The man waited for death. The ki ball coming his way would certainly kill
him, but he had no time to get out of the way. So, he waited. It was
right in front of him. He could feel the energy searing his chest as the
world exploded into a bunch of tiny pinpoints of light.
*
He was lying on grass. From what he remembered, he shouldn't have been laying on grass. His chest still hurt, and he didn't feel dead. Of course, he wasn't sure what dead should feel like. He sat up. And nearly passed out. His body spasmed with pain.
He moaned and laid back down. It hurt too much to move. A soft voice came from nearby. "Hey Goten! Come see what I found!" In the back of his mind, the warrior thought that the voice sounded like that of the prince… and then, not.
"Whatcha find Trunks? Let me see!"
The man lifted his head to see a strange child leaning over him. The child had limp purple hair. How… odd. He opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out.
"Hey Goten, he's trying to speak."
Another little boy, who nearly could have been the man's mirror image, came into view. "He looks like Tousan."
"Yeah, he does look like your tousan… He looks like you, too."
"You think?"
"Hai, and he looks like he's hurt, too. Bad…"
"Do you have any senzu beans, Trunks? Well, give him one."
"Uhmmm… okay," with that, the boy with limp purple hair stuck something into the man's mouth.
The warrior recognized that the boys were trying to help him, so he carefully chewed the small object that had been placed in his mouth. It tasted horrible. It tasted so bad that the man wanted to gag. He managed to choke it down though. He had, after all, been forced to eat much worse things.
Immediately, he started to feel better. He sat up. This time, he didn't start to feel lightheaded.
"Who are you?" he asked awkwardly.
"I'm Son Goten!" said the normal looking boy.
The boy with purple hair looked at him like he was embarrassed to be seen with him. "I'm Trunks Briefs."
"Who are you?" asked the chibi Son Goten.
"I'm Bardock," the man said softly. {Maybe Son Goten is related to me… He sure looks like someone from my family.}
The chibi grinned broadly. "You look like my Tousan."
Bardock blinked. That was definitely not what he expected. "What is this… Tousan?"
"It means dad," the purple haired boy said.
Son Goten laughed. "Hai! You look like Daddy!"
{So… Did Turles decide to have children after all?} "What is your Daddy's name, Son Goten?"
"My Tousan is named Son Goku… You don't have to say the 'Son' part, though. That's just our surname."
The other boy looked up. "Briefs is my surname."
"Surname?" {I feel like a world class idiot, now. What world is this anyway?} "Where is this?"
The purple haired boy, Trunks, answered. "A surname is a family name. And this is…" he looked around himself, "…the area around Satan City."
"Satan City?"
"Japan," he looked up at Bardock, seemingly surprised.
"Japan?" Bardock asked dully.
"Grrrrrr… Earth. Chikyuu. The system of Sol."
"Never been here. What am I doing here?"
Trunks growled again. "How am I supposed to know? I only found you, you know!"
Bardock sat down; he was feeling very confused. For some reason that he couldn't comprehend, he liked this place… He liked these kids, too. Their actions were incomprehensible. Why would the go out of their way to help a warrior that they didn't even know?
He got back up. As he did so, he could hear a loud voice calling in the distance (The distance from which it was calling was coming closer, too.).
The voice yelled out some obscenities, and told the "Spawn of Kakkarot" to come back with his son. The voice sounded familiar.
Bardock's chibi lookalike leapt at the sound of the voice. "I didn't kidnap him!!! He kidnapped me!!!"
"Oh, no! It's Dad!" Trunks wore a look of panic.
"What do you have to worry about, Trunks? Vegeta will kill me before you, any day!"
They looked at each other for a moment and nodded in unison. "Run!" They looked at Bardock and Goten said, "Sorry, we gotta go! If he catches us, I die!" They blasted of at speeds that Bardock didn't think he could match if his life depended on it.
{Did the chibi say "Vegeta"? The… prince?… is here? Impossible. It's preposterous…} "How can this be?" he murmured to himself.
A moment later a short man with a spiky crewcut (Sorry, people… I just love that haircut of Vegeta's. *^-^*) landed on the ground a few feet away from him. Fortunately, it didn't look like the prince.
"Where did the brats go?" the man grumbled. "You!" he glared at Bardock, "Where did they go?"
Bardock blinked. It reminded him so much of how the prince spoke to people. "They took off that…" he lifted his hand to point. He wasn't given the chance to finish, lifting his hand or speaking.
"You! You look like that third-class good-for-nothing baka, Kakkarot! Who are you?" he demanded.
Bardock was more than a little shocked. He was starting to see even more of a resemblance between this man and the prince. "I'm…"
"Spit it out already!"
"Bardock," he finished.
To say that this guy looked shocked would be a bit of an understatement. "YOU are Bardock? Hai, you are…" he breathed, still in shock, "but… you're supposed to be dead."
"You know me?" Bardock asked curiously. He lifted his hand to scratch the back of his head in what he didn't know was a classic Son gesture.
"Not really. I just thought that I SAW you die. I was on Frieza's ship when he blew up Vegeta-sei. It has been a long time…"
Bardock was even more confused than he had been earlier. He decided to put the subject on the one thing that he heard which sounded familiar. Kakkarot. "I heard you call that boy 'Spawn of Kakkarot'… What was that supposed to mean?"
"…" The man, {Vegeta}, Bardock reminded himself, was speechless… for a moment. "Kakkarot is your son, isn't he?"
"Well… My son is named Kakkarot, if that's what you're asking."
"Kakkarot lives on this planet. That was his brat and my brat."
"You mean… you really are Prince Vegeta?"
"Hn. King, now."
Bardock immediately fell down to one knee. "I apologize, sire. Your hair…"
Vegeta unconsciously brought his hand to his head and scowled. "Onna cut it."
"You have a mate?"
Vegeta growled, "Hai."
Bardock smiled. "This must be a different time… Last time I saw you, you were only ten. Now you have a woman and a brat. I must say, I'm proud."
Vegeta suddenly remembered that Bardock and his own father had been on friendly terms when he was a child. "Kakkarot must have gotten that disgusting habit from you…"
"What disgusting habit?"
"Of treating me like he's my equal."
"Oh…" Bardock was slightly confused. He had gotten along pretty well with the old king, but why did Vegeta find that so disturbing? Was it the idea that strange to him? On the battlefield, respect comes with strength and intelligence… not to mention cunning… not rank.
"That brain damaged moron…"
"Brain damaged? How did that happen?"
"Well…" Vegeta shrugged. "I'm not certain, but it happened a short time after he arrived on the planet… or else the inhabitants would be mostly dead." He glared in the direction that the chibis had gone. "They're hiding themselves…" he sighed, resigned. "Onna is going to be pissed."
Bardock couldn't help but find it amusing that his prince… king… was acting so whipped… by some onna, no less. "So… Son Goten is my grandson…"
"Hn. Kakkarot would be pissed if I just left you out here… so would Onna…" Bardock smiled upon hearing that, "so, I suppose that I should just bring you back to Capsule Corps (form here on, it will be "CC") with me. I hope you can keep up…"
"If you're as fast as the little ones, there's no way I could keep up with you… you'll have to fly pretty slow." Bardock almost laughed at Vegeta's expression. "You can tell me what happened since the destruction of Vegeta- sei, as we go…"
*
He was lying on grass. From what he remembered, he shouldn't have been laying on grass. His chest still hurt, and he didn't feel dead. Of course, he wasn't sure what dead should feel like. He sat up. And nearly passed out. His body spasmed with pain.
He moaned and laid back down. It hurt too much to move. A soft voice came from nearby. "Hey Goten! Come see what I found!" In the back of his mind, the warrior thought that the voice sounded like that of the prince… and then, not.
"Whatcha find Trunks? Let me see!"
The man lifted his head to see a strange child leaning over him. The child had limp purple hair. How… odd. He opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out.
"Hey Goten, he's trying to speak."
Another little boy, who nearly could have been the man's mirror image, came into view. "He looks like Tousan."
"Yeah, he does look like your tousan… He looks like you, too."
"You think?"
"Hai, and he looks like he's hurt, too. Bad…"
"Do you have any senzu beans, Trunks? Well, give him one."
"Uhmmm… okay," with that, the boy with limp purple hair stuck something into the man's mouth.
The warrior recognized that the boys were trying to help him, so he carefully chewed the small object that had been placed in his mouth. It tasted horrible. It tasted so bad that the man wanted to gag. He managed to choke it down though. He had, after all, been forced to eat much worse things.
Immediately, he started to feel better. He sat up. This time, he didn't start to feel lightheaded.
"Who are you?" he asked awkwardly.
"I'm Son Goten!" said the normal looking boy.
The boy with purple hair looked at him like he was embarrassed to be seen with him. "I'm Trunks Briefs."
"Who are you?" asked the chibi Son Goten.
"I'm Bardock," the man said softly. {Maybe Son Goten is related to me… He sure looks like someone from my family.}
The chibi grinned broadly. "You look like my Tousan."
Bardock blinked. That was definitely not what he expected. "What is this… Tousan?"
"It means dad," the purple haired boy said.
Son Goten laughed. "Hai! You look like Daddy!"
{So… Did Turles decide to have children after all?} "What is your Daddy's name, Son Goten?"
"My Tousan is named Son Goku… You don't have to say the 'Son' part, though. That's just our surname."
The other boy looked up. "Briefs is my surname."
"Surname?" {I feel like a world class idiot, now. What world is this anyway?} "Where is this?"
The purple haired boy, Trunks, answered. "A surname is a family name. And this is…" he looked around himself, "…the area around Satan City."
"Satan City?"
"Japan," he looked up at Bardock, seemingly surprised.
"Japan?" Bardock asked dully.
"Grrrrrr… Earth. Chikyuu. The system of Sol."
"Never been here. What am I doing here?"
Trunks growled again. "How am I supposed to know? I only found you, you know!"
Bardock sat down; he was feeling very confused. For some reason that he couldn't comprehend, he liked this place… He liked these kids, too. Their actions were incomprehensible. Why would the go out of their way to help a warrior that they didn't even know?
He got back up. As he did so, he could hear a loud voice calling in the distance (The distance from which it was calling was coming closer, too.).
The voice yelled out some obscenities, and told the "Spawn of Kakkarot" to come back with his son. The voice sounded familiar.
Bardock's chibi lookalike leapt at the sound of the voice. "I didn't kidnap him!!! He kidnapped me!!!"
"Oh, no! It's Dad!" Trunks wore a look of panic.
"What do you have to worry about, Trunks? Vegeta will kill me before you, any day!"
They looked at each other for a moment and nodded in unison. "Run!" They looked at Bardock and Goten said, "Sorry, we gotta go! If he catches us, I die!" They blasted of at speeds that Bardock didn't think he could match if his life depended on it.
{Did the chibi say "Vegeta"? The… prince?… is here? Impossible. It's preposterous…} "How can this be?" he murmured to himself.
A moment later a short man with a spiky crewcut (Sorry, people… I just love that haircut of Vegeta's. *^-^*) landed on the ground a few feet away from him. Fortunately, it didn't look like the prince.
"Where did the brats go?" the man grumbled. "You!" he glared at Bardock, "Where did they go?"
Bardock blinked. It reminded him so much of how the prince spoke to people. "They took off that…" he lifted his hand to point. He wasn't given the chance to finish, lifting his hand or speaking.
"You! You look like that third-class good-for-nothing baka, Kakkarot! Who are you?" he demanded.
Bardock was more than a little shocked. He was starting to see even more of a resemblance between this man and the prince. "I'm…"
"Spit it out already!"
"Bardock," he finished.
To say that this guy looked shocked would be a bit of an understatement. "YOU are Bardock? Hai, you are…" he breathed, still in shock, "but… you're supposed to be dead."
"You know me?" Bardock asked curiously. He lifted his hand to scratch the back of his head in what he didn't know was a classic Son gesture.
"Not really. I just thought that I SAW you die. I was on Frieza's ship when he blew up Vegeta-sei. It has been a long time…"
Bardock was even more confused than he had been earlier. He decided to put the subject on the one thing that he heard which sounded familiar. Kakkarot. "I heard you call that boy 'Spawn of Kakkarot'… What was that supposed to mean?"
"…" The man, {Vegeta}, Bardock reminded himself, was speechless… for a moment. "Kakkarot is your son, isn't he?"
"Well… My son is named Kakkarot, if that's what you're asking."
"Kakkarot lives on this planet. That was his brat and my brat."
"You mean… you really are Prince Vegeta?"
"Hn. King, now."
Bardock immediately fell down to one knee. "I apologize, sire. Your hair…"
Vegeta unconsciously brought his hand to his head and scowled. "Onna cut it."
"You have a mate?"
Vegeta growled, "Hai."
Bardock smiled. "This must be a different time… Last time I saw you, you were only ten. Now you have a woman and a brat. I must say, I'm proud."
Vegeta suddenly remembered that Bardock and his own father had been on friendly terms when he was a child. "Kakkarot must have gotten that disgusting habit from you…"
"What disgusting habit?"
"Of treating me like he's my equal."
"Oh…" Bardock was slightly confused. He had gotten along pretty well with the old king, but why did Vegeta find that so disturbing? Was it the idea that strange to him? On the battlefield, respect comes with strength and intelligence… not to mention cunning… not rank.
"That brain damaged moron…"
"Brain damaged? How did that happen?"
"Well…" Vegeta shrugged. "I'm not certain, but it happened a short time after he arrived on the planet… or else the inhabitants would be mostly dead." He glared in the direction that the chibis had gone. "They're hiding themselves…" he sighed, resigned. "Onna is going to be pissed."
Bardock couldn't help but find it amusing that his prince… king… was acting so whipped… by some onna, no less. "So… Son Goten is my grandson…"
"Hn. Kakkarot would be pissed if I just left you out here… so would Onna…" Bardock smiled upon hearing that, "so, I suppose that I should just bring you back to Capsule Corps (form here on, it will be "CC") with me. I hope you can keep up…"
"If you're as fast as the little ones, there's no way I could keep up with you… you'll have to fly pretty slow." Bardock almost laughed at Vegeta's expression. "You can tell me what happened since the destruction of Vegeta- sei, as we go…"