Gohan raced towards the hills of North City as a newly transformed Super Saiyan. "Hang on Piccolo! I'm coming!"
Back on the battlefield, Piccolo was lying on his back, coughing up spurts of blood from his mouth.
Frieza chuckled, as he walked towards the nearly dead Namekian. With a malevolent grin, he inched down and picked the large warrior up by what was left of his gi. "In a moment you'll wish you had taken my offer."
"Oh no you don't!" shouted Gohan, as he blind-sighted Frieza with a swift kick to the head. The force of the sneak attack sent the tyrant crashing down into the city.
"I'm here Piccolo," said Gohan, as he crouched down and put his hands on his mentor.
"So, you've decided to dig your own grave boy," snickered Cold.
Gohan took his fighting stance and leaped towards Cold; but before he could get close, he stopped short, as Frieza had appeared right in front of him.
"My, that wasn't half bad for a monkey child… and look at you, already a Super Saiyan. Like father like son they say," Frieza mocked. "Well I'm glad you showed up, because now you die!" Without any hesitation, he bolted towards Gohan and kneed him in the stomach.
Gohan screamed, as he fell to his knees, and desperately gasped for air.
Frieza formed a grin, as he used his foot to roll the boy over on his back. "How's that for a start?" he snickered. "Let's see if killing you will bring me as much satisfaction as when I tortured your father. Hahaha, oh the pain he must have felt when I shoved my hand through his chest… you should have seen the tormented face of agony that he wore right before I slaughtered him."
Suddenly, Gohan opened his eyes and jolted straight up into the air. "How dare you! I'll make you pay!" With his eyes lit with anger, he punched the tyrant in the face, but to no avail. Frieza hadn't budged one bit, nor were any injuries inflicted.
Without batting an eye, the tyrant chopped the young Super Saiyan down to the floor and ruthlessly stomped him several times. "You apes develop your barbaric tendencies at such a young age."
Gohan lifelessly remained flat on the ground, as his hair reverted back to black and his golden glow faded away.
"Say hi to your father for me!" Frieza taunted, as he held his hand out and ignited a purple ball of ki at the center of his palm.
"Hey Frieza!" a voice called out.
"What?!" shouted Frieza, immediately looking up.
"Solar Flare!" the voice shouted out, as a bright white light consumed the edge of cliff the tyrant was standing on.
"Damn my eyes!" squealed Frieza, as he grabbed his face in pain.
Krillin promptly flew down and tucked Gohan under his arm. "I got ya buddy." He then swiftly scooped Piccolo over his shoulders.
"Thanks Krillin, you're the best!" Gohan weakly muttered, as his eyes closed and head dropped.
"You can thank me later. For now, we have to jam!" Krillin sparked up his grayish-white aura and hurriedly flew off from the band of villains.
"Damn you!" Frieza screamed, as both he and Cold struggled to restore their sight.
Clutching his eyes with his hands, Cold frantically turned his head left and right. "Sorbet, where the hell are you?! Order all survivors to pursue those pests at once!
"Yes your highness." Sorbet was lucky enough to avoid Krillin's dazzling attack, as he had already taken cover far from the battlefield when Piccolo and Frieza were locked in combat. He quickly reached for his scouter and began talking into it. "Tagoma, can you read me?"
"Loud and clear commander."
"Excellent, bring what remains of our troops and track them down immediately!" Sorbet disconnected his scouter, and began walking towards his superiors.
Tagoma, along with Sorbet's other lieutenant Shisami were among the handful who avoided the shower of blasts, as they happened to have been on the outskirts of town when Piccolo had made his stunning entrance.
"Great, they're onto us." muttered Krillin, briefly looking over his shoulder. "Gotta step on it!" He amplified his aura and upped the speed at which he was flying. After progressing several hundred meters, he squinted his eyes, and peered intently, as though he were trying to make out what was ahead. "Yamcha?! Tien?!"
"Leave it to us Krillin," replied Tien. "Running away in the face of an enemy just isn't in my blood. And besides, they would have found us anyway."
"What are you nuts? This is Frieza we're talking about!" Krillin argued.
"Ha, we're well aware of that… but man, something about breaking up with Bulma just reignited that fighter's spirit," Yamcha asserted, holding his fist out in front of his chest.
"Now hurry and leave! Piccolo and Gohan don't look like they could hold out much longer," said Tien.
Krillin glowered down at the terrains for a second, but quickly looked back up at his friends. "Alright, but you better catch up when you can!"
Yamcha and Tien nodded their heads in acknowledgement. Krillin retained his scowl and flew off with Gohan and Piccolo in his arms.
About a few minutes later, Tagoma, Shisami, and two dozen troops approached Tien and Yamcha. Half of the troops resembled blue anthropomorphic fishes with thick lips, and fins on the sides and top of their heads. The others wore a reddish-pink complexion, appeared rather overweight, and had spikes on their heads and forearms.
"You die first!" yelled Shisami, charging in towards Yamcha with his fist cocked back.
Yamcha smirked and grabbed Shisami's fist with both hands. He then yanked the bull-looking alien by his arm, and followed up with a straight kick to the chin that sent him flying back several meters. As the other soldiers immediately rushed towards Yamcha, Tien vanished, reappeared behind Tagoma, and punched him down to the ground. The three-eyed warrior then jumped in and began assisting his comrade, who was strenuously punching and kicking away several soldiers at a time.
When Tagoma and Shisami threw themselves back into combat, Tien took his stance in front of them. With a tense look, he palmed Shisami in the face and swiftly turned around and slammed his fist into Tagoma's abdomen. After sending the two lieutenants flying back with a kiai, he took a quick glance sideways, and began quivering.
Frieza, Cold, and Sorbet had finally caught up to all the action after regaining their sight.
"You are to refrain from killing them; understood?!" Frieza angrily commanded, shaking his fist at his men. "We're going to extrapolate the location of that brat by force!" He glared down at Sorbet. "I imagine disabling a pair of humans isn't a daunting task for a band of elites."
"No sir, Tagoma and Shisami each possess power levels that exceed any figures documented for the late Jeice and Burter… so restraining a pair of humans should be well within their realm of abilities."
After fighting on for another five minutes or so, Yamcha and Tien began showing major signs of fatigue. Tagoma landed a punch on Tien's face, as a fish-looking grunt kicked him from behind. Shisami kneed Yamcha in the chin and sent him flying into the fist of one of the spiked aliens. Several men subsequently surrounded the heroes in a mosh pit and aggressively pummeled them. Shisami eventually blitzed into the brutality and clotheslined the duo with each arm. He then used his hands to grab them by their heads, and flew towards his superiors.
"Now, let's make this easy for all of us. Tell us where that Super Saiyan brat is," demanded Frieza, as though he were politely trying to coax them to comply.
Tien and Yamcha didn't answer.
Frieza frowned in response to the humans' silence. "You won't talk eh? Fine, you'll be the first Earthlings to know what it's like to be our prisoner!" He gritted his teeth and sharply looked up at Shisami. "Make sure they're fully out, and head back to the ship!"
"And the rest of you, use your scouters and begin combing through the cities; they couldn't have gotten far!"
Back at Capsule Corp, Bulma diligently worked on finalizing the ship's repairs in a large warehouse-like enclosure with high ceilings and several other parked aircrafts.
After consuming a Senzu Bean, Gohan and Piccolo were back on their feet.
"I owe you one," said Piccolo, putting his hand on Gohan's shoulder.
"Aw, it was nothing. In any case, you should be thanking Krillin."
"Hey, don't look at me, if it weren't for Yamcha and Tien, we'd all be history," replied Krillin as he let out a sigh. "I felt their energy disappear by the way… they really came through for us." He looked down at the floor with grief-stricken eyes.
"Well, it's up to us to wish them back!" declared Gohan.
The three of them plus Vegeta quietly waited around in the ware-house like room, until Piccolo finally spoke up. "It's crucial that we head to Namek and train. Even after Goku completes his training, we may all need to work together."
Vegeta abruptly turned his head towards Piccolo with a scowl on his face. "Speak for yourself Namekian. I don't need to hear such nonsense from worthless scum like you."
"As much as I'd love to dish out your long-deserved beating, I'll save that as a treat to indulge in after we slaughter Frieza," Piccolo scoffed.
"Laugh it up while you can you vile filth. It won't be long until I surpass both you and Kakarot!"
"Knock it off you two," snapped Bulma, as she stepped out of the ship and joined the group. "Anyway Vegeta, I remember you telling me about their ability to pick up on spaceships. So I added a device that'll mask the ship's energy signature; with any luck, they won't even know we're leaving the planet."
Gohan suddenly looked up at his mentor. "Hey Piccolo? Are you sure it's okay to just leave the Earth like this? A lot of innocent people are going to end up suffering at the hands of Frieza."
"I know where you're coming from, but we have no choice. Regardless of if we stay behind or not, there's nothing we can do for them here. Your dad's revival will help greatly, but our victory still wouldn't be guaranteed against a monster like Frieza."
Gohan dropped his head and tightly shut his eyes, as he sighed.
"Piccolo's right son," a voice suddenly exclaimed.
Gohan widened his eyes, and began quivering in place. "D-dad..?"
"It's me son."
Gohan's eyes immediately filled up with tears. "Daddy, I've missed you so much… I…"
"It's okay son… you've done real well, and I'm proud of you. King Kai's told me everything that's been happening down there," Goku gently assured. "But I need you to go find a place to continue your training with Piccolo. King Kai and I just touched down on a sacred planet that martial arts masters from all over the universe call home; but even after training here, I may still fall short of defeating Frieza. If I fail, I'm going to need someone to fight in my place."
"O-okay dad," said Gohan. At that point, Krillin came over and put his hand on Gohan's shoulder, and smiled.
"By the way Goku," Piccolo chimed in, "you wouldn't happen to know just how long you're going to need to stay there would you?"
"I don't. But King Kai says at the rate Frieza's progressed, I should at least expect three full years."
The team silently stood around with grim faces.
"Gohan, you take good care of your mother while I'm gone,"
Suddenly, Chi Chi ran into the warehouse-like room and began weeping. "Oh Goku! Goku!"
"Please don't cry Chi Chi. We'll see each other again, I promise. I need you to stay strong for me okay?"
Chi Chi's response came in the form of mournful sobbing.
"Don't you worry about a thing Goku, you just do your thing up there, and we'll have you brought back in no time!" exclaimed Krillin.
"Alright then! I'll catch up with you all when my training here is complete!"
Shortly after, Gohan, Piccolo, Vegeta, Krillin, Chi Chi, Master Roshi, The Ox King, Bulma, Oolong, Puar, and Chaozu took off for Namek. Fortunately, Bulma's device came through, and the ship was able to dodge the Planet Trade Organization's scanners.
Meanwhile in other world, Goku and King Kai stepped off a field of grass and onto a walkway made of bricks. Goku put his hands behind his head and took a deep breath, as he surveyed his surroundings. The sky was light blue, and the weather was akin to that of a nice sunny day; clouds were few and far between.
The two finally stopped in front of a white palace-like building.
"That's where you'll encounter top caliber fighters from all sectors of the universe," said King Kai.
Goku's face lit up with excitement. "Oh wow! I can't wait!"
As the two inched their way towards the entrance, a young man emerged from the shadows created by the pillars on the building. "Y-you're Goku right?"
King Kai jumped back, as though he had seen a ghost. "Y-you.. You're the guy who faced off against Frieza!"
"Yes," replied the young man, as he tilted his head downward.
"But how on Earth did you get here?" inquired King Kai in a shaky voice.
"Given the crisis we're in, King Yemma allowed me to keep my body and venture out here to train with Goku."
Both Goku and King Kai stood around speechlessly, eyes widened, and mouths slightly open.
"He didn't have any information on me, so it took him time to get everything together. But all in all, he saw that my intentions were in line with what he was looking for."
"Yemma didn't have record on you?" King Kai asked, raising an eyebrow. "But how could that be? He's supposed to have information on every soul that passes through him."
"That's because I'm from twenty years in the future."
"The future?!" both King Kai and Goku remarked simultaneously.
The young man didn't answer.
"Look, I watched your battle with Frieza," said King Kai with a baffled look. "Am I right to say that you were a Super Saiyan when fought him?"
"Yes you are."
"A Super Saiyan..? But how..?" Goku stammered. "Vegeta, Gohan and I are the only Saiyans left… just exactly who are you?"
"My name is Trunks, and this may come off as a surprise, but I'm the son of Vegeta and Bulma,"
Both King Kai and Goku silently gawked at the young man, with their jaws hanging low.
"Look, this isn't the time for that. I travelled back in time to warn you that in three years, a vile duo will emerge and wreak havoc on the Earth. In my time, the planet's greatest heroes all fell victim to their rampage… All that remained were my teacher Gohan and me," Trunks explained. "That is until one day… he too met his fate." He looked away, and faced the ground with a face that wore many burdens.
Goku frowned. "Do they work for Frieza?"
"No, they're androids created by Dr. Gero; former lead scientist for the Red Ribbon Army."
"But I thought for sure they were finished," remarked Goku.
"You dismantled their forces, but Gero had the privilege of hiding out, waiting for the moment to strike."
"It looks like I was right when I said we may need all the help we can get," said Goku.
"Well let's hope for everyone's sake that those mechanical freaks clash with Frieza, because if they were to ever form an alliance, the universe as we know it will crumble before their reign of terror," said Trunks, letting out a sigh. "In the meantime, I say we hammer out what we can here, and stand our ground."
Both King Kai and Goku agreed by nodding. The trio then walked into the palace-like building.