Explosions shook the land, green water moving in waves and the ground cracking. The group continued to stare in awe at the power Goku was putting out against Frieza. Cloud burst from the shockwaves of the young low class saiyan squaring off against the lord of a galactic empire. Gohan and Krillin were in shock and awe of the power on display, hope strong. Piccolo analyzed the situation, judging when Goku had made the right move and when Frieza was just too powerful.
Nappa and Raditz had different reactions when the young Kakarot arrived, taking the fight into his own hands and taking on the tyrant alone. Nappa was in dumb shock. A part of his was shaken in fear after watching Vegeta die. He'd yet to fully comprehend the totality of the event. Vegeta? Dead? Everything he'd been tasked with since the prince was only seven years old had amounted to a tragic end. Sure, Vegeta stabbed him in the back. He attempted to kill him, but really, Nappa knew that was how they worked. He knew how little it mattered when they heard Raditz had died. He and Raditz were considered... expendable is an insult he isn't willing to inflict on himself. But Vegeta? Without their prince, everything was lost. Yet, just moments ago, Vegeta had bequeathed his revenge and salvation of their race unto the low class warrior who showed them up on Earth. The cause wasn't lost, but he felt hollow.
Raditz on the other hand could feel nothing but anger. At who? He couldn't decide. While Nappa and Vegeta had used to look down on him, he remembered the time when he and Vegeta were... almost friends on planet Vegeta. To see Frieza kill him infuriated him. Made him almost wish nothing more than for Kakarot to eviscerate that changeling bastard. However, he also felt intense anger for his brother. How could it be that his YOUNGER brother surpassed both himself and their father? Had surpassed Vegeta? He'd almost deny it if it wasn't so blatantly in front of him here. Goku was standing up the Frieza one on one.
And so, the former space pirates were even giving their support, their hope, albeit minor, that Goku strike down the evil dictator. The only one who seemed devoid of hope was the one who resembled him most. Bardock had stood in shock from the moment Goku arrived, buried Vegeta, and began his fight with Frieza in the distance. His mind replayed the images he'd seen in his head. If Frieza doesn't die here... No, we can still win this. The Frieza in my vision was scarred. MAIMED. He'd lost limbs and required replacements. It's still possible that they still win this. But, why wouldn't we kill him?
His mind flashes to Goku's demeanor, the way he'd spared Vegeta on Earth. Bardock's gaze locked onto the next attack given by Goku against the dictator. Kakarot, you FOOL! If you're given the chance to beat him, I won't allow you to spare his life. He sighs lightly to relax himself. He's able to think. His visions have never been wrong. Not so far, anyway. However, it doesn't guarantee that they lose. Only that they don't finish Frieza completely. They could still be fine. The part of Bardock that took every challenge before him took over. He resolves himself. Kakarot, if you can't finish him, then it's MY turn.
His hopes take a dive once Goku erupts from the green water, giving out a triumphant shout. "Kai-O-Ken!" He blitz's forward, striking Frieza in the face before drawing back his hands. His shout echoes through the environment. The volume doubling with each syllable. "Ka! Me! Ha! Me! HA!" The brillaint blue beam strikes, blinding the observers before being replaced with a cloud of smoke. A pit grew in Bardock's stomach as the cloud disappeared, revealing the tyrant still holding his hand forward, having blocked the attack completely.
. . . . .
Goku is struck back hard, skidding to a halt on his feet. "This is bad. I can't take him down like this." His eyes widen in reaction, the saiyan dodging a Death Beam from the front. He brings his arm up to catch a punch from the side. He twists under the arm and throws Frieza over him. The tyrant recovers in the air, firing blast after blast at the retreating saiyan who performs a streak of back flips for distance.
The distance gained is too little, Frieza catching up as they exchange punches and kicks. Mid-exchange, Frieza's tail whips out, knocking away Goku's footing. Frieza's finger jolts forward, firing a point blank Death Beam through Goku, only for the saiyan to disappear. An After Image! A short distance away, Goku, lands and begins to raise his hands.
"No choice... I only have this left." He feels for a moment, his hands maintaining their position. His concentration is replaced with a frustrated desperate statement. "No good. This planet barely has enough energy as is-" He stops, his expression going innocent and curious. "I'll try to draw from the surrounding planets!"
He continues to concentrate, but the galactic tyrant finds him soon enough. A hand raises to fire at the saiyan, but halts upon noticing the stance. "What's this?"
Crap.
. . . . .
"I don't get it. Why is he just standing there?" The Namekian grits his teeth, frustrated at the event. Not only was Goku not fighting back as Frieza punched him away, but he didn't move at all, skidding to a halt with his hands still raised.
"Damn it... Damn it!.. DAMN IT!" Raditz cried out. "The fool's given up!" Nappa growls lightly, not sure. His first instinct told him that Raditz was right, but this was the same warrior that calmly faced Vegeta when he was surely outclassed. The kaioken technique wasn't working on Frieza, but it's possible Kakarot has another trick. Perhaps?
It seems the bald warriors are in agreement, as Krillin's eyes widen. His finger points up. "G-g-g-guys... look at that!"
They all gaze up, each dropping their jaw at the ball of light in the sky. "What is that thing?!" Nappa yells out astonished. He'd hoped, but that's just... way more than he was expecting. Gohan exclaimed with a wide smile, "It's dad! He's gonna use that to win!"
"He doesn't have the time for it." Bardock states, landing with the rest of them. They were the first words from his mouth since Goku arrived. "That technique might have what it takes. It might not, but it's all we've got." Beating Bardock to the punch, Piccolo blasts off. Bardock follows suit, Nappa and Raditz exchanging a glance before both power up and follow. Krillin and Gohan prepare to rush in, but are cut off by the saiyans. Nappa calls out, "Stay here and don't get in our way!" The two rush after the saiyan and Namekian.
Ahead, Goku attempts to strike Frieza upon getting up from a beating, but his fist is caught in a vice grip, the tyrant's other hand pointing an index finger. "Goodbye, monkey." The purple light gathers on the tip of the finger... before a brown boot smashes into the tyrant from the side, launching him away. Goku is shocked as Piccolo lands by him.
"Plan. Now!" Piccolo locks up with where Frieza landed.
Goku quickly shakes the surprise off, putting his hands back up. "I need more time to complete the Spirit Bomb. Once it's complete, I think I can take him out. Think you can buy enough time?"
The concern is put to rest as a beam strikes the rubble Frieza resides in, Bardock flying past them. "Consider it bought!"
Frieza erupts from the rubble, glaring up before a fist comes for his face. His tail whips forth and catches the strike, tossing Bardock to the side. The tyrant catches movement under him, a stretched Namekian arm ripping from the ground and grabbing his leg. Having enough of the tricks, Frieza swipes his hand downward, a slashing beam cutting into the ground, severing Piccolo's arm underground.
Piccolo retracts his limb, grunting in pain. Frieza dashes at him, missile kicking the green man away. "Double Sunday!" Frieza glances up, ready to dodge, only for the two beams to fire around Frieza, missing.
Frieza frowns. "Are you all just missing now, monkeys?" Raditz maintains the beams, cutting off escape as Nappa ignites an explosion right under Frieza.
Raditz and Nappa land side by side, taking stances. From the smoke, a death beam fires out, Raditz narrowly dodges, his remaining shoulder armor piece getting shot off. Frieza appears before them, punching Nappa into the ground as his tail wraps around Raditz' neck. Pulling Raditz in with the tail, he strikes the younger saiyan's gut. The larger saiyan attempts to blast Frieza point blank, but Frieza's tail releases Raditz and slaps Nappa's beam hand aside. Frieza kicks the half down saiyan away and catches the falling Raditz by the throat with his left hand.
Piccolo recovers far off, regrowing his arm and bringing two fingers up to his forehead to charge energy.
Frieza prepares to execute Raditz with his free hand, only for a hand to grab it. Frieza is wrenched back, Bardock burying his fist into the tyrant's gut to launch him up and away from Raditz. Bardock powers up, charging after the emperor. Frieza recovers, just to get an uppercut to launch him further up. He rolls midair, losing track of Bardock, who comes from above. Bardock grabs the tyrant by the shoulders, surprising him, as he throws Frieza further into the around. Frieza recovers and fires a Death Beam, only for it to go through an After Image. Bardock appears behind Frieza yet again, bringing both fists down. Frieza is launched down into the ground.
Bardock breaths heavily, tired from using so much power just to take Frieza off guard a few times. His temporary exhaustion leaves him open, Frieza blitzing towards him and capturing him in a field of energy, trapping him inside. Unable to move, Frieza strikes him down like a pinball. Upon hitting the ground, a massive explosion erupts from the energy field that encased him.
Frieza raises his hand to finish him, only to pause at a call out. "Special Beam Cannon!" Piccolo launches his spiral beam at the emperor, who responds with a Death Beam. The two needle like beams clash between then, purple and orange sparking for a moment. The piercing power of Piccolo's attack holds for only a moment before Frieza's vastly superior power splits through his attack down the middle. Piccolo dodges back, narrowly dodging the attack. Piccolo lets out a choked gasp as Frieza is now behind him, punching the Namekian in the spine and launching him over where Bardock lays.
Frieza smirks as he raises off the ground. "You know, I believe I have an instant fix for this situation." His hand raises, one finger outstretched. An orange sun-like ball forms just over his finger, Frieza raising into the sky with an evil glint in his eyes. He continues rising higher and higher... until he noticed a white glow from over him.
He looks up, seeing a massive ball larger than any ball of energy he's seen in as far as he remembers. "W-what?" In shock, he watches his ball of energy get consumed by the white light. "Oh my god..." Back with Goku, he yells out in triumph as he throws his hands down.
In an eruption of power, the ball forces its way down on top of Frieza, the tyrant screaming as it seems to engulf him. Below the fall bomb, the three remaining saiyans and Piccolo stare dumbfounded before collecting themselves and running for their lives. Piccolo rushes towards Goku, Bardock dragging the injured Raditz and Nappa away faster. Behind them all, the Spirit Bomb hits the planet, erupting into a blast that consumes everyone inside, Gohan and Krillin watching from afar as their vision is consumed in white.
. . .
Gohan and Krillin stare wide eyed at the massive crater. The scar in the planet filling with water, they float forward. "H-ho... ly crap..." Krillin numbly gets out. Gohan can only nod, not trusting his voice for the moment. After a few moments, a sense between them shoots off. Both yell at the same time.
"Dad!" "Goku!" They fire off into the distance. On a small island mass, they find Piccolo climbing out from the water, hauling Goku out with him. "Mr. Piccolo! Dad!" Gohan cries out.
The two land as the two warriors collapse on the ground. Goku whines out tired. "No grandpa... I don't want to take another bath." Goku gathers himself as his son laughs and hugs him. "Hey, Gohan." He very tiredly says.
"Hey, where are the others?" Krillin is surprised as on cue, Raditz and Nappa fall to the ground, Raditz landing on his feet, Nappa falling to a knee. Both breath heavily as Bardock slowly lands onto the ground, looking equally tired before giving a smile. Krillin laughs. "I shoulda known you guys would live." his attention goes to Nappa. "How's it going big guy?"
Nappa twitches in surprise, not as annoyed as the short bald man was expecting. "Uh... fine." Seeing the smiles on everyone at him, he slowly joins the mood. "I guess we showed him!"
Raditz smirks at that too, even going up to Goku. "Brother." He holds out one hand. Goku nods and takes it, getting pulled to his feet. Raditz shifts to a full grin. "Now, that's how we show the saiyan spirit!" His gaze shifts to Piccolo, who smirks confident. Raditz grits out. "And Namekians too, I guess." Then to Krillin with a grimace. "Whatever, you know what I mean."
Bardock smiled at the exchange. It seemed they were all warming up to each other. However, everyone's senses ticked at once. A purple blur of energy rockets towards Goku. Being right beside him, Piccolo shoves him aside, getting shot through the chest. Piccolo falls back onto the ground. Gohan chokes out, "MR. PICCOLO!"
Everyone is shocked as Frieza stands on a nearby rockface, dripping wet from the water and covered in wounds. "Touching. I hope I can join the celebration." His gaze goes over all of them. "In fact..."
Bardock twitches. His field of view shifts...
A shimmering light disappears into Krillin. Soon the short man is raised into the sky, yelling out for Kakarot. "Goku help!" His screams are silenced as he explodes from the inside out.
Bardock is brought back to focus as Frieza aims his hand at Krillin. A shimmering white light flickers out from his hand towards the bald man. Bardock snaps into action, full speed palm striking Krillin in the side, knocking the human aside. The flickering light fires through and hits the ground behind them all, exploding and sending smoke up.
Despite shock at his own actions, Bardock leaps forward, landing between everyone and the tyrant. Frieza frowns for only a second before grinning in glee. "You're right, I should really start with where it all began."
Bardock takes his stance, eyes never leaving Frieza. "Everyone! Get out of here!"
"What" Gohan yells. "But what about-"
Bardock yells out. "Don't worry. Just GO!"
Raditz and Nappa are shaken by the yell, Goku staring dumbfounded at Bardock. However, it doesn't take long for him to catch out. Surprising everyone, Goku stares at Piccolo's unconscious body on the ground. "... If Piccolo dies, then all of this is pointless." Goku, never wanting to back down, stands up and begins walking to Bardock. "Guys, get out of here. I'll stay too."
Without the slightest hesitation, Bardock spins around and buries his fist into Goku's gut. Goku coughs out before falling to the ground, unconscious. Bardock whips his head back to Frieza. With one arm, he tosses Goku over to Raditz. "Get Kakarot out of here!"
Raditz grabs his brother, sparing one look at his father, both shocked and showing some clear fear. "... Father."
Krillin recovers, gritting his teeth. "Alright..." He looks to Gohan, motioning to Piccolo.
Gohan looks at his grandfather. "But-" His words die out as a gust of wind comes over the area. Bardock stays locked towards Frieza.
"Get going, kid. Your dad and Piccolo need you." Bardock says, stonefaced.
Gohan quivers slightly before nodding. He rushes to Piccolo, him and Krillin carrying the Namekian away as they take off. Raditz carries Goku away and takes off after them. Nappa grits his teeth before shaking his head in anger. He finally takes off after the others.
A moment later, and Bardock and Frieza are the only two left. "You know, I do love these heroic last stands. I always look at those sacrifices and wonder, 'Do they know they're about to die?'" He chuckles to himself. "In a strange way, it's a cowardly way of suicide."
Bardock meets the cocky tyrant's mocking tone with a smirk of his own. He lowers his stance before raising one arm to the side. "Well then, I guess it's time to finally do this." His smirk goes into a grin, a white ball forming over his hand. Frieza's smirk turns to a frown. Bardock yells out as he throws the ball into the sky. A moment later, the white expands into a glowing body in the sky. On cue, Bardock's tail unwraps from around his waist.
Frieza glares as Bardock's body pulsates, twitches, and grows. Bardock's gaze stays locked with the ball before he grows, fur engulfing his body. After a moment, Bardock towers over Frieza as the giant Oozaru form. He roars out at the power increase and looks at the tiny tyrant, who remains where he stood moments ago, a frown firmly on his face.
"Really..." he sighs. "Of course, it all comes back to this. A filthy-" His hand clenches into a fist. "-odious-" A vein pops out on his forehead. "-insignificant-" His body erupts in a purple aura. "-MONKEY!" His clenched hand comes up and fires.
Bardock tanks the shot, lunging in and throwing a punch. Frieza dodges and speeds to the face. Bardock raises a giant hand, blocking a strike from the small tyrant that still throws the massive fighter back to stumble. Frieza charges again, but stops his charge to dodge a swipe. Bardock opens his mouth to fire a beam from within. Frieza is hit by the blast, but cancels it out with a yells.
From the smoke, Frieza descends in front of the giant monkey, smoking and injured, breathing heavy. His patience has worn completely.
. . .
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Bulma screams as the entire group arrives. Goku in tatters, Raditz and Nappa with disabled limbs, Piccolo with a hole in his chest, and... does Krillin have a hole in his armor's gut? "Gohan! Explain!"
At this point, the planet rumbles yet again. It feels like its coming from the direction with the massive light in the sky. Gohan grimaces. "Frieza is still alive, and granddad stayed back to fight him alone."
Krillin finished for him. "We need to get out of here now!"
Bulma frowns. "Well, we can't exactly use our Namek ship! It got blasted!"
"Come with me to the other ship then!" Raditz yells, still carrying Goku. He takes off in the direction of his ship.
Krillin and Gohan continue to hold Piccolo as they float up, but stop to stare at Nappa and Bulma. Nappa scoffs. "Come on, lady." He growls angrily.
Feeling angry herself, Bulma sasses. "Listen here, Buster! I don't give any crap about your power. If you drop me, I'll knock you a good one. HEAR ME?!" The outburst startles even the massive saiyan, who takes a step back. He looks away, mumbling about how anyone can put up with her. He quickly grabs her as they all take off.
. . .
The massive beast hits the ground, blood coming over one of its eyes. Bardock growls in pain in his Oozaru form. Frieza floats a short distance away, letting the monkey get back up. "I'm not usually up to doing my own dirty work, but I do have to admit, I do have a great satisfaction in doing this myself."
He grins, pointing at the massive target. Bardock moves to charge, only for a Death Beam to pierce through his giant left arm. He roars in pain, but starts to charge a beam from his mouth. Another Death Beam pierces through his right leg. The monkey struggles to stand, but Frieza isn't done. He rapid fires his Emperor Death Beam. A beam pierces the left shoulder, the right gut, the right bicep, the left shin, the right chest area, the left thigh, and a beam grazes the left temple.
The monkey falls to its knees, Frieza appearing over him with a look of disgust. "Look at me with some civility, monkey. I'm already disgusted looking at you." He blasts the downed primape into the rocky ground behind, creating a massive crater.
Frieza turns to the white ball in the sky, blasting it with a pink blast. The white light illuminates the environment in pink for a moment before blowing up, returning Namek to its regular lighting. Frieza glances at the crater and waits.
Minutes pass. Frieza is almost ready to call it dead before slowly, Bardock raises from the crater, holding his left arm, left eye closed with blood over his left eye. Having shrunken to human size, the holes drilled into him shrank, but he's still littered with damage and near lethal blows.
Frieza raises higher with a smile. "Now, where were we before?" He raises his finger with a grin. An orange orb grows, gaining size and power. Soon, the entire sky is blocked by an orange sun-like ball of energy.
Bardock stares Frieza down, gasping in pain. He raises his right arm to his side, his hand engulfing in a white like. "Come at me you bastard. Enjoy your victory." He thinks back to his earlier visions. "But I know something you don't... I know how you die."
Frieza twitches in anger. "Whatever nonsense you say, I'm done with it! Be gone along with this planet!" He throws the ball down towards Bardock.
The saiyan stares at the ball, his entire life flashing before him. . . his comrades. . . his friends. . . his wife. . .
He promised to get revenge for them, but now he's failed. He promised to bring the saiyan race back, but now he's failed. He failed. He FAILED. Bardock's body twitches as his energy builds in his hand. "If I fail, then the least I can do is make sure you don't get to enjoy it!" His body erupts in power, followed by a scream. His blue aura slowly turns into a golden aura. His black hair stands straight up. He growls out, feeling a peak. He feels. . . something greater, but he can't grasp it. His black hair remains up straight, his eyes going white. "Take this! The power of the Saiyan race!"
He throws his arm, his own beam firing from his hand and blinding the entire environment. Suddenly, the entire section of the planet cracks apart with a beam struggle, a brilliant white beam shoving the Death Ball enough to halt it. "WHAT?!" Frieza screams. "How?!"
Bardock doesn't care. He doesn't care about anything. Just wiping that bastard's smile from his face permanently. He screams as the beam causes the Death Ball to break. The resulting explosion engulfs an entire quarter of the planet, completely vaporizing much of the planet. Far off, the remaining z fighters stare in awe, fear, and surprise at everything transpiring an impossible distance away.
. . .
The landscape is nothing but a black storm, molten lava from the core of the planet exposed. No solid cool land to be seen. The storm obscures everything, leaving a barely breathing Bardock floating, his armor destroyed completely, limbs hanging limp, and his eyes unfocused, a glazed look. He can't feel anything. In fact, he can't even think enough to wonder what happened.
His gaze remains fixed straight ahead, despite the sound of slow flight. Before him, the Tyrant still stands, bleeding from all over, the end of his tail blown off. His eyes are bloodshot as he grits his teeth. Yet, despite the clear anger, fear is also evident. "You... What the hell are you?"
Bardock's vision blurs, not entirely able to make out the bastard anymore. However, the saiyan begins to show movement. He wasn't entirely dead to the world as he shifts his gaze slightly to the left, a small dull glow reflecting off his eye. His eyes begin to focus. . .
Behind the tyrant, far away. He could see... something. It glowed gold, and was large enough to see just barely, even from this distance. He made out a green... lizard. No... No, that couldn't be. "P-... Porunga?" No mistaking it. The dragon was back.
Frieza growls before throwing his hand up, charging a blast. "Die, you bastar-" Frieza is cut off, a purple glow smashing into him. The glow of purple energy expands and erupts in a massive explosion.
If he wasn't so dead inside and exhausted, he'd be more surprised as another presence floats up beside him. He glances over, shocked to see Vegeta? "Sorry about that, Lord Frieza." Vegeta calls out with the snark pouring out when saying 'lord'. Vegeta glances over at Bardock. "So, the fool couldn't do it?"
Bardock finds his voice. "He did a much better job than I did." He glances at the damaged emperor appearing from the smoke. "Thanks, but we won't be the ones to kill him. You need to leave."
Vegeta growls. "Like I'm going to run now. It's too late, anyhow."
Frieza eyes the two. "Well, Vegeta, I don't know how you managed to get out of the hole, but allow me to put you back in. In fact," His body pulses slightly. "I'm done entertaining you all. It would be good to tell you all that as I am now, I have only been using %50 of my power."
This revelation stuns the warrior and prince, both unable to comprehend what's to come. "I-impossible!" Vegeta calls out.
Frieza's frown remains in place. "Oh, don't think I'm happy to have had to use this. Trust me when I say that each and every one of you monkeys die today." He charges up as his body is ignited in a purple aura, Frieza screaming out in power. His muscles bulk, gaining power as he reaches his maximum power.
Bardock, having earlier resigned himself to dying, is less shocked than the prince. He still knows that Frieza will die. That's all he cares about. He can only hope that the others got away. He doesn't know who brought the dragon back, or why Vegeta of all people was brought back. He doesn't need to. He raises one arm for a very weakened but defiant stance. Vegeta takes a stance beside him.
Frieza grimaces and raises both hands, a gigantic purple energy ball appearing. . . and its gets bigger. . . and bigger. . . and bigger. Finally, it stops growing, the tyrant throwing the ball down to the two saiyans.
Vegeta and Bardock stare shocked, watching the light begin to engulf them. The heat and power permeates around Bardock as he lets his guard down. So this is it. He thinks. He shuts his eyes, awaiting the heat and death...
The heat is replaced by a cool breeze. He smiles. So this was death? There really wasn't any pain. Actually, that's a bit of a disappointment in a way. Not as much of a hurdle.
"W-what?!" Vegeta calls next to him. The prince still being next to him shakes Bardock's thoughts.
He opens his eyes, shock covering his face as he finds... a blue sky? Green forest below. The chirping of wildlife? Wait, this sounds like... He looks, finding mountains in the distance. He suddenly senses more presences, all of their group is down in the forest. He blinks dumbly. "We-... we're on Earth?"
The two of them drop down towards a collection of dozens of powers, more shock covering the two when they find all the Namekians alive and well. The population of aliens all look at the two saiyans, making the large number start to take aggressive stances. Bardock stumbles over, unafraid of them, while Vegeta crosses his arms with a smirk at them. Bardock stumbles through them, the Namekians letting him through with how injured he is. He looks them all over until he finds a familiar sight, Dende healing Piccolo.
The Namekian warrior gets up, shocked at them being on earth again. "What happened?"
Dende smiles up at Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin, and Bulma. "There was a plan going on between your world's Kami, King Kai, and I. The Earth dragon balls were gathered, so we used a wish to bring back everyone killed by Frieza and his forces. From there, I used the remaining wish we had from Porunga to transport everyone on Namek besides Frieza to Earth. Now, here we are!" The little Namekian seemed proud of his effort, and the group all looked astounded.
Goku chuckles, leaned against a nearby tree. "Well, I guess that means it all works out." He seems to have already been healed. Raditz and Nappa can be seen to the side of Goku. The young saiyan looks over to see his injured father. "Dad?"
Bardock chuckles, stumbling over to them. "So, we all made it out, huh?" the others notice him, Dende quickly coming over to begin healing him. Bardock allows the healing powers to flood him as he looks up into the sky.
They lived... but Frieza is still out there. How long do they have until he comes here? Will he be killed by that warrior in the visions before then? Bardock sighed and let himself rest. He looked over and found Raditz and Nappa migrate over to Vegeta. The prince seemed to lock eyes with Goku during the conversations. Goku held his same old smile, Vegeta only scoffing at him as they glared. This made Bardock smirk. He's sure it'll be fine. They don't need to worry... The saiyan race is far from gone. He has other things on his mind now.
. . .
Three months have passed. To say things have been tense is a bit of an understatement. Bulma has since taken in the entirety of the Namekian race into her home. Bardock was actually quite surprised at her accommodations. During that time, Bardock has more or less remained around Nappa and Raditz. He knew of the disconnect between the groups, and while he wished to end the issue and make everyone be nice, he knew he was best as simply a mediator.
Vegeta seemed to have taken note of the tense atmosphere. He left the Earth on his own using the Gravity chamber ship similar to Goku's. His goal seemed to be to harass Frieza's empire and train on his own. However, the last few times he'd been around, Bardock almost had to step in between the hateful stares between Vegeta and his former subordinate, Nappa. Having attempted to kill him before, Nappa obviously held a grudge against the prince he used to wholeheartedly serve. Sometimes, he wondered if Vegeta was coming around to it, seeing as Namek seemed to bring up a larger emphasis on the survival of their race. However, pride is pride. Vegeta can't help but poke the weaker bear whenever he can.
On to Raditz, Bardock was happy to see Raditz seemingly forging an actual brotherly bond with Goku. That bond has yet to go beyond to Goku's family, but it seems training together and watching Goku contend with Frieza has brought a new level of pride Raditz has never felt before. Bardock felt it too. Unfortunately for Bardock, keeping tabs on the two outsiders has kept him from dealing with a few nagging thoughts in his mind. Some things he needs answered. It will have to wait. Soon, Porunga will be summoned to bring back Tien, Yamcha, and Chaotzu.
Deciding that it would be better to have everyone together, Bardock decided to use the expected happy reunion to bring sides together. With Nappa and Raditz in tow, they arrive at Capsule Corp. After having lost much of their armors, the three had now hybridized their remaining armor pieces with new clothing.
Bardock still wore the red arm and leg warmers. The wrapped bandage around his head, still stained red from blood years past, still wrapped around his head. His green tipped boots remain, but the spandex of his suit has been swapped for a deep bluish black gi pants. He now wears a forest green form fitting t-shirt under his armor. Around his waist is a red belt, matching tone with his arm warmers, though his tail wraps overtop of the belt.
Raditz lands behind him, still having his old chest armor, but with the waist and shoulder charges removed, and wearing a brown t-shirt under his armor. He now wears gi pants matching tone with Goku's normal outfit. His hand guards have been replaced with black finger-less black gloves.
Nappa wore no armor. His black gi pants, golden yellow boots, black armguards, and yellow sleevless shirt was his new look. It was complete with a brown belt. Despite being the one with the most human clothing, he also had the least pleasure in being here.
The three approached the door and knocked, the familiar energy of Krillin approaching. The monk opens the door and smiles at Bardock with ease, looks at Raditz with little apprehension, then to Nappa, getting a sweat drop. "Hey, guys. Uh, come on in."
They join the large gathering inside, around a hundred Namekians, Dende, Krillin, Bulma, Bulma's parents, Yajirobe, Puar, Master Roshi, and a few others Bardock can't recognize. A quick ki check, and he even finds that Piccolo is close by, though not part of the festivities. He can sympathize. Social gatherings aren't his forte.
"Thanks for showing up!" Bulma greets the three. Being Bulma, she shows no fear anymore to the warriors who had helped on Namek. Sure, one of them caused he boyfriend's death, the one that Bulma is still slightly hesitant towards, but she is able to move on. Heck, if they could accept Piccolo after he caused Krillin and Chaotzu's deaths and untold amounts of mayhem, then she thinks they can accept the saiyans. She'll be damned if they're gonna overtake the place though... She wags her finger at them with a stern face. "There's food, but be aware of yourselves. Leave some for everyone else, you here!"
Raditz is taken back by the bite in her words. Bardock answers calmly, "Yeah, yeah." not really taking her seriously since his focus is on something else.
Nappa snickers at Bulma's command, intent on doing what he pleases. This draws her ire. "Don't you laugh! Don't think I forgot how clumsy you were trying to carry me on Namek. Some mighty warrior you are, not able to hold onto a single woman."
Nappa's face contorts into rage. The woman had been freaking out so much on Namek that he almost dropped her several times. He simmers and scoffs. "Fine."
Bulma turns back to Bardock, smile on her face. "We're getting ready to summon Porunga. As soon as Goku arrives, we get this party underway." She looks at Raditz and Nappa, who are glancing around at some Namekians giving them wary scared looks. "Think they'll be fine?" She whispers for the elder warrior.
Bardock shrugs. "Gotta get over it eventually. The faster the better." His senses alert him. He turns, finding Goku, Gohan, and Chichi entering the room. Bardock gives him a nod. Chichi steps forward, high and mighty, as she addresses Bardock.
"Alright, you keep your brutes in check, you hear!" Both Raditz and Nappa bristle at that, preparing to speak to their defense. She continues though, cutting them off. "Listen, Gohan here is going to be a scholar. He's going to be successful! I already have one group of brain-dead oafs trying to indoctrine him into their gang. I don't need another group trying to turn him into a punk!" With each sentence, her volume rose.
Nappa and Raditz both clap a hand over one of their ears, angry at the harpy. Bardock and Goku both sweat drop at her, having similar reactions. "Come on, Chichi! They're fine!" Goku laughs and waves off.
Bardock sighs, not caring much for her. "This is a party, right? Shouldn't you be relaxing?"
Chichi pulls a 180, smiling. "Yes! You're right." She walks away from them to speak with Bulma.
Goku rubs the back of his neck in the classic Son fashion, looking at Nappa. "Sorry. She's passionate when it comes to Gohan, but she means well."
The grin and happy attitude pulls Nappa away from his anger. "Heh. You chose a spirited one, though. Classic saiyan trait." Surprisingly, Goku's nonchalant attitude to the topic leads them into a discussion.
Gohan looks at his grandfather and uncle. "Hey, granddad. Hi uncle. How have you two been?"
Bardock smiles at the boy's innocence, reminding him of Goku's innocence. It seems a lot like a certain special someone Bardock knew once upon a time. If only you could be here, Gine... "We've managed to live off the land fine."
Gohan and Raditz lock eyes for a moment. "How about you? Any difficulties with the animals? I know they aren't too bad, but still."
Raditz is surprised by the curious question. He puffs up. "Boy, I'm a warrior. Nothing on this planet threatens me." He's still a bit shocked the boy would speak to him. Then again, the boy's closest friend is a green man who also kidnapped him at some point...
Bardock smirks at Raditz' bravado, turning his attention to Gohan as he speaks to his grandson. Raditz walks away to get some food.
Soon enough, the dragon is summoned, a brilliant golden glow in a black sky. The group of friends make their wishes, and within moments, everyone is met with the sight of Tien, Yamcha, and Chaotzu appearing in front of the crowd.
Yamcha beams happily as Bulma tackle hugs him. There's something in the movements that are more... platonic, but its wholesome nonetheless. Tien and Chaotzu step forward, greeting Goku and Krillin. However, once they see a certain bald saiyan, the mood chills. Tien locks eyes with the saiyan, grimacing at at the smirking monkey man.
Nappa snarkily responds with a smile. "What's the matter? Something wrong with my face?"
Tien glares at him. "Yeah. It's still there."
"Tien..." Chaotzu warns. Chaotzu is understanding to the situation. He's afraid of the saiyan, but they were able to fight alongside Piccolo despite what he'd done to them.
Tien spares his partner a glance before looking at the saiyan. "Nappa..."
Nappa smirks. "Yes?"
Tien's fist clenches, a small smile appearing on his face. "It would only be fitting to have a match sometime. I need to pay you back."
Seeing the friendly competition, Nappa smiles, delighted by the idea, but he's not above some teasing. "I don't know. Are you really a challenge?"
Tien doesn't take the bate, though, turning to Krillin as they converse. Nappa is mildly disappointed, but the hateful mood has been replaced with challenge. Challenge is where saiyans thrive.
Over with Yamcha, he glances at Bulma. "By the way, where is Vegeta?"
Bulma frowns. "Who knows. One minute, the bastard is here. The next, he's off 'taking the fight to Frieza's empire'. I swear, he's frustrating as hell."
This new atmosphere turns into a full party, Raditz consuming a plate of food before being bumped into from behind. "Hey, watch where you're going!" The saiyan snaps at the person. However... something straight happens. A blonde haired woman in a green tank top, yellow short shorts, and a red bandana tied in her hair.
She glares at the saiyan. "What was that, you rat! I go wherever I damn well please!" She snaps back.
Raditz, finally annoyed at the amount of strong minded women around here, is willing to argue. "Well, then good to know you're a fool with a death wish!"
She growls back at him, pulling a gun out from her bag. "I'll show you death wish you bastard!" She unloads the entire clip at him. The Namekians and people stare wide eyed at the aggression, but Raditz has now gone from angry to pleasantly surprised.
He releases all the bullets from his hand, having caught all of the shots. "Oh?" He chuckles, turning away. "I guess that's all you have." He's shocked as she outright pulls his hair, stopping him.
"Don't you turn your back on me, you wuss!" The blonde calls out. "And you should get a haircut! You look like a hedgehog!" At that exact moment, part of the hair flicks around her nose. She inhales sharply before letting out a big sneeze.
Raditz feels her let go, whipping around with anger clear. "HOW DARE-" His face shifts to confusion. "-you?" The blonde from before now stands with blue hair, an innocent look on her face as she stares dumbly at him.
Realizing what happened, she gasps and claps her hands over her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry. I don't mean to be like that. Are you okay?"
Confused. No, that's too weak of a word for this situation. Raditz is utterly perplexed at the situation. "Um... fine. Uh, who ARE you?"
The woman smiles sweetly at him. "I'm Launch. A pleasure to meet you. What's your name?"
Her attitude shift seems to work as he even smirks a bit. "I'm Raditz."
From there, the rest of the celebration goes smoothly. With their friends back, and everyone accepting each other, the group ends up dispersing on good terms. Only three months later, they meet yet again, this time creating an entirely New Namek, and sending the Namekians all to their new home, in a section of space far from Frieza's empire.
The z fighters all establish a routine for their new lives. Vegeta even begins staying at Capsule Corp every so often for ship repairs. Nappa took up Tien on his sparing match, surprised at the strength the human gained from King Kai, and to Bardock's surprise, Raditz getting more friendly with the humans entirely.
Now, there was only one question... How long until Frieza came?
OH MY GOD this was double the length of the last chapter.
Sorry guys. I have no excuse for the length of hiatus here. It simply wasn't a priority this time around.
I also know this chapter is longer than usual, but I promised myself this chapter would wrap up Namek. No Super Saiyan, either! I wonder if that will come back up?
Foreshadowing aside, we now come close to a moment that I've had clear in my mind since before I started this story. I knew since chapter one exactly how the next part would transpire, and I'm happy to wrap up Namek so that I can hopefully do it soon.
Hope you enjoy. Now for Power Levels:
Goku – 3,000,000
Goku Kaioken x20 – 60,000,000
Frieza %2 – 2,400,000
Frieza %50 – 60,000,000
Bardock – 1,600,000
Bardock Oozaru – 16,000,000
Bardock Faux Super Saiyan – 40,000,000
Anyone who has seen the Lord Slug movie should recognize the form, but for anyone who hasn't, that movie showed Goku go into a SS aura without his hair or eyes changing. All we know about it's power is that it's stronger than Kaioken x20, but weaker than SS's x50. Since it's halfway towards a Super Saiyan transformation, I used a x25 modifier.
Vegeta – 2,200,000
Piccolo – 1,080,000
Raditz – 1,000,000
Nappa – 1,000,000
Gohan's and the human's power levels by the end here are irrelevant. All we know is they are stronger than before, but weaker than the base form saiyans. However, after this arc, the humans are then directly on par with wherever Goku's base form is, so expect their levels next chapter onward to be in the millions.
