A/N: Hey sorry for the long wait. I'm gonna wrap up the Planet Vegeta saga really quickly and get right into Goku's life. I thought that it would be cool if the saiyan language was a jumble of Japanese, but I might change that as I don't know the language and don't want to come off as some weeb who uses Japanese improperly. Anyway, here's the chapter. P.S you should imagine the voices from the anime when reading this, and when we get to DBZ, you should imagine the Kai voices.
Chapter 4
A New Path
A lot had happened since that day Frieza spared the Saiyan race from extinction. Bardock and Gine had trudged their way back to their hut to wait for their first born to return from his mission, but not before Bardock went to take care of important business. He went to the two medics, Malaka and Planthor, to tell them about the missing pod and to keep quiet about it. The two medics were less than pleased to hear this. They were mad that Bardock had tricked them and feared what Lord Frieza might do to them. The saiyan wasn't going to explain his motives, though, as he didn't feel he needed to; he was his son and he decided what was best for him. All he said was for the two medics to keep their mouths shut and to hide the infiltrator report in a secret file or something of the sort. The medics were reluctant to do so until Bardock threatened to blow up their lab and them along with it, if they didn't do what he asked. Bardock might have softened up a bit from this experience, but he was still a saiyan warrior and would make sure to remind the medics of that. The two knew he wasn't bluffing and complied with his demands. Bardock then gave a slight apology for his threat and was on his way back to his mate.
The two sat in the hut waiting to hear back from their son, and after a few hours, they were informed that he was entering the planet's atmosphere. The two rushed over the pod landing bay and awaited their son to exit his craft. Raditz waltzed out, but was suddenly intercepted by his mother's embrace. To say he was embarrassed was an understatement as he tried to wriggle himself out of the woman's grip. The young prince and aged general then exited their pods and gave the family a glance. Vegeta looked at Raditz with a coy smile, as a signal of mockery for being hugged by his mother in public. Nappa looked as well and thought of doing the same, but saw that both parents were there. The general knew who Bardock was and how he had climbed in power tremendously. He was close to the king's power level, but he was born a third-class and would stay that way the rest of his life. Even though Nappa knew Bardock had to obey his orders, seeing as he was a mid-class general, he knew that Bardock was much stronger than him. Nappa then gave a simple gruff as the prince ordered them to move on. The couple saw the prince and gave slight bows as he moved along. After the prince had left, Gine has pestered Raditz for detail of his mission. Raditz then briefed them on how he was able to take on a few soldiers, but that most were too strong for him. The child lowered his head in shame until he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. The hand was his father's, who was giving him a scowl, which then turned into a slight smirk. The boy was told to prepare for training tomorrow, as Bardock wasn't going to let his seed be weak and get beaten by a girl. Raditz gasped at how his father could have known about his fight with Magnolia, but he didn't care. His father wanted to train him to get stronger, and that was all that mattered.
The prince was walking to the palace to meet his father and tell him of his conquests, and though hypocritical of his teasing of Raditz, wanted to feel his mother's embrace as well. He arrived at the gates and was let into the massive building. He and his guard, Nappa, walked along to the throne room where the king was sitting, looking rather distressed. Prince Vegeta made himself known to the king in an exuberant way, regardless of the obvious atmosphere. The prince and general gave a bow to the king and when they were saluted, the prince ran up to his father to brag about his victory. He told of the soldiers he fought and of the planet's strongest warrior, which he dispatched with ease. The king looked at his son merrily, at least he had something to be proud of right now. As the boy continued, King Vegeta pondered about what had happened but only a few hours before. After they had returned from the announcement Frieza made, the king made sure that their attempted assassination would never leave the room that he and his soldiers stood in. Each warrior agreed, but many were shaky in the trust of their king. His Highness noticed this and become worried at his peoples wavering loyalty. If his personal guards couldn't trust him, then what would happen if the common folk became aware of this. King Vegeta was interrupted from his thoughts as his son pulled on his beard to gain his attention. The king went wide-eyed and grunted at the tug. The king then gave his son a simple pat on the head and that he should go train or do something else, as he had many political things on his mind right now. The prince rolled his eyes, but agreed to his father's command, going on his way to his personal chambers. Nappa tried to accompany the prince, but was halted by the tiny royal. The prince wished to spend some alone time to relax and ordered the general to go elsewhere. The general was reluctant at first to leave the prince alone, but eventually agreed, knowing Vegeta could take care of himself on the home planet. Nappa then went on his way to relax at the bar and indulge himself in some liquor, hoping to get a nice buzz and potentially a lucky night with a lady. The prince walked up a case of stone spiral stairs that lead to his room, but then took a jump onto a support beam and crawled his way through the structural vents. The prince had found these vents on accident a few years ago, and used them to spy on the servants and his parents. One time he caught his parents mating and decide to stay away from their chamber. He did however, visit the throne room and meeting room frequently. The young prince crawled his way to the meeting room where he saw his father and a few other dignitaries conversing about Frieza. The prince was intrigued and listened in, hearing about how they almost assassinated Frieza because they thought he was going to blow up the planet. The prince winced at this, thinking about why they would think this. Vegeta had never liked that slinky lizard, telling him a prince what to do, but knew that they were nowhere near powerful enough to kill him. The prince would be sure to keep an eye on the tyrant and to have his guard up around him. Vegeta then crawled back through the vents, towards his room, to think about what he had just heard.
After his announcement, Frieza returned to his ship and flew off to one of his base planets. In his mind he was running through the many possibilities and possible scenarios that could play out due to his decision. He would make sure to prepare for every possible contingency. His two subordinates looked at their master with concerned looks, wondering if Frieza had made the wisest decision. While they wouldn't dare to tell him he was wrong, they both felt this was going to somehow come and bite him in the rear.
Back on planet Vegeta, the saiyans had used their break and funds to create a festival and fighting tournament. The whole week was spent with lively music, plenty of food, and friendly brawling. Bardock and his family had only spent a couple days of the week at the festivities and spent most of it training Raditz. The training was hard for the tiny saiyan, but he enjoyed it and could feel himself getting stronger, plus the time with his father was nice, even if he was a bit gruff at times. The few times they went to the festival was to stuff their faces and to see the tournament. They walked along to see dozens of different foods stands and performance displays. It was a full emersion of untainted saiyan culture, consisting of only traditional foods and practices. It was nice to have events like this, where they could act their true selves without having to adapt their behaviors to outsiders. The last day of the break, the father son pair had gone to see the finalists of the tournament. Bardock had considered entering, but after everything that happened, he wasn't in the mood for fighting. The Royal family had attended the finals as well and sat up in their elevated booth, looking down at the dirt fighting ring in the center. Two saiyans stood in the middle of the stands of people who were chanting loudly to start the fight. The one on the right was quite large and bulky, indicating he was probably part of the Ikeika clan. The ogre of a saiyan had a tan skin tone and his hair was buzzed, with the only real hair present on his face as a mustache. His opponent stood across from him, staring blankly at the brute. The opponent was smaller, but not weaker, as shown by his large muscles. The warrior was pale skinned and had hair that resembled a frontward mohawk, but was thick like a lion's mane. They both stood still for a moment as the wind blew across the dusty terrain. It was dead silent until the larger warrior jolted forward trying to hammer arm the other fighter. The mohawked saiyan dodged effortlessly, though, as the brute was much too big and slow to land a hit. Mohawk then slid under the brute and kidney kicked him, causing him to collapse to the ground. While the fight may have been short, it was quite entertaining to see such a smaller warrior defeat the giant. The crowd roared for the victor who looked towards his fans with a smirk and raised a fist. The King was impressed by this warrior and rewarded his victory with a feast, as was promised to the tournament victor. The winner respectfully declined, saying how he only entered to prove that he could win, and decided that the feast should go to all the spectators. The crowd cheered even louder at this chanting "Mohawk", as the warrior never revealed his name. Bardock decide to head back with his son, seeing no need to go to the feast when Gine had been preparing a small one for themselves. He was making good on his promise to his sister to come for dinner. The pair flew back towards their hut, with smiles on their faces, in anticipation of the food they were about to engorge in.
The father son pair landed in front of their tiny hut and were greeted by tiny Gine, who was standing at the front door entrance, waving as she saw her boys return. Raditz ran up to his mother to tell her all about the day he spent with his father. Bardock looked away and lightly huffed, as he still had his saiyan pride and didn't want to look like a complete softy. Gine looked annoyed at him, but soon got over it when their guests of honor arrived. Landing soon after were Cavasa and Turles. Raditz ran up to Turles to greet him, and the Kakarrot doppelganger returned a simple smile. The two adult siblings looked at each other with daggers, but then broke into laughter. The family went inside the tiny hut and Cavasa and Turles looked around at their extended family's home. It was a simple home with two stories to it. Nothing spectacular or techy like the upper-class homes, but nice nonetheless. The walls were made from the white plaster that most saiyans homes were built with. Near the front door was a tan, two-seat couch made from a linen-like fabric and right behind the couch were the stone stairs that lead to the second floor. At each corner of the couch was a square brown pillow, with embroiders in each. The first said 'Iteka' (which is saiyan for home or family) in sown thread that matched the color of the couch and the other pillow said 'Yotsu' (it's one meaning for strength/power) in the same manner. On the floor was a woolen rug from a sheep-like animal and next to the couch was a simple floor lamp with a cliché red shade. They then passed by the kitchen which was a few feet away from the couch area. In the kitchen was a large, cobblestone, chimney oven. The fire pit was at the bottom of the oven and above it was the little metal door where food went into to be cooked. The oven was multipurpose and could cook almost anything in it, acting as a stove, toaster, and to an extent even as a microwave oven. Next to the oven was a small, stone water basin, with an open window above it and a few wooden cupboards to the side. On top of the cupboards was a stone slab counter top where Gine prepared all their meals. On the other side of the oven was their only electronic kitchen item, their refrigerator. Everyone then walked to the dining room and gawked at the display. The dining room had a smooth, gray, stone table surrounded by metal bar chairs with black cushioned seats. The circular furniture wasn't what they were stunned by, though. On the table was an array of dishes as far as the eye could see. Bean soup, roasted bird, braised swine, grilled fish, and tons of steamed vegetables in noodles on the side. A pitcher of yellow, iced, fruit juice sat in the middle of all the platters and the saiyans all sat down ready to eat. Gine looked at everyone and laughed at their displays and sat down with the rest of her family and they then dug in. The table had been preset since there was so little to set up. While saiyans were somewhat civilized and ate with utensils, they only used one, which acted as a multi-eating tool. They did use plates, but most of the time there were there for decoration. Even Gine had to admit that she ate rather barbarically when she gets hungry. The family stuffed their faces and chatted with each other. The two boys talked about little boy things like their kill count and planets they had recently purged (What? they are saiyan boys, of course their chit chat is gonna be violent.) The adults talked about more civilized topics, such as family matters and how they were holding up financially with all the taxes the PTO was implementing. Bardock and his sister did talk about their conquests, but only briefly as Bardock was still emotionally sore from his troop's death and wasn't in the mood to talk about purging. Gine was more feminine than her sister-in-law and was more interested to hear the juicy gossip of how Cavasa met Turles's father. Cavasa blushed at this and reddened even more when her brother scooted forward, smugly grinning, to hear in on the story. She declined though, saying how the story wasn't kid friendly and that she would tell it another time when the boys weren't around. Everything went downhill from there when Raditz suggested that Turles meet Kakarrot to compare how similar they look. His parents stopped dead and looked at their son. Raditz could feel the tension in the air and that his parents were going to tell him some bad news regarding his brother. Bardock then explained to Raditz that they sent Kakarrot away on an infiltrator mission. Raditz dropped his eating utensil at hearing this and yelled at his parents, asking why they did that. Turles and Cavasa looked at Raditz wondering why he was so upset, when it was common for babies to go on mission after they left the pod. His parents, however, knew exactly why he was upset. Raditz could remember his own mission and how terrified he was, and although not terrified enough to stop fighting, it was why he is much less reluctant to charge into battle. He was glad to hear that his mom would never let his brother go on one, wanting to make sure the same would not happen to Kakarrot, but now his brother was gonna get traumatized just like he was. Bardock tried to make an excuse for why they sent him, but Raditz was having none of it and sucker punched Bardock in the face where his scar was. The boy's father looked stunned as his cheek stung slightly and he saw the tiny warrior with a face of rage, facing him. Raditz was pissed with his dad, knowing he somehow coaxed his mom into sending his brother away. Sure, Kakarrot was a little annoying the few times he came out of the pod, and even bit his tail once, but he looked up to Raditz. Raditz never wanted his brother to have to deal with the same childhood he did. Bardock noticed Raditz's anger and sighed, deciding it'd best if he stay at his aunt's tonight. Cavasa looked toward his brother, still with a shocked look from seeing the tyke take a shot at his old man, and agreed, saying that it would be smart in case Raditz tried to kill him in his sleep tonight. All the adults chuckled lightly at that, but Raditz just looked away with gruff. Turles went to his cousin and cheered him up saying that they could spar when they got to his hut, to blow his anger off. This seemed to calm the boy down enough to go peacefully.
After they awkwardly finished dinner, Cavasa and Turles headed back to their hut with Raditz tagging along. Before they left, Bardock tried to reassure him that they sent Kakarrot away for a good reason and to trust his judgment. Raditz gave glance and walked off without saying a word. Bardock looked at his son walk off, disappointed that he couldn't get through to him. He then said how Raditz gave him a good punch and that they'd have to work on it more when he came back tomorrow, hoping to get a reaction out of the boy. It seemed to have worked as Raditz looked back at his smirking dad, but then he turned back with a brushed blush replying with a 'whatever'. The trio the flew off with a wave goodbye, except Raditz.
The system's star was beginning to set and Gine was cleaning up the mess left at the table. Some of the scraps were put into preserving containers and thrown in the fridge, while others were tossed out the window into a hole in the ground that served as a trash hole, where they let the indigenous animals come and get rid of their scraps. Dishwashing was simple since there were so few dishes to clean and because of the special soap provided by the PTO. All you had to do was fill up the basin, throw in the dishes, sprinkle in some of the soap powder, leave it to soak overnight, and in the morning, they're sparkly clean. Gine had just sprinkled in the powder before she was scooped up away from the kitchen and up the stairs by her mate. She was then plopped on the bed where Bardock then shuffled up to her, attempting to initiate her mating instincts by brushing up against her and giving small pecks to her stomach Their bedroom may have been small, but it was cozy and it was theirs. There was a small closet where a few sets of armor where hung and there was also a bathroom with a single sink, toilet, and shower. Their bed was in the middle of the room covered with a navy-blue cover sheet. The regular white sheets underneath smelled like a mixture of lavender and their own scent, which Gine enjoyed laying in. Off to the side she could see the blue curtains that covered their bedroom window, where she had a few plants sitting on the window sill. Gine was embarrassed by Bardock's advances, so she darted her eyes away to the night table they kept by the bedside. It was a little, dark wood table with a single drawer for putting their scouters and other small items in when they went to bed. On top of it was a small lamp with a round, blue shade on it. Bardock noticed his mate getting flustered, and thinking it was cute, tried to advance towards her face, but was then stopped. Gine gave Bardock a concerned glance. She was probably worried about Raditz and his reaction earlier. Bardock let out a sigh, telling her that everything would be fine and that he was just upset right now, but he'd get over it. Bardock did feel bad that Raditz was angered from learning about what happened to Kakarrot, but he was prouder at his son for taking a jab at him, in defense of his younger brother. If Raditz decided to get his shit together, he would be a great warrior and a great mate/parent if he decided to settle down when he was older. The couple then gazed into each other's eyes, having dealt with so much in the past week, wanting to relieve each other's stress. Gine gave Bardock the go ahead and he went to lightly kiss her neck. She shuttered at this, letting out tiny moans. This turned Bardock on as he slowly moved up her neck to meet her lips. They embraced in a deep kiss, and as the star lowered beyond the horizon, the couple enjoyed their moment of privacy to full extent.
The next day, Cavasa brought Raditz back and the boy made up with his father. The week had finally ended and everyone was getting back to their routine of planet purging, except Bardock. No, Bardock was going to stop purging planets as the scare of his own planet's purging had made it so he couldn't do it without feeling hypocritical. Even if he was still ok with it, he vowed to never join another troop again as an honor to his fallen comrades. Instead, he stayed home with his wife and trained his son whenever he wasn't off on a mission of his own. To provide revenue for the family, Bardock took up menial jobs on planets, like butchering with his wife, cargo carrier like his friend Zukini, or patrol duty with his sister. Everyone on planet had heard that the great low-class warrior Bardock had reduced himself to trite labor work. Word had soon got around that he did it because he was probably afraid that Frieza would have his head if he heard about all the nonsense he was saying about him last week, and Bardock had to admit that may have been part of the reason. Bardock went from planetary celebrity to local laughing stock, but he didn't care as he could still kick all their asses. For the most part Planet Vegeta and the saiyans stayed relatively the same and went on with their lives, except for one individual, who was blasting off towards an unknown world.
6 months Later
Kakarrot had been is stasis for months, and was just beginning to wake up from it. He was about a day from his destination and the pod had awoken him up to allow the toddler to mentally prepare for the landing. He woke up to see the black void of space and many brightly colored flashing lights along the metal wall surrounding him. The boy began to panic as he forgot why he was here. He then stopped to think about what happened and remembered his parents sending him off in this weird ball thing, to go fight some people. He then remembered the bag his mom packed for him and found it next to him in his seat. He opened it up and gobbled down all the food that was in there. Being in stasis for so long forces the body to use its nutrient reserves, and if you didn't eat before you left, you would be starving when you woke up. Kakarrot looked around the pod he was in and found a tiny screen. Curious about it, he touched it with his finger which then lit up with a sky-blue background. A bunch of letters then appeared on the screen, but the boy was too young to read the universal language or his native language. He then saw an icon with a picture of a planet on it and pressed it, as it was the only thing he recognized. The letters then disappeared and in its place, were tons of pictures depicting his mission. This feature was added for the infiltrator pods in case the child was too young or dumb to read. The pictures showed the blue planet that he was going to and of the natives that were on it. The natives, humans, looked just like saiyans except they didn't have any tails. Kakarrot thought this was weird and assumed that they were some weird weaker version of him. He then touched a picture of a clock which showed him a day/night cycle of the planet. It seemed the day and night was evenly timed, where on Planet Vegeta, the days were longer. The diagram then focused on the picture of the full moon. This remined the boy about how the moon is special somehow and that his parents said something about it, but he was too young to remember what it was. The pod then spoke to the boy.
"One day until arrival at destination". The pod's automated voice was robotic, but feminine. It was probably made that way to soothe the infiltrator babies with a motherly voice. Suffice to say it wasn't working. Kakarrot could understand what the pod said to him and decided to go back to sleep, as he didn't want to stay awake a whole day just looking out at the void.
12 hours later
Kakarrot was sleeping upright in his pod and slowly opened his eyes. He felt well rested after getting some real sleep instead of artificial stasis. He had spent about half of the day sleeping, but 12 hours was still a long time to wait. He peered out the glass window and still saw darkness. He wasn't going to go back to sleep, so he decided to spend the rest of his time looking at his mission briefing pictures. He was too young to understand everything about his mission, but he liked to look at the bright colors on the screen. He also passed his time by playing with the buttons in the pod. Luckily, his button pushing didn't mess with the pods trajectory because child pods were preprogrammed to autopilot towards the destination. Being only two years old (about to turn three), his attention span was easy to stimulate and the 12 hours passed by like nothing. Suddenly, something outside caught the boy's attention. Kakarrot looked out the glass and saw a large yellow star pass by. As he gazed at its bright glow, the pod suddenly spoke to alert him of the approaching landing.
"Pod will be landing in 5 minutes, please brace for impact". Kakarrot understood this and decided to strap himself in with the seatbelt. The pod first passed by a small rocky planet and then a moderately sized planet blanketed by yellow gases. The blue planet came then came into view. It was mostly covered by water with a few pieces of green/brown land. The poles were covered in all white ice and there were white clouds swirling around the planet. The pod was shooting towards the globe as everything was coming into view. He could start making out the view of a forest, but for only a moment before he slammed into it. The pod tore through the landscape, destroying a grove of trees that were now reduced to charred trunks. Kakarrot was startled by the crash and sat still for a minute, not knowing what was going to happen next. Suddenly the pod hatch opened, making a hissing sound from the compression of the air. The boy unbuckled himself and peered his head out of the pod. He was sitting in a big crater and looked up to the blue sky. He cautiously crawled out of the pod and crater and as he came up the hole in the ground, he looked around to see nothing in the immediate area but charred trees and hot sand. A few feet in front of him was a lush jungle and he could see all the green brush, thick canopy of the towering trees, and the jutting bamboo stalks. He could hear bird calls and rushing water in the distance. His stomach then growled as he remembered how hungry and thirsty he was. He carefully walked to the direction of the watery noise, keeping his guard up in case there were any predators. As he walked through the jungle, he saw many different foreign plants and animals. Being from the arid Planet Vegeta made this place seem like the Garden of Eden to the impressionable boy, not that he knows what that garden is. There were vines growing in every direction and bushes with giant leaves providing shade to the area. The trees towered over everything, hosting all sorts of different animals, who were watching the young boy to see what he would do. Many little lizards were scampering by at the sight of this new potential predator, and many frogs hopped away as Kakarrot approached them. There was no use trying to catch the small prey as they were too fast, so he ignored them and kept on walking. Soon he reached the source of the running water noise and found a creek. He bent down and took big gulps of water and soon took his armor off to roll around in the water and take the first bath he's had in months. The boy swam around in the creek for a few minutes before getting out and shaking himself dry. He may have been clean and hydrated, but he was still very hungry and now cold from the water. The boy sat down and thought about the situation he was in. He thought back to the few times he was outside his pod and how his mother would cradle and feed him. As he sat by the creek bank, he started to get wet again, but this time only on his face. It had finally sunk in that he was alone and no one was here to help him. He began to softly cry, but it gradually turned into a wail. The tiny saiyan sat with his legs sprawled out and his hands at his side, balling his eyes out, wanting his mommy. He knew she wasn't here though and he now wished he never went on this stupid mission thing. As he was crying, a rustle in the nearby shrubbery was heard. Still teary eyed, Kakarrot shot a glance at the source of the noise. He could tell that whatever was making the noise was getting closer, as it was getting louder. Kakarrot just looked at the bush, fearfully anticipating a predator to jump out at him. Even though, he was a saiyan, he was still just a cub and didn't know how to defend himself properly. The noise got closer and the shrub leaves began to shake more violently. Kakarrot didn't know whether he was going to fight or flee, but he slowly got up, ready for either. The noise was right on top of him and he could make out a figure popping out of the bush. Suddenly an old man came out from the leaves, but Kakarrot was too scared to get a good look at him and just screamed, curled into a ball, and started crying again.
An old man was walking through the jungle and had heard crying earlier. He decided to investigate who or what was making the noise. As he rustled though the underbrush, he heard heavy breathing, possibly from an injured animal. The old man was expecting to either help the creature get better, or put it out of its misery and have it for dinner, and that depended on how injured the animal was. What he wasn't expecting was to see a naked little boy, curled up in a ball, crying his eyes out. The old man then approached the young lad, hoping he could speak and find out what was wrong.
"Why hello, little one! Are you lost? Where are your parents?"
Kakarrot stopped crying when he heard the creature speak to him. This whole time, he was waiting to be attacked and eaten, but it turned out he ran into one of those human things he was supposed to fight. The boy peered through the opening he made with his hand covered eyes, but quickly shut them out of fear. He started whimpering again, thinking the man was here to kill him so he couldn't go through with his mission. Kakarrot was surprised when he was suddenly picked up by the elderly human and cradled in his arms. The old man then began to speak.
"There-there child. No need to cry now. I'm not going to hurt you. How's about we walk around and see if we can find your mama and papa"? Kakarrot was confused about what he should do in this situation, but he decided to let the old man take him wherever he was going, in the chances that the place had food. The old man picked up the set of armor that was near the boy, deducing that it belonged to the lad and went off with him. They walked through the jungle for a couple minutes, with Kakarrot now on the man's back, who was now much more visible. He looked like a fragile thing. He wore a green cap, topped with a white puff ball, that covered his whole head. He was wrinkly and had a large white mustache, and similar looking eyebrows. He wore a black robe with white at the ends, and the robe was covered in an orange vest of some sorts which was patterned with golden rings. As they walked around hoping to find the boy's parents, the elder stumbled upon a charred tree. Thinking there was a fire, he continued the path of the burnt trunks, until it led him to a peculiar looking craft sitting in a crater. The old man went down to look at the sphere looking machine, but as he approached it, a voice suddenly spoke.
"Foreign lifeform detected, scanning…Human identified. Activating Neural Aggression Wave."
The old man was taken aback that the machine gave this odd command, and that it was in his language no less. As the man attempted to back away from the machine, he looked back to see the silhouette of the boy had jumped up in front of the sun. The kid charged down at the old man, but hit the ground as the geezer dodged his tackle. The boy looked back at the elder with a feral look on his face and was stance down like a dog. Kakarrot readied a pounce at the man, hoping to deal a fatal blow, but what he didn't know was that he was dealing with an experienced martial artist. Once the man landed onto the earth, Kakarrot darted at the man, aiming for his throat, but he was suddenly stopped as a chop hit him in the neck, knocking him out. The boy fell, but was caught by the old man. The geezer was puzzled to why the boy suddenly attacked and then remembered how that machine said something about an aggression wave. Deducing that the pod was the cause of the sudden outburst from the child, the old man charged up a ki blast and fired it right at the pod, leaving it a pile of scrap. The boy was now dozed off as he sat in the old man's arms. The elder was contemplating what to do with the child. As crazy as it sounded, the boy might be from outer space and may have been sent as an invader, judging from the pod's commands. He could kill the boy now and get rid of the problem before he turns into one, but looking at the child peacefully sleeping pulled on the geezer's heartstrings.
"Ah dammit, guess I'm too much of a sucker for kids. I guess it's safe to say your mom and dad aren't anywhere nearby. Let's go little one, I'm sure your plenty hungry.", said the old man with his raspy voice. The geezer carried the child back to his cottage that wasn't too far away. Along the way though, the man noticed the brown, furred monkey tail that the boy had attached to him, as the kid wrapped it around the elder's arm. He was taken aback by this, but soon got used to it. Well he's supposedly an alien, so it makes sense he'd have an alien feature like that. They soon approached small the cottage, and boy was it small. It was a single room hut with two circular, glass windows on each side. The roof looked like a spikey hat, tiled with blue shingles. The base of the house was made of red brick, and the walls made of white plaster. Two wooden cyan doors, gave entrance to the inside. The kitchen was a firepit outside the house and there was no outhouse. The old man was content with this though, as he never needed much and enjoyed not having many material possessions. The inside was even more pathetic. There was a single room where to the side of the right door was a canopy bed with a red covering. In front of the door was a small red table with a single white chair and past that was a black dresser which acted as a stand for this small yellow orb that sat on a purple pillow. There were a few lanterns and pots in the house and a red pole sat against the wall. The old man laid the boy onto the bed and started preparing some food he had gathered/hunted earlier in the day. After a few minutes, the boy had slowly opened his eyes from the smell of the food. He sat up and looked at the table that was full of food. There was fish, a plate of noodles with vegetables and finally, a delicious plate of steamed beef dumplings. Kakarrot starred at the steamy plates with his mouth dripping with drool. As he got up to stuff his face, he noticed the old man from earlier and stopped. He looked at the elder with suspicion and growled at him. The old man simply gave a nod that he wouldn't attack him, and the boy then proceeded to sit at the table. He was then stopped again as the elder held the boys armor in front of him. The geezer wasn't going to have the boy make a mess of himself and made him put on the strange armor he found with the lad. Kakarrot grunted since he didn't like the feel of the armor and preferred being as he was now, but he was hungry so he complied and put it back on. He sat at the table and sniffed the food before eating it, making sure it was edible to him and not poisoned. After a few seconds, he dug in and stuffed his face with as much of the food as he could. The old man was astonished that such a small child could have such a big appetite, but remembering that he might be an alien made him get used to it.
"My-my! You have quite the appetite for a child. It seems you haven't been taught any manners though. You're also quite strong for a young one like yourself. If I weren't a martial arts master, you could've been quite a lot of trouble for me back there.", said the old man. The boy just kept stuffing his face though, oblivious to the elder. The geezer then remembered the sudden burst of strength he felt from the boy and that he couldn't just let him roam around, knowing he could seriously hurt someone or worse. The geezer knew that he was strong enough to handle the boy and that maybe he could help him control his power and aggression. It was decided then and there that he would try to raise this child as his own. The man had never had any children of his own, but he felt as though he could do the job well enough. It was also getting a little lonely around the forest and it would be nice to have someone to pass down his martial arts techniques to.
"I don't know where you came from, but you shouldn't have to be by yourself, little one. How would you like to stay here with me then? There's plenty of food to eat and a warm bed for you to sleep in. I noticed you've got quite the fire in your belly, I could help you to get stronger. How does that sound?", asked the geezer. Kakarrot looked at the man and starred at him for a minute, seriously considering this offer. He then remembered his father saying something about needing to get stronger, so he gave a slight nod and then dug back into the plates. The old man smiled as he watched the tiny child accept his offer.
"Oh, I'm, so glad you agree. It will be nice to have some company for a change. By the way young lad, what is your name?", asked the old man. Kakarrot suddenly stopped eating as he thought about that question. While he was smart for a child, he still was only about three and he couldn't remember a lot of things, like his name. He sat trying to remember it, but it was quite the word jumble for such a young saiyan. The only things he could remember were that it started with a 'k' sound. He let out a few mumbles saying "k..ka…k", but it was just too hard for him and he gave up. He looked down in sadness that he couldn't even remember his own name. The old man could sense this and decided to try and cheer the boy up.
"That's ok son, I'll give you a new one", he then pondered on an appropriate name. Hmm, Clark? No too stiff sounding. What about Wukong? No, that one doesn't sound good either. The perfect name then suddenly came to him, to which he looked at the boy with a small smile.
"How about Goku? Do you like that name?", asked the old man. Kakarrot thought about this for a second and liked the sound of it, which was apparent as his tailed flicked back and forth with a smile.
"Great! Then from now on you're Goku, Son Goku. And you can call me your Grandpa Gohan!", said Gohan with a smile as he picked the boy up.
Gohan the looked down at the table and noticed that the plates of food were devoured and then heard a grumble from Goku's stomach. Seems the boy has quite the appetite, he thought as he gave a small chuckle. Gohan still had some food left and he hadn't eaten yet either, so he decided to make some more food for them to both eat.
In Goku's mind, he only saw Gohan as a target, since the machine had awakened his aggressive pat of the brain, which urged him to attack the natives. He could have just tried to kill the man right then and there, but Goku was a strategist; something he picked up from his father. He was going to stay at this old man's place and get a feeling for how powerful the natives were, as well as be provided food and a warm bed. The boy gave a bland look as he was picked up and gave a small smile, but only because he was proud of the plane he thought of. Goku was quite smart for a saiyan child, something he got from his mother, so he had a sense of pride in his intelligence. He was still only a child though, which made him ignorant to many things and forgetful with other things, such as his name. Yes, if everything goes how he wants it to, by the end of the month, he should be able to beat this human called Gohan.
For the next few weeks, the pair formed a routine. It started with them getting up, dressing into their clothes (Goku no longer had to wear his armor and was given loin cloths instead), and Goku trying to go outside, but Gohan wouldn't allow him to go alone. This caused there to be a fight between the two every morning, with Gohan always coming out on top. Goku would squirm and try to attack Gohan, but the old man was too experienced and the boy was not as strong as he thought. After Goku had calmed down, they would both have a quick breakfast and go into the forest. Grandpa Gohan would put Goku in this basket on his back as they walked around to make sure that the boy didn't wander off. The boy had to be strapped in though, as he was angsty tried to escape at every attempt he had. Every day they went somewhere different in the forest. Sometimes they would go to the river nearby, sometimes into the thick of the jungle, to the creek where Goku was found, to the waterfall, and many more places. They once went to the pod site, but Goku became extra aggressive when they went near, so Gohan stopped going around there. When they went into the jungle, they would go to hunt for dinner, bringing back whatever plants/animals they could find. Sometimes Gohan would let Goku out of the basket and hunt as well. Those were the times Goku felt most alive as his fighting instincts could run free. Gohan was quite shocked at the level of predatory aggression the boy hunted with, but it also impressed him that he could do it without any tools or weapons at all. Many times, while the pair walked through nature, Gohan would point to objects and say their names, trying to teach Goku how to speak. His level of speech was fine as he could talk in sentences, but he stayed quite most of the time and still needed to expand his vocab. The boy had begun picking up on it and would repeat what the old man was saying. Gohan would point to a tree and Goku could tell him that it was a tree, that a rock was a rock, and so on. Once they had caught a meal, they would head back to the cottage and cook up the animals for dinner. Gohan had a small rice farm, so he was able to make rice dough to cook noodles and dumplings. As the food cooked, they would do light training like dodging and simple punches and kicks. During this time, Goku would try and find out the best ways to attack the man and possible strategies for humans in general, but he could never pick up on any specific weaknesses. After the food was done, Gohan would set the table up and they would dig in and eat. It was then time for bed to which Gohan would invite Goku to come to sleep, but Goku would crawl to the opposite side of the bed, making sure to not get attached to his target. Gohan was saddened by this, but understood that he was still somewhat of a stranger to the kid and gave him his space.
One day, this all changed, as the pair walked by the ravine path to the water fall. Goku was squirming around in the basket, when he noticed a loose end in the strap. He then wiggled his way out of the strap trying to take advantage of this opportunity to attack, but he was too rambunctious and fell out of the basket into the ravine. Goku took a nose dive into the ravine and thinking he might die from the fall, had shut his eyes, screamed, and cried. Just as he fell, though, he felt a hand on his foot. He opened his eyes to see the ravine below him and then looked up to his foot and saw a hand on it. Attached to this hand was Grandpa Gohan, who had caught him just in time. Gohan let out a sigh and pulled Goku back up. He held the boy his arms with the kid's feet and tail dangling.
"Goku, how many times have I told you to sit still? You're lucky I caught you in time. Who knows what could have happened if you fell down there.", said Gohan with worried look and tone. Goku just stayed still starring at the man who just saved him, the man who he had been planning to possibly kill, the man who he had been troubling for the last month, the man who took him in when he knew nothing about what kind of monster he was. This human saved him, even though he wasn't his actual grandson. Gohan simple gave Goku a little pat on his palm tree shaped hair and put him back in the basket telling him to stay still from now on. Goku did this, but more so because wasn't in the mood to attack as he had a lot on his mind. They soon reached the waterfall where Gohan caught a large fish for them to have for dinner later. Goku just sat and watched Gohan do his things, thinking about how this man is providing food for him when there is no benefit to him doing this. They then walked back to the hut and to Gohan's surprise, Goku was quiet the whole way. They cooked the fish, but skipped out on their usual sparring. Goku was distraught that night and ate very little. Gohan was concerned about this and spoke up to ask the boy about it.
"Is something wrong with food, Goku"? Goku just sat and starred at his plate that only had half of it cleaned off. He didn't know what to say to the man and just kept staring with a sad look on his face. "Did the fall from earlier today scare you son?", asked Gohan, thinking that could be the only other thing bothering the boy.
Goku kept staring at his food, but decided to give an answer. "No", he said softly which was then followed by a long silence, but then continued. "Not exactly", he said.
"Well then what's wrong Goku, you can tell me. I won't get upset with you.", replied Gohan, thinking it was something the boy was afraid to share. Goku then looked up and with a sad but curious face asked Gohan a heavy question.
"Why did you save me from falling"? Gohan was shocked by this question and was sad that the boy thought he saw no value to his life.
"Because you're my grandson, that's why.", said Gohan hoping to reassure the lad. Goku then dropped another truth bomb on the old man, albeit not trying to hurt his feelings, just genuinely being honest.
"But I'm not really your grandson.", replied the boy with a bit of a dead tone as he looked away from Gohan. The old man was hurt by this, as he had been trying to bond with this boy. There were a few times where Gohan thought to bring the boy back where he found him, but decided against it as he was growing attached to Goku. To hear that Goku didn't feel the same really damaged him. He decided to reply anyway, hoping to get his feelings across.
"No, you're not, but I treat you just as if you were. I like being your grandpa, do you not like me as your grandpa though?", asked the old man, hoping to get this over with and just bring the boy back. He obviously didn't want to be here, but he wanted it to be Goku's choice, as he seemed smart enough to make this decision. What the boy said next though left Gohan in shock.
"It's not that, but I'm not a good grandson. I always fight with you, and act mean, and don't listen." Goku was looking at the ground and starting to tear up a little bit as he continued. "I'm not yur real family, so why did you save me? I'm not nice, so it doesn't make sense that you still want me.", finished Goku, who was now tearing and giving small sniffles. Gohan was surprised the child had such a grasp on the situation he was in, but knowing he was still a child decided to comfort him instead of trying to rationalize with him.
"Now who says you have to be related to be family? I don't know about you, but I consider you to be family even if we aren't related." Goku looked up across the table straight at his grandpa's eyes, with pure confusion as to why he would say something like this. Gohan then continued, "You're a very special boy Goku, and while it's true that you are rambunctious a from time to time, I know there is good in you. You're still my grandson and always will be. That's the commitment I made to myself when I decide to adopt you."
Goku then started to cry because he still though that Gohan was wrong to want him, to which he then explained why. "But..but, I'm not a good boy. I always want to fight and kill everything and I don't know why! I kinda remember what I came here do to and I think it's something…...bad. I'm bad and you shouldn't be around me!".
Gohan simply got up from the table and went over to Goku. Goku was still crying but was in a defensive position, thinking that Grandpa Gohan realized what he was saying and was ready to attack. Goku was surprised when Gohan pulled Goku into a hug.
"Now who put a crazy idea like that in your head? I don't care if you're the son of the devil himself, you get to choose if you want to be good or bad. Now what do you want to be son?", asked the geezer. Goku looked up to his grandpa and started to cry even more a s he strained to get his words out.
"I…I wanna be nice like you! I don't want to feel these feelings to hurt you or other peoples! I'm sorry for being bad grandpa, I'm sorry!" He curled into Gohan and cried his eyes out. Gohan simply started stroking the boy's hair to calm him down.
"There-there Goku. I don't know why you feel this way, but we'll work on making it go away. I said you're my grandson no matter what and I meant that." Goku looked up to his grandpa and cried again, but this time trying to wipe away the tears. After a few minutes, Goku had calmed down and they readied for bed. Goku had decided to curl up near his grandpa, finally feeling like he belonged.
All was finally peaceful in the mountains until there was a large explosion later in the night. Grandpa Gohan had been fast asleep, until the large boom woke him up. He woke up to find that Goku wasn't in bed and assumed the worst. He ran outside to see that a giant tailed gorilla was rampaging through the jungle. Gohan was worried thinking that the monster might have attacked or killed the boy. He charged up a ki blast to try and end the beast. The ape noticed the blast coming and moved out of the way, but not quickly enough as the creatures tail was blasted clean off. The ape let out a loud growl and slowly began to shrink in size until is disappeared out of the night sky, leaving only the full moon in its place. Gohan ran over to where he saw the monster shrink and in its was Goku, naked and unconscious in the dirt. Gohan was petrified to think that the boy had the potential to transform into such a creature. He wondered what caused this as this was the first time Goku had ever done something like this. He knew it was caused by the tail as when it burnt off, Goku turned back, but what triggered the tail to activate? The only thing he noticed was different about tonight was that it was a full moon. This means that Goku is some kind of weird alien werewolf. Gohan stood over Goku's naked body. He had a choice to make, he could kill the boy now or spare his life. He knew the repercussions of allowing someone so dangerous to exist, but he then remembered what he had told the boy earlier. I made a promise dammit, and I'm going to keep it. Gohan picked up Goku's limp body and carried him back to the hut. He laid him down in the bed and let the boy sleep, but he stayed up the rest of the night, starring at the moonlight, wondering what kind of future he had just sealed for himself. Morning soon came and with the rise of the sun, the animals and people also rose from their slumber. Goku was one of those people and slowly opened his eyes. He felt super drained of energy and needed a large meal to satiate his shunger. Surprisingly though, he found his grandpa had already made some breakfast as he saw it sprawled on the table.
"*Sniff sniff*, Mmmm, that smells great grandpa. Why did you get up so early to make all of this?", asked Goku. Gohan was very tired from cooking and gave yawn before he answered.
"*Yaaawwwwn*, well…I didn't get much sleep after what happened last night so I stayed up and decide to make some breakfast.". As Goku was stuffing his face, he looked to his grandpa with a strange look?
"What happened last night?", asked Goku. Gohan then realized that Goku must have not remembered anything. He decided to keep it a secret from the boy, as he just finished fighting his demons and didn't need new ones to deal with. He needed to tell Goku in someway about what happened, so he decided to tell him everything, but leave out that he was the monster.
"Well…that, uh…", he struggled to make an excise until it hit him, "That blasted Great Ape came around here again and blasted up a bunch of the forest!", said Grandpa Gohan, with a sweaty brow, hoping that Goku would buy the story.
"Huh?! A great ape? What is that?!", asked a perplexed but excited Goku.
"The Great Ape is this giant tailed ape that appears during a full moon. It's very powerful, so you should never go outside during the full moon, understand"? Goku then gave a nod of approval, but he secretly wished he could've seen the animal to test how string it was, but Goku then composed himself, knowing that a fight could lead to those bad thoughts showing up again. He was then going to go and grab a biscuit with his tail until he noticed something that should have been obvious the minute he woke up. He looked to his rear and screamed out in shock.
"Ahhhhh! My tail is gone, grandpa my tail is gone!", yelled the little boy with fear and tear in eye. Gohan was hoping Goku wouldn't notice the missing tail, but should've known better. It's the same as if he lost and arm, even if you didn't notice at first, it's impossible to ignore. Gohan had to think of something fast as to why his tail was missing and he decide to tell him the truth..well partially.
"Oh yes, about that. I'm sorry to say that you're tail got pulled off yesterday. I'm surprised you don't remember. You had snuck out last night and the Great Ape had attacked you, that's why I left the hut in the first place. When I got to you, it seems it had pulled off your tail and knocked you out. That's why you need to stay indoors at night from now on.". Goku seemed to by this but became mad at hearing this.
"I'm gonna get that ape! Let's see how he likes me pulling his tail! Only good thing is that mine grows back, cuz I feel it near my butt.", to which he then turned around and wiggled the little stub above his rear. Gohan had noticed this before he made breakfast, which ruled out tail loss as a permanent solution to the transformation problem. In the end he was glad, as the tail was probably important to the child for other things. Gohan then responded to Goku.
"Now-now, let's not get hasty, Goku. I already told you it's too strong for you to handle, but if we train then maybe one day you can fight it." He was obviously lying, but if he let the boy think he could fight it someday, he could ignore it for now. We need to work on controlling your rage first, remember?"
"I remember", replied Goku in an annoyed child's tone. He then perked up and went to give his grandpa a hug. "Grandpa, thanks again for taking me in." Gohan gave a small smile and rubbed the boy on the head, who sat and smiled in response.
"It's my pleasure Goku, now how about we finish breakfast so we can get started"? The two gulfed down their food and ran outside. Both crouched into a fighting position with Gohan's being more attune to a martial art pose, while Goku crouched down like a dog ready to pounce.
"Are you sure that's the best stance to be in son? We might have to work on your fighting form.", asked Gohan with a smile and raised eyebrow.
"I don't know, I guess were gonna see.", replied Goku with a smile and furrowed brow. The two then dashed forward and were stopped by their first clash. They continued for hours, backdropped by the setting sun.
From here on out, Goku and his grandpa formed a new routine, much the same as before, but now Goku liked going with his grandpa and the only time they fought was during training. Over the years, Gohan had made good on his promise and trained Goku to show restraint in battle. He had thought of just helping the boy to not fight at all, but after a few days, it was obvious the boy could not bear without it. Goku now donned a blue gi, sashed with a black belt and a white undershirt. Gohan had hid his armor away, so the boy wouldn't get triggers of his past. Once the boy got dressed into his gi, they would begin training. Gohan would have Goku to sit and meditate for hours on end. It was tough in the beginning, as the boy was always itching to jump into combat or hunt animals nearby, but overtime he learned to control it and didn't even feel his violent tendencies most of the time. The pair became closer as time passed, with Goku constantly asking questions about his life or life in general. He learned how Gohan was an expert in marital arts and how once Goku controlled his urges, he would teach him all his techniques. Goku lit up at this, imagining himself in the future being able to do all the cool attacks his grandpa does. Goku asked other questions and learned about the faraway places like the frigid north, the arid deserts, the murky swamps, and the bustling city. Goku was most interested about the city and from his inquires learned about the cars and giant skyscrapers that littered the districts, and how there were people from all around the world who lived there.
One-day, Goku even asked about where he came from. It had been many years and the boy seemed to have forgotten mostly about his mission, with only blurry memories of his life on his home planet. Gohan wasn't sure what he meant by this and started accidentally telling him about the birds and the bees. Gohan was someone who didn't get very flustered about things like that and he felt Goku was old enough that he could know. Goku had listened to his grandpa explain that 'when a boy and a girl get together', but interrupted him halfway when he said that's not what he meant. While the boy didn't how it was they did it, he knew that children came from their parents. He would ask about that another time, because what he wanted to know is how Gohan found him. Gohan was reluctant to tell the boy of his origins, thinking it might bring up bad memories or retrigger his aggression, so all he told him was that Goku came out of the sky one day in a metal ball. Goku thought this was cool, but didn't press further on. While Goku wanted to know where him and his real family were from, he stopped caring about it as time passed. He assumed if they wanted him, then they would have come for him by now. Goku had become quite the little gentleman and warrior, and each day was better than the last. Yes, things were going great for the Son family, until one night.
6 years later
It had been many years since Kakarrot first landed on earth and became Goku. Being only three at the time, he has completely forgotten his Saiyan heritage, albeit a few foggy memories of his parents and who he thinks might be his brother. He finally could restrain his violent urges and was now quite skilled in marital art combat. Gohan had then decide that he was ready to be trained using his magic extending power pole. Goku was a little bored with it at first, but when he saw what it could do, he was in awe. Gohan also educated the boy, to the best of his ability mind you. While Goku wasn't a bookworm, he was quite the strategist and always found a way to get out of situations. Gohan noticed this when they sparred, as Gohan would think he'd cornered Goku, but the boy would then wriggle his way out and counter him. He was also insanely strong. The boy could break trees with his bare fists and leap to incredible heights. Goku didn't think much of it as his grandpa could do similar stunts, but was always told how it was incredible that he could do it at such a young age. Goku, not being one to brag, as instilled by his grandpa, said that he was sure there were plenty of other kids just as strong or stronger then him. It made the old martial artist proud to see what a prodigy of a grandson he had and that he took on the values he raised him to have. It was around bed time that things went awry.
The two had put their pajamas on and were getting ready to sleep, but tonight was different. It was a full moon, so Gohan had to board up the windows and lock the door. Goku knew that the great ape monster came out on full moons and he had asked his grandpa many times if he could go and fight it. Every time, Gohan said no and that he wasn't strong enough to take on the beast. Goku would always pout at this, but knew better then to argue with his grandpa. After all the precautions were finished, Gohan laid down and Goku soon followed, resting his head on Gohan's…scrotum. While most would find this disturbing and call the cops, Gohan knew he would never do anything like that to the boy. He even told him the first time that he should use a pillow, but Goku was too oblivious to do so and Gohan just gave up and let the boy do as he pleased. Gohan would be concerned too if he heard of someone else doing this, but eventually just dropped it. The pair had finally gone to sleep, when a noise suddenly was heard outside. Goku didn't know it, but being a saiyan gave him much stronger senses, so only he heard the noise. Goku got up to see what it was, but then tried to go back to sleep worried it might be the great ape. When he thought of this though, excitement sprawled his entire body and he couldn't sit still. He got up quietly as not to wake up his grandpa, and tiptoed over to his power pole. He put it on his back and went to grab the door key. He slowly unlocked and opened the door, trying to avoid creaking noises when he made one and almost woke Gohan up. He made it out the door and slowly closed it as he looked around for the monster. He scanned the area for a couple seconds and was about to look up at the night sky, until a rustling in the bushes was heard. Goku darted his eyes in its direction and snuck his way over. He got on all fours to try and be as quiet as possible. While his grandpa told him that he should walk upright like a normal boy, he liked to crawl when he hunted, which made stalking easier. Goku had paced his way to the shrub and just as he was about to reach in, a black figure dashed out of it. Goku let his instincts take over and chased after the shadow. He had gotten on his two feet and ran through the jungle. The figure was only a few feet in front of him, dodging by roots and shrubs to not lose speed. Goku did the same and was able to chase it into a corner. Slowly walking up to it, he tried to make out what the creature was. He saw a tail like his and thought it was the monster. He tried to talk to it to initiate combat.
"Hey, monkey monster, I wanna fight you!", yelled Goku. He took his power pole out and held it like a spear towards the shadowy form. As he was about to strike, the light of the full moon shone on the area and revealed the figure to be a regular old monkey. Goku pouted that it wasn't the beast, but he put his pole away to let the creature go. Now that there was light, he could see that the monkey had some of the pork that they ate for dinner. Sometimes he and Gohan would forget to put away the food from outside and the animals would come and take the scraps. They had gone out to investigate noises before when they forgot the food, but not on full moon nights, as they didn't want to attract the monster and always made sure to leave no leftovers outside. It seems they slipped up and had left some of their pork at the fire pit. Goku saw the look of terror on the little macaque and sighed. He motioned to the primate that he was free to go, as Goku wasn't hungry right now and saw no need to kill it. The monkey hesitated for a minute, constantly glancing back and forth between Goku and its exit, but then darted for the jungle, leaving only footprints. Goku was disappointed that he didn't find the great ape, but decide that it was for the best, thinking maybe he wasn't ready after all. He began walking back to the hut, but stopped.
He didn't notice it before but it was quite beautiful out that night. Everything was lit up in a blue hue with specks of white reflection of the dewdrops. He could hear the crickets and frogs chirping, the hoots of the owls, and the flickers of fireflies. He rather liked this peacefulness and wondered why he never tried coming out in the first place. He hadn't even heard or smelled any other apes the entire time he was out here. Maybe the monster had moved away after all these years, or his grandpa imagined it. He was near the creek where he was found and looked at the moons reflections shimmering on the water. He then looked up at the full moon. He never got to see it before and boy was his first sight gorgeous. He looked at the large white sphere that hung up in the sky, as it sprinkled its silvery glow across the landscape. Goku had never seen something so amazing, he could stop staring at it. Something drew him into the full moon, but he didn't know what. Goku kept looking at the moon, stuck in a strange trance, and then he felt it. His head was starting to feel heavy and his body began to ache. His eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of their sockets as he felt himself grown in pain. His chest bumped in and out in extreme contractions. He could feel hair growing and his teeth sharpen as his tail violently flicked around. His mouth began to expand and his vision began blurring a blood red. As he felt all this he screamed out in pain, but it came out more as a roar. Soon, his consciousness faded away, and in its place, was primal fury. A loud roar sounded throughout the jungle, causing Gohan's eyes to jut open. He looked down to see that Goku wasn't in bed and the door was unlocked. Gohan's face was painted with pure dread as he muttered out a single phrase.
"Oh no". Gohan got up and bolted out the door, it was dark, but the full moon light up enough that he could make out objects clearly. He looked around in the night sky hoping to find Goku, and unfortunately, he did. There right by the moon to the left of the house was a giant ape wreaking havoc and smashing everything in its path. Gohan sweated as he was unsure if he wanted to try and stop Goku or just let him thrash until the night was over. He wasn't sure of he'd be able to hit is tail again, as the last time was a lucky shot. He was just about to leave the boy be, until he saw what direction he was going in. While it was a decently long journey for him, there was a village not too far off in the direction Goku was going in. While at his normal size and normal walking pace, it would take a day or two to get there, being a giant made the trip much shorter. Gohan knew that he had to either stop Goku or redirect him. The old man dashed off, using his skill to bounce from tree to tree to cover as much ground as possible. He caught up to the beast and tried to get its attention by yelling over to it. Gohan was too small to get Goku's notice, so he decided to fire a small Ki blast at the creature's face. Suffice to say, Goku noticed and looked in the direction the blast came from.
Everything looked red to him expect when something had high enough ki, like an animal or sentient being, to appear as bright yellow. He looked at the tops of the trees and saw a yellow figure shaped like a man standing there. The ape became enraged and fired a mouth blast at the old man. Luckily, Gohan dodged it and started to lead Goku back towards the hut. His plan was working as Goku roared and tried to charge at him, but kept missing as he moved away from the village. Gohan had finally gotten Goku back to the area around their house. Gohan then ducked through the trees to hide himself from Goku. The ape boy caught up to where Gohan was, but looked baffled as he lost his target. Gohan assumed that the boy would just continue to thrash about until the night was over and he would make sure he only stayed in this area. He had done just that for the entire night and it was almost morning as the moon was close to the horizon and the blue sky began turning a brighter hue. The beast had been tired out from chasing Gohan all night and had calmed down somewhat, but Gohan was exhausted as well. He assumed that the boy would be fine until the sun came up and he headed home, to wait for Goku to untransform. He dragged himself through the jungle and came to the open are where their cottage was, but now that he was in the open, Goku had spotted him. Charging after the old man, Gohan looked up to see the ape running for him. Gohan wasn't sure if he had enough energy to dodge the monster and tried to run. Luckily, he noticed the moon had finally set and the boy began to shrink. Gohan was relieved, but only for a moment as the boy was shrinking fast enough. Gohan had no strength left to run and instead got into a fighting stance. Goku ran up the old man and tried to plant his foot on him, but was partially stopped as he felt a burning on his sole. He lifted his foot up to see that a ki blast had been fired at it, as a last-ditch attempt to cushion the impact. Safe to say it worked for Gohan, but not to the extent he would have liked. Many of Gohan's bones were crushed and a few internal organs had been popped. Blood pooled around him and he felt cold. A few feet away, a little naked boy was lying on his stomach, all bruised and battered from the fall. He began to come to, not remembering what happened last night. He slowly got up and looked around and saw devastation. The monster must have come through last night and destroyed everything. He was glad that he didn't get hurt or killed and would have to go back and apologize to his grandpa for not listening. He noticed he was naked, but he had extra gi at the house. He went back to where he last remembered being and grabbed his power pole, which was in large ditch (little did he know this ditch was his giant foot print). He was surprised the creek area wasn't that damaged with only a few snapped trees as evidence the monster was here. He trekked back to the hut, but stopped as he heard a groan coming from another large ditch. He ran over to see what poor creature had been attacked by the beast, but suddenly dropped everything and ran down the hole as he saw who was in it. His grandpa was disfigured and sitting I a pool of his blood. Goku was petrified that the monster hurt him so badly, he was horrified at the damage that was done. He bagen to ball his eyes out as he tried to speak to Gohan.
"GRANDPA, GRANDPA, WHAT HAPPENED, HOW DID YOU GET LIKE THIS!?", screamed the little boy as his face flooded with tears. Gohan limply replied.
"I..I came to make sure you were safe, since..*gasp*..I noticed you leave the hut." , Said Gohan, struggling to breath let alone talk. Goku squinted his eyes at hearing this knowing it was his fault for going outside and now his grandpa was going to die.
"*sob*I..I'm sorry grandpa, I.. 've . you! I'm…I gonna make you better. I shouldn't have left to fight the monster, I promise I won't fight anymore! I'll be good and listen to everything you say and". Goku was then interrupted as Gohan limply brought his hand up to his cheek. Gohan just held the boy's face and warmly smiled. He then struggled to get out his final words, with gasps and wheezes interrupting.
" Goku..*gasp*..you don't..*wheexe*..need to stop fighting. Its…its in your..blood. This..this is my fault. *Gasp*, I shouldv'e known..*wheeze*..better than to keep you from a battle.", he said with teary eyes. Goku just looked at him and held the hand on his cheek, as he mumbled out "Grandpa, I'm", but he was stopped again. Gohan let out his final requests to the boy.
"Goku..*gasp*..can you promise me something"? Goku nodded with water still falling from his eyes and his face scrunched up. "Don't..don't forget who you are. Continue..*wheeze*..to get stronger, but..but don't let anger be your guide. There's other ways..*coughing up blood*..to settle problems..than with fists. Can you promise me..promise me you'll only fight to kill if you have to?"? Goku then rubbed up against Gohan's hand. "Yes grandpa, I promise.", he barely muttered out.
"Good Goku…I'm glad. Take care of yourself, and I'll see you in otherworld….". Gohan's eyes then closed. His head tilted towards the ground and his hand fell from Goku's face. Goku then had a look of horror plastered on his face. He tried shaking his grandpa and yelling at him to wake him up, but nothing worked. "No…Grandpa….Granpda Gohan….GRANDPA GOHAAAAAAAAN!", he screamed as he looked up to the sky, tears falling to his side. He then fell to the floor and cried for hours on end.
Finally, Goku had stopped crying and had gathered up a bunch of dirt, which he buried his grandpa in. He put up a little stick with a white flower as a sign of memorial. He walked home, his eyes red and sniffles still coming from his nose. He went inside, put the power pole away, and looked at the house interior. He was now all alone in this little cottage. No longer would he wake up to breakfast made for him, or to taking trips through the woods on the hunt, or sparring after they ate dinner, and no more laying with his grandpa and asking him about his stories of the past or the mysteries of the universe. It was just him now, and it would be like that forever.
He wasn't hungry anymore and just stayed in bed, to sullen to get up. Eventually his appetite got the better of him and he went out to hunt. He had begun hesitating making the kills when he hunted. He was thinking about the promise he made and how the animal was going to die like his grandpa, but he eventually got over it as he needed to eat and the vegetable weren't enough for him. He would usually apologize to the animal corpse would feel sad. Dinners were quiet now. While he still ate the same quantity as before, he didn't scarf to down as there was no need to rush to get started on training anymore.
Goku had stopped training for about a month, but it eventually started to bother him and he started it once again. Over the month he had gained a drive to get stronger. He was going to find that monster and kill it for what it did to his grandpa. Goku spent all of his training, improving on his skills as there were no new ones to learn. He became quite adept with his power pole and his attack forms improved over the years, but he still had no idea how to use ki, as his grandpa didn't get to training him with that. Goku stayed inside at night and blockaded the windows during the full moon, as he knew he wasn't strong enough to take on the beast yet. Goku had been fueled by rage at first, but respected his grandpas wish and changed his attitude. Goku had always liked fighting and was now training more to self-improve than to beat the monster. Granted, he was still going to do that, but it was no longer a priority.
Many days Goku would take breaks to just sit and watch nature. It calmed him and cheered up his mood. He would think about what his grandpa was doing right now, as he said he was going to otherworld. Goku had doubts from time to time if it was real or not, but he had no reason to believe it wasn't. He would also look to the sky and think about where he came from. Having lost the only family he's ever had made him think if he should try to find his real one. He would usually disregard it, but he did wonder nonetheless. A few years had passed and Goku had finally gotten over his grandpa's death. He knew he wouldn't want him to sulk around for the rest of his life, and that he should become strong like him. He was going to train to become the strongest in the world so his grandpa would be proud of him and hopefully forgive him. Yes, Goku now had his sights set of being the world champion, and he wasn't going to let anyone stop him, or so he thought when one day he met a strange blue haired girl.
Welp, here you go guys. Were finally gonna see how Goku not hitting his head will affect the story. Next chapter will be the official beginning of the DB series. Sorry this one took me a while to come out with. Once again, don't expect the next chapter to be coming out anytime soon, but I'll try not to make it a super long wait. Rate and review and I'll see you next time!