Chapter One - The Earth is in Danger!
Gohan leaned back in his chair and stared out the window up at the clouds outside. It had been over a year now, since Slug had attacked the Earth, and there was still no sign of his dad. He knew Goku was out there somewhere... He was worried that maybe he didn't have a way to get home.
"Gohan! Telephone!" Chi-Chi called from the front room.
The boy closed his books and hopped off his chair. "Hello." he said as he entered the living room and picked up the phone.
"Hey Gohan, how you holding up?" came Bardock's voice.
"Same as yesterday." the boy replied with a sigh.
"Well, don't worry about Goku so much, he'll be fine. Anyway, Bulma's decided to hold a small gathering at Capsule Corp. today. I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming over? Everyone's going to be here."
He turned and looked over to his mom. "Can I?"
"No. You've got to finish your schoolwork young man."
Gohan sighed into the phone. "Sorry, mom says I can't come."
"Well, let me talk to Chi-Chi."
The young Sai-jin handed the phone over to his mother and then walked off to his room again taking his seat at his desk once more. He sighed as his eyes scanned over the paper sitting before him. It's center was filled with math problems, advanced Algebra equations technically. But the edges, top, and bottom... they were lined with sketches of his father. Some with his normal spikey black hair and others with his tall pointy blonde hair. He leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling. /Father... where are you? When are you coming home/ he wondered sadly.
There was a light knock on his door and he turned to look as Chi-Chi walked in with a tray of cookies and a glass of milk. "You've actually gotten ahead of your studies Gohan." she said setting the tray down. "So I thought you could use a little break so you don't fry your brain. You can't be a scholar if your brain is fried you know."
"Thanks mom." he said grabbing a cookie and munching on it. He turned his eyes out the window and stared up into the sky as Chi-Chi glanced down at his work and noticed all the sketches. She sighed and wandered over to the window and looked up at the sky as well. Turning around she looked at Gohan for a moment and let out another sigh.
"Oh... alright Gohan... you can go." she said slumping her shoulders a bit.
"Huh?" he asked looking over. "Go where?"
"To Capsule Corp. for that party or whatever it is. You're ahead in your studies, it wont hurt to take one day off. But that's it young man, it's right back to work tomorrow."
Gohan smiled and nodded. "Sure thing mom!" he said grabbing his bag from the wall and running out the door.
Chi-Chi leaned out his window just as he emerged from the house. "Be back here by sunset Gohan!"
"Ok!" he called back blasting off toward West City.
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West City, Capsule Corp.:
"So, where should we set the tables?" Yamcha asked.
Bulma turned around and pointed off to the right side of the garden. "Set them up around the tree over there."
"Right." Krillin said. He lifted up a table in each hand and Yamcha did the same. The two Humans carried them off as Hotaru and Appla, carrying the benches, followed. When Bulma had suggested the idea they'd all agreed readily. Yamcha and Krillin, though, were reconsidering that idea now. As soon as they'd arrived she'd put them to work helping her set-up. Apparently Vegeta wasn't interested in the picnic and was locked in his room brooding. According to Bulma it's all he'd done since arriving a few months earlier.
Bulma looked over the gathering of friends. Not one was wearing their usual attire. Krillin and Yamcha were in orange shorts and sandles, so was Bardock but he also had a black t-shirt on, last Bulma had seen. All three women, herself, Hotaru, and Appla, were in two-piece bikinis. Apparently Yamcha had bought Hotaru's that morning, after learning of the picnic, and Bulma had to admit, it certainly looked like the kind he'd buy. There was next to nothing to it.
The blue haired woman sniffed the air as the scents from the kitchen wafted out through an open window. "That smells really good Hotaru." she called over as the girl helped the others set up the table and benches. "What is it?"
"It's a family recipe." she called back over. "Everything in it is native to Tanaria. I think you'll like it."
"If it tastes as good as it smells I think I will." Bulma said turning back to work on the pool. She needed to finish fixing the water pump and then she could fill it. After all, no summer picnic was complete without a pool.
"Well, Gohan's on his way." Bardock said emerging from the building. He'd just sensed his grandson taking off and figured he'd either snuck off or Chi-Chi had changed her mind.
"Good." Bulma said with a nod. "He needs to get his mind off things for a little while. Hey, Bardock, give me hand?" she asked glancing back at him.
"Sure, what do you need?"
"I think there's a wire loose on the bottom. Can you lift the pool up?" The Sai-jin nodded and bent down slipping his hands under the pool. It didn't take much effort to lift it up for her. "Ah, yep, here it is." she said. A moment later she pulled back. "Ok, put it down." Once it was back on the ground she activated the pump and the water started flowing into the pool. "Alright! Pool's fixed!" she cheered.
She followed Bardock over to where the others were as they laid out the table cloths. "This is what we really need." she said. "A nice chance to kick back and relax. Enjoy the peace."
Bardock nodded. "Some peace and quite will be be nice for a change." he said. "Though, I'm still worried. This much silence from the Cold Empire... They've put up jamming barriers around the entire border you know. About eight monts ago. Cold is up to something and he doesn't want us to know what."
"We've got people looking into it." Appla said. "And we've got a Scan Net in place along the border. Any ships that cross we'll find. You need to relax and enjoy the peace. We may be Sai-jins but we still need to relax now and then."
He sighed. "Ya, I guess you're right."
"Hey everyone!" Gohan called from the door waving as he entered the garden. "Who's making the food, it smells great!"
Hotaru smiled. "That would be me. And speaking of it, I should go check on it."
"Hey, where are Videl and Hercule?" Gohan asked.
"Not back yet." Bardock replied. "They should be back tomorrow though."
"Oh ya, I forgot Videl wanted to go visit Planet Vegeta..."
The picnic moved along and soon all worries were forgotten. Appla helped Bulma set up the net and soon a game of volley ball was going, Hotaru, Appla, and Krillin vs. Gohan, Bardock, and Yamcha. Then came the food but that was soon gone with three Sai-jins at the table. Gohan and Bardock were now sprawled out side by side on the grass resting. "Man... I've never eaten that much before..." Gohan said slowly.
"Me either." replied the older Sai-jin. "Hey, Hotaru, how about you take over as head chef at the Embassy?" he called over grinning.
"And try to feed a few hundred hungry Sai-jins all day?" she called over laughing. "No thanks."
The Sai-jin just chuckled and started closing his eyes when suddenly a siren sounded through the city. Instantly he sat up and looked up through the glass dome over the garden. He could see the red lights flashing outside as the siren wailed on. In a matter of seconds he was in the kitchen and putting on his scouter. As he walked back into the garden again with the others, all watching him closely, he contacted the embassy. "Report." he said as soon as he had someone on the line.
"Ship detected approximately 30 minutes from Earth." the person replied. "We don't know where it came from sir, it just suddenly appeared on our sensors. But scans and transponder signal confirm, it's King Cold's ship. These new scouter systems work great though, we're getting two high power readings."
"Two?" Bardock asked shocked.
"Yes sir. One of 18.5 million even, and one of just over 20.3 million.
Bardock frowned as he reached out into the depths of space with his senses. One of them had to be Cold... but the other? That didn't make any sense... "What the hell!" he suddenly cried. "How... that's... that can't be!"
"What is it Bardock?" Bulma asked.
The answer didn't come from the elder Sai-jin, however. It came from the boy standing beside her. "Frieza!"
Bardock nodded. "And stronger than he was on Namek. The other power must be his father..." He looked at the others as they, too, sensed Frieza now. "We need to head them off... I don't know if Gohan and I can beat them, even as Super Sai-jins, but we have to try!"
"Well I'm coming along." Bulma said.
"I don't..." Bardock started.
"I'm going and that's final."
"Don't argue with her." Vegeta said suddenly as he walked into the garden already wearing his armor. "You'll waste time. Just grab her and let's get moving."
Bardock nodded. "Yamcha, you can carry her. I'd rather get changed first but... we're low on time." Turning his eyes skyward they flashed and the dome shattered. A moment later he and the others were flying through the air tracking the ship to where it would land. As they flew, Bardock sensed a power flying toward them from the east. A moment later he turned to the owner of that power and nodded. "Piccolo."
"I don't get it." the Namek said. "Goku beat Frieza on Namek."
"I know." Bardock replied, turning his eyes forward again. It took them nearly fifteen minutes to reach the area where they felt that Frieza would land. A highly mountainous area but there was a large valley that seemed to be the choosen landing area of the incoming ship. "So... anyone have any bright ideas?" he asked after a moment. "I'm about even with Frieza... Gohan's close. Together we could probably take him but... Cold..."
"The difference doesn't feel that great." Piccolo said.
"No, it's not insurmountable." Bardock replied. "But Cold doesn't fight the same as Frieza. Frieza will toy with you, give you every possible chance to win. Cold just goes for the kill."
Piccolo nodded in understanding. The difference was enough that, against an opponent who was trying to kill you with each attack, it would easily be a problem.
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Outerspace:
"Exiting Hyper Space in 5... 4... 3... 2...1... now." There was a whine as the tunnel of blue, white, green, red, and purple light faded away into the normal view of space.
"This new 'Hyper Space Drive' is impressive Father." Frieza said as he gazed at the small blue planet not much further away now. "We got here in only two days instead of almost six months."
Cold nodded. "Indeed. This new technology will make running empires as large as ours much easier. We can have troops out to almost any problem in a matter of hours instead of weeks. It's a pity the Valorum insisted on resisting to the last. It'll take decades to reverse engineer these engines. Until then all we can do is transplant them from their ships and into ours." He then turned his eyes toward the planet. "So... this is Earth then? Doesn't look that impressive. This is where that... what's his name?"
"Goku, father, Goku."
"Yes, this is where Goku's from then?"
Frieza nodded. "His father, son, and friends are here as well."
"Not to mention the Prince." Cold said nodding. "This shall be a most eventful outing. I still say we just destroy it from here."
"No, I want to kill all of that rotten Sai-jin's friends. And then, when he gets home, I'll be the only thing waiting for him!"
"It seems there's a problem with our engines." a tech called over.
"Oh?"
"They've overheated, sir. It'll take three or four hours to cool them down."
Cold nodded. "Well, Frieza, looks like you'll get your way after all. Set us down on the planet."
"Yes sir."
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Eath, Mountains:
A rush of wind blew through the peaks and valleys of the mountains as the ship broke through the cloud cover and descended down into the canyon. "I say we wait here, for now." Bardock replied pushing his power down, the others doing the same. "We don't want to give ourselves away... A quick sneak attack may be the only way to defeat Cold."
Gohan nodded as he watched the large saucer ship land. A second later the door opened and soliders started filing out. In a matter of moments there were a few hundred soldiers gathered and then Frieza and Cold emerged as well. The sun glistened off the mechanical parts of Frieza's new body as the Changeling looked around him. "Alright, I want you to spread out and kill everyone!" he ordered. "Leave no one alive!"