"What is that thing?"
"There's something under the aircraft!"
The Red Ribbon Army soldiers whispered nervously—especially the pilot, who immediately sensed that something was off.
Just as they were about to investigate, the helicopter shook. It felt like something was tugging on it from below. Whatever it was, it was shifting its weight to one side of the helicopter's underside, causing the entire craft to tilt and sway… sway and sway—and then, with a sudden drop, crash! A dark figure smashed in through the helicopter's side window.
"Who goes there?!"
"Don't move!"
Inside the chopper, the five Red Ribbon soldiers in the back instantly drew their firearms—pistols, machine guns, all kinds of hot weapons—and aimed them at the intruding shadow. There were no lights inside the cabin, only a dim trace of moonlight filtering in from outside.
But the silhouette of the person who leapt in could still be vaguely seen in the dark.
Chi-Chi immediately stopped crying. Her swollen, tear-stained eyes went wide, locked on the mysterious figure that had appeared out of nowhere… it was Goku! It really was Goku! That hair, that outline—she could never mistake it!
"Don't move?" Kakarot scoffed, eyes gleaming with killing intent. He swept his gaze over the darkness and the many guns pointed his way, then sneered. "Judging by this welcome… you guys don't exactly look like the good guys, do you?"
"Why are you still talking?! Shoot him dead now!" the pilot roared.
"Mm-mm-mm!" Chi-Chi struggled, her mouth gagged with a cloth, unable to speak clearly.
Kakarot's ears twitched—he caught the muffled sound of a woman's voice. Glancing over, he immediately spotted the Dragon Ball glinting at Chi-Chi's neck. He had the Four-Star Ball on him, and when two Dragon Balls came close, they began to emit a resonant glow.
Bang!
One of the Red Ribbon soldiers opened fire.
In the darkness, Kakarot tilted his head back. Chi-Chi's heart nearly stopped—she was horrified. But Kakarot didn't fall. He hadn't even moved his feet. When he lowered his head again, there was a bullet between his teeth, still steaming from the heat.
Chi-Chi's expression shifted from terror to joy.
"It's Goku!! GOKU!!" the Red Ribbon soldiers shouted in panic. The muzzle flash from that first shot had lit up Kakarot's face just enough for them to recognize him.
"Goku…?" Kakarot bit down on the bullet, repeating the name. His expression turned even darker. He hated when people called him that while staring at him. That was his reverse scale—touch it, and he'd go berserk!
Now that he knew where the Dragon Ball was, he couldn't be bothered to waste more words.
"What?! Goku?!"
"You mean the World Martial Arts Tournament champion Goku?!"
"Master Roshi's disciple Goku?!"
They were stunned. They hadn't expected to run into someone with such a terrifying reputation. Ever since the martial arts association rose to prominence, the Red Ribbon Army had gone underground. Whenever they encountered martial artists, they did everything they could to avoid them. If they absolutely couldn't, they'd make sure it was done clean and quiet—leave no trace behind.
But as for those who had reached the final rounds of the World Martial Arts Tournament… they never dared provoke them.
Those kinds of fighters could take on ten, a hundred men! A single mistake, and they'd be able to take out a leader in a storm of bullets!
"Open fire now!"
"Don't give him a chance!"
Bang bang bang bang bang!
They screamed and unloaded their weapons, the sound of gunfire drowning everything else. The pilot cursed internally and quickly ducked, praying that none of the bullets would ricochet back and kill him. But moments later, everything behind him went quiet. All he could hear were a few dull thuds… then silence.
"Did we… kill him?" the pilot asked, his voice trembling. Of course he knew Goku's reputation! He'd even watched the recent World Martial Arts Tournament final with his own eyes—he'd seen that terrifying battle between Goku and Piccolo!
Even if you tied all these guys together, they wouldn't be able to lay a finger on him!
He turned his head slowly… and saw Kakarot pulling his hand out of a burly man's chest. Splurt—a gush of liquid burst from the hole in the man's torso. The pilot began to shake, eyes full of fear.
Chi-Chi was already in shock. She never expected Goku to kill all these people in the blink of an eye!
He was deadly! Every move was lethal. With just his bare hands, he was like a divine blade, slicing through iron like paper. A single palm strike shattered a man's neck with a crack, and before Chi-Chi could even react… all five of them were dead.
Was this… really Goku?
Only now did Chi-Chi realize—the real Goku was nothing like what she'd seen on TV or dreamed about. He was something else entirely!
Blood-stained, Kakarot kicked the corpse of the bleeding man aside. The bodies piled up. He turned and gave Chi-Chi a crooked smile. The girl was startled, covered her mouth, and didn't dare say a word. Then Kakarot turned to look at the pilot, who was staring at him in terror.
"Well then… your turn," Kakarot said, licking blood from the corner of his mouth, eyes blazing with bloodlust.
"Please, spare me! I'm just the pilot—I haven't done anything wrong!" the man cried, looking utterly pitiful. Kakarot did pause for a moment… but then the pilot suddenly yanked a remote-like device from his pocket and growled, "Don't move! If you take one step, I'll blow this chopper sky-high. We'll all die together!"
"You came here to save the girl, right? Maybe you could escape, but she's a different story!" He switched the helicopter to autopilot and began inching toward Chi-Chi.
"That girl?" Kakarot sneered. "Yeah, a fat guy did ask me to save someone named 'Chi-Chi' earlier…" His eyes turned dangerous—he felt like he was being insulted. He was a proud Saiyan warrior—how could he be doing anything for a mere Earthling woman? He laughed coldly and said, "But you're welcome to try…"
The second half of his sentence should have been "...and see if I care whether that Earth woman lives or dies." But right at that moment, the necklace under his shirt glowed faintly, and Jarvis's voice whispered in his ear:
"Kakarot, protect the girl."
So the end of Kakarot's sentence changed to:
"…see if you can kill her before I kill you!"
By this time, the pilot had reached Chi-Chi. He grabbed her, one hand holding the remote, the other gripping her throat… Chi-Chi was terrified. She didn't want to die. She still didn't know whether her father was safe or not. She looked at Kakarot with pleading eyes.
What a pain...
Kakarot was furious. What the hell was Jarvis thinking, asking him to spare this Earth woman's life? But since Jarvis had made the request personally, and he usually didn't say things lightly, there was no real reason to go against him… Damn it!
With a vicious glint in his eyes, Kakarot raised his hand.
"Don't move!" The pilot saw Kakarot raise his hand and was scared out of his mind. He shouted frantically, trembling as he held the detonator. But Kakarot paid him no attention. His eyes were dangerous, clearly not the type to listen to reason. Desperate, the pilot screamed, "Then let's all die together!!"
Beep—he pressed the detonator!
Chi-Chi shut her eyes in despair.
Crack! A spark lit up inside the helicopter cabin—
Triple Muken!
Kakarot was extremely annoyed, but still burst out with all his strength in that instant. Just as the helicopter exploded, he turned into a blur, and with a single knife-hand strike, shattered the pilot's arms that were holding Chi-Chi. He grabbed her and leapt upward, smashing through the helicopter roof. In the darkness of night, the two of them shot out from the fiery explosion like a shadow.
---
Jarvis pushed up his glasses in the virtual Earth network. Things were unfolding in a very strange way.
Just like with Krillin back in the day, Taro had given him a list. And on that list—Chi-Chi's name had been right there. Fortunately, Kakarot had said her name out loud. Jarvis, reacting immediately, used the necklace on Kakarot to scan her identity profile, which is how he managed to send the message to spare her life in time.
"This girl may have a bit of talent for martial arts, but compared to someone like Krillin, she still falls far short. So why would Mr. Taro have included her name…" Jarvis shook his head and looked beyond the layers of virtual data, toward the three training in the Muten Tower.
---
Yajirobe looked at the fiery glow in the distant sky and the delayed sound of the explosion. His face turned pale. Forcing himself to stand, legs shaking, he still ran in that direction.
Chi-Chi—was Chi-Chi okay?
Goku is so strong, he wouldn't let some girl get hurt… right?
That's what he told himself. But then his face turned even paler. Wasn't he the one who failed to protect Chi-Chi?
Suppressing the guilt welling up inside him, Yajirobe just wanted to see for himself—whether Chi-Chi was alive or not.
After running a while, he faintly heard voices in the distance.
It was Chi-Chi's voice!
The chubby boy's heart relaxed, genuine joy welling up within him. His round face, covered in blood, broke into a smile. But when he stumbled over to the scene, what he saw was this:
Chi-Chi clung to "Goku's" arm. Though she looked disheveled, her cheeks were flushed red. The necklace around her neck had already been taken by "Goku," and she seemed to be saying something to him. "Goku" responded irritably, "Get off me! Why would I take you home? Stop clinging to me!"
"My home is really far… how could I get back on my own?" Chi-Chi looked pitiful. At this moment, even though this "Goku" had a completely different personality, she actually found him more reliable—his presence comforting.
"Not my problem!" Kakarot snapped. But despite his annoyance, he didn't manage to shake her off. For some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to be cruel.
"If you don't take care of me… no one will…" Chi-Chi's eyes welled with tears.
Kakarot groaned in frustration. This woman was so annoying—more annoying than even that Bulma girl who followed Goku around. Suddenly, he sensed the presence of that fat idiot Yajirobe, and turned sharply with a frown. He had let his guard down—his reaction time was actually slower than usual?
Still, he raised a hand and pointed to the chubby guy frozen in place nearby. "Look, he's the one who told me to save you. Let him deal with you! I don't have time for this!"
Chi-Chi turned and was stunned. She recognized him—he was a regular at her family's restaurant. He had been there when she was kidnapped, and had even taken down a few of the Red Ribbon guys. She asked in surprise, "You… you were the one who asked Goku to save me?"
During the helicopter ride, Chi-Chi had been too terrified to pay attention to the soldiers' chatter—so she never even realized that the "fat one" they mentioned was someone she'd met before. She had no idea that Yajirobe, a near-stranger who had only come to her family's restaurant a few times, had run so far and fought so hard just to catch up.
Yajirobe was filled with bitter emotion… His round face scrunched up. He tried to smile, but it looked more like he was crying. "Hahaha… y-yeah, I was out hunting and just happened to run into Goku. So I asked him to help out! Haha… what a lucky coincidence, huh… Ha, I mean, I couldn't beat those guys myself, after all…"
As for why Chi-Chi didn't know him very well…
Yajirobe had always admired Chi-Chi, but the chubby boy never had the courage to talk to her. At the Ox-King's restaurant, he always watched her from afar… Even when he found a Dragon Ball, he had it made into a necklace and asked the Ox-King to pass it on to her. In his mind, as long as the girl received the gift, it didn't matter if she knew who gave it.
That's why, to Chi-Chi, Yajirobe was just a vaguely familiar, kind stranger.
"Alright, you go with him!" Kakarot took advantage of Chi-Chi's dazed state to slip away, pushing her toward Yajirobe. Chi-Chi stumbled, nearly falling, and when she looked back, Kakarot had already leapt away, disappearing into the night.
Chi-Chi reached into the darkness. "Hey…" She lowered her hand. "Don't go…"
Yajirobe felt a pang in his heart, but still walked over. He heard Chi-Chi muttering, "I… want to learn martial arts!" The chubby boy was shocked, then saw Chi-Chi lift her head. Her eyes sparkled with determination as she repeated, "I want to learn martial arts."
Martial arts, huh…
Yajirobe chewed over the word repeatedly... He had never really cared about that sort of thing. In his life up to now, swordsmanship had been everything. He always believed there was nothing that couldn't be solved with a single strike. But this time had shaken him deeply. Turns out, no matter how fast his blade was, if it couldn't reach the enemy—it was meaningless.
Even the Muten Blade had things it couldn't protect.
Or perhaps… someone like him simply wasn't able to draw out the Muten Blade's true power.
"Train in martial arts… I'll train in martial arts too!" Yajirobe blurted out before he even realized it. Chi-Chi turned her head, her eyes still red, though her color had improved considerably. She bit her lip and asked, "You want to learn martial arts too?"
Yajirobe raised his hand, glanced at his chubby palm, and gave an awkward laugh. "I was just saying that…"
---
By the time Kakarot returned, Krillin and the others had just come out of the Virtual Earth Network.
"Where'd you go?" Krillin asked.
Tien didn't want anything to do with Kakarot. He didn't even look at him as he returned from deep in the forest. Together with Chiaotzu, he sat down cross-legged and began practicing the meditation technique Master Taro had taught them, hoping to use it to replace sleep.
"None of your business!" Kakarot snapped, clearly annoyed. In his mind, he was still being harassed by Goku. [Fine, take it back already! You're driving me crazy!]
What a maddening night! Kakarot thought to himself with a scowl as he plopped down. When he looked up again, Goku had already resumed control.
"What's his problem…" Krillin muttered. This Kakarot guy was just impossible to deal with. Aside from Master Taro, he barely spoke to anyone decently.
Goku felt something hard pressing into him. Reaching into his clothes, he pulled out a Dragon Ball and said in surprise, "Huh? Where'd this Dragon Ball come from?"
"Eh?" Krillin was just as shocked. Had Kakarot really run to Korin Tower and back in the middle of the night? That was impossible—it hadn't been nearly enough time!
Goku and Krillin exchanged glances and checked the radar. The signal from the Dragon Ball near Korin Tower hadn't changed.
Neither of them could make sense of it.
"Whatever, who cares!" Goku wasn't the type to dwell on things. He quickly forgot about it.
Krillin didn't think about it for long either—maybe Goku's attitude was contagious… He gazed up at the dim night sky and suddenly said to Goku, "Hey, Goku… where do you think Yamcha is by now? When we return to Muten Island in three years, do you think he'll have completed Master's trial?"
"He probably will, right?" Goku scratched his head.
"Hope so," Krillin mumbled. "I wonder if we'll run into him along the way."