"If only I'd been there! I could have saved Oolong and protected everyone else!"
Goku shouts from atop King Kai's mountain. His ki roils from his body in a reddish haze. The spikes of his hair rise with the heat.
"Calm down Goku," says King Kai. "There's nothing you could have done."
He stands behind his student without expression behind his sunglasses, arms tucked against his lower back.
"It's not fair that we keep losing our loved ones."
Goku's aura bursts wider as he lifts off the ground, ripping up grass as he does.
"I know the outcome isn't what you wanted," says King Kai. "And as awful as their battle was, they are going to need even more help against the next one. The kind of help you can only get here and now. Keep that in perspective."
Goku's aura disperses, and he drops to the ground. As soon as his toes touch the soil, he buckles at the knees and lands on his palms. He clenches his fingers, raking them through the grass.
"Couldn't you have teleported me there or something and then brought me back when it was over."
"I know this may be hard to hear, but it is not the job of the Kais to interfere directly with the universe. We are allowed some degree of influence but not much else."
Goku droops his head between his arms. His chin swings to his chest.
"I know it hurts," says King Kai, "but you must continue your training."
"I guess. Does me being alive affect anything?"
"Not really. It just means we have to be extra careful you don't die now."
"You mean I could have died while I was already dead?"
"Sort of. Your physical body was brought to the afterlife allowing your spirit to still inhabit it. By having your body, you could train and get stronger. However, it is still subject to normal injuries and death. If it died again, your soul would be fine but the body would fade away. Since the wish has been made, dying now will prevent your return to earth."
"Okay, but I haven't done anything life threatening yet. Did you have something dangerous in mind?"
"You've done well to improve your physical endurance. Next you need to work on your combat skills. I've managed to arrange an authentic partner for this. I think you'll be quite pleased. However, he can be a bit … abrasive. I'll be keeping a close eye on him to make sure he doesn't push it too far."
Goku gets to his feet slowly. He brushes the back of his wrists across his eyes. His motion freezes when a power level unlike anything he ever imagined stops him dead. The shock of its instant appearance and the enormity of its mass halts him worse than the intense gravity first did. He manages to break the hold by summoning all of his courage and creaks his head towards the source.
"Goku, I'd like you to meet—"
"Kakarot! You bastard!" Goku says.
He launches himself at the person mimicking his facial features and hairstyle.
"Kakarot? That's the name of my son," says the new arrival.
Goku flies in with a punch. The Saiyan lookalike knocks the fist aside. Goku glides passed the foe, carried by his momentum. A swift turning kick catches him in the back and sends him reeling.
"Damn. I'm still a bit slow," says the Saiyan. "Still need to shake off the rigor mortis I guess."
He stretches his neck side to side getting a loud crack from each. A smile crawls onto his face when Goku regroups and charges again.
"Enough Goku!" says King Kai "This isn't the clone from before. It's your father."
Goku stops rigidly in the air, his body shaking in place as acceleration fights against braking.
"My … my what?" he says.
"Yeah I guess I can see the family resemblance," says the man. "I was hoping you'd turn out as strong as your brother though. Oh well. At least I got one good one to sprout from my loins. Ahahaha."
"Wait? I have a brother too?" says Goku.
He studies the new face and realizes it is older than the clone's and carries a cross shaped scar on the left cheek.
"Had a brother," says his supposed father. "Never saw much of him after he got shipped out. I can't even remember if he knows you exist. Anyway, I'm sure he was wiped out with the rest of us."
"You mean because of the Saiyan planet being destroyed?"
"Yep! That sure was a bitch. Haha."
"I'm sorry for the confusion Goku," says King Kai. "I did some research into your heritage while looking for the best way to train you for fighting Saiyans. And what better way is there than to practice against the real thing. So I arranged for your father to get his body back for a short time to help you out. Goku, this is Bardock."
"I didn't really dig the idea of training," says Bardock. "But any kind of fighting is better than just lazily floating around as a little cloud in Hell."
"Wait, you were sent to Hell?" says Goku. "What did you do that was so bad?"
"I just acted like a true Saiyan my whole life. Apparently our divine overseers don't think that's such a noble way to live."
He shoots King Kai a glare.
"We didn't send you to Hell to punish your soul," says King Kai. "Unfortunately, your life experiences never taught you how to properly respect the value of others' lives. Anyone who is not worthy of joining those who do in Heaven are sent to Hell in the hopes they can redeem themselves. In other words, this is your chance to gain a little karma towards moving up in the afterlife."
He fixates his black shades on the warrior. Bardock shifts his gaze away and grunts.
"Whatever," Bardock says. "I'm pretty sure this is just another punishment. Revealing that one of my son's is a tailless weakling doesn't really make me feel any better."
"What is it with you Saiyans and their tails?" says Goku. "I lost mine years ago and don't miss it at all."
"Holy shit," says Bardock. "You mean to tell me you don't know what your tail is for?"
"Bardock, wait," says King Kai.
"It's what allows you to transform into an Oozaru by the light of the full moon."
"Hang on," says Goku. "My grandfather told me about a monster that comes out on a full moon. He said to never go outside on those nights. He was even killed by the beast. I … I found his crushed body the next morning. He was a strong man, but no match for that monster."
"And that's the power of your tail," says Bardock. "When our normal form isn't enough, we transform into the mighty Oozaru to conquer our foes."
"Then that means … I'm the one who killed Grandpa Gohan. I'm the monster."
Goku's hand claps to his forehead over one eye. The fingernails dig into his scalp. The surface level pain does nothing to distract him from the mental anguish building within.
"No kid. You got it all wrong. You should be proud. The beast within is what makes us Saiyans."
Tears run down the sides of Goku's hand as they escape the dam holding them back. A twisting ache drills into his brain.
"Ah, come on kid. You can't get too attached to things, especially when they're so frail and easily broken."
"He raised me. He was my father."
Goku throws his hand forward from his face.
"Not you, you insensitive bastard. You don't get to make fun of Gohan when he was there for me and you never were."
Bardock squints his eyes and crosses his arms.
"Bite your tongue. You don't know anything about the life of a Saiyan. You don't get to judge me."
Goku opens his mouth to retort.
"Enough!" says King Kai. "I realize you two are going to have to work some things out, but bickering like children isn't going to make it better. Now both of you, shape up."
Bardock turns away from Goku who does the same.
"So now what?" says Bardock. "I just battle my son until he gets stronger. Then he fights the last couple of Saiyans still floating around. Seems like kind of a waste, but I'm not particularly attached to anyone who isn't already dead. Who are they anyway?"
"The strongest among them is none other than Prince Vegeta," says King Kai. "I'm sure you're familiar with your former King's son."
Bardock's face screws up in a grimace. Then it relaxes. A chuckle begins to bounce his torso and works its way up to his throat. His jaw drops open so the laughter can escape. His eyes close and his head tilts back as the hysterical convulsions force rapturous air out of his lungs.
"What's so funny?" says Goku. "This guy a good friend of yours or something?"
"Ah heh, ah heh," says Bardock, settling down. "You really are clueless about being a Saiyan aren't you. Oh well. Not your fault I guess. So here's lesson one. Prince Vegeta is an elite. Someone born with great power and destined to rule over the weaker, low class Saiyans. That's where I'm from by the way. And so are you by proxy. There's simply no way you'll ever get strong enough through hard work alone to beat someone like that. They have that special something that you just don't. So there is really no point in even trying."
"I'll beat him," says Goku.
"Oh you will, will you?"
Bardock looks over his son. He stares deep into his eyes as intensely as he can. He tries to make Goku back down by projecting his warrior's spirit. The anger in his eyes feels like it would shoot out of them if he could manipulate his own energies that way. However, Goku does not seem fazed by the glare. He matches him with equal intensity.
"You're serious?" says Bardock, finally relenting the staring contest.
Goku nods.
"Whatever, it's your funeral. But don't say I didn't warn you. At the very least, I can respect your Saiyan spirit wanting to test itself against the very best. Heh, it certainly would make for a great story though. Imagine my son dethroning the Prince himself. It's got a nice ring to it actually. Besides, once the battle's started, rank and power don't matter. All that matters is who wins."
A grin tugs at Goku's lips. He lowers his body into a fighting stance. Bardock smiles and does the same. Wind brushes the grass between them. When it stops blowing, they launch themselves at one another.
His father's attacks strike too fast to dodge. They bruise through Goku's ki infused defenses leaving discolored welts everywhere they hit. A tenderness crawls over each muscle in his arms and legs while digging down to the bone making it hurt just to move them. Bardock ends the assault with a spinning elbow to the side of Goku's head.
Goku's vision drops to blackness before bursting into swirling lights. The sensation of falling grips his stomach but no attempt to catch himself is made. He sprawls out flat on the ground. Muffled voices bounce around his ears.
"Easy Bardock. You can't fight with such reckless abandon. Goku isn't dead anymore. If he dies again, he can't go back to Earth."
"Good. He's not going to get any stronger unless he feels the pressure. A Saiyan's improvement is linked directly to the amount of stress he feels. If there are no consequences, no fear of death, he won't get anywhere."
Goku props himself up on one forearm. His other hand checks his jaw before speaking.
"You're going a bit rough aren't you? How am I supposed to get better if I can't even try anything."
"You're not thinking like a Saiyan my boy," says Bardock. "Practicing your punches and kicks will only get you so far. You'll never catch up with someone like Prince Vegeta unless you push yourself to the absolute limit and then keep going."
"Well I've been in some pretty tough battles before. I doubt a prince has seen what I have."
"Sorry to disappoint you, but whatever you have found challenging is nothing compared to the extreme conditions I've been through. And do you know how I know that? Because I'm ten times stronger than you, and I've never trained a day in my life. And guess what. Our royalty aren't some pampered prima donnas."
Goku's sore jaw drops open.
"No way," he says. "You're that strong from just fighting? How is that even possible. I've been training for years. I—"
"Shut up. I don't care how hard you've worked. When it comes to Saiyans, there is no substitute for gritty, bloodshedding brutality. Prince Vegeta isn't stronger than me just because he has better heritage. He was born with more power and pitted against greater and more numerous challenges than us low class runts because of it. He was beating bigger things than me at my peak when he was just in diapers. And the harsh situations only got worse from there for him.
"So if you think you've been through hell, then you haven't seen the real horrors this universe has. You're just a sheltered child who grew up on a nice planet. We Saiyans have been fighting all over space against monsters worse than any of your nightmares. So yeah, I'm going to keep beating you down until you overcome it because it's going to be like eating candy compared to what Prince Vegeta will do to you."
"Wow, I had no idea there are so many great fighters that far out of my league. Okay. I'll do whatever it takes to reach them."
"Good. That brings us to lesson number two then. Saiyan biology."
"By-uh, what?"
"I see I'll have to go slow on this one. Or maybe you're more of a hands-on learner."
Bardock vanishes.
Goku panics. He inhales and suppresses the fear beneath his breath. The anxiety combusts under the pressure and explodes through his body.
The first punch strikes at the vulnerable spot still throbbing on his temple. Goku ducks and swings with an uppercut. It misses as Bardock fades back while kicking up his foot. Goku avoids getting stabbed in the stomach by the pointed boot and moves to Bardock's side. He throws a punch. His fist lands hard into a cheek.
Bardock does not flinch. He throws his arms up and screams. A pulse of ki blows Goku back. He does not pursue the vulnerable opponent and allows him to land safely.
"Did you feel it?" says Bardock. "The rush of that extra push. Making you a bit stronger, a little faster."
"Yeah. It happens every time I'm in a dangerous fight."
"That's called adrenaline. It's a chemical the body produces in response to stress. The greater the danger, the more your body is flooded with it. And Saiyan adrenaline is special. If we survive the encounter causing the stress, our bodies' cells process and absorb the adrenaline during recovery. Your muscles, organs, everything rebuilds itself stronger than before."
Goku stares at the dirt before his father's feet while he takes in this information.
"There's a wealth of power in you, and I'm going to beat it out of you," says Bardock.
"That feels like cheating," says Goku.
"Cheating?" says Bardock. "Everyone has unique traits. The ones who leverage them the best are the ones who win. This is yours, so use it.
"But if you're really worried about some naive sense of fairness, just remember this. You are an inferior breed to Prince Vegeta. Any kind of boost you get, will be miniscule compared to what he gains from nearly dying. So suck it up and do what needs done."
Goku shifts his hips side to side. He rubs his head again. With a little unsteadiness, his body settles in a pose for the next round.
Bardock smiles and holds out an open palm to the sky. He rolls his fingers up a couple times. Goku accepts the invitation and charges ahead.