Disclaimer: I don't own DB/Z/GT.
The Plan to Repopulate the Saiyans:
Chapter 4: Goku has Left the Building
"Much to his annoyance, a thought popped into his mind. It was very clear and very distinct, and he had now come to recognize these thoughts for what they were. His instinct was to resist them" (Douglas Adams).
As Goku boarded the "higher plane" to make his journey to the check-in station, an idea suddenly surfaced in his mind. It occurred to him that it would be kind of rude to just pop in on his family and friends without any forewarning. Besides, ChiChi might have a heart attack if she just saw him show up out of thin air. In addition, he was quite obviously looking for excuses to spread the news because of how ecstatic he was.
He took his seat in the clunky old plane and glanced out a water-spotted window with a thoughtful look adorning his face. 'But who should I tell…' he mused. His first thought was ChiChi, but he reasoned that that would sort of be worse than him just magically showing up. If she heard his disembodied voice she would faint before he could even give her the good news. His next thought was Gohan. 'Yeah! Gohan!'
"Alright, Goku, concentrate!" he instructed, shutting his eyes tightly and furrowing his eyebrows together.
Contacting the living from otherworld was no easy feat, and normally Goku would just use King Kai as his medium so to speak, but King Kai wasn't available to him at this time. In fact, connecting with the living was prohibited unless supervised by a higher being such as a deity. Though, Goku was really antsy to spread the news, so as per usual, he decided to blatantly disregard the rules 'just this once'.
Goku zeroed in on Gohan and he could immediately tell that he wasn't alone. It took a moment longer of concentration to feel out the other ki signatures and identify them. Gohan was accompanied by Vegeta, Bulma, and Trunks. From what Goku could tell, Trunks was making fun of whatever it was Gohan was wearing.
'Wow… last time I saw Trunks he was still in diapers…' Goku thought in amazement. 'I wonder if I have a good enough connection for all three of them to hear me…'
"Gohan," Goku spoke, "Gohan, can you hear me?"
There was silence. Goku frowned. 'Maybe he didn't hear me… eh… I'm not exactly pro at this like King Kai is.'
Then he felt it. Gohan's ki signature fluctuated ever so slightly, followed by the others. "D – dad?" Gohan answered back in trepidation. "Dad, is that... is that really you?" he asked in a louder, more vibrant tone.
Goku laughed and gave himself a silent pat on the back. 'I guess I'm not so bad after all, move over King Kai!' "It sure is, buddy. Kami… it's great to hear your voice!"
"Dad…" Gohan muttered, struggling to come up with words to describe how he felt. "It's… it's so great to hear you too, Father!"
"Gohan, were you planning on competing in the World's Martial Arts Tournament?" Goku asked, getting straight to the point.
Gohan laughed sheepishly and replied, "Well, it's funny that you'd ask that. I was just telling Bulma how I was going to compete this year."
Goku couldn't control his rising enthusiasm and blurted out. "That's great! Hey Gohan, how would you like it if I came for a day and entered in the tournament with you?"
In the mean time, back in Hell it was miserable – it was always miserable – but today it was particularly miserable. It was one of those days where everything is enshrouded in a blanket of darkness and despair. Oddly enough, despite the lack of light, it was scorching hot as well. That was just one annoyance that was added to King Vegeta's list of aggravations today. Again, there is no 'daytime', 'nighttime', or any form of 'time' in otherworld. Being a creature of the living realm, it's too difficult for me to comprehend this concept entirely, and therefore to better describe the chain of events in this story, I may use this nonexistent 'time' principle from time to time – pun intended.
King Vegeta wiped the sweat off of his brow with his forearm and sighed with a great deal of exasperation. As if it wasn't bad enough that his wife had suddenly caught onto him, now he had to deal with this heat-wave nonsense. She didn't know exactly what he was planning, but she knew that since his brain had something to do with it, no good could come out of it.
She didn't try to stop him, no, she wasn't that assertive, but her constant bitching and moaning had been enough to drive any sane man the opposite. He had spent the better half of that day trying to get her off his back, and then at the last possible moment, he had managed to gather the people together of whom were necessary to put his and Bibidi's well-thought-out plan into action.
One group of his loyal followers had caused a ruckus miles away from where he was currently located. They were set in that location as a distraction. King Vegeta was well aware that Pikkon was usually sent to Hell to straighten out disorder first by himself, and if he needed aid Goku would come at a later time. To King Vegeta's delight, Pikkon had taken the bait and had gone after said crowd by himself. Pikkon was quite a strong fellow, but Saiyans were relentless fighters and they outnumbered him by a long shot. They would keep him busy long enough for King Vegeta to lure in and capture his prize.
The other group of Saiyans was now causing mayhem right in front of the main entrance into Hell. King Vegeta watched and waited. 'It's so damn dark out, how the hell am I supposed to know when he's even arrived?' he thought. He rubbed his temples and growled, lifted an arm casually, and blasted at a boulder several times. When the dust and debris cleared it revealed that the stone had taken on the appearance of a rather large chair. He blasted a boulder twice the size of the initial and formed a rudimentary, round table out of it. He sat down in his newly formed chair and sighed. 'What I wouldn't give to be out of this Hell-hole,' he thought, resting an elbow on the table and cradling his chin in the palm of his hand.
He took out a vial that had been tucked away in the breast of his chest armor and he examined it curiously. It was blood red in color, but it was translucent and thin, much unlike blood. He swirled the liquid around in the vial with a casual twitch of his wrist. He popped the corkscrew off of the top and waved his hand at the mouth of the little bottle. He sniffed the lingering scent, and his face immediately contorted with a look of disgust.
Sometime earlier that 'day':
King Vegeta glanced at the vial in Bibidi's clutches with a look of skepticism. "That's really going to help me?"
Bibidi grinned and replied, "Oh yes, it most certainly will! After all, I concocted it myself! I must warn you though. Be careful not to spill it on yourself."
King Vegeta was slightly intrigued. "Let me guess, it's a bitch of a stain to remove from clothing?" he asked sarcastically.
Bibidi let a out an abrupt amused chuckle. "Believe me; you don't want to find out for yourself. Just know that one drop alone is enough, though you can use as much as you please. Just be sure not to get it in any orifices. It is meant to be taken intradermally when short-term effects are desired. We don't want to knock him out for a month, now do we?"
"This must be potent stuff," King Vegeta muttered to himself. 'I'd prefer not to take this cowardly route, but if the guy is as strong as they say he is, I'm left with no choice in this matter.'
King Vegeta was suddenly snapped out of his muse by the arrival of a certain someone. He had been worrying himself that he might miss the man because of the darkness, and because of the lack-thereof scouter technology in Hell, but ironically enough, the person of interest had decided to turn Super Saiyan. The surrounding atmosphere was lit with a magnificent golden glow for miles. Goku - the man of interest - was lit up like the north star.
Goku crossed his arms and shouted, "Alright, who started it this time? Show yourself!"
King Vegeta grinned and stood erect. "I did," he announced with a loud, commanding tone.
Goku almost instantaneously reappeared in front of King Vegeta. He was scowling at him, but it wasn't a dangerous, threatening scowl. It looked almost as if he was about to reprimand a naughty schoolboy. The scowl faltered for a moment as a look of recognition shown on his features.
King Vegeta could instantly sense that this man before him was not of true Saiyan nature. The fact that he resided in Heaven, and not only Heaven, but the portion of Heaven that was reserved for the universe's greatest heroes was also a dead giveaway. King Vegeta smirked and took a seat on his 'throne' so to speak.
He carefully set the - still open - liquid-filled vial down in the center of the table, and he motioned impatiently to a random Saiyan warrior with his hand. "Do get the man something to sit on."
Goku appeared dumbfounded, and with good reason. He'd come down to Hell to investigate the chaos that the Saiyans were causing and now he was being asked to take a seat.
"That's not necessary," he replied curtly with a level tone.
The Saiyan underling ignored Goku's words and set a boulder down on the opposite end of the table from where Vegeta himself sat. King Vegeta glanced to the vial, then the boulder, and then lastly, his eyes wandered back to Goku.
"I insist," King Vegeta replied firmly, sweeping out his arm and gesturing toward the boulder.
Goku's eyebrows furrowed together in frustration. He appeared as if he was going decline the offer yet again, but his stern expression eventually wavered and he nodded his head slightly. He approached the boulder and sat down so as not to be rude.
"I'm embarrassed to admit that this commotion you've come to settle had been staged with the sole purpose of getting you to come here at this precise moment," King Vegeta stated in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.
To this statement, some of the Saiyans exchanged nervous glances with one-another and Goku visually tensed up.
"Is this some sort of trick?" Goku suddenly demanded.
King Vegeta glanced at the vial again and smiled. "No, no of course not!" he exclaimed with a vibrant laugh. "Well, I suppose technically I did trick you into attending this gathering, but I bare no ill-will toward you at all, Kakarrot. You see, I believe I am speaking for not only myself, but all of the Saiyans when I tell you that I admire you."
Once again, Goku appeared dumbfounded. "What?"
King Vegeta was well-aware of the cynical glances he was receiving from his brethren. He was also aware that he was continuing on needlessly, but he hadn't been so entertained in such a long time, and if Kakarrot was to be his new 'daughter', he might as well get to know him… her, right?
"Honestly Kakarrot, you are a figure of much respect and esteem amongst your fellow Saiyan brothers. After all, was it not you who defeated the most loathsome enemy known to our entire Saiyan race?" King Vegeta continued.
Goku blinked at him, still incredulous of what he was hearing. He took a wild guess and said, "Freeza."
"Yes, my boy!" King Vegeta exclaimed, slamming the palms of his hands on the table and causing the vial to make a little hop in the air. It clinked when it landed and twirled around on its base unsteadily for a good half-minute, but it had yet to capture Goku's attention.
Goku was modest as usual. He shrugged it off and replied, "But I didn't do it for you. I did it for myself, my family, my friends, the innocent Namekians who had lost their lives and planet, the fate of the universe, Vegeta - "
When Goku mentioned Vegeta a fire ignited in King Vegeta's eyes. He cut Goku off mid-sentence and interjected with an exclamation of: "Ah, yes, Vegeta, my son! And in so doing it for my son, your Prince, you were also avenging your race, were you not?"
The next reaction King Vegeta received from Goku actually took him by surprise. Goku laughed sheepishly and admitted, "Yeah, I suppose you're right."
'He is definitely no ordinary Saiyan…' King Vegeta thought. He immediately took on a completely serious and severe expression. "I have brought you here for a sole purpose, Kakarrot. I have called upon you to bestow you with the greatest honor a Saiyan as lowly as yourself has ever received. Ordinarily, a Saiyan spawn of such low class could not even dream of this appointment of nobility. Though, this is an abnormal circumstance. You have not quite earned this honor fully, but in time, I hope that you will fulfill the needs of this position and thus claim it entirely."
Goku's initial warm and friendly smile had quickly morphed into a dumbstruck expression yet again. He was clearly having difficulty following the King's train of thought. "Huh… what honor?" Goku asked.
King Vegeta smirked a deliciously malicious grin and replied without any hint of hesitation, "The honor of mating with my son, Prince Vegeta, and repopulating the Saiyan race with your offspring."
Goku's resulting facial reaction could by no stretch of the imagination be classified solely to a single category. It was as if he had displayed a look of utter horror, repulsion, incredulity, and even to an extent, incomprehension, all at once.
For the first time Goku had finally taken notice of the peculiar vial with the blood-red liquid inside of it, and that was only due to the fact that King Vegeta was reaching out toward it. It seemed as if it was all happening in slow motion, not just because of the intensity of the moment, but also because Goku was still in his Super Saiyan state. The irony is that he could easily at any moment have reached out and grabbed King Vegeta's arm. Instead, he watched King Vegeta make a fist and flick the vial over. Goku could have effortlessly intercepted. He could have righted the vile before any liquid escaped the mouth, but he just stared onward. He watched it tumble, clink, and splash as the liquid spread across the table. He gazed at the liquid in stupefaction as if spellbound by its gradual movement.
Reality finally hit him when the liquid came into contact with his gi. He glanced down at his soaked shirtfront and immediately stood erect. The liquid was hot and tingly. He ignored this fact and immediately shot a reproving look at King Vegeta.
"Hey!" he shouted. "What was that for? That was really immature! You should be ashamed of yourself!"
King Vegeta wasn't in the least bit remorseful. In fact, he was smiling triumphantly. Meanwhile, the tingling sensation on Goku's skin was becoming too apparent to ignore. It felt like his skin was boiling, and warmth was beginning to seep outward from the afflicted area.
His survival instinct was telling him to flee. It was telling him that whatever it was that just came into contact with him could be dangerous. A nagging voice at the back of his mind was telling him to concentrate and use his instant transmission technique to get the hell out of there, but he resisted these thoughts – outright ignored them completely.
"Alright, you've had your laugh!" Goku announced. "Now - " Goku lost his train of thought. He suddenly felt woozy. His ki wavered. His golden aura extinguished, and then finally his ki dropped to a harmless level. His vision blurred and he staggered backward on unsteady legs. He could just barely make out the patronizing look that was plastered on King Vegeta's self-satisfied muzzle.
He could hear laughter ringing in his ears. It felt like it was reverberating around in his skull. It was loud, incessant, and enough to drive just about anyone mad. A moment later, he was granted sweet relief from the detestable noise. All went black.
A/N: That, that dude looks like a ladyyyyy... lol jk not yet :) Thanks for the encouraging reviews: The-Alli-Cat, mjmusiclover, and Kakarot Son. Kakarot Son: I didn't really get the inspiration from Miyanon, though I did read her story back when she was updating. I like to think that I kind of got the inspiration from "The Kakarotte Factor" by Echelon. I love her stuff lol. But the only similarity will be the time period that the story takes place in and the involvement of people from Hell. As for Bardock... I'm not really sure yet. On a random note, have you seen the new special about him on youtube? It's called the episode of Bardock I think. Anywho... bye! :)
