What I Know Now
Chapter 1: Blast from the Past
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
I suppose I should start with my past. But I guarantee you won't like it. You won't consider it 'pretty' but then again I don't really give a damn about your opinion of my life. Bah… but you're listening so then again I should spill while I can. Ah… 'spill'. I'm already accustoming myself to these pathetic Earth phrases… I'll just start from the beginning.
The Saiyans were already serving Frieza long before he decided to destroy the planet. And to be honest, we enjoyed working for him. It gave us the chance to exercise our destructive natures and prove ourselves among the greatest warriors. Those who were allowed to destroy tougher or more important planets were considered, themselves, more important. I believe I was about seven earth years when Frieza destroyed Vegetasei. I asked him for a more difficult mission, for the one he'd given me was laughable. I'd requested a real challenge, and with a smirk he gave it to me. I didn't realize it at the time, but by asking him I'd marked myself for him… marked myself as one willing to serve under him.
So that is why he agreed to my request. Had I been any other Saiyan, I realize now he probably would have killed me on the spot. But because I was my father's son and I was already showing more gut than the king, he decided to take me in my father's stead. Nappa accompanied me, of course. I have no idea where Radditz was, and when we finally met I never asked. In the end, it was just the three of us aboard Frieza's ship. While I was onboard the return ship back to Frieza's mothership, I received a transmission telling me that an asteroid had destroyed Vegetasei.
When I heard, I did not care too much. I figured that natural forces had destroyed Vegetasei, so obviously it was meant to have been destroyed. I had been well taught in the arts of understand destiny and fate, so I did not grieve for my planet at all. I understood that it was part of the natural order, and that it must've served so purpose. I was practically a religious fool then. When I found out what had really happened…. But that's for later.
As for Frieza himself, we saw very little of him.
He mostly sent us away to planets and let us roam around the galaxy until he had a new request for him. It wasn't until I was around eleven that he really started taking attention to me. I'd proved myself as one of the best of the best, and yet still he would not let me join the Ginyu Force. I looked on it as an insult at first, but then convinced myself that Frieza had chosen the smart option. I was never one to work in a team.
You will be happy to know that I never killed unless ordered to or it was against an opponent who had at least a somewhat challenging fighting power. Most of the time, I let Nappa have his fun. In fact, the first time I'd ever learned about sex was from Nappa. I'd come in on him taking a Shmalden female when I was sixteen earth years. Before that, I'd never really considered any of the talk of the act, for I had more important things to worry about.
And even after that, I managed to control myself. I was determined not to be a weakling and nitwit like Nappa. When I turned nineteen earth years, or ten Saiyan years, I became a legal adult on Vegetasei and Frieza started requesting that I accompany him on mission. And then I found myself as the Nappa, and he the prince. I was doing his dirty work, taking fun only in challenges that I wouldn't handle well. I'd always hated him for making slaves of us Saiyans, but then it became more personal. Every time he'd 'honor' me by forcing me to accompany him, my hate grew more and more. The way he talked about us 'Saiyan monkeys' made me suspect him more and more. But from my point of view, we had served him to his fitting and he would've had no use in destroying us, so there was no reason why he would have.
Every encounter with Zarbon would annoy me to the fullest. He would flaunt his 'beauty' at us 'apes'. When I would retort that he was beautiful enough to be a woman, he would manipulate Frieza into beating us or arranging an especially hard or grotesque mission for us. But I knew that the hardships only made me stronger. So I annoyed Zarbon and Dodoria and others close to Frieza every time I saw them.
Nappa and I were roaming around the Zpact galaxy when Radditz requested we seek out Earth…
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"My brother, Kakorott, should be there. He was sent as a baby," Radditz informs me as he munches on a piece of Htar meat.
"This is good stuff…" Nappa mumbles as he, too, devours the Htar. Bah. All Radditz thinks about is food, and Nappa is just plain stupid.
"Waste of time. You go get him if you think it'll be worth the trip," I order. It annoys me every time I look at Radditz, for his face is very similar to mine. It's like looking at an alternate future in which… I'm taller. "Either he couldn't complete his mission or he betrayed us. There's no other explanation as for why he never returned. So I don't see what good can come of it. But have your fun."
"Very well, my prince. Even if he did betray us, I'm sure I could… coerce him into coming back. I suspect you'll be heading on over to the Ghstak galaxy by then?" he asks, grabbing his green scouter.
"Yea," Nappa grunts. "So it'll take you a year to reach us from Earth."
"Alright. I'll see you then, then," he calls as he hops into his pod and takes off.
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Nothing important happened after that. Frieza called us to a mission about 8 earth months later, but we were indeed in the Ghstak galaxy when Radditz arrived to your planet.
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"Look at this place," Nappa growled. "It changes everything to a funny color!"
"Colors mean nothing," I grunt, taking note of my red hair.
"There's a city! Can I blast it?" Nappa asks me stupidly.
"Sure why not," I chuckle. He flies off, leaving me to observe the landscape. Nothing special. There are tall trees with circular tops, and rather odd colored swamps, but other than that nothing special. What a waste of a trip.
I fly around for about ten minutes before Nappa returns with a dead bug creature.
"Dinner!" he calls. Disgusting. But taste doesn't matter. Food is food. I assume he already had some as he makes no effort to have any. That, or he can't handle it.
I grab a stick to start a fire, but I can hear voices coming out of my scouter. I stop and turn it up higher.
"Please… don't hurt him… he's just a boy!"
"Yes, he's just a little boy, that's true. But he's very strong. And he has a power level even higher than yours, little brother!"
"That must be Radditz," Nappa realizes oh so ingeniously.
"Quite," I bark.
"And if he ever learned to control it, it would be very bad for us! So you can see, I have no choice! He must die! NOW!" Urgh. What a weakling, to feel threatened by a child. He has no right to claim a boy is a threat to 'us'.
"His scouter must be malfunctioning. It's transmitting to us without his knowledge. He must've been in close proximity of a powerful energy blast. I though Earthlings haven't mastered ki yet…" I drift.
Wait. There are muffled yells.
"Piccolo! Piccolo… your attack! Let's go!" That must be Kakorott, but who is this 'Piccolo'?
"Goku, sometimes you amaze even me! Now, hold tight! This'll take some time. AND DON'T LISTEN TO ANYTHING HE SAYS." Heheh. The fool Kakorott must've been tricked by Radditz at some point. I growl and turn the volume down as more shouting erupts from the transmitter. Obviously Kakorott has some sort of hold over Radditz. Did he grab his tail? Weakling Radditz, that sort of thing WOULD happen, but that doesn't explain why Kakorott is struggling as well.
"See? It never pays to tell a lie, now does it?"
"AH! You little scoundrel!"
"Radditz sounds in trouble," I laugh. Nappa chuckles and listens attentively.
"Piccolo! Hurry up! I can't hold him much longer!" So that explains the shouting. Kakorott has him in some sort of lock?
"Kakorott! You're a fool! How do you expect to dodge that beam and hold me at the same time?" Ah that explains everything.
"You're right. I can't. We'll both get hit." So, this Piccolo is charging an attack that will kill both Kakorott and Radditz. Perhaps this 'Piccolo' would present some sort of challenge.
"What? That's insane! You'll be killed! Is that what you want?" Humph. Kakorott sounds more like a warrior than Radditz does. Kakorott has no fear of death, while Radditz bitches and moans over it.
"If it's the only way for me to beat you!" But Kakorott is nowhere near as strong. He is not a worthy warrior, though he is at least one. I can hear them both struggling more.
"Hold on, Goku!" Goku? Who is 'Goku'? Surely he is not referring to 'Kakorott'? Obviously since Kakorott is attempting to kill Radditz, he has betrayed us, but taking on an Earth name? Are these Earthlings great fighters? Why did Kakorott not complete his mission? "I'm almost ready!"
"CRrrcckkk,"
"Eh… somebody must've bumped Radditz's scouter. It's gone all funny."
"No………ribs are broken!"
"I'm… hang…"
"ONE THOUSAND…….CRCKK…. FORTY? NO! If that….. hits… FINISHED! Hey……. Right now……. Both….. die!"
"A blast of over one thousand something? Radditz is a weakling, but that shouldn't finish him," Nappa said.
"Yes, quite strange that he would be worried about that," I mumble. "The boy? Perhaps the boy he spoke of before weakened him somewhat. No…. maybe the brat destroyed his armor. Without the armor, a small enough blast at that power level would go straight through him. But it depends on how high the level is." Where did the boy go, I wonder. No matter.
"...CRRCK… wrong? …… scared, brother."
"You're… Saiyan! Don't sacrifice…SHHCCRRKK... Earth dogs!"
"CRRcckkkCRRck."
"Did you get that?" Nappa asks.
"No."
"…. Time!"
I can hear both of them screaming through the random static before the reading of a beam come through.
"1440," Nappa notes. "Yea, that'll get him." Weakling… Radditz spits up blood before cursing Kakorott.
"Ah, he must've landed on the scouter, cause it's working right again," Nappa informs me.
"Kakorott! How could he? It makes… no sense! The fool! Now we're both… DEAD!" Radditz moans.
"No, you die alone." That must be 'Piccolo'. "Goku won't be gone for long." Yes, so Kakorott and 'Goku' are one in the same. "I'm guessing his friends will see to it he's back within' the week."
"What? Impossible! Tell me how!" Kakorott coming back to life? That might explain why he did not fear death. So he is not a real warrior after all, just a sniveling coward like Radditz. I'm sure had he known he would not be back, he would not have sacrificed himself.
"Heh. Gladly. On this planet, we have something that we call the Dragonballs. When all seven balls are gathered together, they have the power to grant any wish, and that includes bringing the dead back to life. So you can see, its Goku who will have the last laugh." Interesting…. Very interesting.
"No. I'm afraid you're wrong, green man. This device on my face, it –its also a transmitter. My Saiyan comrades heard every single word." I notice Nappa glance at me excitedly. "now they'll come, I know they will!" He pauses, and I believe he coughed up some blood. "They will… I know they will. And once they arrive, you'll be powerless to stop them. There's nothing you can do. They'll seek out these dragonballs and they'll destroy everything in there path. You and every living thing on this planet will be wiped out. They'll destroy you all…"
"When? When will they come? How long will it take them? To get here?" I hear Kakorott manage.
"One year. And the funny thing is," he chuckles, "they're MUCH stronger than me." Damn right we are, weakling.
"Stronger? One year… oh no…" that 'Piccolo' groans. Hah. He has a right to be scared.
"So enjoy this little victory of yours today. It means… it means nothing. You're as good as dead. I only hope I'm back in time to see it happen." You won't be back at all, fool. "Don't look so upset, green man." Green man? "We can't all have the last laugh." The last thing I hear is him laughing and a yell before the transmitter turns off. I quickly blast the wood I'd collected earlier to form a fire. I grab the alien body and rip the arm off. I then proceed to quickly cook it with my ki.
"Eh… Radditz stinks," Nappa comments after we're sure the transmission ended.
"He's a complete disgrace!" I take a bite. Mmm… not too bad. "How could he let himself be beaten by men with such low fighting power?" Eh… if only I had some of that Zhalarkian sauce, then this might actually taste good.
"I dunno," Nappa sighs in a defeated manner. "Maybe we should just go teach those EARTHLINGS a lesson."
"A waste of time." Urgh, bone. I spit it out, but I can't help but smirk. "Then again, I am… curious."
"Ah… are you thinking about what Radditz said?"
I can't restrain a chuckle. "Exactly. Those dragonballs caught my interest. Just think of the possibilities, Nappa! If we can get our hands on those seven dragonballs, then we can wish for anything we like. Anything at all. Wouldn't you say that's worth making a little trip?
"You kiddin'?" Nappa responds excitedly. "Yea! Let's go!" He laughs as we start to head to our pods.
"Once we force Kakorott's friends to tell us how to find the dragonballs, we'll eliminate them, along with anyone else who tries to stand in our way." I especially must challenge this 'Piccolo'. I lean my arm on my pod in thought.
"And then we can wish Radditz back to life."
"No. That would be a wasted wish. Radditz was a weakling and a fool. Any Saiyan who could be defeated so easily doesn't deserve to live." I raise my hand to my mouth. Nappa just grunts in response. "Actually, Nappa, I have something far more grand in mind. Now tell me, how does the idea of eternal life sound to you?
"What? Living forever? That sounds great. Yea." He turns and pounds on his pod to open it. "And if we can't die, that means no one'll ever be able to defeat us!" He seats himself in his pod. "So what the heck would we need Radditz for?"
I laugh as I open my pod and sit in it. "Yes? What for, indeed! We'll be the greatest fighters in the universe, and we will ascend to our rightful place among the Saiyan warriors of legend!"
"Do you mean?"
"That's right, Nappa. That's exactly what I mean. We will become Super Saiyans!"
"Now I DEFINIATELY like the sound of that!" he yells as we shut the pods and start our one year journey to Earth.
So sorry this chapter took so incredibly long. Yes, I know, 'one month' my ass. And I even cheated a little bit. All the dialogue about Radditz and Goku and between Vegeta and Nappa afterwards come from the "Gohan's Rage" episode. At least be comforted that it was a lot of hard work taking down the dialogue, having to pause and rewind it so often that it took me bout half an hour. Well please R&R!
OH still gotta edit a little. Please don't mind stupid little mistakes. I'm gonna add more to the stuff between the dialogue, as well. Thanks again!