Una: If memory serves during the episode "Vegeta… Saiyan Style!" (Funmation), when Vegeta deploys the artificial moon he says something to the effect of, "Your father wasn't much of a warrior, but he was a good inventor." Then went on to explain the circumstances where Bardock invented the artificial moon so they could transform into apes on planets with no moons. So, going by that, Vegeta at least knew of Bardock. And of course, the fact that Bardock and Goku look exactly the same except for the face scarring… He may have just put two and two together.
Vaarj: No, It isn't written before hand. :c) But I do have to warn that the updates may not be coming as fast in the future. I just had a period of time there where I had a bit of time on my hands.
Vegeta Jr.: Well, I thought about swearing them in and all, but it didn't make much sense. I mean here they are in the next dimension, with a Kai sitting right there who could probably tell in an instant it they were lying. And as far as rushing into the bond, well maybe a little, but these two had been fused and all. It might make sense that their bond would have been accelerated by the fusion, at least a bit.
Flameraven: My take on Brolly is that he is not only evil, but completely insane. So there is a special ward in hell for him marked, "Do not open until the end of time", or some such. Anyways, he won't be making an appearance in this fic. :c)
On with the story!
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"Kakkarot testifying on my behalf? Dear Dende I am so doomed. I might as well pick out the drapes for my room in Hell!" Vegeta lamented in his head.
Sensing Vegeta's discomfort, Piccolo moved in behind Vegeta. "Well now Vegeta, looks like we'll be spending some time together eh?" Piccolo teased.
"Get away from me you ghoul! I'm not even dead yet!" Vegeta retorted.
"It's only a matter of time Vegeta, only a matter of time." Piccolo said with his most evil grin.
"Why you green skinned…" Vegeta said charging a ki blast for Piccolo.
"Order!! Order!" King Kai said while looking pointedly at Vegeta and Piccolo.
"Sorry King Kai." They both muttered.
"Bardock, please continue." King Kai instructed.
"So Goku." Bardock began. "Tell us a little about how you met Vegeta."
"Well, like Kirillin said, they were coming to Earth to destroy it. We found out later that Vegeta wanted to use our Dragonballs to wish himself immortality. The Dragonballs had been used to wish me back to life though and wouldn't be recharged for a whole year. But Vegeta didn't know that at the time." Goku explained.
"So, at the end of the battle, Vegeta was trying to get into his ship and leave when Kirillin picked up the sword and was about to kill Vegeta. You stopped him, why?" Bardock asked.
"A couple of reasons I guess. I searched his feelings and found that under all of his bluster, there was something good that was at the core of Vegeta's heart. Also Vegeta proved to be an honorable warrior." Goku said.
"Anything else?" Bardock said.
"Yes, I sensed horrible anger at having been betrayed." Goku said.
"Betrayed by who?" Bardock pressed.
"His father and Frieza mostly." Goku said. "He also considered me to be a traitor at the time."
"I see. How would you describe your relationship to Vegeta?" Bardock asked.
"Well, pretty rocky I guess. I considered him to be a friend after I found out what happened on Namek. How he had saved my son's and my best friend's life from the Ginyu force. But he became obsessed with besting me after that. It drove him to do some pretty bad things." Goku explained.
"Kirillin testified that Vegeta always managed to do what was right in the end though, do you find that statement to be true?" Bardock asked.
"Yes, I believe that is true." Goku answered.
"Ok, last question, and to save time. Did Vegeta ever express feelings of remorse or regret for his past actions?" Bardock asked.
"To me? No.. I don't think that Vegeta could ever bring himself to open up to me like that." Goku said.
"Ok, no more questions then." Bardock concluded.
"Your witness Onarash." King Kai said.
"Well, I guess I have no questions for this witness then." Onarash stated.
"Step down Goku. Call your next witness Bardock." King Kai said.
"Our next witness Is Ms. Bulma Briefs." Bardock announced.
"What? Bulma's here?" Vegeta turned to look. He had been so preoccupied with the proceedings that he hadn't noticed his bond to Bulma had strengthened considerably. And there she was.
"Hello Veggie head." Bulma teased.
"Hello onna. All those times you told me to go to hell, here's your chance to make that a reality." Vegeta smirked.
"Well lover, you have a choice here. Me, or Piccolo." Think about it." Bulma smiled sweetly.
Vegeta's face dropped. "Umm.. You do know that I've always loved you right?" Vegeta smiled.
"Hehehe.. I know, it's nice to hear you say it though." Bulma smiled back.
"Ok, Bulma please take the stand." King Kai commanded. Bardock, question your witness."
"Yes sir." Bulma and Bardock echoed.
"Mrs. Briefs. You are Vegeta's bonded mate, isn't that correct?" Bardock began.
"Yes it is." Bulma said simply.
"And as such, you would be expected to know Vegeta better than anyone else in the Universe." Bardock stated.
"Well, I would hope to say I do!" Bulma answered confidently.
"We've heard a lot of testimony today, from both sides of the issue, and a reoccurring question keeps plaguing us. Has Vegeta ever expressed remorse or regret about his past. We all realize that it's difficult to forgive someone that doesn't regret what they've done." So, Ms. Briefs, I put the question to you. Has Vegeta ever expressed remorse or regret for what he did to the people gathered here today?" Bardock asked.
Bulma looked at Vegeta with great compassion, what she was about to reveal was deeply personal. Vegeta looked into her eyes and nodded his head.
"After Buu was defeated, and everyone was restored back to life, Vegeta started having nightmare. He couldn't sleep much, his diet was way off for a Saiyan, and he seemed greatly depressed. This went on for months, and he wouldn't tell me what was wrong no matter how much I pleaded with him. Finally, one night, he was having a particularly bad nightmare He woke up screaming "The Children!" and was crying, bawling like a new born. It was that night that he confided in me what had been going on all those months." Bulma continued. "He told me that he could remember the faces of everyone he saw while he purged a planet, and those faces were haunting him in his nightmares. Tears were flowing down Vegeta's face as he described his guilt driven dreams. He said, "My Kami Bulma, what have I done? I've killed… I've murdered so many people. I even see their faces when I'm awake now. I see them in the humans I pass in the street, or see on Television! I wish I could take it all back!" And the worst is the faces of the children!" Bulma paused for a minute, fighting back tears of her own. "He buried his face into my shoulder and cried for a long time. He just kept saying that he was sorry about being such a monster until he finally fell asleep." Bulma finished.
"Did this behavior surprise you?" Bardock asked.
"To say the least! This was very unlike Vegeta. But the guilt was killing him." Bulma said.
What happened after that? Bardock continued.
"Vegeta stopped having the nightmares, as far as I could tell, but would go in and out of being depressed over the years." Bulma explained. "The nightmares returned for a couple of months shortly after Bura was born. In these dreams Vegeta would be purging a planet and Trunk's and Bura's face would appear on the children he was killing. He woke up screaming on several nights because of that. On the last night he had those nightmares, he woke up crying and begging the children to forgive him." Bulma finished.
Vegeta's face was solemn. These were not good memories for Vegeta, nor did he ever want them to be shared in such a public manner. But there was little choice in the matter now.
Goku sensed his friend's distress. "I'm sorry Vegeta, I know this is hard for you, I wish there was some other way."
"No Kakkarot, I have this coming to me. I always knew in the back of my mind that somewhere, sometime, I would be asked to account for my past life. This is far better than what I deserve when you think about it." Vegeta admitted.
Goku smiled. Even now, Vegeta was a proud Saiyan warrior. He would take whatever lumps were coming his way like a true Saiyan.
Piccolo was also feeling a great deal of pride for his comrade in arms. Piccolo had always admired Vegeta for his fighting skill, and his Saiyan stubbornness. But now he admired him as a friend as well.
"Ok Ms. Briefs, that's all the questions I have for you." Bardock said.
"Your witness Onarash." King Kai asked.
"I have no questions of this witness." Onarash replied.
"You may step down Bulma." King Kai said. "You may call your next witness Bardock."
"We rest our case King Kai." Bardock said.
"Very Well then." King Kai said. "There will be a two hour recess, during which time Vegeta will prepare to issue a personal statement to our participants here today, if he chooses to give one that is." King Kai looked expectantly towards Vegeta.
"I will do so sir." Vegeta answered.
"Good, then let the recess begin now." King Kai concluded.
Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Bardock, Radtz, and Nappa appeared back on the Supreme Kai's planet.
Vegeta wandered over to where Rou Kaioshin was still performing the power-up ritual. "At least the old guy's awake now." Vegeta thought.
"You guys bored yet? Vegeta taunted.
He was met with looks that could kill, if Roger and Yambia knew how to shoot eye-beams. Vegeta just smiled. "Well, I figure you have about 10 hours left." Vegeta's smile turned into a smirk.
Vegeta wandered back over to where Goku, Piccolo, and the other Saiyans were having some sort of discussion. As he approached, his hand brushed something solid in his pants pocket. Reaching in, he removed his forgotten medications dispenser. "Haha! Well I certainly don't need you anymore!" Vegeta exclaimed as he tossed the unwanted container high into the air, and then blasted it to dust. "Oh but that felt so good!" Vegeta exclaimed.
Vegeta continued to walk towards Piccolo and the other Saiyans, who had stopped their discussion and was staring in Vegeta's direction.
"What was all that about, Vegeta? Bardock asked.
"Nothing, just saying good-bye to some old friends." Vegeta smirked. "What were you guys talking about over here?"
"Well, we were thinking about it and "Roger" isn't much of a name for a Saiyan. So we were discussing new names for him." Raditz said.
"Oh?" Vegeta said somewhat amused. "What did you come up with?"
"Well, Bardock came up with Rhubbard, which I kind of like too." Raditz continued.
"I Kind of preferred Romaine thought, Nappa said. "That was the name of one of my favorite Uncles."
Vegeta smirked. "Well, you can talk to Roger about it later, but people don't often go around changing their names you know."
"Humph! You mean anymore than they change their species?" Nappa smirked.
"Hehehe.. Nappa's got you there Vegeta!" Goku laughed.
"Sigh… I'm going to let you guys hash this out. In the meantime I'm going over there and think about what I'm going to say in my personal statement." Vegeta said.
Vegeta walked to a small rise and sat with his back up against a small tree and started to contemplate his options.
"What are those guys looking at?" Roger directed at Yambia.
"I don't know, they keep looking and pointing over here at you. I can't make out what they are saying though." Yambia answered.
"I'm feeling that it's probably nothing good!" Roger said.
Yambia had never met Nappa before, but had heard her father talk about him on several occasions. Yambia agreed that it was probably nothing good.
Piccolo had gone off to survey the local area to decide on training grounds. He'd found a couple of areas that looked like good spots. Piccolo used his innate telepathic abilities.
"Goku, do you think we could get a couple of gravity rooms from Trunks for the training?" Piccolo asked.
"Oh hi Piccolo.. Sure, I don't see why not. I'm sure he would be willing to cooperate." Goku answered.
"Why don't you ask him yourself?" The Supreme Kai interjected just as he appeared in front of Piccolo. With him were Gohan, Goten, Trunks, Trunks Jr., Pan, and Bura.
"Piccolo!" Gohan yelled and just about knocked his Sensei down while embracing him. "It has been such a long time! Where've you been?" Gohan asked.
"In Hell." Piccolo stated flatly. "It's a long story."
"When Kaioshin told us what was going on, and what was at stake I packed up three of the remaining gravity rooms and brought them. Father took the largest and the best one with him when he left Earth." Trunks said. He handed three capsules to Piccolo. "It's probably still on the ship."
Trunks Jr. sensed his Grandfather and flew off in his direction.
"The Supreme Kai didn't seem to have any trouble getting you guys here." Piccolo observed.
"Are you kidding? Do you know how long it's been since any of us has seen any real challenge? We are all part Saiyan you know!" Pan replied.
"The ship is still on New Namek", Kaioshin offered. "If you want, we can go and retrieve the gravity room from it right now Trunks"
"Sound good, let's go. Umm… Can you teach me how to teleport like this?" Trunks asked just as he and Kaioshin disappeared.
Cordell's messenger was in a state confusion. He had arrived on this planet with the purpose of spying on the one remaining high ki that he could sense, but just as he arrived it seemed to wink out of existence. He found a very large spaceship, and found no one aboard. He had been here several hours because his master told him to wait and see if the owners show back up. He was getting very bored. Lumbistru is his name, although his master seldom uses it, preferring to simply refer to him as slave, or scum, or on special occasions simply asshole.
Suddenly Lumbistru is aware of two very high ki levels that seemingly appears out of no where very close to the ship. "What are they?" Lumbistru reached out with his senses while dampening his own ki and turning invisible. Presently, he felt that one of the ki levels was who he came to spy on. The other ki level was far higher than the first. Extremely high, but not the same as the ones he sensed earlier. They were coming aboard the ship.
In his own dimension, Cordell was equally perplexed. His home planet, Earth had been the home for a number of unexplained, but very high, ki levels. Cordell was sure that these ki readings did not belong to humans, but to aliens living among the humans. But about 10 minutes ago, all of the highest ki levels among them simply disappeared, and did not reappear within their own dimension. "What does this mean? If they can teleport, where are they teleporting to?"
"Master! There are two very high ki levels here!" Lumbistru reported.
"Let me see and hear them." Cordell commanded.
In Cordell's mind, he could now see and hear what his slave could see and hear. He could see the two people in question, and could hear them speaking as well.
"So, Supreme Kai, all I have to do to teleport is to use my ki, and believe that I'm already there hard enough that I am there?" Trunks said with obvious disbelief in his voice.
"THE SUPREME KAI!?!?!?! What is he doing walking among mortals?" Cordell wondered.
"That's the gist of it Trunks." The Supreme Kai said.
"That reeks of Jonathon Livingston Seagull." Trunks said.
"Who?" The Supreme Kai asked.
"Never mind. Just an Earth fable." Trunks said. "Ah, here's the gravity room." Trunks depresses a switch on the wall and the gravity room collapses back into its capsule. "Ok, got it."
"Ok, let's get back then." Kaioshin said.
"Hold on a minute." Trunks says as he disappears down a corridor into the pilot house. A minute or so later he reemerges. "Ok, we can go now. I've activated the ships auto return program. It will launch in five minutes and head for Capsule Corporation on Earth."
"Ok, give me your arm." Kaioshin commanded.
Moments later only Lumbistru remained.
"They're gone Master, they teleported. I can't sense where." Lumbistru reported.
"Ok, stay on the ship and go to Earth. I want to see what is happening there." Cordell ordered.
"Yes Master."
Five minutes later "Auto return sequence activated, Plasma engines online, Launching now."
"I wonder who that was?" Lumbistru stretched out his senses to try and find out as the great ship roared into space.