All the fighters sitting around the fire had taken a trip to the infirmary or were severely bruised throughout the course of the day. Some had eaten quickly or not eaten at all just so they'd be in their bed catching some much needed rest. A select few sat on the logs, engaging in small talk. The word around the fire was that their new teacher was highly approved despite how much blood was spilled today.

Hercule scoffed under his breath in disbelief at the admiration they were bestowing upon the green man who nearly killed him. He glared over at the fighter Nam, who was quietly eating rice beside him. "It's because you and him both wear that thing on your heads, ain't it!?"

Nam placed his chopstick down on the plate that sat in his lap and released an annoyed sigh. He was looking down at his food and not the person he was addressing. "You are an ignorant man. Piccolo methods are extremely effective and if you can't see that, I pity you."

The afro haired man mocked him under his breath but said nothing else to the Piccolo loving desert village warrior. He took an obnoxious bite of his pork chop and continued chewing on it as he stood up.

The Namek was resting his back against a nearby tree. Hercule stopped halfway to wipe the grease off his mouth with the back of his red gi. He wondered if Piccolo could still see him even though his eyes were closed.

"What do you want?"

Hercule jumped up slightly but cleared his throat to calm his nerves. The other fighters were out of ear shot, sharing personal stories about their lives outside of martial arts. Piccolo still hadn't opened his eyes. "Not to be disrespectful or nothin', but I didn't hear that little bald dude mention what credentials you have to be the new teacher-man."

Piccolo's dark chuckle caused Hercule's neck hairs to stand up. The Namek hadn't budged from his position against the tree. "All you need to know is that I'm strong enough to kill you, but I'm choosing to help you pathetic humans instead. Don't make me regret that decision."

The man's bruised face was enough of a reminder of Piccolo's strength. Despite gulping (a little too loudly), Hercule did his best to stand tall. He held his large hands into fists at his sides and refused to let the fear of the alien across from him get to his voice. "If you're here to help, then you wouldn't mind showin' me a technique or somethin' instead of beatin' my ass?" Hercule secretly he believed he could take Piccolo on when the Namek wasn't cheating like he did earlier, but he wasn't going to admit that now.

Piccolo had opened his eyes and turned his head to the right to smirk at the human. This hairy buffoon was being serious. "You'll never be able to do what I can do."

"You'd be surprised at how fast of a learner I am!" Hercule placed his hands on his hips and threw his head back to laugh loudly. "Care for me to demonstrate to you, the Satan punch!?"

"Satan...punch...?"

Piccolo blinked as Hercule ran towards him with his fist pulled back towards his ear. The Namek had to admit there was some slight speed there, but still far too slow to outlast the Saiyans. He rolled his eyes as the afro haired fighter shouted out, "SATAN PUNCH!" and sent his fist forward. Not even seeing him do it, Piccolo had moved to the side and Hercule's fist collided harshly into the bark of the tree. He let out a yelp and began kissing his bloodied knuckles.

"Wow, the Saiyans are going to regret stepping foot on Earth once they're greeted by that."

Not picking up on the sarcasm, Hercule blinked through his temporary tears and held up a thumb with his unbeaten hand. "You know it, green dude! You wish you had a punch as hardcore as the Satan Punch! It almost disqualified me before for being so awesome!"

"Want to see how I punch?"

"HOLY DAMN!"

Hercule's eyes widened at the fist coming towards him. The alien's arm was stretching out to three times its length! Not sure whether he was screaming about the fist to his stomach or the elastic arm, Hercule was pushed through Papaya Island and only stopped once Piccolo decided to retract his arm. Hercule fell onto his back in the damp grass, holding his stomach and rolling from side to side.

"What..." he wheezed. "Is that guy!?"

Piccolo took his time walking to where the Satan Punch pro was coughing. Once he got there, he crossed his now regular sized arms over his shoulder. "You still think you can do what I do?"

"Not..." Wheeze. "Gonna...dignify that with a response."

"You're a sad, pathetic man Satan."

Hercule used the last of his strength to glare up at the Namek, only to widen his eyes at the green hand reaching down to help him to his feet. "Y-you're...not gonna toss me back to the fire pit are ya?"

Piccolo revealed his white fangs, making Hercule even more wary of the hand's intention. "Let's just say I feel sorry for you, but I like the way you come back after every beating. There might be something I could teach you if you keep that big loud mouth shut."

Hercule took one more cough before accepting Piccolo's hand with the one that wasn't currently on his stomach. Once he got to his feet, he nodded. "You got yourself a deal, green man! But you might might be stealin' one of my moves at some point!"

"I highly doubt that."

"You're gonna throw me now, huh?"

"Yup."

Drenched in sweat, Goku had managed to stand up longer than he did last time even though his legs were still shaking. "Chi-Chi," he was panting as his legs dropped lower. His eyes had reddened from the tension to his body. "I'm gonna go say hi to him. He might...ah...help us out."

"Okay..." she barely managed to get the words out. She watched as Goku squat-walked his way to the dancing monkey. His body trembled as he brought himself upright to bow to the chimp.

"Hi, King Kai! My name is Goku and that girl behind me is Chi-Chi. Say hi, Chi-Chi! Oh yeah, she can't at the moment," the messy haired Saiyan blushed when he glanced up at the monkey who still had a serious expression. "We would be honored to be trained by you if you'll have us."

The monkey kept ooo-ooo-oooing and scratching under its armpits. It was so strange that this guy was a martial arts master. Goku wondered if Chi-Chi was thinking the same thing as him, but was too worried if turning around to look at her would throw him off his already unsteady balance. The innocent Saiyan's stomach growled loudly, reminding him of the lack of sustenance they'd consumed.

Large blue fruits in a nearby tree caused Goku to lick his lips. "I really want to prove myself to you, but I'm starving. Would you mind grabbing us some fruit?"

The monkey nodded his head and quickly climbed his way up the truck into the branches. Goku whistled lowly.

"Wow! The gravity doesn't effect you at all, does it!?"

Hairy King Kai pulled a fruit off the branch and tossed it down to Goku. It slipped right through the hero's hands and burrowed into the core of the planet. Goku sucked in air as he looked down at the gaping hole it had created. "Whoa! If that was Chi-Chi standing right here, she'd be dead!" He heard a faint mutter of 'jerk' in the background. "Can you throw me some more, King Kai? I promise I'll catch them this time!"

The monkey shrugged his shoulders and threw down the first one. The Saiyan caught it as he promised, but was squatting low at the extra weight given to him. He held one with as steady of a hand he could manage and raised a shaky one up high. "Ready for the next one!" Goku held on tightly to the blue fruits and even managed to stand up straight as he walked back to the crater Chi-Chi and Oolong were still stuck in. He dropped down to his knees and extended the fruit towards her mouth.

Chi-Chi was able to take bites as Goku continued to hold her first meal in weeks. It would be romantic in a different situation.

"Don't worry, Cheech!" he swallowed and bits of the fruit's skin flew out as took another hungry bite. "Mmm. We're gonna get you out of there!"

Chi-Chi swallowed politely. Despite starving, she wanted to have some dignity left. "I'm more worried about Oolong. I think he re-died."

Taking that as a hint he needed to get back to convincing King Kai to train them, Goku left the fruit on top of her lips and ruffled her hair. Chi-Chi blinked in disbelief as he disappeared from her sight once again.

"I am not starving anymore, King Kai!" he was in front of the monkey who had lowered himself from the tree. "I am ready to prove myself to you."

The monkey began walking around the small planet with his palms facing upward. He was making his usual noises, only louder and with purpose this time. It was obvious to the martial artist that King Kai was doing this to harness power. Goku arched an eyebrow as he mimicked the pose. "Alright, King Kai. Whatever you need me to do! You're the great master!"

"He sure is odd!"

A teal skinned being was standing in front of Chi-Chi. He had the same voice as the one they heard when they first fell into the planet. When her voice came out in muffles, he kicked the half eaten fruit off her mouth.

"Uh... Are you the real King Kai?"

He snickered as his antennas twitched. "The one and only!"

Although she couldn't see it, Chi-Chi heard Goku ooo-ing like crazy as if he were a monkey himself. She turned bright red from secondhand embarrassment. "Gooookuuuuu..."

"Ooo! Ooo! Ooo! What is it Chi-Chi? Ooo! Ooo! Ooo!" the monkey man turned his body around 180 degrees with his palms still towards the sky to see someone new had joined where Chi-Chi was pinned down. "Ooo! Ooo! Who are you?"

"Didn't you hear me already, you dope!? I'm King Kai!" the martial arts master's glasses reflected light when he looked away from Chi-Chi to settle his eyes on Goku. "And you, my friend, are a chimp off the old block! Heheh!"

Goku pointed a finger at the monkey who was scurrying off away from him, and then slowly brought it back to King Kai. He sweatdropped and jogged towards him, immediately bowed fives times before standing straight. "Oh! I'm sorry, King Kai! How long have you been standing there?!"

The real King Kai rubbed his chin. "Oh, I'd say for a thousand years or so."

"A THOUSAND YEARS!?" Goku took a few steps back and clutched at his chest. "You're pretty old then, huh?"

"Better to be pretty old than ugly young," King Kai snickered at his joke but then straightened up when he noticed none of the new occupants were laughing along with him. He cleared his throat and tried again. "You're a fighter, aren't ya? Well, what do you call a pig that does karate?"

Chi-Chi could hear Oolong muttering 'what a jackass' underneath her, letting her know he wasn't a complete goner yet.

"Uh," Goku scratched his head. "I don't know?"

"A pork chop!" King Kai held us hands over his mouth to conceal how hilarious his joke was. The boy in front of him was not even cracking a smile. King Kai furrowed his brow. "Alright, we got ourselves a tough guy here. Let's try this one out. What did one hat say to another?

Goku blinked.

"You stay here. I'll go on ahead. Bahahahahah!"

Chi-Chi couldn't help but roll her eyes, and was thankful his sights were only on Goku at the moment. This so called martial arts mastered told the same corny jokes her dad did. Goku, on the other hand, was quietly growing frustrated.

"Excuse me King Kai," he interrupted the one sided laughter. "But I came here to train. Not tell jokes."

The already isolated planet had grown uncomfortably quiet. King Kai clenched his teeth together and turned his back to the young warrior. "Train!? Train!? How could you train!? I don't train anyone with no sense of humor!"

Now realizing he was being serious and not wanting to have to waste any more of the precious time remaining, Goku released a forced laugh and even slapped his knee for good measure. "King Kai you are hilarious!" he wiped a fake tear away. "The only reason I wasn't laughing before was because I was busy of thinking of a joke to make you laugh!"

King Kai still had his back turned to the Saiyan but looked over his shoulder out of curiosity. "Alright...if you can get a laugh out of me, I'll train you."

Goku rubbed the back of his damp neck. He wasn't expecting that. "Uh...okay..." Goku closed his eyes and tried to remember the good ones his grandpa told him when he was a kid. "Oh! I know! What did the ocean say to the shore?"

"Hm?"

"NOTHING! IT WAVED!"

Possibly hearing the funniest thing in his entire life ever, King Kai snorted but concealed his full on laugh. He didn't want this guy to win that easily. "Not impressed."

"Darn... Alright. What do you call banana peel shoes?"

"..."

"SLIPPERS!"

That got him. King Kai was pounding the ground as he released wholehearted laughter. When he stood back up straight, he wiped a tear away with his long black sleeve and faced Goku. "Okay, okay! You're worthy! But what about the girl?"

Chi-Chi stared up at the face now looking down at her. She thought she got lucky and was forgotten about. With this guy thinking most corny jokes were comic gold, Ox had provided her with some good ones over the years. "What do you call someone with no body and no nose?"

King Kai was already giggling trying to imagine it. "Heheh. What?"

"Nobody knows."

"BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" King Kai's face was turning red from the sheer joy he felt running through him. Goku even had a smile on his face. The master ran his hands down his face as he caught his breath. "You certainly are worthy! But...you're going to have to get yourself up."

"But-"

"As for you," King Kai ignored Chi-Chi's desperate eyes and pointed a blue finger at Goku. "Tell me the reason that brought you to me and I'll give you your first task."

Goku watched Chi-Chi struggling to sit up and fall back down repeatedly before frowning at King Kai. "Two Saiyans are coming to my planet Earth to destroy it. I need to be strong enough to take them on."

"Hm...the Saiyans, huh?" King Kai gave him a once over. "You're a Saiyan yourself, aren't you?"

"Yeah... but these guys are bad. Real bad. I couldn't even fight my brother on my own and the other two are much stronger."

"Yes," King Kai rubbed his chin. "They certainly are. The only way you stand a chance against them is if you can beat me, and that requires extensive training. Are you prepared for that?"

"Of course," Goku's determination in his eyes proved his honesty. "Just tell me what to do?"

The teal master grinned and cracked his knuckles before pointing to the monkey formerly known as King Kai. "The one you were mocking earlier? His name is Bubbles, and he's the fastest thing on this planet! Just chasing him alone will improve your speed and strength. My planet has ten times the gravity yours does and is equivalent to Planet Vegeta. Once you catch him, we'll move on to the next step."

Catching a monkey seemed easy enough. Goku gave King Kai a thumbs up. His partner was still struggling to stand up. "While I do that, can you help Chi-Chi?"

King Kai snickered as he heard her release a profane word after falling back down. "With her being human, it is extremely important for her to find her own strength. Once she's on her feet, I'll have her climb the tree of fruit for her to find her center. If she can't handle that, she will not last a minute against the Saiyans."

Goku could understand this. Chi-Chi was only human, and couldn't even fly yet. Like King Kai said, she needed to find her center before she could win. "Did you hear that, Chi-Chi? I need you to get stronger, I know you can do it! I'm gonna go chase a monkey, you focus on standing!"

Bubbles had taken off at lightening speed and Goku was following suit. King Kai smiled down at Chi-Chi who was now able to sit up straight. "You're a sitting duck but at least you quack me up!"

Oolong, now face free, inhaled deeply. He was finally able to breathe. "Come on kid!" he panted. "Halfway there! Loverboy believes in you, believe in yourself!"

Chi-Chi clenched her small hands into tight fists. Only a few more movements would bring her to her feet. She closed her eyes to concentrate despite King Kai laughing hysterically above her.

"Oh! You even brought a pig! Hehehe! Bacon any hearts lately?"

The transformer whose back was still planted into the ground growled under his breath. "Do me a favor, kid. Once you're outta here, pull me out so I can whack that guy."

Chi-Chi was lost deep in thought to hear her guardian's threats. There was a major threat coming to Earth, one stronger than anyone had ever witnessed before. These monsters killed for enjoyment and possession. They didn't have hearts and didn't care that the planet had babies, children, women, elderly, couples, parents... they didn't care about anything at all. Goku's own brother was going to kill him. Her poor father, who was unable to defend himself, wouldn't even stand a chance if they got past the world's army that was currently training on Papaya Island.

Kami said that the only way Earth stood a chance was by training with this King Kai person. Although his words only pertained to Goku, Chi-Chi found herself here. With him. Goku may have an advantage over her by not being a human, but she was here, dammit! She kept her body in Other World and survived Snake Way. She had a purpose and was deserving, even though she wasn't sure what it was. All she knew was that her father needed her, and keeping him safe was the main reason she signed up to defend Earth.

She felt her calves muscles tighten as she used her legs as her main force off the ground. Her teeth were clenched tightly as she brought herself up completely. Her chest was heaving and her face was wet from overly sweating, but she was standing on her own two feet. She turned her body around slowly so she could hold out her hands to Ooolong.

The pig looked up at her, seeing someone he didn't recognize. Above him stood a woman, resilient as her father was back in his heyday. He thought she was going to say something bad ass when her lips parted.

"Do you have enough energy to transform into like, a spider or something? I literally can't feel anything."

"You crushed my bones," Oolong stared up at her with his back completely buried underground. "Not that I oppose being pressed against a lady's ass. I'll try though." The pig had become a tiny spider after a couple tries. He was able to crawl up Chi-Chi's boots and slid into her pocket.

"Since he's undercover now, would you call him a spy-der?"

Almost forgetting that King Kai hated when jokes went by unnoticed, Chi-Chi forced a giggle and even batted her long eyelashes for good measure. "Oh King Kai, you slay me!"

King Kai continued to chuckle as he motioned for her to follow him. He was walking towards the large tree he expected her to climb on her own. He was already there when she had barely taken four small steps in his direction.

"Easy, easy...you got this..."

Chi-Chi breathed in and out, realizing that standing up was just a small part of what lay ahead. Bubbles had suddenly zoomed inches from her, the wind from his sped forcing her to side step. Not too far behind him, an orange blur was charging toward her. "No, no, no, no, NO! I am NOT falling again!" she shrieked and threw her arms out in front of her. Her arms had wrapped around Goku as he pushed her forward. They came to halt when Goku was finally able to stop himself.

"Hey! Look at you! You're up!"

Like a gentleman, his arms were placed on her shoulders as he smiled down at her. Hers were still wrapped around his torso. She could feel her face growing hot. This kind of closeness was what she preferred. "Looks like it."

"I always knew you were strong," Goku winked before letting her go. He gave her a quick salute. "Bye, Chi-Chi! I gotta monkey to catch!"

Still blushing but unable to hide her smile, Chi-Chi walked while looking down at her feet. King Kai grunted then snickered to capture her attention. He was wriggling his eyebrows. "Am I going to have to keep an eye on you kids?"

Chi-Chi fought through her burning cheeks and looked up at the tall tree. Her eyes widened at the size. "This is the tree!?"

"Yes ma'am! Too tall for ya?"

She gulped. "No. I was actually thinking the opposite..."

King Kai slapped her on the back, causing her to stumble forward. She spread her arms out to get her balance back. "That's the spirit! Well, good luck! You're gonna need it!"