The Bardock Effect
Chapter Two: Preparations
"Chi Chi, I'm home!" Goku called out as he entered his home. "And I have some guests!"
"Goku," Chi Chi said in a warning tone as she rounded the corner from the kitchen. "How many times have I told you not to bring people over uninvited?"
That was when Chi Chi gasped. One of the men standing behind Goku was the spitting image of her husband, minus the weird clothes and the scars. She didn't want to think where he could've gotten scars like that, but then again, Goku's friend, Yamcha, had a few scars of his own, and he was little more than a wannabe playboy. The other gentleman was taller than Goku, with wild, long, unkempt hair and a scowl on his face. She didn't like the way he looked, but if Goku thought he was alright...
"But, Chi Chi," Goku started. "They're family!"
"What?"
"This is my father, Bardock," he said, pointing to his near-mirror image.
"Hello," Bardock said in a gruff tone.
"And this," Goku said, poking the long-haired gentleman on his left. "Is my brother, Raditz!"
"Hmph," was the only thing to come from Raditz's mouth.
"And why," Chi Chi said in a very serious tone. "Have I never seen either of these guys before?"
"Because we just arrived from space," Bardock said plainly. "I was...I got trapped in a stasis pod for two decades. Thankfully," he said, lightly rapping both his sons on their shoulders. "I stopped these two from fighting long enough to get them to agree to something."
"You mean to tell me," Chi Chi started in on her husband again. "That your brother just arrived on Earth, and you two immediately started fighting? What is it about brothers that get them fighting the moment they're close enough to talk to eachother?"
"He started it!" Goku lamented.
"No whining," Bardock said before smacking his youngest son on the back of the head.
"Mr. Bardock," Chi Chi said evenly. "I appreciate that Goku is your son, but please, don't hit my husband while you're in my house."
"What about Raditz?"
"Father!" Raditz exclaimed.
Chi Chi looked at the two of them and sighed, saying, "Just don't break anything."
Bardock laughed for the first time since his squad died. "I can see why you chose her, Kakarot," he said. "She's sharp."
"Why'd you call my husband 'Kakarot?'" Chi Chi asked, confused.
"Well, you see..." Goku started. It took a few minutes, but Goku managed to relate how he learned that, not only did he have a brother, but that he was an alien called a Saiyan and that, due to his head injury as a baby, he didn't remember his old name, which was apparently Kakarot.
"I see," Chi Chi said, relaxing a little. "And how was Gohan?"
"It was fun, mom!" Gohan said, running to his mother. "Dad's got some really cool friends. It was kinda scary when uncle Raditz showed up, but then grandpa Bardock came and straightened things out."
That's the understatement of the century, Bardock thought to himself. If I hadn't showed up, they'd both be dead, right now. While his visions had certainly helped him spare his sons from that fate, Bardock honestly didn't know how to broach the subject of occasionally being able to see possible futures with...well, anyone. How do you tell someone that you can see the future? That's not something you just go around announcing like some kind of moron. He didn't think Kakarot would become overly reliant on his foresight, but Raditz seemed to be a bit on the clingy side. And the whiny side. Spending his formative years without parents, it made sense, but it was no less annoying to see his eldest son turned into the makings of a running joke.
Goku's wife let them in after she got an agreement out of both him and Raditz that they wouldn't start anything while they were guests in her house. Bardock indulged her request, partly out of respect, and partly because she was the single most interesting person he'd encountered in the past twenty three years. It wasn't until dinner that Bardock really started to see what his youngest son saw in this world. The food his daughter-in-law prepared looked and smelled amazing. It was a far cry from the broiled "meat from some random creature" to which he'd been accustomed. The multitude of flavours that he savoured had no analogue in Saiyan cuisine. Even his eldest son, Raditz, seemed to warm up to Kakarot's wife when she put the delicious meal before them. Then came a word Bardock didn't recognize: "dessert." He was about to ask Kakarot what his wife meant by that when she came out of the kitchen carrying what looked like a massive, stepped mound of white and red covered in strange, glittering, multicoloured gems.
"What is this?" Raditz asked his brother in a slightly awed tone.
"Wow, Chi Chi!" Goku exclaimed happily. "What's the occasion?"
"I figured Gohan might like something sweet after spending time with your friends," Chi Chi answered happily. "And I figured you would be all mopey if I made something sensible, so I decided to make a giant cake."
"What is a..." Bardock struggled with the next word. "Cake?"
"Its good, whatever it is!" Raditz said, eating the large piece Chi Chi had placed before him ravenously.
As Bardock bit into the piece he'd been given, he had to agree with his eldest son's assessment: this "cake" was good! Exceptional, in fact. He'd never eaten anything like it before. Oh, he'd had a few servings of sugared meat now and then, but this! This blew that so far out of the water, there was no comparison. If this was the kind of food Earth produced, Bardock thought it a good thing that Kakarot had failed in his mission to exterminate this planet's inhabitants. The cooks on Planet Vegeta could learn a thing or two from this woman, that was for sure. Replete and sleepy, Bardock and Raditz were ushered into the guest room across the hall from his grandson's room.
"I take it back," Raditz said as he laid out on the bed he'd chosen. "This planet might be worth something, after all."
"No arguments here," Bardock replied in a friendly tone.
"Father," Raditz began in a questioning tone. "Be honest. Do you think we could ever stand up to Frieza?"
"We're Saiyans," Bardock said plainly. "Of course we can. Answer me this: have you ever heard of Frieza training?"
"I think he spends all day in that chair of his," Raditz replied.
"Exactly," Bardock stated. "He thinks he's got the whole galaxy under his little finger, so he doesn't bother with getting stronger. We're different. We have a goal. Where there's a will, there's a way, son."
"I've missed you these past twenty years," Raditz said in a sad tone.
"Me, too," he said honestly. "Maybe, tomorrow, we can start making up for lost time. Spar like we used to."
"I'd like that," Raditz said, yawning. "Good night, father."
"Good night, my son," Bardock replied, rolling over in his bed.
The next morning, Bardock awoke to yet more pleasing smells. The breakfast that Kakarot's wife had presented to them had been one of the best things he'd eaten in a long time, second only to the dinner she'd prepared the night before.
"So," Bardock said, getting up from his seat. "Kakarot, Raditz, are you ready to start training?"
"Training?" Chi Chi asked. "Training for what?"
"Some of my former...comrades," Raditz said, spitting the last word out like something rotten. "Didn't like the way father spoke to them, so they're coming here to try and 'teach us some manners.'"
"'Us?'" Chi Chi repeated the word back with a hint of confusion. "You mean they're not just coming after Bardock?"
"Apparently," Bardock said stretching his arms. "They didn't really like Raditz here in the first place, and I doubt they're too keen on Kakarot, either. They're associated with me...sins of the father, and all that."
"Goku," Chi Chi said, exasperated. "How do you manage to get into trouble even when you aren't doing anything?"
"Its a gift," Goku replied, scratching the back of his head.
"Mom," Gohan started a bit sheepishly. "Can I watch them train? I won't get in the way, I promise!"
Chi Chi thought it over for a moment, before saying, "Alright, but I want you back before lunch! You have homework to do. And, Goku? Don't even think about getting my son caught up in all this, understand?"
"I promise I won't," he replied, hugging his wife and putting his son on his shoulders. "Alright, you ready, Gohan?"
"Yeah!" the boy replied happily.
The trio, plus Gohan, took off and were soon at a clearing around a kilometer from Goku's house. "Kakarot," Bardock said, turning toward his youngest son. "We're training your son."
"But," Goku said, startled. "Chi Chi said not to!"
"She told you not to train him," Bardock replied simply. "Raditz and I are under no such obligations. The boy's part Saiyan. Besides," he started, lowering his gaze a little. "What if something were to happen to us? He would be better off knowing how to defend himself, should the need arise."
"You have a point there," Goku agreed. "Man, Chi Chi is going to kill me..."
"We'll take it easy on him," Bardock said diplomatically. "Won't we, Raditz?"
"Hmph," Raditz replied somewhat indignantly. "Only within reason. I can only hold back so much."
"Fine by me," Bardock responded before turning to the skeptical-looking boy standing next to his father. "Gohan, how about it? I won't tell if you won't."
"You," Gohan said, a little scared. "You think I could be strong like you and uncle Raditz and dad?"
"Its in your blood," Bardock said, nodding.
Grandpa Bardock thinks I could be strong like dad? Gohan thought, amazed. Could it really be true? Dad was strong, and uncle Raditz had beaten him up easily, and from what Gohan had gathered, grandpa Bardock was stronger than the two of them put together. If a big, tough guy like his grandpa thought he could be strong, Gohan couldn't help but believe his words.
"I won't let you down!" Gohan said firmly after a few moments.
"That's my boy," Goku said, beaming with pride.
With that, a daily (or thrice weekly, in Gohan's case) training regimen began. Since Kakarot was the weakest of his two sons, he was the natural choice for the majority of Bardock's attention. Raditz was a bit put out to be paired with Gohan so often, but after the boy put him on his back a time or two with that hidden power of his, he began taking the youngster's training more seriously. The ki sensing ability Kakarot taught him and Raditz was amazing. Even with his eyes closed, Bardock could tell where his sons were when they tried to take him on at once, at his behest; their ki shone in his mind like distant fires, and he was able to dodge and counter them almost as easily as he could with his eyes open.
Raditz could see where this ki sensing thing could definitely come in handy. Even if Vegeta or Nappa kicked up a huge dust cloud or, heaven forbid, blinded him, he'd still be able to defend himself. What's more, he could feel how much Kakarot and his son were growing in strength...it was unreal. The boy was getting stronger at a faster rate than any of them and, just three months after they'd started, Raditz's nephew was stronger than he, himself, had been when he first arrived on Earth. He and Kakarot were almost at a dead heat, but father had them all beat, though he knew why that was the case. Every few nights, Raditz would awaken to the sound of his father sneaking out of their room to train on his own. He didn't question his father's decision, Raditz figured that he had a good reason for doing the things he did. Sometimes, his father would look lost in thought, like he was off somewhere else, mentally...and it almost always appeared as though he'd been reading ahead in some script only he could see.
Chi Chi seemed to catch on to the fact that they were secretly training Gohan against her wishes, and as she approached Goku with a thunderous look, he knew that she'd figured it out. However, a sheepish, innocent look seemed to tell her everything she needed to know. She simply sighed and walk out of the room, remarking something to the effect of "men." As they trained, Goku began to see that his dad really was in a league of his own. He was incredibly strong and blazing fast, not to mention very skilled. Fighting him was even harder than fighting Piccolo had been. But, for all his father's love of battle and incredible skill, Goku could tell that there was something bothering the man. Sometimes, his eyes seemed so...distant, as if he were getting lost inside his own head. There was something more than this Frieza guy or Vegeta that was driving him, but Goku just couldn't figure out what that something was.
Gohan was happy that his dad was including him in his training, even if it had been grandpa Bardock that had suggested it. Training with uncle Raditz was interesting, even if he got the feeling, sometimes, that uncle Raditz would rather have been training with his dad or grandpa Bardock. As time went on, though, uncle Raditz seemed to warm up to him and was a bit less quick to criticize his technique. He especially liked it when grandpa Bardock challenged him, his approving look whenever he managed to land a blow gave Gohan a warm feeling and made Gohan promise to keep going harder so he wouldn't let them down. He was especially proud of himself when grandpa Bardock told him three months into the regimen that he was stronger than uncle Raditz had been when he'd arrived on Earth.
After another unsolicited change in their training's focus eight months in leading to one too many uncomfortable questions, Bardock called an early halt to the sparring. It was time. "Father," Raditz began, confused. "Why are we stopping."
"Raditz, Kakarot, Gohan," Bardock said, steeling himself. "What I'm about to tell you is to never be revealed to anyone under any circumstances, understood?"
"What are you talking about?" Goku asked, a puzzled look on his face.
"Just swear," Bardock said impatiently.
"I swear!" the three of them said almost in unison.
"Good," Bardock said, taking the moment all in. "You've been wondering why I keep changing our focus without warning. I think its high time you know why." The next part was the most difficult time he'd had speaking in years. "It started when my team and I had finished our assignment on a planet called Kanassa," he said in a somber tone. "To cut a long story short, I was attacked by one of the natives, who gave me the power of foresight so I could see the end of my race, just like he had to."
"Foresight?" Raditz asked, astonished. "Surely, you don't mean to tell me you can see into the future?"
"I do," Bardock stated. "I only catch glimpses, and they're only possible futures. If I hadn't arrived when I did, Raditz," Bardock said in a quiet tone. "You and Kakarot would've ended up basically killing eachother. I couldn't let that happen...there are too few of us, as it is."
"But," Goku said. "What about the Dragon Balls?"
"The what?" Bardock asked, honestly confused.
"The Dragon Balls," Goku said in an explanatory tone. "They grant whoever gathers them any single wish they could desire. If I died in battle, wouldn't they have been able to bring me back?"
"I didn't see that far," Bardock replied. "I only got as far as you two dying. Like I said, I only catch glimpses of a possible future. Every time I change our regimen, its because I get a vision of us dying to Frieza because we overlooked some detail in our training. The future can change," Bardock stated in a firm, somewhat angry tone. "And I'll see that it changes with that bastard dying by our hands!"
"Well," Raditz said after he'd had some time to absorb what he'd just heard. "Its good to know that you weren't doing it just to get on our nerves."
Bardock rapped his son against the back of his head. "This is serious, moron," he said firmly.
"Ow!" Raditz cried, rubbing his head. "I was being serious, too! Honestly, its good to know that we've got someone that can see the future on our side. That just means beating Vegeta and Frieza will be that much easier."
"I hope so," Bardock said. "But, I have a feeling the power was only temporary, the visions have been getting less and less frequent. I don't think that Kanassan intended for me to survive the destruction of Planet Vegeta."
To everyone's surprise, it was Gohan that spoke next. "Still," he said in a slightly timid tone. "We've got some lead time, and that might be just the advantage we need."
Everyone nodded in agreement. Truth be told, Goku was a bit glad that his dad's foresight seemed to be only temporary, that made things more interesting. Four months later, the quartet of Goku, Raditz, Bardock, and Gohan bade Chi Chi farewell, promising that they'd come back in one piece. Goku had been able to relate the location at which Vegeta and Nappa would be landing that Bardock saw in one of his visions to the rest of the Z Warriors. A small army was waiting on the outskirts of a deserted, mountainous wasteland; in a few hours' time, this place would become a battlefield as a mix of humans, a Namekian, and Saiyans would face off against the last two Royal Saiyans left.
"So," Bardock said to the green alien sitting nearby. "It seems you actually did get stronger. You might not be a waste of space, after all."
"Keep talking like that," Piccolo said testily. "And I'll show you just what I can do."
"Save it for the royalty," Bardock said, amused. "They need it more than I do."
"Whatever," Piccolo replied. If Bardock didn't know better, he'd swear the green alien had a slight, amused smirk on his face.
"Guys," Krillin said in a scared tone. "Do you feel that? Those two huge powers coming toward us?"
"I wouldn't call them 'huge,'" Raditz said, laughing. "More like 'mediocre.' Just like those two bums to not spend any time training, even if father was almost as strong as Vegeta when he first showed up here."
"Just for reference," Bardock asked his eldest son. "What was the little Prince's power level, last you checked?"
"Around 18,000, I think," Raditz said, scratching his chin. "You were at 12,500, I think."
"I wouldn't call that 'almost as strong,' Raditz," Bardock said. "Still, the three of us are past what I was, then. They really don't know what they've gotten into, do they?"
"Not a clue," Raditz said with a vindictive smile.
A few minutes later, two Saiyan space pods crashed into the planet just a few dozen meters from the cadre of warriors that had gathered to greet them. This, Bardock thought as the smoke cleared. Is going to be hilarious.
Author's Notes
Wooh! Another chapter down, aww yeah! First and foremost, I just want to say that I am honestly amazed at all the praise I've gotten, thus far! You guys are the best, no doubt about it. Special shout out to Full Power! I didn't think I'd get someone who'd gotten their fic on TVTropes (still haven't managed that, alas) to favourite my stuff and be so...nice about what I've written. It means a lot, thank you.
Some of ya may be wondering why I have Bardock's foresight diminishing, and the reason is simple: a story about a guy who can see the future, even if its at inopportune times, would get boring pretty quick. He'd know what to expect, and that's just not that fun to write. So, the Kanassan's power here was a temporary curse, meant to either torment or, preferably, kill Bardock with the vision of his people's demise, but without enough power to keep the curse going indefinitely.
Also, Bardock might be friendlier here than he was in his special. Losing almost his entire race has kind of put a damper on the more unsavoury parts of his personality. He still loves to fight, he's still a Saiyan, but he's mellowing out a bit thanks to Goku and Gohan's influence, same goes for Raditz. Finally, yeah, I'm gonna have a lot of fun with the next chapter. Vegeta should've known better than to pick a fight with a pissed off, proud warrior that can see the freaking future, especially when that warrior started out with more combat experience than Vegeta had in his entire life prior to that moment.
That said, thank you guys again! The feedback really helps! If I derp, don't be afraid to tell me. I miss things, too. I'll catch you guys later for the next installment of The Bardock Effect, Chapter Three: Royal Pains! Take care!