"Dodoria

History Reshaped

Over the next six months, the plans were made to carry out Frieza's orders.  Upon study, it was found that a powerful Namek had left his home planet and journeyed to the closer planet Earth.  There, he had split into two different creatures in an effort to cleanse himself so that he could become the guardian of the planet as Kami.  His alter ego, known as Piccolo-Daimo had tried to take over earth but was defeated by a young man named Goku.

Upon further examination, it was found that this Goku was actually a Saiyan named Kakarot.  He had evidently been shipped to earth as a small child so that he could cleanse it for resale. He had apparently lost his memory and, therefore, had not been able to fulfill his purpose.

Earth was closer to Vegeta than Namek, the home planet of the Namek race, and this Piccolo seemed to be a better warrior than any other Namek in existence (even though he had softened up a bit since his "parent," Piccolo-Daimo was killed by Kakarot), so it seemed like that was the place to go.  In the meantime, they could jog Kakarot's memory so that he could return to his home planet and be given new orders.

Kakarot's brother, Radditz, was a third-class Saiyan warrior, and since Earth was inhabited by a largely weak population in relation to Vegeta, only a single third-class Saiyan would be necessary to cleanse the planet and bring back the Namek.  When Radditz revealed Kakarot's origin to him, the other Saiyan would no doubt join his brother in his task and assist in the cleansing and the capture.  Along with him, he brought a carrier pod to bring Piccolo back in.

Unfortunately for them, the planners didn't think to factor in the possibility that Kakarot might not cooperate.  When he refused to join his brother, Radditz kidnapped Kakarot's son, Gohan, in an attempt to force Kakarot to comply with his wishes.  Piccolo, who had seen the threat to Earth and to himself from this powerful warrior from another planet, joined with Kakarot in defeating Radditz.  Ultimately, the duo was successful, though Kakarot sacrificed his own life to save the planet.

While studying Kami's origin, the planners stumbled onto the secret of the Dragon Balls.  These magic spheres, created by certain Nameks, granted a wish to one who could gather all seven together in one place.  The idea intrigued Frieza, so he ordered that the Namek be brought back alive so that he might reveal the secret of manufacturing the balls to one of Frieza's mystics.

Naturally, the idea of the Dragon Balls granting a wish to the gatherer intrigued more than just the universal tyrant.  Vegeta, the prince of the Saiyans and the most powerful warrior of the race, was also excited by the possibility of his deepest desires being within his grasp.  For this reason, he requested that Frieza send him and his childhood caretaker and companion, Nappa, to finish what Radditz started.  Frieza complied, not suspecting one of the Saiyans to have his own agenda.  After all, they were just monkeys.

Little did Vegeta know that back on Earth, Radditz had been less than cautious in revealing the fact that more Saiyans would be arriving soon.  Piccolo had been training Kakarot's son, Gohan, who had evidently revealed an untapped power within him, and Kakarot's other friends were busy training and trying to find the Dragon Balls to wish him back.  Kakarot himself had been training under the otherworldly King Kai, originator and master of the art of Kaio-Ken.

Naturally, the resistance that the Earthlings exhibited took Vegeta and Nappa by surprise.  Still, the small squad of fighters was nothing compared to the two first-class Saiyan warriors.  After killing three of the fighters and taking Piccolo out of commission, they learned from Gohan and Kakarot's remaining friend, Krillin, that Kakarot himself was on his way to join the fight.

Vegeta decided that it might be fun to wait for Kakarot.  "He might present more of a challenge than these weaklings," he suggested to Nappa.  After just over three hours of waiting, Kakarot DID arrive, presenting more of a challenge than the prince could have dreamed.  After easily defeating Nappa, Kakarot was almost able to defeat Vegeta with the help of his son's Oozaru transformation (the "giant ape thing," as Dodoria put it) and a fat swordsman named Yajirobe.  Vegeta barely escaped with his life…and the captive Piccolo in tow in the carrier pod.

*          *          *

"Daddy!"

Gohan ran and jumped into his father's lap.  Goku laughed, trying to mask the pain that his son had inadvertently brought with him.  He was still a little tender after his fight the month before with the Saiyan prince, Vegeta. 

"Hey, son.  How are things at home?"

"They're OK, Dad.  Mom's making me study a lot, and we really miss you.  But I'm still training!"

Goku smiled.  That was his boy.  "I'm glad to hear it, son.  Train your body and your mind.  It will make you a great fighter one day.  Hey, good news.  The doctor said I might be coming home this week!"

"That is good news."

They both looked toward the door.  The voice had come from Goku's wife, Chi-Chi, who had just arrived.  She entered, with Krillin, Bulma and Master Roshi bringing up the rear.

"It's just not tha same without ya active, Goku.  You never come around ta give me grief anymore!"

Goku laughed.  "Well, you've still got Krillin to do that for you, Mater Roshi."

"Hey!" said Krillin, Goku's best friend since childhood.  "I might be a pest sometimes, but…well, OK, I might be a pest all the time, but you don't have to go around telling everybody.  What if that hot nurse down the hall had heard you, huh?  What kind of chance would I have with her?"

"Hey now, Mr. No-Nose," said the old master, "I already told you I've got dibs on the blond one.  You'd better be talking about her blue-haired friend."

"Of course, Master Roshi, of course."

Goku smiled.  Some things never change, he thought.  He looked at Bulma, who was busy with the Dragon Radar.  "How's the search coming, Bulma?"

Bulma answered without looking up.  "We've got five of the balls, Goku.  The sixth is somewhere in the ocean near Master Roshi's island.  Turtle is looking for it as we speak.  The seventh…well…we're looking.  That's all I can say.  You know how it is finding these things once they've been separated."

Goku nodded.  He knew all too well.  "Well…we've got to keep trying at it.  The sooner we find the Dragon Balls, the sooner we can wish back the rest of the gang."

"And Mr. Piccolo!" said Gohan.

Goku grinned at his son.  Gohan had grown quite attached to Piccolo during his training.  From what he'd heard, the feeling had been fairly mutual.  "And Mr. Piccolo, Gohan.  We'll be wishing everyone back."

"Everyone except Chaotzu," Master Roshi said sadly.

Gohan looked confused.  "Why won't Mr. Chaotzu be coming back, Master Roshi?"

"Because he's already been wished back to life once, Gohan.  The Dragon Balls only have the power to bring someone back to life once."

Krillin nodded.  "That's right.  Too bad, too.  He's a nice little fella.  Tien's gonna be pretty tore up to have to fight without him."

"At least Yamcha will be able to come back," Bulma said.  It had only been a month, and she missed her boyfriend already.

"In the meantime, we've all got some training to do ourselves," Goku said.  "The Saiyans obviously want Piccolo for something, and we need to be ready in case whatever that reason is threatens us in the future."

Krillin shook his head.  "I don't think that'll be a problem, Goku.  It's gonna take a year for Vegeta and Piccolo to get back to the Saiyans.  We'll have the Dragon Balls and the wish made by then."

Goku nodded.  "You're right about that, Krillin.  But you've got to remember, the Dragon Balls were used to wish me back only a month ago.  That means we've got eleven months before we can use them.  Even when we do, the Saiyans are going to be pretty mad when their prisoner disappears right when they have him where they need him.  We need to be ready for them when they return.  That gives us just under two years to get at least as powerful as Vegeta.  Who knows.  He may not have been the strongest warrior the Saiyans have to offer."

"Hold on right there, Mister," Chi-Chi said angrily.  "If you think for one minute that my little Gohan is going to take part in this fighting business, you can just wake up and smell the coffee!  Gohan is not going to be a fighter, Goku!  He's going to be a scholar!  The only thing he's going to be training is his mind."

"Aw, Mom!" Gohan whined.

"Don't you 'Aw, Mom!' me, young man!  You will do as your mother tells you."

"Umm…Chi-Chi, honey, baby, sweetie," Goku tried.  "We're talking about the fate of the world here.  As soon as the Saiyans are beaten back, Gohan can go back to his studies."

"I DON'T CARE IF WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE FATE OF THE WHOLE FREAKING UNIVERSE!  NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN MY BABY'S FUTURE!"

Goku cringed and waited for the ringing in his ears to stop.  He decided not to bring up the fact that if they all died, Gohan wouldn't have a future.  Chi-Chi always got like this when Goku mentioned the possibility of Gohan fighting.  It would just take some coaxing, that's all.  He had about 2 weeks of healing left to do, anyway.  Surely that would be enough time to think of some sort of compromise…