The first month of training has gone exceptionally well for Son Goku and his friends. Piccolo has kept his word and has been in charge of training his foe's son, teaching him the secrets of the Demon Martial Arts! As for Son Goku, he has been getting closer and closer to matching Vegeta in strength during their weekly fights! Raditz, in the meantime, has been training Kuririn and the other humans how to fight saiyans efficiently and has also been teaching them the history of the proud warrior race!
Tale 186: The Tale of Bardock
"Mr. Piccolo, do you think I can have a cloak like yours?" Gohan asked his sensei while they were having a lunch break from their training. Piccolo looked slightly shocked while he regarded Gohan.
"Do you like my cloak?" He inquired. Gohan nodded with a grin.
"I like how you dress as a whole, Mr. Piccolo."
"Why do you call me that?" Piccolo grumbled. Gohan shrugged.
"To be polite, sir."
"Even to an enemy?" Piccolo questioned harshly. Gohan stared at him.
"You are not my enemy, Mr. Piccolo." This remark took Piccolo by surprise.
"…hurry up and finish eating. We have much ground to cover if you are going to be training with the prince next month."
Gohan opened his mouth to say something but he stopped himself and then nodded.
Meanwhile, with Raditz and his group, they were all trying to take on Raditz in a fight!
"You are all doing better!" Raditz complimented while slamming Kuririn and Yamcha into each other, "But your attacks are still too predictable."
"Ow…" Kuririn rubbed his head before jumping into a fighting pose once more. Himself, Yamcha, Chaozu, and Tenshinhan were all wearing 100lb weighted shirts under their gi's while they were sparring with Raditz. They were also wearing 50lb shoes and 25lb wrist bands. Chi-Chi was wearing weighted clothing as well but hers were half the weight.
"We still can't seem to match you in speed…!" Yamcha stammered, for he was still dizzy from the blow he was just dealt. Raditz chuckled while he dodged Chi-Chi's kick.
"Given time, you will. Again!"
And as for Son Goku and Vegeta, they were taking a break from their light sparring. The two were resting on the hammocks that were near the fighting arena.
"Hey, Vegeta, how old were you and my brother when our planet got destroyed?"
"Your brother was ten and I was four," Vegeta stretched slightly before relaxing again, "I remember everything from that day as if it happened not that long ago."
"I can imagine," Goku replied gravely, "What was my dad like?" Vegeta stiffened up.
"He was a loyal guard to my father and myself, he was one of the best warriors of our race," Vegeta turned to look at Goku, "When you are serious, you are very much like him. You certainly look a lot like him as well."
Goku perked up and faced Vegeta as well, "Really?"
"Yes," Vegeta replied with a small smile, "Add a scar you your right cheek and you would be completely identical. There is a chance that a saiyan child can completely resemble one of their parents. If you were to have another son, there's a good chance he would resemble you."
"Gohan resembles me somewhat…"
"Not in the way that I am referring to. He has more human qualities to him than saiyan. Though his hair is black, it is not the same blackness as ours. It matches his mother's hair. That and his hair grows and changes." Goku blinked and looked towards where his son and Piccolo were.
"Huh," he replied blankly. Vegeta, too, turned his attention to Gohan and Piccolo.
"Your son does have saiyan strength and the tail, obviously…but he is not a fighter." Goku looked at Vegeta in shock.
"Not a fighter? He likes to fight, though!"
"Not in the way us saiyans do," Vegeta sighed, "Let me put it to you this way, does he get a thrill when he spars with you or your wife?"
Goku frowned, "Now that y' mention it, no."
"There you go, then. He is no fighter," Vegeta turned back to Goku and smiled, "Fear not, he can still fight. There is just no thrill in it for him, that's all."
"I think I get what you mean…"
"Your father, though," Vegeta continued, "He had a thrill up to his final hours. I still can see the excitement in his eyes before he shut the door to our ship. I bet he gave Freeza some trouble before he perished!"
"Yeah," Goku replied softly, "I wish I could remember."
"You were only an infant, not even a month old," Vegeta replied in a somewhat comforting manner, "Though us saiyans have very good memories, we can't remember things from when we were infants. Besides, be happy that you can't remember. The final days of Saiya were horrendous."
Goku regarded Vegeta, watching the older man's face as he remembered that horrible time from his youth. Goku frowned, "If you don't want to talk about it, it's okay."
"I don't mind talking about it, Kakarrot. In fact, I'm glad that I can," Vegeta replied with a smile, "I remember being in my bed chambers when Raditz came barging in…"
Twenty-three years ago, Star System Wolf 359, Planet Saiya
"My lord Vegeta!" Raditz yelled frantically as he barged into his prince's room. The young prince groggily sat up in bed, looking confused.
"Huh…? What is-" before Vegeta could finish what he was saying, he was scooped up into the older child's arms and carried out of the room.
"There is no time to lose! We must grab Kakarrot and meet up with my father!" Vegeta never saw Raditz look so scared before. He then had a horrible feeling in his gut.
"Where is my father?" Raditz stopped dead in his tracks and looked down at the prince in his arms. He didn't have to say anything for Vegeta to put the pieces together. Holding back tears, Vegeta stared straight forward, "What are you waiting for, Raditz? GO!"
Raditz nodded and sprinted down the corridors. After a few turns, he found the nursery. Putting Vegeta down, Raditz ran into the nursery and picked up his sleeping baby brother. He had to grab hold of the door frame when the building violently shook.
"What was that?" Vegeta asked nervously. Raditz's eyes narrowed dangerously.
"Freeza."
The building violently shook once more, this time more intense.
"We haven't a moment to lose!" Raditz scooped Vegeta up again, he held his brother in one arm and Vegeta in the other, and he sprinted away from the nursery. Mere moments later, the nursery was destroyed by an energy blast, killing all of the infants that were still in there. Raditz held his brother tightly, silently crying.
If I was a minute later, he would've been dead…!
"Raditz! Thank the stars!" Bardock yelled in relief when he saw his two sons and the prince making their way towards him, "Quick! This way!"
The group sprinted down the corridors until they found the building's exit.
"What are we going to do, father?" Raditz asked unsurely.
"I am getting you all off of this planet! This way, quick!"
The group frantically made their way to the space observatory, which had ships for space travel. They narrowly made it inside, avoiding an energy blast that came from above. When they made it to the shuttle area, Bardock turned to his son.
"Give me Kakarrot. You and Prince Vegeta will be sharing a ship. Kakarott will have to go in a separate one." Raditz looked horrified, holding his brother tightly while putting Vegeta down.
"What?"
"All three of you can't fit into one ship!"
"We are going to the same place, though? Right?" Bardock didn't answer. Raditz took a step forward, "RIGHT?"
"I am sorry," Bardock replied shakily, "It's the only way…" The building violently shook, which caused the trio to almost lose their footing, "There isn't a moment to lose! Give me your brother! When enough time has passed and the prince is trained, seek out Kakarrot!"
"What about you?"
"My time is nearing its end, son. I must try to stop Freeza or at least stall him so you can escape. You must protect the prince with your life!" Raditz stiffly nodded and handed his brother over to his dad. Without a word, he took Vegeta's hand and led him over to one of the ships. Bardock watched them for a moment before bringing Kakarrot over to another ship. Once the baby was inside, he punched in random coordinates and watched the ship fly off into the atmosphere. It narrowly missed being blasted to bits by flying debris. Bardock then went over to the ship that Raditz and Vegeta were in. He gazed inside of it to look at his son and his prince one more time before shutting the door and punching in random coordinates.
"Good-bye, father…" Raditz whispered mournfully as he watched his dad through the window as the ship began to ascend. Vegeta was watching Bardock, too, for he would never forget the glint in Bardock's eyes before the ship launched them into the atmosphere.
Present Day, Star System Sol, Planet Earth
"When our ship passed by Ozar, Saiya's moon, that's when the planet was blown up by Freeza," Vegeta concluded gravely, "With how quick our ships travel, we escaped the planet with ten minutes to spare before its destruction."
"How horrible…!" Goku's fist was clenched in rage, "We will make Freeza pay."
Vegeta turned to Goku in shock before he smiled fondly, "That right there was definitely your father!"
The two saiyans were unaware that Piccolo had been listening in to Vegeta's retelling of the destruction of the Saiyan homeworld, though he was sparring with Gohan. Piccolo, without knowing why, was angry on Goku's behalf. Perhaps it was because he would be enraged, too, if his entire species was annihilated by some galactic jerk.
I may want to conquer Earth but I would never destroy it or its people!
Piccolo was punched harshly by Gohan, taken by surprise. Gohan himself was shocked that he managed to get Piccolo with such a harsh punch. Piccolo snarled and drop-kicked Gohan violently, which sent the boy flying into one of the trees that was nearby. Piccolo felt a pang of guilt and he approached Gohan, who was struggling to get up.
"Let's call it a day," Piccolo said awkwardly. Gohan grinned at him sheepishly, finally being able to stand.
"Thank you, Mr. Piccolo!" The boy then fell unconscious. Piccolo blinked and carefully picked Gohan up. He carried him over to the hammocks where Vegeta and Goku still were. The two watched Piccolo as he carefully laid Gohan down in one of the empty hammocks.
"I kicked him a little too hard and he went flying into a tree. He's okay, just unconscious," Piccolo said stiffly, without looking at Goku.
"Heh, he looks like how I was after the first Tenka'ichi Budokai I participated in!" Goku chuckled as he studied the goofy grin that was still upon Gohan's unconscious face.
"What is that?" Vegeta questioned.
"It's a fighting tournament to see who is the strongest on Earth," Piccolo answered as he turned to walk away, "Son Goku won the last one against me, barely holding onto his life."
"Yeah, that was a fun match!" Goku sighed as he fondly remembered. Piccolo chuckled.
"You never cease to amuse me." Without another word, Piccolo walked off to go to the quarters that he shared with Kuririn. Vegeta watched him go, wearing a peculiar look.
"He seems a little too fond of you to be your enemy, Kakarrot," he remarked.
"Yeah, Piccolo likes to pretend that he's just as evil as his dad but he's not foolin' me!" Goku laughed.
"His dad…? I thought he was the evil half of the other Namekian on this planet?"
"He's th' offspring of Kami-Sama's evil half. I killed the original Piccolo eight years ago. Now that Piccolo really was evil!" Goku explained with a chuckle.
"That explains why he looks so young…" Vegeta muttered.
Meanwhile, in the quarters that he shares with Kuririn, Piccolo was meditating in his room. A lot was on his mind as he recollected what he had heard of Vegeta's story.
The Saiyan Nappa is nothing in comparison to this Freeza…this destroyer of planets…if he is to come to Earth after the Saiyan, we will be doomed.
Piccolo's eyes shot open in determination.
It's decided. I will continue to be Son Goku's ally until we can destroy Freeza. I will speak to him of this in the morning.
Piccolo nodded and grinned to himself before he closed his eyes and continued his meditation.
Whether it's him recognizing a common enemy or he's reluctantly becoming fond of Son Goku, Piccolo has decided to remain an ally even after Nappa is destroyed. With how monstrous Freeza sounds, it looks like Goku needs all of the allies he can get! Up Next: The next step in training!
