no longer stand in place or go after the enemy. They would stay attached to him and only present the threat of what he could actually do with his body. Goku feinted by drawing his leg up for a thrust kick but only the After-Image actually pursued that line of thought. Goku had come up with this technique on his own but this is what Gods of Destruction do when fighting opponents on equal skill level to land tricky hits. It wasn't where it needed to be yet but such a high-level skill this early in his career is still to be commended.

Goku landed a fearsome right elbow right onto Tien's nose and The Crane crashed into the wall heartily, seeing stars from the blow. Goku prepared his stance and backed off, assuming the turtle hermit position. Tien dusted himself off, feeling the redness and numbness on his nose before readying crane stance. The pair had a staredown before meeting in the middle in a whirlwind of speed. Tien fired off a machinegun barrage of crane jabs as Goku weaved and palmed them with expert awareness. Goku drew in Tien once more to the cylindrical wall and ducked low to dodge, gearing himself up and launching a rising knee at Tien's chin.

WHOKK! DMM-THMM!

The blow was monstrous and Goku used his flight and the momentum built with the attack to spin and land a back thrust kick with his left foot right after.

"Whoa!" The crowd instinctively roared as Tien fell onto the ground, palming his red abs.

"You got me this time, Goku… eh…"

Goku stood his friend up with a smile, putting his arm around him. The others pushed some buttons on the pads around them and the light barrier drained back into the floor.

"How did you beat me so soundly that time?"

Goku walked Tien over to Launch and dusted him off.

"Well that area we fought in today was just so much smaller than usual. We usually get number 2 or number 1 to fight in which is most of the room. Huh-Hah!"

Tien furrowed his brow and looked at the low red light of the floor.

"Goku's better in close quarters by a severe margin." Piccolo spoke up loudly. "You'll need to train your ass off if you even want to match him in that category."

Piccolo was right but it wasn't so much about just close quarters. Goku may not be the strongest in the group or the fastest but Goku is the most adaptable and well rounded fighter among them. He can fight at full expertise in any scenario, Piccolo excels at long range while Yamcha excels at short range. Goku's competency is the same no matter what range it is, that's what makes him so good. Tien was used to fighting with most of the training room at his disposal which led to him making mistakes in the very close range of Number 3.

"Good match today, Goku."

Goku smiled and waved Tien off. Yamcha walked up and raised a brow.

"You just been letting him win, right?"

"No." Goku wore a frown at that statement.

"But you were always better than us."

"I've got a son, Yamcha. I'm not gonna take time off raising him just to practice my martial arts. Grandpa Gohan would never do that for me. He taught me better than that. It just so happens that my son doesn't like fighting so I can't bond with him that way. Tien's gotten really good Yamcha, like shockingly good. This trip has been my first real chance to catch up and I'm going to try my best to use it effectively."

"Really?" Yamcha scratched his head. "I dunno, watching you fight the other times it looked like you were holding back."

"Nah. I've got a long way to go."

Yamcha smiled.

"I feel like you'd say something like that."

"You guys wanna go get something to eat? I'm starving over here!"

Yamcha and Krillin laughed, walking Goku and Bulma out the door leaving Piccolo, Raditz, and the sisters standing solemnly in the low lighting of the training room. Yulin stared down The Saiyan with a killer glare.

"Mark my words, I will defeat you."

"You're welcome any time."

"..."

Piccolo shook his head and walked out of the room.

Krillin

Krillin was awoken by a loud knock at his door. He tore the covers off in a lazy motion, walking over to the front of the room in heavy strides.

"Hey~" Krillin greeted The Crane with a yawn.

"Oh, should I come back later?"

"..." Krillin blinked a few times and thought for a moment. "You know what? Nah. I can talk now, it's not like a need to keep a sleep schedule right now."

Krillin closed his door and stepped out into the hall.

"What'd you want to talk about?" He got out during a yawn.

"You might want to put on some pants for this."

"..."

"..."

A moment later Krillin returned in the turtle hermit gi.

"Whoa. How'd you guess?"

"What?"

"I had an idea for a new technique, this gi is perfect for our practice."

"Nice." Krillin replied with a smile.

The bald pair walked around the ship before the sliding doors to the training room opened before them.

"Now before we start we have to use the pads."

"Are we sparring?"

"No, just get on the other side and put a little in. No more than a hundred."

Krillin raised a brow and shrugged his shoulders, just doing what Tien told him.

"Turn it on number three, that way we'll still have most of the room to use."

"So what is the wall gonna do for us?"

The barrier locked in at the touch of a button on Tien's end, the BP stuck at 102.

"We're good, you can take your hand off now."

Krillin walked back over and met Tien in the middle of the room, right in front of the yellow cylindrical barrier.

"You see this?"

"Heh-heh. Yeah, I see it…"

"This is how the Tri-Beam works."

Krillin raised a brow and tilted his neck a bit.

"The Tri-Beam is not like the Kamehameha or other beams like the Dodon." He touched up on the yellow barrier as he made strict eye contact with Krillin. "It's pure unadulterated punching power, it stamps a yellow pyramid of light onto the target the same way this is."

Klang-klant!

It had a strange metal ringing sound to it as Tien knocked his knuckles against the energy.

"But I've yet to come up with a technique like the Tri-Beam that actually uses the same property."

"Are you saying you want to make constructs instead of beams?"

"If it's possible."

"Whoa."

Tien shifted his body language to that of the cylindrical barrier and eyed it up and down with his hands on his hips.

"Okay…" Krillin nodded with fervor. "I'm definitely interested."

"I helped you with the Four Witches so I just thought you might come in and do me a solid."

"I'm super down."

Tien presented a fist bump and Krillin gladly met it in the middle. The pair laughed like a couple of schoolboys playing hooky for the first time.

They practiced for a long while in the training room, just the two of them. Tien had broken out into a sweat at the exhaustion.

"We're getting nowhere man. I'm stumped." He proclaimed as he wiped his forehead sweat from above his eye. "Eugh~"

"You're not gonna learn anything like that, Tien. You gotta broaden your horizons."

Tien stepped back and put his hands on his hips as a declaration. Krillin furrowed his brow and put his right hand on his chin in thought. His lip squirmed as he ruminated.

"I might have something."

"What?"

"Well, you know how you always get up in the air to do the Tri-Beam?"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we could start from there."

"You think?"

Krillin shrugged his shoulders. Tien looked up at the ceiling and sharpened his brow.

"Not much space in here." Tien replied as he touched the top of the room.

"I mean better than nothing."

"I guess." The Crane shot back as he banged his fist against the metal ceiling.

Clang-clang!

"So do you just want me to do what we've been doing?"

"I don't see any problem with it. Motions are how we start the basis for all our techniques, I'd be impressed if you did this new technique without a special movement."

Tien closed his eyes and breathed out with great focus.

"Phuu… Hmm…" He breathed in with intent and opened his eyes, hands in the triangle position. He took them apart and started miming them as if he were building something. His forearm and forehead veins started to gather around the top of the skin.

Krillin backed out of the way, making sure not to get in the line of action Tien drew with his hand movements. The metal flooring sparked.

"Okay! " Krillin called out instinctively.

Tien's eyes widened and he kept going, trying to mime a boxy shape. The Crane was in it now, nodding his head as yellow energies sparked in a line at the floor.

"Let's go!" Krillin pumped his fist in the air. "We're making progress!"

"Phu!" He breathed out harshly, returning to miming putting on something from below. He held his left hand in a claw shape above while his right hand made a motion that indicated clicking something into place from below. He repeated the motion until a glassy yellow plate of energy appeared.

"You did it! Haaa~"

"Ha-Ha! Yeah!"

Tien touched down on the ground and shook his fists in victory.

"Hell yeah!"

They high fived and laughed it out of their systems once again.

Yulin

"If you can't knock down your opponent, how can you expect to land a Kamehameha!?"

"Mmm!" Yulin grunted as she landed gut punch after gut punch into Krillin's abs in the training room. He breathed out harshly after each consecutive strike. "Rrah! This is impossible! You're too strong! I can just land a Dodon Ray anyway! It's too fast to react to!"

"Nope. I can defend against the Dodon and you know that. You can't take easy ways out if you want to get better."

"But the Kamehameha is ass! It takes way too long to charge!"

Pao did stretches and punching katas in the background of the training room as they spoke.

"That's what you've got to land a killer blow, if they're still reeling their defenses will be down."

"How do I get them to reel then, Master!?"

"It's in the arsenal I've already taught you, you think too linearly. It's not about domination, Yulin, it's about using the right tool at the right time."

Yulin threw her hands up and paced around the room. Pao wore a smile as her sister paced.

"Your sister passed this one before we even got on the ship, I don't know why you're having so much trouble with this."

"Shut up!" She yelled back, rosy cheeks.

"Being behind is nothing to be ashamed of."

"I'm stronger than her anyway."

Krillin raised a brow and then furrowed it in harshly.

"You want to prove that?"

Yulin shot back a killer glare at her sister, Pao just blinked a few times.

"I've won all of our spars until now. I don't see how this'll be so different." She sassed back with a limp waving of her right hand.

"Complacency is the enemy of growth."

"You want to see it so bad, fine! Pao, get up!"

Pao hopped back to her feet and rotated her shoulders for good measure. Krillin walked over to the panel and funneled in ki for a long time.

"Alright girls, I'm giving you expressed permission as your teacher to go all out. I'm charging number one by myself so that you'll have all your energy at your exposal."

Number 1 means that the room itself is charged just like the great ape box. There are no cylindrical barriers. The girls would be having the whole room to fight.

The numbers steadily rose up and Krillin raised a brow in thought.

"Okay I know how strong these girls are but there's no way I could put a number to it. I'll just go with 10,000 to be safe. That'll take most of my energy though." The New Turtle Grandmaster topped off the rest of the charge and rotated his shoulders as he stepped into the middle. "Alright girls, show me what you can do in Three…"

Pao tucked her right fist at her side, left outstretched and in a palm.

"Two…"

Yulin prepared herself, her fists tucked in at her waist, left leg tapping rhythmically on the ground, eyes locked onto her sister.

"One! Go!" Krillin proclaimed as he backdashed wildly.

Yulin VS PaoPao

Objective: Test Yulin's competency!

Goku felt energies surge on the ship and sent out a pulse of Ki Sensing to check.

"Oh! I think the girls are fighting!" He got up from performing some stretches on the ground, opening up a dresser and grabbing his blue sweatpants and white belt. Tying it on as quick as could be as he ran out the door with glee.

The sliding door opened up and Goku wore a bright smile as he entered.

WshtFshSwsh!

The girls threw three strikes, tying each other up on the last one. Pao had caught her sister's right straight and parried it to her right side as Yulin palmed a Pao's right punch aimed at her gut. Pao held onto her sister's wrist while Yulin strong-gripped Pao's fist. They came in close and locked in their ties as they stared down.

DMM! DMM! THAMM!

They threw knee after knee but continued to clash in the middle of the room during their tie up. Goku jogged over and met up with Krillin.

"Hey!"

"What's up, Goku?"

"These students of yours are really good!"

"Well, I fear I may not have imparted Master Roshi's lessons well enough."

"What do you mean?"

"Yulin's still got a bad attitude."

"Erugh!" Yulin screamed as she broke the hold and slammed a left snap kick at Pao's jaw. She followed through with a left elbow in the stomach. Going even further Yulin piled on the crane jabs before trying to finish with a right elbow.

Pao caught the shift in attack just in time, arm dragging her sister into the floor for a mount. She slammed Yulin down with an impressive Judo throw and started throwing relentless closed punches from half guard before transitioning into full guard. Yulin could barely stop the assault with her well-timed blocks.

"I feel that she's gone far too long without a good challenge like Tien. You remember how he was at first?"

Goku nodded.

"I need to rethink my approach with her. She's either too strong or too weak for her challenges. Raditz and Tien are her goals but they're too far off which just makes her angry I think."

Goku scratched his chin and looked up at the ceiling before turning his attention back to the girls.

"She's got good drive but I fear what may happen if she does become strong enough, she might not be able to reign herself in."

"I don't think you have enough faith." He patted Krillin on the back. "You're doing a good job, just do what you think is best and I'm sure everything will work out."

"Heh-heh. It's difficult for me to have that endless optimism like you do, Goku."

The younger brother just smiled and turned his attention to the brawling sisters.

Yulin geared up for a superman punch with her right but Pao dodged to the outside, slamming a lariat-like left roundhouse at her face causing her to burn out in a wild tailspin. Yulin got up from the ordeal more angry than anything, sprinting with wild abandon at her sister.

FshWshSwsh!

Pao dodged all three high commit crane jabs and punished with a thrust punch aimed at the gut. Yulin doubled over and Pao went all in, slamming two chamber punches and finishing with a palm strike using her left hand, repeating what she did to Giran at the 24th. Yulin slid along the floor in agony as her sister jumped into the air and broke off into three vanishing lines. Yulin closed her eyes and felt for her energy using Ki Sourcing.

"There!" She screamed with a raspy voice, counter-hitting Pao out of the air with a snapping crane kick that she bounced off the ground.

Wsht-SNAPP!

"Oowh~" Pao squeaked out as she stalled in the air.

Yulin spared a quick and malicious glance at Krillin as she gathered energy in her cupped hands.

"Is this what you want!? Ka-Me-Ha-Me~"

Pao grit her teeth and opened her eyes as she floated down slowly. She brought her hands to her face, knuckles outward and fingers in a starfish formation.

"Solah Frare!"

ZNNNNNN~

"Ragh!" The energies dissipated from her hands and Pao touched down as Yulin clawed her eyelids.

Tp. Tmp. Tp. DMM! DWANGG!

Pao pressured the moment by running up and hitting a jump kick at her sister's chest, launching her into the metal wall of the room. Pao took a defensive stance and Yulin stopped fighting. Krillin got up as did Goku.

"You okay?"

Yulin shook her head and got up to leave, making sure not to look up, her hair hanging down over her face to hide her tears. She pushed everyone out of the way and Goku and Krillin glanced at each other. PaoPao looked on with concern but Krillin made sure to say something.

"Don't worry, Pao. Winning is not your fault, if the loser takes it harshly just remember that it's their demons they have to conquer, you didn't do anything wrong."

Goku grabbed Krillin's wrist as he went to leave.

"You need to go talk to her, she's your student. It's not my place, but if you want me to I'll gladly go talk with her myself."

"Thanks, Goku. I'll let you know."

Goku smiled and patted Krillin on the shoulder as he left the room.

"Goku..?"

"What is it, Pao?"

"Was it like this when you were training with Master Roshi?"

"Huh-Hah! What do you mean?" Goku put his hands on his hips and smiled as he made eye contact with Krillin's student.

"Master has told us all about you and your training with Master Roshi. Were there a rot of tears?"

"Not at all! Huh-Hah! I was always a little ahead of Krillin but I know he didn't mind." Goku looked back over at the closed sliding doors. "Krillin would always train to be stronger."

"..."

"I don't know much about girls but I think they feel emotions stronger than us guys do. At least that's how it feels around my wife." Goku laughed out again and shrugged his shoulders. His happy attitude smoothed out into a more neutral expression before he spoke. "So that probably means that the losses hurt even more."

Pao turned her gaze down at the ground.

"You okay?"

"I didn't want to hurt my sister's feerings."

"She'll be fine. I don't want to be rude but fighting is the wrong profession to be in if you have a hard time accepting your own faults. She needs to overcome her negativity herself. You can help but she still needs to be the one doing it. Just give her some time… I'm sure she'll come around."

"... I think I know why Master likes you so much."

Goku just blushed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Really? Hee-hee."

"You say what you're thinking no matter what, and I think that's rearry… respectful. You creary care about your friends a rot."

"That's really nice of you, Pao. Thanks."

"..."

The two stood there for a while and the low humming of the ship continued.

Yulin

"Hey." Krillin called out to his student in the stargazing hall and she turned to leave. He used some ki to sprint down the hallway and kick off the wall to land in front of her. "You can't just run away from all your problems, Yulin."

"Shu-hut up." She turned away from him again.

"Look at me."

She stopped in her tracks and looked at him through her long black locks, obscuring their eye contact. He could see the tears falling down her face.

"What's wrong?"

"..."

"I mean it, what's wrong?"

"..."

"Yulin! I know I'm not your parent, but what you're doing right now is incredibly childish! Only kids run away when their problems get too hard. Maybe you don't have to tell me but keeping it locked up like you're doing is a great way to get yourself nowhere fast."

Yulin finally brushed her hair away, tears still running down her face. Even now she still tried to present a hardened face, brow sharpened in a frown.

"I just wanted to be the best. But it's too hard…" Tears kept streaming down her face but she did an impressive job not having them smear her words. "Women are supposed to be able to compete in martial arts! I want to show them that they can!"

Krillin stood next to her and stared back out at the stars.

"But it's so hard. I don't like getting hit… It really pisses me off and it's so hard not to get angry. And when I get angry I make more mistakes… and those other guys are so strong that I can't even make one mistake. It's just so hard…"

"Yulin."

"What!?"

"Have I ever told you about the time I cheated to win?"

"You?"

"Yeah."

"You cheated?"

"Yup. I won too, like Master Roshi didn't catch me on it. Got off scot-free."

Yulin gave a more concerned stance with her body language.

"One of Goku and I's first tests was to go find a rock he threw out into the woods. He didn't lace it with ki either, we just had to look for that shit in the forest. Thinking back on it now I don't really see the practical applications of combat that test had, I think the real thing Master Roshi wanted to test was mental fortitude."

Yulin looked at Krillin more sincerely.

"If we couldn't come back with the rock he threw in 30 minutes we didn't get to eat dinner."

Yulin raised a brow and her tears dried a little while listening to the story.

"He wrote the symbol for turtle on the rock so that was the only clue we had. Goku found it first, he was always so perceptive even back then. I fooled him by asking for the rock by saying someone else could have written a phony symbol on it to trick us."

"..."

"When he gave it to me I just ran off."

"Wow, you're a bitch."

"Yup. He chased me all the way through the forest and across a bridge. I cut the bridge while he was still on it."

"Really?"

"Yup. That ravine was huge too, honestly someone coulda' died from that fall."

"Oh my god…"

Krillin put his hand on the window glass.

"Goku caught the cliff wall and started climbing, I was so spooked at how good Goku was. It was clear to me that I had to use strategy and underhanded tactics to win. As he climbed up the cliff face I grabbed another rock and ran off. He was still giving chase and was faster than me so when we got close to Master Roshi's house I offered a duel. Whoever wins gets the stone."

"And?"

"He won, I was never better than Goku at any point during our training, before or after. Goku was always incredibly, unbelievably talented. And I don't use that word lightly, he really was Talented."

"But I thought you said you cheated?"

"I did."

"Oh."

"When Goku beat me, I grabbed that spare stone I picked up on the way and threw it. Goku got real mad and chased after it, but you know. It was the wrong one so I walked back to Kame House as smug as could be and passed the training."

"But that's not cheating."

"No, not really. It was the same stone so I didn't cheat Roshi, but I did cheat Goku. And I'll always feel bad about it, he took me at my word and I lied to him. It's not like it mattered in the grand scheme of things but lying to someone who would never lie back made me feel like shit whenever I thought about it as an adult. We were just kids back then but that's not an excuse as far as I'm concerned."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"I make mistakes too, kid, so I just wanted you to know that you don't have to chase an illusion of perfection. It's not real and never will be. Just go at your own pace and try to be better than yourself, don't compare yourself to others because the standard is unfair. Learned that the hard way trying to outdo a prodigy like Goku. See you tomorrow, I've got some new ideas for you guys' training." Krillin smirked like a gremlin and it ushered a positive reaction from his student.

"Whatever, Old Man."

"You think 27's old?" He laughed out as he rounded the corner going back to his room.

Yulin smiled and turned her focus back to the beautiful stars outside the ship.

Yamcha

Bulma stood behind Yamcha sitting in a chair in the bathroom, styling his hair.

"Are you sure?"

"What do you mean? You're the one that asked to cut it? Why does it matter now?"

"I don't know, the long hair is pretty sexy."

"You're the one that said it was too long!"

Bulma just shrugged her shoulders forcing a vigorous rolling of The Wolf's eyes.

"It could use a trim, I think just past the shoulders is best. You're like almost down to your waist now, That's definitely not sexy. So how short do you want to go?"

"I don't really care. Short as you want it, I guess."

"I liked your look at the 23rd the best. The ponytail is good for your scars."

"You think?"

Bulma nodded as she started cutting off from the back.

Snipsntshwutsnipsnp~

She had a few plastic bags spread out on the floor to catch Yamcha's long strands.

"Yamcha?"

"What?"

"I can feel that you're not the same as you used to be."

"What do you mean?"

"You used to ghost me just to train."

"Well you didn't like it when I ghosted you, that's not a good thing to do in a healthy relationship." Yamcha widened his eyes and shook his head, bringing up his palms to shrug.

"Yamch-ha…" She laughed out. "No. I don't want you to ghost me. What I mean is… I feel like I don't ever see you doing what you used to do."

Yamcha furrowed a brow and stared at himself in the mirror while Bulma lifted parts of his hair and cut with her small but sharp scissors.

"What did I used to do?"

"Train… Like all the time."

"..."

"You wouldn't answer my calls, that's how focused you were. And we were dating, it's not like we weren't a thing yet. We were dating and training was important enough to ghost your girlfriend over. No texts, no calls, no nothing. It was like that for both the 21st and 23rd world tournaments."

He had nothing to say. The Wolf just looked down at the plastic bags containing his hair.

"I saw you… during the day the Saiyans came." She put her head on his shoulder, drawing his attention. "That was the man I fell in love with. It was kind of gross honestly, barbaric even. Like… that guy you were fighting, you literally clawed his skin off… but it was still really… I don't know. I sound stupid but it was hot." She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Just forget I said anything."

Yamcha looked at the mirror again, deep in thought.

"Wolves hunt in packs, Yamcha."

Yamcha recalls the time at Korin's tower and Kami's Lookout. He recalls the times he was training with Krillin and Master Roshi. He remembers how fun it was to tease Krillin while he was benching himself and the old man.

"Bro that's all you got?" He laughed in an echoey manner on the beach of Kame House.

"Yeah~" Krillin's nasally whiny youngster voice hurt to listen to. "Let's see you try it, Wolf Boy!"

"It's not the same! You're like 10 pounds soaking wet! Hagh-Hagh!" Yamcha's own voice faded out as the memory was wiped away like the tides.

Yamcha recalls the time he trained his After-Images with Krillin.

"Okay Krillin damn, this is pretty believable."

They fist bumped.

"Good shit, bro."

"You know me."

Those memories soon faded away as well, leaving as soon as they came. He then recalled the preliminary round of the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai. Krillin and Goku were just kids back then, Yamcha standing head and shoulders above them as they looked at the prelim bracket on the whiteboard.

"What's your number, Yamcha?" Goku's voice wavered like he was talking through water.

"I'm 35~ That's block 2."

"Is that good?" Goku questioned immediately.

"Actually it's just perfect cause I didn't want to be put in the same tournament block as you."

"But why not?"

"Ah… so you were scared just like me!"

"That's not it… I just want to wait for the real tournament. That's where the ring is bigger and there's no time limit to stop us."

The Wolf recalls that moment where he locked eyes with that little boy in front of the bracket. Eyes wide and ready to learn about the world of martial arts.

"I've been waiting for this Goku, so you'd better make it through."

"Oh, I'll make it!"

"Well then, I'll see you in the ring~the ring~the ring~~~

Yamcha blinked as he came out of his trance, Bulma staring at him and waving her hand in front of his face.

"Yamcha are you okay?" She called out with a long voice, trying to ascertain what was up.

He blinked some more before the light actually came back to him.

"Hey…"

Bulma put her hands on her hips sassily.

"Well we're done."

"Already?"

"Yeah, you kinda zoned out on me." Bulma stepped out of the way of the mirror and Yamcha looked at his very short hair.

"What's up with this!?" He said concerned, standing up pretty immediately.

"It's called a fade. 1 on the sides that reaches a 0 at the bottom of the hairline."

Zzzzt!

Her electronic razor stopped and she put it on the counter. Yamcha's hair was particularly short, even shorter than he had it at the 21st Budokai. He touched up on the sides and smiled a bit.

"Pretty good, babe."

"I know." She stuck her nose up at him and smiled. "Can you pick up the bags? It's your hair after all." Bulma commanded as she strolled out of the bathroom.

Yamcha put his hands on the counter and looked himself in the eyes, a serious look about him. He blinked for a second and he could of sworn he saw something else in the mirror for just a moment.

Goku VS Yamcha

No Objective

4 months had passed since their journey started. Yamcha had now joined the rotation of spars they had set up.

"Yes!" Bulma cheered as she kissed Yamcha on the cheek.

"It's not that serious…"

"This is gonna be awesome! I haven't fought you in forever! Last time was when you tried to rob us in the desert!"

Everyone broke out in a laugh and Yamcha scratched at his new haircut in embarrassment, rosy red cheeks as the others charged power into the pads.

"Number two!" Bulma cried out with hands clasped over her mouth.

Krillin touched on the pad and Goku stepped into the middle of the room, stretching out his legs. A large cylindrical barrier walled everyone out, little pace to walk around. The room was now just a square-ish hallway with a blocked off arena in the middle. Yamcha rubbed his neck out and hit a backhandspring to limber up. Bulma clapped in excitement.

"Phuu~ you ready?"

Goku said nothing, just smiling as he took on the turtle hermit stance.

Wsht! SCINGG!

The Wolf dashed in and missed by a hair as Goku ducked under his classic behind-the-back roundhouse. Goku crouched down low in his dodge and shot back up immediately with a turn-around right elbow. Yamcha ducked that by leaning in deep into Wasteland Stance, attempting to punish with the back of his left wolf claw. Goku palmed it with his left and the two tied up before backdashing with great force, winds kicking up from the display.

"Nice one, Yamcha!"

"Phuu~" Yamcha nodded deeply, hyping himself up before wildly dashing.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Piccolo said aloud as he shook his head.

WHAMM!

Goku was tossed onto the ground and he kipped off it with a front handspring.

"That dog eared mutt got even faster." He unclenched his jaw and let out a laugh-breath.

The Wolf dashed in deep with three wild zig-zags. He came in close and fired off four wolf claws, Goku met three with forearm blocks but stalled the fourth with his left knee, rearing back his right hand.

"Hyagh!" Goku yelled, a pocket of Kiai blasted Yamcha in the face and threw him against the light barricade.

Da-DMM! PMM!

The yellow cylinder shook as Goku connected with a stepping left thrust kick. Yamcha rounded the outside with his movement and looked to punish with a left foot at his friend's face. Goku ducked and parried The Wolf's ankle into the air. As Goku lifted his leg up Yamcha clamped his other leg down onto Goku's wrist, locking the movement and rearing back a right hand full of ki.

"AIIEEEE!" Yamcha screamed as he blasted a mouthful of ki onto Goku's face.

BOMM!

Yamcha cartwheeled off the air and zoomed forward, chest inches off the ground as he ran. Goku checked with a left knee lift but hit nothing as Yamcha drew the brushstroke of his frame to Goku's left side, punishing him with a right claw strike at his cheek. Goku grit his teeth, taking the blow and converting Yamcha's momentum into his own, slamming The Wolf into the wall with an armed tie-up. His right hand on Yamcha's wrist and his left on the elbow.

WHOKK! DM-DMM!

The two of them struggled for a bit as Goku held it down. Goku positioned his legs back a bit and started hammering left roundhouses into The Wolf's back.

DMM! THMM! Krshhhhh!

He landed two roundhouses before the barrier glass broke, Yamcha having dodged out of the way. Goku could only smile as the onlookers backed away.

"Huh-Hah!"

Goku dashed off the ground backwards, presenting his back to his friend. Yamcha didn't take the bait, rolling his claws in a martial arts movie way. Goku stopped just short and the two threw wild strikes right in front of each other. Goku stopped his backwards engagement by turning around into a high tornado roundhouse with his left. Time seemed to slow motion for Yamcha as he ducked the first leg, backdashed the second which was a right spinning heel kick, and pounced over the third which was a sweeping left hand of Kiai at his feet.

Yamcha combat rolled behind Goku as the Kiai brushed like windchimes against the rising yellow barrier. Raditz looked on with excitement as he had his hand on the pad. Goku smiled and did a thumbs up motion with his hands over his back, pointing them at Yamcha. A harsh but not punchy gust of wind impacted his frame and stalled his approach. Yamcha bared his claws and waited out the storm. Goku turned around giddily and dashed with pep in his step. He came in close and the Mist Form After-Image came out to play.

Various punches and strikes presented themselves to The Wolf with an ebb and flow but Yamcha paid no mind to a single one of them, only slamming a backwards claw onto Goku's mouth. White wisps of energy rolled off Yamcha as he made contact with Goku. Piccolo was the only one in the room who raised a brow at the small detail. The white flutters dissipated as quick as could be leaving Piccolo to wonder on his own.

"Am I seeing things?" Piccolo thought to himself as the two went back at it.

FshWsh!

Goku threw out a one-two to check Yamcha's guard which The Wolf respected, palming them with his claws. Yamcha turned after the second punch, gearing up for a tornado of kicks. Yamcha caused wind to stir in the little dome as he whiffed three titanic hurricanes of force. Goku made sure to back out of the way, winds tearing off The Wolf's legs as he went. Upon the whiff of the third roundhouse, Goku jumped and kicked off the air like it was a wall, slamming a right knee into Yamcha's face. Yamcha flew with the momentum, cartwheeling the blow. Goku scouted this reaction, punishing the defensive maneuver with a left handed Kiai.

"Hyagh!"

POKK! Skweeee~

Yamcha fell onto his ass and skidded across the floor. He rolled over in his tumble and stopped Goku's pressure with a rising capoeira roundhouse using his left. Upon completion of the sweep, Yamcha hopped to his feet and started going ham with wolf claws.

SfuswuscuscingswuffwuswuScingswufwuswuf~

Goku barely managed to keep a lid on his friend's offence before he was checked by a knee. It wasn't really a strike, Yamcha just pressed his left knee onto Goku's chest to stall his movement. As it connected Goku blinked at the odd strategy, as soon as he did he was struck in the face by the can-can kicks. The right-left combination of upwards kicks sent Goku skyward.

Dm-DMM! Fwwuuuuuuuu~

Yamcha spun around in a low pistol squat, winds twirling around him like a hurricane as he screamed. His left leg carved a circle into the floor around him like was doing donuts.

"AIIEEEEEEEE!" The Wolf howled as he connected with a thunderous left tornado roundhouse.

WHOKK! THMM!

Goku slammed against the barrier and saw stars. He blinked goofily, trying to stand up, he failed and fell to his knees. Goku blinked a few times and stood up proper.

"Whoa…" He was far out, the look in his eyes was vacant for a moment. "That was awesome! Nice moves, Yamcha!" Goku gave a bright smile and thumbs up from the opposite end of the arena.

"Heh-heh, thanks." Yamcha flashed a hollywood smile as he scratched the back of his head.

"You wanna keep going!?"

"Sure!"

"Nice!" Goku cheerily yelled as he bounced up and down.

Goku

Goku did pushups in his room, solitary in thought. He only thought of hugging his wife and holding his son.

"Ninety six… ninety seven…"

Goku looked up at the blue Cheongsam and red hat hung up on the wall.

"I've missed so much of him…" Goku pondered. "It'll be a year by the time we get back. That'll be two years I've missed out on." He smiled despite the lonely thoughts. "But that's okay…" He continued his repetitions. "I've still got a lifetime to watch him grow up."

Goku went right back to doggedly slamming out his reps, one arm behind his back.

"Switch!"

He caught himself in a forceful display with the other hand, now doing one-handed pushups with his left.

"One… two…"

Tien

"Hey." The Crane greeted as he closed the door to the room.

"Hello~" Launch waved back in a cutesy tone as she folded his clothes "Erhm… hey!"

Tien swallowed harshly, tongue in cheek.

"You look tired or whateva'." Launch stated as she kissed Tien on the neck and hugged him.

"Just… you know… not much else to do around here."

"But youa' always trainin'! You tellin' me this any different!?"

He breathed out a long sigh as he took off his white tee.

"Usually I like to test my body against the elements to toughen it. There's nothing like that here, I only have bodyweight exercises and the training room to spar in. Not much variety."

"Oh. Well I'm sorry or whateva'."

"I mean it's not your fault." Tien replied with a smirk, grabbing her by the shoulders and staring deeply into her. She smiled like a goofball.

"You're always such a sweetheart, hmm-hmm!" She totally reverted back to Blue's exact intonation. It was impossible to ignore, Launch stared at the ground with wide eyes. She breathed in with a sharp and calculated inhale. "Tien..?"

He swallowed.

"Yeah?"

"I… I think I'm…"

"Krillin and I talked about it."

"You did!?"

"Yeah…" He averted his gaze to the closet door, still holding onto her shoulders with firm but soft handling.

"Tien…"

Tien couldn't really look at her. He just kept his gaze at the door before she pulled his face over at hers.

"What am I gonna do if that heffa comes back? She'll know, won't she?"

Tien winced and closed all three of his eyes.

"Won't she?" Launch put her right hand under his chin delicately.

"I don't know…"

"I'm… I don't want to go through that again…"

"I know…"

"..."

Yulin

"Master?"

"What's up?"

"Why are you so content with just one arm?"

Pao was stretching out her legs across the room but made sure to pay close attention. Krillin looked up at the low red lights, deep in thought.

"You know? I'm not so sure. I feel like I should be worried about it but I'm just not. Like I see no real reason to get worked up about it."

"I would be pissed if I only had one arm."

"I always thought that I'd be tall but that never ended up happening. I guess I just learned to settle."

The pair of sisters locked their eyes on The New Turtle Grandmaster as he stood up, arm at his side, balled in a fist.

"Besides, I can use all these crazy ki techniques, I don't really see the need to be so fussy." He put his right hand into the position and a left arm grew to meet it. He opened and closed them in a rhythmic pattern. "I went without this technique for a year and that whole year was just fine. It's all just a matter of perspective anyway. I'm sure this would be a lot more inconvenient an injury if I couldn't use ki. I'm just lucky that I can, so I should be thankful."

Krillin swatted away at the air with his left hand and it fluttered into bubbles of ki.

"Master?"

"I know you've got some more techniques up your sleeve, when are you gonna show us?"

"Well I'd want to be the one to teach you Kiai, but you guys already know that. So I suppose what I should teach you next is team play."

Yulin nodded, her feet pressed up against each other in a low stretch. Pao looked on with intrigue as her master spoke.

"Our master didn't teach us a lot in the way of strategy, he mostly just taught us how to approach life so I'll try to patch up what he couldn't or at least wouldn't teach us back then."

"Okay." Yulin replied as she stood up and met his eye line. "So what do we practice?"

"I just want you to both come at me, your team play training is done when you can soundly defeat me. Now this could take a while, I'm not bragging, I'm just pretty far ahead of you, that's all." The shit-eating grin he wore told another story.

The sisters giggled and settled into their respective stances.

Piccolo

"Piccolo!?" Bulma called out to The Demon under the volume of the loud whirring in the engine block.

"What is it?" He shot back with telepathy.

"What are you doing down here?"

"I've been down here since day one."

"What!?"

"No one comes down here so I get to meditate in peace."

"Huh, well… alright… I guess." Bulma walked past him and popped a capsule. The ensuing clearing of the small smoke cloud revealed a suitcase of tools which she then opened.

Piccolo raised a brow as she stepped forward and started checking the machinery. He said nothing, just watched as Bulma tinkered on the large mechanisms. He closed his eyes and returned to his meditation.

"Piccolo!"

"..?"

"Can you help me over here? I need you to lift this thing up so I can check the bottom. I could do this myself if we landed but I'm trying to get where we need to go as soon as possible. I've already spent too much time on this ship. I'm ready to get this over with."

Piccolo stood up tall from his floating meditation and rotated his shoulders. The Demon lifted the large engine and Bulma opened up a panel from the bottom. She went to town with her various micro-tools while Piccolo let out controlled breaths. Piccolo raised a brow and looked down at the woman.

"You're usually more talkative than this, what gives?" He joked, a smile across his face.

"Oh wow, I didn't expect any sass from you. I thought you were above that."

"Hmph."

"I have a policy not to talk during my work. I get it done faster and I mess up less. Makes life easier that way. So~" She gestured with her small device "I'd appreciate it if you…"

Piccolo nodded his head and lifted up his legs to start his criss-cross meditation while holding up the large metal contraption.

Raditz

The crew was only about 2 weeks out now, Planet Vegeta was just over the horizon and the fighters had dug even deeper in their training, making sure to prepare with rigorous everyday sparring sessions.

Raditz stood outside the Number two setting with crossed arms, intently looking at his brother's form as he sparred the Green Man. Yulin eyed The Saiyan from across the room. She broke away from her sister's company and sidled along the edge of the room. Pao made an excited duck face once she realised what was happening and turned her attention away from the battling.

"Hey!"

"Hah-Hah! What is it, weak one?"

"I came over here to apologise for being so heated but I'm only going to do that if you stop belittling me!"

"What?"

"You heard me!"

"You want me to stop taking the piss?"

She shook her head and made a face, clearly not understanding exactly what he said.

"Look! I only make fun of people I like." He averted his gaze to Piccolo and his brother's clashing in the arena. "If I don't then I won't spend the time mocking you. That is all."

"Huh!?"

"What?"

"That's stupid!"

"It's Saiyan camaraderie, an Earthling woman like you wouldn't understand." He wore the most punchable smile after his comment.

"Urgh!" She clenched her fist and shook them violently. "Forget I said anything! I was trying to be nice, you're just an idiot!"

"Thank you."

She brought her fists up to her face and walked away as Raditz laughed from the gut.

"HAH-HAH-HAH! YOU'RE FUNNY, EARTH WOMAN! HAH-HAH!"

Yulin walked back over to Pao in defeat, shaking her head and biting her lip, cheeks as red as could be in embarrassment.

Krillin

Krillin couldn't sleep, tossing and turning as the days drew near. He breathed out a long exhale and looked at the ceiling.

"A whole planet full of Saiyans?" He thought. It was definitely scary to him even though they had definitely gotten so much stronger in the years since they fought Vegeta.

Krillin closed his eyes and sent out a pulse of Ki Sensing. When it got back to him he noticed Goku was out and about in the training room by himself. He looked at the clock.

"This late? I didn't know Goku was a night owl…"

Krillin got up and put on some white sweatpants and a black shirt. He brushed his teeth quickly and ran out the door and down the halls to the training room. Upon the opening of the sliding doors he noticed Goku doing what looked like calisthenics on his power pole. Doing handstands and limbering movements as the long red weapon was tightly clamped near the top of the room, parallel to the floor. Goku swung a few times and landed on the top in a gargoyle sit, left hand on the pole, right hand saluting his friend.

"Hey Krillin!"

"Hey." He waved back, walking in, the doors closing behind him. "What are you doing up so late?"

"Just limbering up, I've been training so much without my Power Pole. I need to make sure I can still use it when we get to Planet Vegeta. Humph!" He fell off the back and swung forward off the weapon, landing in front of Krillin in a combat roll. "You wanna try?"

"Sure! I can't sleep so I'd be up anyway."

"Awesome!" Goku cheerily shouted as he shook his fist.

Goku jumped up to the pole and landed on it like a balancing beam, one foot forward, one foot behind. He looked back over at Krillin with a smile.

"Come on! Get up here!"

Krillin smiled and kicked off the wall, landing behind Goku with a more neutral pose, facing towards the door instead of walking the tightrope like his friend.

"One of the first steps to using the Power Pole is balance. If you have poor balance and core strength." He knocked on his rock hard abs. "You're not gonna be doing fancy tricks. Huh-Hah!"

"Show us how it's done!"

Goku smirked and sharpened his brow. He put his right hand on the pole and retracted it, Krillin widened his eyes and fell down, but before Goku hit the ground he yelled.

"Power Pole extend!" He one-armed the pole as it extended and caught the sides of the room like a clothesline. Goku then went up and kicked the air, a dense burst of wind came off his heel like a crescent moon as he swung in an arc. He smiled and retracted it, throwing the weapon at Krillin. "You try!"

Krillin smiled as he caught it.

"So you want me to do what you did or just try to do a move that reinforces balance?"

"Whatever, just do something fun." He shrugged his shoulders and that characteristic smile shined brightly.

Krillin sharpened his brow and held it parallel with the walls, straight up. He threw it forward and it fell kind of limp. Goku scratched his head as he watched Krillin throw it over and over again.

"Goku."

"Hmm?"

"I want you to get your guard up, I'm gonna try an attack."

"Uh~ okay." He scratched the top of his head and raised his guard in anticipation.

Krillin judged the distance with his eyes and nodded, tongue in cheek. He threw the Power Pole a little bit ahead of him, it spun for a while and was clearly not lined up with Goku.

"Power Pole extend!" He cried, sniping it's momentum and having it stall like a dancing pole. Krillin jumped up and kicked off it with his right leg to deliver a wall-jump roundhouse. Goku laughed as he blocked it and slid along the floor.

"Nice one! Huh-Hah!'

Raditz

The crew stood huddled in the cockpit, all eyes on the burly Saiyan.

"Okay, so, the plan is this: I along with whoever we decide are going to storm the research and development center on Planet Vegeta."

The Wolf raised his hand.

"I'll go. I'm the fastest so if I went with you we'd clear it in no time."

"Any other volunteers?" Raditz spoke aloud.

Tien raised his hand and spoke up.

"Krillin and I have been working on a defensive technique using Ki. We'll stay here and protect the outside of the ship when we land. Bulma?"

The scarred blue haired executive turned to look at the three eyed man.

"Before we land, I want a space suit so that I can protect the ship on landing."

"You can do that?"

"I've been practicing it for about four months now. The technique is actually based on the barrier you made for the training room."

Bulma's face lit up and she left the room in a wild run.

"Krillin and I have been grinding it out so hopefully all will go well when we land."

"Okay." Raditz drew something up on a large piece of parchment set on the table. "4 for 5 and I are going to research and development. Krillin and Three Eyes are going to stay here-"

Krillin interjected.

"Pao and Yulin are staying near the ship as well for backup.""

"Hey!" Yulin protested.

"You guys weren't supposed to be on this trip anyway, you're staying here. The Saiyans are strong. You guarding the ship is a last resort, go it!?"

Yulin begrudgingly nodded.

"That just leaves Kakarot and Green Man." He spared a glance at his brother.

"You and King Kai said that 1 on 1 duels are acknowledged as a high honour on Planet Vegeta, right?"

"More or less."

"Then I'm going to challenge King Vegeta."

"WHAT!?" The whole crew roared out except for the sisters.

"Kakarot, King Vegeta is far more powerful than his son. By almost twice over. I'm not sure you could handle him in 1 on 1 combat!"

"But if we jump him as a group, he won't respect what we have to say. If I challenge him to a Saiyan duel, that'll get across what I want to say."

"Well what do you want to say?"

The crew came in close and focused their attention on the younger brother.

"Frieza."

"..."

"I'll challenge him to single combat, and since he's The King he can put together his army. I want Frieza to stop what he's doing."

Raditz opened his eyes in awe.

"My conditions are if I beat The King in single combat he has to agree to join our forces against Frieza."

"You're nuts." Raditz laughed like a madman.

"But Goku…" Tien interrupted. "You heard King Kai. Frieza's nowhere near beatable as we are now."

"Maybe not alone."

He silenced Tien but not his brother.

"Kakarot… I… I want to believe but he's so~" He emphasised it with his hands. "So much stronger than you think."

Raditz didn't want to say it, but when they discussed about this trip and the possible outcome of defeating the Cold Estate, he was mostly lying.

"That just means we'll have to rise to the occasion."

Raditz swallowed harshly and penciled it in.

"Kakarot's going to the castle. You? Green Man?"

"I'll back Son Goku up just in case. I'll clear a pathway so that he doesn't waste any energy before his fight and make sure we don't have any backstabbers show up during the duel. We know how these Mongrels are."

"Thanks, Piccolo!"

"Tcheh."

"That sounds like everybody."

"What about me!?"

Everyone blinked at Launch.

"Uhh~" Krillin rubbed the back of his head. "You guard the ship with me and Tien..?"

The pair of bald men looked at each other and then back at the loud blonde girl.

"Fine with me."

"Phew~"

"Man! I'm getting really excited!"

Raditz shook his head.

"Brother, why are you so happy to run headlong into death?"

"No one else seems to want to stop Frieza, if I won't, who will?"

There was a calm silence after Goku's words and he just smiled confidently.

King Vegeta

The King walked around the chrome hallway, the enormous archway to his throne room just feet away before he was called to from behind.

"King Vegeta!" A guard hurriedly yelled with a right hand outstretched.

The King turned around and wore a diplomatic scowl.

"We have an unidentified aircraft landing here in about 10 minutes! Do you think it's The Prince!? Its make is not logged anywhere in The Cold Estate as far as I know."

The King walked forward with pep in his step, forcing the guard to jog along the hallway with him. Vegeta furrowed his brow and his deep red cape wavered under the intense run he broke out in. The hallway guard followed right behind and the pair ran through the hallways, finally making it to a guard tower. The two climbed the spiral staircase and came across a room with a massive sprawling computer terminal. The windows were also monitors in an impressive feat of technology. The windows spanned the entire front half of the guard tower and various Saiyans saluted The King as he entered.

"King!"

"My liege."

"Do we have eyes on the ship?"

"Negative, though our sonar isn't receiving any signals that they have Cold Estate technology on it. We know that it'll be here soon. Permission to fire when it enters our airspace?"

"No. I want to know if my son's on that."

"Affirmative. Standing by for your command, my liege.

High above Planet Vegeta The Emperor stood with a killer smugness in his eye. He looked out the window of a small passenger ship as his son Lord Frieza walked up from behind him.

"Hello, Frieza."

"Father."

"I was going to be very disappointed if you made me do it for you."

Frieza said nothing as he gallantly walked forward and stared out the glass, hands behind his back. Emperor Cold leaned against the window and smiled wickedly.