Goku and Vegeta shake under the sudden energy spike. "D-did you feel that Goku?" Yajirobe stammers. Goku says nothing, stunned. "This is unbelievable? This power is way greater than me and Vegeta's? I would need to use the 4x Kaioken again, but there's no way I can take both him and Vegeta!" Vegeta, on the other hand, is confused. He doesn't recognize that he is beginning to grasp the power to sense energy, so he assumes it was head injuries. "Whatever Kakarot must've injured my head, I'll have to get to a healing pod after I turn this rock to dust!"
Gohan and Krillin were in the process of fleeing to Kame House. Suddenly, they both turn to the area where Goku is, nervous about leaving their comrade.
Bardock lowers his ki to be less noticeable and flies near the area of the fight. He sees Vegeta throw a Power Ball into the air, and turns his head away so he doesn't turn into a Great Ape. "An ape fight, huh? Alright Kakarot, time to show me what you can do!" Bardock is confused by the amount of fear on Kakarot's face and notices that his tail is missing. "His tail is cut off?! Must've been the old man. Oh well, I know that Kakarot wins this fight. Now the interesting part is seeing how he can do it."
After an intense battle, with Goku, Gohan, Krillin, and Yajirobe using all their trump cards. They finally take out Vegeta. Krillin was about to kill Vegeta, but Goku pleaded for his life. Vegeta flies out, vowing to get his revenge one day. Master Roshi, Bulma, Korin, Chi-Chi, and Grandpa Gohan arrive in a ship to pick up the tired heroes. Chi-Chi hugs Gohan, Bulma cries for the fallen heroes, and Roshi, Korin, and Grandpa Gohan are about to pick up Goku, when Bardock slowly comes out of hiding and begins walking towards Goku, with a smile on his face. Yajirobe, Bulma, Korin and Roshi shriek and run away, dropping Goku on his head, making him yell out loud. Chi Chi jumps back, ready to protect Gohan to the bitter end. "No, we can't take any more fights." Krillin yells with despair. "Vegeta took up all our energy." Goku grunts, looking at Bardock with confusion. "Hey, he kinda looks like me." Grandpa Gohan says "Hey! It's you! It's alright guys, this man won't hurt us."
Bardock's armor became dysfunctional after years of wear and tear, and as such, he wore a hide shirt and pants that he made from the hide of the animals on the planet he stayed on for the past 25 years. In 25 years, his power level increased from extensive training and his appearance, other than his clothing, didn't change much. However, 25 years in solitude pacified the Saiyan warrior(at least in a regular sense).
"Kakarot, that was quite the performance. You have skills, you were able to control the battle without even moving." Bardock laughs, much to the disdain of the Z-Fighters. "Gohan, you know this guy?" Chi-Chi asks. "Yes, he's Goku's true father," Grandpa Gohan says. "WHAT?!" Chi-Chi says. "Wow, first a father and now a brother." "I have a father too?" Goku semi-chuckles. "Are you gonna try and make me into a space pirate like Raditz did?" "Space pirate? Oh, you mean Raditz! Where is he?" Bardock asks. Krillin sighs, saying "We have a lot to talk about, let's talk about it on the ship."
Goku and the other board the ship, and while Krillin consoles Bulma about the situation, Goku talks to Bardock. "Well, to start off, Raditz came here trying to make me join him in conquering planets. He then kidnapped my son, and in the battle, I had to sacrifice my life to beat him. I didn't want to kill him, but he was gonna destroy all my friends!" "Hmm." Bardock makes a grim frown. "What an idiot forgot that he was just being a pawn to Frieza. Oh well, he got what was coming to him. But what's this about sacrificing your life, your right here?" Goku smiles, then says "You see, this planet has magic items called Dragon Balls. There are seven of them, and if you get them all, you can summon a Dragon that can grant almost any wish! We've used it a couple of times before to wish us back to life, but now that the creator of the Dragon Balls is dead, they don't work anymore." "Oh, so that's why that blue-haired girl is crying so much." Bardock states. "But it's alright, those Saiyans said there are another set of Dragon Balls on a planet called Namek, so we can still bring them back!" Krillin says. Suddenly, the younger Gohan wakes up, still in a frenzy from the battle. Chi-Chi tries to calm him down, but to no avail, once he sees Bardock, he shrieks, bewildered by his setting. "Gohan, c-calm down!" Chi-Chi sputters. "This is your father's father. He won't hurt you!" Gohan slows down, panting, and looking at a caveman version of his dad. "You weren't that bad for a kid, standing up to Vegeta like that." Bardock says. "But anyways, Kakarot, I wasn't here just to find you. I came here to tell you about your future." Goku turns towards him, interested. "Before our planet was destroyed, our race worked for a man called Frieza. If you think we were bad, he was the devil. He forced our race to conquer planets for his profit, making us destroy entire populations. However, he became afraid of us, fearing that eventually one day, one of us would become a Super Saiyan, a warrior powerful enough to defeat him. So he destroyed our entire planet. Before that, I gained the power to foresee the future through visions and foresaw Frieza blowing up the planet. I was too injured to fight, so I had to take a ship and leave. However, my final vision involved you facing off against Frieza. I want you to help me take down Frieza, Kakarot." "Wait a second!" Bulma yells "Why are you bringing him into this! We're tired of you guys trying to recruit Goku for your space wars! Leave us alo-" "Shut up." Bardock says monotone. Bulma begins to speak again, but thinks better of it and turns around. Turning towards Goku, Bardock says "Kakarot, I don't really care if you want to fight Frieza or not, I don't even care if you want to come with me or not. But I know this: my visions are accurate. You encountering Frieza will be fate, and if you're not strong enough, you're doomed." "Well, if it's destiny, I guess I have no choice, heh-heh. But is this Frieza guy really that strong?" "He was able to blow up our planet casually. Even if I had an entire army by my side, he would've defeated us without a sweat." The Z-Fighters are stunned, nobody being able to say anything. Suddenly, Goku starts the conversation again with "Wow! If he's really that strong, I'd love to take a go at him again." Bulma smacks Goku in the face, yelling "You idiot! He'll make roadkill out of you! And besides, have you forgotten about Yamcha and the others? We need to focus on them instead of some random stranger's bloodthirst!" Bardock grunts at the insult, and points at Krillin, saying "Hey, baldy! You said something about the Saiyans talking about that Namekian planet? Did they have tiny computers on their eyes that looked like this?" Bardock takes out a scouter, showing it to the group. "Oh yeah, they did have scouters on!" Bardock's eyes widen, and he sits back, thinking for a while. "Frieza, the man I talked about earlier, has access to every working scouter, and he also probably keeps tabs on Vegeta. He definitely knows about Namek now." Bardock begins laughing, while Bulma and Krillin begin screaming. "So, you're saying that guy will be after the Dragon Balls too?!" they say together." "Why are you scared?" Bardock asks. "It all works out, me and Kakarot fight Frieza, and you get to get your buddies back, it all works out!" "Hey, he's right, your pretty smart dad!" Goku and Bardock begin laughing again, while Bulma and Krillin begin mourning for themselves.
During the course of the next ten days, many things happen to the group. Bulma investigates with King Kai and Mr. Popo how to get to Namek, Bardock and Goku talk about their respective lives on Planet Vegeta and Earth, Bardock talks about Frieza, Dodoria, Zarbon and the Ginyu Force. Gohan gets to know Bardock, and manages to strike up a conversation, even if Bardock doesn't think much of him. Eventually, a decision is made. Bardock, Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma will go to Namek. It took a lot of persuasion to get Chi-Chi to let Gohan go, especially after she heard of Frieza. However, Goku managed to persuade her by saying it would be great bonding time for Bardock and Gohan, much to Bardock's chagrin. Goku also had to promise Bardock several times that as soon as he was out of the hospital, he would head to Namek. Bulma gets a look at Bardock's ship and repairs his armor, and with Dr. Briefs upgrades it to hold more people, and to also have a floor for a Gravity Chamber. "Hey, look at that." Bardock says as he puts on his armor, "Looks like you can do more than just complain." After those ten days, Bardock and the other leave for Namek. Bardock spends almost all of his time in the Gravity Chamber, pushing his body to the limits, only taking breaks for the bathroom, eating and sleeping. Gohan looks on in shock at the warrior's discipline.
Eventually, they all get to Namek. Bardock senses Vegeta, Frieza, Zarbon, and Dodoria in the distance. "Alright, I'm gonna go off, I have business to handle." Bardock begins to fly off, when Bulma screams "Hey, wait! If there are that many dangerous people here, you should stay here and protect us!" Bardock smiles, "Really? I remember you saying I was just some stranger that should leave you guys alone." Before Bulma could make up an insult, two Frieza soldiers fly near the ship and get surprised when they see a Saiyan other than Vegeta. Before they can utter a word into their scouters, Bardock swiftly pushes two beams through both of them, and they fall into the ocean. "Geez, that would've been bad if they told Frieza about you," Krillin says. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to lower my energy even more." Bardock says, chuckling.
In the distance, a handsome green fellow and his malicious tiny boss sense a sudden power spike near them. "Lord Frieza," said Zarbon "the scouts we've sent out have been eliminated. More so, we sensed a power level of around 10,000." "10,000, huh? That's not Vegeta, so it doesn't bother me. It's probably one of the Nameks, still, nothing compared to you and Dodoria. Kill them the next time they act up."
"We're doomed," Bulma cries, "We're fighting an entire army here." "Maybe we should go back to Earth for now, and wait for Goku." Krillin says. Immediately, Bardock turns around and kicks Krillin, launching him ten feet away. "What's wrong with you people!" Bardock says with shock. Krillin looks at him, as the pain shines harder than his head. "Are your friends that unimportant to you? Are you that weak?" "No, that's not it, we just don't wanna have their sacrifices go in vain!" Bulma yells, staring down Bardock. "And what would you know about sacrifices?!" Bardock looks at her, unmoved, almost as if he predicted her thoughts before he ever met her. "Go." Bulma, ready to continue the argument, is shocked by this sudden and calm statement. "If you guys are scared to fight, leave. I don't need and don't care about you. If you plan on having Kakarot baby you for the rest of your lives, do it. Take my ship and go back. All I know is that I refuse to step off this planet until either I defeat Frieza or die trying." Bardock begins walking away from the ship until Krillin stops him. "Wait!" Gohan says. Bardock turns around, surprised that Gohan piped up. "Grandpa...take me with you." Bulma gasps. "Gohan, don't let him guilt trip you. It's not that we don't care, of course, we wanna wish them back, we just don't want to get ourselves killed for no reason! I promise we'll go back as soon as this Frieza guy and his goons leave!" "NO!" Gohan yells, making Bulma jump. "We need to do this now. If we leave, that Frieza guy would probably take them for himself forever! Grandpa told me about the stories of what he does to planets he finds useful, what's stopping him from doing the same here. Mr...Mr. Piccolo and the others died to protect me, so I can at least put my life at risk too!" Bulma is about to make a rebuttal, but Krillin says. "Gohan's right Bulma, we can't always depend on Goku. Man, nothing ever goes easy for us, huh?" Krillin says while chuckling. Bardock says "Alright, that's enough of our war speeches, blue-hair, what does that Dragon Ball radar say?" Bulma is about to take out the radar, when suddenly a legion of soldiers fly past the crew, dashing towards another area. "That must've been Frieza!" Bulma takes out the Dragon Radar, and exclaims "All those guys are heading to pick up a Dragon Ball! They already have four out of seven!" "Alright!" Krillin says, "I'm gonna find out what's happening over there." "Alright, I'm going too!" Gohan declares. Bardock also agrees, but warns "We can't let Frieza find us out, especially me. If he does, he might send the Ginyu Force to deal with us. Let's go, but stay sharp!" Bardock and the others quickly jump over the islands, leaving an angry and scared Bulma by herself.
Dodoria looks on as Frieza interrogates the puny Namekians, anxious. Vegeta recently came to the planet, and by killing Cui he boldly pronounced his betrayal to Frieza. The Saiyan even managed to surpass him and Zarbon's power, of course he would be anxious! He knew that with Zarbon's transformation, Vegeta could be put down, but if Vegeta gained another boost of power like that…
Gohan and Krillin cringe with anger at the slaughter of the Namekians. Bardock however, is more angry at the smug, confident smile of Frieza "Damn tyrant," Bardock whispers, "you'll get what's coming to you soon." Suddenly, despite Krillin's arguments, Gohan jumps into action, kicking Dodoria. Bardock is shocked at the burst of anger from what was seemingly a pacified Earth child. Krillin grabs a scared Dende, and flies into the distance along with Gohan. Frieza is shocked, and demands that Dodoria find them. Dodoria chases after them, while Bardock slowly pursues by jumping islands, smiling. "That kid has some guts after all, nice. I guess my Saiyan blood still has a few drops in him."
Dodoria chases Krillin and Gohan, filled with rage. Krillin quickly throws Dende to Gohan and blinds Dodoria with a Solar Flare(and almost hits Bardock with it in the process). Krillin and the others hide out at the base of a nearby mountain. Dodoria scatters around the area, unable to find the trio without a scouter. Suddenly somebody rises into the air and quickly kicks Dodoria in his face, making him launch into the ground. Blood jets out of Dodoria's nose as he staggers up, bewildered. "W-who did t-that? V-Vegeta?!" The fighter slowly lands, claiming. "Tora. Fasha. Shugesh. Borgos. You'll all be avenged today, my comrades."
