A Normal License? Goku's New Ordeal

As a side note, I'd just like to say this is probably my favorite non-battle episode of Dragon Ball Z (though there are a few others that come very close). Masako Nozawa does an excellent job of displaying Goku's...well, to put it bluntly, his stupidity. It's probably one of the best filler episodes in the series.

Chichi runs, groceries in hand, from a pursuing boar. "Stop chasing me! I'm not that good to eat!" The boar roars and speeds up. "Stop it!" She gets stabbed on the boar's tusk and screams. The tusk then goes through the grocery sack, and she starts to lose all the food she bought. The boar gets hit in the face by some airborn eggs and roars, but continues on. Chichi screams and suddenly stops, right at the top of a high cliff. The boar is not so lucky, and continues on forward, landing in the water below. Chichi watchs and breathes a sigh of relief, then continues on home.

Son Goku lies out in the grass, relaxing. "That cloud looks like Kamesennin." Gohan swims up from underwater. "Father, look!" He holds up... yep, you guessed it.... a big fish. Goku rises up and watches. "Gohan, that's a big fish. I bet Chichi'll be happy when she sees that." Nearby, Piccolo hovers, meditating. "Hmph. Taking a break in the middle of training is a waste of time."

Chichi walks a path, no longer running from any animals, nearing home. She's got some shredded bags in hand, the few groceries she managed to keep or salvage. She looks up and sees some people drive by in an aircar. "They are a couple from the next mountain." The two in the car laugh about something, with all of their groceries safely tucked away in the back of their car. Chichi watches them drive off.

Chichi sits alone at the table when Goku, Piccolo, and Gohan enter. "Mother, we're home!" Gohan walks in, carrying his fish. "Here's a present." Chichi, "Welcome home, Gohan." She sees Piccolo outside and turns away. Piccolo sees her and does the same. Goku walks into the house and starts undressing. "That was a good workout. Gohan, wanna take a bath?" Gohan, "Sure, Piccolo, do you want to join us?" They both pile their clothes up on the table, and Chichi starts to get angry. "Chichi, is the bath ready yet?" They start to walk out the door when Chichi stands up and yells at them. "Why don't you ever behave yourself? This isn't funny! You never let Gohan study and you spend all day training with Piccolo! I was chased by a wild boar today and almost got killed! You goof off all the time! Why don't you learn from our neighbors and take me shopping in a nice aircar every so often!" Goku, "But Chichi, we don't have an aircar, and I don't even have a license." Chichi, "Why don't you get a license? You're probably the only person in the world who doesn't have one!" Goku, "Piccolo doesn't have one, either." Piccolo, no longer calmly resting against a tree, "What would I do with one?!" Chichi, "You both are going into town tomorrow, go to a driving school and get a license! It'll be a good chance for both of you to learn a new skill." She crosses her arms and starts to calm down. Piccolo, "What!" Goku, "I can't stop training like that." Chichi, "I'm not going to listen to your arguments. You are both going to take a break from training and go to driving school." Goku and Piccolo are speechless. "If you don't go, I won't cook for either one of you." She turns her back to them, and the two nod in agreement.

It's a sunny day in town when Goku and Piccolo arrive for driving lessons. Goku, "So this is the driving school Chichi was talking about." Piccolo, "Why did you have to get me mixed up in this?" Goku, "I'm sorry, but the truth came out before I could think! Anyway, let's hurry up and get our licenses and get back to our training." Piccolo, "I guess we have no choice. However, I can't underestimate the power of that earthling if she could force the strongest warrior in the universe to do this." The instructor arrives. "Which one of you is Goku?" Goku speaks up, and the old man tells him that he'll be Goku's instructor. He walks up to Goku and says he's glad to meet him. He almost falls over. "Are you okay, mister?" The old man stands up. "I'm fine, don't worry. This always happens to me." A younger woman walks up to Piccolo. "You must be my student, Piccolo." Piccolo doesn't respond. "We'll start off by me showing you how to drive, so watch closely." She moves over to get in the car and Piccolo thinks to himself, "How can I learn to drive from a person who talks cutesy like that?" They get in the car. "Don't forget your seatbelt." Piccolo fastens his seatbelt and she starts the car. She howls, "HERE I GO! OPEN YOUR EYEBALLS AND WATCH CAREFULLY!" She floors it and they speed off, accelerating quickly. Very soon, they come to a red light and she comes to a screeching halt right before she flew into the intersection. Piccolo flies forward against the windshield. "What's wrong with this woman?" She growls, the light turns green, and off they go again. Piccolo loses his cap, and Goku watches from back at the school. "That's fast..." Goku's instructor is getting into the car. "We should start soon, too." He struggles to open the car door, but he can't do it. He turns red, and Goku finally sees that he's having trouble. The instructor finally gives up and asks Son to open the car for him.

At Capsule Corporation, Bulma's mom is digging through the refrigerator. "Vegeta hasn't been around for a while. I'm getting lonesome. She talks to Dr. Briefs and Bulma about it. Bulma, "He's doing something out in the spaceship." Dr. Briefs, "Saiya-jin have incredibly strong bodies. He's training in the spaceship at 400 gravities." Bulma, "He can do it because he's insane about fighting." Inside the ship, Vegeta moves around easily in 400G. He runs around for a while, then eventually stops and pants. He falls to the ground, exhausted. The gravity machine has moved up to 450. "Watch out, Kakkarotto!"

Gohan tries to study, but he can't. "I wonder how father and Piccolo are doing..." In his book is a crude drawing of Piccolo and Goku in an aircar together. Chichi walks in and Gohan covers his drawing. "Gohan! You're doing great, Gohan, studying like that. Goku and Piccolo sure have gotten in the way of your studies." She leaves some food for him. "Study hard now, before they come back to get in your way again." He sighs, then hears a familiar purring. Haiya Dragon is outside his window. He runs up to the window and the dragon starts licking his face. "Haiya Dragon, you're tickling me!" He suddenly stops. "I know..." Haiya Dragon cocks his head questioningly.

Piccol drives carefully between the cones. "You're doing very well, Piccolo." Back at the school, Goku and the instructor have finally gotten started. "Okay, start it up again." Goku stares ahead. "Hurry up and do it!" Goku turns to him. "I've forgotten how." The teacher practically falls out of the car. "Again? In my seventy years of teaching, I've never met someone as forgetful as you." Goku, "I'm sorry, mister." Instructor, "Put your foot down on the accelerator." Goku, "But isn't that down between the tires?" Instructor, "Not the axle, the accelerator! It's that pedal under your right foot. The one on the left is the brake. Can't you at least remember that?" Goku, "Oh... I see." The car jets off...backward, the passengers screaming the whole way. They slam into a post, which stops them. "What was that?!" Goku, "Made a mistake."

A car pulls into the parking garage carefully, but suddenly, Goku comes roaring out. "What are you doing?! We're supposed to be practicing backing up!" Goku, "That's what I was trying to do." They almost slam headfirst into oncoming traffic, but Goku and the driver of the other car both turn in time and narrowly avoid colliding, although they do have to break through a barrier to manage. Goku's car corkscrews and the side scrapes the ground, but they eventually get righted...most of the way, anyway. They speed forward, disrupting the oncoming traffic as they go. Yep, Goku's having trouble just going the right direction. "Step on the break!" Goku thinks aloud to himself. "That's on the left..." Goku tries to hit the break, but floors the accelerator instead. They fly into a tunnel, Goku obviously enjoying himself, and the instructor fearing for his life. "Give me the steering wheel!" Goku looks over at him and the instructor repeats his request. Goku, "Really?" Instructor, "Just hurry up and give it to me!" Goku powers up a bit and pulls the wheel out of the steering column. They emerge from the tunnel and head straight out over the water, coming to stop in the middle of a lake. The car begins to sink. "It'll take you three years to get your license." Goku, "But... I don't have that much time. The Artificial Humans..." Piccolo drives by on the lakeside road. "Hmph. Fool..."

Gohan rides Haiya Dragon into town. "There they are, Haiya Dragon!" Now in a working car that's on land, the instructor wrings out his clothes and tells Goku to go forward. "Okay." Goku puts his foot down. "Step on the accelerator slowly." Of course, Goku floors it again, but he's overjoyed. "I did it right this time!" Instructor, "I said slowly!" Goku's gaining on Piccolo, who's driving much more slowly, probably at the speed limit. Goku speeds by and Piccolo takes it as a challenge. "Goku, are you trying to race me?! I'll never lose to you!" Piccolo slams down on the accelerator. "That's the way to do it, Mr. Piccolo!" They both speed through the city, Piccolo gaining on Goku, but Goku still in the lead. People watch them, dazed, as they pass by. Gohan and Haiya Dragon stand nearby and watch Goku, then Piccolo pass. Piccolo gets up along side Goku, then drives up a hill and comes down the side of it, moving in front of Goku. Piccolo's instructor apparently approves of his methods. "You're doing perfectly, Mr. Piccolo." They're now side by side, but Piccolo is forward a bit. The cars bounce off each other, fly out of control, and eventually crash into each other, exploding. Gohan and Haiya Dragon, still standing nearby, watch it happen. Several people crowd around and Goku and Piccolo, carrying their unconscious instructors, set down on the ground. Goku, "Driving schools sure are dangerous."

It's raining outside. Goku's instructor, "From now on, we'll be studying outside of school." The four of them stand out under umbrellas. "Since I don't think either one of you will get your licenses, it's best this way." Goku and Piccolo are now driving a bit more carefully on a mountain road. Lightning flashes across the stormy sky. Ahead of them, a school bus full of laughing children waves to Goku. Goku waves back and gets points deducted for taking a hand off the wheel. "But I was just..." He turns to the instructor. "Always look at the road. Two demerits." Goku, "But..." He slams on the break, throwing the instructor forward. "Putting on the breaks like that is dangerous; ten demerits." Lightning strikes a mountain and an avalanche hits the bus full of children. The bus slowly gets pushed over the edge. Goku sees it and flies through the windshield. Piccolo busts his door off and goes to help out, too. The busload of screaming children is pushed over the edge. It plummets toward the ground, but suddenly stops. Underneath, Goku is holding it up. Piccolo joins him and they carry it back up the side of the mountain. More snow falls over the side. "Take care of the bus, Piccolo." Goku flies up and blasts the snow with some ki. Piccolo balances the bus on one hand and does the same. Their blasts knock a huge boulder loose, but Goku powers up and blasts the bolder. The children are safe, and the instructors, who watched the whole thing, breathe a sigh of relief. The clouds part and the sun shines. The children thank Goku and Piccolo, and their bus drives off. Goku waves goodbye, but Piccolo pays no attention. "Sorry for taking off in the middle of a lesson like that, gramps." He walks up to the car and sees that it's...not exactly in good condition. "I don't think I'll ever get a license. It doesn't look like I have any talent." Goku's instructor, "What are you talking about?" Goku, "You'll let me keep trying?" Instructor, "You're great! Your heroism impressed me deeply." Goku, "Really? Okay, let's start practicing again." Instructor, "What are you talking about? I have nothing left to teach you." Goku, "So what about the license?" Instructor, "Are you joking? As strong as you are, you don't need a license." Piccolo's instructor agrees.

Chichi's PISSED. "WHAT?! Weren't you able to get a license?!" Gohan and Haiya Dragon watch her little rant on Goku and Piccolo. She almost continues, but she suddenly just faints. "Mother!" Goku, "Chichi, are you okay?"