The Treasure of Power

Disclaimer:                Dragonball Z = Akira Toryama

A/N:                           So, not much to say except thanks for the reviews and enjoy reading the next chapter!

Chapter 6: "Goku's Heritage"

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Goku didn't know how much time had passed while he was almost lying on the wet and in the meantime muddy ground. All of his clothes were drenched wet from the rain, but his tears had stopped falling. Goku was angry, beyond angry with himself. He had failed Bulma. He had promised her to protect her and it was his fault that she was now in the hands of this… this… cold-blooded killer. He had been careless, giving the Saiyajins a possibility to get to the castle. He would never be able to forgive himself, if something happened to Bulma. Never. He had been blinded by his feelings for the son he just got to know to think rational.

Suddenly a thought crossed his mind. He's incredible strong for his age, as strong as a Saiyajin. Are you his father, Kakarotto? How did Vegeta know that? How…? So you have no idea about your heritage… His heritage. Now some things made sense. Why General Kaiou and his grandfather never wanted to tell him something about his parents, why this woman called him this strange name, his incredible strength, his son's strength and most importantly, the scar at the end of his spine.

The shock of realization just began to sink in, when Goku felt a hand on his shoulder. He raised his head, just to look directly in ChiChi's eyes. "Goku… please come inside. There's nothing we could do right now," she said worriedly.

He stood up abruptly, causing ChiChi to fall into the mud. He looked down at her and felt immediately twinges of remorse, when he saw her wet form sitting in the soaked earth. But she was his last worry at that moment. "I'm sorry, ChiChi," he said and then began to run towards the stabling. Yes, there was something he could do right now. It was time to ask some questions.

"Goku?" ChiChi whispered and got up again. Then she turned to Piccolo. "Piccolo, please, look after Gohan and tell the Lord what has happened. I'll go after Goku." Piccolo just nodded and so ChiChi ran the way Goku has disappeared.

ChiChi arrived just in time before Goku could mount his horse and ride away. "Goku! Where are you going?" she asked him.

Goku looked up and saw the love of his life standing in front of him. "I need answers and I know a person who can give me what I need. I'll explain everything later. I have to go now!"

He turned around, mounted his horse and stormed off, while ChiChi was staring after him. "Goku…"

As she came back to her room, she found Gohan waiting for her. "Hey mommy, are you okay?" he asked, when he saw the tears on his mother's face.

She knelt down in front of him and messed with his hair. "Yes, I'm okay. It's just with Bulma being in the hands of those cruel Saiyajins…"

"Shh, mommy, it's okay." Gohan pulled her into a hug. "I'm sure that Son Goku and Piccolo will find a way to bring her back to us."

"I hope you're right," she said with a half-smile.

"By the way, mommy, why did this Vegeta ask Son Goku if he's my father? I thought my father was dead."

ChiChi sighed and pulled herself out of the embrace. "Gohan, why don't you first change your clothes? They're all wet. And then we'll talk a bit more about Goku, okay?"

"Okay!" Gohan grinned and went to his own room.

~*~

In the meantime Goku had arrived at the General's mansion. His blood boiled with anger. He hoped for the General that he had some answers for him, otherwise Goku didn't know what he would do. After he gave Chikyuu to one of the boys at the stabling, he stormed to his room, past staring servants, who had never seen him so enraged before. Never. Inside of his room, Goku threw the door of his closet open and picked up the small box lying in one corner of it. He opened it and almost sighed with relief. The sphere was still there. Did Vegeta even know that there was one more of them in their country? Probably not, otherwise he would've taken it for sure. But the sphere wasn't really what he was looking for. He took the sphere out and placed her on the drawer. Then he looked inside the box again and fiddled around with the ground of it, until he could take it out. And there was what he was looking for. Grabbing what was there and the sphere, he rushed out of the door to the General's office.

General Kaiou had no idea what was going on, when Goku threw the door of his office open and stomped to his desk with a look on his face that could kill. "Hey Goku…" he said hesitating. "What are you doing here? Oh god, look at you. You're totally drenched. Has something happened?"

"The Saiyajins. They have Bulma and the sphere," Goku said shortly.

"What?" Kaiou asked upset. "How could that happen?"

Goku began pacing in front of the General's desk. "Vegeta and his men suddenly appeared in the garden of the palace and took a boy as hostage. We couldn't do anything, so Bulma made a deal with him. She gave him the sphere and he let the boy go. But then the unexpected happened. He not just took the sphere, but also Bulma and left, threatening to kill her, when we would follow." Suddenly he stopped pacing and turned his head away from the General. "Why did you never tell me?" he asked in a toneless voice.

"What are you talking about, Goku?" Kaiou began to get nervous. If what he was thinking was right, he knew why Goku would be angry. But still, his behavior was anything but normal. When he had asked the question, there was no trace that Goku was angry. Oh no, he had already passed that point. As voice this cold did just use someone who was talking to a person he truly loathed. To be blunt: The General was afraid of his best man.

"Why did you never tell me that I'm one of them?" Goku yelled, turning around and slamming his fist onto the General's desk, breaking it into two halves. "Since I've heard of the Saiyajins and their cruelty I despised this race, just to let one of them tell me that I also am one. I don't think that I could ever forgive you for that," he added in a lower tone and turned his back to the man he once looked up to.

"Goku… I'm sorry… How…?" he stuttered.

"One of them, I think his name was Radditz, recognized me as his presumed dead brother. He said that I looked exactly like his father. He called me Kakarotto. I was confused at first, because about a half year ago, an old woman called me the same name. But then Vegeta stated something that I hadn't seen before. Gohan's strength. For a five year old he's unbelievable strong. The only reasonable answer of how that could be was that his father is a Saiyajin."

"Gohan? Isn't that the name of ChiChi's son? But his father wasn't a Saiyajin. He was not even a fighter," Kaiou asked, now even more confused.

"That's because this man wasn't Gohan's father. ChiChi told me today that it's me." Goku turned around and let a small smile appear on his face at the memories. "Remember that party at the palace six years ago, where you wanted to set me up with Bulma? Gohan was conceived that night. I had a son and just found out about it today." Suddenly Goku's face got serious again. "General Kaiou, who am I? Who are my parents?"

Kaiou sighed. He knew that he had to tell him some time, but he didn't want him to find out about his true heritage that way. He could clearly see the hurt in the young man's eyes and he wished that he could have spared him the truth. "This Saiyajin was right. Your name is Kakarotto. I just know that your father's name was Bardock. I don't know the one of your mother. She died at your birth. One night, 25 years ago, Son Gohan and I had met here for dinner, there was suddenly a knock at the door. Gregory opened, but the only thing he found was a basket, covered by a blanket and a letter. You were lying inside of this basket and Gregory brought you to us. To be frank with you, we were surprised to find a baby on my doorsteps, but after we read the letter, we understood. You must know, at exactly that time, Lord Frieza decided to take over the island of the Saiyajins and killed almost everyone. Your father wanted to spare you this fate and gave you to an old friend of his family, a woman, who wanted to be unnamed in the letter, before he was most likely killed by Frieza and his men. He had told her to bring you to me, so that I could raise you. But at that time I wasn't a General yet and my promotion was drawing near, so I didn't have time for a child. But Gohan, who had just retired, happily agreed to raise you, so that he would have again something to live for, after he was too old to go to sea."

"And you decided to keep it a secret, who and what I really am and removed my tail," Goku stated.

"Exactly." Kaiou nodded. "We knew how people were thinking about Saiyajins, so we thought it was better to keep your true identity hidden. I'm really sorry, Goku. I know I should have told you before, but… I don't know… I guess I was afraid of what would happen to you, how you would react. I'm really sorry."

For the next few minutes they both just stayed silent. None of them knowing exactly what to say to the other. "Goku," Kaiou began, "what will you do now?"

"Hunt them down, free Bulma and kill them. They don't deserve another treatment," Goku answered with a voice that let run shivers down Kaiou's spine.

"Goku! That's the anger talking in you! You won't have a chance against them. You don't even know where he is!" he said exasperated.

"You're wrong. I know exactly where he is." With that, he tossed a piece of parchment to the General.

Kaiou's eyes went wide, as he unfolded it. "But that is…"

"A map, showing the exact positions of the seven spheres. No matter where they are, they will always appear on this map," Goku finished the General's sentence.

"But how? This is impossible. I mean, as far as I know, there are just three of them. Where did you get it from?" Kaiou asked confused.

"Grandpa left it to me. Together with this thing." Goku now held up the orange sphere with the four stars.

"Gohan possessed a part of the legendary Treasure of Power? And one of the three magic maps? He never told me…" he muttered. "But even with this map. How do you want to find Vegeta?"

Goku smirked. "You see? There are two spheres at one place, not that far away from us. That must be Vegeta. And there are another two spheres together, just across the oceans. Maybe someone else is also collecting them. One is right here and another one in the north and the last one in the south." He showed it to him on the map. "And even if I don't find Vegeta. As long as I still have this one sphere, he'll always find me."

"Are you sure you really want to do this? It's dangerous!" the General told him concerned.

"Don't worry. I'll bring Bulma back. I promised to protect her and even if Vegeta hurt, or worse, killed her, I won't rest until I killed each one of them. And believe me. That won't be pretty for them."

Kaiou gave in. "Okay. When do you want to leave?"

"Tomorrow at dawn. Tell my crew to be at the ship by then. For this mission, I need them." With that, Goku grabbed the map and the sphere, turned around and walked to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"There's still someone else I have to talk to," he answered, not turning around and left the office.

General Kaiou sighed and surveyed his damaged desk. Goku didn't know what he was getting himself into. What he wanted to do was more dangerous than anything he had ever faced before. The Saiyajins weren't the worst problem on this mission. But Vegeta was working for someone, who was much stronger than him or any other Saiyajin. He hoped that Goku would stay away from this one being that was feared all over the world: Lord Frieza.

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Okay, that was it. Chapter number 6. Goku found out about his heritage and didn't react too well on it. Well, who wouldn't?

Whatever, please tell me what you think of it, okay?

Eternally yours

ChibiChibi