The Epic

Chapter 1

By: Ka-chan

Disclaimers: All characters, unless otherwise stated, belong to and were created by Akira Toriyama. So far the only

character I have made is Celeria.

Warnings: Very mild reference to rape, minor violence

Notes: This is an A/U fic. Any changes made to the storyline can be attributed to that.  I made Vegeta and Radditz closer to Goku's age.

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            Goku paused midstep. He thought he sensed something out in space.  It seemed similar to his own ki, but stronger. Goku doubted even Piccolo would stand a chance against whoever it was. He lost his balance and fell over. Wincing, he glanced sheepishly up at his friends. Bulma quirked an eyebrow at him while Kuririn smirked and extended a hand. "What were you lookin' at Goku? You were totally out of it man." The small monk looked at him curiously. "What was it?"

            "I thought I sensed something out in space. Whoever it is, is really strong." The young teen rubbed the back of his head nervously. "We should start training more. I'm not sure we'd be able to take 'em at our level now." He glanced at his friends again.  Bulma was staring at him in shock. "Nani?"

            Bardock glanced over at his son. Radditz and Vegeta were standing at the window looking out at Chikyuu-sei. The planet would serve their needs well. The spy that Vegeta no Ou had placed on Furiza's ship had reported that the alien planned to destroy Vegeta-sei. The alien seemed to have become fearful of the saiya-jins ability to become stronger after each battle. The saiya-jin no ouji had been sent off to find a planet suitable for saiya-jin refugees. "Chikyuu-sei is beautiful. It's full of life. All that remains is for Vegeta-sama to reach an agreement with the people," murmured Celeria. The young girl stood at the helm with Bardock. The scarred saiya-jin ruffled the girl's hair affectionately. Her father had died in battle and Bardock had taken it upon himself to raise her.

            "Vegeta-sama, do you think Chikyuu-sei will be hospitable to saiya-jins?" asked Radditz. He glanced over at the ouji with hopeful eyes.

            "Hai. I know it will. Your younger brother Kakarotto is already there." Vegeta felt Radditz and Bardock turn their gazes on him. They hadn't known the boy had survived. When Kakarotto had been sent off planet Furiza had been in a bad mood. The tyrant had been destroying every infant sent out that he could see. Kakarotto had been one of the lucky few that survived. "I know what you're thinking. He was sent out while the bastard was busy with another group. He narrowly avoided death. Brace yourselves. We're entering the atmosphere."

            Yamucha glanced up from his meal. A meteor streaked across the sky and crashed nearby. "Hey Puar, did you see that?!" The shapeshifter looked in the direction her friend was pointing and shrugged her shoulders. "Let's go check it out Puar!" The warrior grabbed the cat's tail and raced off towards the crash site.

            Puar was able to grab onto Yamucha's wrist, diminishing the bumpiness of her ride. She caught a glimpse of a waterfall just as Yamucha passed it. After several minutes they stopped. Yamucha pointed over the top of a bush. Puar floated just above it and looked out into the clearing. There was no meteor, just some sort of ship. The cat watched as the door hissed open and four people stepped out. One of them had very long, wild hair and bore a resemblance to Goku. Puar couldn't take her eyes off him. She ducked back behind the bush and turned to Yamucha. "Should we get Goku? I didn't see the other three, but the one with long hair kinda looks like him. And he had a tail!"

            Yamucha was peering through the bushes at Bardock. The resemblance between the scarred saiya-jin and Goku was disturbing almost. He glanced up at his long time friend. "That's nothing! Check out the guy with the scar!" Yamucha snickered at Puar's reaction to the man. Her eyes practically bugged out of her head. "Come on Puar. We'd better get Goku-kun." He tugged on her tail and turned to go but found his way was blocked by a very solid chest.  'Kuso!' Yamucha  grinned nervously at Bardock. The tall saiya-jin smirked down at the nervous teen. "Err…hi. I'm Yamucha and this is my friend Puar. Who are you?" Yamucha backed up slowly and bumped into someone else. He tensed in preparation for a fight.

            "Hn. Lousy bum. What were you doing just now?" growled Bardock. He really didn't like the idea of being spied on. He wondered if Furiza had already reached this planet. It didn't seem likely since the planet was on the edge of the universe, but the saiya-jin didn't feel like taking chances. He sighed in annoyance the intruder glared at him and prepared for a fight. "Look, you don't stand a chance against me, much less all four of us you bum. So just tell us what the two of you were doing here." He stepped to the side to avoid Yamucha's attack. He saw the ouji shake his head in annoyance. Bardock reached behind him and grabbed the boy by the back of his shirt. He pulled the youth in front of him and pinched his neck, smirking as he lost consciousness. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the cat flying off. He decided she didn't pose a threat and dragged the boy back to the ship. "What should we do with him Vegeta-sama?"

            Vegeta glanced over at the boy held firmly in Bardock's grip. "Place him in one of the beds and leave Radditz to guard him. I'll speak with him later." The young royal turned his attention to the direction the cat had flown off in. He thought he sensed several ki in that direction. 'Odd. I thought the inhabitants of this planet were all weaklings…?' He shoved the information to the back of his mind and went back inside.

            Kuririn looked over at Bulma and laughed. Goku had tried a new attack and accidentally knocked her into the pool.  She growled and smacked the monk in the back of the head. He winced and grinned sheepishly, thankful that Bulma's attention was now on Goku. The spiky haired teen smiled and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Bulma, you know I didn't mean to! I'll…I'll make it up to you! I swear! AAAH!!!!" Bulma smirked and shoved him into the pool. Goku floundered for a moment and came up sputtering. He pouted up at Bulma. "I said I'd make it up to you…but now I'm just gonna do this!" Goku grinned and grabbed Bulma's ankles. Bulma shrieked as she was pulled underwater.

            "Goku! How dare you!" Goku cringed and waited for Bulma to hit him. He opened his eyes when he heard a yell and a splash. Kuririn treaded water nearby. "You left poor Kuririn out of all the fun." The three teens smirked at eachother and began a huge game of water wars. They were completely oblivious to the small blue cat trying to get their attention. Goku narrowly missed knocking her into the water before he noticed her.

            "Puar! Hi! Where's Yamucha?" asked Goku. He pulled himself onto the edge of the pool and held Puar in his hand to insure she wasn't knocked around by the two teens who hadn't noticed her yet. He frowned at the panicked look on the small cat's face. "What's wrong Puar? Is Piccolo causing trouble again?"

            "No! There was this meteor but it wasn't a meteor it was a ship and there were these people with tails like you and one of them looks just like you and they have Yamucha!!!!" wailed the tiny cat. Bulma and Kuririn took notice of the two and swam over to them. Puar noted the confusion on their faces and decided to repeat herself more slowly. "Yamucha saw a meteor so we went to go look at it. But it wasn't a meteor it was a spaceship and there were four people with tails like Goku on it. One of them looks just like Goku! We were going to leave to get you but they heard us and they have Yamucha!!"

            "Bulma, you stay here with Puar while me and Kuririn go find Yamucha," said Goku. He turned back to the cat in his hands. "Puar, where was this ship?"

            "On that island that you like to camp out on. The one with the twin waterfalls." Goku and Kuririn nodded and took off.

            Yamucha slapped at whoever was poking him. He was so comfy he didn't want to wake up. He growled at whoever it was and rolled over. "Heh. The ningen has spunk. Either that or he's just plain stupid." Yamucha's eyes snapped open and he stared up at his captor in fear. "Relax. We're not gonna hurt you unless we have to. I'm Radditz. What's your name?" Yamucha jumped up on the bed in a fighting stance.  Radditz chuckled at him. "You can't hurt me ningen. I'm too strong for you to even think of challenging."

            "Oh yeah! Well you obviously haven't seen me fight!" Yamucha yelled and leapt at the taller boy. Radditz sighed and stepped to the side. He smirked when Yamucha crashed into the wall. "Aww…man! That hurt!" Radditz shook his head and dodged another of Yamucha's attacks. The boy was a strong fighter for a ningen. "Hold still you big ox!" wailed the young warrior. He charged Radditz again and connected with his jaw. Smirking, he caught the taller boy and threw him into the wall. Radditz grunted and went crashing through the wall into the baths. He glanced around and sighed in relief when he saw no one was there at the moment. He turned back to Yamucha and growled. "Aww…did the big baby fall down and get a boo-boo? You gonna cry now?" Yamucha gasped as Radditz drove his fist into his gut.

            "You really should behave yourself," growled the saiya-jin.

            "Wh-Why should I? You guys are the ones who abducted me!" Yamucha stood up and winced. His stomach felt like it had a spike in it. He moaned and fell over. "Ahhh! Why'd you have to hit me so hard?!" He felt someone touch him and glanced up to see Radditz looking over his wounds. "Wh-What are you doing?"

            "I'm checking your injuries. I didn't mean to hit you so hard. I over-estimated you. You need to use a regen-tank. Hold still." Yamucha cried out when Radditz lifted him. The taller boy carried him into the sick bay and set him in one of the tanks. He punched a few buttons and stuck the facemask on Yamucha. After the teen had begun healing, Radditz went to find the others. He found a note saying that they had gone to look around and try to find whoever was in charge of the planet. "Hn. They always leave me with the easy jobs." He growled and went to find something to eat.

            Kuririn landed lightly and glanced around. He sensed several ki nearby. "Hey Goku! There's three of them right over there!" he whispered, pointing towards the high kis. Goku nodded and they quietly snuck up to peer through some trees at the strangers. Goku's eyes widened at the sight of Bardock. 'He looks just like me!!' He shook his head and focused on the other two. He glanced over Vegeta briefly and decided he must be the leader from the way he held himself.  Celeria glanced their way suspiciously but shrugged it off and focused on what Vegeta was saying.  Goku glanced back at Kuririn and noticed he was staring at the girl. "See something you like?" Kuririn blushed and looked down at the ground. Goku smirked and looked back at the three strangers.

            Kuririn looked back at the girl. 'She's so pretty…' Celeria had blue hair that was so dark it was almost black. Her tail was a few shades lighter though. When she'd looked at their hiding spot he'd locked eyes with her briefly, though she hadn't noticed them. She had the most stunning violet eyes.  Kuririn felt himself blushing again and tried to look at one of the other fighters, but he found his eyes drifting back to her again. She had soft features, but her eyes held a cold, hard look to them. The monk felt his heart twist as he looked at her. Whoever had made her feel so bad would pay. 'What am I saying?! I don't even know her and she took my friend!' He shook his head and finally noticed Goku trying to get his attention. "Huh?"

            Goku sighed to himself. "I was saying that they're leaving. We should follow them." Kuririn nodded and the two flew after the aliens, being sure to keep their kis as low as possible. Goku was still a little shocked at the resemblance between himself and the other man. He'd always wondered about his real family and at times if he was even human.  (A/N Come on. Like he thinks he's a human. He turns into a giant monkey on full moons.) The three strangers had tails like he did. Maybe they'd come to bring him back to his home world.

            Yamucha awoke to a buzzing sound. He glanced around and noticed a light on his tank blinking. 'Gah! Something's gone wrong! I'm gonna die!!' He began to thrash around when Radditz calmly walked in. The tall saiya-jin glanced at the panicked boy and smirked slightly as he pushed a button. Yamucha blinked as the fluid around him slowly drained and the hatch opened. "Relax ningen. That's just the buzzer that signals you're done healing." Yamucha blushed slightly as he toweled dry. He found his clothes in a storage bin and began to get dressed.

            "So, um….what are you?" Yamucha flinched slightly when his abductor turned to look appraisingly at him. "Uh…I didn't mean anything by it! Really!"

            Radditz smirked at Yamucha's reaction. Ningens were quite fearful. "I'm a saiya-jin. So what's your name?" He pressed a few buttons on a console and Yamucha suddenly found himself bathed in a bluish light. "Good, you've healed properly." Radditz turned and motioned Yamucha to follow him. "C'mon. I'm hungry and I can't leave you alone."

            Yamucha sighed and started after his captor. "My name is Yamucha." He was quiet the rest of the way. He tried to pay attention to which way they were going. The walls and floor of the ship were black with blue or red symbols every now and then. They finally came to a door with some odd blue symbols on it. Radditz opened the door and dragged Yamucha in with him. "This is the mess hall. I'll get something for you to eat. Um…how much do you eat?"  ,asked Radditz as he piled a table high with food.

            "You eat more than much as Goku…. Um…I eat one plate of food." Radditz' eyes widened. How could something need so little food? He'd never heard of it before! He shrugged and got the ningen a plate of food as he'd requested anyway. He sat down and began eating at a pace that would put Goku to shame while Yamucha watched slack jawed.  He quirked an eyebrow and shoved the leg of some strange alien creature in his mouth and began crunching on the bone. "Something wrong with the food, ningen?"  Yamucha shook his head and tried not to stare so openly. Radditz grunted and focused once again on his food. 'Ningens are such strange creatures…'

            Yamucha finished his plate of food and leaned back in his chair to wait for Radditz to finish. After what seemed like forever the tall saiya-jin finished. "So how come you saiya-jin guys are here? I mean, do we have some weird metal or something you guys need for building spaceships?" asked Yamucha.

            Radditz watched the ningen warily for a moment before answering. "We are here seeking refuge. There is an evil alien tyrant terrorizing the saiya-jin race. He has enslaved them and soon we fear he's going to destroy the planet. Chikyuu-sei is out of his current reach and it is hospitable to us. Our ouji, Vegeta-sama, came here along with me, my father, and Celeria to make a treaty with the ruler of the planet to use it as a refuge home till we find another suitable planet." Radditz was merely repeating a speech Vegeta had given countless times with a few revisions to make it sound more original. It seemed to work because Yamucha was nodding in understanding.  He grinned and leaned in closer to explain some of the stuff he'd been hearing about.

            Vegeta glared at random people who crossed his path. He really did not want to be here. He'd much rather be back home on Vegeta-sei helping his people. His father was more suited for this kind of work. He growled under his breath as his hair and clothes drew murmurs and stares. Bardock Celeria and himself had split up to find the capital of the planet. He was now greatly regretting that decision. He would have felt much more comfortable with some of his own kind around him. A soft sound caused him to whirl around. He was getting the strangest feeling that he was being followed. 'Not that it matters. I can handle some lame ningen.' He chuckled to himself and continued through the city.

            Not far behind Vegeta, Bulma snuck out of her hiding place. She narrowed her eyes at the retreating figure of the saiya-jin no ouji. She'd slipped away from Puar after the little cat had worried herself to sleep.  She ducked behind a building, narrowly avoiding behind caught again. 'I'm going to get Yamucha back no matter what it takes!' Vegeta glanced behind himself again. She barely darted out of sight in time. The young genius peered out of her hiding spot just in time to see Vegeta go around the corner. She cackled quietly to herself and hurried after him.

            Vegeta grumbled quietly to himself in saiya-go. Some blasted ningen female was following him for some reason.  He sighed as he caught a glimpse of her. Whoever she was she seemed to be faster than the average human, though not by much. 'Maybe she lives with some of those ningens who have the high kis? She could prove to be useful….'  He smirked to himself and walked around a corner. He leaned against the wall and waited for her to follow him. A small smirk graced his lips as his highly developed saiya-jin ears picked up the sound of her footsteps and breathing getting closer. As she rounded the corner, he grabbed her before she could even blink, firmly pressing one hand to her mouth to keep her quiet. He quickly flew off before anyone had noticed anything.

            Yamucha's eyes were wide by the time Radditz had finished describing some of the things Furiza had done. He couldn't believe the atrocities he'd committed. How could anyone be so heartless?! He shook his head and looked back at Radditz. He remembered suddenly how much Bardock looked like Goku. "Hey Radditz. You remember how you said you had a brother here named Kakarotto? Well I think I know him. Only he goes by the name Son Goku now. I could introduce you guys later if you like." Radditz grinned broadly at the thought of meeting his little brother. Then a thought occurred to him. "Why don't we go right now?" Yamucha smiled and shook his head. He leaned in and smirked, as though he were about to reveal a great secret. "Because we've got ore important things to do. I got something to tell you." He then began to explain the dragon-balls to his new friend.

Bardock and Celeria stood before Goku in mild shock. After a few tense minutes had passed, Bardock finally spoke. "Is your name Kakarotto?" He sighed sadly when Goku shook his head. 'But he looks so much like him….' He shook his head again and turned an icy glare on Goku and Kuririn. "Who are you and why have you been following us!?" Goku blinked at the sudden change in Bardock's attitude. "I'm Goku, and this is my friend Kuririn, and we were following you because you have our friend Yamucha So who are you guys?" Bardock growled softly to himself. He should have known the ningen would have friends! He powered up suddenly and swung hard at Goku's left cheek, chuckling to himself. Celeria stood off to one side, watching disinterestedly.

            Goku had sensed Bardock's power up and easily caught the punch he had thrown. He frowned and shook his head. Bardock's eyes widened at the sight. 'He's just a ningen! He shouldn't have this kind of power!' He shook his head and pulled his hand free, leaping back a few yards. He growled and powered up to his maximum, waiting for Goku to do the same. Goku sighed a little, silently wishing Bardock could be more of a challenge, a powered up as well. Bardock paled slightly as the readout came up on his scouter. 'He's stronger than Radditz is! I'm not sure even Vegeta can beat this guy!'  He swallowed nervously and stood his ground, signaling Goku to make the first move.

            Vegeta found the blue-haired female to be quite a handful. She'd been kicking and screaming, even through his hand, ever since she'd realized what had happened. He growled quietly to himself, fighting back the urge to merely kill her and be done with it. Finally, he glared down at her after she kicked him in the groin and growled deeply. "EITHER SHUT-UP OR I'LL KILL YOU!" Her eyes widened and she nodded meekly, tears coming to her eyes. He growled again and landed on a cliff overlooking some forest. "Why were you following me onna?" He crossed his arms and stood with his back to her, as if daring her to attack.  He raised an eyebrow when he heard the soft sound of crying. 'What now?' He turned and gaped at the sight of her crouched on the ground, crying softly.

            Bulma was so angry with herself. She should have listened to Goku and stayed at Capsule Corp. to wait for them. Instead, she'd gone off to find Yamucha herself and ended up with a crazy guy with a tail who was going to kill her. 'He might even rape me…!' She slumped to the ground after he set her down and began to sob to herself. She nearly had a heart attack when he laid his hand on her shoulder. She gasped and fell back, staring fearfully up at him. "What do you want with me?" He seemed to snarl at her and repeated his question. "You want to know why I was following you? I was following you because you KIDNAPPED MY BOYFRIEND!!" Vegeta stumbled back in surprise. How could she go from sobbing to screaming so suddenly like that? He shook his head in wonder and frowned at her again. "What is your name onna?" A few veins popped out on Bulma's forehead. "Don't call me onna!! My name is Bulma!!! Why would you want to know my name anyway? You're just going to have your way with me and then kill me anyway." She looked down and began to cry silently again. She wished Goku were here to save her like he always did. 'Goku…where are you?'

            Vegeta nearly choked on his own spit when Bulma yelled suddenly again. 'How can such a loud noise come from such a small person?' He chuckled softly at the last thing she said. "Why would I want to fuck an ugly onna like you? You aren't even a saiya-jin. You're just a pathetic ningen onna." He was caught off guard suddenly when she threw a rock right between his eyes. He cursed vividly in his native tongue and glared at her. She was holding her stomach and laughing hysterically at him. "Damn onna! I should ki blast you to hell for that!" This seemed to get her attention more than anything. She immediately stopped laughing and looked at him in what seemed like terror. 'So she knows what ki blasts are….she is rather pretty…even for a weakling…with a good training schedule she'd be gorgeous…..'

            Bulma cringed at the way Vegeta was eyeing her. He didn't quite seem to be undressing her with his eyes like she saw many men doing….more like analyzing her...but with a hint of something else. It made her feel even more uncomfortable then when the perverts stared at her. She looked away from him and thought of Yamucha. Yamucha would come save her. Goku and the others would find him and then he'd come save her like always. 'But…he...he isn't always there…..' 

~Flashback~

Bulma was walking home from shopping one day. She'd picked out the perfect gift for Yamucha's birthday. It was a set of steel-bladed kamas. (A/N: Kamas are like mini hand-held scythes that are used as weapons in martial arts.) They would really help in his fighting. She'd even got an ornately carved wooden box to put them in. 'He'll love it!' She giggled and bent over to put the box into one of her capsule containers where he wouldn't find it.  A strong hand on her shoulder caught her attention and she turned, thinking it was Yamucha, Goku, or maybe Kuririn. She blinked, seeing a strange man in a blue blazer and khaki pants. "Can I help you Sir?"

"Heh. Yeah you can help me. Help me into you." He grabbed her arm and swiftly pulled her into a dark alley. Bulma tried to scream but he clapped a hand over her mouth and slapped her across the face, leaving a bright red mark, which later became a bruise she'd hidden with make-up. He pulled out something that glinted in the dim light which she recognized as a knife. She whimpered and just cried to herself as he had his way with her, leaving her to lay in the cold alley for hours after.

Later, when she got home, she'd run to her room and showered for nearly three hours. When her parents had questioned her, she'd said she was sick and spent the rest of the day in bed. The next day she gave Yamucha his gift and pretended as though nothing had ever happened.

~End Flashback~

She didn't dare tell any of the Z-senshi. She was supposed to be strong in spirit since she couldn't be strong like them. If they knew she was weak like that they'd never let her go anywhere without one of them there to help her. She didn't want to have to rely on anyone She was too independent. That was part of why she was with Yamucha in the first place. He was afraid of commitment so he wasn't always around, but that was just fine with Bulma. She didn't need anyone. They needed her. That was the only reason they even hung out with her…. 'No one's going to come….' She bent her head and began to cry again, unable to stop.

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The ending rant/ramble:

Tifa: *blink blink* Ah!!! You stopped before it could be beautiful!

Ka-chan: -_- That's supposed to be in the next chapter Tifa no Baka.

Kimi-chan: *walks in munching on cookies* I liked the part where they were in the pool….except for the clothes….they need to go skinny-dipping.

Ka-chan: *glare* Again! If you can think of it, it probably is in a later chapter!

Kimi-chan: O.o You need afro-cheese!!

Ka-chan: *eye twitches* Go write your own damn story about afro-cheese!

Kimi-chan: *twitch* Okay! *runs off*

Tifa: Hey….I am not a baka! Kuta bare Ka-chan!

Ka-chan: No thanks Tifa. Shimatta ningen. Merfolk are better by far. Hn. *smirk*

Tifa: Oh Yeah!? Well..well….I breathe air! =P ……..right……