Goku found himself standing in the middle of nowhere. It was unlike anything he'd seen before. Just miles upon miles of yellow clouds on a pink sky. "Hey... where am I?"
Looking around he saw numerous white puffy clouds floating in the air. There seemed to be a short line of them heading into the only building around.
"Well I guess I have to go in there." Pushing his way through the line of clouds he made his way into the room in only a minute.
Goku marveled at the inside for it's sheer size. The room from the outside was deceptively small. On the inside was a massive chamber filled with identical clouds from the outside. An intricate red and yellow design patterned the walls. The dominant feature of the room was a gigantic desk standing at least twenty feet in the air at it's peak.
Goku looked around for a moment and shouted. "Hello is anyone here?!"
"Keep it down! Keep it down."
Goku's eyes widened, sitting behind a desk sat the largest man he'd ever seen. The man was massive, red and had horns coming from his head. Curious, Goku asked. "Who are you?"
"I am King Yemma, Lord of Otherworld."
"What?" Goku said, he had a puzzled look plastered onto his face.
"I'm the one who decides where you go when you die." Yemma explained clearly losing his patience.
"Oh, I remember now..." Goku looked down at the floor. "I'm dead... I'm sorry Gohan, you'll have to be without your father for a year."
Several small blue demons started to chuckle.
"Quiet!" Yemma yelled.
"Can I ask you something?" Goku said as a new thought entered his head.
"What is my boy?"
"Did a guy named Raditz come through here recently?"
"Yeah." Yemma said with a booming laugh. "I sent him down below. He put up a good fight though."
"Wow." Goku exclaimed. "You must be strong!"
"I can hold my own." Yemma replied flexing a bicep quickly. He was secretly enjoying the attention.
"If I could have a minute sir." A new voice spoke from behind Goku.
"Kami?" Goku exclaimed. "What are you doing here? Wait...Oh no! Did you die too! Now we can't use the Dragon Balls to wish me back to fight the Saiyans. Now the earth is doomed."
"Calm yourself Goku." Kami said. "I'm not dead. I'm merely here to speak to King Yemma on your behalf."
Kami turned to face the giant at the desk. "Lord Yemma, I request that Goku be allowed to make the journey down Snakeway to train with King Kai."
"But I want to train with King Yemma." Goku said. "He's really strong."
"King Kai is even stronger than King Yemma." Kami whispered to Goku.
"I heard that." King Yemma grumbled.
Kami turned to King Yemma, his face blue. "I meant no offense your Excellency!"
"Don't worry about it Kami." Yemma replied. "Goku can go train with King Kai if he chooses." He looked at Goku. Goku started to feel odd, it was like King Yemma was studying him.
"But I must warn you. The journey down Snakeway is a long and perilous one. It is over half a million miles to the end of Snakeway. And... I don't know if you're up for the journey from what I glimpsed."
"Half a million miles!" Goku yelled. "That's gonna take me a whole year just to get there!"
"That is why we must hurry Goku." Kami reminded him.
"Right." Goku said getting more serious. 'This is for Gohan, Krillin, Chi Chi and all the people of Earth. There's no room for me to fail.'
"Where do I need to go?" He asked, his voice deeper and deathly calm.
"This ogre will take you." King Yemma said.
A few minutes after a short ride in a little car, Goku stepped onto the front of Snakeway.
"I better get going. I'm gonna need to push myself harder than ever before."
He said. Goku blasted off flying at full speed. He followed the looping and twisting path hoping to get there in time.
He turned back for a second. "Oh yeah, do you know a fortune teller named Baba?"
"Sure." The ogre said. "She's pretty well known up here.
"Tell her to pass on a message for me. Tell her to tell Master Roshi not to wish me back until the Saiyans arrive."
"Sure got it."
"Thanks." Goku turned around and once again took off down Snakeway.
...
"So how long is the journey to Earth brother?" Neka felt like she had been waiting forever for them to track down Raditz's last location.
"One year... Almost exactly. That idiot Raditz must've tracked our location before leaving." Vegeta scowled.
"Are we going to train then Vegeta?" Nappa spoke up.
It'd been peaceful while the brute had been programming the ships course to Earth. Now he's talking again.
"Ha! There's no need to train to kill those weaklings. The highest power level was around 470. Even if there are more around that power or slightly higher the Saibamen could finish them off, let alone us. When they're dead we can find the dragon balls and make our wish for immortality."
"Your probably right brother but I have a bad feeling about this Earth." Neka said.
"Toughen up! You're Saiyan royalty damn it!"
'Damn. Why the hell can't I shake this feeling?'
...
Tien, Yamcha, Krillin and Chiaotzu stood atop the lookout. Kami was drilling them on everything they would have to do over the course of the year.
"This is your greatest test you four have ever faced. And what's worse is we don't know how strong the three Saiyans will be. You will need to overcome your limits! All of you! Train like your life depends on it, because it does." Kami yelled at them.
Krillin gulped. He didn't like this, not one bit. If Goku couldn't beat these Saiyans how could he? He wasn't the strongest, or the fastest, he wasn't even that brave. Suddenly he felt a boost of determination. 'I can't let everyone down! We're the last hope this planet has!'
With this, the four started to work harder than they ever had.
Kami looked over them with Mr. Popo by his side. "Wow Kami! The potential of these four is incredible! Do you think they can really defeat the Saiyans!"
Tien uppercutted Yamcha before flying full speed at Krillin who ducked and kicked him in the gut. Spit flew from Tien's mouth as he doubled over in pain. Krillin launched an onslaught of precise punches and kicks at Yamcha.
"No. I do not think they can within the time constraints of a single year. We will need to use the Chamber.
"The Hyperbolic Time Chamber! But even Goku barely lasted a month when he went in!"
Krillin and Yamcha were blurs across the lookout trading blows before Yamcha kicked Krillin away.
Chiaotzu jumped in and tried to kick Yamcha from behind, Yamcha fazed behind him, grabbed his leg and threw him farther than the eye could see.
Kami closed his eyes. "We'll just have to hope for the best. But one thing's for sure...they need more power."
...
"Man I need to hurry." Goku said to himself as he ran down Snakeway. Several weeks ago, he'd gotten too tired to fly. Now he was running and jumping along the path. "How long can this thing be?"
As the Saiyan continued to run down the path to King Kai's place a shiny orange object appeared ahead of him.
"What's that?" Goku thought. Within less than a minute Goku had caught up to the vehicle.
"Hey watch where you're going!" The man driving the street cleaner yelled.
"Do you know how far it is to King Kai's place?" Goku asked.
"You're going to King Kai's place?" The driver asked.
"Yeah. I'm going to train with him." Goku said.
"Well as near as I can figure, you're about a quarter of the way there."
"Only a quarter of the way!" Goku yelled incredulously. His grin disappearing. "But I've been running for weeks and I'm so tired."
"Well hop on." He said. "You can ride along for awhile until your strength is back."
"Thank you." Goku hopped on the back of the cleaner immediately collapsing in exhaustion. "Whew I was more tired than I thought! How am I going to make it?"
Within minutes the Saiyan was fast asleep as the vehicle continued down the path.
...
Over the com's Neka heard Nappa speak. "How long until we reach Earth guys! This pod is stuffy!"
"We still have half a year Nappa! Stop your insecent whining or I'll kill you the second we touch down on Earth!" Neka snapped. Needless to say the rest of the trip was much quieter.
However, Neka couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was coming their way. She huffed. I'm probably imagining it... Yeah, the strongest power level on the planet was under 500. That's nothing to any of us. I'm being silly.' She told herself.
...
After months of grueling training and intermingled sparring, the Z fighters had been summoned by Kami. They formed a solid line, shoulder-to-shoulder.
It had been long since they gained confidence in their skills, they were different people as much as different fighters.
"Why are we stopping our training Master Kami?" Yamcha asked while wiping sweat away from his brow.
"It is time we took your training to the next step. I am pleased to confess we have nothing left for us to teach you. Without a doubt you have far surpassed Mr. Popo and myself. But the only possible way to defeat the Saiyans is to put you in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber once now for as long as you can manage it."
"The Chamber! But Goku only lasted a month in there. He said it almost made him go insane! How are we going to survive in there?!" Krillin panicked.
"You are many times stronger than Goku now Krillin. You should stop comparing yourself to him. Be your own martial artist and man. Besides... You won't be alone."
Right as Kami ended his sentence, two figures flew onto the lookout.
"P-P-Piccolo?!" Now Krillin was terrified. He'd have to go into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with... Piccolo?!
"It's more for the kid than me." Piccolo said motioning to the small child beside him.
"Gohan?!"
The boy nodded. "Mister Piccolo has been training me to be really strong. He said this is the best place to go for the rest of our training."
Piccolo scoffed. "As much as I hate working with you weaklings, I don't have much of a choice now do I?"
Tien growled. "We aren't weak. We're just as strong as you now." He let his ki shoot up.
Piccolo didn't flinch. "I wouldn't be so sure." He released his ki, from what his senses told him, he still had an edge on Tien. 'What training have they gone through! He's nearly as strong as I am.'
"Hmph. Better luck next time." Piccolo goaded.
"Master is this really necessary?!" Tien huffed. He was getting angrier by the second.
Kami responded. "That depends, do you value your planet and the people who inhabit it? Do you care about Chiaotzu?"
Tien's jaw clenched before relaxing. "Put us in the Chamber then Master."
"We made special preperations for food and water for six for up to half a year." Mr. Popo explained.
"We only need food for five. I don't need food to survive." Piccolo stated.
"It's really all the same. The likelihood any of you can withstand a year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber is little to none. No offense to anyone of you warriors."
"None taken Mr. Popo." Yamcha smiled.
With that, the six entered one after another into the Chamber.
...
Goku grinned as he blew by another street cleaner, jumping over it in a mighty leap, never slowing down for a second.
'Good, I'm back to full strength. Now I just have to keep going faster than ever before.' Goku pushed his strength to the max as he increased his speed, flying down Snakeway to reach King Kai's place.
He hadn't kept track of time but he figured he'd been much too slow on the journey.
Goku grinned as he finally saw the end of Snakeway. "Whew, I made it." He exclaimed.
The Saiyan was so excited about reaching the end that he didn't even bother to slow down. Goku ran right of the end of the path and began to fall toward the clouds below. "Whoa, I better be careful." He said as he shot a ki blast beneath him, pushing himself back up to the path.
Goku landed on the path confused. "Where's King Kai's place? There's nothing here..."
The Saiyan warrior looked around. Finally his eyes landed on a small planet not far away.
"That has to be it." Goku pushed off and flew toward the small planet. Before he reached it he felt the enormous tug of the gravity. Within seconds the gravity had a hold on him and pulled him roughly to the ground. Goku laid flat on the ground.
"Man... That hurt." Goku said rubbing his head. The warrior tried to stand before collapsing. He hadn't even been able to stand. "I- I can barely move!" Goku said as he slowly dragged himself forward. "The gravity here is intense."
A slight rustling in the grass caught Goku's attention. "It's a monkey." Goku said as he looked at the furry little monkey walking around with its hands above its head. "You must be really strong." Goku said as he watched the monkey move about with ease in the high gravity.
The furry little animal soon walked away from the tired Saiyan and climbed up a tree. Goku, who had followed at his own slow pace, stared up at the monkey. "Hey!" He shouted looking up at the fruit hanging from the tree. "Can you throw me down one of those?"
The monkey shrugged and then grabbed a piece of fruit from the tree and threw it down toward the hungry Saiyan. The fruit sailed through the air accelerating at an amazing rate. When it hit the ground right in front of Goku, it continued going leaving an apple sized hole, several feet deep.
Goku sweat dropped when he saw the fruit go through the ground. But his stomach was still growling. "Um... Excuse me." Goku shouted back up to the monkey. "Can you throw another one of those down? I promise I'll catch it this time."
The monkey grabbed another piece of fruit as Goku got shakily to his feet. The primate released the fruit and it went sailing through the air. Goku managed to just barely get his hands under it before it hit the ground. The weight of the fruit pulled the already tired Saiyan to the ground burying his hands several inches. Grinning, Goku pulled his hands from the ground and began to eat the fruit as if he hadn't see food in years.
As Goku was finishing up, the monkey climbed down from the tree. Practically inhaling the last of the poor fruit, Goku turned to face the monkey. "I'm sorry your highness. I was a little rude earlier. It's just that I was so hungry. I'm Goku. I'd like you to train me so I can save the Earth, King Kai."
The monkey just stared at him with a blank look on his face before turning and hopping away raising his hands up and down in the air. "Oh." Goku realized. "That must be how you got so strong." Goku began to walk raising both hands up and down in the air doing his best to imitate the monkey.
Not far off a short, round man with blue skin and pointy ears watched the commotion. The man was dressed in a martial artist's robe with a symbol on the front. A black cap with antennae completed the look. After several minutes of watching Goku imitate the monkey, the man burst into laughter.
Hearing someone laughing, Goku turned from his intense training. "What are you laughing at? I'm training with King Kai."
The blue man laughed even harder. "That's not King Kai. That's my monkey Bubbles. I am King Kai."
Goku looked from Bubbles to King Kai and back. Then he smiled sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Ha sorry! My name is Goku and I've come to train with you."
"You're already funny enough without trying. You don't need me to teach you."
"I'm here to learn martial arts, not comedy. I need to get strong enough to defend Earth from the Saiyans."
"Oh, the Saiyans."
"What do you know about them?"
"I oversee the whole north quadrant of the galaxy. I know plenty about Saiyans."
"Well, did you know that I'm a Saiyan?"
"Oh." King Kai said.
"Please King Kai, I need your help."
"Ok fine. I'll train you. But first you must catch Bubbles here." King Kai points to his pet monkey. "I'm warning you warn you, he's pretty fast."
"Yeah and this gravity doesn't help either." Goku said.
"Yes but training here on this planet..." King Kai paused for a second. "For the 158 days remaining before the Saiyan's reach Earth will be like years of training on Earth."
"Wait." Goku said. "How'd you know when the Saiyans will arrive?"
"I told you. I have many powers."
"Oh, ok." Goku sat down and began to take off his undershirt and wristbands.
"You'll gain more if you keep the weighted clothing on."
"But I can barely move in these!" Goku bent his knees and jumped ten feet into the air. "See, I can't even jump very high."
King Kai was shocked. 'Amazing. He's even stronger than I'd imagined. He may even be the one to master the Kaioken technique.'
"Ok, enough fooling around." King Kai said. "Now... Catch that monkey."
Goku leaped forward diving at Bubbles who easily jumped out of the way and ran a few yards away. The Saiyan sluggishly ran after the ape but Bubbles continued to stay well ahead of the warrior.
Goku leaped at Bubbles as the monkey once again jumped through his grasp seconds ahead of him. Goku crashed to the ground head first.
"He he, I think I'm gonna be here a while." Goku said before promptly passing out.
King Kai sighed. "Might as take the car for a spin."
...
Goku had been chasing the monkey for nearly a month now with no luck. The thought of the fate of the Earth if he didn't catch this stupid monkey put him on edge. He had to finish this.
He saw Bubbles climb on the roof of King Kai's garage where Bubbles was jumping in joy as if mocking him. "Alright enough of this!" Goku yelled in frustration before jumping on top of the roof as well.
King Kai looked up from his car to see Bubbles jumping up and down. "My, someone's in high spirits. Ow! Ooh!" He yelled in pain as Bubbles jumped right on his head quickly followed by Goku.
"Watch it! There's a few things in this head you might have to actually learn one day!" The North Kai screamed.
Goku fell to his hands and knees panting for air. How was catching this monkey harder than fighting King Piccolo? He looked up at Bubbles once again running off into the distance, his trajectory visibly starting to curve.
"Wait... Hold on just a second." Goku looked down underneath his legs at the expanse of grass. Finally an idea struck him.
"That's it, of course! The tables are about to turn Bubbles!" Goku yelled with determination.
He took off in the opposite direction he saw Bubbles run. All of the sudden he could see the monkey coming towards him. "Surprise!" Goku yelled.
Bubbles came to a sharp stop before turning around. "Like I said, you can run but you can't hide!"
Goku again ran in the opposite direction. "I'm comin' to get ya!" He shouted at the monkey.
Goku hid behind King Kai's house waiting for Bubbles to come running by.
"Aha! Where are you going?!" He threw out his arms. Bubbles came to a halt.
"The jig is up!" Goku grunted as he put on an extra burst of speed leaping once again at Bubbles. The Saiyan grinned as he brought his arms up with the monkey in them.
"Oh!" King Kai exclaimed from where he was watching. 'His energy is truely amazing. In practically no time at all, the gravity of this planet has become nothing to him. If he keeps this up, it's possible he may even be able to master the Kaioken technique!'
"I caught the monkey!" Goku cheered. "That wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be, so now what?" He asked.
"Hmm... Something tough, a real grind..." King Kai thought to himself.
"Yeah?!" Goku said in anticipation.
"Try grinding some sesame seeds! Ha!"
Bubbles chose that exact moment to lick Goku's mouth. "Gross! Okat, not that that isn't a laugh riot, but if I don't start training soon the Saiyans will-"
"Don't! Don't be overly hasty, you still have 135 days left."
"But that's practically no time at all!" Goku whined.
King Kai suddenly screamed in Goku face.
"What was that?" Goku complained.
"It'll make a full circuit soon." The North Kai said.
"A full circuit...?"
The scream came back around the planet hitting Goku just as badly as the first.
"Practically no time is time enough my boy." King Kai laughed again. "I crack myself up."
"Now you're ready for phase two of the training. Gregory!" Just then a little brown grasshopper came flying in at amazing speeds and landed by King Kai.
"Gregory, meet Goku. He's my student, and the fastest one around." King Kai conjured a wooden mallet. "Now Goku, you must catch Gregory and hit him with this wooden mallet to complete the second phase of your training."
Gregory paled. "Is it just me or is that thing a bit on the hefty side?"
"Uh... Won't I crush him?" Goku said grabbing the hammer. Goku winced as the hammer almost fell out of his grasp. He had barely lifted it up, it took almost all of his strength to keep it off the ground. The thing must've weighted a ton!
"Once you've hit him, your training with me will truely begin. Now how does that sound?!"King Kai asked.
"Now your talking!" Goku exclaimed.
"Ha! This two-bit rookie couldn't catch a cold, let alone catch someone as quick as moi!" Gregory shouted as he flew off with Goku right behind him.
Goku ran as fast as he could, chasing Gregory around the planet, holes appearing wherever Goku came after Gregory.
Whenever he'd get close, the grasshopper would put on another burst of speed and leave Goku in the dust. That, or blast Goku off his feet.
After a particularly close encounter, Gregory pushed Goku head-first into King Kai's tree. A large bump rose above his hair. "Ow! Damn it, he's fast. I'm gonna have to just try harder this time." Goku once again took off after Gregory.
...
"Finally! It took a couple days but now I think I'm used to the gravity in here!" Krillin had been one of the last to acclimate to the Chamber's increased gravity.
Tien and Piccolo had started sparring a few days ago with Yamcha just starting to join in. Even Gohan had caught on quickly enough. Only Chiatzu hadn't yet been able to do much of anything, not like that was any consolation for Krillin.
Krillin stepped into the vast openness, the relatively comfortable temperature immediately cooled to below freezing.
Krillin shivered. "W-woah, what i-i-is this?"
He had to burn his energy just to keep his core body temperature stable. "No wonder Goku had trouble with this place, it's crazy!"
"I'm gonna kick your ass if you just stand there!" Piccolo threated.
Piccolo back-handed Krillin sending him flying. Krillin barely had time to stablize himself before being attacked once again.
Krillin started to get nervous, he was moving as fast as he could while blocking and Piccolo was still landing his attacks. 'Just how strong has Piccolo gotten! How far am I behind?' He thought.
"You need to attack! Your defense is breaking!" Piccolo advised.
Krillin was taken aback. Piccolo was giving him advice? Since when did he ever help?
Regardless, Krillin decided to try and attack. He managed to trip up Piccolo momentarily but soon was back on his heels again.
He saw Tien up against Gohan and Yamcha at the same time.
Gohan had been timid and reluctant to hit Tien up until that point. "Your going to have to rid yourself of your fears to defeat the Saiyans. You'll just kill all of us and yourself at this rate!" Tien told him while dodging both fighters.
Suddenly, Krillin felt a huge energy spike. Gohan sped at Tien and punched him in the gut before launching a flurry of attacks, all of them connecting. Spit flew from Tien's mouth.
Gohan took a step back and quickly charged a yellow ball of energy in his hands. "MASENKO! HA!" The beam engulfed Tien instantly. When it cleared Tien was breathing hard and barely standing. He was bleeding from various places on his body. "Wow... Such power, and from a child." Tien fell to a knee.
"Eyes on your opponent!" Piccolo yelled before punching Krillin hard enough to make blood fly out of his mouth. He grabbed Krillin's suspended body by the back of his gi, kneed him and threw him hundreds of feet away.
Krillin couldn't even move his pinkie. Had he really fallen this far behind?
Piccolo walked over to him. "That's enough for one day... But tomorrow your gonna be back at it. Those Saiyans won't know what hit them."
With those words, Piccolo took Tien's place and fought agianst Gohan, who's power had once again dropped significantly and a frightened Yamcha.
A massive fire suddenly appeared from nowhere surrounding the remaining fighters.
As the fight went on, the strain of the Chamber was starting to take a clear toll on the fighters inside.
Piccolo drew in deep breaths, his lungs felt little air reaching them.
The atmosphere around them had turned extremely humid almost at once when the roaring fires disappeared.
Yamcha appeared behind Piccolo and kicked him from behind. The effects were apparent on him as well.
The two engaged head-on, exchanging blows with one another. Piccolo siezed the upper hand rather quickly, offing Yamcha with a blast to the chest.
Piccolo looked at the five unconcious fighters and then to the living space way in the distance.
"Damn. Should've kept him conscious."
He managed to grab everyone all at once before turning to fly back. Midflight, Piccolo suddenly dipped, nearly falling to the ground.
The gravity seemed to increase by the second. He gasped in exhaustion. "What is this place?! And how am I going to get back now!"
...
Goku had been chasing Gregory for a couple weeks now and was getting closer and closer to catching him.
"Almost..." Goku shouted as he swung again at the grasshopper. "Damn it!"
"This jerk won't let up!" Gregory sqeaked.
After yet another blow from Gregory which resulted in Goku's head being smashed into the ground, an idea struck Goku. "Right now!" He threw the mallet one way and took off the other direction.
Making good time around the planet, he got there just in time to catch the hammer and bring it down lightly on Gregory's head. "Bedtime Gregory!"
A bump rose on the top of Gregory's head. "He he! Payback."
"Damn you Goku!" Gregory screamed. Goku burst out laughing.
'Excellent! And still 118 days left... Could he really be the one? The student I've been waiting for that can master my techniques!' King Kai looked at Goku laughing hysterically at Gregory's massive bump that rested in the middle of his head. 'Not only does he possess the strength to perform the Kaioken, but he also has the purity of heart necessary to use the Spirit Bomb!"
Goku walked up to King Kai, mallet still in hand. "Your still gonna keep your promise aren't you?"
"Make no mistake, boy, this training will be more strenuous than you could possibly imagine! Are you ready?!" King Kai yelled.
"You bet I am!" Goku nodded.
"Very well Goku... Expect nothing less of yourself than to be the best! I want you to aspire to greatness you hear?! Greatness!"
"You got yourself a deal!" Goku confirmed.