Goku's face may have been calm but his eyes burnt with passion. A certain type of ardor for what he was naturally most talented for. Enthusiasm for his newly gained strength. It did not take a master martial artist to see that the boy would have long since attacked his enemy, so eager to clash his strength against that of his brother, had it not been for the difference in fighting style and stance he picked up on Korin's Tower.
Raditz pressed his arms to his sides and lunged forward. The dynamic of battle had changed in its entirety. No longer the underdog Goku now comfortably allowed his enemy to dictate the battle terms, knowing that he would be the one to come out on top, regardless of said terms.
The resurrected Saiyan flipped over in mid-air, throwing both of his feet forward as he tried to stomp a stationary opponent. Instead of the hardened flesh of his brother's body, the feet only hit and shattered a layer of rock underneath while Goku blitzed behind Raditz by diving under his brother's vaulting body. A kick in the back made Raditz's body bend in an awkward manner and fly off towards the central building of Baba's temple.
The building outright exploded with erupting pressure from the impact. The force of collision made Raditz black out for a short while before emerging from the debris battered and bruised. The eyes of the young man were shaking with respectful fear and his mouth was gaping with shock.
"Well, well… It would appear that Son Goku is the winner." Baba declared.
"A single blow…" Upa's face widened out at the matching pace to the crawl at which he comprehended the outcome before him. While said outcome might have occurred right in front of him, he had perceived none of it except for the deafening blast of the demolished building.
A single blow, that was how long it took for Goku to dispose of an opponent about as strong as the Saibaman that had killed Chayote back home. While this monkey boy was a pointless measure to judge the military potential of Earth by as he was not from this planet, he was a fine standard to compare one's own strength against that of other Saiyans. If Chayote's peers were going through vicious battles like that which Goku has survived now every day, she's lightyears away to being of any use to Lord Frieza.
Perhaps this Earthling mysticism was the answer?
"Heh, heh… I won!" Goku turned to his friends with a budding gesture of a peace sign on his right hand. "Now you'll let me meet my grandpa, right?"
"I will…" Baba sighed. "He was most eager to meet you but when he heard that your brother was also an option, he did not rush to return to life at all. Regardless, you can meet him but it will happen on the Otherworld. It is far easier for mortals to pass on to the other side than the other way around…"
"Kakarot…" Raditz emerged from the destroyed building fully and began creeping up to the arena. "Don't think this fluke decides anything! We're far from being through!"
"Okay. Get stronger first, then challenge me again. I'll take you on any time." Goku smirked with a raised fist, turned sideways toward his older brother. Seeing Goku harbor no ill will whatsoever toward the older brother who came here solely to punish and murder him felt just like the right kind of crazy for the boy to invite a smile on Chayote's face.
"Say, this Raditz guy is evil, right?" Chayote wondered.
"Well… I suppose so. He is mean and he is a typical Saiyan…" Upa shrugged. "Though…"
Chayote looked down at the boy who rubbed the back of his elbow and looked up at the young woman with an unsure expression as if he was about to erupt into tears at any moment.
"I'm beginning to wonder about the whole good and bad thing right now. I mean… You were pretty mean when you landed on Earth but you changed. Raditz is pretty bad but he's bad because he blames Goku for his trouble. He might be totally wrong about that but if he moved past that belief… I wonder if even he could change." Upa sighed.
Baba looked down at the young boy who would serve as her pupil and assistant for the upcoming three years and smiled, she looked proud of the boy she had accepted as her disciple.
"I… Changed?" Chayote repeated a pair of words that Upa said.
"Sure. When you landed, you were mean and killed people and animals left and right. Your only redeeming quality was that the God of Korin Tower picked you himself," Upa explained.
"Kakarot!" Raditz yelled out, winding back his arm while a net of electricity accumulated and grew thicker and thicker, becoming a sphere-shaped web that flung jolts of lightning outward. "I won't give up until I present you your death!"
The sphere of Ki manifested as lightning erupted into a lightning storm, unleashing a wild cascade of its bolts everywhere at once. Baba covered herself and began scampering all over her crystal ball in a desperate attempt to avoid doom by electrocution. Upa zipped right behind Chayote's lap, knowing full-well that the Saiyan would protect him, willingly or by just standing in the way of Raditz's attack.
Goku stood in the center of the stage, smoke rose up from the Saiyan boy as it did from the cooked stage around him but, besides a few light burns and more damage to his tattered Ki, there did not appear to be any effect to Raditz's attack. The fact that Goku just stood there and took the brunt of the attack that appeared to have driven Raditz himself to the brink of collapse accentuated the difference between the strength of the two more than him dodging or continuing to beat on his older brother ever would have.
"Heh… Heh heh heh!" Raditz snickered through the heavy pants of running low on juice to keep standing, "You think you're all that, don't you? Don't get cocky just because you did me in… Once our father comes looking for you – use whatever lousy Earthling tricks you wish – you'll have your ass handed to you!"
"That's such a Saiyan thing to do." Chayote smiled, speaking loud enough to distract Raditz's attention. "Brag about being able to beat anyone and anything and when that bravado runs out, threaten the enemy with someone else they wouldn't be able to beat."
"Heh, I don't even know who you are… You look like a Saiyan but… I've never seen you or heard of you, means you're worthless, low-class trash too. Father might take Kakarot's lowly hide in out of family sentimentality but you? You should make sure you settle your plans before meeting him…" Raditz chuckled. It would have sounded frightening if he was not this short of breath and spoke from a position of utter defeat.
Chayote did shift her stance in unease. Their father? That might have been the Saiyan that Goku saw in his vision on Korin's Tower. Chayote's own visions for the future might not have stretched too far on ahead, all she could envision from those images were her facing off against some baldy in the World Martial Arts Tournament and meeting Kami on some airship alongside Goku. Before those two things happen, Goku's father is unlikely to appear.
And what when he does appear? Chayote's been living on Earth for years now and she knows now more than ever before that this planet will not prepare her for the coming of Saiyans. Her best option was still to depart and train up in space, on her way to join Lord Frieza's army again. Although… Seeing Raditz, a Saiyan warrior who, unlike Chayote, was a valued member of Lord Frieza's army and fought alongside other Saiyans conquering planets before his untimely demise, be such a major dickbag sort of made Chayote reconsider if acting upon her true nature was still what she wanted.
Muten Roshi, that old pervert, he was long all along. It was only now when her doubts have become bolstered as Goku's strength has been too that she realized just how split and confused about her role in this Universe the teen Saiyan was.
"If he's anything like you, he's no dad of mine." Goku declared, taking Raditz's full attention back and shocking the collapsed warrior. "He may be my real dad, just like you and Chayote kept telling me but I'm no Saiyan. I grew up on Earth and if this man you call our dad is mean to my Earthling friends and threatens this planet – I'll knock him flat too!"
Chayote smiled. Seeing Goku act so childish in front of an actual, looming threat seemed so inspiring, even if it was impossible to say if he was more excited about beating his own father up to protect his friends from his wrath or because of the thrill that such a fight would undoubtedly offer.
Raditz erupted into a mad fit of laughter, utilizing his own second wind for insanity instead of something useful. "I'll look forward to meeting you down in Hell then, Kakarot. Trust me, after this meeting, those ogre-bastards will find no worse Hell for you than to put you together with me!"
"That's about enough from you," Baba pointed her finger at Raditz, letting off a rippling cascade of Ki from the tip of her finger. Raditz turned more and more transparent before disappearing completely and the next gust of wind carrying the clouds of dust and gravel about found nothing to pelt all of it at. "You've wasted enough of your energy for me to justify an early return. Now, I believe I had a promise to fulfill, you two, better make sure to settle down here. Neither I nor Devil Man will accept slacking off!"
"Sure thing," Chayote saluted the old crone similarly to how the Red Ribbons used to salute their superiors.
"Yes, ma'am!" Upa bowed.
"Say, Fortuneseller Baba…" Goku leaned back against his arms.
"Fortune TELLER!" Baba yelled out after whizzing to the boy with her crystal ball and leaning over him to empty her elderly lungs at him.
"Do you think I could maybe stay in the Otherworld? Just like Raditz stayed here for a day, maybe I could stay and train with my grandpa?" Goku wondered. "You said it's not that big of a deal when mortars do it, right?"
"It's mortals and…" Baba took off her witch hat and scratched her head. "Don't know, it might work. Psychics and all sorts of posers spend a decent bit of time in there. If your grandfather agrees, if we can settle on a neutral space for you two to train, given that he's not in Hell and retained his soul… It's possible."
"Awesome!" Goku jumped up, eager to fist the sky.
"Now then, seeing how you've completed my trial and made your decision to stay until the end of the 22nd World Martial Arts Tournament, let's see what can be done about your reward," Baba said and began hovering back toward the northern building of her temple, the same one that led to the Devil's Toilet but that was but one of the building's many pathways.
The trio followed the fortuneteller. Upa turned a fearful gaze at every oddity he encountered even if the exact nature of most of them evaded his knowledge. Whether it was because of shadows that enveloped each artifact and holy or unholy item located in Baba's possession or because of a lack of mystical background that was required to know of them, the boy feared them nevertheless.
Goku was the only one to walk in perfect relaxation and moderate excitement. The exact nature of his mood was tough to tell in the dark without his tail attached to his bottom but he looked both unaffected by the surrounding mysticism around him and happy for the prize he had managed to win. It looked almost as if he had forgotten his close brush with death and a meeting with his older brother which happened just moments ago…
Chayote's face rested uneasily as well, however, her eyes stayed focused on Baba's back as the trio went for a short trip to a rather quaint and faintly lit room with jars and somebody's eyeballs and dissected rodents decorating the many stands inside the room with piles of books resting atop the single reading table. It was a notable feature of the room, seeing how Baba only had place in it for a messy bed and a reading table. Not even a cauldron found its place in this strange room filled with the strangest things to ever be called an ingredient.
Baba slipped off of her floating crystal ball and furrowed underneath her bed, pulling out an old box and then pulled out stacks of Zeni bills from it, shuffling through various until she found the right one. The fortuneteller then pinched at the Free Return Ticket and handed it to Chayote. It appeared to be in the same tattered condition just like the one that Baba showed before which made the teen Saiyan raise a few questions.
"Didn't you already have the Free Return Ticket with you?" she wondered.
"Of course not, I won't carry around the real one with me with how much of a pain it was to acquire. Those troublesome deities don't hand out their dull-edged trinkets easily, you know." Baba shook her fist over her own head and then shoved her hand with the ticket closer to Chayote. With a hesitating hand, the Saiyan took her prize and placed inside her breast pocket.
"Be careful," Baba warned the young Saiyan with a wary face. "With how much you brawl, I can keep the ticket safe for you, for a decent price, of course…"
"I'll manage, there's not that many people or demons left on this planet that can catch me unprepared when I don't want them to." Chayote shrugged.
"Suit yourself. Now wait here and settle in while I deliver this troublemaker to the Otherworld. Promises are so troublesome, I swear…" Baba sighed.
Baba crawled onto her floating crystal ball and drifted off with Goku following her from behind. Chayote and Upa glared at one another.
"What now?" Upa whimpered.
"You heard the old crone, find yourself a room and settle down. You'll be spending some time here. Unless you're chickening out already?" Chayote raised an eyebrow.
"No!" Upa pressed his tiny fists to his sides, he was still petrified but it seemed like he was picking up the Earthling ways of turning fear into as powerful of a motivator for action as excitement was for Saiyans. "I'm going to learn more about mysticism. If I learn to contact the dead spirits, as Fortuneteller Baba does, maybe I can contact the past generations of the guardians of Korin Tower and have them help me when I have to succeed father."
"Suit yourself. I won't blame you if you want to run off, you said it yourself – I don't need you anymore. This whole good and evil nonsense is bullshit." Chayote sighed while heading toward the door. She wondered if the Devil Man and Dracula Man had recovered and could have been troubled for some training.
"It isn't! Good and evil still exist but they lay in our behavior, not in who we are." Upa grabbed Chayote's thigh and pulled on it. Just something to keep her in the room long enough to hear him.
"I guess I was wrong. Maybe I still do need you…" Chayote looked back at the boy with a smile.
"Ready, Krillin?" Yamcha looked at his partner who was dragging a boat behind him. In a moment of hesitation, the pint-sized martial artist abandoned his makeshift floating apparatus and scanned the endless oceans ahead of him.
"Yeah!" Krillin nodded.
"No, leave the float behind, you too, Yamcha, no capsules." A mental message reached both martial artists ready to embark on a training journey. The pair turned around to face Launch in her blue-haired form with a tiny micro-Roshi sticking out from her cleavage where he hung out lately. "The point of this training is for you two to train. If you fly and swim everywhere using machines and gadgets, what's the point?"
"I see…" Yamcha smiled. He pulled out a small capsule case from inside his gi and handed it to Launch. Krillin dropped the rope of his float as well. Scanning the oceans ahead with a whole different set of eyes. Eyes hungry for adventure, for knowledge of what laid beyond and a feeling of satisfaction and readiness for whatever he would encounter.
"I still think it will be mean to not tell Bulma." Krillin chuckled, giving Yamcha a squint-eyed expression as if teasing his friend.
"I can't. She won't let me go if I do. It's mean of me to do this after we planned this vacation for so long and she made her way here for the summer but… If I am to walk the path of a martial artist, vacation is not a word that mixes with training." Yamcha shook his head. He was as conflicted with the decision to leave as he was settled on the decision to not tell Bulma. Also, utterly frightened by the prospect of the genius inventor ever finding out about his departure.
"Teehee! You'll need every bit of training to survive Bulma's beatdown after you two meet again." Krillin teased his friend and stepped knee-deep into the ocean.
"Will you be okay, Roshi-san?" Yamcha turned back to his mentor.
"My sister called and said that she's got Goku and Chayote. She said that it serves a perverted old geezer like me right to stay tiny as the Dragon Balls were used up. If you want to ever catch up to those two, you can only do it your own way, not staying fixated on this island and my regiment. Don't worry about me, I've got Launch-san and I'm sure that, eventually, Bulma will find a way to reverse the Micro Band's effects herself. If she's half of an inventor as she claims herself to be, she won't be able to live with herself with a problem staring her in the face." Roshi replied telepathically as his vocals would not have been picked up if he tried talking normally.
"Roshi-sama's sister…" Krillin sighed. "Those two keep finding crazy people to train with. We better keep up, Yamcha!"
Yamcha nodded without uttering a word and the two took a dive into the water as the morning sun began dawning on the horizon. Like a pair of disc saws, they split the open to pieces with intense ripples, the crystal clarity of the desire to grow stronger gleaming like gemstones in both of their eyes as they set out to leave their own marks on the world.
"We've made a lot of money, didn't we, Ten-san?" a levitating dwarf of ghoulish appearance which its red cheeks contrasted greatly turned to his companion. A far more intimidating fellow who would have appeared not too different from a casual Earthling had it not been for his third eye resting closed on his forehead.
"Sure." He agreed giving a massive, purple hog behind the pair a mean look. One that the beast itself was oblivious to as it munched on a cabbage that one of the pair had handed it earlier. Devouring a cabbage whole was no big deal at all to a titan of such size but the beast made sure to gobble it slow.
"What's wrong, Ten-san?" the child-like ghoul wondered.
"It feels like we're wasting time, Chiaotzu! Taopaipai-sama has disappeared, meaning there's a strong fighter out there capable of beating him. Meanwhile, we're wasting time conning a bunch of farmers out of their produce and money like common thugs." Tenshinhan clenched his fists in anger.
"B-But… There's not much more that the Tsuru Sennin can teach us." Chiaotzu's face shifted in discomfort. It seemed as if the little ghoul got frightened every time his partner became frustrated. Something profoundly odd as Ten had never lashed out against Chiaotzu or hurt him outside their sparring sessions.
"Your little friend is right, you know…" a voice from the outside of the social circle made Ten and Chiaotzu turn their attentions towards a mysterious figure floating above the ground. "Tsuru Sennin will only hold you two back, he will also ruin everything."
The gigantic hog rushed ahead, shoving Ten off his way and making Chiaotzu take off in flips and yell as he attempted to stabilize his levitation. The mysterious figure extended her hand forward and the beast's eyes turned sleepy. In a few moments, the bestial titan InoShikaCho collapsed on the ground and began splitting the earth underneath with its thunderous snoring.
"The Hypnosis technique? That's something from the Turtle School!" Tenshinhan clenched his fist and took a fighting stance.
"Calm down now, I'm not here to fight either of you. Just nudge you two in a more favorable direction." The old lady floated up closer, letting Tenshinhan and Chiaotzu make out a bit more of her features.
"Wh-Who are you, you don't look like much of a fighter!" Chiaotzu declared with a frightened tone. The fact that he could not pick up a hint of strength from the old woman yet she carried herself with such confidence was the source of his intimidation this time.
"She's Fortuneteller Baba, the older sister of Muten Roshi!" Tenshinhan growled. He still honored the idea of attacking and killing the woman on the spot, even though she did not look capable of protecting herself now. "Why would we ever do anything more favorable for you!"
"Oh, no no no! You misunderstand, young man. I am not here to have you act in a way more favorable for me. Well… Not directly. You see, recently I've picked up a most curious pair of students. Their current power completely dwarfs that of yours and I've made them false promises that you can keep up with them and surprise them. Obviously you cannot. Which is why I am here to have you stop this nonsense you're doing and start training for real, otherwise, Chayote and Son Goku will be most disappointed in your performance three years from now." Baba smiled.
"You're lying! There's no way there's somebody in the Turtle School as strong as us! Taopaipai-sama was the strongest man on Earth matched only by the Tsuru Sennin!" Tenshinhan replied with aggression yet something inside him prevented him from lashing out at the old woman. He knew that Tsuru Sennin would have wanted him to kill her but… That was not the way of martial arts, not even that of the Crane School martial arts.
Even Taopaipai only killed helpless people if he was paid right or it benefited him in some way. Knowing that he was not going to taint his martial artist's honor by slaying an old crone he met on the road forced Tenshinhan to break his fighting stance.
"Oh? And where is Taopaipai? You haven't seen him in a while, right? Maybe that's because he's in Hell now after one of the pair I am training sent him there?" Baba's smile took a very twisted turn to it, knowing full-well of the infuriating effect that her declaration would have.
"You're bluffing!" Tenshinhan yelled out.
"Maybe. If you want I can arrange a meeting between you two and help you find out? Still, you'd be wasting even more time. As much as I'd like to waste my time here trying to turn you over from a wanna-be assassin to an honorable martial artist as is your inevitable path, right now, I think I'll have much more use from you if you want to kill my students as much as possible." Baba explained. "So train. Train until your entire body is battered and broken and, during a moment of your respite, think of your deceased mentor and let the rage sustain your berserk rebirth to train more. Even then, you are unlikely to stand any chance at all but… It'll at least be something."
Baba turned around and, before Ten could ask or say anything else, a ghost usher appeared from underneath her cloak, expanding its white, protoplasmic body to cover his mistress up into a ghastly will-o-wisp that blitzed off at neck-breaking speed into the night.
"Ten-san…" Chiaotzu's voice whimpered.
"Let's go, Chiaotzu, we have a lot of training to do!" Tenshinhan growled out.