Dende and Gohan soared through the sky, their destination being Orange Star High School. Gohan was happily chattering away about his adventures as the Great Saiyaman, pointing out this bank where he'd beaten up a bunch of robbers, or this park where he’d helped an old lady across the street. Dende was trying his best to appear interested, but in reality he was dreading school, and it was evident on his face. Gohan noticed this and stopped, hovering in the air in front of his friend.

"Hey Dende, maybe if you told me why you hate school so much I’ll be able to help." Gohan smiled at Dende. Dende glanced at Gohan but said nothing, a hint of sadness in his eyes. "Aw c’mon Dende, we’ve still got a hour or two left until school starts, lets go sit on that park bench and we’ll talk." Dende stared at Gohan for a moment.

"Will you buy me a drink?" Dende asked hopefully. Gohan sighed.

"Yes Dende, I’ll be glad to, now c’mon, lets go." The two began decreasing their height in the air. Unfortunately, this touching moment of self reflection was broken up as a flock of birds collided with the pair.

"Ahh!" Dende screamed as the flock swept him away. Gohan swore as feathers flew all around him, momentarily blinding him. They both flailed their arms wildly, and finally broke free from the flock and landed on the ground, covered in feathers, dirt, and bird crap. They both sighed and pinched their noses, as they smelled terrible. Their clothes were obviously ruined.

"Hey Gohan, the price of admission just went up to two drinks." Dende said dryly. Gohan sighed and pulled out his wallet. Dende glanced around, reached into his collar/neck clothing, and pulled out a pocket watch. He flipped it open, checking the time. "You know Gohan, if we drink quickly and then fly at top speed to the Lookout for new clothes, we’ll probably be late for school. Maybe we shouldn’t go." Gohan sighed.

"Sorry Dende, but you’re not getting out of this. School still doesn’t start for about an hour. You’re gonna sit right down and tell me all about why you don’t like school, I really think I can help." Gohan said encouragingly. Dende sighed. They began walking to a nearby drink stand.

"So c’mon Dende, tell me already." Gohan prodded. Dende sighed again.

"Fine…" He began, walking slower then before. "I had a… bad experience on my first day in, uh… Namek kindergarten."

"Namek kindergarten? What’s that?" Gohan exclaimed. Dende looked at Gohan, still walking.

"It’s actually the only school, if you could call it that, on Namek. After we’ve spent some time in that the elders just give us work and home teach us. We, uh… learn how to share and how to fly. Anyway, the day started out horribly… we were allowed to go play with the blocks, and I got the first pick. But…" Dende sniffed a bit. "Then my brother Cargo came, and he wanted to play with the blocks. I offered to share, but… he beat me up and took the blocks anyway! He always beat me up at home! Do you know how embarrassing it is to get beat up by your little brother when he’s not even a fighter Namek? Not to mention that we were peaceful, so I didn’t know how to fight back. And then we had flying lessons…" Dende bit his lip. "And Cargo… Cargo…" Dende’s face cramped up as his eyes purpled. "Cargo… he… WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Dende burst into tears.

"Whoa Dende, calm down, it’s okay!" Gohan said, trying to comfort his friend. Dende sniffed and rubbed his eyes.

"He pushed me off the cliff before I knew how to fly! He was so mean! And then while I was hanging from a rock by my clothes, he got all the other lil’ Namek children to laugh at me!" Dende sobbed before continuing. "And then at lunch he dumped out my bottle of water and replaced it with… with…" Dende, still bawling, whispered something in Gohan’s ears. Gohan’s eyes bulged out as he looked at Dende, taken aback.

"YOU DRANK THAT?! THAT’S DISGUSTING!" He exclaimed. Dende sighed.

"Y…yeah… I thought the water was a different color that day!"

"Bleh! I can’t even think about drinking… THAT. No wonder you don’t want to go to school!"

"Yeah… I hate Cargo! He made my life a living hell! That’s why I was so anxious to come live here!" Dende finished, sniffling a little. Gohan sighed. He really sucked at being a good reassurance. Piccolo hadn’t really been ideal for those types of lessons, unless Dende’s idea of consolement were getting thrown off a cliff, ki-blasted, and punched.

"Well gee… I’m sorry Dende, I can see why you hate school now… but Cargo is on Namek and from what I’ve seen you’ve done ten times the things he could…" Dende sniffled again and glanced at Gohan.

"R…really?" Dende asked. Gohan nodded.

"Yep. You just have to stand up to him someday." Gohan put a hand on Dende’s shoulder. Dende turned and glanced up at Gohan, smirking slightly.

"Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Freezer whip your butt when you stood up to him?" Dende asked pointedly. Gohan groaned.

"At least I wasn’t… ahem… feeding the Namekian worms at the time." Gohan replied. Dende grinned.

"Be nice, if it wasn’t for ME you would’ve blown up with that planet."

"This is true. Anyway, don’t worry about school, okay? I’m sure everything’s going to be fine." Dende nodded, rubbing his still red eyes.

"You know Gohan, you’re right. Now where are those drinks?" Dende asked, grinning wider. Gohan rolled his eyes, sighed, and opened his wallet.

The figure smiled under his hood. He had collected six of the seven dragonballs, now he just had to find the last and his revenge would be complete. With his keen eyes he saw two figures flying toward him. One was a young man with black hair, the other was a Namek gleefully sucking down two bottles of water. He stopped and hovered in the air, watching them as they approached. The Namek was as tall as he was, slightly taller. The figure waved then soared past them. He wondered if they were going where he had been mere minutes ago. It didn’t matter though, he had ensured that they would not know of his coming. The servant at his previous destination would not be able to communicate to them who he was. He had ensured that.

Dende and Gohan peered at the figure soaring past them. Dende glanced at Gohan.

"Friend of yours? He waved at us." Dende stated. Gohan shrugged.

"Never seen anyone like that, he probably knows my dad. C’mon, let’s keep moving. If we’re late for school Chi-chi’ll kill us. Dende nodded in agreement, and the two continued their journey.

Dende was surprised as he and Gohan landed at the edge of the Lookout. Mr. Popo had indeed been busy, the lookout was almost fixed. Gohan glanced around warily. It seemed odd for some reason.

"Mr. Popo! I’m home! Don’t kill me, I’m just here to get some clothes!" Dende shouted. There was no reply. Spying something on the ground, Gohan walked over and picked it up.

"Hey Dende, what’s an empty beer bottle doing here?" Gohan shouted. Dende shrugged. He was about to reply when Mr. Popo staggered out of the palace, arms laden with bottles. His eyes were red and his mouth hung halfway open. He was drooling. At the site of Dende and Gohan, his face turned up into an odd grin.

"K…Kammiiii-Ssssaaaaammmmaaaa!" Popo slurred. "You back so soon? Bring Po… popo more gifts?" Gohan and Dende glanced at each other, wondering what to make of the strangely acting Mr. Popo. Gohan scratched his head as Dende trotted up to Popo.

"Popo, what the heck are you talking about? This is the first I’ve been here today, and I didn’t bring you any…" Dende sniffed the air around Mr. Popo. He threw his hands up in the air, glancing upward in a "why me?" sort of way. Gohan raised an eyebrow.

"Dende, what’s…"

"Darn it Popo! You said you’d quit your heavy drinking habits! Remember? We attended that hypnotism class together! You, Piccolo, and me! And it worked beautifully! You never touched a bottle again! Why now? Hmmm?" The obviously drunken Popo looked confused.

"B…but… sir! You said that you were proud of me and that these were gifts! You were here… five minutes ago! You said I could drink all of these!" Popo swayed, off balance, and pointed at a pile of empty liquor bottles. "You said it was a reward!" Dende rolled his eyes.

"Sure I did Popo, whatever. I can’t believe you broke into the liquor cabinet, you know that’s only for Piccolo and guests. Popo didn’t reply because by now he had passed out at Dende and Gohan’s feet. They groaned in unison. Gohan sighed.

"Great, now we have to wait for him to recover from his hangover! We can’t just go to school and leave him here! We’ll have to go in late!" Gohan exclaimed, cursing. Dende shook his head.

"Nah, it’ll be all right, we’ll get him out of this quick. I used to have to do it all the time. You go throw him in the room of Spirit and Time, close the door, and let him out five seconds later. I’ll go get some clothes. He’ll be recovered, and then it’s off to school!" Gohan grinned and nodded, dragging Popo away. Dende turned left and went off to get some clothes.

Dende returned five minutes later dressed in his standard outfit. He also had a pile of clothes in his hands for Gohan to try on. At the same time Dende arrived, Mr. Popo and Gohan walked out. Mr. Popo seemed to be recovered. Dende handed the clothes to Gohan.

"There ya go Gohan, go put those on. They’re not what you’d normally wear, but it’s either that or your nice smelly clothes." Gohan nodded and went into the room Dende had changed in. Dende glared at Popo, who was daydreaming. He sighed.

"Mr. Popo, I’m ashamed of you! You were doing so well! Why’d you start drinking again!" He shrieked. Mr. Popo sighed, and began sweating.

"I…I don’t know sir! But I swear, you gave those drinks to me!"

"Popo, when I got here you were already drunk. I’ll take a look around, and you go check the liquor cabinet. If I didn’t give those drinks to you, then the contents of the cabinet should be empty." Popo nodded and skipped away, glad to avoid further questioning. Dende trotted over and examined a bottle.

"What the… this is Namek vintage wine! I know this isn’t in the liquor cabinet or in my secret stash, or I’d have had some.

"DENDE!" Gohan’s voice echoed from behind the dressing room’s closed door. Dende picked up the bottle, sighed, and walked near the door.

"Yeah, what is it Gohan!" Dende yelled. Gohan’s voice meekly rang from the door.

"Uhh… how do I put this on, anyway? I don’t usually wear your clothes." Dende rolled his eyes.

"Figure it out Gohan, I have to talk with Popo some more!" Dende replied. Presently, Mr. Popo returned.

"Well sir, the cabinet is still locked, and everything seems accounted for." Dende nodded.

"I see. I found some booze we don’t even have, or else I’d have… er, you’d have drunk it long ago! It’s from Namek!" Dende held the bottle up to Mr. Popo. Popo shrugged. Dende nodded to Popo.

"Well, Gohan and I have to get to school, so we can figure out this mystery later. I’ll be working on my dragon at Son Goku’s house if you need me for anything." Mr. Popo smiled.

"Dragon?" He asked, peering at Dende with a glint of joy in his eyes.

"Yeah, it’s really great! I’m making another set of Dragonballs! The only problem is that I’m not much of a sculptor, so the dragon really doesn’t look like I want it to yet." Dende said, glad to find someone else who respected his handiwork. Popo continued grinning.

"I can make the dragon sir, I’m very good at that sort of thing!" He exclaimed. Dende thought about that a moment, and nodded. He pulled out the pencil sketch he had made before.

"Thanks Mr. Popo, that’ll be a great help! It should look like this." Dende handed Mr. Popo the sketch, who took it and nodded.

"Okay sir! Thanks for giving me something to do!" Dende nodded and cocked his head at the dressing room’s door..

"I have to go to school now, so drop it off at Son’s house when you’re done, okay?" Popo nodded as Gohan walked out. He was neatly attired in some of Dende’s bigger clothes, the clothes Piccolo had made for him when he finally grew that extra foot or three. Gohan smiled.

"These are great Dende! I see what you mean about looseness!" Dende eyed Gohan up and down.

"Uh… Gohan, those are on backwards. But there’s no time to change that, you look okay! Let’s get to school, we’re almost late!" Dende yelled. Gohan’s eyes bulged out.

"Ah! Let’s go! Mom’ll kill me if we’re late!" Before Dende could react Gohan grabbed Dende around the waist and tore off at his top speed, much faster then any speed Dende was able to attain.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYYYY CRRRRRRAAAAPPPP-…" Dende’s voice trailed off into the distance as Popo watched them turn into a distant dot and disappear. He hung his head, disappointed that he had broken down and gotten himself drunk after making so much progress. He then brightened, remembering something. He pulled off his turban, revealing a bottle of whiskey. Pulling out a shot-glass, he poured himself a drink before he went to work on the dragon.

Gohan was grinning, watching Dende remain absolutely still, seemingly staring at Orange Star High School in wonder.

"See Dende, this place doesn’t look so bad, does it?" Gohan said, still smiling.

"G…Gohan… I can barely…m…move! I…t…t…think your speed…dis…dis…dislocated every bone in my body!" Dende sputtered between clenched teeth.

"Oh, don’t worry, father taught me how to fix that!" Without warning Gohan grabbed Dende and twisted him in different positions. The cricking and cracking Dende’s eyes watered and his teeth clenched so hard it looked as if his fangs would break off. Finally Gohan stopped and put Dende down, who collapsed and panted. Gohan dusted his hands off. "There, feel better Dende?" Gohan smiled. Dende moaned and sat up.

"Gohan, why don’t you just leave the healing arts to me, okay?" Dende said, swinging his arms around in a windmill motion to get their feeling back. Gohan shrugged and nodded. He beckoned towards the school. Dende groaned as he rose to his feet, and followed Gohan into the school.

In the front of the first class, a young well-muscled T-shirt clad man was standing in front of the classroom. Dende and Gohan were sitting next to each other, as they had planned.

"OK CLASS!" The teacher boomed, "TODAY WE’RE GONNA LEARN ABOUT EVERYONE’S FAVORITE SUBJECT, REPRODUCTION!" Dende’s antennae and ears perked up.

"All right!" Dende thought, "I’m finally going to learn where humans lay their eggs!" The rather detailed lesson began…

Forty minutes later, class was dismissed. Gohan walked out, then turned around to see Dende emerge from the classroom, his eyes wide open, sweat running down his forehead, and a shocked expression frozen on his face. He was hyperventilating, as if in a trance.

"Hey Dende, what’s wrong?" Gohan asked. Dende turned and gazed up at Gohan, still breathing heavily and sweating. Gohan had never seen Dende so rattled.

"Y…you people are sick Gohan! Sick sick sick sick sick sick!" Dende exclaimed, then returned to his state before he had spoken. Gohan scratched his head and cleared his throat.

"I take it you’re referring to your lesson about the… er… birds and bees?"

"AHHH! MENTAL PICTURE FORMING! GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT GET OUT!" Dende exclaimed. Gohan rolled his eyes as the two continued down the hallway.

Gohan swung open the door and entered the Son household. Dende followed, noting that Gohan looked very nervous. He eased the door shut as soundlessly as possible, but Chi-chi confronted them as they entered the kitchen. She greeted them with a smile.

"Gohan! How did you do in school today!" She exclaimed brightly. Dende noticed Gohan looking at the ground.

"I…I got an F on my finals, mom. I won’t be going to college." He said sadly. Dende looked up and noticed Chi-chi’s mouth hanging wide open. Then her teeth slowly ground together as she glared at Gohan. She rolled up her sleeves.

"That’s it! It’s time for a bit of corporal punishment!" She yelled, rearing up and, to Dende’s surprise, knocking Gohan out with one punch. She turned to glance at Dende with an eerie grin.

"Well well, I don’t want you healing my son, and he didn’t get any F’s before, so…" Dende backed into the corner, beginning to sweat as he noticed the look in Chi-chi’s eyes. Chi-chi advanced, brandishing a butcher’s knife behind her back. Five minutes later, Goku walked in just as Chi-chi was putting a covered platter in the oven. A green finger hung just slightly out from under the cover.

"Hey Chi-chi! What’s up! And why is this purple stained robe lying on the counter?" Chi-chi threw the platter into the oven and slammed it shut, turning to look at Goku in surprise.

"Uh, I just spilled some grape juice on a rag! Yeah!" Chi-chi smiled. Goku scratched his head.

"Okay. Gee, something smells good, what are you making for dinner? And where’s Dende?" Chi-chi gulped.

"UHHH… He went back to the lookout! And this? This is a dish I read about in a special cookbook, um… uh… Namek Loaf!" Goku licked his lips.

"Sounds good! Call me when it’s done!"

Gohan glanced at Dende, trying to be inconspicuous. Sitting in the desk next to him, Dende was slumped over, snoring softly. Gohan noticed he was sweating quite a bit, as if having a nightmare. Gohan considered waking Dende up. The history teacher, lecturing on in the front of the class hadn’t noticed yet, but if he did…

"No…don’t…cook…" Dende mumbled. Gohan scratched his head. He leaned over.

"Dende? Are you awa-?" Gohan began but was cut off as Dende jolted upright, awake, screaming,

"NO GOKU! DON’T EAT MEEEEEE!" The teacher stopped in his lecture as he and the rest of the class turned around and stared at Dende. Dende blinked. Gohan had his head in his arms, trying vainly not to laugh. Dende grinned sheepishly. "Uh… is what Mr. Satan said to Cell right before he defeated him, thereby saving the world. Is that the um… heh heh, er… answer?" Fortunately, moments before the entire class busted into laughter, the dismissal bell rang, and the students tore out of the room at top speed. Dende used his short size to blend in with the crowd and slipped out of the classroom. He looked around for Gohan, then stopped as his ears perked up at the sound of Gohan’s voice. Dende leaned around the corner and peered at Gohan hastily talking to the history teacher.

"I’m sorry sir, he’s just a foreign exchange student living with me, he’ll only be here for a day…"

"Are you sure? He seems a bit… weird." Dende’s eyes widened. He rolled up his sleeves and stormed back into the room, much to Gohan and the history teacher’s surprise. Dende launched into a verbal tirade, screaming and raising his arms.

"WEIRD? WEIRD?! I HAPPEN TO BE GOD OF THIS PLANET, BUSTER! AND I’M NORMAL! YOU DON’T SEE ME REPRODUCING IN SUCH SICKENING-…" Dende stopped his tirade, realization slowly dawning on what he was saying. A new mental picture formed in his mind, courtesy of his previous health class. For not the first time that day, Dende felt very nauseated. Gohan slapped himself on the forehead, and the teacher looked flustered.

"What’s he saying? What’s that about being god?" The teacher said. Gohan gulped, and Dende began chattering away in Namekian. Gohan took the ball and ran with it.

"Uh, sorry sir, he’s having a little trouble grasping the language so he’s telling me what he meant, I know his language… I think what he means to say is that you’re so smart, you could be god! Yeah!" Gohan said. To add emphasis, Dende clapped his hands together, grinned the way A not very bright child, or Son Goku would, and nodded to Gohan, even as he mumbled something slightly vulgar under his breath.

"And what was that about the back seat of a Chevy?" The teacher asked as Gohan dragged Dende out the door. Gohan leaned his head back in.

"He said that he’s going to vote for you, in his country the teacher that impresses a foreign exchange student the most gets a free Chevrolet Truck!" The classroom door slammed shut.

Dende followed Gohan as he led the way to the next class. Dende and Gohan both leaned against a locker and wiped the sweat off their foreheads. Dende twiddled his fingers and grinned.

Thanks for getting me out of that Gohan, I keep forgetting that the "big picture" isn’t really known by most of the people on Earth…" Gohan nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, who knows how the world would react if they knew a green skinned pointy eared midget was god?" Dende stopped and glanced at him.

"Hey, be nice, I’ll let that one slide because you got me out of there." Gohan grinned.

"Sorry Dende, it’s hard to resist, but I’m sure you can come up with a bunch of monkey jokes to use on me!" Gohan said brightly. Dende scowled. "Huh? What’d I say?" Dende groaned, remembering something unpleasant.

"Well, once I accidentally told Kaio-Sama (King Kai) that his jokes were really funny in an attempt to be polite, I mean he does outrank me in the big scheme of things, right?" Gohan turned and cocked his gaze on Dende.

"So your point is…"

"He kept me up the whole night telling me jokes telepathically. I finally told him that Piccolo needed to send a message to Namek just so he would shut up." Gohan nodded.

"Yeah, he did that to father once. I wonder if we should just band together and tell him his jokes are really, really bad." Dende shook his head.

"Nah, I’m sure the time will come when we can use him against our enemies. I bet Freezer would’ve cracked in five hours if we just got Kaio to start rattling his jokes off one by one. Hey, that’s not a bad idea… maybe next time some super villain comes, I can save the Earth!" Gohan shrugged.

"I doubt it, but you’re welcome to try. I hate fighting." Dende nodded.

"By the way Gohan, what’s chemistry? You told me that it’s our next class." Dende said suddenly. Gohan nodded.

"Oh yeah, we’re having a lab today. Don’t worry and I’ll take care of everything, and we’ll get an A. We just have to make a chemical reaction or something like that. Remember not to touch anything." Gohan warned. Dende nodded, even while thinking

"Me? Not touch anything? He doesn’t know me very well, does he…"