So here's the new chapter guys, I took out the April Fools chapter since it was just a one time thing. But I guess if you really liked it I could include it as an omake at the end of the chapter or something...

Anyway, time to answer some questions:

Will Goku face off against Vegeta someday?

Of course he will. Their rivalry is something I don't dare to touch.

What vegetable is Mara's name supposed to be a pun of?

To be completely honest, I just went to google and typed list of vegetables. The first one I noticed on the list was Amaranth, so I decided to take part of it and make it a name.

So that's that. Thanks a lot for reviewing, it really helps me push through and write.

Dragon Ball Kai

Chapter 9

Temple Showdown

Things had changed over the two weeks since Goku fought Nappa and Raditz.

His training, though very challenging, was beginning to get a lot more intense. While he only had to train with weighted wristbands and boots before, now he had added weight on most of his body. Kami had given him a red uniform that looked identical to his old one but had the ability to adjust it's weight. He didn't know the specifics of how it worked, but he'd been taught how to add or remove weight.

His mom still came to visit constantly to teach him all sorts of things and even help give advice on his training under Kami. Recently, as a way to prepare for the fight with his father, Gine had begun to teach him the fighting style that she and Bardock used. It was a lot different than what he was used to since it was an all-out offensive style but his mom explained that it would help him read Bardock better when the time came.

So like always, Goku's days revolved around training and some studies, something that he didn't look forward to at all. Mr. Popo was told to teach him basic things but he loathed every second of sitting there while reading over boring things. Kami had told him that it was a good way for him to rest between his training sessions. He was like Master Roshi in this particular case, in that he believed that rest was just as important as the actual training, as such he gave him a couple of days off per week.

Today, like the other days he had off, Goku sat at the edge of the lookout, kicking his feet with a smile on his face. Around a week ago he had gotten a very unexpected visitor. Their conversation was short and to the point but they both agreed to spar.

Speaking of which, he could feel someone coming from below and sure enough there she was.

"Ready?" Mara asked with her arms crossed as soon as she landed beside him. Before he could answer, she tapped on the floor curiously and looked around the place, "Hmm... I still can't get over how strange this place is. There doesn't appear to be any type of technology keeping this thing afloat..."

"Mom said the same thing," Goku laughed and got up quickly, "Let's go find a place to spar in."

Mara grinned slightly and pushed a couple of buttons on her scouter, making her furrow her brow in confusion, "Why are you so weak right now?"

"Hm?"

"The scouter is giving me a totally different power level than before. You're not suppressing your ki are you?"

"Ah..." Goku finally understood what she meant. "It's probably because my clothes weight a lot more than I'm used to." When seeing the disbelief on her face, he decided to demonstrate by taking off an arm band and letting it drop on the floor, causing a loud impact that left a small crater on the tiled floor. "See," he said as he put the band back on, "It takes a while to get used to, but it's good for training."

Mara nodded, "That seems useful... Find me a set of those weighted garments as well."

"Gar-mints? Like a food?"

"Clothes," she deadpanned.

"Oh, why didn't you say so?" Goku chuckled, "Do you want them right now?"

"Right now," she answered with her hands on her hips. "I'm not about to fight you under such unbalanced circumstances. Find me some weighted clothes so that neither of us has an advantage."

Goku cocked his head to the side, not catching some of her words, but shrugged regardless, "Sure, let's go ask Kami to get you some."


Mara had to admit that people of Earth were very crafty and interesting.

The old Namek had used some strange technique to make an exact replica of her Saiyan armor but with the ability to change its weight. While those in Planet Vegeta had been enamored with the discovery of powerful technology, it didn't come anywhere close to this level of simpleness.

"You ready?"

She heard Goku ask. They were both in the middle of a clearing near Korin's Tower (whoever that was).

"I'm ready. Come at me."

The boy hesitated and rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish smile, "Are you sure?"

"Of course!"

"Uh..." The more Goku looked at Mara the more he knew that she was in no position to fight. Not only was she not in a ready stance but her whole body was shaking under the weight of the clothes. She could barely move!

He crossed his arms and grinned, "Let's wait for you to get used to the weight first."


"It seems that you were correct sire, King Piccolo has been killed."

"I see," a smirk formed under the hood of a small figure standing on a mountain with a view of Korin's Tower in the distance.

His seven followers stood behind him while also sporting clothes that kept their features hidden.

"There is a large probability that Kami is dead now..." The eyes of the small figure narrowed as he thought of what to do. "We will pay a visit to Kami's Lookout. Dead or alive, we should find something interesting there."

The others chuckled darkly as their leader led them up the sky.


"Good, you're getting better," Goku praised, though he was mostly glad that Mara was beginning to put up a good fight. It took a few moments and tries but she got the hang of it really quickly, now an hour into their spar she was picking up speed.

"I don't need your praise," she grunted as she threw a punch but the boy caught it on his fist before he grabbed her arm with the intention to fling her over his shoulder. Not about to let him do that, she bent her body as he held her in the air, and managed to land a kick on the back of his head.

Surprised, Goku staggered forward while holding his head in pain and just barely managed to jump to the side in order to avoid being kicked on the back. Mara skidded to a stop from the momentum of her kick, and pushed off the ground to fly at him. The boy grinned as he ducked under her incoming punch and grabbed her outstretched arm with his tail.

Mara let out a startled yelp as she was pulled downwards and crashed on the ground.

"Gotcha," Goku laughed with a toothy grin.

"We're not done yet," Mara said with a click of her tongue as she dusted off her armor and put on a fighting stance, "This has just begun."

The two Saiyans faced each other with eagerness in their eyes but Goku suddenly looked upwards with a serious look on his face.

"Is there something wrong?" She asked. It was more than obvious now that he had the ability to sense power levels just as accurately as any scouter. An ability like that could be useful...

"There's several strong people heading straight for Kami... They don't feel friendly," he muttered the last part to himself with a frown, "Sorry Mara, but I have to go see what's going on."

She scoffed and crossed her arms, "I might as well go too. Who knows? Maybe I'll find a decent fight up there."

Goku smiled at her and nodded, "Let's go, but we should stop for some Senzu Beans on the way. Just in case."

"Senzu Beans?"

"No time to explain, I'll tell you later."

With that the two took off to the sky.


Mr. Popo hummed to himself with a smile as he watered the plans on Kami's Lookout. With Goku having a day off, things were a lot more peaceful, not that he minded the boy living with them.

Finished with the watering for now, he reaches for a pair of clippers but stopped when he heard several feet touch down behind him. Expecting Goku with some friends, he turned and was surprised to see several hooded figures standing there with smirks on their faces.

"I take it your Kami's aid," the smallest of the hooded figures said in an amused stone as he stepped forwards confidently, "Tell me, is he dead?"

"Who are you?" Mr. Popo asked in a clam matter.

The leader smirked, "No matter. I will go see for myself. Nicky. Salt."

Two of the hooded figured stepped forward with smirks on their faces.

"Take care of him."

Both chuckled as they took off their hoods.

Mr. Popo watched as the supposed leader strutted towards the temple with his followers and charged in towards him, fully intent on stopping the threat before it could reach Kami. However, he was forced to flip in the air and put up both of his arms to block a kick from one of the two that were staying behind to fight him.

"You're fights with us," Nicky chuckled as Mr. Popo skidded to a stop from the force of behind the kick.

"You won't survive," Salt laughed.

Knowing that he could not stop the leader until he dealt with his followers, Mr. Popo put up a fighting stance and prepared to fight.


Kami sat on his chair as he watched the hooded figures step into his chambers.

"So you really are alive," the leader said in amusement, "Good. This way I can kill you myself."

"Who are you?"

"You don't know?" He pulled back his hood, revealing a familiar face. "I have come because I heard your other half died. Tell me, how is it that you are still alive—no—that doesn't matter. You're about to die after all."

Kami stood up, "Garlic Jr."

Garlic Jr. smirked, "Precisely. Now prepare to die."


"Dammit! What the hell is this guy!?" Yelled Nicky as he pushed himself off the floor to glare at the blank faced Mr. Popo.

Salt also had similar sentiments as the strange man was proving to be very difficult to kill. It was like he could glance at the future and evade all of their attacks. "We'll attack together this time," he said before charging in.

Joining the attack, Nicky punched at Mr. Popo while Salt tried to sweep his legs from under him. The strange man was quick to jump and put up both of his arms to block the punch, however, this was what Salt was counting on as he threw an uppercut. Kami's aid saw through this though and brought up his knee to block the attack before pointing the palm of his hand at him and releasing a Ki Canon that sent him flying back.

Nicky cursed at what he was seeing and then fired a large ki blast at the enemy. Despite his appearance, Mr. Popo easily evaded the attack by jumping over it but was blindsided as another blast exploded against his back.

"Since Lord Garlic Jr. is fighting and doesn't want any of us to interfere, I decided to see what was taking you guys so long," said Ginger with a smirk as he retracted his right hand into his dark red cloak.

Mr. Popo breathed heavily as he stood up to face three opponents, but just when things were beginning to look grim for him, a shining glimmer of light came in the form of Goku and the Saiyan girl he had gone to spar with, as they touched down on the floor.

"Mr. Popo, what's happening?" Goku asked when seeing the strange man and Mr. Popo looking somewhat injured.

"Who is this brat?" Salt sneered.

Nicky smirked, "It doesn't matter. Anyone foolish enough to stand against us deserves to die."

"They're bad guys," Goku decided with a frown as he put on a fighting stance. "Go back to wherever you came from. If you do then I'll let you go."

Ginger, Nicky, and Salt laughed at the words of the boy.

"You talk big brat," Ginger said in amusement.

Goku narrowed his eyes and disappeared from view. Much to the shock of Garlic Jr.'s followers who could do nothing as Goku reappeared in front of Salt and elbowed him on the stomach.

"I-Impossible..." Nicky gaped as he watched Salt fall on the floor unconscious.

The boy then met the eyes of the two left, "I'll tell you again. Leave this place or I won't hold back."

Mara fought the urge to scuff at Goku. She had seen his movements and knew that he hadn't tried to kill the fool he elbowed even though he could have done it easily. Everyday life was one thing, but to show this amount of compassion during a fight was beyond ludicrous to her.

"You'll pay for that brat!" Nicky roared in rage as he tried to punch the boy, but he easily caught the strike and then pulled him over his shoulder to slam him on the ground and knock him out.

"I see you're not all talk," Ginger stated, not feeling too intimidated by the boy. Producing a couple of scimitars from his hood, he charged in at the boy, "Show me how strong you are!"

Goku ducked and weaved the slashes with the intent to cut him in half. From the sidelines, Mara felt impressed at what she was seeing. Bardock's son was light on his feet despite the monstrous weight on his clothes and had good reflexes to the point where it looked like he could read his opponents mind. He was doing the thing he did against her, she noticed, predicting each strike with deadly accuracy.

The boy finally leaned out of the way of one of the swipes and retaliated with a powerful Ki Canon that sent the enemy flying through the air before finally crashing against one of the walls of the temple.

"It's not over yet," Mr. Popo warned as four more enemies emerged from the temple.

Their leader, Spice, frowned when seeing the unconscious bodies on the floor and the three people still standing.

"Who are you two?" He asked, referring to Goku and Mara.

The boy stepped forward but was stopped by Mara, who halted him by grabbing his shoulder and walking forward with a smirk.

"You already had your fun, it's my turn," she said before cracking her knuckles.

"Feeling strong girly?" Said the biggest of the group, Vinegar.

The Saiyan smirked at that, "That's adorable, you actually think you're strong."

Goku cocked his head to the side at what he was seeing. Was this how she acted around enemies? She sorta reminded him of how that Raditz and that Nappa guy had acted.

"I don't know what planet you're from," she began with a grin before dropping into her fighting stance, "But I'll show you the difference between our power."


Garlic Jr. laughed as he fired a barrage of ki blasts that Kami was forced to dodged by jumping from side to side. As the guardian of Earth was in mid-air, he fired twin beams of ki from his eyes, causing Garlic Jr. to cease his attack and dodge by running at a fast speed across the spacious room of the temple.

The small demon smirked as he continued to run before jumping towards Kami and headbutting him on the chest. Not done, he prepared a ki blast on his right hand and put it on the Namek's stomach. The ki attack pushed Kami across the room until it finally exploded once he crashed on the wall.

"There is no chance for you to win," Garlic Jr. said with a laugh as he approached Kami, who was helplessly standing against the wall, and let loose a flurry of punches on the helpless guardian of Earth.

Just then, as he was getting ready to deliver the final blow, one of his servants suddenly crashed into the room, following shortly after by three others.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

"Too strong..." muttered Sansho as he and the others shakily got on their feet.

Garlic Jr. narrowed his eyes just as a human girl stepped into the room through the hole on the wall.

"Where's that cockiness from earlier?" Mara asked with an amused smile.

The evil dwarf glared at the girl, "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter," she answered as she was joined by Kami's servant and a boy with spiky black hair. "You're about to die, no point in you knowing, am I right?"

Garlic Jr. frowned but suddenly broke into a smirk. "I'm afraid my servants will prove more than a match for you."

"Huh? I just beat these four idiots, how could they be a match for me?" Asked Mara with a cocky grin.

"You fool!" Garlic Jr. laughed as he pointed a hand at the ceiling. He then fired a ki blast at it, creating a large hole that gave them a clear view of the sky up above. "You might not be aware but every five-thousand years my home world, the source of my power, gets close to Earth."

Goku and Mara noticed a tiny red speck on the sky as the demon continued to laugh.

"The closer it gets, the more powerful we become," as he said that, ki flared around him and his body began to convulse, as did those of the others.

To Mara, this was very familiar, comparable to how her kind was able to transform under the full moon.

"Don't even hope that you can stall long enough for the planet to be gone, it takes it at least a century before it passes Earth!"

The tiny form of the evil demon began to expand until he was standing over all of them in a big muscular form that radiated power. Both Goku and Mara could feel the difference in their powers and knew they were in deep trouble, but to make matters worse, Garlic Jr.'s servants began to grow in size as well, radiating the same kind of power.

"Mara," Goku called to her with a frown on his face, "Let's fight them with all our power."

Mara smirked and, as instructed by Kami when he gave her the clothes, pressed a hand to her right shoulder and pushed ki into it so that the added weight would disappear. "Now you're talking," she said as the weight pushing down on her body disappeared, leaving her feeling as light as a feather.

Goku did the same as well, pressing a hand to his chest and making the clothes go back to normal. "You're not the only ones that can get stronger," the boy said as he disappeared from sight.

Garlic Jr. smirked as he punched to his right, catching Goku square on the face and sending him crashing against the room's walls. Mara frowned at that and charged in at the large demon only for him to dash towards her and kick her on the chest, sending her flipping through the air. The Saiyan Princess managed to regain her balance and stop herself on the air but was then struck by a pair of kicks, courtesy of Garlic Jr.'s followers, that sent her crashing on the ground.

At the same time, Mr. Popo was forced on the defensive as Mustard and Vinegar attacked him at the same time with a flurry of punches and kicks. It didn't take long for the two to break through his defenses and send him crashing out of the room.

"That was too easy," Garlic Jr. smirked as he moved over to Kami once again but was stopped by a ki blast exploding on his back. "Huh?" Unaffected, he turned in the direction of the blast to see the boy glaring at him with his right hand outstretched.

"We'll kill him sire," said Spice as he and the other four transformed henchman, faced the boy.

Goku grinned and placed hinds hands at the side of his eyes, "Solar Flare!"

A blinding flash suddenly engulfed the area, making Garlic Jr. and his followers cry out in pain while shielding their eyes.

"Dammit! I'm blind! I'm blind!" Cried Sansho as he staggered backwards.

"Kill the brat!" Garlic Jr. roared.

Not wasting any of the time he had just gained, Goku stretched out his hands and looked at Mara, who caught the silent message with a smirk. She quickly moved to his side and stretched out her hands again before the two of them formed twin balls of ki that resonated with power.

The two knew that no normal attack could take down the transformed enemies, so they tried to put all they had into the attacks for as long as the enemies were blinded. It didn't take long for Garlic Jr. to regain his sight, and what he saw made him freeze.

"Now!" Goku and Mara exclaimed as the two attacks shot out of their hands and merged together into a powerful beam of ki that tore through the air.

"Dammit!" Garlic Jr. screamed as he and his henchman were caught in a powerful explosion.

Debris from the explosion and a massive hole on the temple's wall filled the area as Goku and Mara panted in exhaustion.

"That was dangerous," Kami's weak voice scolded while being supported by Mr. Popo, who had gone to move him away from the blast though they didn't manage to make it out unscathed.

Goku chuckled weakly but froze, as did Kami and Mr. Popo, when they felt an evil ki from within the cloud of debris.

"You insolent runt!" Garlic Jr. roared in fury as he emerged from the explosion with various wounds and charred marks over his body.

Without warning he shot forward and kneed Goku on the face before spinning in place and backhanding Mara with such force that she swore she blacked out for a moment. The demon then grabbed a staggering Goku and lifted him off the floor by the hair.

"I'm going to make you pay for hurting me!" He growled as he began to punch the boy on the face over and over with every intention of beating him to death. However, before he could get far, Kami and Mr. Popo joined forced to push him away and free Goku from his grasp.

The boy fell on the floor as Kami and Mr. Popo fought Garlic Jr. As that was going on, he reached into the pouch tied to his belt and took out a Senzu Bean. He popped it into his mouth and quickly chewed when he felt the fading ki signature outside. The healing couldn't come fast enough as he rushed outside as soon as his body allowed him to move.

He easily spotted Mara laying on the floor, half-conscious with a trail of blood coming out of her mouth. "Eat this, it'll make you feel better," he said as he placed the Senzu Bean on her mouth.

She seemed a bit hesitant at first but finally chewed and swallowed. The effect was almost instant, so much so that she couldn't help but sit up with a look of disbelief as he touched her face and neck, finding nothing wrong with them. Not only that, but she felt a lot stronger than before, probably the Zenkai kicking in.

"W-What was that?"

"It's a Senzu Bean but I'll tell you more about it later," Goku assured. He then turned towards the temple with a serious look on his face, "We have something to take care of."

Mara understood and smirked, "I'll pay the bastard back for hurting me like that."

With that the two shot towards the temple where they found Garlic Jr. overpowering Kami and Mr. Popo. So focused on fighting them, he didn't see a foot coming towards him until it was too late and it connected with the side of his face. The demon was sent flying and before he could gather himself, Mara appeared behind him to smack him down with both hands.

"W-Who..?" Garlic Jr. let out as he slowly got back on his feet to see the two brats that he had almost killed mere moments ago fully healed. "Impossible!"

"Looks like your first time meeting a Saiyan will also be your last," Mara smirked as she shot forward with a speed she did not have before and landed a ferocious kick to Garlic Jr.'s abdomen. As soon as her two feet touched the ground, she was on the offensive, letting loose a barrage of strikes that the demon could not defend himself against. Finally, she finished the attack by ducking over him and using a ki blast to send him high in the air to where Goku was waiting.

"N-No! Dammit! NOOOO!" Garlic Jr. seethed when he saw the boy had prepared an attack.

"Kamehameha!"

The blue beam of ki shot out of Goku's hands and blasted the demon into tiny pieces.

Kami watched the scene from below and didn't know whether he should feel relieved or concern. Not for Goku, he trusted his student with his life, but of the girl Saiyan. She had grown much stronger than she was just minutes ago. He could tell the same happened with Goku and that's when a thought hit him. Could it be that those of Goku's race grew stronger after being healed from major injuries?

"I feel stronger now!" Goku smiled as he landed on the lookout to join Mara, who placed her hands on her hips with a grin.

"Of course you did. Didn't you know that we Saiyans grow stronger after healing from injuries?"

Goku nodded in amazement, "Wow. No wonder you guys are so strong. I bet you fought a lot of people before coming here, huh?"

"Warriors from several planets," she answered with a hint of pride. If there was one thing she was proud of it was her victories across space. Though she came nowhere close to her older brother when it came to victories or lust for battle, she still had her Saiyan pride. "All with their own strange techniques."

Seeing the wonder in Goku's eyes, she continued.

"But I have to give this planet credit, they have some of the strangest techniques I've ever seen. Speaking of which, what was that thing—Senzu Bean—you called it."

"It's a food that heals any injury in seconds and can fill you up for a whole week," Goku explained, though he didn't fully believed that Senzu Beans could actually keep him from being hungry.

Mara nodded with an impressed expression. Senzu Beans were ideal for Saiyans, their healing properties could be exploited in order to get stronger much faster. But there had to be some kind of catch, something so incredible had to have a downside.

"Are there any side-effects?"

The boy cocked his head to the side, something he did whenever he didn't understand something.

She sighed but explained, "Is there a downside to these Senzu Beans?"

"Oh," he smiled before putting on a thoughtful face, "Downside... Well, all I can think of is that they take a while to grow and when they do, it's only a couple. The reason I've been getting Senzu Beans so easily is because they were rarely used before."

So that's what it was, they took a while to grow. Well, she supposed she would keep their existence a secret from the others. Who knows what someone like Nappa would do with the information?

"Well," she began as she pressed on her right shoulder to add weight to the clothes until they were heavy enough for her to have trouble standing. "Even though we just fought, I feel great. What do you say, should we spar?"

Goku grinned and added weight to his clothes. With a grimace, he stepped toward and put on a fighting stance, "Let's do it."

Kami smiled slightly as he watched the two spar. It seemed they were okay for now, and with Goku getting stronger things didn't look so grim. But that's enough worrying about the two, for now he had to put his temple back together and think about what to do with the two unconscious Garlic Jr. followers on the lookout.


Down below at a small village at the foot of a mountain, an elderly man smiled as he and his adopted son walked back home after picking up some fresh water from the nearby river that flowed down the mountain. His old bones were thankful to his son for carrying the gallons of water on his back without problem.

His adopted son was special to say the least even though he had been very violent and unruly when they first took him home.

First of all he did not eat. That had been a hassle to figure out as they thought he was horribly sick whenever he vomited after eating something. As it turned out the only thing he needed to consume was water, which was plentiful in their village.

Secondly, his boy had grown at an insane amount of time. Only a couple of months ago he was a newborn baby, but now he could not only walk and talk but he was as tall as the average four-year-old.

Finally Piccolo—the name he'd given them after a week when they didn't know what to call him—had hatched from a large egg that they at first thought came from a dinosaur.

But despite these strange quirks, he and his wife loved him like a son.

The man was brought out of his thoughts when a green hand pulled him away from a large rock that would surely make him trip.

"Watch out Pop," Piccolo said. At his old age, a simple fall could really hurt him. Seriously, why did he have his head on the clouds so often?

"Sorry. Sorry," the old man chuckled with a fond smile, "Thank you son."


Power Levels:

Goku – 4,000

Full Power – 17,000

Beaten – 100

Zenkai – 19,000

Mara – 2,000

Full Power – 17,400

Beaten – 2

Zenkai – 20,000

Joint Attack – 18,000

Mr. Popo – 12,000

Kami – 15,000

Garlic Jr. – 15,500

Transformed – 18,500

Ginger – 14,000

Transformed – 17,000

Sansho – 13,500

Transformed – 16,500

Mustard – 14,000

Transformed – 17,000

Vinegar – 14,000

Transformed – 17,000

Spice – 14,500

Transformed – 17,500

Nicky – 13,000

Salt – 12,000

Piccolo – 500