Avatar: The Legend of Goku

Chapter 1: Time Displacement

Peace. That was the condition of the world at this point in Age 753, the year Demon King Piccolo was finally vanquished. Through the efforts of a 15-year-old monkey boy named Son Goku, the terror Piccolo purged on the Earth over 300 years prior was swiftly put to a brutal, yet satisfying end in a prolonged one-on-one fight to the death. However, unbeknownst to many, the devious Daimao reincarnated himself in the form of a son; an offspring bearing his likeness that would seek vengeance on both Goku and the entire planet as it is now. In response to this predestined plot for revenge, Kami, the self-proclaimed guardian of the Earth and the good half of what used to be the Nameless Namekian, called upon the naïve Saiyan to spend the next 3 years leading up to the 23rd Tenkaichi Budokai training on his Lookout above Korin's Tower. This Lookout is a semi-spherical platform that seemingly floats above the clouds surrounding the Sacred Land of Korin down below, housing a massive palace containing mystical properties such as the yet-to-be-seen Room of Spirit and Time. With such an awe-inspiring spectacle such as this, what secrets will help the ever-adventurous Goku grow strong enough to defeat the descendant of his most deadly adversary? Quite a few will definitely do the trick, but some might hinder his progress in more ways than anyone could be aware of, even the seemingly all-knowing Kami himself.

"Hyaaah!" shouted Goku in the process of letting loose one of his many powerful punches. His black spiky hair flows backward in response to the gust of wind that permeated from his high-speed charge, eyes narrowed in sheer determination and lust for the thrill of combat. Wearing his trademark orange dogi marked with the symbol of Master Roshi, the Turtle Hermit, small scuffs and burns surround his entire body, most likely a result of certain spars like this one. Whether these small intrusions hurt or not doesn't matter to the youthful martial artist though. As long as he has a good fight, pain is completely secondary to the sensation of battle bar none. Goku's small, yet stone-hard fist surges forward, but is swiftly blocked by an open palm tinged with pitch black skin.

"Too slow, young one. Try again." scolded Goku's opponent in a calm monotone voice. He is a short, rotund man wearing a maroon vest with two golden bands surrounding both of his arms and a crimson sash wrapped completely around his torso. The individual also sports a pair of white pants matched by a pair of red and white Middle Eastern slippers. On top of his head, a white turban is firmly wrapped above his forehead with a blue diamond positioned in its center while two elfin ears are encircled by yellow earrings. As shown with his hand, the creature's skin is almost 100% black, contrasting nicely with the deep red of his ever-smiling lips. This eccentric character is Mr. Popo, Kami's personal assistant and the Lookout's eternal caretaker. He is tasked with surveying Goku's training regiment while Kami's attends to his duties as guardian. Said surveillance includes constant hand-to-hand combat exercises such as this.

"Take this!" yelled Goku as he attempted to release a swift kick to Popo's unprotected leg area. His leg makes contact with Popo's shin, almost sending the charcoal-skinned genie to the tiled ground. Gasping at the speed of his new pupil, Popo retaliates by leaning back with his more secure leg and sending a downward haymaker straight into the porcupine-haired boy's face. POW! Not seeing this coming, Goku is sent flying to the other side of the circular platform back first. In a split second, Goku does a backwards somersault to maintain his balance, placing his feet just near the tip of the Lookout's edge. Sighing in relief, Goku succumbs to the fatigue of Mr. Popo's attack and slumps down on his butt, wiping the sweat off his forehead with one arm.

"That's good enough for today, Goku. You may rest now." Announced Mr. Popo with a satisfied smile on his face. Goku's round eyes widen in excitement at the mention of a break and his battle-ready stare is quickly replaced with a big, toothy grin. He jumps up onto his feet and brushes the dust off of his pants, his brown, bushy tail twirling around in anticipation for the one thing Goku loves more than fighting: food.

"You really got me good there, Mr. Popo. I really thought I got you that time!" beamed Goku as he scratched the back of his spiked head sheepishly. Mr. Popo pulled up his pant leg to inspect the damage of Goku's latest kick, noticing a purple oval-shaped bruise near his shin area. Pleased with the results, Mr. Popo closes his eyes and nods happily to the Saiyan child.

"Don't sell yourself short, Goku. That kick was most impressive. I would say you're getting closer to surpassing me than you think." Revealed Mr. Popo to the impressionable Goku. Not expecting this amount of praise, Goku raises his clenched fists near his shoulders and begins to grin even more so than before.

"Really?! That's great! Does that m-" Goku's child-like wonder is suddenly interrupted by what sounds like the roar of a dying Velociraptor. It continues to permeate through the air until Goku notices the source of the ailing noise is his empty stomach, resulting from not eating since lunchtime over 6 hours ago. Mr. Popo sweat drops in response to Goku's insatiable hunger while Goku simply pats his stomach in confusion.

"Come, Goku. We'll be eating with Kami today." Mr. Popo chided as he motioned Goku with his almost cylindrical fingers. At the utterance of eating, Goku quickly ran towards the side of Mr. Popo, thoughts of rich delicacies circling inside of his completely dense mindscape.

In Kami's personal quarters, a complete polar opposite of what used to be King Piccolo's domain lies in waiting. As opposed to the skull décor of the Daimao's throne, Kami has a pure white seating area tipped with strips of gold plating similar to the palace roof. Instead of spikes, gold domes extend outwards in the left and right directions. Positioned squarely in the center of the large chair is the Guardian of Earth himself, a wrinkly green slug-like organism with pointed ears just like Mr. Popo's. Around his neck, a blue cloak is placed, extending backward as a sort cape from the shoulders down. Wearing a white garment with the Japanese kanji for "God" written on it in red lettering, Kami is impatiently drumming his fingers on a wooden staff with a distraught look on his face. Constant slurping, gulping, and chomping sounds invade his ear drums, causing Kami to twitch one of his eyes in disbelief. His black pupils constantly dart from left to right, spotting Mr. Popo hurriedly bringing more and more dishes to the starving Goku. With his free arm, he props up his green arm on the throne's resting area and lightly face palms.

"It's times like this where I'm grateful that I don't need food to live…" thought Kami as he continued to inspect the monstrous eating habits of the so-called "savior of the world". He had something important to tell Goku during dinner, but he came to realize that any sort of information shared to the boy during his favorite past-time would come in one end and out the other. So, he decided that waiting would be best for this type of situation. However, what Kami didn't anticipate was that satisfying the hunger of an energetic boy like Goku would take THREE WHOLE HOURS!

"It's funny how I'm Guardian of the Earth, yet have no idea what time it is now. Maybe I should have Mr. Popo get a normal clock instead of relying on the Hypersonic…Hydrochloric? Hyper…Ahh Room of Spirit and Time that was it. Sometimes these complicated names can-" Kami's mundane thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a bowl being placed on the large dining table set up for Goku. Rubbing his now bulging belly, Goku gives out a big eye smile and swallows the last remaining noodles in his most recent meal.

"That was great! Thanks Mr. Popo!" shouted Goku in unprecedented glee towards the amount top-notch cuisine he was able to digest. Mr. Popo, at the sight of Goku's currently refreshed energy, gives a shaky thumbs up to the monkey boy and collapses from exhaustion, getting even more of a workout cooking for Goku than fighting him. Completely full, Goku completely draws undivided detention to his latest master, a sentiment Kami thanked God (or himself?) for happening.

"So, Kami. What's the special occasion for anyway? You never asked to eat with me before." Goku questioned the ancient deity while unceremoniously scratching the back of his head. Kami slowly ascends from his current seating arrangement, towering over his disciple exponentially. He firmly grasps his staff and begins to march closer to the former student of Master Roshi.

"Well, Goku. I've been noticing how well you have been doing with your training recently and decided that it was the right time for you to try out more advanced forms of strength enhancement. Mainly, the Time Room." inquired Kami with a slight smile on his face. For a moment, Goku looked pleased by the old Namekian's praise of his abilities, but immediately started to get confused again.

"Time Room? What's that?" asked Goku with a slight tilt of his head. Kami, expecting this level of cluelessness from the boy, began to motion towards the open entrance of his throne room. Mr. Popo, awakened from his energy-deprived stupor, quickly follows behind his master and hides his past soreness with an ominous blank stare. Curious to see what this new location was, Goku set aside his immense tower of dishes and ran in their direction, his footsteps echoing within the hollow exterior of the palace.

Kami and Mr. Popo led Goku to a circular room in the Lookout filled with a wide variety of clocks distinct in both sizes and shapes. Each clock ticks harmoniously with one another, some moving faster or slower depending on the exact time they are tracking. Goku darts his head from left to right in absolute awe, his mouth agape in childish amazement. Kami inspects the Time Room and begins to describe its functions, along with its potential setbacks.

"The Time Room, as the name implies, will be able to send you to any past time period the user wishes to explore. These clocks represent an almost infinite number of parallel timelines and famous points in the world's history. Some might even be alternate versions of Earth itself from what I could gather." explained Kami among the expansive cacophony of ticking permeating around him. Goku cups his chin while looking down to the floor, his tail swishing in a back and forth motion.

"How would this help me get stronger though?" muttered Goku in both bewilderment and slight impatience. Mr. Popo steps closer to the boy and clasps his shoulder in a comforting manner, his red lips now laying flat in a thin line.

"You will be sent to a time where the greatest of martial artists were still in their peak condition of strength, including your former master, Roshi the Turtle Hermit. There, your skills in chi control will hopefully be enhanced to a much greater level." lectured the chubby genie in a stern tone. Goku, at the mention of Roshi, suddenly takes a 180 in terms of mood and begins to happily bounce in place.

"A younger version of gramps?! That's so cool! I can't wait to see what he was like!" whoops Goku in complete positivity. Caught up in the moment, he blindly charges forward toward the center of the Time Room, hoping to travel back in time right away. Kami raises a hand to cease Goku's tirade of joy, an order the 15-year-old accepts after a another second of pumping himself up.

"Now, Goku, listen carefully. To use the Time Room properly, you must think of the time period you want to travel to first and foremost. I repeat: keep your thoughts focused! If you set your mind on one timeline and sporadically change it in the next second, the Time Room will lose track of where you are and you will be lost. Understand?" Kami slowly emphasizes in a deadly serious shout. Goku gulps and slowly nods his head, standing completely still in the Time Room's center position.

"Good! So-" Kami's inquiry is interrupted by the sudden rumbling of the entire Lookout, almost losing his balance if not for the help of his trusty staff. Mr. Popo was not as fortunate as he started to lose his balance and tumble all over the place. The hands of each clock start to spin at break neck speeds and their ticks accelerate in terms of pace. Out of nowhere, a blue dragon rockets toward Goku from the ceiling of the Time Room, wings flapping in a steady rhythm. The helpless Saiyan child looks up at the glowing mythical beast with squinted eyes.

"Shenron?" whispers Goku in absolute befuddlement. At that thought, the dragon fazes through Goku's body and possesses the helpless boy without his consent. With a blue aura surrounding his body, Goku subconsciously closes his eyes and thinks of a place he has absolutely no recollection of. As Kami stated, this phenomenon causes Goku to fade away as if he was some sort of ghostly apparition, throwing off the Time Room's main functions. As the finalist of the 21st and 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai vanishes, every single clock suddenly stops ticking and the Lookout goes back to normal. Mr. Popo shakily gets up from his position on the floor, his eyes popping out of their sockets in response to the anomaly that just took place.

"K-Kami? W-what was that? W-where did G-goku go?" questioned the heavily concerned Mr. Popo as beads of sweat pulsated down his covered forehead. Kami closes his eyes remorsefully and grinds his teeth, a sigh of frustration being let out in the process.

"I'm afraid, Mr. Popo, that Goku was just sent to another dimension…" revealed Kami as he narrowed his two yellow pupils in growing anger. Mr. Popo simply looked upon his master in abject horror, thinking of the terrible situation Earth has suddenly been placed in. Son Goku, the world's greatest hero, was gone and would be for who knows how long.