Before we get started, this is a sequel to "The Saiyan Effect", which was a sequel to "The Vegeta Redemption". Yes, I know, I seem stuck in a rut with this storyline, but it just feels like a world of my own creation. Of course it's not, it's a world that I extended from someone else's creation. However, I want to see what happens next. So, on with the story!
Saiyan Sun A Rising – Chapter One – A Warrior's Decision.
By Jimbo
Gerald's face hit the cold hard rock and his body drove thirty yards into the side of the cliff before stopping. He was hurt, hurt in more ways than one, his body, and his pride. Never in his life had he met such a foe.
"This is it." Gerald thought to himself as he pooled enough energy to heal his body. "If I don't defeat him this time, I won't have enough energy left to heal myself again. If I fail, Vegetasei will be destroyed... again."
Using his ki to drive through, and emerge from the other side of the cliff, he knew that he was not only the last hope for his people, but for the entire universe.
Gerald found himself confronted by his enemy again. Found that he was looking into the creature's evil, glowing red eyes. Time seemed to stand still.
"They weren't supposed to use them!" Gerald's mind screamed. "Why did they use them? Who did this to us?"
Below him was a horrid scene. The twisted bodies of his father, mother, and his beloved Jessica lay in bloodied pools among the other fallen. Kirillin, 18, Bardock, Turles, Raditz, and at least twenty thousand other brave Saiyan warriors who wanted no more than to protect their world. Intermixed throughout the bodies were numerous bodies of other races that came to the aid of the Saiyans. At least another ten thousand aliens lie dead below him, bodies scattered almost as far as the eye could see. The city below was almost totally flattened by the creature's initial attack.
"You are powerful indeed, but it's time to die." The evil enemy cocked a crooked, evil grin.
Waves of pure, bitter, evil ki poured from the being in front of him. Gerald fought waves of nausea just being this close to it.
Gerald felt his anger rising and his ki rose with it. In his heart, he knew he was out classed. He randomly wondered what happened to Bardock Jr., Chi-Shi, and Gotarm. They had disappeared about a week ago, three days before the attack. He couldn't even feel their ki. They were in the middle of searching for them when Gerald felt the planet New Namek explode, and the largest ki he had ever felt come racing toward Vegetasei.
"What happened? Why did they use them? They knew what would happen!" Gerald said again.
Gerald screamed his frustration into the dawning sun of Vegetasei and reached his full power. The clouds in the sky raced away from him, as if afraid of his might. The sky itself went from Azure, to red, to blue.
"You know it will not be enough." The enemy grinned.
Gerald only growled and prepared himself for a final attack. It would be all or nothing. Gerald decided that if it were the fate of the planet to be destroyed once again, let it be in sacrifice for the rest of the universe. Gerald began to push his powers past the point that his body could sustain them. Gerald prepared to self-destruct. Gerald knew that the explosion would take out a large chunk of a parsec of space, but he would surely take his opponent with him.
His enemy started giving him quizzical looks, but made no move toward him.
"That's it you bastard! Take the time to figure it out!" Gerald smirked. "Gerald's life started passing before his eyes, especially the last twenty-five years. The period between his 11th birthday and now had been filled with a great deal of adventure, mostly by the side of Goku.
"Man, that guy really knew how to find trouble!" Gerald smirked.
But then, about eight years ago, Goku and Chi-Chi announced that they were going to join Vegeta. They said that their time was done, and that Gotarm and Chi-Shi were adults now that could fend for them selves. They had been invited by the Ultimate Kai to live on his planet and help take care of the universe. There were a lot of sad good-byes, but Gerald couldn't say it. For the first time in his life Gerald met an enemy he couldn't defeat, the pain of loss.
Goku embraced Gerald for the last time, a look of understanding passed between them, and Goku and his mate disappeared.
Then, just a year after that, his beloved Master Gohan died.
Tears rolled down Gerald's cheeks.
The memory came unbidden as the saddest day of Gerald's life, until today. Tears were once again freely rolling down his cheeks, both in sadness, and anger.
His muscles were on fire from the effort of confining his power. He released more and more of his power, and then he charged his enemy. He planned on pushing his power beyond all limits the second he made contact with the evil creature. "This is for you mom, dad, and especially for you my love. May we meet on the other side."
"You are right Porunga, it is time to die!"
Vegeta and Goku stood side by side as the holy man gave Pan her last rites. Tears were freely flowing down Goku's cheeks. Vegeta would never allow himself such a weakness, but since Pan had started training him when he was young, Vegeta had grown incredibly attached to her. More so than he had ever admitted before when he was alone with her the night that she died. He had never poured his heart out to anyone like that before, and hoped he would never have to again. The experience was too emotional. But Goku was right, if he wouldn't have said anything; he would have regretted it. Vegeta could only remember one other death in his life, since his dad died in an accident right after he was born, and that was Grandma Lindera, who raised him until he was about 11 years old. He and his grandmother had a secret understanding though, or so he thought. He still regrets not having told her how much he loved her.
Vegeta winced at all this thought of love and turned his attention to his friend. Pan had been ill for some time, but since their 15th birthday, she started sliding downhill fast. Her heart finally gave out three days ago. She lived to be 127 years old, ancient by either Human or Saiyan standards.
Goku was distraught, and part of Vegeta was repulsed by his friend's show of emotions, and the other part desperately wished he could comfort his friend somehow. Vegeta knew that this called for a marathon sparing match after the funeral was over.
"Yeah, a good fight always cheers Goku up." Vegeta thought.
Vegeta uncomfortably looked around at the countryside. He was struck with the beauty of the place. There were several gravesites around, one of which was that of Goku's honored ancestor, the warrior Goku who saved the entire universe on more than one occasion. Vegeta asked Pan about him once, but she just smiled and said that he wasn't really in that grave. Vegeta wondered what she was talking about, but didn't press for anything more. He thought she was getting a bit dotty in her old age.
Vegeta's eyes focused on a far hilltop and spotted two figures. He couldn't make them out, but could feel that they had an exceptionally high ki. They seemed familiar some how.
Vegeta blinked, and the figures were gone.
"What? Where'd they go?" Vegeta thought. Vegeta had a strong urge to go and investigate, but suppressed it in favor of staying with his friend.
"Did you feel that?" Goku asked.
"What? Oh, you sensed them too then?" Vegeta asked.
"Yeah. I did." Goku smiled. "I didn't know one of the kis, but the other I've sensed one other time. I didn't know much about sensing ki, not anything at all really, but I felt it all the same. It was warm, and giving, and I felt protected like at no other time in my life."
"Well, who was it?" Vegeta said impatiently.
"It was Grandpa Goku." Goku said. "He's come to take Pan to King Yamma!"
"Really? Are you sure?" Vegeta said wide-eyed.
"Positive." Goku said, and he stopped crying. "Grandma Pan will be okay now. My ancestor will protect her!"
Four hours later, after the funeral was over and family and friends had left Capsule Corporation's reception area, Vegeta punched Goku hard and flew off toward their sparing area. The area of about a hundred and fifty square acres had been used since time immemorial by Saiyan and part Saiyan warriors for the expressed purpose of training, and becoming stronger. It was here that just two years ago, Goku eclipsed Super Saiyan and ascended to Super Saiyan Two. Vegeta ascended just one week later, but Vegeta has never fully forgiven his friend for ascending first.
Goku rushed in and landed a roundhouse kick to Vegeta's stomach, which momentarily knocked the wind out of him. Vegeta powered up to Super Saiyan and punched Goku several dozen times to the abdomen and chest.
Goku powered up to Super Saiyan as well, and started blocking and returning blow for blow.
"You know Vegeta, that other ki felt familiar too. The one that wasn't my ancestor." Goku said as he threw a series of punches and kicks.
"Yeah, I thought that too, but I'm never felt it before. It was huge too!" Vegeta said.
"It felt very similar to your own." Goku said.
Vegeta startled and was distracted for just a moment, which allowed Goku to plant an elbow strike directly into Vegeta's face. Goku then phased out and reappeared above Vegeta and drove him to the ground with a spinning kick.
Vegeta flew back up and attacked Goku with renewed vigor and powered up to Super Saiyan Two. Goku found himself being pummeled.
"You're right Goku, that ki was very similar to my own, I wonder why I didn't recognize that? Who do you think it was?" Vegeta said as Goku's ki increased as he also ascended to the next level.
"Well, Grandma Pan always said that your ancestor and mine was good friends. At least, after they stopped trying to kill each other." Goku smiled.
Vegeta stopped and looked dumbfounded at his friend. Goku decided not to take the advantage this time.
"You mean the other ki was my ancestor? Was my great, great, great, grandfather?" Vegeta said.
"Probably." Goku said and came in for another attack. Both fighters battled in earnest for the next hour.
Goku and Vegeta suddenly became alerted to two very powerful kis around them.
"It's them again!" Vegeta said.
"Yeah, they're moving so fast, not even we can see them!" Goku sounded impressed. "We can't even get a glimpse of them!"
"You boys have never been in a real fight, have you?" A voice came out of thin air.
"We spar here!" Goku said a bit offended.
"I mean a real fight for your life against impossible, hopeless odds." The voice came back. "A fight where the deck is stacked against you."
"Well, no, I guess not." Vegeta said. "Earth has been peaceful all of our lives."
"What if I were to tell you that a strong and evil enemy was going to destroy the universe next week. An enemy so strong, that you don't stand any chance at all in defeating him." Another voice said. "What would you do?"
Goku and Vegeta looked at each other. "What other choice would we have? We would fight!" Goku sounded proud.
"Yes! We would fight!" Vegeta echoed.
"You would fight? Even though you would surely die?" The first voice said.
"We told you we would!" Vegeta answered.
"So, if we told you that there was a place that you could go to train and become much stronger without much time passing here, would you come with us?" The second voice asked.
"If it means we have a better chance at winning, of course we will!" Vegeta said.
"You bet ancestor!" Goku said.
Two figures materialized in front of them. They stared at each other for several long seconds.
Vegeta stared into the eyes of his great, great, great grandfather. Eyes almost identical in appearance to his own, except with a much harder, wiser gleam. It was like looking at an older brother otherwise.
"So, you know who we are?" The older Vegeta asked.
"Yes ancestor, we do." Vegeta said as he bowed low.
"The universe is in grave danger. You must step up to this job." The older Goku said. "We can take you to a place where you can train for thousands of years, yet only a few days or a week will pass here. The Ultimate Kai himself prepared this place for us."
"We have to tell our family and friends..." Goku Jr. started.
"They have already been informed." Vegeta said.
Goku Jr. and Vegeta Jr. looked at each other.
"Take us where you will then." Goku Jr. said.
Goku placed his hand on Goku Jr. and Vegeta placed his hand on Vegeta Jr. and they all disappeared.
On Vegetasei, three days before the Planet Namek explodes into cosmic dust, Gotarm, Bardock Jr., and Chi-Shi are blowing off a bit of steam after one of the hardest exams that had ever been created in the entire history of the universe. Master Pre-zlinne, an Etonian from the planet Neb, had taken great pains in seeing that the exam was particularly challenging.
"That bastard!" Gotarm struck out with his fist and caught Chi-Shi a glancing blow. "What the hell kind of test was that? You would think that an exam should at least cover the material presented in class! Some of that crap I never heard of before!"
"It was covered." Chi-Shi smiled. "He did choose the more obscure material to test on though. What a rat!"
"I have half a mind to complain to Head Master Kirillin about this!" Bardock Jr. said.
"It won't do much good, you know what he'll say." Gotarm said.
"Yeah! 'Be prepared for everything!'" Bardock Jr. mocked.
"Yep. That's a good imitation alright." Chi-Shi said.
"Besides, I guess we should at least wait until we see how we did before we complain." Gotarm pointed out. "No sense crying before the milk is spilt... or something like that..."
Bardock Jr. and Chi-Shi looked at Gotarm and smiled. "Yeah, you're right."
"You know, before Gohan thought it was a good idea to have education here, the Saiyans could just train! No blasted colleges to attend, no blasted physics, no nothing but fighting! It must have been great!" Bardock Jr. said.
"Times change my friend. Hard to get along these days just by your fists." Gotarm said. "But yeah, it must have been great."
"Computer! Turn the gravity up another 10 times Vegetasei normal gravity." Gotarm said and instantly felt the pressure. He powered up to Super Saiyan Five as well as Bardock Jr. and Chi-Shi.
They were about to continue fighting when a voice stopped them.
"I am impressed!" The voice sounded from behind them. "You are much farther along than I thought you would be. How exciting!"
All three of them recognized the voice and spun around
"Father!" Gotarm and Chi-Shi said at once.
"Uncle Goku!" Bardock Jr. said.
"Yeah, it's me." Goku said.
"W-What are you doing here?" Chi-Shi said with big eyes.
"Well, something really bad is about to happen." Goku said. "You guys need to train a lot before then."
"But we're at Super Saiyan Five! What could possibly be so bad that we can't already handle it?" Bardock Jr. said.
"Besides, King Roger and Gerald can kick the snot out of anyone!" Gotarm said.
"They are going to need help, otherwise the entire universe will be destroyed. Understand? The enemy that is coming is going to be more powerful than even Gerald. You have to come with me now." Goku said urgently.
The trio looked at each other and descended to the floor.
"Okay father, if you say so, then it must be so. We will come." Chi-Shi said. "Computer, return gravity to Vegetasei normal.
"Take my arm." Goku said holding out his left arm and putting his right hand to his forehead, two fingers pointing out.
Everyone disappeared.
They materialized on a very strange planet, with a whole lot of people around them. Gotarm, Bardock Jr., and Chi-Shi recognized many of them. Vegeta stood at the front, his arms crossed and a stern look on his face. He seemed to be sizing them up. Bardock Jr. gulped audibly as he felt like a piece of meat being judged by a tiger as something fit to eat.
"Don't be nervous." Goku chuckled in his ear.
"Gotarm! Look!" Chi-Shi nudged her friend in the ribs.
Beyond Vegeta, there were dozens of others, some Gotarm recognized, most he did not. Although very young when his brother passed, he recognized Gohan right away, and Videl standing beside him. He recognized Vegeta right away, and two people standing next to Vegeta seemed to be carbon copies of Vegeta and Goku. Everyone but them, and the carbon copies were dressed in matching clothing. Clothing Gotarm would never have believed a self-respecting Saiyan would ever wear. Goku was too, now that he had a chance to think about it.
"Master?" Bardock Jr. looked at Goku.
"Yes?" Goku said.
"Who are all these people?" Bardock asked.
"Well, let's see if I can keep this all straight." Goku scratched the back of his heard.
"Me and Vegeta you already know, so let's start with the people that you've probably heard about, but didn't meet because they moved to Vegetasei, or passed into this dimension, before you were born. This is my son Gohan, these three are my son Gotarm, my daughter Chi-Shi, and my nephew Bardock Jr., this is Vegeta's son, Trunks, and this is Piccolo." Goku said.
The Earth Saiyans stood with their mouths gaping as each was introduced. They had no idea that Goku had more children, and the array of heroes standing before made them speechless. Naturally, Pan had told them all of the old stories.
Goku continued, "...and this is Goten, he stayed on Earth and is your great grandfather, Goku Jr."
"Hey ya kid." Goten smiled.
Goten had passed away just the year before Goku Jr. was born. "Hello venerable Grandfather." Goku Jr. bowed.
"Hey now, no need for all of that!" Goten said and winked. "Just call me Gramps."
Vegeta was looking over the assembled people. "Where is my Grandmother Lindera?"
"She wasn't a warrior." Vegeta said gruffly. "She has no business here."
"And Grandma Pan?" Goku Jr. asked expectantly.
"Pan and Vegeta's daughter Bura has decided to sit this one out." Goku said. "You will see her again one day, but for now, Vegeta is right. Only people interested in teaching or training should be here. The danger is too grave."
"Humph! Just what is this danger?" Vegeta Jr. snapped, still angry at not having the opportunity to talk to his grandmother.
"Did Pan ever tell you about what happened to the Dragonballs when they were used too much?" Gohan asked.
"Yes, the Dragonballs created an evil version of Shenlon, Right?" Goku Jr. said.
"Correct... That is about to happen again." Gohan said. "This time with the Namekian Dragonballs, which are a thousand times more powerful than the Earth Dragonballs." Gohan said.
Gotarm, Chi-Shi, and Bardock Jr. gasped, they had also heard the stories. "So, you're saying that we will be dealing with an enemy a thousand times stronger than Evil Shenlon?" Gotarm asked wide-eyed.
"That is exactly what he means." A voice from behind them said.
"Hello Ultimate Kai!" Goku said cheerily.