Disclaimer: I don't own Toriyama's and Oda's masterpieces Dragonball Z and One Piece. They are, of course, known by the masters of art and storytelling Toriyama-sama and Oda-sama themselves. Please support the official releases
DopplerZack: Don't worry, bro. I can understand the confusion if you've only read/watch DBZ but in part one Dragonball, Goku was actually quite ruthless to the bad guys. I know that seems shocking now given his rather merciful portrayal in DBZ but in Dragonball he was killing the bad guys with no fucks to give. Hell, when Mr Black tried to run away after Goku had utterly annihilated the entirety of the Red Ribbon Army and easily bested him, Goku STILL went after him to finish the job. His reason being; "You're evil so you have to die." I'm not really sure where this "No killing Goku" spawned from in DBZ because he certainly wasn't like that in Dragonball
We can theorize that maybe Kami taught him the value of all life during his 3 year training with him but that's just head-canon and speculation. That's no evidence to really back that up. Really, I'm guessing Toriyama opted to make Goku merciful to distinguish him from Vegeta as MistareFusion theorized in his Dragonball Dissection series. Check it out if you haven't already on YouTube. It's lit.
So, yeah, I'm just sticking with Goku's original ruthless character, my g. Thanks for the input, my man.
Sunlight blessedly cast a shroud over Nojiko's eyes, blending in with her already peaceful, sunny countenance. She stretched and yawned, the sun barely looking amiss on her already glowing expression. The term "slept like a baby" couldn't be more appropriate for Nojiko. The second consecutive content sleep she had gotten in well over eight years and she owed it all to her prince of awesome. Her shoulders no longer sagged and felt weighed down by life's cruelty when she rose from her bed like a featherweight angel and not like the miserable prisoner facing another day of her life sentence.
She dressed in a gown and spared herself a look in the mirror before gigging placidly despite the fact her hair was currently in a mess. She sauntered out of her bedroom and made her way over to her kitchen, pouring herself a cup of coffee all the while whistling a jaunty tune. Streaming cup of coffee in hand, the brightened young woman ambled over to her couch, where her saviour laid.
"Goku-chan." A fond smile curled her lips in spite of Goku's messily sprawled form. One of his legs and arms hung over the armrest while the others hovered limply off the couch. A saliva of drool dangled from his wide-open mouth whilst he snoozed quietly. A bubble of snot was forming on his nostrils and his blanket that Nojiko had lent him was hanging off his foot, exposing his sleeveless vest top and boxers that he had chosen to sleep in.
She knelt by his side, affectionately stroking his wild, unkempt hair before neatly tossing the blanket over his sleeping form.
They had all been partying long and hard for the past two days post Arlong reign. The villagers were so drunk off elation alone they didn't even notice Goku's uncontrollable appetite, which was especially evident in Nojiko's case. The young lady mostly just cradled Goku's muscled arm in an almost lovestruck trance as he devoured plates upon plates of anything edible, leaving towering stacks behind.
Nojiko's love sickness only worsened when Goku chased off the corrupt Marine who had been in Arlong's back pocket during Commi Island's imprisonment.
But as fun as Goku's presence in the island had been, freeing it from the subjugation of Arlong and the corruption of an apparent solder of justice, Nojiko knew all good things must come to an end. Her hand stilled atop his hair, "Do you have to leave so soon?" She murmured, mostly to herself.
It was futile and deep down she knew it herself. Goku would soon set flight again to continue his adventures across the globe and she would likely never see him again –
…unless she took matters into her own hands.
A determined mask hardened over her countenance.
A Warrior on the Unknown Seas
C
H
A
P
T
E
R
FOUR
Setting Sail?
Goku yawned groggily and lifted his arms up in a great stretch, "Man, last night's party was great," He mumbled, rubbing the sleep out of his eye before sitting up. It took a short moment until he fully came to and noticed the lack of any and all signs of his housekeeper, "Hey, Nojiko?!" He wondered, searching around the living room area, not sensing a truce of her around. After sensing her energy signature elsewhere on the island, he shrugged, concluding she had business to take care of.
"Alright," He stood with an eager smile quirking his lips, stretching out one of his forearms before repeating the process with the other one, "I better get in some light sparrin'," He went over to his pile of clothes neatly folded in squares save for his weighted shirt, "Today's the day I head to where all the strong guys are after all."
With that in mind he quickly dressed, tightening his sash around his waist for good measure and headed outside. There, he would spend a good thirty minutes practising his kame stances and shadow-boxing with an invisible enemy only he could see in his mind's eye. He was eventually interrupted in his session by the bright greeting of Nojiko's father-figure.
"Goku-san!"
Goku straightened, propping his hands on his hips with a broad smile at the moustached general, "Yo, Genzo. S'up?"
Genzo approached him with a good-natured snicker, like he was just happy their saviour recognized him at first glance, "You're leaving today, right?" He recalled.
Goku nodded, "That's right. It's been fun but I really wanna get going soon and see what's out there, y'know?"
Genzo shook his head in an amiable, jestingly manner at Goku's other insatiable lust for a good fight. After all, it was his love for battle which brought him to their subjugated village and it was his good heart that made stopping Arlong personal, "As I figured. That's what I came to talk you about." Goku cocked his head, urging Genzo to continue, "Have you ever thought about starting your own crew, since you're a pirate and all?"
Goku pondered the thought over with a blink, "I dunno if I would consider myself a pirate." He tucked a hand back behind his neck and laughed, "I haven't done anything really piratey." You know, besides from taking all of Buggy's treasure and giving a share to the less fortune, Robin Hood-style, but did that really count? One, Buggy was evil and two, he gave Goku all of his loot so the spiky-headed boy wouldn't end his life for the destruction he so heartlessly wrought. Goku was going to initially decline but his stomach reminded him he needed food so he sealed most of the shiny stuff in a spare capsule and loaded up the leftovers in a sack bag for the Village Chief.
Genzo pitied his naivety with a sigh, "That's where you're mistaken." He corrected, expression hardening with a grim look. Goku blinked, wondering where the tension in his shoulders had come from until he lifted the sheet of paper he had been holding, revealing its contents.
It read -
DEAD OR ALIVE
SON GOKU
50000000 Beli
Goku's eyes bulged out of his skull, "Yikes. That's a big number!" He recoiled, drinking in the image of himself with an stoic mask, likely taken when he confronted Arlong. A thought occurred to him as he held his chin, "Where'd they take that picture of me from?" That was a good question. Goku hadn't seen, heard or even so much as sensed anyone other than his immediate enemies during his massacre of the Fishman.
Genzo rolled up the poster, hiding his eyes with the brim of his hat, "Never underestimate the World Government," He said. The tension in the air caused Goku's own eyes to narrow.
The government were corrupt, hiring amoral individuals like Nezumi willing to turn a blind eye to Commi Island's suffering. They were far from the good guys, but the frightening part was, Goku didn't know if they were the bad guys either.
"Okay," Goku began, gaze shining with a serious glow, "Guess I'm a pirate in their eyes." A smirk embellished his sobered mask, "I was actually thinkin' of starting my own crew. Well, I guess I can go ahead and get a head start."
Genzo's eyes gleamed in opportunity, "Then you'll need a ship." Goku's expression frozen and fell away in blank uncertainty, revealing he hadn't thought ahead that far, "Come with me. I have just the thing you need."
"Oh, alright. Cool."
XxX
(With Nojiko)
XxX
The older sister of Luffy's current navigator sat on a cliff side seemingly overlooking the endless stretch of ocean in front of a memorial wooden cross. The patch of buried dirt where a corpse had been buried into had long since been covered by long blades of grass as time rolled by.
"Hey, Bellemere!" Nojiko greeted the stand-in tombstone of her dear mother brightly, setting a tangerine and a banquet of flowers that she had brought with her as tribute to the late marine, "How're things up there?" She asked, expression softening in melancholy, "For the first time in forever, we're doing great down here. Crazy, right? I never thought I'd see the day we would be free much less seeing you avenged." She leaned forward as if Bellemere's spirit would better see the excitement in her gaze, "You'll never guess what. I met the most amazing guy. He's actually the one who freed us from Arlong's clutches."
A giggle tickled her throat, "I wish you could've been there to see him. Arlong and his goons couldn't get near Goku-chan. He totally destroyed them! It was like something out of a fairy tale," The grave site was essentially glowing from the light emitted from Nojiko's happy eyes, though it dimmed slightly in dry humour when she admitted, "To think I actually tried choking him out to stop him." She lifted up her knees to her ample bosom, situating an elbow atop one of them to rest a cheek in her palm, eyes leisurely closed.
After a moment of peaceful consideration, she admitted in a reluctant whisper, eyelids unveiling the gloomy clouds, "He'll be leaving today," She said, tightly wrapping her arms around her knees, "To continue his adventures, and I won't ever see him again. Unless…" Resolve formed behind her gaze, "I know it's risky, I've read the morning paper." A snort, "They're calling him Bare-Fisted Goku with a bounty worth fifty million bellies. Bastards." Resentment fostered in her heart.
Goku hadn't even done anything sinister, yet they were treating him as a criminal purely for saving their village, because in their eyes, he was opposing the World Government as a vigilante. It was enough to make Nojiko's stomach churn in disgust. Such selfless acts of ridding a village of their eight-year long nightmare should have been applauded as an act of heroism, not condemned of an exploit of vigilantism.
The twenty-year-old exhaled deeply and rose, dusting herself off. Such a cruel, cruel world they lived in. She had learnt this when Arlong first imprisoned her village and Nezumi, an apparent soldier of justice, did nothing to call for backup to liberate Commi Island under his thumb, "Anyway, I'm going with Goku-chan." She stated firmly, "I know that'll make me a criminal, but I don't care." She tilted her head skyward, seeing a phantom image of her saviour's contagious smiling face reflected off of the clouds, "If it's to be with Goku-chan, then I'm willing to walk that road."
She shrugged haplessly, not knowing what else to input and turned, "That's all I wanted to say. You're probably turning over down there hearing this," She admitted, a ghost of a smile streaking across her red-painted lips. "But I think it's worth it."
She began to make her exit.
"Do whatever makes you happy."
She froze and twirled back to Bellemere's grave with a look of astonishment etched on her face having swore she heard the gentle whisper of her deceased mother's voice echoing in the winds. After a second, her expression lulled in contentment, assuming the admission was from a fragment of her own imagination conjured from her own desire to hear her stepmother's blessing.
"Yeah. Thanks, Mom."
She left.
XxX
(With Goku and Genzo)
XxX
"Whoa!" Goku's wide eyes roamed all over the hugest vessel he had ever seen in his young nineteen years of life, drinking in the ship's dark blue dominant colour and orange highlights painted on the railing, around the bottom of the ship and the mast. The name was a bit of a let-down, though, seeing as the words "S.S Fist of Justice" spelled out on the ship's front did not embody what he was all about.
"This is the biggest ship I've ever seen!" Goku's mouth was practically holding a disco for the flies with how open it was, arms spread out like eagle wings. Goku turned to a thoroughly pleased Genzo rubbing his nostrils and asked, "Where'd ya get this?"
"Arlong had a collection of procured ships over the years," He recalled, smug aura never abated despite remembering his village's tormentor, "He had something of a ship's graveyard. Most of them are unusable but we found a marine ship in near perfect condition. We remembered you saying you might be considering forming your own crew like your friend so we modified and redecorated it a bit to give to you as a gift."
"Thanks, Genzo! It's awesome!" He said appreciatively, jumping onto the ship's surface in one leap. Given what he had already demonstrated so far, it came as no surprise that Genzo wasn't taken back from his stunt. Exceptional athleticism was just par for the course with Son Goku at this point, "Man, I can't wait to start forming my own crew. it'll be a cinch!" He surveyed his new home brightly, "This is exciting."
Genzo humoured Goku's boyish enthusiasm with a mirthful laugh, "Hahaha! Do you know how to work a ship, Goku-san?"
"Nah! But it can't be too hard, right?" He shouted back, almost breaking something in the process, "Oh boy!"
Genzo shook his head with a sigh, "Let's go over the basics."
Genzo then proceeded to show Goku the inner workings of a ship and how to operate the mighty vessel, instilling him with a basic knowledge of steering, dropping and reeling in the anchor, opening the sail and rolling out the red carpet of the ship's pathway. It took a full half hour until Genzo was content that Goku had grasped the full complexities of operating a ship.
"Awright! I think I got it down pat," Goku assured, spinning his steering wheel one last time for good measure before following Genzo off the ship, "Thanks, Genzo. I'll put this thing to good use for sure!"
"I'm sure you will, Goku-san," He grinned before extending a hand toward the spiky-headed youngster, smile hardening into a smirk, "I'll be looking forward to seeing you piss all over the feet of the World Government."
Goku accepted the gesture, firmly grasping the general's hand in a manly handshake grip, "I'll try," He chuckled, dislodging his grip from Genzo's and making his way back onto his ship, tossing a hand over his shoulder, "I'm off."
Genzo goggled, "Wait! Right now!?"
"Yeah!" Goku hollered back excitably, "I can't wait to get started."
Genzo fumbled to get his words out regarding Goku's abrupt departure, hastily gesticulating nervous poses with his hands, "Goku-san, wai-!"
"HEY!" All the tension in Genzo's shoulders over determining the best course of action to install the hasty young man abated. It was like pulling a plug and releasing all the water from a bath. Genzo sagged, breathing a massive sigh of relief as the voice of his daughter-figure carried over to them.
"Oh, hey, Nojiko!" Goku greeted, setting his palms on his hips as he watched the older navigational sister dash over to him carrying a bloated backpack, puffing and huffing in exhaustion when she finally reached him with her hands on her knees, knelt over, "I was just gonna come say goodbye to ya. I'm leaving now."
Genzo glared at him dryly, 'No you wasn't.'
Nojiko rose with a newfound excitement sparkling in her eyes, "That's the thing, I'm coming with you!"
Goku blinked, "You wanna come with me?" She nodded sternly. To this, Goku cocked his head to one side, "How come?"
"Oh, you know," She tried to suggest.
"No."
She stiffened, a gloomy rain cloud forming over her head at Goku's lack of evident tact, 'And I'm seriously attracted to this guy?' She mused to herself while trying to think up a reason, 'Ugh, I question my life choices sometimes.' Eventually, she settled with, "I wanna travel," She excused, offering up a shrug, "Nami gets to travel and I don't see her coming home anytime soon so why can't I?" She reasoned, internally sweating up a storm that he wouldn't call cock-and-bu0ll on her flimsy reasoning, 'Please don't call my bluff, Goku-chan, you stupid, big hunk of man meat!'
"Oh, is that it?" Goku asked in recognition, eliciting a huge exhale of relief from the girl, though as soon as she realised she had done so out loud she laughed nervously and plated on a breezy smile.
"That's right," She nodded, "So, can I come?"
Goku crossed his arms and cupped his chin thoughtfully, "Wellllllll, it's probably gonna be pretty dangerous. I'm gonna fight even more stronger bad guys than Arlong," He reasoned, mostly to himself as Nojiko shuffled anxiously in place. After what seemed like an eternity to the poor young lady, Goku finally shrugged in acceptance, "Sure, why not? I can protect you from harm anyway."
"YES!" Nojiko celebrated with an enthusiastic cheer, drawing a warm-hearted giggle from the object of her affections.
Goku watched her skip onto their boat with a clear spring in her step with a fondness in his gaze before turning to the affectionately smiling Genzo, extending a hand in bidding for a second time, "Well, Genzo. I guess this is it. Thanks for the boat again."
"No problem, Goku-san." He said, firmly clasping Goku's muscled hand in his own in another shake of manly solidarity before Goku felt it tighten with intention, "You just look after Nojiko, y'hear?" Goku blinked in the grim resolve suddenly shining in the man's gaze, "That girl and her sister Nami have been like daughters to me. If any harm so much as befalls a hair on her head," His grip tightened further still whilst he got nose-to-nose with his village's superpowered saviour, "I'll kill you."
Despite being threatened, Goku wore a warm smile of assurance, "Hey, don't worry about it. I wouldn't let anything happen to Nojiko. You can count on it." He allowed Genzo that touch of control in releasing the handshake before patting him securely on the shoulders, holding his determined gaze with a confident one of his own. After a moment of consideration, Genzo nodded, content with Goku's resolve to protect Nojiko.
"Whatever Nojiko wants, one thing's for sure; she'll be safe with me." Goku assured with quiet determination, bidding Genzo a two-fingered salute before disappearing in the deck of his boat.
Genzo snickered in amusement, "You Idiot! It's YOU she wants." His eyes softened, watching Nojiko sending waves of farewell with his own arms crossed and a wide, placid smile across his lips, the S.S Fist of Justice slowly departing on its first voyage to a world beyond their small island, "Hahaha. A warrior on the battlefield but an idiot in life. I guess that's just how it is."
I've recently discovered the power of emulation. Where has that been all my life? Emulating some of my classic Xbox 360, PS3, & Nintendo Wii games like Gun, Naruto the Broken Bond, Smackdown vs Raw 2008, John Woo's Stranglehold, Fist of the North Star, Mario Kart Wii, Super Mario Galaxy 2 and more on my PC has been an absolute blast. Got a Switch emulator for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Mario Odyssey. Needlessly to say, I've had a hell of a time. It is such a joy to be on PC, I'm telling ya. I don't have to pay to play online with bullshit subscriptions like PS plus, Xbox live and Nintendo Online, I already have 60fps, I can easily pirate games without jailbreaking my machine assuming the site is safe (Steam-unlocked has been golden. Ain't given me a single virus even after I downloaded Marvel's Avengers) and I get access to the internet browser without navigating it with my controller.
I could fanboy the brilliant of PC all night but I'm tired so I'm logging out. Reviews if you so choose, too, my good people
Peace out