Chapter Seven
Raditz, along with his two friends, Bulma and Oolong, as well as the two newest companions for the journey ahead, Yamcha and Puar, continued their venture through Diablo Desert. Carrying on with their quest to find and finally obtain the last two of the group of seven Dragon Balls that were their collection, the group of five were now heading towards Fire Mountain. Bulma's Dragon Radar had been beeping frantically all morning, the sixth Dragon Ball -the Seven-star ball, was currently awaiting them in the midst of a sea of infernos.
Speaking of Raditz, the Saiyan was now sitting by himself on the sofa of Oolong's motorhome, quietly meditating in the comfort that the couch provided. Nobody dared to disrupt his peace, fearing what would happen if they even slightly irritated the fighter while he was in training. They hadn't known the kid for more than a week but everyone knew that the consequences of those actions were nearly fatal at the very least. Oolong was driving the double-decker RV, navigating but simultaneously bickering with the other shapeshifter of the crew, Puar. Bulma was showering, her calm humming echoing through the walls. Yamcha, beyond scared of being anywhere close to her, sat cleaning his sword on the wall opposite of Raditz.
"Oolong, all of my clothes were stored in those capsules I lost in the sand," Bulma whined as she walked out of the shower into the room. Her pale and curvy body was wrapped in a warm pink towel to hide her wet goodies. "Do you have anything that I could put on in this trailer home?" She jarred with a classy tone.
"Third column, bottom drawer, Bulma," Oolong plainly answered, his eyes never leaving the road ahead.
"Alright, let me see," Bulma smiled as she pranced back to the backroom with the clothing in hand. "OOLOOONG! WHAT THE HELL TYPE OF WOMAN DO YOU TAKE ME FOR YOU PIIIIG!" The voice of the bluenette screamed from the other room in distress.
"That might be the only thing for the next twenty or so miles that'll fit ya Bulma," The pig said, with a smirk now beaming across his face as he knew just what was in the bottom drawer of the third column. "Then we can stop at some outlet spot but for now, you look dazzling, doesn't she Radz?" He squealed.
Bulma walked back into the living area a few seconds later, dressed in the last thing that Raditz would have expected the bluenette to even walk out in. Although he knew that he'd be in for the beating of his life from the girl, Oolong smirked as he admired Bulma's figure -this was worth it. Yamcha let out a scream sounding very much like a young girl's as his phobia was tested more so than ever in his sixteen years of life. The Saiyan's, Raditz, eyes shot open as he took in the turquoise-haired woman's beauty firsthand for the first time. The costume definitely showed off each of Bulma's perfectly curvy features without feeling or looking too snug.
Bulma adjusted the black leotard to secure her breasts as she walked. She wasn't a fan of the bunny ears or the cotton ball that was placed on the costume's rear end, the bluenette did like the silky, persian blue colored tights and red stiletto heels that the fit came with. It fit in nicely with her perfectly flat-ironed signature blue colored hair that flowed down to her chest. She pursed her lips as she walked out, she could be mad but she at least admitted that she did look good. Very much like a stripper… but still a good-looking one.
"I'm going to get you for this shit later Oolong," Bulma barked, raising a closed fist at the shapeshifting driver. "But how do I look, boys?" The heiress of Capsule Corporations questioned her friends with a giggly pose.
"Great," Raditz was the first and only to answer, after debating just how he could put how amazing the Earthling woman looked into words. A cocky smirk eased its way onto his stoic face as he watched Bulma's face redden with the compliment. "Absolutely stunning."
"So, tell me about this Fire Mountain that the radar says we're heading to," Bulma demanded Oolong with a scolding voice. As the journey entered its third hour, she was starting to feel the temperature rise far above what the desert had brought them. Oolong, on the other hand, had been trying his hardest to convince the duo that was Raditz and Bulma to change their course but his cries were shot at two pairs of stubborn ears. "How are we supposed to get the Dragon Ball if it's trapped in those flames?" She asked.
"Legends say that it was once a beautiful castle on top of the steepest of mountains on this side of the Paozus called the Pleasant Mountain," Oolong began, his explanation turning into more of a folk tale as he drove. Then, laughing, the shapeshifter continued. "Until one day, the villagers cursed the devilish king that stayed in it for his accusations of manslaughter and tyrannical rule. One night, they all drew down on him and pregnant wife for those crimes and with their torches, they set his castle and the mountain ablaze… and since then, the flames have burned uncontrollably."
"You mean the Ox King right?" Puar added, interrupting more out of fear than to be rude. "Legends say he used to eat any person who broke his rules or stepped on his land."
"Come on Puar, I know Oolong's foolish but I thought you'd be smart enough to realize that people just talk and half of these legends are just myths to stop kids from running away," Yamcha butted in, trying to put these rumors to an end or else Puar would be wetting the bed.
'Ox King? Where have I heard that name before,' Raditz thought to himself. 'That's gonna irritate me all morning,"
"I'm still feeling a little uneasy about all of this," Oolong added, swallowing a lump of anticipation in his throat. If the legends of the Ox King were actually true, he'd be somebody's porkchop dinner by the end of the night and that wasn't really much of his style. "Yeah, count me out."
"Quit with the coward stuff," Bulma palely commanded the pig, surprising everyone at just how much she sounded like Raditz. "That's the same thing you tried to tell Raditz and I about Yamcha and look where that bridge led. Plus, we have both of them on our side now, what's this Ox King going to do to stop one of Raditz's energy attacks?" She continued to reprimand, slouching forward to hear an answer.
Yamcha began to blush at the mention of his name. It was nice to be given some credit for his fighting, he sure wasn't going to get it from the Saiyan.
"Well maybe we ought to set up camp for the night," Oolong grumbled, rubbing his eyes as he saw just how little his opinion mattered to the group. "We have a big day tomorrow… we wouldn't want our champions too exhausted to fight wouldn't we? Oh, how about me and Puar here make you guys a steak dinner while we're at it," He added with some sassy flair.
Shu and Mai, the two lieutenants of Pilaf's small private army, approached their sinister leader's throne with fear radiating through their skin. They were not ready to experience what they already knew were coming their way, the emperor was a predictable and terrifying boss -that much was true.
They had failed miserably… almost embarrassingly, at each of their attempts to seize ownership of the five Dragon Balls that Raditz and his friends had in possession. Their last attempt, the most foolproof way, had cost them the rest of the resources that they hadn't already ran through. Arming the RV with sticky bombs, that idea had detonated in their faces when in a cruel twist of misfortune, the bombs had both armed themselves and stuck to Shu's hand and almost cost both he and Mai half of their bodies. Outsmarting Raditz was a different story on its own. The boy didn't say much but he sure could control a room without even trying.
"Emperor Pilaf, w-we apologize for all of this," Shu whined as he entered the room, bowing down to the noticeably irritated imp. "The kid's always one step ahead of us, I thought we were taking the elevator and he still was just that one step ahead…"
"No Shu… you're not sorry at all, not yet." Pilaf growled with no emotion but rage in his veins. Clenching his jaw, the gremlin smashed a button on his chair and watched as four pairs of metallic arms descended from the ceiling and grabbed his henchmen's limbs. Not even giving them a chance to figure out what was happening, a dangerous jolt of electricity shot through the arms and into their bodies. "I'm going to make sure that you both feel so… sooo sorry for not getting my Dragon Balls!" He spat out as the two howled out in pain before his eyes, and he never looked away until he pressed the button again a whole minute later.
"Now maggots, I hope that this message comes to your fried brains before I have them turned to jelly," The emperor continued, releasing his partners from the grasp of his security. "I want those Dragon Balls and I'm not going to be happy waiting for much longer. Our cameras say that they're heading towards the last Dragon Ball other than this one here, so we let them get that one and then, since you two can't even catch a cold," He added before smirking. "When they come looking for this one, we use my palace's defenses to trap them and force them to fork over the others or watch as I pick them off, pest by pest…"
"An excellent idea sire," Shu congratulated, jumping in joy through the shrilling pain of his muscles having previously been fried to a crisp. "This world shall be under the great Pilaf Order soon, I can't wait!"
"Yes Shu, soon." The emperor snickered, daydreaming about his wish for absolute reign over the world. He didn't notice Mai's overall boredom and disinterest with him though and just as soon as her muscles allowed her to do so, she rose to her feet and stumbled back to her quarters to sleep the pain away.
Raditz walked outside, his feet grazing the cooled sand as he wandered from the double-decker motorhome. Knowing for certain that the weaklings that were his friends were sound asleep, the Saiyan had decided that it wouldn't hurt anybody if he took a little of the night to get in some training. A crescent sat in the dark sky as moonlight gleamed on the Saiyan's bare chest as he meditated to himself.
The Saiyan warrior did a bit of regulated breathing to ready his muscles for his workout until, before long he was concentrating his inner ki into the open palms of his hands. Less than a complete second later, a barrage of glistening, purple colored energy began to blast from his hands in a torrent of destructive ki. Jetting towards the large boulder of hardened sand that sat on his training grounds, piece by piece was erased from the plane of the horizon as the volley slammed into the structure. A large cloud of dust flooded the entire area, temporarily blinding Raditz but once it died down, the Saiyan knew he wasn't alone. Turning around, he saw Yamcha perched on top of a pile of rocks some distance away. The desert bandit bit into a peach as he watched the display his alien rival was putting on.
"And look at you out here sneaking away to train without me," The bandit laughed with his signature smirk. "Much, much better than when you tried it out on me during our second fight." He added, jokingly of course.
A slight frown appeared on the fighter's face as he was reminded of his past failure in attempting to hit the bandit with a finishing blow via ki blast during their match just a day earlier. Still though, sometimes you had to fail in order to get better at your craft… and Raditz knew that simply as life.
"Last I checked, you didn't even have the ability to bring your ki out except for that wolf attack of yours," Raditz countered, the frown now replaced with a playful smirk of his own. "My whole race learns how to perform the technique before they teach us to walk or fight."
"Man… I still can't get over the fact that you're actually some type of freaking alien…" Yamcha retorted immediately, scratching his chin. "Still, now I can rest knowing I haven't lost to any other regular person at least." He added with an exaggerated sigh of relief… nobody would believe him until they saw the guy's tail!
"Hey, we both know if I was one of you, that asskicking would have just taken twice as long if anything," Raditz responded, turning away from the bandit in hopes of continuing his training.
"Hey wait!" Yamcha cried out, jumping from the stones in the path of Raditz's punches. Catching the fist in his own, the Human began to speak again as Raditz readmired the human's speed -his innate speed was definitely more impressive than his battle power in the Saiyan's eyes. "I see that you've got some ways to perfect that technique, what do you think of teaching me a few pointers on it?" The Earthling added, both having a passion for learning what only the greatest of martial artists could do and also knowing that teaching others was the best way to master something.
"Probably, I'll have to think on it for the night before I give you a definite yes though," Raditz answered, unleashing another barrage of his purple energy blasts onto another, much smaller rock. "But let's stop running our mouths and get in a spar before we call it a night?" He asked, or nicely ordered the Human almost in exchange for his training services.
"You seem a bit winded… but I won't oblige." Yamcha responded, not wasting time as he sunk into his traditional Ōkami stance. "Put 'em up then!"
"So? I'll manage," Raditz replied, dropping into his own Saru fighting stance.
Letting out a battle cry, the Saiyan lunged at his opponent just as the desert bandit shot towards him with uncontained speed. Meeting in the middle, each fighter lashed out with punches and kicks, occasionally bantering with their trash talking in between strikes. This brawl between the martial artists continued until early morning, each fighter more than stubborn enough to fight through the pain and exhaustion that fighting at such speed put on their bodies.
The following morning, the small group of warriors Raditz and Yamcha, and the remainder of their friends continued their quest for the Dragon Balls. They were now approaching Fire Mountain, after driving another hour when Oolong had awakened not long after sunrise. Raditz could feel the temperature rising with each second that passed, causing a bit of sweat to form along the Saiyan's forehead and arms as the AC seemed to be nearly ineffective at keeping not only him, but his friends, any more cool than they'd be without it.
"Man, this temperature's not a freaking joke," Yamcha commented as he wiped sweat from his own forehead as the group came to a sudden stop. Being the first out of the RV, he raised a forearm to block the heat from his eyes. "It's gotta be at least a hundred and twenty degrees, we have to be close to that mountain or we're gonna be sunburnt by nightfall."
"The radar's going nuts," Bulma smiled, taking a shot of water from her canteen as she felt the Dragon Radar in her hands buzz frantically. Following the screen, she looked ahead and said, "The Dragon Ball has to be in that castle somewhere, could you fly and get it, Raditz?"
"Heat and ki don't mix very well, I'd just drain myself out," Raditz exclaimed, drinking some of the bluenette's canteen before he thought of a plan. "You two turn into something useful and try to find a path up to that place that isn't completely covered in flames and report back here." He then demanded Oolong and Puar, the two shapeshifters of the gang. Nodding in approval, the two then morphed into a pair of clumsy looking bats and flew off to complete their given task.
"Who dares trespasses onto my property?" A thunderous voice filled with uncontrolled spite, harshly bellowed from behind the group and deep in someone's chest. "I know that you aren't thinking that I would let you steal my prized treasure!" The voice continued to rage on, this time much louder as its source seemed to be growing closer. Raditz could barely see until it was too late, the gaseous cloud from the flames surrounding them limiting his vision.
Raditz, and his two companions, quickly turned to face the source of the voice. To their surprise, they were facing some sort of giant. Coming face-to-stomach with the behemoth of a man that had to have been the source of the screaming output, each of the three felt an uneasy breeze sweep the area. The man towered several feet over even Yamcha, the tallest of the three, and he had to have been at least three times heavier than the sum of the three of their weight. A menacing helmet adorned the bearded man's face, a pair of goggles built into them to hide the giant's eyes from his guests. A bulky set of body armor sat on his body of fatty muscle and a large battle axe sat menacingly in the man's giant, right hand.
"T-This is the Ox King?" Yamcha gulped, speaking more to himself than aloud. Slowly backing away from the giant, a grimace flooded the man's face. "And here I was thinking that he was just a folktale… Mom's probably rolling in her grave."
"Yes I am the great Ox King," The Ox King's thunderous voice bellowed again, his bone crushing hands clenching the ax as he swung recklessly with each statement he spoke to the group. "Now, state who you are and why you take me for a fool who you can rob blind!" He grumbled through gritted teeth and a barbaric presence.
"I-I'm Bulma… that's Raditz," Bulma began to answer, gulping herself at the sight of the menacing beast of a man before her. He had to weigh a ton at least… he even put the bear thief she and Raditz had run into previously in the same weight class as a teddy bear. "And that one's Y-Y-Yamcha." She stuttered.
"Ahhaaa, so you do admit that you were planning on getting your grimy hands on my stash of gold?" The huge man howled, now even more enraged at the mention of Yamcha. These were his treasures, now… and did they think he was going to sit around and let them have their way with what was his? HA! Try again. "You were, weren't you?" The behemoth cried out, pointing at the desert bandit.
"N-No Mister Ox King, sir," Bulma nervously exclaimed, trying to explain to the easily tempered giant. "W-We're just passing through, honest as Kami!"
"Y-YOU LIARS! I AM NOT AS MUCH OF A FOOL AS YOU BASTARDS MIGHT THINK ME!" The towering pile of fat and muscle continued to rage, more so spraying it than saying it as he tried desperately to interrupt and set blame to someone. His ax shuddered in his grip, asking to be used almost. "THAT IS YAMCHA, THE DIABLO DESERT BANDIT! I'VE SEEN HIS WANTED POSTER IN EVERY TOWN FOR A HUNDRED MILES! YOU TWO MUST BE HIS UNDERLINGS, OF COURSE THE MOST NOTORIOUS THIEF ON THIS SIDE OF THE EARTH IS IN CAHOOTS WITH A FEW OTHER TEENAGERS!"
"Hey doofus, we're not trying to take that dumb treasure of yours," Raditz retorted, bravely taking a step in front of Bulma and towards the Ox King. "And never call me Yamcha's underling." The Saiyan harshly snapped as he lowered into a stance of his own. He was already agitated by all of the yelling, but who knew, if this Ox King fellow played his cards right… maybe he'd escape this whole thing without more than a busted nose courtesy of Raditz.
"First you trespass and now you dare insult me?" The bellowing voice howled on, flushed with rashness and unblamed anger. Suddenly, the monster of a man swung his battle ax at where the young Saiyan stood. He had moved way faster than his size would give the impression of, but the alien warrior that was Raditz had easily managed to dodge what would have been a fatal blow without much effort.
"I've had enough," Yamcha exclaimed, stepping forward to help take on the husky giant as soon as he'd pushed forward offensively. "Let's do this thing, Raditz!" The bandit added, dropping into a battle stance behind the behemoth.
"A true Saiyan fights alone," Raditz said, moving effortlessly out of the way of another axe swing. Reading his foe's power level, he was impressed to see that the Ox King boasted a power level of 63, almost rivaling his and surpassing the human. "I'll leave you the leftovers but you'll just get in my way." The Saiyan finished, his eyes locked onto the ten foot tall man before him.
The Ox King took a giant foot forward, stepping directly in front of Raditz as he decided to once again try the Saiyan's reflexes with a swing of the iron axe in his hold. Just as before, this swing came much slower to Raditz and he only had to lean back to avoid being decapitated. Then, finding an opening, the martial artist propelled his fist precisely into the larger man's abdomen. Despite placing a good amount of his strength into the blow, the behemoth was left mostly unfazed by the blow. While he had been expecting to at least double over the giant, this Ox King guy had completely shrugged off a mean jab to the gut without doing so much as to flinch.
"Ha, that actually tickled my bones! You're a funny and chippy one, but I still can't allow you to have my treasures!" The Ox King cried out again, hurling the tomahawk across the battlefield at the Saiyan. Luckily it had only been a close call as the Saiyan narrowly dodged the projectile, coming away with a few loose threads of black hair littering the floor around him.
"What the hell part of this don't you get, you buffoon?" Raditz brutally scolded the Ox King in confusion, dodging another melee strike the man's large fist launched his way. "We don't give a rat's ass about any of this but our radar says you have something of ours. We were only trying to find that and we'd be on our way." He barked irritably, now officially ticked off with the constant screaming match… so maybe he should become a part of it then.
While usually, the extraordinary amount of pride that coursed through his Saiyan veins never allowed the young fighter to back down from a fight as promising as this one, he knew that the Ox King was far more of a formidable foe than his anger fits gave off. He had actually shaken off a head-on blow as if it was nothing, not many people that Raditz fought could say that. Plus, Raditz now understood that the group had a job to get done and the quicker they managed to secure this Dragon Ball and just one more, the quicker he would be able to begin his training back with the legendary turtle hermit.
The Ox King grumbled just as Raditz did upon realization that he no longer had to fight. So, they actually weren't after his treasures? Backing down from his Osuushi fighting stance, the large monarch spoke with a much friendlier tone now.
"Lately, these flames have been burning much more intensely than usual," The Ox King began, explaining to the group in an almost aloof tone compared to during his anger fit. "Here's my proposition: find a way to douse these flames so that my daughter and I can finally get into our home, and I'll allow you to search my palace for this Dragon Ball that you seek." He bargained with the warrior.
"I don't see why not?" Raditz responded, nodding his head as a sign of agreement to the Ox King's conditions. "Anything comes to mind on how we can get rid of these flames?"
"As far as I'm aware, the Bansho Fan is the only thing that could have the windpower needed to put out all of the flames on this mountain," The beastly man replied. "It belongs to my old teacher, Master Roshi… do you think you could go find him?"
"So the old man trained you too? You should know Gohan then?" Raditz retorted, causing an astonished expression to come upon the Ox King's face in the form of a cheesy grin.
"Hehe, yeah I know Gohan!" The bearded giant chuckled, thinking of his old running mate and training partner. "The two of us go way back! He was always the better student of the two of us, but Master Roshi definitely liked me more," He continued, chuckling in nostalgia.
"So the old man should have this Bansho fan?" Raditz began, turning back to the west, the general direction he remembered the island of Roshi's being in. That was simple, he'd fly there and back before anyone even knew what happened. "Anything else that'll stand in the way of us and our dragon ball?"
"Ah yes, he should have it amongst his many artifacts!" The Ox King continued as he rumbled through his pocket. Showing a picture of a young, raven haired girl dressed in a bikini, the towering giant added. "I sent my only daughter Chi Chi out to find my dear master and she hasn't returned yet. Could you find and bring her home safely? I promise you can have that Dragon Ball then!"
"That's not a problem," Bulma butted in, turning to face the two male fighters of her group. "Yamcha, you go find the Ox King's daughter and Raditz can go get this fan from the turtle hermit's island."
And with that, both Raditz and Yamcha began their separate quests. Raditz started off flying but knew that he wouldn't be able to sustain this all day so he knew that the journey ahead was definitely going to be a long one. After nearly a day and then some had passed by since departing from Fire Mountain, the Saiyan's eyes finally happened to catch sight of his destination. Having raced through the desert and thick wilderness at superhuman speeds, the Saiyan had stopped only to eat and sleep for short bursts. Once his feet planted on the ground of the small island, Raditz regained his breath as he approached the home, finding the old master already awaiting him outside on a beach chair.
"Hello Raditz… I see you have finally arrived." Master Roshi began, bowing to the tailed martial artist before him. "The Ox King informed me of your departure and journey to my island. Tell me… what brings you here?"
"Old man… I ran here at my fastest, stopping only so that I could eat, sleep, and relieve myself." Raditz replied, not wanting to talk much. "I'm just searching for the Bansho Fan… which I was informed that you would have lying around this home of yours."
The Turtle Hermit walked back into the pink, wooden home in which he resided. After a few minutes of ravaging through the home, searching for said item, the old man finally walked back outside with his hands completely empty. "Well, it seems that I have somehow misplaced the Bansho Fan," The old man said with a slight sigh.
"What do you plan on doing now?" The Saiyan questioned the aging warrior.
"The only option is for me to journey to Fire Mountain myself." Master Roshi stated as he looked at the deep, blue ocean that complimented his home nicely. "It may appear that I will have to take this flame out with my own power."
'What the heck are you planning Roshi?' Raditz thought to himself as he watched the Turtle Hermit prance back and forth between the coastline and his own home.
"Alright, hop onto my back Roshi… we're going to have to travel back on foot." The Saiyan instructed the fighting instructor, with the Turtle Hermit taking no time at all to climb onto the back of the spiky-haired warrior that happened to be Raditz.
Nearly four days came and went since Raditz's departure from Fire Mountain to seek out Master Roshi's island and retrieve the Bansho Fan. Yamcha had returned with the Ox King's daughter, Chi Chi, within the span of two or three hours, and the girl seemed to have caught a childhood romantic feeling about the desert dwelling bandit, much to his own dismay. Yamcha, Bulma, Puar, and Oolong each minded their own personal businesses over the span of time that Raditz had been gone, all of them camping out in Oolong's double-decker motorhome as they patiently awaited the return of their Saiyan companion.
On the fourth day, the group stood awaiting the Saiyan once again, something they had adopted as a daily ritual once the warrior had raced off to the island of the Turtle Hermit. At about midday the group looked over to see what seemed to be a tall figure, which seemed to be closing the large amount of distance between itself and the group at an extraordinary pace. After another short moment, Raditz arrived in front of his companions, the Turtle Hermit residing on his back, having enjoyed the journey back. Immediately upon arriving back to the mountain, the young Saiyan pushed the martial arts master off of his muscular, sweating back before he began panting from near exhaustion.
"I'm back," The warrior managed to say between gasps before he looked over at the non-winded Turtle Hermit to his side. "He somehow managed to misplace the Bansho Fan so he told me that he had a way to put out the flame himself, so I decided to bring him along." The Saiyan finished, clearing up any unclear questions that his companions would have.
"You do realize that you just covered hundreds, if not thousands, of miles in less than four days… while on foot?" Bulma confirmed, dazzled by the display of speed that the Saiyan was putting on.
"Well, if I hadn't had to rest or stop for lunch breaks, I could have reduced the time down to about two… three days." Raditz told the group, somewhat boasting over his amazing speed. "Actually, when you're raised in the wilderness like I was, running long distances isn't much of a big deal. To be honest, you guys have been slowing me down this entire trip." The Saiyan admitted.
"Master," The Ox King greeted, running up to the fragile Earthling that was his former mentor and master. "I'm so happy to see you!"
"Don't you dare try to bring that innocent attitude to me!" Roshi snapped in a harsh tone towards his former student, the vicious Ox King. "What's all this that I hear about you killing dozens of people just over a bit of treasure? You know I taught you and Gohan better than that!"
"I apologize Master…" The Ox King sighed, scratching the back of his head with his overgrown hands. "If you put out the flames around my home, I promise that I will begin doing better! No more killing… I swear."
"Very well then Ox King… I'll put this flame out." Roshi stated as he took off his top, throwing the orange shirt that wore to the ground along with the purple turtle shell that was always present upon his back. The somewhat scrawny warrior then turned to face the raging wave of flames upon the nearby mountain, a look of determination revealing itself upon his wrinkled face. Although the old Human was incredibly scrawny with only a bit of muscle upon his fragile bones, Raditz knew that this happened to be the most powerful man on the face of the planet.
"What is he doing?" Bulma whispered just low enough for the group to hear.
"I can't believe it! Master's going to perform his Kamehameha Wave!" Ox King answered, squealing in joy as he saw his former master concentrate, calmly exhaling. "It's an extremely hard move to learn and master. Neither Gohan or I ever had the chance to master it… much too advanced."
The attention turned back towards the small, skinny martial arts master, who was now readying himself to perform the mysterious technique that the Ox King knew as the Kamehameha Wave. Upon seeing the Human position himself in the stance of the attack, Raditz began to remember glimpses of the Turtle Hermit unleashing the attack on him during their first and only spar and how easily it had finished him off during the fight. Now, if this energy attack was powerful enough to put out the eternal flames covering the Ox King's Mountain, Raditz would surely be interested in learning it from the bearded master.
As Roshi continued concentrating his inner energy towards his cupped hands, his scrawny build suddenly began to bulk up, his muscles popping out and becoming much more beefier than even the Ox King's framework. With his power beginning to reveal itself, the master began to chant, "KA… ME… HA… ME…"
Raditz glanced in astonishment as the blue sphere of energy condensed into the blast of ki in the master's cupped hands, growing much larger by the second. This time around, the blast seemed many times stronger than when he had been struck by it during his first encounter with the Turtle Hermit, with a lot more energy placed into the blast. The move seemed to be a much more advanced, more powerful version of the basic ki blasts that he was accustomed to firing at his opponents. The scouter hoisting upon the Saiyan's wildly beeped as it continually picked up the amount of power that the old man was generating into his energy beam, reading as the master's power level continually rose.
"220… 230… 240," Raditz exclaimed, his eyes widening in amazement at the increase in power that his future master was displaying.
"HA!" The Turtle Hermit suddenly screamed, thrusting his cupped hands forward to fire the large beam of blue energy at the eternal flames that dared to stand in the path of the blast. Following the chant, a tremendously large and destructive explosion echoed throughout the land with a devastatingly massive cloud of dust flooding the area. Once the dust cloud settled down, not only were the eternal fires finally extinguished, but the entire mountain had been removed from the face of the Earth, with the Ox King's castle now in complete ruins.
"Whoops… I guess I overdid it just a bit," Roshi giggled, scratching his shaved head as he stared at the demolished ruins of Fire Mountain. "I guess I'm not as rusty as I would have thought."
"Whoa… that was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen before in my life!" Yamcha commented, praising the power of the Kamehameha Wave.
"I wonder if I can do that," Raditz silently said to himself.
"Hold it right there kid," Roshi began, having heard of the boy's intentions. "I know that you're a quick learner and all, but it took me years to learn that attack and almost another fifty or sixty to completely master it after I invented it."
"I don't care old man," Raditz said, ignoring the man's words. The Saiyan then took the same stance that he had witnessed Roshi in just moments later, cupping his hands to his side.
Raditz began to focus on his inner ki, concentrating as hard as he could to bring the energy out. "KA… ME… HA… ME..." The long-haired warrior chanted, following the hand movements that he had seen the Turtle Hermit perform, continuing to add some energy into his beam. "HA!" The martial artist shouted, launching his own Kamehameha Wave throughout the nearby ocean. Though his own beam was much smaller than the mastered wave of energy that Roshi had unleashed onto Fire Mountain a few minutes earlier, it still contained an impressive amount of power invested in it.
"Very impressive Raditz," Roshi smiled, attempting to hold back the astonished look on his face that came once the smaller Kamehameha Wave had been launched. The old master couldn't help but wonder just exactly how strong the long-haired boy could become… especially seeing as he had just performed a move that had taken its creator years to perform in a mere two seconds. "You have tons of potential… and I can definitely see you becoming one of the planet's greatest warriors someday.
"Thank you, and I'll soon be ready to learn from you… very soon." Raditz responded, bowing to the master in a way of gratitude.
"And I shall be ready to train you." Roshi agreed before he looked towards the sky. "Now to get back to my island… MAGIC CARPET PLEASE COME FORTH!"
Although the Ox King's castle had been completely obliterated by Roshi's Kamehameha Wave, Bulma still managed to savage the ruins of the home to find and obtain the sixth Dragon Ball, the Seven-Star Ball. Now the only Dragon Ball that was left for the group to find and collect was the original, One-Star Ball. Rejoiced and ready for the conclusion to their journey, the group of five carried on with a newfound grit. They would soon be seeing just what this Eternal Dragon was like!
Power Levels
Raditz: 84
99 (using the Kamehameha)
Oolong: 6
Bulma: 4
Yamcha: 27
Puar: 5
Ox King: 60
Master Roshi: 139 (Base)
240 (Max Power Kamehameha)