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Goku lay facefirst on the ground. "Oh God," he said, slowly getting up and standing. The Saiyan from Earth then began to walk very slowly towards a house visible some distance from him. Goku struggled to make every step as he approached the house.
When he finally reached it, he called out. "Hello! Anybody there? Is this supposed to be King Gai's place?"
The door opened and a monkey walked out.
Goku was in shock. "NO! IT CAN'T BE!" he exclaimed in dismay.
The monkey raised his hands and began to do some monkey-movements.
Goku slowly returned to himself. "So you really are the legendary martial arts master, King Gai," said Goku as the monkey then began to hop on his place. "Doing such exercizes at this high gravity must really require an awful lot of strength," he remarked.
The monkey than began to walk away in typical monkey fashion while Goku followed him, imitating his every move.
"Ha-ha-oo-oo-ee-ee..." Goku continued to follow the monkey. His muscles were aching with effort in trying to imitate the monkey's actions. This wasn't going to be easy.
"What do you think you are doing?"
Goku stopped in his tracks and looked to his side to find a short, round blue-skinned guy with a couple of antennae on his head. "Who are you?" Goku asked.
"Me?" spoke the man. "I am the legendary martial arts master, King Gai."
Gohan ran with amazing speed as a tiger followed him.
"Catch me if you can!" Gohan shouted.
The tiger stopped, exhausted. It sat down and closed its eyes.
Gohan stopped and looked back. "Come on, Mister tiger," he said. "Tired already?"
But the big cat didn't pay any attention. It continued to snooze.
Gohan sighed. He than picked up a stone and aimed at a particularly big pigeon in the sky. The boy hit the target and the bird came falling down.
The tiger opened its eyes as a bird dropped onto his head. The big cat was delighted and began to feast onto the bird.
"This time I hope for a better performance from you, Mister Tiger, " said Gohan with a smile. "You better not disappoint me."
Piccolo stood on a mountain road.
Suddenly a loud explosion could be heard. It was an avalanche. A huge shadow fell on Piccolo as an enormous rock came rolling down.
Piccolo crossed his arms in front of his face. The green fighter began to glow with energy as his entire body vibrated.
"RAAAAH!" Piccolo threw his arms outward as an explosive wave radiated from him.
VROOOOM!
The shower of rocks was reduced to rubble.
Piccolo stood panting as tiny pieces of stone fell all around him.
"Ha!" yelled Yamcha, falling into his wolf stance.
Tien fell into his crane stance.
The two fighters stood in front of each other for a few seconds before dashing towards each other and colliding.
Tien and Yamcha rapidly traded blows with each other.
A punch to the face was blocked by Yamcha's crossed forearms.
Yamcha retaliated with a punch of his own but his fist was deflected to the side by Tien.
Tien punched Yamcha in the stomach. Yamcha gasped and stood motionless for a second before slapping an energized claw to Tien's face.
Tien was forced to walk a couple of steps backwards.
Yamcha dropped to his knees following his attack.
Tien smirked, panting. A trail of blood leaked down from the corner of Tien's mouth.
Meanwhile, an angry Yajirobe charged towards Krillin with a sword in his hands. "Take this!" the fat man yelled as he swiped down his sword upon Krillin's head. It went right through him.
Yajirobe's mouth dropped open as Krillin faded away.
"Agh!" Yajirobe fell forwards as a kick landed onto the back of his head.
Krillin grinned, satisfied by his attack.
Yajirobe stood up, bewildered. "You cheated!" he exclaimed.
"That's not cheating, Yajirobe," said Krillin. "It's the after-image technique."
"Yeah, whatever," came the reply. Yajirobe then fell upon Krillin with a series of swordstrikes.
Krillin smirked as he weaved out of Yajirobe's attacks, smoothly evading the blade. 'This is too easy,' he thought.
Bam!
Krillin was shocked as Yajirobe landed the sword's handle onto his head.
Yajirobe grinned. "How's that?" he asked.
Krillin smiled. "You lack power in your attacks."
Yajirobe became red-faced with anger. "Why you! You won't be talking like that once I am done with ya!"
Meanwhile, Chiaotzu concentrated energy on his fingertip. "Dodon Ray!" he yelled as a beam shot forwards from his finger and hit the tiny stone placed on the table. The stone shattered to pieces. "Bulls eye!" he exclaimed.
Three months later... (Six months post Raditz)
Goku jumped with delight as a cricket fell unconscious on the grass.
King Gai watched him, smiling.
Goku grinned at his master. "Now that I have hit Gregory, what's next, King Gai?"
King Gai chuckled. "Bubbles," he called. The monkey called Bubbles arrived at his master's call.
"Let's see how long it takes you to catch Bubbles again," said King Gai.
Goku nodded.
King Gai took out a stopwatch. "On your mark, get set and... go!"
Bubbles immediately rushed away at top speed but before he knew it he had been grabbed by a diving Goku.
"Zero point nine seconds," said King Gai in awe. "A new record."
"Thanks, King Gai," said Goku, standing up and lifting Bubbles onto his shoulder.
King Gai grinned with excitement, his spectacles shining. "Yes. Finally," he said. "A fighter worthy of getting trained by me. A fighter who I can teach the Kayoken attack!"
Goku clenched his fist in front of him. "Kayoken? Sounds good!" he exclaimed.
Gohan stood in front of his home. "I am here, mom!" he shouted. The boy had approached the door but was startled to find it locked from the outside. "Mom?"
Gohan sat there and waited...
One day...
Two days...
Three days...
Morning..Afternoon...Evening..Night...Morning... The cycle kept on repeating. Gohan felt miserable. The boy sobbed quietly. All the hard work it took to finally reach home and now his efforts seemed to be of no use. Where had his parents gone to?
"So, Gohan. Giving up, are you?"
Gohan was startled by the voice. He turned his head to find Piccolo standing there.
Piccolo stared blankly at Gohan. "Your parents are alive and well, Gohan... Trust me, I know."
Gohan gulped his tears.
"But," said Piccolo. "..if we aren't able to stop the Saiyans that are approaching the Earth at this very moment you can forget about seeing them alive. You will be lucky if you manage to get a glimpse of them dead even."
Gohan stood up. Something snapped inside of him. He shook as adrenaline coursed through his blood.
"So.." Piccolo continued. "You want to train and do something about your problem or do you want to sit crying like a baby and wait for everything to get over!?"
Gohan looked at Piccolo, his eyes shining. "No. I will train," he said.
"Good," said Piccolo. "Because if the Saiyans get their way not only you but millions of children on the planet will be turned orphans. That is, of course, if they spare the non-fighters. Otherwise, there won't be anyone left to even mourn over.. the deaths of the fighters of Earth."
Gohan clenched his fists. The boy looked down at his feet, shaking angrily.
Piccolo grinned. "Six months have passed, Gohan. It's time we begin your training."
Two months later... (Eight months post Raditz)
Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, Yajirobe and Chiaotzu stood in front of Khami and Mr Popo.
Khami surveyed the group of fighters. "Congratulations, all of you," he said. "All of you have succeeded in completing your training here. Each of you has now reached a new level of strength both in mind and in body."
Mr Popo flashed a smile at the group of fighters. He felt proud.
Khami continued. "I hope you use your strength for the right cause. I pray to God that He grants you success."
All the fighters nodded.
"Now it is up to you if you wish to continue to train here or move down and train at your own pace for the remaining months before the Saiyans arrive." Khami than looked to his side. "Mr Popo..."
Mr Popo nodded and took out a small device from his pocket. It was the Saiyan Raditz's scouter. Mr Popo had made sure that the transmitter function was turned off.
Mr Popo applied the scouter over his eye. "Let's see... Krillin's at 709... Yamcha's at 713... Tien's at 720... Yajirobe's at 725... and Chiaotzu's at 522..."
Krillin clenched his fist. "Incredible..." he said.
Yamcha nodded. "Also, we are all at around the same level..." he said.
Chiaotzu looked down, dejected. Tien patted his friend on the back to try to cheer him up. "It's alright, Chiaotzu."
Khami looked at the group seriously. "I request all of you to stay in touch with the news on your mobile phones. Whenever you feel that the time has come it would be better for you to gather together in the same place. Hopefully your combined strength would be enough to overcome the enemy. Keep your mobile phones well charged at all times."
Everybody nodded. "Yes, sir."
To be continued...