Enna Namo: Well, the history of chapter 32 is this. I went out with some family members to a local pub and we had a few too many to drink celebrating a recent addition to my nephew's family. A fine lad that his parents named Michael. Anyways, I came home still a bit giddy from the celebration and sat down and wrote chapter 32. Needless to say, it was sillier than I had intended. I looked it over the next morning knowing that it would need to be rewritten because it was too silly, and Vegeta was OOC in numerous places, and the battle scene wasn't long enough, or detailed enough. But I thought I would post the original version to give everyone a chuckle or two. However, I got so many requests to leave the silliness in, that I did. I did extend the battle and give it more detail though. I promise never to write while inebriated again. :c) Well, unless I'm writing a comedy fic.
Flameraven: It's the initial burst of energy of the transformation that killed Tharsasher, not just the presence of a Super Saiyan Five. Of course, that energy won't have the same effect within the Demon Realm environment. I wouldn't exactly say that they were going Super Saiyan Five suddenly. Remember the timeline. Gohan is in his early 60's, Trunks, and Goten in their 40's. I have probably stretched the limits with Trunks Jr. though. Super Saiyan Five in his mid-twenties. Oh well, wait until you see what I do with Roger and Yambia. :c)
To everybody else, thanks for taking the time to review. On to the story!
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Uub emerged from the Room of Spirit and Time carrying Raditz. Trunks Jr. and Nappa met them at the door.
"What happened to him?" Trunks Jr. asked.
"Saiyan stubbornness." Uub said flatly. "He has apparently decided that he needs to catch up with his brother. And has just about killed himself getting there."
"Oh? What level has he attained?" Trunks Jr. asked.
"Super Saiyan, But he is very close to Super Saiyan Two." Uub stated proudly.
"Not bad, impressive in fact. Gohan managed to push Nappa here to Super Saiyan early yesterday, before we were attacked." Trunks Jr. said.
"ATTACKED?!?!!?" Uub exclaimed. "W-what happened?"
"Well, as near as we can figure, Cordell sent one of his higher powered demons to destroy all life on Earth, or at least test the Z-Warriors here on Earth. A real nasty brute she turned out to be. We also found another smaller, weaker demon here that was just spying. He's at Capsule Corporation right now." Trunks Jr. explained. "I killed the big demon when I transformed to Super Saiyan Five and blinded the little one that was hiding behind a rock."
"Why did they take him to Capsule Corporation?" Uub asked
"Not sure. It was the age-old argument though. Vegeta wanted to destroy it, Goku said no, so they finally decided to take it in and try to question it." Trunks Jr. answered. "Personally, I think Grandfather was right in this case, I don't think they are going to get much information out of it. Goku wanted to give it a Senzu Bean, or have Dendi heal it, but Vegeta absolutely refused. He said that if it got its eyesight back, it could spy on them again. Goku had to agree. Bura did give it some pain killers that seemed to work though."
Uub looked over at the bleary and bloodshot eyes of Nappa, who was being unusually quiet. "What's up with the big man this morning?"
Trunks Jr. smirked. "Too much orange soda."
"Ah.. Ok, I understand." Uub remembered the first time that Goku had introduced him to his favorite drink combination shortly after his 21st birthday.
"Ok, we'd better go on in Nappa." Trunks Jr. said.
"Sure." Nappa said reduced to monosyllabic answers due to the throbbing in his head.
"Ok then, we'll see you tomorrow." Uub said as he and Raditz floated down to the edge of the lookout and took off.
Trunks Jr. and Nappa entered the Room of Spirit and Time. Neither one of them had ever been in here before, so they were taking in the sights of the training quarters. Suddenly they pulled up short. There before them was an expanse of white nothingness.
"What is that?" Nappa practically shouted.
"That, if I remember grandfather's descriptions correction, is where we train." Trunks Jr. answered.
Nappa quickly turned away to look back towards the training quarters. The sudden disorientation of the white void, coupled with a Saiyan Elite sized hangover, had caused him to come within nanoseconds of tossing his cookies. Trunks seen that Nappa had turned a rather unpleasant shade of green.
"Nappa, you don't look like you're ready to start training right now, so why don't you go and clean up and choose your sleeping accommodations and get some solid rest. We can start training when you feel better." Trunks Jr. said.
Normally, Nappa would have taken offense at the suggestion that he wasn't ready to train or fight, but the big man felt so miserable that he didn't even offer an argument. "Yeah, that sounds good. Thanks." Nappa mumbled as he walked back towards the training facility.
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Lumbistru awakened lying on something very soft and comfortable, and was covered in a cloth of some sort. He still could not see, but the pain had gone and he felt strangely wonderful, almost giddy. Bura had hit him with a full 5cc's of morphine not really knowing how it would effect a demon. Naturally, a human would have been kept sedated for hours, Lumbistru was wide-awake, albeit feeling no pain. Lumbistru noticed that it couldn't move it's arms or legs, they seemed to be held down by straps or clamps. He could also feel one stretching across his chest, and thorax. He could hear people talking so he decided to remain still and listen.
"Look Kakkarot, I agreed to keep this hideous thing alive, Dendi only knows why, because you wanted it, and because we might, MIGHT, get some information out of it. However, that doesn't mean that I want it in my home, or around my family! If the thing even looks like it is going to be a minor nuisance, I'm going to vaporize it! Understand?"
"I understand Vegeta." Goku looked at the thing. He wasn't sure why he wanted to spare it's life, or whatever it was that demons had, but he did. He was going to make the argument that Vegeta had a second chance, but he couldn't have made it stick. Goku spared Vegeta from Kirillin's sword hand because Goku had detected a spark of goodness within Vegeta. No such spark exists in this creature. Nothing at all. This creature would kill them all in a heartbeat with not so much as a passing thought to the moral implications of his action than a man has when swatting a mosquito, or most men anyways, Goku always felt guilty doing that.
"Son?" Bardock placed a hand on Goku's shoulder. "You know Vegeta is right about this thing, don't you?"
"Y-yes father." Goku shifted his eyes to his feet. "But killing it now would seem so.. Cold."
"What do you feel from this creature son?" Bardock asked.
"Nothing but evil, darkness, and the cold of space." Goku admitted.
"Spirits are sent to the Demon Realm because not even Hell could find any redeeming qualities within them. You're not likely to feel anything approaching a speck of goodness in any of them. Let Vegeta handle it Son" Bardock said.
"Father… " Goku paused, then looked up into his father's eyes. "Have you been proud of me? Have I been strong enough?"
The two questions took Bardock by surprise. Bardock remembered that day in the Nursery so many years ago. The bitter disappointment he felt when Kakkarot's power had been such a low reading. The sorrow Bardock felt when they said they were going to send the boy to purge some remote planet. However, there was pride in his son, just because it was his son. Bardock had experienced a moment of unbridled joy and pride, just before he took his last mortal breath.
"Son, years ago when my crew and I were on a purging mission, the leader of that planet gave me a curse of sorts. The curse was that I would have to watch my planet and people being destroyed just as he had to watch his being destroyed. It gave me a second sight, of sorts. I started having visions of the future. And in that future, I saw Frieza destroy Vegetasai over, and over again. It was in my dreams, while I was awake, and haunted me for days. At first I thought it was just nightmares, and an over-active imagination, and perhaps combat fatigue. But just before it happened, I realized that my visions were true. I ran and tried to warn everyone, and tried to stop him. It was then that the visions changed and I saw you Kakkarot. I saw you training, I saw you grow up, I saw fighting Vegeta, and then I saw you stand triumphant over Frieza. And I was proud of you my son. You became the legend, you destroyed Frieza and avenged our people, and it has been you that has saved this world, and this universe from destruction time after time. I am very proud of you son and your strength." Bardock finished.
Goku smiled warmly at his father. "Thank you father. I have waited a long time to hear that."
"What do you mean? You didn't even know who I was until…." Bardock started.
"That's not.. entirely true father. Goku said looking a bit sheepish. "My one secret is that the day I went Super Saiyan for the first time, all of my Kakkarot memories came back to me. That was my big struggle that day. Kakkarot is your son, but Kakkrot had not known a single day of peace or joy in his life. All he had known was the programming. In the end, I won, or rather Goku won. Kakkarot is still here as well, but he's not the same Kakkarot that first came here to destroy this world. He has also seen the value in peace, and love, and fighting the good fight. We are the same person now, which prefers to be called Goku. I've never told anyone this before."
Bardock looked at his son, tears brimming in his eyes. He had not known that his son, this Saiyan before him had even known of his existence before what he thought was a chance meeting in King Emma's office when he was earning his redemption. Bardock had always wondered, through the many years, if his son thought about him at all, or wondered who he was.
"S-son I…" Bardock started. Goku reached out and embraced his father for the first time ever. Bardock hesitated for just a moment. Warriors who showed this sort of emotion with another warrior, even a family member, were ostracized on Vegetasai. But he quickly gave in and returned his son's embrace.
"Thank you son." Bardock said.
"For what father?" Goku returned.
"For believing in me, for giving me this chance to set my life right. I realize now that King Kai's redemption plan must have been at your request. Am I right?" Bardock said.
Goku released his father looking a bit sheepish. "Well, yes, I did ask King Kai to look into the possibility, for you, Raditz, and Nappa. But make no mistake; you earned your redemption yourself. Now it's up to you as to what you make of it. Since you've been redeemed, and have been given your life back, you are starting out clean. Depending on your actions now, you could still end up under Piccolo's care." Goku said sarcastically.
Bardock shivered a bit. "No thank you very much! I'm doing things right this time!"
"I know you will father." Goku smiled. "I need to think a bit father, and I'm sure that Vegeta will have something for you to do soon."
"Hehehe.. Well, if he feels as bad as Nappa did earlier, it could be a rough day." Bardock chuckled.
"That reminds me, how do you feel?" Goku asked.
"Not bad, but I didn't drink much beer." Bardock took on a conspiratorial tone. "You want to know a secret?"
"Sure!" Goku said.
"I could never hold my booze. Your mother could always easily drink me under the table." Bardock revealed. "I could never keep up with her at the bar or at parties. So we used to fake it a lot. I would pour my drink into her glass when she emptied it and pour some colored water into my glass. I am a two beer drunk."
Goku smiled. "I must have gotten my ability to drink from my mother then. Don't worry, your secret if safe with me."
"Thanks. I'm going to go and find Vegeta and see what the plan is for today." Bardock left the lab.
"Okay. See you in a bit." Goku called after him turning his attention back to Lumbistru. "Alright, I know you've been awake for quite some time."
Lumbistru's eyes popped open and he stared openly at the man looking down on him. The image was terribly blurred, his eyes had been horribly damaged and it would take Lumbistru days, maybe even weeks, to regenerate the damage. Lumbistru had overheard most of the argument between this one, and the one called Vegeta. This one, Goku, had practically begged Vegeta to spare his life. Why? Lumbistru tried to think of an ulterior motive that this stranger could possibly have. Nothing came to him.
"Why you keep Lumbistru alive?" Lumbistru asked.
"Honestly? I'm not really sure there is a good reason. Other than I believe it is wrong to kill a helpless being, no matter how evil they happen to be." Goku said. "Still, you do pose a threat to us. You could be spying, you could be sending everything you see and hear back to Cordell."
Lumbistru quickly searched his mind. "No, Cordell is not here right now. Something seems to be blocking him, and blocking me from contacting him."
"No doubt. Bulma originally designed the rooms in this part of the lab to contain a Super Saiyan just in case any one of us ever went mad or something and needed treatment. These walls have a surface force field that can absorb huge amounts of energy. Nothing gets in, nothing gets out." Goku explained. "Of course, that drug Bura gave you is making it hard for you to concentrate as well."
Lumbistru's clouded mind tried to take this all in. He said that he thinks it's wrong to kill the helpless? This seemed alien to Lumbistru. All of his existence, as far back as he could remember beings killed each other for the sheer pleasure in killing. Lumbistru had not known any other way. If you got killed, you were too weak to survive. It was a simple rule of existence.
"Why it wrong to kill the helpless?" Lumbistru asked.
"You wouldn't understand." Goku sighed. "It has to do with compassion, kindness, valuing the existence of all life, and other concepts that a demon would find alien."
"Explain it to me!" Lumbistru yelled. Then he took on a more conciliatory tone. "Tell me what these things are….. Please?"
Goku was taken aback. A demon that says please? Goku reached out his senses he reached past the blackness of the creature's soul, past the warped lump of flesh that the creature used for a heart. Down, down Goku let his mind delve until he, almost accidentally, stumbled into a small and flickering light. The light was dim, almost non-existent, threatening to go out at any moment, but a light nonetheless.
"Incredible!" Goku thought to himself. "After his life, all the layers of hell, and several millennia in the Demon Realm, this creature still harbors a small amount of goodness. Perhaps there is some hope for him after all."
"What is your name?" Goku asked.
"Lumbistru." The creature answered simply.
"Ok, Lumbistru, my name is Goku and I will explain these things to you as best I can although I may not be the best person to teach such things." Goku smiled.
For some reason, Lumbistru trusted Goku. Not only had Goku pleaded for Lumbistru's life, but also he had this feel about him. An aura that Lumbistru had never encountered before. Had Lumbistru been human, he would describe it as being enveloped in love, and trust. Being with Goku came the feeling that all was well with the world. Lumbistru had no idea what any of these concepts meant, no reference point to describe it. All he knew was that for the first time in his entire existence, he felt good, and… safe somehow.
"Goku best to teach Lumbistru. Goku do best Goku can." Lumbistru said.
Goku smiled. "Ok, I will."
"This is going to be a long day." Goku sighed.
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"Fuuuuusssion.. Ha!!" Roger and Yambia yelled, both in their Mystic Super Saiyan form.
Roger and Yambia decided to show Piccolo what true power is. Fearing the damage that might have been done to the planet and people, Roger and Yambia ascended to the greatest altitude they could, while still able to breath. Roger then used his blue ki bubble/shield technique to surround both of them, with the tops open, to prevent too much of their ki from escaping towards the planet. The light from the bubble was intense. Like watching a super-nova. Even with the bubble directing most of the force towards space, branches snapped from the trees, and avalanches were triggered across the planet. The entire planet shook.
After the light died down, Robia floated to the surface of the planet still encased in the blue bubble. Mystic Super Saiyan Two.