Chapter 6: Plan

At Wukong hospital, the survivors were recounting events and discussing what their next move would be, once they'd healed. No matter what happened, they had to rescue Bulma from the evil clutches of Vegeta.

"Master Korin. You really have to get those new senzu beans ready, as quick as possible." Goku said. "The doctors said it'll take at least three months for me to make a full recovery."

"I'll get working on it Goku." He replied, "But we also need to find a way to travel to planet Namek, so that we can intercept Vegeta and thwart his plans."

"I'm staying right here." Yajirobe declared, as he was sitting on a stool nearby. "You guys can go get yourselves killed, but that bastard's way out of my league."

"No one asked you to come, you tub o' lard." Korin commented, snidely.

"Hey, you take that back, fur ball." Yajirobe responded angrily, lifting his clenched fist.

"Idiot." The feline rolled his eyes. "Well if you're not going to be useful any other way, the least you can do is help me grow some senzu beans, got it?"

"Whatever." Yajirobe said, folding his arms, "As long as I don't have to do any fighting."

Goku let out a rasped laugh. His entire face was covered in bandages, save his right eye, nostrils and mouth.

A short while later, the group's eyes were glued to the television as the media was occupying the ruins of East city, where the two space pods lay. Out of the blue, the alien transportations launched off to an unknown direction.

"What the?" Yajirobe asked no one on in particular. "Where are they headed?"

"If my guess is right, they're headed towards West city." Master Roshi stated, frowning deeply.

"What? Why?" Asked Goku apprehensively.

"Why else?" Korin stated. "This is Vegeta's doing. My guess is that he's heading off to Namek now, with Bulma, of course."

"I have to stop him!" Shouted Gohan, immediately jumping out of the hospital bed.

"Gohan, get back to bed, right now!" Chi-Chi ordered.

"No!" He yelled. "She's in trouble! I have to help her!"

"Gohan, your mom's right." Goku tilted his head in his son's direction, frowning. "There's no way we can beat him yet. We're lucky we're still alive. Our best move is to bide our time and form a strategy, before going on the offensive. Getting yourself killed won't help any. We're already short on reserves."

Gohan lifted his fist, looking at it, while growling angrily, but eventually eased up, tentatively nodding and returning to bed, feeling totally helpless.

"Good, first thing's first." Goku continued. "While Master Korin and Yajirobe harvest the next crop of senzu beans, we need to figure out how to get to Namek. We know that Bulma and Vegeta are going to be using the space pods he and Nappa came in. Gohan destroyed my brother Raditz' space pod, but I've been thinking for a while. Raditz told me that I was sent to Earth from outer-space and Master Roshi, you told me that when my grandpa first found me, I was all alone next to some sort of bizarre alien ship, is that right?"

"That's right Goku." Master Roshi affirmed, nodding his head in assent.

"Well, if that's the case, then it's obviously been abandoned for years, but unless someone else found it, it might still be somewhere out in the woods near Mount Paozu." Goku said thoughtfully. "It probably doesn't work anymore. It's a shot in a million, I know, but for now, that's the only thing we have to go on."

"Brilliant idea, Goku. That's a good start." Korin commented before turning to Yajirobe. "Yajirobe, you head over to Mount Paozu and scour the area. If you find Goku's pod, call us immediately. You have a cell phone and the hospital's number, I trust."

"Yeah I do, it's in my car." He affirmed. "But why do I have to go?"

"You're the least useful person here." Korin responded dismissively.

"What?!" Yelled the samurai. "How dare you?!"

The others all laughed at Korin's response, but eventually ceased, knowing that now was not the time for merriment. Five of their own had departed into the after life, many other innocents were killed in East City and Goku's very first and best friend had just been taken hostage.

"Yajirobe." Goku pled. "Please, just do as Master Korin says. We all owe our lives to Bulma."

The swordsman sighed in defeat.

"Fine, fine." He relented and left the joint. He knew where Mount Paozu was, since he'd attended Goku's wedding there, nearly six years ago.

After a while, a thought hit Master Roshi.

"Aren't those space pods one-seaters, though?"

"Of course!" Goku exclaimed. "Dammit! That means I'll have to go alone and that's assuming that it even works."

"Hmmm." The turtle hermit contemplated for a moment. "What if we have Bulma's father examine it. The things I've seen Bulma do are super-human. If her father's half as intelligent as she is, I'm sure he'll be able to pull something off."

Goku mused for a moment and sighed in relief.

"You're right master." He smiled. "Dr. Brief is crazy smart. If anyone can help us, it's him."

"I may also have an idea." Mr. Popo said, appearing out of the blue, outside the front window. He stood midair, on his magic carpet.

Chi-Chi turned around and shrieked, immediately backing up and pirouetting against the wall nearby, when she saw the creepy-looking pitch-black genie, with those nightmarish eyes of his and that bizarre expression on his face.

Goku laughed as he turned his gaze to his ex-mentor.

"Hey there, Mr. Popo." He said, jovially.

"Hello." Responded the genie, his expression unchanged, as he shifted his face to Goku, in an awkwardly slow manner that made Chi-Chi's lips quiver.

"What is that thing?!" She slurred, cowering in fear, as a look of horror smeared her otherwise beautiful face.

"Chi-Chi, show some respect." Krillin chided, frowning in askance at the raven haired woman. "That's Mr. Popo. He's Kami's assistant." He then dropped his gaze to the floor dejectedly. "Or was..."

"O-O-Oh." Chi-Chi stammered.

"Listen carefully." Mr. Popo began. "Kami's old space ship is located in Yanzabit heights on the other side of the planet. It's how he came to Earth about three hundred years ago, when his planet had suffered a major cataclysm (A/N: By this point, King Kai has already told the others about Namek's history). Right before Kami had passed away, he told me to help you all get to Namek, so we could wish him and the others back with new dragon balls. A while after he had perished I went to examine his ship. For the most part, it appears to be in working order and is voice controlled. Unfortunately, it only responds to commands in Namekian. Although I am not completely fluent, I did hear Kami utter some phrases in his native tongue from time to time and in the context he said them in, I was able to make out their meaning. The ship is still very fast. I was able to fly it to Jupiter in less than ten seconds."

"That's great Mr. Popo!" Krillin beamed. "Once Gohan and I heal up, the three of us can travel to Namek and rescue Bulma. Hopefully we can catch Vegeta off guard somehow."

"I'm afraid that's not possible, young man." Mr. Popo responded. "The rules strictly prohibit me from abandoning the lookout for extended periods of time. But I can help you translate key commands. If you can find someone who is able to reprogram the ship, so that it can respond to commands in the common tongue, you will be able to make your journey into outer space."

"Dr. Brief should be able to do that." Goku's face lit up with promise. "This is great! We've really gotten somewhere and in so little time! Meanwhile, hopefully Yajirobe will find that space pod that I came in as a child."

"I just hope this works." Krillin said, face downcast in concentration.

"Gohan, Krillin, both of you listen up." Goku instructed. "You might have to travel to Planet Namek alone. If my guess is right, it'll take at least a month or so for the next crop of senzu beans to be ready and I'll be stuck here all that time. If there are dragon balls on Namek, which there probably are, given what King Kai's told us, then no matter what happens, we can't let Vegeta get his hands on them. If he was powerful enough to defeat all of us, then with the dragon balls he'll be invincible. Do not, under any circumstances, engage him. If you have just one dragon ball, hide it from him."

"There's only one problem Goku." Krillin responded. "He'll already know where the dragon balls are. Don't you remember? He has Bulma's radar with him!"

"Dammit!" Goku exclaimed, "You're right! Why didn't I think of that?!"

The whole lot of them began contemplating a means to overcome that little impediment, until Master Roshi suddenly recalled something from the past.

"Goku." He turned in the direction of his former star pupil, "Do you remember that time you collected six dragon balls, but couldn't find the last one and we had to get help from my sister, Baba? Somehow, someone was able to prevent Bulma's radar from tracking that last ball."

"You're right Master!" Krillin beamed, recalling their little adventure years ago. "At the time, Bulma said that the dragon ball must have been enclosed in some sort of sealed off repository that was able to rein in the energy waves emitted from it. In doing so, the radar was unable to track the ball's location. If we can somehow collect just one dragon ball and keep it sealed in a container like that, we may just be able to thwart Vegeta's plans. Man, I guess poor old Dr. Brief's going to have his hands full. But we still have to figure out a way to save Bulma."

"For now, focus on that first objective Krillin." Goku enjoined. "Unless you're absolutely certain that you can rescue Bulma, do not attempt it. It's much too dangerous. When you're on Namek, wait for my arrival. Right now I'm no match for Vegeta, but if I can find a way to break through my limits, hopefully that'll change."

"Alright Goku." Krillin acquiesced. "First thing's first, we have to check out Kami's ship and get it to Capsule Corporation as soon as possible. Once we're healed, we'll be on our way."

"No!" Chi-Chi exclaimed. "No way! Going off on an adventure is one thing, but I'm not putting my Gohan at risk again! What kind of mother would allow that?! He's only five years old! I'm not letting him anywhere near that monster Vegeta!"

"Mom, I have to go." Gohan stated, brows furrowed. "If it wasn't for Bulma, we'd be dead. I owe it to her and to Piccolo. He died for me."

"Chi-Chi, I'll keep him safe, you have my word." Krillin stated solemnly. "If Vegeta comes anywhere near us, I'll get Gohan to safety and keep him occupied if I have to."

"If Goku couldn't beat him, what chance do you have?!" Chi-Chi growled.

"I have no chance, but I'd die before I let Gohan get hurt and that's a promise!" He declared, frowning adamantly.

"I don't want anyone dying for me!" Gohan yelled, his teeth grit, as he glowered at the floor. "I can't take it anymore! No one else dies!"

"Gohan, relax." Goku ordered in a cool and composed voice. "Don't be reckless. You have to be smart about this. If you let your emotions hinder your judgment, you'll only put yourself in harm's way."

"If Gohan's going, I'm going too, end of story." Chi-Chi declared.

"Mom?" Gohan questioned, his voice suddenly softening.

"Chi-Chi?" Goku asked. "It's not safe for-"

"I know it's not safe!" She yelled, causing everyone to cringe. Chi-Chi then sighed and continued, in a softer, yet equally fervent tone. "I will protect Gohan no matter what!"

Suddenly Chi-Chi felt a large hand clasping her shoulder.

"No, Chi-Chi." Stated the Ox King, "I'll go instead."

"Dad?" She turned around, looking at her father's dark brown eyes, wherein she could see the brewing solicitude.

"You're my girl." He stated. "I care about you just as much as you care for Gohan. I won't let you put yourself at risk, no matter what."

"No dad, that's not necessary." Chi-Chi protested, shaking her head.

"Both of you stop it!" Goku frowned. "Neither of you are strong enough to go. You'll only get in the way. If we do this, we do it right. We can't let our enemies use you against us. Vegeta may not be the only one that crosses our path, so we need to be prepared as well as possible."

After arguing for a while, Goku's wife and father-in-law had finally obliged and allowed Gohan to go on his own with Krillin.

A/N: So the plans have been made for the journey to Namek. Just what does the future hold for Earth's heroes? How do they intend to thwart the plans of the evil Saiyan Prince?

p.s. Wasn't it hilarious seeing Yajirobe get humiliated by Korin and Chi-Chi freak out when Mr. Popo showed up out of nowhere? Oh yes, review!