Dragon Ball Z: Paradise Found

Divine Comedy

Goku's image flashed and materialized in a singular sonic shriek. The Saiyan had barely noticed that the end of the Snake Way was before him and that the tail signified that the only path onward for him would have also led him plummeting back down to Hell. With a baffled look, Goku scanned the massive array of clouds in front of him before the idea dawned on him to look up.

And there it was. A tiny, green planet with a house, what seemed like a garage and a lone, round path that went right around it. It was quite high up though Goku didn't feel like it would have inconvenienced him at all. He had dashed through much vaster distances in one leap before. Even traveling the very Snake Way that got him to this place. In a blink, Goku vanished from the tail end of the Snake Way.

A dancing monkey turned its head and spent a fair couple of minutes staring at Goku with a blank look before approaching the Saiyan with the same, dance-like strut. Goku scratched his temple, wondering what this was about. It was only now that it dawned on the young man that there was not really a signifier that told him that this indeed was King Kai's tiny planet so he very much might have ended up on another curious sightseeing detour.

"Are you King Kai?" Goku pointed at the monkey. Looking interested in the finger pointing its way, Bubbles grabbed Goku's wrist and bit his index, forcing the Saiyan to jump back and howl in pain while he shook his hand to ease the pain. "You're no ordinary monkey, that's for sure. Got some speed and bite to you..."

"Hey, hey... Who's raising this ruckus here?" a tired voice came from the little house which might have been just about the only notable attraction to the place, alongside the garage that belonged to it and stood right beside the house. A short, broad-shouldered, cricket-like blob of light blue skin emerged from the house. One side of its teashade sunglasses tilted upward so that the being could rub its tired eyes though Goku couldn't get a glimpse at the eye of this curious thing.

"Yo! I'm Goku! Are you King Kai's servant?" Goku introduced himself before pointing at Bubbles while still keeping his gaze fixed on to the emerged blue-skin elder in a black, oriental robe.

"Servant? I am King Kai, Bubbles here is my pet and my friend," the blue-skinned elder nodded as if he had to affirm this truth to himself in addition to clearing it up for Goku. "I'm not sure why you'd have thought Bubbles to be the great King Kai. You should stop... Monkeying around..."

King Kai covered up his mouth as he began cringing, barely able to withhold the laughter at his own silly pun. Goku's face shriveled up like a raisin as he struggled to comprehend what was so funny but, never being one to trouble himself with confusing things for too long, he shrugged it off and ran up to King Kai, teeming with hype.

"Hey, hey, Upa said that you were this amazing martial arts master and that you were looking for pupils. Could you then maybe train me while I'm dead?" Goku wondered, already beaming with excitement and cheer as if King Kai had accepted his request.

"Hmph... So it was Kami that allowed you to keep your body after death, was it? Well then, mind if I clear that up with him?" King Kai wondered, leaning at Goku as if he had some suspicions about him.

"That's gonna take a really long time! It'll take years for you to run the whole Snake Way with those short feet," Goku complained. "If it's really that big of a deal, I can carry you all the way back to King Enma and he'll call Kami for you."

"There will be no need for that, amusing as that might be," King Kai chuckled, fixing his shades as he whipped his antennae forward. Goku sensed a faint Ki-based signal rippling through space from the tip of King Kai's antennae. "Hey! Kami! This stiff guy just arrived on my planet, some Goku guy, he says that you sent him here to train."