Repeated Questions: Some of you guys repeat questions and I know that most of you don't read each other's reviews, but there are questions getting asked that I've already answered (most about Piccolo). So, if I answered it, I'm not gonna keep answering it (besides when the ages change).
A/N: I've got a Youtube Channel "Ninja Dust Official". Check it out for music, writing tips, and just stuff about me and my work! Please subscribe.
Q: Will Cell appear?
A: I don't wanna say just quite yet whether he will or won't…
Q: Is Gero alive?
A: Read on and find out…
Q: Will Kakarot surpass his father and become the strongest in the universe?
A: He wouldn't be Goku if he didn't. I know you guys are a little frustrated that he's not winning every battle like he did in the show…but Goku didn't always smack everybody around with ease. Look at Dragonball. Yamcha gave him hard time at first and Tien was one of his biggest rivals. He competed in three tournaments and didn't win until his third. He is a lot stronger than his original self at his age, but everybody around him is stronger as well. But he was undefeated in the underground matches. That's gotta count for something. But fear not! Kakarot will achieve amazing levels of strength, but so will his father.
Q: Will Kakarot go SS3 against Broly?
A: When Broly arrives, everyone will have to step it up. That's all I can say.
Q: Will Vegeta and Kakarot ever cross paths?
A: Oh yeah. They will begin a rivalry at a very distinctive point in the story, but very soon, they will come to really know each other and you may be surprised how their relationship starts off…
Q: When will Goku come back?
A: Goku it usually late saving the day, but it's always kind of at the right moment...
Fenn: I thought it would be interesting to have another prodigy. Goku isn't the only one. Look at Broly! If more Saiyans survived, I think it's reasonable that other Saiyans would have great potential. He's nice because he was raised by humans after his parents died in battle. I understand that some of you might translate him as a "Mary Sue" and may think that he was just thrown in the story to rival Kakarot for Cerina's affection, but I assure you that's not the case. I actually created him for another character already in the story, but that will be revealed later…
Chapter 28
I do not own DBZ
"Kakarot!" Cerina stood back on her feet to prep herself, but she was already on her back again before she could catch her breath. Kakarot was a jerk before, but clearly he wasn't a psychotic killing machine that he had just become. Cerina had no choice but to stop him, but she just wasn't sure how.
She caught his next punch, but foolishly tried to reason with him. "Kakarot, we have to—" She quickly learned that Kakarot was just an animal fighting to kill. There were no words she could say to make him stop. 'I have to really fight him, but I'm not sure that I can…'
She looked at her teammates transforming and feared the worst if they all completed it. Arti, Bell, and Pak had never been off world, so she was certain that they wouldn't have control over themselves. Soko might have remembered bits and pieces, but she wouldn't have known how to stop herself. She only had one speck of hope that Fenn was going to be able to get control of himself. 'I still can't take that risk. I have to cut off most of their tails.' She took aim at Soko, right before Kakarkt blasted her in the back and knocked her through a couple of buildings.
Kakarot would not stop and continued to throw beams at the building Cerina was in. Never in his life had he really tried to kill anyone, but the urge to do it was too strong to resist. Cerina was the first life form, so she had to be the first to die.
"We don't have time for this!" She tried firing her restraining energy shackles, but Kakarot was faster than she anticipated and dodged every one. After eluding all of her attacks and appearing quickly in front of her for a powerful punch that had her lying on her back again, she quickly realized that the only reason why she did gain the upper hand with Kakarot in his prison cell was because he was caught off guard and underestimated her. 'What am I going to do?'
She heard the screams of small children and was motivated to get up just in time to block a punch from Kakarot. She briefly considered reasoning with him again, but she heard the screaming increasing and she knew that she had no time for games. "Sorry, Kakarot!"
She powered up as much as she could as fast as she could manage and hurried to the terrified humans in the streets of Vegeta City. It wasn't just a hell for the humans, but Cerina had great fear as well. Vegeta City was being rampaged by small Ozarous and ones of great stature and she knew some of the monsters were even babies. There were thousands of Saiyans that stayed in the city and it would all be gone in a manner of minutes. She felt the life force of hundreds of humans dissipating. She would only be able to save a handful.
"Save us, Princess!" There were hundreds that began to crowd around her, because they had nowhere else to go. They had seen their friends squished under the Saiyan's feet, their families crushed within their hands, and their co-workers incinerated by beams if they tried to escape. Cerina was their only hope.
Cerina looked around desperately and noticed that she was standing on top of a sewer. 'I don't know if it'll keep them safe, but it's their only chance!' "This way! Now!"
Kakarot spotted Cerina, and more importantly, a large group of humans. "Destroy!"
Cerina sensed him coming and quickly created an energy shield large enough for her and her and the humans. "Hurry!"
Kakarot growled in anger when he couldn't get inside of her shield, but he savagely began to beat on it over and over again. "Destroy! Destroy!"
Kakarot's pounding did bother Cerina, but she was confident that she could keep her shield up long enough to get the humans inside. "You just have to move faster! I don't have all day."
There was a piercing scream and the ground began to shake as they were all engulfed in a bright, red light. Cerina looked up to the sky and saw three Oozarous along with Kakarot blasting her energy shield. Cerina didn't know how long she could last, but she pushed out as much energy as she could. 'I have to protect these humans. They may not be Saiyans, but I am the princess of this planet. They are my people. They're my responsibility!'
The ground began to tremble again and Cerina looked up to see an Ozarou dressed in one of her suits heading straight for her. She thought for sure that her crew member would ram into her and break her shield, but the beast jumped up in the air and over the shield and landed on the other side. Before it rested on its feet, it grabbed a hold of one of the other Ozarous and threw it far away into a building. Another Ozarou tried to attack her team member, but a strong backhand was not only enough to protect itself, but to knock its opponent out. From that, she realized that it was her dear Fenn.
Fenn was not fast enough to stop the attack from the last Ozarou and the shield fell just as the attack subsided. Fenn did restrain the Ozarou after that, but Kakarot was finally free to kill Cerina and the last few humans that were heading down into the sewer. He drew his hand back and flung it forward to smash Cerina's face.
'No!' Cerina screamed and unleashed an unexpected wave of power. Kakarot's fist was just an inch in front of her face, but her extreme power blew Kakarot back and began to engulf the area. Cerina wasn't sure what was coming over her, but she knew that she didn't have control and she knew that something bad was soon going to happen!
Kakarot opened his weary eyes and noticed the drops of blood pouring from his head. The commands to destroy were muffled sounds in his mind, but the actual audio appeared to be gone. He stumbled up on his feet and noticed a street lamp had been knocked over and it had an indent the size of his head. He was in a bit of a haze until the sounds of hundreds of Ozarous snapped him out of it. 'And how did the psychic miss this?'
Kakarot shook his head and followed Cerina's sporadic energy signature. It seemed to be rising, but then it kept dropping drastically. He had never felt anything like it. 'Something is wrong.' He had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach and rushed to find her through the decimated city. When he found her standing in the middle of a street, she seemed to be stuck on her feet while her chest rose up and down at the sound of her gasping. "Cerina?"
"K-k…Ka-Ka…Ahhhh!" Her energy began escaping from her body as beams of electricity.
"Cerina!" He was shocked himself, but he couldn't let it faze him and he ran to her. "What's wrong?"
"I can't…breathe…."
He hurried and removed her helmet, revealing a pair of blue eyes. 'What? There's no way?' "You're not a Super Saiyan are you?"
She shook her head and that motion alone made her lose her energy and she collapsed into Kakarot's arms. "KaKa…"
"Just calm down!" Kakarot had no idea what was going on. Her energy was all over the place. It didn't seem right for her to be strong enough to be a Super Saiyan, especially when it was decreasing at a faster rate than it rose. Then Kakarot realized he had another problem as he saw the moon reflected in her eyes. 'She'll probably transform. I don't know if she knows how to control herself, but maybe she'll heal whatever is wrong with her if she transforms.' Kakarot knew that it wasn't safe for the two of them to lie there, but she would be much more powerful after she transformed. He waited a couple of seconds for the transformation to begin, but nothing had changed. 'What's going on?'
"Kaka…" She clutched tightly onto his hand. Cerina had no idea what was wrong with her power, but she knew it felt like her heart was going to explode. She couldn't catch her breath, no matter what she did. "Please save the earth…"
"What?" Kakarot noticed tears beginning to fall from her eyes. 'She can't be dying, can she?' "We'll save it together. Just stop talking and concentrate on getting better."
"I can't…" Cerina knew about controlling her energy. She had always been a master at it from the time she was a little girl. Now she knew that she didn't have it together. "I know…you're different…" She held Kakarot's hand tighter as she felt the energy within her body transforming into pure pain. "I can sense it inside you…"
"Shut up!" Kakarot was not a hero! He only cared about getting stronger and upping all the people who showed him up. He would surpass the king, his father, and he would embarrass Fenn. He was going to beat up Cerina too! He fought underground and proved to be the best. He got strong his own way. He made his name his own way. He didn't buy into that Goku crap and he wouldn't let her force him into that hero box either. "You're the one these earthlings need. It's not me."
"But it is…" Her chest ceased aching as her heart rate began to slow down incredibly. It was barely beating at all. "You were sent here…"
"To destroy it."
She shook her head and smiled weakly. "That's what we wanted you to do, but you make your own destiny, Kakarot."
"That's what I'm trying to do!"
"I used to be ashamed of how I am." Cerina's eyes were in direct contact with the many moon simulations. She could feel the constant power of the blutz waves being amplified by her suit, but nothing was happening and she didn't understand. She feared that she might never get the chance. "Don't be afraid to be who you are…"
Kakarot was nothing more than a helpless child as he felt Cerina's energy fade into nothing. He touched her face and wiped away one of her tears, hoping that she would find a way to pull through. He didn't understand why he cared so much that she lived. He thought he hated her. "Cerina…I…"
Her eyes returned to black and her head became deadweight in his hand. "Cerina?" The ground began to shake from another blast. It was Armageddon, but Kakarot hadn't realized how much his world was crumbling apart until Cerina's heart stopped beating. "Cerina!"
He didn't believe a word of her bull! He wasn't a hero. He wasn't Goku and he had told his father that over and over again. Even his father acknowledged that fact with much disappointment. He didn't know how to save the earth. He wasn't sure if he had the will. "Cerina! You're the only one who cares about this rock, so you can't be dead!"
He opened her mouth and began to breathe his life into her. He had imagined kissing her lips several times, but he certainly wasn't thinking anything romantic or sexy. He was a desperate fool attempting to help her cheat her unnatural death. "Come on, Cerina!" He pushed on her chest. He didn't think about how hard he was doing it and he felt her bones crack underneath his hands, but he had to keep going. "Don't be so weak! You're the only one who cares about these humans!"
Kakarot had even noticed that his father was less inclined to care about the humans and kept in his own world of making his family stronger. At the end of the day, he would forsake the entire planet to save the lives of his family, which everyone knew. Kakarot might have been irritated by his father and escaped to do his own thing whenever he could, but he did spend a lot of time with him still. Bardock stayed out of Kakarot's business so he wouldn't push him away, but they were still kind of close when they weren't butting heads.
'I don't even know how they're doing. Then there's Chi-Chi…' Kakarot needed to do whatever he had to in order to keep the people he cared about safe. Could he figure out a way to do it without Cerina? He was a powerful fighter and a brilliant one at that. But for some reason, he just didn't want to accept her death.
"I said wake up!" He centered some energy on his fist and rammed it into her chest. Upon impact, it entered inside of her chest and fueled her heart with enough of a charge to sit her up gasping for her first breaths of her new life.
"Kakarot!" She wrapped her arms around him and struggled not to cry, but the tears fell uncontrollably as her body trembled. "Thank you."
Kakarot had been in several mature situations with women, so it astonished him that he began to blush. "Come on. We've gotta…"
"What?" She looked up to see what had upset Kakarot so, but then she wished she hadn't. There were at least ten Ozarous set to fire at them and nowhere for the two of them to run. If they tried to fly, they would be struck down as well. "Kakarot…"
He rose to his feet and prepared himself to block their attack. 'If Cerina could hold them off, I'm sure I can.' "Don't worry. I'll protect you."
"You need my help." She forced herself to stand up, even though every movement felt like a punishment.
"I'll handle this!" He even smirked like the cocky little dick he was. "I'm the undefeated underground tournament champion."
"Excuse me if that title means absolutely nothing in a world full of transformed Saiyans!"
"Relax." Kakarot began powering up. He knew that he wasn't a Super Saiyan and he had given a chunk of his energy to revive Cerina, but he was still strong enough to protect his own skin and Cerina. 'Then maybe we'll see about the earth.' "Bring it on!" he yelled.
Cerina wasn't sure if Kakarot would have enough energy to pull it off. 'Maybe I should give his energy back to him.' She touched his back and closed her eyes.
"Where are we?"
She drew her hand away before she gave away what she had and opened her eyes. She recognized the place as a human stadium. It was far away and safe on an island. Even if it was during the operating season for the tournament, Saiyans didn't usually go and watch it. "How did we get here?"
Kakarot had never been there in his whole entire life. "I don't know. It's like we teleported…" He looked around for his father or brother, but he didn't see either one of them in eyesight. 'They wouldn't have teleported us here and left. They're probably all transformed too.' "I don't understand, Princess, but it looks like we lucked out."
With the world being destroyed far away, Cerina finally took a moment to collapse on her knees and immerse herself in her nervous breakdown. "How could I let this happen?"
"Hey," Kakarot bent down beside her and grabbed her to make her look at him. "You couldn't have known, Cerina."
She nodded to herself and wiped away her tears. She had millions of emotions swarming inside of her, but it was not the proper time to freak out. There would be plenty of time for that later. "I need my helmet so I don't transform."
Kakarot was taken aback by that. "Uh…I don't think you need your helmet, Cerina…" He saw the look on her face as she struggled not to cry again and he knew that she was just trying to play stupid. "What's…wrong with you?"
She knew she was always incredibly softhearted for a Saiyan, and everyone knew that. But she had never told anyone else about what else was wrong with her. She knew how awful Kakarot was, but she felt like she could trust him with her secret. The only problem was time. "Forget about me. We have to save the planet."
"Forget about the humans for a second. What if you die again and it's permanent? You're more important than them."
"No!" she yelled defiantly. "I am the princess of this planet. Everyone on this planet is my subjects. They are my responsibility, Kakarot, and I can't ever stop from giving my best, even if it means my own life!"
"Well, that's stupid! You're my princess and I have an obligation to protect you, even if I'm protecting you from yourself. I'm not losing you or anyone else who is mine!" Kakarot noticed that Cerina was stunned and started blushing hard. Once he realized what he had said, he tried to clean it up. "I don't mean that in a romantic way. I just mean that…I'm a possessive douche! Okay? I only care about my family, my friends, and…my team. You're gonna pay my bills, right?"
'I know that he likes me. Why does he fight it so much?' "Right." She smiled. "There has to be a signal coming from somewhere to transmit these moon simulations. Then whoever did all this hacked every television, radio, and so on. That's no small feat. We find where the signal originated from and we find who's behind this."
"There's only a few places I can think of. It can't be the palace, because it's gotta be mostly destroyed. There were tons of Saiyans around there."
"It can't be our headquarters. That place has gotta be totaled as well. Our servers in the basement might be intact, but I don't see why anyone would put the equipment in Vegeta City. There's just too many Saiyans. Nothing would be guaranteed to last long."
"Then our best bet is Capsule Corp." 'They certainly have the technology, but I haven't really been paying attention to the company.' "How much do you know about it?"
"We still do business, but my mother hasn't been as interested in the company since Bulma's death. But they would certainly have all the access and equipment. It just doesn't make sense why any human would want this."
"We need to go there now." 'This all has to be happening at Capsule Corp, but it's going to be dangerous getting there. I don't know if I should take Cerina along with me in her condition if we have to fight against so many transformed Saiyans, but she'll refuse to be left behind. She's more stubborn than I gave her credit for.' Kakarot remembered what had just happened. His father hadn't even begun to show him Instant Transmission. He didn't trust him with such a powerful technique, and Kakarot really couldn't blame him. He was indeed a troublemaker. 'I can't do it. Father didn't do it. Raditz didn't...' It seemed impossible, but Kakarot reluctantly grabbed Cerina's hand anyway.
"What are you doing?" she asked nervously.
"I'm…" 'This is so stupid!' "I'm gonna try to teleport there or…hope that whatever teleported us here will get us there."
"I know I'm supposed to be the optimistic one, but that sounds just plain crazy." And in an instant, they were outside the front door of Capsule Corp. "I retract my statement!"
'It can't be! He's not real...' Kakarot pulled himself together. He decided to call himself lucky and press forward with his mission. Not only was Capsule Corp in perfect condition, but it was eerily quiet considering the rest of the world was going to hell. But the greatest confirmation was a satellite tower poking through the roof of the observatory. "There haven't been any Saiyans in West City since they moved into Vegeta City. This place would be safe long enough to cause whatever damage they wanted done."
'If Bulma was here, this would have never happened.' Cerina would often miss her big sister, but she had to push her sadness and disappoint in herself away. "Come on. We've gotta stop this."
The two of them flew to the tower and fell inside of Capsule Corporation lab. The smell of blood and burnt corpses wasn't something either one of them were too familiar with, but they recognized it anyway. There were dozens of workers lying all over the place with limbs missing or holes planted in their chests. The culprit was a beautiful black-haired woman monitoring a computer screen. When she laid eyes on the intruders, she didn't attack violently like she had done to everyone who tried to stand in her way. She was pleased because she knew that very soon; her mission in life would be complete. "Well, if it isn't Princess Cerina and the brilliant Kakarot. You've come to stop me?"
"And who exactly are you?" Kakarot barked.
Cerina recognized her all too well. "She's Crystal Palace. She's the CEO of Capsule Corporation." They hadn't had any communication at all, but she recognized her from a newspaper article. 'But how did she accomplish slaughtering all these people?' Then it suddenly dawned on her. "She's an android!"
She smirked. "You may call me Twelve."
'An android? Like in the stories about Goku…?' "Have you dealt with some of these things before?" Kakarot asked Cerina, while preparing himself to fight.
"We've destroyed a few over the years. They're products from The Red Ribbon Army. We never could find Dr. Gero. It's as if he's testing our strength with these things. So far, none of them have been stronger than Fenn and I, but I'm sure this model is improved. Model ten was pretty impressive, to be honest."
"It won't defeat me though." Kakarot was excited about his match. He could save the world and upstage Fenn all in one blow. "Why are you doing this?" he asked Twelve. "Isn't your master in danger?"
"My master is safe and as far as my plans, I've been programed not to tell them. All I can tell you is what you already know. I made the Saiyans transform and Princess Cerina must die."
"What?" Cerina was surprised. It wasn't the first time someone had wanted to take her life, but it was insane that she was such a target. 'Why am I singled out? Why not my mother or brother? It can't only be because I've destroyed some of his other androids. Vegeta dismantled the entire army with Bulma. There's got to be more to this.'
"I'll handle destroying you myself!" Cerina didn't have a problem with taking out an android, especially after all it had done. "I will be more than efficient."
"We'll see about that!" The android was so fast it seemed to disappear.
"No we won't." Kakarot raised his hand and caught the android's hand before she could plow her fist in Cerina's face. "I'll handle her," he told Cerina. "You almost died today. Take it easy and find a way to shut off this system."
Cerina became frustrated as she saw the two of them begin to fight so fast that they would disappear and reappear around different sections of the lab. She had full confidence in Kakarot, but it was her fight! "You're the genius. Why don't you do it? This android has a problem with me, so I think I should take it out."
"Just blow some stuff up! The main signal is probably being transmitted from here. If it's cut off, then everything should go back to normal. I doubt it's any harder than that. Whoever her master is has to live on this planet. The chaos is temporary."
Cerina was not happy, but seeing how fast they moved let her know exactly how weak and tired she was from her energy malfunctioning. "Fine." Cerina looked up at the tower. It was a massive steel structure and she didn't want to destroy it in a way that would cause massive damage to Capsule Corporation. She then looked to the computer system. It had dozens of images of different transmitters across the world. 'Looks like this is what controls everything.' She surrounded her hand in a yellow wave of energy.
Kakarot looked down below him at Cerina as he heard her surprised scream. A big hand rose up through the concrete floors and grabbed her dainty foot. Then before either of them could do anything in retaliation, she was pulled underneath the floor. "Cerina!"
Kakarot was distracted and that earned him a powerful right hook into the tower. He took out two of its legs and it began to collapse. Kakarot considered grabbing it to stop the destruction from going any further than that, but he knew the android would have taken advantage of his moment of softheartedness and he let it fall and attacked the android again. "Looks like you just defeated yourself."
"The transformed Saiyans already served their purpose. Stopping the moon simulations won't stop the death of the Princess."
"No, but that's one thing crossed off on my list of things to do!" Kakarot sensed Cerina's energy and quickly flew out of the way of a yellow light flying through the floor and up into the sky. Cerina emerged bloodied and panting, but at least she was still breathing. The only problem was that her opponent, a big, buff, human looking creature with purple spikey hair, also emerged with her.
"That's Eleven. He was especially created to kill Cerina."
"Well, don't I feel special?" she asked sarcastically. 'I have to power up if I want to defeat this thing, but I don't know what will happen to my body if I do. If they don't kill me, I might kill myself.' Cerina realized which option was better and began digging deeper into her energy reserves. She knew that there was a lot more power that she couldn't quite reach, but what she was calling forth was usually enough.
"Don't you dare overdo it, Cerina!" Kakarot was already pissed. "No dying on my watch!"
"I'll try to remember that." She tried to punch Eleven, but he crossed his arms in front of his face and blocked her attack. It was enough force to send shockwaves throughout the room, but he himself was completely not fazed. Eleven did smirk, but Cerina wasn't about to give up hope. "Bring. It. On!"
Kakarot was having quite the battle with his android. It was very good and it fought smart and was very precise. He recognized its moves enough to figure that it had been created for defense of Cerina and Fenn in particular. But Kakarot wasn't Cerina and the android wasn't quite ready for Kakarot's instinctual brawl. It wasn't long before Twelve tried to punch Kakarot but he blocked it by grabbing a hold of her arm. He laughed to himself right before chopping the thing completely off.
Twelve did not feel pain, but it could begin to analyze and calculate its defeat and she did not enjoy the scenario. It could not fail! She estimated that Kakarot still had energy to tap into and would be able to defeat her within the next three minutes. If he didn't increase his power level, his current raw strength would be enough to make her equipment begin to fail. Cerina was fatigued, but her rate of speed and heart rate let Twelve know that Cerina would be able to keep her own life if she survived the next few minutes for Kakarot to join the fight. With the two of them working together, Eleven would not even last one minute. 'I cannot fail. I'm programed not to fail!' "Eleven!" she screamed. "Self-destruct, now!"
"What?" Cerina tried to fly away, but Eleven grabbed a hold of her foot and then he wrapped his arms around her chest. By the time he caught her, he was already well into dying.
"No!" Kakarot tried to reach Cerina, but he wasn't keeping his eye on his opponent and she elbowed him in the nose while he was in a panic and she shattered it. The pain was a sudden shock and it was just enough hesitation to know that he wasn't going to get to Cerina in time. 'No!'
She pulled on Eleven's arms and struggled to break through. Eleven pressing on her body hurt badly since Kakarot broke her ribs earlier. She exhausted a lot of her energy quickly and then she came to realize that she should just prepare and accept whatever was about to happen. "Protect yourself!"
Kakarot refused to believe that he couldn't make a difference. "Cerina!" Twelve tried to stop him, but he powered up as much as he could and charged straight through her, breaking her into pieces and scattering her all over the place. His balled fingers that were once in a fist began to open up as he reached out to Cerina. She was still struggling to break through, but her body was crushed and she was draining the limited amount of energy to welcome the inevitable by making a barrier, but she wasn't even sure that was enough.
"Save yourself!"
Kakarot saw Eleven glow so bright that all he became was hot, white light. Before it swallowed him up, he quickly shielded himself with a barrier. It was quick and not as strong as Kakarot should have managed and he screamed as Cerina did as well.
Kakarot opened his eyes and saw the starry night with only one moon up in the sky and it was not yet full. He struggled and sat up in the crater where Capsule Corp used to be. There were pipes that were busted and water began to fill up the hole. The androids bodies were missing and there were literally only scraps of the vast and great empire of Capsule Corporation. But at least Cerina's body was still intact. "Cerina…" He tried to stand, but he stumbled down into the hole until he was at the bottom where she was. He picked up her body before she completely drowned, but he was very concerned about her lack of energy. He barely had the strength to fly, but he privileged her with his last bit of energy and collapsed on top of her body. "Don't be dead, Princess. I'm not going through this almost dead thing again with you!"
He pressed his ear on her chest and listened to the faint sound of her beating heart. Her energy was at a dangerously low level, but he really had none to spare. 'I need to get her a senzu bean.' Kakarot was surprised that she was alive. He was honestly surprised that he was still alive!
"Cerina?" He lightly slapped her face, but then got impatient and slapped her one good time. "Cerina!"
Her eyes opened and she took in a deep breath. It still very much hurt to breathe, but she was grateful that she still could feel pain. "I'm fine." She motioned Kakarot to get off of her and she wearily rose up, but she was still too weak and fell on Kakarot's shoulder. "Why do you think they wanted me dead?"
Kakarot was very curious himself. "There's probably at least a dozen reasons. Maybe they wanted to hurt your parents, stop you from policing the world, or…I don't know."
She laughed to herself, because that was all she could do. She had a lot of hope when she saw West City pretty much intact, but with Capsule Corp being gone, that was a major financial blow to the humans. Plus, the blast did extend out and affected a lot more people. Even those who weren't vaporized felt the shockwave. The whole world was ruined and for some reason, it was her fault. "I feel pretty wracked."
"Well, you're lucky to be alive right now." He hated that he was so impressed with her, but he honestly was. She deserved a reward. "I'm gonna take you somewhere to be healed."
He got on his feet and took her hands and held her steady as she got on her own two feet. "I don't have time for that. I have to—"
"Don't argue with me." Kakarot's arm reached underneath her legs and swept legs up quickly. Kakarot had done that to Chi-Chi a few times and he understood that he would look so hot to Cerina. He was obviously correct when her blushing face showed through. "Hold on."
It was a very awkward flight over to his house. Both of their suits had really been obliterated. Kakarot's hand had touched a bare piece of her thigh that was very close to her butt. She was a little too out of it to notice, but Kakarot certainly knew that he accidently felt her up. He did find her attractive, but it just wasn't appropriate to even consider their chemistry considering how many cities were on fire. 'I hope Chi-Chi's okay…'
Kakarot landed where his home was supposed to be, but everything was in ruins and scattered across their land. The earth was scorched and flattened by the giant footsteps. Many of their farm animals had escaped and were either running amuck or they were dead. His family was also running amuck. They had all transformed and broken out of their clothes. Only his mother and sister had the decency to stop and find a dirty blanket to wrap up in. He knew there was a crisis, but he was embarrassed by his hick family running naked in the presence of the princess, who was going to blush.
But it was easy to excuse them once Kakarot heard them all screaming. "Fasha! Summer!"
"Father?" Kakarot landed before Bardock. He had never seen him so shaken.
"Kakarot!" Colleen could not contain her emotions and wrapped her arms around her little boy. "You're alive!"
"Did you stop the simulations?" Bardock said with pride already coming through.
"Yeah." Kakarot looked away. As nice as it was to see his dad smile like that, it embarrassed Kakarot as well. That sort of affection was awkward. "I need a senzu bean for Cerina."
"Everything was demolished, Kakarot. I'll have to go to Korin's to get some more. But right now, we have to find Fasha and Summer. I can't sense their energy."
Kakarot would fight to the death for his family, but it was difficult for him to display affection for them. But he was hit with the same panic as everyone else when he heard about his missing niece. He knew how important she was to his brother and she was also Kara's best friend. Kara was emotional enough. She didn't need any more drama. "You think they're dead?"
"No." Bardock wasn't sure. He was just in denial. "Fasha is a smart girl. Maybe she just lowered her energy so she wouldn't be found." Bardock was covered in dirt and his body had scorch marks and blood on it, as well as everyone else in Kakarot's family. His mom in particular looked really beat up.
"Or she could be really hurt…" 'Father can at least remember what he does when he's transformed. He must have tried to fight everyone off. That can't be easy, even for a Super Saiyan, especially when he didn't want to really hurt anyone.'
Kakarot knew what he had to do. "I have to find her." He very carefully placed Princess Cerina on the ground. He was concerned about leaving her in such poor condition, but he had to take care of his family. "I'll come back for you."
"I understand. Go." Cerina wasn't the least bit offended. She liked that he was so loyal to his family.
"Fasha! Summer!" Everyone split up so they could cover more ground. Bardock kept his family contained in one location, but their blasts had range. There were trees knocked over, blown apart, and vaporized. The beautiful Mount Pazou was now a scarred battlefield. They could have been anywhere. Raditz was clearly the most freaked out. He didn't stop for one second. He had to find his mate and daughter.
"Fasha!" Kara tried to sense them out with her mind, but she couldn't find them. She was reaching desperately to find her best friend. She could not afford to lose her! "Where are you?"
"Kara!"
She stopped running when she spotted her brother randomly standing near a very narrow ravine, but she thought he was in the other direction. "Kakarot?" The weirdest thing was that Kakarot was dressed in a different outfit. It was a gi she didn't recognize. He even looked older.
He pointed down the ravine. "They're here."
She ran over to look down in the ravine. She couldn't see them at first, so she got on her hands and knees until she spotted them. "Raditz!" she screamed to the top of her lungs. "They're down there!"
Raditz wasn't in the general area, but he heard his little sister scream his name and teleported to her. He looked down into the ravine and saw his family. "Good work." He didn't know if they were safe, but he was so grateful just to see them. He quickly teleported down to Summer. He was squeezed down there and there was a pile of rocks on Summer's right leg. Fasha was with her, but she was knocked out. She was scorched, bleeding, and barely breathing. Raditz teleported them both back up to Kara and saw that Summer's leg was crushed. He was so pissed that he let the both of them get hurt. "Summer?"
"I'm sorry." Her face was stained with tears, but fresh ones managed to pour out of her eyes. "I tried to get us away to safety, but we got hit. Fasha protected me and we ended up down in that ravine. I couldn't fly. I was stuck."
The rest of the family arrived and were relieved to see them alright. Summer was a little horrified to see so many naked men that weren't her husband, but she thought that she was perhaps losing it.
Raditz laid his woman down on the grass and propped her head on his leg while he held his little girl. Seeing her so close to death's door ripped him up inside. "Did I do this to you?"
Summer shook her head and then, Tora knew. "I did this, Momma?" He busted out into a fit of tears. He knew his father didn't like him to cry, but he couldn't believe that he hurt his family. He balled until his eyes hurt and his throat went raw.
"It wasn't your fault." Summer pulled her son into her chest to quiet him down. It was terrifying to think what he was capable of, but she knew the price of being with a Saiyan. "We're okay. That's all that matters."
"Father," Raditz said, "we need some senzu beans now!"
"I'm on it." He quickly teleported and they all began to feel a little bit better that they would all be healed and ready to pick up the pieces of their lives.
"How did this happen?" Colleen asked her son.
"Androids." Kakarot would have had a difficult time believing it if he hadn't fought one himself. "Cerina thinks the Red Ribbon Army is behind this."
"Androids?" Colleen recalled her mate's stories about the androids and how they had ravaged the earth, but not before killing all of Goku's friends. Not even Super Saiyans could defeat them. 'If we can't find a way to transform, we're going to be in serious trouble.'
Kara was still confused as to how she found Summer and Fasha in the first place. She knew that she saw Kakarot, but her brother was still dressed in his Task Force uniform. But she didn't just see him before. The other Kakarot disappeared for a little bit, but he reappeared. No one else seemed to care though. "Guys, do you see what I'm seeing?"
They all looked in the direction she was staring at. "No."
Colleen knew her daughter was special and tried not to judge, especially since she was like her father. "What are you seeing?"
Kara wanted to tell them, but she had been crowned a freak by society. She didn't want to be called crazy by her loved ones. "Nothing." Even though he looked just as real as the rest of them, she wasn't sure. "It's just a vision. It doesn't mean anything."
Goku smiled and bent down to pat her on the head. She felt real to him, so he knew he must have felt real to her. "It's okay. Your dad should be able to see me too. I'm Goku."
"I'm Kara." She remembered there being talk of her father seeing Goku, but he hadn't heard it from her father. She knew he was afraid that he was losing it. "My dad isn't crazy?"
Goku laughed. "No, unless you are too."
She smiled. "There's a possibility."
Raditz was becoming a little weirded out. "Who are you talking to?"
Kara pointed right to him. It was amazing that they couldn't see. "Goku."
Kakarot's eyes bucked. "The Goku?" 'Today…I can't explain it any other way?' "Did he teleport Cerina and me today?"
Goku smiled at his younger self. "I did."
"Yes," Kara said.
Colleen was amazed. She always wanted to meet Goku. She didn't know if Bardock was losing it, but either way, she envied him. "What is he doing here?"
Goku was grateful that his mother acknowledged him. He didn't remember her from where he was from, so it was great getting to know her, even if it was from afar. He wished he could speak to her, eat her cooking, and even have a good spar. "I just came to help."
"He just wanted to help," Kara repeated.
'He helped us out today. I suspected it. I might as well have asked for it…' Kakarot began to get angry, but he couldn't recognize that he was hiding his jealousy. Raditz's neglect was easy to understand. He was upset because Bardock favored Kakarot. But Kakarot's was difficult. Bardock wished Kakarot was a different person and the man he wanted was standing in front of him. "Well, tell him to get bent. We don't need his help."
"Kakarot!" Colleen slapped her boy in the back of the head. "That's no way to talk to Goku!"
'I don't need to stand here while they all fawn over him.' "I need to get back to Cerina." He took off into the sky and back to Cerina. At least she was a different person created new in the world. There wasn't an alternate Cerina he had to hear about. Bardock couldn't judge her and make her into something he expected.
He landed and saw that Cerina was resting her eyes. He rushed to her and shook her until she woke up. "Don't go to sleep. You could have a concussion."
"I feel like I've had fifty of them." She laughed weakly and sat up. It hurt much more to laugh than to breath, but at least she was still alive. "Thank you for saving everyone today, especially me."
Cerina was really racked up, but so was he. They were both warriors. He sold her short before, but she did kind of survive the end of the world. That was kind of hot. "Well, I should get a reward."
She shook her head. 'Typical.' "I think it might take a little while to get our financial system back in order."
"I meant a kiss." He raised his eyebrows and smirked playfully, but very seductively.
Cerina didn't know what she should do, just like when she was a little girl and she realized how much he liked her. She did really like him, though he was scum, but he was also a hero. He deserved something, but she was still very confused. Kakarot probably wanted her to just lay one on him, but when he went for the mouth, her lips pressed on his cheek. "That's all I can offer."
Kakarot was a little stunned that his charms failed. No one had ever really denied him. "That's right." He rolled his eyes. "You've got a boyfriend…who totally failed in saving the world, by the way."
She chuckled. "Fenn and I aren't together! We've never been together. You've been jealous over nothing."
Kakarot's eyes widened the tiniest bit. 'How is that even possible? He practically never leaves her side. Does that fool have eyes?'
Kakarot quickly dismissed it. He didn't want Cerina anyway. Her being single changed nothing. "Why didn't you transform? What was wrong with your power?"
Cerina hesitated. There were few who earned her trust, and Kakarot wasn't one of them. But, she still did trust him. "My whole life, I felt an incredible power deep inside of me. It's so vast, that it scares me how limitless my potential is. But when I need it, I can't reach inside of myself and grab it. I'm my own worst enemy, Kakarot. You have no idea what it feels like to have all of this potential and not being able to live up to it!"
'How powerful is she?' Kakarot questioned if she really could go Super Saiyan. It pissed him off that others were capable of something he had not obtained for himself. 'Everyone is getting stronger. My father only knows what he knows because he stole my techniques and he mocks me by showing everyone except for me. I know I can surpass him. I'm supposed to be the strongest!'
Kakarot realized that he must have looked intense, because Cerina was staring curiously. "I actually do know. My father is obsessed with the other version of myself from a vision he had before he saved all of the Saiyans. He was the strongest man in the entire universe. I don't want to be like him just because everyone else wants me to, but I need his power. Everyone expects that I have it in me, but I haven't even scratched the surface."
Everyone assumed it only annoyed Kakarot to be compared to Goku, but it was a lot of pressure to have on him. "Sometimes I feel like by my father trying to preserve my destiny, he somehow stole it. Now I'm trying to rewrite it myself with no expectations from anyone else."
'I understand him a little better, but he still seems lost to me.' "Douchebag playboy is already taken. My brother does it too well for you to try and steal it."
Kakarot chuckled. He had heard about the Prince's escapades and Kakarot wasn't sure if he could outdo Vegeta if he tried. "Then what do you suggest?"
"I don't know, but you're bigger than this Kakarot. You saved the world today. You saved my life. Whether you want to be or not, you're a hero. You're at least mine." She was picking with him a little bit and smiled.
Kakarot turned his head. 'What a sap!' "We have to figure out how to unlock your powers."
"You think something is blocking it?"
"There's got to be."
'That can't be possible. Who would do something like that and why to me?' "Well, what do you suggest—"
Cerina stopped once Bardock appeared before them holding a bag of senzu beans. He was also healed and had finally covered himself in scraps of fabric. He took out two beans and gave them to the teens. "Here's a bean for the lady."
Cerina had heard of the famed beans and she gratefully accepted it from Bardock. "Thank you." Her wounds instantly and her strength returned to her. However, she didn't receive as much as a boost as she should have as a Saiyan. 'Maybe Kakarot is right.' She stood to her feet. "Do you have any more beans? There are hundreds of humans who are probably at the brink of death. They need this to survive."
Bardock looked at his bag of beans. He had given one to all of his family, but he kept heavily stocked for a reason. 'I can't deny her. She wants to help people. I should be an example to Kakarot.' He sighed and placed the beans in her hands. "Here you are. I'm afraid that's all I can offer to you. Our source is out."
"Thank you." She turned around as Kakarot stood up. "About what you offered, Kakarot, I would love to work with you sometime on that. Right now, I have to work on rebuilding our world."
Kakarot's eyes darted to his father who looked curious in their interaction. "I'll be back at headquarters…or what's left of it soon."
"I'd rather meet at the palace. I have to make sure my mother is okay and see what her orders are." 'I'm sure she's alive. She is control of her transformed state. She probably took on a lot of the Saiyans. She could be hurt.' "Settle things with your family and see me soon."
"Okay."
Cerina thought of Kakarot's request for a kiss right before she took off into the sky and smiled. 'Maybe another day.'
Bardock crossed his arms and smiled at his teenage son. He was about old enough to mate. Goku married Chi-Chi around Kakarot's age. It was strange how Chi-Chi had turned out so differently, but at least Cerina showed interest in Kakarot as well. "You two seem to be getting along."
'That's because she's not a whimp like I suspected.' "She's more powerful than I ever could have imagined, but something is wrong. Do you know of anything that can block a person's power?"
Bardock's eyes widened the slightest bit, but he remained calm. "Why do you ask?"
But Kakarot was no fool. He knew his father well enough. "You know, don't you? You know exactly what's wrong with her!"
"It's complicated—"
"Which means you did it for me!" he yelled furiously to the top of his lungs. "She nearly died today because of whatever you did!"
"How?"
Kakarot took that as his father's confession and clenched his fingers into fists. "I don't know. When she tried to tap into her power, she became restricted. That tension on her body was too much for her and she stopped breathing. I had to use some of my energy to restore her."
Bardock was shocked. All he wanted was for Cerina not to be psychotic and to not kill his son one day. He didn't want that sweet girl to die. The earth needed her. "Kakarot, you have to believe that I had no idea something like that would happen."
"Why did you even do this?"
"Her power level was over ten thousand when she was born. That was the same power level Broly had when he came into this world. King Vegeta was afraid of her power and he was going to kill her. It took convincing from me, Cellena, and Prince Vegeta to stop him."
"So where does my benefit enter into this equation?"
Bardock questioned if complete honesty was the way to go. Kakarot wasn't like Goku. Blind forgiveness was not one of his traits. 'If I tell him, I'll either ruin things with him and Cerina or he'll never believe it.' "If she was like Broly, I didn't want her to hurt you."
Kakarot rolled his eyes. 'Typical. The whole universe can go to hell and all that matters is that I'm safe and sound. He has no idea what he's done to her!' And even though it was clearly Bardock's fault, Kakarot felt responsible. 'I have to fix this mess. I don't need her dying on my account.' "How do you reverse it?"
'I don't know if I should tell him. Cerina might be kind because of what I did all those years ago. What if she's more like her brother when her powers are released?' "Korin has some Spiritual Water that should release her powers."
"Go get it," he threatened.
Bardock became indignant and he fought the urge to beat his son again. Besides, the rest of his family teleported in with Raditz. "We have other things to deal with right now, Kakarot."
"Now that we're all together, let's summon the dragon." Colleen was actually quite excited after hearing so many stories about it. She had imagined it dozens of times, but she really had no clue.
Bardock looked at his family. Besides looking like jungle people, they were all healthy and together. Hundreds of human families didn't share that privilege. Bardock knew what Goku and his friends would have done. They would have summoned the dragon without any hesitation, but Bardock had a lot on his plate to worry about and he wasn't as reckless as he used to be and he was incredibly selfish when it came to his family. "I don't want to summon Shenron."
Everyone was surprised, but no one more than Summer. "But aren't we gonna wish back everyone who died today?"
Bardock crossed his arms and remained firm. "Using the dragonballs has consequences. They don't always come fast, but they happen."
"But millions of humans are dead!" She had worked hard to encourage Saiyans and humans to live together safely. All those humans who took a chance on a Saiyan and spent time together during the festival were now dead! "Think about if Fasha and I had died. You'd wanna use the dragonballs then! You can't be such a hypocrite."
Bardock knew Raditz would have screamed his head off until they wished back Summer, but Bardock wouldn't have wanted to lose his dear Fasha. 'Maybe I should relent...' "We need to learn to take care of this planet. The dragonballs can't be our scapegoat."
"How come you and Kara didn't have a vision about all of this?" Colleen asked. They used to have a lot more visions, but it seemed like their powers were decreasing.
"I don't know, but I will find out." Bardock knew that he should have seen it coming. If he didn't, then Kara should have. He could turn it off a lot easier than she could. She was far more powerful than him. "Kara, I might need your help to search for answers."
"Okay, Papa!"
The two of them sat in the grass and folded their legs. They had meditated together and accomplished a great deal. He knew he could accomplish anything if he piggybacked off of her powers. They closed their eyes and concentrated.
"Father!"
They both collapsed on the ground. Kara was knocked out cold, but Bardock's eyes were fluttering as blood gushed from his nose. Colleen shook her daughter in a panic while Bardock's boys slapped him in the face until he started to regain his consciousness. "What happened?"
"I don't know." Bardock touched his forehead that felt like it was screaming. He had never faced something that intense before. There were so many faces and screams from billions across the stars. There was fire and blood and distinctive laughter from a deep voice that he recognized. "I saw a bunch of visions all at once. I could hardly make sense of it, but I did see one thing for sure."
Prince Vegeta's crew was on a planet. There was a beautiful Saiyan woman by his side with her arms wrapped around him while he blasted a village of young children. They all begged for mercy, but he laughed even louder and said, "I don't believe in mercy." And then, they were all destroyed.
It was what Bardock had feared, but he searched and searched in his visions for the various missions, but most of them that he had seen were exactly what Cellena promised. He never saw Saiyans purge planets. He saw them go declare war, engage in a quick battle, and the rulers gave up before there was a large casualty loss. Some gave up before fights even started. 'But why can't I see Prince Vegeta?'
He looked down at his daughter who was still knocked out. "Is Kara okay?"
"I don't know," Colleen said. "She probably experienced the same thing you did."
"Give her some time and some space. She might be able to figure this out." 'But I've got my own investigation to launch.' He stood up on his feet.
"Are you going somewhere?" Raditz asked.
"I need to speak to Cellena. Now." He made sure to teleport before they could try to stop him or began asking too many questions.
"This is a complete mess!" Queen Cellena walked through the halls of what was left of her palace. It was in need of a lot of repairs. Several sections of the roof had collapsed and there were walls that were knocked down. The throne room was pretty much intact, besides the glass stained windows. She was determined to have it fixed by the time Cerina's birthday came and she knew there wasn't a whole lot of time. She and her guards defended the palace walls the best that she could, but it was difficult. Too many Saiyans didn't know how to control themselves. By the time the simulations stopped, the entire city was up in flames. She had also heard Capsule Corporation was destroyed and that was going to put a damper on recovery. "I need to find my daughter and see if she's alright. Whoever is responsible for this attack needs to face swift justice in front of the entire world."
"Yes, my queen." Basila was actually grateful that her daughter was off world during such a catastrophe. At least she was safe. "I will go gather whatever intelligence I can." She bowed and flew through the hole in the ceiling and that just made Cerina even more upset.
'How could things get any worse?' She bounced back after running into a hard body. "Bardock?"
He was not in the mood for her games or her lies and he grabbed her by her shoulder and began to squeeze on it. "You promised me that when we went planet to planet, we wouldn't purge them! You lied to me!"
'What is going on? Why is he so angry about that at a time when our planet is up in flames?' "I didn't lie to you." He was still stronger than her, but she was strong enough to remove his hand from her. "How did you hear about this?"
"I finally had a vision about the brutality of your son!" He could see the eyes of the frightened children so clearly. There was no reason to kill such weaklings other than the fact that he was a monster. "Are you behind the block on my visions?"
"Block?" 'Why would I want something like that? Is that why this idiot didn't prevent this mess? Is that why he didn't see Bulma's demise?' "No. I thought you had perhaps gotten over your softheartedness. I didn't know that you were unaware. I assure you that things are supposed to be different, but my son finds pleasure in destroying world after world." She had noticed an increase in his aggression after Bulma's death. It was the only thing that seemed to sooth Vegeta—that and his many whores. "And as long as his father doesn't see a problem with it, I'm afraid I'm overruled in the matter."
"Make him stop or I swear that I will!" he seethed.
"Bardock, what would you have me do?" She threw her hands up in exasperation. "I do not have as much authority as my king. My son loves killing more than anything else in this world. I couldn't stop him even if I ordered him not to."
Bardock understood that she was in a tough position. Her son might have even surpassed her in power, but he wasn't sure. "You know that I can stop him."
She socked Bardock in the chest for even considering it! "And then that will be the beginning of the end of this empire!"
"Maybe I shouldn't have let it stand in the first place. Look at what's happened!" Bardock hadn't really ever doubted his decision on changing anything, even though he made things so much more difficult. However, he realized just how sick and tired he was of always cooperating with the royal family. They always got what they wanted while Bardock played nice. Well, too many had died. "Millions of humans are dead. How many millions are dead across the universe because of your greed? Don't test me."
'What am I supposed to do? I've kept Bardock and Vegeta from killing each other all of these years. There has to be something else I can do!' "Kara said that you needed us."
"That's what she said, but she could get things wrong." Bardock recalled his dream about Cellena, but he very well didn't cheat on Colleen. "Maybe Kara didn't understand something. I'm not exactly too worried about beating Broly. I think I have the power in me and I know my boys have the power to be all the help that I need. I just need to push them a little harder."
"Don't underestimate his might, Bardock." Cellena had too much riding on their success. She didn't want to lose her mate and her son and she had no idea what awful thing Fate had in store for her daughter. "I assure you that it will be your undoing."
"I might have seen his power, but we can't give into our superstitions." 'I can't ever see Cerina hurting Kakarot, especially not for that psychopath, Broly. I screwed this up.' "It hasn't done any favors for Cerina! Kakarot told me that she nearly died today because of what we did to her."
"So it's true?" The both of them turned and saw Cerina breathing heavily and her eyes welling up with tears. She wanted answers, but she was so distraught with the revelation. 'They did this to me?'
Cellena recalled holding her child in her arms. She didn't want to hurt her. She only wanted to do what was best. "Cerina…"
Cerina couldn't take it and ran straight down the hall and through a missing wall. She took off as fast as she could to talk to the only person she knew she could trust.
Cellena growled and shoved Bardock in the chest. "Nice job, psychic!"
He rolled his eyes. He was not going to take the blame for that! "Maybe it's time she knew the truth."
"Or maybe it's time that we correct our mistakes." 'I should have never let Bardock convince me to hinder her powers. It was wrong of me. Now she'll never trust me again.' Cellena's heart was aching. She had already lost one daughter. She couldn't lose another. 'I have to correct this!' "Bardock, I order you to give her the cure."
Bardock had a lot to think about. He knew how Cerina was, but he didn't know how things would change once she received such a power boost. Power corrupts. Even Goku acted differently when he obtained Super Saiyan. But he couldn't keep it from Cerina. It wasn't right.
But there was still Prince Vegeta to consider. He was out of control and no one was willing to put him in his place. 'Imagine what would happen if they learned about the power of the dragonballs. Prince Vegeta came to earth to find them. Goku lost his friends in that battle and then Namek was destroyed when Frieza followed their lead. The dragonballs might have saved Goku's skin a lot of times, but it also attracts a lot of problems and I think mine will be a lot bigger.'
Bardock teleported back to his family and of course Summer was there to start bombarding him. "Bardock, I beg you to reconsider. We need to use the dragonballs."
"Then Cellena will want to know how it happened. Sooner or later, she'll find out. And then this time next year, her entire family will be immortal. Is that what you want?"
"Then we'll destroy them after we use them!"
"And how do you know another crisis won't happen?" Bardock had thought of getting rid of them, but they were good to keep around just in case the universe collapsed on itself. Bardock believed there could be exceptions. "And just because we destroy them doesn't mean that there aren't more out there in the universe."
Summer knew from experience that arguing with Bardock was a losing battle, but she knew she wasn't alone in how she felt. "Can we at least take a vote?"
"Well, obviously you want to use the dragonballs."
"Me too," Tora said.
Then to make things worse, his precious Fasha raised her hand in agreement. "Me three." But he couldn't blame them. They were half human.
Bardock looked to his mate. She could sense his concerns; therefore she must have shared some of them. He could sense that she had empathized with Summer though. "I'll side with Bardock."
Bardock turned to his eldest to see if he would be whipped. "Raditz?"
Raditz did see his father's point, but a lot of chaos had ensued. His mate and child almost died. Then when he looked at Summer, she was practically begging him. "I don't know."
Summer needed more votes. "Kakarot?" They had their differences, but he hung out with a human. Summer questioned if he loved Chi-Chi. He must have been at least a little bit sympathetic to their loss.
'What's the right call? We tore through this planet, but it's not like we don't do this to other ones. Is earth so special because we live here? Is it wrong in general? Cerina would bring back the humans if she could, but it's her crazy family that's the problem. What's good for the long run?' "I think we should hold off on using the dragonballs. They're too powerful to let all the Saiyans know about it. This is bigger than the earth right now. The fate of the universe is at stake."
Summer could feel tears coming to her eyes and she had to fight them off. "Kara?"
She had awakened from her odd slumber. She could feel Summer's heart breaking. She could feel the grief and the fear from the humans and it started to overwhelm her. She was going to agree with Summer, but she had a terrible feeling. She couldn't quite remember what she saw when she was asleep, but she knew that if they used the dragonballs, someone she loved was going to die. "I think the dragonballs are dangerous. I don't think we should ever use them."
In desperation, Summer returned to her mate and he broke. "I think we should wish back the people."
"Well, it looks like we're at a standstill." Bardock smiled. "Too bad Fasha and Tora are only kids."
"Kara is only a kid!" Summer yelled.
"Well, Kakarot and I found them and let's not forget that I'm the head of this family. If anyone disagrees, feel free to challenge me."
"I challenge you!" she said without any hesitation.
He laughed at her idiocy, but then he realized that she was actually getting into a fighting stance. "Don't be stupid, Summer."
"Didn't you come to raise your boys to be heroes? Didn't you want to protect the people on this planet? What sort of example are you setting here?"
"What sort of example would you have me set? Do you want me to teach my boys to solve all their problems with magic? If you overuse the dragonballs, that energy will build up inside of them and shadow dragons will rise up and they will be more powerful than anything we've ever faced and much more than what I can even handle right now. I'm sorry that people you know probably died today. It's the price of being weak, Summer. It's the price of living in a world where people are stronger than you. It's the price we pay when the strong can't control their power.
"I was the only one here able to control myself and the only reason why you and Fasha got away to survive is because I took all of them on and restrained them. Kakarot did what he was supposed to do: he stopped the crisis!"
Bardock was very proud of his boy. He wasn't Goku, but saving the planet was something that Goku would have done. He was worried about Kakarot, but maybe he would turn out all right after all. "I took too much of a backseat while training you boys. Kakarot, you should stay on Cerina's task force. You did a good job today. Raditz, maybe you should consider joining."
Kakarot grunted. He did not want his older brother to join! He would have totally cramped his style, but Cerina would have more than welcomed him on the team. "Look, androids were behind this. And if I remember the stories from my doppelganger's life, this is where things get really tricky. If Dr. Gero is out there, things are about to get far worse."
Colleen noticed someone approaching them from the sky. "Speaking of worse…"
Chi-Chi flew from Fire Mountain as soon as the simulations stopped. She could only think of finding Kakarot and seeing if he was okay. She didn't care if his family hated her. She needed to see him. "Kakarot!"
He grinned wide, happily, and incredibly relieved. "Chi!" She fell into his arms and spun her around. He didn't usually show that much affection toward her, especially in front of his family, but he had been worried out of his mind about her!
"I was so worried about you!" She didn't pay any mind to his family or what he would want, and she quickly pecked him on the lips. "You saved everyone, didn't you?"
He started blushing. He didn't need to see his mother's face to know that she was about to lose it. "Princess Cerina helped too, but—"
"Thank you!" She kissed Kakarot again and ignored Colleen's furious grunts. "I'm just glad that there weren't any Saiyans near us, but this is just terrible. You guys are going to use the dragonballs, right?"
Kakarot looked away from her. "No. I'm afraid not."
"But—"
"I'm not arguing with your whore!" Bardock snapped. He really didn't trust Chi-Chi. Seeing a drunken slut in your son's lap at a club will do that to you. "What do you want?"
Chi-Chi removed her arms from around Kakarot's neck and smiled as sweetly as she could. "It looks like you guys ruined your house. Do you want to stay in my palace for a few days?"
"No," Everyone except for Kakarot said. They knew how Chi-Chi and Colleen fought.
"Come on, guys." Kakarot laughed. Raditz was scared when Summer had a disagreement with their mother, but Kakarot always found it kind of humorous. "There's plenty of room. Chi-Chi is a great cook. I'm sure it'll be a pleasant trip while we work on our homes, but we could all use a good rest."
Everyone was really waiting to see what Colleen wanted to do. Bardock and Raditz didn't mind sleeping in the woods, but they knew she had become accustomed to human lifestyle. "Fine!" She pointed her finger right in Chi-Chi's face. "We'll go, but don't think this changes anything between us."
Chi-Chi should have kept on her smile, but she liked being Queen B a little too much to just cower in Colleen's might and instead placed her hands on her hips. "The only one I'm trying to persuade is your son. I don't exactly need your approval!"
Colleen yelled furiously and reached for Chi-Chi's neck, but Raditz quickly grabbed one arm while Kakarot grabbed the other. She tried kicking the girl, but the twins decided to grab her legs. She grunted and struggled to move forward. The twins weren't powerful enough to keep her legs down, so Summer and Kara also grabbed her legs and Bardock held onto her waist. They only need to restrain her until she calmed down. "I hate this whore!"
"Chi, come on!" Kakarot said. "This is my mother."
She crossed her arms and wouldn't even look her in the eye. "I'm sorry. I apologize." But everyone knew it wasn't sincere. It was hard for her to treat Colleen respectfully when she made it known that she preferred Princess Cerina. 'You have to be tough if you want a Saiyan and no one is tougher than me.'
"Mother," Kakarot pleaded, "Chi-Chi will behave. I'll make sure of that."
It took Colleen a little while to calm down, but after Chi-Chi agreed that they wouldn't speak for a while, she managed to simmer down. Bardock thought about grabbing the dragonballs, but he knew they were safe and sound and he didn't want one of his brash kids or grandkids to use the dragonballs. Only he and his mate knew their location and they were indeed safe. The family gathered what they could and headed over to Chi-Chi's home.
The kids were pretty excited to stay in a castle, but Colleen and Bardock weren't so impressed since they had stayed in the Saiyan palace. They also were suspicious of Chi-Chi and how she had been partying with their son. Once they all saw what Kakarot's room looked like, they were pretty amazed.
"Well, no wonder why you were never home," Raditz said.
Summer rushed to Kakarot's closet and started going through some of his clothes. Once she started looking at some of the price tags, she just kept gasping. "How much money did you make in the underground fights?"
"A lot, now would you all please leave? I've gotta get dressed and meet up with Cerina."
"There's food in the kitchen," Chi-Chi said. "There's enough for a feast."
Colleen was still pretty crossed, but her stomach started to rumble. Transforming always made her extremely hungry. "Fine. Let's go, kids." Kara, Tora, and Fasha quickly followed. They were also very hungry and eating usually relieved some stress.
Bardock needed some time though. "I'll be down there later. What are you going to do, Raditz?"
"I don't know if I'm gonna join the task force, but Summer and I are going to go see about the damage and try to help the injured."
"That sounds like a good idea, Son." 'Enough people have died.' "I'm gonna go to my room and meditate a little bit."
Chi-Chi was relieved when everyone left her alone with Kakarot. She would be careful about how she fooled around with him with his family in the castle, but she couldn't exactly keep her hands off of the hero of the earth!
"What are you doing?" Kakarot pulled her away once she aggressively pounced on his lips. He would have usually been into it, but his mother was just in there! "Don't be crazy, Chi."
"Aw, are you really that afraid of your mommy?" she mocked. "Come on, Kakarot, don't be pathetic! I was so worried about you and now you're here with me." Maybe she wouldn't be trying on that new lingerie she had stored up, but she could at least have her kisses!
"It's not my parents, Chi. I'm just busy." He hesitated, because he wasn't sure how she would react. "I have to meet up with Cerina. We still have a crisis to solve."
"Oh…" 'Cerina! I know he's forced into helping her, but he doesn't need her help to help the humans. Is she trying to put her hooks in him, because it's not gonna work!' She smiled. "I understand."
Kakarot cocked his brow suspiciously. "You do?"
"Yeah, and I'd like to help."
"You would?" His voice quivered with a hint of fear. "Why?"
"Because if this is your new job, I just have to get used to it, like you helped me get used to the other one." 'Besides, Cerina has to know that Kakarot is mine.'
'This isn't a good idea. I've gotta find a way to get out of this.' "Why don't you stay with Krillin? It's gonna be weird when he meets my family and he explains that he's my slave."
"Our slave, and Krillin is hiding out until I say it's okay to make himself known. There's nothing to worry about."
'Yeah, except the end of the world.' "If you say so, Chi…"
Bardock needed to be alone to meditate on his decision. He had forced it on his family and he didn't quite feel comfortable with it himself. Luckily, Chi-Chi's baiting and determination to be accepted into their family led to leaving a bottle of liquor in his room with a red ribbon. When he saw the alien symbols, he knew it was going to be the good stuff and not that human crap. He hadn't really drunk since he hung out with Cellena many years ago, but he was going to bend his rules and pulled the cork out of the bottle.
"Father."
He slowly turned his head and spotted Goku. Usually he had such bright and cheerful eyes, but he had his serious face on. "Goku." Bardock would have kind of felt uncomfortable drinking in front of him if he thought Goku was real. So, he took a big swig and sat the bottle back down once he started to feel a slight tingle. "I had a feeling you'd show up today. I'm having a bit of a moral crisis."
"I'll say! Why wouldn't you use the dragonballs?"
Bardock laughed to himself. "You're in my head! I don't have to explain myself to you."
"I know Kara didn't really get a chance to explain, but she can see me too. Ask Kakarot. I helped him out today while he was fighting with Cerina."
He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. You always say things that I wanna hear. But do you know what? That doesn't matter. I can accept that I'm losing it. All I have to do is not let you get to me, and I'm good."
"Papa?" There was a polite knock at the door, but Kara poked her head in without having the proper invite. When she saw Goku, her eyes lit up. "Oh. Hi Goku."
"Hi Kara." Goku liked her. He could tell that she had a really big heart and that she cared for a lot of people.
"Wait…" Bardock noticed that the two of them were looking directly at one another. It was what had haunted Bardock for a very long time. He wanted to know whether or not his boy was real or if he was losing his mind. There were so many times when he told himself that he didn't care and he just wanted a good spar with him or a conversation that Bardock wouldn't feel guilty about having. So many times he had felt insane and he didn't want to let go of his boy, but he felt that he had an obligation to keep things together for his family. Now, everything was different. "But if she can see you then…"
Goku grinned in his signature way. "Like I've been saying, Father, I'm real."
A sense of relief washed over him, but also something else. It was a joy that he hadn't quite experienced since Kara was born. "Goku…"
To Be Continued…
