Dragon Ball: Legacy Chapter 27

Hey friends and fans! Kairomaru is bringing you a new chapter! Caulifla and Kale continue their training with Roshi for three and a half more months, while Launch still has the full eight months to go. Bulma flies back home first to see what her father has discovered about Saiyan biology and offer what help she can with it before heading out on her martial arts journey. Goku swims back toward the mainland and starts his own martial journey, planning to wander the world wherever and occasionally visit the Training Island to see Caulifla, Kale, and Launch. What strange and interesting things will the journeys of the Turtle School disciples teach and how will they all improve?

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So, without further delay, please enjoy.

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Chapter 27 – Saiyan Biology and Martial Journeys

The large dome-shaped building that was Capsule Corp headquarters and the home of Dr. Briefs and his family was going about its normal morning routine. The workers were coming in to start the day’s work and continue various forms of research. Panchy was cooking up a large breakfast for her family, happy to have both of her daughters home for a while. Dr. Briefs was enjoying his coffee as he sat at the table, reading through the paper, noticing the ongoing coverage of the destruction of the Red Ribbon Army. The initial discovery had been front page news, but the ongoing reports had now been relegated to the second or third page. Tights was sitting at the table, having only woken up a little while ago, still in her baggy t-shirt and cotton shorts that she used as sleepwear.

Where was Bulma as breakfast was about to be served?

A blur was speeding through West City, along the sidewalks and easily leaping over the streets, kicking off the walls of buildings, all to keep up its speed. Said blur landed on the sidewalk several blocks away from Capsule Corp and revealed that it was Bulma, the pretty girl being stared at—or gaped at in some cases—by the people that she’d landed near.

“Sorry about that.” Bulma apologized to the startled people with a wave before she took off in a jog. As she made her way down the sidewalk, she smiled, using these last few blocks to cooldown from her morning run that had taken her from Capsule Corp, through the city to the ports, then back around one side of the city until she got here. For a normal person, it was a trip that would’ve taken hours on foot. But for Bulma, she’d gotten it done in only an hour. “Not too bad on time.” Bulma said to herself as she looked at her watch, seeing how long her run had taken.

“Morning, sweetie.” Dr. Briefs smiled as Bulma entered the private residence kitchen that was for his family. “Did you have a nice run?”

Bulma smiled at her dad. “Yeah. Just down to the port area to look at the sea a bit, and then back around the south side of the city.”

Tights blinked at Bulma’s nonchalant tone. “Wait… All the way to the port should take, like, two hours on foot from here. Then you went around the south side of the city too? You were only gone for an hour according to mom and dad.” She looked at her little sister in surprise.

“I kept up a good pace.” Bulma grinned at Tights as she sat at the table.

“Well, I hope you worked up a good appetite, dear.” Panchy smiled as she brought over some food, a robot assistant bringing over the rest on a large tray. The kitchen table was soon loaded with plates, bowels, and dishes filled with various egg dishes, cooked meats, tofu, miso soup, fresh fruits, and plenty of rice.

Bulma grinned brightly at her mother. “Always, mom!”

As the family ate, Tights giggling at Bulma’s voracious appetite, they chatted about their plans for the day.

“I’ll be doing a bit of shopping today.” Panchy said with a smile. “It’ll be fun to spend time with my girls.”

“Sure thing, mom. I just need to finish the edits of my latest draft today and send it to my editor tomorrow.” Tights easily agreed to finish up her work on her latest book and join her mother for shopping.

Bulma grinned at the idea of an afternoon of shopping with her mom and big sister. “I’m there!” She turned to her father with a smile. “That means I can help you in the lab this morning, dad.”

Dr. Briefs smiled at Bulma. “Looking forward to it, dear.”

Shortly after breakfast, both Bulma and Dr. Briefs were in the private lab together, Bulma looking over the data that her father had already produced from his research into her and Goku’s blood samples.

“As you can see, humans and Saiyans are remarkably similar in our basic genetic makeup. However, almost all of the genetic markers that humans have for certain diseases don’t seem to exist in Saiyans. They’re an incredibly robust and healthy species, even down to their DNA.” Dr. Briefs said as he pointed out multiple lines on the paper that Bulma was currently reading.

“That would explain why they’re able to send their people to other planets without much worry about native diseases.” Bulma nodded as she looked over the information that her father had compiled. “Saiyans also heal faster than humans too.”

Dr. Brief nodded, still calm as he usually was, but Bulma could see the interest and excitement in his eyes. He was a scientist through and through and every field of study that he found interesting was pursued with the same drive and curiosity. “Indeed, just from studying the blood samples of both you and Goku, I’ve found that the red blood cells are far more efficient at carrying nutrients and oxygen, while the white blood cells respond far more quickly and precisely to any foreign substance or cells they come in contact with.”

Bulma nodded, reading over that part of her dad’s research at the moment. “I’ll give you another blood sample so that you can run a few more tests.” Looking over at her father, Bulma grinned. “I’m sure you’ll want a few full-body scans as well to compare things physically, both internal and external. We can do CT, MRI, and PET scans to get images of the brain while we’re at it.”

“Excellent, dear. While we’re at it, how about we strap you with multiple sensors to measure your biological signals while you go through various tasks and exercises?” Dr. Brief suggested as he started jotting down notes for everything that they’d need for a complete full body scan and physical parameter measurement tests.

“I’ll be staying for a little while, so we should have plenty of time for all of that.” Bulma agreed easily. She also wanted to have hard data on Saiyan biology in the event of serious injuries or strange sicknesses that might come up later. For all that Saiyans and humans were similar, as her father had noted, they were also rather different and that could make medicine and medical treatment equally as different.

-Suburbs of East City-

“Almost there now.” Krillin smiled as he looked at the sign that showed how close he was to East City. “I wonder if that dojo that Orin Temple had a friendly martial arts competition with is still around?” He did want to try out his martial arts against other martial artists, after all.

Holding his right hand up, Krillin focused his ki, much like when he used the Kamehameha, and tried to call up the energy. A small, flickering orb of ki appeared with a yellowish color as Krillin controlled just how much of his energy he let out. It was different than using the Kamehameha which was pouring your ki into one point and holding it until it built up before releasing it. He was trying to use just a small amount of his ki to form a sphere that he could launch at an opponent.

“Hah…” Krillin exhaled as he let go of his ki and the small little orb vanished a half-second later. “Still needs improvement. But if I can make it work, I’ll have a surprise to show Goku and the others by the next Tenka’ichi Budokai.” He grinned brightly at what he hoped to have perfected hy the end of his martial arts journey.

With a smile on his face, Krillin took a drink of water from the bottle that the two nice truckers had bought him back at the rest stop. With his thirst quenched for now, he put the bottle into the cloth pack on his back and continued on his way. Now on the safer streets and sidewalks of suburbia as compared to the side of the heavily vehicle traveled East Sea Highway or trekking through the wilderness, Krillin made great time closing in on East City. It was the first large stop on his martial arts journey after leaving Goku’s house on Mt. Paozu.

-Goku-

“Hahaha!” Goku laughed as he ran across a wide grassland. After swimming from the Training Island to the mainland, he’d taken a break and caught himself a large fish before roasting it over a big fire and eating the entire thing to fill his belly. He’d set out first thing in the morning from the beach without any real destination in mind, just wandering on his own two feet across the land.

Spotting a large rock outcropping that sloped up from the mostly flat grassland, Goku grinned and ran up it before leaping off the opposite end and falling towards the ground. He landed easily, his legs bending to absorb the force, before he kicked off the ground back into a run. The next ‘obstacle’ that appeared before Goku was a small river. “Heh!” Goku chuckled as he sped up into a sprint and ran straight across the water, kicking up a large splash as he managed to cross the water in only four steps with the length of his stride while sprinting. “Nice and cool!” He shook his head, tossing the water from it.

Returning back to his running speed, Goku kept up his pace as the grassland gave way to woodland and then to forest. Dashing through the trees, Goku started kicking off the larger trees, traveling through the air over rougher parts of the terrain, and then landing back on the ground.

“Ssshhhaaa?” A huge snake reared up after Goku accidentally stepped on its thick body.

“Oops! Sorry about that!” Goku apologized to the animal as it slithered off into the underbrush. “Huh?” Goku realized that the ground beneath his feet had disappeared as he’d run over a steep hill. “Whoa!” He slid down the hill towards a wide ravine with a river at the bottom. “Hahaha!” With a laugh, Goku kicked off the last part of the cliff and easily cleared the ravine, landing on the opposite side, he waved to a monkey hanging from a nearby tree before taking off into a run again.

-Ranfa Village-

A small village built upon a cliff and surrounded by flatlands with other cliffs and rocky outcroppings nearby. It was rather barren due to a long drought, with what water that could be pumped up to the surface from the wells being used to cover the village’s daily necessities and for farming so that the villagers and their livestock didn’t starve. Much as it had been for months now, the sun beat down harshly upon the land, heat hazes rising up off the rocks and not a single cloud in the sky.

Within the village, the adults were gathering baskets of vegetables, sacks of rice, fresh meat, and plenty of bread together for a feast. A single apple fell from one basket and landed at the feet of a young boy. With a smile, the young child picked up the apple and brought it to his mouth.

“No, child, that isn’t for you.” One of the men had to gently take the fruit from the boy and return it to the basket. The little boy started to cry, the audible growl of his stomach denoting his hunger. The man looked sadly at the child, knowing that same hunger, but unable to do anything about it as he gently patted the boy’s head.

The village elder, a man that wore simple, traditional clothing and a hat covering his bald head, stepped closer to the child, his wooden walking stick helping him get around. His thick white hair on the sides of his head and his equally thick white moustache showed his advanced age as did the glasses over his eyes. “Don’t’ cry, little one. After the Feeding, then we’ll be able to eat.” It wouldn’t be much, sadly, but there would be just enough to make sure everyone in the village could have a small meal.

All of the gathered village men looked down in shame and resignation for not being able to do anything about the situation that their village found itself in.

-Goku-

“Hah… Hah…” Goku breathed out as he jogged through barren, rocky mountains, the heat having increased the further into the area he traveled. “Ugh… So hungry…” He kept moving, but slowed his pace to a walk as he held his rumbling, empty stomach. “Maybe I should’ve hunted a bit in that forest earlier?” Had he known that he’d end up in an area like this, he would’ve filled his stomach beforehand. “So, hungry…” A voice further away got his sharp Saiyan ears and Goku blinked.

“Please, we need your help! My village is suffering!” A girl’s voice said.

Goku trotted over to the source of the voice and looked around a large rock to see a girl in traditional eastern clothing, her top red with yellow bows holding it closed and her pants a pale pink color, while her shoes were red slip on shoes similar to Goku’s own kung fu shoes. Her brunette hair was in a braided ponytail that went down to her mid-back as she knelt in front of a large tigerman dressed in eastern armor and with a large sword on his hip. The beastman brought back memories of the large bearman bandit that Goku had defeated back when he and Bulma had first met Turtle, so he was most likely a bandit too.

“With your strength I know you could help us, but you must come today!” The girl begged the tigerman bandit for assistance while kneeling before him. “Won’t you please help my village? You’re our only hope!” She reached into the satchel that she had and pulled out a small bag that jingled with coins. “I brought money to pay you, all that we have.” She held up the bag to the tigerman bandit as an offering.

“Heh.” The tigerman chuckled slightly as he took the bag of money from the girl. “Very well. I will help you.”

The girl’s expression brightened up. “Really?!”

“No.” The tigerman said with a cruel look, making the girl look confused at the sudden change. “It is I that need you, girl.” The girl gasped, her eyes widening in fright as the tigerman reached for her with his clawed hands. “For my lunch!”

“Aaahhh!” The girl screamed as the huge tigerman grabbed her and easily lifted her off the ground as he stood up. “No! Please! If you’re hungry I have r-rice balls that you c-can have! Please, take them!” She pulled a cloth-wrapped bundle from her satchel and presented it to the tigerman, revealing two rice balls as the cloth was undone.

The tigerman knocked the rice balls aside, sending them flying. “Do I look like I eat rice balls?” He growled at the girl while opening his jaws to reveal his large fangs. “You wouldn’t happen to have any salt and pepper on you, would you?” He mocked the flailing girl as he prepared to bite down on her.

“Aaahh! No!” The girl kicked her legs about and flailed her arms, but the sheer difference in size and strength between her and the tigerman meant that the girl had no chance of escaping.

“Excuse me!” Goku called out, getting both the tigerman and the girl’s attention. “Would you mind if I ate these?” He was holding the two rice balls that the tiger man had sent flying, one in each hand. “I’m hungry.”

The tigerman blinked at Goku, trying to process the sudden arrival of another person when he was about to eat the girl. “Uh…”

The girl, however, nodded shakily. “S-Sure…”

“Thanks a lot!” Goku smiled as he scarfed down the first rice ball in one large bite and then ate the second.

“Hehehe… Stay right there, I’ll have plenty of room for dessert!” The tigerman laughed as he looked down at Goku, their difference in size giving the bandit confidence.

Goku pointed at the girl and spoke. “Myar nah gnu…”

The tigerman blinked at Goku’s unintelligible words. “What’s that?”

Goku swallowed some of the food in his mouth. “Your not really gonna eat her, are you?” He managed to get out around his full mouth.

“Don’t talk with so much food in your mouth!” The tigerman growled at Goku for the perceived disrespect. “Maybe I’ll eat you first!” He reached for Goku with his free hand.

“Hm.” Goku knocked aside the reaching hand with a circle block, making the tigerman let out a grunt of pain. “Hup!” A quick hop upwards and Goku kicked the forearm of the hand that was holding the girl in the air.

“Kyaah!” The girl cried out as she was released and fell towards the ground.

Goku caught the girl before she could hit the ground with a small grin.

The tigerman bandit growled as he tried to bring his fist down on both of them, but he only hit the ground as Goku leapt away with the girl. His fist cracked the dry ground from the force of his punch and he grunted as he had to jerk his hand free. “You little!”

Goku was already in front of the tigerman, his foot shot straight upwards in a perfect high kick that slammed into the bandit’s jaw and rocked his head backwards. Bringing his foot back to the ground, Goku shifted his weight and threw a punch straight into the tigerman’s armor-covered stomach.

“Gauh!” The bandit hacked out, his eyes bugging out from the force of the blow that had all but invalidated his armor. He went flying backwards and slammed into the rocky cliff, shattering it with his body and being buried in the falling rubble.

“He won’t try to eat anyone else.” Goku said to himself with a nod as he looked at the huge pile of rubble that had buried the fallen bandit.

The girl rushed over to Goku with a bright smile and took his hands in hers. “That was amazing!”

Goku gave the girl a smile. “Thanks!” He looked at her satchel curiously. “Hey, do you have anymore rice balls? I’m still hungry.”

“Your strength can save my village!” The girl declared, looking up at Goku hopefully. “Please, come with me, there isn’t much time!”

“Huh?” Goku didn’t understand what the girl wanted him to do, nor did he know where her village was.

“We’ll feed you anything you want, okay?” The girl offered as she started pulling Goku along. “We have to go now!”

Goku followed behind the girl, more than willing to help out if he could fill his stomach.

-Ranfa Village-

The villagers were piling a single large table high with various dishes. Soups, roasted lamb, grilled beef, vegetable stir fry, bowls of rice, trays of bread, and what little alcohol they had left.

“Hurry, get everything on the table.” A man with black hair and a black mustache instructed as he stood next to the village elder. Like the other villagers, he wore traditional eastern clothing, his robe was a faint pink color and his pants were blue with simple slip-on shoes on his feet.

“It’s time. They should be here any minute.” The elder said, looking at one specific road that led to their village with worry as he clutched his walking stick tightly.

The younger man grimaced at that. “Yes, but, Chao hasn’t returned yet.”

The elder looked at the other man and then hung his head slightly. “Your daughter is strong and dependable. It’s unlikely that she’d return without completing her task.”

“If she doesn’t return before the roll call, then we’ll all pay dearly.” The man clenched his fists, the father in him wanting his daughter to just run away from their village and be safe far away. But he knew that the price of anyone running away was the loss of even more of the village’s population as punishment.

“They’re here!” A boy called down from the watchtower that overlooked the village.

The man looked up at the top of the watchtower. “Do you see Chao?!”

“No! It’s just the riders!” The boy yelled back down, sending a frantic and hurried panic throughout the village.

A loud engine filled the air as a motorcycle with a modified sidecar was seen coming down the single road that led to Ranfa Village.

“Get the elderly and children out of sight, quickly!” The man instructed the fearful villagers. The less people that were part of the roll call, the better off they’d be.

The village elder trembled in place at the sudden arrival. ‘They’ve come early and we’re not ready.’ He looked at the large table that was mostly full, but not completely covered like it was supposed to be. ‘Chao, where are you?’

The two riders approaching the village on the motorcycle and sidecar wore armor over their torsos and spike pauldrons over their shoulders. On the front of the armor for the one riding the motorcycle was the eastern character for ‘silver’ and on the chest of the one sitting in the modified sidecar was the eastern character for ‘gold’. Both of them wore thick pants and brown boots, with demon-like headcovers with horns and visor sunglasses covering their eyes.

The rider stopped the motorcycle just outside of the village and then began to rev the engine loudly to announce their presence. Seeing the villagers back away in fear, even at this distance, made the rider smirk as he stood up without getting off the motorcycle. “I don’t know what smells better, the food, or your fear! Hahaha!” He laughed loudly and pulled out a semi-automatic gun, firing it into the air to further intimidate the villagers as he dropped back into his seat and revved the motorcycle, driving it straight into the village and forcing the people to scatter and flee lest they be hit.

Once the motorcycle screeched to a stop, the rider leapt off and took off the demon-like head covering to reveal a receding hairline with long, messy hair coming from the sides and back of his head. Purple paint was across his eyes like a mask as he held up his gun threateningly. The man sitting in the modified sidecar was much larger as he stood up and took off his own head covering, revealing a bright orange mohawk that ended in a wild ponytail. On his left hip was a large sword, and on his right hip was a drinking gourd.

-Goku-

To get back to Chao’s village faster, Goku had started carrying the girl piggyback as he jogged through the rough and rocky mountain path. While he carried her, Goku asked for an explanation of what she was asking him to do.

“They call themselves Ginkaku and Kinkaku, but we call them Plague and Terror, for that is what they are to us. They’ve been tormenting our village since before I was born.” Goku took a long drink from the canteen of water that Chao offered him as he listened. “To appease them, the elders created the ‘Feeding’, a monthly ritual where they come and take our food and water, leaving us with barely enough to survive.”

“That’s mean of them.” Goku said as he kept up his pace. “I’ll defeat them. Is that all you need?”

Chao leaned over Goku’s shoulder to be able to look at him. “Are you kidding? That’s a lot!” She rummaged in her satchel for a moment and pulled out the bag of money, holding it out for Goku to take. “In return, this money is yours. The villagers took up a collection.”

Goku looked at the bag of money before shaking his head once. “No thanks. This sort of thing is exactly what my master wants me to do. It will help my training!”

Chao smiled brightly at Goku. “Thank you so much!” She put the bag of money back in her satchel. “I’m sorry. I haven’t even asked your name yet.”

“I’m Goku.” Goku told her easily. “What’s your name?” He asked, looking over his shoulder at the girl he was piggybacking.

“I’m Chao, it’s a pleasure to meet you…LOOK OUT!!!” Chao cried out as Goku took a step straight of the side of the sheer cliff they were walking next to.

Gravity asserted itself as the two began to fall, Chao screaming in fear, while Goku only chuckled.

Goku saw a fairly large rock near the base of the cliff and easily landed on it, shifting hi weight forward to prevent Chao from absorbing any of the impact, he did a forward flip to the ground and landed on his feet. Chao nearly had a death grip on Goku’s gi top, her eyes wide in shock. “Sorry about that. Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah…” Chao nodded once she realized that she was okay.

“Great! Are we still on the right path?” Goku asked, seeing a tunnel of dead-looking trees before them.

Chao looked a little forlornly at the tunnel of trees. “Yeah. I think you found a shortcut…sort of.” Left unsaid was that such a fall would kill any normal person.

Goku took off down the path. “Good! We’ll get there faster now!” As they made their way through the tunnel of trees, Goku couldn’t help but comment. “Kinda eerie, huh?”

“It used to be beautiful, but that was before the drought.” Chao told Goku as he carried her along easily. “This was my favorite place to visit. Back then these trees were covered with fresh Ranfa flowers, seeing them at full bloom is breathtaking. Their fragrance is so sweet it makes you wish that you could eat the air.” She sighed, vividly remembering the sigh and smell before the drought had made everything wither away.

-Ranfa Village-

The large table that had been ladened with food was now mostly empty. Used dishware was stacked up, while some plates were covered in bones picked clean of meat. Plague belched loudly, the smaller of the two men picking at his teeth with a toothpick. Terror was holding a white bowl that one of the village women was filling with liquor, the last bit that the village had left.

“Does the feast meet with your approval?” The village elder asked the two men, hoping that they’d take the rest of the food and leave quietly.

Terror downed the entire bowl of liquor in one long drink before exhaling and looking at the elder. “Hardly.” That single word made every villager flinch.

Plague stood up from his chair. “I’ve eaten garbage that tastes better than this!” He picked up a skewered, steamed potato with a sneer. “Look at it! What kind of a fool would find this slop palatable?! Huh?!”

“The food tastes fine.” Terror cut Plague off, making the smaller man go silent and stuff the steamed potato into his mouth. “It’s the tribute that I find lacking.” Terror continued as he held out the bowl in his hand for a refill, the village woman quickly pouting more of the liquor for the large man. “Explain it to them.” He told Plague as he started drinking again.

“We came here for a feast! What you provided was little more than a snack!” Plague shouted at the villagers. “The dishes on this table are half of what we had last month! Where’s the rest?!”

Chao’s father stepped forward to stand next to the village elder. “We’ve yielded fewer crops this year because of the drought. Surely, you can understand that?” He held up his hands placatingly.

Terror spat out some of the liquor onto the ground next to his chair, clearly unconcerned that it was some of the very last within Ranfa Village. “I don’t want your excuses! But I will take your share of the food supply!” He told them with a glare.

“But, that’s impossible!” Chao’s father said, knowing the village barely had enough to survive on as it was.

The elder stepped forward as well, gripping his walking stick tightly. “That’s right. If we give you our food too, then we’ll all starve to death!”

Plague grabbed the village elder by the front of his shirt and put the barrel of his semi-automatic gun against his chin with a laugh.

“Leave him alone!” Chao’s father lunged for the weapon, but Plague was larger, well-fed, and stronger. He elbowed the man aside easily before turning his eyes back onto the village elder.

“Tell me, gramps, what good is food if your belly is full of holes.” Plague mocked the elder at gunpoint. When the elderly man didn’t respond, Plague looked over his shoulder at Terror. “I don’t think I’m getting through to him. Maybe we should use him as an example?”

Terror lowered the bowl of liquor from his lips, some of the alcohol dripping down his chin. “No, wait. Why waste the bullets when we can just use the gourd?”

Plague grinned at his partner’s words. “Excellent idea! Bring it out and will have a roll call!”

“Go!” Terror slammed the gourd from his hip down onto the large table. The seemingly innocuous items making all of the villagers flinch backwards in fear.

“You heard him! Gather your miserable hides in the courtyard! It’s time for roll call, and you know what that means!” Plague said loudly. When none of the villagers moved right away, still looking at the gourd in fear, the man growl and raised his gun into the air and started firing it. “Did you hear what I said?! Move you insolent dogs! It’s time you faced the gourd!”

The villagers began to scramble towards the courtyard. The bell in the middle of the village was rung over and over, alerting everyone in the village to come to the courtyard. Or at least everyone that Plague and Terror had the names of. A small handful of elders and children had managed to be hidden over the years and still didn’t have their names recorded by the two men.

At the edge of the village, Chao and Goku heard the bell ringing as well.

“Oh no!” Chao said, tightening her hold on Goku’s gi top. “Not good.”

“Everyone! Gather in the courtyard for roll call! Hurry!” A man’s voice was heard calling out along with the ringing of the bell.

Goku tilted his head at the unfamiliar term. “Chao, what’s roll call?”

“Hurry and I’ll tell you on the way!” Chao urged Goku to get to the village quickly. Once Goku started running again, Chao began to explain how Plague and Terror had been terrorizing the village for so long. “Plague and Terror possess a magical gourd, if someone’s name is called and they don’t answer right away they’ll be swallowed by the gourd. The gourd releases a powerful mist that can swallow a man whole. Once inside, the victim’s life force is drained creating a potion that can be consumed by another person. We believe it’s the source of Plague and Terror’s strength.”

“So, it’s magic, huh?” Goku said as he thought back to the stories of witches, magic, and curses that his grandpa had told him growing up.

“Right here, Goku.” Chao said as she tapped his shoulder. The two were standing on a cliff looking down upon the courtyard where everyone was gathered. “Let’s sneak into the crowd so that you can get closer.”

Goku let Chao down and followed her, ducking low to stay hidden as much as possible until they reached the back of the crowd of kneeling villagers. Chao motioned for Goku to follow her and the villagers helped hide them both crawling forward until they got near the front.

“Papa!” Chao called out with a hushed voice, getting her father’s attention.

“Chao?” Her father turned to look at her with relief that she was unharmed. “You’re back!”

“Just in time.” The village elder said with a smile, hoping that the girl had managed to find someone to help them.

Chao smiled at both men. “I think I found someone that can help us.”

Her father leaned closer to her. “Who?”

Chao turned to Goku and motioned him a bit closer. “Come here, I want you to meet my father.” When Goku crawled closer so that he was right beside Chao, both of the older men’s expressions dropped. “This is Goku.” She introduced, but blinked at the sudden change in their expressions.

“But he’s a teenager…” Chao’s father said, clearly not believing that Goku could help.

“Barely more than a boy.” The village elder hung his head slightly.

“Goku is strong, really. I’ve seen him fight.” Chao tried to assure her father and the villager elder.

Crash

A bowl was shattered on the ground as Terror sat in his chair at the table while Plague sat on the edge of the table with a thin ledger in his hands.

“Peasants, your attention please.” Plague said mockingly as he tapped the ledger book on his crossed leg that was resting on the table top. He reached over and uncorked the orange-ish gourd on the table next to him, which released a faint pink mist. “You wouldn’t want to miss hearing your name called.” The threat was abundantly clear. “When I call your name, a simple ‘here’ will suffice. Don’t get creative!” Plague opened the ledger book with a malicious chuckle and then coughed into his fist to clear his throat. “Bulka.

A man near the back of the gathered villagers stood up quickly. “Here!”

“Hn.” Plague grunted at the swift response. “Selee.”

A woman stood up on the other side of the crowd. “Here!”

“Pino.” Plague called out another name at random.

An older man stood up. “Here.”

“Louder, runt!” Terror yelled out.

Plague grinned darkly. “Pino.” He called out again.

“Here!” The older man yelled louder this time.

“Jo.” Plague called and another villager quickly stood up and answered.

Goku looked at the gourd next to Plague carefully, but it didn’t really seem magical at all. ‘Then again, my Nyoibō doesn’t look magical. It doesn’t even do anything special unless you know how to use it.’

“Chao.” Plague called out, breaking Goku from his thoughts.

Chao scrambled to her feet. “Here!”

Plague glanced at the girl. “Hm, that was a close one.” He said mockingly.

As Plague continued to call out names, Terror suddenly held up his hand. Plague stopped calling out names and looked at his partner curiously.

“There. That one!” Terror pointed to a small infant being held in one of the village women’s arms. “The boy! Woman, what’s his name?!”

The woman clutched her child protectively. “No! My son can’t speak! He’s a newborn! He’s only two weeks old!”

“Quiet!” Terror barked and rested his cheek against his fist. “What’s his name?” He demanded again.

“No, it’s not…” The mother tried to deny.

Terror talked over her loudly. “No isn’t a name! Speak up!”

The village elder forced himself to his feet with help from his walking stick. “This is intolerable! You know he can’t say anything! Leave her baby alone!”

“Old man, you just sealed his fate.” Terror said harshly, seemingly amused by the power he held over these people. “Now, for the last time, what’s his name?”

The mother clutched her baby tighter, shaking her head. “No, no, no…”

“Stop it!” Goku stood up and stepped forward, glaring at both Terror and Plague.

Plague hopped off the table and to his feet with a glare. “What is your name, boy?!” He raised his fist threateningly.

“Not telling!” Goku said firmly, knowing how the magical gourd worked now, if he didn’t give his name, it had no power over him. “I came here to beat you both!”

Plague blinked once and then laughed mockingly. “Hehehe… You’re here to defeat us? That’s a good one!” He walked towards Goku while patting the ledger of names into his opposite hand. “Looks like you arrived about thirty years too late…” He tried to hit Goku with the ledger book, but Goku grabbed his forearm with one hand. “Huh?”

“Hyah!” Goku grabbed Plague’s outstretched arm with his other hand and then pivoted and slammed the man back first into the ground with a powerful shoulder throw.

“Ack!” Plague hacked out as he rolled to his side, his back radiating pain.

“What?!” Terror growled out at the show of defiance.

Plague jumped up to his feet and threw a kick at Goku. “Yah!”

Goku caught Plague’s foot easily, as if he’d anticipated how the man would try and attack him. With strength and a twist of his body, Goku used his hold on Plague’s foot to swing him through the air and slam him face first onto the hard ground. “Hm!” With a twist of his arm combined with the powerful grip he had on Plague’s foot, the evil man’s leg twisted in the same direction until.

Crack

“AAAUUUGGGHHH!!!” Plague bellowed out in agony as his leg was broken. “My leg! My fuckin’ leg!” He grabbed his semi-automatic gun and fired at Goku.

The bullets passed through Goku and his form wavered away like a mirage.

“W-What?!” Plague gaped only for Goku’s fist to come crashing down on his head and drive it into the ground, knocking him out.

“Goku!” Chao cheered brightly at seeing Plague dealt with so easily.

The rest of the villagers all gasped and looked on in shock at what had just happened.

Terror stood up from his chair so fast that it toppled over and he glared at Goku in rage.

“You shouldn’t terrorize these people! They haven’t done anything to you!” Goku said strongly as he unsheathed his Nyoibō and held it at the ready.

Terror pulled out his sword and brandished it at Goku threateningly. “Let’s see how you deal with steel!” He charged at Goku with a roar.

“Hup!” Goku spun the Nyoibō and knocked the sword aside. Terror proved to actually have some skill with his blade though as eh easily swung it horizontally to try and bisect Goku.

Clang

Blade met staff and stopped cold. Only to be swung again. And then again. And again. Every swing was blocked as if Goku saw it coming ahead of time. Terror roared loudly as he swung as hard as he could. Goku leapt over the swing nimbly and slammed the Nyoibō into Terror’s face.

“Gah!” Terror yelled out as he staggered back two steps. “GAUGH!!!” Only to nearly be folded in half as the Nyoibō slammed into his midsection and knocked him into the stone cliffside with force.

“Goku!” Chao cheered loudly, hoping that her village’s nightmare might soon be over.

The rest of the villagers were now cheering as well, happy to finally see Plague and Terror getting what was coming to them after all the years they’d abused and terrorized Ranfa Village.

Terror coughed and was breathing heavily as he forced himself to his feet. “That’s your name then… Goku.” The large man said as he glanced over at the gourd sitting on the large table. He rushed for it as fast as he could, his right hand outstretched to grab the magical item. “Your strength will be mine!”

“Extend!” Goku yelled and the Nyoibō glowed faintly as it lengthened and Goku brought it down in a powerful swing.

Before the eyes of Terror and all the villagers, the magical red staff came down with a thunderous crash onto the magical gourd, shattering it and smashing the large table into splinters before cratering the ground below.

“The Man-Eating Gourd!!!” Terror yelled out in shock as he saw the item that had granted him power and decades of life being the uncontested ruler of this area break apart into tiny fragments. “H-How?!” He turned to Goku, now being the one terrified as opposed to terrifying others. “It was magic!”

Goku had already retracted the Nyoibō down to its usual size as he held it before him. “Magic destroys magic, that’s what my grandpa told me.”

Terror panicked and lunged for the one villager that seemed to know Goku, Chao. ‘I’ll take her hostage and escape!’ He thought to himself, not even sparing a thought to is partner still lying unconscious on the ground a dozen meters away.

“KYAAAA!!!” Chao screamed in terror, even as her father threw himself in front of her to protect his daughter.

But Goku was faster still.

“Hyah!” Goku’s foot slammed into the side of Terror’s head, sending the evil man staggering to the side. Without giving him any time to recover, Goku drove a skipping side kick into Terror’s stomach, cracking the armor and making the man hack out spit and then vomit as everything he’d just eaten was violently forced out of him. Goku pivoted to the left and his heel slammed into Terror’s upper right arm.

Crack

“AAAUUHHH!!!” Terror bellowed out as his humerus was shattered, rendering his dominant right arm useless.

Goku raised his leg high and dropped an axe kick onto Terror’s right leg.

Crack

“AAAUURRGGHH!!!” The large man’s tibia and fibula both snapped like sticks under the force, making his right leg lame, completely incapacitating Terror’s right side.

“One more.” Goku said as he moved to Terror’s left side and tapped his left arm with the toe of his kung fu shoe, applying just enough force to fracture the humerus.

Terror, collapsed entirely, out cold and nearly foaming at the mouth from the pain he’d suffered.

Everything was silent for a moment as the villagers of Ranfa Village processed what they had just witnessed—Goku’s movements having only been blurs to them—and what they were seeing now.

“Goku, you did it!” Chao’s cheer broke the silence.

“WHOOOAAA!!!” The rest of the villagers all cheered together, now realizing that they were finally free.

The village elder looked over the beaten and incapacitated Plague and Terror for a brief moment before calling out to the men of the village. “Strip them of all their weapons! Tie them up and throw them into the storehouse! One of the younger men, we need you to run to the nearest town and get the police!”

As the men moved in on the unconscious thugs that had terrorized their village for so many long years, both Terror and Plague were nearly stripped naked as all of their weapons were confiscated, including a couple of hidden knives. None of the men were gentle or concerned about the broken limbs of Plague and Terror either as they tied them both up securely and started dragging them off towards the storehouse since it was built into the cliffside and therefore incredibly sturdy.

It was shortly after Terror and Plague were locked up, and Goku was being thanked by all of the villagers profusely for freeing them form their years of abuse, that everyone noticed the shade that had fallen over the village. Looking up, many people gasped as the sky was filled with dark, heavy clouds for the first time in months.

A single drop fell and landed on Goku’s nose, making him blink.

Then a second drop fell. Then a third.

Soon rain was falling on Ranfa Village in a steady pitter patter that made all of the villagers cheer loudly at the end of the long drought.

“It’s raining!”

“Rain! Finally!”

“The rain has come back!”

The villagers cheered just almost as loudly for the return of the rain as they did for the defeat of Terror and Plague.

That night the food that would normally be taken as ‘tribute’ by Plague and Terror was instead cooked into a large banquet in Goku’s honor. The villagers laughed and celebrated freely for the first time in years. Chao stared at Goku in shock as he devoured enough food for dozens of men, but as it was food that the village would’ve lost anyway, no one would deny their savior his fill.

The rain lasted through the night and only stopped shortly after sunrise, leaving plenty of fluffy white clouds in the sky overhead, showing that the rain hadn’t been temporary and would come again soon enough.

The once dry river through the village’s farmland was flowing again. Not quite to its full banks after just one rain, but it was flowing none the less and the water wheel was turning, allowing for easier milling of the village’s grains once more.

“We can never thank you enough, Goku.” Chao smiled at Goku brightly at the edge of the village, seeing him off as he continued on his journey.

“Come back any time, lad.” The village elder smiled at Goku.

“Thank you, again, for saving my daughter twice, Goku.” Chao’s father smiled and shook Goku’s hand again.

“Thank you for saving us!” The entire village bowed to Goku in gratitude.

Goku smiled at all of them. “No problem! Don’t let others bully you from now on!” He encouraged them all to stand up for themselves should any other thugs like Plague and Terror come to their village again. “See ya!” He waved to them all as he turned and started jogging down the sole road that led to Ranfa Village.

“Bye, Goku!” Chao called out, waving to Goku until she couldn’t see him anymore.

-Later-

Goku smiled as he ran along the simple dirt road, having already covered a good distance form Ranfa Village in the last hour. He was now in an area with green grass, a flowing river, and trees growing around large rocks here and there. As he continued to run, he looked up at the sky and wondered what interesting adventure he’d have next.

-End Chapter-

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Bulma and Dr. Briefs start going in-depth on Saiyan biology together. While it’s quite obvious that Saiyans and humans share a lot of similarities, there’s also quite a few differences. When Dr. Briefs looked at the genetic differences, that became even clearer!

Bulma will do what she can to help progress the research before she heads out on her own martial arts journey to travel the world and learn the lessons that life has to teach.

We see that Krillin has reached the edge of East City, his first major stop after Mt. Paozu! He’s also working on a new ki technique of his own! What exactly is the young former monk trying to get down? A basic ki blast that doesn’t take all of his focus and a good amount of his energy? Something fast and precise?

Goku travels wherever his feet take him! This time around, he swam across the ocean to the mainland, camped out, then ran across multiple areas until he met someone in need of help. Goku puts Roshi’s doctrine of martial arts to practice by defeating people harming others with undeserved power! Ranfa Village is saved and Goku continues on his way through the world while wondering just what kind of adventure he’ll have next!

What awaits everyone in the coming years before the 22nd Tenka’ichi Budokai?

Keep reading to find out!

Power Levels

Goku – 200

Bulma – 182

Krillin – 167

Roshi – 174

Launch – 11

Lunch – 5

Caulifla – 161

Kale – 162

Until I get your reviews, later!