Howdy, folks, and welcome back! Last time, on Attack of the Saiyans, we saw Gohan become a giant monkey and then Piccolo blew up the moon. Today, Krillin is going to be the bearer of bad news, so let's head out.



While we will be going to chill and train with Kami, it won't be this update. Or for a little while, actually. We've a fair amount of shit to do before we actually get there.





Such as telling Chi-Chi that Goku is dead and that Piccolo snatched up Gohan to train him. I'm not sure which part of that would be more difficult to tell her.



However, Roshi understands both parts would be terrible and delegates the task to the biggest fall guy around.





See, both of them know it. And nobody else is around to do it, and Krillin was Goku's best friend, and--



Well, Krillin sums it up here, really.



However, Bulma doesn't bother to drop Krillin off at Goku's house.



Instead, he is forced to make the trip to his death of his own volition.



: Otherwise, she'll just get suspicious.

: Right...But be careful how you say it. Not only do you have to tell her about Goku, but Gohan too!

: Oh great...Don't remind me...

: Hmm...You might not want to tell her about Gohan just yet...But being someone who's died and was brought back to life once before...You should be able to explain about Goku, right?

: Well, yeah...I guess...

: All right, here I go then...

: Good luck, Krillin!

: Wait!!

: Huh?

: I could fix that machine that Goku's brother was using if only I had a "Precision Circuit". There should be one in my house at West City.....

: Your house? You mean, Capsule Corporation's research center?

: Do you think you could bring me a "Precision Circuit" on your way back?

: ...OK. I'll make a stop over in West City then.

: I'm counting on ya!



So, yeah, before we go deliver the bad news to Chi-Chi, Krillin is stopping at Bulma's house so she can fix the Scouter.



Just summing that up in case you skipped all of that dialog.





Well, let's put that off as long as we can. Goku will still be dead and Gohan off with Piccolo whether we tell Chi-Chi right now or in four hours, or tomorrow.



Though, West City is far beyond Goku's house. Hell, we could have gone there, told Chi-Chi the bad news, and Krillin could have ran the hell away to do this before she got her hands on him.



I go and drop off our Carrot collection; we're up to 84 collected. We've killed around 100 enemies, but there's been some fighting on damage floors where I won't have the Carrot Glove equipped, and bosses don't turn into carrots upon their defeat.



But we'll hit 1,000 pretty easily. There's still a good chunk of game left, in all actuality.



So, we've seen one place around here that looks scientific enough to hold anything like a Precision Circuit.



And the good doctor points us in the right direction.



Just like that, we've found what we need. 



: Next up is Goku's house, I guess...It's gonna be tough, but I need to break the news to Chi-Chi and the Ox-King.



And we actually have no choice but to go to Goku's house. Even though we have the Precision Circuit, if we go back to the Kame House, we're just told about going to tell Chi-Chi that Goku is dead.





Goku lives just east of where Yamcha's hideout is, and we can actually get over to there from Goku's place, if we want to.





Well, not right now, but eventually. There's actually a very interesting piece of real estate on ol' Mt. Paozu. But, we'll get to that when we get to it. For those of you who have played this before, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Not an invitation to discuss it here in the thread, of course.



Goku's house is prominent enough to warrant a sign pointing you in the right direction. I'm not sure why; Goku isn't a celebrated world-wide hero or anything like that. He's just the guy who has won the World Martial Arts Tournament, but nobody ever really brings that up. And these S-Combo notes are hidden around the world, some of them in really odd spots.



In between screens, Krillin threw on a suit. He did this in the anime, too, so this is just sticking to the source material.



He also looks pretty dapper, if I do say so myself.



He's also practicing how best to tell Chi-Chi that her husband was murdered by the demon king, who then kidnapped her son. After his brother showed up and threatened to kill everyone on the planet. He was killed by Piccolo, too, at the same time as Goku, actually, so that's one crisis averted, but shit will be hitting--

Okay, maybe it's best I wasn't delivering the news to Chi-Chi. Krillin, what've you got so far?



: come back from..."

: ...Wait a second, we'll be able to bring him back to life. Yeah, that's it! I'll keep it positive!



See, Krillin, that's a good way to go about it. Start with something awful, but immediately bring it back by telling her something great. But that only solves on problem...

How is he going to smooth over Gohan's training with Piccolo? 



SHIT KRILLIN ABORT SHIT SHIT SHIT







 



  



...Okay, good, Ox-King is here. Maybe he can keep Krillin alive.



: Weren't you supposed to be with Goku and the others?

: Well, I was, but...What happened was, Goku, he...He...

: He what?

: H-he was...He...Um...

: Just spit it out!!

: He...He...He told me to tell you not to worry about them!

: That's it?! So, he's gonna be late then...

: Uh, right...But actually, he might not...come back...



Well, Krillin, you could have been a little more graceful about it. Good job.



Yeah, give it a year or so. Maybe you'll even see Gohan then, too! Maybe.



Look, lady, neither can I. He appears to be having a dumbass attack of incredible magnitude.



Then again, telling your best friend's wife that he's dead probably wouldn't be easy. 'course, Krillin is quick enough he could just spit it out, tell her to ask Roshi about it, and go find Tien to hide out for a while.





Or he could go have dinner with them. That works, too.



For a bit of perspective on how friggin' big the Ox-King is, this shot really showcases it well. I'm not sure how his chair isn't cracking under his weight.



: Nothing we can do, so we might just as well start eatin'! Goku will have Gohan back before ya know it...

: Right...

: That Goku's gone too far this time! This is a very important time for Gohan right now...



On that note, we fade out here...



...And fade in to Roshi and Bulma discussing if Krillin is dead yet.



: Sure, Krillin's already been revived once, so we can't bring him back again, but he had a pretty good run. Let's just hope she can be calmed down.

: For Krillin's sake...





So, Krillin spent the entire damned day there.



And still hasn't told Chi-Chi.



Though, judging by his facial expression, he doesn't seem all that concerned about it.



: Goku...I just can't do it...



And so, he hauls ass back to Roshi's place. Never minding the fact that Chi-Chi knew that's exactly where they were meeting and will likely come to investigate that exact location when she sees Gohan and Goku aren't back yet.



...Well, she beat me to the punch.



: Quiet, dad!! He said they'd be back before dark!!

: It's been a while since they've all been to the Kame House...They probably just lost track of time talking and catching up...

: How could he...Gohan has cram school to go to!!

: C-come on now! Gohan's four years old! Skipping a day wouldn't hurt...

: You're too soft on him!! Studying's the only thing that's gonna get him ahead in this world!



Well, that's terrifying. Let's see how those at the Kame House are preparing for Chi-Chi's arrival.



...Keep up the good work, gentlemen.



Jesus, she must have worked for the electric company at one point.









...And I think she killed Krillin and Roshi. Well, saves Chi-Chi the trouble of cracking Krillin's skull like an egg, but why did Roshi have to go? 



: How can you two just sleep while I do all the work!?



The thing is, Bulma would eventually just have gotten pissed off at them for trying to help, since they don't know much beyond punching dudes and watching porn. This is just a foregone conclusion.





I'm including this screen just for the look on Roshi's face. He just looks so happy!



And this one because I'm confused why Bulma looks so goddamned terrified about that.



Now, some people have talked about power levels in the thread, and the general consensus is that they're stupid and people hate them.



I'm not necessarily disagreeing with that sentiment.



I've said before that I kind of like power levels; they're quick glances at how strong someone is, without getting into anything too insane or crazy.



However, they're not the end-all, be-all of a character's strength. For instance, when Goku and Piccolo were fighting Raditz, Raditz notes that Goku's Kamehameha increases his power immensely, boosting it up and over 900. Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon is even stronger than that, about half-again as powerful, because of their ability to focus their Ki to a single point in an attack. Or something along those lines.



And don't forget the boosts when Goku and Piccolo removed their weighted clothing; their powers went up by a fair margin, surprising Raditz. He was used to most races only having their static power levels, and those levels going up through intense training.



And don't forget, later on, characters will be able to gather their Ki and charge up their power, boosting it even further. And all the various transformations and stuff, such as the Super Saiyan transformation, which boosts them even higher.



Eventually, the numbers get high enough that they just don't make any goddamned sense anymore. I can understand how 209 compares to 139; I've a fairly good grasp on those numbers. But as for the major difference between 130,000,000 and 131,000,000? I can't tell you that; when you get numbers that high, how much does an extra million really matter?



Anywho, back to the matter at hand; Roshi is in disbelief that Krillin is that much stronger than he is. But, considering he's actually trained and stuff while Roshi has spent the last umpteen years reading porn magazines and eating takeout pizza, is it really all that surprising?



: It can even tell you where they're located! ...Huh? Looks like there's a power level of 250 about 2000 miles from here! I wonder who it could be?



At this moment, Tien is stronger than Krillin, but Krillin will eventually be the strongest human in Dragon Ball Z. How much stronger than Tien is unclear, but I checked the Dragon Ball Wiki, and it told me all signs pointed to Krillin.



Oh, by the way, at this point, Yapping Eevee and I were discussing power levels ourselves, and this conversation came about :

Yapping Eevee: That reminds me... I wonder if someone out there has made a DBZ OC with a power level of eight million, eight thousand, one hundred and thirty-five.

Leavemywife: I'd love to have a power level of boobies.

Yapping Eevee: Hehehe. That thought just came to me the other day. I'm sure someone on Deviantart has probably done that.

Leavemywife: Yeah, probably. A female Saiyan who, instead of getting different hair, gets larger tits when she goes Super Saiyan.

Yapping Eevee: Yep, that sounds right.





This is one of those cases where a character's stated strength doesn't match what they're like in gameplay; of those three, Yamcha is my biggest badass. And will continue to be for the rest of the game.



: Wow...Who's that?

: It must be Piccolo...

: Oh, yeah!

: That means Gohan should be there with him...!

: D-do you think we should go save him?!

: No...He's got plans for Goku's boy...Besides, you think you could face him?

: 329 is too much for me...It'd be suicide...



Note how she only mentions Yamcha's name. Bulma still wants to jump his bones.



Which we'll need in the future; Goku can't revive himself.



Though, theoretically, couldn't they just talk to Baba and have her bring Goku back for the day? I mean, he'd still be dead, but they could have that wish for something else.



The Scouter is an interesting Capsule to use. It's active in any slot, and by clicking the R button, we can use it on an enemy to get a view of their stats, weaknesses, alla that kind of stuff. Bit of a novelty, really, but maybe I'll use it a little more during this playthrough. If nothing else, I can finally tell you guys some fucking HP values.



Meanwhile, outside, we encounter a man who is probably winded just by breathing.



Jesus, Krillin looks ready to stomp someone's guts in.





I have no idea what Krillin is referring to there, or if that's even a joke. I'm hoping someone in the thread can explain it.



: Who builds a house in a place like this?! Took me forever to find it! I'm only here because Korin has a message for you!

: Really?

: He knows about what happened. That's why he wants you, Yamcha, Chiaotzu, and what's his name to come right away!

: Huh? To Korin Tower? Why?

: Kami says he's gonna train ya. Same for me.



Yajirobe does actually get some training, too, but never becomes the fighter the others do, despite his impressive showing earlier in Dragon Ball. In fact, he never actually learns how to fly like the others, and uses that to get out of fighting. Also, Roshi and Bulma wander out here at some point.



Well, didn't need you to chime in, bud, but there you go, folks; he agrees with me.



: Looks like I got no choice.

: All right!! We'll find everyone and head over there!

: Well, I did my job. I'm outta here.





He may not be able to fly, but Yajirobe is plenty agile. He's actually the kind of guy who could probably become incredibly strong, but is stopped by his own laziness.



Hey, don't be mad at me. You're the one who's leaving so you can finish passing that ham through your left ventricle.



: Huh?! Why?!

: Goku's gonna be training on the other side. If you wanna know the details, that old woman called Fortuneteller Baba will be around, so ask her about it.



And just like that, he's gone, zooming off to do whatever it is Yajirobe does with his day.

It's very little, I'm sure.



Yup. Goku is going to train while he's dead to grow strong enough to help fight off the Saiyan menace.





Oh, is he? I wonder if Yajir--



Uh-oh. 









I hope nobody forgot we still hadn't told Chi-Chi what happened to her husband and son.



Or that Ox-King used to train with Master Roshi and Grandpa Gohan.





It was nice knowing you folks. Hopefully Tien and Yamcha can piece together what happened here if they ever stop by here.



: Where are they? Inside?

: Well, ya see...The truth is...





Well, that's part of it, yeah.





Roshi, that is not the appropriate expression for what just happened, what is wrong with you!?



Chi-Chi goes through a complex series of emotions that none of us can understand, unless our husband was just killed by the demon king who had also kidnapped our only child.





Well, it seems that Chi-Chi has bitten the dust, too. Yeesh, this game is just taking people out left and right.



...In trying to save the world?



: Goku said he wanted a year to train...

: Who cares about Goku! I'm worried about my Gohan! My poor Gohan...Piccolo could be doing something horrible to him this very minute...

: Now, now Chi-Chi...Calm yourself down a bit.

: How could I be calm at a time like this?! What's wrong with you, dad?!

: Well, first things first...We need to get all the Dragon Balls together so we can be ready to bring Goku back. Can we count on you, Krillin?



Oh, finally, back to a stretch of gameplay! My fingers bleed from all the transcription!



Do it quietly, and I'm okay with it!



 Somebody always has something to say.



Like you did earlier?



: From the distance, he's probably somewhere around Jingle Village...

: ...How about Yamcha?

: Hmm, looks like Yamcha is...

: Oh, great...What's that guy think he's up to at a time like this?!

: ...What's wrong?

: He's still in his hideout! I wonder if he'll even be up for training...

: ...Hah...Hah hah...



: Then we'll search for the Dragon Balls!

: What are you waiting for?! Hurry up and find those Dragon Balls so you can bring Goku back to life and save my Gohan!!



Now, you might think we have a choice in who we go find first; the dialog seemed to indicate that, what with how it told us where they were and all that.



Yeah, we don't have a fuckin' choice.



And so, we're going to end this update here.

Next time, we'll go pick up Tien, since we're forced to go get him first. So, stay tuned for us to roll out to a village in the frigid north!

Part 18  | Part 20 

---