Notes:

Hey, I don't own Dragonball Z. I'm just borrowing it for the 'fic. The characters and places aren't mine. However, Nazru, Huzawe, and anyone else I happen to make up for this 'fic are mine, so don't go using them without my permission.

Okay, done with the boring stuff.

So you have a general idea of where this fits into the DBZ story, I'll tell you what I've had to assume. First, I'm assuming that Vegeta remained the ally of Earth's Special Forces after the fight with Frieza. Second, I'm assuming the everyone, by some miracle, survived the whole Namek story line and made it back to Earth. Third, I'm assuming that Piccolo made new Dragonballs. I've had to assume these things because the company that puts out DBZ in the US won't translate and air the rest of the series and I can't find it anywhere else. I've only been able to find bits and pieces of the story beyond "Goku: Super Saiyan!?" and am rather peeved. Perhaps, if I am patient, in time...

5/15 - Okay, so I know better now. I'm going to write this sucker anyway. Think of it like one of the movies. It doesn't really fit, but so what.

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Every joint and muscle in Krillin's body ached as only a hard battle could make them. But he had to keep going. Just as Gohan was.

The seven-year-old half Saiyan stood next to him with a well-deserved confidence. Krillin reflected on the first two times they'd met. The first, Gohan was just a little kid, really incapable of a fight. The second, a year later after having been trained by Piccolo, he had been able to fair quite well against the merciless warrior Napa.

Krillin decided that it was a very good thing they were on the same side. He was fully aware that the seven-year-old could beat the living snot out of him.

It took Krillin, at most, a half a second to dwell on all this. That was all he would allow himself in the middle of a battle. There were too many other things to pay attention to.

The ground felt good. It was hard, but pleasantly so after the repeated fist banging he'd just been through seconds before. As a result, it was that much harder to get up. He groaned under his own weight and struggled up.

"You okay, Krillin?" Gohan asked.

"Yeah," responded Krillin, regaining a stance, "but watch yourself Gohan. This guy's no walk in the park."

That was an understatement. The guy wasn't even Human. Of course, considering the odd happenings of the past year and a half or so, that wasn't too surprising. Every alien race seemed to have taken a recent interest in Earth.

Damn scouters!

"Oh, I'm sorry, did that hurt," leered the massive, blue-green mountain of a being in front of them.

"Well said, Nazru," commented the little yellow-orange alien behind the first. "Don't feel too bad," he said to Krillin and Gohan, "after all, he was genetically engineered to be my bodyguard."

"You want me to get rid of 'em, Lord Huzawe?" Nazru asked.

"Not just yet," said Huzawe stepping forward, "I need to ask them about these so-called Dragonballs first. So how about it, Earthmen? How can I find them?"

"Forget it, you jerk," Gohan bellowed, "we know what your plans are."

"Really? Well, I guess that creates a problem, now doesn't it. My plans for conquest have to stay a secret, otherwise my plan won't work out. So I guess I'll just have to find the Dragonballs on my own. Nazru."

The massive, blue-green alien again stepped toward Krillin and Gohan. The two warriors took a step back, but otherwise held their ground.

"Gohan," Krillin whispered, "we just have to keep 'em busy until Yamcha gets back with Goku and the others. Don't try anything new, just stick with what works."

"Got it," Gohan agreed.

"So, who goes first?" Nazru asked, rhetorically, "how should I decide? Left or right? Orange clothes or blue? Little or littler?" He chuckled to himself. "That's a new one. How about the little one."

Krillin silently began upping his power level as the warrior started toward him. The green lensed scouter on the right side of Huzawe's face lit up.

"Hmm, impressive."

Within the blink of an eye, Nazru had left his position on the ground and went careening toward Earth's short, bald, and vastly powerful defender.

That instant, unfortunately, happened to be the moment in time that Krillin did blink.

Nazru's massive knee went exploding into Krillin's midriff, sending him smashing into the stone outcropping behind. He hung there for a moment before falling to the unforgiving ground with a sickening thud.

Gohan stared at his almost unmoving friend for a moment before turning to Nazru with a very angry expression.

"One down," said the alien, dusting off his hands and turning to Gohan, "you're next kid."

"Careful, Nazru," said Huzawe, "his power level is entering your yellow zone. You've ticked him off."

Gohan pushed up his power as the rage inside him grew. The battle aura around him became almost tangible. "Ya big bully," he snarled, "I'm gonna make you pay for that."

"Gohan!"

All three turned to see Krillin levering himself off the ground, slowly.

"Keep your cool! You fight better with a straight head."

Gohan fought some of his rage back as Krillin slowly made his way over, holding his shoulder.

"So, the Earthman is still moving hmm?" said Huzawe. "This is rather interesting. Just how in the world did you two gain such power?"

"That's none of your business," Krillin snarled.

"I wonder," Huzawe reasoned, "could it have something to do with the Dragonballs?"

"Something like that," Gohan growled.

Huzawe tapped his chin in thought. "If those things can make little shrimps like you this powerful, imagine what they can do for Nazru and me. Continue, Nazru."

"With pleasure, Lord Huzawe."

"Gohan," said Krillin.

"Yeah?"

"Time to pour it on. Kamehameha."

"Right."

The two Earth heroes both took up a rough en garde with fists clenched in front of them. Their concentration shifted to one single spot in front of them and energy began to build exponentially.

Huzawe's scouter lit up again. "Nazru, watch it. They're almost in your red zone."

Nazru didn't seem to notice the comment, but simply stood there and watched the tremendous energy buildup.

Krillin smirked. "Kamehameha!" he screamed, directing the energy in front of him toward Nazru. Gohan followed suit a split-second after.

The air was filled with dust and other particulate matter and vision was severely impaired for a good thirty seconds.

"Impressive," Nazru allowed as the dust cleared, revealing absolutely no damage to the alien, "neat trick. Lemme try."

Gohan and Krillin were taken aback, unprepared for Nazru's shear strength.

Krillin, having had more battle experience was prepared for such an event. Kamehameha wasn't going to work. He'd have to try something a bit more crafty.

"You see," Huzawe seemed to explain, "my friend here has a unique ability to mimic his opponent's moves and energy techniques. Every time he fights, he learns something new."

So much for using anything he'd learned from Yamcha. Those were too crafty, especially in the wrong hands. That left one thing. The technique Krillin had studied for years to even manage, let alone master. If anything could get past Nazru without teaching it to him, it was the Destructo Disk.

Krillin thrust his hand above his head and pictured the disk in his mind. The energy obeyed his mind and took on the required form.

"Kamehameha!" Nazru bellowed, suddenly, breaking Krillin's concentration.

The disk became a misshapen ball and Krillin was forced to abort the disk and throw a simple bomb instead.

"Get back, Gohan!" he shouted, pushing the six-year-old aside as his bomb had little hope of stopping Nazru's Kamehameha.

An instant later, Krillin felt the full blast of the attack on his back and swore he could hear a few vertebrae snapping. The world went a blinding white as he was carried forward, then faded to a dark, silent black.

Something tickled his nose. Something wet. He seemed to be aware of some feeling but, wow, did it hurt. And it seemed to be mostly in his back.

That wet thing was still tickling his nose. Impulsively, he jerked his head to the side to get rid of it.

A streak of white-hot pain shot through the blackness and jerked Krillin awake. He shot up in alarm and immediately regretted it as more pain accosted him from the entire length of his spine.

"Whoa!" cried a voice next to him. "Just relax, you'll be fine."

Krillin calmed down and looked to his side to learn the origin of the voice. He found Bulma sitting on the floor next to him with a wet rag in hand. He looked around some more and found that they were in the living room of Goku and Chichi's house on Fry Pan Mountain.

"Bulma?" He asked, still a little dazed. "What happened?"

"You took a hard hit," she explained, "Master Roshi and I brought you back here while the others went out looking for those two aliens." Bulma sighed, looking out the window.

"I know that look," stated Krillin staggering to his feet, "you're holding something back."

Bulma gave an inward groan and looked to the floor, but seemed to have nothing more to say.

"Fine, I'll ask Goku. There's something you're not tellin' me and I get the feelin' it's not a very good thing."

Krillin exited the house through the front door, fully intent on joining the search party, undoubtably consisting of all of Earth's special forces.

"There there, now Chichi," he heard Master Roshi's voice around the corner of the house, "there wasn't anything you could do."

"I'm a horrible mother," Chichi wailed into her hands, leaning against a tree and balling her eyes out.

"What's goin' on?" Krillin asked, approaching the two of them.

Chichi spun around upon hearing his voice. "This is all your fault!" She raged, pointing a finger at him. "You and Yamcha had to take him fishing today. You couldn't leave him to his studies!"

"Chichi, calm down," Roshi begged the mother.

"No! I won't calm down! Because of him I've lost my only son!"

Krillin started, visibly shaken. "What?" He asked in disbelief. "What're you saying?"

Roshi stepped forward, placing a hand on Chichi's shoulder to calm her. "Krillin, I'm afraid I have some bad news."

"No!" Krillin stated to himself. "It can't be! Not Gohan!" He spun on the nearest tree and attacked it with his clenched fist, giving it a jolt of power at the last second. The tree promptly broke in two and tumbled to the ground. "I'll get that overgrown... birthday balloon!" He growled, annoyed with his lack of a proper swear. "I'll get him if it's the last thing I do!"

Without so much as another word, Krillin shot off the ground and into the sky, a blaze of blue-white behind him.

"Krillin!" Rochi called after him.

"Don't come back!" Chichi shouted. "You stay away from what remains of my family! You hear me, Krillin!"

"No need to ask how he took it, I see," said Bulma from the house's corner.

"I don't care how he took it!" Chichi snapped, stalking past her and back into the house. She slammed the front door shut behind her.

"Oh boy have we got problems," sighed Bulma, casting glances between the front door and the direction Krillin had retreated.

"Umm, hmm," Roshi agreed.

The stone head of the giant snake opened toward Gohan as he watched the progress of the little car he was sitting in.

"Boy, this is the third time in a year!" the diver next to him said. "King Kai sure is getting a lot of students lately. I guess there's really a big attraction for all you kung-fu buffs to travel Snake Way."

"You better believe it!" Gohan answered. "My dad came back so strong he took down the Saiyan Napa with a single blow!"

"Oh, I heard about him. He came through here not too long ago. Talk about your disagreeable personality."

The driver pulled the little clown car over next to the head of Snake Way.

"Ugh. That thing still gives me the willies. Hey, are you sure about this? Those other guys were all grown up, ya' know."

"Yeah, I know, but I just gotta make it. Just like my dad did." Gohan climbed out of the car and closed the door again. "Thanks for the ride."

"Sure," the driver responded.

Gohan shot up into the sky and leveled off, heading down Snake Way via the air at top speed.

"Humph, another show off," grumbled the driver.

Krillin flew in low over the trees and scanned the area super fast. No sign of the blue blimp or the little orange guy. It had been almost twelve hours since the attack, and he'd seen neither hide, nor hair of either of them.

He was suddenly attacked by pain from his back and a bit from his sides and winced. He came to a halt in mid air and lowered to the ground. His knees gave way under him and he fell to the ground clutching his sides and trying to breathe deeply.

Krillin wasn't certain how long he remained there, curled up on the ground, breathing evenly, and trying not to pass out. But he was certain that a light rain was beginning to fall and that he'd have to move sooner or later.

He rolled over on to his back to allow for move even breathing and to allow the rain to keep him awake. His back gave a sharp pang in protest and Krillin momentarily closed his eyes to it. He opened them again as he heard footsteps to the side. A silhouette entered his field of vision and seemed to look down over him. They had long hair, whoever it was, which draped down over him. They seemed to say something, then looked up, startled, and moved off.

Krillin lifted his head and tried to see which way the person went, but found that he couldn't focus on anything further than about three feet a head of him. He allowed his head to relax back to the ground and he closed his eyes again.

An indeterminable amount of time passed and Krillin began to feel incredibly cold from the rain. At least he was reasonably certain it was the rain. He began to shiver, but found he could not move beyond that. He never should have stopped, he decided. Now it was too late. It would hurt too much to move. It almost hurt to breathe!

All at once, he felt someone's touch shake his shoulder. He forced his eyes open and found a face above him.

Was that... Vegeta?

Yes. Yes, it was.

Now he'd never hear the end of it.

Vegeta shook Krillin's shoulder again which seemed to evoke a response out of the seemingly delirious warrior.

"Hey, Chrome-Dome, wake up," Vegeta commanded, "you expect me to stand out here in the rain all night?"

"Wo agay," Krillin slurred with unfocused eyes fixed on Vegeta.

"Idiot," Vegeta snapped, "laying out here in the rain as the temperature drops. I suppose Kakorot expects me to save you from yourself now. Humph, Earthlings."

Vegeta took Krillin's limp form up in his arms and stood. He took off with the bald warrior unconscious and made his way toward the base of Fry Pan Mountain.

"You Humans are such a crazy bunch," Vegeta told the unconscious Krillin, "makes you difficult to live with."

Just a bit higher, Gohan coaxed himself. He had to make it to that little planetoid above him. He jumped once more, hoping to get caught in its gravity well.

Aha! That did it! Goodbye Snake Way, Hello King Kai! Gohan just had to slow himself down a bit and... there. A perfect landing.

"Hello!" Gohan called to the somewhat bizarre scenery. "Is anyone here?"

Presently, a small monkey came streaking out of the shrubbery and skidded to a halt before Gohan.

"Hi!" Gohan greeted. "You must be Bubbles! Dad told me all about you. I'm Gohan."

"Here I come, Bubbles!" King Kai shouted, crashing through the shrubs after the monkey. Upon seeing Gohan, he quickly regained his composure. "Hmm. A visitor. Well, that's enough for today, Bubbles. Run along."

Bubbles blinked at Kai for a moment, then shrugged and sauntered away.

"Are you King Kai?" Gohan asked.

"My dear boy," said Kai, "you have undergone a long and arduous journey to find the great and wise King Kai." Here, he struck a triumphant pose. "Well, I'm happy to say, you found him!"

Gohan jumped and gave a joyful shout. "All right! I'm Gohan and, well, my dad came here a while ago, and, um, I'd like to train with you, too."

"Hmm," Kai mused, "Gohan, Gohan. Where have I heard that name before? Are you by chance Goku's son?

"Yes, sir, I am."

Kai snickered, trying to hold it in. "Aw, go on!" he practically yelled and burst into laughter. "Get it? Gohan? Go on?"

Gohan blinked at him, puzzled.

Kai gave a snort and took on an insulted tone. "Well, if you've heard about me, then you know I won't train anyone without a sense of humor."

Gohan stood there a moment, somewhat lost.

Then it hit him and he started snickering also.

"I get it!" He shouted, still laughing. "I never thought about it like that! That's funny!" Gohan continued to laugh so hard that his legs gave way under him and he found himself laughing on the ground.

"Oh, you were trained by Piccolo, weren't you?" Kai asked after Gohan had settled.

"Umm, hmm," Gohan nodded.

"That explains it."

"Kakorot!" Vegeta shouted as he approached Goku's house. "Get your sorry, tailless hyde out here!"

"How dare you!" Chichi shouted, throwing open the door. "To come here at such an hour, yelling like a lunatic!"

"Hey lady, lower the decibels!" Yajerobe could be heard from inside.

"Hey who's out here anyway?" Goku asked, approaching the door. "Oh, hey Vegeta. What'cha got there?"

Vegeta brought Krillin into the light of the doorway.

"Krillin!" Goku exclaimed.

"Oh, no," Chichi commanded, "not in this house. I'm not letting him in here again."

"Chichi, have a heart," Bulma begged, joining the group.

Chichi blared out some of her anger and left the doorway. She made her way, in a huff, up the stairs.

"You should keep a better eye on your wounded, Kakorot," stated Vegeta, "I found him whimpering in the rain. He was in pile on the ground, barely conscious. Anyone could have come along and blasted him into the next dimension." He plopped Krillin into Goku's arms in not the most gentle manner and turned from the door. He headed back out into the mud covered yard as Goku passed Krillin to Bulma and Yamcha behind him.

"Get him warmed up," he told them, "hey, Vegeta. Stay for some tea?"

"Tea?" Vegeta snarled. "At a time like this? Someone should be out looking for Huzawe and Nazru. They did, after, kill your son, Kakorot. And the only successor to the title Saiyan. Someone should avenge him instead of sitting around having tea."

"So, you know them already?"

"We've had dealings."

"Well, then you should know that we've already searched everywhere for them. Right now, all we can do is plan for the next time they show up. We could use your insight."

Vegeta sighed. "Strategy over tea. How very Earthling." Grudgingly, he went back to the door and entered.

Bulma, Oolong, and Pu'ar sat in a circle watching Krillin, still out cold and wrapped in blanket after blanket.

"You ask me, he don't look too good," stated Oolong.

"No one asked you," Bulma snapped at him. Her tone softened as she looked back to Krillin. "He'll pull through."

"He's really sick," Pu'ar commented, "what if he has pneumonia?"

"He shouldn't be here!" Chichi suddenly snapped from the door. Bulma, Pu'ar and Oolong both jumped at her sudden presence. Chichi looked to the floor. "He should be in a hospital," she stated, then moved off back down the hallway on the verge of tears.

All three blinked.

"What kinda mood swing was that?" Oolong asked.

"Oh, grow up, Oolong!" Bulma shouted back.

"I don't need to grow up! I like me just the way I am!"

"Stuff it, or I'll shove a Swee-Trot down your throat!"

Pu'ar sighed and allowed their argument to continue, aware that trying to stop it was futile. Instead, she checked the temperature of Krillin's forehead.

"C'mon, Krillin."

Gohan stared down the legendary master across the grass.

"Okay," Kai said with all seriousness, "make me laugh."

Gohan stood there in thought for a moment. Which to choose? He'd heard so many from Yamcha and Krillin that he could have stood there for a week without running out of material. Finally, he decided on his joke of choice.

"Once upon a time in the Peruvian rain forest, a bunch of explorers came across a giant statue. After calling in a bunch of archaeologists, they soon found out it had a heart, a brain, and lots of other interesting life functions. But it never moved and never really used them. One by one, all the scientists got frustrated and left until there was only one still on the project. One day, he too got fed up and yelled into the open air 'why would Nature give a being a mind and a life if it never used it?' Turns out he's the first person to directly ask a question in front of the thing. It stands up to a massive height, I mean it's all the way above the clouds, says 'It cannot,' then sits back down again without another word. The scientist is puzzled for a moment, then understands. 'Of course!' he exclaims. 'It only stands to reason!' "

Kai blinked at Gohan for a moment, then said, "Nope, too long. Didn't work."

Gohan took on a perturbed look.