Life with Master Roshi had fallen into a steady rhythm—morning martial arts drills, afternoon ki-control exercises, evenings spent listening to the old turtle hermit talk about "youth" while he questioned every moral decision I had ever made. It was peaceful… almost too peaceful.
To keep myself entertained, I took up bounty hunting. Not for money—I could live off the land easily enough—but there was something satisfying about sitting down to a properly seasoned meal. Besides, chasing criminals was good training.
On one of those jobs, I ran into a strange girl whose personality flipped every time she sneezed. I'd never met a human like Launch before. The calm version cooked like an angel. The angry version shot at everything that moved. Roshi liked one personality. I liked both. Life never felt dull with her around.
Time slipped by quietly on the island… until a full moon crept over the horizon.
---
I'd been preparing for this. Goku was growing stronger, and if he transformed again without guidance, someone innocent might die—just like Grandpa Gohan.
So I flew to Kami's Lookout before sunset, leaving my spare clothes neatly folded on the polished floor. The moment moonlight washed over the earth, my body swelled, bones reshaping as my heartbeat thundered through my massive frame.
I roared into the night as an Oozaru—and launched myself toward Goku.
I found him rampaging near Pilaf's ruined castle, smashing stone and roaring blindly. Before he could level the entire area, I lunged forward, grabbed his tail in one fist, and locked him into a full nelson. He thrashed violently, throwing up clouds of dust and rubble, but I tightened my grip—just enough to restrain him without breaking anything.
"Goku! Calm down!" I barked, my voice echoing like rolling thunder. "Deep breaths!"
His struggles slowed. His massive chest heaved. I felt his ki fluctuate—chaotic, but wavering.
"This isn't you," I said, forcing my tone to soften. "If you don't learn to control this form, you'll hurt someone. You'll kill someone. Just like you killed Grandpa Gohan."
That stopped him.
His huge body shuddered. When he spoke, it came out as a low, trembling rumble.
"I… I killed Grandpa Gohan?"
Guilt. Confusion. Fear. Saiyans didn't handle regret well—it ate at us, pushed us into denial or rage. But Goku… he was different.
"You're thinking right now," I said. "You're talking. That means you're already better than most Saiyans in this form. But you're still not strong enough to stay like this safely. When you get stronger… losing control like this could wipe out the entire planet."
The beast closed his eyes… and breathed.
Slowly. Deeply. Until the night passed and sunlight washed away the moon.
---
Goku shrank down to his normal form, dazed and exhausted. Luckily, Oolong had spare clothes for him. I wasn't so lucky—Bulma's were too small, so I ended up borrowing Yamcha's. He nearly fainted when I stepped out wearing them.
Bulma whispered, "Don't mind him. He's terrified of girls."
"That explains the trembling," I muttered.
She went on, "He was going to use the Dragon Balls to wish the fear away, but being stuck in a room with me kind of forced him to improve."
Apparently some fool had summoned Shenron the night before and asked for world domination. Oolong saved the world by wishing for… women's underwear. Humans were strange creatures.
Once things calmed down, I retrieved my clothes from Kami's Lookout and prepared to bring Goku back to Roshi's.
Turned out I didn't need to persuade him.
"I wanna learn martial arts!" he said cheerfully, hopping onto his Flying Nimbus. "Master Roshi's strong, right? And he's your teacher!"
I flew alongside him, matching the Nimbus' speed with ease.
"You should learn to fly too," I said. "You can't rely on that cloud forever. Flying's useful… and honestly, fun."
He grinned. "Then teach me! But I'm still gonna use Nimbus sometimes. Riding it feels awesome!"
I smirked. "If that's what you want, I won't stop you."
Together, we headed toward Kame House—toward Goku's training… and toward the next step of my own strange life on Earth.