King Piccolo Saga: Part VII
Krillin struggled desperately to keep up with Goku as the latter rapidly zipped, hopped and dashed throughout an apparent never-ending desert. As he lagged behind, sweat rolling down his cranium in incredibly large increments, he could not help but accompany his faint sight of Goku with such thoughts of amazement and wonder. Just how was a human child capable of so much?
"G-Goku! Wa-wait up!" Krillin yelled in between heavily breathing, barely able to continue on at his current speed.
"Huh?" The monkey-tailed boy looked over his shoulder at the huffing and puffing ex-monk. He stopped in his tracks, turned on his heel and began a quick sprint back toward the monk. Even as he arrived, he was still jogging on the spot. "What's wrong, Krillin?"
"I'm dying from heat stroke back here!" Krillin wheezed out, his breathing seeming to occur faster than his already rapid heartbeat. "I don't get how you can do this every day, Goku."
"Aww, it ain't that bad!" Goku replied in a cheery manner, scratching the back of his head in his oh-so-famous manner. "I was almost late to the last tournament because I had to swim across the ocean!" he laughed innocently.
Seeing the smile on his friend's face was contagious. He could do little else other than smile right along with him. "R-Right," Krillin agreed, laughing alongside him even if he found the boy's claim to be absolutely absurd. "Alright, Goku. I'll try to keep up better this time, so then I can get as strong as you!"
The two boys nodded at each other and broke out into a new sprint, leaving nothing but the soles of their shoes behind to show for their travels. Though Krillin now only fell behind perhaps one or two paces behind Goku, he could feel the extra toll it was taking on his heart and his health.
Far from such harsh conditions, in the sacred land of Korin, Tien and Chiaotzu took their first collective gaze upon the alabaster pillar. It ascended far higher into the sky than any other landmark the two had come across in their lifetimes, that was for certain.
"Look at that, Tien!" Chiaotzu shouted in amazement.
"So this is where Goku did a lot of his training," Tien mused. "I never thought that the place would be located here. A small, basic village in the middle of nowhere."
"Speaking of out of nowhere, who are you? Why are you here?" a baritone, masculine voice was heard rumbling throughout the village. Tien and Chiaotzu immediately glanced at one another, being on-guard for whatever could be coming their way. Walking toward the pair of Crane students, the man revealed himself.
It was the tall, powerful native known as Bora, accompanied by his young son, Upa.
"We've come here to climb Korin Tower," Tien said politely, not looking to emerge in any unnecessary conflict. "That's not going to be a problem, is it?"
Bora laughed. "No, not at all. Any friends of Goku are friends of mine."
"You know Goku?" Tien asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Yes, that extraordinary boy saved my son's life. He even brought my life back from the dead, too."
"Goku revived you with the dragonballs?" Chiaotzu asked. 'Goku must know and be friends with everybody...'
"He did." Bora revealed, recalling the events leading up to his death. "There was a man called Mercenary Tao. He came here to kill Goku, but I foolishly thought I could handle him by myself."
'Mercenary Tao!?' Tien said internally, recalling the past himself in the moment.
"But from what my son tells me, Goku was nearly killed by him too," the native man began. "Then after climbing Korin Tower and drinking the legendary water that Korin possesses, he was able to beat him the second time they fought."
Tien and Chiaotzu collectively took a look at each other, both knowing they shouldn't mention their prior affiliation with Tao.
"I see. Thank you for the information," Tien responded. 'This must be the place where Tao died at the hands of Goku... he needed to do it in order to save a life...'
"Well, we won't take any more of your time," Bora said, turning around and proceeding to walk.
"Bye! Good luck on the climb!" Upa cheered them on before leaving as well.
Moments after the father-son duo went back to their jobs, Tien and Chiaotzu began the climb of their life to the top of Korin Tower. They had a quick start, easily scaling several hundreds of feet in what seemed like no time at all before gradually slowing down due to fatigue.
"I wasn't expecting to hear about Tao from someone like them," Tien mentioned, throwing his arm forward to continue the climb.
"Yeah, me either," Chiaotzu agreed, hiking himself up the mystical pillar as well. "I wonder if that could've been you one day, Tien!"
"..." Tien remained silent for a moment, as the Crane students continued to ascend the tower in silence. "We should focus on climbing," the triclops urged, trying to change the subject.
"O-Okay," Chiaotzu responded, knowing that the topic was a hard one to bring up. Much to his surprise, however, the triclops continued onward.
'You're right, Chiaotzu... that really could've been me... Tao was my idol...' He closed his eyes in what could only be described as shame. 'Had it not been for Master Roshi... I don't know what my life would be like right now... maybe I would've been killed by King Piccolo. Maybe we all would've, even Master Roshi... I only hope that I can give him the fight he deserves once we finish our training!'
On the lookout, Master Roshi and Mr. Popo were having a sparring match. The youth had been steadily improving as the weeks went on, even landing the occasional strike here and there.
Roshi threw a right hook, forcing the genie to duck under it. Using this to his advantage, Roshi saw the chance to land a rising kick to Mr. Popo's chin. However, the youth would soon find out it would more than one quick movement to bring him down...
The genie dodged the last second before impacting, leaning back until Roshi's leg crossed his field of vision. Grabbing the leg, Popo skilfully pivoted his body around, slamming the formerly old man's body on the sanctuary floor that was just behind him.
"Good, you're actually learning," Popo said with a smile, letting go of the youth's leg. "A large improvement from the first time. However, this time, I want you to try this blindfolded."
"Blindfolded?" Roshi asked, picking himself up off the ground. He nearly sweatdropped. 'If I can't even take Mr. Popo on with both my eyes, how am I supposed to fight him when I can't even see my own fist?!'
"Right," Mr. Popo pulled out a blindfold seemingly from nowhere. "You're doing much better than you were before, but you're still relying too much on being in sync with your eye movements," the genie explained. "Not only that, but I've noticed you are becoming too arrogant in your abilities with your new body."
"Huh?"
"Naturally, your younger body is capable of a lot more than your older one, and you're taking it for granted," Popo concluded. "Your body may have gotten stronger, but your mind has gotten weaker."
"My mind has been a little clouded lately..." Roshi began to think as he grabbed the piece of cloth from the genie. He couldn't help but feel a thrill in his gut, remembering all those years ago when he had prepared to undertake some of Mutaito's most intense training. "Let's try it your way, then."
A few days later and still, the former Crane students could not see the peak of the tower. For nearly the whole time, Tien had been able to keep at a consistent pace despite how tired he was already.
Chiaotzu, however didn't ascend with the same ease. He was increasingly tempted to just fly to the top so he wouldn't have to bare the overwhelming feeling of aching muscles and joints any longer.
"Ugh! I can't do it, Tien!" Chiaotzu cried in pain. Far below the triclops' position.
Hearing this, his life long friend quickly jolted down to him. "You can do it, Chiaotzu," Tien attempted to rally his spirits. "You just have to push yourself harder."
"O-okay, Tien. I... I'll try!" Chiaotzu refocused himself and looked up. They still seemed to have made no progress, but that didn't deter the psychic from his goal. 'I have to do this… for you, Tien.'
"Master, where are we going?" Mai wondered as she followed behind the Demon King in flight. The ability to move within the air had been one of the first things Piccolo had passed down to her. In addition to the battlefield advantages it would bring, Mai knew that it was a must in order to evade any of Master Roshi's allies. If there was one thing she was grateful for Piccolo having taught her early, it was that while she may have become superhuman, she was far from capable of fighting on her own at the moment.
"You'll wait and see," came Piccolo's stoic reply, immediately silencing the henchwoman. She knew that despite Piccolo's demonic wrath not being pointed at her at the moment, it would only take one or two sharp words to incite it.
Time slowly came to pass, then she felt it: an intense chill sweeping through her entire body. Not only was it already snowing, but it looked as if it was getting heavier by the second. "Wh-why are we h-here? It-it's s-so c... c-cold...!" Mai barely stuttered out, shivering—her normal attire was highly unsuited for a place like this.
"Don't even think about landing yet," Piccolo smirked, taking some delight in seeing how uncomfortable his new follower was in this weather. "If you do, you'll be as good as dead within the hour!"
She wished she could just forsake her orders and leave the freezing climate, but she knew it would have been the worst mistake of her life—even worse than staying in such a harsh terrain.
"A... are w-we almost th-there?" Mai asked after withstanding another few minutes which had felt like hours.
"You can land now," the Demon King permitted, to which the henchwoman immediately complied. "Now, to begin our training..."
The area was largely unfamiliar to Mai. It was the middle of nowhere in a very snowy region, and the only thing she could see in the distance, besides the equally snowy mountains, was a large red tower.
"We-we're tr... training h... here...!?"
"Yes," the green demon simply replied. "I have already taught you flight and basic fighting techniques... Now is the time where you will put the latter to use."
"Wh-what?" Mai couldn't believe it. "B-but I'm s-s-so c-cold s-st-still!" How could he possibly expect her to put up a challenge in the freezing cold? Against King Piccolo himself, no less?
The snowfall increased as Mai did her best to assume a fighting stance. It took all of her strength to not attempt to warm up her body with her arms. "I... I c... can b-barely st... stand...!"
"Come at me," Piccolo ordered. After he saw his henchwoman remain in place, her body trembling from the intense cold, he scowled. "Any day now. If you want, I can easily take away that cold sensation… and every other one you possess."
She reluctantly ran toward the Demon King with great discontent, attempting to land a punch on Piccolo, however, he quickly side-stepped out of the way, leaving his leg out for her to trip over and crash face-first into the snow.
"That was pitiful!" Piccolo berated. "I should leave you here to die..." He may have done so if not for the action requiring him to abandon his plans for revenge. '...but you're lucky I still have a use for you.'
With that, the Demon King lifted Mai's unconscious body by her hair and gave her a disapproving scowl. 'I may have been cursed with making you my only reliable ally, but I will be damned if I don't make something competent out of you.' He shot off, heading back toward the cave he and his cohorts inhabited.
The next morning, the noises of heavy breaths and pants filled the air as the pair continued their climb.
"Chiaotzu... look!" the triclops exclaimed, pointing toward what looked to be the base of their destination. Sure enough, something other than the pillar's seemingly infinite height was finally coming into view. "That has to be it!"
"Yes!" Chiaotzu shouted in pure joy. Though his bones ached him greatly, the sight of his goal provided him the incentive to continue on for another couple hundred meters.
Once they arrived, the former Crane students discovered and promptly went up a staircase that led them to a more open area. The first thing they saw was an overweight samurai warrior with his hand fit inside some type of jar.
"Uhh... hello?" Tien spoke up, unsure of what exactly it was he saw in front of him. "You're Korin?"
The sword-wielding warrior looked up, immediately on the defensive. "What?! No! Do I look like a cat to you?"
Tien and Chiaotzu shared a puzzled facial expression.
"I'm the one you're looking for," a voice came from behind them. "I'm Korin."
As they turned around, what they saw appeared to be an anthropomorphic cat with an unnecessarily long cane.
"You look surprised. Did Goku not tell you about my appearance?" Korin wondered. 'It would be like Goku, I guess… the boy's so flighty that he wouldn't even think to pass along the message.'
"You know we're friends of Goku?" Tien asked, astonished.
"Of course," the anthropomorphic cat revealed. "Yajirobe, hand them both a senzu bean."
As if on command, the obese samurai flipped two senzu beans into the air, which were caught by the Crane students out of reflex. They looked at the beans, confused, before their gazes returned to the cat.
"Eat it. You'll feel a lot better," Korin assured them.
CRUNCH! Tien and Chiaotzu collectively munched down on the senzu beans. Within seconds, they felt instantly revitalized—as if they hadn't been climbing non-stop for four gruelling days.
"Wow..." Chiaotzu said in amazement. "To think that a small bean could do so much…"
"Like I was saying, I know all about you. Especially you, Tien," Korin said, aiming his cane toward him. "I watched the entire fight between you, Master Roshi and King Piccolo."
"You did?"
"Yes. You showed great promise as not only a fighter, but a defender of Earth as well," the white feline complimented. "Which is why I have something for you."
"Something for me?"
"You already know about the legend of my tower, right?" Korin questioned. After receiving a nod, the feline continued. "It pretty much says that I give you a drink of sacred water that allows you to become much stronger," Korin explained. "The test itself really is just getting up here; that's what most people get their strength out of. I usually just give regular water to those who make it."
"I heard about the water.. but I'm a bit surprised that it doesn't do anything to help," Tien began. "One of the protectors of the land told us about it. Have we really gotten that much stronger just climbing up here?"
"Yes, especially for someone like Chiaotzu. He's already benefited greatly from the climb, while you, while still stronger, didn't increase a large amount..." he continued. "...however, what I don't tell people is that there really is magical water in my possession..."
"But you don't give it out? Why not?" Tien asked. Such a concept seemed odd to him.
"It has some side-effects, to put it lightly," Korin disclosed. "Let me explain this properly... It's called the Ultra Divine Water. It is capable of revealing the secret power hidden deep within yourself. If you've already reached your limit, the water won't help you."
"I see..." the three-eyed human said. "That's it? Well, there's no point in not trying."
"Without your help, Master Roshi may not have been able to defeat Piccolo. It was a close battle, and your role truly made all the difference." Korin answered. "Which is why I wanted to give you the option of drinking this water; you proved yourself worthy."
"Well, what are you waiting for? Drink the stuff!" Yajirobe chimed in.
"But first, I must warn you: it can also be a terrible poison. If you're not strong enough physically and mentally, the drink could easily kill you!"
"Did you try it?" Yajirobe asked.
"Once, but I threw it all up..." A bead of sweat dripped down the feline's brow. "Glad I did it, too."
"Has anyone survived?" Tien questioned this time.
"No... fourteen people have risked it, all experts in martial arts, and they all died."
Looks of surprise and worry came upon the faces of each of them as they heard the anthropomorphic cat's grand reveal.
"What bull! That stuff doesn't bring out secret powers! It's pure poison!" the obese samurai accused. "If nobody's survived it, then it's gotta be!"
Another bead of sweat dropped on Korin's brow as he held his hands up. "N-no, I swear! It really is magical!"
After pondering the decisions for several minutes, the triclops finally had his answer. "I'll do it."
"W-what? Are you sure, Tien!?" Chiaotzu exclaimed, clearly worried about his life-long friend's safety. "If you drink this, you might never wake up!"
"Really?" Korin asked, surprised. "You don't have to; I just thought I'd offer it to you."
"Are you insane!?" Yajirobe criticized, further worrying Chiaotzu. "You'd die for sure!"
"Can you bring me the water?" Tien ignored the two, his mind fully focused on the challenge ahead. "I don't deserve to live if I can't achieve my full potential."
"Y-yeah, of course..." Korin walked over to grab the water, bringing a small cup back with him as well. "Here's the water." Pouring the Ultra Divine Water into the cup, he passed the it over to Tien. "Here. You have to drink it all."
"May I try some?" Yajirobe did it anyway before hearing a response. Sticking a finger into the water, he slurped the liquid off his finger. Immediately, the effects of the water took hold over his body. He fell to the ground, writhing and gasping for air, leaving everyone watching in horror.
After successfully barfing the liquid out of his system, he stood up, still having the deadly taste on his lips. "Don't do it, man! That stuff is disgusting!"
Tien gulped. "I... uh..."
"No one is forcing you," the feline said, still giving him the chance to back out.
"I'll still do it..." the triclops surprisingly revealed. "It may just be my pride, but I really don't want to fall behind Goku or Roshi in strength... this will at least give me a chance."
Without wasting any more time explaining himself, Tien put back the entire cup of the water without hesitation. The burning sensation caused by the liquid trickling down his throat felt akin to drinking one hundred shots of tequila.
"GOUAAAAH!" Tien screamed out at the top of his lungs in pain. "GOUOOH!"
"Throw it up right now!" Yajirobe pleaded. "The strength ain't worth it!"
"Tien!" Chiaotzu cried, reaching out to his friend mentally. Unfortunately for him, there was no response. Just then, Tien collapsed right onto his face, his body growing incredibly limp. As everyone rushed by his side to see if he was okay, they soon realized the triclops was not waking up.
"Tien!" Chiaotzu cried out again, not knowing what else he could say. "P-Please… please don't die!"
Checking his pulse, the feline let out a sigh of relief. "He's still alive, just unconscious!" He then immediately grimaced. "But… all we can do is wait now."
I'm glad, and a little surprised I was able to push out this chapter so quickly, but here we are. This will be part 1 of 2, and chapter 8 will be the last chapter before the 23rd WMAT Saga, and I may include power levels so far, just let me know in a review if I should. I still am not 100% sure I want to include them or not.
I've decided on giving Tien the Ultra Divine Water for 2 reasons.
1) I felt Tien should be rewarded in some way for helping beat King Piccolo
2) I've already established he won't be coming up to the sanctuary to train.
C: Surprised Mai had the courage to laugh but overall a very good, and intimidating scene for the Demon King, quite ominously put together over all.
R: Well, that I noticed from canon is that she seems pretty ditsy, and bubbly. I suppose it is debatable to think she'd laugh in a situation like that.
C: One of the few things I liked about RoF was seeing Master Roshi fight those henchmen. If Roshi at 300 years old could improve that much then imagine what he could do in his prime! I say he'll probably end up being the strongest (normal) human!
R: I think so too. He seemed to have more discipline than even Tien. And he probably would have kept fighting if he wasn't so old.
C: How will roshi keep up when things like Super Saiyan come around?
R: Secret. :P