Chapter Text

Bulma flew down a mountain road, pushing her customized TURBO car far beyond the normal limits of its model. A quick check of her Dragon Radar showed that she was still five kilometers away for her destination. At her destination awaited the one thing she wanted more than just about anything in the world: a Dragon Ball. It was amazing, when she thought about it, how her dad had managed to stumble across one of the seven mystical orbs that, when gathered together, could grant a person any one wish. The fact that he bought it as a souvenir for a couple hundred zenny was even more amazing. Of course, as soon as she learned what it was, she immediately built a device capable of locating the strange energy the things gave off before going to gather them.

She thought of what she could do with her Dragon Balls once she gathered all seven. Maybe she’d wish for the perfect boyfriend! No, that was silly. She was rich! She could buy the perfect boyfriend. No, she had a really good idea of what to wish for with these magical gems of ultimate power: A basket of strawberries! Delicious, delectable strawberries.

Bulma was so busy thinking about how wonderful it would be when she gathered all of the Dragon Balls, she didn’t see the small girl carrying a giant fish across the middle of the road until it was too late. She swerved desperately to avoid her but still crashed into the girl sending both her and her fish flying and the girl smashing face first into a tree. Oh God, she’d killed a child! Or a midget. Or a child midget. It didn’t matter. It was okay. She was out in the middle of nowhere and her car wasn’t even damaged. No one would ever know. It was fine. Totally, totally… was she moving?!

“Are you alright?” Bulma asked the little girl. “Don’t worry, I can help!” Bulma reached into her bag for her phone but stopped and stared when the little girl glared at her.

“I’ll teach you to try and take my fish, you big monster!” the little girl shouted and before Bulma had a single clue what was going on, this tiny girl was under her car and lifting it off the ground. Even as it was happening to her, Bulma told herself it was impossible. The girl was maybe fifty pounds and all of four feet tall. All the laws of physics told her that- Oh God, now she was flying!

“Now come out of your shell and fight me!” the little girl demanded. Shakily, holding her pistol in one hand, Bulma looked out of the window of her upturned car and saw the girl brandishing some kind of stick at her. “Don’t tell me you’re done already!” The girl sounded almost disappointed. Bulma might have said something clever like “Not yet, I’m not!” but all she could do at the moment was shriek in fear for her life and squeeze the trigger until it clicked. The girl was down for a moment and, in the silence, Bulma wondered if it was really possible to murder a child in self defense. Then the girl stood up. Without a single hole in her body. She held her head and looked like she was hurt but it was more like if Bulma had hit her with a rock instead of bullets.

“How the heck are you alive?” Bulma screamed, throwing the empty gun at the little girl. The girl grabbed her stick again and charged and it was then that Bulma remembered that the twerp had called her a “monster.” “Wait, wait!” Bulma screamed, holding up her hands defensively. Even though she’d been in a dead sprint, the strange child stopped in her tracks inches from the car. “I’m a human, okay! I’m not a monster!” The girl blinked at her, taking a few steps back defensively.

“A human, huh?” she asked incredulously. “Come out here and prove it!” Bulma climbed slowly out of the car, wondering how in the heck she was supposed to do that. The girl kept stepping back as Bulma walked towards her. She was afraid, Bulma thought. Like a wild animal.

“I won’t bite,” Bulma said in a reassuring voice, trying to smile and forget her terror, hoping her open hands weren’t shaking. “I’m just a regular person, like you!” the girl took a few steps forward then began circling Bulma, looking her up and down suspiciously.

“But you’re all scrawny!” the girl pointed out, poking Bulma with her stick. Bulma just told herself the girl meant she was thin, trying to repress her usual urge to scream with indignation at the insult. She wanted to stay alive.

“That’s because I’m a girl, silly!” Bulma told the other girl. “Just like you!” The kid was in front of Bulma again, taking a few steps back. “Well, maybe not just like you.” The girl was bulky for her age. Bulma could see muscles in her arms, for crying out loud. And her black hair pointed out in all different directions like she’d just gotten out of bed. And she had a tail. Bulma watched it swish around as the girl thought, taking slow, deep breaths to stop herself from screaming.

“Oh, wow!” the girl said. “I’ve never met another girl before!” That surprised Bulma. Her eyes went wide, and her blue eyebrows shot up her face.

“What, you’ve never met another human before?” she asked, sarcastically.

“No,” the girl said bluntly. “Except for my Grandpa, you’re the only human I’ve ever seen.” Bulma thought about that in an awkward silence. How was that possible? How did they even get any food? How did they have a house? Being a rich genius, Bulma couldn’t comprehend the idea of “roughing it.” “But my Grandpa always told me what to do with strangers.” Bulma winced but was pleasantly surprised when the girl put her stick back in its little sheath. “I should be polite to them and help them in any way I can as long as no one got hurt. Do you want some lunch?” Bulma let out a sigh of relief then fished out for her Dragon Radar as the girl ran and grabbed the tail of her huge fish. It looked like the Dragon Ball was just down the road. Probably in the little girl’s house! This was getting easier by the second.

“Sure!” Bulma said, pretending to be cheerful. “I love fish!” Well, she loved salmon cooked in lemon sauce with asparagus and red potatoes. Somehow, she doubted that this lunch would involve any of those things. She followed after the little girl who was heading right down the road, humming a little tune to herself.

“How’d you get that monster to do what you wanted?” the girl asked. Bulma blinked in confusion. What monster? Oh, wait! She forgot, the kid was an idiot.

“That’s no monster, silly!” Bulma corrected her. “It’s my car!” Bulma looked over her shoulder at the vehicle and was crestfallen. Broken windows, dented chassis, and two wheels had fallen off. Well, it was her car. The girls eyes went wide in surprise.

“Really?” she asked in wonderment. “Grandpa always told me about cars but I’ve never seen one! You must be from the city! Tell me all about it!” Bulma shook her head, laughing a little.

“Your grandpa sounds like a very interesting person,” Bulma told the girl. “Is he going to have lunch with us?”

“No,” the girl told Bulma matter-of-factly. “He died a long time ago. It’s just me out here!” That… freaked Bulma out, to say the least. This little girl had been living in the woods, alone, for God knew how long. With no one to talk to but wild animals. Who she then ate. How was she not crazy?

“My name’s Bulma,” she said, trying to break the awkward silence. The little girl laughed and Bulma’s face visibly reddened. People didn’t laugh at her! So what if her family had a weird tradition of naming themselves after undergarments. “Oh, yeah? Well what’s yours?” She asked defensively.

“My name’s Goku,” the girl said, looking back over her shoulder with a huge grin. “G, O, K, U.” Bulma rolled her eyes and snorted. Like “Goku” was so much better than “Bulma.” They walked for a while until they got to what Bulma had to assume was Goku’s house. It was a cute little home with a pointed blue roof but Bulma thought it looked like an oversized birdhouse.

“Nice little place you’ve got here,” Bulma told Goku. She had to be friendly for just a few more minutes, she told herself. Then she could grab the Dragon Ball, if it was here, and split.

“Thank you!” Goku said cheerfully, opening the doors of her house. She stopped in the doorway and stared at something. Bulma heard a faint, low humming in the room. “Hey, Grandpa! Are you trying to talk to me?” That didn’t make any sense to Bulma. Goku had said her grandfather was dead, didn’t she?

“Goku, what are you talking aboooou…-” Bulma stopped herself as she walked into the house, staring in open-mouthed shock. There, sitting on a plush little cushion, was the Dragon Ball, glowing with a mysterious light. She shoved Goku out of the way and ran to the Four Star Ball, grabbing it with both hands and lifting it up into the air. “Yes! Another Dragon Ball! I found i-” But there was a blur of black and purple and the ball was gone. Bulma looked around, startled. It was just in her hand! She looked down and Goku was holding the ball in her hands defensively, tight to her chest.

“Don’t touch this!” Goku told Bulma angrily as she assumed a fighting stance. “Keep your hands off my Grandpa!” That made even less sense than before.

“Your… what?” Bulma asked deadpan, trying to take the ball. “Goku, that’s just a Dragon Ball.” Goku took a step back.

“No! It’s the only thing my Grandpa left me to remember him by! I can’t let anyone else touch it!” Bulma hadn’t expected this, not by a long shot, and if the girl wasn’t going to give it to her, Bulma didn’t exactly have any way to force the super strong, bullet proof martial artist. The ball started glowing again and Goku held it up to her. “See! He’s trying to talk to me!” Bulma sighed, reaching into her fanny pack.

“I don’t wanna be rude, Goku, but that’s not your grandpa,” she held up her Dragon Balls, the Three and Five Star ones. “It’s a Dragon Ball! Here, I’ll show you.” Bulma set her balls down on the little table in the center of the room and Goku cautiously put hers down next to Bulma’s. The three balls glowed with light until they were bright yellow, their stars invisible. “When you gather all seven Dragon Balls together, a giant dragon will come out and grant you any wish you want!”

“Any wish?” Goku asked curiously and Bulma nodded eagerly, holding out her hands. That ball was as good as- “Can it bring my Grandpa back to life?” she asked in a small, soft voice; picking the ball up and hugging it to her chest. Bulma suddenly got a horrible, awful, sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had never felt it before but she was pretty sure this is what guilt felt like.

Goku was so excited to go on an adventure with her new friend Bulma. Bulma hadn’t really been talking much after lunch but Goku could kind of understand why. She probably had her own plans for what she was going to wish for but she gave them up so Goku could wish for her grandpa back. What a good friend! She was so excited for all the wonders of the big, wide world that she could hardly sleep. What she didn’t know, when she finally did fall asleep, was that Bulma had also had a rough time that night, wondering if the world’s largest chocolate fountain was really worth going to Hell for. Eventually, she decided that she wasn’t doing anything that bad and finally went to sleep herself.

Goku woke Bulma up bright and early the next morning, having found some fruit for their journey. It would be a long journey ahead on foot, especially since Bulma probably wasn’t as fast as her. After all, she needed that weird “car” thingy to get around. Bulma threw a rock at Goku when she woke up then went back to sleep. After another couple hours of this, Bulma finally got out of bed.

“Come on, come on!” Goku urged Bulma, dancing around the other girl as she dragged her feet through Goku’s house. “Let’s go! We’ve already wasted time waiting for you to move your butt!” Bulma shot her kind of a grumpy look then went outside to her car. Goku didn’t know what the heck she was going there for, it was broken. Bulma came out of the car with a small satchel and it was full of little silver beans. Bulma threw one on the ground and out popped another car-thingy! But it only had two wheels. “Wow!” she exclaimed, hands on her cheeks, eyes wide in surprise. “You’re a wizard!”

“Meh,” was all Bulma said as she hopped in the seat of the car-thingy. Goku hopped in behind her and then, suddenly, they were moving! Goku cried out in surprise, wrapping her arms around Bulma’s middle as the whole world turned into a blur. They were moving faster than Goku could run! Cars really were like magic!

The landscape changed around them as they drove and Goku watched with wonderment as the mountains turned into plains and then into forests. This kind of a journey would have taken her days on foot! Eventually, though, they came to a stop. Goku frowned when the car-thingy stopped and Bulma got out of the seat.

“Where are you going?” Goku asked, cocking her head to the side as Bulma made her way for the bushes. Bulma looked back at her, face a little red. She mumbled something and Goku blinked, head still cocked. “Huh?”

“I have to pee!” Bulma blurted out, face bright red. Goku went to get down off the car-thingy and follow her but Bulma’s face just got even redder. “I don’t need a pee-buddy!” she screamed. “Just stay by the bike and wait!”

‘So it’s called a bike,’ Goku thought as Bulma wandered off into the woods. Goku waited for a while; kicking her feet on the bike seat, getting out of the bike and balancing on her Power Pole, talking to bugs. She heard a pterodactyl scream. Then she heard a Bulma scream but Bulma had told Goku not to follow her so she just shrugged and kept talking to bugs. Eventually, the pterodactyl she’d heard before burst from out of the trees carrying Bulma in one of its talons. Bulma was screaming and kicking then saw Goku and just screamed louder.

“Help me, you idiot!” She shrieked. Goku rolled her eyes. So she didn’t want help to find a place to go to the bathroom, but now… Goku took out her Power Pole and twirled it around, aiming at the pterodactyl. “Are you going to throw a stick at it?” Bulma shrieked again in disbelief.

“Power Pole extend!” Goku called out and she was suddenly flying as the magical staff grew hundreds of times its original length. The butt of the staff hit the pterodactyl in the throat, crushing its windpipe and killing it instantly. Goku grabbed Bulma as the beast plummeted to the ground below, one hand still on the Power Pole, the two of them dangling hundreds of feet in the air. Bulma was peeing her pants. Goku kind of giggled at that and Bulma screamed at her some more. Did she do anything besides yell? “Power Pole retract!” The pole shrank and they were back on the ground. Bulma fell to her knees, breathing quickly as she kissed the ground. That seemed kinda weird to Goku so she went off to find the pterodactyl. Now they had meat!

Chapter Text

A day or two passed as they continued on their journey. Bulma displayed more of her magic powers by turning one of those beans into a house! They took a bath inside the house and that was when Goku found out that apparently girls get “boobs” when they grow older. Goku didn’t really like that idea. They looked like they’d just get in the way of fighting! Bulma looked at her kind of funny when she’d said that. Also, apparently the beans were things called “capsules” but Goku was still pretty sure that Bulma was just pretending not to be a witch.

They drove for a while on the “bike” and Bulma was much more awake than she had been the first day. Apparently, it had something to do with something called “coffee.” More magic! Eventually, they came to a stop because there was a big, brown rock in the road! Goku wondered why Bulma wouldn’t just drive around it but Bulma told her that her bike could only go on roads.

“Not all that magical,” Goku muttered as she hopped off the bike and walked over to the rock, grabbing it.

“I told you,” Bulma insisted, “It’s not magic!” Goku just shrugged and grabbed the rock and started to pick it up. As she lifted it over her head, the rock grew legs and a head! “Oh my Gosh, it’s a turtle!” Bulma exclaimed.

“The heck is a turtle?” Goku asked but then the turtle, whatever that was, spoke up for himself!

“I’m a turtle,” he said plainly, “Now please, put me down!” He seemed pretty polite so Goku did as she was asked. Bulma stared at the turtle, shocked. Apparently, turtles weren’t supposed to talk. “Could I trouble you for some salt water?” Bulma reached into her little satchel full of capsules and popped one open, revealing a bucket of salt water.

“A girl needs to exfoliate,” she explained but Goku hadn’t really asked and she didn’t know what the heck “exfoliate” meant. The turtle dunked his head in the bucket and drank, gripping the bucket in his flippers. When he finally pulled his face out, Bulma started asking him some questions. “So what the heck are you even doing out here, buddy? This is a long way inland for a sea turtle,” after a pause, she added, “And, oh yeah, how the heck are you able to talk!?” The turtle smacked his lips, smiling at her.

“Thank you for the salt water, my dear,” he said politely, bobbing his head. “As for your questions, my master taught me how to speak and a few weeks ago, there was a terrible storm that blew me off my island, all the way out here. I’ve been trying to get home but I’m terribly lost.” That made Goku sad and she gave the turtle a little pat on his shell. He bobbed his head around as if looking for something, “Could you tell me which way is the coast?” Bulma looked around then pulled out her Dragon Radar.

“The coast is… that way,” Bulma said eventually, pointing west. “About forty miles. Good luck!” She went to hop on her bike but Goku wasn’t moving. “Hey, kid, come on!” she said. “We’ve got a whole big adventure, remember?” Goku frowned and shook her head.

“We can’t just leave him here!” she insisted, folding her arms across her chest. There was no way he could make it all the way to the ocean by himself! He didn’t even have feet! Bulma huffed and started up her bike.

“Come on, Goku!” she whined. “Who knows who else could be looking for the Dragon Balls!” But Goku just picked up the turtle and put him on her back as he gave a surprised shout. Bulma humphed as Goku started walking then pulled down her lower eyelid and stuck out her tongue. “Fine! I’ll do it by myself! And I’ll wish for whatever I want!” Then she tore down the road, leaving them in the dust. Goku shrugged and put the turtle on her back, marching off towards the west.

“So, what should I call you?” she asked the turtle as they walked. If a turtle could speak, it could have a name too, right?

“You can call me Turtle,” he said politely. Well, so much for that idea, Goku thought as she tramped along.

“So, what can you tell me about your master?” Goku asked. She didn’t want to send the turtle back to him if he was a jerk or something.

“My Master is Muten Roshi, the Turtle Hermit.” Goku grinned at that and tried not to giggle. “He is one of the greatest martial artists in the world,” he added and Goku went all starry-eyed. She hoped she actually got to meet this great martial artist. Maybe he’d even teach her some moves! That would be something.

They walked for a while, not saying much. For a while, Goku asked Turtle what it was like to be a… turtle. Apparently it involved a lot of swimming. And all you ate was seaweed and jellyfish. It was probably fine for Turtle but it just sounded awful to Goku. She didn’t think she’d like being a turtle very much. As they were walking in silence, though, the ground started to shake and the birds flew out from the trees, squawking in distress. Goku looked around, her tail twitching as she waited for whatever was coming. It kind of smelled like a… bear?

Then it came out of the trees: An enormous bear, as tall as the trees, holding a sword bigger than Goku and wearing armor. Drool dripped from its fangs as it looked down menacingly at them, brandishing its sword.

“Well hi there!” Goku said cheerfully as she felt Turtle tremble against her back. “What are you looking for?” The bear let out a low, rumbling laugh, holding the edge of the sword between two claws, running them up and down the blade. It made a high-pitched whine that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

“I’m quite hungry, you see,” the bear said in a guttural voice. “And I plan to dine…” the bear reached up to its helmet, pulling down the guard to cover its face, “...on turtle soup!” It raised the sword high overhead and Goku cocked her head to the side.

“Well, that’s kind of a problem,” she pointed out. “We’re out in the woods, and the only turtle is- ohhhhh!” Goku realized what was going on just in time to jump back, letting Turtle drop to the ground, the razor sharp blade missing cutting her in half by inches. She leaped up into the air, throwing out a thrust kick into the bear’s chest, staggering it and putting a shoe-shaped dent in its armor. The bear slammed back into a tree then roared, swinging its sword wildly. Goku ducked and dodged every swing of the sword until she just bit down on the blade and wrenched it from the bear’s grip, snapping the steel in two. The bear stared in disbelief and she dropped back down to the ground into a fighting stance, hopping on the balls of her feet.

Then her stomach growled. Goku’s knees went weak as she suddenly remembered she hadn’t eaten in hours. Her hands went to her stomach and all her strength and energy drained from her. The bear advanced on Goku and Turtle, claws outstretched, licking its chops. This was definitely trouble.

Bulma was going full-throttle through the woods, scared out of her mind. She’d gone maybe five miles before she realized that the woods were full of monsters and that just two days ago she’d almost been killed by a dinosaur! Those were supposed to all be gone! Stupid public school textbooks… And with no gun and absolutely no survivor skills, she realized that she desperately needed her half-pint bodyguard. But she couldn’t find her. How far could she get with a giant turtle on her back?

So Bulma had taken her bike off-road, which it wasn’t even supposed to be able to do, and she had no idea where she was going or where to look. She was so wrapped up in her panic that she didn’t notice the rock that was right in her path until she was flying again. She didn’t like flying without planes! People weren’t supposed to fly! She screamed her head off as she soared through the air, eyes screwed shut as she headed back to Earth, hoping her corpse wouldn’t be too horribly mangled when she landed. She wanted to be pretty at her funeral. Then she realized no one would find her out here and she’d be eaten by wolves. And that just made her scream even louder.

The bear reached out its claws and Goku crawled her way to put herself between Turtle and the bear. Maybe she could make the bear choke to death on her, at least. But then Bulma came out of the sky and hit the bear in the back of the head, cracking its helmet in half. The bear staggered as Bulma came to a halt a few feet later, hugging her bike and crying.

“Bulma!” Goku called out as she struggled to her feet. “I need the capsule with the pterodactyl meat!” Bulma opened her eyes slowly and realized what she was seeing and seemed all prepared for a fresh bout of screaming but Goku cut her off. “Bulma! Please! Food!” The bear gave a groan as it started slowly getting to its feet, holding the back of its head where a large knot was forming. Bulma nodded frantically and tossed the capsule on the ground, a full rack of Pterodactyl ribs appearing in its place. Goku dove onto them, ripping the meat off the bones as it disappeared into her stomach.

Goku flexed as her energy filled her back up and turned to face the bear as it roared in her face, ready to bite her head off. Goku took out her power pole and jumped in the air, extending the pole and bringing it down on the beast’s head. A sickening crack filled the air before the bear fell backwards, stiff as a board, dead. Goku grinned up at Bulma when she reached the ground before she ran to the other girl and hugged her around the legs.

“What made you come back?” Goku asked cheerfully and Bulma fought the urge to squirm. She didn’t like to be hugged. No one was supposed to hug her except her perfect boyfriend she was going to wish for! He’d have long hair, and he’d be strong and rugged and rich. Probably royalty. But he wouldn’t be taller than her.

“Oh, y’know, I couldn’t just abandon you out here!” Bulma lied. Goku grinned at that, hugging Bulma again, and didn’t seem to mind when Bulma pushed her away. Bulma was a great friend! Bulma got back on her bike and patted the space behind her. Good thing it had a load bearing capacity of half a ton. “Come on,” she urged. “Let’s go take the turtle to the stupid ocean.” Anything to get them back on track. Goku grinned and put the turtle back on her back before climbing onto the bike as they sped away.

An hour or so later, they finally arrived at the coast. Goku hopped off the bike and the turtle slid off her back and made his way to the sea.

“Please wait here,” he asked them. “I will return with my master. He will be very grateful, I’m sure!” Bulma rolled her eyes as Goku waited eagerly, hopping up and down. She was going to meet the greatest martial artist ever! Time passed as they waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. Bored, Bulma looked at her Dragon Radar, wondering if anyone had found the other Balls yet and was stealing her chance at bubble soap that would give her a diamond bubble bath while they were waiting for a stupid old man. Well, one Ball was moving. Great. No, wait. There was a second one moving, too. Moving towards them. Bulma’s eyes went wide and she stared out at the ocean as something drew towards them.

“No way,” she mouthed silently. But, sure enough, the turtle returned carrying an old man on his back! His head was impossibly shiny and his beard as white as snow. He was wearing a tropical shirt, board shorts, and green sunglasses. He also had a knobbly cane but never mind that, he was wearing a Dragon Ball on his neck. The old man hopped off the turtle’s back when he came ashore, nodding at them.

“Hello,” he said in a creaky old voice, “My name’s Muten Roshi, the Turtle Hermit. It seems you nice young ladies returned my turtle to me.” He gave the turtle a pat on the head. “I’m quite grateful for that.” Before Bulma could say anything, Goku butted in.

“Hey! My name’s Goku!” she said, grinning widely, bursting with exuberance. “Are you really one of the best martial artists ever? How did you teach your turtle to talk?” She just had to know! The Hermit grinned, letting out a chuckle.

“I live on an island in the middle of the ocean,” he said ruefully. “If I didn’t teach this turtle to talk, I’d have gone crazy a long time ago. It wasn’t easy. Raised this guy from a hatchling, I did.” Bulma had to interject there.

“Hold on a second!” she shouted. “That turtle is over a hundred years old!” Roshi adjusted his sunglasses, frowning behind his beard.

“Did I stutter?” he asked then shrugged before turning his attention to Goku. “So, you said your name was Goku?” Goku nodded eagerly. “I think I remember a former student of mine talking about a strange little girl he’d found in the woods named Goku.” Goku gasped in surprise, holding her face in her hands.

“You knew my Grandpa Gohan?” she asked, excited. Her Grandpa had taught her martial arts. How good was Muten Roshi to have been able to teach him? Roshi nodded, rubbing his chin again.

“Hmmm. Now, what can I do for your service and for being a child of my favorite pupil…” he muttered then started talking to himself, counting off on his fingers. “Lost the magic carpet. Killed the immortal phoenix. The magic shoes flew away. The bag of endless storage is full…” He frowned then Turtle leaned up and whispered in his ear. “Ah, yes!” Roshi shouted, pointing his staff into the sky. “To me, Flying Nimbus!” He cried dramatically and then a cloud came, well, soaring down from the clouds. It was a yellow cloud that slowly bobbed in the air. “The Flying Nimbus will take you anywhere you want to go,” he said then went to lean on it. “And it can only be used by the pure of- HERK!” Roshi went right through the cloud and face-planted in the sand. Bulma covered her giggles with her hand as Goku hopped up onto the cloud and Roshi sputtered out sand.

“This is so cool!” she exclaimed. She had a magical flying cloud! She could fly! She giggled, grabbing two fistfuls of fluff and pulling on the cloud. It soared up into the air and she threw back her head back and laughed as she spiraled up into the bright blue sky. Bulma turned her attention back to Roshi, holding out her hands.

“Okay, Goku got her fancy flying cloud or whatever.” Pfft. Stupid cloud. She had personal jets. Why did she want a cloud? She wasn’t jealous. “What about me?” Roshi frowned, adjusting his glasses.

“You’re a very rude girl,” he muttered. He looked down at the turtle and shrugged. “All the same, fair’s fair. What is it you want?” Bulma’s eyes drifted down to the Dragon Ball around his neck. Roshi palmed it in his hand, looking down, pulling the necklace away from his neck. “Gohan and I took two of the Dragon Balls,” he said. “We knew their power was terrible. We knew they had to be kept separate. It’s why we lived in such remote places.” He sighed, “What are you even going to do with these, girl?”

“We’re going to bring Gohan back,” Bulma blurted out. It was all she could think of. The tiny part of her voice that was her conscience told her that she was now lying to a small child and an old man. But she was on the spot! Roshi frowned, looking shocked behind his glasses.

“Gohan died?” he asked in soft disbelief. Roshi looked down and sighed, taking off the necklace and handing it to her. “Here,” he said. “If you really are doing what you say, I can’t keep ya from doin’ it.” Bulma took the Dragon Ball in her hand and she wanted to hold it in the air triumphantly but she didn’t feel very triumphant at the moment. Goku eventually descended to the ground and Bulma was thankful for the distraction from her sudden onrush of guilt.

“Hey!” she exclaimed, holding up the necklace. “We’ve got four!” Goku grinned as she hopped off the Nimbus. She walked over to Roshi and gave the old man a hug and he seemed genuinely happy to reciprocate. She pulled away after a moment, looking up at the old master with awe.

“When me and Bulma are done with the Dragon Ball stuff, can I train with you?” she wanted to learn more about martial arts. She wanted to learn from the man that taught her grandpa. Roshi smiled, ruffling her hair.

“Nothing would make me happier,” he told her as Goku jumped back onto Nimbus.

“Let’s go, Bulma!” She urged and Bulma started climbing onto it but slammed into the ground even faster than Roshi. Her face went red with embarrassment and anger.

“Your stupid cloud is broken!” she snapped then hopped on her bike and drove away. Goku looked back and waved at Roshi, flying after Bulma. Bulma was excited as they made their way back down the road, heading for adventure. They were more than halfway to her magical horse made of butterflies. But still, she wondered where that other Dragon Ball was going….

Deep in the bowels of a crypt of ancient kings from before the Eternal Dragon had united the world under a single kingdom, the would-be Emperor Pilaf and his only two subjects, the mysterious Mai and the canine ninja Shu, had found their first Dragon Ball. The strange blue goblin grinned as he looked at the orb in his hands, holding it high overhead.

“Soon!” he cackled, seeing his own reflection in the luster. “Once we have all seven, I shall take my rightful place as ruler of the world!” He cackled again, looking at his subjects, who were on eye level with him at bended knee. “For as my great-great-grandfather Quinoa was the rightful ruler of this world before the Eternal Dragon stole his throne from him, so shall the Dragon return me to my power!” He laughed again but this time a bit too loudly and a suit of armor came tumbling down, a skeleton falling out of the helmet. The three shrieked in unison and ran out of the catacombs, Pilaf cutting in front, holding the Ball high overhead.

Chapter Text

It had been a few weeks of journeying and Goku and Bulma had found another Dragon Ball in Aru Village. First, Goku had to fight a shapeshifting Pig-man named Oolong who had been kidnapping all the townsfolk’s daughters and keeping them in his castle. Goku was really disappointed in how weak he’d been and he was a huge creep so she was going to eat him since he was a pig. But Bulma wouldn’t let her. Apparently, since he talked, that meant it wasn’t okay which made enough sense to Goku so she decided to remember that. Talking means no eating.

In exchange for going away forever and not getting eaten, Oolong gave them his Big M capsule. Then Bulma used one of her capsules with a boat in it, since they had to go down a big river to get to the desert that would lead them closer to Fry-Pan Mountain.

“Now Goku, when we get to Fry-Pan Mountain, there’ll be a big castle but we have to be careful because the Ox King lives there and he’s very strong and dangerous,” Bulma warned but Goku just grinned like an idiot at the prospect. Honestly, Bulma would never understand why a girl liked fighting so much!

“Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!” Goku exclaimed, jumping up and down in the motorboat. Bulma had to grab onto the sides to keep it from capsizing, furrowing her brows in irritation. Stupid kid! “I wanna fight the Ox King!” Bulma groaned.

“No!” she insisted, “No you don’t! He’s huge and he’s a grown-up! What if he’s stronger than you? What if he could really hurt you or kill you?” Much as she hated to admit it, Bulma was getting attached to the little weirdo. Besides, if she died, the Ox King was totally going to kill her, too, and Bulma had no intentions of dying yet. She hadn’t even committed an act of science that mocked God yet!

“Then I’ll just have to fight that much harder to beat him!” Goku said cheerfully, apparently unfazed by the prospect of her own demise. Bulma just groaned. And then groaned louder when the motorboat ran out of gas. She threw her back against the boat, kicking her legs angrily into the air.

“Stupid perverted pig and these stupid capsules with this stupid boat that doesn’t have enough stupid gas in its stupid-” Bulma stopped her diatribe because a horrible sound of wrenching metal cut her off, followed by a big splash. Then she realized the boat was moving again, much faster than before. She sat up and saw that Goku had ripped off the engine and stuck her tail into the water and was using it as a makeshift propeller. Bulma sighed, shaking her head. Thank God for this stupid kid. She laid back in the boat as Goku did the work and yawned, thinking of her perfect boyfriend until she dozed off. He’d be tall, handsome, refined. He’d have “unusual” colored hair, so people wouldn’t look at her weird anymore. Maybe green? He’d be well-traveled but not of a higher standing than her. And he’d have a dangerous side that he’d only bring out to protect her from people who wanted to hurt her. She drifted off to sleep, snoring, as Goku hummed happily to herself, tail puttering away.

A little while later, they came ashore and Bulma woke up, her blue hair shooting off in all directions. She yawned and stretched before hopping out of the boat.

“Okay!” she said eagerly, refreshed from her nap, “Let’s keep movin’!” She reached into the pocket of her jacket and… and… and there were no capsules. Her eyes went wide with panic before she ripped off the jacket and shook it upside down, frantically. The Dragon Radar fell out along with a compact mirror and a hairbrush but. No. Capsules. Bulma was silent with rage for a moment then shrieked, stomping her feet and slamming the jacket on the ground over and over. Goku walked up to her, head cocked to the side, concerned.

“Bulma?” she asked, showing genuine, naive concern for her friend’s psychotic breakdown. “What’s wrong?” What she got for her compassion was the full force of Bulma’s rage.

“What’s wrong?!” she screamed in Goku’s face with enough force to make the other girl’s spiky hair fly backwards like she was trapped in a hurricane. What kind of question was that? How stupid could this stupid little hermit demon weirdo possibly be?! “My capsules are gone! My food, my bed, my clothes, my vehicles, my jewelry, everything!” Bulma broke down crying and crawled off behind a boulder to hide from the baking desert sun in its shade. It wasn’t fair! All she wanted was a stupid umbrella that rained gumdrops when you opened it. Was that so wrong? Goku sat on top of the boulder, looking down at Bulma with concern, wondering what she could do to cheer up her friend.

Yamcha the desert bandit adjusted his spyglass from atop a mountain as he looked down at the sad scene below. A little girl, all alone in the desert, lost and away from home. She probably didn’t even have any valuables to her name. He grinned wolfishly as he put the spyglass down and it turned back into his cat. But if she did, he would be there to take them from her. His faithful sidekick Puar, the aforementioned shapeshifting cat, floated beside him as he produced a capsule from which came his trusty Jet Squirrel flying scooter. Yamcha had no idea where Puar had learned to talk. Or to fly. Or how a cat could even afford to go to shapeshifting school. Or how you are taught to shapeshift. He’d just never really figured out how he’d bring these things up in casual conversation. He pushed all that out of his mind as he flew down towards his next victim. Easiest. Banditing. Ever.

Bulma had fallen asleep again and Goku was left alone with her thoughts. She wondered what it would be like to see Grandpa alive again. He could see Master Roshi again! And they could all train and do Martial Arts together! And they’d work together and finally find and defeat the monster that killed Grandpa in the first place! She smiled at the thought, kicking her feet. It would be so great to have Grandpa back and they only needed… Goku blinked as she remembered she couldn’t count. Good thing she hadn’t told Bulma that. She’d probably scream. Again.

Goku looked off in the distance and saw a person flying down from the sky with another one of those car-thingies. Or was this a bike-thingy? Wait, it didn’t have a seat like either of those things. Either way, she liked his outfit. She liked green and orange. And he had a cat with him!

“Hi there!” she said eagerly, hopping down from the boulder as the other person landed. “My name’s Goku!” The man walked off the machine and smiled back at Goku but she didn’t like his smile.

“Hey there. My name’s Yamcha,” he said back before pulling out a sword and pointing it at her. “Capsules. Money. Now.” Goku blinked at him before scratching her head.

“Why?” she asked. Yamcha’s swordpoint dipped slightly, his face scrunched up in confusion. He hadn’t expected that.

“I’m… I’m robbing you,” he explained. Goku frowned as she took a fighting stance and brought out her Power Pole. She didn’t like this Yamcha very much.

“I don’t care,” she said firmly. Yamcha chuckled, shaking his head.

“Really?” he asked. “Sword against stick?” He grinned, holding his sword out in both hands, taking a fighting stance of his own. “Anyone ever teach you how wood and metal work, kid?” Goku decided Yamcha was a huge jerk and jumped at him, swinging her staff around to crack him in the side of the head. Yamcha brought up his sword to meet her, just barely blocking the attack. His eyes went wide in surprise. She was strong! Goku jumped back and Yamcha made the attack with a series of quick slashes and cuts but Goku blocked every one. Goku jumped back again, putting distance between them. Yamcha raised the sword overhead for a big downward slash but Goku put a stop to that.

“Power Pole extend!” she shouted and the staff shot out to catch the sword on the underside of the pommel, sending it pinwheeling out of Yamcha’s grip to bury in the dirt. Yamcha stared in dumbfounded disbelief. He looked at his hands, where there was no longer a sword. He looked at the sword, no longer in his hands. Then he looked at the staff in the girl’s hands. Ten seconds ago, it had been an inch longer than the girl. Now the staff was longer than he was tall.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he cried out, holding his hands up defensively when Goku made ready to strike. “Hey, I lost the sword. You put down the staff.” Goku frowned. “Come on. Don’t you want it to be fair?” Slowly, Goku put the Power Pole back in its sheath and put it on the ground. She did want to kick this guy’s butt fair and square. They circled each other, waiting. “So, I see you’re a bandit, too,” he said, complimenting her.

“The heck is that supposed to mean?” she asked cautiously, not wanting to fall for any tricks. Yamcha smirked.

“You don’t have to be defensive. You should be proud that you were able to steal the legendary Son Gohan’s staff,” he told her. Goku’s brow furrowed in rage, then she leaped up into the air to give Yamcha a roundhouse kick that he just barely blocked with his forearm.

“I didn’t steal anything!” she snapped. “My grandpa gave it to me!” Yamcha jumped back, rubbing his forearm, eyebrows shooting up in surprise again.

“You’re the granddaughter of Son Gohan?” he asked and Goku nodded proudly, staying in her fighting stance. He grinned again as he dropped into a stance of his own. He lowered his body, sticking one leg far out as he bent forward, and his finger bent and hooked like claws. “Then you are worthy enough to die at the hands of my self-made martial art!” Goku went starry-eyed at that, despite herself. He invented his own martial art? That was so cool! Yamcha charged at her and the wind howled as he swung his arms with deadly precision. “Wolf Fang Fist!”

Yamcha had spent the better part of a decade perfecting the Wolf Fang Fist style. He’d trained his body in the hot desert sun, pounding his fingertips against the boulders and climbing up mountains with his bare hands to make his fingers as hard and as dangerous as steel when he tensed the muscles. He even lived with the wolves of the desert for a short time to really take in the spirit of the wolf. Running with them, hunting with them, howling with them. The Wolf Fang Fist was the ultimate killing style.

So how the hell was this little girl blocking his attacks?! Every time he swung, she had an answer; every time he kicked, she rolled away. It didn’t make any sense! She had less range, less muscle mass, less everything. Then she jumped up and gave Yamcha a swift kick in the chin, sending him flying into the air. Then everything went white.

Kenshiro and Bat walked through the wastelands of North America on their way to nowhere important. It had been three days since they last had food and Bat was starting to complain. Despite the time they’ve spent together, Bat still couldn’t understand why Kenshiro left the villages he saved without being rewarded.

Suddenly, off in the distance, Kenshiro could see an oddly clad figure flying towards them, their posture suggesting that they had been sent flying by a kick. Kenshiro had no idea who this person was but he knew they didn’t belong here so he did the only natural thing.

“WATTA!” Without breaking stride, Kenshiro kicked the person back whence he came.

“Who the hell was that?!” Bat asked, completely flabbergasted by what he had just seen.

“No one important,” was all Kenshiro said as he kept walking onwards.

Yamcha landed in front of Goku, holding his face. Goku was wondering where he’d gone. He didn’t fall from the sky, really, he just kind of… appeared. Yamcha groaned as he got up, holding the sight of his face.

“Y-you little shit!” he spat out along with a small amount of blood. Goku gasped, involuntarily falling out of her fighting stance. That was one of the words she’d heard Grandpa say when he hammered his thumb and he’d made her promise not to say those words.

“You said a bad wor-” she started to say but Yamcha hit her hard in the stomach with a double palm strike, sending her smashing into a cluster of rock pillars which all fell on her.

“Damn it!” Yamcha muttered. He did not just go through all that and not even get a chance to rob her! “Puar!” he snapped. His sidekick floated up beside him again. “Turn into a crane and go dig her out!”

“Yes sir, Yamcha sir!” he said with a dutiful salute and then flew over to the rocks. Which then started to move. “Uh… sir?” Puar asked nervously as he looked back over his shoulder at Yamcha. “I-I-I don’t think I need to shapeshift!” He flew back towards his master, hiding behind him. Yamcha’s eyes went wide as one of the larger chunks of rubble fell down to reveal Goku holding her head and groaning as if she’d been hit with a regular sized rock instead of boulders.

“No way,” Yamcha muttered. “No. Fucking. Way.” Goku marched towards them angrily and Yamcha was certain he was about to die. But then Goku staggered and she groaned before holding her stomach.

“Not now!” she moaned, feeling her stomach growl with emptiness. Her stomach picked the worst times to be hungry. “I don’t have the energy!” She dropped to her knees and groaned miserably. Yamcha charged forward, knowing this was his only chance to strike, but then he heard a yawn and came to a screeching halt. It was a girl’s yawn. His heart pounded in his chest as Bulma staggered out from behind the rocks, grumbling and running a hand through her hair.

“The heck is all that noi-” she started to ask but then locked eyes with Yamcha. There was a slight pause before he bolted, his eyes as big as dinner plates, and jumped back onto his Jet Squirrel and flew away, Puar clinging to his bandana. Stupid fear of women!

“Who the heck was he, Goku?” Bulma asked and Goku shrugged and frowned.

“A real jerk!” she grumbled before blowing a raspberry in the direction he flew. Even if it was kinda cool that he had his own martial arts technique he’d thought up all by himself.

“He was kinda cute,” Bulma muttered, twirling her hair around one finger. Goku groaned, rolling her eyes. She hoped she never, ever got like that about boys. She went back to the boat to look for food but was surprised to find The Pig Guy’s Big M Capsule under the seat.

“Hey, Bulma!” she shouted, holding the capsule triumphantly. “Look what I found!” Bulma broke out into a wide grin and ran to Goku, picking her up off the ground and kissing her cheeks all over. “Hey, quit it!” Goku protested as she squirmed and tried to get away.

The days passed by pretty quickly after that. They ran into Yamcha again and he’d tried to blow them up with a rocket launcher before saying that they’d just gotten off on the wrong foot and offered to give them a lift in his hovercar. Goku, naturally, trusted him. He’d said he was sorry and that was good enough for her.

They then drove to to Fry-Pan Mountain only to find out it was on fire! The Ox King sent Goku and his daughter Chi-Chi to go get Muten Roshi, who turned out to be Ox King’s old teacher, to go get his Banshou Fan to put out the fire. Chi-Chi had thrown the blade in her hat at Roshi but he caught it in his fingers! It turned out that Roshi had bet the fan in a poker game against a girl with “great cans”- cans of what, Goku didn’t know- and that he saw them when he won but she took the fan anyway when she’d found out he cheated.

Since the Banshou Fan was out, Roshi came with them but only because Goku had agreed to let Roshi touch Bulma’s boobs. Goku didn’t see anything wrong with that. He then used an amazing blast he called the Kamehameha that not only put out the fire but also destroyed the castle! Goku just had to try it herself and she did it! Roshi was super surprised. It blew up their car but they got the Dragon Ball! Now they had six, which Bulma told her was one less than seven. Apparently, there was something wrong with letting Roshi grab Bulma’s boobs because she tried to shoot him when he did. No one ever explained these things to Goku!

Chapter Text

Our four heroes trekked through a desert forest of forty feet tall, pale-ish pink mushrooms. These mushrooms thankfully blocked out the baking heat of the sun. Using Yamcha’s hovercar, they were making good time to the location of the final Dragon Ball and, Bulma thought, to a magic backpack that would never run out of puppies.

“So,” Bulma began as she sidled up to Yamcha while Goku slept in the back seat. “What did you want the Dragon Balls for?” She had to admit that there was something about Yamcha that she liked. He was tall and strong and a little bit dangerous. Not her perfect boyfriend, of course, but he was cute. He grew visibly nervous when she got close to him though. Maybe he was just shy.

“Well,” Yamcha started to say but he stopped and stared at Bulma until she scooched back, “I’ve always kind of had an issue with women.” He went on to explain, “Not, like, on a personal level or anything. I don’t dislike them, that’s not what I meant. I just can’t talk to them. I freeze up and panic. And I kind of was hoping that the Eternal Dragon could, y’know, wish that away.” There was a moment of silence before Bulma grinned.

“Y’know,” she pointed out, “I’m a girl. And you’re talking to me.” Yamcha blushed as she grinned wider, finger-walking up his arm. “Maybe it was all just in your head.” Yamcha nearly swerved into a mushroom when she did that and Bulma screamed as Yamcha steered them back straight. Goku never noticed, snoring her head off. Yamcha cleared his throat as Bulma straightened out her hair, wanting to change the subject.

“S-so what were you gonna wish for?” he asked and Bulma looked awkwardly out the window, gazing at the forest. “Bulma?” he prodded, wondering if she’d heard him.

“I told Goku that if she’d help me, I’d use the wish to bring her grandfather back to life,” she muttered while still looking out the window. Yamcha smiled and nodded. He hadn’t expected something that selfless.

“Wow,” he said in a pleasantly surprised tone, “That’s really nice. It’s great that you’d give up your wish to hel-” Yamcha noticed that she hadn’t looked back at him yet. “You’re kidding,” he muttered. There was no way. No one could be that evil. “You have got to be kidding.” Bulma’s fingernails dug angrily into the doorframe as Yamcha laughed despite himself. “That is the worst thing I’ve ever heard!” Bulma spun around, her face red with indignation.

“Oh, come on!” she protested. Who the hell did this desert hobo think he was to judge her, anyway? “I’m not doing anything that bad! Didn’t I take her out to see the world? Show her what a big and exciting place it was?” What, was she getting lectured by criminals now? Yamcha raised an incredulous eyebrow.

“And what happens after you wish for whatever it is you really want, huh?” he asked. “Are you gonna take her in and help her see more of the world after you’ve ripped her miles away from her home? Or are you just gonna strand a little girl out in the middle of nowhere?” He laughed again, rubbing his face with the hand not on the steering wheel. “Lady, I am a desert bandit. I rob people at swordpoint. I take their food, water, capsules, money, everything and leave them for dead in the middle of nowhere. You manipulated a naïve little girl to be your bodyguard by using the memory and love of her dead grandfather as leverage,” he leveled an accusing finger at her face, “You are the worst person I have ever met.”

As they argued, Mai watched the car travel from atop a mushroom. She laid on her stomach as she adjusted her binoculars. To think that somehow these children had taken most of the Dragon Balls when all the power and influence of her Great Emperor could not. It was infuriating. She reached for her communicator and radioed Shu.

“Move in,” she told him brusquely and hung up before he could reply. She couldn’t stand that ridiculous dog and his ninja outfit. She still didn’t understand why her Pilaf would not let her pilot the Pilaf Machine.

“And another thing!” Bulma screamed, wagging a finger in Yamcha’s face. Somehow, Goku had slept through all of this. “You don’t- Look out!” Bulma cried, seeing something out of the corner of her eye. Yamcha saw it too and slammed on the brakes as he swerved to the side. Standing in the middle of the road was a robot on four legs with a glass bubble on the front, a gun on one arm, and a three-pincer hand on the other.

“Hello!” came a voice from inside the robot. “I’m Shu.” Far away, Mai face-palmed. “Could you please hand over your Dragon Balls?” Before Yamcha could do anything, such as wake Goku the Bulletproof Child, Bulma stuck her head out the passenger side window while shaking a fist at Shu.

“Hell no!” she screamed as she flipped him the bird. “Who the hell do you think you are, coming out of nowhere and asking for my Dragon Balls?!” Yamcha face-palmed before he turned around and went to shake Goku awake. No sooner had he done that then Shu fired the machine’s gun. A laser gun. Bulma shrieked as the beam barely missed her. Yamcha grabbed Bulma around the middle and Goku by the tail before jumping out of the car with both of them while Puar flew out an open window. Shu grabbed the car in his claw-hand and shook it violently until the briefcase fell out.

“The Dragon Balls have to be in there!” Mai said to Shu’s through the radio. “Grab them now!” Shu pushed some buttons dutifully, dropping the car and picking up the briefcase.

“Bye!” he said with a wave before flying off, powered by a rocket in the underside of the machine. Goku grumbled groggily as she rubbed sleep out of her eyes. Sleep and sand. The sound of the laser and getting her tail grabbed had quickly woken her up.

“What’s going on?” she muttered, only to be greeted by an angry, red-faced Bulma.

“What’s going on is that he’s stealing our Dragon Balls!” she screamed while pointing at the sky. “Go get him!” Goku couldn’t let whoever “he” was run off with the Balls! She had to get her Grandpa back!

“Nimbus!” Goku called as she hopped up to her feet. The yellow cloud dropped out of the sky and landed by Goku’s side. She hopped onto it and pointed towards the sky with her Power Pole drawn. “Let’s go!” she commanded and the cloud took off in a blur. Goku raced across the sky, looking for any sign of someone weird who might have stolen the Dragon Balls. She spotted someone down on the ground and had Nimbus divebomb to check it out. It was a weird metal monster that was lying on the ground. She whacked it with her staff a few times in anger. “Gimme back the Dragon Balls!” she demanded but the creature gave no reply. Saddened, Goku climbed back on Nimbus and flew back towards the group. “I’m sorry, Bulma,” she said when she landed, “but I couldn’t find the-” she stopped as her hand fell to her hip and the small bag tied to her belt. “Oh, wait!” she exclaimed before untying the belt and holding it up. “I still have Grandpa’s ball!” Bulma instantly switched from melancholic to gleeful.

“That’s great!” she cried out. “So we can still get our wish! Now I’ll just get the Dragon Radar and-” She stopped, eyes growing wide. Yamcha leaned forward, hands at his hips.

“And? And?” he asked angrily. Bulma muttered something and Yamcha leaned in further. “Gonna need you to speak up, princess,” he quipped. Bulma sank to her knees and cried. She threw her head back as tears welled up in her eyes.

“I left our capsules in the briefcaaaaaaase!” she wailed. Yamcha ran his hands through his hair before throwing them up in the sky in exasperation. What was wrong with this girl?

“Are you serious?!” he asked in exasperation. “You just put all our valuable shit in one case? Who even does that?!” Bulma looked up at him angrily through her tears.

“Well,” she retorted with a sniffle, “I figured my two brave warriors would protect me from getting robbed!” Yamcha rolled his eyes.

“Forget getting robbed!” he snapped. “What if the case fell off a cliff or into a lake or there was a fire or something?!” They descended into screaming at each other again before a single word cut through the cacophony.

“Guys?” Goku said softly and the pair came to a stop to look at her. “Yelling at each other isn’t going to get the Dragon Balls back,” she pointed out. They sighed in unison and Yamcha helped Bulma back to her feet. Bulma dried her eyes and took a deep breath before they all got back in the mostly intact hovercar.

“All right,” Bulma said as she went to strap on her seatbelt but the laser gun had melted the buckle off. Ah, well. “How do we find them?” Yamcha reached into the glove compartment and took out a pair of binoculars. He adjusted the focus as he looked into them.

“Just a suggestion,” he said as he pointed towards the horizon. “We could try the castle?” Standing ominously in the distance was an enormous castle. The kind a supervillain who has robot suits at his disposal might use. Bulma shrugged and Yamcha started up the hovercar. He slammed on the gas pedal and they took off at full speed.

“‘Hi, my name is Shu’?!” Mai shrieked down at the little dog ninja who cowered under her fury as he tucked his ears over his eyes. “What is wrong with you?!”

“I was trying to be polite,” he offered meekly. Mai rubbed the bridge of her nose between two fingers and groaned.

“You don’t have to be polite!” she scolded. “You were robbing them!” Behind them, Emperor Pilaf had climbed into a chair in front of a table upon which the briefcase sat. Literally climbed because of his short legs.

“Quit your squabbling!” he commanded which caused his minions to fall silent. With a grin, he produced his universal key and undid the locks on the briefcase. He placed his Dragon Ball with the others as his grin grew ever wider. His throne was so close he could almost taste it. He counted them off with almost childlike glee. “One, two, three, four, five, six, sev…” Pilaf trailed off. Where was the seventh Dragon Ball? Where was it? Pilaf turned the briefcase upside down, shaking it as the Balls and several capsules spilled all over the table. “Where is it?!” he shrieked before throwing the briefcase against the wall. He slammed his head against the table and threw a bonafide tantrum. Mai’s heart broke for the suffering of her glorious leader until she was distracted by a pinging sound from one of their machines.

“Sir?” she called out as she inspected the machine. Then she yelled to be heard over Pilaf’s tantrum. “Sir!” He stopped and looked over at her. “Our scanners are showing that the final Ball is headed this way.” Pilaf ran over to the console to get a better look. With a glare, he made Shu bend over so he could use the underling as a stepladder. When he heard the sharp ping and saw the single yellow dot moving closer, Pilaf cackled and clapped his hands.

“Excellent!” he cried out in jubilation. Then, with a sinister look, he said, “Then we must make our guests feel welcomed.”

The four wandered through the eerie halls of the castle; three walking, one floating. Bulma looked around suspiciously. Everything about this place seemed wrong. It felt so old and yet she could practically feel the electricity humming under her feet. Every bandit instinct in Yamcha’s head was firing off. Nothing about this place seemed right. It was just too easy. Puar stuck close behind his master, scared out of his wits. But for Goku it was just another part of the adventure. She had never seen a castle before! Well, one that wasn’t on fire, anyway.

“So where do we go?” Bulma muttered, the words bouncing off the stone walls. Without the Dragon Radar, she was hopelessly lost. If this Shu character or his stupid friends had smashed her Radar….

“Hey!” Goku shouted excitedly as she pointed to an arrow on the floor. “I found a clue!” She ran down the hallway it pointed towards without a second thought.

“Goku, wait!” the three cried in unison as they tore after her. What was she thinking? Nothing, Bulma figured. When did the weird little monkey ever think? They chased her until they came to a dead-end hallway. Goku was already looking around and was very confused. Why did the arrow even lead her here if there was no prize? Bulma had just a split-second to realize that they’d walked into a trap before a steel wall slammed shut behind them, sealing them in. Bulma slowly opened her mouth and raised a finger to deliver an almighty rant. The crackle of static cut her off as she took her first breath and they all spun their heads around to stare at a video screen that emerged from one of the walls. The screen showed nothing but an ominous pair of glowing red eyes.

“Attention, peons!” came a deeply distorted voice. “I am the Great Emperor Pilaf! Surrender your last Dragon Ball to me or die!” Clearly this was whoever that Shu guy worked for.

“Screw you!” Bulma screamed before looking around the room for something to bash the screen with.

“Let us go, you stupid castle!” Goku shouted at the box while waving her staff. There was a long pause after that before the voice spoke again.

“Right…” the voice said awkwardly. “Obviously, you’re the brains of the outfit,” the voice continued as a person-sized panel in the ceiling slowly slid open and a claw came out to grab Bulma and drag her away. Yamcha grabbed her but she was pulled out of his grip. Bulma emerged in another room in the castle and stared in confusion at the bizarre trio in front of her. A dog ninja, a regular looking woman, and a goblin midget in a clown hat, a frilly collar, and pointed booties?

“Who the heck are you?” Bulma asked incredulously. This whole thing almost felt like a joke. These were the bad guys? The woman’s face was red as she pushed her way to the front of the pack.

“How dare you?!” she snapped as she got in Bulma’s face. “You stand before the mighty Emperor Pilaf and you will show him the proper respect!” Bulma wiped the spit off her face with one hand as the other hand desperately tried to pull apart the claw’s grip on her. Pilaf held up a hand and Mai stepped away meekly.

“That’s quite alright, Mai,” Pilaf assured her in a much higher voice than before. “Our young friend will know my name well soon enough. So will all the people of the world, once I am king.” He turned his attention towards Bulma and his look made her skin crawl. “But first, you will tell me where you are hiding the last Dragon Ball.” Bulma squirmed in her confinement and kicked her legs desperately.

“Kiss my ass!” she snapped while giving Pilaf the most defiant middle finger she could muster. The positively lecherous look Pilaf gave her was more than a little unnerving.

“I see then,” he chortled. “You really will have to be humiliated, won’t you?” A panic set in on Bulma as she tried even more feverishly to escape. “You leave me no choice!” he stepped in closer while Bulma turned her face away in disgust as Pilaf… blew her a kiss. Mai and Shu turned away and blushed. Bulma just stared in confusion.

“What?” she asked flatly. Pilaf turned his head to one side with a confused look on his face as well.

“What?” he asked right back. Bulma blinked.

“I thought you were gonna try to… y’know…” Bulma made the appropriate hand gestures and Pilaf balked.

“How dare you?” he asked. “That’s despicable!” And surprisingly, Bulma got offended.

“What?” she demanded with a scowl. “Am I not pretty enough to be ravished or something?” Pilaf shuddered and pushed a button on his console as Bulma continued to complain. “Not like a creepy little troll like you has a right to be picky anyway, ya little freak!” Her protests were muffled as the claw carried her away and Pilaf gave another shudder. Bulma was dumped unceremoniously back into the hallway and she crossed her arms with a huff.

“I’m not going to deal with those repulsive creatures,” Pilaf muttered to himself as he pushed some buttons on his console. “The nerve of that girl! It’s the gas for them!” he cried melodramatically. After a moment’s pause, he clarified with “The sleeping gas, of course. No need to make a mess.” With the final push of a button, he threw back his head and laughed.

They wandered into the room that the four now unconscious travellers were being kept in and Pilaf ran into the room without a gas mask. He found the little bag on Goku’s hip and pulled out the Four Star Ball with a maniacal laugh. “It’s mine!” he cried out. “Mine, mine, mi-” he then fell on his face, completely unconscious. Shu and Mai, both wearing gas masks, collected him.

Goku woke up several hours later. Her head felt funny and the whole world swam when she sat up. “Guys?” she asked in a shaky voice. The other sat up as she spoke and were all holding their heads.

“What happened?” Yamcha asked drowsily. He tried to stand but fell immediately back down. Goku patted the pouch on her hip and her eyes bulged when it gave way.

“My Dragon Ball!” she cried out in distress. “They took my Dragon Ball!” That filled her with an alert energy and she hopped to her feet to frantically look for an escape.

“It’s no use,” Yamcha muttered glumly while staring helplessly at the floor. “They had to have already used the wish by now.” At this point Bulma interjected.

“Well,” she said, “considering the fact that we don’t think Pilaf is the king of the world, maybe not.” Goku’s ears twitched. She could barely hear something so she pressed her ear to the wall to listen closer. “Goku, what are you doing?” Bulma asked. “That’s solid concrete, you can’t-”

“Shhhh!” Goku hissed, cutting her off. “I can hear them!” she exclaimed. “They’re going to try and summon the dragon.” Goku hopped back and clasped her hands at her side. “Ka… me… ha… me… ha!” Yamcha’s eyes went wide in shock as a burst of blue light tore a small hole in the wall. Goku groaned at the lack of destruction. If only she were as strong as Muten Roshi! She collapsed onto her rear end, her energy drained. Yamcha, Bulma, and Puar peered through the hole. It was late in the evening so they must have been out for a while.

“Eternal Dragon Shenron!” they heard Pilaf cry out and a panic washed over them all. “I summon you!” Black stormclouds filled up the sky and lightning flashed between them. A brilliant beam of yellow light shot up from the ground. Yamcha looked at Puar suddenly.

“Puar!” he said and squeezed the floating cat. “Can you turn into a rocket?” Puar nodded vigorously, half from fear and half from an enthusiasm to not let his master down.

“Y-yeah! I think so!” he promised before Yamcha threw him through the hole as hard as he could.

“Go! Go! Wish for something! Anything!” he commanded desperately and Puar sailed through the air before poofing into a small rocket with a cat face and blasting off. No sooner had he disappeared then a clap of thunder was heard, almost deafeningly loud. The beam of light transformed into an enormous dragon that filled up the sky! It looked down with glowing red eyes and its mouth, full of sharp teeth, agape.

“You who have gathered the seven Dragon Balls,” spoke the dragon in a voice so deep it shook the heavens, “State your wish and I shall grant it.” There was an eternally long pause before the dragon spoke again. “... Very well.” it said in an almost perplexed tone. Its eyes flashed and it spoke again. “It is done.” Then the dragon disappeared into light again and the seven balls spun up into the sky and scattered in all directions.

There was a long period of silence. Had they done it? Was Puar fast enough? Or was Emperor Pilaf now the ruler of the world? The answer to those questions would come a few seconds later when Puar came screaming back into the prison still in his rocket form.

“I did it! I did it!” he yelled out, spinning around in the air as he turned back into his floating cat self. Yamcha grinned and held out his hand for Puar to give him a tiny high five.

“Nice job, dude!” Yamcha said proudly. “So what’d you wish for?” Puar smiled wide and stuck out his tongue. It filled the room with brightly-colored lights and was all the colors of the rainbow. “...huh?” Was all Yamcha could say.

“I wished to taste the rainbow. I was on the spot!” Puar said somewhat defensively. Yamcha laughed and Bulma rolled her eyes with her hands on her hips.

“That’s great and all,” she said sardonically. “But we’re still trapped in here!” she grabbed Goku by the waist and yanked her up to her feet to look at the hole she’d made. “Come on, buddy!” she urged. “Pew, pew!” she shook Goku almost violently, as if the energy blast were ketchup stuck at the bottom of a bottle.

“Lemme go!” Goku protested and shoved Bulma away. She was tired! Why was Bulma shaking her so much? They’d stopped Pilaf, hadn’t they? She’d seen the Dragon Balls fly away. That made her a little sad. Now her Dragon Ball was gone. Her Grandpa’s Dragon Ball! How was she supposed to get it back while she was stuck in here? Suddenly furious, Goku gritted her teeth and thrust her palms forward, full of renewed power. “Kamehameha!” she cried out, and the blue energy that shot from her hands burned an even bigger hole into the wall. But now she was exhausted.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Yamcha muttered with nervous energy. They had to have seen that blast from outside so they were definitely low on time. He grabbed Goku around the middle and shoved her through the hole then he let Bulma climb out next before he got out with Puar trailing behind. He picked up Goku and threw her over his shoulder. “We gotta find a plane or something!” he said as they ran, looking for any way to escape. There was a problem. “Dang it, Puar, close your mouth!” The cat’s bright, flashing tongue was a great big neon “WE ESCAPED” sign that followed them with every step.

“Master!” they heard Shu cry off in the night. “I found them!” That was bad.

“Release the hounds!” Pilaf screamed with fury. That was worse. First there was the sound and soon enough they could see the flash of white teeth in the darkness as a pack of angry attack dogs chased after them. Bulma shrieked and jumped onto Yamcha’s back. Yamcha gave a grunt when she climbed on top of him before Puar suddenly flew into his shirt to hide. Before he knew it, Yamcha was suddenly carrying the entire group.

“Faster!” Bulma shrieked while pulling on his hair. “Faster!” Which would have been easy, Yamcha thought, if he wasn’t carrying so much extra weight. Puar popped out of the shirt to look over Yamcha’s shoulder and open his mouth, blinding the dogs with magnificent technicolor light. Yamcha took that momentary reprieve to run into a building that he prayed would be a hangar of some kind. It was when he looked up at the glass ceiling that he realized this may have been yet another trap.

“Congratulations, peons!” came Pilaf’s sarcastic voice from a speaker somewhere they couldn’t see. “You managed to foil my plans. I’m sure you’re all feeling pretty good about yourselves, hmmm?” When Pilaf spoke again, his voice was boiling with rage. “Well too bad! Because you’re never getting out of this one! When the sun rises tomorrow, that glass will act as a magnifying lens and burn you all alive! This is the price of those who would stand against the mighty Pilaf Empire!” He cackled until the sound suddenly cut.

“He seemed pretty cranky,” Goku said as Bulma slid onto the ground and wailed. This wasn’t fair! She was too pretty to die! Pretty and young and rich! It wasn’t fair! Yamcha kicked and punched at the walls to no avail. Puar tried turning into a drill and spinning their way out but that was just as useless. “I’m hungry,” Goku muttered to herself before sitting down on the ground. Eventually, they all sat together in a little circle in the center of the room. Yamcha’s knuckles were bruised and his wrists and ankles were sore. Puar was extremely dizzy. Bulma was just depressed.

“I’m sorry you couldn’t get your grandpa back, Goku,” Yamcha said sympathetically while mussing up her hair. Goku smiled up at Yamcha and gave a shrug.

“That’s okay,” she assured them. “At least I got to go on a real adventure. And I made new friends!” Yamcha and Bulma smiled at that although Bulma’s smile was a little guilty. Puar looked up at the night sky and watched the clouds part.

“Hey!” he shouted. Every time he opened his mouth, there was a flash of light. “There’s a full moon!” Yamcha and Bulma looked up at the full moon as Goku’s ears perked up.

“I’ve never seen a full moon,” she said, running her fingers in a circle on the stone floor. “Grandpa always made me go to bed before the moon came out. He said that’s when the monster came. I think that was the same monster that killed him because I remember there was a full moon that night.” Yamcha and Bulma looked at each other with fear in their eyes. It was just a coincidence, right? There was no way. Even so…

“H-h-hey, Goku?” Bulma said nervously. “Could yoooooouuu, maybe… not look at the moon for me?” But of course, because she’d mentioned it, Goku turned around. The other three froze in fear… but nothing happened.

Goku stared at the full moon for the very first time in her life. She was surprised by just how big it was and, with all the stars around it, she couldn’t imagine why a monster would come out on nights when there was something so pretty to look at. Why did that monster kill her grandpa when it could have just been looking at the moon?

As she continued to stare at the moon, her eyes widening to take in more of it, Goku felt something strange happen. It was like a wall near her tail had broken and her body was flooded with… something. Whatever it was, it made her feel strong. She felt strong before but it was nothing like this. This was something far greater and… deeper than her usual strength. She didn’t know what it was but it felt right and she idly wondered why her grandpa wouldn’t want this.

She felt more changes happen and it felt like she was going to catch fire and explode from all this… something inside her but she couldn’t take her eyes off the moon. She was peripherally aware of Bulma and the others doing something off to the side, maybe saying something, but she didn’t care anymore. She felt so strong now; stronger than she’d ever been before, stronger than she thought she could ever be. The box they were in was nothing to her anymore. She could break it without even trying. In fact, she did.

Yes, Goku felt strong now. Strong enough to kill that monster that killed her grandpa. Strong enough to get back her grandpa’s Dragon Ball. Strong enough to kill that meanie that took it in the first place. Strong enough to destroy everything around her. And that thought excited her more than any other.

With a primal roar that shook the very heavens, the mighty Great Ape was unleashed upon the world yet again and set her sights on the castle that lay before her.

All Goku knew was that she was strong.

Emperor Pilaf was in a foul mood as he went to make his nightly cocoa. Stupid adventurers and their stupid flying cats and their stupid blue-haired hussies and their stupid wish-stealing! Now he’d have to start the search all over again. Well, at least they’d all be dead. One less thing to worry about. While Pilaf’s water boiled, he looked out the window.

“Hmm,” he muttered to himself. “A full moon. That’s pre-” but he was ripped away from his musings when he saw something impossible. An enormous brown monkey exploded out of the glass ceiling prison with a roar. For a moment Pilaf did nothing, paralyzed with fear. Then he was running down the hallway and screaming his head off. “Mai! Shu!” he screamed. “Wake up, wake up, wake up!” Groggily the two wandered out of their bed chambers, rubbing sleep out of their eyes.

“What is it, Emperor-” Mai started to say before she was interrupted by a slab of stone that smashed through the castle. This also opened a hole in the wall that let the two of them see the giant, red-eyed demon monkey destroying everything.

“That!” Pilaf cried in a panic while gesticulating wildly. “That is ‘it’!” Without another word the three of them ran for the hanger, hoping to get in one of Pilaf’s planes and get the hell out of there.

Goku burst through the glass ceiling of their prison like it was made of paper as she beat at her chest and howled at the night sky. She swung her arms wildly and smashed the walls to rubble before stomping out of the ruins with Bulma trailing after her.

“Hey!” Bulma called up at Goku while waving her arms. “Hey! Get back here!” she demanded. Goku turned to look over a shoulder at Bulma, her lips curling up into a snarl that exposed teeth. The color drained from Bulma’s face as she held up her hands defensively. “G-Goku, it’s okay! W-we’re free now! Y-y-you can turn back to normal!” Goku stalked towards her with a growl. “C-c’mon!” Bulma pleaded. “We-we’re friends! You wouldn’t hurt me, right buddy?” Goku raised up a foot and Bulma threw up her arms in a pathetic attempt to shield herself but then a rock clonked Goku in the head.

“Hey!” Yamcha shouted, holding another rock in his hand as Goku turned her bloodthirsty attention towards him. “Over here!” he threw another rock and Goku growled while stomping after him. Bulma couldn’t believe it. He was insane.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” she screamed in disbelief. Yamcha threw another rock at Goku and ran, leading her away.

“Buying you some time!” he explained. “Find a plane and get out of here!” Bulma was even more confused.

“But what about you?” she asked. Yamcha shook his head and kept running as Puar flashed his multicolored tongue in Goku’s face, infuriating her.

“Just go!” he pleaded. Despite her fear, Bulma couldn’t help but get a little weak in the knees at such an unbridled act of heroism. Even so, she ran. Hey, Yamcha and Puar were going to die so she could live. It would be rude to hang around to try and help them, right? At least that’s what Bulma kept telling herself to stop from turning around and suicidally trying to help them.

Bulma was running as fast as her feet could carry her while ducking her head in and out of various buildings, looking to see if any of them had a plane. All the while, she could hear the sound of Goku’s rampage as she laid the castle to ruin. She finally found a hangar with an airplane in it. Bulma had just taken a step inside, however, when the headlights flashed in her face and blinded her. She barely had time to jump out of the way to avoid the plane running her over. She gave a defeated sigh as she watched it fly off.

“Screw you, you stupid goblin!” she screamed with impotent rage while giving it the double deuce. Stupid Pilaf… Maybe, just maybe, she could find the car. And maybe it wasn’t completely destroyed. Something tore Bulma out of her desperate contemplations when a shadow flew across the moon. Bulma blinked as the shadow became plainly clear. Goku had torn one of the towers off the castle and thrown it at the plane! She took a perhaps unhealthy amount of pleasure from watching the plane get smashed into pieces as three people probably died. That pleasure was quickly torn from her as the rubble of the tower plummeted towards her and all she had time to do was curl up in a ball. And totally not cry.

Yamcha was running out of options. He was winded, Puar was exhausted, and Goku didn’t seem to be anything more than annoyed. She stomped after him with giant strides as she chased him. How the hell could something like this even happen? Sure, Goku was kind of weird, but this was ridiculous! Yamcha’s only shot was to just keep Goku running until morning. Hopefully the moon disappearing would turn her back to normal. And if not…

“Help!” came a desperate cry from underneath a pile of rubble. Yamcha gave a groan as Goku turned her attention away from him. How? How was she still here? And what was Bulma doing buried under rocks?! Yamcha kicked and punched at Goku’s legs as she stomped away from him and Puar flashed his lights right in her face. Goku dismissively swatted Puar away and shook Yamcha off. He tumbled through the sand before coming to a stop, staring up helplessly as Goku raised a foot and prepared to crush Bulma again. With the last reserves of his strength, Yamcha jumped at Goku’s tail and grabbed with all his might. If it worked when Chi-Chi did it when Goku was small…

Bulma shrieked as Goku’s foot was once again raised over her but once again it stopped before she was crushed. Bulma wasn’t sure how much more of this her heart could take. She peered through a hole in the rubble and saw Yamcha grabbing Goku’s tail, flexing and straining. His muscles looked so… shiny from here. And he just seemed so… brave.

“Puar!” Yamcha screamed at the top of his lungs as he fought to control Goku. “Her tail! Turn into some scissors or something!” It was the only thing he could think of at the moment. Dutifully, Puar turned into a giant pair of scissors and dive-bombed onto Goku’s tail, slicing it off at the base with a snip. Yamcha waited with baited breath and Bulma winced. There was a soft “pop” as Goku turned back to her regular size. A good hundred feet up in the air. She dropped to the ground like a rock with a heavy “thud” and, for a moment, she looked dead. Then, in the silence that followed, she snored. Bulma, Puar, and Yamcha laughed. They laughed at the absurdity of it all, at their exhilaration of still being alive, at this insane adventure, at everything.

Once they were all composed, Yamcha started digging Bulma out of the rocks, trying to be careful as to not make the whole thing collapse on her. Once there was enough space for Bulma to get out, he held out his hand and pulled her out. While Yamcha talked about… something, Bulma wasn’t really listening. She just looked at him and thought. He was tall and rugged, with long hair. He was taller than her, but he was definitely well-travelled without being above her station or her equal. He was brave and strong and a little dangerous. And he had obviously gone out of his way to protect her.

“So, I’m sorry about what I said before that Shu guy showed-” Yamcha was saying when Bulma interrupted him. She did so by grabbing the back of his head with both of her small, gloved hands and, with surprising strength, she yanked him down and kissed him hard on the lips. Yamcha’s eyes went wide and his face turned red and he knew that at any second he was going to wake up. But he didn’t. So he slowly put his arms around her and closed his eyes as he kissed her back. Bulma smiled as the sun rose behind them.

“I guess we got our wishes after all,” she said softly before kissing him again. Her hands started moving and Yamcha pushed her away suddenly, clearing his throat and jerking his head in Goku’s direction as she started to stir. Goku sat up with a groan and rubbed her head.

Goku’s head was on fire. The last thing she remembered it was nighttime and she felt really strong. So why was it morning? She got up on shaky legs before falling back on her butt. Her whole balance was messed up. What was wrong with her?

“Wh-what happened?” she asked while looking up at Yamcha and Bulma. They seemed pretty happy, which made Goku a little happier. She looked behind her and her eyes snapped open. “My tail!” she cried in distress while running around in a circle. “What happened to my tail?!” Where could it have gone? Did it run away?

“Those bad guys cut it off,” Bulma said quickly. Something about that seemed kinda fishy, though. Goku frowned and balled up her fists.

“If I ever see them again, I’ll kick their butts!” she promised. Who did they think they were, cutting off people’s tails? What a bunch of jerks! She suddenly remembered that they’d seen the balls fly off into the sky after the Dragon went away and frowned again. “Where did the balls go?” she asked Bulma sadly. Bulma got down to Goku’s level and looked at her sympathetically.

“I’m sorry, Goku. I didn’t know they were all going to fly off when the wishes got made,” she said softly before pulling Goku into a hug. Bulma let go of Goku suddenly, her eyes bright with an idea. “Hey!” she said excitedly. “Why don’t you come live with me and Yamcha in the city? You’ll see so many things and meet so many new people! Won’t that be fun?” Goku thought about that while tapping her fingers together. It did sound kind of fun and these were her friends… Goku shook her head instead.

“Nah,” she declined bluntly. “I gotta go back to Muten Roshi! He said he was gonna train me in Martial Arts!” Then after a moment, she asked “Hey, have you seen my Power Pole?” she wondered and scratched her head while looking around. That was gone, too. So weird.

“Over there,” Yamcha said as he gestured to a pile of rubble. Goku ran over and searched for it excitedly. How the heck did it get so far from her, anyway? When she returned, Bulma was holding out the Dragon Radar.

“I won't be needing it anymore,” Bulma assured her before smiling at Yamcha. His face got all red when she did that, which Goku thought was pretty funny. Goku took the Radar carefully out of Bulma’s hands. Bulma always talked about how hard it had been to make the Radar and how important it was to her and now Bulma was giving it to her so Goku could find her Four Star Ball. She lunged at Bulma suddenly and hugged her legs tight. Though Goku couldn’t see it with her face buried in Bulma’s shins, Bulma was trying not to cry. Goku broke the hug with the most grateful smile in the world on her face.

“I guess I’d better get going!” she told them cheerfully. Yamcha cleared his throat before she could summon Nimbus.

“Uh, Goku?” he asked. “Don’t you think you’re forgetting something?” Goku looked around. Dragon Radar in one hand. Power Pole in the other. What else did she have? Yamcha put his face in his hand and sighed while Bulma just smiled and shook her head.

“He means clothes, Goku,” Goku looked down suddenly. Oh, yeah! She was naked. Yamcha sighed again while tossing down a set of clothes at her that he’d gotten out of the car. He’d gone and found them while Goku was looking for her Power Pole.

“Muten Roshi might find it a little weird,” he explained. “Just trust me on this one.” They’d taken everything out of the other car when he’d blown it up so these had probably belonged to the pig dude. Goku pulled on the white undershirt and a pair of blue pants. The pig dude’s shoes didn’t really fit but that was okay. Muten Roshi would probably give her some new ones. She smiled up at Bulma and Yamcha before the two of them got down to pull her into a group hug.

“We’ll see you again someday, right?” Bulma asked. Goku’s smile got even wider as she nodded enthusiastically.

“Of course!” she promised. “You guys are my friends!” Then she hopped away from them and gave a little wave. “Nimbus!” she called out, and the cloud flew down from the heavens. She hopped onto it and flew away, excited for her next adventure. The world was a wonderful place!

Chapter Text

Krillin was the youngest monk to ever leave the Orin Temple at only twelve years old. Yet, in the brief eight years he had spent with his fellow monks, he had understood true enlightenment at a pace none before him could match. They even gifted him with a boat to aid in his travels.

Okay, so in truth, he ran away because everyone were jerks and he stole the boat. But none of that mattered! He was going to learn from the great Turtle Hermit, the Invincible Old Master! Then he would become the greatest martial artist to ever live. As he rowed his boat up to the Kame House, he was surprised to find the Turtle Hermit was outside his house and talking to someone. He was talking to a girl with weird hair. What the heck would he be doing that for? Krillin stood upon the prow of his little boat proudly and hoped to make a dramatic entrance.

What Krillin hadn’t expected was for the shore to come up as soon as it did. His boat came to a sudden halt when the bottom hit the sand and he was flung from his perch, landing headfirst in the sand. He kicked and squirmed his legs as he tried to recover what was left of his dignity when he heard footsteps approaching through the sand. Oh, God no. Was the Invincible Old Master going to see him like this? What happened was even worse. It was the girl who grabbed Krillin by his ankles and yanked him out of the sand. How had she done that so easily? It had to be because he was in such good shape and didn’t weigh much. No girl could be that strong, right?

“Are you okay?” the stupid girl asked while still holding him upside down. Krillin frowned and kicked his legs but somehow the girl was still holding him! He just had to not be kicking too hard, that’s all. His subconscious wouldn’t let him hit a girl.

“I’m fine,” Krillin grumbled, “Now let me go!” Of course the stupid girl took that to mean “drop me on my head”! Krillin groaned as he got back up and rubbed his head. “Who the heck are you, anyway? And what are you doing here?” The girl gave Krillin a wide, cheerful smile that just made him angrier.

“I’m Son Goku!” she told him. “Muten Roshi’s gonna teach me the Turtle School way!” Krillin scoffed at that. The nerve of this “Goku” girl, to call the Turtle Hermit by his real name!

“Girls can’t do martial arts!” Krillin protested. What would a girl even need to learn martial arts for? If anyone tried to beat her up, obviously her husband would save her. Goku turned her head to the side in confusion.

“Why not?” she asked. Krillin flared his nostrils and started to say something before the Turtle Hermit interrupted him with a cough. Krillin spun around to look at the old man as he adjusted his glasses.

“Mind tellin’ me what you’re doin’ here, boy?” the Turtle Hermit asked. Krillin nodded before bowing, keeping his eyes downcast in a show of respect.

“Please, Turtle Hermit,” Krillin pleaded, “Please teach me the ways of the Turtle School!” Roshi gave Krillin a cool look through his dark green shades.

“And why should I do that? My teachings ain’t for just anyone, y’know!” Krillin balked but kept his mouth shut. How was he any less worthy to learn than Goku? He bit his tongue, not wanting to offend the old master. Instead, he turned around and ran back to his boat. He came back with his backpack and unzipped it, dumping the contents out in front of the Turtle Hermit. Pouring out of the bag came a large stack of dirty magazines. Ludicrously large, as tall as Krillin. Genuinely impossible to fit in that bag. There was a long silence where Krillin was worried he’d offended the old master by appealing to his legendary perverted nature. Without a word, though, the Turtle Hermit scooped up the magazines and carried them into the house. He came back outside and still said nothing. Then he cracked his neck, his knuckles, his knees and his back.

“Alright, you two,” he said with a grin. “Let’s begin.”

The year went by so quickly for Goku. She had a new best friend with Krillin, even if he didn’t know they were best friends when they started training together. She thought it was silly that he wanted to learn martial arts to impress girls. Before they could start training, Master Roshi made them go find a girl to cook and clean at the Kame House. Goku’d already brought him a couple of girls before Krillin showed up but Roshi hadn’t like any of them. He’d even brought Chi-Chi but Goku guessed he was still mad about when she threw that big knife-thingy at his head. And Chi-Chi made this weird face when Goku’d said she was pretty….

Krillin and Goku had found a girl named Launch. She was really nice when she had blue hair but she was kind of scary and really mean to Master Roshi and Krillin when her hair was yellow. She was still nice to Goku, though. She made so many friends training with Muten Roshi!
The training had been hard. They had to deliver milk all over the island Master Roshi moved the Kame House to. They climbed up mountains and had to outrun dinosaurs! They dug up whole fields with their bare hands and had to dodge bees and just when they started to get the hang of it, Muten Roshi made them wear turtle shells like him. The shells kept getting heavier and heavier but, even though it was hard, it was fun. Roshi taught them more about martial arts and the philosophy of the Turtle School. Krillin got discouraged a couple of times when he wasn’t picking techniques up as fast as Goku but she told him that she believed in him and that he’d get it right if he kept trying. That seemed to be when Krillin finally realized what Goku knew all along: that they were best friends!

It wasn’t just physical training. Master Roshi also taught Goku how to read and write and count. That’s how she learned she was twelve years old! There was also time for rest and stuff. That’s how Goku and Krillin found the time to talk about their stories.

“So you were raised at a Temple?” Goku asked while Roshi slept in a hammock, lying on her stomach on the sand and propping her head up with her elbows. “That must have been neat, having such a big family.” Krillin shrugged as he frowned.

“Not really. They were all jerks. They always made fun of me because I was weak and I look like I don’t have a nose,” he muttered before looking over at Goku. “So I ran away. I was tired of getting bullied.” Goku frowned and put a hand on Krillin’s hand.

“I’m sorry your old family were jerks,” she said sympathetically. Krillin’s face turned red and Goku laughed. She always thought it was funny when people’s faces did that.

About a year and a half into their training, Krillin and Goku had one of those rare days of relaxation.They were watching the news with Launch and Goku was still mystified by the television.

“In recent world news,” the lady on the TV was saying, “the terrorist group known as the Red Ribbon Army continues their rampage across the world. No one yet knows what their goals are but local military forces have been unable to stop them.” The picture then changed to soldiers and tanks and planes all bearing the insignia of the Red Ribbon Army, all bringing destruction wherever they went.

“What a bunch of jerks,” Goku muttered. “If I ever meet them, I’m gonna beat them up!” Krillin rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“You might be strong, Goku,” he said, “But no one person can take on an entire army. All we can do is hope that the Royal Army can deal with them.” Goku was going to say something to that when Master Roshi walked into the room. Goku and Krillin hopped to their feet and bowed when he entered. Even these huge turtle shells weren’t slowing them down anymore!

“Good news, everyone!” the old master said with a smile. Launch scoffed while Roshi did his best to ignore her. She was blonde now so that was always risky. “I’ve entered the both of you in the Tenkaichi Budoukai!” Krillin gasped in surprise while Goku just tilted her head to the side.

“What’s that?” she asked and Krillin shook his head with his face in his hand. God, she was such a jungle girl.

“It’s the Strongest Under the Heavens Martial Arts Tournament,” Roshi explained. Goku didn’t say anything so he explained further. “It’s a gathering of the strongest fighters from around the world to fight it out and see who’s the greatest!” As soon as Roshi said “fighters”, Goku gasped and got that starry look in her eyes again.

“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” she shouted eagerly while hopping up and down. Roshi chuckled and shook his head.

“The island the tournament is being held at is far away from here and I have to accompany the both of you since you’re so young so the Nimbus is out. We’ll be taking a plane!” Launch scoffed again with one eyebrow cocked.

“And what am I supposed to do?” she asked brusquely. “Just sit around here in this dirty old shack while you all go out and have fun?” Blue Launch might not mind cooking and cleaning and all that sissy crap but Blonde Launch resented it like hell that she never got to learn how to fight. Roshi produced not three but four plane tickets.

“I figured you might want to come along,” he said cautiously. Launch smiled and gave the old man a thumbs-up. “We’ll be packing up tonight. One of the people who you deliver milk to has a plane that will take us as far as the nearest airport. It isn’t exactly built for long-distance travel.”

Goku was so excited that night she couldn’t sleep! She and Krillin got to take off their super heavy turtle shells and they were so fast now! The next morning was a little less fun, though. Master Roshi made her wear a dress. It was blue and it sparkled and it had weird frills at the bottom that tickled her legs. She didn’t say anything because Master Roshi had bought it special but she didn’t like it. And the shoes didn’t fit right. What if she had to fight in this stupid dress? They were supposed to look nice or something when they got to the Tournament grounds but Goku didn’t know why she couldn’t wear a suit like Krillin. At least Launch told her she looked nice, so that was okay.

The plane ride was super fun! Goku liked being so high up because the world looked so pretty down below. She was amazed when they’d landed to find out that they’d gone so far in only a couple hours. If Bulma had a little plane like the nice man who’d taken them to the airport had, their journey would have been so much faster, since Bulma might have been able to keep up with Nimbus then and they could fly above the roads and mountains and rivers. But maybe they wouldn’t have made all the friends they did so maybe it was better that they hadn’t had a plane.

There were so many people on the island where the tournament was being held! All different kinds of fighters from all over the world were there. There were so many people around that it made Goku’s spiky-haired head spin but, above it all, she heard a familiar voice.

“Hey! Goku!” a girl’s voice shouted over the rumble of the crowd. Goku spun around but she couldn’t see over people’s heads so she jumped up into the air and that’s when she saw Bulma! She ran to her friend, jumping on people’s heads to get closer before leaping into the other girl’s arms. Bulma hugged Goku with a giggle and spun her little friend around. “Oh my gosh, look at you!” she said excitedly. “You’re wearing a dress!” Goku squirmed a little and looked away with embarrassment. “What? You look nice!” Bulma assured her but Goku shrugged.

“I like wearing gi more,” she mumbled and Bulma just laughed and shook her head before letting Goku down. “Are you gonna enter the tournament?” Goku asked excitedly and Bulma laughed again.

“Not me, silly!” Bulma gestured behind her to another very familiar person with an equally familiar cat floating beside his head. Goku gasped as the man grinned. She hadn’t even recognized him with his hair so short!

“Hey, squirt,” Yamcha said before Goku leaped up into his arms as well and gave him a great big hug. Yamcha hugged her back before letting her down. “Look at you! You look like you’ve gotten even stronger. Guess the Turtle Hermit’s everything he’s cracked up to be.” Goku smiled as Krillin finally caught up to her.

“Jeez… Goku…” he muttered while gasping for breath. He’d had to politely shove his way through the crowd while trying to follow her. “Y’can’t just… run off without tellin’ me! And y’can’t just jump on people’s heads!” Goku shrugged.

“You’d have gotten here faster if you had,” she pointed out before turning her attention back to Bulma, Yamcha, and Puar. “Krillin, these are my friends I told you about! This is Yamcha, Bulma, and Puar! Guys, this is Krillin! He’s been training with me under Master Roshi!” Bulma got a great big smile on her face when looking at Goku and Krillin but Goku didn’t really understand why. “You look like you got stronger too, Yamcha!” Yamcha grinned, flexing a bicep.

“You bet I did! And it’s all thanks to this little lady,” Yamcha gave Bulma a peck on the cheek that made her face turned red as she smiled and waved a hand.

“Oh, stop!” she insisted playfully. “It’s really thanks to my dad’s experimental gravity room. He’s been developing it for the International Space Association so they can test how their suits and ships handle higher and lower gravity. It’s only supposed to go up to two times Earth’s gravity at max,” she gave Yamcha a little grin and elbowed him playfully in the side, “But someone had to try and set it to three. Nearly blew up the whole room and my dad almost killed him!” Yamcha scratched the back of his head and looked almost bashful.

“Hey, I had to push it to the max, y’know? And it paid off!” Yamcha flexed his muscles again, full of bravado. “I’ve never felt stronger! I bet I’m gonna win this whole dang tournament!” There was the soft tapping of a cane on the ground as Muten Roshi caught up with his pupils. Like Krillin, he was wearing a suit and tie with a hat.

“I certainly hope you have the skill to back up that confidence,” Roshi said, adjusting his shades. ‘He certainly has potential,’ Roshi thought, ‘I can sense his ki even now. I hope the poor boy doesn’t run into me at any point in this tournament. The beating I give him could crush his spirit.’ “Oh, Bulma! Fancy seeing you again.” Bulma’s face turned red as Roshi turned his attention to his students, “The elimination round starts soon so you’d better get changed.” That was fine for Goku. She was ready to be out of the stupid dress! “Don’t be looking for me in the crowd. Rest assured, I’ll see everything you’re doin’ but you focus on your fighting, understood?” Goku and Krillin nodded enthusiastically and left with their master.

“Good luck, Yamcha!” Goku called over her shoulder while waving to her friends before they disappeared in the crowd. Roshi gave her and Krillin their very own Turtle School gi. They were awesome! This tournament was gonna be the best adventure yet!

Every blow, precise. Every strike delivered with absolute efficiency. No wasted movement. No room for error. A single stroke, three at most, and his opponents fall. Namu would not fail. He could not. Everyone was counting on him.

Bacterian hadn’t had a bath a day in his life. Combining the ungodly stench haze that surrounded him with his enormous size and strength and this whole tournament was gonna be plum pickin’s. He didn’t even have to throw a punch sometimes, just lift his arm to knock ‘em out with a smell. All that money. He’d be filthy rich.

This wasn’t all that hard, Ranfan thought. She was experienced enough at Taijutsu that she didn’t even need to use her secret weapon on most of these fighters. But when it got tough… a boob-flash here, a panty-drop there, and their defenses were wide open. Men.

There were several advantages in life to being a giant dragon monster. Chief of which being that you are a giant dragon monster. Aside from his incredible strength and the benefit of a fifth offensive appendage in his tail, sometimes all Giran had to do was roar and they’d give up. What, did they think he was gonna eat them or somethin’? Ah, well. Some prejudices had their benefits.

“Hooo yeah!” the mustachioed, afro’d young man declared triumphantly before the battle had even begun. He threw several quick jabs and kicks through the air with a whirr of speed and power. The old man standing across from him didn’t even blink. “Y’might as well just give up now, old man! ‘Cause yer goin’ up against the End All! The Be All! The Please All! The man they call… Hercule!” Hercule, apparently, made his pecs dance. Maybe that was supposed to be intimidating. He charged at the old man, screaming his head off about some nonsense “Dynamite Super Spectacular Megaton Punch of the Gods” or some such. Jackie Chun pivoted to the side and drove his palm into the younger man’s sternum, sending him flying out of bounds.

“WATTA!” Yamcha called out as he drove his foot up into the other man’s chin, knocking him into an arc in the air to land among the other competitors. With all that extra work he’d been able to put in with the gravity room, no one could touch him! Yamcha couldn’t even begin to guess how strong he’d be if he’d been able to master the gravity room. Bulma whistled and cheered through a window while she used Puar as a stepladder.

“That’s right!” she cried ecstatically. “That is my man! You all might as well give up now! You can’t beat him!” Yamcha turned bright red, a mixture of proud and embarrassed. “So where’d you come up with that sound?” Bulma whispered to Yamcha as he walked over towards the window.

“I dunno,” he admitted since his mind was unable to comprehend the experience he went through during his first fight with Goku. “It just kinda… came to me.”

Krillin frowned as he realized who he’d be fighting. The two upperclassmen from the Orin Temple snickered as they looked down at him with their hands on their hips.

“Well, well, well,” said the taller, thinner one. “It’s the shrimp who ran away!” Krillin’s face was red with anger as the smaller, fatter one elbowed him and looked at Goku.

“And look! He went and got himself a little girlfriend!” Now Krillin’s face was red for an entirely different reason.

“Well don’t worry,” the taller one said as he bent down to sneer at them. “I’ll take you out quick before you get embarrassed too badly in front of her.” He laughed as he walked up into the ring and did some quick stretches. Krillin was trembling with rage but he was afraid, too. He should be able to beat them, right? So why was he scared? Because maybe he couldn’t. They were older. They’d always been stronger than him. And they’d been in the Orin Temple longer. They hadn’t run away. Goku put her hand on his shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“Hey,” she said softly, encouragingly, “You can beat these guys.” Krillin nodded and stepped into the ring while he fixed the other monk with an icy stare. The monk threw out a kick but Krillin was already behind him. The monk swung around in shock. How had he gotten there already? The monk glowered and threw down a debilitating karate chop. Or it would have been if Krillin hadn’t already jumped back and then leaped forward in the blink of an eye. Krillin hovered in the air for a few seconds before he threw a punch right to the monk’s jaw. He went flying and smashed into the wall as if he’d been shot out of a cannon. Goku ran into the ring as Krillin came down and lifted him back up into the air with a big hug.

Goku hopped from foot to foot impatiently. The other guy was taking forever. He was big and bald and tan with a huge curly mustache and a black singlet. He was doing crazy lunges around the ring and waving his arms. He got in front of Goku in a low squat with his arms outstretched.

“Leetle Martial Arts Girl!” he shouted at her, making her hair blow back. He had a funny accent. “You heve chosen wrong path of life! Wrestling is superior fighting style to all martial arts! To grab your opponent and croosh heem in your power! Thees ees best in life! I let you geeve up now before I hoort you!” Goku didn’t say anything. Why would she give up now? She’d barely gotten started! That was stupid. She copied his stance and that made him laugh. “You heve good spirit!” He threw out his hands and grabbed Goku around the wrists before he tried to pick Goku up and throw her out of the ring. However, she didn’t move. The wrestler grunted and tried to pull her again but in a direct mockery of all the laws of physics, Goku didn’t move. She stayed planted in the ground like a lead weight. He screamed through clenched teeth and strained as his whole head turned red like a beet and veins bulged out. Goku still didn’t move. His eyes bulged out of his head and he foamed at the mouth. Nothing. Goku twisted her hips and slammed him hard into the ring with enough force to crack the tile.

“You’re right!” Goku said to the unconscious wrestler. “Wrestling is lots of fun!”

Chapter Text

Over the course of an hour or two, the hundred or so entrants to the Tenkaichi Budoukai were whittled down to eight finalists: Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, the purple-haired Taijutsu fighter Ranfan, the Dragon-Beast Giran, the repulsive Bacterian, the stony Namu, and the enigmatic Jackie Chun. After each of them drew their number, the eight made their way out of the zoo that was the elimination area and out onto the main stage in the open air as the crowd cheered wildly. Everyone waved and shuffled away from Bacterian. This was even more people than before! But they were outside so it didn’t bother Goku as much as when they were all in the one building together.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” cried the blonde-haired young announcer as he sprinted into the ring, full of energy. Goku already liked him. She hoped they’d get to be friends! “Welcome to the 21st Tenkaichi Budoukai!” The crowd roared in response. Bulma, Blonde Launch, and Puar were all pressed up at the front row and watching eagerly.

“Go Yamcha!” Bulma and Puar cheered in unison and pushed against Launch as they waved their arms.

“Kick some butt, guys!” Launch shouted at Goku and Krillin. A giant board was wheeled out that displayed the formats for the final stage of the tournament.

“It will be,” the announcer shouted, gesturing wildly with plenty of exuberance, “Son Goku,” she waved excitedly and jumped up and down “versus Ranfan!” Ranfan winked and blew the crowd a kiss. “Yamcha,” he flexed and posed and grinned like an idiot “versus Namu!” He barely moved his head in a nod. “Krillin,” he grinned and waved but not nearly as energetically as Goku “versus Giran!” The dragon-man roared and spread his wings as Krillin stopped smiling. “And Jackie Chun,” he nodded silently with just barely more movement than Namu “versus Bacterian!” The giant man scratched his stomach and burped. “What an exciting collection of fighters, ladies and gentlemen!” he said aloud. ‘What a gaggle of circus freaks,’ he thought to himself. He was all set to get off the stage when Goku reached up and tugged at his suit jacket. He stopped and looked down at her.

“‘Scuse me,” she said, “What’s your name?” the announcer blinked behind his sunglasses. No one had actually asked his name before. People usually didn’t care. It had been so long that for a second he didn’t have an answer.

“K-Ken,” he finally said. “My name’s Ken.” Goku smiled and he smiled back.

“It’s nice to meet you!” she said as Krillin facepalmed.

“It’s nice to meet you, too, Goku. But you better focus, your match is first!” he ran off the stage along with everyone but Goku and Ranfan. Goku grinned as she dropped into a fighting stance. Ranfan frowned as she took the traditional Taijutsu stance. One leg forward and bent, leaning back slightly, arms raised towards her face. It was a good thing she would probably just need to use her martial arts skills for this one. Unless this preteen was extremely aware of her own sexuality at a young age which Ranfan highly doubted.

They circled each other slowly and tried to gauge one another’s abilities. Ranfan frowned as she weighed her options. The problem with fighting someone so short was that none of her training was really designed for it. She threw out a knee at Goku’s head and Goku put out hand to block it. Ranfan had expected the kid to go flying even if she blocked it but Goku seemed to have her own plans since she didn’t budge. Ranfan blinked but quickly retracted her leg and thrust it straight out as she twisted her hip to drive her foot into the girl’s head. The kick landed precisely and sent Goku flying across the ring. She hit the ground and tumbled a few more feet before she came to a stop. Ranfan grinned to herself as she brought her leg back down. That wasn’t so hard! But then Goku got right back up and dusted herself off as she shook her head. … What?

“That’s an interesting stance you have!” Goku called from across the ring as she hopped from one foot to the other. “What martial art is that?” Ranfan blinked dumbly even as she automatically returned to her guard.

“Ta-taijutsu,” she muttered in response. Was this kid for real? Goku grinned and got into a crouch.

“Cool! You’ll have to show me some stuff later! My turn!” Goku was gone in a flash again and reappeared right in front of Ranfan with her feet raised to plant a dropkick in her stomach. Ranfan barely raised up her leg in time to block the blow and she almost wished she hadn’t. It hurt like hell! She hopped back on one foot and got back into her guard with a wince. Goku charged forward again and Ranfan just managed to roll out of the way of the attack. Goku came to a halt at the edge of the ring and pinwheeled her arms to stop herself from falling. ‘Now’s my chance!’ Ranfan thought before she threw out a knee to Goku’s back. If it hit her it would knock her out of the ring for sure! But that ‘if’ was the problem since it never did. In the middle of pinwheeling like an idiot Goku leaped backwards and bounced off of Ranfan’s knee to land behind her. Ranfan spun around and stared as Goku waved at her with a grin. Ranfan furrowed her brow in frustration. This kid was making her look like an amateur! Ranfan let out a wordless scream and exploded with a barrage of kicks, knees, elbows and forearms. Her limbs were a blur as she made a desperate assault. Goku ducked and dodged and rolled over every. Single. Strike.

“What the heck are you?!” Ranfan screamed in futile fury. Beads of sweat dripped down her forehead as she let out ragged breaths. Goku grinned up at her.

“I’m a Goku!” she exclaimed before giving a little frown. “I’m sorry but I’m kinda bored. Your Taijutsu is really cool and all but I think I’m ending this.” Before Ranfan could even comment on this insult, Goku jumped up and punched her across the jaw. Ranfan flew out of the ring in a tight spiral and went into the grass. She actually had so much momentum that she burrowed into the ground.

“C-contestant Son Goku is the winner!” Ken shouted in a bit of delayed shock. Goku held up an arm victoriously and smiled as the crowd cheered. Some helpers plucked an exceptionally dizzy Ranfan out of the ground and carried her away. Goku hopped out of the ring and walked to the back. So much fighting! She wondered when they’d get to eat.

Jackie Chun watched as Bacterian got into the ring and shuddered. He could see the dirt and grime covering every inch of the man’s skin. It was caked on for God’s sake and made Bacterian’s skin a good three shades darker. Even worse, Jackie could smell it. Imagine the worst smell in human history. Bury that smell in a hole in the ground and let it stew for about fifty years. Then dig it up and set it on fire. Then put out the fire with garbage water. That would be nearly as bad as the smell coming off of Bacterian and, as Bacterian stomped towards Jackie, he came to the realization that it was even worse than he’d imagined. The stink, the stench, wasn’t limited to Bacterian’s body. It hung off of him like a cloud and rolled off of him in waves. It poisoned the very air around him.

“Bahahaha!” Bacterian laughed a great belly laugh that made his whole body jiggle as he stalked towards Jackie. The old man grit his teeth as he pondered his strategy. Thankfully, he could sense the giant man’s battle power. Nothing to write home about. Clearly he’d gotten through most of this tournament on the strength of his stench than of his body but Jackie had a secret weapon of his own.

As the cloud of filth crept closer and closer to Jackie, he resigned himself to the fact that he couldn’t test the boys’ skills if he got eliminated in the first round. Jackie held in a breath as he decided how to win this fight. Any hit he gave Bacterian would get grime all over his nice shoes and suit. Jackie raised one arm and gave a hard downward swipe in Bacterian’s direction to release a kiai wave that knocked Bacterian out cold. No sense knocking him too close to the poor audience.

“Ten! And Jackie Chun is the winner!” The crowd’s cheer was slightly-muted as most of them were stunned silent that Jackie seemed to have won without even touching his opponent. The ringside attendants had the unenviable task of removing Bacterian’s unconscious body from the ring. They settled on using push brooms to literally roll the large man away. ‘Might want to roll him into the ocean,’ Jackie thought, ‘But then he might kill all the fish. In the world.’

Krillin stared up at his opponent open-mouthed. As the yellow-and-blue heavyset dragon bared his fangs and flexed his fingers to show his bright claws, Krillin tried to calm himself. He’d trained for this. He’d spent the last year and a half with Son Goku and Master Roshi in preparation for this sort of thing. Then Giran roared and stomped towards him. Well, the old man certainly hadn’t trained him for dragon-slaying!

Krillin nervously dodged out of the way of a few of Giran’s claw swipes as he fought his biological imperative to run and scream. He was so nervous that he didn’t even register that Giran’s claws were coming nowhere close to hitting him but Giran noticed and the fact that he hadn’t already punched this kid hard enough to knock him off the island was infuriating the lizard. He swung faster and harder with blows powerful enough to tear a normal man to shreds. Blue-haired Launch flinched as Krillin dodged every swipe. She couldn’t help but be scared for the little fella. He was so small and the dragon-man was so big! Giran roared loud enough to shake Krillin’s bones and the former monk couldn’t stop himself from ducking down into a ball in self defense. Giran grinned and opened his maw to go in for an attack but was blinded by the sun reflecting off of Krillin’s shiny dome. He stumbled away and held at his eyes.

“Krillin!” Goku shouted from the sidelines while her friend was still cowering with his eyes screwed shut, “Punch him already!” Krillin looked up to see Giran still recovering from the blinding light and lunged into action. He threw an uppercut that caught the dragon under the jaw and made him stagger then followed up with a series of rapid-fire punches to the rather pronounced yellow belly that made it jiggle and caused Giran to stumble back. He teetered on the edge of the ring. He spun around on instinct and smacked Krillin with his tail with the impact sending Krillin flying to tumble towards the edge of the ring. Giran blinked as his vision finally cleared. He growled as Krillin picked himself up off the ground.

“No more runnin’ around for you, boy!” he declared before he opened his mouth as wide as he could. A strange pink light began to glow brighter and brighter from deep inside him. Krillin dove at the last second, expecting a fireball of some kind. He was shocked as an enormous wad of gum flew out of the dragon’s mouth and hit some poor sap in the crowd.

“Gah! My hair!” cried the aforementioned poor sap. Giran growled at the ineffectuality of his last attack. That would have captured the boy for sure! Giran charged towards Krillin with his mouth open wide. Saliva dripped from his angry jaws as Krillin held out his hands.

“H-hold on!” Krillin shouted and Giran came to a confused screeching halt. What was the boy’s plan? “Look, the whole… growling and snapping and the stuff with the teeth. You’re not gonna eat me or anything, right?” Giran blinked and pulled back as he shook his head.

“Nah,” he grumbled. “‘Course not. Why would I do somethin’ like that?” Krillin fell out of his fighting stance as the two of them apparently stopped fighting to have a civil discussion.

“Then why do you do all that stuff?” Krillin asked as Giran gave another shrug.

“Scares people and all that,” the dragon muttered defensively.

“But aren’t you better than that?” Krillin prodded with his hands on his hips. “You’re strong, you’re fast. You shouldn’t need to perpetuate stereotypes to get ahead!” Giran nodded with a smile on his face.

“Yer right!” he told Krillin and threw up his fists triumphantly. “I don’t need to be the monster these people think I am! I can be my own dragon!” Krillin grinned and held out a hand.

“Then let’s do this right!” he declared before Giran nodded again and shook Krillin’s tiny hand in his own. He could do this! He could make a good example for people like him everywhere! People that society called monsters. They could be just like regular people without relying on-

Giran was distracted from this introspection as Krillin jumped up into the air and kicked Giran in the face before somersaulting forward off the dragon’s snout to jump behind him. He finished with a spin-kick to the back of Giran’s head that made him tumble out of the ring. He hit the dirt before he even had the chance to flap the small wings that improbably allowed him to fly.

“And with a cunning ring-out, Krillin is the winner!” Ken declared as Goku ran into the ring to pick Krillin off the ground in another powerful hug as Krillin turned red with public embarrassment. “He will move on to face Son Goku in the semifinals!” Krillin squirmed out of Goku’s grip as she grinned. Giran got up slowly while holding the back of his head.

“Hey,” Krillin told the dragon man, “I meant what I said about you being better than this and all that. I just really had to win,” The dragon smiled as if he’d been pranked and gave the bald monk a thumbs-up.

Yamcha paced around the ring for about a minute while he grinned and flexed and shouted nonsense. All the while, Namu watched him and never moved his neck. He barely moved his eyes. The contrast between the two fighters was like night and day. Everything about Namu struck Jackie Chun as… eerie.

‘Just what,’ the old master wondered, ‘makes this man so focused? When I do it, it’s an act but this guy’s made of ice!’ With the slightest mental manipulation, he was able to gaze into the younger man’s mind. Telepathy was one of the minor perks that came with exceptionally advanced ki sensing. It required you to be entirely stationary and focusing your mental energies towards the act so it was less than useless in combat. As Jackie peered into Namu’s thoughts and sifted through his memories he saw… A homeland crippled by drought. A people in desperate need of help. A solemn vow. ‘I will win the prize money and buy water from the city! I swear it!’ Jackie swallowed with his eyes wide in surprise. ‘If I didn’t have a job to do here, I might forfeit rather than beat him...’ Jackie thought before shrugging. ‘Maybe I can still do something for him.’ Meanwhile Yamcha was just about done with his pre-match antics. He wandered over to Bulma and she leaned over the barricade to give him a peck on the cheek.

“For luck,” she whispered before leaning over further and giving him a smack on the behind. “Now get in there!” Yamcha got into the ring, grinning like an idiot but his smile quickly faded in the face of Namu’s unearthly seriousness. Both fighters slid into their stances. Namu held one forearm diagonally across his chest, slightly outstretched and ready to either strike or block. Yamcha crouched forward and tensed his fingers, ready to unleash the Wolf Fang Fist at any moment.

Yamcha made the first move and charged forward to throw a pair of quick jabs that Namu ducked and weaved under. Yamcha followed up with a knee aimed for the chin that Namu leaned away from and glared. He hopped back to get a run-up to hit Namu with a palm strike but Namu put one hand under Yamcha’s elbow and thrust Yamcha’s arm up into the air before delivering three quick chops to Yamcha’s sternum in quick succession. Yamcha staggered back while gasping for air with his hands pressed to his sternum. He teetered towards the edge of the ring while Namu closed his eyes and waited. All he could do was pray that he would cause the other man no lasting damage. He was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he barely had time to register that he hadn’t heard a body hit the ground before he opened his eyes to see Yamcha’s boot taking up his entire worldview and smashing into his face. Namu flew backwards and landed hard on his back three-fourths of the way across the ring.

“It’ll take a lot more than that to keep me down!” Yamcha said with a cocky grin as he flicked a thumb across his nose. Still, that attack Namu had used had hurt like hell. Whatever he’d done had made it feel like Yamcha’s entire nervous system wanted to jump out of his body. He’d have to keep on his toes.

“Your physical strength is most impressive,” Namu conceded as he got to his feet while he wiped a droplet of blood from under his nose. “But it will not be enough.” They both charged this time and crashed in the center of the ring. Their knuckles locked together as they tried to force the other towards the ground, straining against each other. Yamcha would push and Namu would give ground until he tripped Yamcha’s leg out from under him which forced him to give ground in turn. Their auras flared against and entangled with one another, invisible to all but Jackie Chun who watched with rapt attention. Namu raised his knee to strike Yamcha in the chest but Yamcha blocked it with a knee of his own. They dropped their legs before Yamcha attacked with the opposite knee and now it was Namu who blocked.

Realizing they’d come to a stalemate, both men broke away from the knuckle lock. Namu simply leaped back while Yamcha leaped high into the air and did a few backwards somersaults before he landed. Using the momentum of his landing, Yamcha charged forward and slammed into Namu’s cross-armed guard. Namu gritted his teeth as Yamcha stomped forward, causing him to skid back.

“As I said,” Namu said with a grunt, “you do not lack for physical power.” He drew in a deep breath and thrust his arms out to send Yamcha staggering away. He threw himself at the former bandit with a flying kick that cracked him across the chin and staggered him. “But you lack true conviction!” He threw out a double palm thrust to the stomach that Yamcha barely rolled away from, hopping back to give himself some more distance.

“I’ll show you conviction!” Yamcha growled as he got back into his Wolf Fang Fist stance. “Wolf Fang Fist!” he cried and ran forward to throw out a flurry of wild strikes. Namu threw up his guard and absorbed them all.

“You fight for a selfish goal,” Namu said even as Yamcha wore down his guard. “You fight only to prove your own strength! You fight for arrogance and pride!” Yamcha snarled and drew back his fist for a powerful blow.

“Shut up!” he screamed as he struck. However, before he had even fully extended his elbow, Namu was already gone with an overhead leap, twisting to land behind Yamcha. Yamcha leaped to throw out a spinning back kick but Namu evaded it with a backwards handspring. “Who the hell do you think you are to lecture me?!” he snapped as he charged at Namu again. Hadn’t he risked his neck fighting Goku when she was a giant monster to protect Bulma? Wasn’t that fighting for something greater than himself? Yamcha howled wordlessly as Namu spun effortlessly around every wild strike.

“Until you fight when others depend on you,” Namu said as he raised his arms overhead in a cross, “to understand that on your victory or failure hang the hopes of all you care about, you will never be more than what you are!” He drove his forearms down powerfully into the back of Yamcha’s head and neck. Yamcha took a single staggering step forward before everything went black and he collapsed to the ground.

“Ten! Namu is the winner!” Namu gave a slight bow before exiting the ring. From the sidelines, Bulma’s expression was a war between fuming at Yamcha for embarrassing her by losing and concern for his well-being after a blow to the head like that.

“Maybe you should have given him more luck,” Blue-Haired Launch offered innocently.

Chapter Text

There was a short respite between the quarterfinals and the semifinals. During that time, Krillin and Goku were pleasantly surprised to find that Master Roshi had come to speak with them.

“I’m very proud of how you’ve both done,” he told them with a warm smile. “But I don’t want either of you holding back now, do you understand?” They both nodded enthusiastically and he nodded back while keeping one hand on his hat to keep the wig from showing. If he ripped it off, that would just leave red marks on his scalp that he’d have to hide anyway and if the glue didn’t dry when he put the wig back on before his fight with Namu, well, that’d be the end of the whole game, wouldn’t it? “And whichever of you loses, I don’t want it to ruin your friendship or your interest in martial artes. It’s the way of the world, there’s always someone better out there. All you can do is keep trying and keep working so that you can get better yourself!”

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Ken shouted into the microphone from outside. “The semifinals are about to begin!” Roshi smiled at his students and bowed to them.

“Guess you two’d better get goin’,” he said as they bowed in response and hurried outside. He chuckled and shook his head as he watched them run with exuberance. ‘Gohan and the Ox King used to be like that,’ he thought wistfully. Then he sighed and looked away sadly. ‘Shen and I used to be like that.’

As the two young warriors got into their fighting stances, Ken the announcer ran out between them. They relaxed their stances and looked more than a little confused. Weren’t they supposed to be fighting?

“Now before we begin, guys,” Ken said, “I think the audience would like to hear a bit more about the two of you! You’re the youngest people to have ever made it this far in the history of the tournament and the skill you’ve displayed is quite frankly astounding. So please, if you wouldn’t mind, come to the center of the ring and talk to these fine people!” Goku and Krillin shrugged and made their way over towards Ken. “Let’s give them a big hand, everyone!” The crowd cheered and clapped for the young fighters.

“Come on, Goku!” Bulma shouted as she waved her arms. “You can go all the way, kid!” Blue-Haired Launch frowned at Bulma before cupping her hands to her mouth and shouting herself.

“C-c’mon, Krillin!” she cheered. She didn’t really want one of them to win or the other but it didn’t feel fair to her that Bulma was screaming her head off for Goku and decided that Krillin could use some encouragement, too.

“Now first off,” Ken said while slightly bent to look at the two, “How old are you?” He brought the mic down to them and Goku just stared at it. “Y... you talk into it,” Ken explained awkwardly, “It makes your voice louder.” Krillin groaned and pulled the microphone over to himself.

“I’m thirteen,” he said before Goku took the mic back. Now she got it!

“I’m twelve!” she shouted eagerly which made Krillin smirk.

“Ha! I’m older than you!” he teased. Goku just shrugged.

“Yeah, but I’m taller.” Krillin fumed and the crowd laughed. Ken cleared his throat to try and regain control of the conversation.

“I see you two are wearing the same outfit with those orange gi,” he pointed out. “Tell us, who is your teacher?” The two grinned before they answered in unison.

“The Turtle Hermit, Muten Roshi!” This drew a collective gasp of surprise from the audience along with some murmurs that seemed to agree that the children's’ abilities made sense now. Even Ken was stunned.

“Th-the Invincible Old Master is your teacher?!” he exclaimed. “Absolutely incredible! Who knew he was taking on new students? Who even knew he was still alive?” Somewhere in the back, Jackie Chun facepalmed. “So would you say the two of you have gotten close during your training?” Krillin was about to ask Ken what kind of question was that when Goku butted in.

“Yeah!” she said cheerfully while Krillin resigned himself to putting his head in his hands. “Krillin’s my best friend!” this drew laughter and “Awws” from the crowd as Krillin just wanted to sink into the earth.

“Well, let’s hope that whatever else comes from this tournament, the both of you will continue to be friends,” Ken said playfully. “But I think that’s quite enough for right now. If you two will go back to your places, it’s time to begin the semifinals!” Goku hopped back over to where she’d been without a care in the world. Krillin stomped back to his position while muttering under his breath. “Fighters ready?” Ken asked from a safe distance away from the ring. “Begin!”

They charged at each other and met in the center of the ring, each throwing a high kick that blocked the other. To the audience, at one moment the pair had been at the opposite ends of the ring and then the next they weren’t. Goku pivoted her hips to throw a roundhouse kick that Krillin jumped back to avoid. He rolled forward and then sprung up with his hands to try and hit Goku from beneath with a headbutt but she spun to the left to avoid it. Goku threw out a quick jab that Krillin blocked with both hands though the impact sent him skidding across the ring. Once again, this was nothing more than a blur of movement to the fans.

Krillin ran at Goku and jumped in the air to try and knock her down with a spin kick but she caught his ankle and threw him hard. It was only by digging his fingernails into the stone and splaying himself flat that he was able to keep himself from getting eliminated. He swallowed as he dusted himself off and got to his feet.

‘Gosh,’ he thought, ‘I never noticed how strong she was before!’ He got himself back into a fighting stance and steeled himself with a serious face. ‘I’ll have to fight smart here.’ Goku hopped eagerly from foot to foot while she waited for Krillin to make his next move. Krillin leaped into the air and dove at Goku with both fists. She put up her arms to block which was exactly what Krillin had planned on. He opened his hands and grabbed her forearms to flip behind her and slam her into the ground. He went to drive a chop into her back while she was recovering but she rolled away just in time and came up to her feet to throw a powerful palm strike into his stomach. Krillin staggered back both from the blow and the huge crack he saw in the ring where Goku’s face had hit it. She rubbed her head and frowned.

‘That kinda hurt,’ Goku thought to herself before breaking out into a big grin, ‘But this is fun!’ She jumped at Krillin with a flying kick that he ducked under but she landed perfectly on the kicking foot and swung around with a heel kick that caught Krillin as he turned around. He staggered back and she followed up with a pair of quick punches and an uppercut that sent him sailing into the air before he crashed to the ground. Goku watched as he slowly picked himself up. Then something weird happened. Krillin smiled. “Aaaaare you okay?” Goku asked with her head cock to the side. Krillin chuckled and nodded.

“Oh, yeah,” he said, “Because now that I know how strong you are…” he adopted a wide-legged stance with his arms outstretched and his palms facing towards her “I’m going to win.” Goku blinked.

“... How?” she asked rather bluntly. It was all Krillin could do not to groan. She could be pretty rude sometimes without meaning to but he wasn’t going to explain his plan to her, because then she’d just figure out a way to beat him. When he said nothing and didn’t move Goku eventually got bored and charged at him. Just as Krillin expected. She threw a powerful punch that Krillin just barely saw and wouldn’t have time to block. Krillin didn’t have to block, though. He put his palms to her arm and guided her face-first hard into the stone. He’d let her own momentum do all the work so that the force of impact was much stronger than if he’d tried to do it himself. Goku sprang up quickly again and went to grab at Krillin. However, just before she reached him, he threw himself onto his back and kicked up his legs. Using the soles of his feet, he once again guided her momentum to send her in the direction he wanted. Which was to say, the ground.

Krillin rolled up onto his feet and got back into his stance as he waited for Goku to pick herself back up. They’d sparred each other far too often for Krillin to use any of his regular techniques against her but when Krillin entered Master Roshi’s tutelage, he’d tried to be a clean slate to open himself to all of the Turtle Hermit’s teachings. For eight years of his young life, however, Krillin had worked at a different form of martial arts. This style that he was implementing now was the way of the Orin Temple. The ultimate defensive martial art, relying entirely on using your opponent’s strength and momentum and with someone as strong and as fast as Goku, it was even more effective. He couldn’t lose.

Goku was getting frustrated now and that just played even more into Krillin’s hand. Why wasn’t she hitting him? He wasn’t even doing anything, he was just pushing her! She flew at him with a dropkick but he ducked down and put up his hands under her legs to push her through the air. She wildly waved her arms before she slammed into the ring with a groan. She was way too close to the edge! She got up again and Krillin waited. She furrowed her brow and balled up her fists.

“Stop that!” she yelled and something pushed Krillin back. Not the shockwaves from her screen or being startled or anything like that. Something physical hit Krillin in the chest. Watching from the fighter’s area Jackie Chun’s mouth dropped in disbelief.

‘Did… did she figure out how to use kiai just by watching me?’ he wondered. ‘Just like with the Kamehameha. What is this girl?’ Luckily for Krillin, Goku hadn’t actually figured out kiai, she’d more just stumbled into it blindly. However, the hit still left him open and Goku shot towards him like a rocket with her shoulder. It was only with harshly-drilled instinct that Krillin was able to redirect her momentum. He was pushing her back towards the edge of the ring. She couldn’t stop her momentum! She was going to lose!

There was a soft “pop” and the tearing of fabric. Krillin felt something as strong as a steel cable wrap around his arm and he was jerked forward with Goku’s momentum. They both hit the floor with a thud, Krillin acting as an anchor for Goku to stop herself from ringing out. Her hair bobbed inches from the grass and she let out a sigh of relief.

“H-hold on a second!” Ken shouted as Goku and Krillin stood up, “Goku, I’m sorry, but the tournament specifically prohibits the use of outside tools and weapons!” Goku looked up at him and turned her head to the side.

“What outside tool?” she asked in confusion. The heck was he talking about?

“That!” Ken explained while pointing at her tail. “Are you trying to tell me that’s not an outside tool?” Goku responded to this question by pulling down her pants. The crowd shrieked and laughed as she turned her butt to the crowd to show that, yes, the tail was attached to the rest of her body.

“See?” she asked as Krillin’s face turned redder than red. “It’s my tail!”

“Okay, okay!” Ken hurriedly muttered. “Put your pants back on!” Goku shrugged and pulled her pants back up. Ken got out of the ring as they got ready to face off again.

‘Okay,’ Krillin thought, ‘So she has a tail. No problem! This shouldn’t change my- Oh jeez!’ Krillin’s train of thought was interrupted as Goku charged forwards at him. He brought up his hands to push her aside the same as before. Clearly Goku had other plans as her fist hit him right in the face. Krillin stumbled backwards with his eyes wide in shock. How did she get so fast? And was she even stronger?! Goku grinned as she hopped on the balls of her feet.

“I’m always stronger when I’ve got my tail!” she explained as if she could read his mind. She hopped into the air and balanced on her tail, grinning wider. Krillin frowned at that. Was she showing off? He charged while she had her guard down with a flurry of wild punches and kicks. He wouldn’t lose! He was just as good a martial artist as her! That was the last thing he told himself before he was suddenly kicked under the chin. The force of the kick sent him flying in a huge arc out of the ring and into the first row, where he landed in Launch’s arms. Bulma snickered as they looked at each other flustered.

“Hey, Launch!” she teased, “Looks like you caught a prize!” Launch said nothing as she let Krillin gently down onto the grass.

“And Goku wins by ring-out!” Ken shouted although that was obvious before Krillin touched the grass. Goku ran out of the ring to check on her friend. She hoped he wasn’t mad at her.

“Are you okay?” she asked Krillin. He shrugged. It wasn’t fair! He’d tried so hard, he’d worked just as hard as her, he’d used his secret weapon. So why did she win? Just because she was a weirdo with a tail? That wasn’t fair! Goku grabbed Krillin suddenly in a big hug. “I’m sorry,” she said sincerely, “We were just trying to win, right? Are you mad?” Krillin sighed.

“No,” he promised her as he patted her on the shoulder, “I’m fine.” How could he be mad? She didn’t cheat. It wasn’t like she planned on growing her tail. And It was just a tournament. No big deal. He’d just have to try harder next year. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a tail?” he asked as she let him go. Goku shrugged with a grin.

“You never asked!” The both of them laughed as Bulma looked down at them with that same big smile. She just really hoped the tournament was over before nightfall.

Namu and Jackie Chun stared at each other from across the ring with icy expressions. The tension was palpable as they waited for each other to make the first move.

“I’ve seen inside your mind, boy,” Jackie said calmly. “You’re fighting for a good cause, I admit, but you should bow out now before you get hurt.” Namu furrowed his brow and clenched his jaw. Whoever this strange man was, he had no right to insult Namu’s honor like this.

“If you have seen inside my mind,” Namu told him as he subtly shifted his body forward, “Then you know that is not an option!” He sprinted forward suddenly and attacked Jackie with a spinning hammerfist. Jackie leaned backwards as the younger man’s strike harmlessly passed in front of him. Namu ground his teeth in anger before he jumped at Jackie with a high kick to his face that, again, the old master easily evaded with a backstep. Jackie swung with a chop that missed Namu by inches. What didn’t miss was the kiai that made him stagger back. A bead of sweat dripped down Namu’s forehead as he seethed with frustration. Jackie shrugged and rubbed his nose.

“Don’t get too worked up about it,” he said in a jovial tone, “Give it three hundred years, you’ll get this good.” Namu’s anger rose as this man mocked him. He went to attack again but stopped himself. He realized he was playing into the other man’s hand. He closed his eyes and brought his hands to his sides. He breathed in slowly. Breathing in his frustration, his fear of failure, breathing in the anger and responsibility weighing him down. He held it in. Then he breathed it all out. He opened his eyes and his spirit felt as clear as a crystal spring of water. He could do this. He would succeed. From Jackie’s perspective, things were very different. He could feel, to his surprise, Namu’s ki rising. ‘That doesn’t make any sense,’ he thought. How could he raise his battle power so calmly? Namu bowed to Jackie.

“Shall we continue?” he asked before returning to his stance. Jackie nodded and Namu leaped into the air to deliver a divekick. There was no idle dodging this time for Jackie, however. Namu’s speed had drastically increased! He quickly brought up his forearm to block and grimaced as the impact made him step back. Namu landed lightly on his feet and charged forward with a hard chop with the edge of his hand. Jackie went to block the strike, though it wasn’t a strike at all! It was a feint and Namu swung around his other hand to drive his palm into the side of the older man’s head. Jackie staggered and left himself wide open for a front kick that caught him square in the chest. He was knocked through the air but landed on his feet. Now he was the one panting slightly while Namu was completely calm. “Perhaps I should make the same offer to you,” Namu proposed with the vaguest hint of a smile, “before you are hurt.” Jackie chuckled and cracked his knuckles.

“All right, then,” he said as he rolled his neck and shoulders from side to side and loosened up. “I guess I need to get serious!” He ran at Namu with his arm pulled back for what would no doubt be a mighty punch but it was so telegraphed that Namu would be an idiot not to counterattack. He threw out his open hand with his fingers straight as iron. However, to his surprise, his fingertips went through the other man’s face. Not viscerally, of course, but like smoke. As if the other man… weren’t even there. The Jackie in front of him quickly faded from sight as his voice somehow came from behind Namu. “Not bad, huh?” Namu spun around to try and attack but caught an elbow in the ribs. He doubled over in pain before Jackie drove a palm up under his chin. Namu’s head snapped back and Jackie swung a hard kick into Namu’s side. He groaned in pain and leaned to the left holding where he’d been kicked. Jackie went for another chop but this time Namu was prepared. He leaped up, over the kiai and the chop, and landed behind Jackie. He threw a thrust kick into Jackie’s back but it was just another afterimage. Jackie was in the air above Namu and brought down two chops onto Namu’s shoulders. He winced as it felt like fire swept through his arms. He couldn’t lose now!

Jackie landed on his feet in a fighting stance. Honestly, though, this fight was almost over. He’d hit the exact ligaments connecting Namu’s shoulders to his torso. How much of a fight could a man put up with no arms? However, Namu apparently found a way to put up a fight by headbutting Jackie in the face. Namu surged forwards with a flurry of kicks that the older man dodged and ducked and jumped away from. He’d figured out Namu’s rhythm fairly quickly so there was nothing he could do to hurt him. But then… Namu punched him in the face. That shouldn’t have happened. Namu shouldn’t be using his arms for another hour. But there he was. Sweat dripping down his face, jaw and eyes locked with concentration. Raising his arms.

Namu willed himself to fight. Willed his arms to move through the numbness and the pain. He flexed his fingers and clenched his fists. Not now. Not yet. He could not be defeated. There would be time for agony later. He drew his arms back and threw out both fists into Jackie’s face with the force of a shotgun. The old man went down in a heap on his back.

‘That should leave him stunned,’ Namu thought, ‘But I must not take chances. This old master has proven to be most formidable. I must finish him now.’ And then Namu jumped. He sailed hundreds of feet into the air, higher and higher as if he were flying. ‘No. Higher!’ Somehow, Namu jumped higher, pushing off of the air itself. He locked his arms in a cross and turned his body downwards. He dropped like a rock, like a missile, his body glowing with power that looked like the fires of reentry. “Super Holy Cross!” he called out although he was far too high up for anyone to hear him. Reflex, possibly. He hoped this would not kill the older man.

In the ring far below Jackie Chun blinked and started to stir. He shook his head and tried to focus. ‘What the heck hit me?’ he thought to himself as he collected his thoughts. He squinted and saw Namu hurtling down at him with the force of a meteor. ‘Ooh boy. If that strike of his could knock Yamcha out while he was on the ground, I don’t wanna find out what that’ll do to me from the air!’ There was no time to hop to his feet and he couldn’t rely on a kiai or even a regular ki blast. He needed to end this right here and now.

Jackie cupped his hands to his side and a blue light shone in his palms as he gathered up his power although he made sure to restrain himself a little bit not to kill the other man. With Namu less than fifty yards above him Jackie thrust out his hands.

“Kamehameha!” he called out as a brilliant beam of blue-white light rushed up to meet Namu in the air. There was a bright explosion when man and ki collided and in that blinding light, Jackie rolled backwards onto his feet. Namu hit the ground with a heavy thud as smoke and steam billowed off his body. Jackie bent down next to him and pressed two fingers to the man’s neck. Good. Still breathing.

“T-ten! Jackie Chun is your winner!” There were no cheers as Jackie walked to the back, however. Everyone was just… too shocked. They’d never seen a Kamehameha in their lives. None of them… except for two.

“Huh?” Goku and Bulma muttered in unison. There was something fishy about this old man… .

Chapter Text

Yamcha staggered out of the medical ward while rubbing at the back of his head. The medics were insisting he lay down and that he might have a concussion after the blow he received from Namu but there was no way he was going to sleep through the entire tournament. That would be ridiculous!

“Yamcha! Yamcha!” Goku called out when she saw him and ran to him with Krillin tailing behind. “Yamcha! I made it to the finals!” Yamcha smiled and reached down to ruffle the girl’s hair. Somehow he knew she’d be in there at the end.

“That’s great, Goku! I…” he couldn’t remember what he was going to say because all Yamcha could notice was the fuzzy, brown tail bobbing up and down excitedly in the air behind Goku. It was back. “I’ll… be rooting for you!” he told her with a slightly forced smile. Goku grinned and hugged his leg before running off again. “Rooting for you to finish this fight before sundown,” Yamcha muttered to himself when they were gone.

Namu left the tournament grounds with a grimace in every step. Small burns still covered his body from the Kamehameha. Despite this, he had refused medical treatment. The physical pain he was experiencing was fleeting, nothing compared to the shame and despair weighing down on his soul. He had failed his village. His weakness had condemned them. Namu’s head spun around when he heard someone clearing their throat. Jackie Chun was leaning against a tree in the garden. Namu scowled at him.

“Do you not have a fight to prepare for?” Namu asked bluntly. “Have you just come to gloat?” Jackie shook his head and held up his hands.

“No, no. Nothing of the kind. You did very well. I don’t even need the money. But I need to win.” Namu scowled with one eyebrow cocked. “I need to test my students. Need to make them understand that there might always be someone stronger out there. If they keep pushing themselves, they could be the greatest martial artists in the world.” Namu blinked a few times and opened his eyes wide.

“So you… are the invincible old master?” he asked in dawning realization. Jackie nodded and tapped on the side of his nose. “Why the need for the disguise? What could you need to hide your identity for?” Jackie shrugged with a smirk.

“If they knew it was me, they’d hold back. I need to be a mystery man. Someone they’ve never met before and might never meet again. Just someone to challenge, a mountain to climb.” He sighed and fished into his pockets. “But I owe you somethin’,” he tossed a capsule at Namu who caught it out of the air. Namu looked down at the capsule in his hand with one raised eyebrow. “That should hold, I dunno, a hundred gallons of water?” Jackie said as he jerked his thumb back at a well next to the tree. Namu sighed and frowned.

“I thank you but I have no money to pay for the water with.” Jackie chuckled.

“Then it’s a good thing there’s no charge for the water,” Jackie turned and headed back to the arena as Namu’s eyes popped open wide and his jaw dropped. It was free?! “Stick around when you’re done. You’ve got enormous potential. You might learn somethin’,” Jackie looked over a shoulder and gave Namu a sly wink, “Oh, and I might need a favor.”

Goku walked into the ring to meet Jackie Chun. He seemed really strong so she’d have to do her very best to win this one! It was so exciting!

“Come on, Goku!” Bulma, Puar, and Launch cheered excitedly from the stands as they pumped their fists in the air to give their friend their support.

“Keep your guard up, kid!” Yamcha called from the fighter’s area. If this Jackie Chun guy could beat up Namu then he was definitely nobody to play games with. He just hoped Goku didn’t get hungry during the fight. Krillin didn’t say anything. He just kept his eyes intensely on the fight.

‘Don’t make me look bad for losing to you by not winning!’ he thought as Goku did some stretches.

“Hey!” she called to Jackie, “I have a question. Are you Master Roshi?” It was a credit to Jackie’s mental control that the sum total of his reaction is a single raised eyebrow. On one hand, you’d have to be stupid not to come to that assumption. On the other hand… well, that would be Goku for you. Jackie just gave Goku a slight turn of his head towards the audience. Holy cow, Master Roshi was out there! ‘I guess it was just a funny coinci-’ and then Jackie hit her in the chin with an uppercut. The impact sent her hurtling into the sky and over the crowd.

‘I’m honestly disappointed,’ Jackie thought as he watched Goku fly away. ‘Thought I trained her better than that.’ Yamcha groaned and put his face in his hands.

“So, the whole ‘keep your guard up’ thing…” he muttered to himself, “Did she just… not hear me or what?” Jackie waited patiently for the sound of a “thud” when Goku hit the ground but that wasn’t the sound he heard. Instead, to the shock of Jackie and everyone else in the arena, the sound was more of a “Thwap thwap thwap thwap” as Goku used her tail as a propeller to fly back into the ring! Well, a surprise to everyone but Bulma. She’d seen Goku do something like that when their boat broke down.

“Very… impressive,” Jackie said in a measured tone that tried to mask his surprise. ‘Where on Earth did you find this little one, Son Gohan?’ he thought to himself as she grinned. “But I won’t let you use that trick again!” He threw out a kick to the girl’s head as she stuck out her tongue but his leg went right through her! How did she do that?! How did she learn the Afterimage Technique by watching? Well, she could copy his moves all she wanted but he knew she was right behind him! He threw back his elbow into the stomach of… another afterimage? The real Goku came at him from the left with a flying kick, driving her foot into his jaw. He staggered back and held his face as he stared at the girl in shock.

“How do you like my double afterimage?” Goku asked playfully as she hopped from foot to foot. Jackie said nothing as he slid into a fighting stance. Maybe he’d taught her better than he thought.

Jackie sprinted forward and threw an elbow strike that Goku leaped over. She spun around and lashed out with her tail at him like a whip and Jackie hopped back to avoid it. Goku landed on her feet and tried to press her attack with a forward charge but Jackie saw it coming and flipped over her as she passed and threw a backwards kick to hit her in the back of the head. She rolled forward with the impact and spun around to face Jackie as he came head-on. Jackie threw out a series of lightning-fast jabs that Goku ducked and weaved under before driving her shoulder into Jackie’s gut. He flew backwards as Goku followed up with a high kick that caught Jackie under the chin and sent him up into the air. She followed him up, astonishing the audience with an astonishing fifteen-foot vertical leap before she locked both fingers together and brought them down on Jackie’s back. Before Jackie could slam into the stones with something approaching terminal velocity, he threw out his hands and pushed himself back up into the air with a kiai and flipped backwards to land safely on his feet. Goku whizzed by his head a few seconds later with the intent of smashing her feet into him. Before she could even recognize the fact Jackie wasn’t where she’d expected him to be, however, he drove a dropkick into her face that sent her staggering back. The two paused for a moment in a stalemate as the crowd roared.

“Incredible!” Ken declared enthusiastically, “We have never seen a tournament final of this caliber! Absolutely incredible!”

“Wow,” Yamcha muttered as he rubbed his chin in thought, “Goku really has gotten a lot stronger since last year.” Maybe he should see if the Old Master was still taking on new students.

“While we have a moment here,” Jackie said as the two fighters circled each other, “that little trick of yours with your tail was very impressive!” Goku grinned and rubbed at her nose.

“Thanks!” she replied cheerfully. “I was thinking of using my Kamehameha to push myself back into the ring but I didn’t want to hurt anyone.” Jackie chuckled and shook his head.

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” he assured her in a somewhat boastful tone. “I doubt your Kamehameha would be strong enough to really hurt anyone or even give you the proper push back!” Goku bristled at that, the hair on her tail visibly puffing up like a cat.

“Would so!” she insisted, “My Kamehameha is as strong as yours!” Where did this old guy even learn it, anyway? Jackie raised a single eyebrow. She couldn’t actually believe that, could she?

“All right,” Jackie began as he put his hands at his side, “Let’s see what ya got!” Goku copied his stance and the crowd watched in awe as ethereal blue light filled their hands.

“Kaaaa…. meeee….”

“Haaaa…. meeee….”

The air tingled with energy and anticipation in those last few moments as the two fighters charged their attacks. They thrust their hands out in unison and blasts of blue-white energy shot from their palms.

“Haaaa!” The blasts hit each other with tremendous force before bursting apart in a blinding explosion of light that knocked everyone in the stands onto their backs. Goku and Roshi were the only ones standing as the light dimmed, both sweating slightly from the heat of their blasts and panting.

‘Impossible!’ Jackie thought as Goku grinned. ‘Her Kamehameha was the equal of my own! And she doesn’t even seem tired!’ Jackie unbuttoned his shirt and tossed it away as Goku bounced on the souls of her feet. Darn thing was too hot, anyway. He stretched his muscles as a light breeze hit him and dropped back into his stance. He took a deep breath and… seemed to fall asleep on his feet.

Goku blinked in confusion. What… what kinda technique was this?

“Uhhh… mister?” He started snoring. Maybe it wasn’t a technique at all. Maybe the Kamehameha had taken more out of him than she’d thought. She took a few steps forwards and tried to poke him out of the ring. Jackie stumbled forwards and flopped down under her arm. She blinked as he rolled away like a log and stumbled to his feet. She charged at him and threw a flying kick but Jackie just lurched sleepily to the side. When she landed, he stretched his arm as if to yawn and struck her in the face with an incredibly quick backfist. Now Goku knew he was awake! It had to be some kind of technique!

She threw wild kicks and punches at Jackie and he stumbled and flopped and lurched and drooped under every one, always responding with a kick or a punch of his own that came so completely out of nowhere that Goku had no defense.

‘Incredible!’ Krillin thought as he watched in open-mouthed astonishment. He’d heard tales of the unstoppable Sleepwalker Fist style before but he’d assumed they were only legend, mostly because it sounded completely ridiculous. But seeing it in person made it clear that the technique was shockingly effective! Jackie chuckled to himself behind his sleeping eyes.

‘I knew that she wouldn’t be able to get around this style,’ he bragged inwardly. ‘She’s still too wild, too headstrong, too- Wait, what?’ And Jackie was thinking this because the last strike he’d thrown, a mule kick disguised by his stumbling forward, was being directed away, shifting his momentum. Before he had time to react he had spun through the air and slammed onto his face. Goku grinned as he sat up, rubbing the side of his head. “H-how in the?”

“That’s the Orin Temple technique!” Krillin gasped as Goku turned at him and gave him a thumbs-up. Jackie bristled as he got back to his feet. Goku grinned at him again.

“Are you awake now?” she teased. Before he could say anything, she changed her stance again before jumping into the air with a knee that nearly caught him under the chin. He blocked it but then had to block an elbow that nearly cracked down on his skull with his other hand. He pushed her away but she bounced right back with a forward kick that caught him in the breadbasket and caused Jackie to double over. She hit Jackie with an elbow so hard it made the old master spin 180 degrees to face away from her. Goku gripped Jackie around the middle and threw him backwards, dropping the disguised hermit on the back of his head with a perfect Suplex. On top of copying Krillin’s Orin School, she had also combined Ranfan’s Taijutsu and the giant’s wrestling despite the fact that she’d barely fought him!

“All right then,” Jackie muttered as he rubbed the back of his head. His eyes went wide when his fingers came back bloody. “No more playing around!” This girl might actually be able to beat him. Jackie charged forward again and even Goku couldn’t keep up this time. He battered her with a series of rapid-fire jabs and hooks that kept her off-balance before he finished with a spinning kick that knocked Goku across the ring to slam against the wall that separated the ring from the fighters’ area. She slumped down to the ground and Jackie figured the referee would start counting any second now.

Then Goku stood up. Even more distressing was when she wiped away the trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth and smiled.

“This is fun!” Goku declared as she hopped back into a fighting stance. This was the best fight Goku had ever been in! It wasn’t easy but that was what made it so much fun! “My turn!” Goku sprinted at Jackie and fired back with rapid-fire strikes of her own. For every ten he managed to block, three more got through and the girl’s blows were like getting hit by a car! Jackie pushed himself into the air with a kiai but then Goku just jumped straight up to meet him! They traded strikes as they descended back to the ground, bobbing and weaving and blocking. Jackie leaped back as soon as they landed to create more distance and threw out a kiai that knocked Goku back. Finally, Jackie realized, he had an opening. She might be strong, fast, tough, and a fighting prodigy but she had no idea how to control ki.

Goku charged forward again but was hit by another kiai. And another and another. Every time she tried to move, the old man would hit her with another one of those invisible waves. And it hurt! After four or five of them, though, Goku began to see something. A little shimmer in the air or a flicker of light. She could see them coming now! Goku grinned and rolled out of the way of one and then the other. She leaped at the old man and grabbed his wrists.

“Gotcha!” she said triumphantly before headbutting him. Jackie staggered back then fired a kiai without moving a muscle, forcing Goku to break her grip. The setting sun created a dramatic red backdrop as Goku got to her feet again. Goku seemed to charge blindly at Jackie again but his Kiai hit an afterimage. He kicked behind him and hit another afterimage. He let out a soft “tut, tut” as he threw out his elbow to his side in what was surely… another afterimage. Three. Three?! Roshi looked around frantically with his eyes darting in every direction. Where the heck was she hiding?

He stopped himself and took a deep breath. He was smarter than this. He was the Invincible Turtle Hermit! He wasn’t going to let some little girl shake him up! He closed his eyes and sensed her ki. She was… right… above him. Roshi looked up just in time to see Goku’s feet smashing into his face from above to drive him painfully into the ground. She hopped off his face and landed back in the ring with a giggle as he struggled to his feet.

“How… how did you do that?!” he asked exasperatedly. “How did you get so high in the air I couldn’t see you?!” Goku grinned as she rocked back and forth on her feet. Clearly, she was impressed with herself.

“Well, I made all those afterimages ‘cause I knew what you were gonna do and then I just jumped as high as I could. And I did one of those invisible thingies so I went even faster! Then I did the same thing to come down fast, too!” she said proudly. Jackie balked.

“You… you couldn’t do a kiai!” he said indignantly. Goku grinned.

“Can too!” she said as she threw out a peace sign. And the swing of her arm when she did that sent out a kiai that caught him square in the chest. “You keep saying I can’t do things and then I do them,” Goku pointed out as Jackie caught his breath. “Do you think I can’t do this? Janken!” Jackie smirked. Now she’d played her hand. Of course he’d be prepared for Son Gohan’s signature- then Goku hit him in the stomach with Rock when she had called out Paper. That wasn’t supposed to happen. Then she hit him in the eyes with Scissors when she called out Rock! That wasn’t supposed to happen either! She smacked him across the face with Paper and Jackie staggered back. He wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and glared at her, half-impressed and half-annoyed. She’d put up a good fight, however this had gone far enough.

“I’m ending this!” Jackie declared before he thrust out his hands. Goku steeled herself for whatever technique was coming next. She couldn’t have anticipated what it was. Lightning crackled up and down his bare arms as he scowled at her. “I used this technique only once, against Son Gohan himself!” Before Goku could ask Jackie how he knew her grandpa, a blast of electricity shot from Jackie’s hands and ran up and down Goku’s body. Jackie lifted his arms and raised Goku into the air as she shrieked with pain. Her muscles spasmed and her body was on fire.

“Wh-what’s he doing?” Krillin asked, his voice trembling with fear. If this technique could hurt Goku like this then it would kill a normal person! Yamcha stared open-mouthed in awe.

“I-it’s the Bankoku Bikkuri Shou! I-I’ve heard about this! He’s changed his ki into electrical energy! It’s like getting hit by a lightning bolt, over and over!” There was no way Goku could survive this, Yamcha thought. She’d have to give up!

“Surrender!” Jackie called to her over the buzz of the lightning. “You can’t escape this!”

“Never!” Goku shouted through defiantly clenched teeth. It hurt so bad, though! But she couldn’t give up! She’d come so far! She could get out of this, she had to!

“Goku, just give up!” Bulma pleaded. She didn’t want to see Goku get hurt! She didn’t think Goku could get hurt! Why couldn’t she be okay with coming in second? Why did she have to be so stupid?

“Please!” Krillin begged her, on the verge of tears. She was his best friend! What if she got really hurt by this?

Launch and Puar were already crying.

“I… I’ll never… I… I…” Maybe she would have given up. But then Goku opened her eyes and looked at the moon and nothing hurt anymore. She felt that strength flooding through her again. She didn’t need to give up. The lightning attack burst apart like a bubble and she landed on her feet as she looked down at Jackie Chun. He was so small. She was stronger than him! She was stronger than everyone.

“We… we forgot about the moon,” Yamcha muttered belatedly. The crowd shrieked in terror as Goku threw back her head and roared with rage.

“Amazing!” Ken cried out obliviously. After all the insane things he’d seen today, why should this be too weird? “What sort of technique is this?!” Bulma rolled her eyes despite her terror.

“It’s not a technique, you moron!” she called out before grabbing Puar’s tail and tickling Launch under the nose. She sneezed, turned blonde, and immediately knew what to do.

“Alright, everyone clear out!” she shouted abrasively as she lifted two uzis high above her head and fired them into the air. Unsurprisingly, this made the crowd listen to her and they bolted for the exit. Where did she even get those guns? Jackie was… surprised.

‘Certainly not the worst fight I’ve ever been in,’ Jackie thought to himself as he looked up at the monstrous monkey girl. ‘But probably the strangest.’ He ran up her leg and delivered a series of punches to Goku’s stomach that warranted him nothing more than a snarl of derision. He dropped down and jumped onto her tail, running along that and up her back to punch her in the ear. Goku’s red eyes shone with murder as she lifted up a hand and swatted him to the ground. A burst of kiai was the only thing that kept his bones from making a terrible crunch. Goku roared and drew back a fist to punch the old man. “Oh no you don’t!” Jackie declared before forcing himself to MAX POWER and meeting her punch with one of his own. Even in his muscular form, she was pushing him back with just one enormous fist! Jackie jumped onto her fist and launched himself off of it to fly at her face with both fists out. As she opened her mouth, he could see a bright light coming from deep inside. Could she breathe fire?! Jackie decided there was no reason to find out and punched her right in the snout, disorienting her before he followed up with a kick under the chin that snapped her jaw shut.

As Jackie touched the ground, however, he saw that these attacks were more annoying than they were painful. It was like her strength had increased tenfold! And with the strain this maxed-out form put on his body, he only had one shot left. She had to be put down before she hurt anyone else. As Jackie cupped his hands to his side, however, he heard Yamcha’s cry over the screams of the crowd.

“Her tail!” Yamcha screamed at him, “Her tail! You don’t have to kill her! Just cut off the tail!” Jackie blinked. That didn’t make much sense to him but he didn’t have a lot of options. Jackie watched Goku raise a foot to crush him and saw his opening.

“Kame…” Jackie dropped down and rolled under the stomp, “Hame…” He popped to his feet and stood directly beneath Goku’s tail and thrust up his hands, “Ha!” The brilliant beam of light lanced high into the night sky and vaporized Goku’s tail into ash. There was a soft “Pop!” and Goku hit the ground at her normal size again.

“What an astounding turn of events!” Ken declared as the audience returned to their seats with the giant monster gone, “Truly, we have never witnessed anything like this in the history of the Tenkaichi Budoukai! What strength! What skill! What courage! What drama!” Jackie glowered at him as his muscles deflated.

“Shouldn’t you be counting?!” Jackie asked in agitation. She had to have been out for ten seconds by now!

“O-oh, right!” Ken admitted bashfully but before he got to seven, Goku was back on her feet. Jackie rolled his eyes. Useless dang ring announcer.

“Wh-what happened? Did I lose?” she asked in a daze before she looked over her shoulder. “Not again!” she cried in dismay at her missing tail. It had just grown back!

“I’ll tell you what happened later, Goku!” Bulma shouted from the sidelines, “The fight isn’t over, kick his butt!” Goku nodded with a determined look on her face as she got back into her fighting stance and the crowd was reduced to peals of laughter.

“G-Goku, here!” Krillin shouted as he threw his shirt and pants at her without looking. Now Goku was really confused. What happened to her clothes? Krillin’s face was bright red and he couldn’t open his eyes until Yamcha poked him on the shoulder.

“You can look now, slugger,” Yamcha told him teasingly. Krillin frowned at that but looked back at the fight. Jackie was gasping for breath after the fight with the giant monkey and his maxed-out form’s exertion but Goku wasn’t faring much better between the lightning attack and losing her tail. Whatever was going to happen, it was going to end right here.

“You can’t beat this!” Jackie declared as he leaped at her with a flying kick. He only hoped she’d take the bait.

“Watch me!” Goku retorted as she copied his motion exactly. They sailed through the air before their feet crashed into each other’s chins. Both fighters dropped to the ground like birds that been shot out of the sky.

“Nine… t-ten!” Ken counted off as neither fighter stirred. This was amazing! There hadn’t been a draw in the history of the Tenkaichi Budoukai! “P-please wait while the officials consult the rules!” They gathered around an enormous old book and deliberated amongst themselves before whispering instructions to Ken. “According to the rules, the winner of the tournament is the first person to get to their feet and say ‘I am the Champion!’” That was… oddly specific. Eventually, Goku moved. It was slow and painful. Her whole body was sore. All she wanted to do was take a nap! But that would have to wait. First, she had to win.

“I…” she said slowly. It hurt even to talk but she had to press forward, “I am…” she threw back her head and screamed with all her might, “I am the champio-” but her strength failed her and Goku collapsed onto her face. Defeated by a single syllable. Then it was Jackie’s turn. He looked down at his student with pride as she tried to push herself up even though she had no strength left to move a single muscle.

“I…” Jackie said before he took a deep breath and broke into a grin. He had to put on a show despite the pain. “I am the champion!” he crowed victoriously. He threw his fists into the air as the crowd cheered, “I am the champion! I am the champion!” Then he collapsed onto his backside in exhaustion. “I’m sorry I doubted you,” he told Goku with a smile, “You’ve done your master proud today.” She smiled back at him even if she couldn’t really move. Jackie- no, Roshi, knew that she would surpass him. Without a doubt. But for today, he was the champion.

Chapter Text

To the surprise of the fans in attendance, Jackie Chun did not stick around for an interview. Instead, he took his cheque and ran. Jackie had a perfectly good reason for this, though: He had to pull off his wig and put his suit and shades back on. When he found Goku and the gang, she was still recovering and needed to lean on Krillin a little bit for support. Krillin let her lean against Yamcha’s leg while he ran to put on his suit.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t win,” Goku told Roshi bashfully. He smiled and patted her affectionately on the head like Grandpa used to do. That made her feel a little better.

“Don’t feel bad,” Roshi told her. “And this goes for the both of you,” he added when Krillin returned. “You gave your absolute best. I couldn’t ask for better students.” He gave a playful shrug, “So you lost. Nobody cheated. You weren’t sick. They were just better today. So you’ve gotta be better next time!” He gave them each a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder, “And as a reward for your hard work, I’m treating you to dinner!” He looked up at Yamcha, Bulma, Puar and Launch. “All of you, I suppose…” he added somewhat awkwardly. Not that he had any reason to worry. How much could they eat?

“And your total,” said the bewildered cashier, “comes to… to four hundred seventy thousand zeni.” Roshi’s jaw dropped in dismay. Stacks of empty dishes as tall as Yamcha covered the table and practically obscured Goku from view.

“But… but that’s almost all my prize money!” Roshi blurted out. He’d been planning on getting a big fancy TV or cable or something to spice up his life. A hovercar so he could leave the island once in awhile. Something. Not anymore. He sighed and handed over the cheque as Bulma leaned over his shoulder with a smirk.

“Prize money from what, I wonder?” she asked suspiciously. She cocked her eyebrow and added a “Hmmm?” Roshi pulled nervously at his collar under Bulma’s scrutinizing gaze.

“Oh, well, y’know…” he muttered before he swallowed. “Gambling. Horse races. Things you think an old man like me does.” Bulma squinted at him before shrugging and backing away. While they’d been talking, Goku had already run off and got her Dragon Radar and Power Pole.

“Where are you going?” Krillin asked her in confusion. “We’ve gotta go back to training!” Goku smiled and shook her head.

“Nah,” Goku told him in her quickly-becoming-signature bluntness, “It’s been more than a year. I’m gonna go find my Grandpa’s Four Star Ball! I’ll come back and train after I find it.” She turned her head up to the sky. “Nimbus!” The bright yellow cloud zipped down from the sky and Goku hopped onto it with a grin. “Bye everyone!” she said cheerfully and flew away as they all waved back awkwardly. After a few seconds of silence, Krillin spoke up.

“So, when is our flight to head back to the island?” he asked Roshi who peered over his sunglasses as he spoke.

“Who said anything about flying? You wanna get stronger by next year, you’re swimmin’ back!” Krillin’s eyes popped out of his head and he swallowed nervously.

“Wh-wh-what?!” he asked incredulously. The old man didn’t really mean that, did he? He yelped and ducked under a swipe from Roshi’s staff.

“You heard me! Into the water! Let’s go!” Krillin gave a cry of distress as Roshi chased after him while the others laughed.

“Hello,” Giran said as he adjusted his tie. He’d finally started wearing clothes. He was a person, not a monster. No reason not to be civilized. “And welcome to Giran’s Reform Club for Monsters.” He looked around the room at others like him. Wolfmen, foxmen, dinosaur people, and others of his own race that he’d brought out of the desert. “To start, we will go around the room and introduce ourselves and go over some of the problems we face.” He cleared his throat and fluttered his wings. “I am Giran. Because I am a dragon man, people think I will eat them.” ‘Thank you, Krillin,’ Giran thought, ‘Thank you for making me confront my problems.’

Although Namu had brought plenty of water for his village, he knew this was only a temporary solution. He had embarked on a several-day journey to find out just what was blocking the river. The river was blocked up with rocks glued together with what appeared to be Giran’s strange gum. Apparently, this was some last cruel prank before Krillin… “knocked some sense into him” was the expression? Namu had struck the dam and pulled at the gum but the wall was immovable. He frowned at the dam. He did not come this far to fail his village now. Once again, he breathed his frustration in and out as he had at the world tournament. He dropped to a low stance and brought his hands to his side. He only hoped this would work.

“Kame… hame…” Namu thrust his palms out but the last word was not a powerful cry or a burst of train. Rather, it was a simple declaration. “Ha!”

Roshi was sitting by the shore of the island the house had been moved to for training on a beach chair and working his way through the stack of magazines that Krillin had presented him with when he heard a faint whirring noise from over his head. The sound grew louder and eventually Roshi looked up to see a bright yellow flying car hovering just over Kame House. A few moments later, he heard the hatch open up and saw Yamcha leap out of the car with a duffle bag over one shoulder. He flipped through the air and landed in a crouch on the sand before standing up straight as Puar floated down after him like an open umbrella.

“Call me when your dad fixes the gravity chamber!” he called over his shoulder with a grin. The car honked twice and flew away. Evidently, it was being driven by Bulma. Yamcha turned to Muten Roshi and grinned before bowing. “Hello, Turtle Hermit,” he said as respectfully as he could manage being, well, Yamcha, “I’m here for training.” Roshi nodded and tossed away the magazine. He got up off the chair and poked Yamcha with his staff a few times.

“All right,” he said as he started to turn towards the house. “Lemme get your turtle shell.” Yamcha grinned and waved a hand dismissively.

“Nah,” he said cockily, “I don’t need any of that. I was training while carrying up to three times my own body weight! Let’s skip that part.” Roshi peered skeptically over his glasses at the arrogant young man.

“Oh, have you?” he asked suspiciously before entering the house. He came back out a minute later with a suitcase. He popped it open and inside was what appeared to be just another regular purple shell. Yamcha started to lift it out of the case and was shocked by how heavy it was. With a grunt of exertion, he slung it over onto his back. It was like the gravity chamber all over again!

“How did you even find turtle shells this heavy?” Yamcha asked incredulously. Roshi gave a shrug and smirked.

“Sister’s a witch,” he said casually before swinging his staff at Yamcha who barely dodged it. “Now start runnin’! I want fifty laps around this whole dang island!” Yamcha barely had time to bow in acknowledgment before Roshi swung again. “That means move!” Yamcha yelped as Roshi chased him around the island.

Elsewhere on the island, Krillin was sparring with Blonde Launch. Since returning from the tournament, Krillin found that training by himself wasn’t as fun as when he’d been sparring with Goku. Remembering how Blonde Launch often complained about not learning the Turtle School way herself, Krillin suggested that Launch could learn a little bit and spar with him to help him along in his training. Roshi had been against the idea at first but Launch eventually convinced him. With bullets.

Krillin pushed Launch back with a rapid-fire series of kicks from the air. Although Launch was a fast learner, Krillin still had over a year of training to her week. He sent her sprawling with a downward punch and landed on his feet with his hands cupped to his side.

‘This time it has to work!’ He thought to himself. “Ka… me… ha… me…” he could feel it building in his hands this time! “Ha!” He thrust out his palms and there was a flash of blue light that… flickered and faded away. “Hameha!” he insisted, however there was still no light. “Ha!” This time Launch kneed him in the face while he was distracted.

“I dunno why you keep doin’ that when it doesn’t work,” she told him brusquely before kicking him up into the air while he was still dazed and swinging a wild haymaker at his head. Krillin dodged and landed on his feet to press the attack again. He’d get it right. He had to. Goku was stronger than him to begin with and he had to catch up!

Private Vermillion grumbled and groused as he and Private Chartreuse searched through the desert scrublands with grimaces as they groused to each other.

“This is ridiculous,” Vermillion muttered as he hacked apart a bushel of cacti to look for the object. “How are we supposed to find something so small just blindly looking like this?” Chartreuse shrugged as he broke apart a pile of rocks with a pickaxe to see if the object was somehow underneath them.

“Hell if I know,” he said as he chipped away. “Do we even know what these things look like?” Then a voice spoke that made the blood in their veins run cold despite the desert sun.

“They are small, orange spheres about the size of a person’s fist with anywhere between one and seven red stars upon it,” said a man in a tone of cold authority. He wore a red neckerchief and a dark blue longcoat. His brown boots dug into the ground as he walked closer towards them. “And that is all you need to know.” There was a flash of light every time he spoke. It was the sunlight glinting off his literal silver tongue. No one quite knew where he’d gotten it but they all found it extremely unnerving. He pushed aside the left half of his coat to show the two privates his sidearm. “And the longer you two decide to spend talking rather than working, the more expendable you become. Is that clear?” They nodded nervously and frantically before he turned away. “I have to report to the Commander and make a cup of coffee. Do either of you want anything?” Chartreuse opened his mouth to speak and Colonel Silver drew his gun and shot between the man’s feet in the blink of an eye. “That was rhetorical. I don’t actually care. Work!” They broke out into a sweat and then went back to work at a terrified pace as Silver stepped into his tent.

A few seconds later, a little girl in an orange gi dropped out of the sky and landed right in front of them.

“Yes, Commander Red,” General Silver agreed into a microphone before blowing steam off the top of his coffee. The general’s rantings reverberated into the headpiece he had over one ear and it was all he could do not to roll his eyes. “Yes, Commander. I will work my squad doubly hard. Though perhaps if we had a more specific location than ‘somewhere’-” he winced as the Commander shrieked into his ear. “I’m sorry sir. I meant no insubordination, I was only-” he heard sounds of struggle outside and was thankful for the break in conversation. “I am sorry, Commander, but I have to go!” He flicked a switch and cut Commander Red off before running outside, coffee in one hand. “What the hell is all this-” he was dumbstruck by what he saw when he got outside, “... racket?” His men were incapacitated and there were huge chunks missing from the land. Vermillion pointed into the sky with a trembling finger.

“D-Dragon Ball!” he wheezed, “Sh-she has the Dragon Ball!” Silver looked up into the sky to see a yellow cloud almost directly above him a few hundred feet in the air. He reached for his pistol and then thought better of it, instead opening his capsule that held a bazooka. He took aim and fired, the yellow cloud bursting apart. When he saw the small orange speck falling out of the sky, he expected to see the girl’s corpse hit the ground and then to pluck the Dragon Ball from her dead body. What he hadn’t expected was for the girl to still be alive and to punch him in the face as she came down.

“You killed my cloud!” she shouted angrily as she landed on her feet in front of him. She had a staff strapped to her back and some sort of weird… watch… thing in her hand.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Silver asked incredulously with his voice muffled by his hands over his nose. Instead of giving him an answer, she kicked him so hard in the chest that he doubled over in pain and was gasping for breath.

“Big jerk!” she muttered before going into his tent. When she came back, she was holding a capsule in her hand. “So I’m taking one of your plane capsules!” She threw it on the ground and a plane appeared in the smoke with one of their pilot robots in the front seat. She climbed in the back seat as the robot spun its head around to speak to her.

“Hello!” It said in a chipper voice. “Where would you like to go?” The girl held out her watch-thingy to it. “Allow me to plug that into my console!” It took the watch-thingy in one claw and inserted into the main console. In a fit of desperate rage, Colonel Silver emptied his clip into the side of the girl’s head. But that didn’t hurt her. Nothing happened! “Please put on your seatbelt!” The robot chirped before they flew away. Silver groaned and crawled back to his tent. The Commander needed to know about this.

Chapter Text

Far to the north, where the land is constantly covered in snow, a red-headed young girl stood stock still in the middle of a snowstorm. Her eyes were closed in concentration as she held her stance and focused on the area around her. She had to focus past the freezing cold, past the roar of the blizzard that reduced visibility to near zero, and past the nigh-constant ache caused by her harsh training. She had to free her mind just as her master had instructed and put all of her focus into her surroundings.

She heard- or maybe felt- something behind and to her right. The instant she registered the presence, she went into motion. She leaned forward slightly and was pleased to feel the kick that was aimed at her head do nothing more than slightly tug at the hood of her parka. She smoothly transitioned from that to a leg sweep aimed at where the kick came from but scowled when she didn’t feel it connect.

Aware of the next attack, the girl quickly stood up and turned to the side, letting the knifehand strike aimed at her head pass harmlessly in front of her face. The strike quickly turned into another knifehand strike aimed at her neck but a quick step to her right and a quarter-turn to her left made it so the fingertips only ghosted across the skin of her throat.

Sensing an opening, the girl went on the offensive with a palm strike aimed at the solar plexus. When the attack was sidestepped, she turned it into a backfist aimed at a floating rib but that, too, was dodged. She then quickly shifted her weight to her left leg and twisted to the right at the waist in order to dodge the palm strike aimed at the bridge of her nose. While the arm was still fully extended, she launched a spear hand strike aimed at the pressure point in the crook of the elbow. She came close to hitting but the arm moved out of the way at the last second. Before she could pull her own arm back, she felt the upper arm of her jacket be grabbed as was yanked forward. A palm strike to her jaw turned her around, a knee to her stomach folded her in half, and a hammerfist strike to the back of her head knocked her out and into the snow.

A few seconds later, she groaned and gingerly rose to her feet. The blizzard had stopped almost as abruptly as it began so she looked around until she found her opponent.

“Very good, Suno,” her master said as she rubbed the back of her head. “You lasted much longer than last time.” Her master was old- easily the oldest person in the village- but he was just as fit as he had always been. The only thing that had stopped the Red Ribbon Army from conscripting him was the fact that he was missing an arm.

“Not long enough,” Suno said bitterly, wincing when her fingers brushed over particularly sore spot.

“Patience, child. The Odori style takes many years to master and you’ve already exceeded my expectations. Now come, that is enough for today. Let us return to my house and eat.”

Suno politely shook her head, “I can’t right now, Master. I need to take care of something first.” Her master nodded, already knowing what she needed to do, and took his leave.

Once she was alone, Suno sighed deeply before heading out. Her master was right. She was much stronger now than she was five months ago but it wasn’t enough. As it was, there was no way she take on the Red Ribbon Army and free her village. She wasn’t even sure if was strong enough to save herself if it came down to it. She hated feeling helpless but the only thing she could do was take advantage of her youth and push herself as hard as she could. She had to save her beloved village and do one other thing.

A bit to the south of the village, Suno finally reached her destination. Before her was a cross planted firmly in the ground, a simple necklace hanging on it. Suno slowly approached it and knelt before it. “Hey dad. It’s me again,” she began, her voice laced with both fondness and sorrow. “I just finished training with Master Frost. He says I’m doing better than he expected.”

It had been over a year since the Red Ribbon Army arrived in Jingle Village for reasons unknown. Whatever the reason, they quickly took over the village and slowly started “drafting” the men into their army. The people had tried to resist at first but the Army wasn’t something some small village could fight. Anyone who tried to lead a rebellion was quickly turned into an example and publicly executed. Her father had been one of the first.

Shortly thereafter, going against the wishes of her mother, Suno sought the aid of Frost who was known as a master of a style of martial artes native to that region. It had taken her nearly a week of constant pestering but he eventually caved and promised to teach her but only after she swore to not do anything reckless. That had been a very easy promise for her to make. No matter what, no matter how badly she wanted to save her village and avenge her father, she couldn’t allow herself to die to the Red Ribbon Army.

Suno’s training had started out very simple- learning the basic forms, the philosophy, improving her balance and flexibility, etcetera- but everything changed about six months ago. Something called a Dragon Ball has apparently appeared nearby and the Red Ribbon Army wanted it more than anything else. They forced every able man in the village to contribute to the search and even held the village chief hostage. It was then that Suno finally took her training seriously and poured all of her effort into it.

For nearly an hour, Suno talked to her father’s grave, only stopping when her ears started to burn. She was about to go home when something in the sky caught her attention. It looked like a plane of some sort. It was heading in her general direction but there wasn’t a landing strip anywhere in her village. There might have been one at Muscle Tower but that was quite a ways away. As she watched it, she noticed it started to wobble before quickly plummeting. Without a second thought, she took off towards where the plane crashed and hoped that she could make it in time to save whoever was in there.

Suno tightened the hood of her parka as she carried the literally frozen girl back to her house. The snow had picked up again by the time she reached the crash site where she had found a strange girl with spiky hair and weird orange clothing. The plane bore the insignia of the Red Ribbon Army but Suno barely even registered it as she picked her up and started heading back to her house as fast as she could.

By the time Suno got home, she was almost frozen as well. Between her training, talking to her father, and rescuing the girl; her fingers didn’t want to work right and her parka was barely doing her any good. If her master hadn’t insisted that she train when the weather was harsh, she doubted that she would have made it back. As it was, it took a solid minute of fumbling with her key before she managed to get the door open.

“Suno! There are you are! Where have you been?! I’ve been worried si-” Suno’s mother started as soon she got in the door but stopped when she saw the girl she was carrying. Her mother was instantly upon them as she picked up the strange girl and helped Suno with the buttons and straps of her parka.

In the matter of minutes, both of them were huddling near the fire and covered with several layers of blankets. Suno stared into the fire and took sips from the mug of hot cocoa cradled in her hands as she listened to the light snoring of the strange girl in the chair next to her.

“Who is she?” Suno’s mother asked as she sat down nearby.

“I don’t know. I saw her plane crash when I was talking to dad. She was already frozen when I got to her.”

“Was there anyone else there?”

Suno shook her head, “Just some robot that I think was piloting it.”

“That poor darling. Her parents must be worried sick. I wonder where she came from.”

Almost as if on cue, the strange girl started moaning before slowly sitting up, rubbing at her eyes. “Where am I?” she asked groggily.

Suno’s mom was instantly on her feet, “Oh, good, you’re awake! You’re in Jingle Village, dear.”

“Jingle Village?” she looked really confused for a moment before her face cleared up. “Oh! Now I remember! That robot died! I hope the Dragon Radar’s okay. Bulma will be really mad if I broke it.”

Suno and her mom exchanged a look before her mom spoke up, “So, dearie, what’s your name?”

The strange girl beamed at the and hopped off the chair, “I’m Son Goku! Who are you two?”

“I’m Yuki and this is my daughter, Suno. Do you know where your parents are, Goku?”

“I don’t have any! Well, I had my Grandpa Gohan but he died a while ago.”

“So you’re all on your own? You poor dear. Wh-”

Goku interrupted her with an annoyed look, “Stop calling me that. My name’s Goku, not dear.”

“R-right. Well, Goku, what are you doing here?”

Goku smiled again, “I’m looking for my grandpa’s Dragon Ball!”

Every muscle in Suno’s body tensed as her mother’s smile became forced, “T-the Dragon Balls? Are you with the Red Ribbon Army then?”

“Who? Oh! You mean those jerks on TV? No way! I’m just looking for my grandpa’s Four Star Ball. He gave it to me before he died.”

The atmosphere in the room slowly relaxed but Suno remained ready to move at any moment. “Oh,” Yuki said. “Well, I’m sorry, Goku, but I don’t think you’ll be able to find the Dragon Ball here. The Red Ribbon Army is all over the place. Even if you managed to find it before they did, you wouldn’t be able to leave with it.”

Oddly enough, Goku looked excited, “Huh? The Red Ribbon Army’s here? Great! Now I can beat them up!”

Suno and Yuki’s jaws dropped as they stared incredulously at Goku. Yuki eventually composed herself enough to speak, “Uh, G-Goku, I don’t think you can do that….”

Goku got an oddly annoyed look on her face, “Yes I can! I trained under Master Roshi and took second place in the Tenkaichi Budoukai!”

It was Suno’s turn to speak up, “Wait, you trained under the Turtle Hermit?” Now that she got a good look at her, Goku’s shirt did have a character that read “Turtle”....

“Yep! That’s where I got this gi from!”

“Well, even if that’s true,” Yuki began, “I really don’t think you can take on an entire army. They’ve got guns and tanks and everything!”

Goku looked annoyed again, “Why do people keep saying I can’t do things? I can too beat them! Their guns don’t hurt me anyway.”

Suno and Yuki exchanged another look. Just what planet did this girl come from anyway? “Well, be that as it may, why don’t you at least stay here for the night? Between the blizzard and the cold, there’s no way you’ll be able to do anything.”

“Well… okay! Do you have anything to eat? I’m starving!”

Later that evening, after they finished dinner, Goku and Suno were once again sitting in front of the fireplace. “So… Goku… Did you really train with Muten Roshi?” While Suno didn’t know a whole lot about martial artes outside of her own style, even she knew of the Invincible Old Master and her own master had talked about the Turtle Hermit’s legends often.

“Uh huh! I just left him not too long ago! Once I get my grandpa’s Dragon Ball, I plan to go back and train with him some more for the next Budoukai!”

“Can… can you really defeat the Red Ribbon Army?”

“Of course I can! I don’t know what they want the Dragon Balls for but if they’re hurting people then I need to stop them!”

Suno was silent for a moment, “Do- do you think I can go with you? I’ve been training really hard under my own master and I really want to save my village! If you really were trained by the Turtle Hermit then this may be my only chance!” She kept her voice down so that her mother wouldn’t overhear. She never even really approved of her learning martial artes in the first place.

Goku smiled and swayed from side to side, “Sure! I could always use another friend!” She then made a face and grabbed her stomach, “Hey, where’s your bathroom?”

“Oh, uh, over there.”

“Thanks!” As Goku rushed off, Suno sunk into her chair. This whole thing sounded stupid. Was she really going to risk her life on some girl claiming to be the student of the Turtle Hermit? And then there was what she said about guns not hurting her. That was just beyond stupid but she couldn’t help but want to believe her. If Goku was telling the truth then the village was going to be saved with or without her. It would be much safer to just stay home and let Goku go alone but….

Suno’s musings were cut off when the door was busted open. “Alright, everyone out here!” a dog-man wearing a Red Ribbon Army uniform shouted. Yuki quickly came out of the kitchen while Suno sprung to her feet but both froze when he and his human partner pointed their guns at them. “A little girl with spiky hair and wearing orange clothing was seen being taken into the village! She is considered hostile and an enemy of the Red Ribbon Army! Anyone harboring her will be considered an enemy and a conspirator!” Suno nervously looked past the dog-man and saw a group of ten or fifteen other Red Ribbon Army soldiers alongside a tank. How dangerous could Goku possibly be?

The Red Ribbon Army men herded Suno and her mother out of their house with guns to their backs. Suno saw that they had taken everyone in the village out of their homes. Everyone looked nervous and afraid. Had she made a mistake in bringing Goku here?

“Alright,” the dog-man said as he swept his gun back and forth over the crowd. “This is your only chance. If you cough up the location of the girl now, whoever speaks will be rewarded. If not? I’m gonna start counting to ten and every time I reach ten, someone will die until I get an answer.” Suno’s eyes widened. She had to tell them where Goku was.

Before Suno could even open her mouth, the dog-man turned his head in the direction of her house. His ears bobbed and twitched as he listened to something. He frowned and narrowed his eyes as he squeezed his machine gun in gloved fists.

“Someone go check that out!” Two soldiers broke off from the main group and walked towards her house and through the open door. Suno swallowed when, of all things, she heard a toilet flush which was followed by the deafening sound of machine gun fire. As the last echoes of the gunshots swept over the snowy plains, Suno knew, with utter certainty, that Goku was dead. “Now then,” the dog man began to say but he was cut off by an almighty “Crack!” as one of the soldiers was sent flying out of Suno’s house while being followed swiftly by Suno’s bathroom door. Seconds later, the second soldier followed out as if he’d been shot out of a cannon, digging a deep trench in the snow with his body when he landed. In the stunned silence that followed, Goku walked out of Suno’s house. There were holes in her shirt but she was otherwise undamaged. She was, however, very, very angry.

“Hey!” she shouted to the dog-man as she marched over to the rest of the Red Ribbon soldiers. “You’re those Red Ribbon Army jerks I’ve seen on TV, right?” The soldiers all nodded dumbly in unison. “What the heck are you doing with these people?” The dog man sneered as he pointed his gun at her.

“These people were being questioned about harboring an enemy of the Red Ribbon Army!” he snapped. Goku took a fighting stance as the soldiers formed a circle around her.

“Oh yeah?” she asked. “And who’s that?” The dog man blinked and cocked his head to the side.

“Y… you,” he said awkwardly but, before he could say another word, she was right in front of him with her fist in his chest. He let out an agonized gasp as the air was forced out of his lungs and collapsed into the snow. Suno hadn’t even seen Goku move. The soldiers raised their weapons to fire at her but she sent down a kiai wave into the snow which sent up white powder in all directions to distract them.

Then she was everywhere at once.

An elbow to the small of the back, a kick to the side of the head, a sharp jab to the sternum. Before the snow had even finished falling, the soldiers were dropping like flies into unconscious heaps on the ground. Suno was so distracted by this impossible display of speed and power that she barely noticed the tank turning its gun to face Goku.

“Goku! Watch out!” she shouted. Even if the other girl was bulletproof, she’d still be killed by a tank shell! No one was that tough! Goku spun around just as the tank fired at her and leaped into the air to meet the shell head-on. Suno was sure that she was about to watch someone die when Goku threw out a high kick that sent the shell hurtling end over end and high into the air where it exploded harmlessly. Goku landed in front of the tank and cupped her hands to her side.

“Kamehameha!” The white beam of light smashed through the tank effortlessly and caused a tremendous explosion. The tank burst apart into fire and shrapnel that created a crater that was quickly filled by the melted snow from the heat of Goku’s Kamehameha. She turned to Suno and her mother and grinned. “Toldja I could do it!” she said cheerfully.

Goku and Suno sat together in Suno’s room on the side of her bed. After Goku’s amazing display, the villagers were torn between shock, adoration, and fear. This was only worsened when Goku boldly declared that she was doing to defeat the Red Ribbon Army. It had seemed like such an impossible task before but now, after seeing Goku’s strength, Suno and the villagers started feeling something they hadn’t in a long time: Hope.

“So we’re going to this Muscle Tower place tomorrow, right?” Goku asked as she kicked her legs back and forth.

“Yeah. That’s where General White and the village chief are. If we defeat General White and free the chief, we can probably get rid of the rest of the soldiers on our own.”

“Alright! We’ll do that! Say, you said you’ve been training, right? What kind of martial arte do you use?”

“Um… I practice the Odori style of martial artes. My master said that it’s been passed down this village for generations.”

Goku went all starry-eyed, “Oooooh, cool! Do you think you can show me‽”

Suno looked around her room. It was a little cramped- far too small to fully demonstrate the kata- but it should be large enough for the basics. “Alright.”

Suno hopped off her bed and closed her eyes. She had never actually practiced her martial artes technique in front of anyone other than her master before so she was a little embarrassed but she pushed that from her mind. She pushed out her worries, her fears, her embarrassment, everything and focused solely on her surroundings. She could sense Goku’s presence next to her and it took all of her willpower to not break her concentration. Master Frost’s presence was like a wood fire whenever she sensed and the few times she had practiced in her room, her mother’s was like the flame of a candle but Goku’s was different. Goku’s was like a bonfire that was just shy of a raging inferno. She didn’t understand what caused the difference but she started to understand just how powerful Goku was.

For the next couple of minutes, Suno silently went through her basic kata. She couldn’t get too fancy and it left out several of the intricacies of her style but it was a good demonstration of the basics. All throughout, she was dimly aware of Goku’s focus on her. It was like a physical weight had been placed on her shoulders and it made keeping her focus even harder but she managed. After she finished with what flourish she could manage, she slowly released a breath and open her eyes.

“That was so cool!” Goku said, clapping her hands. “I saw a lot of fighting styles at the Budoukai but I’ve never seen anything like that before! It was like you were dancing!”

Suno blushed slightly, not used to such praise, “Well, ‘Odori’ does mean ‘dance.’ I won’t slow you down when we attack Muscle Tower, will I?”

“Nah! You’ll do great! Those guys will be too busy watching you move to do anything!”

Suno smiled happily before glancing at the clock, “Well, we should go to bed. We’ll need to get up early if we want to do this.”

Earlier that afternoon, at the Red Ribbon Army headquarters, Commander Red nodded and puffed on his cigar as Colonel Silver gave his frantic, exasperated report. Something about a little girl with super strength that stole a Dragon Ball and one of their planes. He sighed as he rubbed his forehead, his cybernetic eye flittering in the socket as it scanned around the room.

“Thank you for your service, Colonel Silver,” Commander Red said calmly. “You’ve done well.” On the other end of the line, Silver’s blood ran cold. Those were the words no Red Ribbon soldier ever wanted to hear. It activated a trigger in the red badge on his jacket, causing it to flash bright red and grow searing hot, burning into his skin and down into his heart. Commander Red smirked to himself as he heard the other man’s dying shrieks and hung up the phone. “Officer Black?” he inquired as he turned his chair to look at the large, dark-skinned gentleman by his side, his most trusted advisor and right-hand man. “Who is our most decorated Lieutenant Colonel?” Officer Black picked up the rolodex off of Commander Red’s desk and flipped through it.

“That would be Lieutenant Colonel Fuschia, sir,” he said in a measured tone that bordered on monotone. Commander Red nodded and grabbed at the lapels of his suit, posturing and trying to look authoritative.

“Then notify Fuschia that he’s been promoted.”

“She, sir,” Officer Black corrected.

Commander Red blinked. “Oh, really?” he shrugged. “I was trying not to be presumptuous. Anyway, yes, notify her. And send a message to General White to keep an eye out for this little girl. She can’t be that difficult, right? Ten, fifteen soldiers. A tank. That’ll get her out of our hair.” Officer Black nodded and left to do his duties. “Secretary Periwinkle!” Commander Red barked into a microphone as he pushed a button on his desk. Maybe her name was Denise when he’d hired her? “Bring me a coffee. Decaf. You know what Doctor Cadmium is always saying about my heart rate.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair as his robotic eye darted erratically around the room, accounting for every mote of dust in the air and every speck of dirt on the ground. He hoped Gero would get around to fine-tuning this eye so that it wasn’t so… focused. “Super girl…” he muttered to himself, stroking his mustache. Maybe this was one of those aliens the scientist had told him about before he’d decided to form the Red Ribbon Army.

Chapter Text

Goku and Suno ran through a snowy field at full speed. It had been about an hour since they left Jingle Village and now Muscle Tower was within their sights. Today was going to be the day, Suno thought. Today they were going to liberate her village and it would be their first step towards defeating the Red Ribbon Army.

“Stay behind me!” Goku yelled as they got closer to the tower. She drew her staff from the sheath on her back as the soldiers and turrets took aim. A storm of bullets were sent flying their way but they didn’t slow down as Goku began twirling her staff at supernatural speeds, deflecting all of the bullets that would have hit them.

Once there was a break in the gunfire, Goku pulled her staff to her side and shouted, “Power Pole extended!” Much to Suno’s astonishment, Goku’s staff grew in size, easily becoming five times it original length. With a mighty yell, Goku swung her staff and took out all of the soldiers standing guard at the entrance. Even Suno had to slow her pace slightly so as not to be hit by the backswing. “Power Pole retract!”

Goku quickly hopped to the side, Suno not even half a step behind, as the ground in front of her exploded in cannon fire. “Extend!” The Power Pole shot forward and caught one of the tanks below the barrel. With another shout, Goku raised her staff and flipped the tank into the side of the tower. The other tank fired off another round and it was Suno’s time to act.

What she was about to do should certainly count as suicidal. She was nowhere near as strong as Goku and the only way this could end was with her getting blown up. However, Suno couldn’t be sure that Goku would be able to react in time given her preoccupation and she wasn’t sure if the strange girl would be able to survive a direct hit from a cannon.

Against all logic, Suno lept forward and kicked the cannon shell out of the way. Much to her surprise, this actually worked and her foot only tingled a bit. As she landed, Goku jumped in front of her and blocked the incoming gunfire from the turrets before pressing on.

As they neared the tower, Suno wrapped her arms around Goku’s waist at her command before Goku used her staff to pole vault onto one of the tower’s higher levels. No longer being attacked, they took this time to catch their breath. They had been there for only a few seconds when they heard a voice over the speakers.

“I see you, little lambs,” a deep, male voice said. “You’ve made quite the little mess, haven’t you? Assaulting my men, stealing from my comrades,” the booming voice laughed, carried across the snowy fields as Suno and Goku glared up the tower. “You have made a mistake, little lambs. For now, you have walked to the den of the wolf and are all prepared to climb into his jaws!” He laughed again and Goku balled her fists. She hated being laughed at. “So what is it that is so worth dying for, eh?”

“We’re here to get back the village chief, you jerk!” Suno shouted, surprised by her own boldness. The man laughed again.

“Ah, so it is the chief you want? That’s fine. Come right in, come and get him!” He put on a mocking, melodramatic voice, “He hasn’t eaten in a few days! He’s sick and weak! He needs your help!” Then he laughed again, almost hysterical, “All you have to do is climb the stairs up here to the top of the tower and he’s all yours. Surely such brave little lambs can climb some stairs, nyet?” He laughed again as the heavy metal doors slowly creaked open.

As soon as the doors opened, Suno and Goku sprang into action. The guards inside rose to their feet as quickly as they could but they may as well have been moving in slow motion for the good it did them. In a flash, Goku kicked one into a wall, dug her fist into one’s stomach, and launched a third into the ceiling as Suno got to work. The first guard she targeted started to draw his gun but was far too slow. She nailed him in his solar plexus with a palm strike before sending a rising palm strike to the underside of his jaw and a roundhouse kick to his temple to put him out.

Immediately upon landing, Suno launched herself forward and bounded off the guard’s stomach as another one fired at where she had be. She flip in the air and sent the heel of her foot crashing into the top of his head. Once on the ground, she sent a palm strike at the bridge of his nose, breaking it, then a spear hand strike at his throat, taking him out.

“Great job, Suno!” Goku said now that the area was clear.

Suno blushed as she caught her breath, “Not really. You’re much better than I am.”

Goku put her arms behind her head and smiled at her, “Don’t worry about it! You’ll get better! Man, it’s really hot in here. Let’s get out of these things.” Agreeing with her, Suno and Goku quickly stripped out of their heavy clothing, leaving just their lighter wear on. With nothing left to do here, they headed to the stairs and quickly made their way up.

Murasaki sat in calm meditation on his level of Muscle Tower. His legs crossed and his hands upon his knees, he was the picture of serenity. Or at least he was trying to be. Being the picture of serenity was so boring. He was thankful for the radio crackle from the speakers overhead, hidden behind trees in the lush forest environment on his level of the Tower. He turned his head in the direction of one of the hidden cameras as General White spoke.

“Sergeant Indigo, are you in position?” the General asked. Murasaki groaned and rolled his eyes. He hated the ludicrous title that Commander Red had slapped on him the day he’d joined the Red Ribbon Army. Why did everyone need a rank and color?

“I am ready, but my name is-” he began to say before General White cut him off in a weary voice.

“I know, I know, comrade. But these are the rules. Do you think I enjoy them? I have not been called my birth name of Alexiev in three years. Such is protocol, eh?” There was a sigh and the sound of shuffling papers. “If the children should make it past Metallic, that will mean you have to deal with them. Can you and your brothers handle that, comrade?” Murasaki laughed aloud at the question.

“The Murasaki brothers can kill some small children. Even if they get past the mad doctor’s ridiculous creation,” he squeezed his fist around the grip of his katana. “It will be easy.” General White laughed over the speakers.

“Very good, comrade! And when they are dead, we shall drink to celebrate our victory!” Murasaki laughed with him and gave a thumbs-up to the camera.

“You are a good friend, Alexiev. Not a good man but a good friend. Sergeant Indigo signing out!”

General White nodded to himself as he switched over the monitor to follow the children’s progress and sipped at his cocoa. There was nothing to fear.

Goku and Suno reached the top of the stairs to find a large room almost completely devoid of features. The only thing of note in it was the very large chair in the center and the equally large man sitting in it. As he slowly got up, Suno couldn’t help but think that there was something very strange about him. She couldn’t quite figure out what it was, though, so she put it out of her mind when he spoke up.

“I am Sergeant Metallic. You will not be able to continue until you defeat me,” he said in strangely unaccented voice. Goku and Suno took a few steps towards him and slid into their guard stances.

“So you wanna fight? Okay!” Goku said as Metallic drew back his fist. When it came crashing down towards them, Suno dove out of the way while Goku seemed to disappear as she jumped to the ceiling. Before Suno could even return to her guard position, Goku had bounded off of it and slammed her fist into the back of his head causing Metallic to crash into the floor.

Suno stayed rooted in place, too stunned to move, as Goku walked over to her with a big grin on her face. “Well, that was easy!” she said before starting to the next set of stairs. “Come on, let’s go!” Before Goku could take get too far, though, Sergeant Metallic moved. He slowly put his giant hands against the floor and pushed himself back up to stand on his feet. Suno’s eyes went wide and her mouth dropped open as Metallic stalked towards them. She’d seen Goku flip a tank. What was this guy made of? Goku, by contrast, just smiled all the more at the prospect of a tough opponent. “Okay!” she said as she charged at Metallic. “Here I go!” She leaped into the air to throw a flying kick at Sergeant Metallic. However, in a burst of surprising swiftness, the Sergeant’s massive hand gripped around Goku’s leg. Without any emotion or aggression, Metallic methodically swung Goku into the wall hard enough to crack it. The impact jostled the Power Pole off of Goku’s back as Metallic swung her again, Goku too dazed from the impact to react yet.

Suno took that moment to act and dove for the Power Pole while Metallic’s attention was still on Goku. If Goku’s attacks weren’t harming Metallic then she doubted that her own would. Left with only one option, she just hoped that the staff would work for her voice as well as Goku’s.

“Power Pole extend!” Suno shouted after putting enough space between them. She swung the extending staff as hard as she could and slammed the far end onto Metallic’s wrist. This broke the enormous man’s grip and let Goku tumble away. Suno brought the pole down and swung the staff at Metallic’s knee, staggering him. Metallic stomped emotionlessly towards Suno and his mouth opened an impossibly wide distance and inside his mouth, Suno could see… a rocket?! Suno swung wildly with the Power Pole as the rocket flew at her to smack it away and explode against the wall. What the heck was that?! Goku peppered Metallic’s torso with fast and powerful punches that left visible dents in the Sergeant’s chest. That didn’t seem right. As Goku landed again, Sergeant Metallic pointed his fist at them.

“Rocket Punch,” he declared in a disturbing monotone. Suno wondered what the heck that meant when the man’s fist shot off of his body and flew at them! Goku threw out a kick out to meet the fist which exploded on impact. Goku shook out her foot when she landed with her eyes wide as she stared at the stump of the Sergeant’s arm.

“Wow!” she declared with excitement as Metallic didn’t even seem nonplussed that he was now short a hand. “This guy’s cool!”

“He’s not just cool,” Suno added as she saw the visible amounts of circuitry and moving mechanical parts in the Sergeant’s forearm, “He’s a robot!” She’d never imagined that the Red Ribbon Army had the capabilities to build a completely human-looking android. If it weren’t trying to kill them, it would be amazing! “I think I’ll just let you handle this one, Goku,” she muttered and stepped to the side. She considered herself to be a pretty good martial artist but this was a robot and she was only human. Goku nodded and dodged one of Metallic’s fast punches. She landed on his arm and ran up it to kick him in the head so hard his head spun around to face the wall. Goku flipped backwards and landed on her feet in front of Metallic.

“Kamehameha!” The beam of blue-white light blasted the automaton’s head off and blew a hole in the wall behind him. The robot fell backwards with a creaking sound and crashed like a felled tree. There was a bit of an awkward silence after his defeat. “Huh,” Goku said with her hands on her hips. “Did I kill him?” Not that the idea really bothered her. She’d killed a couple people already. But they were all jerks. He seemed like a jerk, too. Before Suno could answer, Metallic started to move again and got back to his feet. “Can I have that back?” Goku asked Suno, referring to the Power Pole. Suno nodded wordlessly and handed it to her. “Power Pole extend!” Goku cried and kicked off the ground as she gripped the staff. It launched Goku through the robot’s chest with the pole stabbing into the wall behind him to pin the robot on its feet. Goku walked back over to Suno’s side and looked up at the robot. “Is it dead?” After a few seconds, that question was answered when the headless, armless, hole-in-his-chest body of Sergeant Metallic gripped the staff in his one good arm and tossed it away.

“Oh, come on!” Suno cried in exasperation as the android stomped towards them. Goku put herself between Suno and Metallic and glared at the robot. He drew back an arm to bring down a punch at them… but came to a screeching halt. They both stared at him for a moment and waited for him to move again. But he didn’t. Just to be sure, Goku jumped up and ripped off Sergeant Metallic’s arm. Then she threw a cross-armed chop to break off both of Metallic’s legs from the knees down.

“I think we’ve beaten him,” Goku said and Suno nodded before they headed up the stairs. What neither of them could have possibly known was that Sergeant Metallic’s batteries, which had not been changed since last spring, had burned out.

“Wh… what?” General White asked incredulously having watched all of this from his monitors. His hands were trembling as they squeezed his mug of cocoa. How could that have happened? How was that possible? How could one little girl be that strong?!

-- From the notes of Dr. Archimedes Gero

“While Sergeant Metallic (I will never understand Cyril’s fascination with ranks and colors) is so far my most successful automaton in terms of a human likeness and lethal capabilities, his power cells are currently less than acceptable. They require a charge or replacement every nine months. I must look into more efficient power sources.

Perhaps my son Adrian’s ideas of a perpetual motion engine are worth investigating. Granted, his thoughts on the subject were more towards clean energy and saving the Earth or such nonsense but… builing robots to fight the Aliens is certainly protecting the Earth, isn’t it?”

Goku and Suno reached the fourth floor to find something completely different. Unlike the normal second floor or the mostly barren third floor, the fourth was covered from wall to wall by a lush forest. The atmosphere was surprisingly serene and the temperature reminded Suno of when she visited her aunt in the south.

“Wow! This place is really pretty!” Goku said as they walked further in.

“It sure is. I wonder who the guardian of this floor is.”

“That would be me, little girl,” a voice coming from the treeline said. Suno and Goku were instantly on their guard as a handful of shuriken were thrown at them. Given the forewarning, they had no trouble dodging them despite the speed and accuracy at which they were thrown. “Hmm… Very good. I can now see how you made it this far. How about thi-” Whatever the guardian was going to say was cut off when Goku decided that she had enough of this and chucked a rock at where he was hiding. What they heard instead was a yelp of pain and a resounding thud as the guardian fell out of the trees and hit the ground.

Now visible, the two could see that this floor’s guardian was some old-looking guy clad in purple ninja garb. Given the aura she felt from him and his current performance, Suno couldn’t help but wonder how these people managed to terrorize them for half a year.

“Ah, you are more clever than I expected,” the ninja said as he got up, rubbing his forehead. “However, that won’t be enough! Now I, Murasaki, Guardian of the Fourth Floor, shall-”

“Ah, ah, ah. You know the rules, comrade,” a voice said over the intercom. Goku and Suno recognized it as the same voice they heard outside.

“But that name is ridiculous!” Murasaki shouted to the sky.

“Yes, but rules are rules.”

Murasaki muttered something under his breath before saying, “Fine. Now I, Sergeant Indigo, Guardian of the Fourth Floor, shall-”

He was interrupted again by Goku speaking up, “Hey, are you going to fight us or what?”

Indigo’s shoulders drooped in defeat, “Yes, I am going to fight you.”

Goku smiled, “Great! Hey, Suno, since I fought the last guy, why don’t you fight him?”

Suno looked between Goku and Indigo. He didn’t seem all that threatening and it would be a shame if she relied on Goku to handle everything. “Alright,” Suno said as she took a few steps forward before sliding into her basic guard stance.

Indigo smiled maliciously at Goku, “So you are just going to sit back and watch your little friend die?”

Goku was nonplussed, “Nah, she can kick your butt.”

Indigo fumed at this while Suno had to suppress a giggle, “Fine then! Her death shall be on your head!” He drew the ninjatou from his back and flashed forward with three lightning-speed attacks each guaranteed to kill her.

He was fast, Suno had to admit, but nowhere near fast enough.

She dodged the first strike- a rising, diagonal slash meant to cleave off part of her skull- with just the slightest movement; the sword not even disturbing her hair as it narrowly missed its target. The second strike- a horizontal slash aimed at her neck- was likewise dodged with only the minimum required movement; the tip of the blade ghosting across the skin of her throat as she leaned backwards. The final strike- a vertical, two-handed slash meant to split her skull- was never even launched as Suno took the opening presented to launch her counteroffensive. A quick palm strike to his diaphragm to force the air out of his lungs. A sweeping kick to his shin to force him down onto one knee lest he topple over. Simultaneous knifehand strikes to the inside of his elbows to both force his arms apart and to force him to let go of his sword. Lastly, the sword fell and the pommel hit him in the head precisely where Goku’s rock had.

Suno disengaged, taking a few steps back, as Indigo doubled over in pain. A bit behind her, Goku was equally doubled over in laughter. “You little brat!” Indigo said as he struggled to his feet. “Do not get cocky! You have yet to see my power as a master of the-” Whatever he was going to say was interrupted when Suno hit him in the forehead with a rock she had palmed when he was getting up.

“You talk a lot for a ninja,” was all Suno had to say while Indigo cursed and rubbed at his forehead.

“Fine then!” Indigo shouted as he threw several smoke bombs around the area. “Let us see how well you do when you cannot see where I am!” Suno could certainly no longer see where he was and he wasn’t making any noise. She might have actually been in serious trouble if she hadn’t extensively trained in similar conditions. She quickly closed her eyes, cleared her mind, and pushed her consciousness outwards. In an instant, she could feel not only Goku’s presence but Indigo’s as well.

Suno sidestepped the sword swung at her before jamming her elbow into Indigo’s stomach. He coughed and staggered backwards but was gone before she could follow up. He moved away from her and made a throwing motion so she quickly rolled to the side to avoid the shuriken thrown at her head. She felt him start to head to the treeline- probably trying to hide since the smoke was likely clearing by now- but she intercepted him and nailed him in the small of his back with a palm strike. He spun around with a backhand but Suno was too slow in reacting to it so it clipped her jaw and spun her around. With her concentration broken, Suno blindly rolled forward and managed to avoid the follow up sword strike through pure luck.

“You stupid brat!” Indigo spat as Suno returned to her guard stance. “I cannot believe I am being forced to use this technique so soon!” He put his fingers to his mouth and whistled loudly. “Ninpou!” He threw out more smoke bombs, once again completely obscuring Suno’s vision. “Bunshin no Jutsu!”

When the smoke cleared, Suno took a few steps back in surprise as she saw not one but five Indigos. They were currently grouped up but were slowly starting to spread out. They all had swords and weapon pouches but the most worrying thing was that one of them had a gun. “Self-Replication Technique?” she said as she slowly shifted her position and calculated her odds. “So you made four clones?”

“You certainly are a smart one but do not get too cocky. Each one of us is just as real as the others,” one of the Indigos said.

“Hey! Five-against-one isn’t fair! Want me to help out, Suno?” Goku asked from the sidelines.

Suno licked her lips. This would definitely be tough. She had never actually fought more than one person at a time so all she had was theory. However, she couldn’t back down now. She couldn’t take the easy way out and rely on Goku. This was her village in danger and she had to save it. That being said, to completely reject help when offered would be the height of foolishness. “No thanks, Goku. I think I’ve got this. Will you lend me your Power Pole, though?”

“Sure! Good luck, Suno!” Suno was surprised that she managed to not only have that entire exchange but also catch the Power Pole without any interference. It seems that Indigo was extending her a courtesy that she hadn’t extended to him. What did it say about you when the villain was more honorable? She put such thoughts out of her mind when the Indigos attacked.

Suno’s primary objective was obvious: She had to incapacitate or otherwise disarm the Indigo that was carrying a gun. While Goku could dodge and deflect bullets, she wasn’t going to try to find out if she could do the same. The one with the gun was currently the one furthest away from her so it’d take some work to get to him while simultaneously making herself as little of a target as possible. Calling to mind one of her master’s advanced lessons, Suno began her most intricate Dance.

Suno took two steps forward and a half step to the left and slightly back. She brought up Goku’s staff to sweep aside the first Indigo’s sword as it came down at her. One step forward, quarter-turn left, one step back; she avoided two more sword swings from the second and third Indigos and blocked a dart fired by the fourth Indigo with Goku’s staff. Crouched step forward-right, quarter-turn left, stand up; she avoided a swing aimed at her head made by the first Indigo and tripped him with a leg sweep before catching the third Indigo under the chin with a rising strike from the Power Pole. Two steps back, half-turn right, one step left; she avoided being shot by putting the fourth Indigo between her and the fifth before striking the third across the jaw with the Power Pole and sidestepping a strike from the fourth. One step forward-right, quarter-turn right, one step right. She dodged an attack from the second Indigo and parried an attack from the fourth before striking the second in the gut with the Power Pole. One step back, one step left, bend backwards, straighten out. She dodged two more frantic swipes from the fourth Indigo before bending backwards at the waist to dodge a third and striking him on top of the head as she straightened out. One step forward-left, one step forward-right, spin clockwise. She weaved left and right to remain out of the sights of the panicking fifth Indigo before shouting “Power Pole extend!” and executing a spinning strike aimed at the side of his head. Bow.

Murasaki stood there with his mouth hanging open and his eyes bulging wide as he muttered wordlessly in shock. His brothers. She’d knocked out all of his little brothers. How? When? What was going on?!

“Y’know,” Suno said as she idly poked one of his brothers with the Power Pole to make sure he was out. “Usually, when a copy like this gets taken out, they disappear. These are real people, aren’t they?” She looked back up at Murasaki. “You’re not a very good ninja, you know that?” Murasaki’s face turned a deep shade of reddish-purple and he screamed as his whole body shook with rage. She had injured his body, assaulted his family, but this. This was too much. To mock his skill, to assault his pride, was unthinkable. Unforgivable. He reached into a hidden pocket in his shirt and produced a remote control with a single button.

“You have mocked Mura…” he stopped and sighed, “You have mocked Sergeant Indigo for the last time, children! Now you shall see the strength of the Red Ribbon Army! Now you shall see our brilliance! Now you shall gaze into the mouth of Death and-” Goku hit him in the head with another rock. In the exact same spot as the other two times he’d been hit with a rock! “Y’know what?” he muttered wearily. “Fuck it.” Suno and Goku reflexively gasped at the swear and he pushed the single button on the remote. Somewhere within the room, there was a hiss of compressed air as a wall split apart. Sergeant Indigo threw his head back and laughed as something enormous stomped towards them. The ground shook under their feet and trees parted as it got closer.

Goku’s mouth grew wide as she put herself between Suno and whatever was coming. An enormous hand reached out from the trees and shoved them aside. Indigo was still laughing when the thing walked into the clearing. It was an enormous… man! He was dressed in all black with stitches across his forehead and cheek. He was almost as big as Sergeant Metallic!

“Whoa,” Suno whispered as she looked up at him. He looked like the monster from that old book she’d read once. ‘I guess whoever built him wasn’t feeling very original that day,’ she thought since he had to be a robot like the Sergeant.

“Hello,” the creature said in a deep, almost melancholic voice as Indigo wiped a tear from his face. “I am designated Android Eight.” That answered that question, then. Definitely a robot.

“Nice to meet you!” Goku said with a big grin. Suno had to fight the urge to groan. Sergeant Indigo grinned wickedly and rubbed his hands together.

“You won’t think it’s such a nice meeting in a second!” he said deviously before pointing at them. “Android Eight! Kill them!” Suno and Goku got into their guard stances and frowned up at the robot. There was a long paused that bordered on awkward. Then the android spoke.

“Why?” he asked. Sergeant Indigo blinked and stared at the android. Clearly, he hadn’t expected this.

“B… Because I told you to!” he said while still pointing at Goku and Suno. They were almost as confused as he was.

“But they are children,” Android Eight said and gestured to them. “It would be wrong to kill children.” Indigo pulled at his face in frustration and groaned.

“You are a killing machine!” he explained to Android Eight with an edge in his voice. “In the most literal sense of the term! You were built to kill. Now do as I command!”

“But I do not want to,” Android Eight said stubbornly. Indigo shrieked with anger and pulled out his hair.

“I don’t care what you want!” he screamed. “You’re a robot! Your wants don’t matter! Now kill them! Kill them, kill them, kill-” he fell silent when Android Eight raised one of his massive hands and slammed it onto the top of his head, knocking him out.

“I am sorry you had to see such violence,” Android Eight said as he turned to Suno and Goku. “But he was becoming quite annoying.” Goku shrugged as she and Suno dropped out of her guard.

“That’s okay,” Suno told the android. “So, are we going to fight?” The android shook his head.

“I do not want to,” he told her.

Suno nodded. “Then we don’t have to fight,” she said. ‘What a weird conversation to be having,’ she thought.

“You said your name was Android Eight, right?” Goku asked and Eight nodded. “How about I call you Eighter?” The enormous robot smiled.

“I would like that,” Eighter said and Goku smiled.

“Let’s go!” Goku said as she ran up the stairs, Suno following after her and Android Eight stomping behind. Now she had another new friend!

Deep in a hidden mountain lab….

Archimedes Gero hemmed and hawed as he went over his diagrams and schematics for his previous eight androids, as well as the unnumbered automatons he’d built for the Red Ribbon Army, including their pilot droids and Sergeant Metallic. He stroked at his luxurious orange mustache as he thought. There might be something hidden in these older designs that he had overlooked that would hasten in Android Nine’s completion. He knew what they had all been lacking, of course. Not nearly enough chainsaws. But Android Nine would have chainsaws. Hidden chainsaws in the hands, chainsaws coming out of the back, chainsaws in the knees and elbows and mouth, rocket chainsaws. Chainsaws enough to tear all of Earth’s enemies to shreds! Chainsaws: The ultimate weapons!

But when he came upon the schematics for Android Eight, more specifically, Android Eight’s artificial intelligence, he saw a handful of notes that drew his attention. Notes that filled him with an immeasurable rage. Notes that were not in his own handwriting.

“Fraaaaappeeeeeeee!” he bellowed into the catacombs of his secret lab. The other scientist came scurrying out of the shadows like the miserable rat that he was. He wore huge spectacles, had an absurdly large head of gray hair, and his mustache was pitifully thin.

“Yes, Archimedes?” asked Daedelus Frappe as he wiped a speck of dust from his spectacles with a hand towel he had produced from his yellow jacket’s breast pocket. Gero growled and stood up from his workbench and leaned forward to tower over Frappe as he stalked towards him. While an older man and nowhere near as tall as his enormous late son Adrian, Archimedes Gero was still an imposing figure. Especially so to a coward like Daedelus.

“Why,” he demanded, “In the seven circles of hell, did you give Android Eight subroutines for compassion, logic, and restraint?!” Daedelus shrank away from his colleague’s fury, stepping back as the other man stepped forward.

“I thought it would make his artificial intelligence more complex!” he offered nervously. “M-more fleshed out! Weren’t you complaining about how basic and rudimentary Sergeant Metallic’s intelligence was just the other day?” Gero grabbed a wrench in his fist and squeezed it until his knuckles turned white.

“I am building war machines, you simpering boob!” he roared as he hurtled the wrench at the other scientist’s head. Frappe ducked with the wrench barely missing his skull and bouncing off his hair. He scurried away again with a ridiculous “whooping” noise of fear. Gero sat back down at his bench and groaned wearily, rubbing at his temples. If it weren’t for the man’s inexplicable brilliance with biomechanics, he would be dead already. Once Gero had learned everything he could from Frappe, then he would be expendable. Then Gero could finally take the first steps towards building his ultimate creation. His perfect creation.

Chapter Text

The strange trio made their way up the stairs to the fifth floor of Muscle Tower. Two girls, one of whom possessed superhuman strength, and an enormous killer robot who didn’t like violence. There was a question Suno had to ask, though. It was digging in the back of her mind and making her nervous. She had to know even if she might not like the answer.

“So… Eighter?” she asked as she turned her head to look at the android. He was so tall that she didn’t even have to look down despite the fact that he was lower down on the stairs than her.

“Yes?” He asked.

“I was wondering…” she swallowed and hoped that her question didn’t offend the giant robot. “So, you were built by the Red Ribbon Army, right?”

“This is correct,” Eighter said with a nod. Suno nodded in response and chewed her bottom lip for a moment.

“Does that mean you agree with what they’re doing?” she asked while trying to hide the nervous edge in her voice. After a moment, Eighter shook his head.

“No,” he said and Suno fought the urge to sigh with relief. “I have heard what the Red Ribbon Army is doing and it is wrong. I do not like them.”

“Treacherous machine!” barked the voice from before. Goku rolled her eyes when she heard him. This was getting really annoying. Why wouldn’t he just come out and fight? “You will pay for turning your back on the Red Ribbon Army! Sergeant Indigo! Activate his bomb and destroy them all!” Suno, Goku, and Eighter froze in panic. Nothing happened. “...Sergeant Indigo! Murasaki!”

General White groaned from his room on the sixth floor, covering the microphone with his hand to mask his mutterings of frustration as he looked back at the monitor of the fourth floor. All of the Murasaki brothers were unconscious. This was ludicrous. Five people who could answer his call and all of them were out cold. “Never mind!” he said as he turned his attention back to the microphone. “You will never reach me!” He switched off the microphone and began looking through his desk for the second detonator. God, he had so much junk. Why did he even have this many paperclips?

The trio shrugged and continued their way up the stairs. They came to the fifth floor or rather a wall beside the staircase where the fifth floor was supposed to be. Goku ran up to the wall and pressed her ear to it as she tapped her fist against the wall. She frowned when she didn’t hear anything behind it.

“Hey, Eighter!” she called. “What’s behind this wall?” Android Eight shrugged.

“I do not know,” he said. “This area has always been blocked off.” Suno cleared her throat as Goku continued to listen and tap.

“If it’s blocked… why don’t we just go to the sixth floor?” she asked while pointing upwards towards the next floor. They did have a job to do, after all.

“Oh, right!” Goku said as she hopped way from the wall and took the lead again. Suno just smiled and shook her head as they continued their ascent.

“Goku,” Eighter began, “Are you here to rescue the village chief?” Goku nodded.

“Yeah,” she said enthusiastically. “Me and Suno are gonna get him back and kick the Red Ribbon Army out of town!” Eighter smiled.

“I am glad to hear that,” he said. They came to the end of the staircase and reached the sixth floor. Once again the voice greeted them.

“Well done, lambs and traitor!” said General White in a tone of mock congratulation as he continued to root around in his desk. The damn controller had to be somewhere. “You have made your ascent to the sixth and final floor!” Goku pushed the door open as he talked. Suno was getting anxious. They were so close to saving the chief! She almost couldn’t believe it. As Goku opened the door, they saw… a wall. “All you have to do is get through my maze!” General White said before laughing hysterically.

“What’s a maze?” Goku asked and scratched her head. Suno let out an exasperated sigh. They had been so close!

“A maze is like a big room full of hallways,” she said. “At least one path leads to the exit but a lot of them lead to nowhere. And General White probably has some kind of controller in his room that lets him change the walls around so that we’ll never get there!” She closed her eyes and tried to think. She needed a piece of chalk or something, a way to mark which hallways they’d already been down so that, if they had to backtrack, they wouldn’t get lost. But if General White could control the walls anyway… it was so hard to think with his stupid laughing!

“Hey,” Goku said, breaking what little concentration she had. “Wouldn’t the door just be on the other side of the room?” Suno sighed.

“Yes, Goku,” she said in an aggravated tone. What kind of question was that? “But unless we can get through the maze-”

“Just follow after me,” Goku said as she walked towards the wall. Suno blinked and stared at her. Before she could even ask what Goku meant, Goku put her head down and smashed through the wall. Suno and Eighter ran after her as she smashed through wall after wall, occasionally passing pockets of very confused Red Ribbon soldiers. Goku charge forward until she hit a heavy steel door and only stopped because her head made a loud “Thunk!” when it hit. Goku rubbed at her head in pain as she looked up at the door. “Ooow,” she muttered. “That door’s really hard!”

Suno grinned as she and Eighter caught up with Goku, “Well, I guess that’s one way to get through the maze.” She kept forgetting just how strong Goku was. Made getting around certain things a lot easier than they’d normally be.

“Very good, little lambs!” said General White, although now they could hear him faintly through the door. He sounded a little nervous. “You have made it this far! But I tell you what! Girl in Orange, you will give me six star ball and your Dragon Ball… locator… thing. And I will release the chief!”

“No way!” Goku said sternly. The Dragon Radar was a present from Bulma! Why would she give it up to this jerk?

“We’re less than a foot from the door!” Suno pointed out. What was General White’s plan? Was he going crazy?

“Very well!” General White replied. “But you have no one to blame for your fates but yourselves!” There was a sudden creak of metal as the three looked down to realize that they were standing on top of a trap door. As soon as they registered this, the floor fell out from under them and they all fell into the blackness below. Eighter landed on his back first then Goku landed on him and Suno fell on her. Suno got up quickly, thankful that the darkness hid her blushing.

“It’s really warm in here!” Goku said and wiped off a tiny bead of sweat from her forehead. It was even warmer than the fourth floor had been.

“What now?” she demanded as she and Goku slid off of Eighter’s stomach. “Which one of your stupid henchmen are we going to fight now?” She could definitely hear someone breathing.

“Do not be so eager to run to your deaths,” General White warned them. “For now you must face the unstoppable might of the Guardian of the Fifth Floor, my Buyon!”

“Bouillon?” Suno muttered in confusion. “Like the broth?” Then the lights came on and blinded them all for a moment. Suno rubbed at her eyes and blinked to make them adjust to the light. “No,” she said in a voice trembling with terror at what she saw. “Definitely not broth.”

Buyon was an enormous, pot-bellied pink creature. Its mouth hung open to show drooling, sharp yellow teeth and a big, green tongue. It had sharp claws on his hands and feet and a powerful tail that thudded against the ground. Its antennae wobbled in the air as it let out an unearthly screech. Without a second’s hesitation, Goku charged with a flying kick, whizzing past Suno and Eighter to plant her foot right in the creature’s stomach. Surprisingly, Buyon didn’t react with pain or shock. It just laughed as Goku realized that her foot was stuck in its fat belly. Like some kind of slapstick cartoon, no sooner did Goku notice this then she went flying back out again, hitting the wall with the same force she’d thrown the kick.

“What the heck?” Goku muttered as she stood up and rubbed the back of her head. Buyon just laughed again. “Come on, Suno!” she yelled as she charged again. “We just gotta hit it harder!” Suno nodded and ran after Goku, driving a spinning kick into Buyon’s head while Goku hammered away at its pot belly with lightning-fast punches. However, just like with Goku’s kick, they were both sent flying. Before they could recover, electricity crackled between Buyon’s antennae and zapped the both of them. The two girls screamed in pain as they were left completely immobilized. Buyon opened its mouth wide and its slimy green tongue shot out at the two of them like a snake.

Until an enormous foot stomped that tongue into the floor and Buyon shrieked with pain. Eighter stood between them and Buyon as the pink monstrosity flailed and tried to pull its tongue out from under his foot.

“Eighter?” Suno said as feeling returned to her limbs. “I thought you didn’t want to fight.” Eighter moved his foot off Buyon’s tongue and it slunk back into its horrible maw. Eighter turned back to look at them with an almost forlorn expression.

“I do not,” he said. “But I will if I have to.” He dropped into a low stance, strangely similar to a sumo’s. “Murasaki was right. I was designed to kill.” His eyes scanned Buyon as it bared its fangs at him and let out a gurgling growl. “Threat identified,” Eighter said in a cold and calculating tone, “Parameters recognized. Objective,” though neither Goku nor Suno could see it with his back to them, Eighter’s eyes flashed red. “Kill.”

Eighter let out a deep roar and charged at Buyon who let out a warbling shriek in response and met his charge. They slammed into each other like a freight train colliding with a mountain of gelatin. He gripped Buyon’s sides and slammed it into the ground but the creature’s elastic qualities allowed it to bounce him right off. He landed on his feet and charged again as the creature got up. Eighter leaped over a swing of Buyon’s tail and then brought an elbow down on its head. This time Buyon stumbled backwards but it still took no visible damage. He doggedly went to throw another punch but its jaws snapped out in a flash and closed around his fist. The android took his other fist and bashed it against the side of the monster’s head over and over, grabbing and pulling at its antennae until it shrieked and released him, freeing Eighter’s hand to reach into Buyon’s mouth and rip out its vile green tongue.

Suno watched the bizarre battle with almost horrified fascination. It was like a fight right out of a monster movie! But she noticed that, even though Eighter’s blows were moving Buyon, they still weren’t hurting it. Suno tried to think of a way to get out of this problem but it was just too hot to think. As Suno wiped sweat off of her forehead, it hit her. The room was so warm. And everything kept bouncing off of Buyon like… like rubber.

“Goku!” Suno shouted to the other girl,then had to repeat herself because she was watching the fight with excited, starry-eyed attention. “Goku!” She blinked and shook her head to look at Suno.

“Yeah?” she asked. She was a little annoyed that Suno broke her concentration. This was such a cool fight! But Eighter did look like he needed their help.

“You need to let in the cold air!” Suno said, pointing at the wall behind Goku. “Smash down that wall!” She nodded and jumped at the wall, kicking it hard and punching a huge hole in it. A gust of icy wind flew into the room as the heat was sucked out. The second the cold air hit Buyon, the monster came to a sudden stop, freezing solid and turning a dark shade of blue. Seeing his opening, Eighter laced his fingers together and swung with a double hammerfist strike, shattering the chilled beast on impact. The bits and pieces tinkered to the ground like broken glass as the android looked back at them.

“Objective,” he said, his voice softening and his posture relaxing, “Complete.” He looked sadly at the girls and bowed his head. “I am sorry you had to see that.”

“Are you kidding?” Goku said with a great big smile, jumping up and down. “That was amazing!” Eighter gave a tiny smile as Suno nodded.

“You were really incredible, Eighter,” she told the android. “I’m not sure we could have beaten Buyon on our own.” Eighter’s smile got a little wider and he turned his eyes back up to the trap door.

“I believe,” he said as he looked back to the two girls, “That we have an appointment with the General.” Goku nodded and turned to Suno.

“Jump on my back!” she told the other girl. Suno took a moment to blink before shrugging and climbing onto Goku’s back. Goku jumped up through the trapdoor easily and pointed her power pole back down into the hole when Suno climbed off. “Power Pole extend!” the pole flew right into Eighter’s hand. “And retract!” Eighter zoomed up out of the hole and stood beside the girls as they turned to face the steel door.

Before, General White had been nervous. Now he was panicking. This was impossible. It was like a compounding series of calamitous events, an avalanche, a tidal wave of bad tidings that were all about to come crashing down around his head. How could one girl be so strong? How could two girls have such skill? Why did a death robot have a conscience?!

Or rather, he had been panicking up until a few seconds ago. Because a few seconds ago, he finally found the detonator. Now he had nothing to worry about.

“Let them come,” the General muttered as his eyes swept over to side room where the village chief sat trapped in his cell. “We will all go to hell together!” Someone kicked down the door, maybe the little monster girl, maybe the robot. General White swivelled around in his chair with a manic look on his face. “Not one step closer!” he warned, shaking the detonator in a white-knuckled fist. “Give me the Radar and the Dragon Ball or I’ll push the button!” he laughed maniacally and leaned over in the desk. “The bomb in that traitor is strong enough to kill everyone here! You! Me! Your stupid village chief! I don’t care!” His wide eyes twitched and he stared at the girl in the orange clothes moving her lips. Some final prayer to her awful monster god?

“Power Pole extend,” Goku whispered. The pole shot out and smashed into the General’s hand. He dropped the remote and howled in pain, clutching his broken hand. Goku raised the staff and brought it down on the remote, shattering it and breaking the table in half. General White stared in wide-eyed pain and horror as the three of them advanced on him.

“Just give up!” Suno told him. “All of your soldiers and guardians have been taken out! Just let the chief go and crawl back to your master!” General White pushed away in his wheeled chair, gritting his teeth despite his pain.

“St-stay back!” he warned though his voice lacked any real conviction behind it. He finally found himself with his back to the wall and dropped his head in defeat. “All right, all right!” He stood up from the chair and walked to one side of the room. “You win. Here is your chief.” He walked to a door and slowly opened it. It was all Suno could do not to balk. Were… were they keeping the village chief in a closet?! It looked like a cell, of course, but it was small enough to be a closet. Was this how little they thought of her town? The chief did look as tired as General White had told them when they first arrived. Worn out and weak, like he hadn’t eaten or slept properly in days. The poor man. He took a few hobbling steps out of his cell but, in a manic flash of movement, General White wrapped the forearm of his broken hand around the chief’s neck. “Not so fast!” he told them as he laughed again. He reached back with his good hand and pulled out a pistol. Goku wondered how the heck that was supposed to threaten her… until he pointed it at the village chief’s head. “Let’s try this again! Give me what I want! Take one more step or use your magic sticks and I’ll blow this worthless old bastard’s head right the hell off!”

“That’s not fair!” Goku said angrily. Bullets couldn’t hurt her or Eighter and Suno could probably dodge them. The old man wasn’t a fighter! “Just how much of a fraidy-cat are you?” she asked General White with her fists balled in impotent rage.

“Please,” pleaded Eighter. “Just let the village chief go! There is no need to risk any more innocent lives!”

The village chief cleared his throat suddenly to speak. “If I may. Don’t worry about me! Just take care of this jerk and save my village!” Suno gasped in surprise and brought her hands to her mouth.

“Ch-chief!” she said, moved by the old man’s selflessness. She nodded and dropped into a fighting stance. General White’s arm tightened around his throat.

“O-Of course,” he added, “If you could save me, that would be greatly appreciated!” It took all of Suno’s strength to keep from face-planting. General White pointed the gun at Goku while still holding the chief’s throat in his grip.

“Now, you!” he said, holding the gun in a shaking hand. “First, you are going to put down your staff! Then, roll the Dragon Ball over here, nice and easy!” Reluctantly Goku set down the Power Pole. However, as she reached into her shirt to hand over the six star Dragon Ball, General White’s nerves finally seemed to snap. He fired and shot her right in the face. Suno had expected a great big nothing to happen but it must have been some kind of high-powered handgun because Goku flew into the wall and hit it with a thud before sliding down to the floor in a heap. Eighter was too stunned to move. Suno wasn’t.

They’d killed her father, terrorized her home, and now this. How much more were they going to take from her? How much were they going to take from everyone else? How many more innocent people did they have to kill to achieve their goals?

Suno suddenly saw every detail of the room with absolute clarity as rage boiled her blood. Her mouth opened slowly and she let out a blood-curdling, hate-filled shriek as she charged at General White. The General fired in a blind panic but, to Suno, everything was moving in slow motion. Dodging the bullets was easy. She deftly side-stepped the shots as they blew chunks out of the floor where her feet had been less than a second beforehand. She leaped high into the air and drove her foot into the General’s face, freeing the old man from his grasp. As soon as she touched the ground, she put all of her strength into a palm strike aimed at his kidney, the force of the blow causing it to rupture. She saw him try to take a blind swing at her but she caught his arm and twisted it around before driving the heel of her hand into his elbow, breaking it. A strike to his solar plexus was delivered with enough force to slightly lift him in the air before making him sink to his knees. A strike to his sternum fractured it and blasted him into the wall. He was at her mercy.

Suno’s hands were a blur that would seem like quicksilver to almost anyone as she systematically delivered every killing strike she could think of. The force of her blows caused the wall to crack behind the General until one last strike to his heart caused it to break. Suno stood there, panting from exertion, and watched him fall straight to the bottom, screaming in terror and pain until he hit the ground.

Suno kept looking down to the ground to see if he would move. The cold from outside made her breath steam as she breathed heavily through her open mouth, her shoulders heaving. She’d beat him. But she was still angry. Goku was still dead. Her father, and several other villagers, were still dead. Was this what revenge felt like? Where you just felt hollow inside and the only thing left was the anger? Blood was pounding in Suno’s ears, drowning out any sound. Suddenly, Suno felt a hand on her shoulder and almost fell out of the tower in shock. The hand’s strong grip pulled her back in. It was too small to be Eighter’s hand but that would mean… Suno turned around and broke out into a huge grin.

“Goku!” she cried with shocked relief, grabbing the other girl in a hug. Goku hugged her back as Suno buried her face in Goku’s shoulder. “But I thought…” she said, her voice muffled. She pulled away to get a good look at Goku. Where General White had shot her there was a large, angry red welt but other than that she didn’t look all that bad. Goku grinned wide and laughed a little.

“I’m fine,” she assured her friend. “I was just dizzy from when he hit me.” Her grin got even wider. “I saw what you did to that jerk, though. That was amazing!” Suno blushed and smiled, thankful that Goku hadn’t really been hurt. “We should go back down and get our clothes.” Suno nodded and the four of them made their way down to the bottom floor with Eighter carrying the village chief.

“I want to thank you for saving me,” the old man said before looking up at Eighter. “All three of you.” The robot smiled appreciatively. They eventually reached the bottom of the tower, having weaved their way through the unconscious bodies of several Red Ribbon Soldiers, and Suno and Goku bundled back up. Eighter opened up his jacket and tucked the village chief inside to shield him from the elements as they headed outside.

“Oh, wait!” Goku said before turning around while they stood outside Muscle Tower.

“What is it?” Suno asked. “Did you forget something?” Goku shook her head.

“I’m gonna make sure this place is never used to hurt anyone again!” Before Suno could ask what that meant, Goku dropped her hands to her side and glared at the building. “Kaaa…. meee….” Suno’s eyes opened wide and she looked back at Eighter.

“Weeee better stand back!” she said hurriedly and the both of them hurried away to give Goku space.

“Haaa… meeee….” Goku threw out her hands as an enormous beam of blue-white light shot forth. “Haaaa!” It struck the base of Muscle Tower and blew a huge hole in it. Within seconds, the entire structure began to collapse, sending dust and snow up in all directions. Chunks of brick and mortar fell down as Muscle Tower crumbled down into rubble. Goku sighed and dropped her hands to her side. “Phew!” she said and ran her arm over her forehead. “I’m hungry!” They all laughed but the village chief’s laugh was something of a nervous, braying sound.

To say the villagers were exuberant would have been an understatement. The destruction of Muscle Tower had drawn the attention of everyone in the village and they were practically dancing in the streets by the time the group returned. The second Goku and Suno set foot in the village, they were all but swarmed by the villagers and showered with praise. To Suno, who was used to living in the background, the experience was entirely alien and simultaneously disconcerting and pleasant. To Goku, however, this was basically just another day. Even Android Eight was lauded as a hero after a hasty introduction and explanation. The villagers were still cautious around him, no doubt due to his frightening appearance, but his personality soon set them at ease.

While Goku and Eighter mingled, Suno quietly slipped from the crowd. There was one person who was absent that she had to see even though it might not be pleasant. One person to whom she owed a serious explanation and apology for just slipping away like that, leaving only a note and a promise. One person to whom she needed to explain what she planned on doing next.

Suno nervously approached her house. Facing her own mother was somehow more difficult than running off with a perfect stranger to face the Red Ribbon Army. It’s not like she felt guilty for what she had done but the manner in which she had done it certainly could have been more… tactful. All of the arguments she had given herself when she had made her decision now sounded pathetic as she stood in front of the door and imagined what lay in wait on the other side.

Shaking herself free of her thoughts for the time being, Suno slowly opened the door. “Mom?” she nervously called out. “I’m home.” She had expected to find the house dimly lit and eerily quiet and find her mom in a completely disheveled state staring blankly into the unlit fireplace. What she found instead was the exact opposite. The lights were on, most of the damage from the gunfire was repaired, and the house was filled with a rather pleasant aroma.

“I’m in the kitchen, dear!” her mom called out. Suno gulped and slowly made her way to the kitchen where she found her mom preparing some sort of meat-based stew.

“Mom?” Suno said, unsure of what was going on or how to react.

“Yes, dear?”

“Are you okay?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

Suno licked her lips as she thought of exactly what to say next. Nothing she could read from her mother’s aura suggested anger of any sort. It was as if she had just went to spend some time with one of the neighbors rather than run off to go on what should have been a suicide mission.

“Hey, mom, I’m- I’m sorry. For, you know, running off like that.” Yuki said nothing so Suno continued on. “I-I know you must have been really worried. I mean, you’ve never really wanted me to practice martial artes in the first place and only let me because you hoped it’d make me see that what I wanted to do was impossible. I just- I just had to do something and Goku was here and she was so strong. I knew that this- that this was my one chance to actually make a difference. I hated what the Red Ribbon Army did to our village, to our family, and I wanted to stop them. To get revenge for dad. All my life, I’ve alway just been here doing nothing and I just really wanted to do more. I just really wanted to be someone. I should have talked to you about what I was planning to do before I left but I knew we’d end up fighting and every second we took was another second the Red Ribbon Army lorded over us. I don’t regret what I did but… I’m sorry, mom.”

While Suno talked, Yuki removed the stew from the heat and wiped off her hands before turning around. “Are you alright?” was the only thing she said.

“Huh?”

“Are you hurt?”

“N-no, not really.”

“Good,” Yuki sunk to her knees and wrapped her arms around Suno. At first, Suno did nothing but she soon broke down crying and threw her arms around her mother. They stayed like that- Suno crying as her mother stroked her hair and whispered into her ear- for an unknown length of time. When Suno finally started to calm down, Yuki spoke. “You don’t have anything to apologize for,” she said as she continued to stroke her daughter’s hair. “You should have told me directly, yes, but I knew something like this would happen as soon as I saw Goku. You have too much of your father in you to just sit still and wait for things to get better. I’m just thankful that Goku was strong enough to make a difference.” They stayed silent for a moment. When Suno’s crying didn’t completely abate, Yuki took a shot in the dark. “You want to go with Goku, don’t you?” Suno slowly nodded. Yuki pulled back slightly and used the edge of her apron to dry her daughter’s tears. “If your father were still alive, I know he’d completely support you in this. I’d give him grief for it and we’d bicker for a while. He’d say that I’m just being overprotective and that you’re strong enough to handle this. I’d say that you’re just a child and I don’t want you running off so soon. We’d go back and forth before he’d eventually manage to worm past my arguments and I’d cave and let you go. Given how much you’re like your father, the exact same thing would happen if I said you couldn’t go. I think all of that arguing would spoil the mood, though, so I think I’ll just skip it and go straight to the ending.”

Suno looked at her mother in awe, “You mean-”

Yuki held up a finger, “But there are a few things I need to cover. First, I want you to promise to be as careful as you can be. Second, I want you to promise to come back if you ever feel like you’re in over your head. Third, I want you to promise to come back once you’ve done what you need to. Are we clear?” Suno noded. “Good. Lastly, there’s this,” Yuki reached behind her neck and undid the clasp on her necklace. It was a simple necklace, all things considered, but beautiful all the same. Its chain was made from silver and in the crystal shaped pendant sat a polished piece of topaz. “This necklace,” Yuki began as she started to put it on her daughter, “was given to me by your father as a wedding present. He said that the gem brought out the fire in my eyes whenever I was passionate about something. I want you to have it.”

Suno carefully lifted the pendant to look at it. She had long since been beyond words and this last act was more than she could handle. Once again, Suno found herself crying into her mother’s shoulder.

Dinner that night was surprisingly quiet. Many of the people in the town wanted to hold a great feast in Goku and Suno’s honor. To Suno’s surprise, however, Goku had turned it down.

“I was just doing the right thing,” Goku had told them. “If you want to throw a party for yourselves, just do it!” So it had just been the four of them. Well, three. Eighter didn’t eat but he liked their company. That had been a very strange introduction for her mother. However, like everyone else in town, she warmed up to him once she got to know the android a little better.

“You know what’s weird?” Suno asked while they were eating. Goku could only give an inquisitory grunt with four of Suno’s sweet rolls filling her cheeks. “We never saw the Dragon Ball,” she turned to Goku. “Isn’t that what you came here for?” That was when Eighter decided to speak up.

“You’ve had the Dragon Ball ever since you defeated Murasaki,” he told them, sitting in his comically small chair. Then he reached up put one hand on top of his head. They watched in bizarre fascination as he unscrewed the top of his head like a jar. Holding the top of his head in one hand, he reached inside his head with the other hand and pulled out the Dragon Ball. “I found it in the snow one day but I kept it hidden. I heard them saying that once they found the Dragon Ball, they were going to kill everyone in the village.” On that morbid thought, Goku plucked the Dragon Ball out of Eighter’s hand, rolling it around to get a look at the number of stars.

“Aw,” she muttered with palpable disappointment. “It’s the two-star.” She sighed and shrugged. “Guess I gotta keep looking.” She tilted her head back and yawned. Yuki smiled and stood up to gather the dishes.

“Well,” she said affectionately, “Before you go looking for anything else, I think you two brave warriors should get some rest.” Goku and Suno nodded, both suddenly exhausted as if all of the day’s excitement had finally caught up with them, and headed off to get ready for bed.

“Hey, Goku?” Suno whispered in the dark when they’d brushed their teeth, put on pajamas, and gone down to sleep.

“Yeah?”

“Mom says I can go with you.” Goku grinned widely and was clearly excited at that idea.

“That’s great!” she said eagerly. She yawned again but Suno had to say one more thing before they fell asleep.

“Goku?”

“Uh huh?”

“Thank you so much. For saving the village chief and the village. For everything.”

Goku smiled. “Don’t thank me yet!” she said, though it was more cheerful and excited than sarcastic as people would usually say that. “The adventure’s just getting started!” Then, like a switch had gone off, she was unconscious and snoring softly. Suno giggled a little before closing her eyes and dozing off herself.

The next morning was full of even more excitement as everyone gathered around in the village square to wish Suno and Goku safely off on their journey. Eighter had promised to look after the village while Suno was away in case any Red Ribbon forces returned to the area. However, there was one particular thing Suno had to ask Goku before they went in search of the next Dragon Ball.

“Goku,” she said as she adjusted the straps of the red knapsack on her shoulders. “How are we going to get to the Dragon Balls?” Goku shrugged and scratched almost bashfully at the back of her head.

“I guess we’ll have to walk!” she said simply. This time, Suno couldn’t stop herself from face-planting. “I just wish that Red Ribbon jerk hadn’t blown up my Nimbus Cloud,” she muttered and kicked at the snow. Suno stood up and brushed herself off.

“Hang on. You have a Nimbus Cloud?!”

Goku nodded sullenly. “I had one. That Red Ribbon guy killed it. That’s why I took his plane.” Suno just laughed.

“Goku,” she said as she shook her head, “Haven’t you heard the stories? You can’t kill a Nimbus Cloud! Try to summon it, go ahead!” Goku shrugged and looked up to the sky.

“Nimbus!” There was a moment of silence before the bright yellow cloud whooshed down from the sky. Goku got starry-eyed and her smile was big enough to split her head as she jumped up and hugged the cloud. The entire town gasped in astonishment at the sight of the Nimbus Cloud. Most of them, except for the elderly, had never actually seen one before in their lives. Goku laughed and hopped onto the cloud, patting a space behind her for Suno as she pulled out her Dragon Radar. Suno climbed up onto the Nimbus and squished on it with her hands. It was like sitting on a marshmallow. Goku grunted and shook the radar.

“What’s wrong?” Suno asked. Goku groaned.

“The Radar’s not working! It must have gotten busted one of those times I hit the wall.”

“Well, what about that Bulma girl?” Suno suggested. “You said she built it. I bet she could fix it!” Goku brightened up quickly.

“Oh, hey! You’re right!” Goku smiled and tucked the Dragon Radar again. It would be nice to see Bulma again.

“So… where does Bulma live?” Suno asked. Goku chewed her lip for a moment.

“....West,” she finally decided. Suno blinked.

“Like… West City?” she offered, desperately reaching for something tangible. Goku shrugged.

“Sure,” she said. “Which way is that?” Suno sighed and looked up at the sky. If the sun was that way then west would be…

“That way,” Suno said and pointed over Goku’s shoulder. Goku nodded and gripped Nimbus in both hands.

“Let’s go, Nimbus!” she shouted and Suno squealed with surprise as the cloud launched into the air, leaving her little world behind.

Chapter Text

General Blue listened idly to Commander Red’s rantings and ravings as he went through his normal morning ritual. Something about freakish little girls with superpowers. Bah! Such lunacy.

“You have nothing to fear, Mein Fuhrer,” he told his commander. “While they may have bested Colonel Silver and General White, I am your greatest General. I will deal with them easily.” And with that, he turned off his radio and turned his attention back to his work: practicing his Soudai Bara in the center of a half-circle of full-length mirrors. Completely naked. Blue would never deny it, he was an astoundingly vain man. He loved to look at himself and to watch the way his body performed. He considered himself an exceptional martial artist and could probably have, at least in his own mind, won the Tenkaichi Budoukai easily. However, as he dressed, he corrected himself. He was more than exceptional. “Why should I fear these children? Because they have defeated the Mad Doctor’s monstrosities? Bah!” he straightened his tie and looked himself in the mirror. “Unlike the Fuhrer, I place no such misguided faith in machines. I am already more than man. I am Übermensch.”

He stepped out of his tent and looked up towards the mountain that their radars had indicated the Dragon Ball was located. General White was a boorish drunk. He would not be missed. Colonel Silver, on the other hand, that was a pity. They had less than nothing in common but the man was not difficult to look at. And seemed to have a personal vendetta against the very concept of wearing a shirt. ‘Ah, well,’ he thought, ‘Such is the life of a superior being. Those who are inferior pass through our lives.’ He smiled as the Earth trembled under his boots as the mountain rumbled. If his men could not find a way safely into the mountain, all they would have to do is wait. The girls would arrive with their Dragon Balls and find some way into the mountain. Then he would kill them. “Feh,” he muttered contemptuously, “Super girl.” Such an undignified idea.

Goku and Suno had been flying for most of the morning when they began to come close to West City. Or perhaps it had only seemed like a few hours and it had been longer given the change in time where they were flying. Suno had spent the flight pondering these sorts of things, having not much else to do. Like how they weren’t affected by the thin air or the cold temperatures as high up as they were. Every time, though, Suno just came to the conclusion that they were flying on a magical cloud so it didn’t have to make sense. Whenever she got to that point, she would just look at the view down below. It was beautiful from up here. There were no armies from up here, no struggle or war. There was just the beauty of the land.

“Goku,” she said as they started to drift down towards the city, “How do you do the Kamehameha? Did Master Roshi teach you?”

“Not really,” Goku told her. “He never taught me but I saw him do it. And then I just kinda tried to do it.” Goku sounded disappointed that she couldn’t give Suno something more helpful. “I can tell you how it feels, if that helps. It’s like… It’s like something’s coming out of me. I feel it in my whole body and then I just push it between my hands and it just kinda happens. Does that help any?”

“No, not really,” Suno said as she shook her head. “But that’s okay! I probably couldn’t do it anyway.”

Nimbus came to a rest on the sidewalk inside the city proper to let Suno and Goku hop off as people stared at them in bewilderment. They took off their cold-weather outer layers and started walking down the street. Neither of them had ever seen anything like this city. Suno was pretty sure her whole village could fit into one city block while Goku hadn’t seen so many people in one place since the Tenkaichi Budoukai. And this was even more people than that!

“So, did this Bulma ever tell you where she lived or what her house looked like?” Suno asked.

“Nope!” Goku told her cheerfully as she stared up at a street lamp. Maybe she could climb up that to get a better look?

“So what was your plan?” Suno asked somewhat awkwardly as people continued to stare at them.

“I was gonna ask people if they knew Bulma,” she said. Suno groaned and facepalmed. She really shouldn’t have been surprised but still.

“Goku, I don’t think that’ll work. This place is huge and I doubt anyone we talk to would know her.”

Goku frowned, “Really? Then how do we find her?”

Suno hummed and looked around. There had to be a registry or phonebook somewhere. Maybe some kind of information kiosk. With nothing immediately in sight, Suno described what she was looking for to Goku and started to move through the city. It took all of five seconds before Suno had to stop Goku from walking right into traffic.

“What’d you do that for?” Goku asked after Suno yanked her back onto the sidewalk.

“You can’t just walk into traffic!”

“Why not?”

“Because you’ll hurt the drivers if they crash into you!” After Suno explained a bit about the traffic lights and how they worked, they went back on their way.

It didn’t take long for the two to find what Suno was looking for but they never managed to reach it due to the sudden appearance of a policeman. “Hey there, you two. What are you doing out of school?” he said.

Suno quickly spoke up since she knew Goku wasn’t so good at the whole socializing thing, “We’re both home schooled, sir, and have already finished our work for today. We’re on our way to a friend’s house but we’ve kinda forgotten where she lives.”

“Oh, well then. I’m not supposed to but maybe I can help you out there. What’s your friend’s name? I’ll look her up in my computer.”

“Bulma, sir.”

“Bulma, eh? That’s a pretty rare name. Shouldn’t be too hard to find. Let’s see… There are three women named Bulma in the city. Is this the one?” He showed them a picture of some obese lady with dark purple hair.

“Nuh-uh!” Goku said. “She has blue hair!”

“Okay then. Is this her?” He showed them another picture.

“Yeah! That’s her!” Goku said cheerfully. The officer looked at the picture of Bulma and did a double take. Then another double take. He looked down at Goku and Suno with an incredulous expression as he pointed at the picture.

“H-how the heck are kids like you friends with the daughter of the Capsule Corp president?!” he asked. Apparently, Suno thought, Goku had a famous friend. For her part, Goku gave a small shrug.

“She’s just my friend,” Goku told the officer as she rocked back and forth on her heels and lightly swung her arms. The officer eyed them suspiciously.

“You’re too young to be master criminals,” he eventually decided, which made Suno roll her eyes. She could have told him that just based on Goku’s original plan. “And being that you’re minors, it’s my job to make sure you get where you need to go safely, anyway.” He opened a capsule that contained a police hovercar and got in the front seat. “Come on, then!” Suno put a hand over Goku’s mouth and shook her head. She figured that the other girl was going to point out that she could just summon Nimbus again but she didn’t want the officer getting any more suspicious of them than he already was. Suno and Goku climbed in the back and Suno had to help Goku with her seatbelt. Again, not for the normal reason that Goku would be hurt but for the reason that Goku would probably hurt someone else.

The cop drove them through the city which allowed Goku and Suno to look around it more comfortably and take everything in. West City was alive and buzzing like a beehive. People were flying around in hovercars and hoverbikes. They were laughing and talking and busying along on their way to their jobs and places to play with their friends. Suno thought that she might like to live in a city. Maybe not one this big, though. As the cop kept driving, the people seemed to get busier and busier. Finally, they came to it: the Capsule Corp building. Goku and Suno stared at it with open-mouthed astonishment. It was an enormous yellow half-dome of a building with “CAPSULE” on the front in giant letters. And the people.

People were bustling in and out of the building and all across the yard, wearing lab coats and glasses and looking very scientific. They were running around using giant robotic legs or running through the air on tracks made of light. Some were flying in jetpacks or bouncing along the ground in huge bubbles. They were flexing the arms of robot suits and making calibrations, shooting guns that froze things solid or changed the color or swinging around swords made of pure light. It was amazing! Suno saw it as an amazing example of science and progress. It was a beautiful contrast to how she’d seen technology used for destruction and terror by the Red Ribbon Army. Goku was pretty sure it was all magic but it looked amazing. Without another word, Goku hopped out through the passenger side window and jumped over the surprisingly low-tech white picket fence.

“H-hey!” the cop called as he and Suno got out of the car and chased after her. “Get back here!” Goku ran up to the building as scientists stared at her with a mixture of interest and confusion. She came right up to the front door and tilted her head back with her hands on the sides of her mouth.

“Buuuuulmaaaaaaaa!” she called out. To put it bluntly, it was loud. Bubbles burst and windows shook as people clung to the ground and the walls. Suno clutched at her ears and stared at Goku with shock. Every time she started to get an understanding of what Goku was capable of, the other girl did something that blew away her expectations. One of the windows on the top floor was flung open before Bulma stuck her head out of the window and waved down at them.

“Goku! Hey!” she called down. She pointed something at the ground that looked like a weird gun. She fired it and a purple beam shot out that transformed into a huge mound that looked like it was a weird gel foam. Bulma jumped out of the window and jumped down to land on the mound. It made a “fwump!” sound as it absorbed the impact. Bulma climbed out of the foam with a big grin. She was wearing goggles, green shorts and a pink top with a labcoat with the sleeves rolled up. Her hair was sticking out in random directions like she’d been working on something for a while and probably hadn’t been sleeping. Goku grinned and jumped up into her arms. “Good to see you, kid! Did you find your four star ball?” Goku shook her head.

“Nah,” Goku said as she hopped down. “I had to come back because some jerks broke the Dragon Radar.” She handed it to Bulma who shrugged and smiled.

“No biggie!” she said and tucked it into her lab coat, “I built it, I can fix it!” Then she noticed Suno, who’d been off slightly to the side. “Oh! Goku, who’s your new friend?” Suno blushed and looked away nervously. Goku had told her about Bulma when they were flying over from Jingle Village but she was still a little nervous about meeting someone new in this big city.

“Uh, S-Suno,” she said with a nervous smile as she walked over to join Goku and Bulma. “I was living in Jingle Village when I met Goku and I just wanted to come with her.” Bulma laughed and smiled mischievously.

“Jeez, Goku!” she said with mock jealousy. “You go on a new adventure and just because I can’t come along you go and replace me?” she reached down and ruffled Goku’s hair which immediately settled back into its regular shape. “Sure know how to make a girl feel special!” Suno looked away bashfully and Bulma knelt down to look at her. “Hey, hey! I’m just kidding! I’m Bulma, in case that wasn’t obvious. And anybody who can be Goku’s friend is my friend, too!” Suno smiled at that but her expression changed to confused as Bulma looked upwards over Suno’s shoulder and her eyes went wide. “Look out!” she cried before shoving Goku and Suno to the ground and pressing herself to the ground on her stomach. Not a second later, a white-gray blur streaked down from the sky and whooshed inches over their heads. It zoomed towards the building and rode up the curvature of the wall instead of smashing through it. It shot into the sky like a meteor going in reverse before swooping back down and landing in front of them.

“Oh, hello there!” said the voice belonging to the streak. It turned out that the streak was a middle-aged man with white hair in brown slacks and a blue shirt with spectacles and a lab coat. A cigarette dangled from his mouth and his mustache bounced as he spoke and he had a tiny black cat in the front pocket of his coat that was shivering something terrible with wide white eyes. The three girls stood up and realized that the man was floating an extra two feet off the ground, no doubt due to the dinner plate-sized white discs strapped to his feet. They made a soft humming noise and Goku stared at them starry eyed while she waved her hand under them.

“Magic!” she exclaimed excitedly as Bulma shook her head.

“Daddy,” she admonished the older man, “You can let other people test your sonic discs! That’s what we have testers for! Young, fit, healthy testers that aren’t middle aged men with black lung!” Bulma’s father scoffed and clicked his heels together. Somehow, this made the “sonic discs” stop humming and he dropped to the ground.

“Nonsense!” he told her. “I built them and I’ll make sure they work! Why waste time on someone else’s secondhand accounts when I can get the experience myself?” Then he looked down at Suno and Goku. “Oh!” he said excitedly, “You must be that Goku girl that my daughter has told me so much about!” he said… to Suno. He bent down and stared at her, making soft “hmms” and “put-puts” as he shuffled around her in a circle.

“A-actually sir,” Suno said in a slightly uncomfortable tone because he was so close. “My name is-”

“Honestly, honey, red hair isn’t that strange!” he told Bulma and cut Suno off. Bulma rolled her eyes.

“No, daddy,” she said and pointed at Goku. “That is Goku!” Dr. Briefs spun around to see Goku as if for the first time.

“Ah!” he said, poking her hair and pinching her muscles which made Goku giggle. “So I see.” The police officer came up to him suddenly and inclined his head respectfully.

“Excuse me, Doctor Briefs,” he said, “I know it’s probably a waste of your time but my hovercar is going a little slow these days. And, well, it’s a Capsule Corp model. So I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind taking a look at it?” Briefs grinned and the glint of the sun hid the manic look in his eye.

“You want a fast car, do you?” he asked. “Oh, I’ll give you a fast car!” Dr. Briefs grabbed the capsule out of the cop’s hand and ran into the Capsule Corp building with the cop trailing after him. Bulma smiled and shook her head.

“Come on, let’s head back to my lab!” she said. “I can fix it from there.” Suno walked over to the purple foam and gave it a poke. It jiggled at her touch and she couldn’t help but giggle.

“Did you make this stuff?” she asked Bulma. Bulma grinned and nodded.

“Yup! I’m designing a super-powerful foam that can absorb just about any impact. It can be used to save people from falling out of a building or stop car crashes, even hold up buildings!” she grinned wider and rubbed her hands. “And it can do this!” she ran and jumped onto the gel foam. It buckled and wobbled before it shot her up into the air. She grabbed the window ledge and pulled herself into the room and then stuck her head out again. “Try it!” she encouraged them. Suno took a few tentative steps before running and jumping onto it herself. She let out a gleeful whoop of surprise as it shot her up into the air, right into Bulma’s hands who pulled her inside.

“That was fun!” she told Bulma before leaning out the window. “Your turn, Goku!” she called. Goku ran up to the gel and jumped onto it… and was disappointed as it burst apart from the force of her jump.

“Aww…” Goku muttered. How come they got to have the fun? Stupid weak foam. Bulma sighed and shook her head as Goku jumped up to the window normally.

“Guess it wasn’t Goku-resistant,” she said in a resigned tone as Goku climbed in the window.

“So this is your lab?” Goku asked as she looked around.

“It looks… busy,” Suno added. Busy was definitely the right word for it. There were equations and schematics scribbled all over the walls and half-finished projects scattered the workbench. Chemicals bubbled in test tubes and instruments blinked and flashed with activity. Bulma set down the Dragon Radar on the bench and popped open the back of it to expose the circuitry inside. She pulled on some goggles and pulled a magnifying glass over it as she grabbed her tools to get a look at the problem. Suddenly, the door swung open and a woman walked in carrying a tray with a pitcher of iced tea and a glass on it.

“Hello!” the woman said in a high chipper voice. Goku stared up at her, mouth agape. Her yellow hair was huge! Suno also stared but that was due more to the way the woman was dressed. She was wearing what Suno was pretty sure they called “hot pants” and a yellow “tube top.” She was not dressed for her age. “I’ve brought some refreshment for my little scientist!” Bulma rolled her eyes and did her best to ignore the woman.

“Thanks, mom,” she grumbled. Goku grinned when Bulma said that. This was great! She was meeting Bulma’s whole family! Bulma’s mom looked down at Goku and Suno and smiled.

“Oh, hello there!” she said cheerfully. “My name’s Panchy. Are you two Bulma’s little friends?” Goku nodded eagerly and Suno decided to just go with it. Panchy reached into her pocket and produced two pieces of chocolate and handed one to each. Goku’s eyes went starry as she bit down on the chocolate. She’d never eaten chocolate before. Now she needed more of it. She stuffed the chocolate into her mouth as Suno nibbled hers. It was pretty good. Probably really expensive.

“Hey, Bulma!” Goku said as the thought came to her suddenly. “Where’s Yamcha?” They’d been really happy the last time Goku had seen them at the Tenkaichi Budoukai so it seemed strange that she hadn’t seen him. “Is he training? Did your dad fix the gravity room?” Bulma huffed as she picked out a computer chip and replaced it with a new one and soldered it into place.

“Oh, he’s training all right!” she snapped. “He’s training with that Master Roshi and Krillin and that stupid hussy Launch!” Goku gasped.

“Launch is learning martial artes?” she asked excitedly. Bulma fumed and let out a sharp exhale between her nostrils.

“That’s not the point!” she grumbled. “The point is that Yamcha is on an island in the middle of nowhere with a girl who isn’t me!”

“But honey,” Panchy said as she returned with two new glasses for Goku and Suno, “That nice Yamcha boy calls you every day!” She poured tea into the glasses and handed them to Goku and Suno who sipped at them gratefully.

“That’s the problem, mom!” Bulma said as the she snapped the Dragon Radar closed and gave the button a few taps to make sure it was working. “He’s being too good!” Suno blinked.

“I’m not sure I understand,” she said. How could the fact that this Yamcha was calling her every day and seemed to care about her be bad?

“He’s obviously covering something up out of guilt!” Bulma said as she shoved the Radar into Goku’s hand. “Come on, Goku! I’m going with you!” She strapped the foam gun across her back and put a handful of other gadgets into her fanny pack. “This time, I’m going to wish for what I should have gotten in the first place: The perfect boyfriend!”

Suno couldn’t believe her ears as she stared at Bulma in disbelief. “You’re going to waste a wish on that? Why can’t you just, I dunno, talk to this Yamcha if that’s what you’re worried abou-” Bulma ran out of the lab with Goku following behind.

“Come on, Suno!” Goku called over her shoulder. Suno sighed in defeat and pinched the bridge of her nose. What did she get herself into? Ignoring that, she chugged the iced tea down before handing the cup back to Panchy and bowing thankfully before following them.

“Wish for a handsome man for me too!” Panchy called after Bulma.

“Mom, you’re married!” Bulma answered back as they took the stairs down to her father’s lab.

“So?” her mother asked. Bulma groaned and rolled her eyes as they entered her father’s workshop. It looked a lot like Bulma’s only bigger. And Suno was pretty sure she saw the skeleton of a space ship.

“Hey dad!” Bulma called as she and the others ran past her father with half of his body inside the police car’s engine, “I’m borrowing your sonic discs! Me, Goku, and Suno are gonna look for the Dragon Balls.”

“If you’re gonna wish for a boyfriend,” Dr. Briefs said, his voice echoing inside the car, “Wish for one that won’t ruin my inventions!” Bulma snickered as she grabbed the sonic discs off the workbench and strapped them to her feet before grabbing a box of capsules that she shoved into her fanny pack. “Oh,” Dr. Briefs said as he stuck his head out of the car, “And if you can, wish for a hot young lady for me!” he said with a cheeky smile. Bulma groaned and rolled her eyes as she ran out the door.

“What is with you and mom?!” she asked before shutting the door. She sighed and clicked her heels together to activate the discs as Goku summoned Nimbus.

“Have you ever used those?” Suno asked as Goku helped her up onto the cloud. She doubted it with the shaky way Bulma was standing on them.

“Nah,” Bulma admitted with a bizarre amount of confidence as she pinwheeled her arms. “But I remember what he said about using ‘em. You control it with your feeeeeeeeeeee-!” With the accidental movement of a toe Bulma was shooting down the street before launching up into the sky.

“Come on, Nimbus!” Goku said with a laugh and gave the cloud a tug to fly off after her.

Dr. Briefs wiped grease off his hands with a rag and closed the hood on the police car. This was probably his best automotive work yet.

“There you go!” he told the cop. “You should have the fastest car on the force.” He put it back into the capsule and handed it to the officer. He nodded gratefully and smiled.

“Thank you very much, Dr. Briefs,” the officer said. “You’re a brilliant man.” Then he headed out of the lab and back outside. Dr. Briefs smiled to himself and started putting his tools away. A few seconds later, he heard a terrified shriek and the sound of the sound barrier breaking.

“I don’t get it,” he muttered to himself as he scratched his cat’s head. “The officer told me his car was slow. So I made it fast!” The fastest car in the world, in fact. The only car that could break the speed of sound. “I just don’t get some people, Scratch,” he shrugged said to the cat who offered a “meow” in response. Dr. Briefs looked at his workbench and stroked his mustache. “Huh. Looks like Bulma took my capsules…”

Chapter Text

After a little while, Bulma was able to get control on her sonic discs and the three of them followed the Dragon Radar, soaring over the ocean. The sight of all that water scared Goku a little bit. It just seemed to go on forever. They eventually came to land again and flew over a mountain. Bulma zipped past Goku and Suno when Nimbus came to a stop and backtracked towards them with a confused expression.

“How come you stopped?” she asked.

“We’re here!” Goku said and held the radar to Bulma’s face to let her see. Bulma took the radar out of Goku’s hand and looked at it suspiciously. The blinking yellow light that showed a Dragon Ball was in the same spot as their orange triangle.

“Huh,” Bulma said and looked down at the mountain. “Whaddaya know?” Suno looked over the edge of Nimbus down at the mountain.

“So the Dragon Ball is somewhere on that mountain?” she asked. Well, that at least meant that the Red Ribbon Army hadn’t found this one yet so that was good. However, before they could formulate a plan (Goku would have suggested blowing the mountain up with a Kamehameha to make looking for the Dragon Ball easier), they heard a rumbling from below. “Was that an earthquake?” And then a column of smoke rose up from the mountaintop.

“Nope,” Bulma said weakly. “Definitely not an earthquake.” And not a mountain either. The Dragon Ball was inside a volcano.

“How are we supposed to get inside a volcano?” Suno asked. Goku looked down over the edge of the cloud and down at the mountain.

“What’s a volcano?” Goku asked. Bulma sighed. Sometimes she forgot that Goku didn’t really know… anything. About anything. She chewed her lip and tried to figure out how she was supposed to explain this in terms Goku could understand.

“It’s a mountain… full of fire and melted rocks,” she said. Goku gasped with excitement. That sounded so cool! She wondered how hot it had to get to melt rocks. Bulma shook her head with a slight smile. Goku could get excited about anything it seemed. She put a hand on her chin and thought as they floated in the air. It would be too hot for them to even search around the outside of the mountain, never mind going inside. If they landed, she’d be able to look through her capsules and see if she’d packed any heat-resistant suits by luck. Though she doubted she owned anything in Suno's or Goku’s sizes.

A sudden noise broke Bulma out of her brainstorming: the sound of a pair of fighter jets approaching. The three of them turned and looked at the greenish-brown planes approached and Bulma put a hand over her eyes to try and see them more clearly.

“Hey! The Royal Military!” Bulma said eagerly. “My dad has a bunch of contracts with the Royal Military. We’ll wave them down and we’ll tell them who I am and they’ll give us anything we need!” Goku frowned when she saw a flash of red.

“That’s not the military,” she said warily as she glared at the jets drawing closer and closer. Suno saw what Goku saw and the color drained out of her place.

“Bulma, we need to go!” she told the older girl while tugging at the back of Goku’s gi. How was the Red Ribbon Army already here? Did they have their own Dragon Radar?

“What’re you guys talking about?” Bulma asked in a cavalier tone. “We’ll be fi-” but her words were drowned out by the spray of bullets that whizzed past her head. Her face went pale and her eyes went wide as she let out a horrible shriek and dropped down into a nosedive.

“Suno, go with Bulma!” Goku said and jumped off Nimbus towards the jets. Suno winced before reluctantly flying down after Bulma. She wanted to help but she wasn’t in any real position or ability to fight war machines. Goku was bulletproof and she wasn’t.

Sienna and Sepia were two of the best pilots in the Red Ribbon Army. Sienna was a former pilot for the Royal Air Force that was discharged for being too reckless and Sepia was part of a stunt pilot troupe that got let go for flying too safe. Both had joined the Red Ribbon Army in search of a purpose for their lives. Originally forming a connection over little more than the fact that neither of them much liked that they were shades of brown, the two had formed a lasting friendship over the last year-and-a-half. Sienna had been the best man at Sepia’s wedding. The two of them had become the Army’s best pilots. So when the call had gone out about a pair of bogies outside of Blue Division’s location, Sienna and Sepia answered it.

“Was that some kind of flying girl?” Sepia asked as they watched the blue-haired girl and the yellow cloud drop out of the sky to evade their bullets. There had been news about a super girl that was terrorizing the Army.

“I thought she was shorter,” Sienna said as an orange blur climbed onto his plane. “Shit! Shit, shit, shit, it’s her!” The girl with spiky, black hair glared at Sienna through the canopy glass. Sienna yanked on the yoke to turn into a tight spiral and try and drop the girl with his eyes screwed shut out of fear. When he opened his eyes, the girl was gone. “I think I lost her!”

“No you didn’t!” Sepia warned as he stared helplessly at his partner’s plane. “She’s on your wing!” The girl crawled across Sienna’s wing until she was back on the jet. Then she bent down and ripped the wing off. It dropped out of the sky as Sienna’s jet wobbled and Sienna screamed his head off. He couldn’t shoot, he couldn’t maneuver. All he could do was cry and scream and pray to God as the girl pulled a fist back and slammed it into the plane until it burst into flames. The sounds would haunt Sepia for the rest of his life… which would not be very long as the orange girl flew through the flames and threw a kick through his plane with enough force to split it in half. He had just enough time to grab the ejection lever before his wreck exploded as well. The last thing he saw, the last thing he would ever see was that horrible monster girl glaring at him.

From below, Suno and Bulma watched the jet fighters explode and an orange dot zoomed down towards them. Suno flew up with Nimbus to meet Goku on the way down. Goku hit the cloud with a “floof!” and sat up to look at Suno with a grin.

“That was fun!” Goku said. Suno laughed and shook her head. Goku had a strange idea of what “fun” was. Bulma was understandably freaked out when they came back down.

“What the hell was that?!” she demanded. “Who the hell were those people? How did they have fighter jets?! Why were they shooting at you?!” Suno was about to try and come up with some sort of explanation but then…

“It was the Red Ribbon Army,” Goku told her bluntly. What was there to lie about? The Red Ribbon Army were jerks and she had to beat the up!

“Oh,” Bulma said with a sudden and surprising calmness. “The Red Ribbon Army. Oh, I see. That makes sense.” There was a brief pause before she was suddenly screaming again. “Why the hell are you fighting the Red Ribbon Army?!” she demanded with enough force to blow their hair back. The look on Goku’s face told Suno that this was a normal occurrence. Between the two of them, Goku and Suno explained Goku’s first interaction with the Army, Suno’s interaction with them, and how the two of them had driven them out of Jingle Village. When it was all accounted for, Bulma groaned and pulled at her face. “This isn’t what I signed up for,” she muttered. “I thought we were gonna go to fun places, beat up another delusional despot, and I’d get a new boyfriend!” she cried and pulled at her hair. “I didn’t think I was going to be dealing with the world’s biggest terrorist organization!” Goku looked a little concerned for her friend but Suno wasn’t feeling quite so charitable.

“Then leave,” Suno said plainly.

“Huh?”

“What we’re doing is really dangerous. If Goku wasn’t so strong, it’d be suicidal. But we have to do it. I know exactly how you feel. I feel like I’m in over my head every time we come up against tanks or jets or giant, killer androids. If you can’t handle it then there’s no shame in going home. We’ll understand.”

“Yeah!” Goku interjected. “I’d love to have you along but I don’t want you getting hurt!”

Bulma smiled and wiped away her tears, “Jeez, you guys. How’s a girl supposed to run away when you say stuff like that? So we’re going up against the Red Ribbon Army. Big deal! They’ve got tanks and jets and giant, killer androids but we’ve got Goku!” Goku gave a cheer at that.

“So,” Goku began, “What do we do now? The Red Ribbon Army knows we’re here. So how do we get into the volcano?” Suno and Bulma put their hands under their chins and frowned as they thought. Goku copied their motions. She wasn’t thinking, she just wanted to play along. When neither of them said anything after a while, Goku actually got an idea of her own. “Oh!” she said suddenly and nearly shocked Bulma enough to flip her on her sonic discs. “What about Master Roshi?” Suno gasped with excitement at the suggestion.

“The Turtle Hermit?” she said eagerly with a similar starry expression in her eyes that made Goku smile. Her master had told her stories about the Invincible Master. An immortal genius, the greatest martial artist who had ever been born. Just the idea of meeting him made her giddy. However, Bulma rolled her eyes at the idea. Even if she got to see Yamcha and guilt him into not doing anything with Launch, the less she saw of Roshi the better.

“What the heck could that old pervert do for us?” she asked. “Stuff the volcano with his dirty magazines?” Goku shook her head.

“I bet he has some kind of magic! Like the fan!” Bulma just rolled her eyes harder.

“You mean the fan he didn’t have?” she asked. “If he had anything, he probably lost it in another card game. Or he pawned it off to some bimbo so she’d ffffffff-” Bulma suddenly realized that what she was saying and who she was talking to, “-ffffffrolic through the flowers with him.” Goku looked confused while Suno looked incredulous. “A-anyway, the most he’ll probably do is just blow up the volcano- which is terrible for a lot of reasons- and might destroy the Dragon Ball!” Goku shrugged.

“Do you have an idea?” Goku asked the both of them. It wasn’t meant to be snippy, just an earnest question. Bulma threw up her hands with a defeated sigh. “Fine,” she said. “Let’s go see Roshi.” The younger girls gave a cry of jubilation as the three of them flew off to find Kame House.

Roshi was fiddling with his radio and trying to pick up the sports stations as he and Turtle sat by the shore, Roshi in his beach chair and Turtle in the sand. In the woods, Roshi could hear Launch, Yamcha, and Krillin sparring. What he couldn’t hear was the baseball game he’d been trying to find for the last fifteen minutes. With a groan, he finally turned the machine off.

“Useless danged contraption…” he muttered as he huffed and leaned back in his chair. He reached over to the little side table where his glass of gin was sitting and picked up a dirty magazine. He began to slowly flip through it and was just starting to relax when he heard the familiar “whoosh” of the Nimbus cloud and a strange second noise. More like a “wubwubwubwub” or “bwaaaaaaah”. He sat up and put the magazine away, clearing his throat. Just what, he wondered, was Goku doing here?

“Hi, Master Roshi!” Goku greeted joyfully as the Nimbus came to a stop at the shoreline. She hopped off the cloud and landed on the beach followed by a redheaded girl in a blue-and-white gi of her own. Seemed Goku had found a new friend. “Hi, Turtle!” Goku added and affectionately patted Turtle’s head as Bulma descended as well. She looked like she had dinner plates stuck to her feet although he was sure that wasn’t the case. Some new, high-fangled invention. She clicked her heels and landed in the sand.

“Hello, Goku,” Turtle replied. From Goku’s friend’s reaction, she clearly hadn’t expected Turtle to talk. Which was fair enough. Most people didn’t.

“And what,” Roshi asked as he got up from the chair, “are you two doing here?” he said with a smile before pulling down his shades to eye the redhead. “And who’s your new friend?”

“M-my name is Suno, sir,” she said nervously and with a respectful bow. “I was trained in the Odori style by Master Frost. He speaks very h-highly of you, sir, and-” Roshi held up a hand.

“That’s quite enough,” he told her with a gentle chuckle. Suno visibly relaxed as he readjusted his sunglasses. “The Odori style, eh?” he pulled at his beard and thought. “Always wondered how it would match against the teachings of the Turtle School. I’ve heard quite a bit about your teacher as well. He sounds like an incredible fighter.” Suno blushed ever so slightly at the praise for her fighting style and her master.

“Anyway,” Bulma cut in suddenly, “Do you have anything that might be able to, I dunno, make a really big area really cold?” Roshi cocked an eyebrow. What an odd and vague request.

“What, like an air conditioner?” he asked skeptically. Bulma and Suno both seemed to be searching for the words to explain their situation when Goku bulldozed her way in.

“We need to freeze a mountain!” she explained. Roshi’s eyebrow rose to the point where it threatened to leave his skull. And he needed all the hair he could hold onto. Clearly he was waiting for an explanation. “No, wait,” Goku added with a shake of her head and a furrow of her brow. “Not a mountain… the kind where it’s full of fire?”

“A volcano?” Roshi offered. Goku nodded enthusiastically. “And what, might I ask, are you freezing a volcano for?”

“There’s a Dragon Ball on it,” Suno said. “We need to get it before the Red Ribbon Army does.” Roshi pursed his lips.

“Red Ribbon Army, eh?” he asked. Suno winced. That sounded like he was going to say he wouldn’t help them. That it was too big a responsibility and it wasn’t his fight. Which is why she was so shocked and ecstatic when instead he said, “Sounds like a big job. Maybe you’ll need some help?” Goku and Suno nodded eagerly. “Now in terms of something to freeze a volcano…” he hummed and hrmmed and rubbed his beard. “Oh, I may actually have something!” he said with a snap of his fingers. Then he looked at Bulma and raised his eyebrow,“For an exchange, of course.” Bulma groaned and searched through the capsule box in her fanny pack.

“Dirty old man,” she muttered as she pulled out a random capsule. She was sure it would hold some trinket that would amuse him appropriately. A satellite radio or a tiny fridge or something. “Here!” She threw the capsule to the ground and it opened with a puff of smoke to reveal… a stack of porn mags. Bulma and Suno stared at the stack with red faces and wide eyes. Goku looked at them quizzically.

“What are those two ladies doing with their legs?” she asked as she looked at the one on the top before Roshi yanked them all away.

“Sold!” he said hurriedly and ran back into the house.

“I… I think I grabbed my dad’s capsule box,” Bulma muttered, mortified. She still had a few of her gadgets with her which would be useful and could get her out of a jam… but no clothes, no food, no shelter, nothing to survive with. The most she could do was burn some of the magazines for warmth. Roshi returned after a minute, cradling something in his hands.

“This,” he told them when he got closer, “Is the Itetsuku Sphere.” He held it out for them to look at. Even Bulma bent down to get a closer look. They could see swirling snow and frozen mountain peaks and cold winds inside. It was like the very concept of winter in a tiny glass bubble. It reminded Suno of home. “Please,” he urged, “be very careful with it.” On that note, Suno took it before Goku could and stored it in her knapsack. “When you get to the volcano, you can break the hell out of it. Otherwise, it could freeze an entire island.”

“Where the heck did you get something like that?” Bulma asked as she gave Suno’s knapsack a wary eye. Roshi chuckled and stroked his mustache.

“About a hundred years ago. It was a token from a Yeti chieftain for saving his people from a…” he paused and looked at the starry expression in Goku’s eyes as she and Suno hung on every word. He sighed and waved a hand dismissively with another chuckle. “Bah,” he said, “It’s a long story. One you all probably don’t have the time for. But when you’re done stopping the Red Ribbon Army, I’ll be happy to tell you all about it.” They both nodded before they were all snapped out of their excitement by a rumbling sound. Birds squawked and flapped out of the forest as several trees crashed to the ground. “Ah,” Roshi said, “There’s some other people who will be happy to see you!” He put his fingers in his lips and let out a high, loud whistle.

Several minutes earlier…

Yamcha skidded backwards on flat feet as he was pushed out of the trees and into a clearing in the forest. He could see two black blurs darting through the treeline and erratically zig-zagging so he couldn’t keep up with their movements. But he had something they didn’t. As he dropped into his Wolf Fang Fist stance, he had… animal instinct. His ear twitched as he heard something dashing through the trees on his left. He turned just in time to see Krillin charging at him and brought up a knee to block his attack. Krillin pushed off his knee and jumped higher to push him back with a flurry of jabs. Yamcha bobbed and weaved and drove an elbow into Krillin’s stomach to take the breath out of him before shoving him away with a palm strike just in time to hear Launch coming from behind. He twisted around and drove a sharp kick towards her face but she rolled under it and came up to slam the heel of her palm under his chin. He staggered back and she followed up with a roundhouse kick that sent him sprawling into the dirt. He hated to admit it but Launch was getting good.

“What’s the matter, pretty boy?” she teased, flicking a finger across her nose as he got up and wiped blood from the corner of his mouth. “Little old Launch too tough for ya?” Before Yamcha could come up with a suitable reply, Krillin attacked with a flying kick that Launch barely blocked in time. She staggered back as Krillin pressed the attack with an axe kick while he was in midair. Launch caught it in her forearms with a crossblock and threw him away. Krillin landed on the ground on his hands and feet before launching himself at the both of them and throwing his feet out for a dropkick. The three of them traded rapid-fire punches and kicks, throwing each other into one another and kicking off of each other.

Launch suddenly grabbed Krillin by the wrist and swung him around at Yamcha. When Yamcha went back, she let go of Krillin and he flew away. He landed against a tree with his feet and pushed off, hitting her with both fists in the side. She staggered and gasped for breath but she liked it. She liked that they weren’t pulling any punches just because she was a girl. There was a sudden crack as the tree that Krillin had pushed off suddenly split and began to fall down towards them. Yamcha ran between Krillin and Launch and threw up one hand like a spearhead to split the tree down the middle with a kiai. As the tree fell down, Krillin swiped his hand up through the air to send Yamcha flying with a kiai wave of his own. Yamcha hit a tree with a groan and looked at Krillin incredulously.

“You left yourself open,” Krillin said with a smirk and a shrug. Yamcha responded with a kiai-charged roundhouse kick that made Krillin yelp and duck as it sliced through a tree. The two traded kiais as Launch sighed and leaned against a tree.

“Cheating assholes,” she muttered. “You know I can’t do that kiai shit yet.” She was content to let them tire themselves out and destroy half the forest before declaring herself the winner when a high-pitched whistle brought them all to a halt.

“Wonder what Roshi wants,” Yamcha muttered as they all ran out of the forest. When they broke through the trees, they were greeted with two familiar faces and one new one.

“Goku!” Yamcha, Launch, and Krillin said in unison as she smiled at them and hugged each in turn. Yamcha turned his attention to Bulma and smiled even wider at her.

“Hey, babe!” he said eagerly and pulled her into a kiss before hugging her. Bulma looked over Yamcha’s shoulder and glared at Launch. Launch smirked and gave her the finger. Yamcha let Bulma go and turned to Goku and the new girl. “So who’s your friend, Goku?” he asked playfully with a hand on one hip.

“Yeah,” Krillin added suspiciously and narrowed his eyes, “who is she?” Suno was a little bit more comfortable introducing herself now so she was more confident when she told them. Besides, with the three of them all in the same orange gi as Goku, it almost looked a little silly. Then she and Goku once again went over their story.

“Huh,” Launch muttered and cracked her knuckles, “Red Ribbon Army, huh?” Krillin gave a nervous laugh.

“G-Goku,” he said, “Remember what I said about now no one person being able to beat an entire army? That doesn’t change just because you’re two people!” Yamcha grinned and playfully rubbed Krillin’s shiny head.

“Sounds like they’ve got a pretty good start on it already,” he said. Roshi nodded and adjusted his glasses.

“So,” he said, “Who’s goin’ with ‘em?” Krillin quickly stepped between Suno and Goku.

“I-I am!” he said hurriedly. Goku grinned and Suno gave him a quizzical look. Just what was this Krillin guy’s issue? Yamcha shook his head.

“Not me,” he said. “I’m gonna stick behind and train some more. Besides, this sounds like one of those things where the more people there are, the more of a mess it will be.” He gave a wave and headed into the house, muttering about being thirsty.

“Think I’ll stay back, too,” Launch agreed. Bulma huffed and Launch smirked. Now it was Bulma’s turn to give her the finger.

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Goku said eagerly as she, Suno, and Krillin hopped onto Nimbus. From the back of the cloud, Krillin nervously decided it was a good thing no one else was coming. It was getting a little crowded. Bulma clicked her heels and rose into the air and soon the four of them took off. Roshi sighed and plopped back into his lawn chair, flipping through a magazine.

“Heavens,” he muttered as he read an article. “Is this really what women think will please their men this century?”

Chapter Text

The four young adventurers closed in on the volcano that rumbled and spewed smoke beneath them. Despite the happiness he knew he should feel for Goku being back, Krillin mostly felt a tense unease. Something about this new girl, Suno, bothered him. She seemed nice enough but there was something he didn’t like about how close she and Goku were. Was she Goku’s new best friend? Because that’s all that him and Goku were. Friends.

Krillin tried to push that sort of thing out of his mind. Goku made friends with everyone so it didn’t mean anything that she had a new friend, right? Him and Goku were still best friends. He tried to focus on something more positive like the fact that he was able to ride the Nimbus. When he first had met Goku, he’d gone right through the cloud and had to hold onto Goku to keep from falling to the ground. Now he was able to sit on the Nimbus just like Goku. That meant he was a better person than he had been before, didn’t it? Krillin had always felt like it was so. That his friendships with Master Roshi, Goku, and Launch had made him better than it did before. It should have made him happy to think about that. So why didn’t it?

Goku grinned as she looked down at the volcano over the edge of the Nimbus. Now that Roshi had given them the Itetsuku Sphere, they could freeze the volcano and find the Dragon Ball! Goku was also hoping that she’d get to punch more Red Ribbon Army jerks in the face. Krillin kept saying that she couldn’t take them down by herself but Goku knew that she was pretty good at doing things that people said she couldn’t do. Besides, she wasn’t by herself now.

“Okay, Suno,” Goku said as she looked over her shoulder at her redheaded friend, “Drop it in there!” Suno nodded and carefully removed the item from her knapsack before dropping it over the edge. The four of them watched the Sphere drop with anticipation. Goku was excited whereas Suno and Bulma were apprehensive. Having missed the story about the Sphere’s origin and power, Krillin was more curious than anything. The Sphere fell for a long time and Bulma began to wonder if the bauble had any real power.

“Did you mi-” Bulma began to ask but the words had barely left her throat when there was a deafening explosion of cold wind that drowned her words out. It was like an atomic bomb of ice and snow, mushroom cloud and all. It swirled through the air before it coalesced around the new icy peak of the mountain and snow fell from the cloud to the cold mountain below. There was a great “Crack!” as magma froze solid in an instant.

“That was awesome!” Goku cried and eagerly clapped her hands. Krillin’s eyes were wide with disbelief. Master Roshi had things of this kind of power just sitting around his house? The four descended towards the mountain as Goku took the Dragon Radar back out. Bulma only hoped that the Dragon Ball wasn’t trapped in the frozen lava. On one hand, the Red Ribbon Army would never be able to summon the Eternal Dragon. On the other hand, neither would anyone else ever again. She tried to forget about that particularly dark line of thinking as Goku, Suno, and Krillin hopped off the Nimbus and walked around the mountain. Bulma gave a click of her heels and joined them, surprised to find that what had once been a volcano was so cold underfoot.

“Whatever magic Roshi has found in this world,” Bulma promised herself as she followed the others, who followed Goku, who followed the radar, “It’s up to me to figure out how to make it work. It’s up to science!”

General Blue emerged from his tent as he heard the commotion from his troops and looked up at the mountain with his arms folded behind his back. He was fairly certain that had been a volcano a few moments ago.

‘That’s an interesting little development,’ he thought before clearing his throat and speaking aloud. “Alright, boys,” he said, the sound of his voice made them all snap to attention. “I’ve received some words from our esteemed Fuhrer. Apparently, the little monster girl has some allies in this area, one of whom might have built her Dragon Radar. We now have a priority to neutralize them.” He turned to his chief lieutenant, Teal. “Teal!” The strapping young man snapped to attention, every inch a proper soldier. Except for that bit of stubble around his jaw but Blue liked that. “You will take half of our forces in search of these allies. Our intelligence suggests that they will be on an island somewhere in the area.” Some might consider sending over fifty men to dispatch whoever these allies might be excessive but that was why he was the greatest general in the Red Ribbon Army and they were not. Who knew how numerous these allies were or what their powers might be?

“Sir!” Teal gave a cry of the affirmative and salute. Blue gave him a pat on the arm and nodded with a smile.

“Good man,” he said and turned to the rest of his men as Teal gathered the forces he would take to this island. “As for the rest of you, you will come with me up the mountain.” He turned his eyes to the coffin-like metal structure that had arrived earlier this morning. “And, if necessary, we will use the Mad Doctor’s newest trinket.” General Blue frowned as his men went about securing their climbing gear, glowering down at the box and the mechanical monster that lie within. He didn’t much like the idea of relying on Gero’s machines but if there was any truth to the super girl’s powers, it might be necessary.

Goku frowned as she looked down at the Dragon Radar. She knew that she was the orange triangle and that the Dragon Ball was the blinking yellow dot but the Radar was telling her that the Dragon Ball was right in front of her. It didn’t make any sense!

“The Radar says it’s right here!” Goku said and looked down at the empty ground where there was no Dragon Ball. “Bulma, are you sure you fixed this?” Bulma huffed and walked towards her. What kind of question was that?

“Of course I fixed i-Yeee!” Bulma squealed in shock as her foot was caught in a hole in the mountainside. Krillin and Suno grabbed her hands to keep her from falling over and Bulma pulled her foot out of the hole with a sigh. That could have been bad. She could have messed up her ankle or, even worse, bruised her face! She gave the hole a stink-eye in frustration. Stupid hole, trying to trip her. Krillin bent down to inspect the hole curiously.

“Do you think the Dragon Ball might have fallen in there?” he asked. It was about the right size. A Dragon Ball wasn’t supposed to be much bigger than his fist, wasn’t it? Even the idea of that caused Bulma to throw up her hands and let out a groan.

“Oh, great,” she muttered, “then it’s definitely lost. Either the lava melted it or we just trapped it!” Krillin shook his head and put his hand in the hole. He chewed his lip in thought as he ran his fingers around the rim.

“It’s smooth,” he mused. “This is way too smooth to have occurred in nature. Someone made this hole.” He was feeling pretty good about himself when Suno snapped her fingers and spoke up.

“That’s it!” she exclaimed. “Maybe a civilization used to live in the volcano when it was dormant!” Bulma nodded, tapping her chin.

“That’s not a bad idea,” Bulma said as her brow furrowed in thought. “Volcanic soil is better for growing things than just about any other soil on Earth. and they would have been able to stay warm during the winter if they carved out paths away from the magma flow.” She stuck an accusatory finger at the hole she’d tripped in, “And they’d have used holes like this to let out the extra hot air!” she smiled at Krillin and Suno. “Good thinking, you two!” Suno smiled but Krillin huffed. He noticed it first. Suno was just piggybacking off of his brilliant deductive reasoning.

“So we need to find some way to get inside the mountain!” Goku deduced before rushing off to find an entrance of some kind. The others hurriedly followed behind her, surprised by her sudden burst of motion even when they probably should have known not to be. When they finally discovered an entrance to the mountain, it was disappointingly far from where the Dragon Ball had been.

“Wow,” Krillin murmured as he peered into the blackness. “That’s dark.” They’d be able to go maybe a hundred feet before they were swallowed up and blind.

“Okay,” Bulma muttered as she rummaged through her fanny pack. “Lemme just find something to make a torch.”

Suno raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t pack a flashlight or something?” she asked in mild disbelief. Bulma huffed.

“There’s a flashlight,” she said defensively, “in my capsule case!” She sighed and pulled out a spray can of some kind. “This sprays a glowing paint that lasts for, like, six hours. I designed it for something kinda like this. Miners and spelunkers and people like that would be able to spray the walls in dark places to give them a little light and not lose track of where they’d been.” She sprayed some onto the wall of the cave to demonstrate its neon green glow. With a wince, she reached into the capsule case. “Please don’t be gross, please don’t be gross!” she pleaded as she threw the capsule case onto the ground. When the smoke cleared, she was even more mortified than before. It was her mother’s.

Krillin gave the top magazine a cursory glance. “Why are those two guys-” he began to say before Bulma snatched up the magazine and kicked the rest of the stack down the mountain. The dirty documents fluttered in the wind like a flock of birds as Bulma rolled up the magazine and sprayed the top of it, creating a rudimentary torch.

“Let’s go!” Goku said with a wide grin and headed into the cave with a carefree stride as the other three marched behind her. Looking for Dragon Balls with Bulma. Just like last year!

Yamcha was by himself now. Well, Puar was floating around and watching him as he liked to do but he wasn’t training with anyone else. Krillin had gone with Goku and Bulma and Launch had sneezed and gone inside the house. Which he honestly preferred. Blonde Launch was nice but she could also be a little… pushy.

“Y’know she thinks yer cheatin’,” Launch had said to him once after he got off the phone with Bulma. “So why aren’t ya?” She had asked and put her hand on his arm in a way that made him uncomfortable. He’d pulled away and frowned at her.

“That,” he had said, “makes less than no sense. If that’s what she thinks, I have to just try that much harder to prove that I’m not.” Not that telling her that had made her any less dogged.

Yamcha tried to push those things out of his mind as he focused on the task at hand. He took a deep breath as he brought up one arm with the palm facing upward. He grabbed his wrist with his other hand and focused. He tried to search for the feeling he had when he would attempt the Kamehameha. That building of energy, that heat, that concentration of all his power into a single point. When he found that feeling, he held onto it and brought it upward. He watched as his palm began to glow with a bright yellow light. He could hear Puar clapping his paws excitedly but forced himself to tune it out. He wasn’t out of the woods yet. The yellow light grew brighter and began to take a shape. It was like watching a bubble grow off of his hand. Yamcha delicately pulled his hand away from the light and watched the ball of energy hover in the air. He sighed and wiped sweat off his forehead, feeling accomplished. However, before he could try anything else, the ball exploded and sent him flying backwards. Yamcha slammed into a tree with his hair blown back and his face blackened with soot.

“Was it supposed to do that?” Puar asked with a mixture of concern and confusion as he floated over to Yamcha. Yamcha sighed as he wiped the soot off with the bottom of his shirt.

“Not yet,” he said in an aggravated tone as he sat up and rubbed his back. Still, it was progress. He wasn’t quite sure what the energy he was controlling was but now he knew he could manipulate it. He’d figure out the Kamehameha. Krillin would. Hell, Launch probably would. But this? This would be his ace in the hole.

Roshi stretched back in his lounge chair and sipped on a glass of iced tea. That explosion was probably just Yamcha practicing some secret technique that would give him an edge. The thought of that made him smile. It had been that same mindset that had caused him to develop the Kamehameha. He could never definitively defeat Shen so he came up with a super move that would tip the scales in his favor. What was hilarious was that Shen had the exact same idea and that put them back at square one. He gave a sad sigh and shook his head. Those had been better times.

A sudden sound broke Roshi out of his melancholic memories. He looked up and saw a pair of military transport helicopters coming towards the island. That was disconcerting enough. The large red insignia on the nose of each chopper was… more so. The helicopters kicked up sand and salt spray as they landed. Nearly fifty armed men poured out of the helicopters, brandishing their weapons with very serious expressions. The biggest one was a tall, stubbly man who pointed the barrel of his assault rifle straight at Roshi’s face.

“You!” the man said. “Have you had any contact with a young girl exhibiting superhuman abilities, who wears orange clothes and has spiky black hair?” Roshi adjusted his glasses and casually pushed the gun aside with his glass.

“You mean Son Goku?” he asked rhetorically. “Yes, I have.” The man moved away from him and, in a bizarre spectacle, every single one of the Red Ribbon soldiers gathered up into a huddle. They whispered conspiratorially and many would look back over their shoulders at Roshi. Then the huddle broke and the stubbled man approached him again.

“If you are an ally of this Son Goku then you are an enemy of the Red Ribbon Army,” the man declared with a sneer as he pointed his gun at Roshi again. “But if you help us, we might let you live. Are you the man who invented the Dragon Radar?” The man put his finger on the trigger to make his obvious intent even more clear. If Roshi gave him an answer he didn’t like, he would die.

“Nope,” Roshi said bluntly. They all blinked and stared. That was clearly neither the response nor the reaction they were expecting.

“L-listen, old man,” the stubbled soldier said with obvious fluster, “If you don’t-” Roshi cut him off by throwing his tea in the man’s face. While he was blinded, Roshi moved in a flash to jump up from his chair and hit the soldier with a spin kick to the chest that sent him flying into the sea. The other soldiers finally reacted and the air was filled with a hail of bullets. Roshi ducked and dodged and started picking the soldiers off with well-placed punches and kicks as Turtle hid inside his shell.

Launch had been watching somewhat nervously from the kitchen window. She knew Master Roshi was strong but there were just so many of them. When the bullets started flying, she shrieked and fell to the floor. The pepper shaker fell off the counter and landed right in front of her. She grabbed it with a sigh and shook the pepper into the palm of one hand. Ever since it had been explained to her what happened when she sneezed, Launch had discovered that she didn’t quite like her Blonde self. She was apparently rude, crass, lewd, and didn’t like changing back into her. But she knew when the other her was needed. Like now, for instance. She took a deep sniff of the pepper.

Blonde Launch came bursting out of the front door of the house seconds later, flying through the air and swinging her leg in a wide kick that took out four Red Ribbon soldiers in a row like dominos. She made her way to Roshi and the two of them fought back to back as the soldiers pressed their attack.

“Helluva party, huh?!” she asked jokingly over the cacophony of gunfire. Roshi nodded as he grabbed bullets out of the air and let them drop.

“But unless they decide to put down their guns, there’s only so fast we can take ‘em all out!” No sooner had Roshi said that than Yamcha leaped dramatically over the roof with his sword drawn. He swung the sword with such speed that the blade disappeared into a whirlwind of flashing silver. The guns were slashed to scrap as Yamcha ran past them, the weapons falling apart in the soldiers’ hands. Puar followed behind him in the form of a giant, flying magnet and grabbed the metal scraps to dump them all into the ocean.

“Something like that?” Yamcha asked with a grin as he sheathed his sword. Roshi smirked and took off his sunglasses. No sense in risking their getting damaged. Not like there was a sunglass shop anywhere nearby.

“Much better,” he said before the three of them charged into battle as the soldiers decided to take their chances and rush them bare-handed. This did not work out well for the Red Ribbon Army. In less than two minutes, the entire force had been knocked into the sea and was being carried out by the tide.

“Shit,” Launch muttered with disappointment as she kicked the sand. “I wish they’d brought more guys. I really felt like I was about to figure out the kiai.” Roshi shrugged and looked at the helicopters.

“S’pose I better do somethin’ about these. Stand back!” he blasted the choppers to slag and shrapnel with a Kamehameha. Yamcha watched the smoke from the wreckage billow up into the sky and looked out towards the horizon.

‘Bulma,’ he thought, ‘Whatever you guys are doing on that volcano, I hope you’re okay.’ He knew Bulma was smart and that the other three were good martial artists- and, for crying out loud, they had Goku- but he still felt an unease in his stomach. He was probably worrying about nothing. Right?

Chapter Text

The quartet walked through the cavernous tunnels and their footsteps echoed off the stone walls. As they went further and further inside the mountain, they became increasingly reliant on Bulma’s makeshift porno torch as the only source of light. Goku took the lead because she had the Dragon Radar and because she was Goku. Anything bad that could be hiding in the caves would probably break itself running into her. Suno followed behind Goku with Bulma in the middle and Krillin grudgingly brought up the rear. Suddenly, there was a clicking sound as Goku took a step and she stumbled forward as her foot sunk into the floor.

“Goku!” The other three cried out simultaneously. Suno grabbed the back of Goku’s shirt and yanked her back as spears burst up from the floor to fill the entire width of the tunnel. They slowly sunk back down into the floor as the group stared with wide eyes. As the spears slid down, their edges glinted in the green light of the torch to reveal a razor sharpness to them.

“Well,” Bulma said as she bent down to bring the light closer to the floor, “Now we know there’s booby traps.” Which seemed strange to her. The civilization who lived here already had the safety of it being a volcano. So why did they need to load it up with traps? Maybe, she thought, some pirates or something drove them out of the volcano and used the booby traps to protect their treasure? So many questions. It made Bulma sad to think that she’d probably never have answers. She sighed and stood back up, holding the torch high. “We better keep moving.” The others nodded as they continued their march and kept an eye to avoid any traps.

The marching order changed slightly as they made their way deeper and deeper into the volcano. While Goku and Bulma didn’t change their positions, Suno and Krillin frequently shuffled around, more on Krillin’s insistence than anything else. He came up with quite a few excuses as to why the order needed to change but Suno got fed up with it pretty quickly.

“If you’re going to be so jealous about everything,” she said, “We can all walk at the front!” She didn’t know what Krillin’s problem was but she was getting really annoyed with the former monk. Krillin’s face reddened at the accusation.

“I-I’m not jealous!” he insisted as he walked alongside Goku and Suno. Goku, being Goku, wasn’t entirely sure what jealousy was so she was just happy that they were all walking together. Bulma huffed behind them.

“Fine,” she said dryly under her breath, “I’ll just walk in the back with no one to protect me if we’re being followed by the Red Ribbon Army. No, really. It’s great.” Krillin frowned and chewed on his bottom lip.

“I’m not jealous,” he repeated quietly, more to himself than anyone else. Okay, maybe he was. Just a little bit. It was just weird to him that Goku seemed as close to Suno, who he couldn’t have known for more than a week, as she was to him after they’d spent over a year training together. Did that mean Suno was a better friend than him? He had been a jerk for the first few weeks he and Goku had known each other. Krillin shook his head and tried to think positive. All that thinking like this would do was make him depressed. Goku tried to be friend with everyone, that was all it was. Wasn’t it?

Krillin was so wrapped up in his own self-doubt that he didn’t even notice that he’d stepped on a pressure pad until the floor whooshed out from under him. He screamed out in shock as he fell.

“Krillin!” Goku cried as she reached out for her friend and Bulma and even Suno cried out in dismay. Until they all noticed that Krillin had fallen a grand total of two inches. Krillin looked down at the floor under him and tapped his foot against it in confusion. What kind of booby trap was this?

“I think you were supposed to fall into the magma,” Suno suggested. The idea was so ridiculous and so fortunate that the four couldn’t help but laugh. Krillin hopped out of the “pit” and they all made their way deeper into the caverns.

“So,” Suno said to Krillin after a while of avoiding booby traps and otherwise silence, “You and Goku are both trained by the Turtle Hermit?” She figured that if she tried talking to Krillin, maybe he wouldn’t be so weird about… everything.

“Yeah,” Krillin said with a nod. “And we both entered the Tenkaichi Budoukai this year. We even fought each other in the semifinals.”

“How’d that go?” Suno asked. Krillin gave a sideways glance to Goku and a look on his face that said “How do you think?” Suno giggled at that while Goku hummed a little tune to herself. She was happy that Suno and Krillin were talking. She wanted all her friends to be friends with each other.

“Before I trained under Master Roshi,” Krillin said, “I spent eight years with the Orin Monks. That… wasn’t fun but I learned the way of the Orin Temple which works pretty well when I put it together with what I learned from Roshi.” Suno’s eyebrows went up with slight interest.

“My Master told me about the Orin style before,” she said. “That’s where you use your opponent’s momentum against them, right? It’s a very defensive martial art.” Now it was Krillin’s turn to be surprised.

“You’re a martial artist, too?” he asked. Suno’s expression was more than a little defensive.

“Why? Is there a problem with that?” Once again, Krillin just looked at Goku. “Oh, right,” Suno said with a slight blush before continuing, “A-anyway, yes. I learned the Odori Style from Master Frost back home in Jingle Village,” she took a quick look around the tunnel and gave a somewhat bashful smile. “It’s a little too cramped here to demonstrate and it’s a little difficult to explain with words but maybe once we’re out of here, I could show you in a spar?” Krillin smiled at that.

“That sounds fun,” he said. Maybe Suno wasn’t so bad after all. The two of them followed after Goku with Bulma behind them. They weren’t quite friends yet but it was a start.

General Blue idly flipped through a magazine while sitting on the case that held Android Nine as two men carried it up the mountain. It was such a strange bit of good luck that a whole stack of these dirty documents had come fluttering down the mountain like a flock of birds. The walk had been so dreadfully boring that he’d welcomed the… “entertainment.” He obviously wasn’t going to walk and read up the mountain. He might twist an ankle. Besides, if any of his men had an issue with carrying him, he’d… well he wouldn’t kill them. He wasn’t a mindless savage like White or Silver. There would be paperwork to fill out and they’d have to stop and bury the body and next of kin would have to be notified. Not to mention that training new recruits took ages. He’d never killed one of his men. However, when they were insubordinate, he did beat them into submission. Which was oh so much more fun. It was, after all, how he’d dealt with Teal. He’d been such an arrogant brute when he’d first been assigned to Blue’s company and had said just the most hurtful things. Now he was the perfectly obedient little soldier.

Thinking of Teal made him wonder why he hadn’t heard back from the man. It had been nearly half an hour. How long could the task have possibly taken? Unless the super girl had far more allies than they’d expected. What if she had an entire army of strange freaks like herself? The thought made him shudder.

“Sir!” called a voice that broke the General from his thoughts. He peered over the edge of his magazine at a barrel-shaped boar man with purple fur. Sergeant… Mauve, was it? Really his fur was more of a Maroon, but Private Maroon was also in his troop. Funnily enough, he was a panda. But such was the lot of the color coordination in the Red Ribbon Army. General Blue hopped off the container with a sigh and rolled up his magazine in one hand.

“What is it, Sergeant?” he asked as he followed the beastman with both hands behind his back. Sergeant Mauve gestured to a luminous green patch on the wall of a tunnel in the side of the mountain. General Blue frowned at it and leaned in to inspect it. There were driplines running down the wall and it smelled of chemicals.

“This,” General Blue said while gesturing with his magazine like it was a baton, “Is no doubt the path that our little menace and her accomplices took to search for the Dragon Ball. Now who’s going to go in there and get her?” A frogman saluted and charged into the tunnel with flashlight in hand. General White tried to remember the man’s name as the other troops waited to see what happened. Then there was a bloodcurdling scream and a horrible… wet sound. After that, General Blue shrugged. The frogman’s name no longer mattered. “Someone go in there and fetch his corpse,” General Blue said casually as he hopped back up onto the container, “And hopefully the next person is a bit more careful, hmm?” He opened his magazine and turn the page. The picture made his cheeks redden and he let out a naughty chortle.

For the Red Ribbon soldiers, the tunnels were nothing short of nightmarish. Without a Dragon Radar to guide them, they would take wrong turns and get lost in endless mazes that lead to certain death. Spike pits, crushing rocks from above, spears from below, and arrows through the sides. Their horrified screams echoed hauntingly off the walls.

“Sounds like we’ve got company…” Krillin said nervously as another dying scream reached them.

“Sounds like we had company,” Bulma corrected him dryly. Goku frowned down at the Dragon Radar and shook it. “Hey, hey!” Bulma shouted and went to grab the Radar. “The heck are you doing?!” Goku frowned and showed it to her. She didn’t know why Bulma had to grab it, she was going to give it to her.

“Something’s wrong with the Dragon Radar,” Goku said as she let Bulma take the Radar. Now it was Bulma’s turn to frown and tap at the screen. The Dragon Ball was flickering all over the place!
“That doesn’t make any sense…” Bulma muttered and chewed on her bottom lip. What could be messing with the Dragon Radar’s sensors like this? She ran a finger over the wall and sucked her lips in and pushed them out. “Maybe this area of the volcano has a high sulfur content. That might create some interference.” She sighed and looked at the fork in the tunnel with one path to the left and one path to the right.

“Guess we have to split up,” Suno said reluctantly. She just hoped she wasn’t stuck with Bulma. Not that she disliked her but if there was anything dangerous on their path… the phrase “less than useless” jumped to mind.

“Me and Goku will take the left!” Krillin said suddenly and Suno fought the urge to roll her eyes. She was going to protest when Goku spoke up.

“Okay!” she said with an eager grin. This would be fun! She hadn’t seen Krillin in a couple of weeks and wanted to know how his training had been going. Suno fought the urge to groan by clenching and opening her fists.

“Then I guess that’s me and Suno,” Bulma said as she fished around for something she could spray her glowing paint on. Eventually, she just picked up a stick from the ground and sprayed half of it. She handed it to Krillin mostly because she didn’t trust Goku not to be tempted to eat it. Meanwhile, Goku handed Suno the Power Pole.

“Just in case there’s something extra bad in there,” Goku said before putting a hand over her mouth to whisper, “I know that Bulma isn’t much of a fighter.” The fact that Goku was actually trying to be discreet made Suno giggle which made Goku giggle in response.

“And just what’s so funny?” Bulma asked indignantly with her hands on her hips.

“Nothing, nothing!” Suno assured her with a wave even as they continued to giggle. Bulma huffed and headed down the right tunnel.

“C’mon!” she urged. Suno nodded and ran after her, stopping at the mouth of the tunnel to wave at Goku and Krillin before she disappeared. Goku waved back before she and Krillin headed down the left path.

Goku and Krillin walked down the tunnel for a while. She’d stopped hearing the Red Ribbon Army guys so they’d either given up or were too far away for her to hear. Not that she cared either way. They were jerks! It was nice to talk to Krillin again, though. He told her that Launch was learning martial arts really fast and that made Goku happy. She’d always liked Launch and had wanted to spar with her. Maybe now she’d be at the next Tenkaichi Budoukai! Yamcha was pushing himself really hard, too. He would even get Master Roshi to spar with him! That made Goku so jealous. She wished she could fight Master Roshi. She wondered if he was as good as Jackie Chun.

“I still haven’t been able to do the Kamehameha,” Krillin said glumly as they walked. “I’ve been trying ever since I saw you and Jackie Chun do it at the Tournament but I just can’t get it to work!” Goku gave her friend a reassuring smile and a pat on the back.

“You’ll figure it out!” she encouraged him. She felt kind of bad for Krillin sometimes. He always had such a hard time believing in himself. “If everything was easy, it wouldn’t feel good when you got it right!” That made Krillin smile which made Goku smile even more.

“Hey, Goku?” Krillin asked after a minute. Goku had been daydreaming about the next World Tournament and beating Jackie Chun this time when Krillin’s question brought her back to the present.

“Yeah?”

“You and Suno seem like pretty good friends,” he said. Goku blinked a few times and cocked her head to the side.

“Yeah?” she asked in confusion. Krillin chewed on his bottom lip before speaking again.

“It’s just that… you’ve only known her for a week.” Goku nodded but still didn’t really see Krillin’s point. “I mean, we’ve known each other for more than a year. So I’m still your best friend, right?” Krillin asked. Goku could tell in his voice that her friend really wanted an answer.

“Well, yeah!” Goku told him, “Just because I have new friends doesn’t mean I don’t like my old ones as much.” What kind of a silly question was that? That seemed to make Krillin happy which made Goku happy, too.

“You’re an amazing person, Son Goku,” Krillin said with a smile.

“Thanks!” Goku grinned before adding, “But I didn’t do anything” in a confused tone. Krillin just kept on smiling.

General Blue gave an exasperated sigh as the fifteenth man died in the volcano. This was getting just embarrassing. He hopped off of the container and tossed the magazine over his shoulder to fly back down the mountain. He’d finished with it a few minutes ago anyway.

“I just want you all to know how very disappointed I am with you,” he said with a schoolmaster’s disapproval, “Your poor showing today has made a ruination of the Blue company’s reputation and forced me to use this… thing,” he paused for a moment and stared at the number pad while he wracked his brain for the precise numerical combination that would release Gero’s latest mad creation. If more than two incorrect guesses were entered, a laser gun would pop out of the container and shoot the person dead. Finally he remembered the code and tapped it in. He stepped back when he heard something rumbling from inside.

The coffin opened with a dramatic hiss and a release of steam as the lid rose and slid away. The soldiers watched with bated breath and even General Blue was somewhat wary. There was a sudden blur of movement, a red-gray streak. It bolted for the cave in an erratic series of movements. One unfortunate man was standing between the Android and the cave and was sliced clean in half.

Android Nine skittered across the walls of the cave before hopping to the floor and then leaping onto the ceiling. There was neither rhyme nor reason to its movements as it charged forward blindly. It haphazardly triggered traps and steamrolled through wooden spears and raining rocks. Android Nine didn’t care about protocols or clear thinking. Its sensors searched only for the next warm bodies. Its artificial intelligence understood only one directive: to kill.

Bulma and Suno walked down the hallway in relatively awkward silence. It made Bulma uncomfortable. Even after their… incident earlier, it felt like Suno had a problem with her. Add it all to the fact that even with all the times Goku and Suno had told the story that she still didn’t really know the girl… she felt like she should fix that.

“So… Suno,” she began slowly. Suno just gave her a sideways glance and Bulma decided that was the most she was going to get for a reply and went with it, “What was it like in Jingle Village?” Suno’s expression brightened ever so slightly as she spoke.

“Well, it’s pretty cold most of the year but the snow is beautiful and we get a couple really nice months of spring,” her smile widened as she went on, “And I got to see the Northern Lights! Those were so amazing. I know other people see pictures and stuff but you really have to see it in person.” Then Suno shifted in a heartbeat to a level of biting sarcasm that surpassed even Bulma herself. “Oh, and then the Red Ribbon Army showed up and started oppressing everyone. That was fun.” Bulma winced.

“Well, I mean, okay, yeah,” she sucked on her lip and tried to think of something else to talk about. Usually when she was at school with her friends, one of the things they’d wind up complaining about were their parents. “So! Uh… what are your parents like?”

“My mom is a great cook,” Suno said, “and she can be kind of a huge worrier. She didn’t want me to get into martial arts but I did anyway.” That made Bulma smile. A little bit of rebellion to her. So maybe her and Suno could have something in common after all.

“Did you run away from home to go with Goku?” Bulm asked.

“No,” Suno said with a shake of her head, “Mom let me. She knew it was something I had to do.” Well, so much for that. “My mom says I’m a lot like my dad. He was strong and friendly and strong-willed. And he had a big, scratchy beard.”

“Well, what happened to him?”

“He died fighting the Red Ribbon Army.”

“Oh.” Well that killed the mood. It certainly explained a few things, though.

After a few minutes of even more awkward silence, they came to what looked like a dead end. Bulma walked towards it and held up her torch to discover that it wasn’t a dead end at all. It was a stone double door that had been cut into the rock. She even found grooves for handholds. Bulma grabbed at the handholds and pulled. Nothing happened so she pulled harder. Still nothing.

“Let me try,” Suno said and pushed her way to the doors. Bulma smirked and cocked an eyebrow.

“What, are you stronger than me?” she asked sarcastically as Suno reached up to grab the handholds herself.

“Yes,” Suno said bluntly before pulling on the handholds. Just as much nothing as Bulma had gotten. She grit her teeth and groaned with the effort and pulled harder. Some dust fell off the wall which made it barely more than nothing.

“Maybe there’s something we have to do get it to open,” Bulma suggested. “Let’s look around the room for some clues.” The tension between the two slowly dissolved or was at the very least put aside for the time in the face of some good old fashioned sleuthing. The two girls scoured every inch of the area around the door and found… nothing. Nothing but a hieroglyph over the door that looked a little bit like two people dancing.

“What, are we supposed to dance the door open?” Suno asked incredulously. There was a minute where the both of them clearly expected the other to do something. Finally, Bulma gave an exasperated sigh and began to do a very reluctant Twist.

Goku gave an aggravated groan when they reached the end of the hallway. There was nothing in the whole hallway. All that walking for nothing!

“I guess we need to go back and find Bulma and Suno,” Goku said and started to walk.

“Hold on, Goku,” Krillin said as he put a hand on her shoulder. “Maybe there’s a switch for a secret door or something!” ‘Hopefully,’ Krillin thought, ‘It’s a switch that won’t kill us.’ Krillin started to feel along the wall when something made him stop. There was a sudden change in the air, a tension. Like someone was staring at him. Slowly he and Goku turned and discovered that something was blocking their way.

To say that the thing standing between them and the rest of the hallway was something out of Krillin’s nightmares would give the things in his nightmares too much credit. It was a tall, humanoid machine, bigger than one of them standing on the other’s shoulders with spindly limbs and long, sinister fingers. The thing looked like some kind of awful puppet. Its face seemed to be permanently frozen in a horrified expression with a gaping mouth and two sunken black eyes. A red light came from the center of its chest that bathed the whole room in an unnerving glow and even overpowered the light from Krillin’s torch. From the way that the light reflected off its own body, Krillin could tell that whatever this… thing was was a machine.

The machine stood completely still as they stared at it. For an infinite second, the only sound was the strange hiss that the robot made that sent a fear deep into Krillin’s bones. Finally, and perhaps inevitably, Goku took a step towards it. Whether she was going to attack the robot or greet it would forever be a mystery. With that one step, the robot threw its head back and raised its hands to the sky as it let out a terrible shriek that blared like a siren. Goku backed away and grabbed at her ears in pain. The sound seemed to bother her even more than it did him, Krillin thought before he screwed his eyes shut. Even that siren was drowned out by the bizarre sound of… chainsaws?! Krillin slowly opened his eyes and the pair of young martial artists stared agape as every inch of the hellish marionette’s body was covered in screaming, whirring chainsaw blades. Krillin swallowed nervously as he and Goku slid into their guard stances. This was nuts.

Chapter Text

Goku frowned at the blade-covered monster that was bearing down on her and Krillin. She didn’t know how to attack it so she charged forward and threw a powerful punch to the chest of the machine. She was surprised that it didn’t try to block and she hit it dead on. Immediately though, she pulled her hand back and cried out in pain. She stared down at her knuckles in shock. She was bleeding. Not a cut, scrape, or busted lip like when she’d been in the world tournament, she was really bleeding.

“A-are you okay, Goku?” Krillin asked in horrorstruck shock. If this thing could hurt Goku like that then what chance did he have? She nodded and flexed her fingers. She put on a smile even though she winced.

“I’m fine,” she promised, “We just have to be careful!” No sooner had she said that then Android Nine charged at them in a flash of silver. They barely dodged in time as it swung one leg in a crescent kick that sliced through stone and showered sparks down onto them. They both rolled to their feet and, purely by accident, threw out simultaneous kiai waves that knocked the Android off its feet and sent up another shower of sparks when it landed. Goku gasped with stars in her eyes and clapped her hands to her cheeks. “You can do the kiai now, too?” she asked Krillin excitedly.

“Me and Yamcha pushed each other to learn it,” Krillin said with a grin. Goku clapped in appreciation and Krillin was so distracted by praise that he almost didn’t notice Android Nine barreling down on them. “Look out!” he cried in warning. They leaped simultaneously to the opposite sides and let Android Nine slam into the wall. “If we keep hitting it with kiai, it can’t touch us!” Goku nodded and the two of them quickly got into their guards as the robot charged at them again. Whatever else it was, the machine was fast. They threw swipes through the air and let out kiai, Goku’s distressingly trailed by blood, that slammed into the Android. This time, they only staggered it. They struck again but this time the Android dodged. It was learning. It clung by its feet to the ceiling and threw out its arm. To their shock, its hand shot out on a steel chain. Goku grabbed the chain out of the air and yanked Android Nine down to the ground. She swung it around, slamming it against the walls. Krillin smiled excitedly. It looked like they were going to beat this guy no problem! Until Krillin noticed that the more Goku did, the worse she started to bleed. “Be careful!” he cried.

Goku smiled despite the pain and shook her hand. “I’m fine!” she assured Krillin even as blood flew everywhere. Krillin paled at the sight but their attention was pulled away as the chain shifted in Goku’s hand. Android Nine slowly rose to its feet and several of its blades were chipped and bent. For a moment, that made them optimistic before the android shook the broken blades off like a dog shaking off water and new blades burst into place where the exposed metallic skeleton had been. Goku went to tug at the chain again but the android, seemingly in a fit of insanity, hacked the chain away and found itself with one less hand. At least until it grew another hand entirely out of sawblades.

Goku and Krillin went back into their guards as the Android’s siren wailed and its blades revved. Goku was determined to overcome this challenge. Krillin was determined not to scream and run. The three charged at one another, all screaming for different reasons.

Bulma had given up on unsuccessfully performing The Twist and was now trying her hand at The Running Man, standing in place as she pumped her arms backwards and moved her legs… well, as if she was running. The door was not impressed. Suno had been watching with her hands on her hips and shared the door’s opinion.

“Not that this isn’t fun,” she said dryly, “But why don’t I try?” With that, she put her hands across her chest and started kicking her legs out in front of her. Bulma stopped her dance to gawk at Suno incredulously before she burst into a fit of laughter.

“What kind of dance is that?!” she asked. Suno huffed but didn’t stop dancing.

“It’s a traditional dance back in Jingle Village!” she said defensively. Bulma gave a derisive snort and Suno’s face reddened. “Well let’s see you try something!” Bulma rose to the challenge and promptly flopped to the ground. Suno was so confused that she almost stopped dancing before Bulma suddenly started doing The Worm.

Goku and Krillin were sweating and breathing heavily with exertion as Android Nine was hunched over and waiting like an animal coiled and ready to strike. Goku winced as the sweat got into the cut on her hand. The good news was that it was the only cut she had gotten since they were using kiai to keep the android away. Krillin was pretty much unhurt for the same reason. The bad news was that they weren’t hurting the android much and it wasn’t getting tired. They’d need some way to hit it without having to actually touch it.

Android Nine made a strange clicking noise and tilted its head inquisitively to the side as if waiting for them to make a move. Goku reached for her Power Pole on her back… only for her fingers to run through empty air as she remembered that she’d given the Power Pole to Suno. Her eyes looked around the room for something she might use as a weapon when her eyes fell on the broken chain that the android had cut away. She went to reach for the chain but the second she made a move, a rocket-powered piece of chainsaw fired out at her. It was only Goku’s superhuman speed that kept her from losing a finger. She hopped back and looked at Krillin in a silent proposal of a plan. Krillin nodded his agreement and Goku ran for the chain. Android Nine launched another chainsaw at Goku but Krillin buffeted it away with a wave of kiai. It fired another but Krillin blocked it again. Now the machine’s full attention was on Krillin and it fired a barrage of self-replacing, rocket-powered chainsaw blades.

“How many chainsaws does this thing have?!” Krillin cried in exasperation as a few of the deflected blades still barely missed his shiny head which was all the shinier for his nervous sweating.

Several weeks earlier…

Archimedes Gero rubbed his mustache as he looked up at the bare-minimum mountain of chainsaws he’d requested and looked back down at his blueprints. His eyebrows furrowed in thought as he frowned and “hmmm’d” and “hrmmm’d” and had to come to a decision. Given the amount of chainsaws he had in relation to the design he had for Android Nine, he would either have to build an android that was ten thousand feet tall- which was a design that he both lacked the resources, time, and manpower for- or he would have to break the laws of physics.

“What the hell,” he muttered as he strapped on his mad science goggles and pulled on his mad science gloves. “I’ve always wanted to invent a pocket dimension!” He laughed a mad scientist laugh and got down to some mad science.

Goku swung the chain over her head so fast that she was creating an updraft as she kicked up a chunk of the floor and hit it at Android Nine to get its attention. It whirled on Goku and made another horrible metallic shriek as it prepared to charge. She let one end of the chain fly with a fraction of a second to spare. The steel wrapped around the mechanical monster and ensnared it. It squirmed and thrashed but Goku held it in a vice-like grip with all her strength.

“Now, Krillin!” she called. The monk nodded and moved his arms with blurring speed to strike the android with an unrelenting barrage of kiai from which it had no way to escape. It writhed and shrieked under Krillin’s assault before she yanked up on the chain to fling Android Nine into the air and yanked it back down to smash it into the ground. The walls shook and the floor cracked with the force of Goku’s slam. There was a long silence when the rumbling stopped and for a moment Goku and Krillin thought they had beaten it. Then there was a horrible wrenching sound as the chainsaws pushed against the chains and tore them apart. Android Nine stood slowly as the broken blades were once again replaced with new ones. It spread out its arms and legs in an X-shape and splayed its blades out wide. There was a flash of red and it was all the warning Goku needed. She sprinted over to Krillin as the cave was filled with a whirlwind of shrieking, screaming, bloodthirsty steel.

Suno was committing to what could only be described as the world’s most aggressive Riverdance while Bulma did an excessively competitive rendition of The Robot. They both came to a stop and took a tired breath.

“Well, this isn’t getting anywhere,” Suno said in exasperation. Bulma looked back up at the carving on the ceiling and frowned, tapping a finger against her bottom lip.

“There’s two people over the door,” she observed. “Maybe we have to… dance together?” Suno gave a resigned sigh and stood next to Bulma. They took a few steps back and leaned back before leaning forward, then turned to the side and sidestepped a few times to the left and the right before turning again. It was at this precise moment that they realized how awkward it was to do The Electric Slide to no music.

Sawblades were jutting out of the stone walls in all directions and the ringing in Krillin’s ears finally subsided from the horrible sound of metal on stone as the last few sparks slowly trickled down. Krillin opened his eyes to discover that he was unharmed and that Goku was standing in front of him with her arms spread wide. She was breathing heavily and Krillin had never seen her in such pain, not even when Jackie Chun had used the Bankoku Bikkuri Shou on her.

“G-Goku?” he asked in a tremulous voice. She gave him a pained smile and fell forward. It was only then that Krillin understood the source of Goku’s pain. Her back was a raw, bloody ruin with gashes along her arm, legs, and back; cuts going in every direction. His face paled before he looked back up to see Android Nine. It was bare and hunched forward. It turned to look at him with that same frozen, chilling expression. Krillin bit his lip and took a step back in a panic before he looked back down at Goku. She’d saved his life. If those blades could hurt Goku then they would have torn him to shreds.

A sudden and steely determination filled Krillin up. He wouldn’t run. He wouldn’t be afraid. Not anymore. Not when Goku needed him. Time seemed to slow down as Android Nine shrieked with murderous intent as the blades burst out all over its body again. It spread its limbs and splayed its chainsaws… and Krillin saw it. An exposure of the glowing red core. Krillin knew it was his only shot and he knew what he had to do. The six incense burns on his forehead glowed white as power filled his whole body and was drawn down to his hands as he put them at his sides.

“Kamehameha!” The bleam flew from his hands like a blue cyclone and struck Android Nine in the exposed core. It gave one last shriek as it exploded although this one seemed to hold more terror and pain than rage and hate, as if it knew that it were dying. Krillin threw himself to the ground as fiery shrapnel exploded in every direction. When everything had finally settled, Krillin got back up to his feet and carefully helped Goku up. “Can you walk?” he asked her. When she gave no reply, he put her over his shoulders and started to head out of the tunnel.

“Hey,” Goku said weakly as Krillin walked, “I knew you could do the Kamehameha.” Krillin smiled and nodded. She’d been right. Goku was usually right about those sorts of things. Krillin tried to blow sweat away as it dripped down his face since his hands were occupied. It was getting kind of warm...

General Blue heard an explosion and sighed. That probably meant that the ridiculous metal monster had been destroyed. This day was turning into a disaster.

“If you want something done right…” he muttered to himself as he undid his tie and unbuttoned his shirt to toss them both aside before handing his hat to one of his soldiers. With a weary sigh, he entered the cave.

Suno and Bulma were down to the last dance they could think of. They’d taken to singing a capella beats to make the dancing less awkward and were now swinging their hips from side to side in time. They stuck out their arms with the palms up before folding their arms one over the other. Then they brought their hands up behind their heads and down to their hips before throwing their arms up in the air at the music’s crescendo. They waited for a few seconds to see if anything would finally happen.

The door was still unimpressed. Suno shrieked in frustration and ran to the door, pounding her fists against the stone.

“We tried every stupid dance we could think of!” she moaned in impotent fury. Bulma joined her and the two beat a percussive demand on the doors.

“Open!” they cried in unison. “Open, open, open open, open!” Finally they threw their bodies against the doors… which flew open with no resistance. They laid there for a few moments in shock before rolling onto their backs and staring up at the ceiling. They looked at each other before slowly turning to look at the door’s hinges.

It was a push door.

They slowly looked at each other again. Bulma spoke, “This never happened. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

Bulma was the first to get up and held out a hand to help Suno to her feet. Suno smiled and took the hand as the two of them took stock of the room they’d danced their way into. It looked like some sort of burial chamber. A skeleton sat on a stone chair in the center of the room and was covered with somewhat crude jewelry and the walls were festooned with what they assumed were religious tokens. Standing behind the skeleton in a row were solemn-faced stone statues that were armed and armored. But most importantly of all was the Dragon Ball. It had landed oh-so perfectly in the skeleton’s hands.

Bulma took a few careful steps towards the skeleton with Suno close behind. They were both waiting for some new horrible trap to assail them as they tip-toed closer and closer. Bulma stuck out her tongue in concentration and wiped sweat from her forehead as she reached out with her other hand and delicately grabbed the Ball. Bulma went to pull the Ball away…

The “Crack!” that echoed off the walls made both girls want to jump out of their skin. Bulma slowly looked down at the Dragon Ball in her hands. There were also… hands in her hands. She fought the urge to scream and carefully pried the hands away and put them in the skeleton’s lap.

“Hey,” Suno whispered, “Did one of those statues move?” Bulma shook her head nervously and sucked in her lips. Statues didn’t move, right? One of the hands slid out of the skeleton’s lap and clattered to the floor. The two were so on-edge as it was that the sound made them shriek and run back the way they’d came with Bulma carrying the Dragon Ball high overhead.

Krillin heard the screaming and looked down the right pathway with concern. He had to jump back to avoid Bulma and Suno bowling him over as they ran right past him and were still screaming. Eventually they came back to him, running backwards. After that they stopped screaming.

“So, what’d you guys…” Bulma started to say before she noticed Goku on Krillin’s back. “Oh my gosh!” she gasped. “Put her down, quick!”

“What happened?” Suno asked with wide eyes. What could possibly hurt Goku this badly? She took off her knapsack and opened it as Krillin let Goku gently down. She pulled a canteen out of the bag as Krillin spoke.

“There was some kinda… chainsaw robot,” Krillin said numbly as Suno poured the water over Goku’s cuts. The other girl squirmed slightly. “I think it was the Red Ribbon Army’s. I mean, it had to be, right? She put herself between me and the blades and then… I blew it up with the Kamehameha.” Bulma, meanwhile, was taking off her shirt.

“What the heck are you doing?!” Suno asked incredulously. It became clear soon enough as Bulma tore her shirt into strips and crouched down to wrap the strips of cloth around Goku’s cuts. She fastened the strips with little knots and dumped the Dragon Ball into Suno’s knapsack before hefting Goku onto her shoulders like she was giving the other girl a piggy-back ride.

“Oof,” she muttered, “You’re heavy for not being very big.” Goku only groaned in reply. With that, the three continued their way back up the tunnel and towards the light of day.

“Hey,” Krillin said in a weary breath, “Does it seem… warmer to you guys?” They all blinked as they realized that, yes, it had gotten quite a bit warmer than when they’d started walking down the cave. It wasn’t just the fact that they were sweating because that could have come from physical exertion. The air was heavy and the ground under their feet was warm. Suddenly, the ground under their feet was also shaking. They blinked again before they started running in a panic.

“Stupid crappy magical piece of crap!” Bulma screamed in dismay. “Can’t even freeze a stupid volcano for more than twenty minutes!” They kept running as the rumbling seemed to grow worse and worse. The light seemed to grow brighter and it looked like they’d be able to get out of the cave no…

“Well, well, well,” said a shirtless, blue-eyed, and blonde-haired muscular man in blue pants and jackboots. Despite the terrifying circumstances, Bulma felt heat rise in her cheeks. “It appears you’ve done me a great service. I’m General Blue of the Red Ribbon Army,” he held out a hand towards them with a smug expression on his face. “Now give me the Dragon Ball.”

“No way!” Krillin and Suno said in unison as they moved into their guard stances. General Blue chuckled and adopted a guard of his own. It was, without a doubt, the strangest guard Suno had ever seen. He turned his hips to the side and that made enough sense but his back arm was pointed up and curled at the elbow as if he were flexing and his front arm was brought up with his forearm under his chin. Suno knew that Goku had said that Odori looked like dancing but this really looked like General Blue was going to dance with them. It seemed like a guard designed less for protection and more for… presentation.

“Then you have done me two kindnesses,” he said and bent his knees slightly. “Because now that you have defeated the doctor’s android, I can prove the superiority of man over machine. More specifically the Übermensch. You are welcome to try and defeat me but it is useless. You are children, merely human. I am something greater. I am the Übermensch. I have built myself into something superior. I was bred to be superior. The pinnacle of human achievement.” He stuck a thumb proudly against his muscled chest and grinned smugly, “Now come and face the ultimate human, the perfect human. Come and face the Übermensch.”

“You keep saying that word,” Bulma put in suddenly. “I don’t think that means what you think it means.” The fighters blinked but maintained their guards. “I mean,” she went on, “I guess technically an Übermensch could be seen as just a generic ‘superior’ man but it traditionally means a philosophical disconnect from the predetermined rights and wrongs of a society and living by your own moral-” Krillin cut her off by throwing a flying kick at General Blue’s face. “Hey, I wasn’t done!”

Krillin and Suno launched themselves at General Blue with ferocious attacks, Krillin’s confidence spurred on by having performed the Kamehameha. To General Blue’s credit, he was blocking their attacks and keeping pace with the pair. It was clear that he wasn’t entirely talk although he did seem to show a predilection for protecting his face. He struck back with elegant twisting kicks and almost unnaturally smooth punches and chops. Although when they hit, despite the man’s musculature, they didn’t seem to have as much weight behind them as they should. Clearly the General favored style over substance. General Blue went for a sweep that Krillin and Suno jumped over in unison. Suno struck first with a knifehand blow that the Blue just weaved out of the way of which left him open to a palm strike to the nose from Krillin. He slammed against a stony wall from the force of the impact and brought a hand up to his nose. He looked down as he pulled his hand away… and started to tremble when he saw his blood.

“Y-you…” he spat as his whole body shook with fury. “You ruined my face!” Bulma thought that was kind of an overreaction. He was still pretty handsome, it was just a bloody nose. “I’ll teach you to trifle with the mighty General Blue!” Something flashed in those crystalline blue eyes and suddenly… Krillin couldn’t move. He tried but his muscles wouldn’t listen. He couldn’t even speak! General Blue charged forward and drove a hard kick up into Krillin’s chest that launched him up into the air where he was battered with a series of lightning-fast jabs. Finally, General Blue raised one fist overhead and slammed it into Krillin’s back to drive him into the ground with a hammerfist strike. Now it was down to two. General Blue wiped his nose and turned his attention back to Suno. He took a calming breath and resumed his guard. “Now then,” he said, gesturing for her to approach him, “to the dance!”

They charged at each other and it truly was a dance. The both of them leaped and whirled through the air with spinning attacks, parrying each other and counterattacking and striking and retreating with blurring speed and elegant technique. Bulma supposed that, to someone who would be interested in this sort of thing, it would look really impressive. Goku would be loving this if she were lucid. Bulma herself didn’t have any time for this crap. The volcano was going to finish thawing at literally any second and she was still too pretty to die.

“Hey, hot stuff!” she called to General Blue. When he didn’t look, she whistled and squished her bra together to try and accentuate her C-Cup. “Over here!” she called in a singsong voice. Anything to get his attention and give Suno an opening.

“Give it a rest, child!” he scolded while never taking his eyes off of Suno. “As you say, I am pitching for the other team!” Bulma blinked as she figured out just what he had said.

“Oh, all right,” she said as she unslung the foam gun from her shoulder. “Screw it!” she muttered and fired. She’d never shot the gun at a person before but he seemed like a dick anyway. The beam struck him in the back and Suno jumped out of the way to avoid being trapped in the gelatinous purple mound with him. Krillin finally stood up as it seemed that General Blue’s control over him had been broken. “Let’s go!” Bulma shouted and the three of them ran again. Thankfully, there were no Red Ribbon soldiers for them to deal with as they’d run away when the mountain started to shake.

“Nimbus!” Suno called and she and Krillin jumped onto the cloud as it swooped down. Bulma threw Goku onto the cloud and strapped on her sonic discs and the four flew off.

“This is not over!” General Blue swore as they left him behind and the volcano continued to rumble more and more violently. “This cannot hold me! I cannot be defeated by such tricks! You have not seen the last of me! I swear it! I am the Übermen-” he was drowned out suddenly by the volcano’s eruption.

The foursome watched the volcano’s eruption from a safe distance. It was scary to think that had almost been them but at the same time there was something… strangely beautiful about the sight.

“Do you think that General Blue guy survived?” Krillin asked. Bulma shrugged.

“Who cares?” she said flippantly and looked down at the radar. “Okay, the next Dragon Ball is… that way!” she pointed off towards the east and they took off. Goku gave a sudden groan.

“What’d I miss?” she asked wearily as she started to sit up. The other three just laughed. Goku laughed too although she wasn’t sure why.

Mark Satan, better known by his “stage” name of Hercule, had really needed this trip back to North City. After his disastrous go in the Tenkaichi Budoukai, it was good to see his master again.

“I just don’t understand,” Mark told his master as the two sat in a noodle shop over two steaming bowls of udon noodles. “I trained so hard for so long and then I get kicked out in the first stage? It’s not fair, Master!” Mark angrily picked up a shrimp out of his noodle bowl and bit into it. Mark’s master, Lucian Ferris, was a great bull of a man that seemed to exclusively wear gi that were torn at the hems. His face had only two expressions; either a disapproving scowl or a proud smile. Three if you counted a distorted snarl of rage. He had thick gray eyebrows and a gray moustache. His head was bald save for two huge wings of gray hair that stuck off the sides of his head and connected to his gray mutton chops. He reached across the table and smacked Mark on the top of the head with the blade of his hand.

“I will not hear this whining from you!” he scolded and Mark looked down in embarrassment. Lucian struck him again. “You will look when I speak to you!” Mark winced and looked back up. “This man who defeated you. Did he disgrace himself in the tournament?”

“No,” Mark began to say and shook his head, “He won the who-” Master Lucien struck him again.

“I know he won!” he snapped. “You are my star pupil, do you think I do not take interest in your endeavours?” Mark wearily rubbed at the slowly-growing welt on the top of his head and said nothing. “So this man who defeated you was the best. An old master with skill and experience that you are not prepared for. This does not mean that you are weak. It means that you must grow stronger. I have faith in you.” Mark smiled gratefully.

“Thank you, Master,” he said with a bow of his head. The two ate their udon in silence for a few minutes before Master Lucien spoke again.

“It is not only your abilities as a fighter that I have faith in,” he told Mark. “I have faith in you as a person. You have a charisma to you, Mark. People listen when you speak. They believe in what you say. I see great things for you, my pupil. You will be a leader of men. A hero.” Mark bowed his head gratefully again and Lucien looked over his shoulder. He snickered and Mark looked up at him with one eyebrow raised. “The man behind you at the bar. Look at his hair.” Mark slowly looked over his shoulder.

The man sitting at the bar with his back to them was lean, dressed in green slacks and a beige polo shirt. He had jet black hair that was tied back in a ponytail that went down the middle of his back. There was a ribbon at the end of his hair and the ponytail was split into little spherical sections.

“The ribbon’s a little silly,” Mark said in a low voice, “But I don’t see-” Master Lucien cut him off with more snickers.

“Doesn’t it kind of look like a string of beads that women put up-” Master Lucien couldn’t finish the sentence before he broke down into laughter. Mark blinked and stared at the hair. Now he couldn’t unsee it and he was laughing too. They were reduced to helpless peals of laughter and Master Lucien was pounding his fist on the table. When they sat up and wiped the tears from their eyes… the man was standing in front of them. He had a hard, narrow face, beady dark eyes and a thin mustache.

“Is there some great joke that I have missed?” he asked with a cultured voice. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back and looked for all the world like someone who was supposed to be important. Master Lucien snickered again.

“Oh, nothing,” he said and broke into a grin. “It’s just… your hair!” The lean man raised an equally lean eyebrow.

“You are hardly one to talk,” he said while flicking a finger at one of Lucien’s silvery hair wings. Lucien’s eyes widened with rage and Mark knew that the ponytailed man had made a horrible mistake. Lucien Ferris took great pride in his hair. He stood up out of his seat and scowled down at the other man.

“I’ll teach you to mock me!” he snapped and dropped into a fighting stance. Before Mark could stop his master, he threw a powerful punch at the man, the kind of punch that Mark had seen shatter concrete pillars.

The other man stopped it with a finger.

“If my good clothes were not at the cleaners,” the man said irritably as Mark and his master stared in shock, “You would not have been so foolish as to mock me.” Lucien pulled his fist back and swung with a powerful right hook. “It’s not often that I kill someone for free,” the man said even as he effortlessly evaded Lucien’s blow. In the blink of an eye he drove two fingers into Lucien’s chest and punctured his heart. Then he used those same two fingers to crush his windpipe and finally drove those fingers into Lucien’s brain. All too fast for Mark to see. He pulled the fingers away and Lucien slumped back into his seat. Dead. The man turned and started to walk for the door as Mark stared at his master’s corpse in shock.

“Master?” he asked in a whisper. It was a struggle to get the word out, his voice thick with sorrow and disbelief. How… how could Master Lucien die so easily? Mark couldn’t just let the man get away with this! He stood up from his seat with tears in his eyes and charged the man. “You bastard!” he screamed and let out a roar as he leaped into the air to attack. The man turned and with two strikes dislocated Mark’s left hip and right shoulder. With one thumb, he sent Mark hurtling through a window to smash into a car in the street. As Mark sat in absolute agony and as unconsciousness came to swallow him up, he could only think of one thing: He had to get stronger.

Tao Pai Pai sighed as he headed out the door. He really hadn’t wanted to kill anyone today. Not because he had a problem with killing- he was an assassin- killing was work but that was precisely the issue, he reflected as he walked down the street. Because killing was work, he tried not to take that work home. Besides, he was having a sale today. Who was going to pay fifty million zeni for him to murder someone when he’d kill them for free if he was angry enough?

“Excuse me,” said a young woman’s voice. “Mercenary Tao?” He looked around and his eyes fell on a young woman with blue-green eyes and purple hair cut in that “flapper” style. How… how had she snuck up on him? She wore a green sleeveless shirt with the insignia of the Red Ribbon Army as well as orange pants and dark red boots. “My name is Colonel Violet. I’m with the Red Ribbon Army. My commander understands you’re having a sale today?” Tao smiled to himself and cracked his knuckles.

“Indeed I am,” he said, unable to hide the murderous twinkle in his eye.

Chapter Text

Tao Pai Pai sat in a chair in front of the desk of Commander Red in the headquarters of the Red Ribbon Army and was rolling a Dragon Ball around in his hand. He was dressed now in his good mercenary clothes: a purple undersuit with a pink longcoat with the character for “Kill” emblazoned on the breast. Perhaps not the most subtle of attires but when you were the most powerful being on the planet, why be subtle? He’d been blindfolded after picking up his change of clothes and airlifted to this fancy little fortress. How droll.

“So if I understand you correctly,” Tao said as he looked up from the ball in his hand to the ginger dwarf with a cybernetic eye with his tall, black associate and Colonel Violet standing by his side on the other side of the desk, “When you collect all seven of these pretty little baubles, a great big dragon comes out of the sky and will grant you any wish?” His voice was thick with mock wonder as he smirked and placed the ball down on the desk alongside a second ball. “How quaint.”

“Yes,” Commander Red agreed with his brow furrowed in frustration. He had the look of a man who did not enjoy being talked down to but was not in a position to do anything about it. “We started with just the one Dragon Ball you were holding before and Colonel Violet found the second just recently.” The purple-haired girl smirked proudly beside him.

“And you mean to tell me,” Tao said as he brought his fist up to his mouth to cover a dignified chuckle, “That with all your military might, you are still being bested by two little girls?” He laughed aloud and felt the hate on him from every eye in the room, especially the eyes belonging to the blonde man sitting sullenly in the corner behind him. His laughter died down to a chortle as he crossed one leg over the other. “Very well. I shall kill these oh-so troublesome children. My price is five hundred million zeni per head.”

“I thought you were having a sale!” the large man balked. Tao smirked.

“I am,” he said. “I could be charging the traditional billion zeni per person.” Commander Red… reddened and leaned over the desk.

“We only need one girl dead,” he said through gritted teeth. “Her allies are resourceful in their own rights but the girl in orange with the spiky black hair is superhuman. Kill her and nothing will stand in our way!” Tao Pai Pai chuckled again. “Superhuman.” Really. He had lived for nearly three hundred years. Some of the first things he had seen when he had been brought into the world were demons. What did fools like these know of “superhuman?”

“Enough of this!” the blonde man blurted angrily as he stood up from his chair. “Mein Fuhrer, we do not have to listen to his mockery!” He stalked towards Tao and he idly considered if it would even be worth using his hands to kill the man.

“General Blue!” Commander Red scolded, “You will sit back down! Your track record is the only thing keeping you alive after that miserable debacle at the volcano! I lost nearly a hundred soldiers and one of Gero’s damnably expensive robots because of your bungling!” The General winced at the wound to his pride but would not sit down.

“But I am prepared for them now, Mein Fuhrer! I know what they are capable of. They will not defeat me a second time!” He pointed an accusing finger at Tao and his finger quivered inches away from his nose. “We do not need to pay this brute his blood money! I will do it myself! No one can overcome the Übermensch!” Tao rolled his eyes as he stood up from his chair and walked to the other side of the room.

“Very well,” he said with his arms clasped behind his back. “Attack me.” They all stared at him for a moment and he gave a weary sigh. People could be so slow. “If you can defeat me, then I will leave and you can take on this little demon girl all by yourself.” General Blue smirked and slid into a ridiculous guard. “You should know,” Tao said, “That when I kill you, I shall do it without even using my hands.” General Blue screamed and charged at him. Tao hopped over him effortlessly and landed on the other side of the room by barely bending his legs. He could feel the air move as the General wheeled around and charged again without ever turning to face him. Blue threw a spinning kick at his back that Tao avoided by bending over backwards with his back parallel to the floor. Tao launched himself away still parallel and straightened up again. Now he stood stock-still as the other man attacked with with a series of strikes that he was sure any other person would regard as quite fast. But to him? Tediously slow. As easy to anticipate and dodge as lazily-hurled fistfuls of mashed potato. General Blue was gasping for breath and sweating profusely. Tao smirked and brushed a bit of dust off his shoulder which only seemed to incense the young general all the more.

“I… I am Siegfried von Heigel!” he spat through gulps of air as he tried to hide the fear in his voice. “I am the General of the Blue Division of the Red Ribbon Army and I demand your respect!” He raised an arm up high for a chop that would have surely snapped the neck of a lesser man and his eyes flashed with some strange power.

But Tao Pai Pai was no lesser man.

“No,” he said coldly, “You demand my attention.” He pivoted effortlessly to the side and stuck out his tongue before driving it into the General’s temple. Siegfried froze in place and let out his life’s breath before collapsing in a heap, dead on the spot. Tao nodded succinctly and returned to his chair. “Now then,” he said as he leaned forward on his elbows and steepled his fingers. “Tell me about the girl.”

As it had turned out, it was not a straight line to the next Dragon Ball. The four had started off that way before realizing that Goku’s wounds needed to be properly treated so they returned to Kame House where Master Roshi thankfully had a full first aid kit. That was Goku’s introduction to rubbing alcohol and it was certainly… an experience. It had taken all four of them plus Puar to hold Goku down while Roshi cleaned her wounds. Then she had to be dressed in proper bandages and was given a new gi.

Krillin decided to stay behind and continue his training while Bulma decided to go home. Between nearly dying in a volcano, losing a shirt, and seeing more of her parents’ porn than she ever wanted to know existed; she decided that was enough adventure for one day. She did, however, give Suno and Goku her phone number so that they could contact her if they thought they needed her help.

So, with that, it was back to Goku and Suno on the Nimbus and flying across the globe. As the pair followed the Radar’s path to the Dragon Ball, Suno spotted something on the horizon that made her rub her eyes in disbelief.

“Hey Goku,” she said and gave the other girl a tap on the shoulder to get her attention. Goku looked up from the Radar and turned to look at Suno.

“Yeah?” she asked. Suno just pointed ahead and Goku turned around again and gave a gasp of surprise. Off in the distance was some sort of… tower. It stretched high into the sky above the trees. It was even taller than mountains and got lost in the clouds. “Woooow,” Goku whispered in wonder. “What is it?”

“I don’t know,” Suno admitted as they got closer. It was crazy to look at. It was taller than anything that occurred in nature or made by man. On top of that, it was structurally impossible. Anything that tall would collapse from its own weight if it were that thin without even weight distribution. And why would you even need to build something that tall? Staring at it for too long was starting to make Suno’s head hurt. Which was a problem as they were flying closer to it. “Is that where the Dragon Ball is?” she asked with a strange hint of dread. The tower didn’t seem ominous to her, it was just… different.

Goku looked down at the Radar and nodded. “Yup!” she said excitedly. She thought the tower looked awesome and was already wondering what was at the top. Someone really strong to fight? Someone who would teach her an amazing new technique? Even if the Dragon Ball wasn’t at the top of the tower, it would still be fun to come back and find out someday.

The cloud descended to the ground and the pair hopped off. Suno followed Goku as she continued to follow the Dragon Radar. Suno found herself enjoying the sounds and sights of nature. From the chirping birds to the soft bubbling of water running down a stream; the bright green leaves and grass underfoot to the warm breeze. It was so different from Jingle Village. She would always be grateful, no matter what else, for all these different places that she got to see because of Goku.

Suno was suddenly taken out of her rather peaceful thoughts when her foot sunk into a patch of soft earth. She gave a surprised cry as she found herself stuck and Goku turned around to help her out. Suno’s shoe felt… wet. She stared at the patch of dirt she’d gotten her shoe stuck in. It was a pretty big patch of recently upturned earth. They looked around and realized there were several of those patches of dirt around them. Patches about the size of… people.

“Graves,” Suno muttered numbly. “They’re graves.” She looked down at the shoe she’d gotten stuck. It was a little red. “... Fresh graves.” There was a sudden rustling of the trees and Goku and Suno moved into their guard stances. Coming out of the trees was the third largest person either of them had ever seen. His skin was a deep bronze and his coal black hair was tied back in a ponytail. He wore brown pants and brown moccasins. They watched his enormous chest rise and fall and realized that this was no android.

“I am Bora. Who are you?” he asked in a deep voice. “Why have you come to this sacred ground?” Suno noticed a young boy peeking from behind the massive man’s leg who looked almost a child version of the larger man, wearing a hide vest with a feather in his hair.

“I’m Son Goku,” Goku said, “And this is my friend Suno. We’re looking for the Dragon Balls so the Red Ribbon Army can’t get them.” Bora’s face darkened when Goku mentioned the Red Ribbon Army. “Have you heard about them?” Goku asked and Suno was surprised by her intuition.

“You stand among them,” he said bluntly and the understanding of that statement made Suno move a little bit closer to Goku. “These men came to attack my home, defiling the sacred Korin land with their weapons of war. They attempted to steal my son Upa from me.” Upa peered from behind his father’s leg before disappearing from view again. “This Dragon Ball. If I give it to you, these Red Ribbon men will no longer trouble my village?” Goku nodded eagerly. “Very well then.” Then Bora disappeared back into the trees. He returned a few moments later clutching something in his enormous fist. He opened his hand to display what he held and Goku gasped in surprise.

“The Four Star Ball!” Goku shouted in a voice thick with emotion. She grabbed it out of Bora’s hand and pressed it to her chest. She held the crystal as close as she could and ran a hand over the surface and never wanted to let it go. After more than a year, she finally had it back! “Grandpa,” she whispered as a few tears splashed onto the ball and ran down its smooth surface. Suno was stunned. She’d never seen Goku so emotional. Goku wiped her eyes and smiled up at Bora. “Thank you, mister!” she said gratefully. Bora smiled and nodded.

“If you truly intend to fight this Red army then that is the least I can do,” he said. Goku nodded and sniffled.

“I have a question,” she said when her emotions had subsided. “What’s with the big tower?” Suno suddenly realized just how close they were to the tower. It wasn’t even ten yards away! She must have not noticed in all of the excitement.

“That,” Bora explained, “Is Korin Tower. It is that for which this land is named. No one knows who built it or where it came from. Some legends say it rose out of the ground one day. Others that it was planted by the gods.” As Bora spoke, Upa looked up into the sky and followed something that no one else noticed. “All the same,” Bora continued, “The legends say that if you climb all the way to the top of the tower and do not falter no matter how tired you become, the tower’s master will give you Holy Water to drink and it will make you strong.” There was a sudden booming crash that grabbed everyone’s attention with Goku and Suno whirling around to see what it was.

There was an orange stone pillar sticking out of the ground at an angle as it if had fallen there. Standing perfectly still on top of that pillar with his hands behind his back was a thin man in a pink longcoat that said “Kill” on it. Suno instantly knew that the man was an assassin.

“Hello there,” the man greeted them genially as he hopped down from the stone pillar. “My name is Tao Pai Pai but you will address me as Mercenary Tao.” His shark-like eyes fell Son Goku and she scowled at him in response. “Ah,” he said with mock pleasantness, “You must be Son Goku!” He moved his hands from behind his back and clasped them together eagerly. “It seems you’ve been a very busy little girl. You’ve made someone very rich very angry. And I’m afraid I have to kill you.” He didn’t sound very apologetic to Suno. Before either Suno or Goku could attack, Bora stepped in front of them.

“You will not harm these children,” he declared and reached behind his back. Tao Pai Pai raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

“Oh no?” he asked sardonically. “And why is that?” Bora produced a tomahawk from behind his back that was big enough to be a fireax in another man’s hand.

“I will not let you,” Bora declared and took a fighting stance. Tao Pai Pai had yet to move into any sort of guard. Bora raised the tomahawk high overhead and hurled it at Tao with such speed that it was a spinning silver disc as it came towards him. Not Upa, not Suno, not even Goku saw what happened next.

In one moment, the tomahawk was flying at Tao.

In the next, it was buried in Bora’s skull up through his chin. The giant of a man’s face was frozen in pain and shock as he gave a gurgle and collapsed to the ground.

“Papa!” Upa cried with tears in his eyes and ran to his father. He fell to his knees and broke down into hysterical sobbing, his face buried in the dead man’s stomach. Goku glared at Tao with loathing.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Suno cried in disbelief. How could someone just… do something like that?

“You’re gonna pay for that, Tao Pai Pai!” Goku declared with her fists shaking with rage. She couldn’t let him just do something like this!

“Mercenary Tao,” Tao corrected and glared at them. “Children, I am a fuckmothering mercenary. I have killed an astounding number of people for an obscene amount of money to earn this title and I will be addressed as such.” Goku roared with rage and charged Tao with a flurry of blows. She was going to make him pay!

Suno stood in shock as Goku attacked. She had never seen Goku so angry; she was attacking faster than ever! However, without even looking like he was moving, Tao Pai Pai was dodging them all. Suddenly, Goku was sent flying away to crash painfully against the base of Korin Tower. It was only because Tao Pai Pai was still holding his leg out that Suno even knew that Goku had been kicked. He was so fast. He looked at Goku’s gi and chuckled.

“Ah,” he said, “She must have been a Turtle School student. How fortuitous. My brother has a particular loathing for the old pervert.” He turned his back to Goku and headed towards the pillar he’d been standing on as he spoke. “It’s funny, I was wondering what to get him for his birthday,” as he continued, Suno saw Goku slowly rise to her feet and cup her hands to her side, “What could be a better present than the murder of one of his hated enemy’s students?”

“Kamehameha!” Goku thrust her hands forward and Tao Pai Pai whirled around to face it but was too slow to react and the beam hit him dead on. Suno felt relief wash over her. She’d seen Goku use the Kamehameha to blow up robots and tanks and buildings. Tao Pai Pai was just a man. A man who’d let his arrogance get the best of him and now he was…

The smoke cleared and Tao was unharmed. His clothes had been reduced to ash save for his underwear but he himself was untouched. It would have looked funny if it weren’t absolutely terrifying. All he had done to defend himself was throw up a cross-armed block. Goku was stunned. That was her best shot. Now she was too tired to do anything else. Even Jackie Chun wasn’t this strong!

A strange feeling filled Goku at that moment. It started as a cold numbness in her stomach and spread through her entire body. For the first time in her life, Goku was afraid.

Tao dropped out of his guard and brushed soot off of his forearm. He looked almost impressed. “That,” he said with amusement, “Must be the famous ‘Turtle Destruction Wave’ I’ve heard so much about,” he scoffed. “A cute enough technique, I suppose.” He thrust out his arm at Goku and extended one finger. “Now witness the superior killing power of the Crane School! Dodonpa!” A bright beam of yellow light shot out of Tao’s finger and sounded like a cannon going off. The beam struck Goku in the heart and she fell to the ground.

Suno stared blankly at her friend’s body. This was no supercharged bullet this time. There was no way around this one. Goku was dead and she was about to be with her. Tao Pai Pai walked towards her and she was frozen in fear.

“These are where the Dragon Balls are, yes?” he asked as he plucked the knapsack off her back. She didn’t even try to stop him. He reached in and found the three Dragon Balls before throwing the bag back in her face. “What a shame,” Tao muttered in disappointment, “Commander Red made you seem like a challenge.” With one hand, he plucked the pillar out of the ground and hurtled it into the air like a javelin. He jumped up to land on it and disappear on the horizon.

Suno collapsed to her knees. The pleasant sounds of the forest were gone. Now there was only the solemn whistle of the wind and Upa’s broken sobbing.

Chapter Text

Cyril Rosewood was sitting in a restaurant where he wouldn’t normally be allowed but his father had been an oil baron so he’d inherited a lot of money. Combined that with the fortune he’d made from alternative energy sources like solar power and he could throw a lot of money to eat wherever he damn well pleased.

Despite that, he still felt a certain… emptiness. He needed to do something with his life. He wanted to write his name large across the wall of history. But he didn’t know how. He was not a thinker, he paid thinkers. He did not have the body to be a great warrior. He had the intellect and the drive to be a king but no one would take him seriously with his condition.

So he had been miserably pushing a porterhouse around on a plate and having an existential crisis. That was when he came into his life.

He’d been a tall man. That alone had bothered him but the son was a giant. That infuriated him. They both had red hair, even if the son had that ridiculous mohawk. That put him at some small level of ease. Finding people like him even in the smallest ways was always a comfort.

“Adrian, see that we are not disturbed,” the man had said as he sat down at the table of the man who was not yet Commander Red.

“Yes, Father,” the boy had said before walking off. The man turned his attention back to Red.

“My name is Archimedes Gero,” the man said as if that were supposed to mean anything. “You must be Cyril Rosewood.” Gero leaned forward on the table and Rosewood had leaned away.

“I must be,” Cyril had said as he sipped his glass of merlot, “So what the hell is it to you?” Gero had smiled then. It was a smile that looked straight into his bones.

“Do you know what I see when I look at you, Mr. Rosewood? It’s not what you’re thinking. A man such as myself looks beyond petty physical attributes. What I see is a man in desperate search of a destiny. A man who knows he is destined for greatness but does not know what that greatness might be.” He sat back in his chair and folded his hands one over the other. “Cyril, how would you like to be the man who saves the human race?” Cyril had stopped and blinked at that. He rubbed his jaw and thought. “Cyril Rosewood: Savior of Humanity”. It wasn’t bad.

“Mr. Gero,” Cyril had said as he produced a cigar from his breast pocket, “You had my curiosity,” he put the cigar in his mouth and lit it, “But now you have my attention.” He took a few puffs as Gero continued to speak.

“Yes, thank you. But it’s Doctor Gero,” he corrected. Cyril had shrugged at that and Gero had seemed irritated but pressed on. “Now I don’t mean to be metaphorical when I say that you would save the human race. It is not a threat such as religious intolerance or famine or pestilence or war. No, the true threat to humanity…” he leaned forward again and gave a conspiratorial whisper, “Is aliens.” Even now a part of Commander Red feels like he should have cut and run right there. He might have if Gero didn’t have evidence. “I’m not some crackpot trying to take advantage of your vast fortune, Mr. Rosewood,” Gero had assured him, “I have evidence.” From seemingly nowhere, Gero had produced a folder and opened its contents in front of him. Cyril sifted through documents, star charts, eyewitness accounts, and photographs.

“What exactly am I looking at here?” he asked suspiciously as he tapped his finger against a particular photograph. It was a picture of a mountain with some… thing perched on top of it. It was oblong in nature with four spires pointing out from the front, one in the back, and four coming out of the bottom. It looked like some sort of insect.

“This is a satellite image I took several months ago of what could only be an alien spacecraft,” Gero explained. He pulled a pen out of his pocket and gestured to certain areas of the craft. “Based on the erosion of the mountain itself the the growth of moss and calcification, I would wager that this craft landed on Earth over half a millennium ago.” He pulled out another photograph and laid it on top of the first. This one was of a large crater somewhere out in the wilderness. There was an object in the crater but it was too small to make out the specifics of. “This satellite photograph was taken a little more than a decade ago. It is of a smaller craft, obviously.” He took the documents and tucked them back into the folder as he spoke, “I know this is a lot of information to take in so suddenly so allow me to explain,” he folded his hands and his expression was deadly serious. “At the absolute best, aliens have been living among the human race for nearly a thousand years, shaping our planet’s history and culture to suit their needs. Ten years ago, they called for some sort of scout to inspect the planet. It may not be very long at all before this world is crawling with an alien menace that we have been psychologically, emotionally, and sociologically engineered to be incapable of dealing with. At the worst?” Gero took in a deep breath and paused for effect, “At the worst, the first half of that statement is still true but that scout isn’t of their species. It’s of an enemy. Before we know what to do, the Earth could very well become the battlefield of a cosmic war the likes of which we could not possibly imagine.” When this conversation had started, Cyril had been sure the man was insane. Now he was drenched in a cold sweat and his hands were trembling as he reached for a handkerchief to wipe the sweat away.

“W-what do we…” he started to say before he cleared his throat. He pounded a fist on the table and tried to put some authority back in his voice, “We’ve got to do something, damn it!” he said boldly. “What’s your plan, Archimedes? Whatever it is, I’ll pool all my resources into it! We can save humanity!” Gero smiled and looked visibly relieved.

“I knew I could count on a man of your principles, Cyril. I’ve tried talking to everyone. I was even granted an audience with the King himself! But they all laughed at me, the simpletons…” his face darkened and his hands balled into fists. Then his rage vanished as quickly as it came and he continued, “You, Cyril, you are a man of conviction! A man of destiny!” He leaned forward with a glint in his eyes. “Here is what we will do.”

Then Gero laid it all out so perfectly. It was all so sensible. To build a grand army, the Red Ribbon Army. Trained to be absolutely ruthless, an army that did not care about ethics or “rules of war”. An army that would not mediate, would not keep peace. An army of only the strongest and most strong-willed people on the planet. An army that could not be stopped. They would put an end to religious and cultural squabbles by force. To put the focus of mankind on preparation for the coming alien menace. However, even the army itself had only been the start.

“Human beings,” Gero had explained, “Are such a frail and weak race. We are slow. We lack strength. We have no great powers. But I will make us better.” So a certain portion of funds had been set aside for Gero to begin his research and development towards full cyborgification. To show his conviction and dedication to the cause, Commander Red had been the first person in the army to undergo the procedure when he’d had a new cybernetic eye placed to replace the one he’d lost in an energy plant explosion years before.

Then Adrian had died and everything had gone to pot. The boy had been a field medic and died in the line of fire during a conflict with Royal military. Gero had been despondent for weeks. He didn’t answer calls and he didn’t send in any progress reports. Red had gone to the effort of actually seeing Gero in person to shake him out of his funk.

“He was such a good boy,” Gero had moaned in a drunken stupor, “He was gentle and bright. He was no fighter! I shouldn’t have let him go. But he wanted to help! He… he believed in our cause!” That had been the last time Red had seen Gero in person, leaving him a sobbing wreck in his lab. But just as quickly as the melancholy had come, it had passed. Gero threw himself back into his work with a manic energy. Something about “not letting his son die for nothing” or something. Red hadn’t been paying much attention. He had his own motive: the Dragon Balls. He’d heard about The Eternal Dragon being summoned almost two years ago and had dedicated a few select task forces to seeking them out. He knew of their fantastic power from stories and was filled with a desperate desire now that he knew they were real. Once he’d made his wish, no one would ever look down on Commander Red again.

A sudden shaking on his shoulder woke Commander Red and brought him back the the present. He blearily blinked his one eye and looked up to see Officer Black looking down at him.

“Our Radar detects that Tao Pai Pai has been successful,” he said as he handed Commander Red a sheet of paper. “This is a printout of the latest map reading from our Radar based upon his last location.” Commander Red looked at the map and frowned. He tapped three circles on the map with his index finger.

“This is no good,” he said with clear disappointment. “There should have been four Dragon Balls on the girl!” He picked up his phone and dialed with great apprehension.

Once they were emotionally stable enough for the task, Suno and Upa began to dig graves for Bora and Goku. They started with Bora’s because he was the far larger of the two. Even between the two of them, the grave wasn’t especially deep. Half of the labor had been moving Bora’s massive frame into the hole between the two of them.

“So whatcha guys doing?” Goku asked them suddenly.

“Burying Papa,” Upa said sullenly without thinking. “After this we have to bury…” he stopped as he and Suno turned around and stared at Goku. She waved and then Suno tackled Goku and laughed even as she cried.

“Goku!” she shouted jubilantly before shoving her lightly, “Stop doing that! You’re going to give me a heart attack!” Goku grinned as Suno hugged her again. “But how did you survive?” she asked. “That beam hit you right in the chest!” Goku looked down at the hole in her shirt and pulled out her Four Star ball.

“I guess Grandpa was looking out for me!” she said as her grin grew wider. Then it faded away as suddenly as it appeared and Goku sighed. She slumped forward and put her hands on her knees and looked… sad.

“Goku?” Suno asked. “Are you okay?” Goku shook her head. “What’s wrong?”

“I just…” Goku squeezed her knees and chewed her lip, “I don’t know what to do! He’s so much stronger and faster! I can’t let him get away with this but I don’t know how to beat him! I don’t even know if Master Roshi could beat him.” Suno looked down at Goku’s hands. They… they were shaking.

“Goku,” she asked softly, “Are you afraid?” Goku nodded slowly. Something about that scared her even more than anything Tao Pai Pai himself had done. If Goku could be afraid then what chance did any of them have?

“Hey!” Upa said suddenly. The two of them whipped their heads around to see the young boy angrily wiping tears from his eyes. “Climb the tower!” he said while pointing at Korin Tower as if he was accusing it of something. “You’ll get stronger if you get all the way to the top, remember?” He balled his fists and glared at them. “My papa died for you. If one of you doesn’t climb the tower, I will!” Suno and Goku stared up at the tower.

“It’s worth a shot,” Suno muttered with a shrug. Goku nodded and leaped up high into the air to latch onto the tower. She needed less than a second to get her bearings before she scrambled up the tower and vanished out of sight.

Goku ran up and up Korin Tower in a blur. She wasn’t looking up or down as she climbed but she was sure she had to be halfway up! She took a second to catch her breath and looked up. The top of the tower didn’t look any closer. She decided that she must have just been climbing slow and risked a look down. The ground was dizzyingly far away and she could see clouds. The world below was endless green with streaks of blue rivers. Which was nice to look at while she was flying on Nimbus but Nimbus wasn’t there. She could call for it but she knew that would be cheating. Goku took a deep breath and looked back up before she started climbing.

Even when climbing as fast as she could, it took a long time. She started to get sleepy when the sun went down so she took a nap. When the sunrise first broke over the horizon, she woke back up and took a minute to enjoy the view. She climbed and climbed and it just went on forever. Her muscles hurt and she was getting hungry and she was tired again. But she couldn’t let herself stop. She had to beat Tao Pai Pai! The sun was high in the sky and she finally started to see something. Was this the top of the tower? She put on an extra burst of speed in excitement.

Tao Pai Pai had returned to the town where he had killed one fool and hospitalized the other to get a new suit made. He was holding a photograph up for the tailor and scowling at him intensely.

“I… I think I can do that in a week,” the tailor stammered out as he sweat profusely. He was a bronze-skinned man with a thick mustachio. Tao leaned on the counter and put the slightest pressure on the wood. A spiderweb of cracks burst onto the surface under his fingertips.

“You have. Three. Days.” he said sternly. He wasn’t going to spend a week walking around in his underwear like some kind of voyeur. He had his dignity to consider. The man nodded with vigorous terror as Tao Pai Pai’s phone rang. Pulling it from… somewhere, he saw that it was Commander Red and answered. “I trust you have already wired the money to my account? I assure you that the girl is quite dead,” he said with a practiced arrogance. He propped the phone between shoulder and ear and picked at the nails of one hand with one of the tailor’s sewing needles, having plucked it out of the man’s shirt.

“I’m not wiring you anything yet!” the commander snapped. It was at that moment that Tao regretted that he had never learned the ability to kill people with his mind.

“And why not?” he asked icily. He smirked to himself as he heard a tremulous stammer in the other man’s voice before he spoke again.

“You only found three Dragon Balls! The girl should have had four on her person!” Tao scoffed.

“I am a mercenary,” he scolded. “Not a treasure hunter. Send some of your footsoldiers to do it. I did the work I was paid for.”

“You will be paid when you have brought me all four balls!” Commander Red blustered. Tao sighed. If nothing else, he had to admire the man’s fortitude.

“Very well,” Tao relented. “I will go and find the fourth ball. It will take three days. But if I have to kill her again, I’m charging double.” He hung up befor Commander Red could say anything else and smirked to himself. It was good to be bad.

Chapter Text

Suno quietly sighed as Goku disappeared from view. Everything had been happening at such a dizzyingly fast pace that she was afraid she’d miss everything if she so much as blinked. She now had time to stop and gather herself but that only made her realize that she kinda didn’t want to. Back in Jingle Village, she had all the time in the world to contemplate things and not much ever really happened even after the Red Ribbon Army took over. Ever since Goku arrived, things had been happening non-stop and she found that very much enjoyed it. Even that door incident with Bulma had been more fun than she could ever recall having.

This realization, however, did not help her much since she wasn’t quite sure what to do next. She couldn’t just sit around and do nothing for however long Goku was going to take. Upa seemed nice enough but, given how she was indirectly responsible for the death of the boy’s father, she didn’t feel comfortable with making small talk. While she understood what he was going through all too well, that was all the more reason for her to give him some space. The pity the villagers showed her just made it hurt worse.

Suno crossed her arms and hummed as she stared up at Korin’s Tower. Since Goku was training then she should, too. The gap between her and Goku was already large and she didn’t want it to get any larger if she could help it. Not that she really could do anything about it, given the circumstances, but she could make the gap not be as large as it normally would. Between the fight against the android back in the volcano and what just happened with Tao Pai Pai, she clearly understood that Goku wasn’t as invincible as she initially appeared. Goku needed her friends for those rare moments when she got in over her head and Suno had every intention to be there for Goku whenever she needed help. She would never be as strong as Goku, that much she knew and fully accepted, but she would make sure to be as strong as she possibly could.

The problem now was what kind of training she could do. Physical training probably wouldn’t do much right now since the most she could do was basic exercises like pushups, pullups, and situps. She would probably end up doing those things as well but she needed something else. Some kind of trump card she could use to at least surprise her enemy and give Goku an opening. With an idea in mind, Suno began her training.

Finally Goku knew she had come to the top of the tower. She looked up at a huge domed platform that shielded her from the sun and sighed with relief. She’d done it! With aching fingertips, she gripped one of the holes in the bottom of the platform and pulled herself inside. She took a moment to sit in the room and rest before she did anything else. She rubbed her arms and legs to take the soreness out of her muscles before she got back up and started to walk around the room. Maybe the power to get stronger was somewhere around all this junk?

“Hello?” she called out as she looked around. She wasn’t sure who she expected to answer. Bora hadn’t mentioned anyone else being at the tower but she didn’t like the idea of being alone all of the sudden. It was kind of funny. She’d been alone for a long time after Grandpa Gohan had died and she’d been fine. After that, though, she’d always been with Bulma and Yamcha or Krillin and Roshi and Launch or now with Suno. She’d gotten used to having people around her. “Hello?” she called again.

Goku came to three pots by the windowsill and, not sure what else to do, opened the first one. The contents of the pot looked like water that was dark and cool. When Goku looked deeper into it, though, her reflection shimmered on the surface and changed into… something else. First it was her Grandpa. Then it was the weird blue guy and his two friends. Then it was that girl with the blade in her hat. Chi-Chi? Then it was just her reflection again. Goku closed the pot and moved to the next one. She stared at her reflection until it changed, too. It was Bulma, and then it was Krillin, and then it was Suno. Goku closed it and moved to the final pot. This was the strangest of all. She didn’t recognize any of the people in this pot. The first was a big, bald man with three eyes and a mean look on his face. Then it was a green man in a blue gi who was even bigger and looked even meaner. The last man was shorter than the other two and wore funny armor and he had big hair. However, he looked the cruelest of them all.

“Hey!” called a voice. It was so sudden that it shocked Goku out of her thoughts and made her drop the lid back onto the water pot. “Come up here! There’s a staircase through that door!” Goku found the only door in the room and opened it. The wind whipped her hair as she climbed the stairs to find another section of the tower. There were no walls on the top half, only pillars holding up the roof. Standing in the center of the room… was a cat. Not a cat person, just a white cat. Standing on his back legs and holding a staff. It was an old and gnarled piece of wood that was twice as tall as the cat was and the top was like the head of a hammer. “I’m impressed that you got up here so fast for someone so small,” he said. Goku furrowed her brow indignantly.

“You’re smaller than me!” Goku pointed out. “Anyway, I don’t have time to talk to cats. I climbed all the way up here, I need the power up! Where’s the master here? Is there one?” The cat chuckled and stroked his whiskers.

“That would be me,” he explained. “I am Korin and this is my tower. You knew a Turtle Hermit on the ground so I suppose that makes me a cat hermit!” he laughed again and Goku’s eyebrows shot up.

“How the heck do you know that I–” before she could finish speaking the cat, Korin apparently, whirled around the staff and pushed the end of it to her lips.

“Hush,” he insisted, “And let me think.” Goku’s eyes travelled to a jar of water on a raised stand behind Korin. “Ah, I see. You wish to collect the seven Dragon Balls. You don’t know what you might do with them but you know that this ‘Red Ribbon Army’ cannot have them. You think that you might use them to restore the lives that the Army has taken. To do all of this, though, you need to be strong enough to defeat a man named Tao Pai Pai. So you have climbed this tower in search of the power that was promised.” Goku blinked as her eyes grew ever wider. Could this cat read her mind?! “The powers and sights of the gods are many, child,” Korin said as he moved the staff from her mouth and answered her question. “For I am the God of Martial Arts!” Korin stepped aside and Goku walked towards the stand. “Your intentions are pure,” Korin said, “Yet, all the same, I wonder if you can drink the water.”

“Why,” Goku asked with the jar in fingertip’s reach. “Is it nasty?” Korin chuckled again and suddenly the thin half of the head of his staff was at Goku’s throat.

“No,” Korin said as he yanked her to the ground, “Because I intend to stop you!” Goku groaned and rolled angrily to her feet as she rubbed the back of her head.

“What the heck!” she snapped at him and balled her fists. “If my intentions are good then why are you stopping me? Are you a bad guy or something?” Korin only shook his head.

“You need to stop me from stopping you,” he said as if it made so much sense. It didn’t make any sense to Goku. Why couldn’t he just let her have the water?! Goku jumped into the air but Korin used the staff like a pole vault and met her in the air with a kick. His fur-covered foot felt like steel as it smashed into her jaw and sent her sprawling. Goku got to her feet in a huff but forced herself to be calm. This guy was strong and fast and had to be a great martial artist. She needed to be smart. She needed to be clever.

“Hey, what’s that?!” she blurted out suddenly and pointed behind Korin. He spun around to look and Goku sprinted for the jar. He was so stupid! She was so smart. Bulma would be proud of how clever she– and that was as far as she got before the fat end of his staff smacked her in the back of the head and she hit the ground again. Korin clucked his tongue.

“You’ll need to do better than that,” he chided. When she got up, she saw that he had put the thin half of the top of his staff through the loop of the jar and was shaking it at her. He was making fun of her! Goku growled and lunged at him and he backed away and she chased him all around the room. Finally Goku fell to the floor again, gasping and sweaty. She groaned as her hands travelled to her gurgling stomach. “You’re not acting or thinking, girl. You’re just reacting. You’ll never win like that.”

“I’m hungry!” she cried. She rolled over and sat up and frowned at the cat hermit. “If I was full, I’d kick your butt!” Korin seemed to find that amusing, then shrugged and tossed her… a bean? Goku scowled and held the tiny bean in her fist. “Is this supposed to be funny?” she asked angrily. How was one bean supposed to help her?

“It’s not a joke,” he told her. “It’s a senzu. One bean can keep you full for ten days!” Goku scowled and Korin shrugged. “Would a god lie?” When she still did not eat he added, “Have I lied yet?” Goku grumbled and shoved the tiny bean into her mouth. As soon as she swallowed it she felt much better!

“Now I’ll get you!” she crowed confidently as she lunged at him with a burst of speed. No one could stop her when she was full!

The Kamehameha. The Turtle Destruction Wave. The ultimate technique of the Turtle Style martial art. Its destructive power is legendary, thought by most to be unrivaled, and the nature of the technique is shrouded in mystery. This was the very technique that Suno sought to learn during her training. Goku had performed it after just seeing it once and Krillin performed it without either Goku or Master Roshi telling him how it was done. That was where her advantaged lied. Although Goku’s explanation had been vague, it was more than Krillin had.

Of course, even with that advantage, Suno had made no real progress despite trying to perform it for the remainder of the day and even well into the night. No matter how much she thought or what she tried, she just couldn’t get anything like what Goku described. She had honestly started to feel more than a little silly just standing there and concentrating while occasionally screaming “Kamehameha” even if no one was around so she had taken to doing regular exercises between sessions. Eventually, well into the second day, Suno had finally gotten fed up with it. She hadn’t given up, not quite anyway, but seeing only redoubled frustration had taken its toll on her willpower.

Suno walked up to the base of Korin’s Tower and looked up. Goku had surely reached the top by now and was probably training with the master or going through some test to drink the Holy Water or something. Whatever she was doing, Goku was undoubtedly having far more success than she was. She sighed and was about to go work on her forms when something caught her eye. At first, she thought it was Goku but the shape and color were all wrong. It looked like some kind of cloth bag as it got closer. When it crashed into the ground, she finally recognized it as the bag that Goku had put the Four Star Ball in before climbing up. Wondering what that was doing down here, she was about to pick it when when, all of a sudden, there was a Goku in front of her.

“Hu- Wha- Goku, wha-”

“HiSuno! Notfinishedwithmytraining! ByeSuno!” Goku grabbed the Dragon Ball and disappeared just as quickly as she had appeared. Suno just stared up into the clouds where Goku had gone, completely dumbfounded, when another voice made her nearly jump out of her skin.

“So Goku’s training? I guess the legends were true.” Suno whirled around to see Upa walking up to her. “I’ve seen you doing a lot of weird stuff around here. Are you training, too?”

“Y-yeah,” Suno admitted, blushing slightly due to having been seen. “I’ve been trying to learn the Kamehameha but I have no idea what Goku meant when she said how to do it.”

“The Kamehameha? You mean that blue thing that came out of Goku’s hands?”

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“How did Goku say to do it?”

“Well, she didn’t really say how to do it since she wasn’t really sure. She just said what it felt like. She said it feels like there’s something in her whole body and she pushes it towards her hands.”

Upa hummed in thought and repeated those words. “Maybe Goku was talking about her life energy.”

“Life energy? What’s that?”

“Well… It’s something my dad explained to me a while ago. Everything that’s alive has power inside it. That power flows through the world and it’s what connects every living thing together. Dad said being in harmony with this power is the key to true strength.”

“Hm… I think my master talked about something like that before. Do you mean ki?”

“If that’s what you want to call it, yeah.”

“Master never really taught me a lot about it but I think learning how to feel that energy is what most of my training was about. Do you know how to ‘be in harmony’ with it?”

“Yeah, my dad taught how to meditate so that I could be one with nature.”

“Do- Would you mind teaching me how to do that?”

Upa stared at her for a long moment. He inhaled deeply and sighed before smiling at her. “Well, I don’t know much about it myself but I think my dad would want me to help out anyway I can. Besides, you’re going to get revenge on that guy who killed him, right?” Suno nodded. “Then I’ll teach you how to meditate. Follow me.”

As it turned out, Korin could stop her when she was full. Goku had been much faster than when she’d been trying to take the water before but was still no closer to actually getting it.

“You’re faster,” Korin admitted when she’d stopped to catch her breath, “But you’re still not listening. You’re too busy reacting.” He gave a shrug and a shake of his head as if he were disappointed in her. “Still, don’t feel too bad. Only one other person has taken this water from me and that was almost three hundred years ago.” Goku gasped.

“So how old are you?” she asked.
“I’m eight hundred years old, give or take a week.” Goku got that starry look in her eyes again which made Korin chuckle. “You might know the man who took the pot from me. It was your own master, Muten Roshi.” Goku gasped again.

“Wow,” she cried in astonishment. “Master Roshi’s super old!” Korin sighed and slowly let his face sink into his paw. That was not the point he’d been trying to make. “So how long did it take him to take the water from you?” Korin held up three fingers and Goku was stunned. “Three minutes?!” she asked. She had known the old master was amazing, but she didn’t know he was that–

“No,” Korin told her, “Three years.” It was like all the air had been punched right out of Goku. Three years?!

“I don’t have three years!” Goku declared before charging at Korin again. She had to get serious! She pushed herself as hard as she could and suddenly the room was full of Goku’s afterimages. Korin looked unimpressed as he swung his staff to strike at a Goku but it dissolved. “Got you!” Goku shouted triumphantly as she dove down at Korin… but he dissolved and she smashed into the floor.

“Not bad,” Korin said as Goku pulled herself back to her feet, “However, you’ll never be able to use the afterimage technique to defeat me. After all, I invented it.” Goku was gasping for breath as she scowled at Korin and tried to come up with a plan.

“How… can I already… be out of breath?” she asked between breaths. She’d been moving fast, yeah, but she almost never got tired.

“The air is much thinner up here,” Korin explained with a smile. “You probably don’t even know how strong you’ve gotten, do you?” He was suddenly holding Goku’s Dragon Ball and tossed it casually over a shoulder and over the edge of the platform.

“Hey!” Goku shouted as she sprinted past Korin. She couldn’t let the last ball get away from her! What if the Red Ribbon Army got their hands on it? When Goku reached the tower again with the Dragon Ball bag in her hand she was furious. “What’s the big idea?!” Korin just laughed.

“Don’t you get it?” he asked. “It took you a whole day just to climb up the tower last time. Today, a round trip took you three hours.” Goku blinked as realization hit her. She wondered how much stronger she’d get once she actually drank the water. Goku gave chase to Korin again and they kept up the game until the sun went down. Goku waited until she thought Korin had fallen asleep and for a moment she was tempted to take the jar right there.

“No,” she whispered to herself as she rolled away from him. “I’m going to get it fair and square!” She curled up and let herself drift off to sleep. Korin was not asleep but he was pleased. She was more honest than her master, it seemed.

Another day came and went without Goku catching the jar. On the third day, however, Goku promised herself that this time she was going to take the jar. She was faster and stronger. She could feel it. She disappeared into a trio of afterimages and Korin shook his head.

“I told you,” he said as he swiped his staff through all three afterimages, “You’ll never be able to–” Goku tackled him suddenly from the side and, of all offensive maneuvers, Goku started to tickle him! Korin was reduced to peals of helpless laughter and the staff went flying from his hand and off the platform. Goku jumped out after it and grabbed the staff.

“Nimbus!” she called and her faithful magical cloud swooped up under her and carried her back up to Korin’s Tower. Goku laughed and held the staff triumphantly overhead. Korin nodded in a state of awe. She beat him with the afterimage technique. Goku hopped off the cloud and back into the tower room. She handed the staff back to Korin but kept the jar and pulled out the stopper. She tilted her head back and chugged down the whole jar. It was sweet and cold and… and she didn’t feel any different.

“The jar is full of plain old rainwater,” Korin admitted. “The actual strength comes from climbing the tower and getting the water from me.” For half a second, Goku was angry. Then she giggled and grabbed Korin in a hug. The God of Martial Arts was… flustered.

“Thank you so much, Korin!” she called before jumping back onto Nimbus and flying away. Korin nodded proudly as he watched her vanish. She had surpassed her master, all right.

Tao Pai Pai tugged at the cuffs of his new shirt and admired the handiwork. The man had done a good job. He almost regretted killing the tailor. It wasn’t his fault, of course. The man’d had the gall to ask for pay. Honestly, the nerve of it. Tao walked back to his pillar and tossed it towards the sky. Time to wrap up this business once and for all.

Chapter Text

Suno sat in the middle of a clearing with her legs crossed. Her eyes were closed and her mind was clear as she felt the world around her. Upa’s meditation was easy to learn once she connected it to her master’s teachings. What her master had been trying to teach her and what Upa was trying to teach her were different only in name and application. While neither would precisely lead to her end goal, she knew that they were a large step in the right direction.

Truth be told, Suno hadn’t attempted to perform the Kamehameha once since she started meditating. She still switched to physical training when her mind grew tired but she hadn’t bothered with the Kamehameha just yet. She seemed to lack some basic attunement to ki that Goku and Krillin possessed that allowed them to perform the attack and she didn’t feel that she had reached that level of attunement yet. She was very much aware of her own ki now and could tell how much of it she had without having to focus but her attempts to channel it outside of her body in what Goku referred to as kiai were met with failure. It wasn’t a complete failure as it created a strong wind but it wouldn’t even be useful as a distraction, let alone an attack.

However, Suno’s three days of meditation had certainly met with more success than failure. Aside from being able to effortlessly feel her own ki, what she now knew to be her ki sensing was on a whole different level. She still couldn’t sense another person’s ki without concentration but it took her far less time to reach that level and the range at which she could sense things had greatly increased while things nearby could be sensed with even more detail than even looking at them could give. If she could get her ki sensing to the point where she could get that level of clarity without the need for overt concentration, it would prove to be exceptionally useful.

As she was meditating, Suno felt something rather far away but approaching quickly. Even though she could just barely sense it, she knew that it was very powerful and very evil. It could only be Tao Pai Pai that she was sensing, likely returning to retrieve the Four Star Dragon Ball. Goku still wasn’t back yet and she couldn’t even sense her but she wasn’t worried. As Tao grew closer, she could tell with some precision just how much of a gap existed between her and him but that didn’t matter. Even if she could somehow perform the Kamehameha, she was certain that it’d do nothing to him but that didn’t matter, either. Suno wasn’t worried because she had absolute faith that Goku would arrive soon.

The ground shook as Tao Pai Pai’s pillar impacted with the earth. Suno hated to admit but it was a testament to the man’s precision that the pillar landed in the exact same spot as last time. He stalked towards Suno and the tower as Upa came charging out of the trees with a rock clenched between his fists and Suno put out an arm to hold Upa back. She could understand how he felt but trying to fight Tao Pai Pai was suicide.

“The Dragon Ball,” Tao said bluntly, “Where is it?” Suno only glared up at him. Tao sighed and squeezed his fists until the knuckles popped. “I’m not a patient man, girl, so I will only ask this once more. Where. Is. The Dragon Ball?” Suno smiled.

“I don’t have it,” she said calmly. She knew Tao Pai Pai could kill her but she had no reason to fear. She closed her eyes and could feel Goku’s presence.

“Then who does?” Tao asked incredulously as he cast his eyes at Upa. To the boy’s credit, he didn’t flinch. Suno only smiled sweetly and slowly pointed up. Tao looked up suspiciously.

Goku was flying down the length of Korin Tower on Nimbus back towards the ground and grinning was the wind whipped through her spiky hair. She was feeling so much better now. She knew that if she found Tao Pai Pai again that she could kick his butt! Which wouldn’t be a problem with the Dragon Radar. Suddenly, Goku’s ears twitched and she heard a sound from far below. She could hear Tao Pai Pai and Suno talking. That worked out pretty well! Now she wouldn’t have to go looking for Tao Pai Pai! She hopped off Nimbus and hurtled toward the ground feet first.

Those feet were soon driven into the face of Tao Pai Pai and smashed him into the ground. She hopped away from him and put herself between Tao and Suno and Upa as Tao pulled himself out of the ground while holding the back of his head.

“Hey Goku,” Suno greeted her casually. Part of Goku wanted to hug Suno but she knew that this wasn’t time though she did look over her shoulder to smile at her friend. Then she turned back to Tao who was looking at her like a ghost.

“How?” he asked in disbelief. “How are you alive?!” Goku didn’t say anything. She had nothing to say to him. She pivoted her body away from Tao and glared at him with her fists balled at her sides. Tao glowered at her and tossed away his longcoat. “Fine!” he spat as he moved into a guard. “I’ll just charge twice for killing you!” Tao pulled back a fist and charged forward but he was so slow to Goku. Had she really been so afraid of this? She put out a hand to block Tao with plenty of time to spare. Tao tried to pull his fist away but Goku wasn’t letting go. She yanked on Tao’s arm to pull him down and stuck out her other fist to punch him in the jaw. Then she stomped on his foot and pivoted to drive her elbow into his chin and at last released Tao to send him flying. As Tao got to his feet again, Goku could see the look in his eyes. Now he was the one afraid. That made Goku feel good.

She darted towards Tao Pai Pai and dodged his roundhouse kick with an afterimage to appear beside him and throw out a kick of her own. By the last fraction of a second, Tao was able to leap away and handspring backwards twice to create some distance. Distance that Goku closed immediately before she leaped into the air to hammer him across the mouth with a left hook. Tao staggered away and brought a hand to his mouth as Goku landed. His fingers came away bloody and his eyes widened in shock.

“It appears… I underestimated you,” Tao admitted as he returned to his guard. “It’s time for me to get serious!” Tao charged her again and Goku was actually surprised by his speed this time. But it still wasn’t enough. Goku and Tao sprinted across the clearing in a blisteringly fast precise exchange of punches and kicks. Tao had the longer reach by far but Goku made for a small target. Tao managed to finally get enough breathing room to swing his arm in a wide underhanded arc that released a cluster of yellow balls of light from his palm. They flew at Goku but she ducked under them easily and the treeline behind her burst apart in a violent explosion as she leaped up to drive her knee into his nose.

Tao Pai Pai had known all his life that almost nothing could challenge him. Maybe the Demon King could have but he had been sealed away before Tao was old enough to fight. For a brief time, his older brother challenged him but, in time, Tao had far surpassed him. For hundreds of years, Tao has known he was all but invincible. Now for the first time in his life, Tao was being tested. Challenged. And he was crumbling.

Tao could not remember what it was like to be pushed to the limit. He could not remember what his limit was. He had lived so long and won every battle so easily that to have an opponent that was his equal, that was his superior, was terrifying him. Because of this, even though the girl had yet to land a killing blow, Tao was dying. Because that fear was eating him alive from the inside out. It was slowing him down, making his strikes erratic and his blocking staggered. She was going to kill him. How could she not? He’d tried to kill her, after all.

Faced with his own mortality as he continued the desperate struggle for his life, Tao began to feel every minute of his near three hundred years. All his triumphs, all his battles. Everyone that he had met and killed, his impeccable taste and his refined dignity. His martial arts skill and power. Everything he’d known, everything he’d done and been. They were all just… chains. Chains that were weighing heavy on his soul, bending his neck before the axe.

Goku and Tao leaped away from each other again and, despite how angry he made her, Goku couldn’t help feeling a little worried for Tao Pai Pai. While his breathing was labored and he was covered in sweat, her pulse was steady and her breathing measured. His eyes were wide and crazed and bits of foam flecked at the corners of his mouth. The guy looked rabid. He stuck out his arm and pointed a finger at her. This time, Goku could actually see it start to glow.

“I will not be killed by the likes of you!” Tao declared defiantly as Goku brought her hands down to her side. Tao sneered at her. “Fine! Match your pitiful Kamehameha against me! I will show you its inferiority once again!” For the first time since she landed, Goku spoke.

“Kaaaameeee… haaaameee…”

“Dodonpa!”

“Haaaa!” The wide blue beam collided with the thin yellow beam and they struggled against one another as the ground was scorched under their collision and wild sparks of energy burst and flittered away. Tao gripped his wrist with his other hand and tried to push more energy into the Dodonpa but Goku thrust her hands forward and the Dodonpa was overwhelmed and Tao was hit dead on to fly backwards and burrow into the ground. Goku let her hands drop to her side as Suno and Upa let out a cheer. Until Tao’s hand burst out of the earth and those cheers turned to shrieks.

“How?!” Tao Pai Pai demanded as he clawed his way out of the ground. He was bruised and bloody and missing a tooth. He was on his hands and knees and his whole body was shaking. “How can you be this strong?!” Goku didn’t say anything, she just kept glaring. Why did she have to tell him anything? “It’s not fair! I was only gone three days!” Then Tao did something that shocked Goku. His arms fell out from under him and his face fell into the dirt as he broke down into sobs. “Please… please don’t kill me!” he begged. “I don’t want to die!” Goku frowned at the beaten man. It was… a little sad.

“I don’t want to kill you,” Goku assured him. Well, part of her did, but inside she really didn’t. Especially now. It was different than if she were fighting him and if it just happened. Now he’d given up. To kill him now would… it would be wrong. “But I don’t want you to hurt anyone else, either.” She pointed an accusing finger at Tao Pai Pai and he looked up at her. “I want you to promise me you’ll never hurt anyone ever again!” Tao nodded furiously, grabbing for any chance at life.

“I promise, I promise!” he pledged on his hands and knees, bowing before Goku like the student before the master. Goku nodded.

“And I want the Dragon Balls back! Where do you have them?”

That was it. That was Tao Pai Pai’s out. He forced himself not to laugh as he pointed over to his longcoat.

“They’re in my pocket!” he told her and ran over to the discarded clothing. That wasn’t all he had stashed away in his coat. He could feel Goku following close behind and had to fight to keep from grinning. ‘That’s it,’ he thought, ‘Stay right behind me.’ Tao Pai Pai had never had much love for conventional weapons. They were costly and annoying and he was stronger than them anyway. But in this case…

Tao Pai Pai leaped into the air and left Son Goku far behind on the ground below, cackling as he turned to look down at her. He held up a grenade in one hand and pulled the pin with a manic glee as he tossed it down at her. “This is what you get for taking Tao Pai Pai lightly, you stupid brat!” he called as the grenade flew at her, “Now die!”

Goku watched Tao leap away although she wasn’t surprised by his actions. More just… disappointed. She was getting ready to jump up after him when something fell out of the sky. It got close enough for her to see it and, although she had no idea what it was, she was pretty sure it was bad. She glared at the strange device and smacked it back up into the sky with an open-handed slap.

All Tao Pai Pai had to do now was wait for the explosion. It would kill the little brat or at least injure her enough to take away her advantage and then he’d kill her again. This time he’d shoot her in the face. After that, it would just be the two other brats and he would be one billion zeni richer. But more importantly than that, Tao Pai Pai would once again be the strongest thing on planet Earth, invincible and unopposed. It was at that moment that the grenade came sailing back up into view, less than an inch from his face.

“Oh,” Tao said in a small voice just before the grenade detonated. The heat melted his skin and drove shards of shrapnel into his lungs, throat, and eyes. The force of the explosion sent him hurtling away. And suddenly, all of Tao Pai Pai was nothing at all.

Goku watched the explosion before looking back at Suno and Upa. She smiled at them and they ran to hug her. Goku giggled as she hugged her friends back and lifted them up off the ground, spinning them around in a circle before setting them back down.

“Upa?” she said to the younger boy. He nodded at her and Goku could already see the joy of the moment starting to disappear. “We’re going to wish your father back.” Upa gasped in surprise although it was clear he wasn’t quite sure what that meant. Goku walked over to Tao Pai Pai’s longcoat and fished the Dragon Balls out of his pockets. She handed them to Suno, who tucked them back into her knapsack as she spoke. “We’re going to wish back everyone who was taken away by the Red Ribbon Army!” Goku said with a defiantly balled fist. “And I’m going to make sure they don’t hurt anyone else ever again!” Suno’s eyes widened both with understanding and surprise at Goku’s newfound determination.

“Goku,” she asked, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Goku nodded and put a hand on Suno’s shoulder as she smiled at her friend.

“Suno, you and me are going to take down the Red Ribbon Army once and for all!” She threw back her head and called out to the sky. “Nimbus!” The bright yellow cloud swirled down triumphantly from the skies and Goku hopped onto it, pulling Suno up with her. “You’ll have your father back soon, Upa!” She promised before Nimbus flew off again. Part of Suno was wondering just how the two of them were going to defeat the Red Ribbon Army but she knew she really had nothing to fear. She was getting stronger herself and it seemed like Goku was getting stronger all the time. What could go wrong?

Chapter Text

Officer Black walked through the halls of the headquarters of the Red Ribbon Army towards Commander Red’s office, reflecting on the strange relationship he had with the man. It was true that through the Army, Dudley Slate could rise to a higher station than he would have achieved in service to King Furry. He was the Commander’s Right Hand Man. If they were successful, it would make Officer Black the second most powerful man on the planet.

Only… why should he be the second most powerful? He knew he was smarter than the Commander. Less prone to impulsive actions and childish blunderings. He knew he lacked Cyril’s charisma but he was taller. On top of that, Black was bothered by the fact that Commander Red refused to tell him what they were gathering the Dragon Balls for. It couldn’t be world domination, otherwise why build up an entire army. That would just be redundant.

“Perhaps,” Black mused as he stood in front of the door to his Commander’s office, “When all this is done, it should be Emperor Black who rules the world…” He shrugged before he pushed open the door and stepped inside. Even though Commander Red wasn’t looking at him, that eye was. It unnerved Black how it seemed to have a mind of its own.

“Yes, I see,” Commander Red was speaking into a headset, no doubt in contact with some of his other forces elsewhere in the world, “And there’s still no sign of this last Dragon Ball? That’s a shame.” He drummed his fingers on the desk before speaking again. “The usual, then. Conscript the men, shoot those who won’t fall in line, put the children to work in those mines you told me about. Report back to me in twelve hours.” He switched off the headset and turned his attention to Officer Black with a sigh. “That was Admiral Copper. Still no sign of that last Ball.” He slammed his fists on the table in frustration. “I’ve got half my army turning over half the continent for this damn thing. Where is it?” He sighed again before he looked up at Officer Black. “I trust you have some good news, though?” Officer Black nodded.

“This is another printout from our Radar,” He said as he passed the sheet of paper across the desk to Commander Red. Where once there had been three, now there were four dots. “It appears that Mercenary Tao was good on his word.” Commander Red smiled and sighed with relief as he leaned back in his enormous chair.

“That’s good,” he said with a nod, “That’s very good. The girl is dead and nearly all of the Dragon Balls are mine. Things are looking up again.” It was a strange thing to have so jubilant a conversation about the murder of children and stranger still that the Commander only referred to them as his Dragon Balls. Still, he was right. Son Goku’s death could only be a good thing. Things were looking up. Perhaps more for certain people then Commander Red suspected.

The Nimbus soared through the sky faster than ever before. According to the Dragon Radar, the last two Dragon Balls were approximately 2,300 kilometers to the southwest and, at the rate they were moving, they’d make it there in a little under fifteen minutes. In all honesty, Suno was fairly certain that she had taken the wrong turn at the fork between “Sanity” and “Here There Be Sea Monsters” but she found herself not caring. What she had sensed from Goku in her room had been astounding but it was nothing compared to what she felt from her after she finished training on Korin’s Tower. The rate at which Goku was improving was staggering and there seemed to be no upper to her strength. At the level she was at, a direct assault against the Red Ribbon Army seemed like something she could easily accomplish.

Of course, Goku’s seemingly endless strength and rapid gains just made Suno’s comparative weakness all the more clear. At this point, she was starting to feel more like dead weight than anything else. She wasn’t too concerned about what she was about to do- at least, not as much as she probably should have been- but it did make her wonder what the point of her coming along was. At the very least, she was keeping Goku company so it’s not like she was feeling completely useless but she still wondered.

Putting those thoughts aside, Suno couldn’t help but notice that they were starting to pass what appeared fortifications inside the mountains. It was a bit difficult to see them due to the speed at which they were moving but she was certain that she saw more than a few turrets that might have been anti-air guns. “Hmm. No one’s shooting at us trying to stop us. I wonder what’s going on.”

“Maybe they all ran away?” Goku suggested.

Suno hummed and closed her eyes, “No, there’s definitely still people there. They just seem to be ignoring us for some reason. I don’t like this. We should be careful, Goku. It might be a trap.” Goku nodded… and rolled off the side of Nimbus, angling her body to plummet towards the ground like a skydiver. Suno sighed and shook her head. “Not quite the entrance I had in mind,” she muttered before giving the cloud a pat on its… side? “Come on, Nimbus!” The cloud angled down suddenly and followed after Goku.

The reserved forces stationed at the Red Ribbon Army’s Headquarters was going about a relatively routine day. With the majority of the forces out searching for the Dragon Balls or engaging with the Royal Army, the relatively bare-boned staff was left behind to defend the base itself. It was a force of maybe 500 soldiers with automatic and ballistic weapons at their disposal, as well as a handful of tanks and fighter jets.

It would not be enough.

There was a sudden “thunk” as something hit one of the hangars. A muffled voice and the hangar suddenly burst into flames. The soldiers scrambled for their weapons and circled around the wreckage of the hangar. They were the best soldiers in the world. The hungriest. The most relentless. They were ready for anything. Until they saw her walk out of the flames. It had been less than two weeks, but the entire army had heard the stories of the Super Girl. Indestructible, unstoppable. A monster girl who seemed solely dedicated to ripping the army to pieces. The soldiers screamed as they surrounded her with a spray of bullets. They lobbed grenades and ran for flamethrowers and hoped against hope. Maybe it was exaggerated. Maybe she was just really lucky.

But as she walked through fire and shrugged off bullets and kicked grenades out of the air to send them back, they realized that everything was true. When she caught missiles fired from rocket launchers and threw them into barracks, and as she looked at them with cold, loathing eyes, they knew that they were all going to die.

“What the hell is going on out there?” Commander Red muttered. Officer Black said nothing as he was still focusing heavily on the chessboard between the two of them. His fingers drifted back and forth between the pawn and the knight. Each could be useful, but neither was quite… right. Suddenly Red was pulled out of the moment when a light on his desk began flashing. Someone was calling him. With a sigh he put his headset on and flipped a switch. “What the hell is it?” he asked.

“She’s here!” the voice on the other end screamed. Commander Red heard screaming and explosions and gunfire in the background. “The girl is here! She is on the base!” It took all of Commander Red’s control not to scream.

“Get those tanks moving!” he ordered, “I want the jets in the air, covering her with suppressive fire! That other brat has to be around, fill the skies with anti-air artillery! We will not be beaten, damn it!” He flicked one switch to turn that channel off and then flicked on every single switch on his table, broadcasting his signal to every soldier in the field. “This is Commander Red to all fronts! Fall back, I repeat, fall back immediately and return to base! We are under attack, I repeat, we are under attack! Son Goku is here! Son Goku is at the base!”

“I reject my humanity!” bellowed the blonde-haired, power-mad young man. He raised his knife high and then… it changed to the news. Launch groaned and flopped back into the couch off its edge in disappointment. How could they cut to the news during something like this?! What was more important?

“We interrupt this broadcast,” the anchorwoman was saying, “With a special news bulletin. Reports are flooding in from all over the world that the Red Ribbon Army’s forces are retreating from outposts and battlefields en masse, even in situations where they were winning or had already won the conflict.” The wheels slowly began to turn in Launch’s head when she heard the words “Red Ribbon Army” and she flung open the window to call for Yamcha and Krillin, who were sparring on the shore while Master Roshi watched.

“Hey!” she called, “You guys are gonna wanna see this! Get yer butts in here!” The three quickly entered the Kame Houe as the anchorwoman continued her report.

“Like many things with the Red Ribbon Army we have no idea why they are doing this but we will do our best to keep you posted.” The news cut back to Launch’s show but they weren’t paying attention to that.

“You don’t think…” Krillin started to ask slowly. Roshi just chuckled.

“Of course she is,” he said with a grin. How could he expect anything else from Son Goku? Yamcha sighed and went to get the phone.

“I’ll call Bulma so she can help us track Goku’s Dragon Balls and figure out where she is. We’ve gotta help her!” Even if Goku was stronger than all of them, she was still only one girl. Okay, two with this Suno kid but those still weren’t the best odds. It’s not like he could just sit around and do nothing like an asshole, right?

Goku grabbed a tank by its barrel and spun it around and around, smashing it into the soldiers before she hurled it high into the air to hit an airplane that made both explode. She heard Suno coming towards her from the sound of her deft strikes and the cries of pain from Red Ribbon soldiers. Suno came to Goku and they stood back to back as they deflected and struck down charging Red Ribbon soldiers. Goku’s hands blurred through the air to grab bullets as they were being fired at Suno and hurled them back at their firers.

“More people are coming in!” Suno called over the gunfire and explosions, “I think the Commander called in everyone who was in the field. We’re gonna get surrounded!” Goku grinned.

“Then we’ll just beat him up!” That made sense to Goku. After all, once the guy in charge got beat up then the rest of them would give up and go home, right? Goku took out her Power Pole and held one end to Suno. She grabbed it and let out a surprised yelp when Goku started swinging the Power Pole around in a wide circle. “Power Pole extend!” Suno stuck out her legs and pumped them, running against the faces of the Red Ribbon soldiers that attacked them in an ever-widening spiral. She tossed the Power Pole up into the air, leaving it in Suno’s hands while she flew into the air. Goku smiled up as Suno smacked anti-air missiles away with the staff and used that momentum to send herself into jets with flying kicks. Then she looked at the ever-growing swarm of Red Ribbon Soldiers, some trampling over their fallen comrades to come at her. It was a lot of people. Which was okay with Goku. They needed all the help they could get. She charged with a flying kick towards the nearest soldier. She’d beat them all up. She’d get the Dragon Balls and help everyone that the Army had hurt!

Commander Red and Officer Black were holed up in his office with the door locked and barricaded with anything they could find. Except for the desk, of course. Just because Goku had interrupted their chess game didn’t mean that they were going to stop playing. Not that Commander Red was in any shape to focus on the game now. He was sweating nervously, and every thump or explosion outside sent a fresh bolt of panic through his body. Red moved one of his Knights and swore under his breath as soon as he realized that he’d moved it directly into the path of Black’s bishop. God, he was a nervous wreck! And his condition was not helped by the sudden “Thunk!” of one of his soldiers slamming into one of his office windows and noisily sliding down the bulletproof substance.

“That’s it, damn it!” he declared as he grabbed his headset, “I’m calling Gero!” He drummed his fingers impatiently on the table and chewed his lip when Black took his Knight while he waited for the other line to pick up.

“This is Archimedes–”

“Oh, thank God!” Commander Red blurted out before composing himself. “Gero, listen to me, Goku is here and I need–”

“I’m terribly sorry I can’t come to the phone right now. I’m either working on one of my androids which requires dealing with very delicate machines and horrendous levels of radiation and heat or I have drank myself to sleep. Please leave a message after the tone.” Commander Red could only stare into space in slack–jawed, wide–eyed horror as the voicemail beeped. He let out a wordless scream of terror and fury before flinging the headset against the wall. He slammed his head into the desk and continued to let out a muffled scream into the wood for a good thirty seconds. Finally, he stopped, and Officer Black spoke.

“It’s your move.” Commander Red let out a single sob.

Suno was weaving up and down between the sky and the ground forces on the Nimbus, ducking and rolling in and between the attempted attacks. As she and the Nimbus took another sweep up into the sky to catch her breath, Suno realized that she was beginning to feel weary. From up above, she could see the swathe of destruction Goku was cutting as she stormed her way towards the main building like a force of nature and it made her feel like they were really doing something. However, while Goku’s energy seemed infinite, Suno could feel herself starting to slow down. The soldiers were slower than them and couldn’t really hurt them but they just kept coming. It was only now that she was actually fighting them that Suno began to understand just how huge the Red Ribbon Army truly was. There must have been thousands of soldiers, each and every one answering the call to swarm the two of them. This was insane! They should have had more of a plan. They should have had any plan at all!

A sudden growing hum snapped Suno out of her introspection and she looked up to see two fighter jets approaching her. She steeled herself and grabbed the Power Pole in both hands and charged the jets like a knight with a lance when suddenly a brilliant beam of white-blue light burst up from the ground below and smashed the jets apart. For a moment, Suno assumed it had to be Goku until she realized that this beam was… different. It had a certain swirl to it, an impurity where Goku’s had been straight and true. Suno flew down lower to get a closer look at what was going on. What she saw surprised her.

Down on the ground were Yamcha and Krillin and that Launch girl and, yes, even Bulma. They were coming in from the rear and doing their best to cut off any Red Ribbon forces that were trying to get onto the base to attack the two of them, so that made things a little easier. Krillin was jumping and twisting through the air, punching and kicking and using his new Kamehameha. Yamcha was slicing apart guns and tanks and the occasional soldier with such speed that it didn’t even look like he had a sword, just a shimmering silver haze that surrounded him. Launch was supplanting her martial arts inexperience with a machine gun in her other hand and was, for some reason, wearing a dust mask over her mouth and nose. Bulma, who Suno knew had no combat experience, was attacking the enemy with a wide variety of Capsule Corp gadgets.

But then Suno saw him.

She had never seen Muten Roshi in action before. She had only heard stories of stories that Master Frost had told her. She’d never imagined that she would actually get to see Roshi fight. There he was though, down on the ground, slicing through the Red Ribbon forces almost as easily as Goku had. His sheer mastery of the martial arts was a sight to behold. It was like an artist watching a master paint, a musician hearing a perfect composition. Master Roshi was a living masterpiece of the martial arts. Every strike was impeccably precise, delivered with blistering speed and incredible power. Suno was so in awe of the spectacle that it took Master Roshi himself looking up at her and gesturing to remind her what she should be doing.

“We’ll take care of these fools!” he called up to her. “You go find Goku!” Suno nodded and zoomed down towards the main complex, holding out the Power Pole and smacking soldiers with it on either side of her as she looked for Goku. It was a good thing, she reflected, that Goku had so many friends.

While the rest of the Red Ribbons soldiers flooded the halls towards the battlefield, the recently-promoted General Violet ran in the opposite direction. She’d barely even had time to enjoy her promotion after General Blue’s death or the fact that she was the highest-ranking female officer in the Army when everything had gone to shit. With all of the commotion and the sheer number of bodies filling the halls, no one would notice General Violet making her way anywhere else. These were good men and women. Brave and loyal who believed in the cause of the Red Ribbon Army and were willing to throw their lives away against an impossible opponent because it was their duty and responsibility. But General Violet was not like them.

She wasn’t a fucking idiot.

What, was she just supposed to charge the invincible Super Girl with her standard issue revolver and determination and hope for the best? The hell with that. Violet could see the writing on the wall. She knew that the Red Ribbon Army was hosed. That it was all about to go down in flames and it was time to get out while the getting was good. She was thankful that as someone who worked primarily in espionage for the RRA, she had never been caught on film. It was time for General Violet to die and for Iris Bellerose to come back to life. But first, she would get what was hers.

It was a stroke of good luck that every able-bodied soldier with a gun and not as many brain cells as Violet… as Iris herself had gone to the battlefield, because that meant no one was guarding the treasury. With a duffle bag over each shoulder, she slapped some C4 charges onto the vault and ducked behind a potted plant as the door was reduced to rubble. Then she sprinted into the vault and took a moment to drink it all in. Gold and jewels from sunken ships, valuables stolen from conquered cities and lands and plundered from ancient castles and tombs. Anything that could be used to fund the war efforts. And now she was going to take as much as she could carry. She wouldn’t keep all of it for herself, Iris wasn’t a fool. That would attract too much attention. Some would be sold on the black market and some would be returned to their ancestral homes to prove that she was a good citizen and an intrepid treasure hunter, not connected to the Red Ribbon Army or anything bad in any way, shape, or form. There was, however, an enormous gold necklace that had belonged to some queen or another in centuries past, supposedly back before the Demon King had nearly wiped out the human race. It was calling to her and she had to have it. She gleefully ran into the room and started shoving fistfuls of illicit goods into her bags.

Commander Red was remarkably more calm now than he’d been before, even as the sounds of hell continued outside. He smiled to himself as he moved his Rook and took one of Officer Black’s Pawns.

“It’s going to be fine,” he insisted, “She’ll get tired. No one person can fight an entire army on her own. She’s going to get tired and someone’s going to shoot her dead.” There was something in his tone that let Officer Black know that this confidence was, on some level, just a mask. “And even if she gets through all of our soldiers, all of my soldiers,” he prattled on, “I have this.” He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a capsule, pressing it between thumb and forefinger. “I had Gero build this special for me. I’ll kill the girl myself if I have to and then we’ll have all the time in the world to find that last damn Ball, and then I’ll I’ll get my wish!”

“And just what is your wish, Commander?” Officer Black asked suddenly. Commander Red blinked. He had always respected Black for his frank candor however the topic of his wish had never been broached before. “It can’t be to be king. Why even bother raising an army? So what is it? To cure World Hunger and make everyone love you? Mind control so that none will rise up?” Commander Red chewed on the end of his mustache for a moment as he considered what to do next. It didn’t matter in the end, he supposed. Black was his closest advisor and his most trusted friend. And despite his bluster, there was a very real chance that they were going to die anyway. So what did it matter?

“I want to be taller,” he said finally. Black leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers but said nothing. “I know it sounds crazy but you understand, don’t you? Dudley, you have to understand!” He pleaded, using Black’s real name to show his sincerity, “People like you and I, the world judges us. Looks down on us. Each in our own ways. If it weren’t for my father’s money, I’d be no one. I’d be elves in movies or the sidekick of a circus clown. Even if I were king, they’d still laugh at me. Still mock me. Even as king! The Dragon Balls can do anything! For God’s sake, Dudley, I’m a cripple! Why shouldn’t I ask for a miracle, huh? Is that so wrong?”

“No,” Black agreed, “It isn’t.” Commander Red sighed and smiled. He felt better, getting that off his chest. He should have known Dudley would understand. He looked down to see that Black’s stupid Bishop had taken his Rook and moved to take it with his Queen. When he looked back up… Black was pointing his pistol at him. “But you still have to go.” He squeezed the trigger and shot Red four times in the chest. Red slid out of his chair and fell to the floor with shock and betrayal frozen forever on his face. Commander Black walked around the table and sat down in the Commander’s chair. He moved his Queen to Commander Red’s King and smiled. “Checkmate.” As if he would ever wish himself White.

Suno slammed the Power Pole into the door of what must be the Commander’s Office like a baseball bat to make the door swing open. Goku was in another part of the building and dealing with most of the soldiers. That was fine with Suno. She was going to beat the Commander by herself and end this once and for all!

The chair’s back was to her and it slowly turned around to face her. It was all she could do not to roll her eyes as the dark-skinned man smiled and leaned his elbows on the desk.

“Were you expecting someone else?” he asked wryly. Suno shrugged.

“Not really,” she admitted. “I didn’t really know who the Commander was or what he looked like.” The man looked a little disappointed by that. “I guess you took over from the old guy in charge? Not that it really matters. Goku and I are beating up your whole army. It’s over!” She leaped forward at the man and swung the Power Pole down on the desk to smash it in half. She would have hit the man himself but he’d pushed back in his chair towards the wall and the staff had barely missed his head.

“That was very rude!” he chided her as he took off his jacket and tie. “I am Commander Black of the Red Ribbon Army and–” Suno leaped at him again with a flying kick.

“You don’t get a monologue!” she snapped at him and flew in a tight spiral towards him. Black rolled out of the way and Suno pushed off the wall where his head had been with the flat of her foot. He rolled away as she dove at him with a punch that cracked the tile and he came up with a high-powered pistol in hand. He fired at her but Suno nimbly dodged the bullets and kicked the gun away. To Suno’s surprise, he jumped back and moved into a proper fighting stance. It wasn’t a fighting stance she was familiar with but she’d half expected him to cut and run.

Black threw out a sweep that Suno jumped over but, to his credit, it was a feint and he threw a high kick to shove her painfully up into the ceiling. She dropped down from the ceiling and in perfect lineup with a jab from Black however Suno was able to grab his wrist and, with gravity’s help, flip him overhead and slam him into the ground. Commander Black rolled up onto a knee as Suno landed and threw a lariat at Suno that she was able block with both arms and skidded across the tile. Black got to his feet and charged with a knee. Suno threw out a punch that caught him right in the knee. Black howled in pain and hopped away on one foot, clutching his knee. Suno was so surprised that she was almost going to laugh. Black stepped away, gingerly putting pressure on his back foot and frowning at her.

“Clearly,” he said reluctantly, “I have underestimated you.” He reached into pocket and Suno charged at him and was blinded by a bright light as Black pulled a flashlight out of his pocket and flashed it in her eyes. He laughed and Suno heard the hiss and felt the puff of air of a capsule opening. Suno blinked the spots out of her eyes just in time to see an enormous purple fist filling her entire field of vision. It slammed into her and she hit the wall painfully. Her vision finally cleared and she looked up and up and up to see Commander Black in a purple suit of power armor. He grinned and laughed like a maniac. “Hahahaha! I win! I win! The Rule of Commander Black will–” And then Goku came down through the ceiling. Officer Black stared at her and Goku jumped and flip-rolled to dropkick the power armor in the chest and send him staggering with a craterous dent where her feet had hit.

“Don’t worry, Suno!” Goku assured Suno, “I’ve got this!” Suno nodded appreciatively as Officer Black charged Goku and opened the tip of his fingers to unleash a hail of bullets at Goku. She weaved and dashed her way between all of them to deliver a ferocious series of jabs that dotted the armor with dents and finished with a furious chop that turned the power armor’s right arm into smithereens. Black stared at where the arm had been in disbelief and Goku lunged again. Black brought up his other arm and a rocket flew out of his open palm and hit Goku squarely in the chest. Goku slammed into a wall and charged him again while the smoke was still rolling off her body. Black opened a panel in his stomach and a jet of fire enveloped Goku. She leaped into the air through the fire and as the flames hung off Goku like torn ropes with a savage look on her face, Suno saw a depth of fear in Commander Black’s eyes that she had never known humans to be capable of. Goku slammed into the super strong polymer and cracked the bubble that Black was looking out of. She landed on the floor and then it was Commander Black’s turn to surprise them yet again.

Commander Black popped open the hatch of the bubble and held up… an eye. It was a mechanical eye, clearly, but there were wires dangling from it that looked like nerve endings and it was dripping with blood. Commander Black squeezed the eye in his fist and a bright red beam shot out of where the pupil would be and struck Goku square in the face, stunning her and sending her sprawling. He punched a hole in the ceiling and flew out through the hole with a rocket that came out of the armor’s back. Then he pointed his fist down at the compound and laughed.

“This armor is equipped with a thermonuclear warhead!” he bellowed, voice broadcast loud over a built-in speaker. “Let’s see how you tough you are when I blow you all straight to hell!” he laughed again as Goku still staggered on her hands and knees.

Suno stared up into the sky at Commander Black as he prepared the warhead. This was so far beyond anything she could have possibly imagined that she went past panic and looped around to perfectly calm.

It was simple, really. Commander Black was going to launch an attack that would almost certainly kill them all. There was no way to block such an attack so the only option was to prevent that attack from launching in the first place.

Of course, that was easier said than done. Goku was still stunned and likely wouldn’t recover soon enough. Muten Roshi and the others were still off at another part of the base likely unaware of what was happening. The Power Pole would also fail here since there wasn’t enough room to build up a proper swing at that height. Even kiai was out of the question since, even if Suno could perform a full powered one, there’s no way it’d do anything noteworthy.

That left only one option.

It didn’t matter that Suno had never successfully performed it. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t tried it since her time spent training. It didn’t matter that, realistically speaking, there’s no way Suno could perform it. It was no longer about could or could not. Suno had no choice but to do it. If she didn’t then everyone would surely die.

Suno felt her ki circulating at an ever growing pace. What she was doing was, by most accounts, impossible but she wouldn’t let something as minor as that stop her. In the end, everything came down to her and this one moment. Everything had been set up for this. Everything had been building up to this. Now all that was left was for her to step forward and fulfill her role.

Suno’s body was burning. Her ki was building at such a rate that it felt as if she could explode if it continued.

She didn’t stop it.

She pushed it to grow even more.

What she was doing was so far beyond her that, even as a fantasy, it was ridiculous. If she were to look back on this moment later, she was certain that she would see herself as another person entirely. If she could look back on this moment later, she was certain that she would be another person entirely.

No more regrets. No more anger. No more revenge. No more hate. No more sadness. No more suffering. No more thinking. Only that power that was burning within her and the target she was intent on destroying were important.

Suno felt her power erupting from her body. If she had been less focused, she would have noticed an aura surrounding her that caused her hair to rise.

Suno brought her hands to her side and focused. If this was going to work, she would have to pour everything she had into this one attack. No, even that wouldn’t be enough. She had to push herself even farther than that if this was going to work.

“Kaaaaaaa….”

Suno forced her raging power between her hands. It was like trying to direct the flow of the ocean with a broom but she did it anyway. She could feel her ki starting to condense and take shape but it wasn’t enough. Not yet. If she had the time to do this carefully, she could probably do it safely but she didn’t have time. The missile was almost fully deployed and would surely be launched soon.

“Meeeeeee….”

She forced every bit of her power that she could spare into the space between her hands but it still wasn’t enough. She could certainly launch it now and it may very well hit her target but it wouldn’t be enough to stop the attack. She needed more.

“Haaaaaaa….”

Ignoring the scream of her body, Suno began drawing even more power into the attack. Using this much of her life energy was certainly dangerous but it didn’t matter. If she continued down this route, she would certainly die the moment the attack was launched but it didn’t matter. What mattered was the strange but wonderful girl still staggering to her feet. What mattered were the people that were valiantly fighting against an army without any knowledge as to what was about to happen.

Goku. Bulma. Krillin. Yamcha. Launch. Muten Roshi. They mattered. Suno didn’t.

“Meeeeeee….”

She was so far beyond her limit that her body was breaking. Her hearing was gone. She couldn’t feel anything. The scent of blood was gone. Even her vision was tunneled to the point that she could only see her target. Her heart felt as if it would burst, breathing was becoming a Herculean task, and it took every ounce of her willpower to remaining standing.

This didn’t worry her at all.

There was no more time. The attack was going to be launched any moment now. There was no more energy to pull. If she pulled any more, she would certainly die before she could launch her own attack and then this would all be meaningless.

Was it enough? Could she do this? Would this work?

She didn’t know the answer to those questions but she didn’t need to know. One way or another, this ended now.

“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Suno thrusted her arms toward her target and a brilliant blue beam erupted from her hands. This wasn’t the the pure beam that Goku had used. This wasn’t even the tornado-like beam that Krillin had used. This beam contained her very essence and sparkled like sunlight over freshly fallen snow.

The beam that contained everything that was Suno collided with her target. Her target was forced high into the air by the impact as the beam contended with its armor. For a painful eternity, it seemed like it wouldn’t be enough but, in the end, the human spirit is indomitable while machines are everything but. The beam tore through the armor, it tore through the man inside, it tore through the missile. There was a great explosion as her target was destroyed and then the light faded.

It was certainly impossible but she had done it anyway. If this was where her story ended then she was content. With a faint smile, Suno collapsed as her body gave out.

Chapter Text

Goku finally got to her feet and blinked away the bright light as it dimmed down. Whatever that ball was, that laser had hurt her more than she’d expected. But never mind that, Suno had done a Kamehameha! Goku had known she would be able to do it. She was so proud of her friend.

“Suno!” Goku shouted as she stood up, “That was great!” Then she saw Suno passed out on the ground and crouched down to brush her hair aside and see if she was all right. She was breathing but it was shallow and labored. “Suno?” she asked softly. Her friend made no movement. Goku scooped Suno quickly up into her arms and ran through the battlefield. She wondered where all the soldiers had gone to and was surprised when she saw her friends. They must have come to help with the fight! “Master Roshi! Krillin! Bulma! Everyone!” They waved to her until they saw Suno in her arms and were clearly concerned. Goku put on an extra burst of speed and held Suno out to them. “I think she got hurt using the Kamehameha. Bulma, do you have any medicine or anything?” Bulma shook her head and chewed her bottom lip.

“I’m sorry, Goku,” she said, “I only brought stuff I thought we could use to beat up the soldiers.” She shook her head and looked disappointed with herself. “I should have thought ahead!” Yamcha put an arm around Bulma’s shoulder as Roshi looked Suno over.

“Don’t be too hard on yourself. I doubt your medicine would do much good here anyway. Set her down gently, Goku,” he instructed and she did as she was told. She watched with a mixture of worry and excitement, wondering what Roshi was going to do and hoping that Suno would be okay. Roshi rolled up his sleeves to the elbows and held his palms out towards Suno. He closed his eyes and hummed softly as a gentle, twinkling light began to glow from his palms and all of them watched in wonderment. This was not the harsh light of an attack, it was a soft and warm light; like from a candle or the rays of the sun. He ran his hands slowly across Suno’s body. He pressed a palm to the crown of her head then the center of her forehead, her throat, her heart, and her stomach. Each time he touched Suno, a faint light shimmered through her like ripples on a lake. When he was finished, she did not wake up but her breathing was much more relaxed. “She’ll be fine,” Roshi assured Goku with a smile, “She just needs to rest a while.”

“What did you do, Master Roshi?” Krillin asked in awe. The old master gave a wise smile.

“Ki is life energy,” Roshi explained. “Most people who can understand ki only know of it as a weapon. Burning, smashing, piercing. But there’s so much more it can do. It can give life as much as it brings death. Suno put too much of her own ki into that Kamehameha so I put some of my ki into her to speed up the healing process.”

“Not to break this up,” Launch interjected, “But didn’t you come here because these guys had Dragon Balls?” Goku blinked in surprise. “...Did you forget?” One second she was there. Then she wasn’t. They all stared at the spot where Goku had been. Even Roshi hadn’t seen her leave. “The hell did we miss?” Then she was back and holding two Dragon Balls in her fists.

“I found these in the guy’s desk,” she said as she held them up. “It doesn’t look like they had any more, though.” Yamcha groaned and rubbed a palm against his forehead.

“All that and we don’t even have all the Balls yet?” he sighed and shrugged. “Okay, Goku. Where’s the last one?” Goku took out the Dragon Radar and frowned. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t find it,” Goku said and held the Radar out for them to see. She didn’t understand how the Dragon Ball wouldn’t show up. Bulma’s Radar always found the Dragon Balls. Was this one hiding? Could they hide? Bulma smiled and took the Radar from Goku’s hand.

“Don’t worry,” she said with a smile, “I’ve got something!” Goku smiled back. Bulma was so smart! She could always count on her with this kind of stuff. Bulma took a capsule out of her fanny pack and opened it to reveal… something. It looked the same color as the Dragon Radar except that it was square. There was a deep impression in the square for the Radar to fit into and slapped it down inside the square. “I had some time these last couple days and I built a Radar amplifier. This will boost the Radar’s signal to cover the entire planet!” Goku smiled even wider and clapped excitedly. That was so cool! Bulma pushed the button. Then pushed it again. And then a third time. “Okay, what the hell?!”

“What’s wrong?” Yamcha asked while leaning over her shoulder. The green screen showed a three-dimensional map of the Earth and six Dragon Balls in one spot. However, there was no blinking lights anywhere else. On the entire planet. “Oh. That’s what’s wrong.”

“Maybe your gadget isn’t as good as you think it is,” Launch offered snidely. Bulma scowled at her.

“Can you even make toast?” she asked. “And you’re giving me shit about my tech?!” Goku winced. She didn’t want to see her friends fight! Roshi cleared his throat before things got ugly.

“I might have a solution but I’ll wait until Suno is feeling better. In the meantime, though,” he gestured to Goku, “I think you need some new clothes.” Goku looked down at her gi. She hadn’t noticed but it was pretty beat up. It was full of bulletholes and tears from shrapnel and scorch marks.

“Okay!” she said eagerly, “We’ll just go back to Kame House and–”

“Nope,” Roshi cut her off. “Fresh outta uniforms. They don’t grow on trees, y’know.” Goku blinked.

“I know they don’t,” she said plainly. Clothes didn’t grow on trees. Fruit did! Roshi sighed.

“No, it’s–”

“I mean, cotton can be made into clothes. But that grows out of the ground. That’s different.” Roshi sighed again.

“Never mind! Let’s just head into the nearest town and ask the tailor to make you a new gi.” Goku called down Nimbus and Bulma slipped on her Sonic Discs as Roshi unfurled his magic carpet for himself, Yamcha, and Launch. Krillin helped Goku put Suno on the Nimbus and then they all flew off together.

As they flew to the city, Roshi explained that between the seven of them, they’d taken out most of the soldiers. Those that were left turn tail and ran after Suno defeated Commander Black. Since their boss had threatened them all with nuclear annihilation, whatever that meant, it wasn’t likely that they were going to be fighting again anytime soon. That made Goku feel a little better. Even if they didn’t have all the Dragon Balls yet, at least the Red Ribbon Army wouldn’t be hurting anyone ever again!

It was… all gone.

Gero had been having a splendid day. He’d finally gotten Frappe to reveal his secrets of biomechanics and was then able to finally put an end to the insufferable coward. A giant wrench was an admittedly primitive way to get the job done but it had been very satisfying. He had been sketching and designing and had plans for the next ten androids. It was going to be perfect.

However, when he called his private line to the Red Ribbon Army that he used to procure resources and funds, there had been no one there. He called again. And again. He tried a different number and Cyril’s personal number that he was to only use in emergencies. Nothing. Finally he turned on the news. Defeated. The Red Ribbon Army had been… defeated. Cyril was dead. And so, too, were Gero’s hopes for humanity. He’d destroyed half his lab in a black rage and set fire to all his designs. It wasn’t fair! When his fury had finally subsided, he realized who had to be to blame. That Son Goku girl. Super strong, fast, invulnerable. What could she be but an alien? It was her fault. She’d taken it all away from him. His hopes, his dreams, his son’s memory.

It was then that Gero decided that it was not over. He would not let it be over. It would take much longer now, maybe the rest of his natural life, but he would have his cyborgs and he would save humanity. Most of all, however, he would kill. Son. Goku.

“It’s that!” Goku told the tailor, pointing at Krillin, Yamcha, and Launch. The old man had a lean, clean-shaven face and adjusted his spectacles as he leaned over his counter and peered at the fabric to determine its exact color and texture.

“Hrrm,” the tailor muttered and sucked on his teeth, “Yes, I believe I can do that. You’ll just need to get on the counter so I can get your measurements.” He bent down and disappeared behind the counter, muttering something about having a stepladder or a stool Goku could use. When he came back up, Goku was already standing on the counter. The old man blinked and shrugged. “Well, all right then. Stick out your arms for me.” Goku did so with a smile as the man found a measuring tape and then proceeded to measure her legs, chest, and the circumference of her shoulders, jotting each one down on a pad of paper. Goku giggled and squirmed when the tape wrapped around her middle. It tickled! “This shouldn’t take more than an hour or two.” The old man said with a smile before he disappeared into the back of his store. Goku smiled and hopped off the counter.

They spent the hour wandering around the store and looking at the different gi and outfits the tailor sold while Yamcha went back to the Kame House to get Puar. They’d been in luck that the tailor specialized in clothes for martial artists and adventurers. There were some outfits that Goku thought were kind of neat and some that were kinda dumb. In the end, she was glad to get her new gi. The old one was in such rough shape that it fell apart as she was changing into her new clothes! Yamcha paid the tailor and returned to where they had left Roshi and Suno.

Suno awoke to a world of pain. She honestly didn’t really mind that since she was surprised that she awoke at all. The fact that she was staring at the open sky rather than some ceiling clued her in to the fact that she had been moved but she had no idea how long she had been out.

She groaned softly as she gingerly sat up. “Easy now. You did a real number on yourself,” she heard someone to her left say. She looked over to see Muten Roshi sitting on a flying carpet. With his sunglasses off, he not only looked every bit the wizened old master but his gaze seemed to pierce straight through her. “What you did was very reckless,” Roshi continued, “but I understand why you did it. I have to say, I’m actually impressed that you even managed to perform the Kamehameha. When I was repairing your chakras, I noticed that they weren’t naturally tuned towards combat.”

“I had to do it,” Suno said somewhat defensively. “If I didn’t-”

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” Roshi waved her off. “That desperation is likely why you managed it and I’m really glad you did. There’s no way any of us could have survived a nuclear blast. Still, when I created the Kamehameha, I structured it so that it would never draw from the ki needed to maintain your life. It’s only supposed to use your body’s excess ki. It may not have the destructive power of the Kikouhou because of that but it’s a lot safer. That aside, the body has a very strong natural resistance to altering the ki needed to maintain itself. The ability to manipulate it like you did is one rarely found even among masters.”

Suno grunted as she moved to where she was sitting upright on the Nimbus. While being praised by the Turtle Hermit was something that was beyond even her wildest dreams, there was something about the way he was talking that was preventing her from getting embarrassed. “Thank you, Master Roshi, but why are you telling me all of this?”

“I’ve got two reasons. The first is that I want you to promise me that you’ll never do that again. You would have died if I hadn’t been there and putting that much stress on your body shortens your lifespan. If I had to guess, that stunt cost you a couple of years.” Suno paled at this and nodded. “The second is that your talent doesn’t lie in fighting. You can become a great fighter, sure, but your skills would be wasted there. Like I told the others, ki can be used to heal and restore just as readily as it can be used to destroy. If you want, I can teach you how to use your ki to heal others.”

Suno paused for a long moment. This was definitely the chance of a lifetime and yet… “Thank you very much, Master Roshi, but I’ll have to pass for now. There are things I still need to do and I need to be stronger in order to do them. I don’t have the time to focus on something unrelated right now.”

Roshi nodded. “Alright. I can appreciate your conviction if nothing else. Still, letting your talents go to waste would be awful so consider this an open invitation. Just come see me whenever you’re ready. Now,” Roshi put his sunglasses back on before gesturing to the side with his head, “I think some people are coming to see you.”

Suno turned her head in time to see Goku charging towards her as she cried out her name and threw her arms around her. Suno hugged her back and then Goku backed away to let Suno see that all of Goku’s friends were around her in a circle. She supposed they were her friends now, too. They’d come to give Suno and Goku help and she’d risked her life to save theirs. Didn’t get much friendlier than that.

“Hey there, kid. Goku told us what happened. That was pretty brave,” Yamcha said with a smile as Krillin nodded. Launch huffed and folded her arms over her chest.

“So that’s one more person who can do the Kamehameha before me,” she muttered. She still had a bit of a smile despite her words so Suno knew it was supposed to be a bit of a compliment. It was then that Suno finally took in her surroundings and noticed that they were in a city rather than a secret military base in the mountains.

“What did I miss?” she asked in confusion. So Goku told her about how she’d found the two Dragon Balls but that the last one was missing and that Master Roshi had a plan.

“So what’s your plan, Master Roshi?” Yamcha asked. Roshi took off his sunglasses and cleaned them with the hem of his shirt as he spoke.

“Simple,” he said. “Ask my big sister.” Bulma blinked.

“What,” she and Launch said flatly in unison and then glared at each other. Goku gasped and clapped her hands.

“Master Roshi has a big sister?!” she asked excitedly.

“Oh, right!” Yamcha said with a nod, “The one who you said made those super-heavy turtle shells. I didn’t think she was actually a witch. I figured it was, I dunno, a euphemism.” Roshi smiled and nodded as he put his glasses back on.

“Yup. Uranai Baba, the Fortuneteller.”

“Your parents named your sister ‘Crone’?” Suno asked incredulously. Clearly Roshi was the favorite. She also wondered how much older Baba could possibly be. That made him laugh out loud and he shook his head.

“Oh, heavens no! She changed her name when she got into the fortune-telling business. Her name used to be… uh… hrm….” Roshi paused and scratched his head. “Well, I don’t really remember.” Everyone face-faulted and Roshi huffed indignantly. “Let’s see what you remember when you’re all three hundred years old!”

“So you really think your sister can tell us where the last Dragon Ball is?” Krillin asked once everyone was back on their feet. Roshi smiled.

“Well sure! She’s a fortune teller, isn’t she?” Bulma grumbled and groused something under her breath about “stupid magic”. “The only thing,” Roshi said, “Is that my sister never does anything for free. She doesn’t always charge money but you’ll probably have to play some game or beat some challenge.”

“Let’s go, let’s go!” Goku declared eagerly as she and Krillin jumped onto the Nimbus. Soon enough they were flying again, with Roshi leading the way. Suno wasn’t scared about any challenges the Fortuneteller might present them with. They’d just defeated the Red Ribbon Army. What could an old witch possibly throw at them that was tougher than that?

Chapter Text

In sharp contrast to a large facility in the middle of the mountains, Uranai Baba’s palace was a large facility in the middle of the desert. Or at least on an oasis. There were two large buildings with a fighting platform between them connected by bridges. To everyone’s surprise, there was a line in front of the first building. Everyone but Roshi, of course.

“She’s always got a line,” he explained. “People come from all over the world to have their fortunes told. I suppose we’ll just wait our–”

“Yeah, no,” Launch declared as she pulled two uzis, as usual, from nowhere. “That shit ain’t happenin’.” She fired at the line with her bullets whizzing less than an inch over the heads of the tallest people. “Outta the way, I got shit to do!” she roared at those in line as they ran screaming. In a few moments, they were alone. “See? That wasn’t so hard.” As they walked to the building, a tiny pink ghost floated out of the door. It wore a green hat and had a round body with a tapered off little tail and big white teeth.

“Greetings!” the ghost said cheerfully as it waved its little pink nubs. Goku grinned and eagerly waved back. “The great Uranai Baba will see you in a moment!” Then it floated away again. They waited for what seemed like an awkward amount of time.

“Maybe she’s waiting for us?” Krillin thought aloud as he started to walk towards the building. Roshi reached out and yanked on Krillin’s collar to pull him back as an enormous wall of fire flew up before them and a nightmarish face was cast in the shadows of the flames.

“Who dares to trifle with the great Uranai Baba?!” it bellowed in an unnaturally deep voice. Everyone, with the exception of Roshi, took several steps back as the flames jumped even higher. “What great folly possessed you to seek out the all-seeing crone, at the cost of your very sooooouls?!” Roshi pulled down his glasses to roll his eyes. “Within these walls awaits you a horror beyo–” the voice suddenly stopped and the demonic face blinked and stared down at Roshi. “Oh,” it said in a much more normal, if disappointed, voice. “It’s you.” The flames instantly dissipated and behind them stood the tiniest woman Goku had ever seen. Well, she wasn’t really standing. She was sitting on a floating crystal ball and floated out to meet them. She was a little old woman in a witch’s outfit with pink hair sticking out from underneath her pointed hat. “And just what is so important that my brother, the great Muten Roshi, got off his beach chair to finally come and see me?” she asked in a voice drenched in sarcasm. Roshi forced a smile and held out his arms as if for a hug.

“It’s good to see you, sis–” he began to say before ducking a rock she lobbed at his head.

“Don’t gimme none of that crap!” she snapped at him. “If you ever actually wanted to keep in touch, you could visit! You’ve got enough dang flying contraptions! And it’s not like you’re so busy! You haven’t had a student in forty years!” Roshi frowned at her and folded his arms.

“Have you seen the lines you draw? You think I’m gonna stand in a line for seven hours at my age just to catch up?” he asked incredulously. She huffed before hacking out a phlegmy glob of spit onto the sand.

“Then you could call!” she insisted. Roshi rolled his eyes.

“Oh, I’m sorry sis,” he said with mock sincerity, “But you don’t have a phone and I’m afraid I don’t know the extension for your crystal ball!” Just when things looked like they were about to get ugly, Goku reached up and gave a tap-tap-tap on Baba’s crystal ball.

“Excuse me,” she said politely, “Could you help us?” Baba looked down at her and sighed before giving Goku a smile. Goku thought it was a nice smile, even if Baba was missing a couple teeth.

“Well that depends, deary,” she said in a much nicer tone than when she’d been talking to Roshi. “What sort of fortune do you need old Baba to tell?” Goku smiled back at her. She seemed pretty nice!

“We’re trying to find the Dragon Balls,” she explained. “We have six of them but we can’t find the seventh. We need them to help the people hurt by the Red Ribbon Army. Could you help us?” Baba smiled again and leaned down to ruffle Goku’s hair. It was a shock that she didn’t fall over, given how far she had to lean.

“That shouldn’t be too hard,” she said as Goku reached into her hair and pulled out a piece of ribbon candy. She blinked before shoving it into her mouth. “I should warn you, my help isn’t cheap.”

“We know,” Bulma said, “Roshi said we have to pass some kind of test or challenge?” Baba smiled and shrugged.

“Unless you have ten million zeni on you, yes.” They all stared wide-eyed at her. With the exception of Roshi who knew this already and Goku who was still too focused on her ribbon candy. “What, you think fortune telling is cheap?” she smiled and shrugged. “So I’m guessing that’s a no on the ten million zeni. Let’s see there are…” she paused and counted everyone there. Roshi took a step to the left and Bulma vehemently shook her head which apparently excluded them from the count. “All right, so there’s six of ya. If you can defeat my five champions, I’ll tell ya your fortune. Follow me!” Baba floated away through the entrance tunnel towards the platform in between the two buildings and everyone followed her.

“I’ll take the first shot,” Launch said as she hopped into the ring. She cracked her neck and dropped down to stretch her legs to wait for the first champion. A strange figure strutted out of the far building wrapped in a mysterious black cloak before whipping it off dramatically to reveal… a blue vampire in traditional Taijutsu garb. He threw a few quick jabs in the air with his purple gloves. Launch was unimpressed.

“Behold!” the tiny pink ghost declared dramatically, “Dracula Man!”

“That’s original,” Suno muttered dryly.

“Wait,” Krillin said, “If he’s a vampire, how come he isn’t dead from direct sunlight?” Baba waved her hand.

“I took care of that,” she said brusquely. Krillin shrugged as Dracula Man threw another jab at Launch, cackling like a madman and showing his fangs to try and intimidate her. Launch responded with an elbow to the stomach that caused the vampire to double over in pain. She followed up with a ferocious uppercut that snapped Dracula Man’s head back and drove her foot into his kneecap to hobble him. She continued the assault with vicious body punches and elbows. He caught Launch with a sudden knee to the stomach and followed up with a series of jabs to the face before finishing with a right hook. Surprisingly, Launch reached out and trapped his arm at the elbow under her armpit.

“Thank you, sir,” Launch said and smiled wickedly at him despite her busted lip. “May I have another?” she added and spit out a mouthful of blood. Despite having no blood of his own, Dracula Man’s blue skin went even paler. Launch grinned and proceeded to slam her palm several times into his collarbone. She let go of his arm to let him stagger away and threw out a powerful thrust kick to send him careening backwards onto his ass.

“Whoa,” Yamcha whispered, the clear blush on his cheeks causing Bulma to huff and cross her arms over her chest indignantly. Goku clapped excitedly for her friend. Launch had gotten really good! Dracula picked himself up slowly as Launch waited and bounced on the balls of her feet. He charged at her and there was a sudden “Foof!” of a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Dracula Man had turned into a bat! Whatever his next step was, though, it was clear it didn’t matter.

“Ah… ahhh.. aaaah…” Launch said and tilted her head back further and further as she scrunched up her face.

“Aw no,” Krillin muttered in disappointment.

“What?” Suno asked, “What is it?”

“Ah choo!” Launch cried as she sneezed and her hair switched blue. She blinked huge, soft, doe-like eyes as she stared at the bat flapping in front of her and looking as confused as a bat could be. Then she let out a shriek and dove into the water, eliminating herself. Everyone groaned and facepalmed in unison except for Goku, who was helping Launch out of the water, and Suno, who had never seen that happen.

“What,” she asked flatly. “What?” she repeated in disbelief. How did that happen? What had just happened?

“Oh, right,” Krillin said, “You’ve never seen Launch do that before. She does that.”

“What the heck is ‘that’?!” she asked incredulously. Everyone shrugged, even Launch. Suno sighed and shook her head. She shouldn’t have been surprised.

“One down, five to go!” Dracula Man cackled as he returned to his human form and jabbed at the air. Apparently, he had forgotten that the only thing that had spared him a humiliating defeat was a technicality that he never could have expected. Krillin entered the ring next with some small amount of trepidation. He slid into his guard and Dracula Man turned into a bat again, zipping around the ring at surprising speed. Krillin heard the “Foof!” as Dracula Man transformed behind him and rolled forward with seconds to spare as the vampire’s jaws snapped shut around the air where his head used to be.

“H-hey!” Krillin protested as he rolled up to a knee, “What gives?! Is he trying to drink my blood or something?!” He grinned and snapped his teeth a few more times.

“Well… yes,” Baba said nonchalantly, as if Krillin was an idiot for asking. Krillin let out a distressed moan. Why did he always have to fight the things that ate people?! Dracula Man licked his lips and charged at Krillin with a series of elbows, jabs, and knees. A year ago, Krillin would have been terrified and helpless but he was braver and stronger now. He’d fought Giran the Dragon Man and the chainsaw android. A dumb blue vampire didn’t scare him! Krillin effortlessly redirected every attack with his Orin Temple style before catching Dracula Man under the chin with a backflip kick. Dracula man staggered away while Baba dragged her hand down her face in frustration. Dracula Man turned into a bat in response to make up for his weaknesses with his incredible speed. He zipped around Krillin’s head to try and disorient him. It was doing the job and Krillin could feel himself getting dizzy as his eyes bounced back and forth to try and follow the bat.

“Don’t follow him with your eyes, Krillin!” Goku called, “You’ve got to feel when he’s coming!” Goku could see him easily enough but she knew Krillin wasn’t as strong as her so he’d have a harder time. Krillin nodded and closed his eyes as he exhaled. He threw his hands out suddenly and clapped them around Fang, catching him overhead.

“I got him!” Krillin cried triumphantly, then let out a yelp when Dracula Man turned back to normal to burst out of his grip and drove a knee down on top of Krillin’s head to send him hard into the ring. Krillin rolled away as he followed up with a punch that hit only stone and got to his feet as the vampire charged with his mouth wide open. “Let’s see how you chew on this!” he shouted as he chopped out a horizontal kiai. It caught Dracula Man right in the mouth and caused him to come to a screeching halt as his fangs snapped clean off. He shrieked in pain and clutched at his mouth in horror with tears in his eyes. Krillin ran at Dracula Man and caught him full in the face, unknowingly, with Goku’s signature dropkick. He flew backwards and flopped across the ring a few times before hitting the water, eliminating the first of Baba’s champions. The others cheered and clapped as Krillin pumped his fists in the air triumphantly.

“Yes, yes,” Baba said dryly, “You defeated my weakest champion. Congratulations.” She turned to the unconscious vampire floating in the water with disapproval, “You hear that, Drac? You stink! You lose one more time, you’re fired! I’ll get the one in the red trenchcoat and hat!” Then she turned her attention back to Krillin. “Would you like to sub out with someone else or do you want to face the next champion right away?”

“I’m ready!” Krillin said with his fists balled in determination. Baba nodded and snapped her fingers. Nothing happened. For a while. “Uh… where is–” but before Krillin could finish the question, something hit him in the chest with enough force to lift him off the ground. Krillin rolled up to his feet and clutched his chest with one hand. “Wh-what?!” he asked incredulously as his eyes swept around. He couldn’t see any– once again his thought was interrupted as he was struck in the face. Baba cackled as Krillin staggered away and held his cheek.

“Behold!” she declared while spreading her tiny arms as wide as she could manage, “The Invisible Man!”

“Well that’s an impossible command if ever I heard one,” Bulma muttered under her breath.

“Don’t worry, Krillin!” Goku assured her friend “It’s just like the vampire guy! You have to listen for him!” Then she turned to Suno and added “I can smell him but I know not everyone’s sense of smell is as good as mine.” Suno smiled a little to herself when she realized that Goku still couldn’t sense ki. At least she could do something Goku couldn’t.

Krillin tried to do as Goku said and put up his guard. He closed his eyes to shut everything out and heard a sudden shuffling of feet upon the stone. Krillin spun to avoid an attack and drove the edge of his hand into… something. Maybe a knee? There was a howl of pain that seemed to come from nothing and Krillin jumped up into the air and threw out a spin kick. This time, he struck somewhere around the ribcage and the air let out another howl of pain and a gasp for breath. Krillin heard the Invisible Man stagger back and swept his legs out from under him with a kick, then leaped again to deliver a double foot stomp, his feet stopping before they hit the ground as they collided with what was probably a stomach. Krillin hopped away as the Invisible Man gasped and sputtered. Then the strangest thing happened.

Baba began to sing.

It was a strange wailing song that was deep and full of sorrow and in a language none of them had ever heard. Roshi groaned and clapped his hands over his ears.

“Her and her stupid friggin opera,” he muttered under his breath. Launch looked up at Baba and smiled slightly. She kind of liked the music. It was sad but kind of sweet.

“But why is she singing?” Bulma wondered. Had the old bat gone senile? She was older than Roshi so she kind of had to be, right? Krillin tried to listen for the Invisible Man’s feet again but now he couldn’t hear anything over the singing! He squinted and tried to drown the crone out but she just seemed to sing louder. He threw a wild kick to the side but something hit him in the back of the head. He staggered forward and then he was kicked in the butt and sent sprawling.

“Hey!” Goku shouted angrily up at Baba with sudden realization, “You’re cheating!” The others cried out in outrage at Baba’s treachery and shook their fists in the air at her. She just kept right on singing.

“You know,” Krillin said irritably, “You guys are just making more noise!” Between Baba’s singing and his friends’ arguing, Krillin couldn’t hear anything. He threw out wild punches and kicks at where he thought the Invisible Man would be. However, between his unfocused attack and the Invisible Man’s counterattacks, all he was doing was letting his see-through foe corral him to the edge of the ring. Krillin made a final desperate dive forwards when he felt something hit him in the face and fell right into the water. The Invisible Man laughed a belly laugh as Krillin came up and spat out a stream of water with a sour expression on his face. Goku helped him out as Baba finally stopped singing.

“All right,” she said, “Who’s next?” Yamcha started to step forward when Suno held out a hand to stop him.

“I can handle this,” she said confidently.

“Are you sure?” Bulma asked, worry clearly written on her face. “You still don’t look to good after that Kamehameha.”

Suno smiled, “Yeah, I’ve got this. This guy isn’t really strong or skilled and I have a trick up my sleeve.” She’d had time during Krillin’s fight to get a handle on the Invisible Man’s ki and now she knew everything she could possibly need. She stepped into the ring and closed her eyes. She could see without seeing and knew that he was coming towards her. His form was atrocious and the wind up on his punt that he was aiming at her chest was almost comically slow. Suno suspected that the only way he’d been able to do any damage to Krillin whatsoever was through his invisibility. Suno hopped easily over it and swung with a reverse hook kick that drove the heel of her foot into his ear. He started to stagger but Suno grabbed his wrist as she started to fall and pulled his arm, gravity helping her to flip him overhead and slam him down into the stone. She twisted on his arm, which she was sure looked ludicrous to everyone else as she grabbed and twisted at nothing. The Invisible Man shrieked and squealed and howled with pain in Suno’s grip.

“I give up!” he cried, “I give up, I give up! Lemme go!” Suno did just that and she sensed him roll away and sulk off clutching his arm. Baba groaned as everyone else cheered and Suno finally opened her eyes to see Goku rushing across the bridge to hug her and lift her off the ground.

“That was so cool!” Goku shouted. “How were you able to do that?” she asked. Suno smiled almost bashfully. Between this and the Kamehahema, she wasn’t used to being so heaped with praise.

“I was able to sense his ki,” she said modestly. Goku’s eyes got all starry and she set Suno down to clap her hands and bounce up and down.

“Oooh! You’ve gotta show me that!” Suno grinned and nodded which made Goku cheer. Preoccupied as she was with Goku, Suno couldn’t see the flash of jealousy in Krillin’s eyes or the way he balled his fists and sucked in his lips. Baba cleared her throat to draw away from the good times and bring everyone back to the present.

“If you’re all quite done?” she asked. “That was the easy part. Those two are pretty much just gimmicks. Now you have to fight the guys who are actually good. Are you ready for the terrors that await you inside… the Devil’s Toilet?!”

Chapter Text

There was much snickering about “The Devil’s Toilet” before they entered the eponymous room. Baba attempted to defend the name before she admitted that it was “on the lease” and couldn’t be changed. Though the room was fairly ominous- being enormous and having two giant devil statues whose tongues made a bridge- the snickering returned when Krillin noted the giant stone toilet paper roll on one of the walls.

“Wait a sec,” Yamcha said as he peered out over one devil’s mouth to look down at the roiling green liquid far below. “Is that acid?” Baba grinned smugly and nodded.

“A-yup,” she said as she crossed her arms over her chest. “Not so funny now, is it?”

“Nah,” Goku said with a cheeky grin. “It’s still pretty funny.” Baba huffed and uncrossed her arms.

“Well, fine, then!” she grumble before she turned her attention to Suno. “Do you want to keep going?” Suno nodded.

“I’m fine,” she insisted. The weariness might have started to catch up with her now but she figured she could handle it. The first two guys had been pretty sad. All in all, this adventure was a pretty easy ride compared to fighting the Red Ribbon Army.

“Very well!” Baba said as she gestured as dramatically as her tiny arms could manage towards the other devil’s mouth. The bridge under them shook and they all scuttled back into the mouth of their devil as something walked out of the shadows. The creature that came towards them appeared to be a very large mummy. A mummy with a completely undecomposed face, however, so perhaps he was just a man wrapped in toilet paper.

“That,” Roshi muttered, “is a big fella.” Suno and Goku shrugged. They’d seen bigger. He was about the same size as Bora and a little leaner besides.

“Behold!” Baba cried out as the mummy cracked his knuckles, sending a curious dust out from between his bandages. “Bandages the Mummy!” Bulma rolled her eyes.

“Really batting a thousand with names today, aren’t we? Or did these guys come with the lease, too?” Baba glared down at her.

“You wanna fight him, missy?!” she snapped. Bulma threw up her hands defensively.

“No, no,” she assured with her eyes wide as she shook her head rapidly, “Noooo, nononono!” Baba chuckled to herself and smiled smugly.

“S’what I thought,” she muttered before turning her attention back to the fight. Suno walked out to meet Bandages and took up her guard stance. Being so large, he would probably be slow like Eighter or Sergeant Metallic so she’d have to rely on outmaneuvering him while her physical strength was still recovering. That was her game plan until Bandages charged towards her like a freight train. He swung a bandaged foot forward to punt Suno but she put both palms out to block the kick and let the momentum lift her up to hit Bandages with a spinning kick to the face. He took a step back and then immediately returned to the attack with a knee before Suno had regained her footing and caught her square in the face to send her sprawling. Suno rolled to her feet just in time to see Bandages bringing a fist down on top of her and rolled forward to avoid it. She came up behind Bandages and threw all her weight into the back of his knee with as much force as she could muster to stagger him before running up his back to stomp on the back of his head and drive him face-first into the concrete. She hopped away and got back into her stance. That should have taken some of the wind out of his sails, Suno figured.

Then the mummy stood up with his hands on his face. Suno wondered if he was holding bruises or something until she heard some unsettling popping and snapping sounds. She wasn’t sure what to expect as she couldn’t see around Bandages to see the expressions of revulsion and horror on everyone else (although Goku thought it was pretty neat, actually) until he turned around to face her again. Judging by the puncture holes in Bandages’ face from the inside-out, it was clear that he’d been pushing his skull back into place.

“Huh,” Suno muttered as she paled slightly. “D-definitely a mummy.” She shook off the unpleasantness of that spectacle and charged forward at him once again. She flipped gracefully over him with a little twirl and then slid under his legs to come out in front of him again to confuse him before hammering his chest with a series of rapid fire jabs and then a knee square in the chest. Everyone cheered and encouraged Suno with the exception of Goku who only watched with growing concern, her arms folded over her chest as she cocked her head to one side.

“No good,” she muttered. “Suno is slowing down!” Suno was coming to that conclusion herself as she continued her struggle with Bandages. The ki that Roshi had imbued her with when he’d repaired her chakras was running out fast, sapping her speed and power. The longer the fight went on, the smaller the gap between their speeds became which would take away Suno’s only advantage. Suno realized she had to end the fight as soon as possible. The idea made her uncomfortable but she consoled herself by remembering that Bandages was technically already dead.

Suno waited for Bandages to throw another kick at her and ducked low to sweep his leg out from under him. The mummy pinwheeled his arms through the air as he desperately tried to regain his balance and Suno threw out a kick as hard as she could to catch him right in the shin and send him toppling towards the acid below. Everyone cheered and Suno fell backwards to sit and catch her breath.

Then a strip of bandage flew up to loop around the tongue bridge. Suno crawled to look over the edge in disbelief to see Bandages with one arm thrust out and the wrapping up to his shoulder cast off to grab the bridge, revealing an extremely decayed arm. He squeezed the wrapping in one fist and it yanked him back up as it rewrapped around him.

“Incredible,” Bulma muttered in astonishment with a hand under her chin. “So he’s definitely dead but still moving with a speed and articulation far beyond that of what any reanimated corpse should be capable of- to say nothing of his durability or the condition of his ligaments and tendons.” Meanwhile, Bandages jumped into the air and landed in front of Suno as she picked herself back up and got back into guard with a weary determination. “I wonder if Baba would let me study him.” Yamcha stared at her incredulously.

“That’s what you’re thinking about right now?!” he asked in a mixture of shock and anger. “What the hell is wrong with you?!” How could his girlfriend be thinking of science when Suno was in jeopardy? He knew she’d manipulated Goku when they first met but at least Goku’s life had never been in danger! Had she really changed so much in just a year? Or maybe he was finally getting to know the real Bulma…

Suno tried to hop away to avoid a rising knee to the gut from Bandages but she was too slow and it caught her just under the chin. The blow sent her up into the air where she was met with a powerful right jab and a left handed chop that slammed her down into the stone bridge. As Suno struggled to get up, Bandages callously stomped down on her back. She cried out in pain and tried to push him off with what little strength she had left but to no avail. Instead, Bandages took his foot off of her and reached down to squeeze Suno in both hands. She screamed in pain as the mummy tried to crush the life out of her. She had nothing left to fight with and she knew that there were more important things than this one fight and her pride. There was so much that still needed to be done and she still had to see her mother when it was finished. How would she react to find out that Suno had been crushed to death?

“I… I give up!” she gasped out in defeat. Bandages squeezed her for a few seconds more before dropping her. Goku was there to catch her before she hit the ground and glared up at Bandages as she took Suno back to the others. She made a move to take Suno’s place when Yamcha put a leg in front of Goku and stepped forward instead.

“So, tough guy,” he said as he advanced towards Bandages, “You think beating up tired little girls makes you a big man?” He whipped his shirt off in perhaps an overly dramatic fashion and tossed it away where it landed between Bulma and Launch. “Why don’t you give me a try?” Bandages chuckled as Yamcha took a stance and spoke for the first time.

“You gonna die, little man!” he taunted in a rumbling voice. Yamcha sprinted towards Bandages and the mummy met him head on. They crashed together in a knuckle lock and Yamcha could feel himself giving ground to his undead foe’s superior height and weight. He let Bandages push him back and picked up his legs to shove his feet into Bandages’ chest and flip him overhead before releasing the knuckle lock as he flew. The mummy landed on his feet in a surprising show of agility and met Yamcha as he rolled to a knee with a shin to the jaw. Yamcha skidded backwards but got to his feet in time to block a punch from Bandages and slam the point of his elbow up under Bandages’ chin with an audible “Crunch!” as his neck jerked up unnaturally and he was stuck looking at the ceiling. Everyone winced as Bandages grabbed the back of his head with one hand and his jaw with the other and wrenched it back down with an even worse “crunch”.

“Oh, that’s gonna take getting used to,” Yamcha muttered before ducking under an attempted bear hug. This turned out to be a feint, however, as Bandages brought his fists together and slammed them down into Yamcha’s back. He hit the ground painfully and rolled away to barely avoid a punt that would have caught him right in the teeth. He rolled backwards and handsprung onto his feet before charging forward and battering the mummy’s chest with palm strikes. Bandages staggered backwards and Yamcha threw out a kick to hook behind his leg and tripped him down. He jumped up to drop a knee on Bandages’ face but the mummy showed great strength when he grabbed Yamcha by the knee and tossed him back up into the air. Yamcha came back down on his feet just as Bandages was barreling towards him. Yamcha suppressed the urge to cry out in surprise and did a front flip, smashing his heel into the back of Bandages’ head. He staggered forward and Yamcha jumped up again to drive a knee into his jaw. Yamcha finished it off with one last palm strike and his fingers ripped away some wrappings to expose the necrotic flesh beneath. The mummy took a few steps back as the wrappings around the exposed skin were discolored with a strange liquid and smiled. Yamcha charged, undaunted, right into an uppercut that caught him in the stomach hard enough to lift him off the ground.

In some small part of her brain, Bulma was still thinking science. Did Bandages have a beating heart? What was the fluid that was leaking out of his body now? It didn’t look like embalming fluid. Was that what was keeping him so alive and mobile? For the most part, however, Bulma wasn’t focusing on any of those minor details. All she could focus on while she held Yamcha’s shirt tightly to her chest was the fear in her stomach that this… awful thing was going to kill her boyfriend.

Bandages hammered Yamcha with a series of vicious body blows that drove the wind from him and covered his torso in painful bruises. Yamcha tried to fight back with right and left hooks across the face but Bandages shoved them off and grabbed Yamcha’s head in both hands to deliver a sickening headbutt. Yamcha’s legs buckled when he was disoriented and Bandages drove Yamcha’s face down to meet his knee before letting go of his face to let him tumble away.

‘I could just lay down,’ Yamcha thought. ‘Goku’s here. She’s stronger than me. No need to get myself killed against this guy. Right?’ Then he stood up and got back into his guard. ‘Not a chance,’ he thought before he spat out blood and charged again. He ducked under another strike from Bandage and came behind him to hammer punches into where his kidneys had been when he was alive. There must still have been something there because it was having an effect on the mummy, causing him to gasp and sputter in pain. Bandages spun around with a hammerfist blow that Yamcha again ducked under before smashing both fists as hard as he could into his thigh to give the undead man a limp. He hobbled away and Yamcha pressed the attack with punches and kicks until Bandages threw out his arm and one of his wrappings caught Yamcha around the ankle. He yanked Yamcha down hard onto the floor with an unpleasant “Thud!” before pulling him back up into the air and doing it again. Yamcha didn’t scream or cry, he only gasped out in pain as the wind was driven out of him and sputtered as he attempted to catch his breath. Bandages retracted his wrapping and grabbed Yamcha to bring him up onto his shoulders and wrench his back over him. Yamcha screamed out in agony and tried his best to kick and struggle but to no avail. Bulma cried out and buried her face in Yamcha’s shirt, unable to watch any longer. Yamcha’s help would come from an unlikely source.

“I can’t take this anymore!” Puar screamed as he flew out onto the bridge. He transformed into a woodpecker and pecked savagely at Bandages’ face to make him drop Yamcha before turning into a snake and wrapping around Bandages’ neck and squeezing as hard as he could. Bandages growled and gripped Puar in one hand to savagely rip him away from his neck and slam him into the ground hard enough to render him unconscious and make him change back to his cat form.

“Puar…” Yamcha whispered as he rolled over onto his stomach and looked at his closest and oldest friend.

Puar was his best friend. His only friend for years. He’d always promised the little guy that he’d look out for him. Now, when Puar had stuck his neck out for Yamcha, he’d gotten hurt and there was nothing Yamcha could do about it. That filled Yamcha with an anger that he couldn’t begin to describe, an anger that burned away the aches and the pain and forced life back into his beaten limbs to make him stand up again.

“Hey!” he snapped at Bandages, who’d been celebrating as if the fight was over. “We’re not done yet!” Something was happening that only Suno and Roshi could see as Yamcha slid into his guard. As his eyes glowed red and an invisible wind whipped through his hair, they saw his ki surging to life like a great flame, even brighter than it had been before, defiant in spite of his injuries. Yamcha opened his mouth to roar with fury and something in the way he opened his mouth highlighted his canines as he charged the mummy. “Wolf Fang Fist!” he cried as he battered the belligerent Bandages with a series of blindingly fast blows that were nothing more than a blur to everyone watching, save for Goku. Yamcha drove both palms into Bandages’ chest with a howl of fury that sent the big man flying across the bridge to disappear into the shadows of the mouth he’d come from. There was a thud, a groan, and then a louder thud before Baba threw up her hands.

“He’s out, you win,” she muttered in aggravation. “You wanna–”

“No,” Yamcha cut her off as he returned to his guard and fought an inclination to stagger. “Let’s go.” He still had some fight left in him. A sudden and sinister laughter bounced off the walls of the Devil’s Toilet as a dark blue tornado swirled into existence. The spinning slowed and finally stopped to reveal a tall, blue-skinned man in a skintight, dark blue bodysuit with wings, a tail, and horns.

“Spike the Devil Man,” Krillin whispered in shocked awe. “The only man to ever win two Tenkaichi Budoukai in a row!”

“The warrior straight from Hell!” Suno added in a hushed tone. She didn’t know how much of a chance Yamcha would have against Spike when he was fresh, let alone now that he was so beaten down. Why wouldn’t he sub out?

“I thought he was your strongest fighter?” Roshi asked his sister suspiciously. Baba chuckled.

“He was,” she said coyly, “but let’s just say that I’ve had a bit of a change in the lineup.” That gave Roshi pause. If Baba had acquired a new fighter, how dangerous must he be to bump down Spike the Devil Man?

“Come on already!” Yamcha called out as he dug his feet into the ground, “Let’s go!” He, too, knew of the legend of Spike the Devil Man but he wouldn’t show fear. He could beat him. Spike chuckled and brought two fingers of each hand to the sides of his head and pressed the black-painted fingernails to his temples.

“Negative Energy is the most powerful destructive force in the world,” he said suddenly, “And it is mine to command. With my Devilmite beam, I can attack the very evil in your heart. Every man, no matter how good he is, has some evil inside of him. Even the tiniest pinprick of darkness in a soul of light is mine to control! I can find that darkness and make that Negative Energy grow and grow until they explode!” Spike threw his head back and cackled as a chill went down Yamcha’s spine.

“I… I’m out.” He muttered sullenly as he dropped his head. He might be a better man than he had been but he still doubted whether or not he was good. He took three steps before his legs gave out under him and Goku and Krillin rushed out to prop him up. They let Bulma wrap her arms around Yamcha and lead him back off the bridge.

“You idiot!” she scolded even as she stroked his arm and kissed his bruised face tenderly, peppering him with affection. “Why did you have to do that, huh? Why did you have to be so… so stubborn and brave?! Are you trying to give me a heart attack you big, dumb, stupid, wonderful…” she buried her face in Yamcha’s shoulder and sobbed out a relieved breath as Yamcha gingerly put an arm around her. Krillin carried Puar away as Goku glared up at Spike and put up a guard.

“Foolish girl,” Spike cackle with his fingers still at his temples. “Even one as young and innocent as you can–”

“Shut up!” Goku snapped as she balled up her fists. Spike blinked before scowling at her, the embarrassment turning his cheeks a strange shade of purple.

“Fine, you little brat!” he snapped as he dropped his veil of courtesy. “Let’s see how you like this! Devilmite Beam!” Spike thrust out his arms and a pink spiral of energy flew out between them to strike Goku dead on. Everyone stared in shock. She hadn’t even had time to block or dodge! Spike cackled as Goku was bathed in a strange pink light. “Now you’ll pay for your insolence! The Devilmite Beam will find whatever evil there is inside of you until you explode! Explode! Exploooode!” The glow grew brighter and brighter… until it faded away completely, leaving Goku very much un-exploded. “Wh… what?” Before Spike the Devil Man, most feared warrior on Earth or in Hell, had time to formulate a plan; Goku ran across the bridge, jumped into the air, and delivered a left hook with such force that it shook the dust from the walls of The Devil’s Toilet. Spike flew away and slammed into a wall in the darkness with a loud enough crash to imply that he went through the wall, rendered unconscious with a single punch.

“What?!” Baba croaked in disbelief. No one could be so completely pure as to be immune to the Devilmite Beam!

“What?!” Roshi called in shock as he moved his glasses to rub his eyes and make sure he wasn’t seeing things.

“What?!” Krillin and Yamcha cried in surprise. They knew Goku had gotten stronger but still… .

“What?” Launch asked in her small, shy voice. She still wasn’t entirely sure what was going on. Goku turned back to them and smiled as she gave them a thumbs up. Suno smiled back and returned the gesture.

Chapter Text

“A-Anyway,” Baba began as she adjusted her hat and tried to regain her composure, “You’ve done very well to get this far. Now, however, you must face my final champion!” There was a long pause as the group waited tensely and heard the padding of footsteps coming in through the darkness.

“Oh! Pardon me,” came a surprisingly young and unthreatening voice. “Didn’t see you there, Spike. Oh dear. You too, Bandages?” Then the voice made a “tut tut” sound before finally emerging from the shadows. It was a young man about Goku’s height. He was wearing an orange gi with a black undershirt and pants and a green hat with a white ball on the top. Nothing else could be seen about him, however, as he was wearing a cat mask that covered his entire face. He turned his attention to Baba suddenly even as Goku got back into her guard. “Pardon me, lady Baba,” he said politely. “Might we go back outside? Goku won’t be able to use her full potential in this space.”

“Uh… a-all right,” Baba allowed with clear confusion. “Everybody back outside!” Everyone started to head back up the stairs with Yamcha being supported between Launch and Bulma.

“Wait a second!” Goku shouted as she pointed at the mysterious warrior. “How do you know my name?” He looked at Goku but said nothing. He only chuckled and walked away. Goku chewed her bottom lip before following after the others.

“Never seen someone so young talk like someone so old,” Bulma remarked as they walked up the stairs. Suno gave a shrug.

“Maybe he’s just really polite,” she offered.

“What do you think, Goku?” Krillin asked while carrying the still-recovering Puar.

“He smells pretty nice,” Goku said with a smile. All the while, Roshi stroked his beard and thought.

‘There’s something very strange about this,’ he thought, ‘And something very familiar about that young man. What are you up to, sister?’ They reached the outside fighting ring again and Goku’s group shuffled to the far side while Baba remained closer to the Devil’s Toilet building.

“For this final battle,” she explained, “The only way to win is to knock your opponent out or make them give up!” Goku nodded as she got into her guard. She was surprised to see that instead of getting into a guard of his own that the Masked Warrior was bowing to her.

“Aren’t you going to do the pre-match bow?” he asked innocuously. Goku blinked for a moment before she nodded and bowed back to him. She hadn’t bowed before a match since before she met Bulma! When she looked up, the Masked Warrior was in his guard and she got in hers, too.

“Begin!” Baba declared. The Masked Warrior motioned for Goku to come at him and she obliged, charging with her fist drawn back. Goku was shocked to find she was charging straight into the Masked Warrior’s fist and brought herself to a stop just before impact to dodge his strike. She threw out a kick to the side of his head and was shocked yet again when he brought up one hand and caught her by the ankle. Goku wrenched her leg away and spun through the air, charging again as soon as her feet touched the ground. The Masked Fighter continued to surprise her by leaping high over Goku’s head before he used a kiai wave to hurtle himself back down, elbow-first to drive it into Goku’s face! Goku jumped back and the man backflipped in mid-attack to stop his momentum and landed on his feet to stand across from Goku. The two of them stared for a moment before they charged at each other and each threw out a ferocious jab, their fists colliding as they caught each other’s attack. The two pushed against each other, Goku’s brow furrowed in concentration while a single vein was visibly pulsing behind the cat mask. Finally, the two broke off and hopped away again. Goku couldn’t help but smile. Tao Pai Pai had been a good fighter but was also a jerk. This fight was just fun!

“Wow,” Yamcha muttered in astonishment as they all watched with stunned expressions on their faces. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like these two. Goku’s gotten crazy strong but this new guy is still evenly matched!”

“That’s nothing,” Roshi observed. “That was just them feeling each other out. Now that they know what each other is capable of, this is going to get interesting!” Suno nodded as she watched intensely. Their energies were about the same but whereas Goku’s was as wild as always, the Masked Warrior’s energy was oddly serene.

The Masked Warrior charged at Goku and she ducked under a flying kick. She turned around and ran at him to attack him in kind but it was a feint with the Masked Warrior throwing himself onto his back and pushing his feet up against Goku’s chest as she came over him. He sent her flying through the air with a kiai through his feet and then jumped up after her, hundreds of feet into the air. The others could only squint as they watched two black dots in the sky.

Goku surprised the Masked Warrior with a punch as he came up that caught him right on the mask. Goku was surprised that the mask didn’t break even though the blow made his head snap back. She threw out another jab but this one was blocked and so was the next. He countered with a series of Crane strikes that Goku blocked in turn. The two traded punches and kicks in the air before the Masked Warrior surprised Goku by smacking his palms against Goku’s ears to disorient her before he flipped forward and smashed the back of his heel into her head to send her hurtling down to the ground far below. He even heard the tiles smash as she went into the ground.

“That should rattle her,” the Masked Warrior said to himself. Then his next words were “Oh heavens” as Goku came rocketing back up with a flying kick that smashed him in the chest and sent him flying towards the entrance building. Goku’s gang screamed and ducked to cover their heads but he threw out his arms and legs to slow down his momentum and landed safely on the building. He pushed off and landed in front of Goku in the ring again and got into his guard. “I’m surprised you were able to get up so quickly after that attack,” the Masked Warrior observed. Goku grinned and flicked a finger across her nose. The Masked Warrior chuffed at that and charged Goku again. Goku grinned and met the attack head-on and the pair of them collided in the center of the ring where the Masked Warrior fired off with a barrage of Crane Strikes again. Goku was able to block those as easily as she had been before. Was he already out of ideas? That would be–

Before Goku could finish that thought, however, she noticed that the Masked Warrior had stopped striking. She looked down and saw his fist hovering an inch from her chest. To the watchers, it looked as if Goku had no time to react at all when the punch hit her but in actuality she’d had enough time to seize her body up and take the blow full-force. Even without being able to see his face, Goku could read the Masked Warrior’s body language to know he was shocked. Then she kneed him right under the chin. She’d seen an opening that screamed “attack” so she did!

“Was that your best shot?” Goku asked as the Masked Warrior picked himself back up. “You need to train more!” The Masked Warrior surprised her once more by chuckling.

“No, it wasn’t,” he admitted as he pivoted his body to the side, “But this is a pretty good one!” He began to move his arms in an intricate pattern… just like when Master Roshi– “Kaaaaaa Meeee–”

“What?!” Yamcha, Krillin, Launch, Puar, Bulma and Suno cried out in unison.

“Haaaaa meeeee,”

‘Wait… no, there’s no way it could be him!’ thought Roshi.

“Haaaaaa!” The blue-white beam flew out of the Masked Warrior’s hands with wisps of energy flowing off of it like waves crashing off the rocks. Goku stared at the beam in surprise as it came rushing out to meet her.

Pilaf cackled madly as he reduced a massive boulder to rubble with the awesome and unrelenting might of his Pilaf Machine. If only he’d invented it a year ago, he could have crushed Son Goku like a gnat! It had taken nearly all of his remaining fortune to build the three Pilaf machines as well as craft the box that perfectly masked his Dragon Ball’s energy signature but it would all be worth it soon enough. Soon he would be Emperor of all the world!

“Your eminence,” came Mai’s voice crackling through his machine’s internal speakers, “We have discovered the last known whereabouts of Son Goku.” Pilaf smiled before Shu’s ponderous voice cut in.

“Or, y’know,” he said, “Close enough.” Pilaf could hear struggling and fighting on the other end and rolled his eyes as he let out a groan. He pinched the bridge of his nose which meant that the motion-recognition software in the Pilaf Machine caused the robot to rub two fingers against the glass bubble of the cockpit.

“What do you mean,” his aggravated tone brought a cease to their squabbling, “close enough?”

“Well, y’see–” Shu started to say when Pilaf audibly heard Mai shove him away from the microphone.

“Our satellite was tracking Goku and his friends through the desert,” she said with clear reluctance, “When they suddenly… vanished, your grace. There’s an area in the desert completely invisible to our instruments.” Pilaf groaned and Mai rushed to reassure him. “But we still know their approximate location, I’m sure of it!”

“It will have to do,” Pilaf sighed. In truth, he was lucky to still have that satellite. Thinking about that satellite, though, reminded Pilaf of a wonderful piece of information: Satellite footage they’d recovered shortly after that giant monkey destroyed his palace had shown them that the stupid monkey had a weakness in its tail that could immobilize it. Combined with security footage to show that the stupid monkey was the stupid girl and they now had a perfect, winning strategy. “Suit up and get in the car,” Pilaf ordered. “It’s time to end this once and for all!” The bottom of the Pilaf Machine hissed as it slowly dropped down like an elevator to let Pilaf out.

“What are you going to do when you’re the God-Emperor, your majesty?” Shu asked. Pilaf blinked a few times and scratched his blue head. He…. he wasn’t entirely sure.

Goku’s afterimage dissolved as the Kamehameha went through it and the Masked Warrior spun around to see Goku standing behind him. She waved at him before dropping back into her guard.

“You’ve mastered the Afterimage Technique,” the Masked Warrior said in disbelief. “That’s incredible! I’m very proud of you, Goku.” That sure was nice of him to say but how the heck did this guy know who she was? She’d have to ask him after she kicked his butt! “And you’ve lost your tail as well. That certainly changes things.” How did he know she used to have a tail?! “Now that I’ve seen it in action, however, I can see how it restricts your movements. I’m afraid you still have much to learn.” Goku bristled at that as he moved into his stance again. If she had a tail, it’d be puffing up like crazy.

“I’ll show you what I have to learn!” Goku declared indignantly as she pivoted to her side. She watched the Masked Warrior come to a stop when he realized what she was doing and smiled to herself. So he didn’t know she could do the Kamehameha! Now who still had much to learn? “Kamehameha!” He brought up his arms with an instant to spare and dug his feet into the ground as the beam pushed him back and sent his hat fluttering away to land perfectly on the peak of Baba’s witch hat. When the light from Goku’s beam faded away it revealed that the Masked Warrior had a head of thick brown hair that spilled down to the middle of his back which he’d somehow impossibly shoved into his tiny hat. He slowly brought his arms down and looked exhausted from the effort of blocking. Goku took this as her moment to strike and charged. “This is your last chance, give up n–” Goku’s words died off in a wheeze as the Masked Warrior drove a Crane Strike into her stomach to take the wind out of her.

“As I said,” he told her through labored breaths, “You have much to learn.” Goku staggered back a single step before he unleashed a torrent of Crane Strikes on her face and chest while she fought to regain her breath. “You use up energy in wasted movements that leave you open! If I had to guess, you’ve used your physical powers to overwhelm opponents who lacked your strength and your technique to overwhelm those that cannot match your skill!” Goku took a wide and wild swing with her arm that the Masked Warrior ducked under before he continued his assault, “And you’ve counted on a combination of the two to make up the difference! But this will not always be the case.”

“Who is this guy?” Krillin muttered in shock.

“There’s only one person it can be,” Roshi muttered to himself. He knew it the moment that the Masked Warrior had done his Kamehameha. It took a lifetime for Roshi to perfect the Kamehameha and, unless you were a prodigy like Goku, every Kamehameha had its intricacies or imperfections that was unique to the user.

Goku was finally able to stop the Masked Warrior by hooking her foot behind his ankle and tripping him up. She followed up with a headbutt that sent him tumbling back and jumped away to give herself some space. She touched down at the same time as the Masked Warrior got to his feet and they threw themselves at each other.

“Janken!” They cried in unison. Rock collided with Rock, Scissor interlocked with Scissor, and Paper slammed against Paper. As the two fighters pressed their palms together, Goku realized what the Masked Warrior had done.

“But,” she started to say. “B-but,” she repeated in a small voice as her arms trembled. She’d learned that technique from…

“I forfeit,” the Masked Warrior said as he dropped his hand away from Goku’s. “You may drop the illusion on my halo now, Baba.” Baba gawked and stammered in complete disbelief.

“But… but you were… I… you….” she groaned and threw up her hands. “Fine!” she muttered as a cream-colored halo binked into existence over the young man’s head. Before their eyes, he began to age and his clothes grew with him. First, he grew taller as he grew older and then he grew shorter as his hair vanished and a thick white mustache came into view behind his cat mask. His gi transformed into an orange martial arts jacket covered in yellow rings over a black long-sleeved shirt and black pants. Finally, he removed his mask to reveal a sweet, kind old face.

“My little Son Goku,” Son Gohan said with all the love and pride in the world, “How much you’ve grown!” For a moment, Goku was too stunned to move. After all this time, all her searching… then she ran forward with her arms open wide, tears streaming down her face. Goku buried her face in Gohan’s chest and sobbed helplessly as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close while he ruffled her hair like he always used to.

“Grandpa!” she sobbed out as she nuzzled his chest, “Grandpa! It’s you!” The others stared in shock as Roshi pulled off his glasses to make sure his eyes were working.

“That’s Goku’s Grandpa?” Krillin asked, flabbergasted.

“But I thought Goku said he was dead!” Suno added in shock.

“That would explain the halo,” Yamcha pointed out before he looked over at Bulma. “Are you alright?” he asked as he saw tears in the corners of Bulma’s eyes.

“I–” Bulma’s voice cracked and she coughed to clear her throat. “I’m fine.” she insisted as she wiped the tears from her eyes. She’d justified it to herself all the while during their adventure and Goku seemed happy enough when it was all over but she’d still lied to Goku about using the Dragon Balls to bring Gohan back. Usually, she kept herself too busy to think about these things but, in her quiet moments, Bulma would feel waves of guilt over what she did and think that maybe Yamcha was right. Maybe she was an awful person. Seeing Goku so happy now, reunited with her Grandfather, however it happened, left her overcome with relief.

“I looked everywhere!” Goku was saying as she looked up at Gohan and sniffled, “I couldn’t find you! I… I thought you were…” Goku sniffled again and threatened to start sobbing again as Gohan stroked her hair to soothe her.

“There, there. It’s all right,” he said in a calming tone. “I’m here, see?” he smiled again and patted her hair gently. “You’ve grown so strong, my Goku. You must have trained with Master Roshi.” They heard the tapping of a cane mixed with the padding of sandaled feet as Roshi approached with the others trailing behind and Gohan turned away from Goku to bow to his old master. “It’s good to see you again, Master Roshi!” he said cheerfully. Roshi dropped his cane to pull Gohan out of his bow and pull him suddenly into a hug.

“It’s good to see you too, Gohan,” he replied in a voice hoarse with emotion. “God, it’s been too long. I didn’t even recognize you! Not the mask, of course but, God, you haven’t been that small in decades!” Gohan chuckled as Roshi let him out of the hug.

“Well, the nice thing about being dead is that I can sort of decide what age I am now,” he said in an almost bashful tone. “I hope you’ll forgive me for the secrecies, Master, but I figured Goku wouldn’t fight at her full potential if she knew it was me.” He leaned in to whisper to Roshi, “What happened to her tail?”

“I took care of it,” Roshi assured him with a chuckle. Gohan nodded at that before continuing.

“Does she know that she used to…?” Roshi shook his head and Gohan nodded. “She must never find out. She’s a smart girl, I don’t want her to have that kind of guilt. Promise me you will never let her know.”

“I promise,” Roshi assured him. Goku tugged at Gohan’s sleeve to get his attention again.

“I can’t believe you’re back!” she said joyfully as she wrapped her arms around Gohan again and picked him up off the ground. “You can come back and live with me again! We can visit Suno in Jingle Village and train with Master Roshi and you can come to the Tenkaichi Budoukai and–” Gohan put his hands on Goku’s shoulders and something about it made Goku slowly put him down and look up at Gohan. Why was he so sad now?

“I’m sorry Goku,” he said softly as he brushed a hand against her cheek, “But I’m only on Earth for this one day.”

“I foresaw your coming,” Baba explained. “Being a fortune teller and all. Gohan requested that this be the day he was brought back so that he could face you and see how far you’ve come.”

“Goku,” Suno spoke up suddenly, “We still have the Dragon Balls. Maybe… maybe you should use them to wish Gohan back instead.” Which meant that her father wouldn’t be brought back but it was alright. It was just another year. Right? Gohan shook his head with a smile.

“That’s quite alright,” Gohan said. “Strange as it might sound, I’m perfectly happy being dead. The afterlife has much to offer!” Gohan chuckled wryly and Roshi was suddenly feeling gypped with the whole “immortality” deal.

“Besides,” Goku said, “I made a promise to you and Upa and everyone else who was hurt by the Red Ribbon Army.” All the same, she turned to Gohan and hugged him tight again. He hugged her back before looking up at Goku’s friends.

“Thank you all for being such good friends to my Goku,” he told them before he looked back at Goku. “Goodbye, Goku. I won’t be seeing you again for a long, long time.” Then he faded away in her arms, leaving Goku holding nothing. Goku sniffled and Krillin put an arm around her.

“Are you alright?” Krillin asked. Goku rubbed her eyes but nodded.

“Speakin’ of Dragon Balls,” Baba muttered as she hopped off her crystal ball, “You beat my champions so I s’pose it’s time you get your prize.” She wiggled her fingers at the crystal ball and it began to glow. It flashed white suddenly and when the light faded it showed… a van.

“What the heck?!” Bulma blurted angrily as she stared at the ball. “Is this some kinda joke, lady?” She fumed at the van and pressed her face to the glass. She was so close that her breath was fogging up the ball.

“Could you show us who’s driving the van, by any chance?” Yamcha asked with a sneaking suspicion as he slowly pulled Bulma away from the crystal ball. Baba shrugged and wiggled her fingers again; the ball shimmered and this time it showed who was in the driver’s seat: Mai, Emperor Pilaf’s minion. Pilaf himself was in the passenger seat with Shu sitting on the floor. Even though there were more seats. Yamcha groaned and rolled his eyes. “Of course it’s them,” he muttered.

“Who the heck are they?” Suno asked curiously as she stared at the strange characters.

“Is that the Pilaf guy you talked about, Goku?” Krillin asked. Goku nodded.

“Yeah, that’s them,” she said before turning to Baba. “Do you know where they are?”

“They’re headed this way,” Baba said without bothering to wiggle her fingers. The others looked at her curiously and she shrugged. “Fortune teller,” she explained. Goku grinned and clapped her hands together.

“Okay,” she said eagerly, “I’ll go get the last Dragon Ball! Nimbus!” The yellow cloud zipped down from the sky and Goku climbed onto it.

“Bring me back whatever box they’re carrying the Dragon Ball in!” Bulma called after her as Goku flew away. How the heck could that Pilaf creep hide the Dragon Ball from her Radar?

Goku flew out into the desert until she saw the van that Pilaf and his gang were driving in and rolled off of the cloud to drop right in front of the van. It crashed into her and flipped end over end before it landed on the other side of her. She turned around and watched them stagger out of the van and fought the urge to giggle. They were wearing funny, shiny, skintight suits with yellow spikes on their shoulders, ankles, and wrists.

“Hi there,” she said with a wave. “Can you guys let me have your Dragon Ball?” They were probably going to fight but it couldn’t hurt to ask, could it?

“You’ve got some nerve asking me for anything after you destroyed my castle!” Pilaf snapped at her while he shook a fist. What the heck was he talking about? Goku didn’t do anything! Or maybe she did. It was kind of hard to remember how they got out of that room. “I’m not going to give you anything! We’re going to thrash you to pieces and then we’ll take your Dragon Balls!” Goku blinked at that.

“...How?” she asked. Pilaf turned purple with anger as the three of them threw capsules onto the ground. When the smoke cleared there were three robots in front of Goku where Pilaf and his friends had been. She could see them inside, though. There was a wide and tall pink robot with clamp hands, a skinny and tall green robot with a tail, and a teeny tiny blue ball robot.

“With the power of my new Pilaf Machines,” Pilaf said through a speaker in the blue robot, “We will destroy you!” Goku watched the robots do some katas and grinned wide. They were just so bad! The girl and the dog looked a little better but Pilaf just looked like he was making things up! “We’ll see how funny you think this is! Attack!” The three of them lunged at Goku and she hopped around their attacks, swinging from limb to limb and jumping on the robots. This was funny!

“Go for her tail,” Shu shouted as Goku ran through his robot’s legs. “It must be hidden in her pants!” Goku came to a stop and looked at them in confusion. Why did they want her tail? Didn’t they remember?

“I lost my tail after you guys cut it off,” Goku told them. They stopped and stared at her with big eyes. She grinned and shrugged. “It grew back but then I lost it again at the Tenkaichi Budoukai.” The three robots huddled amongst each other and then suddenly the pink robot jumped up into the air with its legs going up into its body and landed on top of the green robot which became like new legs. Pilaf’s blue robot jumped up on top of the pink robot and its limbs went inside to be like the head. Goku could see the three of them through the bubble of the pink robot and watched them move together to make the robot move.

“This is the Super Pilaf Machine!” Pilaf told her. “It’s strong enough to destroy you! Especially when we use our super move!” The robot moved into a fighting stance and one of its clamps started to glow.

“These hands of ours are burning red!” all three of them called over the speaker. “Their loud roar tells us–”

“Kamehameha!” Goku shouted, thrusting out her hands and blasting the arm with the glowing clamp clean off. Maybe another time she’d have fun fighting them but right now she just wanted the Dragon Ball. She jumped in the air and smashed the top of the blue robot with a knife-edge chop straight down. A tiny crack appeared before it split clean down the middle and collapsed into a pile of scrap. “Can I have that Dragon Ball now?” she asked. Pilaf groaned and handed her the Dragon Ball. “Thanks!” she told him genuinely before hopping on Nimbus. “See you guys around!”

Pilaf laid among the wreckage for a long while and was too distraught even to cry. It wasn’t fair. Two years ago, he didn’t even know Son Goku existed! He was just going to take over the world! It was going to be so easy. He had a vast wealth and he’d already had a few Dragon Balls! Then Son Goku appeared and ruined it all. He had no Dragon Balls, no palace, no money. She’d taken everything from him! He… he had to do something. Something desperate. He’d heard the legends. There was only one thing he could do.

Chapter Text

The others were waiting eagerly as Goku came back to Baba’s Palace and dropped down from Nimbus with the Dragon Ball in her hands.

“That didn’t take long,” Yamcha quipped as they arranged the Dragon Balls in a circle. The balls flashed and hummed with an ancient magical power as they stared down at them. “So… how do these work again?”

“Eternal Dragon Shenron!” Puar blurted suddenly, “I summon you!” Everyone stared at Puar and he scratched the back of his head bashfully. “What? Am I the only one who remembers?” Yamcha, Goku, and Bulma shrugged. “Well, I guess I was the closest.” They watched as the balls glowed brighter and brighter and hummed louder and louder...

And suddenly, it was no longer daytime.

The sky turned black as night and filled with dark clouds that roared with thunder and cracked with lightning as winds as fierce as a hurricane swirled around them. Baba clung to life on her crystal ball as Launch huddled behind Master Roshi. A beam of light shot straight from the balls up into the sky, up and up for what seemed like miles before the beam started to twist and snake in the sky. There was a blinding flash… and the Eternal Dragon hovered before them. It was impossibly immense with a serpentine body that seemed to go on forever in all directions and piercing red eyes that looked down through them and into their souls. Being so close to it was both awe-inspiring and terrifying. Even Roshi and Baba were in wonder. In their long and fantastic lives, they had never seen anything close to Shenron’s majesty.

“You who have gathered the seven Dragon Balls,” it boomed in a voice that was impossibly deep, “Speak your wish…” its head shifted slightly and Puar felt an immeasurable dread as he realized that the Dragon was looking right at him, “And I shall grant it.” Goku stepped forward boldly despite her wonder.

“Shenron!” she called up, “Please revive all those who have been killed by the Red Ribbon Army!” Shenron’s eyes flashed and they waited. What it said next stunned them.

“This is beyond my power,” Shenron said… regretfully? Goku stared at it.

“Wh-what?” she asked in astonishment before balling up her fists. “Why not?!” she demanded. Everyone else stepped a good foot or two away from her. Wasn’t Shenron supposed to be all-powerful?

“My power of mass revivals cannot be used to revive those that have been dead more than a year,” it explained, “And when they are revived, their souls are returned to their bodies. Many would be trapped in their caskets or burial chambers until they died again, to be forever beyond my power.” Goku’s fists opened and her hands dropped to her sides.

“Oh,” she said in a sad voice. She’d really thought Shenron could do anything. Now that it was explained to her though, she felt bad for getting so angry at it. “Can you… revive whoever you can?” Shenron nodded.

“This is a simple task,” it said. Its eyes flashed red again.

In battlefields across the continent and in destroyed towns and cities that had felt the wrath of the Red Ribbon Army, there were bodies strewn across the ground that had yet to be removed where the grief was too fresh for action to be taken. Suddenly, these bodies gasped with life and clutched at their chests as their eyes filled with light and their wounds disappeared. They staggered to their feet and were assaulted with tear-soaked affection from neighbors, loved ones, and brothers-in-arms. They had been dead only minutes before yet now they were alive again! It was a miracle!

Upa was standing vigilant by his father’s grave with his Bora’s spear clenched in his tiny hand. It was almost three times the size of the boy but Upa would not falter. He had to keep predators away from his father’s body. Goku said that she would bring Bora back with the Dragon Balls and he would wait as long as it took! Upa gasped as the dirt suddenly shifted.

“Upa?” Bora called in a daze as he sat up in his grave and rubbed at his jaw, “Why am I–” but before he could complete the question Upa dropped the spear and jumped for his father, wrapping his tiny arms around Bora’s huge neck. It was a miracle!

‘A miracle…’ Suno thought sullenly. She looked down at her feet and sighed.

“Your wish has been granted,” Shenron boomed. “Farewell.” It vanished in a thunderclap and the Dragon Balls spun up into the sky before they flew off in like comets with tails of light in seven different directions across the globe. Goku leaped high up into the air and grabbed the Four Star Ball before it could escape. She was not going to lose Grandpa’s ball again! The sky cleared instantly but no one’s moods matched the clear blue sky.

“Well, that was kind of a letdown,” Bulma grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m glad I never got my wish! Stupid dragon probably would have screwed it up somehow.” Yamcha shrugged and put an arm around her.

“Guess that just goes to show ya,” he said. “We shouldn’t start relying on the Dragon Balls to do everything.”

“Come on, guys,” Krillin piped up. “Don’t be like that! We still brought people back from the dead! The Red Ribbon Army’s gone! Why’s everyone acting like we lost?” Goku noticed how sad Suno looked and went over to her friend to wrap her up in a hug.

“I’m sorry,” Goku said softly. “I thought Shenron could bring your dad back.” Suno shook her head and rubbed at her eye. She didn’t want Goku to feel bad after all the good the two of them had done.

“I’m fine,” she promised her friend as she gave Goku a pat on the back. Her father had been dead for over a year. She’d accepted it by now. Besides, how would her mother react to seeing dad again? She’d probably have a heart attack. It was better this way. “I’m… I’m really glad to have met you, Son Goku.” Goku smiled wide and hugged Suno again before letting her go.

“So,” Launch asked, “What are you gonna do now that you don’t have to collect the Dragon Balls anymore?” Goku blinked and thought about that. She looked down at the rock in her hand that used to be the Four Star Ball. That was what she’d been looking for. She shrugged.

“I’ll train for the Tenkaichi Budoukai!” she decided cheerfully. Everyone laughed and Yamcha knelt down to ruffle her hair.

“I’m glad to hear that, Goku,” he said, “Because with how hard me, Launch, and Krillin are training with Master Roshi; you’d better be careful. We might be able to beat you in three years.” Goku’s eyes got starry and she gasped with a sudden idea.

“Hey!” she said as she grabbed Yamcha’s cheeks in her hands, “I could train with you three and Master Roshi!” She looked excitedly over to Roshi… who shook his head.

“I’m afraid not,” Roshi said. Goku stared at Roshi with her mouth open slightly. Why couldn’t she go back to Kame House? “You’re already quite skilled. If you want to grow stronger, you’ll have to discover it for yourself! Go and travel the world!” Goku nodded. That made sense.

“Nimbu–” she started to call before Roshi thwacked her on the head with his staff. “Ow! What was that for?!”

“How are you supposed to learn anything flyin’ on a cloud?” he asked her. “You gotta make this journey on foot!” That made Goku pause for a second but then she shrugged. That made sense.

“Hey, Suno,” she said as she turned to the other girl, “As long as I can’t use it, can you look after Nimbus for now? You still need it to get back home and stuff.” Suno was touched at the gesture and nodded.

“Sure thing, Goku,” she said appreciatively. Goku made the rounds and gave everyone a hug before she turned her gaze towards the horizon.

“I’ll see you all in three years!” she said with a smile and a wave. Then she started to run and almost instantly disappeared. Roshi smiled as he watched her go with a feeling of pride in his chest.

“Of course,” Baba muttered in his ear, “As her teacher, it’s not like you’re gonna let her show you up. Right?” Roshi’s eyes widened suddenly. He had to train himself! Or else Jackie Chun was gonna get his butt soundly kicked.

“Come on, then!” he shouted suddenly and waved his staff at his students. “The least we can do is run back to Kame House!” he chased Yamcha, Launch, Puar, Krillin, and even Bulma.

“How the heck did I get roped into this?!” Bulma demanded as Suno called down Nimbus and flew away. Baba watched them all and chuckled before she turned her gaze back to the horizon where Goku had run off.

“Get strong, Son Goku,” she said gravely. “Get as strong as you can. The world shall depend on you more than you could ever know.” She had foreseen it. The fate that awaited Son Goku was a fate she would not wish upon anyone. The wars she would fight. The truths she would learn. The loved ones she would lose…

Two years until the Tenkaichi Budoukai

Yamcha did four consecutive backflips across the floor of the Gravity Room and immediately went into his Wolf Fang Fist as soon as his feet touched the ground while his sweat flew off his body and dropped to the ground like lead weights. He could feel his ki surging through his body and was actually able to focus it all into his fist, making it glow bright as he swung with a powerful right hook. The light faded and he gasped for air as he struggled to stand in the intense gravity. There was a “ding!” as the Gravity generator suddenly shut down and the door to the room opened.

“Break time!” Bulma called as she entered the room with a bottle of water in one hand and a white towel in the other. Yamcha wiped the sweat off of his face with the towel and hung it over his shoulders before chugging the bottle down gratefully. “So how’s it going?” Bulma asked. Yamcha shrugged.

“I’m pushing myself as much as I can,” he said, “But I can’t seem to find that power I tapped into when I was fighting Baba’s mummy. If I could do that on top of my training, I might be able to defeat Goku!” Even with splitting his time between the Kame House and the Gravity Room, Yamcha still wasn’t sure about his chances if he met Goku at the Tournament. She was so strong now!

“Hey, come on,” Bulma said encouragingly as she gave him a little shove. “Don’t get down on yourself! You’ve got all your ki tricks you were telling me you’re planning!” Yamcha smiled at that. He had devised a few tricks up his sleeve. He just had to make sure he could actually do them. “Between your fighting skills and my brains, you know what I think?” Yamcha quirked up one eyebrow and waited for an answer. “I think I’m looking at the champion of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai,” Bulma told him as she poked him on the nose. Yamcha grinned and moved in to kiss her but Bulma put her hands up. “Don’t, you’re all sweaty!” Then she grinned and shrugged. “Ah, what the heck,” she muttered before tackling him.

It had been nice to go home, Suno thought as Nimbus soared through the sky. She’d missed her mother and her training with Master Frost. He’d been proud of how strong she’d become. Yuki had been proud of her… well, because she was Suno’s mother. The whole village had been happy to see her again. It had been a nice year. As Nimbus descended gently towards the ground, Suno reflected that she couldn’t stay in Jingle Village forever. If Goku was going to get stronger, so was she!

“Well,” Suno muttered as she stared up at the forebodingly tall tower, “Might as well get started.” She put her hands on the stone and began to climb.

A year and a half before the Tenkaichi Budoukai

Krillin sat on a rock in the middle of a pond with a waterfall to his back. His legs were crossed and his eyes were closed as he attempted to discover a state of serene tranquility. Attempted. So Suno could sense ki. Big deal! He could do it! He’d show her! Unbeknownst to Krillin, these were not the kinds of thoughts that led one to a serene mental state. Krillin heard footsteps approaching him and opened his eyes.

“What’s up, Lau–” he started to say. Then he noticed something. Launch was wearing her gi but her hair was blue. “Oh.” Launch got into a fighting stance. “Is… is everything alright?”

“I want to train!” Launch declared suddenly. She went to put her hands over her mouth as if she was admonishing herself for yelling but then stopped herself and put her hands at her hips instead. “I… I want to be able to fight! I don’t want to just let everyone down because I sneeze! And… and I don’t want her to think that she’s strong and I’m weak!” Krillin blinked in surprise. This seemed to come out of nowhere. Still, Launch was his friend and he was going to respect her wish. He hopped off the rock and landed in front of her to get into his stance. Launch nodded and charged him.

One year until the Tenkaichi Budoukai

It had been a quiet two years for the people of Jingle Village since the Red Ribbon Army had been defeated. They’d spent it rebuilding their town and their lives and mostly just enjoying the fact that they were alive. Nothing strange had happened to them since that Goku girl had left.

Then one day a bundled-up old man arrived on a magic carpet. He was polite enough, saying “Hello” and “How do you do” to everyone he passed. He was looking for directions to Master Frost the Martial Artist. No one really knew where to find him, that is except for Yuki, mother of Suno, the pride of Jingle Village. She’d given him directions and he’d been grateful to her.

“Well hello!” Roshi called up to Master Frost; he’d caught the other man standing on a hill and looking off into the distance dramatically. He supposed that’s what old men did when they didn’t have islands. “You’re Master Frost, aren’t you?” Roshi took off his coat, hat, and scarf until he was down to his usual blue pants and orange shirt. God, though! It was so cold! The other Master hopped down off the hill and landed in front of him. He was a lean man with a haggard face. He only had a slightly-bushy mustache although he made up for it with the fact that he still had a full head of spiky white hair.

“And you,” Frost said, “Must be the Invincible Turtle Hermit, Muten Roshi.” Frost brought his one arm to his chest and bowed low. “It is an honor,” he continued, “Even my own masters told me stories of your skill.” Roshi rolled his eyes and waved a hand dismissively.

“Alright, already!” he muttered with mock-scorn, “I don’t need you making me feel any older.” Roshi cleared his throat as Frost stopped bowing. “So, I understand you’re the master of the Odori style? I’ve seen it in action. It’s quite impressive.” Frost smiled behind his mustache.

“You’re speaking of Suno. I’m very proud of how strong she’s become,” he chuckled softly and rubbed his mustache. “She’s told me quite a bit about one of your students as well. This… ‘Son Goku’? I’d very much like to meet her one day.” Roshi nodded and cracked his neck.

“Well,” he said as he moved into a fighting stance, “I didn’t come all this way to chit-chat. I wanted to see the Odori style from its master.” Frost’s eyes widened with understanding before he slowly and artfully moved into his own stance.

“I, too, have always wanted to see the Turtle School style.” Roshi nodded and the two men waited as wind blew across the icy field. Frost twisted and did a backflip into the air to come at Roshi with a kick. Roshi jumped up to meet the kick with one of his own…

Six months before the Tenkaichi Budoukai

Goku hummed a little tune to herself as she walked down a mountain road with her grandpa’s Dragon Ball on a string around her neck and her tail swishing behind her. She couldn’t believe it had grown back again! She’d met so many nice people travelling all over the world and learned lots of things. And not all of it was about fighting! She’d learned other languages and about other kinds of food, too! She’d slept in trees and barns and swam up rivers and across lakes. It had been great so far and she still had a few more months before the tournament. Her gi had been kind of ruined, though, so she was wearing a sorta-gi she’d made from a tiger’s skin. She didn’t know how to make shoes, however, so now she was barefoot. She couldn’t wait for the Budoukai so she could show her friends all the things she’d learned. While Goku was walking, she saw someone else coming up the road towards her. He was barefoot, too! He had on a white gi with a red belt and red gloves. He had a red bandana on and he was carrying a bag over one shoulder.

“Hey!” she called and waved her arms as he got closer. The man stopped and looked at her. “I like your gi!” He smiled at that and nodded appreciatively. “Are you a fighter, too?” she asked. He nodded again. “Let’s spar!” she demanded as she got into her stance. “I came in second in the 21st Budoukai!” she assured him. The man stared at her a moment… before he nodded a third time and set his bag down. He pivoted his body to the side and bounced on the balls of his feet as he put one hand under his chin and the other close to his chest. Goku charged at him and he met her fist with an open palm to catch it. She jumped up and drove her feet into his chest to shove him away. The fighter staggered back and Goku ran at him again and smashed her knee into his sternum. The fighter took one step back but then threw up a kick that sent Goku into the air. The fighter dropped into a crouch and then leaped up into the air to uppercut Goku. The man spoke for the first time as he leaped.

“Shouryuuken!”

One week before the Tenkaichi Budoukai

Once again, it hadn’t been easy. Pilaf had sold most of the scrap from the Pilaf Machines and some of his nicer clothes. It had gotten him a tiny submarine that could barely fit one person inside of it, let alone three. It had been a desperate and panicked three years as they scoured the oceans in search of the one thing that Pilaf knew would destroy Goku once and for all. The three of them surrounded the little table of their capsule house which Pilaf had been able to afford once they’d sold the submarine. And more of his belongings. Sitting on the table was all of Pilaf’s hopes and dreams.

Well… not exactly. Sitting on the table was a water-logged rice cooker which held all of Pilaf’s hopes and dreams. It was crusted with sand and covered in algae and barnacles. It looked like it had sat at the bottom of the ocean for nearly three hundred years. Pilaf took a knife and pried away the barnacles and dug out the sand until it could finally be opened. Anyone could see that the rice cooker was full of nothing but evil. They could feel it. But Pilaf was blind. Blind and desperate. He grabbed the handle, pushed down on the button, and yanked up with all his might. A terrible howling sound filled the Capsule House and a furious wind roared out of the rice cooker as it carried a black fog. The fog poured onto the floor and morphed into a humanoid shape as the three huddled against the wall in fear. The wind died down as the fog began to dissipate.

He was enormous; over eight feet tall with wrinkled, dark green skin and yellow patches up and down his arms. He had pointed ears and two antennae dangling from his forehead. He was dressed in a black robe with a red cape. On the front of his robe blazed the character for “Demon.” Piccolo Daimaou cracked his neck, leaning his head to the left and the right. He opened his yellow eyes as he breathed the sweet air of freedom… and laughed. A terrible, horrible, bone-chilling laugh from the blackest hell.

The Demon King was free.

Chapter Text

Matsubani was watering plants on his front lawn and admiring the nice spring weather. He was a martial artist of considerable power and had been using his power to help his city. He had never won a Tenkaichi Budoukai or even entered. He hadn’t seen the need. Instead, he’d been using his powers to keep crime lords out of his city. He looked from his watering with a satisfied smile to see the mercenary Tao Pai Pai staring at him. The watering can slipped from numb fingers as he felt a cold chill pass through his body. Tao smirked.

“You know who I am?” he asked rhetorically. Matsubani nodded because he did not trust himself to speak. “Then you know why I’m here,” Tao said. “Someone is paying a lot of money so that you stop living. I am nothing if not an accommodating businessman.” He smiled a murderous smile that snapped Matsubani out of his fear. He couldn’t let Tao just kill him! He had to fight!

“This is one payment you won’t collect!” Matsubani declared as he defiantly threw a punch at Tao. The mercenary lazily leaned his head to the left. Matsubani stepped back and unleashed a roundhouse kick that would have smashed through a steel plate. Tao stepped idly to the left. Matsubani raised one hand high and it glowed bright yellow with ki energy… and Tao drove a fist through his heart. Tao watched as Matsubani gurgled and gripped at Tao’s forearm to try and struggle for life. He sneered and pushed the dying man away with his other hand. He looked at the man’s house and saw a three-eyed woman standing in the doorway with a rifle in her shaking hands. Tears ran down her cheeks and her face was screwed up with murderous fury. Tao gave a dismissive wave of his hand to send a kiai at her. There was a “snap!” as the woman tumbled into the house with her neck broken. Tao walked over the dead husband and wife to enter the home. No sense in leaving any brats to plan revenge. Tao looked all over the house and found no one. When he entered the bedroom, however, he found a crib. Inside that crib was a sleeping three-eyed baby with a medallion tied around its neck with a red silk ribbon. Tao reached a hand down to twist the baby’s head off… and it stared up at him with serious eyes.

Tao Pai Pai had never been one to shy away from murder because the victim was “innocent.” Nearly every person he’d ever killed had been “innocent.” Good people rarely paid you money to kill the wicked. Still, he stayed his hand and stared down at the baby. He could feel a tremendous power radiating from the child unlike anything he had ever sensed. He scooped the baby up out of the crib and pinched the little gold medallion between thumb and forefinger.

“Tenshinhan,” he muttered as he read the medallion. Not a bad name, especially when he himself wasn’t in any great position to come up with something better. Tenshinhan it was.

OoOoOoO

Shen scowled at the swaddled, three-eyed baby sleeping on his kitchen table before looking up to turn that scowl on his brother who was sitting across from him. The first time Tao had shown up in a year and what does he do? He brings a stupid baby!

“What am I supposed to do with this?” Shen asked incredulously. Tao shrugged.

“Raise him,” he said as if it were an obvious thing. “Train him.” Shen scoffed.

“The Crane School is not a nursery, brother,” he remarked snidely. “If you want my advice? Kill the brat.” He peered over his glasses at Tao… and the look his brother gave him froze his blood in his veins.

“The boy has power, Shen. I have sensed it. He could grow more powerful than me someday,” he smirked and crossed one leg over the other and his arms over his chest. “Do you really want that power to be wasted in death? Or worse, if I were to drop him off at an orphanage and he somehow found his way to Roshi?” Shen fumed at that and dragged his nails across the table. Tao always knew how to aggravate him.

“Fine,” he huffed as he threw up his hands in defeat. “I’ll do it. But I expect you to visit once in awhile!” Tao chuckled and got up from the table. He didn’t say anything and instead walked right out the door. Shen scowled down at the baby who stared up at him. “Tenshinhan, huh?” he muttered as he read the medallion.

OoOoOoO

“No!” Master Shen had scolded as he slapped the back of five-year old Tenshinhan’s head. “What was that?!” There was a burn scar on the rock from where Tenshinhan’s Dodonpa had struck it. There were several such burn marks. “A proper Dodonpa would have pierced a hole right through the rock! Again!”

“But Master Shen,” Tenshinhan protested as he gasped for air and dripped with sweat, “I… I’m tired! Could I just rest for a minute? Please?” Shen struck him harder this time.

“Rest is for those who have accomplished something! Only the cowardly and the weak ask for something when they have done nothing! Are you weak?!” Tenshinhan shook his head. “Again!” Master Shen barked. Tenshinhan wearily lifted his arm and used the other arm to straighten it.

OoOoOoO

The training began as soon as Tenshinhan could walk and speak. Shen was not a loving caretaker. While he grew strong, there was no rest for Tenshinhan. No adventure. No games. The other Crane students would not talk to him. They avoided him, afraid of his power and unsettled by his three eyes. One day, however, that changed. When Tenshinhan was ten years old, he met a new student. He’d been cutting apart firewood with his fists when the other boy had come to him.

“Hello there,” the boy had said. Tenshinhan had been startled. Not by his wide eyes or his white skin or the red circles on his cheeks. Not even by the fact that he was floating an inch off the ground. He had been startled because the boy had spoken to him.

“H-hello,” Tenshinhan had muttered back before he quickly looked away and resumed his chopping. It was his training and a chore. He couldn’t afford to stop. The boy was still standing there. “Why… are you… still here?” he asked as he went about his task.

“Why not?” the boy had asked. Tenshinhan stopped to stack the wood.

“Most students are afraid of me,” Tenshinhan explained, “Because I look different.” The other boy had smiled.

“I don’t know if you noticed,” he’d pointed out, “But I’m not the most normal-looking person either.” That made one end of Tenshinhan’s mouth... quirk up on one side. “I’m Chaozu.”

“Tenshinhan.”

“That’s kinda long to say after a while,” Chaozu had said. “Do you mind if I call you Ten?” The other end of Tenshinhan’s mouth quirked up. It was almost a smile; not quite, but almost.

“Ten. Okay.”

Despite having a friend, Ten’s life did not grow any easier. Nor did his training, even though he grew more powerful. It seemed as if with every increase in his strength, Master Shen found a new way to humble Ten and break him. Once again, that changed one day. He had been twelve when the man had arrived. He had been wearing a purple overcoat and had been talking with Master Shen as he watched the Crane Students train. His face seemed… familiar to Ten, even though he had never met the man. Everyone gasped and stopped what they were doing as he walked onto the field.

“Boy!” the man called. Ten realized he was talking to him. Ten stood up straight and bowed to the man. “Do you know who I am?” Ten shook his head. “I’m Tao Pai Pai. The world’s greatest assassin. Shen tells me you’re his strongest student.” Ten nodded… and the man drove a knee into Ten’s stomach. It was the hardest he’d even been hit. He coughed up blood and fell to his knees. “Pathetic,” Tao said dismissively as he turned away. “If you want to be truly strong then you have to drive the weakness from your heart.” Tao Pai Pai walked past Shen and from the look on his Master’s face, Ten could tell… Shen was scared of him. Something about that resonated with Tenshinhan. It imprinted the value of strength upon him. No one could hurt you when you were strong. No one could make you do anything you didn’t want to. The strong stood over the weak. Tenshinhan threw himself into his training harder than ever before. Every year, Tao Pai Pai would return and spar with Ten. Usually, he was beaten into a state of unconsciousness, but once he got a hit on Tao Pai Pai. That had surprised him and it had allowed Ten to ask him a question before he left.

“I recognized your face the first time you came here!” Ten had blurted out. “Tell me! Are you my father?” Tao had smirked at that.

“I suppose I am, in a sense.” Tenshinhan hadn’t been sure what that had meant but his idolization for the master assassin grew with that all the same. He wanted to become an assassin himself! When Tenshinhan was seventeen, he knew he was as strong as Tao Pai Pai. This time he could defeat him and make Tao stick around. Finally, he would answer his questions! But Tao Pai Pai… never came.

“My brother has been killed,” Master Shen had explained. “Killed by… Son Goku. A student of the Turtle School.” Tenshinhan had never met Son Goku or even heard of her or the Turtle School before Shen had told him of her. Yet, in his heart, he felt a black hatred for her that he had never known. She had taken his victory! She had taken his answers! She had taken everything. “But you will have your revenge, boy,” Shen had assured him. “If you only have the will to take it!” Tenshinhan pushed himself beyond his limits for three years, letting the training break him and rebuild him into something stronger and colder. He trained with a savage intensity that he had never had before in his life. He even meditated with intensity. A single-minded goal consumed him, one even more powerful than his goal to surpass Tao Pai Pai: revenge.

OoOoOoO

Tenshinhan breathed deeply as he brought his hands to his chest. A torrential rain poured down on him as he put them together in a diamond shape and glared at the mountain in his line of sight through his hands. He could feel a tremendous energy building inside of him and pouring into his hands. It was agony to draw on the power but he pushed through. The weak stopped when there was pain at the price of power. The strong seized the power because it was theirs because they were strong. The sky rumbled with thunder and lightning flashed. He could feel the power building to its peak and roared as the orange light filled his hands.

“Kikouhou!” he bellowed as a massive orange square of ki filled his vision and flew away. There was a blinding flash of orange light. When it was gone, so was the mountain. He smirked and dropped his hands to his side. He’d finally mastered it. Son Goku didn’t have a chance now.

OoOoOoO

“You are ready!” Master Shen declared proudly as he paced around Tenshinhan and Chaozu with the rest of the students gathered around them on the training grounds. They were in their full Crane School uniforms: green longcoats with the character for “Crane” on the breast with purple pants and black hats with red balls on the top. There were only days left until the Tenkaichi Budoukai and their training was finally complete. Even though he walked around both of them, Shen was only addressing Tenshinhan. “You have the same blackness in your soul as Tao Pai Pai.” He stopped and stood in front of Tenshinhan and looked up at him. “What is your destiny?”

“To avenge Tao Pai Pai,” Ten declared, “And take his place as the world’s greatest assassin.” Shen nodded and grinned.

“Yeeees. What have I taught you?”

“Son Goku is my enemy.” Shen pulled off his sunglasses and looked Tenshinhan in the eyes with burning intensity.

“So what. Must. You. Do?” Tenshinhan narrowed his eyes and balled his fists.

“I must kill her!” The other students roared their approval and pumped their fists in the air as they chanted his name.

“Tenshinan!” The students crowed like a battle cry, “Tenshinhan! Tenshinhan! Tenshinhan!” Shen stood beside his students and the three of them took off into the sky. Son Goku, Ten swore to himself, would pay.

Chapter Text

The three Turtle School students fidgeted eagerly in their chairs as the airplane took them towards the island of the Tenkaichi Budoukai with Roshi and Bulma. Yamcha, Krillin, and Roshi were in suits while Launch was in a red sparkling dress with pink frills at the hems and Bulma was in an orange hoodie and white shorts. Puar was sitting in Bulma’s lap.

“Man,” Yamcha muttered as he looked out the window, “I can’t believe it’s been in three years already!” He turned back to Krillin and grinned. “Shame you wasted all that time when I’m gonna win,” he told the younger man in a teasing manner. Krillin grinned and elbowed Yamcha playfully in the ribs.

“Don’t be too sure,” Krillin retorted. “While you were messing around in that fancy gravity room, I perfected my techniques! Who says I won’t win?”

‘I don’t know about that,’ Roshi thought to himself. ‘ Who knows? Ol’ Jackie Chun might become a two-time winner.’ Not that this was a thought he could share with his fellow passengers. That would arouse too much suspicion and he’d cut it close enough as it was at the last tournament.

“Aren’t you two forgetting someone?” Blonde Launch asked in a tone that was one part irritation and two parts playful. “I know you two are having your little pissin’ contest but don’t think that I can’t beat ya at it.” Bulma just rolled her eyes.

“I think you’re all forgetting someone,” she reminded them. They all blinked and she sighed, “Son Goku? She’s gonna be there too!” The three muttered “Oh yeah”s and “Hmm”s  and leaned back in their chairs.

“I bet I’ve caught up to her by now,” Yamcha declared after a silence. “Just watch me!” Krillin shoved him again.

“I think you mean me!” Krillin replied. Roshi chuckled and settled back in his chair as he put his hat onto his face.

“There they go again,” he said in a tone of fatherly amusement, voice muffled under his hat.

“I hope we get there soon,” Launch grumbled as her nails dug into the armrests of her chair. “Bein’ in a plane like this always makes me wanna hijack it!” Everyone laughed… until they realized Launch wasn’t.

One awkward silence and a plane ride later and the group was on Papaya Island, home of this year’s Tenkaichi Budoukai. Things moved quickly enough and Launch, Krillin, and Yamcha signed up for the tournament before they joined Bulma and Puar in looking for Goku.

“She’s gotta be here somewhere, right?” Bulma asked as she put a hand over her eyes to block out the sun.

“Yeah,” Krillin agreed, “I mean, Roshi taught her how long a year is. So it’s not like she could forget!” Roshi approached the signup table while they had their backs to it.

“Pardon me,” he whispered to the man. “Could you sign me up under the name ‘Jackie Chun’?” The man gasped and prepared to shout something before Roshi clapped a hand over his mouth and glared at the man through his sunglasses. “Just write it down, sonny.” The man nodded nervously and scribbled it down.

“Hey, guys!” a familiar voice called from above. The group looked up to see a yellow cloud zooming down towards them before coming to a gentle stop a few inches off the ground. Suno hopped off the Nimbus and held her arms out as if to say “Ta-dah!” “It’s great to see you all again!” she said excitedly.

“You too, Suno!” Bulma said as the redhead exchanged hugs with everyone. Krillin shook her hand. “Wow, you got tall!” she added. Suno was now a little shorter than Bulma when she’d been about Goku’s height before.

“If you’re entering this year,” Yamcha teased, “I hope you brought a change of clothes!” He was definitely right on that account. Suno was wearing a purple baseball cap and a pink shirt tucked into white pants. Not exactly traditional martial arts attire.

“Nah,” Suno assured them with a dismissive wave, “I’m just here to watch you guys!” She looked around the crowd and looked behind them. “Is Goku not here yet?” she asked.

“Nope,” Launch told her flatly. “We were just lookin’ for her.”

“Well, well, well,” an unfamiliar voice called in a mocking tone. “If it isn’t my lecherous old schoolmate.” The group turned to see three people advancing: a tall young man who looked to be about Yamcha’s age… who had three eyes; a boy who looked even smaller than Krillin… and had white skin, red dots on his cheeks, and was floating two feet off the ground; and an old man who looked about Roshi’s age with a pointed face, dark sunglasses, a thin mustache, and gray hair that had been combed into wings. They were all wearing green longcoats with the character for “Crane” on the breast with purple pants and black hats. The younger men had red balls on the top of their hats while the master’s black hat was in the shape of a crane.

“Shen,” Roshi said icily as he gripped his staff in one fist. “How good to see you again.” Shen sneered at Roshi and the Turtle School students.

“I see you’ve come here to make a mockery of the martial arts again,” he said with mock geniality. “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you but my Crane School students will obliterate the competition. If Turtle students are making it to the finals then the Tenkaichi Budoukai has surely fallen into disarray. I suppose it’s the responsibility of true martial artists to fix it.” Now it was Roshi’s turn to sneer.

“You mean true killers,” he snapped back. “That’s what the Crane School does! Ya pump out nothing but a bunch of minimum-skill assassins. My four Turtle students are worth fifty of your cranes!” The others backed away slowly from Roshi. They had never seen the old man so angry before.

“Ha,” the triclops let out a bark of cruel laughter. “Are you as senile as your style is weak, old man? You only have three students!” he turned to Launch and glared at her with all three eyes. “You must be Son Goku. You’re quite different from how my master described you.”

“Heh,” Launch snickered, “Sorry. She’s not here yet. But when she does, I bet she’ll kick your ass.” The triclops’ whole body tensed with rage and the veins in his neck stood out.

“Calm down, Tenshinhan,” Shen said before the three turned towards the signing table. “You will have your chance soon enough.”

“Jeez,” Suno muttered as they walked away, “Goku’s really good at making enemies.”

“Who the heck is that guy, Roshi?” Bulma asked. “It seemed like you knew him.” Roshi nodded sourly.

“I did,” he said. “He and I were students under Master Mutaito together, a long time ago,” he sighed sadly. “He was once my closest friend. That was a long time ago, too.”

“I never heard about a Mutaito,” Yamcha said curiously. “What happened to him? And what happened to the two of you?” Roshi only sighed again.

“That is a story that I hope you all never need to hear,” he told them in a voice tinged with sadness. He cleared his throat after a moment and rapped his cane sharply on the ground. “C’mon! Let’s see if we can find Goku!” He walked off and the others followed.

“Well that’s not suspicious at all,” Bulma muttered sardonically as she trailed behind.

OoOoOoO

The day dwindled down and there was no sign of Goku. Suno and Roshi couldn’t sense her ki nor could the others find her with their eyes. As the sun began to sink down and turn the sky a rosy pink, Yamcha turned to Puar.

“Hey,” he whispered, “How much do you think you could look like Goku?” Puar’s eyes widened as he brought his forepaws up to his mouth.

“Yamcha!” he gasped. “I can’t impersonate Goku! That’d be like forgery! It’d be illegal!”

“We know she’s gonna show up,” Yamcha insisted. “We just need you to buy her some time!” Before Puar could be pressured one way or the other, Suno called out.

“Hey,” she shouted, “I sense something!” Roshi nodded as the others turned to look where Suno was pointing. Krillin grumbled to himself as they squinted. His ki sensing still wasn’t perfected yet. He could barely sense the people around him in anything more than a vague haze of energy.

“I don’t see anythi–” Launch muttered before her eyes opened wide, “There!” Charging towards them was an orange-and-black blur that screamed down the street like a comet.

“Hey everyone!” the comet called in Goku’s voice. It jumped over a double decker bus to land right in front of the group and it was clear why she’d been so black-and-orange. Instead of her Turtle School gi, Goku was wearing a makeshift gi of tiger skin with her power pole strapped to her back and her tail swishing behind her. “How’ve you all been?”

“We’ll talk in a moment,” Roshi said hurriedly. “Go and sign up, it’s about to close!” Goku rushed past them to the table and they all stared at her.

“Goku… has a tail,” Suno muttered. Not only that but she could sense that Goku’s power had grown even more in the last three years. She honestly wasn’t all that surprised.

“Yeah,” Krillin said with a nervous chuckle, “You missed out on the weird stuff.” Yamcha groaned wordlessly and pulled at his face. How many stupid times was he going to have to cut that stupid thing off?!

“All done!” Goku announced as she ran back from the table. “Wow, Bulma! You got taller! You too, Suno!” Bulma grinned and tousled Goku’s hair.

“You’ve grown too, Goku!” she said. Which was true; Goku had grown a little. It just wasn’t as noticeable a change as Suno.

“Why didn’t you, Krillin?” Goku asked as she turned to her friend. He grumbled and ground his teeth as his face turned red.

“Hey Goku,” Suno asked, “How come you didn’t call for Nimbus to get here faster?” Goku shrugged.

“Master Roshi told me not to use it,” she reminded them. “So I had to swim from an island on the other side of the world.” They stared at Goku with mouths agape when Ken’s voice suddenly crackled over the loudspeaker.

“Llllladies and gentlemen!” he called out. “The 22nd Tenkaichi Budoukai is about to begin! All fighters, please enter the elimination hall!” Roshi took a capsule from his breast pocket and handed it to Goku.

“I figured you’d be needing a new uniform,” he said in an almost teasing tone. Goku nodded appreciatively before she, Yamcha, Krillin and Launch walked off to join the other fighters.

“Good luck, you guys!” Bulma called as she and the others waved. She turned to say something to Roshi but he was gone. “Huh,” she muttered. “Something fishy’s going on with him.”

OoOoOoO

“Hey,” Goku called, “Jackie Chun!” She pushed her way through the crowd and ran to the mysterious bearded old master. She stopped and bowed before she spoke again. “This year I’m going to beat you!” she told him with youthful exuberance and not an ounce of malice. Jackie chuckled.

“I’d certainly like to see you give it your best shot,” he told her.

“Son Goku!” a voice called. Yamcha, Launch, and Krillin groaned as Tenshinhan made the crowd part with a glare and his strange pale friend floated above their heads. “You’re the one who defeated Tao Pai Pai?” he asked incredulously as he looked down at Goku in disbelief. Goku nodded up at him.

“Yup!” she replied. “He was a big jerk. Why?” Tenshinhan clenched his teeth and breathed sharply through his nose before he reached down and yanked Goku off her feet by the front of her shirt to look at her on eye level.

“We will face each other in the finals,” he told her. “Of that I am certain. Only you can come close to matching my power. And when we do?” He brought Goku even closer and his voice dropped to a hate-filled whisper. “I will kill you.” Then he let Goku go and stormed away.

“What the heck is his problem?” Goku wondered aloud. Yamcha, Launch, and Krillin shrugged.

“We were hopin’ you could tell us,” Launch explained. “He really doesn’t like you.”

“I’ve never met him,” Goku explained. Why would someone she’d never met not like her? The four looked up to see the pale boy still floating there. Staring at them. Unblinking.

“Baldy!” the pale boy said as he pointed at Krillin. Krillin fumed.

“Who the heck are you calling baldy?!” Krillin asked incredulously. “Have you looked in a mirror?” The pale boy pulled off his hat to reveal one solitary hair sticking up straight like an antenna. “Oh, how the heck does that count?!” Krillin screamed as his face turned beat red.

“Chaozu!” Tenshinhan called over the crowd. The boy, Chaozu apparently, blew Krillin a raspberry and floated away.

“Fighters!” Ken called dramatically. “Please draw your numbers and move into the appropriate blocks! There are one hundred eighty-two of you here today but only eight of you can advance to the finals!”

OoOoOoO

Krillin looked up at the mammoth of a man in front of him who grinned down at him with teeth the size of tombstones. Despite the fact that he only came up to the man’s knee and that his opponent was seven Krillins wide, he was undeterred.

“Ach,” the massive man laughed, “Away wit’ ye, wee la–” he made a move to dismissively brush Krillin’s face with his hand and Krillin’s arm shot out and gripped the monstrous finger in his hand. He grabbed with his other hand and swung around and around before launching the man clear off of their platform. Other fighters scrambled to avoid being crushed under his weight and the giant groaned when he hit the ground. Krillin dusted off his hands and hopped off the platform. This was the easy part, after all.

OoOoOoO

Yamcha tugged at his blue gloves as he looked across the platform at his opponent. There wasn’t really a functional purpose for the gloves, Bulma just thought they would be a nice and fashionable touch.

“So,” the Wolfman growled as he pointed an accusatory claw at Yamcha, “ You’re the one who was going around using the Wolf Fang Fist!” The Wolfman was wearing an orange gi with a white belt and had blue fur. “Look at you! You aren’t a wolf! You don’t even have a beard!” He scoffed. “I’ve never felt so appropriated!” He bared his fangs as he charged at Yamcha. “I’ll show you a real Wolf Fist!” He hit Yamcha right on the cheek… and Yamcha didn’t budge.

“All right,” Yamcha told him, “That’s your free one.” Then he slammed a palm up under the Wolfman’s jaw and watched him crumple to the ground. “Happy? I didn’t use my fist.”

OoOoOoO

It had been a tough road to recovery for Hercule but with hard work he’d gotten through physical therapy and was back and better than ever in just three years! He’d even managed to get out of the first elimination round this time. Now all that stood in the way was this blonde chick in the orange uniform. Hercule charged toward her and let fly with his Ultra Dynamic Mess ‘Em Up Punch. She brought up a forearm to block it but Hercule backed away before she could do anything and followed up with a salvo of body blows that she barely managed to dodge. She was obviously so stunned by his machismo and martial arts expertise that she couldn’t come up with a counterattack!

Launch was quickly bored with this fight. This jerkoff was a complete amateur and he made too much noise for how much he sucked. She twisted around and drove her heel into the side of his head and smirked as she watched him fall over like a redwood tree.

OoOoOoO

Pamput pasted his opponent with a series of artful blows to the body and face before finishing them off by leaping into the air and wrapping his legs around their neck in a headscissors and tossing them out of the ring. He did a backflip and posed before he exited and Bulma sighed dreamily as she, Suno, and Puar looked peered sneakily through a window.

“God,” she murmured while biting her thumbnail and counting his abs in her head, “If I wasn’t a faithful woman…” Suno rolled her eyes.

“I mean, sure he’s pretty, I guess,” she allowed, “But he’s… I dunno, a decent fighter.” After a pause, she added, “And he can’t act!”

“You take that back!” Bulma snapped.

OoOoOoO

Chaozu’s opponent charged at him and screamed like a banshee… until she came to a screeching halt an inch away from contact and eliminated herself by hopping out of the ring. She was clutching her stomach as she ran to find the nearest restroom. Chaozu hadn’t so much as blinked.

OoOoOoO

Jackie drove a Crane strike into his opponent’s chest and watched the Mooseman go flying out of the ring to smash against a wall.

“There’s something about this Jackie Chun guy…” Bulma muttered. Suno stared at her dubiously.

“Are you joking?” she asked in exasperation.

OoOoOoO

Tenshinhan’s opponent made a big show of swaying around his arms and his torso as he moved into a fighting stance and brushed his fingers across his golden braid tiara and his luxuriant curly mustache. His baggy white pantaloons made a “floof” as he bent his knees before he burst into a charge while Tenshinhan sneered with his arms folded over his chest. He leaped into the air to deliver a chop… and collapsed to the ground in a heap without Tenshinhan ever lifting a finger.

“I saw that,” Yamcha muttered as the rest of the competitors murmured disbelief. “Three punches and a kick.” The medics came to attend to the other fighter as he suddenly started to sputter and hack up blood.

“That,” Jackie Chun added, “Is a collapsed lung and some broken ribs. This Tenshinhan is dangerous.” ‘ Just as I had sensed when I first felt his ki. How’d you luck your way into this one, Shen?’

OoOoOoO

Goku hopped eagerly into the ring as she waited for her opponent. A dark–skinned man with a medium-sized afro and goatee stepped into the ring to face her with a stern expression on his narrow face. He wore a yellow chiton with yellow pants with a blue belt and he was barefoot. Goku was beginning to think that maybe barefoot was the way to go.  

“Come then, child,” Chappa said in a deep baritone voice as he took his battle stance. “I will make your pain brief.” Jackie Chun stroked his beard and watched the fight with vested interest.

‘ This will be quite a test for Goku,’ he thought. ‘ Chappa is a former Budoukai Champion in his own right; he won the tournament without a single foe laying a hand on him! I figure he’d even give me trouble!’ He watched as Goku moved into her fighting stance. She pivoted her body to the side and brought one arm to cover her stomach and one fist up to her chin as she hopped on the balls of her feet. Roshi had never seen that particular stance before. ‘ Let’s see what you learned then, Goku.’

King Chappa threw a kick at Goku but she leaped over it and threw out a straight jab. Chappa blocked it with his forearm and shoved Goku away. No sooner did she land then she came back again and threw out a hard kick from her side that the King was barely able to roll away from and he let out a gasp of pain as it grazed his shoulder. He hopped away from Goku and stared with wide eyes when he realized that she’d hit him.

“Enough of this!” King Chappa declared in a fluster. He planted his feet and spread his arms out wide. “Hasshuken!” he declared. Chappa started moving his fists in an intricate pattern that grew faster and faster until it appeared that he had eight arms instead of two. He rushed Goku… and she reached out her hands and grabbed his wrists.
“Found ‘em!” she declared playfully before twisting and sending Chappa flying across the ring with a Judo throw. “That was fun,” she told him. “We should play that game again sometime!”

Chapter Text

As the day wore on, the one hundred eighty-two were whittled down to eight, just as Ken had promised. It finally came down to Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, Jackie Chun, Launch, Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and Pamput. The eight were assembled in front of Ken for the random draw. Yamcha and Ten glared at each other as Ken reached into the box with eight numbered slips of paper inside it.

‘Chaozu,’ Ten spoke telepathically to his fellow student, ‘Make sure I get a Turtle student. It doesn’t matter which one. Just make sure Son Goku is on the opposite side of me so that I go to the finals.’ Chaozu nodded and used his telepathic powers to guide slips of paper into people’s hands as they reached into the box.

“Hi, Ken!” Goku said cheerfully to the announcer as she reached into the box. Ken smiled back and seemed genuinely happy that Goku had remembered him.

“Hello to you too, Goku,” Ken said as he took the slip of paper from Goku’s hand. “Good to see you again. But could you, uh, not destroy the stadium this time?” Goku blinked in confusion. What the heck did that mean? She hadn’t done anything last year! “Y’know, when you…” Ken looked over Goku’s shoulder and saw Jackie Chun waving his fingers across his throat, gesturing for him to drop the subject. “Uh… n-never mind. Good luck!” When every contestant had drawn their numbers, Ken led everyone out to the ring and the crowd roared with approval.

“Go, Goku!” Suno cheered as she cupped her hands around her mouth. Goku waved back to her eagerly with a big grin on her face. She hadn’t seen Suno in forever!

“Come on, Yamcha!” Bulma and Puar cheered in unison. In the back of her mind, Bulma wondered where Roshi was but she figured he was probably just watching farther back. Shen watched silently and waited to see Tenshinhan destroy his enemies.

“Ladies and gentlemen!” Ken crowed. “We welcome you once again to the Tenkaichi Budoukai! We’ve got no less than four return finalists this year so let’s give them a big hand!” Like a true showman, he paused to let the crowd applaud Goku, Yamcha, Krillin, and Jackie Chun. “This year for the finals, it will be Pamput,” the flashy, dark-skinned youth posed as the women squealed and whistled, “Against last year’s Champion, Jackie Chun!” Jackie’s sum total reaction to his cheers was to hold up a fist. “Tenshinhan,” The crowd cheered while Bulma, Suno, and Puar booed vehemently, “Against Krillin!” Krillin smiled and waved to the crowd as they cheered. “Yamcha!” Yamcha flexed and posed as the crowd roared and Bulma whistled for her boyfriend, “Against Launch!” Launch flipped the crow off but that only made them cheer louder. Bulma booed.

“And finally, last year’s runner up, Son Goku!” Goku jumped up and down and waved her arms as the crowed cheered louder than ever while Tenshinhan glowered at her with contempt, “Against Chaozu!” Tenshinhan whipped his head around to glare at his little friend as he screamed at him telepathically.

‘I… wasn’t paying attention.’ Chaozu thought bashfully. Ten sighed. It was too late to do anything about it now and anything he said would cause suspicion. The six filed away to the competitors’ viewing area as Jackie and Pamput took their places in the ring.

“I’ll give you this chance to surrender,” Pamput told Jackie with mock civility while he hopped from foot to foot. “An old man such as yourself can’t defeat a young athlete of my caliber!”

“You… you did hear him say that I won last year, didn’t you?” Jackie asked incredulously as he got into his stance. Pamput let out a dismissive “tsk” as he got into his own Taijutsu guard.

“A tournament with a stripper, children, a beggar, and a monster,” he pounded a fist arrogantly against his chest. “I am the greatest, handsomest, most famous athlete the world has ever known!” Bulma whistled loudly while Puar and Suno rolled their eyes. “Surely you’ve seen one of my movies? Everyone has!” The next thing Pamput knew, Jackie was somehow in front of him. His hand was out in a flash and he grabbed one of Pamput’s fingers and twisted it as Pamput howled in pain.

“I saw one,” Jackie admitted almost shamefully. “They stink!” He twisted harder and Pamput let out a decidedly unimpressive squeal of pain.

“I give up!” he shrieked as he stamped his foot. “Owowowowowow! I give up, I give up, I give up!” Jackie released Pamput’s finger and walked away calmly as Pamput rubbed his damaged finger.

“By submission, Jackie Chun is your winner!” Ken declared as the crowd roared while Bulma looked on… disappointed.

“He didn’t even get to do anything,” she muttered with her arms folded over her chest.

OoOoOoO

Krillin watched from the fighter's area as Tenshinhan walked into the ring. Despite his best efforts and all his training, he was still nervous. After all, the guy had said he was going to murder Goku. Krillin swallowed and took a few steps before Goku herself came up and grabbed his hand.

“Don’t worry,” she said encouragingly. “You can take him on!” Krillin’s face flushed red as Goku let go of his hand and smiled. He bounded out to the ring with new confidence and smacked his fists together a few times before getting into his stance.

“Come on!” he declared defiantly. Tenshinhan only sneered as he got into his own stance. Krillin charged and Ten kept him at bay by using his longer limbs with a flurry of kicks. Krillin hopped back to avoid Ten’s strikes and then dashed to the left. Ten threw a kick to the left before Krillin dashed to the right in an attempt to put him off-balance as he attacked with a jumping punch. Ten was ready, however, and caught Krillin’s fist in his hand and slammed him hard to the ground.

“That kind of maneuvering might fool some Turtle Students,” Ten said scornfully, “But you’ll have to try harder to fool me!” Krillin hopped to his feet and was undeterred as he jumped into the air and pressed the attack with a barrage of punches. Ten blocked them all and attempted a headbutt but Krillin dropped down and drove his shoulder into Tenshinhan’s stomach to drive the wind out of him and make him stagger back. Krillin followed up with a sweep to bring Ten to the ground and finished with a downward chop that would have caught Ten in his third eye if the Crane Student hadn’t rolled out of the way and come up to a knee. Krillin came at Ten with a knee aimed at his face but Ten moved his head to the side at the last second and smashed his elbow into Krillin’s face to send him sprawling.

“Come on, Krillin!” Goku cheered on as she, Yamcha, and Launch watched.

“Get him!” Yamcha added.

“Take his stupid extra eye out!” Launch encouraged. Ten got to his feet as Krillin got up and dashed forward with a knee. Krillin hopped up and away but this was a feint as Ten lunged forward and peppered Krillin’s torso with two-fingered Spear Strikes and finished with an elbow down on top of Krillin’s head that sends him to the ground. However, Krillin moves into a three-point stance before impact and bounces away, hitting the wall to the side of the ring and pushing off to kick Tenshinhan with a hard roundhouse kick to the jaw. Tenshinhan took a step back before driving an uppercut into Krillin’s stomach and smashing him down with a double hamerfist blow that sent him skidding across the ring. Krillin staggered to his feet and wiped blood from his lip with a frustrated scowl.

‘Darn it!’ he thought. ‘This guy is tough! I can’t seem to get in a solid hit! Well,’ he thought as he turned to one side and cupped his hands, ‘I guess I’ll take my best shot now!’ Krillin brought his hands to his side as they filled with blue light. “Kaaaa meeee..”

“This is incredible!” Ken declared. “Ladies and gentlemen, I cannot believe my eyes! For the second year in a row, we are going to see the legendary Kamehameha!”

“Haaaa meeee…”

“This’ll wipe that smug look off that guy’s stupid three-eyed face!” Bulma declared confidently. Suno wasn’t so sure. Meanwhile, Ten’s only reaction was to plant his feet, bring his hands up to his chest, and lock his fingers together with the two index fingers held up.

“Haaaaa!” Krillin thrust his hands forward to release his cyclone of blue-white light at Tenshinhan. The beam of destructive ki barreled towards Ten like a freight train and hit him dead on… and then immediately reflected back at Krillin. Krillin squawked in disbelief before hopping to the side to avoid the blast which sailed over the audience's’ heads and blew up a building in the distance. “What?!” Krillin cried out in shock.

“What?!” Yamcha shouted in dismay.

“What?!” Launch snapped.

“What?!” Suno said in astonishment.

“What?” Jackie muttered in stunned confusion.

“Krillin, look out!” Goku called out. Krillin turned just in time to see a purple-panted knee take up his entire field of vision as Ten kneed him hard in the face and sent him onto his back. Krillin laid back in a daze as he struggled to clear his head and stand up.

“Pathetic,” Ten muttered with a villainous smirk. Then he raised one foot and smashed it down on Krillin’s kneecap. There was a sickening “snap!” of shattering bone and Krillin howled in pain before blacking out. The audience screamed in horror as Bulma’s face paled and Suno covered her mouth in shock.

“K-Krillin is in no state to continue!” Ken stammered numbly. “Th-th-therefore, Tenshinhan is your winner!” Ten gave a mocking bow to Krillin’s unconscious form as the crowd booed before the paramedics carted Krillin off to take him to the hospital.

“That son of a–” Launch muttered as she balled up her fists. Goku ground her teeth and the two of them looked ready to charge before Yamcha put hands on their shoulders.

“Don’t,” he warned them despite his own obvious rage. “I know you’re mad. I am, too. But if we attack this slimeball outside of a match, we’ll get disqualified. Then we can’t kick his ass and he wins. I know it sucks but you have to let it go. We’ll kick his ass later.” His fellow Turtle Students reluctantly relaxed and Jackie was surprised at Yamcha’s maturity and control.

“Hey!” Bulma called from the stands as her fear gave way to fury. She climbed over the barrier before Suno or Puar could grab her and walked right into the ring and right in Tenshinhan’s face. “Who do you think you are, huh?! Do you think this makes you a badass, hurting people? You think that makes you a real man?! Is that is?” Tenshinhan said nothing as he looked down at her contemptuously. Bulma fumed and balled up her fists. “You’re sick!” Without a moment’s hesitation, Bulma hauled back and punched Tenshinhan right in the mouth, making his head snap to the side. He slowly turned his head back and pushed Bulma’s hand away as he did so. He gave her a derisive smirk before backhanding her in a blur that sent her hard into the barricade.

“You’re fucking dead!” Yamcha roared at the top of his lungs with murder in his eyes, control forgotten as he barreled towards Tenshinhan. Security guards flung themselves on him to no avail and he was nearly on Tenshinhan before Goku and Launch tackled him to the ground. “I’ll kill you, you son of a bitch! You fucking hear me?!” Yamcha snapped as he practically foamed at the mouth while he kicked and struggled and looked up at Ten with all the hate a human being could have in their heart. Ten laughed and walked past him while Suno helped Bulma back up over the barricade.

“Yamcha!” Bulma called to try and get his attention. “I’m all right!” she assured him despite holding her shoulder.

“Calm down,” Goku whispered to try and soothe her friend like he had calmed her. “Please, Yamcha. You’ve got to calm down! One of us will get him! I promise!” Gradually, Yamcha went slack as the rage went out of him. The security climbed off and Goku and Launch helped Yamcha up. Goku walked away to prepare for her match with Chaozu.

OoOoOoO

Yamcha was fuming before the match began. He was in his guard but his whole body was tensed up and stiff with fury. Launch could tell that his mind wasn’t in the fight and took steps to fix that as she strode across the ring.

“Hey,” Launch said while snapping her fingers in Yamcha’s face, “Get it together. I know you’re mad but I want you to focus. One of us will take care of these Crane dipshits. But I don’t want any asterisks besides my name if I beat you.” Yamcha smiled and nodded before he took a deep breath. He breathed in his anger and breathed it all out.

“Okay,” Yamcha said as he opened his eyes, “Let’s focus on you and me.” Launch gave him a smirk and a waggle of her eyebrows and Yamcha rolled his eyes, already feeling a little better. “You know what I mean. May the best turtle win.” Yamcha held out his fist and Launch bumped hers against it before jumping away from each other and got into their guards.

Launch charged towards Yamcha with a jumping knee that Yamcha pushed down before he followed up with a palm strike to the chin as soon as Launch touched down. Launch deflected the hit with her forearm to push Yamcha’s arm away and went for an elbow to his exposed chest but he caught it in his other hand and shoved her away. This exchange of blocked and countered strikes continued for several seconds with neither person gaining an edge. Just as it had been with Goku and Krillin at the last tournament, the pair had sparred so often that it would be difficult for one to surprise the other.

The change came when Launch went for a sweep kick that Yamcha leaped over. This turned out to only be a feint by Launch as she swiped up at Yamcha and caught him full in the chest with a kiai. Yamcha dropped like a rock and landed in a crouch with a hand at his chest.

“When’d you finally figure out kiai?” Yamcha asked with a wince. Launch grinned and flicked a finger across her nose.

“Couple years ago. Kept that one close to my chest, along with a couple other secrets I was savin’ for today.” Yamcha grinned right back and got back into his guard.

“That makes both of us,” he said as he charged Launch and pulled back his fist. She was prepared to block his telegraphed punch as was thinking about countering with an elbow to the ear when Yamcha’s fist came surging forward faster than she’d anticipated, glowing with a blue-purple light as it rammed into her stomach and drove the wind out of her. Launch staggered back and Yamcha quickly grabbed her by the shoulder, jumping up before slamming her into the ground. He backflipped away a few times before jumping high into the air to bring his knee down onto her. Launch barely rolled away from the attack in time and came up on one knee, wiping spit from the corner of her mouth as the crowd cheered.

“C’mon, Yamcha!” Bulma called out as the crowd cheered, “Get her!”

“Are you cheering for Yamcha or against Launch?” Suno asked. Bulma smirked.

“Yes.” she stated matter-of–factly Suno just rolled her eyes.

‘Damn,’ Launch thought as she got back to her feet. ‘This might be a problem.’ Launch didn’t know to sense ki or anything like that but the power Yamcha had been able to put into that punch without seeming to use up too much of his energy did plenty to illustrate the difference between their power. ‘I’ve got one good shot if I’m gonna make it to the next round.’ Launch took a deep breath before suddenly surging forward and driving a flying kick into Yamcha’s chest that sent him stumbling back. Launch pressed her advantage with a blur elbows, punches, knees and kicks in an all-out sprint that made Yamcha give ground with every blow, whether he blocked or not, as sweat flew off her body.

‘She’s putting all her energy into it,’ Jackie realized. ‘Working herself to exhaustion to knock Yamcha out of the ring and hoping she’ll have enough time before her bout with Goku or Chaozu to catch her breath.’ It was an admirable strategy, if incredibly shortsighted. Yamcha proved this when he blocked an elbow strike from Launch that was a little too slow and caught her just behind the ear when he countered with a spinning backfist. Launch staggered away on wobbly legs, gasping for breath and barely able to hold herself up.

“C’mon,” Launch demanded when Yamcha hesitated. “If you wanna… wanna make it to the next round, you better hit me as… as hard as you can.” Yamcha nodded and pulled back one hand for a palm strike even as Launch wearily pulled back her fist. Yamcha’s blow caught her right under the chin and the blonde warrior collapsed like a house of cards.

“Nine… ten! Yamcha is the winner!” Ken declared. The crowd cheered as Yamcha held out a hand to help Launch up. She took it before pushing Yamcha away as soon as she was on her feet.

“N-next time,” she told him shakily, “Next time your ass is mine.” Yamcha smiled and shook his head as he watched Launch walk off. She stumbled, lurched, and almost fell over a few times but she made it to the fighter’s area under her own power. She leaned against a wall to support herself before her legs gave out from under her and she slid to the floor. She sat there for a few moments, eyes closed, gasping for breath, more exhausted and more disappointed than she could remember being in her life.

“Hey.” Launch slowly opened one eye to see Goku smiling at her and holding out a cup of water. Launch took it and gulped the water down gratefully, letting the cup slip from her tired fingers after she’d drained it. “You did really good,” Goku assured her friend. Launch smiled wearily and reached up a hand to tousle Goku’s hair.

“Thanks, kid.”

OoOoOoO

Goku wore a stern expression on her face as Chaozu floated into the ring. The smug little imp only touched down when Ken informed him that the match couldn’t begin until Chaozu was actually in the ring. Jackie reflected that he had never seen Goku so angry.

‘I only hope it doesn’t lead to her being careless,’ he thought as he stroked his beard. Chaozu giggled to himself as Goku stood with her feet planted and neither fighter got into their guard.

“I bet you’re really mad,” Chaozu teased, “Aren’t you?” Goku said nothing. “Mad that Tenshinhan broke your stupid bald friend’s leg, huh? Well, guess what? There’s nothing you can do about it!” Chaozu laughed louder. “Ten’s going to beat that old man! He’ll beat either of the other Turtle Students if they make it to the finals! But that’s not going to happen because they’re not getting past me and neither are you!” Chaozu thrust out his hands on “you!” and was clearly expecting something to happen. Goku took a step forward. Chaozu’s eyes bugge even wider than normal and he thrust his hands forward more emphatically. Goku took another step forward. And another. Then she broke into a sprint and thundered towards Chaozu like a one-person stampede with such fury in each step that the ground shook under them. At the last second, Chaozu flew up into the air and across to the other side of the ring and stayed in the air as Goku turned slowly and glowered up at him. ‘This is bad!’ Chaozu thought. ‘My psychokinesis doesn’t work on her!’

“Well, this is bullshit,” Launch muttered. “How’s Goku supposed to knock him out if he can fly?” Jackie, however, could sense the Crane Student’s panic and wasn’t quite so worried about Goku’s chances. Chaozu pointed a finger at Goku while being slightly unnerved by Goku’s unchanging glower.

“D-Dodonpa!” Chaozu cried as he released a golden spear of light from his outstretched finger. It passed right through Goku and hit the grass behind her. She dissolved, proving to be nothing more than an afterimage, with the real Goku not even a foot away. “Dodonpa!” Chaozu repeated as he fired again. Once again it passed through with the real Goku back where she’d been originally. “Dodonpa! Dodonpa! Dodonpa!” Chaozu fired again and again but he might as well have been aiming at the sky for all the good it did in hitting his target. At one point, Goku’s afterimages filled up the entire side of the ring she was standing on and Chaozu howled in impotent frustration. “Hold still!” he screamed as he fired blindly into the row of Gokus. They faded from sight instantly to leave only the true Goku who was standing right in the path of Chaozu’s beam… and then she punched the Dodonpa, destroying it in a burst of light.

“Impossible!” Shen screamed as Goku rubbed her first. Chaozu broke into a cold sweat of terror as Goku leaped high into the air to catch Chaozu under the chin with a twisting uppercut that sent Chaozu sailing through the air and over the horizon.

“I’m soooorry, Teeeeeeeeeeee–” Chaozu called, his cry cut off by a splash. Everyone’s eyes went wide with shock as they realized that Goku had knocked Chaozu off of the island.
“S-Son Goku is the winner!” Ken stammered as Goku walked out of the ring. She glowered at Tenshinhan who returned her gaze unblinking.

Chapter Text

There was a short break between the quarter and semifinal rounds. During that time, Goku went to the hospital where Krillin was being treated to visit him. A nurse took her to Krillin’s room where he was lying in a bed with his leg in a cast and up in a sling.

“He’s still recovering,” the nurse had told Goku when she asked why Krillin was still sleeping, “But he should be awake by the time the tournament is over.” Goku had thanked the nurse before they left and put her Dragon Ball at Krillin’s bedside.

“I hope Grandpa’s spirit keeps you safe,” she said to her unconscious friend as she looked down at him in his bed. “I’m gonna beat that Tenshinhan jerk up. I promise.” She stood there for a few seconds and just watched Krillin sleeping. Then she leaned over the railing and gave him a peck on the forehead before running back to the stadium.

While Goku was visiting Krillin, Yamcha had gone over to the crowd to check on Bulma.

“Are you okay?” he asked with clear concern in his voice. He didn’t like the color of that bruise on her shoulder. Bulma made a “pfft” sound and waved dismissively to calm him down.

“I’m fiiiine,” she assured him as she rotated her arm. It made her wince but she looked like she had full range of motion and nothing was popping so Yamcha guessed it must have just looked worse than it was. “I’m a mad scientist whose father is a mad scientist. This is nothin’ special. There was this one time I was messing with my dad’s ionic torch and it burned a hole right through my–”

“Aaaatatatatata, don’t wanna know!” Yamcha shouted in distress as he waved his hands to cut her off. “I’m just glad you’re okay.” He smiled and leaned over the barricade to kiss Bulma quickly on the lips and scratch Puar behind the ears before he headed back to the fighter’s area.

“So…” Suno asked, “What did you burn a hole through?” Bulma leaned over and whispered in Suno’s ear. Suno listened and her eyes grew wide.

Jackie sat with his legs folded and his eyes closed in solemn meditation as he opened his mind to the channels of ki energy. He could feel every ki signature in the arena from the smallest child to Son Goku. She was an inferno of power whose light flickered and danced with barely-controlled energy. It startled him to think that if she could temper that strength then she could grow even more powerful. He sensed darkness as well. He sensed Shen’s darkness, a soul corrupted by nearly three hundred years of bitterness and jealousy and rage. In Tenshinhan, he sensed that same darkness as there was in all the Crane students. That was the fall of the Crane School. To teach hate, to teach a desire to kill and a disregard for life corrupted one’s very soul. And yet… and yet even in that darkness, Jackie found a single point of light. Jackie stood up slowly and resolutely, knowing what he must now do.

Tenshinhan was also meditating but where Roshi had opened himself, Ten was closed off. He had turned his thoughts inwards to his goals. To victory. To revenge. In that darkness was his tranquility and his power. In this darkness, he was the center of the universe. A voice suddenly cut through that darkness.

‘Tenshinhan!’ Shen’s voice echoed inside his head and Ten’s third eye opened while his other two remained closed.

‘Yes, Master.’

‘I have sensed the ki of this ‘Jackie Chun,’’ Shen informed him. ‘He is nothing more than the old pervert Muten Roshi. I do not know what he attempts to achieve with this little masquerade of his but if the opportunity presents itself, break his brittle, ancient bones.’

‘Master,’ Ten thought suddenly, ‘ Forgive my boldness… but are you not the same age?’

‘Silence!’

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Ken crowed, “We are now ready to begin the semifinal round!” Jackie Chun and Ten made their way into the ring as the crowd cheered for Jackie and booed Ten. Jackie took off his coat as Tenshinhan cracked his knuckles before the pair moved into their guards. “This is sure to be an interesting match, folks!” Ken shouted with barely-restrained excitement. “Fighters ready? Begin!”

Tenshinhan was the first to strike when he charged forward and swung at Jackie Chun with a punch. He was shocked when Jackie blocked the strike and responded with a kick but Tenshinhan was able to block that as well. Jackie threw out a few more strikes to test Ten’s speed before Ten retaliated with a high kick that Jackie was able to duck underneath. He grabbed onto Ten’s other leg before the young triclops had a chance to react and yanked backwards to send Ten flipping through the air. For a moment, it seemed as if Ten would land in the audience before he suddenly froze in midair, as if he chosen not to obey the laws of gravity. Ten then rotated in the air until he was standing straight up and flew back into the ring with a smirk.

“Oh, great,” Yamcha muttered. “So all the Crane students can fly. How come Roshi never taught us?”

“Turtles can’t fly,” Goku pointed out as she watched intensely. Yamcha blinked as he thought about that. It… it made sense?

“You’ll have to do better than that!” Ten boasted before he got into a runner’s stance… and disappeared. Jackie threw out his fist at seemingly nothing before Tenshinhan materialized… inside Jackie’s guard! He slammed his elbow up into Jackie’s chin to send him high into the air and followed him up. They traded punches high in the sky, each one able to dodge or block the other’s assault before they landed with their backs to each other.

“Let’s see how you like this!” Jackie declared as Tenshinhan turned to face him. Tenshinhan was suddenly surrounded by a ring of Jackie Chuns that circled him at dizzying speed before closing in and battering him with blows.

“If you expect this trick to fool me,” Tenshinhan said in spite of his bruises when the ring of Jackies had widened again, “Then you’re sadly mistaken. My third eye sees through all your deceptions!” He emphasized “deceptions” with a kick that smashed into Jackie’s jaw and sent him crashing into the wall. Ten charged forward and moved his hands at a furious pace as if he had a dozen arms. “Can you find these?!” he taunted. Jackie’s hands flew out and grabbed Tenshinhan’s wrists and crossed them across his chest.

“Done!” Jackie said with mock geniality. His muscles had suddenly grown as he had tapped into more of his power even though he wasn’t going MAX yet. He drove his knee into Tenshinhan’s stomach with his arms still trapped and yanked him by his wrists to bring his face down into Jackie’s upraised knee before finally releasing his wrists. Ten staggered away and wiped blood from his nose. He stared at the blood on his hand with a look of surprise on his face that quickly gave way to rage. Ten let out a wordless, guttural roar as he charged Jackie, kneeing him hard in the stomach over and over before driving a spear strike into his sternum. Ten grabbed Jackie’s wrist and turned his back to Jackie as he twisted the other man’s arm, no doubt intending to snap Jackie’s arm over his shoulder. Jackie responded by headbutting Tenshinhan in the back of the head to make Ten release him and stagger away again as he rubbed the back of his head.

Jackie and Ten charged each other again and battered each other with a whirlwind of punches. To most of the spectators, their limbs had completely disappeared and bruises appeared in random places on the fighters’ bodies. The battle only got worse when Jackie managed to trap Tenshinhan’s hands under his armpits and Ten proceeded to batter Jackie with vicious headbutts. Jackie fired back with one of his own as Ten was getting ready to deliver one and they both staggered away in pain.

‘Master Shen’s old rival is truly amazing. Even at his age, he’s incredibly fast and skilled!’ Ten conceded reluctantly. ‘Without question, he is the greatest opponent I’ve ever had!’ He looked at the smear of blood on his hand again but didn’t feel rage this time. When presented with such a challenge, Ten became… excited. He smiled that almost-smile as he got back into his guard.

‘This boy has incredible potential,’ Jackie thought as he too returned to his guard. ‘He’s taken every attack I have and kept coming! I could use all my power to try and win this fistfight… but maybe there’s a far more important battle I could win.’

“ Come on… old man,” Tenshinhan breathed out before he finished catching his breath. “Don’t waste my time. Let’s finish this!”

“You’re wasting your time with Shen,” Jackie said. It was so out of nowhere that Ten dropped out of his guard in shock. “I know he’s your Master but that only means you’ve learned wrong. He’s twisted and evil, I know. You would be a better martial artist and a better person if you walked in the light.” Tenshinhan scowled as he balled his hands into fists.

“I’ve heard enough!” he snapped as he got into a wide–legged stance. “If you’re going to insult my master to my face, I’m not going to play games anymore!” The idea that Tenshinhan hadn’t been going all-out yet shocked Jackie. Tenshinhan brought his hands up to the sides of his head with the palms facing inward and his fingers splayed out. “Here is the power of the Crane School, old man! Taiyouken!” A flash of light suddenly bathed the arena as everyone cried out in pain. Everyone, that is, that wasn’t wearing sunglasses. Tenshinhan charged Jackie and delivered a punishing salvo of spear strikes. Jackie tried to defend himself but between the light blinding his eyes and the pain in his head making him ki-blind, he was completely defenseless. Ten ducked a wild swing and around behind Jackie before delivering a knee to the back of the head that sent him down in a heap.

“And Jackie Chun has been knocked down with a knee to the back of the head!” Ken narrated to the still-blind spectators as their sight was returning. “I must now administer the ten count! One… two… three… four… fi–” Jackie sprang suddenly back to his feet as Ten looked on in shock.

“What?!” he cried. Jackie Chun rubbed the back of his head and smirked.

“Can’t you take it easy on an old man? My eyes are bad as it is,” he chuckled as Tenshinhan fumed. “You’re not a killer, Tenshinhan. Shen has tried your whole life to make you into one but I know that you aren’t. You’d be a fool to throw your life away to his teachings.”

“Shut up!” Tenshinhan snapped as he charged Jackie. “Your lies won’t get to me! I know you’re just jealous of my master, Muten Roshi!” He threw a punch at Jackie… who caught it in his palm.

“Jackie Chun is Roshi?!” Yamcha, Launch, Goku, and Bulma all exclaimed at once. Suno rolled her eyes. Tenshinhan grunted and snarled as he tried to pull his hand from Roshi’s grip.

“Something wrong?” Roshi asked. “Is your heart not quite as black as you thought? Just because I’m Muten Roshi doesn’t mean that my words aren’t true. I’ve known Shen longer than you’ve been alive.” Tenshinhan growled in fury and ripped his hand away before jumping back.

“I am not some insipid Turtle student for you to lecture!” Tenshinhan barked as he pivoted to the side. “But I do know one way to shut you up for good!” He dropped down low as he raised his hands overhead before bringing them down to his side. “Kaaaaameeeeee…” Roshi’s eyes went wide.

“Impossible!” He breathed in disbelief. ‘There’s no chance for me to dodge! If I move, he’ll hit the audience!’ Yamcha gawked as Goku watched Tenshinhan intensely.

“Haaaameeeeeeee….”

“Oh, this is fucking bullshit!” Launch spat. “How many more fucking people are gonna figure out the Kamehameha before me?!”

“Haaaaaaaaa!” Tenshinhan roared as he threw out his hands. The blue-white beam exploded forth from his palms with all the rage and hate of an erupting volcano. Bulma and Puar shrieked as the blast came roaring towards them and Suno put herself between the blast and her friends. Roshi cried out in pain as he caught the blast in his open palms, the heat was unbearable even through the ki buffer he created to keep the beam from touching him. He had never experienced a Kamehameha so hot with anger before! With a shout of exertion, he forced the beam up into the sky where it dissipated harmlessly. Tenshinhan was breathing heavily from the energy he’d put into the blast and was almost as weary as Roshi was from fighting it off.

“I can… replicate any technique I see,” Tenshinhan explained as he wiped sweat off his brow. “It’s a power of my third eye. Don’t you get it, old man? You can’t defeat me!” Roshi nodded as he got out of his stance and put his hands behind his back.

“All that proves to me is that there is still time for you to change. You’re young and your life is full of possibility. Walk in the light, Tenshinhan.” With that… Master Roshi hopped out of the ring.

“R-ring out!” Ken declared in shock. This was turning out to be a very confusing tournament for him. “Tenshinhan is your winner!” Roshi’s wig slid off his head as he bent down to pick up his jacket, the heat having melted the glue. With every step towards the fighter’s area, the weariness started to settle in.

‘Maybe it’s time,’ Roshi thought, ‘For me to step aside.’ Goku was waiting for Roshi with a cup of water when he came back to the fighter’s area and he took it gratefully.

“Master Roshi,” she asked, “How come you were pretending to be someone else?” Roshi smiled and ruffled her hair.

“That’s a story I’ll tell you another day,” he told her. “For now, focus on the tournament.” He took another sip of water.

“Is it because you missed having hair?” she asked. Roshi nearly choked.

‘Ha!’ Shen thought. ‘The old fool. I knew he was a coward!’ Tenshinhan said nothing and thought nothing. Or at least, nothing verbally. His mind was a mess of conflicting thoughts and his heart was troubled. For the first time in his life, Tenshinhan… was unsure.

OoOoOoO

Goku and Yamcha entered the ring and got into their guards. Despite the dark cloud of Tenshinhan hanging over the proceedings, the two friends couldn’t help but smile. This would be the first time they’d fought in four years!

“Go, Yamcha!” Puar shouted as he clapped his forepaws.

“Come on, Goku!” Suno cheered.

“Go Yamcha! Or Goku!” Bulma called out, caught between rooting for her boyfriend or her best friend. “Er… go, guys!”

“Fighters ready?” Ken asked. They both nodded. “Begin!” Goku and Yamcha dashed towards each other and met in the center of the ring with an exchange of punches and kicks. To most of the audience, it would look like they were trying to kill each other but Suno, Roshi, Tenshinhan, Shen, and the recently-fished-out Chaozu would know the difference. This was just warming up.

“Hey Goku,” Yamcha said as he and Goku parried each other’s blows, “Where’d you pick up that new stance?”

“I learned all kinds of new things while I was travelling the world!” Goku told him with a grin. They hopped away from each other and landed in their guard.

“Good to know,” Yamcha told her with a smirk. “I’ve come up with some surprises of my own!” That made Goku go starry-eyed with excitement and Yamcha chuckled. He held out one hand and gestured for Goku to bring it. “Come on, come on!” Goku charged forward and Yamcha met her with a ki-charged punch. Unlike Launch, however, Goku was fast enough to see it coming and blocked it. She moved inside of Yamcha’s guard in a blur of motion and slammed her foot across his jaw with a spinning kick. Yamcha stumbled back and Goku rebounded as soon as her feet touched the ground and drove her shoulder into his gut to drive the air out of his lungs. Yamcha grabbed Goku around the waist suddenly before she could fall and lifted her up to slam her down into the stone. He pressed the attack while she was dazed and slammed a punch down on her that she rolled out of the way to avoid before kipping up to her feet. Yamcha slid on his knees across the ring and uppercut Goku on the jaw to send her up into the air before he flipped backwards and sprang up with his hands, spinning in the air to drill the point of his foot up into Goku’s stomach before she dropped to the ground like a dead weight.

Yamcha pressed the attack when they both touched the ground, undeterred even when Goku landed on her feet. He let loose with a maelstrom of strikes that Goku blocked and diverted before blistering Yamcha’s chest with a series of pam strikes that turned his chest raw. Yamcha growled as his anger rose and swung down at the top Goku’s head with an elbow that she hopped backward to avoid but Yamcha used the momentum and rolled forward to handspring towards Goku and drive a kick into her face. The kick sent Goku flying back before skidding across the ring and Yamcha jumped into the air and came down with a punch. Goku rolled out of the way and wrapped Yamcha’s wrist in her tail, punching him several times on the chin before letting him go. Yamcha got uneasily to his feet as his fury continued to grow.

‘Damn it,’ he thought as he charged her again, ‘ She’s just playing with me! Why can’t I find that power?!’ He unleashed another flurry of punches and kicks at Goku but she was always just a little bit faster. Yamcha slammed his palm down into the ring, seemingly in anger. “Take this!” he snapped as ki surged through his body and blasted up at Goku through the ground. With no way to dodge it, Goku was forced to absorb the attack before Yamcha jumped up into the air and punched her back down to hit the ring hard.

‘Incredible,’ Roshi thought. ‘Yamcha shows far greater ability for ki manipulation than I would have expected. He didn’t even destroy the ring!’

“Wow,” Suno muttered as she watched intently, “Yamcha’s been training hard.” Bulma nodded proudly.

“Yup!” she said emphatically with her hands on her hips. “Just you wait! He hasn’t even used all his tricks yet!” Despite Bulma’s insistence, Goku was back on her feet when Yamcha came at her, even if she was unable to guard herself from a sudden onslaught of five snapping kicks from Yamcha’s left leg and a roundhouse from the right. The blow sent Goku careening into the wall which exploded upon impact. Goku got up as Yamcha charged forwards and swung upwards with two underhand swipes that sent waves of kiai crashing into Yamcha, one after the other, stopping his charge. Then Goku darted forward with her dropkick and crashed it into Yamcha’s sternum to knock him onto his back.

“Yamcha is down!” Ken declared as Goku got back into her guard and waited patiently. “One… two… three…”

‘Not yet!’ Yamcha raged as he got back to his feet. ‘I’m not done yet!’ He charged at Goku in a dead sprint and she ran to meet him. The pair collided in the center of the ring in a knuckle lock and Yamcha tried to push Goku down. Despite being taller than her, he couldn’t move her back an inch. He growled in frustration as he pushed harder but she just pushed right back! They broke away from the knuckle lock and attempted a few jabs at one another before jumping away from each other.

Goku was having a great time! Yamcha had so many cool moves and he’d gotten a lot stronger since the last time they’d fought! She hopped eagerly from foot to foot with her tail swishing from side to side as she wondered what Yamcha would do next.

For half a second, Yamcha watched her tail move. It would be so easy to just… grab it. She’d be powerless! He could just throw her out! He quickly dispelled those thoughts from his mind. It wouldn’t be fair. Just a cheap trick. Besides, if he was able to grab her tail but couldn’t beat her then it would be one more thing Tenshinhan would know about Goku. He certainly didn’t need any help. No, Yamcha decided. If he was going to win this, he’d win it with skill, regardless of whether or not he could tap into that power.

“Hey, Goku,” he shouted across the ring as he brought up one arm and squeezed his wrist in his other hand. “Check this out!” Puar clapped his forepaws together with excitement as a yellow orb of ki floated above Yamcha’s palm and grew to about the size of a melon.

“Here it comes,” Puar declared triumphantly. “Yamcha’s secret weapon!” Bulma rubbed her hands together eagerly as she watched.

“Ohhh, I almost feel bad for Goku,” she said, although she certainly didn’t sound it. “This thing is great!”

“A new technique, huh?” Suno muttered as she folded her arms. Goku stood intently in her guard despite her starry eyes and inside she was practically bouncing with excitement. She loved seeing new techniques!

“Sokidan!” Yamcha called out as he lobbed the ball at Goku. It flew towards her and she jumped over it at the last moment. Suno rolled her eyes as it sailed past Goku.

“Some technique,” she muttered sarcastically as she gave Bulma a sidelong glance. Still, she was surprised how… unphased Yamcha was. The reason for Yamcha’s cockiness became clear as he suddenly curved the first two fingers of the hand he’d launched the Sokidan with towards himself and the sphere immediately started flying backwards towards Goku! Goku heard the high-pitched whirring sound as the ball came closer and hopped to the side to avoid it and watched it head straight for Yamcha.

“Nice try,” Yamcha said with a smirk before moving his fingers again to redirect the ball back at Goku. Everywhere Goku moved to avoid the Sokidan, Yamcha tracked her. It soon became clear that the chase was starting to tire Goku out while Yamcha was quickly getting worn down from the energy it took to fire, maintain, and control the Sokidan. Goku finally came to a stop and tried to punch the ball like she had the Dodonpa but Yamcha redirected to avoid her fist. “Gotcha!” Yamcha declared as he jerked the ball forward to strike Goku in the back, exploding on impact and sending her up into the air. Yamcha pushed one last surge of ki into his fist and smashed it down into the back of Goku’s head as she came towards him to make her hit the ring hard enough to smash the stone.

“Son Goku is down!” Ken declared as Yamcha stumbled away from her and tried to catch his breath. “One… two… three…”

“Come on,” Yamcha hissed between his teeth. “Come ooooon.” He was almost out tricks and he didn’t know if he had the energy for the Kamehameha at this point!

“Four… five…” Tenshinhan scowled as he watched. If Son Goku should fail…

'How many people are going to deny me my vengeance?!’

“Six…” Suno pressed her palms together and brought her hands to her lips as her brow furrowed with worry.

‘Come on, Goku….’

“Seven…” Goku’s fingers began to curl up into fists and her arms moved under her body as she finally started to push herself up.

“Eight…” Goku gave a sudden shove that whipped up the ground under her in little dust devils and she hopped to her feet. “Son Goku is up!” She grinned even as she rubbed the back of her head.

“Ooouuch,” she whined despite her smile, “That hurt! That’s an awesome technique, Yamcha!” She got back into her guard as a vein throbbed in Yamcha’s forehead. “Come on! We’re not done yet!” Yamcha growled as he charged her again and thought that he was keeping his anger in check by not vocalizing it even as Goku was deflecting every kick and punch.

‘No good’ Roshi thought in disappointment as he watched. ‘Yamcha’s letting his anger direct his fighting. It’s made his strikes wild and unfocused. If he can’t get control, he doesn’t have a chance!’ Roshi’s thoughts seemed prophetic as Goku suddenly got inside Yamcha’s guard and caught him under the chin with a backflip kick. Everything went white for Yamcha… and then he was on the ground.

‘Is this it?’ Yamcha thought as he looked up at the sky. ‘ I tried everything I had. It still wasn’t enough. Maybe it was never going to be.’

“Three… four…”

“Come on, ya big lug,” Launch muttered in a rare moment of concern, “Get up!”

‘I was never in Goku’s league. The only time I even came close was when she was hungry. Maybe I should just… lie here and accept it.’

“Yamcha!” Puar called out on the verge of tears. “Don’t give up now, master!”

“Five… six…”

“Come on, Yamcha!” Bulma cried out as she leaned over the barricade. “I know you can do it!”

‘What am I saying?’ Yamcha thought as his eyes widened. ‘I can’t give up now! I can’t let the last three years mean nothing! I’m not done! Not yet!’

“Seven… eight… nine…” Yamcha suddenly jumped to his feet and threw back his head to roar in defiance. A green aura shone around Yamcha’s body that made a sound like a howling wolf as his eyes turned red.

“Come on!” Yamcha declared as he charged at Goku. She ran forward to meet his charge and Yamcha could feel his body surging with power. He met Goku strike for strike this time before he pushed himself harder. “Wolf Fang Fist!” His strikes came faster than ever before, precise and powerful as he put Goku on the defensive and pushed her back. He slammed her in the chest with a double palm strike that sent her skidding to the edge. “Let’s finish this!” he challenged as he hopped back and brought his hands down to his side. “Kaaaaameeeee….”

“Heh,” Launch chuckled with a smirk, “I knew he could do it.” Goku brought her hands down to her side as well and quickly began to charge the blast.

“Kame…”

“Haaaaaa...”

“Meeeeee…”

‘Strange,’ Roshi thought, ‘ Why is Yamcha’s Kamehameha… red?’

“Haaaaaa!” Goku’s blue beam flew from her hands, pure and true to meet Yamcha’s red beam that roared defiantly like a raging inferno. The beams collided and pushed against each other as purple tendrils of energy sparked and flew away. Yamcha let out a cry of effort as he pushed with the last bit of his energy to push his arms forward and push the beam a little more. Goku pushed back in response and let out a cry of power as her Kamehameha overwhelmed Yamcha’s and sent him flying out of the ring to crash against the barricade before he slumped to the ground in defeat.

“Ring out! Son Goku is the winner!” Yamcha looked up to see Goku literally teetering on the edge of the ring, pinwheeling her arms to keep balance. Almost. He’d almost had her.

‘But only almost,’ he thought glumly, completely burned out. Suddenly, his field of vision was completely filled by Bulma’s upside-down face.

“Hey, don’t get so down,” she told him. “You’ll get her next time. I’m sure of it.” She gave him a kiss on the lips and Yamcha slowly got back to his feet and staggered back to the fighter’s area.

“There you have it!” Ken announced. “The finals will be Son Goku vs. Tenshinhan!” Goku glared at Tenshinhan from the ring while he returned her gaze with his arms folded.

‘I’ll make him pay for what he did to Krillin!’ she thought.

‘I’ll finally have my revenge for what you took from me, Son Goku!’ Even as he thought that, though, Tenshinhan’s doubts stirred in the back of his mind. Was it truly revenge he sought?

Chapter Text

The crowd cheered wildly as Goku and Tenshinhan met in the ring and the hot summer sun was suddenly cut off by a gathering of dark clouds. Tenshinhan glared at Goku… but blinked in astonishment when she brought her hands together and bowed at him. She never broke eye contact and glared right back but the action itself showed far more respect than Tenshinhan had been expecting. For reasons he wasn’t quite sure of, he bowed in response.

“What are you doing?!” Shen demanded. “Don’t show respect to that Turtle simpleton!” Tenshinhan… tuned his master out as he and Goku stood up and moved into their guards.

“Fighters ready? Begin!” Tenshinhan and Goku slowly circled each other as the clouds began to darken overhead. Tenshinhan made the first move and threw out a kick to capitalize on his reach advantage. Goku jumped high over the kick and went for a punch at Tenshinhan’s head that he deflected to direct Goku towards the ground. She landed on her hands and kicked back with both feet at Tenshinhan’s knee. Ten jumped over the kick and turned as he came back down to see that Goku had pushed off with her hands to be in front of him when he landed and charged him. Ten sprinted forward to meet her charge and the two clashed in a furious exchange of punches and kicks with each blocking the others’ attacks at a pace too fast for almost anyone else to see. They met forearm to forearm, bodies trembling with nervous energy as they glared at each other before hopping away again and circling.

“Wow,” Yamcha muttered, “So that’s what it looks like when Goku gets serious.” Launch nodded and moved closer to Yamcha. Unconsciously, he put an arm around her shoulders. As the Turtle and the Crane circled each other, Goku found herself smiling. She couldn’t help it. Even though she was mad at him and even though Tenshinhan was a big jerk, she could tell this was going to be fun! Tenshinhan… found himself smiling back. Goku leaped at Tenshinhan and he made a swipe with the edge of his hand to knock her down but, to his shock, Goku wrapped her tail around his arm and swung by her tail to punch him hard in the back of the head to make him double over. Goku yanked down with her tail to send Tenshinhan down into the ground before uncurling her tail and jumping into the air to drive her feet into his back. Ten rolled away at the last second to avoid impact and came up with one arm thrust out to unleash a hail of yellow ki bullets from his palm. Goku swept them aside with a wave of kiai before sweeping them up again when she remembered that they would have hit the audience.

“Got you!” Tenshinhan declared triumphantly as he charged across the ring and drove his elbow into Goku’s gut. He followed up with a series of punches to the stomach that drove Goku higher and higher up into the air before finishing with a kiai aided palm strike right on the bridge of the nose that sent Goku flying up into the sky with a thin trail of blood following her up for the first hundred feet. He flew up after and above her and waited until she was only a few feet away before he thrust his arm out again. “Dodonpa!” He roared and the yellow lance flew out of his finger and struck Goku true in the chest to send her hurtling back to Earth where she smashed violently into the ground.

“Eeesh,” Bulma muttered as she watched. “That looked pretty bad.” Roshi frowned as Tenshinhan descended back to the ring. Perhaps he’d given up too early. Worse still, perhaps he’d been too late. Shen might have turned Ten into a true killer after all. Before Ken could begin the count, however, Goku burst out of the ground with both fists out to smash Ten under the chin and send him staggering back. Goku battered Ten with a relentless series of expertly precise jabs, heedless of the blood flowing from her nose.

‘Looks like Goku picked up a few boxing lessons while she was travelling the world,’ Roshi thought with a chuckle. The fault in a boxing stance, though, was that it left your legs open to attack. Tenshinhan threw out a hard kick that caught Goku in the shin and broke her concentration for just a moment. That moment was all Tenshinhan needed as he grabbed Goku by the back of the head and slammed her face down into the tiles, over and over again before hauling her up by her hair and tossing her up again. Ten pulled his hands back as she fell and unloaded with sixty-four pinpoint accurate spear strikes all over her body. Ten let her drop on the sixty-fourth and backed away.

“You may as well count,” he instructed Ken with his back turned to her. “She couldn’t get up now even if she wanted to.” Those exact points Ten had struck were the sixty-four energy points on the human body. Each two-fingered blow had been delivered with a ki-charged intensity that ensured total shutdown of that energy point. She would be completely immobilized.

“Three… four…” Ken stopped counting. Ten blinked. Why? Why would he stop? Unless she was… Slowly, as if he already knew the impossible thing he was about to see, Ten turned around. Son Goku was getting to her feet . Ten was too awestruck to attack.

How?

How?!

It was no matter of physical toughness or mental conditioning, every human being, no matter their age, size, or power; had those same energy points in the same places! He had hit every single one! It wasn’t possible! No human could get up from that attack. Yet there she was. Covered in tiny purple bruises and wiping a thin trickle of blood from her nose but otherwise… Goku grinned and got back into her guard. Tenshinhan… laughed. Without an ounce of malice, he laughed.

“I hate to say it,” he admitted, “But I’m enjoying this! I’ve never had a fight like this! It’ll be a shame to kill you, Son Goku.” Tenshinhan sounded genuinely regretful. Shen was appalled. Had Roshi actually gotten through to Ten? Was he feeling… guilt? Despite the threat against her life, Goku’s smile was undeterred.

“You’re going to have to try harder to kill me,” she encouraged as earnestly as Ten had apologized. “Especially since I’ll be getting serious to stop you!” Tenshinhan chuckled as the first flashes of lightning danced through the clouds and were followed by rumbles of thunder.

“So you’ve been holding back so far?” he asked. Goku nodded emphatically and Tenshinhan cracked his knuckles. “That makes two of us.” He charged her again and was much faster this time. “Come on!” Goku met his charge and the two crashed into each other with the force of a train collision in an explosion of strikes. Elbows and punches and kicks and knees being thrown out at a pace too quick for anyone but the other finalists and Suno to follow and even for them it was a struggle. Powerful, full-force blows that neither combatant attempted to block, each going for an all-out offensive that left their bodies covered in bruises and welts. Tenshinhan went for a spinning kick that went right through Goku and he nearly lost his balance. He smirked when he realized she was using the afterimage technique and held his forearm up over his head. “You can’t fool me with those kinds of tricks!” He reminded her in a taunting tone as she dove down… right through him. Goku spun in surprise to see Tenshinhan’s foot coming right for her face… and he went through that, too.

“Got you!” Goku declared from Tenshinhan’s left and he pivoted to see her barrelling towards him.

“You think so?” he asked with a smirk as he brought his hands up to his face. “Taiyouken!” Ten charged into the blinding light… and right into Goku’s fist. He staggered away and collapsed onto all fours as he held his face and groaned. How. How was she doing these things?!

Ken recoiled in pain from the light and wondered when he’d taken his sunglasses off. No sooner had he wondered that then his sunglasses were somehow back on his face. It was very strange.

Goku turned to Roshi and gave an uncharacteristically cheeky wink before Tenshinhan suddenly crashed into her like a cannonball to tackle her to the ground and tried to put his hands around her throat as she fought to keep him from strangling her. She managed to put her feet up under Ten’s chest and shoved him away before getting into her guard and… and nothing. She couldn’t make her body move! Tenshinhan charged again and smashed his knee into her face. Goku staggered away and was able to move again when she wiped blood from her nose.

“That’s…” she gasped out, “That’s cheating!” Tenshinhan blinked in confusion and wondered just what in the world that meant when Goku leaped into the air to attack him again. Once again, however, Goku couldn’t move! It was a hesitation in her movements too subtle for most to see before Tenshinhan brought her down to the ground with a hard chop.

‘Wait,’ Tenshinhan thought as he reflected on that hesitation, ‘I know what this is…’ He turned his gaze towards Shen and the still-damp Chaozu in the audience. Master Shen was rubbing his hands together with a wicked smile on his face. How could they ?! ‘Chaozu!’ Ten demanded. ‘Stop this!’ Chaozu slowly turned towards Master Shen.

‘M-master,’ Chaozu thought, ‘What should I–’

‘What are you simpering fools waiting for?!’ Shen demanded as Goku got to her feet and into her guard. ‘Now, Chaozu!’ Chaozu reluctantly stuck out his hand and the crowd watched in terrified confusion as Goku seemed to fight her own body’s movements. Her arms were outstretched and her feet were firmly planted to the ground. A perfect target.

“What the hell is going on here?!” Launch demanded furiously.

“Snap out of it, Goku!” Yamcha called out. He just knew it had to be some kind of Crane trick! Roshi frowned. He knew exactly what was happening.

‘Master,’ Tenshinhan begged, ‘Stop this! I don’t want to win this way!’

‘This isn’t about winning!’ Shen scolded. ‘This is about revenge! Kill her! Kill her now! Drive your fist through her chest and crush her heart in your hand!’ Tenshinhan’s face was screwed up in agony while the sky rumbled and flashed as he slowly balled his hand up into a fist and pulled it back… then dropped it.

“I can’t!” He confessed aloud. Everyone stared as the mental conversation turned verbal. “I can’t do it! I don’t want to do it! If I kill her, I’ll be disqualified! I want to win this on my own. And I…” Ten swallowed as he came to the sudden realization. “I don’t want to be an assassin. I don’t want to kill.” Shen was turning purple with rage.

“How dare you?!” Shen bellowed. “You are a killer! You are an instrument of death! It is what I made you for! It is what you were trained to be from the moment you could walk! Now kill her! Kill her now! Do it!” Ten glowered at his master and deliberately put himself between Goku and Master Shen and Chaozu, protecting his enemy from the only family he’d ever had. Shen shrieked with rage and pulled at his hair wings. “Chaozu!” he demanded. “Kill her! Crush the air out of her lungs until her eyes burst!” To Tenshinhan’s surprise… Chaozu shook his head.

“I’m sorry, Master. Tenshinhan is my friend!” Chaozu spoke in a tremulous voice that was still clearly defiant. “If he wants to win on his own, I have to respect it!” Chaozu dropped his hand and Goku gasped as she was able to move again. She didn’t know what was going on… but she was starting to like Tenshinhan.

“Fine!” Shen snapped as he threw out his arm and his fingertip began to glow. “I’ll do it myself!” Ten didn’t move. Instead he crossed his arms over his chest and glowered with all three eyes. “What,” Shen sneered “Is that supposed to stop me? That I’m supposed to care? I’ll kill you both!” The crowd dove out of the way as Shen’s fingertip grew brighter “Dodon–”

“Kamehameha!” The blue beam of light flew from the fighter’s area and struck Shen to send him flying into the sky and punched a hole through the clouds. Roshi grinned as he watched Shen fly away. “Superior killing technique my ass. Waited over two hundred years for that,” he muttered with satisfaction before turning back to Goku and Ten. “You two go back to what you were doin’.” Ten turned back to face Goku as she hopped away to create space between them. They stared at each other for a moment before the sky suddenly opened up. A torrential rain came down on the stadium and everyone pulled out their umbrellas as thunder crashed and bolts of lightning streaked down from the sky.

“All I have left is this victory,” Ten told Goku over the pouring rain as they circled each other again. “I cannot afford to lose. Even though I won’t kill you anymore, Son Goku, I will do whatever it takes to win.” Chaozu swallowed when he heard that. Did Ten mean he was going to use the Kikouhou? Goku grinned as she charged at Ten… and then slipped in the rain and fell on her face. Tenshinhan was so startled that he slipped right in the middle of his own charge and fell down as well. Everyone in the arena face-faulted as one at the sight of something so ridiculous.

Goku and Ten took off their boots as everyone got back up before sprinting at each other again and clashing in the rain. Now, though, it had become less of a fight and almost… a dance. Goku’s movements were swift and graceful, as if she had committed the Odori style to memory after the weeks she spent with Suno, while Tenshinhan’s Crane Style seemed so light and free now, as if a great weight had been sloughed away. The two moved as smoothly and fluidly as the water that came down around them.

Tenshinhan caught Goku in the side with a kick and she slid across the water on all fours before using her ki to anchor herself as Tenshinhan came towards her. She threw out her hands as he got close and struck him in the chest with a double palm strike that made Yamcha cheer from the sidelines. Tenshinhan slammed into the wall with a groan and watched as Goku came charging towards him like a bullet. He dodged at the last second and she crashed with both feet into the wall and nearly would have ringed herself out it if she hadn’t stabbed her tail into the ring to anchor herself. Ten let out a frustrated huff of air through his nose as Goku got back into her guard. This was no good. They were too evenly matched! They were going to start wearing down soon and if she had more energy left in her than he had, he’d be sunk. It was time to get drastic.

“Goku!” he called out. “Let’s see how you like this! Shiyouken!” Every muscle in Tenshinhan’s body tensed up as he hunched forward and his veins pressed against his skin. He clenched his teeth to keep from screaming as unsightly mounds began to bubble and grow just above his shoulderblades. Finally, he couldn’t hold in the scream anymore and cried out in pain as the mounds burst and stretched into fully-formed arms.

“I…” Ken stared. “I have nothing to say.” Suno began to turn green.

“That,” Bulma muttered, “Is so messed up.” Being Bulma, however, the very next words out of her mouth were “I have to run tests on him!” The third eye, the flying, the arms! This guy was a treasure trove of scientific anomalies waiting to be examined. Tenshinhan smirked and cracked all of his knuckles before splaying his fingers.

“I can do that too!” Goku told him cheerfully. Ten stared at Goku in disbelief as she held out her arms. She couldn’t. Could she? “Juunishuken!” In seconds, her arms were moving fast enough to look like she had not just eight but twelve arms. Now she wasn’t just copying techniques she saw, she was improving them! Still, Tenshinan just laughed with some small amount of relief.

“I’m sorry, Goku,” he said as he got into a low stance, “But it’s not quite the same!” He charged at Goku and battered her with his four fists, always having two free no matter how quickly she blocked. He even indulged himself in a bit of a battle cry as he unleashed his rapid fire fisticuffs. “Ora ora ora ora ora ora ora ora!” That made Launch chuckle. Finally, Ten grabbed Goku by her arms and legs and pulled her up into the air. “Give up!” He told her as he pulled on her limbs. “I’ll pull them out of their sockets! Give up now!” He pulled harder and Goku screamed in pain.

“Never!” she cried defiantly even as Ten pulled harder. Goku lashed out with her tail, the only thing she had left, whipping Tenshinhan in the face over and over. Despite this, his grip didn’t let up, so Goku was forced to do something she didn’t really want to and wrapped her tail around Ten’s neck and squeeze. Ten squirmed and fought and tensed the muscles in his neck to try and loosen her tail from around his throat. Slowly, however, Ten’s knees began to buckle until he finally began to fall to his knees. Even so, his iron grip remained until Goku had brought him fully to the ground and his vision began to swim with his extra arms sinking back into his back. Goku released her tail from around his neck once she was free and Ken began the count. Ten got up at eight and shook his head to clear it. That was too close.

“This ends now,” he growled resolutely before he flew up into the sky with such force that he cracked the ring and sent up a spray of water. Goku jumped up after him, sending another huge crack through the heavily abused ring and another spray of water into the crowd. Tenshinhan flew up into the clouds and looked down to see Goku rocketing up to meet him. Some part of him knew he shouldn’t have been surprised. He met her punch with a punch of his own and the pair dueled high in the sky, among the crashing of thunder and the howling winds, flashes of lightning illuminating their duel.

“Incredible!” Ken narrated from the ground below with a pair of binoculars. “I have never seen anything like this in my entire life! It certainly brings a new meaning to the term ‘Mile High Club’!” Suno squinted up at the sky and watched as silhouettes were framed against the clouds like giants with every flash of lightning. It was so hard to see what was going on! There was a flash of lightning and a sudden cry of pain before a tiny, smoking body plummeted towards the ground like a rock and smashed painfully into the ring. Tenshinhan took a moment to wipe the sweat from his brow and flew up above the stormclouds. If that bolt of lightning hadn’t given him the opening he’d needed to knock Goku down, he might have been in trouble.

“Goku!” he called down from the heavens while using ki to amplify his voice, “If you don’t dodge this attack, you will die!” Ten brought his hands together and pressed his fingertips to each other as Chaozu’s white face grew even paler.

“Tenshinhan!” he called out in a panic. “Don’t do it, please!” Roshi pulled off his sunglasses with a trembling hand as his eyes grew wide.

“He wouldn’t… not the Kikouhou!” he whispered. Why would Ten even think of using such a move? Was the Tenkaichi Budoukai worth years of his life?! “Goku!” he called as the girl picked herself up. “You’ve got to move! Now!” Goku looked around quickly.

“Where?” she asked. “Where should I go?!” She couldn’t leave the ring! She’d lose! Roshi stroked his beard and thought. The average Kikouhou was about the size of a small car, so Goku would have to–

“My target,” Tenshinhan bellowed out in a strained voice as he gathered energy, “Is the ring!” They all stared up with mouths agape as the clouds began to glow orange as if an angry God was speaking to them. “Move or die, Goku! Those are the only options! Move or die…” High above in the sky, Tenshinhan gathered the last of his energy and held it inside him for just a moment, holding it until the pain was unbearable. “Now! Kikooooouhooou!” A massive orange square ripped through the stormclouds and flew down towards the ring before everything was enveloped n a blinding flash of light and heat.

“Jeez,” Yamcha muttered while he rubbed his eyes as the light died down, “I’m gonna need to start wearing glasses after thi–” he opened his eyes and saw “Hi… hi... hi…”

The ring… was gone. It was just gone. There was a giant square chasm where the ring used to be that went down for a good five hundred feet.

“That comes out of my salary…” Ken whined to himself with his arms hanging limply at his sides.

“Amazing,” Roshi muttered as he looked down at the ring before he cast his eyes towards the clear blue sky. “Simply amazing.” He had never seen a Kikouhou like that before in his life.

“Screw that!” Launch blurted out with her fists balled in rage. “That bastard killed Goku! She’s as gone as the ring!” Roshi chuckled as he put his sunglasses back on.

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he assured her.

OoOoOoO

Tenshinhan was gasping for breath as sweat replaced the rain that had flash-misted off of his body from the heat of the Kikouhou. If he was honest with himself, he was amazed he still had the energy to keep himself in the air. He didn’t think it was possible to be so tired or sore. Every muscle in his body was screaming for rest and he felt like his skin was on fire. All the same, he couldn’t let his guard down. He could still sense Goku.

“Now,” he muttered, “Where are…” he turned his gaze upward to see Goku plummeting down towards him and laughed. “I’m surprised to see you could jump so high!” he called up to her. “This was an excellent battle!”

“It’s not over yet!” Goku said defiantly as she got closer. Ten only smiled and shook his head.

“I’m sorry,” he told her, “But the ring is destroyed and so is the ground beneath it! The second you land, you lose! I’ve got enough energy to keep myself in the air. You can’t win!” Goku glared at him.

“Don’t tell me…” she brought her hands down to her side, “What I can’t do! Kaaameeehaaameee…” Ten smirked.

“You can’t be serious. Even as weak as I am now, I can deflect your Kamehameha. All you’ll do is use up the last of your–” Goku suddenly spun around so that her back was to him.

“Haaa!” She cried out and the blue-white beam shot from her hands to send her into Ten’s stomach like a rocket. He wheezed out the last of his energy in pain and the pair of them plummeted towards the earth.

OoOoOoO

“Ha!” Launch laughed as she pumped a fist in the air. “I saw that beam! Get him, Goku!”

“Astounding!” Ken shouted as he looked through his binoculars and was running short on superlatives. “Both fighters are dropping out of the sky towards the city! It will simply be a matter of gravity now!” Ken fished in the inside pockets of his suit and pulled out a capsule. He threw it on the ground and it exploded open to reveal a red hoverboard which he took off on to follow the action with a camera drone hot on his heels.

“Nimbus!” Suno called out and the magic cloud zoomed down towards her as Roshi unfurled his magic carpet and Bulma put on her sonic discs while Chaozu floated up into the air. Launch and Yamcha hopped onto the carpet with Roshi and they all flew off with Puar hanging onto the carpet for dear life.

“Both fighters are falling towards the street!” Ken narrated as Goku and Ten came closer and closer towards the ground. “However, it looks like Tenshinhan is falling just a little faster than Goku!” From his hospital bed, a barely-conscious Krillin smiled. Suddenly his door opened and he strained to sit up. The nurse was just in here a second ago…

OoOoOoO

Goku and Tenshinhan were falling so fast that the air whistled around them. It looked like Goku just might win… when she smashed into the side of a tractor trailer as it made a sharp turn through the intersection they were falling towards. Ten hit the ground half a second later and barrelled through the asphalt.

“Goku was out of bounds first!” Ken declared as he zoomed onto the scene. “Tenshinhan is the winner of the Twenty-second Tenkaichi Budoukai!” The driver looked out of the window and stared in slack-jawed disbelief. He’d been listening to the tournament on the radio for the last few hours! Goku’s friends rushed to her and pulled her out of the dent she’d made in trailer as Chaozu flew to Ten and tried to pull his friend up.

“Are you okay, Goku?” Bulma asked as Suno and Yamcha helped Goku onto shaky legs. Goku made a groan of assurance and Roshi tousled her hair.

“You won, Ten!” Chaozu told his friend ecstatically. Ten groaned as he sat up. He certainly didn’t feel like a winner. He’d won by luck. He forgot that as the crowd finally caught up with the rest of them and a large mob of the audience swarmed Ten and lifted them onto their shoulders as they cheered his name and another mob did the same for Goku. Well, now he felt like a little more of a winner.

OoOoOoO

Once they were all carried back to the stadium, the fighters changed out of their gi with Goku putting on Krillin’s suit to replace her ragged and burned gi.

“Please,” Ten insisted, “Let me split the prize money with you. If you hadn’t hit that truck, I would have lost. It really could have gone either way.” Goku shook her head firmly.

“Nah,” she insisted right back, “You won, it’s only fair. Besides, I wouldn’t know what to do with it!” Yamcha’s stomach gurgled.

“I dunno about you guys but I could use some food,” he grinned as Bulma and Launch playfully elbowed him from each side and glared at each other when they realized what the other had done.

“I’ll pay for dinner,” Ten said resolutely, “And I won’t take no for an answer!” Roshi chuckled.

“Ohh, you’ll regret that,” Roshi told him with a playful wink. “Believe me.” Everyone laughed… except for Goku. She clenched the Power Pole in her fist as the other hand balled up tight.

“I’m not hungry!” she said loudly and everyone’s laughter died in their throats. “Something’s wrong with Krillin!”

“Goku?” Suno asked softly before Goku sprinted away. She had no idea how Goku could still move so fast! “We better follow her.” Everyone nodded and they chased Goku to the hospital.

OoOoOoO

Goku smashed down the door to Krillin’s room… and there was Krillin, lying on the floor with his neck twisted at an unnatural angle. His eyes were vacant and a thin stream of blood ran down his mouth to the floor.

“Krillin?” she asked in a small voice as she got closer to her friend’s body. He wasn’t breathing. She collapsed to her knees beside him and reached out to hold him. “No…” she whispered as she pulled Krilin to her chest. She couldn’t feel his heartbeat. When she realized that, she couldn’t hold back her sobs any longer. They ripped out of her so painfully that it felt like her heart was coming out with each ragged gasp.

The others arrived moments later and were horrorstruck. Launch covered her mouth with her hands and shook her head desperately as tears ran down her cheeks. Yamcha put an arm around Bulma as she buried her face in his chest and tried to fight back his own tears. It was a battle he lost. Suno felt the kind of numb pain that only came to those who had seen too many friends die. Puar wailed helplessly and Tenshinhan was hit by a wave of guilt. If he hadn’t broken Krillin’s leg… Roshi’s hands were trembling with a mixture of fear and sadness and rage.

“Who did this?” he demanded in a hoarse whisper. Who had murdered his boy?

“ I-i-it was a monster,” the nurse stammered and he pointed into the room. “Green a-a-and he had wings! He-he-he took the ball on his nightstand. The kid tried to stop him and…” Goku’s head snapped up at that. The Dragon Ball. Someone had killed Krillin over her Dragon Ball. It was her fault. Someone had murdered her best friend and it was all her fault. Her grief and guilt mixed into her stomach like a horrible lead weight… before something burned it away. She looked up at the open window and glared. Goku sobbed out growls of rage as a single strand of lightning danced through her hair. Someone had killed Krillin. She had someone to hit. Someone who she could make pay.

“Bulma!” she snapped as she stood up. “Dragon Radar!” Bulma pulled herself away from Yamcha and wiped her eyes. She started to say something but Goku cut her off. “Now!” she demanded with tears still running down her cheeks. Bulma nodded hastily and handed her the radar. None of them had ever seen Goku so angry before. “Nimbuuuuuus!” Goku roared in fury. The cloud flew out to the window and Goku jumped out onto it and Nimbus rocketed away as if it could sense its master’s rage.

“Goku, wait!” Suno called out… but she was already long gone. “We have to go after her! She’s in no shape to fight! I’m the only one who didn’t fight today, I’ll try and catch up to her!” Suno hopped out the window and threw out the Capsule with the hover car her mom had given her for her birthday. She managed to get into the car and turn on the engine before it hit the ground and immediately began to chase after Goku. Everyone else started to run out of the hospital and nearly crashed into Ken.

“Ken,” Yamcha asked as he helped the announcer up, “What the heck are you doing here?”

“Someone stole the roster from this year’s Budoukai!” he explained frantically as he waved around a piece of paper. “They left this behind!” Roshi took the paper from Ken’s hand… and felt his blood freeze in his veins.

“No…” he whispered as the paper slipped from his numb fingers. “No, no, no.” He had prayed this day would never come. Was so certain that it couldn’t possibly happen.

Son Gohan had always told him about Goku in the letters they exchanged over the years. How strong she was and how proud he was of her. Roshi had become proud of her as well, of her skills and her power but also of her good nature. Even though she had only lived with him for a year, Roshi knew that he could not have loved that girl more if she were his own daughter. But she was weary and beaten and tired beyond all possibility. As Roshi stared down at the seal of the Great Demon King Piccolo, he knew that he would never see Son Goku alive again.

Chapter Text

Two hundred seventy-five years ago...

No one knew where Piccolo Daimaou came from or how he came to power. He came upon the world as swift and as sudden as a wildfire with his hordes of demonic henchmen. All the armies of the world and their mightiest weapons were as nothing to Piccolo’s power. As Piccolo Daimaou prepared to lay waste to the world, however, there was one man who chose to stand when others had fallen. At the twilight of the human race, one man chose not to go quietly into the night. Mutaito, the greatest martial artist on the planet, gathered together five hundred of his fellow martial arts masters for one final stand against the Demon King.

It was a massacre. The masters might have been able to cut into his demonic army but they could not stand against Daimaou himself. Hundreds of styles and philosophies, thousands of techniques, forever lost to time. In the end, Mutaito stood alone against the darkness. However, he would not be alone for long.

OoOoOoO

Muten Roshi tore through the night sky on his Nimbus Cloud toward the mist-covered peak of the Yariyama. The mountain was tall and jagged and practically impassible without the Nimbus Cloud. He normally wouldn’t even bother coming here but times were desperate. The human race was more important than his petty grudges.

He landed the cloud on a small platform near the mouth of a cave within the mountain and hopped down to the ground. Despite the circumstances, he was still hesitant to call out. Finally he sucked up his courage and cupped his hands around his mouth.

“Sheeeeeen!” he cried out. For an agonizing moment, there was nothing but the sound of the wind whipping through his shaggy brown hair. Would Shen really refuse him? Now of all times?! Eventually, though, he finally heard the sounds of footsteps and let out a sigh of relief. Shen walked out of the mouth of the cave with one hand held out with a ki ball against his palm. For a moment, Muten thought Shen was going to attack him before he realized that Shen was only using the ball to light his way. Muten looked down and, to his surprise, found a toddler clinging to Shen’s leg, peeking out from behind to look suspiciously up at Muten.

“What do you want?” Shen demanded as he crossed his arms over his chest and the ki ball faded away. Where Muten’s purple gi was torn and tattered from fighting the demon armies, Shen’s was pristine. Muten could guess where he had been during the fighting.

“What do I want?” Muten asked incredulously. “Shen, do you know what’s going on right now? It’s hell! It’s literally Hell on Earth right now! Master Mutaito has been trying to battle Piccolo Daimaou but he’s losing! Humanity is losing. He needs us, Shen! He needs us!” Shen’s eyes slowly narrowed as the wind buffeted his hair-wings.

“Go inside, Tao,” Shen said softly to the toddler and shook his leg to make the child scamper off before returning his attention to Muten. “What,” he asked, “You want me to fight with you? To put everything aside and pretend we’re children again? You must be insane.” He scoffed derisively and Muten ground his teeth in frustration. He could be so damned arrogant!

“Open your eyes!” Muten demanded as he stomped the ground hard enough to crack the stone. “Piccolo Daimaou is going to wipe out every living thing on Earth! We need to work together! We have to fight together, Shen, please! Is pride worth so much that you would throw away the world?!” Muten glared at Shen as his words echoed off the mountain. For a long time, neither one said anything and Muten started to turn away to leave, knowing he would be going to his death.

“I don’t suppose,” Shen said suddenly, “You brought that magic carpet with you?” Muten turned back to look at Shen with one eyebrow raised.

“No,” he said while not daring to hope. “Why?” Shen rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Because I’m certainly not getting down the mountain with that cloud’s ridiculous understandings of morality,” he explained. Muten couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he held up his arm with his hand open.

“You mean it?” he asked eagerly. Shen nodded and wrapped his arm around Muten’s and clasped his hand.

“Yes, Muten. For one more day, we are brothers,” Shen smiled and looked just a little bit like his old self. “And the history books shall say that at the edge of the world, Crane and Turtle stood together to drive back the night.” He pulled his hand away from Muten’s and turned his head to the sky. “To me,” he called out, “Fuunsaiki!”

OoOoOoO

‘Hmm,’ Mutaito thought begrudgingly as he wiped blood from his eye that had trickled down from a cut in his scalp. ‘This could be a problem.’ Before him stood a veritable army of Piccolo Daimaou’s hellspawn. Hundreds of them, maybe thousands, all barrelling towards him. He dug his feet into the ground before breaking into a sprint as his hands glowed with yellow ki. He leaped into the air and thrust out his hands as he sailed over the sea of demons. “Riitetsujuu!” he called out as hundreds of bright yellow bullets flew from his hands and blasted apart swathes of the horde. He landed in a pocket one of his blasts had created and thrust his hands out with fingers outstretched and palms down. “Ryoukuken!” He spun on his feet as long hand-with blades of ki shot out of his fingertips and sliced through the demons like a saw.

Even as he fought, Mutaito could tell he was wasting his energy. For looming above him in the distance, standing atop a mountain of corpses of demons and martial artists alike with the full moon at his back was the Demon King. He could feel the hateful, mocking gaze from across the battlefield. Even if Mutaito destroyed Piccolo’s entire army, which would not be impossible, merely difficult, he would be completely drained of energy and have no strength left with which to fight. However, he needed to cut through the demons to have any hope of getting to their master. Even as he pressed on, even though he refused to go quietly into the night, Mutaito began to feel the edges of despair on his spirit. This battle looked hopeless. Then, Mutaito heard a pair of voices call out that he had never expected to hear together again.

“Master Mutaito!” called down the voices of Shen and Muten. Mutaito looked up towards the sky to see Muten riding his Nimbus cloud and Shen riding atop Fuunsaiki, his pegasus that seemed to be made of mist and stars. It dissolved as Muten and Shen dropped down to meet him with Nimbus soaring back up into the sky.

“We’ll hold them off!” Muten assured him as he and Shen stood side by side. Shen nodded and got into his guard.

“You go after Piccolo Daimaou! Show this monster the power of the Teneraigen school!” Mutaito nodded at his students and felt overwhelming pride that the pair had come together as he jumped over the demons and began flying towards Piccolo.

“So,” Muten said as he cracked his neck and knuckles before getting into his guard, “I’ll take the thousand on the left, you take the thousand on the right? First one to clean up their side wins and the loser buys lunch.”

“Oh come now, Muten,” Shen admonished his rival, “Let’s be serious.” Then he smirked. “Give me fifteen hundred. You need the handicap.” Muten laughed as he and Shen gave a battle cry and charged to meet the demons. Just like old times.

They struck with blinding speed and fury, each blast and wave of ki energy carrying tremendous force as they tore into the demons. Shen sprinted through the army of demons with arms outstretched as his Ryoukuken cut through them like a knife. Muten jumped into the air and raised his hands high overhead to charge a massive Riitetsujuu in his hands and flung it down to blast a hole in the army 100 metres wide. When it came to technique, they were not yet the masters they would become but this was the height of their power. Together, they were all but invincible.

“Shen!” Muten called as they made their way back towards each other. “Back to back!” They jumped towards each other and stood back to back as they battered away Piccolo’s army with lethal force, sending the demons flying as they came charging upon the students.

“Now!” Shen cried as he threw up his arms. Muten raised his arms as well and they locked their arms at the elbows.

“Bakuhatsu Dome!” they cried in unison as a bright orange ball of ki formed around them and blasted through the armies of hell in a massive explosion.

“Well,” Muten said as body parts rained around them, “Think I’m winnin’.” Shen chuckled and shook his head.

OoOoOoO

Mutaito flew towards Piccolo Daimaou and watched as the Demon King leaped into the sky to meet him head-on. The two collided in the air and Piccolo brought Mutaito hard down to the ground, overpowering him with his superior bulk. Piccolo was a colossus when measured against any regular person and Mutaito had always been shorter than average and more stockily built making the difference in size between them even more pronounced.

“I will commend you,” Piccolo said with a chuckle as Mutaito got to his feet. “Of all the creatures of the Earth, you have shown the most spirit in defying me. When I am king of this world, I shall hold you in my memory, adversary.” Mutaito spat and scowled at Piccolo as he got into his guard.

“Spare me your false pleasantries, monster!” he declared before he charged at Piccolo. “I will drive your evil from this world if it takes my last breath!” He leaped into the air and slammed his shoulder into Piccolo’s gut to make him stagger back. Piccolo responded with a forearm to the face, smashing the strange pink patch against Mutaito’s nose. He skidded back before leaping up again and smashing his fists onto the sides of Piccolo’s head. That seemed to disorient him and Mutaito followed up on his vulnerability with an axehandle blow right on the crown of his head. He gripped Piccolo by the arm and flipped him bodily overhead to slam him hard down into the dirt. Piccolo growled and sprang to his feet before throwing out his hand. His arm elongated suddenly and his hand gripped around Mutaito’s throat to pull his chest into Piccolo’s knee. Mutaito staggered back and barely managed to avoid two thin read beams of death that shot from Piccolo’s eyes before rushing forward and smashing a kick into the Demon King’s knee and driving his elbow up under Piccolo’s chin. He staggered away and brought his fingertips to his lips, his claws coming away with… purple blood.

“I will scar your soul!” Piccolo roared in rage. “Even in the afterlife, you will remember the torment of Piccolo Daimaou!” He opened his hands and let out a burst of ki blasts that Mutaito countered with his own flurry of Riitetsujuu and the balls collided in the air in an explosion like a dozen tiny supernovas. Piccolo came charging through the smoke and light to swipe at Mutaito with his claws, tearing through the white shirt of his gi and biting into his flesh. The blow sent Mutaito flying back to where Piccolo was already waiting for him. The Demon King threw out a kick that struck Mutaito in the back and he collapsed painfully to the ground. “Give up,” Piccolo demanded. “Kneel before me and I will make the last moments of your life painless.” Still, Mutaito rose and brought up his fists. Piccolo cracked his knuckles and flexed his fingers. “Very well.” They charged one another again in an exchange of punches and kings that shook the ground beneath their feet.

OoOoOoO

Muten looked up from his and Shen’s battle with Piccolo’s armies to see that Master Mutaito was fighting Piccolo Daimaou… and losing.

“Master!” he called out in a panic. Master Mutaito couldn’t die! Not while he had anything to say about it. With a sudden roar, his body flooded with power and he grew taller as his muscles exploded in size. He’d been saving this MAX POWER technique to try against Shen but time was clearly of the essence here. He leaped over the demons with Shen following close behind. Piccolo looked up just in time to see Muten barrel into him with the force of a runaway train as Shen helped their master to his feet. Piccolo got up just as Muten charged him again and met the charge with a punch… and gave ground! Muten flattened the Demon King with a barrage of punches and kicks that left him stunned.

‘Is that really Muten?!’ Shen thought in disbelief as he watched his former rival, his lackadaisical, immature rival batter the Demon King. ‘But when? How? Where did he get this power?!’

“One more shot and you’re finished!” Muten roared as he slammed his massive hands together and brought them to his side. He’d been practicing this one for a few years and was hoping to use it against Shen, too. “Kaaaameeeehaaaameeee…” And as suddenly as the power had come… it was gone. Muten’s muscle shrank back down to their normal size and he suddenly found himself looking up at a very angry Demon King. Piccolo’s hand was out in a flash and squeezed around Muten’s throat. His yellow eyes were wide with rage as his grip tightened even as Muten fought desperately to pull the fingers away from his throat and the claws that bit into his neck.

“Dodonpa!” Shen called as a wide yellow beam caught Piccolo in the shoulder and caused his grip to loosen. Shen cursed himself even as he leaped at Piccolo with a flying kick. It was supposed to be a thin, puncturing beam! He’d have to practice more to get it right. As his foot drove into Piccolo’s shoulder to free Muten from his grasp, Shen reminded himself that first there would have to be time to practice. He and Muten leaped at Piccolo together with uppercuts but Piccolo grabbed their wrists and slammed them into each other before smashing them into the ground and casting them dismissively aside like garbage. They rose again and charged again only to be swatted aside easily once more. Mutaito watched in horror as his students fought valiantly… and hopelessly.

‘They will die,’ Mutaito thought. ‘They will die in this battle if I do nothing. They will die… for me.’ He scowled at himself and cursed his cowardice for not using his final technique sooner. ‘They are young! They should not throw their lives away. My life is no precious thing to me.’ Mutaito could feel his broken bones and the fluid starting to fill one of his lungs. He didn’t have much time, anyhow. “Piccolo!” he called out as he reached behind him. “Over here!” He threw a satchel on the ground and opened it to reveal… a rice cooker with a seal slapped onto its side. “It is time to end this! Your reign shall end before it begins!” Piccolo dropped Shen and Roshi’s bodies and laughed.

“You barely have the energy to stand, adversary,” he mocked. “How do you intend to defeat me?” Mutaito made several intricate motions with his hands before he locked them together with his two fingers upraised. He channeled all the ki in his body, every last drop of his life energy, even as his body screamed in protest and tried to cling to life.  

“Mafuuba!” he roared as a massive blast of green ki shot from his body and struck the arrogant Piccolo Daimaou head on. His arrogance turned to horror as his body spasmed in pain and he was trapped in a bright green vortex. He howled in despair and struggled against the current as Mutaito waved his arms and directed Piccolo into the open rice cooker. Piccolo’s last shrieks of dismay were carried upon the wind as the lid snapped shut. Cut off from their master, the demons froze and blew away like ash. Mutaito looked over at Shen and Muten to see them helping one another up and smiled before he collapsed. He died before he hit the ground.

“Master!” Shen and Muten called out in despair. They ran to him and Muten collapsed to his knees beside Mutaito’s body and cradled his head in his hands.

“Master…” Muten whispered as he choked back tears. “Master! Please! Don’t die, Master! You can’t die!” His words received no answer. Mutaito was far beyond where words could reach him now. To train with the greatest masters of all, a student once more. There was a long and solemn silence as both stood over their fallen master.

“This is your fault,” Shen finally said. Muten blinked away tears and stared at Shen in disbelief. How could he say something like that?! Shen turned on him with hatred in his eyes and jabbed his finger into Muten’s chest. “Master Mutaito died the moment he decided you were right. From the very instant that he chose you over me! If he had listened to me, his students would have been ruthless! They would have been better and stronger, he would have had an army to challenge the Demon King with! He would have had the willingness to kill and struck the Demon King down easily!” Muten’s fists balled in anger as Shen continued. “If you had listened to me, you would have had the killing intent! You could have killed Piccolo when you had the advantage but you wasted your opportunity! This is your fault, Muten! It’s all your–”

“Shut up!” Muten screamed and punched Shen hard across the jaw to send him sprawling into the dirt. Shen scowled at Muten and Muten returned the hateful glare. Shen picked himself up and dusted himself off.

“Know this,” he told Muten, “From this moment forth, you are my enemy. With every breath, I curse your name. We are no longer and will never again be brothers. Until I have breathed my last, I will hate you, Muten Roshi. Never seek me out again or I will not hesitate to kill you.” Then he turned his head to the sky. “Fuunsaiki!” he called out. The Pegasus swirled back into existence and he rode it away into the night sky leaving Muten alone to take Master Mutaito back to the temple and bury him.

OoOoOoO

Roshi rubbed the sleeve of his jacket across his eyes and sighed as he finished recounting his tale. Even after these centuries, the pain of loss was still raw in his memory.

“I have never,” he told them, “Encountered a power like Piccolo Daimaou. He cannot be defeated with strength or skill. If he has somehow found a way to escape the Mafuuba then there is no way to defeat him. Not even Goku can match his strength.” There was a solemn silence as everyone bowed their heads morosely and contemplated Roshi’ forlorn words.

“Hey,” Yamcha said as he held up a fist, “Hold on a second, guys! We can’t give up yet! I know one way we can stop Piccolo!” They all looked at him expectantly and he grinned. “The Dragon Balls! We know Piccolo’s trying to gather them for something, right?”

“Whatever it is,” Bulma said, “It can’t be good. Probably to make himself immortal or something.” Yamcha nodded.

“Right. So we have to get the rest of them first to stop him! Plus, if we can get his Dragon Balls, we can summon Shenron!” Launch grinned and pounded a fist eagerly into her open palm.

“Then we can use him to wish that stupid bastard dead!” She had to admit, it was a pretty good plan. Yamcha grinned and gave a thumbs-up.

“Exactly.” He turned to Bulma and asked, “I don’t suppose you’ve started building another Dragon Radar, have you?” Bulma shook her head before she broke out in a grin.

“Y’know what, though? I can build one in a couple hours!” she said cheerfully. “We can go back to the Kame House and regroup while I build it and wait for Goku.”  

“I would like to help in any way I can,” Tenshinhan offered and Chaozu nodded his agreement. “It is the least I can do.” He felt incredibly guilty for the part he played in Krillin’s death. Perhaps defeating his murderer’s master would help atone for it.

“Let’s do it!” Puar declared triumphantly and even shapeshifted into a bugle to blare out a battle tune. Roshi chuckled and shook his head, smiling underneath his beard. He realized that he shouldn’t have been surprised. Youth, he remembered, had a funny way of finding hope where the old only saw despair.

Chapter Text

Goku tore through the air on her Nimbus, her eyes flickering back and forth between the Dragon Radar and what was ahead of her. There were two Dragon Balls pretty close together but only one was moving so she figured that had to be the one with the monster that killed Krillin. As she looked up from the Dragon Radar, Goku saw a quickly-growing green shape in the sky. She got close enough to see that the green thing was shaped like a man but had wings like a dragon… and a Dragon Ball in one hand. It couldn’t be anyone but the monster that killed Krillin!

“Give me back my Dragon Ball!” Goku demanded as she got closer. “Give me back my Ball and give me back Krillin’s life!” The monster turned in midair to look at Goku with an expression of amused confusion which only made her angrier.

“Krillin?” the monster asked. “You mean the brat who tried to stop me from taking this?” He held the ball between his claws and turned it over in his hand. “He was pitiful. Pitiful and stupid, to think he could stop me.” Goku roared in anger and Nimbus rocketed towards the monster as Goku tried punching at him. The monster easily moved out of the way and struck Goku with a kick to knock her off of the cloud. Nimbus quickly moved to catch Goku and the monster gave the cloud a curious look. Goku snarled and brought her hands down to her side… and felt nothing. She was completely out of energy!

“I-if I was at full power…” Goku growled in frustration. If she didn’t have any energy then how could she fight? She had to think of something, though. Before Goku could come up with a plan, the monster spoke again.

“What you’re full of,” he told her, “Is stupidity. Like your stupid, dead, little friend. Now die!” The monster opened his mouth impossibly wide as a yellow light shone from inside his body. A beam of deadly light lanced out of his mouth and blasted Nimbus, vaporizing the cloud under Goku’s feet.

“Nimbus!” Goku cried out in despair, more concerned with her cloud than herself. She looked back at the monster and his foot crashed into her face to make everything go black. The monster shook his head with a chuckle as he watched her drop, down and down and down. Too easy.

OoOoOoO

Suno bit back a curse as she felt Goku’s ki drop. She wasn’t dead, of that much she was certain, but it was clear that she had lost to that other mass of evil ki. That wasn’t too surprising, all things considered, but what was surprising was that it seemed like Goku had fallen to the ground. As she learned the hard way when Master Korin accidentally launched her off his tower, the Nimbus usually moves to catch its rider automatically unless they will it not to. That could mean one of two things and neither one was good.

By the time Suno managed to reach Goku, the sun was already starting to set. Between the slowness of her car and having to go on foot due to the jungle, the journey had taken far longer than anticipated. All the while, she latched onto the sensation of Goku’s ki, at low as it was, to guide her and calm her nerves. When Goku had left, she had been terrified that her precious friend would die in her attempt to claim vengeance in much the same way her dad had. Goku was insanely strong, of that there was no doubt, but even Goku had her limits and coming off of the Budoukai like that to fight a fresh opponent would certainly make the girl reach them. As such, when it was clear to Suno that Goku hadn’t sustained any life threatening injuries, all she could do was cradle her unconscious friend’s body and sigh with relief.

Of course, Goku’s current condition raised a number of questions but those could and would be dealt with later. Since she couldn’t be woken, Suno’s first priority was to get them out of the forest and someplace considerably safer. Someplace where she could hopefully find medicine or a doctor or even a good bowl of soup. With that in mind, Suno cast out her conscious and pushed her sixth sense as far as it could go. If she could find some people then she would be in a much better position even if they were bandits. As luck would have it, she could sense around thirty or so people off to the northwest. They were a ways away but that shouldn’t be too much of a problem once they got out of the jungle.

As Suno hefted the unconscious Goku onto her back and started walking, she was thankful that she had quit her training with Master Korin early to get her driver’s license.

OoOoOoO

Piccolo Daimaou sat in his massive throne on the airship of the strange little blue creature known as Pilaf with his son Piano at his side and stared at his hands. They were… ancient and withered and pale. He scowled at his hands. Where had his youth gone? Before he had been imprisoned, he had been young and powerful, without equal. He had spent an eternity screaming in the dark and when he was free he was so old and too weak to even kill those three simpletons. He had recovered some of his strength since he had been freed but he was still far away from his full power. He’d had no idea how he might take his revenge on mankind when he’d been freed. There had been magicks that would restore his youth or grant him eternal life but he had no way of knowing if they still existed in these what he had discovered was three hundred years. Then Pilaf had said something that had saved his worthless life.

“Th-the Dragon Balls!” the worthless coward had stammered out. Piccolo remembered staring far down at them and felt a small measure of pleasure in the unmitigated terror that flooded their bodies underneath his gaze.

“What are these Dragon Balls?” he had demanded. Even his voice was weak. Dry and raspy and paper-thin. Still, there was something in the name that was oddly familiar to him.

“S-s-seven orbs,” he had explained, “A-and, when you gather them together, a dragon will grant your any wish.” Piccolo had rubbed his chin and thought.

“You will help me gather these ‘Dragon Balls’,” he commanded them, “And I will use them to grant myself eternal youth to restore my power. Once my strength is returned to me, I shall fulfill my destiny and presume complete dominion over all the world.” They had nodded obediently and it seemed that all was well until the tall one had spoke. The pale skin, the long hair. A… female, that was what they were called, wasn’t it?

“What about us?” she had asked. “We freed you. We told you about the Dragon Balls. We’re the ones who’re going to go through the effort of gathering them. What do we get?” Piccolo had glowered down at her. He felt the urge to remind her that what they were “getting” was their lives. And yet… and yet he admired her tenacity.

“Very well,” he told her. “In exchange for your service, when I come into my kingdom I shall give you… half.” The trio nodded to themselves and seemed to find those circumstances agreeable. Now, here they were.

“Tambourine is returning,” Pilaf announced while looking down at his preposterous-looking Dragon Radar, an enormous contraption nearly as big as Piccolo himself. “He is carrying a Dragon Ball with him!” Piccolo nodded as Piano turned to Shu at the ship’s controls.

“Open the hatch to let him in,” Piano instructed. His first son, Piccolo had quickly realized, was more intelligent even than himself. He had quickly been able to grasp the new world’s strange technologies. The dog-man known as Shu pushed some buttons on the “console”, as it was called, and a hole opened in the floor in front of Piccolo. A wind whipped through the room as Tambourine flew up through the hole, flapping his wings to rise. When the hole was sealed again, Tambourine prostrated himself before the Demon King with one hand held high to deliver the Dragon Ball.

“As you commanded, Father,” Tambourine said obediently. “It was just where their machine had said it would be.” Piccolo reached down and plucked the Dragon Ball from his hand. In his monstrous hand, it was barely larger than a grape. He held the orb between thumb and forefinger and held it up, squinting at it and its four stars.

“Could something so small hold such power?” he asked aloud with a small amount of incredulity. There was something comforting in it, however. Something that gave Piccolo a feeling he had never had before. A feeling of… home? “Did you acquire the list?” he asked as he turned his attention back to Tambourine. His son nodded and rose to his feet with the stack of papers clutched in his talons.

“I have, father,” said as he held the papers out to show Piccolo. “The listings of every Martial Artist to enter the Tenkaichi Budoukai in the last ten years. They were in the same place together and so it was a simple matter of… I believe the expression is ‘kill two birds with one stone?’” Piccolo nodded his approval and pointed towards the wall.

“Spread all of the pictures out across the wall,” he commanded. Pilaf and the female Mai moved to help Tambourine and he quickly opened his mouth. “No, Tambourine,” Piccolo said sharply. “They are still useful.” Tambourine closed his mouth and reluctantly handed half of the stack to Pilaf and Mai. They began posting the papers on the walls and Tambourine sneered as he crumpled one of the sheets up and tossed it onto the ground.

“Killed that one already,” he muttered flippantly, “Feh. Some ‘finalist.’” Piccolo’s heightened ears picked up Pilaf and Mai muttering to themselves as they stared with wide eyes at the sheet on the top of their stack.

“I-it’s her!” Pilaf muttered in shock. Mai agreed.

“Two-time finalist,” she added, “Two-time runner up! No wonder she was so powerful!” Tambourine walked over to them and looked over their shoulders. He laughed as he plucked the paper from their hands and crumpled it as well, tossing it away dismissively.

“Killed her, too,” he said as he went back to the work of hanging up the papers. Pilaf stared at Tambourine in a state of shock.

“A-are you certain?” he asked. Tambourine sneered but said nothing. “I only ask because she has proven extremely difficult to–” Tambourine was on him in the blink of an eye with a hand around his throat to lift him off the ground, shaking him violently.

“Listen to me, you worthless blue toad!” he roared. “When I say someone is dead, they are dead!” Pilaf’s skin began to turn even bluer as he desperately pulled at Tambourine’s fingers. Mai tried to tackle Tambourine but he kicked her away. Piccolo groaned and, with some effort, rose from his throne.

“Enough!” he bellowed. Tambourine dropped Pilaf immediately and turned his eyes downward. Piccolo sighed and slowly sank back down into the throne. The rest of the pictures were hung in silence. Piccolo scanned the pictures and scowled. “Tambourine!” His son went on bended knee at his father’s word. “You will go out into the world and kill every last person on this list. If there is even the slightest chance that any of them know the Mafuuba technique then my plans shall be in ruin. Wipe them out!” Tambourine nodded and rose to his feet.

“By your command, father. They are as good as dead.” Tambourine waited for the floor to open up again with his arms at his side and his wings folded. Shu pressed a button and Tambourine quickly dropped away, opening his wings once he had dropped a hundred feet. “I believe I will start with that one called ‘Namu’.” Back inside the airship, Piano turned to Piccolo.

“But father,” he hissed, “What about the Dragon Ballsss? You ccccertainly can’t go hunting for them in your condition and I am not ssssuited for combat. Ssssurely you don’t intend to have one of thosssse three-” Piccolo silenced him with an upraised hand. He closed his eyes and tensed himself in preparation. It had been painful enough just to create Tambourine and Piano.

“Poko-pen,” he chanted, “Poke-pen, Dah-leh-ga, Tsu-tsui-ta. Poko-pen, Poko-pen poko-pen, Dah-leh-ga, Tsu-tsui-ta!” He opened his mouth impossibly wide as he felt something pushing up from his stomach and distending his throat. With what could only be described as a horrifying retching, the enormous egg forced its way out of his mouth and plopped onto the floor, slathered in green viscera. Piccolo fell back into the throne wearily. He was drenched in sweat and could barely breathe. He was so weak! Once he could create armies of his demonic children and now it was a struggle to create three?! He had to have those Dragon Balls.

“Pleasssse be careful, father,” Piano urged as he put his hands on Piccolo’s arm. “Each child you create takessss away from what little life you have left!” Piccolo scowled at Piano and yanked his arm away. His son did not care for him. He only expressed worry because if Piccolo died then so did all of his sons.

“When I have youth eternal,” he reminded Piano, “It will not matter!” Then he turned as the egg began to crack. In moments his son burst free from his shell and flapped his wings. He was large and robust with bright green skin a long tail and two long horns out the back of its head. He was even more draconic than his older brother. “Cymbal,” Piccolo declared as he looked upon his son. “Do you see this?” he held the Dragon Ball out for Cymbal to see and the child nodded, sniffing it curiously. They were always rather primitive in the first few minutes. “You will go and find more like this for me!” He turned to Pilaf and pointed at him. “He will show you.” Pilaf paled considerable as Cymbal stalked towards him but managed to point to the map of the world on his Dragon Radar.

“H-h-here!” he stammered out. Cymbal nodded and stomped back over to Piccolo.

“Let no one stand in your way,” Piccolo commanded. “Kill everyone who tries to take the Dragon Ball away from you!” Cymbal nodded and the floor opened up underneath him. Piccolo sighed and leaned back against his throne. Pilaf shuddered as he stared at all the fighters on the wall. This… this was more death than he had anticipated.

OoOoOoO

Namu looked up into the night sky to see a creature descending towards the village. He could hear its leathery wings flapping like a demon and tensed himself for battle.

“Are you Namu?” the demon asked when it landed.

“I am,” Namu said with a nod. He could feel the demon’s power. It was unlike anything he had sensed before. He brought his hands down to his side and breathed in his fear. He breathed in his panic and his despair. Then he breathed it all out… and as the creature’s fist punched through his chest, his life along with it.

OoOoOoO

The full moon was reflected on the ocean outside Kame House as a forlorn mood hung throughout the bungalow. Yamcha, Ten, Chaozu and Launch sat in the kitchen while Bulma was just about finished with the Dragon Radar in the living room with Puar hovering around nervously. Roshi was sitting with her and watching the news intently. He had suspected that Piccolo Daimaou had stolen the Budoukai rosters to hunt down the world’s strongest martial artists so that none would be left to oppose him. Which, of course, meant that almost everyone in the house was a target as well.

“Goku hasn’t gotten back yet,” Launch muttered. “Neither has Suno.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “You guys don’t think–”

“We can’t think like that, Launch,” Yamcha cut her off. “We have to stay positive.” ‘Besides, Goku’s the strongest of us. If she were to die, we’d be in real trouble.’

“Please,” Tenshinhan said, “Explain these ‘Dragon Balls’ to me again.” They’d told him before but he’d had a somewhat difficult time grasping the concept.

“There’s seven balls,” Bulma called from the living room, “And when you gather them together, it summons a giant dragon who can grant basically any wish.”

“We’ll use the balls to kill Piccolo,” Yamcha said, “And then next year we’ll use them to bring back anyone Piccolo kills before we can stop him.”

“But Yamcha,” Puar asked, “Won’t Krillin have decayed in a year?”

“Not with this!” Bulma said and held up the capsule that, disturbingly, held Krillin’s corpse. “I invented these special cold capsules originally to store things perishable foods but the human body is pretty perishable too, isn’t it?” She chuckled but quickly stopped when she realized nobody else was laughing.

“Muten Roshi,” Ten asked, “Why not use the Mafuuba?”

“That’s out of the question,” Roshi told him perhaps too brusquely. “Mutaito took the secret of that technique to his grave.” Before the conversation could continue, the news was interrupted with an urgent report.

“We interrupt this broadcast with a special news bulletin,” the cat-man said as he frantically shuffled papers and Namu’s face came onto the screen. “Earlier today, we received word that a man by the name of Namu, a finalist in the 21st Tenkaichi Budoukai, was violently murdered. This note was left at the scene.” Next to Namu’s face appeared the same piece of paper that Ken had given them back on Papaya Island. “After consulting with historians, we can confirm that this is none other than the mark of the Great Demon King Piccolo himself. We will update you on this story as it continues.”

“Great,” Launch muttered. “Just fuckin’ great. Now everyone’s gonna start panicking.” Yamcha nodded grimly and turned to stare out the window.

‘Damn it, Goku,’ he thought. ‘Where are you? We need you!’

OoOoOoO

Goku groaned as she woke up, the sun blinding to her sleep addled eyes. “Oh! Goku! You’re awake! Thank God,” she heard a familiar voice say. She carefully turned her head to side to see someone she didn’t expect.

“S-Suno? W-What are you doing here? Where am I?” she asked, her head slightly fuzzy from the hit that monster gave her.

“I went after you when you ran off. I couldn’t just let my best friend run off to fight a monster alone after she spent all of her energy in the Budoukai. As for where we are, this is Mabel Village. After I found you in a forest, I took you to the largest cluster of ki I could find. They were kind enough to let us stay here until you woke up,” Suno answered from where she sat by Goku’s bed.

“Uhg. My head hurts. How long have I been out?” Goku asked as she gingerly sat up.

“About half a day, I think.”

“Aw jeez. That monster’s probably long gone by now. Without my Nimbus, I’ll never be able to catch him.”

“Mmm. He probably is long gone. I couldn’t sense him while meditating no matter how far I pushed my mind. But,” Suno smiled softly, “I wouldn’t worry about catching him. We know he’s after the Dragon Balls, right? Then we just need a Dragon Ball and he’ll come to us.”

“Yeah! You’re right! Then I can get back at that jerk for killing Krillin!” Goku nodded vigorously only to stop and grab her stomach when it growled. “But I’ll never be able to be him like this! I’m starving!”

“Well, you’re in luck: The family that let us stay the night also invited us to breakfast.” Suno paused and it looked to Goku like she was thinking about something. “Mm. But I’m afraid that’ll have to wait.”

“Huh? Why?”

“You see, there just so happens to be a Dragon Ball in this village. I saw some dog-person wearing it as a necklace last night. Right now, I can sense a mass of evil ki heading right for us.”

“Is it that monster?”

“No, I don’t think so. This one seems to be a lot weaker than the guy you fought.”

“Well, we’ve gotta stop him before he can get the Dragon Ball!” Goku moved to get up but Suno stopped her.

“You’re right but let me handle this. You’re still recovering from that other monster and haven’t eaten yet. Right now, I’m in a lot better shape than you are.”

Goku shook her head furiously, “No! I can’t let you do that! I can’t let another friend die because of me!”

Suno was shocked for a moment but quickly regained her composure and smiled gently at Goku, “Don’t worry. I’m not going to die. I’m positive that I’m stronger than this thing. Besides, I haven’t been training for the past two years with Master Korin for nothing.” Goku went all starry-eyed at this and Suno continued. “I’ve been wanting to show you the results of my training so why don’t you watch? I’ve picked up quite a few tricks since the last time we were together.”

“Wait, if you’ve been training with Master Korin, why didn’t you enter the Budoukai?” Goku asked.

“I’ve never really been interested in that thing,” Suno said with a shrug. “I want to be strong but I don’t care about being the strongest. I only came because I wanted to see you again.” Suno paused and looked out a nearby window, “Well, he’s just about here. Shall we get going?”

Mabel Village was a rather quiet place. It was slightly larger than Jingle Village but only just and its scenery was the complete opposite from what Suno was used to. To add to its charm, the village was populated almost exclusively by the most adorable animal people Suno had ever seen. This peaceful scenery and tranquil atmosphere simply served the make the hulking mass of evil ki now standing roughly in the center of it stand out even more.

What Suno and Goku found was a very large dragon-looking thing that was nearly as wide as it was tall. With its green scales and evil aura, it was certainly more than enough to terrify the hapless villagers.

“All right, listen up!” it commanded in a deep voice. “I have just one question! Answer truly or you’ll all die! Has anyone seen a little sphere with stars inside around here?” The villagers all cowered and trembled with fear. No one answered him. “Well? Do you want to live? A sphere with stars. Have you seen it or not?”

Finally, something broke and one of the villagers screamed, “It’s Biskit! Biskit found one three years ago!”

“Ah, I see. Well, where is this Biskit? Bring him to me if you want to live!” No one moved. “NOW!” In a panic, several villagers rushed to a certain house and broke down the door. After the sounds of a struggle, they came out dragging a dog-person. Around his neck was a necklace with the One Star Dragon Ball. “Very good. Now I’ll be taking tha—”

Just before he could reach the Dragon Ball, a voice called out, “HEY!” Every turned their attention to a certain girl with long, red hair. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you that it’s not nice to bully people?”

The monster was shocked for a moment but quickly laughed before taking a few steps towards her. “Bully people? These lesser beings aren’t fit to be called cattle, much less people.”

“Lesser beings, huh? Yeah, that sounds about right, coming from something like you. If you’re going to look like a dragon then I guess it’s only fitting you have the attitude of one.”

“Whatever. I’ll deal with you later, little girl. Right now, I have to get—”

“This Dragon Ball?” Suno held up her hand to show off the One Star Dragon Ball.

“WH-WHAT?!” The monster looked back to where Biskit was only to see that the Dragon Ball was no longer on his necklace. “H-how?! When did you-”

“Come on, you’ve gotta be kidding me,” Suno said with a laugh that made Cymbal’s eyes bulge out of his head. “If you’re going to act all tough and evil, the least you can do is keep up.”

“Why you little—! Don’t you know who I am?! I’m Cymbal! The son of the Great Demon King Piccolo!”

“You say that name as if it’s supposed to mean something to me.”

“I demand that you give that Dragon Ball to me at once!”

“If you want it,” Suno slid the Dragon Ball into her pocket, “come and get it.”

Cymbal roared in fury as his killing intent spiked. In a flash, he spread his wings and charged at Suno with speed unsuiting his bulk. At the last instant, Suno sprang backwards and scowled as his fist left a sizable crater in the ground. If even one of his hits landed, she’d be in serious trouble.

Cymbal came at her again and again with earth shattering punches and sky tearing claw swipes but Suno dodged each and every attack while constantly retreating. Eventually, Cymbal wound up for a right hook but, the instant Suno started to move to dodge it, lashed out with a right jab. Suno looked in surprise at the feint as Cymbal’s fist came right at her… and sailed through her afterimage.

“Over here!” Cymbal had just enough time to turn around before Suno’s palm impacted with his face and the accompanying kiai sent him tumbling far away. By the time he got back to his feet, Suno was calmly walking towards him. “Now that we’re finally out of the village, I can fight seriously.”

Cymbal laughed at her claim, “Trying to spare the lives of those other inferior beings, eh? A noble but wasted effort. Once I pry the Dragon Ball from your corpse, I’m going to raze that village and feast on everyone there!”

Suno hardened her glare, “You’ll have to kill me first and that’s not happening.”

“You think a mere human can stand up to one of the Demon Clan? You inferior beings have become arrogant in Daimaou’s absence! You may be fast but your blows lack power! I can easily crush you with one blow!”

“You’re right. You can crush me with one blow and my hits do lack strength. But that’s okay. Whether I have to hit you one time or a thousand, you die here.”

“You certainly aren’t lacking in spirit! Very well, human! I’ll give you the honor of fighting you seriously! Come at me with everything you have!”

“Very well.” In an instant, Suno vanished and reappeared in front of Cymbal. He could only look in shock as her palm sailed towards the center of his chest only to stop a hair’s breadth from hitting. An instant later, a powerful kiai struck Cymbal and blasted him backwards. No, not a single blast. As only Goku, who had followed them, could see; she had struck him three times in that single instant.

Cymbal slid to a stop and roared as he charged Suno, his speed greater than what it had been before. While that was proof that he had been holding back before, it didn’t worry Suno in the slightest. It was clear that Cymbal was preparing another feint so Suno stepped into his guard rather than trying to dodge. It seemed that Cymbal wasn’t that much of an idiot, however, as he continued with his right hook instead trying the decoy feint. When Suno backpedaled to avoid his fist, he opened his hand wide and managed to catch her across the chest with his claws.

Suno immediately retreated a few feet back and glanced down at her chest. She wasn’t cut but her bra and shirt were definitely ruined. She returned her focus to the now smug monster before her. “Looks like I underestimated you. I didn’t think you’d be able to touch me at all.” Cymbal chuckled and pounded his fist against his chest.

“Like I said, human: Come at me with everything you have! You won’t stand a chance of surviving otherwise!”

“You’re right. Masters Korin and Frost would be furious if they found out I was hold back against a demon. That’s the last hit you’ll get on me, though.”

“Very well! Let’s see if your actions hold up to your words!” With another roar, Cymbal used his wings to do a flying charge which Suno met head on. The instant before they impacted, Suno slid underneath the monster and slammed both of her palms into his stomach, flipping him into the air with a powerful kiai. When she rose, she saw Cymbal correct himself and land on his feet only to immediately charge again. Again, Suno met his charge head on and found herself suddenly dodging a flurry of blows powerful enough to blow away an entire house. As it was, the land behind her was being torn to shreds as the force of Cymbal’s blows carried onward. This thing had plenty of power but absolutely no control.

The instant she found an opening, Suno struck out kiai-enhanced blow to Cymbal’s sternum and followed up by a roundhouse kick to the side of his head that spun him around. Her follow up was delayed as she was forced to duck Cymbal’s tail that nearly caught her in the face. Cymbal turned around and held out his hand before unleashing a blast of lightning energy at her that forced her to retreat. He brought up his other hand and let loose blast of blast of lightning so Suno responded in kind with wave after wave of kiai to deflect the blasts. Eventually, the kiai stopped and the lightning was free to strike her position and create a cloud of dust. When Cymbal stopped and started chuckling, Suno appeared and unleashed a barrage of kiai-enhanced strikes towards his torso. When it appeared like he was getting his bearings, Suno vanished only to reappear and continue the barrage from the different angle. Again and again, Suno changed the angle of her assault until Cymbal was surrounded by a hurricane of endless blows. In that instant, he understood perfectly: She was hitting him with one thousand strikes .

For the nine hundred ninety-eighth strike, Suno did a backflip kick that launched Cymbal into the air and she quickly followed him. For the nine hundred ninety-ninth strike, she struck him in the center of his spine and blasted him into the ground. She brought her hands down to side and began to focus her ki. “Kaaameeehaaameee…” Cymbal got up on unsteady legs and held out his hands as he began to charge a massive amount of lightning energy. Before he let it loose, Suno used a full body kiai fired behind her to launch herself towards the ground and landed kneeling well inside Cymbal’s guard. “HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” For the one thousandth blow, Suno used a perfect Kamehameha to turn Cymbal’s weakened body to ash.

Breathing heavily, Suno rose to her feet and dusted herself off. Just before she turned around, she felt something slide down her cheek and rubbed it to find a drop of blood coming from a scratch on her cheek. It seemed that, in a way, Cymbal actually won that fight. Suno looked over to see if Goku was watching and… was she blushing?

OoOoOoO

Piccolo gasped in pain and clutched at his chest as his eyes went wide with shock. Someone had killed Cymbal! He had felt his son’s death and it filled him with rage. Not for the loss of Cymbal but for what it symbolized. Someone was standing against him. Someone was defying him! He closed his eyes and stretched his consciousness out to find Tambourine’s mind.

‘Tambourine!’ his voice echoed in his son’s mind. ‘Heed my call!’

‘Just a moment, father,’ Tambourine thought. ‘You’ve caught me in the middle of something.’ He looked down at the strange pink substance wrapped around his body and looked up at the strange dragon-man named Girran who looked rather proud of himself. Tambourine expanded his chest and ripped the substance apart with ease. Girran stared in shock as Tambourine grabbed him by the shoulders and ripped him down the middle with barely an effort. He let the corpse drop to the ground and brushed the viscera off his arms.

Piccolo impatiently tapped his fingers on the armrest of his throne and rolled his eyes towards the ceiling while he waited for Tambourine’s reply.

“Get him!” A voice bellowed. Tambourine looked to the left to see half a dozen of those dragon-men flying towards him with claws outstretched. He opened his mouth wide and reduced them to bones with a single blast. He gave a satisfied smile and took off into the sky.

‘Now then,’ Tambourine thought, ‘You were saying?’

‘Someone has killed Cymbal!’ Piccolo thought. Tambourine blinked.

‘... Who?’ Piccolo groaned aloud.

‘Your brother. I created him to gather the Dragon Balls after you left. I will put the coordinates into your mind. Go there and raze the area to the ground! Show them the penalty of their defiance!’ Tambourine nodded obediently and changed the course of his flight.

“By your will, father,” he said aloud, “It will be done.” He supposed that this “Yamcha” would have to wait.

Chapter Text

When Suno and Goku returned to Mabel Village, it was to a hero’s welcome and a breakfast feast was quickly declared in Suno’s honor. Suno would have politely declined but she was quite hungry. Goku was even more hungry so to her this was the best idea ever. Suno had never seen someone eat so many pancakes. By the time breakfast was over, the last few traces of dawn mist had faded away and the sun was rising high into the bright blue sky on a bright spring morning.

“Guhhhh,” Suno groaned out as she leaned against her chair and patted her stomach. One of the villagers had been nice enough to give her a new shirt. “I don’t know if it ever happens to you, Goku, but I am full.” Goku didn’t say anything and Suno sat upright to look over at Goku. Her fists were balled so tightly on the long table that they were shaking and her face was frozen in an uncharacteristic scowl. “Hey,” Suno said as she put a hand on Goku’s, “I told you, we’ll get the guy who killed Kri–” Suno suddenly felt that evil ki pressing down on her mind like before. The one she’d felt when Goku’s ki had disappeared. “Goku,” she said softly, “He’s co–”

“Get out of the way,” Goku said in almost a growl. Suno’s eyes widened as Goku looked up towards the sky. Suno followed her gaze up and saw him. The monster that Goku had fought earlier and the one that must have killed Krillin. “Suno,” Goku said as she pushed her chair back and hopped down from it, “I’m not going to say this again. I have to fight him myself. Get out of my way. ” As Suno quickly moved away to get the animal people’s attention, Goku felt a little bad for getting so angry at her friend. She couldn’t help it, though. It was this horrible monster that made her so angry. He had to pay. The monster slowly descended with his wings outstretched to catch the wind like a parachute as he landed in front of them. The adorable animal-people scattered as Goku violently shoved the table away so there was nothing standing between her and the monster.

“I don’t know what’s more insulting,” the monster said as he started walking towards Goku, “The fact that you’re alive or the fact that someone like you killed a demon.” Goku said nothing as she walked forward to meet him. “Well don’t think you’ll survive this time, you brat. I, Tambourine, son of Piccolo Daimaou, will ensure that there is nothing left of you but a–” It quickly became difficult for Tambourine to finish his boast as Goku leaped into the air and drove a kick into his jaw. There was a sickening crack and Goku felt his jaw break against her foot. It felt good. Tambourine tumbled away in the dirt and struggled to his feet. His yellow eyes were wide in terror as he tried to hold his jaw in place as purple blood flowed out of his mouth and down his fingers. Goku charged again with a roar and smashed her shoulder into Tambourine’s stomach. This time she heard his ribs break as he gasped in pain. He stumbled away and swung at her desperately. Goku caught his wrist and flipped him over to slam him hard into the ground. She kept her grip on Tambourine’s wrist and wrapped her legs around his elbow. She yanked hard and, in a few seconds, that snapped too. Tambourine howled in agony as Goku let go of his arm and staggered away with his arm limp at his side. He turned and ran, stumbling and whimpering as his wings opened up and he tried to fly away. Goku growled and crouched low for a jump.

“I won’t let you get away!” she yelled as she leaped high into the air and drove her feet into his back to bring him back towards the ground. “Give me back Krillin! Give me back Nimbus!” With another growl she grabbed Tambourine’s wings and yanked hard as she pushed her feet into his back. There was a wet ripping sound and Tambourine tumbled to the ground with his wings still in Goku’s hands. Goku hit the ground feet-first and made a small crater on the impact. She watched Tambourine struggle onto his hands and knees and start to crawl away with purple blood flowing from the gashes in his back.

‘This can’t be happening…’ Tambourine thought in disbelief, near–delirious with pain. ‘How can a human so easily defeat one of us?!’ He fell into the dirt and lay there for a moment before pushing himself back up. ‘H-h-have to get back to father! Back t-to the ship!’

“This is for Krillin,” Goku whispered as she brought her hands down to her side. “Kaaa meee haaa meee,” an enormous ball of blue-white light gathered in Goku’s hands, larger than any she’d done before, “Haaaa!” She thrust her hands forward and a massive blast rushed towards Tambourine.

“Father, help me! Fath–aaaaaah!” Tambourine’s death scream dissipated as the blast completely overwhelmed him and he disappeared in the white-blue light. When the light finally dimmed, there was a massive trench in the ground where the Kamehameha had been fired that blasted through trees and rocks and into the mountains… but no Tambourine. He had been blasted to ash and carried on the wind. Goku’s chest rose and fell quickly as feral adrenaline pounded through her veins. The monster who killed Krillin was dead. She wasn’t happy, though. She didn’t feel any better. She just felt angry. She threw her head back and roared and her voice echoed across the plains.

OoOoOoO

Piccolo Daimaou clutched as his chest again and fell forward with an agonized gasp. He gripped the arm of his throne with one shaky hand to keep himself from falling as his eyes went wide in a mixture of pain and disbelief.

“Tambourine assss well, father?” Piano asked. Piccolo raised his hand as if to strike his pteradonian son with a backhand yet he let his hand drop. All that killing the boy would accomplish would be to bring him that much closer to death. Piccolo growled and slammed his fist on the arm of his throne.

“This will not stand!” he declared angrily before turning to glare at Shu. “Plot a course for that Dragon Ball. I will deal with this myself!” Shu frantically manipulated the controls and the airship groaned slightly as it changed its course. Piccolo sat back in his throne as his claws dug into the stone. He would suffer these indignities no longer!

OoOoOoO

Morning came quickly in the Kame House. There was no alarm to wake everyone. Instead, they had Bulma.

“DONE!” she declared with the Dragon Radar high above her head loud enough to shake everyone from their slumber. She was wide-eyed with bags under her eyes and her hair sticking out wildly but she was triumphant. Puar had been sleeping on Turtle’s back but quickly found himself on the ceiling. Yamcha, Launch and Roshi came stomping down the stairs at the sound, Chaozu had been sleeping in Roshi’s armchair, and Tenshinhan had been standing in the kitchen as still as a statue. “I would have finished a couple hours ago,” Bulma said as Yamcha took the Dragon Radar from her hands, “But I kinda dozed off around midnight for a couple minutes. Nothing that ten cups of coffee couldn’t fix, though!” She giggled deliriously and Yamcha gave her a hug as she started to stagger.

“Great work, hon,” he told her encouragingly. Then he handed the Radar to Roshi and guided Bulma gently to the couch. “You just try and lie down.” He ran back upstairs and found the capsule with his sword in it. “Hello, beautiful,” he muttered before he pressed the button and tossed the capsule up. He smiled as the sword landed in his hand and slowly unsheathed it just enough to see his eyes in the blade. “Did you miss daddy? Daddy missed you.” He sheathed the sword and tied it to his belt as he made his way back downstairs.

“Chaozu, Ten, Yamcha, Launch and myself will gather the Dragon Balls,” Roshi was explaining. “This will make Piccolo come to us. Remember, under no circumstances should we attempt to confront Piccolo Daimaou. We have no chance, even the five of us together. Our best hope is to distract him long enough to take whatever Dragon Balls he has and summon Shenron to strike him down.” Tenshinhan frowned and crossed his arms over his chest.

“It’s too passive,” he complained. “We should take the fight to him! I understand that your master could not defeat him, Muten, but I’m sure that I am strong enough. If we had the Mafu-”

“Absolutely not!” Roshi told him curtly as he jabbed a finger in the Triclops’ face. “You don’t know what it would cost! If one were to use the Mafuuba, it would leave us that much weaker should it be unsuccessful!” Roshi and Tenshinhan glare at one another before Bulma spoke up.

“Hey,” she said, slurring her words with exhaustion, “W-wait a second! You cantjusst leame back here!” She pushed herself up off the couch and Yamcha moved to catch her before she fell forward. “Why d’I have to–”

“Bulma,” Yamcha said softly, “You’re in no shape to go anywhere. Besides, you’re not a fighter. It’s safer for you to–”

“I don’t want the last time I ever see you be when you walk out that door!” Bulma blurted out as she clutched desperately to Yamcha’s shirt with tears in her eyes. “I-It’s just, w-with Krillin, a–and Goku and Suno are still missing! I can’t…” she swallowed down a sob as the tears ran down her cheeks. “I can’t lose you, too,” she whispered as she slumped against Yamcha.

“Hey, hey,” Yamcha said softly as he brought his hand up under Bulma’s chin and brought her eyes up to look at him. “It’s going to be fine. I promise. No one else is going to die. We’re gonna end this then we’ll use the Dragon Balls next year and get everyone back.” He bent his head down and kissed Bulma gently on the lips. She closed her eyes and returned the kiss before going slack against him as her body finally gave out to weariness. Yamcha caught her before she could hit the ground and slowly guided her to the couch, snoring softly.

“Are we done here,” Launch asked with a roll of her eyes, “Or should we stand around with our dicks in the wind and let Piccolo get more Dragon Balls?”

“I am not familiar with this phrase,” Tenshinhan said as the five quickly shuffled out of the Kame House.

OoOoOoO

Goku paced back and forth as she stared down at the Dragon Radar. She had dug a tiny trench in the dirt in the center of the village but she didn’t care. There was a Dragon Ball coming towards her that just had to be be the one that Tambourine guy had stolen when he’d killed Krillin. She was going to get it back!

“Goku,” Suno said softly as she put a hand on Goku’s shoulder, “You’ve got to calm down. You’re scaring people.” The animal people had given a wide berth to Goku after her merciless display against Tambourine an hour before. “I know you’re angry and I am, too. Whoever this Piccolo Daimaou guy is that Tambourine mentioned is obviously the real problem here but take it from me, revenge doesn’t solve anything. Tambourine’s dead but do you feel any better?” Goku just glared up at her and kept pacing. Suno sighed and shook her head. She could tell she wasn’t going to get through to Goku right now. Suddenly she froze and Goku snapped out of her funk to look up at her friend with concern.

“Suno?” she asked softly and stood up out of her trench. “What is it?” Suno’s face was pale and she was trembling. Goku put a hand on Suno’s shoulder and shook her gently. “Hey. What’s wrong?”

“Power,” Suno whispered, “Never felt something so… evil!” Before Goku could ask anything else, there was a roaring sound like an engine and Goku looked up to see what looked like a fat airplane with glass bubbles on the top and nose.

“Lord Piccolo,” came a voice from the plane, “We’ve arrived.” It sounded like Mai. What did Pilaf and his friends want to do with someone who killed people?

“You’re using the outside speakers,” came Shu’s voice. Then there was a thunk. “Ow! I was just trying to–” Goku glared up at the plane before looking at Suno.

“You should go inside,” she told her. “Give me the Dragon Ball and get somewhere safe.” She wasn’t angry this time and she didn’t say it because she wanted Suno to stay out of her way. She was worried about whoever might be in that plane. Suno nodded and handed Goku the Dragon Ball before she turned towards the villagers.

“Everyone,” she called as she waved forward with outstretched arms, “Get inside!” The villagers screamed and ran as they huddled into their houses and Suno ran into the house of the Panda villagers that had let Suno and Goku stay in their house while Goku recovered. Goku glared up at the plane and put on the necklace before she got into her fighting stance. She had to be ready for anything. The bottom of the ship opened up and something huge fell out of the hole and smashed down into the ground to create a huge crater. A green man in a dark blue robe with the character for “Demon” on the front and a red cape climbed out of the hole and glared down at Goku.

“So,” he said in a deep, rumbling voice as he cracked his knuckles, “You’re the brat who’s been killing my children?” Goku glared up at him and shook a fist at him.

“And you’re the jerk who’s been sending monsters to gather the Dragon Balls and kill people! I’m gonna beat you up!” For some reason, that made the big green man laugh.

“So you don’t know who I am?” he asked. “That’s a pity. I am Piccolo Daimaou, whelp! The Great Demon King and soon to be the absolute master of this world! Yours will simply be the next body used to pave my road to conquest!” Goku growled and jumped up to punch him in the face. Piccolo took the hit and staggered back with a hand on his jaw. “Huh,” he remarked, “Impressi–” he was cut off when Goku jumped back up as soon as she landed and hit a dropkick into his knee to make him fall flat on his face. Piccolo snarled as he got up and dodged as she ran to hit him with an elbow. He tossed away his robe and cape with a flourish to reveal the blue gi he had on underneath. “Very well. Let me show you how fearsome I am!”

“Come on!” Goku challenged him as she charged again. “All you’ve done so far is ta–” Piccolo swung his leg forward and caught her under the chin with a kick that sent her high into the sky. Piccolo jumped into the air to meet her and knocked her back down with a chop. He was fast for someone so big! Goku smashed into the ground hard enough to burrow a hole with her body. Goku tried to collect her thoughts and come up with a plan of attack but, before she could get any ideas, Piccolo’s huge hand reached into the hole and yanked her out. He shook her by the front of her shirt before he smashed his other fist into her face.

“Do you see how pointless it was to defy me?” Piccolo asked smugly. “You are near the door of death and I have only used half my strength!” Goku spit in his face and bit down hard on his thumb. Piccolo cried out in pain as he broke his grip and Goku grinned as she landed on her feet. She may have been in a lot of pain but at least she’d done something to him! She knocked Piccolo onto one knee with a sweep kick and jumped forward to drive a knee into Piccolo’s chest. However, he drove her away with a backhand and Goku crashed painfully into someone’s house. Piccolo laughed as Goku staggered away from the house. She really didn’t like his laugh. “Well?” he taunted. “What will you do now?” Goku glared and brought her hands down to her side. Piccolo’s eyes went wide for a moment and that made her smile. She was scaring him!

“Kaaa meee haaa meee…” Goku couldn’t see it but Piccolo’s scared expression had gone away. “Haaaa!” she threw her hands out and was surprised that Piccolo wasn’t even trying to defend himself. The beam came straight for Piccolo and he opened his mouth wide… and snapped his jaws shut around the beam and it dissolved in an instant. “Wh-what?” Goku asked in quiet shock as her arms dropped limply to her side.

“You had me worried there for a moment,” Piccolo admitted as he wiped his mouth. “I thought I was in trouble.” He chuckled and flexed his fingers. “An amusing little technique, though. Shall I try?” Goku was too stunned to speak and Piccolo laughed again. “Yes,” he said as he brought his fists up, “I believe it’s time for you to die!” His body began to glow and tendrils of yellow energy snaked off his body as he let out a low growl. Goku couldn’t move. He was strong! Too strong! How could she fight him?  Suddenly, Piccolo thrust his hand forward and as his palm glowed with yellow light she snapped out of her daze. “Obliterate!” Piccolo bellowed as a beam of yellow light shot out of his hand. Goku jumped away at the last second, high into the air. She whipped her Power Pole off her back and pulled it back before swinging hard.

“Power Pole extend!” Goku cried out and the staff shot down mid-swing to strike Piccolo on the jaw. Piccolo’s head whipped around and he took a step back. Goku grinned to herself when she saw that. Maybe there was something in the Power Pole that could hurt him. Something magic!

Then Piccolo’s arm stretched up to grab her by the ankle.

“Got you!” Piccolo taunted as he slammed Goku hard into the ground. His arm snaked back to its normal length and he stood over her with his other palm inches from her face. “Obliterate!” The blast hit Goku squarely and buried her in a blast crater in a blinding burst of light. Piccolo stood over her for a moment but she never stirred. He sneered down at her and plucked the Dragon Ball from around her neck and held it up to the sun. “All too easy.” Then he slowly turned his gaze on the village and opened his mouth wide. A blast of light flew out of his mouth and he whipped his head to the side to sweep the village with the deadly beam, giving the villagers barely enough time to scream. When Piccolo was finished, there was nothing but bones and ash. He smirked and flew back up into the airship. He sat back down in his throne and rolled his neck with a relaxed sigh. It felt good to get some exercise. “Where is the next Dragon Ball?” He asked. No one replied. They were all too stunned in terror by the mass murder Piccolo had just committed. “If you will not do your duties then you are of no use to me,” Piccolo warned. “Now, where is the next Dragon Ball?” Pilaf scrambled over to his Radar and fiddled with some buttons before turning back to look at Piccolo.

“It, um,” he swallowed and took off his ridiculous hat to wipe away his sweat, “It appears that the balls have started to move.” Piccolo nodded and looked down at the balls in his hand.

“Very well,” he said nonplussed. “That means that someone else is gathering the balls as well. Let them. All they are doing is making our task easier. When the five have been gathered, take me to their location and I will finish this quickly.” He opened his mouth and tilted his head back before dropping the balls into his mouth and swallowing them to store them safely away in his gullet. “Soon I shall be invincible.”

OoOoOoO

One of the piles of rubble that used to be a house rumbled and Suno burst out of it with a gulp of air and then fell out of the rubble as she gasped for breath. That had been way too close. She had actually felt the heat of Piccolo’s blast pass over her head as she’d ducked down. If it hadn’t been for all her training, heck if it hadn’t been for her training just with Korin, she’d almost certainly be dead. As dead as… everyone else. A chill swept over Suno as she stared out over the field of death and destruction that had once been such a beautiful little village. Even when the Red Ribbon Army had attacked Jingle Village, she had never seen so much death and had never been this close to it. It was horrible! How could someone like Piccolo Daimaou exist? Suno heard a cough and groan and sprinted towards the crater where Goku lay prone. The ground was hot under her feet as she ran down to meet her friend.

“Goku,” Suno said softly yet urgently as she shook the other girl’s shoulders, “You’ve got to get up! Come on, we’ve got to go…” Go where? To meet up with the others? To hide in Jingle Village? Where could they go?

“Suno,” Goku said in a strained voice as she slowly opened her eyes and looked up at her, “I… I can’t move.” Suno’s eyes went wide and she had to force herself not to panic.

“G-Goku,” she stammered out, “Can you move your fingers or toes? Can you feel them?” She was screaming at herself inside. Why hadn’t she taken Roshi up on teaching her how to heal? Then she might be able to do something right now. She didn’t know what but it would probably be better than the nothing she could do right now if Goku was–

“No,” Goku said as she struggled to shake her head, “I mean I feel them but it just… it hurts too much to move!” Suno sat backwards and was visibly relieved. Well this was still bad but it wasn’t as bad as she had thought it was. “Suno,” Goku said, “We have to go to Korin’s tower.” Suno blinked and stared down at Goku. What the heck could Korin do for them? “Just trust me. We need to get him to train us again.” Suno sighed and nodded as she picked Goku up onto her back and carried her out of the crater. As she loaded Goku into her car, Suno could only hope that there was still a world left down here when they got off Korin’s tower.

OoOoOoO

The Capsule Plane carrying the five martial artists soared through the sky with Launch at the controls. She had the most experience with flying planes though that experience wasn’t exactly legal. Yamcha leaned over the back of the pilot’s chair and scanned the skies for anything that might be the sort of thing a Demon King would fly and, against hope, a yellow cloud. He sighed and looked down at the duffle bag over his shoulder that was carrying the Dragon Balls.

“Can’t believe we’ve gotten five of ‘em already,” he muttered to himself. Roshi nodded from his cross-legged seat on the floor of the plane. He seemed to be mentally preparing himself for the battle ahead.

“Hmm,” he muttered, “With no resistance. I suspect Piccolo became aware of our presence early on and has decided to let us do the work for him.”

“It seems Muten is right,” Tenshinhan called from the back of the plane as he looked down at the Dragon Radar in his hand as Chaozu sat beside him. “If I am reading this device correctly then there are a pair of Dragon Balls headed towards our direction.” Yamcha nodded as he felt a cold knot in his stomach.

“This is it,” he muttered as he looked out the window and pointed over Launch’s shoulder at the ground. “Land in that clearing,” he told her. “Put the plane behind that mountain.” Launch nodded tensely.

“Got it,” she said and steered the plane towards the ground with the controls in a white-knuckled lock. She brought the plane into a smooth landing and the five quickly filed out of the back of the plane and hid under an arch in the rock as they waited for the airship that apparently carried King Piccolo. Yamcha thought that it certainly didn’t look like the sort of ride a Demon would own. “So what’s the plan again?”

“Chaozu will wait here until we’ve managed to take Piccolo’s Dragon Balls,” Roshi told her as he buried the Dragon Balls behind her, Yamcha, and Ten. “Once we are able to get the Dragon Balls away from Piccolo, we’ll throw them to Chaozu and he’ll summon Shenron. You remember the words, Chaozu?” The alabaster imp nodded. “Good. As for you three…” Roshi struck each of them with a blow to the back of the neck that made them drop like sacks of flour. “You three will live.” He turned back to Chaozu and looked sternly down at him. “Don’t reveal your position for anything, do you understand? No matter what happens to me.” Chaozu nodded nervously and Roshi nodded back. He took a last deep breath to steel himself for the moment and tossed aside his jacket as he walked out from under the arch. “Piccolo Daimaou!” he called out. “I’ve got your Dragon Balls! Come down if you want them!” The bottom of the airship opened up and Piccolo slowly descended to the ground. He looked the same as Roshi remembered except, well, older.

“Finally,” Piccolo said sardonically, “Someone who knows who I am.” He crossed his arms over his chest and smirked. “You certainly don’t intend to challenge me, do you old man?” Roshi chuckled and scratched at his beard.

“Look who’s talking,” he taunted. Piccolo let out an irritated growl and Roshi chuckled again. “I know you quite well, Piccolo Daimaou, though I doubt you remember me. I could have stopped you three hundred years ago but I failed and others had to die. I won’t make that mistake again.” He got into his guard. “My Dragon Balls are buried somewhere in this field! You want them, you’ll have to kill me first!” Now it was Piccolo’s turn to laugh.

“So you think you’ll be able to beat the Dragon Balls out of me, is that it?” he asked. “I think you’ll find that an even more impossible task than you anticipated.” Piccolo’s face suddenly scrunched up and he seemed to be… swallowing in reverse. He opened his mouth to reveal two Dragon Balls on his tongue and chuckled before swallowing them again. “As an act of goodwill for gathering the Dragon Balls for me, I’ll give you this one chance to ask for a quick death.” Roshi scoffed and leaned his head from side to side to crack his neck.

“Are you gonna talk all day,” he asked, “Or are we going to fight?” Piccolo smirked and got into his own guard. A wind swept across the field as the warriors glared at one another. The Demon King and the Invincible Old Master. When they clashed, it was more than a battle, more than a desire for world conquest clashing against revenge for a fallen master. When the being of pure evil met the greatest martial artist to ever be born, it was the very essence of good against evil, of the dark versus the light.

Tenshinhan groaned in pain as he looked up at the battle in a barely-conscious daze. The others had yet to recover so, for the moment, only he and Chaozu could bear witness to the awesome spectacle. Piccolo Daimaou was like no creature he had ever seen before and Muten Roshi was attacking with skill and precision beyond anything Tenshinhan had ever dreamed of being capable of as a fighter.

‘What are you doing, old man?’ Tenshinhan wondered in a daze. He could sense the differences in Piccolo and Muten’s powers. It was a hopelessly uphill battle and, while Muten was fighting valiantly, Piccolo was clearly holding back and toying with the ancient master. ‘You can’t hope to outpower this monster. What is your plan?’

“Bankoku Bikkuri Shou!” Roshi called out and lightning shot forth from his fingertips to ensnare Piccolo. He growled in pain for a moment as his body went rigid before he suddenly drew in his arms and threw them out to shatter the field of energy. Roshi shielded his eyes from the blowback with a grimace. ‘Should’ve seen that coming,’ he thought as he brought his arm down just as Piccolo barreled towards him and smashed him away with a backhand. Roshi tumbled through the air but landed on the ground with his hands to handspring away and land on his feet as Piccolo charged again with a knee that passed right through him. Piccolo Daimaou blinked for a moment in disbelief as he was suddenly surrounded in a ring of Roshi afterimages. He sneered in contempt.

“An amusing trick,” he said in a backhanded compliment. “Now begone!” He threw his arms out and surrounded himself in a dome of ki that blasted the afterimages to nothing and Piccolo looked up to see the real Roshi hovering in the air above him, having leaped into the air with moments to spare, his shoes burned clean off and his pants singed. Piccolo growled and threw out an elongating arm only to be shocked when Roshi gave a roar and suddenly bulked up considerably. He grabbed Piccolo’s wrist and yanked him up into the air with astonishing force, pulling Piccolo face-first into his fist and spinning Piccolo around by the arm before slamming him into the ground. Roshi descended a few moments later like a missile and smashed into Piccolo with both fists with an impact that shook the Earth.

‘He might be stronger now,’ Ten thought as Roshi was suddenly sent flying out of the ground from a kick by Piccolo, ‘But it’s not enough! If you have a plan, now is the time!’ Had the old man really thought he could fight Piccolo Daimaou head-on?!

Roshi was gasping for breath as Piccolo pulled himself out of the ground and dusted himself off. His muscles were on fire and he was fairly certain he could feel a few broken bones already. To make things worse, he suddenly felt a tightening in his chest.

‘Should’ve known,’ Roshi thought as he chastised himself for this arrogance. ‘Couldn’t keep this form up. Not in this condition and not at my age. You’re a damn fool, Muten.’ He reached into his back pocket with one hand as Piccolo slowly drew closer. ‘Well,’ he continued to think, ‘Since I’m already dyin’...’

“I must admit,” Piccolo said as he walked towards Roshi, “You are a formidable warrior. That technique you used to increase your strength seems strangely familiar. You said you saw me in my first attempt to take over this world? Who are you? I would have remembered an enemy of your caliber.”

“Is that…” Roshi breathed out, each breath a struggle as his body began to shut down, “Is that so? Well enough… to call me… adversary?” Piccolo’s eyes went wide with realization and shock and he began to backpedal away from Roshi. “Ah,” Roshi said with a hint of amusement, “So you remember that? The name you gave to my master…” Roshi threw a capsule hard onto the ground and from the smoke appeared… a rice cooker with a magic seal slapped onto the side. “Mutaito?!”

“No…” Piccolo muttered in abject terror as he broke out in a cold sweat. “Noooo!” He howled in horror and flew back up towards the airship. “No, no, no, no, no!” It wasn’t fair! He was so close! How? How was this possible?! How could he be alive?!

OoOoOoO

“I don’t understand,” Pilaf muttered as they watched from the airship. “Why is he running?” Piano shook his head and grabbed at the frame of the window he was looking out of in green-knuckled fear.

“Thisss isss horrible!” He cried out in dismay. He hadn’t even been alive for a week! He wasn’t ready to die!

OoOoOoO

As Roshi threw out his hands, Tenshinhan watched with rapt attention and his third eye flitted to capture every single movement no matter how small. Ten had to burn this technique into his mind in case Muten failed.

“Mafuubaaaa!” Roshi called out and a green cyclone shot forth from between his palms to suck Piccolo in. The Demon King cried out in fear and desperately flailed his arms as if he were swimming through the air. He wouldn’t go back!

“Not again!” Piccolo cried as Roshi moved his arms to try and direct Piccolo down into the rice cooker. “I can’t go back! I don’t want to go back!” Not again, he thought, back into the screaming eternity of darkness! Roshi screamed with effort through clenched teeth as every vein stood out in his MAX Power body and the green vortex containing Piccolo drew closer and closer to the rice cooker until…

Muten Roshi’s heart let out its last beat. His arms dropped to his sides and the vortex dissipated to let Piccolo collapse onto the ground. His eyes began to close and his whole world turned slowly to darkness.

“Three hundred years…” Roshi whispered and a small smile curled onto his lips. “Not… not bad.” With those final words Roshi fell towards the ground and his body returned to its normal size. ‘Goku… Krillin… Gohan… Mutaito… I’ll be seeing you soon.’ And Muten Roshi was no more.

OoOoOoO

Far away in her palace, Uranai Baba felt her brother’s death. She could not sense ki as her brother had but a fortune teller could sense energy in her own way. She felt her brother pass from the world and felt an immeasurable sadness. When you live to three hundred years, you learn not to care about other people too much after a while. They’ll grow old and die right before your eyes. So when Muten died, she experienced a feeling she hadn’t known in centuries. Her heart was broken. She pulled her hat down over her eyes and wept miserably as her pink ghost shooed the customers away. There would be no good fortunes today.

OoOoOoO

Shen had flown back to the Crane Temple in disgrace after losing his students and being humiliated once again by Muten Roshi. He was in a blacker temper than he had ever known when he suddenly felt a ki that… wasn’t there anymore. A ki he had been able to feel practically his entire life.

“Muten?” he whispered in disbelief. Disbelief and… and sorrow? That didn’t make any sense. ‘“Until I have breathed my last, I will hate you, Muten Roshi!”’ The words echoed in his mind. He had hated Muten for centuries. Why would he feel grief? They had always been rivals. Why should he feel sorrow? Why… why was he crying?

OoOoOoO

Goku frowned as she lay in the back of Suno’s car as they drove closer to Korin Tower.

“Something bad has happened,” she muttered somberly. She didn’t know what but something was wrong. She desperately hoped no one else had died. She didn’t want to lose anymore friends.

OoOoOoO

Piccolo struggled to his feet after the old man had died with trembling breaths. His whole body was still shaking with fear that he tried to force down. That had been entirely too close. Now, though, the old man was dead. Nothing else stood between him and the Dragon Balls. He closed his eyes and focused on the unique energy signature he had felt when he had held the balls in his hand and called the other five forth with his mind. He heard them burst out of the ground and flew towards him to land at his feet. He coughed up his two Dragon Balls and the seven clattered together and began to glow.

“Eternal Dragon Shenron!” he bellowed to the sky. “I summon you!” The sky turned black as thunder rumbled and lightning shook as an enormous beam of light snaked off into the sky. Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and even Piccolo were stunned with awe.

‘Now, Chaozu!’ Tenshinhan told his friend through telepathy. ‘Go! You have to wish for the dragon to kill Piccolo before he can make his wish! Hurry!’

‘R-right, Ten!’ Chaozu thought before he flew off, resolute despite his terror.

“You who have gathered the seven Dragon Balls,” Shenron spoke in a voice as deep as infinity, “Speak now and I shall grant your–”

“Shenron!” Chaozu cried out as he flew closer, “I wish for you to destroy Pi–” Before he could finish the sentence, Piccolo glared at Chaozu and two thin red beams of death burned a hole through the back of Chaozu’s head. The albino dwarf tumbled through the dirt and came to lie dead at Piccolo’s feet.

Tenshinhan stared in horror with mouth agape and had to bite his lip so hard that it bled to keep from screaming in despair. He had just watched his only friend die… on his order.

Piccolo let out a sigh and shook his head. This day had been filled with entirely too many close calls. As he looked up at the Eternal Dragon, he felt a strange and familiar energy. When he realized what was so familiar, his mouth quirked up in what could only be described as a spiteful smile.

“Ah,” he said, “So you’re his creature are you?” His eyes turned black and he spoke something in a language that he could only recall ever hearing in a dream. Shenron’s eyes turned black as well and Tenshinhan’s despair only deepened as he watched the Eternal Dragon bow its head in subservience to the Demon King. “Shenron!” he commanded. “I wish for youth eternal so that I may rule the lesser races of man and beast for all of time!”

“A simple task,” Shenron asked as Piccolo’s body began to glow. Piccolo stared down at himself as the wrinkles disappeared from his skin and he reached back to feel his head take a rounder shape. He felt every fibrous sinew of his body course with magical energy as the yellow patches on his arms flushed with new life and turned bright pink. Piccolo laughed triumphantly as his body surged with power once more. “It is done. Farewell.” Shenron began to ascend as Piccolo shook his head and grinned.

“I think not,” he told the Dragon. “You might someday be used against me. I cannot allow that. I cannot allow anything that might threaten my power to live.” He threw out his hand up toward Shenron. “Obliterate!” He bellowed as the blast shot forth and struck Shenron full-force in the stomach. The dragon roared in pain before it exploded violently while the sky above turned bright blue. Piccolo smirked as chunks of Shenron’s corpse rained around him before dissolving into ash. Then his smirk widened into a full-on grin and he let out a loud, boisterous laugh of triumph. He had won! He was invincible! Finally, after centuries of waiting, he would be master of all the world. There was nothing he could do to stop him.

Chapter Text

Piccolo Daimaou flew back up into the ship and walked back towards his throne. Like the worthless sycophants that they wore, Pilaf and his slaves crowded around him and smothered him with hollow praise.

“Congratulations, Lord Piccolo!” Pilaf said with a terrified false earnesty. “You have recovered your youth! Soon, we shall all rule the world!” Piccolo glowered down at them before turning his attention to Piano.

“Do you know this technology well enough to fly this ship?” he asked. Piano nodded and Piccolo gestured towards the bridge. “Then do so.” Shu looked nervously at Pilaf as Piano walked towards the controls and took the chair.

“I-it’s fine,” Pilaf assured Shu unconvincingly, “I’m sure that Lord Piccolo is just giving you a break. You’ve worked very hard flying the airship for the last few days. We've all worked hard to help Piccolo regain his youth, r-right?” He looked up at Piccolo pleadingly and Piccolo… smiled.

“Yes,” Piccolo told him in a reassuring tone, “You certainly have. In fact, I think it’s time you all received your reward.” Pilaf and Shu grinned widely although Mai looked suspicious. Their expressions all unanimously turned to horror as Piccolo pointed his palm towards them. “Your eternal reward.” The trio barely had time to scream before the white-hot blast stripped them to the bone and blasted a hole in the bottom of the ship. Piano fought to regain control while Piccolo was unmoved by the rocking of the vessel around him.

“You might have waited,” Piano muttered under his breath, “To kill them until after I had landed?” Piccolo ignored his son and settled down into his throne.

“My mind is clear. My youth restored. My body strengthened. Take me to my throne.”

OoOoOoO

It was a perfectly normal afternoon at the palace of King Furry, the ruler of the world. Four golden spires atop alabaster towers, around a center spire that topped a wider blue tower that all stretched towards the sun. There was a soft breeze blowing through the trees and the guards were making their way around the perimeter as King Furry shuffled papers on his desk and enjoyed a rare moment of peace in his usually busy days of running the world. The breeze blew through his open window and he sighed pleasantly before he leaned back in his chair with his hands on his lapels. It was a lovely day.

Then an airship dropped out of the sky and smashed into one of the towers before violently exploding. The guards charged towards the fire with the logical assumption that it had been a crashed landing and there might be survivors inside. So they were shocked when ten lances of light shot from the flames and pierced through their skulls. Piccolo Daimaou walked through the flames with Piano following closely behind, neither worse for wear after their landing. Piccolo smiled to himself as other guards charged them and rolled his shoulders.

“I do love the way humans die,” he said before he waved his hand in a wide arc to blast them all to bits. It was a simple enough path to the king’s office. He could have flown, honestly, and been done in minutes. However, it was far more fun to make him sweat. They had such strange little weapons, these humans. Full of sound and fury but in the end accomplishing nothing. Soon enough, he stood before the door to the king’s office and blasted the door down with a kiai. He strode into the room as bullets bounced uselessly off his skin and simply waited for them to stop. “Who is the king among you?” he demanded before settling his gaze on an orange fox-man sitting behind the desk the other men were crowded around. “Is it you?” The fox-man nodded. “Rise.” The fox-man stood slowly from the chair with trembling limbs and walked towards the front of the group. “Kneel.” The fox-man knelt before Piccolo… and twin threads of death flew from Piccolo’s eyes and punctured through his skull. His shocked expression was frozen onto his face as he slumped to the floor. “No one who leads so many could kneel so quickly.”

“I’m the man he died for,” a gruff, older voice said from amongst the crowd of men and animal-men. They parted and a blue wolf-man stepped forward, “I am the King,” he told Piccolo, “I’ll kneel, if it will save lives.”

“For a time,” Piccolo told him, “Starting with your own.” King Furry walked towards Piccolo Daimaou and stood before him, face wracked with turmoil before he slowly bent his knee.

“Oh God,” King Furry sobbed as he looked down at the floor. Piccolo smirked.

“ He will not help you,” he assured the now-former King.

OoOoOoO

Goku frowned as she looked up at Korin’s lookout. It looked like it was getting closer but it just didn’t feel like they were going fast enough. Something really bad was happening with that Piccolo jerk, she just knew it!

“How much longer?” Goku asked Suno as the other girl made her way swiftly up the tower while carrying Goku on her back.

“I don’t know,” Suno muttered through gritted teeth. “I don’t mean to be rude, Goku, but this isn’t as easy as it looks!” Goku recoiled slightly and Suno sighed. “I’m sorry, Goku. I guess I’m just as worried as you are.” They climbed in silence for a little bit before Suno said something. “How are you feeling? Can you move at all?”

“A little bit,” Goku said as she wriggled her tail. She was still in a lot of pain but she could move a little. She wasn’t going to try and move too much because she didn’t want Suno to drop her. Then Suno would have to climb all the way back down and up again!

“Okay,” Suno said after they climbed for a little longer, “I think I see the top! Hold on tight!” Suno reached her arms out and pulled herself up through one of the holes in the bottom. For a few seconds she was dangling in the open air by just her fingertips before she pulled herself and Goku up into the lookout. “Can you walk?” Suno asked Goku. Goku nodded and hopped off of Goku’s back. She was still sore but she didn’t want Suno to keep carrying her around. She felt kinda bad and besides that, she wasn’t a baby!

“Korin!” Goku called out as she and Suno climbed the stairs to the next floor, “Where are you?”

“No need to shout,” Korin said as they climbed up the stairs. “Where else would I be?” He leaned on his cane and looked at the two of them suspiciously as his whiskers bobbed. “Hmm. Sure looks bad down there. So what the heck are you doin’ here?”

“We were hoping you could train us again,” Goku told him. “Last time I got strong enough to beat up that Tao Pai Pai jerk. If you trained me again, I could defeat Piccolo for sure!”

Korin stared at her for a minute before walking off to grab something. “Hold on. You’re in pretty rough shape. Lemme fix that.” He returned a moment later with the pot of senzu and threw one at Goku. “Here, eat this.” Goku stared at the bean for a moment, confused, before shrugging and eating it. She and Suno were both surprised as Goku’s body was instantly healed and Goku was reenergized.  Korin laughed at this before saying, “See? More than just an easy meal, isn’t it?”

Goku laughed as she stretched her now pain free body, “Wow, you’re right! So will you train us again?”

“Nope,” he told her flatly. “There’s nothin’ left for me to teach you.” Goku was crestfallen. This had been her only idea!

“Why not?” she asked. “We need to get stronger to fight Piccolo Daimaou!” Korin sighed and shook his head.

“There’s no way I could train you to get stronger. You’re already stronger than me, Goku, and getting Suno up to your level wouldn’t help you.” Korin looked at them with as genuinely apologetic expression as you could get from a cat whose eyes were always closed. “I’m sorry but there’s nothin’ for you to learn here. I know it’s hard, but there’s just no way to win against Piccolo Daimaou. He’s unlike anything on this planet, and I’ve seen it all in these eight hundred years I’ve lived.” Goku was quiet for a while and stared uselessly at her hands. Was this it? Was it all over? Then Korrin said something that shook Goku to her very core. “Not even Muten Roshi could stand against him.”

Goku was frozen. Master Roshi was… dead? She had a bad feeling earlier before the sky went dark and Shenron was summoned but… was that what she was feeling? At once, her memories of her old Master returned to her. The first time she met him, when she went to him for help with Frypan Mountain, the year-and-a-half she spent training with him and Krillin before the 21st Budoukai, her fight against him at the finals, getting the Itetsuku Sphere from him, the raid on the Red Ribbon Army’s base, the tournament at Uranai Baba’s palace, and everything at the 22nd Budoukai. She had loved being around Master Roshi because, in a way, he reminded her of her grandpa. When he was around, she missed her grandpa a little less. And now… he was gone.

A rage surged inside Goku the likes of which she hadn’t known before. Even the rage she had felt from Krillin’s death could not compare for it had been tempered by her guilt whereas her anger over Master Roshi’s death only added more hatred to the one who took them away from her. Never before had Goku been so thoroughly consumed by the desire to kill someone before. No matter what it took, even if it killed her, she would make Piccolo pay.

“That…! That monster! I’LL KILL HIM!” Goku turned around and started to run towards the edge of the platform but was stopped by Korin’s voice.

“WHAT?! What do you think you’re doing?! Do you want to get yourself killed this time?!”

Goku turned to look at Korin, “I’m gonna do whatever I can! I can’t let him get away with killing Master Roshi!” This seemed to take subdue Korin as his words were much softer as he held out his paw.

“But wait… Please… You’re gonna die for sure this time!”

“I don’t care! I can’t just do nothing!”

Korin was silent for a moment as he contemplated something, his face scrunched up in many different emotions.

“Please,” Suno said softly, “There must be something, Master Korin. Anything. Whatever it is, whatever you’re hiding, we’re willing to take the risks.”

“Very well,” he muttered. “If you’re already willing to die, there’s something you can do. Hang on.” He quickly puttered off down the stairs and returned with a teapot and a tea cup. “You know that water I had you two chasing? This is the real deal. This is the Water of God.” Korin poured the water into the cup and offered it to Goku. It was the darkest water Goku had ever seen and she could feel the cold moving through the cup and up her arms. It smelled kind of funny, too. She wasn’t looking forward to drinking it.

“So, if I drink this, will I get stronger?” Goku asked.

“I can’t say for certain. The Water of God isn’t some game like the “Super Holy Water”, it’s a magnificent elixir that can draw out any and all hidden strength within you. So if you’re already as strong as you’re gonna get, this won’t do anythin’ for ya.”

“Hmm…” Goku hummed and looked at her fists, “I wonder… Do I still have any hidden powers…?”

Suno smiled at her friend, “Knowing you? Of course. You probably have more power than we can even imagine. Why don’t you drink it and see?”

“Not so fast,” Korin interrupted. “The Water of God is also a potent toxin. If you don’t possess tremendous stamina, spirit, and will to live; you’ll die instantly.” Goku’s eyes bugged out wide and so did Suno’s. That certainly explained why he had been so hesitant to bring it up.

“Wait, what?!” Suno asked in shock. Goku stared down at the water again and frowned. Now she really didn’t like it.

“It’s only after your body battles and defeats the poison that any hidden strength can be drawn out.”

“Di-Did you drink it, Master Korin?” Suno asked.

“I tried but I couldn’t take it and spat it right out.”

“How many people had drunk it and lived?” Goku asked. If not even Master Korin could stand it then anyone who has must be really strong!

“Do you really wanna know?” Korin asked. Goku nodded but Suno wasn’t so sure. “Fourteen people have drunk the Water of God… Every one of them a skilled and powerful fighter… But nobody lived to tell the tale.”

“Not even one?! ” Goku exclaimed. This certainly raised the question of how Korin knew that the water would, in fact, make you stronger but both of them trusted him enough not to question him. Goku had a determined look on her face as she said, “I’ll try it!”

“Are… Are you certain? This is a decision only you can make…”

Goku nodded, “I’m not gonna die. If I don’t do it and fight Piccolo then I’m dead anyway. I’ve got to avenge Krillin and Master Roshi so I have to get strong enough to defeat Piccolo no matter what!”

Korin nodded slowly as Goku brought the cup to lips. Just before she could drink it, an unexpected voice made her stop.

“Wait! Goku…” Suno paused and close her eyes before taking a deep breath. When she reopened her eyes, they were as clear and determined as they had ever been. “If… If you’re going to drink the Water of God then… Then I’ll drink it too!” Korin stared at her for a moment and shrugged before heading back downstairs.

“Suno,” Goku said softly as she looked at her friend, “You don’t have to do this.” She’d told Suno before that she didn’t want any more of her friends to die and if something were to happen to Suno, this would be even worse than if Suno were killed in a fight. It would be Goku’s fault. Again.

“Yes I do, Goku,” Suno said firmly, “I… I don’t want to li–”

“Okay,” Korin said as he appeared again with another cup, “Got it!” Suno’s face was bright red as Korin poured the cup and handed it to her. “This is your last chance to ba–” Goku immediately slammed the cup back and drained it before letting it fall from her fingers. “...Wow.” Suno grimaced and chugged the Ultra Divine Water as well. For a few seconds Goku felt… okay. It didn’t even taste that bad. Then she was on her back and screaming because everything was pain.

OoOoOoO

Tenshinhan had woken up Yamcha and Launch after Piccolo had flown off and had to tell them the bad news. Launch’s hair had turned blue while she was unconscious and her personality had been extremely different. Which confused Ten but hadn’t seemed that important at the time. It was a sullen flight back to the Kame House and the Bulma girl’s reaction had been… distraught, to say the least. Ten had left them to their grief and flew off to the south and found an island where he could be alone.

For several minutes he had wept, miserably and bitterly. It had been such an alien experience to Ten that for the first few moments he hadn’t even understood what was happening to him. Tears were for other people, weaker people. Yet he had wept all the same. He wept for Chaozu, his only friend. He wept for Muten Roshi, who had seen the light in him. He wept for the world and how it would suffer under the heel of Piccolo Daimaou. Quickly enough, however, Ten’s despair had given way to determination. As he stood atop a rocky outcrop and laid the rice cooker down on the ground, he told himself that the age of demons hadn’t begun just yet. He thrust out his hands and a green cyclone of light began to swirl between them.

“Mafuuba!”

OoOoOoO

Yamcha glowered on Roshi’s couch at the TV while the news was playing. Launch was in the kitchen and staring out the window again and Bulma was curled up on the couch beside Yamcha. Part of him knew that he should put an arm around her, comfort her, do something. He’d promised her that no one would die and he’d let her down. He couldn’t do it, though. He was in too black of a mood. They’d failed. Big time. He just felt so… helpless. So useless. The anchor-cat suddenly announced that King Furry had an important announcement and Yamcha’s stomach tightened into a miserable knot. The king stood stock-still in front of the camera in a nervous sweat and looked like he was being held hostage. That only made Yamcha feel worse.

“Citizens of the world,” King Furry said slowly, as though he could delay whatever awful news he was about to reveal by taking as long as possible to say it, “I come to you today with tidings graver than I could possibly imagine. I am afraid I must tell you that as of this moment I must step down as King. Your new ruler is… Piccolo Daimaou.” The camera swung around and Piccolo Daimaou’s face filled the screen. Bulma shrieked in shock and gripped Yamcha’s arm as Launch ran into the room to see what was happening. Bulma had never actually seen Piccolo before.

“Hello,” Piccolo said smugly. “For those of you who do not know who I am, I am Piccolo Daimaou. I am now the ruler of this world! I despise ‘peace’ and ‘justice’. As of this moment, I dissolve all peacekeeping and law enforcing agencies. Terror, violence, and death shall reign! To commemorate my ascent to the throne, this day, May 9th, shall forevermore be known as Piccolo Daimaou Day!” Then he chuckled and said, “And just wait until you see how I plan to celebrate.” The camera panned out slowly to show Piccolo seated in a throne with a globe beside him. He spinned the globe idly and smirked. “As you all know, y–” he paused and chuckled, “ My planet is divided into 43 sectors. Each year, on the anniversary of this day, I shall draw a slip of paper containing one of these sectors. That sector will host the Piccolo Day celebration… before I destroy it.” He chuckled again. “After all, you do seem to love your fireworks, don’t you?” Then he threw back his head and let out a booming and boisterous laugh. Yamcha growled between his teeth and his fingernails dug into the couch as Piccolo rummaged through a box containing the slips of paper. “Ah, it appears that the first sector shall be… Sector 29! West City!” Bulma brought her hands up to her mouth in horror. Her parents! All her friends! “I am a merciful king, of course. Your deaths shall be instantaneous.” Then he laughed again and Yamcha grabbed the TV suddenly, raising it high overhead with a roar before smashing it to pieces on the floor.

“That is it!” he declared furiously as he gripped the hilt of his sword. “I am not going to just stand around and wait for him to wipe out the entire planet!” Yamcha turned his attention to Launch. “Launch, go sneeze. Then we’re gonna find Tenshinhan.” To his surprise, Launch shook her head.

“No,” she said emphatically, “If we’re going to fight, I’m going to be me!” Yamcha nodded and admired Launch’s courage. He supposed it didn’t make a difference either way.

“Alright,” he said, “Now let’s–”

“No!” Bulma cried out as she grabbed Yamcha’s arm with a desperate urgency, “You can’t do this to me, Yamcha. Not again! How many more people are going to die this time?! I have to go with you! He-he’s going to blow up my city!” Yamcha’s first impulse was to wrench his arm away and scold Bulma for what could only be described as insanity but when he looked at her eyes… her beautiful blue eyes that were shining with barely-held tears, he thought better of it. That wasn’t what was needed right now.

“Look, Bulma…” he sighed and put his arm around her, “This is our last shot. Launch, Ten, and me; we’re the only ones left strong enough to try and fight Piccolo. If we lose, there’s no coming back either way.” Bulma whimpered and clung to Yamcha tighter. He smiled at her and turned her chin up to look at him. “Hey, there might not be anyone strong enough left but I know there’ll be someone smart enough.” Bulma’s eyes widened with understanding and Yamcha nodded. “Between you and your dad, you’d be able to find somewhere that Piccolo couldn’t get to you and however long it took, you’d be able to think of a way to beat him. That’s why you need to stay behind, Bulma. If we lose, you’re the only one left who could save the world. I believe in you.” Bulma smiled and wiped her eyes before grabbing Yamcha’s hair and pulling him into a kiss. It was a kiss like they might never see each other again. A kiss like the end of the world. After an all-too-brief eternity, Bulma smiled and stroked Yamcha’s chin, looking a bit more like her old self.

“Well, you two better get goin’,” she said with a grin before giving Yamcha a smack on the butt. He jumped and blushed before he ran out the door and Bulma grabbed Launch’s arm as the other girl started to leave. “Hey,” she said perhaps a bit too harshly and Launch looked… angry? Could Blue Launch get angry? “I mean…” Bulma sighed and let go of the other girl’s arm. “Just keep Yamcha safe, okay?” Launch smiled and gave Bulma a quick hug.

“Sure thing,” she told Bulma as she broke the embrace and gave a little wave as she ran out the door. She hopped onto Yamcha’s Flying Squirrel and wrapped her arms around his middle as they flew south to find Ten.

OoOoOoO

Tenshinhan guided the swirling green light down into the rice cooker and watched it snap shut with a satisfied smirk. This had been the third time he’d successfully performed the Mafuuba and he was feeling fine.

“I knew I could do it,” he muttered to himself as he wiped sweat off his brow. “I knew I was strong enough.” He felt a little more of the confidence, the arrogance he had felt before meeting Son Goku when he heard a horn from above. He turned around to see Yamcha and Launch, the girl who could apparently change the color of her hair.

“Well,” Yamcha said as his flying contraption hovered down to be level with Ten, “Looks like you’re makin’ progress. Wanna go fight the Demon King?” Tenshinhan raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

“I did not have any other plans,” Ten told him with the tiniest bit of a smile. Yamcha’s eyebrows raised up on his face in surprise.

“Was… was that a joke?” Yamcha asked in almost disbelief before he waved a hand dismissively. “Never mind. Between the three of us, especially with the Mafuuba, we have a real shot at beating Piccolo. One final, all-out assault. No going back, no retreat. Just so you know what you’re getting in for.” He held his hand out for Tenshinhan to shake. “Last chance to back out… although I don’t really have a plan if we don’t have the Mafuuba…” Ten stared down at Yamcha’s hand for a moment before he clasped it firmly and shook it.

“You know,” Ten said with a chuckle, “It’s funny. Until yesterday, I wanted to be the greatest assassin of all time and had trained all my life to kill people. Now I’m off to save the world.” Yamcha grinned and shrugged.

“Eh, I was a desert bandit. I’ve killed like five people directly and… I dunno, more indirectly by stealing their stuff. Launch used to rob people at gunpoint and steal cars and planes.” Launch nodded and Tenshinhan’s eyes widened in surprise.

“It doesn’t matter what we were or what we did,” Launch said, “All that matters is who we are and what we’re going to do.” Yamcha nodded and turned the flying machine towards the horizon.

“C’mon, Triclops,” he said as he revved the engine. “World ain’t savin’ itself.”

OoOoOoO

Goku sat up with a groan and slowly opened her eyes once everything stopped hurting. As she rubbed her eyes and blinked them a few times, she realized that something was different about her and it wasn’t just that she was stronger. She could feel something different. She could feel… energy. She could sense her friends’ energies and Piccolo’s terrible, evil power. She could feel Suno and Korin’s powers, too!

“Wow, Suno,” Goku said to her friend as the other girl sat up and held her head, “You got stronger, too!” Suno slowly shook her head and opened her eyes.

“Whuh?” she muttered as she looked at Goku. “Oh! You can sense ki too, now?” Then she gasped in surprise and clapped her hands to her cheeks. “Goku! Your power’s huge! ” Goku grinned and stood up before she helped Suno to her feet.

“Well,” Korin said with a smile, “Glad to see it didn’t kill either of you. Would have been a pain to push your bodies off the edge of the tower.” They stared at him and he sighed. “It was a joke.”

“Master Korin,” Suno asked, “How long have we been out?” Korin frowned and started counting on his fingers while muttering under his breath.

“I’d say, oh… about six hours now.” Suno and Goku’s eyes bulged at that statement.

“Six hours?!” they asked together in disbelief. That was so long!

“Well,” Korin said, “The good news is that Piccolo hasn’t killed anyone else yet. Although people have started killing each other since Piccolo got rid of the police and military. Your three friends are going to go try and fight him so I’d get a move on if I were you.” Goku frowned at that. There was no way Ten, Yamcha, and Launch could beat Piccolo but she could sense how far away they were.

“We’ll never be able to get to wherever they are in my car,” Suno muttered with a hand under her chin in thought. Goku shook her head and balled her fists resolutely.

“We have to get there,” she said firmly. “We have to help them!” She wasn’t going to let any more of her friends die! Piccolo Daimaou wouldn’t be killing anyone else! “If that jerk hadn’t blown up my Nimbus…”

“Oh,” Korin said, “Is that all?” He hopped up onto the railing around the platform and whistled loudly. Goku and Suno ran to look over the railing as they heard a deep rumbling from just underneath. Goku gasped and stared as an enormous Nimbus hovered just under them. It was as big as a whale! “Take as much as you want,” Korin told her. “That’s the original cloud that yours broke off of.” Goku grinned and was prepared to jump before Korin put a paw on her shoulder. “Oh, almost forgot. Can’t have you runnin’ off to fight to the death lookin’ like that, can we?” He gestured to the torn and tattered remains of Krillin’s suit and pointed his staff at her. “Bazam!” Goku was suddenly hit with a bright light and her clothes were replaced by a full Turtle School gi! There were, Goku noticed, a few changes. The black shoes, blue wristbands, and blue belt were now all white, and so was the character for “Turtle”. Korin shrugged and grinned. “I jazzed it up a little.” Goku hugged Korin before she jumped onto the huge yellow cloud and bounced as she landed.

“Make sure it’s a big piece,” Suno told her as Goku started gathering the cloud up in her arms, “The old one was getting kinda cramped.” Goku nodded and made sure she had a big pile of clouds in her arms before she threw it into the sky and it hovered just over her head. She jumped onto it and Suno landed behind her.

“Let’s go, Nimbus!” Goku told the cloud as she thrust her fist out towards the horizon. The cloud streaked across the sky and the two girls laughed as Korin watched them fly off. He could tell Goku was about Piccolo’s equal in power now. He only hoped that it would be enough to be equal. He turned his gaze towards the ceiling and sighed.

“You sure you don’t wanna come down and help?” he asked. As usual, there was no answer.

OoOoOoO

Piccolo Daimaou sat idly in his throne and smiled in contentment. All his enemies were defeated. There was nothing left to fear, no challenge left to overcome, and he was too great a coward to face him. He could close his eyes and feel all those worthless ants slaughtering each other. Not all of them, of course. Some were trying to hold onto their “goodness” or “humanity”.  In time, however, they’d all be murdering each other like rats fighting for a scrap of cheese. It was their nature to be cruel, after all.

Yet now, in his moment of greatest triumph, he suddenly felt a strange… emptiness? His adversary was long dead. All the Earth was his domain and there were no worlds left to conquer. It was tedious enough to make him weep and yet… and yet… there were other worlds to conquer, weren’t there? Even before he had begun his conquest over mankind centuries ago, Piccolo could remember looking up at the stars and feeling them calling to him, calling him home. As if… as if the stars were singing, only to him. Yes, Piccolo decided, that would be it. He did not care how long it would take, he had eternal youth after all, but some day he would leave this worthless world and spread the terror of Piccolo Daimaou out across the stars.

Piccolo suddenly felt the smallest pressure on his mind that snapped him out of his reverie. It seemed that there were still some fools who sought to oppose him. As he did not feel that the three worthless powers were worth his time, he quickly made the chant and opened his mouth. The egg flew out and shattered on the ground and Piccolo smirked as he felt no strain from the exercise whatsoever.

“You,” he gestured to his newest son, “Shall be Drum.” Drum was a tall, robust creature. He was nearly as tall as Piccolo himself with mottled green skin and pointed ears and no nose. Like all his brothers except for Cymbal, he had clothes; a pair of blue pantaloons and blue boots with an orange sash around his middle. “There are interlopers coming that seek to do me harm. Destroy them!” Drum nodded and charged through the nearest wall… and immediately plummeted several stories to the ground below. Piccolo groaned and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He knew the fall wouldn’t kill the boy but… why were they all so stupid when they were born?! “Piano,” he bellowed, “Get in here!” It was time to see what his bright, young boy knew about rocket ships.

OoOoOoO

“All right,” Yamcha said as the King’s Palace drew near, “Let’s go over this one more time.” He felt like a bit of an asshole for saying that, they’d been coming up with and going over the plan, and backup plans, for the last six hours. Still, it was better to be over prepared than underprepared. “We’ll all go at Piccolo at once to take him off-balance. When Launch and I get him to ourselves, we’ll try and give you an opening, Ten. That’s when you hit him with the Mafuuba.”

“I still don’t understand why I don’t attack with the Mafuuba immediately,” Ten objected. “He won’t be expecting it. The only person he believed to know the technique is dead. He was even surprised that Muten was capable of it.” Yamcha sighed and shook his head.

“Ten, I’m telling you,” he’d said as he’d said several times over the past several hours, “It’s because he didn’t expect it to happen before that he’ll be on his toes. That’s why he had that monster of his steal the listings of all the competitors in the Budoukai. He’s afraid that any martial artist might be able to use it. Once me and Launch get him to focus on us, that’ll be your best chance.”

“Uh, guys,” Launch said with a tap on Yamcha’s shoulder, “I think someone’s expecting us.” She pointed down to the ground and the three saw a large, green… creature staring up at them.

“Huh,” Yamcha muttered, “That is an ugly sumbitch, isn’t he? Hold on, Launch!” Yamcha suddenly pushed forward on the controls and brought the Flying Squirrel into a nose dive towards the strange green monster, down and down until he could see the white of its beady eyes. “Now!” He and Launch jumped away as the machine smashed into the monster in a ball of fire and rolled onto their feet as Tenshinhan landed beside them. Yamcha grinned as the flames roared but then he frowned as the demon walked out of the flames unharmed. “Man,” he muttered, “As much as that thing cost, I would hope it did something!”

“Ha,” the demon laughed, “You’ll have to try harder than that, little man! I am Drum, son of Piccolo Daimaou, and I will–” suddenly Launch sprinted forward!

“Shut up already, you big dumb jerk!” She flew at Drum with a kick and pushed off the wall when he sidestepped to slam her elbow into the small of his back. Drum staggered forward but then swung back to hit her with a hammer-like blow that smashed her into the wall.

“He’s fast for a big fellow,” Ten muttered. Yamcha nodded and the pair charged him with a roar and attacked with a flurry of punches and kicks. Launch joined in as well and the three kept him off-balance with an assault from all sides until Drum swatted Launch away with a backfist and sent Yamcha through a tree with a headbutt. He was able to handle Tenshinhan easily enough once the triclops was on his own and grabbed him by the throat. Ten let out a gurgle and kicked his legs as Drum raised him high overhead and squeezed. Launch bounded to her feet and let loose a huge kiai through a roundhouse kick that struck Drum right in the elbow of the arm that was holding Ten and forced him to release his grip with a cry of pain.

Yamcha leaped at Drum with the broken tree he’d been put through high overhead in both hands and smashed it down onto the demon, who snarled up at Yamcha as the tree burst into splinters. His eyes glowed and crackled with energy and Launch leaped onto his back to yank on Drum’s ears, the twin lightning bolts from his eyes missing Yamcha by inches before he drove his palm into Drum’s gut. Launch yanked back harder as Ten dove down and smashed into Drum’s knees to bring Drum crashing to the ground. Yamcha and Ten stood side by side as Yamcha brought his hands to his side and Ten pointed a glowing finger at Drum.

“Dodonpa!”

“Kamehameha!”

The two beams flew forth and met another pair of lightning bolts that Drum launched from his eyes in a fiery collision. Launch smashed her elbows into Drum’s kidneys to send him stumbling forward as Ten charged forward and drove both knees into Drum’s chest to send him staggering back with his hands covering his face against a salvo of kiai from Launch. Drum roared and swatted the blasts away and prepared for another attack… when Yamcha’s sword pierced through his back and burst out of his stomach. Yamcha grit his teeth and yanked up to split Drum’s neck and head completely in half, coating his sword and face with purple blood as the dead demonspawn fell forward. The three gathered around the corpse and Yamcha wiped his face with the bottom of his shirt.  

“Well,” he muttered, “That wasn’t so–” Yamcha was cut off by the sound of someone slowly clapping. The three looked up to see Piccolo Daimaou slowly descending towards them and Yamcha had to fight to keep his grip steady on his sword.

“Well, well, well,” Piccolo said. “It seems that there are creatures left foolish enough to try to defeat me. Although I’m sure you’d prefer to think of yourselves as ‘brave’. I’m afraid that you’re actually quite mad.” Yamcha raised his sword up as Ten and Launch got into their guards on either side of him. “Oh? No great speech? Nothing about how you won’t let my evil stand or how I’ll pay for all the lives I’ve taken?”

“Kiss my ass and go to Hell, you big green loser!” Launch blurted out angrily and Yamcha stared at her in wide-eyed disbelief. Her hair was blue, right? Piccolo threw his head back and laughed.

“Well,” he said, “I’ve certainly never heard that bef–”

“Now!” Ten called and the three charged him at once. Launch got in close with knees and elbows while Ten had took the middle range with his kicks and spear strikes and Yamcha had the longest reach with his sword. Not that it mattered since none of them seemed to be able to hit the bastard! He was faster than anything they’d ever seen! Even Tenshinhan, who’d seen Piccolo fight Roshi, was unprepared for just how powerful Piccolo was with his youth restored. He swatted them all casually aside before Ten managed to spring up onto his feet and threw out his hand. “Dodonpa!” He called out. He couldn’t risk the Kikouhou since he had to reserve his energy for the Mafuuba. Not that it mattered as the beam passed right through him and he was suddenly in front of Ten with a hand around his throat.

“That technique seems familiar,” he said. “You must be a student of someone who opposed me.” He squeezed and his claws bit into Ten’s neck as Ten let out a croak of pain.

“D-did you ever see… this?!” he brought his hands up to his third eye with his palms facing out, “Taiyoken!” Piccolo cried out in pain and tossed Ten away as he was hit directly in the eyes with a blast like the glare of the sun. There was a high-pitched whistle as Yamcha hurtled his sword at Piccolo with all his might and bit into Piccolo’s wrist before the blade shattered.

“What?!” Yamcha cried incredulously as he and Launch charged. “Oh, come on!” They let fly another flurry of punches and kicks before Piccolo suddenly slashed Yamcha across the face with one hand and his other hand sliced deep, bloody gashes into Yamcha’s stomach to send him flying away. Yamcha cried with pain and clutched at his bleeding face as Piccolo drove a knee into Launch’s chest to send her crashing into one of the towers. Ten jumped at Piccolo again and Piccolo smashed him into the ground with a slap before he turned his attention to Yamcha.

“You…” he growled, “You have been the first in centuries to wound me, the Demon King.” He came closer and closer to Yamcha as the former bandit clutched his face and whimpered in pain, “So it seems only fitting that none in centuries shall have felt as painful a death as you!” In that moment, time for Launch slowed to a crawl. Tenshinhan was down. Yamcha was helpless. She was the only one who could save him. She couldn’t be afraid! In that moment, something stirred in Launch that she’d never felt. A power and a courage that even her blonde self had never known. She brought her hands down to her side and felt that power build and build.

“Kaaaameee…” ‘Sneeze!’ the other voice told her. ‘You’re not strong enough! You don’t have the guts! You need to be me!’ “Haaameee…” ‘You’ll screw up! You’ll be afraid! You’re always afraid!’ ‘No. No I’m not!’ “Haaaaa!” The blast raced out of Launch’s hand like a bolt of lightning… and Piccolo turned at the last moment and backhanded it over the horizon. That was all the distraction they needed.

“Do it, Ten!” Yamcha cried out despite his pain, “Do it now!” Ten threw down the rice cooker and thrust out his hands.

“Mafuubaaaaa!” he called out and as the rush of green energy swirled out towards him, Piccolo’s expression was almost as exasperated as it was terrified. Tenshinhan fought to control the swirling vortex of energy as Piccolo raised and fought inside it. Even the Kikouhou hadn’t been this painful! His arms were on fire and his head was pounding like it was going to explode! He let out a roar and pulled Piccolo down towards the rice cooker and was so focused on fighting the Demon King that he couldn’t see the spiderweb of cracks spreading across the bottom of the rice cooker from the damage it had taken during his training…

Until it exploded violently into shards. Some of the shards cut into Ten’s legs and he was sent flying back as Piccolo collapsed to the ground. He rose quickly to his feet and stomped towards Tenshinhan with a hand drawn back to kill. Launch leaped at him and Piccolo swatted her away with the sound of a sickening snap when she landed awkwardly on her arm.

“I am so tired of that technique!” Piccolo growled as he stomped down on Ten’s ribs. He raised his hand high and stopped when he heard a high-pitched whistle like something was falling towards him from high above….

OoOoOoO

Goku and Suno tore through the sky on the Nimbus, the new one flying far faster than the old one ever could. “They’re fighting Piccolo,” Suno told Goku. When they sensed that Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Launch had arrived at Piccolo’s location; they had decided that Suno would keep tabs on the battle as a whole while Goku would focus solely on Piccolo to get as firm of a grasp on his ki as possible.

Goku grunted in response as she grit her teeth. The others already had to fight that new mass of evil ki that, according to Suno, was even stronger than the jerk that killed Krillin and now they were fighting Piccolo. Goku knew that Tenshinhan was just about as strong as she had been at the Budoukai and even she couldn’t do anything against him when they fought. As it was, she could only hope that they’d make it in time to save them as she urged the Nimbus on faster.

“Yamcha just went down. He’s still alive but….” Suno reported. Even as she focused on the battle, she could feel Goku’s ki bristling with anger. “Launch’s ki spiked. I think she did the Kamehameha but….” They were so close now. Just a little more time was all they needed. “I… I don’t know what Tenshinhan’s doing. It’s like a ki attack but it feels… weird. It’s kind of like the Kikouhou but not as fierce. I guess it didn’t do anything but he’s much weaker now. And now Launch’s ki dropped sharply…. Goku… I think Piccolo’s going to kill Tenshinhan!”

Goku growled before shouting “Hold on!” and setting the Nimbus into a steep dive. They rocketed towards King Furry’s palace, the wind whistling through their ears as they plummeted towards the ground. As soon as a tall figured garbed in blue was visible, Goku launched herself off of the Nimbus and towards it. The figure looked up just in time to dodge out of the way before Goku’s feet could crash into his face.

“G-Goku! And Suno, too! You guys are alive!” Yamcha cried out in surprise as Goku glared as Piccolo and Suno landed beside her.

“A-Are you really Goku?” Ten asked. The ki was sensing from the two in front of him, especially Goku, was insane. She wasn’t nearly this strong back at the Budoukai!

“Well, this is a surprise. I was certain that I had killed you,” Piccolo said. A shared look was all it took before Suno quickly started to get their friends away from the impending battle.

“I guess I’m pretty tough!” Goku said before she looked at Piccolo suspiciously. Something was different. “Hey, did you change your face?” Piccolo chuckled menacingly as he spread his hands out wide and gestured towards himself.

“I’ve regained my youth and true power. Do you know what that means? It means that the opponent who beat you utterly last time was only a shadow of the warrior you face now!”

Goku smirked, “You’re not the only one who’s gotten stronger! I’ll beat for sure this time!”

Piccolo scowled, “You truly are a glutton for punishment.” He slowly started walking forward until he was right in front of Goku, “You say that you’re going to defeat me? The Great Demon King Piccolo? I beat you. Humbled you. How could this possibly be any different?”

Goku grinned as she clenched her fists and glared up at Piccolo, “Because this time, I’m not going to stop fighting until you’re dead!” Piccolo scoffed.

“I don’t have time for your games. I have a celebration to attend and a city to raze. You’ll be dead in five seconds.”

Almost faster than Yamcha, Launch, or Tenshinhan could see; Piccolo flashed towards Goku and struck at her with a powerful knifehand strike. Without giving any ground, Goku merely brought up an arm and effortlessly blocked it. Piccolo and Piano gasped in shock while Ten, Launch, and Yamcha looked on in awe. Undeterred, Piccolo sent a blindingly fast punch towards Goku with his other hand but she redirected it and flipped him over her head and into the central tower in one smooth motion.

All of the spectators except for Suno were stunned as the tower came crashing down on top of the Demon King. Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Launch in particular couldn’t even believe that the person standing before them was Goku. They had thrown everything they had at Piccolo and couldn’t even so much as get dust on him while Goku was tossing him around like he was nothing.

The rubble shifted as Piccolo got up, completely unharmed. He glared with murderous fury at Goku who merely smiled impudently and said, “I think five seconds are up.”

Like that, something inside Daimaou snapped. The air became heavy with killing intent as he screamed in a voice full of venom, “YOU! I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER!” He jumped high into the air before flying down towards Goku at incredible speed. Just before he landed, he reached out with one hand and fired a powerful ki blast towards her and bellowed out “Obliterate!”. Goku jumped to avoid it but Piccolo sneered as he landed and immediately fired another blast at her. Unable to dodge, Goku was forced to cross her arms and take the blast head on. The force of the blast launched her towards another tower so she quickly flipped and landed in a crouch on it, the massive structure buckling from the force, before launching herself back to the ground.

Piccolo stared at the unharmed girl in equal parts amazement, confusion, and trepidation. “Just what are you?! This is some kind of joke! Th-this is utterly ridiculous!”

Goku smoothly slid into her guard stance and hardened her glare, “Get ready! Now it’s time for my attack!”

Goku drew back her arm as Piccolo looked on, amused, “Attack? You are going to attack me? The Daimaou?” His face then contorted with rage as he screamed, “YOU ARROGANT LITTLE BRAT! WHEN YOU SEE MY TRUE POWER, YOU SHALL KNOW DEATH!”

“You took away a lot I really cared about. You’ve hurt and killed a lot of people! You won’t get away with it!”

The air between the two fighters froze with tension so thick that it was almost hard to breath. Neither Goku nor Piccolo so much as twitched as they waited for the chance to move. Then it happened. In a flash, Goku charged Piccolo and rammed the fist she had pulled back into the side of his face. Piccolo went flying backwards and ended up sprawled on the ground a fair ways away.

From where he sat on the sidelines, Yamcha blinked a few times. “Did- Did anyone see that?” Launch and Ten shook their heads, both of them staring in Goku in equal parts awe and fear. Noticing that someone was being left out, the trio slowly turned their heads to look at Suno. Feeling their eyes on her, Suno looked at them out of the corner of her eye before nodding and returning her attention to the fight “Hey, Suno, you don’t happen to be as strong as Goku, are you?”

Suno shook her head. “I’m also a lot stronger than I was before but Goku’s a lot stronger than I am.”

Piccolo groaned as he slowly stood up. “You’ll pay for that!” He charged at Goku and she ducked underneath his horizontal knifehand strike before countering with a sliding kick to his foot. She quickly jumped towards Piccolo but was caught off guard as he pushed himself off with his hands and sent a kick into her chest. Goku rebounded off the ground and managed to catch Piccolo square in the chest with a kick which stunned him long enough for her to follow up with a punch to the exact same spot and a kick to his head.

Piccolo stumbled backwards and glared fiercely at Goku but then the glare softened and he began to do the oddest, most disturbing thing. Piccolo Daimaou began laughing.

“Well done,” he said as he wiped some purple blood off of his chin. “I gladly commend you, no other being has ever damaged Piccolo Daimaou’s pride such as you.”

“I’m tired of playing around! Show me what you’ve got!” Goku challenged. Piccolo smirked.

“Heh, so you noticed. I’m not surprised. I’m a bit out of practice, so fighting at my full power would leave me exhausted and I’d prefer not to do it since I still have things to do today but it seems you’ve given me no choice… my adversary.”

Piccolo clenched his fists as he started screaming. Veins appeared on his hands and head as his entire body was enveloped in an aura of demonic ki that wavered and branched off like electricity. Ten, Yamcha, and Launch all moved back a few steps as they looked on in horror and even Suno took a half step back at this monstrous ki she was sensing. Goku, however, was completely unfazed.

“I hope you have made peace with whatever God you believe in,” Piccolo said as he finished powering up.

“Same to you,” Goku said, “Now I can fight you as hard as I want, too!”

“Do you expect me to believe that you weren’t putting out your full strength either? You must take me for a fool.”

“Well, you are a big jerk.”

“And you are a walking corpse!”

Goku slid into her guard stance while Piccolo remained in his casual stance. He just smiled and waved his hand to send a powerful kiai at Goku who was forced a step back. Behind her, everything from the palace to the other end of the city was blown away. Even Goku was impressed by it.

“You really are strong. If anyone deserves to brag, it’s definitely you,” Goku said with a smile that dissolved into a glare. “ Let’s go. ”

Goku and Piccolo charged at each other and then promptly disappeared. All throughout the courtyard, shockwaves sprang seemingly from nowhere as the two fighters clashed at supersonic speeds. The remaining towers shook, the nearby walls were destroyed, and even the ground was being cratered by the power of the impacts. Tenshinhan, Yamcha, and Launch could barely even stand their ground.

While their clash seemed simple to most of the observers, it was anything. Both Piccolo and Goku were anticipating and reacting to moves four or five steps ahead. Goku went for an uppercut to Piccolo’s stomach so he tried to counter with a horizontal knifehand strike. Goku stepped deeper into her attack and ducked under his arm before leaping up with a roundhouse kick aimed at his face. Piccolo leaned backwards to avoid it only for Goku to abort that attack and bring her leg in to chamber a kick aimed at the side of his head. He leaned away and forwards to avoid it only be caught by Goku’s true attack as she brought her other leg around and connected with his jaw.

Piccolo got launched away and quickly regained his footing before stretching his arm out to grab Goku before she could land. He pulled her over to him and slammed his fist into her face sending her bouncing off the ground and into a wall. He immediately fired off a ki blast and smirked as she jumped up to avoid it. As she was distracted by the blast, his arm stretched out once again to grab her only to sail through her afterimage. He was stunned for only a split second but that was all it took for Goku so slam the Power Pole into his outstretched arm and send it crashing into the ground.

Goku landed and grabbed Piccolo’s arm as he started to pull it in and use a sweeping kick to launch a kiai at Piccolo’s shins. As he was bowled over, Goku yanked on his arm as hard as she could to pull him over to her. While he was in transit, she brought her hands to her sides as Piccolo looked up at her. “Kamehameha!” The pure blue beam was met by a dark yellow beam from Piccolo’s mouth and the resulting explosion covered the entire area in dust. Before Goku could even blink, Piccolo’s fist rammed into her stomach and lifted her off the ground before he sent her away with a backhand.

Before Goku could regain her balance, Piccolo brought his overlapped hands in front of him as he began focusing his incredible power. “I’ll show you a demon’s wrath! Bakurikimaha!” Knowing that blocking would not be an option if she wanted to keep fighting, Goku used multiple kiai to launch herself out of the way only to realize too late that now her friends were being targeted.

Seeing that the blast was heading right for them, Suno did the only thing she could think of. Using a low powered kiai, she pushed the others out of the way before using the last instant to avoid a direct hit. The blast clipped her and sent her spinning away, her clothes ruined and her right side a bloody mess, went on and vaporized the city.

Goku tore her attention away from the scene and back towards Piccolo, trying to take solace in the fact that she could still feel’s Suno’s ki. With her rage rekindled, Goku launched herself at the recovering Piccolo and caught him square in the face with a dropkick. The instant she recovered, she flashed towards Piccolo as he turned to face her and sent a flurry of jabs hammering into his stomach before following up with a rising uppercut that sent them both into the air. She then brought her hands to her side and finished up with a powerful Kamehameha to his chest that launched him into the ground where he created a large, dust filled crater.

Goku landed and maintained her guard even as she struggled to catch her breath. They had only been fighting for a minute or two but the amount of energy she had already expended was far greater than any of her previous fights. At this rate, she only only keep fighting at this level for maybe another minute or so if she was lucky.

Just as they were beginning to wonder if Piccolo had fallen unconscious, a voice rang out, “Bakurikimaha!” Goku only had time to look stunned before a bright, white sphere crashed into her, the explosion destroying most of what was left of the courtyard. When the dust settled, Piccolo was standing in his crater, his gi in tatters and his purple blood trickling out from various wounds all over his body. Goku, meanwhile, was lying on her back in another crater, he gi similarly ruined and her body similarly covered in wounds.

Everyone froze for a moment as they waited for something to happen. Then Piccolo started laughing. It was a low chuckle at first but it started to build more and more as time passed. Before it could get into full blown maniacal laughter, however, he quickly stopped as Goku struggled to her feet.

“You’re running out of energy,” Goku said weakly. “That last one wasn’t nearly as strong as the first.”

Piccolo went wide eyed before he chuckled knowingly. “I see now. You are just like me, adversary. Your power is unlike anything else on this planet. How fitting. Come. We are both at the end of our strength so let us see whose will is stronger.”

Slowly, agonizingly slowly, Piccolo and Goku drug themselves out of their respective craters and faced each other on the bit of even ground left. Neither of them assumed a guard stance and both were panting heavily as sweat poured down their bodies. Using great effort, Goku drew back her and slammed it into Piccolo’s stomach with a yell. He staggered backwards, coughing up blood, before sending a kick into Goku’s shoulder. She stumbled sideways and caught Piccolo in the side of the knee with a hammerfist strike which brought him down to his knees. Before she could follow up, Piccolo caught her in the face with a sharp jab which sent her staggering back only to return with a left cross to his jaw. At the same time, they both thrust out their hands and let loose a kiai which sent them tumbling away from each other, Goku conveniently skidding to a stop near her friends.

As they struggled to their feet, Piccolo spoke up, “You have fought well, adversary. Never has anyone pushed me so far before. Tell me your name so that I may honor you after you die.”

Goku spat out blood as struggled to stay on her feet, “I’m Son Goku and I’m not gonna die here!”

Piccolo laughed, “Very good, Son Goku! That’s the kind of spirit I expect from my adversary. However, your time has come to an end. I will end you with this next attack!” Summoning up the last of his energy, Piccolo flew high into the air and began charging one last blast.

Goku looked up at Piccolo, despair and determination running through her body and shaking her arms. If she put all of her power into one more punch, she was sure she could defeat Piccolo but getting to him was the problem. If she were to use the energy needed to jump or launch herself with a kiai, she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to beat him. Just as she was about to try, a hand grabbed her by what was left of the back of her gi. “Finish him, Goku!” Launch said as she used her good arm to throw Goku towards Piccolo.

Goku stared at Launch in shock before movement caught her attention. Yamcha was in the air beside her and threw her even higher while shouting “Kill that bastard, Goku!”

Goku regained her senses and started pouring all of her power into her fist as Suno appeared besides her and sent her even higher. “You can do it, Goku!”

Goku was almost there. Piccolo was so close and she could tell that he was starting to panic but she still didn’t have enough speed. Even if she connected, it wouldn’t be quite enough. Then someone else was beside her. One last friend who hadn’t really seemed to be much of a friend at all before. “Do it now, Son Goku!” Tenshinhan yelled as he threw Goku with all of his strength.

Piccolo Daimaou looked down at the girl flying towards him. For the first time in his long life, he understood the one thing that he had instilled in everyone else. The one thing that had always been his mightiest weapon. The one thing that let him survive some of his first battles against foes that just might have been able to kill him before he became the Daimaou. For the first time in his long life, Piccolo Daimaou felt terror as he watched this girl, this beast , fly towards him with her right fist outstretched. There was no dodging. There was no blocking. The ki he had been charging for his attack was long forgotten. He could only helplessly watch as his death approached him.

With a mighty scream, Goku’s fist tore through Piccolo’s stomach as she flew straight through him. Tears started welling up in her eyes as she realized what she just did. “I… won…” It was finally over. Krillin and Master Roshi could rest in peace now. “I WON!” Goku cried tears of joy, relief, sorrow, and pain as she fell back down to Earth.

Meanwhile, Piccolo floated in the air, teetering between life and death. “Un… believable….  That I, the great Piccolo…. Would be defeated…. I can say nothing… but brilliant…. But do not imagine… that we demon-folk… will so easily… disappear…!” Using the last of his life energy, Piccolo created one last egg and shot it as far away as he could. “One day… my son… avenge your father’s death! Don’t… let the fire of evil… die out….”

With that, Piccolo’s soul left him and his body fell to the Earth. Piccolo Daimaou was dead.

Chapter Text

Goku dropped out of the sky like a rock, plummeting towards the ground at an alarming speed. She was too tired to try and maneuver herself and didn’t have the energy to slow her descent with a kiai but part of her didn’t care. Piccolo was defeated so everything was okay now. Just before she could hit the ground, however, Nimbus swept under her with Suno riding it as she landed on it.

“You did it!” Suno cried out in excitement as she wrapped her arm around Goku before she winced in pain from moving her bloody right side. “Eeesh,” she muttered as she let go of Goku, “We’re pretty rough, aren’t we? Let’s go back to Master Korin.” Then she turned to the others and gave a wave. “We’ll be right back!” The others groaned in response as Suno and Goku flew off. Tenshinhan staggered over to Piccolo Daimaou’s corpse and glared down at it. He drew back his foot and kicked at it, over and over. He wanted Piccolo to get up so that he could kill him and do it again and again and–

“Hey,” Yamcha muttered as he put a hand on Ten’s shoulder and shook him, “It’s over.” Ten looked over his shoulder at the other warriors. Yamcha had torn his shirt to wrap around the bloody gashes on his chest and face and Launch had torn one of her pant legs to make a sling or her broken arm. Ten sighed and shook his head.

“Yes,” he said, “But Shenron is still dead.” The others nodded sadly and looked down at the ground. There was no way to revive those that the demon had killed, was there? They were suddenly broken out of their solemn mood by the sound of helicopter blades and were shocked to look up and see… a news helicopter.

“Was that thing always there?” Launch asked suspiciously. Yamcha shrugged and waved at it. Launch waved as well and Ten awkwardly raised his arm towards the chopper.

OoOoOoO

Bulma was incredibly grateful that one of her capsules contained a television. Once she’d remembered it and had it connected to Roshi’s cable, she’d spent hours nervously switching between flicking through channels and pacing around the house. Every channel had just been showing Emergency Broadcast screens but she had remained vigilant. She’d lucked into the station that had been broadcasting the fight against Piccolo just as he’d arrived to fight the others and had watched the fight with rapt and almost terrified attention, choking back sobs before Goku and Suno had finally arrived. They were alive! The rest of it was a haze before Piccolo was finally defeated and Goku and Suno flew off again.

“As you can see with the aid of our Eye in the Sky,” a rabbit-woman newscaster was saying now, “The battle with Piccolo Daimaou is at an end. The darkest moment in recorded history has passed and we have several brave young warriors to thank for our freedom, even though our cameras were unable to see most of the final confrontation between Daimaou and that strange young girl. The fighters have declined a statement and–” Bulma shut off the TV and flopped back against the couch with a relieved sigh. It was finally over.

OoOoOoO

Korin winced as he saw Suno and Goku lying in a heap on top of the Nimbus.

“Eesh,” he muttered, “You two look pretty rough.” Suno chuckled at that before Korin returned with a senzu for each of them to heal their wounds and pointed his staff at Suno to fix her clothes with a magical blast.

“Thanks!” Suno said appreciatively as she looked over her new clothes, “But some of our friends were hurt pretty badly during the fighting. Could we take, like, three more senzu?” Korin shrugged and handed her three more which Suno gratefully stuffed into one of her pockets before bowing.

“So now all we have to do is gather the Dragon Balls next year, right?” Goku asked excitedly. She couldn’t wait to get Krillin and Master Roshi back and to bring back everyone else Piccolo and his demons had killed.

“‘Fraid not,” Korin said sadly. “Piccolo Daimaou killed Shenron.” Goku and Suno stared in crestfallen shock at that statement. They didn’t even know that the Eternal Dragon could be killed!

“Th… th….” Goku growled between clenched teeth and balled her fists, “That’s not fair!” After everything they’d done, they wouldn’t be able to bring anyone back? She let out a frustrated growl between her teeth and smashed her fist through one of the pillar that held up the roof.

“Hey, hey!” Korin shouted as he threw his hands out pleadingly. “Calm down! Don’t destroy my house!” Suddenly his ears perked up and he turned his attention towards the ceiling. “Really,” Korin said to… no one. “You’re sure about that?” Then he turned his attention back to Goku. “It looks like you might have a chance to get Shenron back after all, kiddo.”

“What is it, Master Korin?” Suno asked. “Whatever it is, we’ll do it!” Korin shook his head at Suno.

“Sorry, kiddo, but Goku’s been requested personally.” Goku and Suno blinked at that.

“Requested by whom?” Suno asked in confusion.

“God,” Korin said flatly. Suno’s eyes bugged out wide and Goku just shrugged.

“WHAT?!”

“Okay,” Goku said. “Where do I go?”

“He lives above the tower,” Korin explained. “There’s a hole in the top that you can put the Power Pole into and it’ll send you up to his Lookout.”

“ WHAT?!” Suno repeated.

“So I just go up there and talk to him and God’ll bring back Shenron?” Goku asked. Korin nodded.

“That’s the long and short of it. He also said something about wanting to train you.”

“ WHAT?! ” Suno said one last time with her disbelief echoing into the open air before she threw up her hands and just gave up. This was, officially, too weird. “Well… I guess I’ll be seeing you, Goku,” she hugged her friend and turned to leave before Goku grabbed her shoulder.

“Wait,” Goku said, “Suno… I want you to enter the next Tenkaichi Budoukai.” Suno started to say something before Goku cut her off. “I wanna see how strong you can get and I wanna see how good of a fighter you can become. Promise me, Suno.” Suno shrugged and smiled.

“Y’know what? Sure. I can do that.” Goku grinned and pulled Suno into a great big hug before she let Suno go and watched the other girl fly off with the Nimbus. She looked back at Korin who gave her a thumbs up and jerked it towards the ceiling.

“Time’s a-wastin’, kiddo.” Goku nodded and climbed up onto the bannister before grabbing one of the pillars and climbing up onto the roof. Sure enough, in the little golden teardrop on top of the roof there was a hole just big enough for her Power Pole. She jabbed the base of the pole down into it and looked up into the sky. She couldn’t see anything up there. She took one last breath to steel her nerves and gripped the pole tight in both hands.

“Power Pole extend!”

OoOoOoO

Suno returned to the remains of King Furry’s palace where the others were still waiting for her and hopped off of Nimbus with one hand in a pocket.

“You guys look like you could use a little pick-me-up,” she said as she held out her open hand with the three senzu sitting in her palm. Ten, Yamcha, and Launch stared back and forth between Suno and her hand with what could only be described as incredulous skepticism. “I know, I know. Just eat ‘em.” Ten reluctantly took the first bean and crunched it a few times before swallowing it. The skin under his ribs fluctuated for a moment before his bruises disappeared and he gasped suddenly as there was a strange and muffled popping sound. Ten ran his hands up and down his ribs with an expression of wonderment on his face. Launch took the second bean and chewed it quickly before swallowing. Her bruises also faded away and there was another popping sound as her broken arm shot straight out and tore up the sling. She grinned as she moved and flexed her arm to test its mobility. Yamcha took the last bean and shoved it into his mouth. He quickly undid the wrapping around his chest to see that his wounds had closed up and removed the wrapping around his eye even more quickly, grinning as he held his hands up in front of his face.

“Woohoo,” he crowed, “Depth perception is back!” He ran his hands over his face and chest and was surprised at what he found. “Huh. Scars are still there… Awesome!” Launch smiled and leaned against Yamcha’s shoulder as she ran a finger along the scar on his cheek.

“I think they look pretty cool,” she said with a tone that was almost flirting. Yamcha blushed and was thankful when Tenshinhan changed the subject.

“Suno, is it?” he asked and Suno nodded. “Where is Son Goku?” Suno chewed on her bottom lip for a moment and wondered just how much she should tell the others. She barely understood what was going on herself.

“Weeeeeeeellll…” she said slowly, “Let’s just say that Goku is going to bring back Shenron and then she’s going to do some special training.” Yamcha and Launch grinned and gave a cheer at that while Ten frowned and folded his arms over his chest.

“I see,” he said, “Tell me, how is it you became so powerful? I could sense your ki at the Budoukai, yet now you have surpassed me. And Goku is far stronger than either of us.” Suno, once again, decided to give Ten a less-than-complete version of the truth.

“I received training from Master Korin, the God of Martial Arts at the top of Korin Tower.” After a slight pause she added, “He’s a cat.” Tenshinhan only nodded and rubbed his jaw in thought.

“Then that is where I will go once Chaozu is revived. I will not accept third place!” Yamcha chuckled and gave Ten a pat on the back.

“Calm down, triclops. There’ll be time for training and being all serious later. The world’s saved! Let’s go back to Kame House and celebrate!” Yamcha blinked before he realized that he’d destroyed his only means of transportation. He sure as hell wasn’t going to make Ten carry them and he didn’t think the Nimbus would let him ride it. “Uhhh…” he turned awkwardly to Suno, “Can we borrow your car?”

OoOoOoO

Goku had been soaring up and up and up into the sky for what seemed like… a while. She definitely didn’t trust herself to look down and was gripping the pole with her legs as well as her hands now as the wind whipped through her hair. Finally she could see something that almost looked like the bottom of Korin’s tower. As she got closer, though, Goku realized that whatever the Lookout was was way bigger than Korin’s home. Her Power Pole reached up until it hit a little teardrop on the bottom that was just like the teardrop on Korin’s roof. There was a ladder next to the teardrop and Goku quickly climbed onto it before she scrambled up towards the top and gasped in surprise. It was huge! There were palm trees and there was some kind of big palace thingy or a temple and… a weird man with skin as dark as coal, red lips and big white eyes. He was a little taller than Goku and wore a white turban, white pants, a red vest and red curly shoes. She walked towards him slowly and smiled.

“Hello,” she said with a wave. “I’m Son Goku!”

“Greetings,” he said back. “This one is called Popo.” He looked Goku up and down suspiciously. “You cannot be the one who defeated Piccolo Daimaou! Korin is playing a joke on my master.” Goku frowned. What a jerk!

“Well, I did,” Goku said defensively. “So can I talk to God now? I need him to bring back Shenron so I can bring back my friends!” Popo brought a hand up to his mouth and chuckled.

“This one does not think so, little monkey girl! If you want to speak with God, you must get past this one.” Popo brought his hands from behind his back and crossed his arms over his chest. “And this one does not believe that will happen anytime soon.” Goku frowned and balled up her fists as she got into her stance.

“So you wanna fight?! Fine!” She charged at Popo with blinding speed and threw out a barrage of punches. Popo blocked every one easily before folding his arms again. “Wh-what?!” Popo’s genial expression never faltered though it clashed with his mocking tone.

“You are a monument to wasted movements, little monkey,” Popo told her as she attacked him again. He dodged her attacks without even seeming to move! She kicked right through him and sprang back… to see that he was gone. “You have strength but it is useless without speed.” Goku charged at him before disappearing into an afterimage. Popo smiled and stuck out his fist which Goku ran right into. This guy hit as hard as Piccolo Daimaou! “You must learn to calm your heart and then you could move like lightning!” Goku growled as she rubbed at her face.

“Calm my heart, huh? Okay!” she said firmly as she walked right up to Popo and stared at him, focusing on him and copying his blank expression. He stared at her for a moment before he flicked her across the nose.

“This is not calmness,” he told her, “It is just not thinking. It is stupidity.” He smiled and ruffled her hair. “This one understands, though, for I can tell it is your natural state.” Goku slapped his hand away and roared before she continued her attack… at nothing. He was behind her again! She threw out a kick and Popo wasn’t there, either! “Look above, little monkey!” Popo called and Goku looked up to see Popo doing a handstand on a palm frond. “You see, little monkey? You cannot get past this one and God is far more powerful than I! Run along home, little monkey! It would take you years and years to defeat this one!” Goku growled and brought her hands down to her side.

“I don’t have years!” she declared as she charged her energy into her hands. If she didn’t defeat Popo before the year was up she wouldn’t be able to bring everyone back! “Kaaaa meeeee haaaa meee…”

“That’s quite enough,” called an elderly voice from the temple in a somewhat stern tone. It reminded Goku a little bit of Master Roshi in a way. Goku let her hands drop as Popo hopped down from the tree and bowed low at the waist as Goku heard the clacking of a walking stick across the tile floor.

“This one apologizes most profusely, Oh God,” Popo said humbly. The voice chuckled as it drew nearer and a figure stepped out from the temple.

“I’ve told you before, Popo, I prefer to be called–”

“Piccolo!” Goku screamed with rage as she bolted past Popo, leaving the strange man shocked as she charged towards the Demon King. He was old again and his robe was white instead of black and he had a blue cape and a walking stick but it was still…

Piccolo reached out with one finger and stopped Goku’s fist.

“Please,” Piccolo said, “There’s no need for that. I understand that we may look quite similar but I can assure you small one that I am not Piccolo Daimaou nor is he me. Not anymore, at least.” He turned to Popo as he lowered his hand. “Popo, could you fetch Shenron for me?” Popo bowed again and walked into the temple. He sighed and shook his head. “I should have known Korin wouldn’t have told you the whole story, heh heh heh. The old scoundrel.”

“So,” Goku said awkwardly as she let her hands drop to her side, “Are you God?” This guy sure didn’t seem like Piccolo. Not-Piccolo chuckled and shook his head.

“I suppose that’s one way of looking at it,” he said, “Although I prefer to be called ‘Kami’. I’m not a God in the sense that people down there usually think of. I didn’t create the world or the universe and neither did my predecessor. In fact, aside from the Dragon Balls, I can’t create much of anything. I see myself as… more of a guardian.” Popo returned with a tray with a shining silver lid and lifted the lid with a flourish as he presented the tray to Kami. There was a little statue of Shenron lying on the tray… and it had been smashed to bits. Kami sighed and shook his head with clear disappointment. “My, my,” he said like a disappointed schoolmaster. “My other half certainly created quite the mess, didn’t he?” He held his hand out towards the shattered statue and his palm and fingertips glowed as he slowly swirled his hand around with little trails of light dragging behind his hand. The pieces of Shenron glowed and began to draw themselves together as Goku watched with starry-eyed awe. When the little Shenron was all put together again, it glowed bright white and shot off the tray before it streaked down towards the world below like a shooting star. “He’ll be returning to the Dragon Balls now. Normally, they’d have to wait a year for them to work again but I’m feeling generous. They’re ready to be wished upon right now!”

OoOoOoO

Back at Kame House, there was a celebratory air between the seven now that the spectre of Piccolo’s rule had vanished and Goku was working to bring back Shenron. Everyone was relieved and happy that the dark times were nearly over. Bulma and Yamcha clung to each other on the couch like they were magnetically charged. Launch had gotten a couple of beers from the fridge and had offered one to Ten. Judging by his reaction, it had been the first one he’d had in his entire life, which had made Launch laugh.

Suno was sitting on Roshi’s beach chair and enjoying the sound of waves crashing and the sweet smell of salt air. When she got older, Suno thought, she might like to live somewhere like this. Maybe not an island in the middle of nowhere but maybe somewhere on the coast. It was as different from Jingle Village as West City had been.

There was a ping from the Dragon Radar on the coffee table and Bulma pulled her face away from Yamcha’s long enough to look at it and quickly broke their embrace as she held the Radar up in the air.

“Guys,” she said, “My Radar just detected the Dragon Balls! They just activated and they’re all still together!” Yamcha grinned and hopped off the couch.

“Then what are we waiting for?” he asked before motioning for the others to follow him and they ran for the door. “Let’s go!” They all took off into the sky with Bulma leading the way. Bulma was on her sonic discs while Suno flew on the Nimbus, Yamcha, Launch, and Puar took Suno’s car, and Ten flew under his own power.

OoOoOoO

“So," Goku said as she looked up at Kami, “I’m confused. You said you weren’t Piccolo ‘anymore’. When did you stop being Piccolo?”

“A long time ago,” Kami said before beckoning her. “Walk with me and I shall explain everything.” Goku walked beside Kami and the pair walked around the Lookout with Popo trailing behind and Goku occasionally peering over the edge. It was a long way down! “Hundreds of years ago, Piccolo Daimaou and I were a singular being and a warrior of incredible power. I served as an apprentice under the ‘God’ before me and had wanted to take up his mantle when he died. However, there was evil in me and God must be pure of heart. So I trained and meditated intensely until I was able to expel that evil which became Piccolo Daimaou.” Kami sighed and stopped for a moment to lean on his walking staff. “It is a decision,” he said, “That haunts me to this day.” As he continued walking, he said, “Oh and there was some business with a strange little blue man. I can’t recall his name… you’ll have to forgive me, it has been a few hundred years.”

“Was his name Pilaf?” Goku asked curiously. That would be pretty funny! Kami laughed and shook his head.

“No,” he told her, “I’m fairly certain that wasn’t it.”

OoOoOoO

“Shenron,” Puar called out in what was becoming something of a tradition, “I summon you!” The sky turned black and Shenron appeared with a roar.

“You who have–” it began to say before it stopped suddenly. If an impossibly large magical dragon could look perplexed, this was no doubt what it would look like. Whether it was due to the fact that it was being summoned by the strange rainbow cat yet again, that it knew that it had been hours since its last summoning, or the possibility that it was aware of its own death was uncertain. “You who have gathered the seven Dragon Balls,” it began again, “State your wish and I shall grant it.” Bulma took out the capsules containing the bodies of Krillin, Roshi, and Chaozu and opened them carefully to let the bodies lay neatly on the ground. She didn’t know what would happen to a living person inside a capsule but she was fairly certain it wasn’t good. She’d have to run tests on that. There were homeless people in West City, right?

“Shenron!” Suno called out, “We wish for you to restore and revive all those who died because of Piccolo Daimaou and his children!”

“A simple matter,” Shenron said with a nod of its head and a flash of its eyes. Roshi, Chaozu, and Krillin suddenly gasped and gulped in air as they sat up. Roshi put a hand at his chest as Chaozu rubbed a hand across his temple and Krillin rubbed his neck with one hand and his knee with the other.

“Were either of you in an impossibly long line?” Roshi asked.

“Yeah,” Krillin nodded, “And I could hear some big guy at the end of the line screaming about his desk.”

“I feel the crushing weight of my entire faith being a colossal lie,” Chaozu said bluntly.

Everyone laughed.

OoOoOoO

From Namu to Giran and his fellow dragon-men to the citizens of Mabel Village to the royal guards; all over the world, those who had been laid low by Piccolo and his demonspawn suddenly found themselves returned to life… and terribly confused.

“Y’know,” Mai muttered as she helped Pilaf and Shu to their feet, “I’m beginning to think that the whole ‘world conquest’ thing isn’t entirely worth it at this point.”

“Yeah,” Shu agreed, “I wasn’t getting a good vibe from the blood lake or the ogres.” Pilaf swallowed and nodded. Maybe it was time to start doing good things.

OoOoOoO

Goku looked down at the world when Shenron was summoned. They were so high up that she could see where the black sky stopped and the blue sky began again. It was weird! Then the black sky faded away and Shenron shot off into the sky.

“I thought he was in that little statue,” Goku said. “Where’s he going?” Kami shrugged.

“I… do not know for certain,” he admitted. “The statue isn’t really Shenron, it is a phylactery that connects Shenron to this world.” Goku blinked in confusion. “A phylactery is a… never mind,” Kami said with a chuckle. “I suppose it does not matter.”

“So,” Goku said as they went back to walking, “Korin said you wanted to train me?” Kami nodded.

“Indeed. You see, Goku, I need you to stay here and train with me for three years for the next Tenkaichi Budoukai.”

“Why?” Goku asked. Why did Kami care about the Budoukai?

“Because,” he said gravely, “I have no doubt that is when Piccolo shall return.” Goku gasped in disbelief.

“Y-you’ve gotta be kidding!” she objected. “I killed him! I went right through his chest!” Kami nodded with a frown stuck on his weathered face.

“I am afraid,” he explained, “That in the moments before he died, Piccolo was able to create one last child, putting his own essence into its creation. That son will return at the Tenkaichi Budoukai stronger than ever and he will want revenge. You must defeat him, Son Goku. You must make sure he dies this time”

“Then I’ll train with you,” Goku said emphatically. “I’ll do whatever it takes!” Kami nodded and smiled slightly.

“I knew you would–”

“Just one question,” Goku said suddenly. “Where’s the bathroom?” Popo and Kami face-faulted and Kami struggled to prop himself up with his cane.

“Down the hall,” he said as he pointed back to the temple. “First door on your left.” Goku ran off and Popo helped Kami to his feet.

“Kami-sama,” Popo said as he dusted Kami’s cloak, “If Piccolo dies then you shall as well. Is this plan wise?” Kami nodded gravely and looked out over the horizon.

“It is my duty,” Kami said as his gaze drifted down to the world he was guardian over. “A duty that I have perhaps put off for far too long.”

OoOoOoO

“So,” Roshi said after they had all returned to Kame House and Suno relayed her story, “You say Goku has gone to receive some sort of ‘special training’?” Suno nodded as Roshi gave a knowing chuckle and stroked his beard. “If she was powerful enough to defeat Piccolo Daimaou then I fear that she’s already left us far in the dust.”

“Jeez,” Krillin muttered, “I wonder how strong she’s going to get.” Ten ground his teeth and marched over to the door.

“Well I for one am not going to just sit around and wait to find out!” he declared boldly before throwing open the door. “Come along, Chaozu! We’re going to this ‘Korin Tower’ to receive the same training as Son Goku and Suno. I will not let myself be surpassed!” The pair flew out the door and Krillin, who had not been alive for even an hour, turned to Roshi.

“Could I borrow your magic carpet?” he asked. “I need to get stronger, too!” Roshi chuckled and took the carpet out from under the couch and then unfurled it and gave it a shake before handing it to Krillin who ran out the door and flew off after Tenshinhan and Chaozu.

“Hey, wait up!” Yamcha called out as he, Launch, and Puar raced out after them. Yamcha threw down a capsule that had his backup hoverboard and took off with Launch holding on tight.

“Oh no ya don’t!” Bulma declared as she strapped on her sonic discs and flew out the door. “You keep those hands where I can see ‘em, Launch!”

“Don’t come back unless you’re gonna replace my TV!” Roshi yelled after them as Suno flung open the window.

“Guys,” she called out, “Guys, you have to climb the tower!” She sighed and shook her head with a smile. Upa and Bora would tell them.

“So,” Roshi asked once all the others were gone, leaving only himself, Suno, and Turtle, “What will you do now?” Suno thought about that and chewed on her lip for a moment before responding.

“Y’know what?” she said. “I think I’m going back to Jingle Village.” Then she smiled and bowed to Roshi. “I’ll see you at the Budoukai!” Then she ran out the door, too. Roshi smiled as he watched her go before he realized that his house was basically empty for the first time in nearly five years.

“No TV,” he muttered, “And I don’t really feel like readin’.” Roshi shrugged and began to search around his house. “Where’s that dang Gamera? Think I’ll go visit my sister.”

OoOoOoO

Goku sat between Kami and Popo with all three in the lotus position with their eyes closed. There was a tiny bell tied to Goku’s tail that jingled and jangled with the slightest movement. Kami had told her that when she could move without the bell making a sound that they could move to the next part of her training.

“I don’t really like meditating,” Goku muttered as she opened one eye.

“Before we can strengthen your body,” Kami told her, “You must first strengthen your soul and gain control over your fiery spirit. It’s a powerful weapon but it could be even more powerful if you could temper it.” Goku nodded and closed her eye.

Then she opened it again.

“How long will that take?”

“As long as you make it take.”

Chapter Text

Three Years Until the Tenkaichi Budoukai

Korin hummed a little song to himself as he walked through his little senzu garden and watered the senzu sprouts and plants. He still had a giant jar of the things but he’d started growing some recently. Partly because he had a sneaking suspicion that Goku and her friends were going to need a lot more of these someday and partly just to give himself something to do. He hadn’t realized until after Suno had finished her training and gone back to her village that practically the only things he did were nap, walk around his tower, and occasionally stare into the distance before scrambling all around like a maniac for reasons he couldn’t explain.

Something distracted Korin from his watering and made his ears jerk suddenly. It sounded like someone was climbing his tower. Like… several someones. He walked away from his plants and walked closer to the center of the second floor of his tower just as five, five people finished climbing the tower at once. A triclops, an albino, a young man with a scarred face, a shorter young man with six incense burns in his forehead, and a woman whose hair was an erratic clash between blonde and blue.

“Hello,” the Triclops said with a bow, “You must be Korin.” He did not seem surprised that Korin was a cat. “We’re here for training.” Korin suddenly found himself regretting his lonely feelings.

OoOoOoO

Suno walked past the limits of Jingle Village and into the forest and smiled when she saw Master Snow. She knew she’d find the old man here. She didn’t know what it was but old masters seemed to love standing in isolated places where they could look dramatic, like a tall hill for example. It wasn’t quite as effective in the spring when all the snow had melted but she supposed it was the principle of the thing.

“Master Frost,” she said with a bow, “It’s good to see you again.” Frost bowed in return and smiled at her.

“And you as well, Suno. I heard about what you and that Goku girl did. You and her friends are very brave.”

“Thank you, Master,” Suno said. “It’s funny that you mentioned Goku, though. I’m actually here because of her.” Frost looked at her skeptically and arched an eyebrow.

“Is she interested in learning the Odori style?” He asked.

“No,” Suno said with a shake of her head. “I mean, she is but she’s probably figured it out just from watching me fight.  She’s really good at that sort of thing.” Suno chewed her lip for a moment before she continued. “Master,” she said, “I’m going to enter the next Budoukai. I know Goku will be there and I expect to fight her. If it comes to that, I’ll need all the help I can get.” Her face screwed up with determination as she brought her hands onto her hips. “I’m ready for you to teach me the Fubuki Odori.” Frost nodded slowly and squeezed his one hand into a fist until his knuckle cracked.

“Let’s begin.”

OoOoOoO

Two Years and Six Months Until the Tenkaichi Budoukai

“I’ve paid you an exorbitant amount of money,” Shen said as he looked down at his baby brother’s barely-alive body on the operating table with an oxygen mask strapped to his mouth and much of the mangled flesh from the grenade and his crash hacked away. There were wires hanging from his limbs and eye sockets and even from the top of his cracked skull. “Everything my brother ever made from killing people and much of my own personal savings. This was quite some time ago. When can I expect results?”

“Patience,” the other man said as he stroked at his mustache. “The technology has not been easy to build with my lack of resources in these hard times and half the struggle has been in keeping him alive. I assure you, however, he will live. He will be stronger than ever before.”

“Yes,” Shen nodded as he clenched his fist, “And then he shall kill them! My traitorous students and that worthless old cretin. And Son Goku!”

“Yes,” the other man said drolly although Shen did notice his eye twitch at the name “Son Goku”, “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like to get back to work.” Shen sneered but nodded curtly.

“Very well,” he said, “I expect to hear from you soon, mister–”

“Doctor,” the other man corrected sternly. “Doctor Archimedes Gero.”

OoOoOoO

He’d been weak when he was born. Weak and small and confused. With every day, though, he had been growing stronger. With every day, he grew larger and discovered more of his powers, his strength, flight, energy sensing and manipulation. With every day, he discovered the pleasure of doing evil. A wild animal here, a hiker there, a family of campers. As he looked down into a swift-moving stream at his green reflection and ran his claws across the water’s surface, he growled and spoke his first words.

“K-k-k-kiiiiiill,” he whispered, “ Kill ,” he said again, more clearly and confidently, “Kill! Kill! Kill!” Again and again, until it became a chant when he added “Son Goku! Kill Son Goku! Kill Son Goku! Kill Son Goku!” He threw his head back and laughed as he beat his chest.

Piccolo Daimaou lived again.

OoOoOoO

Tenshinhan sat alone on his mountain perch, legs folded under him as he flipped through his magazine and read it intently. A smile crept across his lips as he chuckled and shook his head.

“Oh Josuke,” he muttered to himself, “You are such a scamp.”

“Hey up there!” A voice called and Ten quickly tucked the manga under his seat and brought his hands up onto his legs. He heard someone approaching and was surprised to see that it was… Yamcha. He was carrying a square cardboard box with one hand as he pulled himself up onto Ten’s perch with the other. Whatever was in that box certainly smelled good. “Hope I didn’t disturb your meditation or anything.”

“Yes,” Tenshinhan said, “Meditation.” After an awkward pause he said “And no, you did not. What are you doing here, Yamcha?” He had not seen the other man since they had trained with Korin. Yamcha grinned and held up the box.

“Brought pizza.” Ten blinked at that.

“What,” he asked, “Is ‘pizza’?” Yamcha sighed and shook his head sadly.

“You poor, poor man,” he said. “It’s food. Friends hang out sometimes and have lunch.” Tenshinhan blinked at that. Friends? “I mean, we did fight a demon and try to save the world.”

“I broke your friend Krillin’s leg,” Tenshinhan objected.

“Isn’t broken anymore.”

“I struck Bulma.”

“She’s tough.”

“I tried to kill Son Goku!”

“Yeah but ya didn’t.” Ten groaned and ran a hand across his bald head.

“How did you even get past Chaozu? He was supposed to make sure no one disturbed my meditation.” Yamcha grinned and opened the box to reveal the pizza. There was a slice missing.

“So,” Yamcha said as he sat down next to Ten, “You hungry?” Ten stared at the pizza for a moment in awkward silence before he reached into the box and took a piece. He bit into it… and all three eyes opened wide.

“Ohm mm Gd.” He muttered in shock with a full mouth. Yamcha laughed.

OoOoOoO

Two Years Until the Tenkaichi Budoukai

It was like a madman’s version of the Tenkaichi Budoukai. It was in a dirty, dingy, underground arena instead of the open air with a crammed-in audience of a few hundred screaming lunatics that surrounded and pressed up against a cage filled with one hundred screaming lunatics.

“Kumite,” the audience chanted as one as they pumped their fists, “Kumite! Kumite! Kumite! Kumite!” They worked themselves into a frenzy, frothing at the mouth, baying for blood. The chant grew louder and louder until someone sounded a gong and the chant devolved into a wordless scream as the fighters tore into each other like wild animals.

There were no referees to stop the fight if someone was injured and with so many bodies it was impossible to hear anyone yield and cry submission. The cage ensured there would be no ring-outs. There was only one way to win this mad tournament: be the last man standing. It was madness and bedlam as men and women who had never met before fought as if the person in front of them was someone they had hated all their lives. Limbs were broken. Teeth and eyes were knocked out. Some lives were ended. In the end there was only one. When the chaos finally ended the crowd fell into a hushed silence. Standing amidst the carnage was a most unlikely champion. He was short. He was bald. He did not appear to have a nose.

Krillin roared in triumph and raised his fists to the sky. He would do whatever it took to become strong enough. He would travel the world and face any foe. He would become strong enough for her, to face her as an equal at the Tenkaichi Budoukai and, win or lose, he would finally tell Son Goku how he felt about her!

OoOoOoO

Bulma carefully moved out from behind the secret hallway to her secret lab and quickly covered it with her bookshelf before she walked out of her regular lab and made her way down the hall. Yeah, sure, it was a cliche but she was pretty sure that if anyone actually saw what she was doing, they’d be pretty mad. Because they were all stupid, of course. None of them were as smart as her, not even daddy. They wouldn’t understand the why of what she was doing. All the questions that could be answered and all the knowledge that could be gained, they were just…

Bulma tried to push those thoughts out of her mind as she stopped by the fifth floor kitchen to grab a couple bottles of water. She didn’t need to be thinking like that, not with her friends around. Yamcha had brought Launch over to use the gravity room with him. Apparently he’d even offered Tenshinhan to come use the facility but the Triclops had politely declined. Yes, she thought, Launch was definitely a friend. Even if she had been acting more… erratic lately. Her hair kept shifting in the proportions of blonde to blue. Bulma had offered to run some tests to see what the problem was but, for whatever reason, Launch had gotten really upset with her. Then upset with herself. It was worrying. As Bulma neared the gravity room, she noticed that the display outside showed that they were only using twice the Earth’s gravity. That was weird. Then she reminded herself that Launch had never used the room before and that Yamcha was probably taking it easy on her. Yeah, that made sense. Bulma pushed the button to turn off the gravity and the door slid open…

The water bottles slipped out of Bulma’s numb hands and clattered to the floor.

They were…

They were…

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” Bulma screamed with tears in her eyes before she ran off.

Yamcha returned a week later. He would have come back the very next day but the guards had explained that they’d had orders to shoot on sight and told him to leave. Yamcha had been thankful at that moment for the friendship he’d built with the guards over the last several years. So he’d had to sneak into Capsule Corp. Sneak into a building where he had, or probably used to have at this point, his own bedroom. A place where he’d felt like part of a family. Yamcha supposed he deserved as much, though. It had been awful what he’d done to Bulma; in her own home, no less. He’d spent the week beating himself up, asking why he had done it. Why had he hurt Bulma? Sure he liked Launch but he loved Bulma. Launch had also disappeared from the face of the Earth shortly after what had happened so it looked like Yamcha had gone and screwed everything up.

“Bulma?” he called out in a hushed tone as he crept through the hallway. He had a basket of chocolate-infused strawberries in one hand and a bouquet of purple roses, Bulma’s favorite kind, in the other. Neither had been easy or cheap to find but Yamcha didn’t care. He was here to apologize, to make amends, to do whatever it would take to get Bulma back. He had even dressed up in his one good suit and tie. “Buuuulmaaaa?” he called, “I’m sorry! I wanna talk to you!” He noticed that the door to Bulma’s lab was ajar and stepped inside, figuring that she might be in there. He frowned as he looked around the typically-chaotic, if abandoned, scene. No Bulma. He was all set to leave when he saw a strange green glow emanating from behind Bulma’s bookcase. Against his better judgement, Yamcha put his shoulder to one side of the bookcase and gave it a small shove. There was a hallway behind the bookcase. “Secret lab behind the bookcase?” Yamcha muttered suspiciously. That was never good. Yamcha walked down the hallway with ever-growing discomfort before he came to the secret lab itself source of the light. The strawberries and flowers slipped from his numb hands as he stared up in disbelief.

It was…

It was…

“What the fuck?!” he whispered in shock. Floating in an enormous tank filled with glowing green fluids was the corpse of Piccolo Daimaou. There were tubes connected to his body that flowed out of the tank and into computers and machines that made strange and disheartening beeps and chimes.

“What are you doing here?” Bulma asked coldly from behind him. Yamcha spun around to face her, all thoughts of apology and compromise forgotten.

“What am I doing here?!” Yamcha asked incredulously. “What is that doing here?!” He asked as he gestured up to Piccolo’s body. “Why is it in your house?! What are you doing with it?!” Bulma scowled and folded her arms over her chest.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” she said sourly, “But I’m studying him. I took Piccolo’s corpse from the battlefield when no one was looking and I brought it back here so I could preserve him before his flesh started to decompose.”

“WHYYYYY?!” Yamcha practically screamed. Bulma just rolled her eyes.

“Oh yes,” she said sarcastically, “An ancient, possibly extraterrestrial creature with a completely alien physiology living on Earth. Who would ever want to study that?” She ran a hand along the glass tank and smiled. “It sucks that Goku destroyed most of his internal organs but I’ve been able to learn so much from studying his brain and blood and the structure of his muscles and tissues–”

“Who cares!” Yamcha snapped. “Did you forget the part where he tried to wipe out the human race? Or when he took over the world?!” He gestured to Piccolo’s floating corpse again and tapped on the glass, pointing at his chest. “Look at this hole! Remember how it used to be GOKU SIZED?! It doesn’t look that way anymore!” The hole had noticeably shrunk in the last year. “So tell me what that means, science lady,” Yamcha demanded scornfully. “I think it means he’s regenerating! What if this… thing you’ve got him hooked up in is keeping him alive?! What if he comes back?!” Bulma scoffed.

“Please,” she said, “I’ve been monitoring him for the last year and we haven’t seen the slightest brainwave fluctuation. He’s as dead as a block of wood. Besides,” she added, “I’m a scientist. It would be against my moral compass not to research when I see the potential for scientific discovery. Just think what I could do for amputees or crippled people if I could unlock the secrets of his tissue regeneration!”

“Your… moral compass,” Yamcha said quietly as he narrowed his eyes, “Your. Moral. Compass?! You manipulated a small child into being your bodyguard by using the memory of her dead grandfather so you could get a boyfriend! You talk about studying corpses when the corpse in question is kicking my ass! For God’s sake, Bulma, you kidnapped Puar in his sleep and tried to force him to shapeshift and study the changes in his biology!”

“And what’s so terrible about that?!” Bulma demanded.

“You didn’t ask me! Worse, you didn’t ask him!”

“He’s a cat!”

“He’s a thinking, feeling person, Bulma!” Yamcha screamed. “He’s my best friend! Your ‘moral compass’ IS A GODDAMN ROULETTE WHEEL!”

“Oh,” Bulma scoffed, “Is this what’s going on now? I’m getting lectures in morality from the criminal?” That hurt worse than anything else. More than the deception, more than the attempted unwilling experimentation, more than the lies or the disregard. She would never see him as anything more than a criminal, Yamcha realized. In that moment, Yamcha realized why he’d done what he’d done. Even if Launch had initiated that moment, Yamcha hadn’t resisted. Now he knew. In that moment, he hadn’t felt compartmentalized or scrutinized or analyzed and, for all of Launch’s problems, he realized that she was still less messed up than the girl he’d been in a relationship with. Yamcha growled and let out a wordless roar of rage as he flung a Sokidan out of his palm and swept it around the lab in a wide arc and destroyed all of Bulma’s equipment in a shower of sparks and shrapnel as Bulma dove for the floor. He detonated the ball against Piccolo’s glass and the corpse tumbled to the floor where it quickly began to decompose in the open air. Then he blasted a hole in the ceiling with another ki ball and flew up into the sky, a trick he was now grateful to have learned from Ten. Bulma got to her feet and screamed up at him. “I don’t ever want to see you again! Ever!”

Yamcha didn’t stop and he didn’t look and he didn’t turn around but his eyes were burning with unshed tears.

OoOoOoO

Climbing a mountain, Launch thought, was hard. It wasn’t any easier when you spent the entire climb arguing with yourself. Not that her angrier self was trying to stop her from climbing. They were arguing about how they were going to fix this problem.

“One of us has to go,” Blonde Launch said gruffly, “And the other one gets to stay. That’s the only way this is gonna work. Do you think you have the guts to kill me?” Blue Launch shook her head furiously. “No,” she insisted, “There has to be a better way! We can be one person! We don’t have to fight anymore!” “But if we’re one person then we’re both gone!” Launch climbed in silence for a while. “... Maybe that wouldn’t be so bad.”

Launch had become a wreck ever since the battle with Piccolo Daimaou. She thought confronting and overcoming her other self would make things better but it had only made them worse. She was constantly arguing with herself and fighting for control. Sometimes she’d be perfectly fine and then it would be hours later and her other self had done something terrible. She wasn’t even sneezing anymore! When she’d seen Chaozu earlier, she’d threatened to kill him and then immediately had to apologize. The last year had been hell. After what had happened with Yamcha, she realized that she needed to do something. One minute they’d been sparring and then the next time she’d been in control everything had gone wrong. She couldn’t live like this anymore.

Ten was back on his mountaintop perch. He’d gotten into a routine of travelling the world every few months and fighting any skilled opponents he could find and in the end he would always come back to his mountain. He had been focusing on changing the way he meditated. He could no longer make himself the focal point of the universe and yet he did not feel entirely right opening himself up to the energy of all things as Muten had told him to do. So he had been endeavoring to find a balance between the two; to make himself into a single point and then find where that point fit in with everything else. He was taken out of his mental focus by the sound of approaching footsteps and opened his eyes, expecting to see Yamcha yet again.

“Launch?” he asked in surprise. He had not seen her in nearly a year. “Are you… well?” She did not look it. She looked nervous and erratic as she rubbed at her arms and her hair was a more disheveled mishmash of colors than ever. “What’s wrong?”

“I… I’m not fucking well, you idiot !” Launch snapped in a harsh voice before she immediately covered her mouth and looked to be on the brink of tears. “I-I’m sorry! I just… I need your help, Ten!” Her voice changed as she spoke, shifting from soft to harsh and back again. “S-something’s really goddamn wrong with me! I c-c-can’t control what’s happening and I hate it! I can’t live like this! There’s two people screaming in my head!” Launch fell to her knees in front of Tenshinhan and gripped his arms as she buried her face into his shoulder. “ Fucking help me! ...Please.” Ten uncomfortably put an arm around Launch’s shoulder and patted it  a few times before gently pushing her away.

“What you are searching for,” Tenshinhan said as he looked at Launch’s tear-streaked face, “Is inner peace. It is something I, myself, am searching for. I do not know how to achieve it yet.” Launch looked absolutely heartbroken and Ten immediately regretted his choice of words. “Perhaps,” he said gently, “We can find it together.” He scooted slightly to the left and patted a place beside him. Launch dried her eyes and smiled before she sat down beside him and folded her legs. “Close your eyes,” he instructed as he did the same, “Focus on your ki. Focus on your ki and on yourself as if it were a single grain of sand on the beach. Once you understand that grain completely, you will be able to understand all the universe and your place within it.” Launch nodded and closed her eyes.

“... How long does that take?”

“As long as you make it.”

OoOoOoO

It had taken Goku about a week to master Kami’s meditative lessons. Once she’d figured out how to control her movements, she had surpassed Popo in another week and now she sparred almost solely with Kami or with these weird little dolls he’d create that looked a lot like her. They were kinda funny-looking. Goku had learned so much from Kami in this year alone and there were still two years to go before the Budoukai! That was so exciting to think about! He wasn’t just making Goku stronger, either. Kami had been teaching her about the fighting styles he’d learned hundreds of years ago when he and Piccolo were one person and he’d even started teaching her this funny language she’d seen him talking to Popo in when she’d asked him to.

Today she was watching the sunrise and drinking orange juice while she sat on the edge of the Lookout. She couldn’t believe she used to be so scared of being so high up. It was beautiful up here. Part of her wanted to live way up here but she knew she might get lonely and it wouldn’t be easy for her friends to visit her. Kami had told her something about how he had a spell over the Lookout that kept planes and things from getting up here. She wasn’t super sure what that meant but she knew that anyone who wanted to come up would have to climb. And Bulma wasn’t that strong…

“Goku,” Kami called from behind and Goku stood up to turn around and meet him as he came closer, “Good morning!” Goku smiled and bowed to the kindly old not-a-demon.

“Good morning, Kami!”

“Goku,” Kami said, “There’s something I need to talk to you about.” Goku scratched the back of her head curiously.

“Is this like last year where you told me why I bl–”

“No!” Kami blurted out suddenly and shook his head, “Merciful Kaiou, no!” Kami had never told her who “Kaiou” was but she supposed he’d get around to it or he’d tell her if she asked. “It’s… about your tail.” Goku looked down at her tail as it swished behind her.

“Is there something wrong with it?” Goku asked. Kami shook his head.

“Not exactly, no, but…” Kami paused for a moment and tugged at one of his antennae, “I’m afraid I shall have to remove it.” Goku took a step back when he said that.

“No way!” she protested. “I’ve already grown it back twice!” If there was nothing wrong with it then why did it have to come off?

“You will have to trust me, Goku,” Kami insisted. “You know that I would never do you harm. Your tail is simply… dangerous!”

“Dangerous how? It’s not a weakness anymore! You taught me how to make my tail stronger!”

“I know,” Kami said in an aggravated tone, “But it still represents a danger to you and to…” Kami sighed. “Goku, please trust me on this.” Goku thought about it for a moment and sighed before turning around.

“This isn’t gonna hurt, is it?” she asked.

“Of course not,” Kami said as he gripped her tail. “All right. One… two… three!”

Hundreds of miles below and on the other side of the world, a farmer with a shotgun heard a noise like someone had run over his cat.

OoOoOoO

One Year Until the Tenkaichi Budoukai

She smashed stones with giant hammers and cut down forests with giant axes. She swam upriver and up waterfalls and against the ocean in typhoons. She’d wrestled giant bears and giant boars and fought every warrior her father could send against her. She’d even surpassed father himself by now and was far stronger than the little girl she had been six years before. She had to get stronger, though. She had to be strong enough to be a part of her life. She would prove her love to Goku and she would be welcomed into her world with open arms. She would have to.

She would not give Goku a choice.

OoOoOoO

“How are you feeling, brother?” Shen asked with the smallest hint of genuine concern as he watched Tao Pai Pai move with his new cybernetic limbs. Tao Pai Pai closed and opened his fists and listened to the way the servos whirred and clicked and what little face he had left to emote with seemed to scream with contempt and scorn at what he had become.

“It will be worth it,” Tao said curtly. “It will all be worth it. Once I kill Son Goku and the others, I’ll be able to triple my price.” Tao wasn’t really concerned with the money, though. Not to say that wealth and power weren’t important to him but the thing Tao most desperately needed from the Budoukai was peace of mind. He needed to be Tao the Terrifying again, Tao the Invincible. Mercenary Tao! He unscrewed one of his hands and watched as a sword popped out of his wrist. He glared at his red-tinted reflection in the blade. Power, wealth, triumph, vengeance. “It will be mine. It will all be mine!”

OoOoOoO

“So me, Ox King, and Son Gohan are surrounded by this Ice Dragon,” Roshi said, “I mean surrounded, this fella was big! I’m thinking I might have to bust out the Kamehameha and what does Ox do? Crazy kid jumps up and bites the Dragon right on the nose!” Roshi and Baba laugh uproariously and Roshi bangs on the table which nearly spills the tea that the Pink Ghost had just delivered. “I’ve never seen somethin’ fly away so fast. Of course, then we had to chase after him because his tongue was stuck to the dragon!” Baba laughed again and wiped a tear from her eye. Since Roshi’s return from the dead, he’d been visiting Baba a few times a month for almost two years now. It had been the most Baba had seen her brother in a century. It was nice to talk to Muten and to hear his stories. What Baba thought was interesting was that Roshi almost never talked about how great he was in his stories. It was always about Gohan or Ox King or even the handful of students he’d had before them. He spoke with a father’s pride.

“So,” Baba said, “You’re not planning on entering the Budoukai this year, are you?” Roshi leaned back in his chair and shook his head.

“Nah,” he said, “I learned my lesson after the mess with Daimaou. My fighting days are over.” Baba nodded and sipped her tea.

“Good,” she said, “I don’t want you fighting anymore.” Roshi chuckled and Baba scowled. “I’m serious! I’ve seen things of the future, Muten. Horrible things that make Piccolo Daimaou look like that goofball in the mustache with the big hair you told me about.” Muten frowned at that and slowly wrapped his hands around the tea mug.

“These terrible things,” he asked somberly, “How soon are they coming?” Baba shook her head in disappointment.

“It’s unclear,” she admitted, “But… too soon. I don’t know how they’ll be prepared in time.” They both sat silently for a moment until the ghost floated up to the table with a little platter in its tiny flippers.

“Cookies for tea!”

OoOoOoO

One Week Until the Tenkaichi Budoukai

Piccolo Jr looked down at the clothes he had magicked for himself. He had originally wanted to fight in the same blue gi he had worn before but that would perhaps be too on-the-nose. It would raise too much suspicion. He had opted for a purple gi with no symbol or characters and a turban to cover his antennae. That would be enough to fool these simple creatures. As he looked at his reflection in a lake, however, he thought that it was missing something. A certain bit of dramatic flair. He was suddenly struck by inspiration and waved a hand over himself. A swirl of darkness passed over his chest and spilled down his back before it transformed into a billowing white cape with enormous shoulder pads. He looked down at his reflection again and smiled.

“Perfect.”

OoOoOoO

One Day Until the Tenkaichi Budoukai

“I have taught you all I can teach you, Son Goku,” Kami said as he looked proudly at his pupil. “You are ready to face Piccolo Daimaou once again. If you are able to defeat him then the Earth will finally know peace.”

“I know, Master Kami,” Goku said, “But is all of this… really necessary?” On top of her gi, Goku was also wearing a long blue and white coat with an umbrella, her power pole, and a travel sack tied to her back. She also had a turban wrapped around her hair that Popo was constantly fidgeting with.

“This one has seen the weather,” he told her. “It will be raining and this one does not want you to catch a cold. It will affect your chances of defeating Daimaou.” Goku smiled and bent down to give the Djinn a hug.

“Thank you, Popo,” she said before moving to hug Kami as well. “And thank you, Master Kami. I won’t let you down.” Then she turned around and… walked right off the edge of the Lookout. “HiKorin!” She shouted when she flew past the cat, “ByeKorin!” The ground rushed up to meet Goku but she laughed even as she reached terminal velocity. “Nimbuuuuus!” The cloud zoomed under her within inches of the ground below and she laughed again as she zoomed back up into the sky. “Hey there! Didja miss me!” she asked as she patted the cloud on its side. “Okay, Nimbus! Papaya Island!” The cloud rocketed off towards the sunrise dutifully. “Hey, you weren’t carrying Suno, right?”

OoOoOoO

Two Hours Until the Tenkaichi Budoukai

Kami stared at a reflection that was not his in a mirror and rubbed a hand that was not his across a face that was not his.

“Hmm,” he muttered in a voice that was not his, “So this is a mustache?” He supposed it would have to do. As he climbed onto the boat that would ferry him to the Tenkaichi Budoukai, he couldn’t stop scratching himself. How did humans stand having so much hair?!

Chapter Text

Bulma strummed her fingers rhythmically on the armrest of her chair as she looked out the plane window to the ocean below. God, she was bored. No Krillin, Launch, Puar, or Yamcha. Okay, so the last three weren’t so bad but that wasn’t the point. With everyone learning to fly, there was no one for her to talk to.

“Y’know,” Suno said across the aisle from her seat next to Bulma, “I’ve always wonder, Roshi. You can do all these flips and kicks and incredibly athletic things for someone who’s over three hundred years old. How come you need a cane?” Roshi shrugged and patted the gnarled piece of wood across his lap.

“I need to channel my ki to do those kinds of things. If I’m not fighting, I’m just your average old man.” Then he peered down his sunglasses and gave Suno a smirk. “And,” he added, “It gives me more reach to whack punks over the head with.” They both chuckled and Bulma gave a weary sigh. So bored! Taking her cue, Suno turned to Bulma.

“So Bulma,” Suno said, “It’s been a few years since we’ve seen everyone. Excited to see them again? We haven’t seen Goku in three years!” Bulma shrugged and gave a noncommittal grunt. “Is there… anyone you hope wins?”

“Not Yamcha,” Bulma said bluntly.

They flew the next several hundred miles in silence.

OoOoOoO

The plane landed about an hour or so later to relief from all three parties. Suno left to go register herself which left Roshi, for the first time since he’d first put on the Jackie Chun wig, with no excuse to disappear into the crowd and left him standing alone with Bulma. He thought of what he might say to her to try and dilute the tension and anger that was still present. Part of him was, of course, angry at her for keeping the corpse of Piccolo around like Yamcha had told them but he figured now wasn’t the time for that. What would he tell her, he wondered. That first love is fleeting? That these moments pass? Or perhaps even that holding onto hate like this would only ruin herself for the future?

Before Roshi could say anything, however, Bulma’s attention was suddenly caught by something in the sky above. Roshi’s gaze followed hers and was surprised to see Krillin floating down towards them.

“Hey, guys!” He said with a grin as he touched down and Suno returned from the sign-in table.

“Good to see you again, Krillin,” Roshi said with a nod.

“Hey, Krillin!” Suno replied with a smile and a wave.

“Wow, Krillin,” Bulma teased, “You actually got taller!” Krillin gave her a sardonic smirk but it was true. Krillin had grown a few more inches in the last three years and, while it was hard to tell under his bright red raincoat, had actually put on some muscle.

“Good to see you all too,” he said with an appreciative nod. “Long time no see, huh?” he smiled to himself and began to walk to the registration desk. “Guess I’ll go sign up. You guys haven’t seen Goku yet, have ya?”

“Nope,” Suno said, “Just got here. No sign of her yet.” Krillin just chuckled as he walked towards the table. He shouldn’t have been surprised. No sooner had Krillin returned from signing himself up than another group began to fly down. They were all wearing green longcoats and rice do’un hats. It was Tenshinhan, Chaozu, and some woman with bright green hair…

“Hi there, strangers!” The woman said in a playful tone with a voice that was strangely familiar…

“... Launch?!” Suno blurted out when it dawned on her with her eyes wide in shock. The green-haired woman laughed and took a bow with a dramatic sweep of her hat.

“That’s me!” The others suddenly flooded her with questions once they realized who she was. What happened? Where had she gone? What was with her hair, her voice? What did it all mean? She grinned wider with each question and held up her hands for silence. “Guys, guys,” she said, “It’s not really all that complicated.” She smirked and leaned against Tenshinhan who reddened visibly, “I just had a little help.” Ten cleared his throat and tugged at his collar for a moment.

“What Launch means to say, I believe,” he said, “Is that she came to me to find inner peace between the dualities of her nature. We were able to find our peace together. As you can see the effects are more… visual than they are for most.” Roshi nodded and pulled down his sunglasses.

“I see,” he said, “That explains the…” he trailed off for a moment as the group watched an enormous woman, taller than Tenshinhan, in a horned helmet and a red cloth headwrap that obscured her face, stride past them brusquely on her way to the registration desk. She wore a blue sleeveless longcoat with dark red pants and bright red bands around her forearms and had a figure that was somewhere between burly and buxom. “That explains the change in characters on your coats.” As the others looked at the new arrivals’ longcoats they noticed that Roshi was right. Where the character for “Crane” would normally be on their chests there was now the character for “Focus.”

“Ten wanted to go with plain ol’ ‘peace’,” Launch explained, “But I convinced him that was too wussy.” The others chuckled and Ten, Chaozu, and Launch left to go register. Krillin noticed someone else walking past them and elbowed Roshi.

“Master Roshi,” he said, “Isn’t that that Hercule guy you mentioned before?” Roshi watched the mustachioed, afro’d man walk past with an arched eyebrow.

“Yes,” he muttered as he stroked his beard, “But there’s something different about him.” For one thing, Hercule was absolutely silent. You normally couldn’t get him to stop talking. Maybe he’d finally decided to take the Budoukai seriously.

There was a low rumbling as dark clouds began to gather overhead. Launch brought Chaozu and Ten back to the group although it was clear Ten looked like he would rather be off meditating and preparing for the tournament.

“Tell me,” he said, “Have any of you seen Son Goku yet?” The others shook their heads and Ten nodded.

“That’s a shame,” called a familiar voice from the crowd. The others turned and for a moment only saw a crane’s head and shining metal half-circle wading their way through the crowd before the pair finally broke through. It was Shen and…

“Tao Pai Pai?!” Suno asked with a gasp. Not that she was scared of him anymore, she knew she was stronger. It was just… How? When? What?!

“ Mercenary Tao,” he corrected sternly. “Do not forget that, girl.” There was something strange in his voice when he spoke. Something artificial, something mechanical. Although she supposed that, given the metalwork around his skull and face, the red balls he had for eyes and his clearly robotic hands, that shouldn’t have been at all surprising.

“ Tao,” Ten said softly, barely above a whisper, with a face like he had seen a ghost. Tao sneered at Ten as much as his limited amount of face would allow and scoffed.

“Do not speak to me, traitor,” he snapped. “I am here for one purpose: Revenge!” Shen gave his brother an elbow and Tao sighed. “And yes, to redeem the Crane school,” he added wearily. “Today I shall kill all three of you! Son Goku, you, and… erm…” he looked down at Chaozu and frowned. “I’m terribly sorry but I don’t think I ever learned your name when you were my brother’s student.”

“Chaozu!” Chaozu said indignantly with his arms folded over his chest, “I’m Chaozu!”

“Ah,” Tao said, “Very well then, Chaozu. You’re going to die, too.” He gave a dismissive wave and began to walk towards the registration table. “Do pass on to Son Goku when you see her that I intend to kill her.” Then he and Shen disappeared into the crowd again.

“What a weirdo,” Krillin muttered. Suno shook her head and put her hands on her hips.

“Thaaaat’s not the word I would use for him.” She muttered. It was crazy how much of a difference three years made. The idea of seeing Tao Pai Pai back from the dead like that would have scared her senseless. Now? Not so much.

“Hey down there, party people!” called a familiar voice from high above. The group looked up as a gray-blue streak dropped out of the sky and landed in front of them in a pool of gray fabric and black hair before it stood up. “The fuuuun has arriiiived!” he declared in a lyrical tone with his arms outstretched.

“Yamcha!” the others cried happily, except for Bulma who shuffled away with a huff. Yamcha was dressed in a rather confusing getup; a long, blue cape-like coat with grey shoulder pads. He’d also started growing his hair back out. Puar flew out of the bottom of Yamcha’s coat with a grin.

“Don’t forget me!” Puar said eagerly before he and Yamcha made their hellos. Yamcha high-fived Krillin and Suno, bumped fists with Ten and Chaozu, and bowed to Master Roshi. Then it was just him and Launch and the others shuffled away in the way that people do when they know a private conversation needs to happen.

“So,” Yamcha said awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his head, “You look… um… you look better.” Launch smiled with one arm holding the other behind her back.

“Thanks,” she said. “I… I feel better. A lot better.”

“Hey,” Yamcha said with an encouraging smile, “That’s great.” There was a slightly uncomfortable sentence as they both seemed to be reluctant to say what they were thinking. “So,” Yamcha said finally, “What are we? I mean… should we? Y’know?” Launch thought for a moment and chewed her lip before she shook her head.

“I don’t think so,” she said while trying to be delicate about it. “Don’t get me wrong, Yamcha. You’re a great guy and I’m glad to call you one of my closest friends. It’s just that… whatever I had for you before I just… I don’t have it now. I’m different.” She winced at Yamcha’s hurt expression. “Look, I don’t m–” He held up a hand and shook his head.

“Nah,” Yamcha said, “I get it. You’re right. It’s probably better this way.” They were silent for a few moments. “So, no sign of Goku yet?”

“Nah,” Launch said with a chuckle and a shake of the head. Yamcha sighed with a knowing smirk.

“Yeah,” he muttered, “She’ll probably show up at the last minute again.” Yamcha turned his head to the side as he heard a familiar voice in the crowd.

“Hot dogs,” called a very familiar voice. “Hot dogs! Cold drinks! Roasted nuts!”

“You’ve gotta be shittin’ me,” Yamcha muttered as he started walking through the crowd. Sure enough, he found Pilaf pushing a hot dog cart with Shu and Mai trailing behind him carrying a case of cold drinks and a basket of roasted nuts respectively.

“Hot dogs,” Pilaf called out as he walked through the crowd, having not yet noticed Yamcha. “Cold drinks! Fresh roasted…” he turned his head to see Yamcha and came to a stop. “...Nnnnuts.” he muttered. Yamcha sighed and cracked his knuckles.

“So,” he asked, “What’s the scheme this time? Are you going to poison everyone at the Budoukai so no one can stop you from gathering the Dragon Balls?” Pilaf threw up his hands defensively and shook his head.

“No, no,” he insisted, “We’re just regular, honest businesspeople!”

“We decided that the World Domination business isn’t for us,” Mai added. “Now we’re just trying to be good people.” She had wanted to open a detective agency but Shu had won at Rock, Paper, Scissors.

“Everyone’s gotta eat!” Shu threw in with a smile. Yamcha rolled his eyes and smirked, crossing his arms.

“So lemme guess,” he said, “You idiots brought back Piccolo to kill Goku, Piccolo kills you, then you got wished back and now you’ve decided you wanna be good people because you saw Hell when you were dead.” The three former schemers shook their heads furiously before they slowly stopped and began reluctantly nodding. Yamcha sighed and shrugged. Who was he to give people a hard time for turning over a new leaf? “All right,” he said, “Gimme one with everything on it.” Then he turned his head back to call over a shoulder. “Hey, Krillin, you want anything? Hot dog? Soda? Nuts?”

“Yeah,” Krillin called, “I’ll take some nuts!” Yamcha fought an inclination to snicker.

“What about you, Ten?”

“Do they have pizza?”

“No, Ten.”

“Then they don’t have food!” Yamcha rolled his eyes before turning back to Pilaf.

“Get a couple of drinks with those, I guess.” Pilaf smiled and held out his hand.

“Excellent! That will be two thousand zeni.” Yamcha squinted suspiciously at Pilaf before he grumbled and reached for his wallet.

“Better be a damn good hot dog,” he muttered as he handed Pilaf the bills. Pilaf grinned and tucked the bills into a cash box while Mai took two drinks out of her cooler and handed them to Yamcha and Shu scooped nuts into a little cardboard cup. Pilaf then took a hot dog out of the cart and slathered mustard, ketchup, relish, and onions on it. Yamcha took all of the foodstuffs in a precarious balancing act as he walked back over to the group. He handed Krillin his nuts and drink before taking a bite of his hot dog. “Damn it,” he mumbled with a full mouth, “That is good.”

More time passed with no sign of Goku. An incredibly tall man walked past them with most of his features obscured by his turban and a long white cape with enormous shoulder pads. All they could tell was that he had green skin. There was also something eerily familiar about his ki. Soon after the mysterious man disappeared into the crowd there was another, rumble and it began to rain. Launch put her hat back on even as she, Krillin, Yamcha, Ten, Chaozu and Roshi raised their ki enough to create invisible barriers around themselves that kept the rain from touching them. Bulma touched something on her watch that made it glow purple before waving her arm around over her head in a circle. A glowing, translucent purple dome flashed into life over Bulma’s head to shield her from the rain.

“Well aren’t you all fancy?” Suno asked sarcastically as she reached into her red knapsack and pulled out an umbrella. Puar swiftly joined her under the umbrella. Even more time passed with no Goku.

“This is just getting ridiculous,” Ten muttered irritably with his hands on his hips. “It’s not as though she could get lost! The Budoukai’s been on this island for a hundred years!”

“Yeah,” Bulma added, “I hope nothing happened to her.” Launch rolled her eyes.

“Come on, Bloomers,” she said teasingly, “I think if something bad could happen to Goku, we’d all be fu–”

“Hey, guys!” called a voice from behind them. There was something familiar about it, yet… different at the same time. The group slowly turned as one to to look behind them before looking up from where they had expected to look. The woman was wearing a blue coat, red pants, and a turban but she did have a staff strapped to her back. The rain died down almost instantly and the sun came out while the woman put away her umbrella and undid the turban. Black hair spiked out in familiar directions as she broke out into a grin. “It’s me!”

“Goku!” everyone cried out in surprise. She grinned wider as they all crowded around her.

“Jeez, Goku,” Suno muttered as she looked up at her, “When’d you finally get taller?”

“Good to see you, kiddo,” Launch said as she gave Goku a playful punch on the arm. “Y’like the new hair?”

“Oh my Gosh,” Bulma said excitedly as she gave Goku a quick hug, “It’s been forever!” Goku suddenly pushed the others out of the way when she noticed Krillin.

“Krillin?” she asked softly. He grinned bashfully up at her.

“H-hey Go–” then she reached down and lifted him up off the ground in a hug, “KYYYUU!” Goku laughed and hugged Krillin close with tears in the corners of her eyes as she spun him in the air. Krillin hugged Goku back just as tightly until she stopped spinning.

“I really missed you,” she whispered. Krillin sniffled and nodded.

“I missed you, too, Goku.” he said hoarsely. Roshi cleared his throat as Goku set Krillin down.

“I don’t mean to interrupt the reunions,” he said, “But shouldn’t you get signed up?” Goku grinned and gave a dismissive wave.

“Nah,” she assured him, “I already did that!”

“When?” Tenshinhan asked in confusion.

“I got here five minutes ago,” Goku said matter-of-factly. “I was looking for all of you!” The others promptly face-faulted.

“Wait,” Suno asked once they were all back on their feet, “I’m confused. Don’t you have Nimbus? I mean, I wasn’t using it.” Goku nodded. “So… how were you almost late?” Goku blinked and brought her hands up under her chin while tapping two fingers together and gave a chuckle as she looked off to the side. For the first time since any of them had known her, Goku looked embarrassed.

“Weeelll,” she said reluctantly…

OoOoOoO

Goku was making great time. She was going to get to the Budoukai before anyone else! Wouldn’t that be a great surprise after last time? However, as Goku was flying over a mountain range, she made Nimbus stop when she felt a familiar ki. She looked down over the edge of the cloud to the mountain road below and, sure enough, there was that guy again! He sure liked walking, huh? Come to think of it, Goku decided, she had plenty of time!

“Hey down there,” she called, “I’m way stronger now! You wanna rematch?” He dropped his bag and got into a fighting stance. Goku grinned and jumped off Nimbus, hands coming to her side as she fell down towards him. “Kaaameeehaaameee…” he dropped his hands to his side too and formed a ball of light in his hands.

“Shinku!”

OoOoOoO

“I… kinda got a little sidetracked,” she finally said with a nervous chuckle. Everyone laughed before Ken’s voice came onto the intercom. It was surprisingly clear so the Budoukai had clearly upgraded its technology since the previous edition.

“Lllllladies aaaaaand gentlemeeeeeen,” he said, “The 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai is about to begin! All fighters, please enter the elimination hall!” Goku waved to Bulma, Roshi, and Puar as she and the others followed the other fighters.

“Bye, guys!” she called cheerily. “See you in a little while!” Once the seven were inside the elimination hall; Ten, Launch, and Chaozu all took off their coats and hats with their gi on underneath. Krillin did the same and Suno just rolled her eyes.

“Well,” she said dryly, “Now I feel silly. I thought not wearing my fighting pajamas under my clothes would be normal. Be right back.” She went to find the women’s restroom to change into her gi as Yamcha took off his cloak dramatically, throwing his arms out wide. Rather than the Turtle School uniform that Launch and Krillin were still wearing, Yamcha’s gi was stark white with shimmering bands of gold at the ankles, sleeves, and waist as well as a gold embroidered wolf across the back of his open-chested vest (to show off his scars, of course) and a pair of golden wristbands. Krillin let out a low whistle as his eyes widened.

“Fancy,” he muttered in an impressed tone and walked around Yamcha to inspect his spiffy new gear. Yamcha grinned and shrugged.

“Eh, y’know,” he said with a cocky flick of the thumb across his nose, “Feel like a winner, dress like a winner. This is gonna be my year!”

“You sure about that, fancypants?” Suno teased as she walked back to the group in her gi; she had dark blue boots, white pants, and an ice blue tunic. “No one here but Goku’s ever seen me fight. You don’t know what kind of tricks I might have!” She turned her attention to Goku with a smirk. “Isn’t that right Goooo…” her voice trailed off as she and the others found themselves staring like idiots as Goku changed.

She undid the white cloth belt of her coat and let it slide off onto the ground with the smallest shake of her shoulders. Under the coat, she was also wearing a different gi. Although it was almost identical in design to the Turtle uniform, it was a golden yellow where the other had been orange and she had on a blue undershirt beneath that. It also, bizarrely enough, had the character for “God” on the back. The fabric shone and sparkled as Goku extended her strong, slender arms over her head before interlocking her fingers and stretching, arching her back until it popped, letting out a pleasured little noise. Then she bent forward at the waist until her fingertips were parallel to her legs and shimmied her hips to get out of the red pants, underneath which was a pair of golden yellow pants to match the shirt of her gi. Goku stepped out of the pants and stood up straight before she raised one leg over her head to do a standing split against the wall, extending both legs as far as she could and leaning back, accentuating her neckline. She rolled off the wall and came up slowly to her feet with a demure smile…

That immediately turned into her usual big grin.

“So what do you guys think of my new gi?” she asked before she noticed that all of her friends had that funny red look on their faces. “....Guys?” All six of them were too preoccupied to answer as all six simultaneously had some version of this thought.

‘Holy crap! She’s hot!’

OoOoOoO

Piccolo, or as he had registered himself, “Majunior,” sneered across the ring at the dog-woman who had apparently had the unlucky task of becoming his opponent. She charged at him and he rolled his eyes. He stretched out one hand and flicked a finger against the brim of her snout to send her hurtling out of the ring and sailing over the heads of the other fighters before a nasty landing. He scoffed and walked out of the ring. It was tedious to restrain himself so but to strike now would cause too much suspicion and panic. Not yet. The time was not yet… dramatic enough. Yamcha watched him suspiciously as he left the ring.

“Suno,” he muttered, motioning to her and the others in turn, “Ten, Launch, Chaozu. Get over here.” The others gathered around him and he gestured to the green man with his chin. “That guy look familiar to you?”

“A little bit,” Chaozu admitted as he lifted his hat to scratch his singular hair, “Why?”

“Thousand zeni says that’s Piccolo,” Yamcha wagered bluntly. Suno rubbed her chin and squinted.

“I dunno,” she said in a joking manner. “He’s missing the great big hole in his chest.” Yamcha rolled his eyes.

“Oh, come on,” he insisted. “He’s seven feet tall, green, and he has pointy ears and has pink patches on his arms.”

“I’m not so sure, Yamcha,” Ten said skeptically with his arms folded over his chest. Yamcha squinted at him.

“Do you even have a thousand zeni, ya friggin’ mountain goat?” he asked.

“I do!” Ten said defensively. Launch elbowed him playfully.

“He means I have two thousand zeni.”

“What the hell,” Suno shrugged, “I’m in.”

“Yup.”

“Very well.”

“Me too. ...Am I the only one scared by this?”

OoOoOoO

She roared as she grabbed her opponent by the shoulders and bashed him in the face with a headbutt. The red cloth wrapped around her head to obscure her identity did little to soften the impact with the blow rendering him practically unconscious. She grabbed his ankles and tucked them under her arms and began spinning round and round before launching him into the air, smashing through the ceiling and flying away. She watched him sail with a confident smile hidden under her headdress before thumping a fist against her chest. She could do this!

OoOoOoO

Tenshinhan stared incredulously at his opponent. It was some kind of… Octopus-man? He’d never seen one of those before. He made a ridiculous gurgling noise before charging him with his eight arms flailing wildly. As Ten easily dodged each strike, he supposed he had to give the strange creature credit for his temerity, being unfazed at the prospect of facing the winner of the last Budoukai. Temerity, however, was all that his foe had. Ten grabbed his arms and tied them into a knot over the Octopus’s head. Summarily flummoxed, the Octopus gave out a gurgle of submission.

“What a strange day this is turning out to be,” Ten muttered to himself as he hopped out of the ring while a team of medics attempted to untangle the Octo-man’s arms safely.

OoOoOoO

Chaozu swallowed as he stood across the ring from the cyborg, Mercenary Tao. There was an unpleasant whirring sound as Tao attempted to crack his knuckles before frowning when he realized that he could no longer do this. Chaozu took advantage of Tao’s moment of introspection and charged, needing to get as close as possible to strike with his tiny limbs.

Tao was frustrated with himself when the strange little man… Charlie? Chauncy? Cartwright? Something like that, managed to get in a few hits while he was maligning the loss of his threatening joint-cracking abilities. The little clown… was he an actual clown? Either way, he had actually managed to make Tao take a few steps back before Tao swatted him away. The dwarf… pygmy… munchkin… what was the correct thing to call them, anyway? Well, whatever he was he stopped himself in midair and flew back at Tao. Why hadn’t he ever figured out flight? How hard could that be? He came at Tao with a few more strikes before Tao was intensely bored. He still had a long tournament to get through at this point. He drove the edge of his hand into the little man’s face and stood on his chest, foot slowly pushing onto his neck, pressing down.

“I… I give up!” he gasped. Tao pushed his foot down for a few seconds longer, savoring that look of primal fear that people always got when they realized they were about to die… and took his foot off of his throat before kicking him into the crowd where he landed conveniently in Ten’s arms. Tenshinhan glared at Tao and, lacking the facial features to glare back, Tao dragged a thumb across his throat. That worked well enough.

OoOoOoO

Launch stared across the ring at Suno and huffed, crossing her arms.

“Of all my friggin’ luck,” she muttered. “I mean, really, what are the odds?” Suno shrugged nonchalantly with a playful grin.

“I dunno, this is my third fight today which means the numbers are going down so I guess–” she just jumped back to avoid Launch’s elbow going up her nose.

“I was being sarcastic,” Launch explained as she followed up with a knee. Suno blocked it with her own shin before driving a palm into Launch’s sternum. Launch staggered back and rubbed at her chest before she sprinted into another attack, flipping through the air to drive her heel into the crown of Suno’s head. In the blink of an eye, Suno grabbed Launch by the leg and slammed her onto the ground, twisting her ankle around painfully. Launch cried in pain and tried to kick at Suno with her free leg but the girl grabbed that and twisted it as well, spinning Launch over onto her stomach and bending her legs and back at an unnatural angle. Launch screamed louder and tried to escape until she couldn’t take it anymore. “All right, already,” she cried, “I give, I give!” Suno let go immediately and helped her up to her feet. “Jeez, when’d you get so fast?” Suno giggled and tapped a finger against her nose.

“Trade secret,” she explained. Launch rolled her eyes and punched Suno on the arm.

“Yeah, yeah,” she muttered, “You better not make me look bad and lose in your first finals match or I’ll fly a plane into your house.” Suno stared at her in shock. “Kidding, kidding!”

OoOoOoO

Goku stared at the young man in a black singlet who was doing crazy lunges across the ring from her. He had an extremely short haircut and it looked like he was trying to grow a mustache. He stopped and flexed in front of her, baring his teeth.

“Martial Arts ledy,” he tried to bellow in a voice that lacked the timbre to be so described, “Wrestling ees bist Martial Art!” Goku grinned. She hadn’t wrestled in forever! “Thees ees yoor unly chence to leave beefore I heff to hoort you!” He got into a wide stance and so did she. He lunged and wrapped his arms around Goku before tossing her high overhead. Goku landed on her feet and grabbed him from behind in a waist lock before she tossed him overhead and out of the ring. She grinned and sauntered over to his dazed body, poking him a few times to wake him up.

“Hey,” she said cheerily, “I think I wrestled your dad!”

OoOoOoO

Krillin got into his guard as the other fighter charged towards him. He was an obscenely large animal-man, seven feet tall and just as wide. A frothing, crazy-eyed hippo-man, barreling towards him with his freakishly large maw opened freakishly wide. When he got close to Krillin, however, he came to a screeching halt and counted the incense burns on Krillin’s head. The hippo-man’s face paled as he raised a trembling hand to point at Krillin.

“Y-y-y-you’re…” Krillin smirked and got out of his guard to fold his arms over his chest.

“Yup,” he said confidently. The hippo-man broke out into a sweat before he shrieked and ran out of the ring like the devil was behind him.

“It’s the Bald Tiger! Run for your lives!” the hippo-man wailed in despair. Krillin chuckled to himself and hopped out of the ring, dusting his hands.

“Bald Tiger?” Yamcha asked incredulously. “What kinda training you been up to, Krillin?” The shorter man looked up at him with a serious face.

“You don’t wanna know,” he growled in an overly-dramatic, overly-growly voice. Yamcha laughed… before he realized Krillin was trying to be serious.

OoOoOoO

Yamcha hopped from foot to foot as he looked across the ring at Hercule. He was wondering when it’d be his turn to fight this clown. Though, from what Roshi and Launch had said, he’d been expecting someone a little more… animated. The guy looking at him was standing as still as a statue. Yamcha grinned, shuffling his feet and practically dancing across the ring.

“Come on, tough guy,” he encouraged, “Let’s see whatcha got! Gimme a speech! Gimme a goofy attack name! Gimme anything! ” No dice. Yamcha shrugged and came to a stop. “Well, I gave you a chance! Wolf Fang–”

The next thing Yamcha, knew he was on his back.

“-ine! Ten!” the referee counted. “Hercule is the winner!” Yamcha staggered slowly up to his feet as Hercule walked emotionlessly out of the ring.

What?

WHAT?!

Chapter Text

As the eight finalists lined up to take their numbers for the finals, Krillin couldn’t help but notice the lack of one scar-faced reformed bandit.

‘Ouch,’ he thought as he took his number, ‘Eliminated in the preliminaries. Poor guy.’ After all that bluster and his shiny new gi, too. So that meant that one of the new guys was stronger than Yamcha. No one had said anything about fighting Yamcha liked Suno had said she’d fought Launch. As the green guy walked past Krillin to take his number, Krillin couldn’t fight the cold feeling he got in his stomach. Like someone had just stepped on his grave.

“Hey, Ken!” Goku said excitedly as she reached into the box to take her number. “It’s great to see you again!”

“Good to see you again, too, Goku,” Ken said with a smile. Then Goku got entirely too close to his face and Ken’s face started to flush. “Uhhh… G-Goku?”

“You grew a mustache!” she exclaimed with that starry-eyed look. “It’s neat!” Then she walked back into line and Ken flusteredly adjusted his tie to regain his composure. Hercule stepped up to take his number and Ken couldn’t stop from smirking.

“Wow, Hercule,” he teased, “I didn’t think I’d ever see you make it this far!” Hercule took his number wordlessly and Ken cleared his throat uncomfortably. Once everyone drew their numbers, they were ushered out to the ring to the roar of a cheering crowd.

“Hey, Goku,” Krillin said as he walked besides Goku, “Where’d you get that gi from, anyway? It’s pretty snazzy.”

“Thanks!” Goku said with a grin. “It was a present from God.” Krillin blinked.

“God?” he asked in confusion. He’d never figured Goku for the religious type. Before he could ask any more questions, they were in front of the crowd. It was even bigger than the tournament before!

“Llllladies aaaaand gentlemen!” Ken crowed as he waved his arms around animatedly, having slipped right into his role as a showman. “We welcome you to the historic 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai! Let’s hear it first for our new arrivals! Majunior!” The green man turns up his nose at the crowd’s cheering with a scoff. “Suno!” Suno waved politely as the audience roared and cheered and, in a few cases, whistled. “Mercenary Tao Pai Pai!” The crowd grew deathly quiet and Tao chuckled. “Hercule!” The crowd cheers again but the virally-popular Hercule ignored his usual theatrics to stand stock-still with his arms at his side and look completely focused. “Aaaand the Warrior Woman!” The crowd cheered for the giant of a woman as she flexed her arms, although there were no whistles, perhaps out of fear. “Now for our returning finalists! Ladies and gentlemen, Krillin!” Krillin raised his fists as the crowd roared far louder than the tournament before. There were audible chants of “Bald Tiger” as well. “The returning and defending champion, Tenshinhan!” Tenshinhan raised a fist as the audience cheered even louder. “And finally, the two-time runner-up, Son Goku!” The crowd cheered louder than ever, dwarfing all the reactions as she smiled and waved excitedly. There were also more people whistling than there had been for Suno.

“Wait,” Bulma muttered as she looked at the lineup, “I don’t see Yamcha.” It clicked and she burst out laughing. “Ha! He got eliminated already! Hahahahahaaaaaa–” her laughter was interrupted as Puar turned into a large fish and slapped her across the face. Yamcha was, however, in the fighters’ area, as was Launch.

“Excuse me,” one of the staff said, “I’m afraid that the fighters’ area is for finalists only.” Yamcha and Launch each held out their hands with light glowing in their palms. “N-never mind.” The staff member muttered, sweating nervously as he shuffled away.

“For the Quarter-finals,” Ken continued, “It will be Tenshinhan versus Mercenary Tao,” there was a noticeable tension in the air as the two fighters turned their heads slightly to glower at one another; “Majunior versus Hercule,” Piccolo sneered and, if possible, Hercule looked even more serious; “Goku will take on the Warrior Woman,” There was an ever-so-slight change in the Warrior Woman’s posture, as though she was fighting to keep from bouncing with excitement; “Aaaand lastly, Suno versus Krillin!” Suno smiled and Krillin did, too, although his was slightly forced. “So, let the 23rd Tenkaichi Budoukai begin!”  Everyone left the ring except for Tenshinhan and Tao and the two got into their stances.

“You will die,” Tao growled as he drew back his fist. Ten allowed himself a small smirk.

“I very much doubt that,” he retorted calmly as Tao dashed towards him. Tao released a flurry of spear strikes and knees that all missed their mark. Ten finally stopped Tao’s assault by gripping Tao’s fist in his hand with the metal audibly creaking and crunching in his fist. “As long as I have you as a captive audience,” Ten said as Tao struggled in vain to escape the triclops’ grip, “I demand an answer. You once said that you were my father ‘in a sense’. What do you mean? Are you my father?” Tao growled and pulled back. There was an audible click as he jumped away with his hand staying in Ten’s hand and a blade sprung from the wrist.

“Your father?!” Tao spat as he swiped at Ten, startling him with a thin diagonal cut across the abdomen. “I killed your father, you fool!” Ten’s eyes widened in shock as the cut slowly began to trickle blood. “I killed your father and your mother when you were an infant! Then I took you to Shen to train you! You would not exist if not for me!” He raised the blade high overhead before he thrust the blade down to stab into Ten’s heart. “So it is only fitting that I take your life!” Ten’s head snapped forward to grab the blade between his teeth and shatter it. Tao’s face paled and, if he still had eyelids and eyebrows, no doubt they would express his shock. Ten spat the shards out onto the floor and Tao hopped away while he thrust out the stump of his wrist which began to glow. “Y-you don’t scare me, boy! I am still your better! I am Mercenary Tao! Take this! Chou Dodonpa!” A massive beam of yellow light fired out of the hidden cannon in Tao’s arm and Ten glared at it, vaporizing it with a kiai. He was on Tao in a flash and had a hand around his throat.

“I will never know,” he growled as he raised Tao off the ground, “my father. I will never know my mother. I will never know the man I might have been if it had not been for you. You stole a life from me.” His grip tightened and there was another audible crunch and creak of metal, “It seems only fair that I would take yours. You can’t stop me. I’m stronger than you and as you taught me long ago, strength is all that matters.” Suno and Krillin made a move to stop Tenshinhan but Goku held out her arms to stop them and shook her head. Tao whimpered pathetically and kicked his legs as Ten glowered up at him… before throwing Tao out of bounds into the grass. “I won’t,” he spat, “Because I am not like you. I’m better than you.” He found Shen in the crowd and pointed down at Tao, “Take him away and disappear. If I ever see either of you again, I will make you regret it.” Shen ran through the crowd and grabbed Ten before flying away. Ten walked to the fighters’ area as the crowd cheered. He bumped fists with Yamcha and blushed when Launch hugged him. He felt much better, as though a great weight had been lifted off his soul and a chapter could finally be closed on this part of his life.

OoOoOoO

Piccolo glowered across the ring at Hercule with both men practically immobile and the only movement being the wind blowing through his cape. He had a sneaking suspicion as to who he was really facing. Damn the old man. In the quarter-finals? No sense of dramatic timing. Hercule disappeared from sight and reappeared in front of Piccolo to strike with a spinning kick that Piccolo raised his forearm to block. Hercule landed on his feet in front of Piccolo and followed up with a series of palm strikes. Piccolo blocked them all but it was only a feint as Hercule swept Piccolo’s feet out from under him and smashed an elbow into his sternum to send him careening back.

“Hmmm,” Roshi muttered as he stroked his beard, “Hercule wasn’t anywhere near this good when I faced him. Either he’s been training seriously or something’s not quite right here.” Piccolo growled and charged at Hercule to rake his claws across Hercule’s chest except that Hercule jumped back at the last second so his claws went through nothing but air. Hercule landed and launched himself forward again with both fists out and spinning like a spiral. Piccolo threw out his hands and grabbed Hercule’s fists to bring his spinning to a stop and slam him down to the ground back-first several times before Hercule threw up his feet to catch Piccolo under the chin and break his grip. Hercule rolled back to his feet, right into Piccolo’s headbutt and a knee to the stomach. Hercule doubled forward and Piccolo jabbed an elbow down into the small of his back. Hercule groaned and rolled out of the way to avoid a spear strike. Hercule hopped to his feet again and they exchanged a violent but precise flurry of punches and kicks.

“Jeez,” Suno muttered as she watched, “Do these guys know each other? It’s like they hate each other.” Goku watched silently with her arms folded over her chest. She knew the green guy was Piccolo and the guy with the mustache had a pretty familiar fighting style. She was pretty sure she knew what was going on. Hercule threw a powerful hook to the body but Piccolo sidestepped it and gripped Hercule’s neck suddenly.

“I tire of these games,” he growled, “Reveal yourself before I break this human’s neck!” Hercule then did something no one was expecting: he threw a ki ball into Piccolo’s face to break his grip. Piccolo growled in pain and let Hercule go as he clutched at his face with both hands. Hercule followed this with something equally preposterous when he flew.

“Okay,” Launch muttered as she watched him go up, “That tears it. Something is up.” Piccolo flew up to meet Hercule and the two foes battled in the air with a ferocious intensity. Hercule suddenly slapped both hands on Piccolo’s ears and he cried out in agony, disoriented as Hercule drove him to the ground with a hammerblow. Hercule met him on the ground and threw a small vial down at his feet.

“I am finishing this!” Hercule declared suddenly, speaking for the first time all day as he thrust out his hands. “Mafuuba!” Everyone, with the exception of Goku, stared in open-mouthed, bug-eyed shock as a green cyclone flew out of his palms and enveloped Piccolo. Surprisingly, Piccolo only growled in response. Then he raised his arms and threw them out in a mirror of Hercule’s stance.

“Mafuuba Gaeshi!” he bellowed and the direction of the cyclone changed and turned on Hercule. The man screamed in agony and something seemed to fly out of his mouth before Hercule collapsed in a heap as the cyclone funneled down into the tiny bottle, the stopper securing onto it like magic. Piccolo grinned to himself as he scooped up the bottle.

“Wh-what just happened?” Launch asked. “That Majunior guy reversed the Mafuuba onto Hercule and then… something went into that bottle.”

“It looked like Piccolo Daimaou,” Ten muttered with a hand under his chin. Goku shook her head as she stared at Piccolo intensely.

“That wasn’t Piccolo,” Goku explained, “That was Kami. That is Piccolo.” The others stared at Piccolo and swallowed nervously.

“Told ya,” Yamcha said suddenly. “Pay up!”

“Ten!” Ken shouted as he finished the count. “Majunior is the winner!” Piccolo sneered at Hercule’s unconscious body and turned away from the ring with a flourish of his cape. He stopped when Goku blocked his path.

“The bottle,” she said forcefully, “hand it over.” Piccolo smirked and held the bottle in front of her face.

“This what you want?” he asked. In a flash, the bottle was in Piccolo’s mouth and he swallowed it. Goku stared in horror and he grinned. “The only way to get the old man back is to kill me. But that would kill him, too, wouldn’t it? What a dilemma.” Then he shoved his way past Goku and the others.

OoOoOoO

As Hercule struggled to his feet with a groan, the crowd suddenly began to chant his name, inspired by his performance.

“Hercule! Hercule! Hercule!” Hercule staggered as he regained his balance and wore the look of a man who had no idea how he’d gotten there. The last thing he could remember was running a pick through his afro and waxing his mustache. Now he’d made it all the way to the finals! Even though he’d lost. As Hercule walked towards the crowd a woman suddenly pushed her way to the front. She was wearing a yellow sundress and had long black hair and bright blue eyes. Her name was Miguel and she was Hercule’s girlfriend.

“You did great, hon!” Miguel shouted proudly as Hercule climbed over the barricade. “I didn’t know you could fly!” She threw her arms around Hercule and covered his face in kisses. Fly?! If Hercule had been confused before he was hopelessly lost now.

‘What the heck,’ he thought to himself, ‘Just go with it.’ he hoisted Miguel up onto his shoulders and threw his arms triumphantly into the air. “Yeah,” he crowed as he waved his hands to fan the flames of the crowd’s cheers, “Lemme hear it! WHO’S THE MAN? WHO’S THE MAN?”

“HERCULE!” the crowd answered, “HERCULE! HERCULE! HERCULE!” Hercule grinned to himself. He could get used to this.

OoOoOoO

“So, uh, Goku,” Krillin asked with a tone of nervous confusion, “Who’s Kami?” So Goku told them everything about Piccolo Daimaou’s egg and how she’d met Kami and the training she’d undergone with him and the connection between Kami and Piccolo.

“So,” Yamcha muttered, “The guy who kicked my butt was possessed by kinda-sorta-God.” He shrugged, “I can live with that.”

“And I,” Ten added, “Have to fight the reincarnation of the Demon King. An even stronger reincarnation of the monster who nearly killed me.” Launch put a hand on his arm.

“You don’t have to fight,” she told him, “You can pull out of–”

“Pull out?” Tenshinhan asked incredulously before cracking his knuckles. “This is the kind of challenge I need. Besides, he owes me a rematch.”

OoOoOoO

Goku stared across the ring at the giantess who was looming over her. There was an intense look in her eyes. It wasn’t hatred, Goku could see that much. Before Goku could ask why she was looking at her so funny, the woman darted across the ring at a speed surprising for her size and brought her fist down on Goku’s head.

Or rather, where Goku had been a moment before. She was slightly off to the left now and waving pleasantly. The woman growled and swung around her fist to try to uppercut Goku with enough force to knock her out of her boots. This time, Goku was balancing on her fist.

“Did I do something wrong?” Goku asked before flipping and landing behind the Warrior Woman. “How come you’re mad at me?” The woman turned to face Goku again and seemed to be fighting to keep her composure.

“I’m not mad,” the woman insisted, “But I will defeat you, Son Goku!” She leaped and tried to drive a knee into Goku’s face but Goku bent almost completely in half backwards to watch the woman sail overhead.

“Have we met?” Goku asked as she straightened up. the Warrior Woman unleashed a flurry of punches, elbows, knees, and kicks that Goku blocked and deflected with one hand.

“If you want to know who I am,” she told her as she doggedly continued her fruitless assault, “You’ll have to defeat me! But that won’t happen! I will defeat you, Son Goku! I have to!” She lunged forward with a headbutt and Goku appeared to be meeting her head-to-head… then the woman was in the grass before they ever made contact.

“Ring out,” Ken declared, “Son Goku is the winner!”

“Impressive,” Roshi muttered, “Goku took her out with just the wind generated by her attack!” Goku walked to the edge of the ring and held out a hand to help the Warrior Woman to her feet.

“So,” Goku asked, “Who the heck are you?” The woman reached up to the red wrapping around her head and began to undo it. She finished unwrapping the cover and held the cloth in one hand. She had a beautiful face, with high cheekbones and eyes like chips of onyx. Her jet black hair was in a tight bun that she undid with her other hand before shaking her head side to side to let her hair fan down around her shoulders and to her back.

“It’s me,” the woman said, “Chi-Chi. The Ox King’s daughter?” Roshi, Bulma, Puar, and Yamcha gawked in bug-eyed, slack-jawed disbelief.

“But she was… and now she’s… what?!” Yamcha babbled in confusion.

“There was something familiar to her fighting style,” Roshi muttered as his sunglasses slid off his face.

“The heck’s she been eating?” Bulma murmured.

“Hi, Chi-Chi,” Goku said pleasantly as she looked up at her, “You got taller!” Chi-Chi blushed slightly and bowed her head with her eyes turned down.

“I’m glad you remembered me, Son Goku,” she said softly. “Now I can tell you why I entered the Tenkaichi Budoukai and why I was being so secretive. You see…” she paused and sucked in a deep breath as if preparing to move some great weight, then turned her eyes back up to Goku, “From the minute I met you, I felt… something spark inside of me. I was drawn to you and to this whole big world you seemed to be a part of that was so much grander than the little world I knew in my father’s kingdom.” Ken took a step towards Chi-Chi to tell her that they still had another match to get to but she shot him a glare so sharp it could have shaved his mustache. He quickly moved backwards away from her and she returned her attention to Goku and her expression instantly softened again. “I’ve spent so many years trying to find you, to meet with you, to join you, but things kept getting in my way. And with every attempt, despite every setback, that spark I had felt inside me four years before had fanned into a wildfire. I have been training for the past three years for this day, Son Goku, so that I could say…” Chi-Chi suddenly went down to a knee, now having to look up at Goku for the first time and took Goku’s hand in hers, “I want to be in your world, Son Goku. With all your friends and your grand adventures. I… I want to be with you. Will you marry me, Goku?” There followed a long and tense silence. Suno looked uncomfortable and Krillin looked like he wanted to scream his head off.

“I don’t know what that means,” Goku said bluntly. An entire arena face-faulted as one. “Hey, Krillin!” Goku called as she turned her attention to the fighters’ area. “What’s marry mean?” For half a second. Krillin hesitated and pondered his answer, wondering what he might say. In the end, his nerves failed and he decided to give Goku the truth.

“When you marry someone,” he explained, “It’s when you live in the same house with someone that you really care about and you spend a lot of time together and you… um…” Krillin swallowed and his face reddened, “N-never mind.” Goku looked back at Chi-Chi, still on a knee and looking up at Goku with expectant eyes. Goku chewed on her lip for a moment with conflict written all over her face.

“Chi-Chi,” Goku said softly and squeezed the other girl’s hand, “I… I’m sorry. I can’t marry you. I don’t know you.” If there was an expression beyond hopelessness, a depth beneath despair, a pain beyond heartbreak, they were all written on Chi-Chi’s face as she slowly stood up and walked back to the fighters’ area. She moved as far away from Goku’s friends as possible and slumped down onto a bench with her head in her hands. Goku frowned and went back to join her friends. Ken said that she was the winner but she didn’t feel like one at the moment. She sort of just felt like a jerk.

OoOoOoO

Suno and Krillin stood across from each other and moved into their guards. The crowd cheered wildly as they clapped and stomped their feet. As before there was an audible “Bald Tiger” chant.

“Bald Tiger?” Bulma muttered in confusion as she looked around at the chanting audience. “Do they mean Krillin?!” Suno couldn’t stifle a giggle when she heard the moniker that Krillin had apparently earned in the past three years which made Krillin ball his fists even tighter in anger. He shot towards Suno like a rocket and threw out a straight jab that would have taken a normal person’s head clean off. As it was, Suno felt a sharp pain jolt through her forearms when she brought up a cross-armed guard to block the strike before she shoved Krillin back and struck with a lightning-fast crescent kick. Krillin forcefully redirected it to the side with the Orin temple style with enough force to make Suno spin and jumped up to smash a knee into the back of Suno’s head. She staggered forward and glowered.

“Okay,” she muttered as she spun around to her side, “What the heck is your problem?!” She exploded with an onslaught of kicks at Krillin who threw up his forearm to block them with his feet planted firmly as he weathered the assault. “You’ve been holding onto this for, like, six years! Every time you see me hanging out with Goku, you get mad! What, is no one else allowed to be her friend, you little psycho?!” Krillin growled and dove down to slide between Suno’s legs and came up behind her with another punch aimed at the back but this time Suno twisted around and blocked it with her elbow.

“Shut up!” Krillin snapped as he hopped away from Suno’s palm strike counterattack and jumped up to flip forward with a scissor kick. It caught Suno on the shoulder as she rolled out of the way and Krillin pressed forward with a series of body punches. “I didn’t have any friends before I met Goku! I knew her for a year and then you just swoop in and it’s like you’ve been buddies your whole lives! Who the heck are you, Suno? Where did you come from? Why? Why?!” Suno brought her arms down to block Krillin and headbutted him right between the eyes.

“That’s just it!” Suno told him even as they both winced. “You don’t know anything about me! You don’t know that stuff because you’ve been too busy being mad all the time!” She and Krillin charged each other and met in an explosion of fists. “Goku and I fought together against the Red Ribbon Army! She saved my village!” Krillin threw a right hook and Suno threw a left, each fist smashing into the other’s cheek as they stood and glared at one another. Slowly, however, Krillin let his fist drop.

“You’re right,” he said and Suno let hers drop as well in surprise, “I’ve been stewing on this for years like a real jerk. I thought I’d had it spelled out to me years ago that Goku was just friends with everybody. I guess I’ve just got… issues.” he shrugged and got back into his guard with a smile. “Come on, let’s do this fair.” Suno smiled back and nodded.

The two charged again and while their strikes were still furiously delivered, there was no more malice behind them. With the graceful qualities of the Odori Style and the redirective strategy of the Orin Temple it was almost half a dance. The end came swiftly when Suno wrapped her legs around Krillin’s neck in a headscissors and twisted in the air to send him head-over-heels out of the ring and into the grass.

“Ring out!” Ken declared. “Suno is your winner!” The crowd cheered and picked up a small “Suno” chant as Suno walked out of the ring and offered Krillin a hand. He picked himself up but shook her hand anyway.

“Hey,” Krillin said with a slightly reddening face, “You and Goku… uh… just,” he swallowed and shook his head. “Never mind.” He walked back to the fighter’s area and left Suno terribly confused. Goku grinned widely as her friends came back to join the rest of them. She was glad that everyone was getting along. She felt Piccolo’s ki pressing on the back of her mind and frowned, her good mood gone. There was still a tournament to win.

Chapter Text

There was a small interlude between the Quarterfinals and the Semifinals to allow the fighters a moment of rest before continuing their battles. As the others gave Tenshinhan words of encouragement, Yamcha’s gaze kept drifting over to Chi-Chi. The young woman just looked so miserable and alone although he could hardly blame her. His heart went out to the girl. While the others talked, Yamcha slunk away to find Pilaf and, three hundred zeni later, returned with two drinks. He sat down beside Chi-Chi and held one out to her. She gave him only the briefest of glances before looking back down at her feet. She did, however, take the drink from his hand.

“So,” Yamcha said, “You wanna talk?” Chi-Chi shook her head sullenly and Yamcha just shrugged. He didn’t leave. Meanwhile, Krillin looked away from the conversations the others were having when something glinted and caught his eye. Krillin looked up to the sky and saw a handful of shining spheres no bigger than his fist zipping around the ring and occasionally stopping to fidget in the air before moving again.

“The heck are those?” he murmured.

“Funny you should ask,” Ken said, appearing at Krillin’s side out of nowhere like a genie and giving Krillin a start. “Those are the newest high-speed remote cameras from Capsule Corp. After the last two tournaments, I was able to convince the Budoukai committee to spend the money to increase our coverage. People have to see this stuff, ya know? Each camera is even equipped with a self-contained generator and antennae to keep connection with the satellite. So if, for whatever reason, we lost connection with the power, like if the arena was destroyed, we wouldn’t lost the broadcast. But what’re the odds of that?” He chuckled but it died when he realized that Krillin wasn’t laughing at the notion. He tugged nervously at his collar and wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. “A-anyway,” he said, “I’m glad you guys showed up to justify the money spent on these things. If this tournament had been boring, I’d probably have lost my job.”

OoOoOoO

Tenshinhan steeled himself for a moment as Piccolo walked past him to the ring. Krillin and Suno gave him encouraging words and Launch gave him another hug. Their words were genuinely meant but he could feel the doubt behind them. He looked to Goku before he walked to the ring and she gave him a wordless, slow nod. Tenshinhan nodded back to her and marched towards the ring. Goku, Ten had realized in the short time he’d known her, did not have the capacity for deception. She knew his chances were slim as well as he did. As Ten climbed the steps into the ring and stood across from Piccolo, he reflected that he was in a similar position to Muten Roshi three years ago. Piccolo was certainly more powerful than him and all Ten had was his bag of tricks.

“Dodonpa!” Ten cried as he threw his arm out as swiftly and as seamlessly as a serpent’s strike and the yellow beam shot from his finger as true as an arrow. Piccolo’s hand went out even faster and grabbed the Dodonpa out of the air. He pivoted on his feet and tossed the beam back at Ten like a javelin and Ten leaped to the side to avoid being struck. ‘Well,’ Ten thought as he and Piccolo circled each other tensely, ‘At least I know where I stand.’ Ten burst forward and leaped into the air to attack Piccolo with a flying kick, knowing that his only advantage was to press the attack and keep the reincarnated demon on the defensive. Piccolo vanished and reappeared behind Ten as soon as he touched down and went for a blow aimed for the triclops’ neck. He ducked to avoid the blow and threw his elbow back into Piccolo’s stomach with the impact making him double over and cough up spit. Ten spun around and on his feet and held his hands up in front of Piccolo’s face. “Taiyoken!” he roared and the blinding light blasted Piccolo in the face. Ten went for a crushing uppercut but was shocked when Piccolo grabbed his wrist. The demon smirked and chuckled derisively as he opened his eyes.

“Did you think I would not remember that technique?” Piccolo asked before he spun around and slammed Ten down hard into the ring before he tossed him high into the air. Ten caught himself in the air and hovered high above the ring, neither caring about or noticing the cameras that flew up to follow him.

“Well,” Ten muttered to himself as he caught his breath, “You definitely won’t have seen this one yet.” He held his hands out with his fingers splayed as a point of yellow light formed on each individual finger. Piccolo watched curiously from above and waited for Ten’s move. “Dodon Danmaku!” Each finger fired burst after burst of ki down at the ring and Piccolo’s eyes widened in a moment of surprise before he began to dart across the ring to avoid the attacks. He snarled as a few shots pierced his cape and crouched low before flying off in an aggressive burst of speed that sent spiderweb cracks through the ring and kicked up a mighty gust. Ten stopped firing and met Piccolo head-to-head and fist-to-fist. Piccolo struck with hate and venom to take his vengeance on one of the creatures that had been foolish enough to rise against him and had played a hand in his death. Ten fought back with every ounce of his strength and speed, boiling down all his skill and training into this moment. They flew apart and collided again and again with shockwaves visible in the air, bursting the clouds apart with a sound like cannonfire. Chi-Chi’s curiosity got the better of her and she looked up to see what was going on, her mouth and eyes slowly widening as she tried to take stock of action moving too fast to see.

“Goodness,” she muttered.

Tenshinhan took an opening when he ducked under Piccolo’s attack and grabbed the other fighter’s cape in both fists. He spun as fast as he could, round and round before letting go to send Piccolo hurtling to the ground so fast that the air sizzled around him before he smashed violently down into the ring. Ten landed in the ring across from him as Piccolo got to his feet. They both took a moment to collect themselves; Ten gasping for breath and Piccolo dizzy and disoriented. Ten took stock of the fight during his moment’s respite and found about what he’d expected. While he was panting and bruised, Piccolo’s breathing was even and while Ten knew his blows hand landed, the most damage seemed to have been done to Piccolo’ clothes, which were dirtied and scratched.

“Come on,” Piccolo taunted as he adjusted his turban, “You’re not done already, are you?” Ten took a deep breath and brought his arms up as he bent into a low crouch.

“Hardly,” he growled as he crossed his arms. Ten glared at Piccolo as he focused his energy. Piccolo waited and watched curiously as tendrils of energy rolled off of Tenshinhan’s body. Goku watched as well, wondering what the heck Ten was doing. It kind of reminded her of the time Ten grew those arms out of his back but it was… different. More. Then, without warning, there was a Tenshinhan standing next to Tenshinhan. Then another standing next to him. And yet one more standing next to him! Four Tenshinhans, each crouched with their arms bent before they stood and uncrossed their arms in unison.

“WHAT?!” Suno, Krillin, Roshi, Bulma, and Yamcha cried out in shock.

“Neat!” Launch and Goku said with grins although for very different reasons and with very different grins. Piccolo gave a dismissive snort.

“Afterimages,” he said as he walked towards the quartet. “That’s all?” he drew back a fist and went to punch one of the Tens at an almost lethargic pace as if to make a point. Then, all at once, they punched him in the face and knocked Piccolo on his ass. Piccolo stared in gobsmacked disbelief as the Tenshinhans grinned and cracked their knuckles.

“You were saying?” they asked as one before swarming Piccolo to batter him with punches and kicks and stomps to try and keep him from getting to his feet. Piccolo snarled and roared as he threw his arms out to knock them away with a kiai. The four Tens flew high into the air and each took a corner of the ring to surround Piccolo. The demon chewed his lip in frustration. They were too far apart to attack all at once but as soon as he turned his attention to one, he knew that the others were all going to swarm on him.

“Really,” Piccolo remarked, “Four on one is hardly fair.” Each Ten responded by giving him the finger. Piccolo rolled his eyes as Launch snickered. Piccolo flew up and stretched out his arms to attack two of the Tenshinhans, his hands striking as swiftly as snakes, snapping and lashing out in the air, keeping the clones on the defensive. This still left the other two Tens unaccounted for and each flew to grab one of Piccolo’s legs and yank him down to the ground. The other two grabbed Piccolo’s arms before they could retract and yanked him back up to punch him in the face to send him down again.

“Go, Ten!” Launch cheered.

“You’ve got him!” Krillin encouraged.

“Don’t let up!” Suno added. Goku only watched silently and waited. It looked like Ten had the advantage but something was definitely up. Piccolo groaned and stood slowly before cracking his neck as the four Tens surrounded him again.

“I have to say,” Piccolo said, “That is quite an interesting technique. Except that I’ve figured out your weakness.” He smirked and folded his arms confidently. “To split your body like this, you have to split your power as well. It’s hard to notice the difference when you attack me at once but, the moment you split up, I notice that you’re even weaker than usual.” One of the Tens gave a shrug.

“Then I guess we’ll just have to keep attacking you all at once,” he said as they drew back their fists and Piccolo braced himself. Then the four Tens fired ki beams from their third eyes and blasted Piccolo, the fists having only been feints. The blasts caught Piccolo squarely in chest, sides, and the base of his neck. He grunted in pain and fell to a knee as the Tens walked towards him and kept pouring on their beams, bearing down on him and taking him down to both knees. Piccolo fell forward under the force of the blasts and had to throw out his hands to stop himself from falling onto his face.

‘This is insane!’ Piccolo thought indignantly. ‘I will not be brought low by one of these rodents! I have a destiny to fulfill! A vengeance to claim!’ Piccolo roared and sent the Tenshinhans flying with another kiai. He stood slowly and his eyes flashed red. Two thin beams of light pierced one of the Tenshinhans where his heart would be and he faded away like smoke, revealing that he was one of the body doubles. Piccolo launched himself to the side at one of the Tenshinhans and drove his elbow under his chin with enough force to snap his neck, that one fading away as well. Then he turned his attention on the other Tenshinhan in the ring and was on him in the blink of an eye with a hand on his throat and hoisted him off the ground. “Now,” he said, “This looks familiar.” Despite his predicament, Ten chuckled.

“Don’t you know how to count?” Tenshinhan asked with a strained smirk. Piccolo blinked in confusion and the remark didn’t register until he felt an arm from behind wrapping around his throat. He’d forgotten the other one! The Ten with the arm around his throat yanked him away from the other before rocketing into the sky and pivoting and launching Piccolo even higher into the sky by his neck. The Tenshinhan in the sky flew past Piccolo as fast as he could, bringing his hands into a triangle in front of him and straining as the Tenshinhan on the ground threw out a fist. “Chou Dodonpa!” “Shin Kikouhou!” The blasts sandwiched Piccolo in a burst of yellow light that outshone the sun itself. The Ten in the sky faded away as the light dimmed. There was no sign of Piccolo. Instead, there was just his cape, falling out of the sky faster than a cape ought to. Ten bent forward and gripped his knees with desperate breaths, his body drenched in sweat. He couldn’t remember being so exhausted in his life. That was his best–

Piccolo landed in front Tenshinhan as if appearing from nowhere. Ten stared with his mouth agape as Piccolo smirked and began stalking toward him. Tenshinhan scowled as Piccolo stalked towards him and, despite every fiber of his fighter’s spirit telling him not to, Ten knew that there were no other options.

“I concede,” Tenshinhan declared, glaring at Piccolo, defiant even in defeat. Piccolo came to a stop inches from Tenshinhan and his body seemed to burn with frustration. That gave Ten some measure of satisfaction as he staggered back to the fighters’ area.

“Tenshinhan submits!” Ken declared. “Majunior is the winner!” Piccolo ground his teeth and wanted to scream. That… that wasn’t fair! He wanted his triumph! He wanted to destroy Earth’s champions, one-by-one, before the entire world to cement his throne again. How could he just… give up?! How could he do that to him? It was so… so selfish!

‘I suppose it doesn’t matter,’ Piccolo admitted to himself, ‘They will all die one way or the other.’ Piccolo frowned in thought as he leaped from the ring to the fighters’ area, landing past Goku and her sycophants. ‘However, if I hadn’t dropped my cape to increase my speed, I wouldn’t have been able to avoid that attack. It wouldn’t have killed me, of course, but it would have hurt. Beings such as him will could be a problem when I am king again.’

Krillin caught Tenshinhan as he started to fall and sat him down down on a bench before Launch sat down beside him. He groaned and Goku already had a cup of water for him. He took it weakly and nodded appreciatively. Goku smiled and patted Ten on the shoulder.

“Just don’t lose,” Ten muttered before he sipped his water. Goku nodded resolutely.

“You got it.”

OoOoOoO

Suno and Goku stood apart from each other on opposite sides of the ring. Despite knowing that her chances of winning were basically zero, Suno could help but feel excited as her pulse started to rise. Standing in front of a large crowd on national television and showing the whole world just what she could do was so far away from where she had started six years ago that it was like she was in a dream.

“Contestants Son Goku and Suno, are you ready? Begin!” Ken called out.

Goku and Suno charged and immediately launched into a complex series of interlocking punches and kicks. It was pretty clear to Suno that Goku had, at some point, memorized most of the finer points of her Odori style and was now using it and supplementing it with all the other styles she had learned over the years. Not like it terribly mattered to her. Something also obvious to other fighters and even Ken was that, despite the speed and precision of their blows, neither of them were really trying.

“Hey, Goku?” Suno spoke up after a few seconds.

“Yu-huh?” Goku replied, her attention clearly on Suno’s words rather than the “fight”.

“I was wondering what you were planning on doing after the Budoukai.”

“Hmm… I dunno. I never really thought about it. Kami says I’ve learned all I can from him so I doubt I’ll go back to the Lookout. I still need to get my Grandpa’s Dragon Ball back but, after that, I dunno. Why?”

“Well, if you don’t have anything better to do, I thought I’d offer to let you stay at my place.”

“You mean live with you in Jingle Village?”

“No, actually. I live by myself in a small town a few hours away from East City now. After seeing so much of the world with you, I decided I wanted to live someplace a bit more central.”

“Hmm… Okay! On one condition.”

“Oh? What’s that?” Suno could barely contain her excitement.

“I want you to go all out during this fight!”

Suno chuckled, “Okay, I think I can do that.”

The fighters sprang away from each other and slid into their guard stances. They locked their gazes on each other and the air stilled as it was filled with tension. Even those watching on their televisions or listening to Ken’s announcements over the radio could tell that this was an explosive situation of the highest caliber. The slightest twitch, the shallowest breath, the smallest opening would set them off. Every member of the audience waited with baited breath for the fight to start in earnest.

After an eternity, it finally happened. Suno’s back foot shifted ever so slightly and she and Goku disappeared into a blur of movement. What followed was a clash at speeds even greater than the previous fight; only Tenshinhan and Piccolo could fully see what they were doing. Again, their blows clashed and flowed around each other like before but the difference was like that of night and day. Each blow was launched with enough force to at least stun, if not injure, and their focus was fully on each other and nothing else.

The situation changed when Goku blocked one of Suno’s high kicks instead of dodging. She then quickly threw out a sharp jab that came just short of hitting Suno’s chest but the wind was enough to launch the off balance Suno backwards. Suno was outside of the ring before she could fully react and was forced to use a full body kiai to launch herself back to the ring in order to prevent a ring out. Of course, Goku saw this coming and was preparing a pointblank kiai that would undoubtedly ring her out. With no time for subtlety, Suno pushed her ki into her legs and used a full power kiai from her feet to launch herself high into the air and flip over Goku. Goku quickly gave chase and was forced to block a twirling kick aimed at her head that left Suno parallel to the ground. Suno immediately followed up with a double kiai that not only pushed her away but also forced Goku to release the grip she had on her leg. To her astonishment, Goku managed to not only react in time but also managed to redirect Suno’s kiai towards the ground with her own.

When both fighters touched down, they immediately went back at it. Suno weaved around one of Goku’s jabs only to find her palm strike sailing through Goku’s afterimage. Goku appeared behind and launched a roundhouse kick aimed at her floating rib only for her attack to pass through Suno’s afterimage. Suno appeared off to Goku’s side and was completely unsurprised when her kidney punch only broke through another afterimage. Back and forth this went, with each fighter’s strikes only succeeding in dispelling yet another afterimage, until, after the fifteenth reversal, Suno turned the momentum from her left hook that phased through the afterimage into a spinning kick aimed at where she knew Goku would be appearing behind her only to be surprised when that Goku turned out to be an afterimage too.

Suno’s instincts screamed at her and she dove forward into a roll just as Goku came down onto the stop she had been standing not an instant before. Suno rose to her feet and charged forward with a kiai-enhanced palm strike only to be surprised again as Goku evidently had the same idea. Their palms stopped just a fraction of an inch away from each other as the kiai negated each other and the recoil blasted their arms backward. Both of them saw this as the perfect opening and simultaneously launched another kiai-enhanced palm strike only for the result to be the same. Neither of them let up as they unleashed a barrage of kiai at each other, each strike being met head on by its twin. The air behind them was whipped up in a veritable maelstrom that tugged at their hair and tore at their clothes but it spoke highly of their skill that the wind reaching the spectators was a mere breeze.

The situation changed when Suno put a little less power into her strike and made the angle slightly off. Instead of countering Goku’s strike, she decreased is force and angled it so that the kiai would shift her back just enough for her next move. The instant the blow came and she was pushed back, she launched a kiai from the back of her legs to sweep them out from under her and launched another from her shoulders to put herself into a baseball slide between Goku’s legs. As she passed, she hooked her arms around Goku’s ankles and used another kiai to give herself the speed needed to pull Goku’s feet out from under her. As Goku fell, Suno used another series of kiai to bring herself to a stop and launch herself into the air and back down towards Goku. Goku caught herself with her hands before her face hit the ground and immediately rolled out of the way as Suno’s kiai-enhanced palm strike slammed into the ground where her back had been, the force of the blow creating a sizable crater in the ring. Goku rose up with a spinning kick that forced Suno to drop to the ground then roll out of the way of the follow up stomp. Both fighters jumped backwards and once again found themselves facing each other down at the edge of the area.

“Wow, Suno! You’re amazing! You’ve gotten a lot stronger since the last time we met!”

Suno chuckled, a light blush dusting her cheeks, “Thank you. I’d say the same but, given who you were training with, I think it’d have been even more amazing if you didn’t get a lot stronger.”

“Hey, do you mind if we take a break for a minute? I wanna go all out against you and I need a bit to get ready.”

“So you’ve been holding back? I guess that’s only fair. I haven’t been going all out, either. I spent most of the last three years learning the secret technique of the Odori style and I’ve yet to use it.”

Goku got all starry-eyed at this, “Oh, really? Is it a new attack?”

Suno smirked, “Maybe. Only one way to find out.”

Goku laughed, “Okay! Just one sec.” Just like that, Goku pulled down the top of her gi and started to take off her blue undershirt with much effort. “Aw jeez. I hate taking this thing off.”

The entire audience was shocked silent with Suno even dropping her guard as they stared at Goku with bewilderment.

“C-Contestant Son Goku appears to be remover her shirt!” Ken announced. “While she’s- it’s certainly hot enough, I can’t help but wonder if Goku is using the tactics of Ranfan who she fought back at the 21st Budoukai!”

“Uh… G-Goku, uh…” Suno chuckled nervously, “Wha-what are you doing?” Goku grunted as she finally got the undershirt over her head and it crashed to the ground with a rather resounding “thud.” Suno- along with quite a few others- were grateful that she was wearing a cloth wrapping that completely covered her breasts.

“I’m taking off my weighted clothing. I can’t go all out if I’m still wearing it. You trained pretty hard to master that technique, right?” Goku put her shirt back on and removed her wristbands which also crash to the ground before sitting down to remover her boots.

“Yeah,” Suno said muttered, “I trained pretty girl. Hard! Hard. I trained… pretty hard.”

“Here, let me get these out of the way for you,” Launch said as she walked into the ring. She went to pick up Goku’s undershirt only to find herself struggling to do so. “Good lord, Goku! How much does this thing weigh?!”

“Um… The boots are forty pounds each, the wristbands are twenty each, and the shirt is one hundred pounds.”

“Two hundred twenty pounds?! Are you crazy, Goku?!” Launch shouted. “Hey, Yamcha! Come give me a hand with this!”

After Launch and Yamcha managed to get Goku’s weighted clothing out of the ring, Goku turned her attention back to Suno while stretching, “So, are you going to show me this secret technique?”

Suno nodded as she calmed her breathing and began focusing her ki. An aura of pale translucence surrounded her, creating a weak updraft that moved her hair. This technique required very precise ki manipulation and it took her the better part of two years before she mastered it. Now it was time to see if the effort had been worth it.

“Fubuki Odori!” There was a small pulse of energy as the updraft stopped and the aura vanished. Suno’s appearance was completely unchanged and this seemingly complete lack of change caused Goku to cock her head in confusion.

“You don’t look any different but your ki certainly feels different. What did you do?”

Suno slid into her guard stance, “Only one way to find out.”

Goku nodded and did the same, “Right!”

Goku and Suno’s forms blurred and wavered with motion before coming to a stop. The only way everyone other than Piccolo knew that they even fought was the slight change in their positions.

“Did- Did you guys see that?” Krillin asked weakly.

“Nope. How about you, Ten?” Yamcha asked.

At that moment, Tenshinhan’s skin color could have given Chaozu’s a run for his money.

“Oh, wow!” Goku was all starry eyed yet again. “So that’s your secret technique? You actually managed to keep up with me and I wasn’t holding anything back!” Suno smiled. This was actually going far better than expected. “It’s got a major flaw though. You have all that speed but you’ve sacrificed most of your power to get it.”

Suno grimaced but wasn’t really surprised. Indeed, the Fubuki Odori granted her immense speed but, in order to get it, she had to channel the ki that normally bolstered her strength into her speed. As a result, the speed gain was directly proportional to her strength loss. Regardless, she had to remain confident. “So you figured it out. Do you think knowing the technique’s weakness will be enough to let you defeat it?”

“Maybe. Only one way to find out.”

Suno chuckled to herself, “Right!”

The clashed in a blur of motion once more. With her weakness revealed, Suno was forced to dodge all of Goku’s attacks rather than trying to block them. She was positive that Goku had the strength to blow through her guard and even a single hit would spell the end of this fight. The two found themselves constantly switching between giving and taking ground; the line between being on the offensive and defensive so blurred that they may as well have been one in the same. Their attacks flowed and linked together like never before and the result was that it looked more like they were literally dancing around the arena rather than fighting. As it was, their speed was so great that it appeared as if eight Sunos and Gokus were fighting each other and only Piccolo could tell where the real ones were.

An opening was made when Suno changed the paradigm. Instead of dodging Goku’s crane strike, she took a page from Krillin’s book and redirected it. Goku’s surprise only lasted for an instant but that was all Suno needed. She lashed out with a backhand that caught Goku right in the solar plexus. Goku’s guard broke further and Suno launched an all out offensive. She poured on the attacks, striking Goku from every conceivable angle, and pushed her speed to her utmost limits. With each strike, Goku was getting pushed towards the edge little by little. It was taking everything out of her but, if she could keep up her barrage, victory was within her reach.

At last, the time was right and Suno put everything in one last strike. With a mighty yell, she slammed her palm into Goku’s chest and sent her flying with a kiai. She went sailing over the edge and Suno and the others watched seemingly in slow motion as Goku fell towards the ground outside the ring. Closer and closer she got, just one more instant and it’d be over.

Then Goku stopped. She floated in mid air a mere few inches above the ground- Ken actually having to get on the ground to make sure that she, indeed, wasn’t touching it- before floating upwards and landing back inside the ring. Suno quickly retreated to the other side of the ring as she tried to not let her disappointment show.

“Man, that was a close one! You almost had me there!” Suno didn’t say anything in response. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to say anything but more like she couldn’t say anything. She had put everything into that last push and, as a result, her breath was labored and sweat was pouring down her body. Goku, on the other hand, was still breathing normally and hadn’t even broken a sweat. “Oh, one more thing. You said you wanted me to live with you, right? Does that mean you want me to marry you?”

Suno’s arms fell to her side as her face turned blood red, “M-m-married?” Before she could so much as begin to get her mind back in order; there was a rush of movement, a sharp pain in her chest, and she found herself laying on her back outside the ring.

“Ring out! Son Goku is the winner!” Ken announced as the audience cheered.  Suno barely even registered the fact that she had lost. Instead, she was too consumed by what just happened. ‘Did Goku just- No, she isn’t capable of that. ...Is she?’ Just then, the object of her concern appeared upside down in her face.

“Hey, you okay?” Goku asked. “Sorry about that. You dropped your guard and I just took the chance without really thinking.” Suno smiled and shook her head as she got up. No. No she wasn’t.

“I’m fine. It’s okay.”

“Good! So, are you going to answer me?”

“Huh?” Suno turned beet red again. “Y-you mean about us getting m-married?”

“Yu-huh.”

Suno chewed on her lip. On one hand, she really did want to marry Goku but, on the other hand, Goku clearly didn’t fully understand what marriage was and Krillin’s explanation was rather lacking. Given Goku’s personality, it was clear that she’d say “Yes” if she asked but she’s probably also agree if Krillin, Yamcha, or even Bulma asked. Would it be right for her to take advantage of her like that? No. No it wouldn’t.

“M-maybe later. It takes a while to get married and you’d be too busy getting settled in. We’ll talk about it after that, okay?”

“Hmm. Okay!” Goku grinned and watched Suno head back to the fighters’ area. She noticed, though, that Krillin looked… really sad. Before she could go over and ask him, Piccolo walked brusquely past them and clapped slowly as he came closer to the ring.

“What a nice moment,” Piccolo told her with a voice positively drenched in sarcasm, “But I’m afraid there won’t be a later.” He stepped into the ring and walked to the side opposite from Goku and got into his guard. “Prepare for a pain worse than hell itself, Son Goku. I am going to give you a lesson in humility. A painful, fatal lesson.” Goku smirked and cracked her neck before she got into her guard.

“We’ll see,” Goku shot back, “But I’ll warn you, I can be a pretty slow learner!” Piccolo tossed off his turban and they charged.

Chapter Text

It was a bizarre moment that happened next. Goku and Piccolo met forearm-to-forearm in the blink of an eye in the center of the ring with the force of two runaway trains smashing into one another and generating a wind that knocked everyone in the stadium off their feet. The sounds came a second later. The whip-like crack of their charge and the cacophony of their collision, a sound only slightly softer than an atomic explosion. Then, Piccolo’s turban hit the ground.

“W-wait,” Bulma muttered as she pulled herself back up to her feet and her brain caught up with what just happened. “Th-they just…” Goku and Majunior had moved faster than the speed of sound. As their opening.

Goku and Piccolo pushed away from each other and glared for a moment before dashing towards each other again. They appeared to most of the audience sporadically, only in fits and burst, all across the ring and even sometimes in the middle of the air, each collision followed by a wave of concussive force that nearly knocked them off their feet and a tremendous crash. Even the state-of-the-art supercameras were struggling to give the viewing audience at home anything more than blurs of orange, green, and purple.

Suno was able to keep up with things better than most. She watched Goku and Piccolo dash around and could even follow their strikes. She was also able to see, with a slowly-rising unease, that Piccolo was either dodging or blocking all of Goku’s attacks. They landed across the ring from each other and Goku lunged with her dropkick. To everyone else, it would seem that, at one second, Goku was on one side of the ring, the next second on the other. Piccolo had rolled calmly out of the way and it was only a well-placed kiai that kicked up chunks of grass that kept Goku in the ring. Then they stood across from each other again, still breathing evenly.

“Jeez,” Goku said as she got back into her guard, “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you could read my mind.” Then she smirked, “But Kami taught me how to make sure that couldn’t happen. So what’d you do?” Piccolo chuckled and rolled his shoulders as he spoke.

“It’s simple,” he said smugly. “I have all of the original Piccolo Daimaou’s memories. I remember exactly how your last battle went down. I remember your techniques, tactics, and strikes. No matter what you’ve learned, I know how you fight and I know every move you will make. I have been preparing for this battle, and only this battle, for the last three years.” Where a normal person might feel trepidation, even terror, Goku grinned.

“Cool!” she said eagerly. A person who was just as strong as her and knew how she fought and had been training for three years just to fight her? What a challenge! It was awesome! Piccolo chuckled again and slowly ascended into the sky.

“Excuse me for a moment,” he told her with a strangely polite tone, “I have some business to take care of.” Goku shrugged and looked up at him and waited. It would be rude to take a cheap shot, after all. “People of Earth!” Piccolo bellowed as he threw out his arms dramatically while using ki to project his voice. “What you see is no mere illusion, no costumed freak trying to take advantage of your fears. I am the great Piccolo Daimaou reborn! This time, nothing will stand in the way of my glorious reign! I shall bring you a hell that never ends! ” He threw back his head and laughed maniacally as the audience screamed in terror and ran out of their seats as if they were on fire, running for their lives. No one ran as fast as Pilaf and his gang, of course. Soon, the arena was empty save for the fighters, Ken, Bulma, Puar, and Roshi. Piccolo slowly descended again and nodded his head in appreciation. “Thank you,” he said cordially, “I’ve been waiting to do that for–”

Goku socked him right in the nose.

Piccolo cried out in pain and groaned when he hit the ring hard with one hand clutching his face. Goku grinned and shrugged.

“You were done with your business,” she told him, “And you kinda did me a favor. Without all those people, I don’t have to worry about holding back because someone might get hurt!” Suno’s face paled and she broke out in a cold sweat.

“They… they’ve been holding back?” Piccolo nodded and hopped to his feet before getting into his guard again.

“Let’s continue,” he growled as he tried to hide his frustration at being so easily hit. Goku nodded and got into her guard. “I’m curious, though,” Piccolo admitted, “Just how strong you think you are.” Goku grinned and gave a shrug.

“Stronger than you,” she told him cockily. Piccolo smirked.

“Are you so sure?” he taunted. “Why don’t we compare the speed and power of our attack rushes?” Goku nodded and they walked towards each other calmly until they were no more than an arm’s-length apart. They each took a moment to stretch, cracking their knuckles, popping their elbows, rolling their shoulders and twisting at the hips. Then they stood with their arms at their sides… and it began. Goku let out a battle cry as her fists flew forward at such a tremendous speed that they disappeared from sight completely. “Die!” Piccolo roared as his fists met with hers, “Die, die, die, die, diediediediediediedie!” They collided fist-to-fist a hundred times in the space of a breath, two hundred, five hundred, more, every blow delivered with lethal power . The ground shook under their feet and each blow released the force of a small explosion and carried a tremendous enough wind behind it to cut through earth and stone, opening tiny cuts in both fighters’ gi. They seemed to be completely matched.

Then Piccolo kicked Goku in the shin and headbutted her viciously to send her across the ring. Piccolo pursued her but Goku tucked backwards and pushed off against the ring with her feet and a burst of kiai to sail over Piccolo’s head and landed behind him to throw a kick at the small of his back.

“That was a cheap shot!” Goku accused as Piccolo pivoted to avoid the strike. If there was one thing Goku hated, it was dirty fighting.

“We’ll call it even,” Piccolo shot back as he swiped at her with his claws. “Cheap shot for cheap shot!” Goku twirled through the air to avoid the swipe and slammed the point of her elbow down towards Piccolo’s head and he jerked back to avoid it, feeling the breeze brush past his face. Piccolo jumped up into the air and hovered high overhead before thrusting one palm out. “Tsuibidan!” he cried, firing a large blast from his hand down towards Goku. She brought her hands down to her side and thrust her palms forward.

“Kamehameha!” The blue beam flew out to meet the yellow bolt and they seemed ready to make a head-on collision when Piccolo leaped to one side and the Tsuibidan suddenly… swerved to avoid the Kamehameha.

“He can control the blast!” Krillin exclaimed in surprise. Yamcha fought an inclination to grumble.

“Look out, Goku!” Launch called. “Move it!” Goku stood rooted to her spot, though, even as Piccolo’s attack came rushing towards her. She smirked and, with the slightest movement of her wrist, the Kamehameha arched and intercepted the Tsuibidan, the blasts cancelling each other out in a huge explosion. Piccolo flew in and burst through the smoke with both hands outstretched and mouth open wide in a roar. He flew right into Goku’s palm and it smashed him under the chin with enough force to snap his mouth shut. Piccolo groaned in pain and staggered back. Goku wiped blood from under her nose and Piccolo spat out a mouthful of blood and a pointed tooth.

“Guess you didn’t know as much as you thought,” Goku quipped as Piccolo growled. Roshi nodded to himself and stroked his beard thoughtfully.

‘I never figured out how to manipulate the Kamehameha’s direction,’ he thought to himself. ‘I may have invented it but I’m not its master anymore.’ Piccolo threw his arms out with a bend at the elbow and spread his legs wide in almost a power lifter’s stance and his face twisted up in a sneer.

“Let’s see how you like this!” he boastfully declared. Goku watched Piccolo suspiciously as he growled and his entire body tensed and crackled with energy. Veins branched out all across his head and chips of the broken ring were pulled into the air by his aura. Then Piccolo… began to grow. Goku’s eyes widened in shock and her mouth went agape.

“That’s not good,” Suno muttered fearfully as she stared up and up at Piccolo as the Demon Prince continued to grow.

“Not good at all,” Yamcha agreed. Puar had taken to hiding behind Bulma who was hiding behind Roshi.

‘This’ll teach me to drag my feet on building that giant robot suit,’ Bulma thought to herself as she gulped nervously. When Piccolo stopped growing, he was four times his originally size. He gave a sinister chuckle and cracked his knuckles. The sound was like glaciers breaking.

“So,” he asked in a booming voice, “What do you think?” Goku couldn’t help but grin, full of nervous energy. She hadn’t fought someone huge since she was a kid!

“It’s cool!” she told him and the others fought an inclination to face-fault. Then Piccolo lunged forward with one of his massive hands pointed towards Goku in a spear strike. “Not cool!” she corrected herself as she leaped up to avoid it. Piccolo continued to swipe at Goku and stomp at her. He undoubtedly had the reach advantage now. He was almost as big as the ring! Goku kept just out of his reach, though. It was like trying to catch a small fish out of the water with your bare hands, only this fish hit back. Goku landed behind Piccolo and jumped up to drive her shoulder into the back of his knee. He cried out in pain and she quickly scrambled up his back to land on his head. He shook his head to and fro and tried to grab at her but Goku continued to evade him. She lunged forward to grab his antenna in both hands and jumped forward, yanking Piccolo face-first down into the ring. Piccolo groaned in pain and, before he could even wonder if he’d lost another tooth, Goku ran forward and grabbed one of his fingers. With a grunt of exertion and a twist of her hips, she somehow managed to lift Piccolo off of the ground and toss him high overhead. Piccolo let out a cry of shock as he sailed through the air and landed hard on his back.

“I… I don’t believe it,” Krillin murmured. Suno shrugged.

“I don’t think Goku could do anything to surprise me at this rate,” she said as Piccolo picked himself back up. He sneered and popped the dislocated finger back into place before he tried attacking again. He grabbed and slashed and punched and stomped but he just. Couldn’t. Get her.

“Hold still!” Piccolo cried out in frustration as Goku continued to evade him while leaping and twisting and hitting him in the stomach, knees, shins, and ribs. He almost sounded like a child having a tantrum more than he did the Demon King come again. Roshi chuckled and adjusted his glasses.

“His body grew,” Roshi said, “But his ki didn’t. So he has to exert that much more energy to move around all that mass. He can’t move as fast as he was before. He can’t keep up!” Or, as Goku put it…

“The bigger they are,” she taunted as she jumped high into the air and drove an axehandle blow into Piccolo’s collarbone, “The harder I hit!” She pushed off of Piccolo’s chest and dropkicked him in the eye, causing him to howl in pain.

“That’s…” Bulma started to say before she shrugged, “Eh, it works.” Piccolo growled as Goku landed in front of him and his fists curled and uncurled in petulant fury.

“So,” she called up, “Do you have another secret technique? It’s not like you can get taller.” Piccolo fumed and the air whistled between his nostrils before he stopped and chuckled again. “...You’re about to get even taller, aren’t you?” Goku asked in what was perhaps the first dry moment of her life. Piccolo growled again and veins began to spread across his head again and Goku stared tensely while the others looked up in terror.

“This,” Yamcha muttered, “Is ridiculous.” Chi-Chi nodded wordlessly from behind him. She supposed that she had been hoping for excitement from this journey…

“L-look at it this way,” Puar stammered, “A-all Goku has to do is trip Piccolo and some part of him will land out of bounds!”

“Not to be rude, Puar,” Krillin retorted, “But somehow I don’t see this fight ending on a ring-out.”

Piccolo finished growing again and once again quadrupled in size. He was now as tall as a skyscraper and as he loomed over Goku the ring cracked under his weight. He sneered down at her before he spat out a tooth almost as big as Goku was. She jumped high into the air to avoid it but couldn’t avoid Piccolo’s enormous hand swatting her back down to the ground like a fly. Goku hit the ring painfully and bounced once off the impact. She got to her feet as quickly as she could and rolled to avoid getting stomped on. She evaded Piccolo’s stomps for a few moments before Piccolo shot a blast of ki from his eyes to make Goku leap backwards into another downwards slap. Before Goku could move, Piccolo stomped down on her.

“Goku!” Krillin and Suno cried out in dismay. Piccolo threw back his head and laughed, his deep voice booming like thunder.

“Perfect!” he declared boastfully. “How poetic! You may have been my father’s equal, Son Goku, but to me you were as much an insect as the human race so you have died like an insect!” He grinned evilly and turned his attention to the others. Tenshinhan, Suno, Launch, Krillin and Yamcha glared up at him despite their dread while Ken, Bulma, Roshi, Chi-Chi, Puar and Chaozu tried to look like they weren’t there. “Now for the rest of– what?!” Piccolo looked down at his foot and stared in shock as it began to move. “Nooo… NO!” Piccolo tried to push his foot back down as it continued to rise. There was a roar from beneath Piccolo’s feet and they were finally able to see Goku pushing up.

“Goku!” Suno and Krillin exclaimed ecstatically. Ten only smiled and shook his head in disbelief.

“Come on!” Bulma cheered. “Push! Push the bastard!” Goku roared again as the veins stuck out in her arms and neck while Piccolo pushed back down with a growl. With a final roar and an extra kiai push, Goku pushed Piccolo’s foot away and caused him to stumble away. Goku rolled out and got up to her feet. Goku sprinted over to Piccolo’s tooth and kicked it as hard as she could to send it hurtling up at him to strike Piccolo in the right shoulder like a bullet. Piccolo cried out in pain… and then Goku leaped up into his open mouth.

“WHAT?!” the spectators screamed in confusion as Piccolo swallowed her.

“Why?!” Launch screamed while she pulled at her hair. “WHY WOULD SHE DO THAT?!” Suno was as confused as anyone but she could swear that, just before Goku leaped in, she saw her smile. Did Goku have a plan?

“You!” Piccolo bellowed as he jabbed an enormous finger down at Ken. “Start cou–” he wretched suddenly and clutched as his stomach while his eyes widened with dread.

Goku found herself wondering if this was a great idea once she hit the bottom. It was a good thing that Piccolo didn’t have any stomach acid but it stank. It was easy enough for Goku to find the bottle that Kami was in once she’d used her ki aura to light up Piccolo’s stomach and tucked the bottle into the band of her pants. Then she decided it was time to give Piccolo a hurting. She grinned and started hopping around, smashing her shoulders into his insides and punching and kicking anything that looked important. After a minute of this she jumped as high up as she could and grabbed that dangly thing at the back of his throat. Piccolo’s mouth opened wide and Goku swung off the dangly thing before leaping out of his mouth.

While Goku had been doing all of this, Piccolo had been clutching at his stomach in agony, groaning and gurgling and turning several unpleasant shades of green and even blue. He gagged before Goku flew out of his mouth and she threw the bottle down towards the others.

“Someone catch it!” she called down. The bottle landed in Puar’s forepaws so perfectly that it seemed like Goku had thrown it specifically to him. He yanked the stopper off the bottle with his teeth and Kami came flying out of the bottle and took a grateful gulp of air while Goku landed in front of Piccolo again.

“Well,” he sighed, “That was… unpleasant.” Roshi, Bulma, Chi-Chi, Ken and Puar stared at him in horror and Kami rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes,” he muttered, “I look like Piccolo Daimaou. Or, if that isn’t what bothers you, God is a green man. Does that cover it?” They nodded dumbly. Piccolo fumed again as he shrunk back down to his normal size. It wasn’t fair! They kept taking away his victories! He snarled at Goku as he pulled the tooth out of his shoulder and flicked it away.

“So,” Goku said with a smirk, “Guess you figured out size doesn’t mean anything.” Piccolo sneered and flew up into the sky.

“That’s it!” he roared petulantly. “Everyone dies!” he threw out one hand and grabbed it by the wrist with his other hand. His aura flared and streaks of ki flicked and lashed out off of him like wild flames. “Take my rage, Son Goku! Take my hatred!” Goku scowled up at him and brought her hands down to her side.

“I’ll take that,” Goku called up, “But you can take my Chou Kamehameha!” An absolutely enormous ball of blue-white light began to gather in and envelop Goku’s hands.

“Everybody down!” Roshi cried out and everyone quickly hit the deck with Yamcha pulling Chi-Chi down when she was too stunned to move and Bulma tackling Kami. The air crackled with electricity as the two warriors gathered their energy.

“Chouuuu… Kaaaaameeee haaaa meeee….”

“Nikushimi Kou!” Piccolo roared malevolently as a massive blast of yellow light fired out of his palm and rocketed down towards Goku.

“Haaaaa!” Goku cried out as she thrust her hands forward. The two gigantic beams of light flew out towards each other and collided with a sound so loud as to be incomparable. Blue and yellow light bathed the world as the blasts struggled against each other. The Capsule Corp Cameras flew high and wide, both to get a better shot and to avoid the heat being generated by the blasts. Goku’s Kamehameha slowly began to push forward and Piccolo let out a roar of frustration as he tried to push forward. The effort aggravated the wound in his shoulder, however, and Piccolo faltered for just a moment. That hairsbreadth of hesitation allowed Goku to push forward with a cry of effort and overwhelm the Nikushimi Kou, the blast hitting Piccolo head-on in a blinding blue-white flash.

When the light finally faded away, Piccolo fell to the ground in a smoking, charred heap and crashed into the ring like a bag of wet leaves. Goku wiped sweat off her forehead and took a second to catch her breath. That was pretty close!

“Hey!” Yamcha shouted at Ken suddenly. “Start counting already!”

“O-oh!” Ken replied with a start and nearly dropped his microphone, “R-right!” These things usually never went to count-out anymore… “One! Two! Three!”

“Four!” Bulma, Yamcha, and Puar counted along.

“Five!”  Roshi, Krillin, and Launch joined in.

“Six!” Chimed in Suno, Tenshinhan, and Chaozu.

“Seven!” Even Kami and Chi-Chi were counting now. “Eight! Nine!”

Piccolo shot up to his feet and struck as quick as a snake.

“Got you!” he declared triumphantly as lightning arced out of his antennae and trapped Goku in a field of electricity that left her paralyzed and grunting in pain. Piccolo’s skin was still smoking and covered in burns, his gi was torn to shreds and the wound in his shoulder was practically gushing purple blood but he was laughing his head off as he sprinted towards Goku with his good hand prepared for a deadly spear strike. He reared his hand back and thrust forward…

Into Kami’s outstretched hands. Earth’s guardian appeared in front of Goku in the blink of an eye and had caught Piccolo’s hand by the wrist in both of his, grunting with the effort to restrain him. Then he and Piccolo began speaking what could only be described as a nonsense language.

“Ha!” Bulma laughed as she jabbed a finger at Yamcha. “Alien language! Fuck you, Yamcha!”

“Eat a thousand dicks, you unscrupulous harpy!” Yamcha shot back. He notice Chi-Chi’s eyes widen in surprise and her cheeks redden slightly. “Bad breakup,” he muttered out of the side of his mouth.

“Huh,” Chi-Chi muttered and gave a nod. Suno frowned curiously and looked at Goku while Kami and Piccolo spoke. It looked like she was actually understanding them. Then Goku broke out of Piccolo’s paralyzing field and started speaking it, too!

OoOoOoO

“Foolish old man,” Piccolo growled in Namekian as he pushed against Kami, “Get out of my way!” Kami pushed back even as his feet slid against the stone floor.

“You won’t kill me,” Kami retorted, “Because doing so would end your own life and you’re too selfish for that!”

“Selfish?!” Piccolo spat. “How many of these worthless humans could you have spared if you had killed my previous self hundreds of years ago, if not for your cowardice?” Kami’s brow furrowed in thought.

“You may be right,” Kami admitted, “Which is why I’m doing something now! Goku,” he said as he looked over his shoulder, “Forget the Budoukai! Together, we can defeat Piccolo once and for all!” Goku scowled at Kami and yanked her arms up suddenly to shatter Piccolo’s paralyzing barrier.

“Out of my way, Kami,” she snapped. “I’m going to do this on my own! If you help me, I’ll get disqualified!” Kami stared at Goku in disbelief. “Move!” she demanded. Reluctantly, Kami let go of Piccolo’s wrist and walked out of the ring. “Sorry about that,” Goku told Piccolo, “I’ll give you a free shot.”

“What did she say?” Krillin asked.

“She’s giving him a free shot,” Kami groaned.

“WHAT?!” the others cried in dismay. Piccolo nodded appreciatively… and shot a ki beam from his fingertip that punctured right through Goku’s left knee. She screamed in pain and her leg fell out from under her. Piccolo chuckled and kicked her in the face as she knelt.

“Knee for shoulder,” he said matter-of-factly. Goku groaned and got to her feet slowly, not able to put any weight on her left leg. Piccolo laughed and she punched him across the jaw.

“Your laugh is annoying,” she told him brusquely as Piccolo staggered before he slugged her right back. Goku punched him in the ribs this time and the two glared and came to a silent agreement before they began trading punches, rooted to the spot, putting everything into their attacks, grunting or crying out with each collision. These were no longer supersonic warriors. Every blow was slow and deliberate, each strike taking a little more out of them. Goku brought her fists together and viciously smashed them in an axehandle blow against the side of Piccolo’s neck. He snarled and kicked Goku hard in the side of the head and nearly took her off her feet before she whipped back and smashed her head into his with a sickening “THUNK”. Piccolo groaned as blood trickled down his forehead from the place of impact and headbutted her right back. In a rather unsettling display, the two warriors headbutted each other viciously, blood slowly pouring down their faces. Piccolo jabbed forward quickly when Goku pulled her head back and heabutted her in the throat. He swept her good leg out from under her while she was stunned and leaped high into the air before pivoting and dive-bombing towards her.

“Time to die!” Goku groaned and brought her legs up against her chest.

“She’s not gonna try and just shove him off, right?” Chaozu asked. “There’s no way that’ll work!”

“Kamehameha!” Goku cried out and the beam fired out of her feet to catch Piccolo squarely in the chest. Piccolo arched back up into the sky before he landed in a crumpled heap with an awkward snapping sound.

“...I’m not the only one who saw that, right?” Krillin asked. The others shook their heads. “Okay, good.” Piccolo got up slowly and cried out in pain as he tried to put weight on his right leg.

“Knee for knee,” Goku taunted with a weak laugh as she tried to sit up. Piccolo snarled and his face twisted up in a sneer. His eyes flashed red and his eyebeams pierced Goku’s right shoulder. She shrieked in agony and fell backwards again. Piccolo crossed his arms and began to gather his energy.

“Everyone,” he growled with a strain of effort, “And I mean everyone dies!” Ten quickly brought his hands up into a triangle and pointed to the ground.

“Kikouhou!” he cried out and blasted a square hole in the ground. “Everyone get in!” The others quickly ran down into the hole although Krillin was rooted to the spot. “Come on!”

“B-but we can’t just–”

“Krillin!” Goku called despite her pain, “Go!” Krillin finally nodded and jumped into the hole with Tenshinhan following in without a second to spare.

“Chou Shougekiha!” Piccolo roared as he threw his arms out. The explosion was more than massive, more than gargantuan. The dome of white light swept across Papaya Island and reduced everything to atoms. Cars, buildings, people. Everything. Piccolo was left standing alone on a slightly-raised square of dirt. Alone. There was only the blowing of the breeze and the faint whirring from the engine of the last, incredibly resilient Capsule Corp Camera as it hovered around the area where an arena had been. Piccolo took a moment to take a few deep gulps of air, that blast having taken everything out of him. He waited for a few moments. For the trick. The surprise. The last-moment reveal. It didn’t come. He’d… he’d won. He’d won! Piccolo threw back his head and laughed boisterously as the others climbed out of their hole. He was burned and bleeding and in unimaginable pain but he had done it. It was finally over! “I’ve done it! Son Goku is finally dead! Now nothing can stand in my way!” he gloated. “I, Piccolo Daimaou, shall be master of this world!”

“Not if we have anything to say about it!” Launch shouted. He turned his head suddenly and saw the worms staring at him with tears in their eyes and their fists balled in rage. “Get him!” Launch, Krillin, Suno, Ten, Yamcha, Kami, Roshi, Chaozu, Chi-Chi, and even Bulma, Ken, and Puar prepared to charge him. Whether they might have been able to overwhelm Piccolo or not, they would never know as a whistling sound from high above caught their attention.

“Nnnnoooo…” Piccolo muttered as he turned his eyes skyward and squinted, “It… it can’t be!” She was supposed to be dead!

Goku was streaking towards Piccolo like a rocket with her left hand outstretched, glaring at him with burning intensity. Piccolo slowly tried to reach out to strike her but he was completely drained. Goku gave a final kiai push out of her feet and her hand latched around Piccolo’s throat. She slammed him down and burrowed into the ground with the back of his head. Piccolo’s fingers twitched and fell limply at his sides with his head buried under the dirt.

“H-hey, Ken,” Goku said wearily, “This is a ring-out, right?” Ken looked down and, sure enough, Piccolo’s head was outside of the raised square of dirt.

“R-ring out!” Ken declared. “Son Goku is the World’s Champion!” The others cheered and helped Goku up to her feet and hugged her tearfully before Tenshinhan hoisted her up onto his shoulders. “I’ll go and find a doctor,” Ken said after he finally, wearily, dropped his microphone, “Though I’ll have to go off-island.”

“I’ve got it covered,” said a new voice. Everyone turned to see Korin standing with a pouch in one hand and his staff in the other.

“Master Korin!” Suno exclaimed in surprise. He gave a small wave with the pouch-holding hand.

“Is that…” Chi-Chi muttered,

“A talking cat?” Ken finished.

“What am I?” Puar huffed indignantly. Korin flicked a senzu into Goku’s open mouth and she chewed it up eagerly. Her knee, shoulder, and ribs popped as the senzu worked its healing magic.

“Oh,” Korin added, “I should probably do something about…” he gestured awkwardly to Goku’s clothes. Or rather… lack thereof. She had lost both her shirt and the wrappings that had covered her breasts in the explosion. He waved his staff and covered Goku in fresh clothes before everyone else could blush for too long. Goku grinned and leaped off of Ten’s shoulders to touch the clouds.

“I did it!” Goku crowed. “I finally won the Tenkaichi Budoukai!” She grabbed Suno and spun her around in a hug before pulling everyone into a group hug. “I won!” she cried with a jubilant laugh.

“I’m sorry,” Kami said in a somber tone that cut right through the cheer, “But this isn’t over yet, Goku. Not as long as I’m alive.” He jabbed a finger down at Piccolo’s barely-conscious body, “That means Piccolo is as well! You have to kill him to end this, Goku!”

“But Master Kami,” Goku protested, “What about the Dragon Balls? Besides, Earth needs a guardian!” She couldn’t just kill Kami! That would… that would just be wrong!

“You can take my place as Earth’s guardian,” Kami told her, “It’s part of what I was training you for. You’re more powerful than me, you can protect the Earth and live on the Lookout. Popo will help you adjust.” Goku shook her head.

“I’m sorry, Kami,” she said firmly, “But I can’t. Besides, I’m moving in with Suno!” Kami sighed and slowly closed his eyes.

“Goku,” he said in a weary voice, “If Piccolo lives, he will continue to do more evil, bring more suffering, and try to conquer the world. He cannot be allowed to live.” Goku looked down at Piccolo with a thoughtful expression as he weakly pushed himself out of the rubble on his one good arm. She stalked towards him and stretched out a hand… with a senzu in it.

“Take it,” she told him. Korin’s eyes actually opened wide and he did a double-take before he stared down at the bag in his hand. How fast was she?! Piccolo scowled down at the bean before taking it and shoving it into his mouth. The others cried out in horror as Piccolo stood up, fully healed.

“G-Goku!” Kami stammered in shock, “Why?!”

“Master Kami,” she told him, “One of the things you taught me on the Lookout was that every life, every soul, is important. Even if Piccolo’s isn’t, yours is. Besides,” she added, “If Piccolo is going to keep trying to take over the world…” she shrugged, “I’ll just keep training so he can’t.” Piccolo scoffed and spat on the ground in front of her.

“This changes nothing, Son Goku,” he told her curtly. “I will become stronger, I will kill you, and I will rule this world.” Goku smirked.

“You can try,” she retorted. Piccolo growled and took off into the sky.

“So,” Yamcha said after a poignant silence, “I guess this is goodbye for now.”

“Are you sure?” Suno asked, “What about…” she awkwardly gestured at… everything. Which was to say, nothing. Ken groaned as he looked around at the devastation.

“This is gonna take forever to clean up,” he muttered. Not to mention it would probably come out of his paycheck. Bulma gave a dismissive wave.

“Don’t sweat it,” Bulma assured her, “We’ll gather the Dragon Balls and clean up this mess. You two lovebirds go off and do what you’re gonna do.” Suno blushed furiously while Goku had no idea what that meant. Hugs were exchanged and Goku looked skyward.

“Nimbus!” she called out. The cloud zoomed down from the heavens and Goku hopped on, patting a space behind her. “Come on, Suno!” Suno grinned and climbed up onto the cloud behind Goku and wrapped her arms around the other woman’s waist. “Bye, everyone!” Goku called as Nimbus took off and they all waved back.

“So,” Roshi said when they were out of sight, “How the heck are we gettin’ off this rock?” Bulma blinked. She had remembered to pack a vehicle capsule, right?

“You better not expect us to carry you,” Yamcha muttered, referring to himself and the other fliers.

“I’d sooner swim,” Bulma shot back. There followed a tense silence.

“Would anyone else like to get pizza?” Ten asked.

OoOoOoO

Piccolo found a mountain out in the desert wasteland and threw the undisputed king of all tantrums for a good seven hours. Then he regenerated his clothes, sat on the mountain’s peak, and closed his eyes. He would kill her. No matter how long it took.

OoOoOoO

Suno held onto Goku tightly as Nimbus streaked across the sky with her head resting on Goku’s back and let out a contented sigh. She was going to be living with Goku. In a part of the world totally removed from Jingle Village. It was a whole new chapter of her life.

“Hey, Goku?” Suno said softly as she summoned up her courage. Goku looked over her shoulder at Suno.

“Yeah, Su–” she was cut off as Suno kissed her suddenly. Her eyes went wide and it took her a few seconds to figure out what Suno was doing. Though, as Goku was wont to do, she figured out the “technique” quickly enough and kissed back. Suno broke the kiss only because she needed air and gasped with a blush. Goku was blushing too and smiled at her. Suno smiled back and Nimbus came to a stop as Suno moved around carefully to sit in front and turn around to face Goku. Then they kissed again and Nimbus flew off again towards the horizon and a bright new future.

Chapter Text

Goku stood in Suno’s backyard and looked at the sunrise cresting over the horizon. It had been a few days since Goku had moved into Suno’s house in a little town outside of East City. Goku had never really needed a lot so all she’d brought with her was her gi and her Four Star Ball. Her gi was made of a magic fabric Kami had created that never needed to be washed but Suno still took Goku clothes shopping. It was the first time Goku’d done that outside of the time she needed a new gi. The people in Suno’s town seemed friendly enough even if they looked at her funny sometimes. It kind of reminded her of Mabel Village with less animal people. She had been disappointed that there wasn’t a lake. Where was she going to get her giant fish? Then Suno explained what grocery stores were. Buildings full of food! Besides that, it wasn’t that far of a trip on Nimbus to get to the coast which was way bigger than her lake at Mount Paozu. Even if the water tasted gross.

    “So,” Suno murmured as she staggered out of the house in her nightgown and put an arm around Goku’s waist, “What do you think?” she asked as she leaned her head on Goku’s shoulder. Goku smiled and put her arms around Suno.

    “I like it,” she assured the other woman with a smile. “The people are nice. I’ve never really lived around people before.” Suno chuckled and gave her a lopsided grin.

    “I noticed,” she muttered before untangling herself from Goku and pushing her back towards the house. “Put some pants on before the neighbors get up. I told you, you can’t just walk around naked outside.”

    “I did it all the time back on Mount Paozu!” Goku protested even as Suno led her back into the house. What was the big deal?

    “I know, I know,” Suno said as she closed the sliding door and drew the curtain, “But you lived alone on Mount Paozu. There are other people here and not everyone wants to see your butt.”

    “What’s wrong with my butt?” Goku asked. Suno laughed and got that funny look on her face.

    “Nothing,” she assured Goku and moved in close to kiss her, “Nothing at all.”

OoOoOoO

    Suno’s house was on the edge of the little town and her closest neighbors were the Smiths, a pair of Stork-people that prided themselves on being absolutely, one hundred percent normal. They were only Suno’s closest neighbors in terms of geography; they didn’t actually know her terribly well. They knew her as “that redhead girl” and thought that she seemed nice enough. She said “Good morning” and didn’t make a lot of noise and she kept her trash and recycling sorted and took proper care of her lawn. She didn’t own any pets, either, which was always good. Then, about two months ago, she brought that bizarre woman with the crazy black hair home and everything changed. She was some sort of martial arts woman and, judging from the most unusual volume of letters they had seen the pair receive for the first few weeks after the woman had moved in, apparently of some renown. Not that they knew anything about that sort of thing. Why watch such violence when there were perfectly good programs about antiques to watch or operas to listen to?

    It wasn’t just the mail that made the girl strange, it was… everything. Petunia had once watched as the redhead was desperately looking for her missing wallet and the black-haired one had found it under her car. By lifting the car over her head with one hand. Not that the girl herself ever seemed to use the car. She ran much too fast or jumped far too high or summoned a ridiculous flying cloud. It was really just not right. They’d seen the black-haired girl till a large space for a garden with her bare hands in seconds and she was always doing those martial arts… dances whenever the redhead wasn’t home. Why, once, when he was having stomach pains and couldn’t sleep, Vernon had looked out the kitchen window and seen the girl walking around at the crack of dawn as naked as the day she was born. Needless to say, he’d nearly had a heart attack. Worst of all, they kept half the town awake all hours of the night with their… their… shenanigans.

Then there was the ludicrous business with that wedding. Not that they were opposed to the couple getting married, of course not. It was the wedding itself that was just too obscene to handle. They’d had such strange guests. Talking cats, a three-eyed man, a witch, a man who didn’t seem to have a nose, a one-armed man, a giant out of one of those monster movies, a white pygmy, and some sort of… genie? On top of that, the whole thing was presided over by some ancient green man in a strange white robe. To say nothing of the cake. Really, the height of indecency. Who would even need a cake that large? Honestly, if the business with those two girls got any stranger, the Smiths were going to pull up stakes and get the hell out of there.

OoOoOoO

    “So,” Bulma asked as she rolled her wrist and watched the wine swish around in the glass, “How’s life going for the World’s Strongest, happiest couple?” Suno smiled and couldn’t stop herself from blushing at the nickname. It was nice to come visit Bulma in West City. Not that she didn’t love spending time with Goku or like her neighborhood, it was just good to keep in touch. Besides, when it came to Bulma, you never knew what to expect so at least the conversations would be interesting.

    “Things are good,” Suno said as she lifted her own wine to her lips. It was her second glass so far of the afternoon. She hadn’t planned on drinking when she’d shown up but Bulma had been… insistent. Plus it was really good. “I think Goku’s finally adjusted to living in a neighborhood and what’s appropriate and what isn’t which is a relief.” That drew a snicker out of Bulma and Suno grinned, too. “She started a little farm in our backyard a little while ago, mostly for us but she also takes some stuff to the farmer’s market to give us a little extra cash besides my teacher’s assistant job and the money from the Budoukai.”

    “A little farm?” Bulma asked with one cocked eyebrow. Suno shrugged.

    “Well,” she admitted, “Little for Goku.” Suno sipped from her glass again. “Okay, so she may have pulled a few trees out of the way. A few.” Bulma snickered again and shook her head.

    “So you’re a teacher’s assistant?” she asked and leaned forward. “What’s that like?”

    “It’s really nice,” Suno said as she tapped her fingers on the table. “I like having a job and I like working with kids. The teachers are really impressed with my composure. I mean, most people would probably get frazzled dealing with kindergartners every day but, compared to what I’ve seen…” she paused and took a big swallow, “Okay, so it’s still a little frazzling. I’m just better at hiding it.” They both laughed and Bulma refilled her own glass, now on her fourth. She looked back up and saw something in Suno’s face, like a faraway look in her eyes. She was thinking about something.

    “Hey,” she said softly as she put a hand on Suno’s, “Is everything alright?” Suno sighed and looked up at the ceiling for a moment before looking back at Bulma.

    “It’s nothing,” she assured her. Bulma gave Suno a look and she sighed again. “All right, all right,” she muttered. “Jeez, you remind me of my mother when you look at me like that.” Bulma had to fight an urge to throw her wine right in Suno’s face. “It’s just… spending so much time around these little kids makes me feel like… I dunno. I want kids, Bulma.” Bulma smiled and shrugged as she gave Suno’s hand a reassuring pat.

    “Aw, come on,” Bulma said, “Is that all? It’s not the end of the world. You guys have options, right? You could adopt or you could get a donor or–” Suno shook her head and Bulma frowned. “What’s wrong?”

    “It’s stupid,” Suno muttered. Then Bulma gave her another look. “Okay, okay,” Suno muttered and turned her eyes to the ceiling again. “It’s just… there’s nothing wrong with those, I know… but it’s not what I want. I wouldn’t love an adopted child or a surrogate any less, it’s just… an adopted kid wouldn’t look like either of us and a surrogate would just look like Goku and a stranger or me and a stranger. I want a child that’s Goku’s and mine, that looks like us and has a bit of both of us in them.” She sighed and rubbed her hands against her face. “Like I said, it’s stupid and I’m just wanting what I can’t have.” She started to get up and Bulma got up with her. “I should get going. Goku has a habit of challenging our neighbors to a spar if she gets bored.” Bulma smiled a little at that and held up her bottle of wine.

    “You want to top off before you go?” she asked. Suno gave a little bit of a grin and shook her head.

    “Nah, I don’t wanna worry about falling off Nimbus. Besides,” she added, “If I get drunk, I’d probably gather the Dragon Balls and wish for something really stupid for Goku.” That normally would have made Bulma laugh her head off, but right now all it got out of her was another half-smile. She really did feel bad for her friend.

    “Hey,” she said as she pulled Suno into a hug before she left, “It’ll work out. I dunno how, but trust me. I’m a scientist.” Suno chuckled and hugged Bulma back.

    “Good seeing you, Bulma.” she said sincerely before she turned and opened the window. “Nimbus!” Bulma watched her fly away and chewed on her lip in thought.

    “So…” she murmured to herself, “Suno wants a kid…”

    The idea came to Bulma when she was suitably buzzed from her fifth glass of wine; a device that would allow the transfer of genetic material from one partner into the other by transforming an egg cell into billions of sperm, with a chromosomal scrambler to allow the equal likelihood of a male or female child. The sketch had come on glass six, although she probably hadn’t needed it. She had plenty lying around for a design reference, after all. When it came down to the actual design and build phase, though, Bulma just… couldn’t get anything to come out. After several frustrating and fruitless hours, Bulma was about ready to throw in the towel. She could see the idea in her head and could feel it tingling on the outer reaches of her mind but she just couldn’t understand the science of it.

    Then Bulma got a crazy idea. Everything else about this project had come to her before because she’d had a few drinks. So maybe what she needed to push her mind over the edge to a whole new level of full-blown mad science was…

    “Heidi,” Bulma said into her desk microphone, “Send up the liquor.”

    “Which bottle, Ms. Bulma?” came the slightly-drawled voice from the speaker, “Your family has a pretty extensive cellar.”

    “The liquor, Heidi. Not some of it. Not a few bottles of it. The. Liquor.”

    “R… rum or scotch or-”

    “I’m not gonna say it again, Heidi!”

    Several hours and a dozen bottles later, Bulma’s project was finished. As well as an injectible serum that undid alcohol-based liver and brain cell damage which she’d had to take. She had no idea what to call the device but that could come later. It was meant to be worn around the waist and had two somewhat-long protrusions of equal length; one going inward and the other going outward. It was a not-entirely smooth, not-entirely sleek yet one hundred percent functional and revolutionary piece of reproductive hardware. She couldn’t wait to see the look on Suno’s face.

    Of course, first she’d have to call Suno, which involved getting into a fight with her phone. She couldn’t dial Suno’s number right and then when she tried to use voice command her speech was too slurred for the stupid computer to understand her. She needed to sober up.

    “Haydee,” Bulma slurred as she turned to her secretary, a full-figured tan woman with a high bouffant of maroon hair, “Shlap mmme.” Heidi hesitated for a moment and looked at Bulma suspiciously. “I TOLJU TUSHLAP ME, DAMN ID!” Heidi hauled back and slapped Bulma hard across the face. Bulma’s head whipped around and when she looked at Heidi again she blinked the shine out of her eyes and smiled. “Thank you, Heidi.” she said in a crisp, clear alto. “You’re fired,” she added curtly. Heidi stared at her in confusion and barely ducked a wrench Bulma lobbed at her head. “GET OUT OF MY LAB!” Heidi ran off in tears as Bulma picked up her phone and dialed. “Hey, Suno,” Bulma said cheerily when the other girl answered. “Can you come over? I made you a little something.”

OoOoOoO

    Suno was more than a little miffed when she arrived at the Capsule Corp building that morning. She was wondering just what the heck was so important that Bulma had to get her up early on a Saturday, one of her two days off all week, when she’d been planning on sleeping in. Or at the very least cuddling in. She hopped off of Nimbus and made her way into Bulma’s lab to find whiskey, rum, and brandy bottles littering the floor. That was… strange. Then she saw Bulma who looked even stranger. She was wearing dark sunglasses indoors with a huge cup of black coffee in one hand, her other arm behind her back, and what looked to be every inch of her body with the exception of her face covered in caffeine patches.

    “Bulma,” Suno asked as she tiptoed around the bottles, “Have you… slept?” Bulma laughed like that was the funniest thing in the world.

    “Sleep?!” Bulma asked incredulously. “Are you kidding me? I am terrified of the hangover I’m gonna get the next time I wake up so I’m putting that off as long a possible.” She took a long sip of her coffee. “Seriously, it could literally kill me.”

    “Ooookay,” Suno said as she decided to push through this conversation before Bulma passed out in front of her. “So what did you make me?” Bulma grinned from ear to ear as she set the coffee down and brought out the arm that was behind her to hold a box in front of Suno with both hands.

    “Well,” she said playfully, “You know how you said you wanted to have kids with Goku? I may have figured out a way to make that happen.” Suno’s jaw dropped slightly as she stared at Bulma.

    “Are… are you serious?” she asked as she took the box from Bulma’s hands. Bulma’s grin somehow grew even wider and Suno threw her arms around the other woman, hugging her gratefully. “Oh my gosh, Bulma! Thank you! Thank you so much!” she let go of Bulma and eagerly opened the box, wondering what was inside. Bulma snickered as Suno’s face flushed bright red. “Th-this…” she swallowed, “This looks an awful lot like a–”

    “Yup,” Bulma agreed with a waggish grin, “Why not go for the most logical design, right?” her smile turned sincere and she reached out to give Suno’s arm a gentle squeeze. “This isn’t a gag, though, Suno. I promise it will work. I tested it on a couple rabbits, don’t ask how.” Suno chuckled and they hugged before Bulma grinned again as she gave Suno a bump with her hip. “Well, don’t waste time around here. Go back home and use it!” She laughed as Suno turned as bright red as a traffic light and flew off on Nimbus. Finally, her life’s ambition! A scientific endeavour that laughed in the face of God!

Then she collapsed face-first onto the floor and snored. When she awoke, Bulma would find to her frustration that she had no idea how to remake the device.

OoOoOoO

    Goku had already been up for a few hours when Suno had said she was going to see Bulma. She had told Suno to say hi for her and went back to her morning workout which at that point had reached her one hundred handstand pushups. She was watering the garden when Suno got back. Goku had figured out a pretty good system for watering their garden pretty quickly: she would fly into the sky and grab a cloud, squeezing all the water out of it. Suno had seen her do it once and told her that it wasn’t supposed to be possible.

Goku took pride in that.

“Goku!” Suno called up to her. “Get down here!” Goku dropped down from the clouds and landed in the backyard with a grin as she followed Suno inside. It looked like Suno had a package!

“Did Bulma give us a present?” Goku asked. For some reason that made Suno giggle.

“You could say that,” Suno told Goku as she walked to the bedroom and looked over a shoulder at her. “You wanna know what it is?” Goku nodded eagerly and grinned. “Then get in here.” Despite the fact that Suno was halfway in the bedroom doorway when she said that, Goku beat her inside. “Oh, very funny.” She said sarcastically as she shut the door.

“I thought it was.” Goku said with a smirk. She watched as Suno opened the box and cocked her head to the side. “...What is it?”

“Less questions,” Suno told her, “And less pants. Then put this on.” Goku shrugged and grinned.

“Okay!”

OoOoOoO

    A few weeks had passed since Bulma had made the device for Suno and she and Goku had certainly… broken it in by that point. It didn’t take long for the first signs to start to show that Bulma’s creation had done what she’d promised. There were, of course, the not-so-pleasant symptoms; the cramps, the morning sickness, the weird cravings and mood swings. There was one change that Goku was particularly fond of, of course.

    For all the headaches that had come with her pregnancy- including actual headaches, they were all worth it when Suno got up one morning and noticed the swell of her usually flat stomach. She beamed from ear to ear as she ran a hand delicately over the bump.

    “A baby,” she whispered with a smile. Somehow seeing that just made it… made it more real.

    For some reason, the Smiths moved out about a week later. Didn’t say a word to anyone, they just disappeared.

    It had been… interesting to explain what was happening to Goku.

    “So,” Goku asked while she stared at Suno’s stomach one evening as they lay in bed, “You have a baby inside you?” Suno couldn’t help but grin as she nodded. “But I thought that only happened with a man and a woman. So how’d it happen?” Suno had to laugh.

    “Well, normally,” she admitted, “It shouldn’t. But, with Bulma’s help…” Then she’d had to explain what exactly the device had done as best she could.

    “Wait,” Goku asked in confusion, “So am I… am I a dad?” Suno laughed again.

    “We’ll figure that out later,” Suno leaned in to kiss Goku but Goku had bent forward to kiss her stomach, which made her blush bright red.

    “If I am,” Goku said softly as she ran a hand up and down Suno’s stomach, “I’m gonna be the best dad ever. I promise.” It seemed more like she was talking to the baby than to Suno. Suno grinned and put a hand under Goku’s chin to guide her face back up to hers.

    “I know you will be,” she assured Goku before kissing her. “I love you.”

    “I love you, too.”

OoOoOoO

    “ I HATE YOU! ” Suno screamed in Goku’s face as she thrashed around in the birthing bed and held Goku’s hand as tight as she could. There were several “I hate you”s interspersed between screaming her head off and trying to remember her breathing. For her part, Goku didn’t mind.

    “You’re doing great, Suno,” she assured her calmly as she held Suno’s hand in both of hers. “Come on, just keep breathing!” Suno had told her ahead of time about what was going to happen during the delivery and had assured her that whatever she might say, she wouldn’t mean it. The second Suno had noticed her first contractions, Goku, who had become incredibly attentive to the point of doting once Suno’s pregnancy became more and more pronounced, had picked her up and gently loaded her onto Nimbus to fly to West City. Why West City when East City was closer? Well...

    “Goku’s right, Suno!” Bulma called over the screaming, her voice muffled by the surgical mask over her face. “Just keep pushing, you’ll be out of the woods soon enough!” As if Bulma would let someone else deliver the first female-female baby. This was an unprecedented medical event. She practically had the patent on this kid! If she could remember the friggin’ design to get a patent, that was. She’d had Daddy throw some money around to get Suno and Goku the nicest medical suite that West City Hospital could provide and reserved it well in advance. Then she’d spent a couple hours every day for the last few months studying up in the field of obstetrics when she wasn’t focusing on one of her other projects. She even got a doctorate in it.

    “ GO TO HELL! ” Suno screamed down at Bulma as she continued to push. “ BOTH OF YOU GO TO HAAAAAAAGH! ”

    Another hour or three of this passed before Suno gave the final push and Bulma brought a crying baby into the world. She cleaned it gently with a warm cloth and swaddled it up before handing it carefully over to Suno.

    “It’s a boy,” Bulma whispered as she blinked back tears. She never thought she’d be involved in the miracle of childbirth like this. It really was beautiful.

    “A boy,” Suno said with a tired smile while cradling him in her arms. “Oh, he’s beautiful, Goku.” Goku smiled down at the baby and gave Suno a kiss on the cheek.

    “He is,” Goku agreed with a proud smile before she bent down and gave him a kiss on his little tuft of red hair. The baby blinked and looked up at her. She grinned down at him and reached down to stroke his face. “Hi, Gohan.”

Chapter Text

Yamcha’s morning started like every other since he’d moved to North City. He got up bright and early, took his shower, and then flicked through his albums before filling his apartment with the sounds of electro jazz. Yamcha lived in a fairly nice apartment and, as he danced around the kitchen in his blue bathrobe while he made himself bacon and eggs, Yamcha reflected on how fortunate he had been that none of his other friends had gotten into the “Hero for Hire” business. Not long after his and Bulma’s breakup, when he was well and truly broke, Yamcha had realized that there might be a demand for people with super strength, the ability to sense energy, super speed, and flight. Sort of like a mercenary but… y’know. For the good guys.

He’d had to get his name out there first, of course. No one was going to come looking for him. After going out and looking for trouble, monsters to fight, or crises to avert; eventually people started contacting him. Drive out this gang, fight that giant snake, stop this avalanche. With his ki-sensing abilities, Yamcha could also find anyone who might be trapped or go missing during a natural disaster. It was good, steady work and it paid well. It paid his rent, it paid for his tastes in music and, although it had turned out to be a complete waste of money, it paid for his fancy gi.

Yamcha set down his breakfast and a cup of coffee and walked to the door to get the paper, just like every morning. He opened the door and nearly walked right into–

“Chi-Chi?!” Yamcha blurted in surprise as he stared up at the woman standing in his doorway. Not like every morning.

“Hello,” Chi-Chi said with awkward politeness as she bowed slightly. She was still wearing her gi from the Budoukai which, if Yamcha remembered correctly, had been about a week ago. “I don’t meant to impose,” she continued, “But may I come in?” Yamcha nodded and moved to the side so Chi-Chi could enter his apartment. He closed the door and walked over to his record player while Chi-Chi looked around, taking the needle off the record to be polite. “You have a very nice home,” Chi-Chi added as she stood in the center of the living room, clearly not wanting to sit anywhere without being told it was allowed.

“Thank you,” Yamcha replied, feeling as awkward as Chi-Chi looked. “You can sit down. Make yourself comfortable.” Chi-Chi smiled and nodded before sitting on the couch. “Do you want some coffee or anything? I think I have orange juice.”

“I guess some coffee,” Chi-Chi said, “But I really don’t want to impo–” the mug was already in Chi-Chi’s hands. “Oh,” she said before she wrapped her hands around the warm mug and sipped it, “Thank you.”

“So,” Yamcha said as he sat down beside Chi-Chi, “Why did you come here?” He had the sneaking suspicion that his eggs and bacon would go cold today. “Not that I want you to leave,” he quickly clarified, “I guess I’m just surprised you’re here. I figured you’d have gone home.” Yamcha winced when he saw the hurt expression on Chi-Chi’s face, realizing he’d struck a nerve. “Is… is everything okay?”

“No,” Chi-Chi told him as she let out a shaky breath. “No, everything is not okay.” She took another sip as Yamcha looked at her and waited. He wasn’t gonna drag whatever she wanted to say out of her. “My father… wasn’t happy about my plans to marry Goku.” The air hissed angrily out of her nostrils as she squeezed the mug tighter. “Something about ‘The Ox line’ and how it ‘wasn’t right’ for a woman to want to fight. Even though he met my mother in–” Chi-Chi swallowed and shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I shouldn’t be telling you all this. Maybe I should–” Yamcha put a hand on her shoulder and shook his head.

“You clearly need to get this off your chest,” he told her, “So you’re not going anywhere until you say whatever it is you feel like you need to say.” Chi-Chi gave a little half-smile and nodded.

“Thank you.”

“Okay,” Yamcha said, “So you can’t go home. Fair enough, I get that. Why come here, though? How did you even find me?” Chi-Chi’s smile grew a little more and she shrugged.

“I didn’t know where else to go,” she admitted. “You were… nice to me.”

“All I did was give you a soda and sit next to you.”

“It was more than anyone else did,” Chi-Chi muttered with a huff. “So,” she added, “I looked you up and, well,” she smiled again, “You do list your address as ways for people to contact you when they need help.”

“Oh yeah,” he muttered while his face reddened slightly. He’d expected people to use that to mail him letters. “Hey,” he said, “You said something about your mother but we never saw her at Fry-Pan Mountain. Was she… I dunno, out of town, or did something… happen?” Chi-Chi sighed sadly and looked down.

“Her name was Shishijoou,” she began, “And she was as great a warrior as any man who ever lived. My father encountered her when he came to take over Fry-Pan Mountain. She was the only one who could match his strength. In the end, they reached a truce and he came to rule by her side.” Then with a slight giggle she added, “Nine months later, there I was.” Yamcha snickered and she smiled a little more. “I can remember when I was very small, my mother would tell me stories of warrior women on adventures and princesses who fought for themselves, who saved their kidnapped fathers and won wars. My father would laugh and smile and encourage her. He had even started to make me a suit of armor like my mother’s.” Chi-Chi smiled fondly at the memories before she frowned, “That was before Madaija the Serpent attacked Fry-Pan Mountain. My mother and father fought it together and managed to kill it but… but my mother died from its venom. I was… six. Maybe seven.” Chi-Chi bit her lip and Yamcha put a hand on top of hers.

“I’m really sorry, Chi-Chi,” he said softly. Chi-Chi nodded and squeezed his hand for a second before pulling away awkwardly as if remembering herself.

“M-my,” she stopped and cleared her throat, “My father tried his best, I suppose it is fair to say. In his grief, however, he became… overprotective. Now all my stories were of princesses being saved and damsels needing heroes. My armor was left unfinished. He had a tutor brought in from the village to teach me how to be a proper lady and was always looking for a suitor, someone ‘strong enough to protect me’.” She huffed again and rolled her eyes, “I imagine if Son Goku had been a boy that my father would have tried to throw me at her.” She took a long sip of coffee and paused before continuing, “Do you have somewhere to be today? I’d hate to hold you up or anything.” Yamcha shook his head.

    “Nah,” he told her, “Not unless someone calls me.” Chi-Chi smiled and nodded.

    “Okay,” she said before pausing again to remember her place. “Oh, right! Son Goku ,” she hissed as she squeezed the mug angrily and Yamcha winced as he saw vein-like cracks spreading across the surface. He loved that mug. Chi-Chi noticed and set it down on the table. “For as much grief as she’s caused me,” she admitted, “She’s also responsible in a large part for how I’ve turned out. After all, that was when my father let me wear my armor. Unfinished as it was, my father still wanted me to to be able to protect myself on my ‘quest’. When I met Goku, there was something… different about her. Something special. She was a girl like me but she could fight. More than that, she wanted to fight and there was no one to tell her ‘no’. She was a girl going on a grand adventure, just like in my mother’s stories. Something about that stirred something inside me, although I never could have dreamed what it was at the time.”

    “So what happened after Goku left?” Yamcha asked. “I mean, Roshi kinda, y’know, blew up your house.” Chi-Chi grinned and they both chuckled.

    “Well,” she said, “We had to build our house again first. Or rather, my father paid people to build it. During that time, we stayed at an inn in the village.” Something about that made Yamcha throw back his head and laugh. “What?” Chi-Chi asked. “I’m serious!” Yamcha just kept laughing and she eventually joined in, caught up by the infectious nature of his laugh.

    “I-I’m sorry,” Yamcha breathed out. “It’s just… your dad’s a big guy. How did he get in the building?”

    “Not easily,” Chi-Chi admitted and they laughed again. “While we were staying at the village inn, we happened to watch the 21st Budoukai on the television in the common room. That was the first time I’d seen Goku since she had left with the Dragon Ball. Watching her fighting fanned that little spark inside me and I started to think about things I normally didn’t.” She paused as it dawned on her how that last part might sound. When Yamcha snickered her face reddened and she nearly lobbed a couch cushion at him. “Not those kinds of thoughts!” she insisted. “I just started thinking about fighting. That I might want to fight. We heard about the Red Ribbon Army on the radio and there was a part of me that wanted to go join Goku but I had no means of reaching her. Besides that, my father was ill at the time and I had to care for him. Once he was well, I did begin my training, though.”

    “So how come you didn’t enter the 22nd Budoukai?” Yamcha asked. Chi-Chi frowned and chewed her cheek for a moment.

    “I did,” she admitted, “But my performance was… embarrassing. I ran into your three-eyed friend in my first match.”

    “Tenshinhan.”

    “Right, Tenz… Tinshan… Ten.” Chi-Chi sighed and shook her head, “I lasted maybe a second. I was so humiliated by my defeat that I went straight home without even trying to find Goku. Then we watched you all fight Piccolo Daimaou on the news and I saw Son Goku and…” she bit her lip and shrugged. “That was when I had my stupid little revelation. Since he didn’t know the whole truth yet, my father was more than happy to support my training which made me happy as well. Especially once my growth spurt hit. I used to be such a tiny little thing.”

    ‘That’s putting it mildly,’ Yamcha thought, though he wasn’t stupid enough to say that out loud where it might be misconstrued. He’d rather not get put through his own roof. Then he’d have to pay for it.

    “Well,” Chi-Chi said wearily, “You know the rest. So now–” Yamcha’s cell phone chimed suddenly.

    “Crap,” he muttered, “I’m sorry. Hang on.” He twisted around on the couch and called down the hallway. “Puar!” he shouted. “Can you get that?” Puar came puttering down the hallway out of Yamcha’s room while still wearing his sleeping cap.

    “Good morning, Yamcha,” he grumbled groggily as he grabbed the phone. “Good morning, giant Chi-Chi.” He handed Yamcha the phone and puttered back down the hall.

    “Giant Chi-Chi?” she asked. Yamcha shrugged as he looked at his phone.

    “Like you said, growth spurt.” Chi-Chi couldn’t help but snicker as Yamcha scrolled through his phone.

    “Did you get a text?” she asked.

    “Nah,” Yamcha said as she held his phone up to her, “I got a notification on my app.” Chi-Chi blinked as she stared at the screen. It had a picture of Yamcha grinning while giving two thumbs up and said “Yamcha’s Hero Service: When You’re in Trouble, Send for the Wolf!” in a poppy, vibrant font. There were fields beneath the font for location, nature of disaster, and how quickly Yamcha would be needed.

    “You have an app?”

    “Well sure,” Yamcha said as he got up from the couch. “What small business doesn’t?” It was Puar’s idea. In fact, he’d made it! He walked into his room and came back out wearing his orange and green bandit gear. No sense dirtying up one of his gis for this job. “I’ve gotta go, there’s a town in a valley south of North City that’s having some pretty nasty weather. The mayor’s worried about a mudslide and wants me to evacuate the populace. You’re welcome to stay here if you–”

    “Can I come?” Chi-Chi blurted out. Yamcha stared at her for a moment and her face flushed slightly to resemble a peach in color. What was she saying? Yamcha wasn’t going on a field trip, people’s lives could be at stake! Still, she wanted to go. She wanted to help if she could and do something.

    “Sure,” Yamcha said with a shrug. Why not? She was pretty strong so it wasn’t like he’d be taking someone who’d just get in the way. “Can you fly?” he asked. Chi-Chi shook her head. “Do you have a car?” Still no. “....How did you get here?”

    “I… jump really well,” she said with more than a touch of awkwardness. Yamcha stared at her for a moment before he shrugged and made his way for the door.

    “Then let’s get a move on, Jump Girl.”

OoOoOoO

    To say that the weather was bad would be the understatement of the decade, right behind “Piccolo Daimaou was not very nice.” Rain was coming down in sheets as the winds howled and the crash of thunder was nearly deafening. Yamcha and Chi-Chi frowned up at the hill above the town and Yamcha was already able to see the mud rushing down towards them.

    “I’ll try to hold it back!” Yamcha shouted above the wind and thunder. “You get the civilians to higher ground!” Chi-Chi nodded as Yamcha flew off. She turned to look back at the town and, not knowing how else to do it, started knocking on doors. When people opened their doors, she would grab them by the collar and pull them out of their homes.

    “Hold on tight!” she shouted to be heard and tucked them under her arms like luggage before jumping high into the air, maybe half a mile or so. Her eyes swept over the terrain and looked for a safe place to put the screaming civilians. She found a raised plateau that was just a bit taller than the roofs of the houses and was, hopefully, wide enough to fit the entire populace. She landed on it and gently set the people down before jumping back to the town. She sure hoped Yamcha could buy her plenty of time.

    Yamcha was ripping any large trees or boulders out of the ground that he could find and stacking them up to try to create some kind of dam or fortification that would hold back the mudslide. He wasn’t an engineer but he was pretty sure this would work. No sooner had Yamcha finished laying down his fortifications, however, than the weather suddenly got even worse and the mudslide rushed forward like a raging rapid. It caused the dam to burst apart, now picking up rocks and trees in its wake. Yamcha swore under his breath and ripped the tallest tree he could find out of the ground and slammed it down horizontally to try and hold back the tide as it rushed down toward the village. What Yamcha had forgotten to take into account was that the ground under him was also mud. He lost his footing and let out a curse as he was suddenly swallowed up by the mud. It would have been easy enough to fly out of the mud… if it wasn’t for one of the boulders he’d pulled out clocking him in the head and knocking him loopy.

    Chi-Chi saw Yamcha, or more accurately a patch of orange and green, disappear under the mudslide and her eyes went wide with worry. She had to help him but there was still about half the town that hadn’t gotten clear yet! She fretted, glancing back and forth between the town and the hill before she was struck by inspiration. She grabbed the flat roof of one of the houses and ripped it off the house with a grunt.

    “Sorry!” she called as the laid the roof down. “Come on, everybody get on!” The townspeople quickly piled onto the roof and bunched together tightly to make enough room for everyone. Chi-Chi hoisted the roof overhead and jumped, depositing the people onto the plateau when she landed. Then she jumped back to the town and jumped again to land on the hill, pushing herself along and trudging through the mud. She’d swum through worse, after all. She found a hand sticking out of the mud and, hoping there was still a body attached to it, grabbed and pulled. Yamcha came out with the hand and was coughing and sputtering as Chi-Chi jumped back to the town.

    “Did… did you get everyone?” Yamcha asked as he caught his breath.

    “Yeah,” Chi-Chi said as her gaze turned back the the onrush of mud and debris, “But now what do we do?” Yamcha looked up as stinging rain whipped at his face and shrugged.

    “I have an idea,” he replied, “I just didn’t know if I was strong enough to make it work.” Chi-Chi put a hand on his shoulder and nodded.

    “You can do it,” she assured him. Yamcha nodded and bent his legs as he brought his hands down to his side.

    “Not like I have a lot of options at this point,” he muttered under his breath as the energy began to build. “Kaaaameeeehaaaameeeee…” Yamcha let his energy build for a few seconds more as it rushed closer. “Haaaa!” he thrust out his hands and the red-white beam blasted forward to meet the mud and blasted it apart, sending a spray high into the air and cutting a trench into the hillside. Yamcha sighed and the crisis seemed to be averted… until the rain and the winds kicked up even worse than before.

    “Oh, come on!” Chi-Chi cried out in exasperation. Yamcha squinted up at the clouds. Something wasn’t right about this…

    Then they heard it. Above the wind and the rain and the thunder, they heard a terrible roar. There was a rolling, coiling shape visible when the lightning flashed. It slowly poured out of the clouds, a sinewy red body with malevolent black-and-yellow eyes.

    “Is that…” Yamcha muttered.

    “A giant, flying snake?” Chi-Chi finished. The serpent opened its massive jaws wide and let out a terrible hiss. “Is it controlling the weather?” she asked. The serpent’s mouth opened wider and, where certain snakes might shoot venom, lightning shot out of its mouth.

    “I’m gonna guess that’s a yes,” Yamcha said. He looked at Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi looked at him. They nodded and leaped into the air with a battle cry, Chi-Chi leading with a kick and Yamcha flying with both fists out. The snake reared its head back and lunged.

OoOoOoO

    “So,” Chi-Chi said as she laid the massive fang on Yamcha’s kitchen table with a “Thunk”, “What should I do with this?” They were both showered and dressed in freshly-washed clothes, although their hair were still wrapped in towels.

    “Hollow it out?” Yamcha suggested with a shrug. “Could make a pretty sweet horn.” Chi-Chi grinned at the suggestion and looked the fang over as if inspecting it. “Y’know,” Yamcha said, “Maybe I could teach you how to fly. Just so you don’t have to jump everywhere.”

“I’d like that,” Chi-Chi said. They both smiled and Yamcha was about to say something when their stomachs began to growl.

“Guess I’ll make somethin’ for dinner,” Yamcha muttered, realizing that he’d never eaten breakfast. Or lunch.

    “No,” Chi-Chi said as she moved towards the kitchen, “Let me. I’m the one who barged in and made your breakfast go cold.” Yamcha moved into her path and folded his arms over his chest.

    “No guest of mine is going to make me dinner. I’m a big boy, I can cook for myself.”

    “Really,” Chi-Chi said as she stepped forward again to loom over him, “I insist.”

    “So do I,” Yamcha said, not intimidated by the fact that she was taller than him. His ki was still stronger than hers, after all. Not that he really wanted to fight about something like food.

    “Why don’t you both make dinner?!” Puar called from down the hall. “For crying out loud!” They stared at each other with the dawning realization that this was, in fact, a thing they could do and were reduced to helpless snickering as they made their way into the kitchen.

    “That,” Yamcha said one incredibly filling meal later, “May be the best bowl of beef and rice I’ve eaten in my entire life.” Chi-Chi blushed and waved a hand.

    “Stop,” she begged, “I should be the one complimenting you. I don’t think I’ve ever had crab dumplings like that.” Now it was Yamcha’s turn to blush.

    Puar burped.

    Yamcha and Chi-Chi laughed again before Chi-Chi stretched and stifled a yawn.

    “It’s getting late, isn’t it?” she muttered to herself as she looked out the window at the night sky. “I should get going.” She started to get up when Yamcha put a hand on her shoulder.

    “No,” he said, “You can crash here, it’s fine.” Chi-Chi stared at him for a moment and he held his hands up innocently. “Not like you have someplace else to go, right? I’ll sleep on the couch.” Chi-Chi shook her head.

    “Oh, Yamcha, I couldn’t–”

    “It’s fiiiine,” Yamcha insisted. “I fall asleep on this thing as often as I do my bed, anyway. Besides, I’m not making you sleep on the couch.” Chi-Chi smiled and bowed her head appreciatively.

    “Thank you,” she said softly. Yamcha smiled back and gave Chi-Chi a pat on the arm.

    “You stay here as long as you need.”

OoOoOoO

    Two weeks later, Yamcha (in undershirt and boxers) turned to Chi-Chi (in her underwear and a nightgown Yamcha had bought her after the first week) in bed and propped his chin on his hand as he looked at her.

    “Hey,” he said softly as he nudged her slightly with his other arm. Chi-Chi grumbled and stretched, just waking up.

    “Hhhwhat is it?” she asked with a yawn.

    “What do you think you’ll do now?” he asked. He hadn’t really thought about it before. They’d been working and talking about their pasts and cooking and just doing everything but having the conversation that he suddenly realized was fairly important.

    “Finish waking up and make a cup of coffee,” Chi-Chi mumbled sarcastically as she arched her back. Yamcha rolled his eyes and nudged her again.

    “You know what I meant,” he said. “I mean what are you going to do? Now that the whole Goku thing’s…” Chi-Chi winced as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and Yamcha quickly tried to keep the conversation moving. Son Goku was still a touchy subject. “Are you gonna go out looking for an adventure? You could gather the Dragon Balls. Won’t be much competition.” He smirked and sat up as she did. “I’m pretty sure we’re all Dragon Balled out.” Chi-Chi chuckled and ran her hands through her long, black hair; fluffing it and giving herself a terrible case of bedhead that made Yamcha laugh.

    “No,” Chi-Chi said with a shake of her head while she ignored his laughter, “I don’t think so. There’s nothing I really want from the Dragon Balls at this point.” She pulled her knees to her chest and sighed. “I don’t really know,” she muttered. “I want to adventure and I want to fight and I want to be bold but…” she chewed her lip and shook her head. “Never mind.”

    “No,” Yamcha said as he scooted around to sit in front of her, “But what? Tell me.” Chi-Chi sighed again and looked at him.

    “I guess the stories my father read me after my mother died and those people he hired to tutor me… I don’t know. Some part of it really got to me. I want to be a wife and a mother and take care of a home and everything, too.” She shook her head and looked down again. “That doesn’t make any sense, does it?”

    “No,” Yamcha replied, “I mean, no it does. Er… yes. What I mean is yes.” Chi-Chi giggled and Yamcha groaned as he ran a hand over his face. “I mean… you wanna know what I wanted the Dragon Balls for?” Chi-Chi nodded. “I wanted Shenron to wish away my being scared of girls.” Chi-Chi let out a titter of laughter and Yamcha frowned. “I’m serious!” he insisted, which just made her laugh more. “I’m just saying, I wanted normal stuff, too. A girlfriend, who’d be a wife and stuff, and… and I wanna be a dad. I never had one.” Chi-Chi stopped laughing and looked at Yamcha with soft eyes as she laid a hand on top of his.

    “Yamcha…” she said softly. Yamcha took her hand and squeezed it.

    “I don’t remember… anything of my family,” he told her. “I just remember the desert. The wolves. Sometimes I see faces but… I don’t know their names. I don’t know how I got my name or where I’d even find them.” Chi-Chi squeezed Yamcha’s hand and moved her face closer to his. Yamcha froze, not sure what he should do. Should he move in? Would that be taking advantage of her? Or would it be worse to move away and reject her?

    The decision was taken away from him when the “Wolf and Ox” rescue app dinged on his phone and Chi-Chi stopped.

    “Better get that,” she said with an expression that was both amused and annoyed. Yamcha nodded and twisted around in bed to reach for his phone.

“Shit!” he swore as he looked at the phone and scrambled out of bed. “We got a runaway train!” Chi-Chi ran after him as he hop-ran his way out of the building while trying to pull on his pants.

OoOoOoO

    Another six months passed. By this time, Chi-Chi had an entire new wardrobe once they’d realized that she wasn’t going anywhere. Also, by this time, the pair had settled into something of a daily routine. They’d get up every morning and go for a brisk fifty-mile run before making breakfast. Then they’d start getting work and they’d intersperse that through the day with talking, cooking, training, and watching TV.

    Today, though, they spent one of their rare slow days lying in bed. Yamcha was sitting on Chi-Chi’s back and rubbing her shoulders, which she was enjoying very much.

    “Yamcha,” she muttered into her pillow in a blissful and eased tone.

    “Yeah?”

    “You know… whoever I get married to inherits my father’s kingdom and fortune, right?”

    “Huh,” Yamcha said without ever breaking stride, “Neat.” Chi-Chi suddenly twisted around and Yamcha gave a yelp of surprise as Chi-Chi was on top of him and trying to kiss him. Every suitor her father tried to set her up with was always interested in the title or the wealth or what she could… do for them when she was older but Yamcha didn’t care. To him, she was just… Chi-Chi and that was good enough. Between that and everything else he’d done for her in the last six months, that was more than enough.

    “Wait,” Yamcha said as he put a hand to Chi-Chi’s shoulder and easily held her back, “Chi-Chi… wait. Before we do anything else, I have to tell you something.” He chewed on his lip and seemed to be clearly struggling with whatever it was that he just had to tell her. “I… I wasn’t entirely honest about my time as a bandit. I may have… no, I definitely killed people.” There was only a moment’s hesitation.

    “How long ago was this?”

    “About… eight years ago, maybe?”

    “And have you killed anyone since?” Yamcha shook his head. “Instead,” Chi-Chi pointed out, “You fought the Red Ribbon Army and Piccolo Daimaou and tried to save the world. You can’t change your past, Yamcha, but it doesn’t mean you never change your present. It doesn’t define what you are.” Yamcha stared at her for a moment and suddenly slid out from under her. “Where are you going?” she asked with a hint of worry. Had she said the wrong thing?

    “This needs to be perfect,” he told her as he walked over to his record player and flitted through some albums. He put one on on the player and laid down the needle. The music kicked in and he started swaying his hips in time as he walked closer to her. Chi-Chi couldn’t help but shake her head and laugh.

    ‘What’re you–” Yamcha put a finger to her lips as he pulled her out of bed and onto her feet.

    “Shhh, shh, shh, shhhhh. Don’t talk. Just… feel the music. Let it move you.” Chi-Chi rolled her eyes yet still found her hips moving in time with his all the same. They moved closer and closer to each other as the voice on the recording sang.  

    “Hail with it baby, ‘cause you’re fine and you’re mine and you look so divine,” their lips finally met. “Come and get your love!” It was slow and tender and passionate. Their first kiss. The first of many things they’d share that day. “Come and get your love!”

OoOoOoO

    Three years had passed since Chi-Chi showed up on Yamcha’s front porch. It had been a whole three weeks since their wedding. As Yamcha shaved that morning, he reflected while looking into his reflection. Asking for Ox King’s blessing had seemed an absurdly terrifying prospect but, to his surprise, the guy was just a big softy. He even let Yamcha call him “Dad” and “Pops”. It had taken more than a little convincing on Yamcha’s part to let Chi-Chi invite Suno and Goku. It had also surprised no one that Bulma wasn’t in attendance. Woman could hold a grudge. What had been a surprise was that Puar had been able to preside over the union. One of these days, he was going to have to ask Puar where he found the time to learn all these things. Yamcha finished shaving and ran a hand over his goatee. It had been Chi-Chi’s idea and he had to agree with her; it looked good.

    “Yamcha!” Chi-Chi called from the living room. “I have something for you!” Yamcha grinned and, dressed in an undershirt and slacks, walked into the living room to find Chi-Chi sitting on the couch. He was surprised to see a long, black, wooden box on the table with golden hinges and clasps and a polish so high it was practically reflective.

    “Well, well, well,” Yamcha muttered as he looked down at the box, “It’s not my birthday for another week, so what is this?” Chi-Chi smiled and stood, picking up the box in both hands.

    “Call it a late honeymoon gift,” she told him as he undid the clasps on the box and slowly opened it. The sight of the box’s content took Yamcha’s breath away. Carefully wrapped in a plush velvet lining was a sword unlike anything he had ever seen. It was a Jian with a golden hilt and intricately-carved scabbard with a white tassel at the pommel. Yamcha carefully took the sword from the box and slowly unsheathed it. The steel shone so brightly it was like a beam of light in his hand. He twirled it in his wrist and was awestruck again.

    “The balance is perfect,” he said with wonder. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

    “It belonged to my mother,” Chi-Chi explained. “My father wanted me to have it but, once he saw how much of a natural I was with the axe…” she shrugged and gestured to Ox King’s axe, now hers, leaning against the wall by the fireplace. “I remembered that you had a sword when we met and you lost it during your fight with Piccolo Daimaou so I thought…”

    “Chi-Chi,” Yamcha breathed as he sheathed the sword, “I… I don’t know what to say.” Not having the words, he kissed her. Then they broke the kiss and he smirked. “How much should I be reading into the fact that you gave me your mother’s weapon and you have your father’s weapon?” Chi-Chi smirked right back and tucked a finger under his chin.

    “You should read into it that a little more appreciation is in order.”

    “I can do that,” he said with a grin and laughed as she slung him over a shoulder and carried him away. This wasn’t how, or with whom, either had imagined they’d end up at this stage in their lives. But it was working out pretty great.

Chapter Text

    Launch was flying through the mountains with what could conservatively be called “too many groceries”. Not that she really minded, of course. Compared to that ridiculous milk training with Roshi, this was cake. No dinosaurs, sharks, or bees after all. Still, Launch thought to herself as she touched down, it would be nice to live somewhere with a road. She opened the door to the log cabin that she, Ten, and Chaozu had made for themselves and headed to the kitchen where she found Chaozu doing the crossword.

    “Hey,” Launch greeted him as she set down the groceries. Chaozu looked up and smiled and gave Launch a wave. “Where’s Ten?” she asked as she started unpacking the groceries.

    “Outside,” Chaozu told her with a jerk of his thumb, “Training again.” Launch rolled her eyes as she pulled out a case of beers. It’d been months since the Budoukai and Ten had only stopped training to help build their house and when she and Chaozu had dragged him along to the wedding. Launch gave a beer to Chaozu, who popped the cap off with his telekinesis. Launch could never tell how old Chaozu was . He never seemed to age, after all. Ten had known him since they were kids, though, so Launch assumed it was okay to give him alcohol.

    “Can you put these away for me?” she asked, gesturing towards the groceries while she took another two beers. “I’m gonna go talk to him. Could be a while.” Chaozu nodded and Launch tapped her beer against his in an appreciative salute before she headed out the back door. Chaozu sighed as he hopped down from his chair and muttered curses under his breath.

    “Seriously” he grumbled as he sorted through the bags, “Who even needs this many kinds of jerky?”

    As it turned out, “outside” had meant “two mountains over”. Launch supposed that the nice thing about living in the mountains was that basically everything within your line of sight counted as your yard. She found Tenshinhan standing on the side of the mountain amongst a pile of rubble. As she got closer, however, Launch noticed that the “rubble” was all cut into perfect little cubes. She floated and watched Ten with her arms folded over her chest as he sliced a massive cube of rock out of the mountain and flung it high up into the air.

    “Dodon Danmaku!” Bursts of ki flew from Ten’s fingertips and sliced the rock into tiny pellets that rained down on Ten and bounced off his aura. Judging by the pile around his feet and the chunks missing out of the mountain, Launch guessed that he’d been at this for a couple hours. Tenshinhan began to cut another chunk when he noticed Launch floating down towards him.

    “Doing some precision training, huh?” Launch asked as she handed him a beer. Ten nodded and jammed his thumb under the cap to pop it off in lieu of a bottle opener. Launch did the same and thought about the fact that super strength was pretty awesome. She sat down on the mountainside and motioned for Tenshinhan to do the same. He did so reluctantly and they sat in silence and drank for a moment. “So,” Launch said, “What’s this about?”

    “What are you talking about?”

    “You, what else? You’re training like even more of a crazy person than usual. You don’t sleep, you don’t eat–”

    “Did Chaozu send you up here?” Ten asked irritably. Launch frowned and punched him in the arm. “Ow!”

    “No, you dummy!” Launch exclaimed, “I sent myself up here! Because I care about you! Now, what’s going on?” Ten took a long drink and sighed.

    “I’m the fourth strongest being on the planet,” he said. “ Fifth if you count Kami.” He wasn’t even going to bother getting into the strangeness of their casual relationship with more-or-less God. “For one moment, I was the strongest. It feels like no matter how hard I try, I keep falling behind and it’s driving me insane.”

    “I mean,” Launch pointed out, “I was never the strongest and you don’t see me freaking out about it.” She laughed but Ten just sighed and slumped forward. “Hey,” Launch said softly as she put an arm around him, “I thought you figured out that there was more to life than being strong. Isn’t that what you told Tao Pai Pai, basically?” Ten gave a halfhearted shrug.

    “I know, I know,” he admitted, “It’s just… the desire to be the strongest and that strength was all that mattered was still the driving force behind almost my entire life. It’s hard to simply cast that aside and not care about it anymore.”

    “Well,” Launch reminded him, “When you fought Piccolo Daimaou, were you doing it to prove how strong you were?”

    “Of course not,” Ten said, sounding almost offended. “It–”

    “Was the right thing to do,” Launch finished with a smile. “And when I came to you for help, when I was going crazy, did you help me because it would make you stronger?” Ten shook his head. “No, you did because it was good. I came to you for help because I knew you were a good guy. So you may not be the strongest,” Launch said with a dismissive shrug, “But you’re the best in my book.” Ten smiled and put an arm around Launch to hug her.

    “Thank you,” he said before he started to stand, “But I need to get back to training.”

    “Oh no,” Launch said with a smirk as she pulled him back down to the ground by the back of his shirt. “What you need is to rest.”

    “...This isn’t restful.”

OoOoOoO

    Muten Roshi returned from one of his trips to Baba’s to find Krillin still on the couch. Not that he minded Krillin staying over, of course- he’d told Krillin that he was welcome to stay, after all, and he liked the company- it was just that Krillin had been on the couch when he left four hours ago. The boy was in a funk. No two ways about it.

    “That’s it,” Roshi muttered as he jabbed Krillin with the end of his staff to get his attention, “We’re goin’ out.” Krillin jumped to attentiveness and looked at Roshi curiously. He hadn’t even been watching TV or reading a book, just staring out into space.

    “Out?” Krillin asked as he got up from the couch. “Out where?”

    “I dunno,” Roshi admitted, “But somewhere where you’re not just sittin’ around!”

    “I’m not just sitting around!” Krillin shot back defensively. Then he looked back down at the butt-shaped dent in the couch cushions. God, how long had he just been sitting there? He couldn’t help it. Ever since the tournament he’d felt so… despondent. He’d fallen hard for Son Goku. Attending the wedding had just turned it into a full-blown wretchedness. Part of Krillin thought that he really shouldn’t have gone, but how could he not? Goku had asked him to be her Best Man (a position he was surprised to know that she knew existed)! Even though it had been obvious that he didn’t have a chance from the minute Goku and Suno had left, there had been something so painfully final about actually seeing them together.

    “You’ve been in the bushes for months,” Roshi told Krillin as he unfurled his magic carpet. “You don’t even train these days! Let’s get a move on!” It was true, Krillin thought as Roshi shuffled him out the door and onto the carpet. Krillin wasn’t training or seeking out underground fighting tournaments or anything like he’d been before. He just couldn’t see the point. His whole motivation for the last three years was to become strong enough to face Goku at the Budoukai and confess his feelings. That hadn’t even come close to working out so what was the point? “Bald Tiger”. Big whoop.

    Roshi wound up taking them to the nightlife section of South City and to a casino called “Dragon’s Gold Casino” where apparently Roshi was something of a regular.

    “Not that I expect this to solve your problems or anything,” Roshi was explaining to Krillin as he gave his young protege a few thousand zeni in chips, “But you desperately need to have some fun. Live a little!” He led Krillin to a poker table and waited for a game to finish. “Now I know they’ll be shufflin’ real slow to us,” Roshi said as they waited, “But try not to count cards. If they catch ya, they’ll break your legs.”

    “Uhh…” Krillin muttered as the color drained from his face. He was supposed to have fun now?

    “Well they’ll try,” Roshi added as they sat down, as if remembering Krillin’s experiences with his legs, “But they probably won’t be able to. Then they’ll just get mad and they’ll throw ya out. Then they’ll throw me out for bringing you here and I like this place, okay?” Krillin nodded nervously and swallowed as the dealer dealt cards.

    ‘Good thing Roshi taught me how to play,’ Krillin thought to himself. Although that had been a couple years ago. God, he was going to go broke, wasn’t he?

    “Royal Flush!” Krillin declared triumphantly as he slapped the cards down onto the table. He was six games in now and as he raked in the mountain of chips in front of him he knew he was on fire! “I think I’ve just about cleaned you gentlemen out,” Krillin said as he peered at the small pile of watches, wallets, and cash beside his chips. “What about you, big guy?” he asked, peering over his chips to look at the rotund, orange-clad ronin across the table from him. The shaggy-haired man glowered and tossed his katana onto the table which made Krillin’s eyes light up.

    “Well,” Roshi said as they say at the casino bar a short time later, “You seem to be feeling better.” Krillin grinned and adjusted the katana on his back while the pair sipped mojitos.

    “I am,” Krillin assured him. “Thank you, Master Roshi. I needed this.” They clinked glasses and Krillin returned to his drink before catching something out of the corner of his eye. He spun around and saw a woman standing by one of the slot machines. For half a second, Krillin thought she was Bulma but her hair was a few shades bluer, not to mention she was more… developed. She saw Krillin looking at her and gave a sly smile before pointing down. He noticed a slip of paper under his coaster. It was too small to be a bill although Krillin discovered that there was a number on it, as well as a message.

    “Call me sometime, ‘Tiger’.” Krillin looked up from the paper with a bright red face and she winked before disappearing into the crowd. Krillin looked back at Roshi who started laughing his head off.

    “Did… did that just happen?” Krillin asked in disbelief, which only made Roshi laugh harder. They left the casino a couple hours later and Krillin was left alone outside while Roshi sauntered off to find where the valet had parked the magic carpet. After a while, he felt someone tap him on the shoulder.

    “Excuse me,” said a young voice, “Are you the Bald Tiger?” Krillin turned and saw a dark-skinned young girl in a black gi with yellow belt and boots. She couldn’t have been more than twelve or thirteen and was, frustratingly, already as tall as Krillin.

    “Uh, yeah.” Krillin said awkwardly. People usually didn’t come up to him on the street anymore. Then again, he rarely left the island anymore.

    “You’re my favorite fighter in the whole world!” the kid declared with a grin.

    “That so?” Krillin asked with a smile of his own. He was someone’s favorite?

    “Yeah,” the kid told him as she pointed at her own shaved head. “I wanna be just like you!” she held out her hands, with a yellow headband in one hand a marker in the other. “Could you sign my headband?” Krillin grinned and took them both.

    “Sure thing,” he said as he scrawled, “What’s your name?”

    “Jean.”

    “That’s a nice name.”

    “Not as cool as Bald Tiger.” Krillin had to laugh at that as he handed Jean her headband back.

    “My friends call me Krillin,” he told her and watched her tie it firmly around her head.

    “Thank you so much!” she said ecstatically before she took out her phone. “Can I take a picture with you?” Krillin grinned and shrugged. Why not?

    After a few pictures, Jean ran off and Krillin sighed happily as he tucked his hands into his pockets. He’d get back to training tomorrow. There was life after Goku, after all.

OoOoOoO

    Mai ran a hand over the smooth finish of her brand-new desk with a grin. She’d saved up for a year to be able to afford her own office and start up her business. Let Shu and Pilaf keep their fast food chain. She was going to be a detective like she’d always wanted when she was a kid. She sat behind the desk and kicked up her feet, lighting a cigarette as she looked at the golden lettering on her glass door: “Private Mai, Detective for Hire”. She’d added that last part because, without it, she sounded like a callgirl. A few weeks passed with relatively steady work. People were always convinced that someone was trying to murder them or steal from them or cheat on them or sometimes all three. It was exactly what Mai had expected out of this gig. She’d even gotten into a few shootouts! It was a thrill.

    Then. She showed up.

    It was a rainy evening in Epicenter City and Mai was sitting in her office in a powder-blue suit. Smoke clung to the room like draperies as rain pattered softly against the windows. Mai was about ready to call it in for the night when her door swung open and a gust of wind swept the smoke right out of the room. Mai sat up quickly and stared at the dame in her doorway. She looked like the kind of trouble that led to a funeral. She wore a dark green dress that she looked like she’d been poured into, with matching lipstick, and her purple hair cascaded down around her shoulders. She was wearing an enormous golden necklace that jangled like a change purse with every step. She slid into the office with legs that went on for hours and bent forward with her hands on the table to expose the decidedly un-miserly deep cut of her dress.

    “And just who are you?” Mai asked as she tried to keep her composure. Even so, she was sweating like a sheet of ice in July. The woman smirked a devilish smile that did nothing to hide eys a viper would’ve called untrustworthy.

    “Bellerose,” the woman said as she plucked the cigarette from Mai’s lips and sat on the edge of the desk, “Iris Bellerose.” She took a drag and grinned again, exhaling the smoke through her nostrils. “And I’m here for a job.” She stamped the cigarette down into the ashtray where it stood as straight as a flagpole while her other hand played with Mai’s salmon tie. Mai swallowed and her face went flush.

    “Wh-when can you start?”

OoOoOoO

    Piccolo looked down into his reflection in the desert oasis that he got all his water from. He frowned in deep thought as he contemplated a very serious decision.

    “Wider?” he asked himself aloud as a light wind blew through his cape. He held out his hands and the shoulderpads of his cape stretched out to meet them. Piccolo inspected himself before holding his hands up again. “Shorter?” This time the pads grew shorter than they had been before. “Wider,” he decided as he moved his hands out again. “Wider is good.”

    God, he was lonely.

OoOoOoO

    “So how’s Gohan doing?” Bulma asked as she sat in her capsule house. “Are you remembering what I said about keeping his window closed on–”

    “Yes, I am,” Suno said over the phone, “And he’s doing well. My mother’s visiting so he’s getting spoiled by grandma.”

    “I am doing no such thing!” Bulma heard Yuki call.

    “Mother,” Suno said while turning away from the phone, “You’ve already given him how many sweets in the last hour?” Bulma laughed and shook her head. She’d met Yuki at the wedding and she honestly wasn’t surprised. She seemed like a sweet lady.

    “Sounds like you’re having fun.”

    “Yeah,” Suno agreed. “So, what’re you doing out by Mount Paozu, anyway?” Bulma grinned.

    “Believe me,” Bulma assured her, “When I find it, you two will be the first to know.”

    “Ms. Bulma!” Someone called from outside the house. “We think we’ve found something!”

    “I gotta go,” Bulma said, “I’ll talk to ya later.”

    “Same here,” Suno replied. “Someone is getting hungry.”

    “Your son or your wife?” Bulma asked with a chuckle.

    “Goodbye, Bulma.” Suno said with amused annoyance before she hung up. Bulma sat up from the edge of her bed with a stretch and tucked her phone away. It had been good to get out of the house for a few months although she was a little suspicious of what Daddy might do while she was away. He’d locked her out of his lab and she was beginning to think he’d finally figured out that she was trying to remove him from power in the company. Not that she should have been surprised, she knew. How many “surprise” trips could she send him and mom on that coincided with important meetings where she’d sit in as his “representative” and vote and make decisions “on his behalf”, anyway? Dr. Brief was no dope. He wasn’t as smart as her, of course, but he was no dope.

    Bulma walked out of her capsule house and into a bustle of activity surrounding a crane near a massive crater. There were dozens of Capsule Corp workers, many holding pickaxes or shovels or other digging equipment. She’d needed a big, new discovery that would knock the Board’s socks off, especially since she had no idea how to replicate the device. The blueprints were completely useless, written in a language that didn’t exist at any point in Earth’s history and in a handwriting that didn’t even look like hers! That was why Bulma had been spending the last four months turning the area for several miles around Goku’s childhood home upside-down. A suspicion she’d been nursing for almost nine years now, practically since the day she’d met Son Goku. Her sister Tights had offered to come along but Bulma balked at the idea. This was going to be science fact, not science fiction. She didn’t want this to wind up in one of her silly books like that Jaco guy that Tights and their grandfather had always sworn was real.

    “Be careful!” Bulma warned into a megaphone as the crane slowly lifted something up out of the crater. “If this is what I think it is, it is literally worth more than all of your lives!” After several agonizing minutes for the impatient young woman, the crane operator set the cargo down on solid ground and Bulma shoved her way through the crowd to get a look at it. It was a sphere about the size of a small car that had once been white, although it was covered in dirt and scratches and… were those reentry burns? Bulma giggled to herself giddily as she inspected the craft, peering through the open hatch at the interior filled with buttons and displays in a language she’d never seen before. Resting on the seat, with two tubes connected to it, was a small, clear bubble that was just about the right size for a human infant. “Well, well, well,” Bulma muttered to herself as she rubbed her hands eagerly. “Looks like you’re finally about to start making sense, Son Goku.”

OoOoOoO

    Suno put the phone back on its hook before she turned around and walked back to the living room, scooping a giggling Gohan out of her mother’s arms as Yuki was giving him raspberries on his stomach.

    “That’s enough, you two,” Suno said as she sat down in an armchair next to the couch where Yuki was sitting. She pulled down one of her sleeves and held Gohan against her chest so he could nurse. Goku, in typical Goku fashion, was hanging from the ceiling and doing upside-down crunches.

    “So how’s work, dear?” Yuki asked while trying not to be distracted by Goku.

    “Work’s going good,” Suno said. “I’ve been back at the job for about a year now and I don’t think it’ll be that long before I can drop the ‘assistant’ part from my title.” She smiled as she looked down at Gohan, “And this little guy is pretty popular. Half the first grade girls want to be his girlfriends when he grows up.” She and Yuki laughed while Goku continued her crunches. “How’s Jingle Village? Anything new happening?”

    “Well,” Yuki began, “Frost has taken on a few new students.”

    “Has he really?”

    “Oh, yes,” Yuki said with a smile, “A couple of polar bears. It seems a certain someone gave him the teaching bug.”

    “I think she means you, Suno,” Goku put in helpfully.

    “He’s not as spry as he used to be,” Yuki went on, “But then, none of us are.” She sighed and put her hands in her lap. “It’s not all good, I’m afraid. The village chief passed away about a month ago.”

    “Oh no,” Suno said softly. That was awful! She remembered the village chief well suddenly and how saving him from Muscle Tower had been her and Goku’s first adventure.

    “He was really nice,” Goku added sadly. Yuki nodded before she looked up as if remembering something and smiled again.

    “Of course, it’s not all bad,” she added. “That’s why Eighter couldn’t visit, after all.”

    “What?” Suno asked with a confused frown. What did Eighter have to do with the chief’s passing?

    “Eighter is the new chief now!” Yuki explained with delight. Suno was so shocked that she fell out of her chair and Goku threw her arms down to catch Gohan before he fell. The one year-old giggled obliviously like this was some fun new game.

OoOoOoO

    Mercenary Tao shuffled miserably down the street as he looked at the crumpled bills in his hand. Five hundred thousand zeni. That was what he’d been reduced to lower his price to. After years of inactivity, his near death, and his humiliation at the hands of Tenshinhan in front of a worldwide audience; his reputation was in shambles.

    “Damn Son Goku,” he muttered. “Damn Tenshinhan. Damn them all!” He swung a wild fist in rage and knocked a lamp post over the horizon, scowling at those who stared at him before he realized that, without eyelids or eyebrows, it just looked like he was staring back. He groaned and continue on his way. With every step, however, he grew a little calmer. He’d get his price back up. He’d outlive them all. It would take time but that was no matter. He was ageless. He had forever. Spirits slightly lifted, he walked into a “Pilaf’s” on the corner. He was starving.

OoOoOoO

    Giran stepped forward onto the podium to give his acceptance speech. He was dressed in a fine gray suit with sleeves stitched into the back for his wings with a white shirt and a red tie. He adjusted his glasses and looked down at his typed remarks. This was a historic day: he was the first monster ever elected to the World Parliament.

    “Today,” Giran said as he stretched his wings, “Is a great day. A day for change. A day for hope. A day for the future!” The crowd cheered and Giran waited for it to die down before he continue. “A future not just for monsters but for all the races of the Earth. For I promise you that I shall use every ounce of my seat’s power to make change and every decibel of my voice, the people’s voice, to call for action! To bring about change that will not only benefit monsters but will benefit all!” The crowd roared again and Giran found himself again thanking the day he’d met Krillin. The “Bald Tiger’s” endorsement had been instrumental in securing his votes, after all. He didn’t know how he’d ever be able to repay him.

OoOoOoO

    Pilaf sat behind his desk and smiled to himself as he tugged at his suspenders. The former Emperor, now CEO, looked thoughtfully back on his life. With smart investing, careful planning, and culinary experimentation; what had started as a hot dog cart had grown into a genuine empire of fast food restaurants across the globe. He was finally a success.

    The name had been Shu’s idea. “Pilaf’s: Food Fit for a King!” Pilaf had groaned at the slogan at first but, over the years, it had grown on him. Shu was now a regional manager, in charge of all the “Pilaf’s” between East and West City. Pilaf had offered him a higher-paying desk job several times- he was a founder, after all- but Shu always declined with a smile. He said he liked to be with the people that were doing the work. He’d joke that he loved the smell of deep fry in the morning. Or maybe it wasn’t a joke.

    Pilaf sighed wistfully as he looked at a photograph on his desk of himself, Mai, and Shu around the hot dog cart. He hadn’t seen Mai in years now. She’d had to change the name of her business to “Tri Pri Eye” after she and that Bellerose woman added a young man named Upa to their company. Apparently, they were also involved in some sort of polyamory thing? Pilaf honestly couldn’t remember. He should call Mai, it had been far too long.

    Pilaf looked to the awards his restaurant had won that were plastered all over one wall. He was finally happy. And it hadn’t taken a single Dragon Ball to do it.

OoOoOoO

    Uranai Baba sat bolt upright in bed with wide, panic-filled eyes. She was drenched in a cold sweat as she stumbled out of bed and climbed onto her crystal ball. She could feel her old heart fluttering in her chest as she floated over to the window and yanked back the curtains to stare up at the orange-purple dawn sky and the few stars still visibly twinkling in the dark.

    “It’s here, ” she whispered, aghast. The terrible thing she had foreseen years ago. It was coming!

Chapter Text

    In the void of space, billions of lightyears away from Earth, there floated three white orbs in front of a field of dust and ash, trapped forever in the weightlessness of space, buffeted ever so slightly on the solar winds of the nearby star.

    “Are you both on the private channel?” came one voice into the ears of two others. It was a harsh voice, filled with the anger of fettered youth and ambition yet with the tones of a highborn son.

    “Yes, Your Grace,” came the simultaneous replies from the adjacent pods. One was gruff and gravelly, an older voice heavy with a life on battlefields all across the stars. The other was younger, about the same age as the first voice, and gritty with lowborn indignity. The older voice was earnest in its reply, the younger… sarcastic.

    “Very good,” the first voice continued. There was a moment’s pause and the faintest hum that crackled in each of their ears as their battle auras surrounded them, wide enough to catch some of the air inside each of their pods. Then the pods slowly opened and three men floated out into the void.

    Out of the far left pod came a mountain of a man in dark blue armor with black boots and gauntlets and yellow pads over his shoulders and thighs. He had a machine fixed to his right ear, white with a piece of translucent blue glass over his right eye. His bare arms and legs were covered in battle scars, some faint and pale while some were large and gnarled. The starlight glinted off his bald head as he glowered at the void. The man in the left pod was slightly shorter with a green piece of translucent glass over his left eye. His body armor was black where the first man’s was blue and brown where it was yellow. Where the other man was bald, he had a massive mane of black hair that practically reached his ankles. He had his share of scars as well, though not so numerous as the first man.

    Between either of them was a much shorter man, perhaps five feet tall without his six inch spike of black hair. His body armor was white with yellow pads and he wore a blue undersuit. The glass over his eye was pink. His neutral expressions seemed to be a barely-repressed hatred for the universe.

    They all had tails wrapped around their waists.

    “What do you see?” the shortest man asked.

    “The remains of our home planet, Your Grace,” the largest man replied plainly as a handful of dust floated past his face.

    “You would be wrong, Nappa,” the first man shot back as he glared at the emptiness. “I see a murder.”

    “What’re you saying, Vegeta?” asked the man with the most hair. Vegeta glowered at him before making a sweeping gesture with a white-gloved hand.

    “Look at this,” he told them, “Complete annihilation. No asteroid could have reduced Planet Vegeta to this. It would have taken a chunk out of the planet for sure but to leave nothing behind… even if our own moon had collided into the planet, it would have created more debris.”

    “So what was it?” asked the second man again.

    “Is it not obvious, Raditz?” Vegeta asked. He waited for a rhetorical pause. “It was Freeza.” He paused again to let that information sink in as the other two stared at him in stunned horror. “I have suspected it for quite some time, in truth. Now that I actually see the remains of my race for the first time, it is clear.”

    “But why?!” Nappa demanded. “We’d served him faithfully for years! We were his most valuable soldiers!”

    “That bastard!” Raditz snarled through clenched teeth. “I-I killed for him! I took his money! I’m wearing his stupid armor! I’ll kill him mys–”

    “You will do no such thing!” Vegeta snapped. “As for the why? He feared us. He feared our potential for power. He feared… what we might become. ”

    “I don’t understand,” Nappa interjected. “If you know he killed our people, why serve him?”

    “What choice do we have?” Vegeta asked. “Freeza is the most powerful being in the universe. Not a day goes by where I do not wake up with the thought of strangling him yet I know it’s impossible. I have been trying to get stronger for years now, seeking out his most dangerous missions on the most violent worlds, but it is not enough. It is time to take action.”

    “Whatever it is, I’m ready,” Raditz assured him with a defiantly balled fist. Vegeta nodded and folded his arms over his chest.

    “It is simple,” Vegeta said. “We are going to carry on like nothing is happening. Freeza must suspect nothing. However, in secret, we will be seeking out and gathering any members of our race we can find. They cannot all have been on Planet Vegeta on the same day. Search every databank, every mission log, look for every exile or castaway. Gather our strength. Rebuild the empire and, in time, bring about our bloody vengeance! We’ll reconvene on Zeron-4 in three years’ time.” Raditz nodded and floated back into his pod, which quickly took off and turned into a blip as it made the jump to lightspeed.

    Nappa entered his own pod and waited for Vegeta to follow. He watched from the viewport of his pod as Veget floated in space and gathered a handful of debris into a gloved hand, squeezing his fist tightly until he held a stone. Lightning crackled through Vegeta’s hair as he threw his head back and screamed. Below the scream Nappa heard in his scouter, he could hear a faint echo, which he realized wasn’t an echo at all. Vegeta’s rage was so great that Nappa could hear the scream in the vacuum of space.

OoOoOoO

    Raditz landed on the surface of Zeron-4 frustratingly empty-handed. It was a frustration that was only compounded by the planet they were meeting on. Zeron-4 was a disgusting planet, sixth from a blue sun and nearly every inch of it was swamps of varying temperatures that were populated with repulsive amphibioids. It stank of sulfur and dead vegetation. Gods, he just wanted to blow the whole thing up from space. Here he was, however, trudging through the muck as he made his way to Nappa and Vegeta. Just Nappa and Vegeta.

    “Well,” he said with a slight smirk, “Glad to see I’m not the only one who didn’t bring any new friends.” The others glared at him. “Is Tarble dead?” he asked with the slightest hint of genuine concern.

    Vegeta scoffed, “My younger brother is quite alive. He merely refused to join.” Raditz chuckled at that.

    “Ha! Told ya to go fuck yourself, didn’t he?” Vegeta glowered with made Raditz chuckle again.

    “Can’t say I blame him,” Nappa admitted with the barest hint of a smile. “This plan is insane.”

    “It would not be a Saiyan plan if it were otherwise,” Vegeta reminded them with a grin. “Not that we needed him, he was banished for being a coward. What about that Tullece woman? The one with the pirates.” Raditz shook his head.

    “Last I heard any mention of her, she’d run off to the Southern Universal Quadrant. Seems her brilliant fucking plan for beating Freeza is waiting for him to die of old age in the ass-end of the universe.”

    “Writing off the only female Saiyan in the universe,” Nappa put in before adding, “Not like that’s an issue for you, Raditz.” Raditz scowled and balled his fists.

    “What,” he shot back, “Just mad that you’re not my type?”

    “Enough, the both of you!” Vegeta snapped. There was a tense pause as he ran a hand over his face in aggravation. “So that is that, then. Everything else came up empty. We are all that is left.” His shoulders slumped as he sat down on his pod with his head in his hands. Then he sat up with a sudden realization. “Wait,” he said, “You’ve a sister, Raditz, do you not?” Raditz’s face drained and he swallowed nervously. He wanted to lie but Vegeta’s hawk-like gaze bore down on him and ripped the words from his mouth.

    “Y-yes,” he stammered out, “Your Grace. She was sent away on her first mission the day of Planet Vegeta’s destruction. She couldn’t have been more than a few days old.”

    “So she will be one and twenty now,” Vegeta surmised as he stroked his chin. “Yes, yes. That will do nicely for me.” Then he turned to Nappa and smirked, “Hopefully something for you as well in about fifteen years or so, Nappa.” Nappa laughed as Raditz’s face turned red and his hands began to curl into fists. “Does something trouble you, Raditz?” Vegeta asked. The veins stood out in Raditz’s neck. The smug little shit. He wanted to strangle him. To jam his thumbs into his eyes and rip his heart out through his… no. It was pointless to even think of that sort of thing. Even if he got past Nappa, which was already impossible, Vegeta would crush him like a fly.

    He had no choice.

    “No, Your Grace,” Raditz said as he lowered his gaze. “No problem at all. It should take me about a year to reach the backwater planet she’s on.” Vegeta grinned and stood up to clap Raditz on the shoulder.

    “Good man,” he told him while Raditz fought an urge to vomit. “Off you go, then. Try to bring her back peacefully. Don’t want my queen damaged, do we?” Vegeta and Nappa laughed as Raditz trudged back off to his pod. As it took off, Raditz tried to imagine Kakarot. It was only then that he realized that he’d never actually seen his sister. Would she look like their mother, he wondered? What would she be like? Confused, alone, so separate and different. No one to answer her questions. No one to talk to if she’d done her job and killed them all.

    “Well,” he told himself as his pod made the jump to lightspeed, “At least I can give her that much.” With that miniscule amount of comfort, he let the chemically-treated air of his pod bring him to sleep.

OoOoOoO

    “Okay,” Suno was telling Goku and Gohan as she stuffed a few last-minute things into her satchel before heading to work that morning, “So you guys are going to meet up with the gang at Kame House around noon and then I’ll come by when I get off from work, okay?”

    “Are you sure you can’t come with us?” Goku asked with Gohan in her arms as she watched her wife race around the house.

    “You know I’d love to,” Suno reminded her gently, “But I couldn’t get the time off. It’ll only be a couple hours and then I’ll be over. Besides, all our friends will be there. You won’t even notice I’m gone!”

    “Yes I will,” Goku assured her with a sad puppy-dog look. Suno sighed and leaned up to give her a quick kiss and then gave Gohan a motherly peck on the cheek.

    “Be nice to all your moms’ friends, Gohan,” Suno told the toddler as she ruffled his red hair.

    “I will, mother,” he told her and smiled. Suno grinned before turning her attention back to Goku.

    “And you,” she said with a stern playfulness as she poked Goku on the nose, “You stay out of trouble.” Goku just grinned.

    “Come on,” she said, “It’s me! What’s the worst that could happen?”

OoOoOoO

    Raditz was jostled awake by his battle pod crashing into the Earth. The pod’s door opened with a hiss and he was hit in the face with clean, fresh air. He climbed slowly out of the pod as his heightened senses were bombarded with and adjusted to a barrage of sights, sounds and smells. He looked out over lush, green, breeze-blown fields and up into a bright, blue, cloud-filled sky.

    “Hrm,” Raditz muttered to himself as he tapped his scouter. “This doesn’t look genocided at all.” The scouter pinged with information as yellow numbers flitted across his eye. “Six billion?!” he went on with a disbelieving roll of his eyes. “Gods, Kakarot, were you even trying?” He finally turned to see the fat, bearded man in strange clothes waving some sort of weapon at him and babbling in a nonsense language. It took a few seconds for his natural Saiyan adaptability to pick up on and immediately translate it.

    “Now git yur dagum space rocket offa mah prahperty afore ah–” he froze when Raditz stepped towards him and the man fired his weapon. Raditz threw a hand out to block the attack and was shocked when something solid hit his hand. His fingers wrapped around the rifle bullet and he stared at it for a long moment.

    “Ho. Ly. SHIT!” Raditz burst out laughing. “Ballistics?! Is that what passes for a weapon on this planet?! You’re throwing rocks at each other! How has my sister not killed you all?!” He laughed again and the fat man shot him again, right in the forehead to less than no effect. Without ever not laughing, he walked to the man, grabbed him by the front of the shirt, and casually flung him into space. “All right,” Raditz said when he finally stopped laughing and tapped on his scouter, “Where the heck are you, baby sister?” His scouter pinged when it noticed the nearest high power level. “Three hundred and twenty two? Sweet Galick, what have you been doing, napping?!” He jumped with the intent to fly but couldn’t repress the whoop of surprised glee as he soared up into the air. The gravity was so light here! It had to be a tenth of Vegeta’s! He landed and, since it was so much fun, he took another big jump and laughed his head off. He landed on a rocky outcropping in a desert and dusted himself off. “Now then,” he said to himself as he swept over the area with his scouter, “Where’s that power level?”

    “WHO DARES DISTURB MY MEDITATION?!” bellowed a deep voice from high above. Raditz looked up and cupped a hand over his eyes to see a wide-winged shadow on the sun. As the shadow descended and came more clearly into view, Raditz realize that they weren’t wings at all. It was a cape and the shadow was…

    “A Namekian?” Raditz muttered and scratched his head as the green man touched down. “The fuck are you doing out here? Your home planet’s about a billion lightyears from here!”

    “What’s a Namekian?” the Namekian asked. “I am Piccolo the Demon King!” Raditz laughed again. Holy shit, his sister was stranded on the funniest planet in the universe. Maybe that’s why she didn’t kill them all.

    “D-d-demon King?!” Raditz sputtered before the Namekian snarled and punched him in the face. Raditz kept right on laughing. “No, my green friend,” he finally managed to say, “What you are is a slug far away from home with delusions of grandeur.” He cracked his knuckles as the Namekian took a step back, “And I’m your reality check.” The Namekian snarled again and charged at Raditz who blocked every attack so lazily he was worried he might fall asleep. Then the Namekian did a stupid-ass backflip and hit him in the face with some kind of blast. The Namekian looked rather pleased with himself until he saw Raditz dusting himself off and straightening his hair. “Yeah, yeah,” Raditz said patronizingly, “So you can make a pretty light that makes a lot of noise. It’s adorable. But if you actually wanna kill someone, you’ve gotta put something into it!” He raised his left hand high overhead and a ball of purple energy collected into his palm while lighting ran up and down his arm. “Let me show y–” he paused as his scouter pinged and he dropped his arm. “Huh,” he muttered, “Three hundred thirty-four.” Well, it was a little better. Gods, her muscles must be atrophied from this planet’s soft gravity! “I’ll have to kill you later, Demon King .” Then Raditz rocketed off into the sky.

    Piccolo wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead and looked down at his trembling hand. He… he almost died. Whoever that strange man was… Come to think of it, Piccolo realized, he had a tail. Just like–

    “Son Goku,” Piccolo muttered with narrowing eyes. He had a revolting suspicion that he knew exactly how today’s events were going to unfold.

OoOoOoO

    The patties and hot dogs sizzled as Yamcha manned the grill outside Kame house, mingled with the gentle crash of waves upon the shore. There was a picnic table set up under the shade of one of the palm trees and surf music played over the radio while Krillin sliced up lettuce, tomatoes, and  a few watermelons with his katana. Turtle and Puar were setting up a volleyball net. Launch was inside the house preparing drinks and Bulma was helping. Although it sounded like awful loud and argumentative helping.

    “You put the salt on after you make the drink!” Bulma was insisting.

    “What kinda ‘genius’ are you?!” Launch shot back. “Then I’d get salt in the drink! You salt the glass before!”

    Roshi, ever-helpful, was lounging in his beach chair, sipping a highball and reading a magazine.

    “Good weather, good food, good company,” he said as he flipped a page before taking a sip, “This was a pretty good idea, Krillin.”

    “Yeah,” Krillin said with a nod as he wiped down his katana with a napkin. “I dunno why we didn’t think of doing something like this sooner.”

    “We’ve all been busy with our lives and stuff,” Yamcha reminded Krillin as he deposited the freshly-cooked barbecue onto an ever-growing platter that included more burgers and hot dogs plus ribs and chicken. One might say it was a lot of food and one would be correct. Except that Goku was coming so it only might be enough. “Oh, that reminds me,” Yamcha said as he dumped an entire chain of sausage links onto the grill, “That white box I put in the fridge has some cupcakes Chi-Chi made. If I don’t come back with an empty box–”

    “You’ll be in trouble?” Krillin assumed with a laugh.

    “Oh, no,” Yamcha told him, “I’ll be fine. However, there is the distinct possibility that Chi-Chi maaaaaay hunt you down.” Roshi and Krillin laughed… which slowly died when they realized Yamcha was being serious.

    It was at this point that Launch came out of the house with a tray of drinks, Bulma shuffling behind her in something of a huff.

    “So who else is comin’?” she asked as she walked around, giving drinks to Krillin, Yamcha, Puar, Turtle, and finally Bulma, smirking as she held it out of reach before handing it to the other woman who rolled her eyes and smirked right back.

    “Well,” Bulma started to say before taking a sip, “....damn it, that’s good,” she muttered with a smack of her lips before continuing, “You said Ten and Chaozu are–”

    “Building a deck for the cabin,” Launch reminded her. “Dunno why, Ten got some kinda crazy building bug. Probably just training in disguise. Shouldn’t take them more than a couple hours.”

    “Right,” Bulma said before moving on, “And Chi-Chi is…”

    “Working,” Yamcha replied before flipping the entire sausage chain at once. “We can’t both take the day off. Kinda sucks but, y’know, that’s what happens when you’re basically a superhero.” Bulma rolled her eyes.

    “Riiiiight,” she said dryly. “Suno’s got work today, too, but she’ll come by when she gets out, so that means the next person to show up is–”

    “Look!” Puar shouted as he pointed up at the sky. Bulma was really getting tired of being interrupted. “It’s Goku!” Everyone turned their eyes skyward and waved excitedly as the tell-tale yellow cloud came zooming down towards them.

    “Goku!” they all cheered in unison as Nimbus came to a stop right on the shore. She had… a little kid sitting in front of her on Nimbus. The kid was wearing a blue-and-yellow striped shirt, blue shorts, red sneakers, and the four star Dragon Ball was hanging from a string around his neck. His hair was a bright shade of orange, practically red.

    “Hey, everyone!” Goku said with a grin as she hopped down off the cloud. She turned and picked up the kid in her arms and they all saw a tail curling out from behind the kid to wrap around Goku’s wrist. “What’re you all staring at?” Goku asked as the kid looked at them shyly.

    “Goku…” Launch started to say with a stunned expression on her face.

    “Are… are you babysitting or what?” Yamcha asked.

    Bulma, it should be said, was grinning from ear to ear.

    “What?” Goku asked before looking at Gohan, whom they were all pointing to. “Oh! This is Gohan! He’s my son!”

    Krillin nearly fainted.

    “Y-y-your son?!” he croaked. “But when? HOW?!” Goku scratched her head and thought as she set Gohan down.

    “I don’t remember,” she admitted with a grin. Everyone but Bulma face-faulted as Gohan saw a crab and shuffled of, distracted by the animal. “Suno knows, you’ll have to ask her when she get here. I know Bulma helped, though.” Then she turned to Gohan as the others picked themselves up. “Say hi to everyone, Gohan!” Gohan stopped what he was doing and turned to bow respectfully to his mama’s friends.

    “Hello,” he said shyly before he went back to studying the crab.

    “He’s adorable, Goku!” Launch cooed as she clapped her hands excitedly. Roshi chuckled and adjusted his sunglasses as he leaned on his cane.

    “So y’named him after your grandpa,” he said wistfully as he watched Gohan chase the crab. “He would’ve love to see this.”

    “Why,” Yamcha said as he dug sand out of his ear and looked at Bulma, “Am I not surprised that you had something to do with this?” Bulma just kept on grinning.

    “What,” she asked, “You got something against true love?”

    “True love,” Yamcha shot back, “Or ‘science’?”

    “Yes.” Yamcha groaned and rolled his eyes. He caught Goku heading towards the food table out of the corner of his eye and grinned. Some things never changed, at least.