Dragon Ball ZGX

Rated T: Blood, Cursing, Suggestive themes.

Description: The conflict between Bardock and the Elite Assassins is over, and Turles has met his end at the hands of his most trusted ally, Tundra. With the knowledge that Gine is still alive, Bardock is bound and determined to find her. But how? Without any clues, Bardock feels the search could take years. However, he receives a willing hand from an unexpected ally. The adventure continues, now.

Act 4: Reunions Saga

Chapter 43: Mirrors

xXxXxXx

Gallance: The Pit

The crowd went crazy when the horn sounded. Broly and Chazz stared each other down as the roar of the crowd started dying down. The lights over the audience dimmed, leaving only the pit illuminated. Matto was excited, and had started cheering along with the crowd. Luffa smiled as he did this, and she joined in.

Gine looked at Paragus curiously. "How long do his fights usually last?"

Paragus briefly glanced at her. "Depends on who he's fighting."

"Is that referee gonna be okay?"

"He'll be fine."

She looked back down and just watched. Broly was a little thinner than Chazz, but was two feet taller than him. His stare was blank even though he was in a Pit match.

This lack of mental presence annoyed Chazz. This guy was the champion, and an undefeated one. Yet his attention didn't seem to be on the fight at all. Chazz felt insulted by this, and couldn't keep his mouth shut about it.

"What? Are you too good to focus on your opponent?" Said the hulking man angrily.

Broly had no response for him. He just stood, stare still blank, and it made Chazz angrier.

"You're gonna regret not taking me seriously!"

Chazz clenched both of his fists and bent his knees slightly. As he did this, he brought his arms up slightly and started powering up. A white aura appeared around him, and in a subversion of the audience's expectations, he phased out at incredible speed. His build would suggest he'd be a slower mover, but he was everywhere. He phased in and out multiple times at various points around the Pit. Broly didn't move, he didn't look, he just stood still.

"Wow, he's pretty fast." Matto said.

Luffa nodded. "Full of himself too."

Chazz knew that Broly was dangerous, there's a reason he was the champion. This display of speed was an attempt to throw Broly off, but the Saiyan wasn't impressed. Chazz figured Broly wouldn't see him coming when he finally attacked, and after a few more moments of this, he phased in with his right arm cocked back and was really close to his opponent. Chazz swung, and as he did, Broly's eyes shifted to him and he grabbed Chazz's arm by the wrist, stopping him dead.

The crowd let out a collective gasp, and Chazz's bravado was completely gone. He could feel that Broly was only using some of his strength, and he knew that there was no way out of this.

Broly's eyes narrowed. "This fight's over."

He swung Chazz over his head by the arm and smashed him into the ground. Chazz shouted in pain, and Broly swung him the other way. He smashed him into the ground over and over again to the growing roar of the audience. Then, Broly swung him around and threw him at the nearest wall. Chazz smashed into it and fell to the ground. The referee ran over to check on him, then started his ten-count.

"One!"

Chazz was face down in the dirt. He slowly stood back up, stumbling and falling back down on his way, but he made it up just before the referee reached seven..

"Sev- no, he's up!"

Matto was literally at the edge of his seat. "All he did was throw him around a bit! Either that Chazz guy is weak, or Broly is super strong!"

Paragus glanced over at him briefly with a grin. He watched Broly and rubbed his chin. That's it, son.

Chazz got into a fighting stance and was a little wobbly. But he wasn't finished yet. However, Broly was. In an instant, Broly rushed him and nailed him in the face with a right hook. Chazz was unconscious on impact, but the strike was so hard that it sent Chazz into the wall again. The back of his head struck moments before the rest of him, and he bounced back and collapsed face first on the ground again.

The referee began counting again, and Broly turned around and started walking back towards his tunnel with his hands in his pockets. The crowd began chanting along with the referee's count. "Five! Six! Seven! Eight! Nine!"

Both the referee's hands went up in the air. "Ten!" He then blew the air-horn again to signal the end of the match.

The crowd went ballistic at this. Matto and Luffa were cheering along. As the announcer returned to the floor, Broly was exiting through his tunnel.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your winner, your reigning and defending Pit Fight Champion, BROOOOOOOLY!"

Broly chants echoed through the building, but the man had already left the floor. Matto looked over at Paragus curiously.

"Does he always leave before the announcement?" The young Saiyan asked.

Paragus nodded. "It's just the way he is."

The chaos started dying down, and Paragus escorted the family back upstairs through the crowd so they wouldn't get lost. They made it out to the street, where the city lights were shining bright. There was a crowd of people outside from The Pit, but thankfully they could all disperse so they weren't all cramped up. Gine turned around and looked up at Paragus, who was standing in the doorway to The Pit.

"Thank you for this, Paragus." Gine said.

"Yes! Thank you so much, sir!" Matto said excitedly.

Paragus chuckled and nodded. "You're welcome. I'm glad you had a good time."

"We definitely did." Luffa said affirmatively.

"Broly's awesome!" Matto added.

"He definitely is." Paragus said with a nod. He looked at Gine once more. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find my son."

Gine nodded, and Paragus went back inside. She looked down at Matto and Luffa. "Alright kids, let's head home."

Matto and Luffa nodded and followed Gine into the sky, and the three of them headed back to the house. Matto was still jazzed up from the fight, so the flight home was a good opportunity for him to get it out. He flew wildly as he replayed the fight in his head. Broly made his opponent look like nothing, throwing him around like a rag doll. Chazz, a man with more muscles than brains, tossed around and knocked out in only a few simple attacks. Luffa and Gine could only smile at the boy's excitement.

Once the trio arrived home, Gine went inside, and Matto and Luffa hung out on the porch for a while and stared at the starry night sky.

"Broly sure doesn't waste his time, does he?" Said Luffa.

"No! He put that Chazz guy down really quickly." Matto replied.

"I'm a little surprised you aren't bummed out by the fight's lack of theatrics."

"Well, real fights aren't always a big show. Just the experience of it all was great. And I liked how Broly didn't mess around."

"You wanna go again, don't ya?" Luffa asked.

Matto chuckled. "Of course!"

Luffa cocked her head slightly and her facial expressions shifted to worry. "You want to fight there, don't you?"

Matto leaned forward in his chair and looked at his sister with a half smile that looked kinda sad. "Eventually maybe. But not yet, and especially not Broly. I know I have to train hard to get to that level, and I know it'll be a few years before I can even qualify."

Luffa let out a sigh of relief. The brief moment of stress she felt before Matto's surprisingly mature response was gone. She smiled at Matto, then looked up at the sky again.

"One day," She said ominously, Matto shifting his eyes towards her. She sighed again with a nod. "One day, you'll be one of the greatest Saiyan warriors to have ever lived."

"One of...?" Matto said curiously.

"Yeah, right after myself of course!" Luffa exclaimed.

"You'll have to keep up." Matto taunted.

"You know I will."

xXxXxXx

Gallance: Tarble's Palace

Paragus was walking through a corridor that led to the palaces throne room. He had some free time since Broly had gone home after the fight. Tarble didn't often sit on the throne, usually only to make certain political decisions. It was late in the evening at this point, and normally things didn't happen this late unless it was an emergency. But when he rounded the corner into the throne room, Tarble was lazily lying across it with his head flat on the seat, and his legs slung over the left armrest. He was staring through a ceiling window directly above the throne.

Paragus looked up at it as well, a dome window with a very pleasant view of the stars. Paragus walked through the long room and finally reached the throne and stood silently while Tarble stared into space. After a few long moments of this, he finally spoke up.

"Uh, Lord Tarble?" He said awkwardly.

"Oh, hey Paragus." Tarble said without diverting his attention.

"I… couldn't help but notice you weren't at the fight."

"I don't usually go."

"I know, it's just, well I thought since Miss Gine was at the fight, I would've seen you."

Tarble blinked a few times while he stared into space. He was listening, but distracted at the same time. "Why would you think that? Because her and I are close?"

Paragus simply nodded, but averted his attention. Tarble shifted around and finally sat up normally in his chair while looking straight at Paragus.

"Is this about having children again?" Tarble inquired in a more serious tone.

Paragus sighed. "You've been Vortano's leader since we helped end the revolution here. I know you're still young, but one day, someone will need to take your place on the throne. You haven't entertained the thought of a mate or having children. I thought maybe Miss Gine would fill that role for you."

"'Fill that role?' Paragus, Gine is my friend. And she's loyal to her husband, whether or not he died when Frieza blew up our planet." Tarble shook his head disappointedly. "There's that old mentality coming through again. How am I supposed to keep our people from falling back into those old, outdated and at times barbaric traditions when you're trying to get me to mate for the sake of carrying forward my bloodline."

Paragus could hear the frustration coming through in Tarble's voice, and he knew where this was going.

"My father was a bastard for sending me off the way he did. Regardless of it being 'the way we did things'. Because I was born weak? How many of us died needlessly because of that horrible class system? How many Saiyans were sent to their deaths? And let's not forget how my father decided that Broly was too dangerous, and got exiled because of that."

Paragus sighed, but maintained eye contact throughout Tarble's rant. "I apologize, sir."

Tarble sat back in his throne, closed his eyes and shook his head. "I know, Paragus. But you keep bringing it up. I'm not going to mate until I'm ready. Yeah, I love Gine, but she's my best friend. I don't want to have that type of relationship with her. And besides, she's got Matto and Luffa. She's put in her time as a mother, and after having both of her sons taken from her, both who are probably dead, I don't want to put that on her."

"Again, I apologize. I wasn't thinking." Paragus said.

Tarble sighed and looked up through the dome window again. "And Vegeta. I've been thinking about him a lot lately. You told me he was one of the only Saiyans to survive. If they're still serving under Frieza, they'll be the ones to track us down."

"Pardon me, sir. But I fail to see how your elder brother factors into this."

"He was raised by my father, the people that trained him were hand picked by him. He was chosen to serve under Frieza while he was still a kid. If he's still alive, and he finds us, there's no telling what kind of harm will come to this planet."

Paragus nodded slowly, but still wasn't sure about this seemingly out of nowhere turn in conversation.

"Maybe… I don't want to start a family."

Now it made sense, the dots were finally connected. Paragus sighed. "Sir, if I'm being honest, it almost sounds like you resent being

Tarble looked at Paragus and shook his head defensively. "No! No no no! That's not what I meant. I want the Saiyans to continue to flourish. We've come a long way, and I don't want our pasts to keep us from having a happy future."

Paragus pondered on this briefly, then shook his head. "Then why can't that apply to you?"

Paragus turned around and walked towards the entranceway. Tarble watched him leave quietly. He was right, but Tarble had been festering over this for a while in his privacy. He felt as though his bloodline was poisoned with greed and selfishness, despite Tarble being as selfless a person he was. He was kind, generous, personable; everything that the majority of his race were not. He knew the history of his people between Paragus, and the information taught to him in his ship as a child. Very few Saiyans were like himself and Gine, what their peers would see as "weak", "soft", "pathetic". But those qualities were Tarble's biggest strengths as a leader. But the common thread that tied him to that savagery other than his blood, was exactly that. He was a leader, a ruler. He was Vortano's "King", "Lord Tarble". And it frustrated him that he wound up in this role because he led his survivors into battle alongside the Vortanian Guerilla forces to take back their world from a vicious dictator. The Vortanians chose Tarble to be their leader. And he accepted it because he felt obligated.

He and Paragus helped them settle on their previous refugee planet after the destruction of Planet Vegeta, and it just carried over from there, through the PTO attack that killed Matto and Luffa's father, to them relocating to Vortano and aiding in the revolution. He wouldn't find it surprising if he found out that Vegeta came into rule over a planet of his own. Their father was the literal king of all Saiyans and had a planet named after him. These were all things his mind was plagued by. He looked up at space again and sighed.

"But… would Vegeta be proud of me?" Tarble mumbled to himself.

As bothered as he was by the way his family essentially disowned him, there was still something inside that made him hope his big brother would be proud of him if he could see him now.

xXxXxXx

Capsule Z

That third week aboard the ship had been one that put Vegeta in an even worse mood than usual. Bardock had finally decided to give the gravity machine a try, and it wound up becoming an everyday thing with him. The extra rumbling from both machines running irritated Vegeta, but since everyone downstairs had dealt with it for two weeks straight, they didn't really care. It was making Vegeta more aggressive in training, and he was legitimately hurting Trunks when they sparred. This was getting on Trunks' nerves, and he was generally very patient with his father. But during this particular training session, Trunks had enough.

They were sparring in their base forms at 300 times Earth's gravity, and Trunks threw a right hook that Vegeta ducked, responding with a hard uppercut to Trunks's gut, followed by a spinning roundhouse kick that struck him in the side of the face. As Vegeta went in to attack again, Trunks powered up to Super Saiyan and punched Vegeta in the face, sending him into one of the walls of the ship. He bounced off of it and landed on his hands and knees. Trunks powered down to base, then turned to the gravity machine and shut it down.

Vegeta stood up while scowling heavily at his future son. "We agreed not to transform on the ship."

Trunks scowled back at him. "Well, I told you before you were getting too rough, and you did it again."

"What, you go home to kill the Androids, and come back soft?"

Trunks walked past Vegeta towards the door that led downstairs. "No, but I'm not gonna let you hurt me just because you're mad at everyone downstairs."

Vegeta watched as he went through the doorway. He scoffed once Trunks left the room, then walked over to the closest window and watched the crazy blend of multi-colored streaks outside. Naturally, he was angry, but as he replayed what just happened in his head, he cracked a smile.

He's definitely my son. Vegeta thought.

He started thinking about the trip. It annoyed him that he was sharing a ship with his dead rival's father, there were still unresolved issues there. But his brother had been on his mind as well, and thinking about him made him both angry and nostalgic. Strange combination, but Vegeta was a complicated man.

When he learned of his brother's birth, he rushed to the palace nursery. He wasn't necessarily excited to meet his little brother, but he was curious about the second born prince's power, and how it compared to his own. Upon arrival, he was met by his father's disappointment. Tarble had been born with a power level equivalent to that of a low-class Saiyan. A weakling born of royal blood, an event the king had never prepared for. It was so unexpected that it actually put him in a difficult position as far as making a decision on what to do with him.

Weak Saiyans always got sent off to faraway worlds with low threat levels to see if they could conquer them on their own. Thought Vegeta. But, he was born of royal blood. Father was conflicted.

King Vegeta wasn't like Bardock when it came to being a father. Bardock, while becoming intentionally distant after Raditz was taken, still loved both of his kids. King Vegeta didn't become sentimentally attached to Vegeta, he was proud of his son's natural strength. He was the successor, the heir to the throne, that's really all that mattered. But with Tarble, it was different. After having raised Vegeta to be the prince that he was, he'd grown attached to him. King Vegeta, in a very rare glimpse of humanity, was attached to Tarble the moment he was born. But after seeing the power reading, the king became furious. A son of his born with a low power level was disgraceful.

He was only on the fence about this for a little while before he made the decision to send Tarble away. He knew that if word got out about a son of the king being born a "weakling", things would become pretty hostile. Morale would go down, jealousy would go up. Saiyans weren't normally too interested in their offspring, but this would raise the subject of hypocrisy directed towards King Vegeta, and he couldn't have that.

Father spent an hour talking to himself in the nursery. I never told him I heard him. Of course, he made it seem like an effortless decision when he told me.

Vegeta remembered looking down at his brother while he slept in his nursery pod. Between his general apathy, and his father telling him that "there is no place for weaklings in the royal family", Vegeta felt only disappointment.

"Pathetic". Vegeta continued in his head. I called him pathetic, and never saw him again.

Vegeta could see the somber look on his face in his window reflection, and immediately scoffed and turned away.

"Whatever…"

xXxXxXx

Week Four

Vegeta and Trunks took a break from training after their brief spat. They barely spoke to one another, but remained pleasant. Well, as pleasant as Vegeta could be. But Trunks spent a lot of time visiting the crew downstairs and steering clear of his father when he wanted to train.

Despite Trunks' mentor being an 11 year old in this timeline, it was still nice to visit with Gohan. Trunks spent a lot of time over the course of a few days chatting with him about what Gohan's future self was like. How he endowed him knowledge, gave him similar advice that Goku had given him. How even after losing an arm, Gohan was brave and fought valiantly until the very end.

It was two days after the four week mark. They were sitting across from each other on the floor while Bardock and Piccolo were image training on the other side of the ship, and Sheamus and Gummo sat in the chairs by the console. Gohan slightly cocked his head at Trunks.

"Did I… enjoy fighting?" He asked with hints of worry.

Trunks shook his head. "No, you despised it. But you did it to protect your loved ones; your mother and grandpa, my mother and I, and the remaining people of Earth."

Gohan chuckled awkwardly. "Yeah… kinda how I felt while I was fighting Cell."

Trunks sighed. "Yeah. My mom told me that you were a lot like you are now around when your dad died. You were destroyed by it, but you were bouncing back pretty quickly. Then…"

"The Androids." Gohan finished. "Guess I didn't have time to grieve anymore. Or study." He said before chuckling awkwardly again.

"I grew up in it." Trunks said. "It's the only world I knew until I came here."

They remained silent for a few moments. Gohan was truly interested in Trunks' story, but he couldn't deny that it made him sad. That's almost how his life would've turned out if Trunks hadn't come back to prevent it. Trunks was curious too, but not about who the Gohan of this timeline was, but about something else.

"So, during the Cell Games…" Said Trunks, drawing Gohan's immediate attention. "When Cell killed Android 16 and you transformed, what was it like?"

Gohan shivered ever so slightly at this question. "Well… it felt like the first time I turned into a Super Saiyan. But much more intense."

Trunks knew the feeling Gohan was talking about, he remembered it like it had just happened. But, he couldn't imagine it being any more intense than he knew it to be. It was a little scary, for a brief moment.

"When I first transformed, I hadn't actually lost anyone yet. Not like you have. My dad, Mr. Piccolo, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien and Chiaotzu had all died right in front of me at some point. But they were revived with the Dragon Balls. My father launched a full-power Kamehameha at me, and while I was fighting it off, I gave up. I started thinking about how if I had just fought when I needed to, those deaths probably wouldn't have happened. If I had just moved when Mr. Piccolo told me to, he wouldn't have had to jump in front of a blast to save my life. I got so mad at myself that it triggered the transformation. When Cell killed Android 16, not only was I losing an ally, someone who was as peaceful and caring at his core as I was, but I was losing someone that I couldn't get back. And I thought, if I had just done something, maybe 16 wouldn't have been killed."

Trunks listened really closely. His full attention was on Gohan's story, and it made him think about how if he had been able to transform sooner, Gohan may not have been killed by the Androids.

At this point, Piccolo and Bardock had stopped their image training to listen to Gohan as well. This was a story Gohan hadn't told either of them. Piccolo still knew Gohan better than Bardock did, so it was really just listening to him talk about things he already knew and suspected. But Bardock didn't, and he became enthralled.

Gohan continued. "Those thoughts went through my head, then everything went blank. It was like I had tunnel vision, and all I could see was Cell. And then, I saw red. I felt my power start rising uncontrollably, and I just couldn't stop screaming. I was hurt, and I was angry. In the past, I've gone into near-blind rages in situations where either my life was in danger, or when my Dad or one of my friends was seriously hurt. But I had no control over it. The second transformation felt like that."

"And you were already a Super Saiyan when it happened." Trunks added.

Gohan nodded. "Yeah. Going Super Saiyan while you're a Super Saiyan." Gohan thought for a moment, then let out a single laugh. "Ha! Dad would probably call it 'Super Saiyan 2' or something."

Trunks chuckled at this and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds like Goku alright."

Piccolo looked at Bardock and gave him a knowing smile, which Bardock could only grin at.

"When I was fighting Cell, I wasn't in full control of myself. It was like my Saiyan instincts were leading me. I was desensitized to the violence of it all, and started actually enjoying how much pain I was inflicting on him. That made me arrogant, and we both know how that ended."

Gohan sighed, and at this point, Trunks knew what Gohan was gonna say next.

"The only things that brought my humanity back were realizing that my arrogance had put the entire world in jeopardy, and my dad sacrificing himself to make up for my mistake. And if I had just killed Cell while I had the chance, maybe my dad wouldn't have died."

Trunks just watched Gohan quietly for a moment while collecting his thoughts and formulating an appropriate response. Meanwhile, Sheamus was comparing the feelings of his ancestor to the feelings he felt at various points over the course of his life. While his main mission was taking out Eyce and keeping Bardock from dying since he had screwed up, he frequently went home and took part in other ops for ZGX. He of course compared them to feelings he'd felt as he helplessly watched countless numbers of his comrades die before fleeing to the past again. But he couldn't speak for one specific feeling, or rather, experience.

I wonder what would happen if I become a Super Saiyan. The redhead thought, followed by a brief grimace.

Gohan hadn't really averted eye contact unless he wasn't speaking. But his head went down for a few moments while he tried to keep his composure. He hadn't really analyzed it until now, and it was a bit discouraging. But if there was one thing that he learned from his father, it was to never give up.

"I don't enjoy fighting the way my father and your father do. But I will always fight to protect the people I love. And for that reason, I will remain strong, and I will learn to control my power."

Trunks smiled at this and nodded. He was still learning from his master, even if this was just a different version of him. "I will too." He said.

Gohan nodded at him with a smile. Piccolo, after having his head turned towards his apprentice, turned it towards Bardock and gave him a nod. Bardock smiled and nodded back.

Then, the ship's console beeped, and an automated female voice spoke over the whole ship's PA system.

"Attention Capsule Z personnel, we will be entering Planet Vortano's orbit in three hours. Attention captain. Please prepare Capsule Z for a safe exit out of Hyperspace."

This pulled Gohan into a good mood almost immediately. "Hey, Grandpa!" He said as he turned towards him.

Bardock had already stood up and was making his way to the front of the ship. "Three more hours."

To Be Continued...