Author's Note: Hey guys! I hope you all are doing well! I present to you this story that wouldn't leave me alone :D :D! It is an A/U so if anything seems off...roll with it LOL. Without further ado, the first chapter. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: There's no point to this so I'm not even gonna bother.
Chapter 1
"No...Goku." Bulma mumbled under her breath, sorrow evident in her voice. She looked down at the little boy, who was a spitting image of his father, in her arms and her vision became blurry as tears flooded her eyes again, threatening to fall down her pale cheeks. How had today turned out so horribly? It was supposed to be a happy day, a reunion of old friends that hadn't seen each other for a long time. Instead it was a day filled with heartache and death.
It had started when that mysterious man had shown up on Master Roshi's island. The second she had laid her eyes on him, she had known that he was bad news. The way he carried himself with confidence and the evil glint in his eyes had made her stomach churn and she had taken it upon herself to guard little Gohan from him while his father confronted him. As he kept on speaking, Bulma looked at him more carefully, trying to place why he looked so familiar. It wasn't long until she got her answer because after Goku had demanded he tell them who he was, he claimed he was Goku's big brother (Raditz was his name, if her memory served her correctly). Nobody had been ready for him to say something so unbelievable but at the same time, it made perfect sense. The resemblance between them was unmistakable.
Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the most shocking news they would end up hearing.
According to Raditz, he and Goku came from a race of warriors far away from Earth. From a planet known as Vegeta that had been destroyed by a meteor around two decades ago, the same time Goku (who he had kept on calling Kakarot as he spoke) was sent to Earth so that he could annihilate all life on the planet so that it was ready to be sold to the highest bidder.
As fate would have it, Goku would forget about his mission after sustaining serious head injuries and would become a happy little boy with zero inclination to hurt anyone who didn't deserve it. This had not gone over well with that brute as he had taken it upon himself to injure Goku in a battle that was easily to his advantage and had told him to kill one hundred Earthlings by the next day or Gohan would suffer the consequences of his failure. If it hadn't been for Piccolo showing up when he did, no one knew what was going to happen. The two warriors had made a temporary truce and set out to find Raditz and put a stop to him.
A short while after they left, Bulma had suggested that she, Master Roshi and Krillin head out and look for them to see if Goku and Piccolo would need their help. It would turn out that their arrival had been in vain because when they had spotted the fighters, only one of them was standing….and it wasn't Goku. The trio had rushed to his side, with Bulma heading for Gohan, and were horrified to see the huge hole in his chest. He was barely conscious, holding to his life by a thread. At that moment, everyone knew that he wasn't going to make it. His injuries were just too great. In classic Goku form, after having them promise to take care of Gohan, with a smile on his face, he had bid them farewell and passed away with his smile still in place.
The heiress snapped out of her reverie, coming back to the present. She looked over to see Krillin still holding on to Goku's hand, tears streaming down his face. Master Roshi stood above him uncharacteristically silent, his head dipped low and his eyebrows furrowed in sorrow. The only one among them who was indifferent to the whole thing was Piccolo, who looked at the scene before him with a blank, almost bored expression on his face.
"Goku...Goku, why?" Krillin said, his voice thick with emotion. He had just watched his best friend die right in front of him! Why?! Why hadn't it been him instead?!
"Hey, look. Goku's vanishing!" Master Roshi exclaimed. All of them watched as Goku slowly started disappearing, eventually fading away in front of their eyes.
"Wh-what?! Where'd he go?!" The monk asked frantically, turning this way and that, trying to look for his deceased friend.
Piccolo raised an eyebrow before closing his eyes, a smirk crossing his face. "Hm. I know." He looked up towards the sky, "Kami's taken him. No doubt, he has some special training in mind for him after hearing what Goku's brother had to say before he died."
"What did he say?" Asked Krillin, not really looking forward to hearing his answer.
"There are two other Saiyans, much stronger than he was, that are on their way to Earth to get the dragon balls for themselves before destroying the planet and everything on it."
"WHAT?!" The trio yelled out, not believing what they just heard.
"Two more…" Roshi whispered.
"Stronger than him…" Bulma added and stood up with Gohan in her arms, her body shaking with fear at the thought of two more of those monsters who were apparently stronger than this guy was.
Krillin shook his head, feeling more than uneasy about this whole ordeal. "How long till they get here?"
"He said they'll be here in a year's time."
'One year...we have one year before they get here. Kami, it never ends.' Krillin mused to himself, not wanting to voice his distress.
"We have to collect the dragon balls so we can wish Goku back, then we have to gather Yamcha and the others. We're going to need all the help we can get with this fight." Krillin grit his teeth, his heart heavy with worry.
"Yeah, and Yamcha's run off to who knows where." Bulma said with a frown on her face, still feeling miffed about their recent breakup.
"Well, you're the one who chased him away." Krillin pointed out softly with raised eyebrows, used to the constant back and forth between the long-time couple.
The heiress scowled at his smart response before she suddenly perked up, her eyes alight with questions. "By the way, how had Goku's brother been able to find him so fast when he had just arrived a few hours ago?"
"That device on his face", Piccolo remarked. "He'd said that it's able to detect power levels as well as pinpoint the location of a person who's reading it picked up."
Bulma's eyes widened and she looked over at Raditz. "Here, hold on to him." She passed Gohan to Roshi before heading over to the dead Saiyan. "Krillin, come over here." When he was next to her, she spoke up.
"See if you can detach the machine from his face."
Krillin looked horrified at her words for a moment before sucking in a deep breath and nodding minutely. "Fine. But if he so much as twitches, I'm outta here." He slipped it off of him and handed it to Bulma.
She looked it over, marvelling at how the little simple-looking device could be so intricate. She pressed the button a few times before opening the earpiece with a portable screwdriver. "Hey, would you look at that? It's a little busted up but it still works." Bulma exclaimed, excited at the sight of the tiny lights showing signs of life in its inner workings.
"That's amazing Bulma." Krillin said, smiling up at her.
"I haven't fixed it yet. But as soon as I figure out how it works, I can tune it up and then we can use it to find the others!"
"Well, then we'd best get home before we can do anything else." Roshi pointed out.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. There's nothing for us out here." Bulma nodded her agreement.
"What will you do in the meantime Piccolo?" Roshi turned to ask the demon before he and the others screeched at the sight before them. They watched as Piccolo yelled out for a moment before, out of nowhere, a new arm shot out of him.
"Wow. That's a handy move." Krillin muttered, shocked beyond words at what he just witnessed.
Piccolo stretched out his new arm to try and get used to it. "I'm going to train for the Saiyans. And I'm taking the boy with me so that I can train him for the whole of this year." He smirked at the stunned look on all their faces.
"Take him? Don't you need a parents' permission to do that?" Bulma muttered, a nervous grin on her face.
"Yeah...like a form or something." Krillin added.
The demon scowled heavily, not amused in the slightest at their idiotic comments. "Listen here, I've had enough of this. I'm not asking, I'm telling! I'm taking the boy with me, whether you like it or not is none of my concern!"
"But why? Why do you want him?" Bulma said, her voice tinged with concern and dread for little Gohan.
"This boy has untapped potential. I'm going to help him release it in the wild." Piccolo curled his finger and the others could only watch as Gohan floated out of Roshi's arms and into his. He turned away and as he was about to fly off, he turned his head to address the trio one last time. "Gather the dragon balls, wish Goku back and find your other useless friends so you can train for the incoming threat. When Goku comes back, tell him he'll see his son in a year's time." With that, Piccolo floated into the air and flew off.
A heavy silence settled over the group for a moment before Krillin broke it. "Wow. After promising Goku we'd take care of his kid, not even five minutes after he died, we let Piccolo take him. Hmph, some friends we are."
"I don't think Piccolo has anything bad planned for Gohan. Besides, what use would he have for such a young boy so inexperienced of anything outside of his home? He said he was going to train him, so we just have to pray he keeps his word." Roshi said, his brows bunched in thought.
"I hope you're right." Bulma murmured quietly. "Anyway, let's go. The sooner we get back, the sooner I can fix this little baby up. I also need to fix up the radar a little before we can set out."
"Right. Well, let's do it!" Krillin clenched his fists, anxious to get started.
'Don't worry, Goku. You'll be back before you know it' He thought confidently.
They all climbed into the plane and headed out.
In a galaxy light years from Earth...
Stars twinkled softly in the eternally dark atmosphere, looking like diamonds shining against soft black velvet material. Yet from where he sat, it all looked the same. An empty space with almost no life present nearby, except for him and his companion who sat in his own pod beside him.
Vegeta stared listlessly out at the dark mass that was coloured a blood red against the window of his pod. He always preferred to stay awake for a while instead of immediately going into forced slumber courtesy of the stasis gas. It was the only quiet time he really got so he always took advantage of it. Sometimes, destroying civilizations, hearing the blood curdling screams of your victims and the rambunctious laughter of your comrades can cause a bit of a headache so a bit of silence from time to time is appreciated.
He leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes, releasing a quiet sigh. A moment later, his peace was disrupted when he heard a slight noise coming from his scouter. Thinking the device was a bit faulty, he went to turn it off when something caught his attention.
"Hey, would you look at that? It's a little busted up but it still works." A female voice said.
He slowly raised his eyebrow, suddenly intrigued at the voice. He listened more intently, waiting to hear anything else. The scouter made a fuzzy noise before he heard something again.
"I haven't fixed it yet. But as soon as I figure out how it works, I can tune it up and then we can use it to find the others!"
Interesting.
Whoever this female is, she claims she could be able to repair the scouter. Normally he wouldn't care about something so trivial. However, from what he knows about Earth, it's a backwater planet that isn't too advanced in the technological department. Or any department for that matter, hence why it was assigned to be wiped of all life before being sold. Now though, he was starting to have other ideas.
He sat back and crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed in thought. If this female proved to be above average in the technological department then she could be considered to be quite clever by her planet's standards. And if she's associated with Kakarot and the dragon balls, then she could possibly be quite useful. His ears perked up as the scouter made a slight noise again.
"... The sooner we get back, the sooner I can fix this little baby up. I also need to fix up the radar a little before we can set out." There was nothing else after that. The scouter must've finally given in and shut off.
'Radar?' He pondered silently. What's a radar got to do with the scouter? She already has one locator, why would she need another?
Unless it could be used to find something specific, like the dragon balls...
He shook his head, feeling a headache come on. He was giving a bit too much credit to this woman. There couldn't be a machine made for the sole purpose of finding the dragon balls. That's not something he would expect a below average race like the Earthlings to come up with.
But it was worth keeping in mind...just in case.
Vegeta pressed the button on his scouter and spoke into it. "Nappa, do you read me?"
Silence.
"Nappa?"
More silence.
Perfect.
The Prince smirked deviously. It was a good thing Nappa always chose to sleep as soon as they went anywhere. It really worked out in his favour this time. He'd be keeping this little bit of information to himself in the event anything happens.
He chuckled softly and turned his scouter off. He leaned forward and looked through a list of planets, choosing Arlia as their pit stop before heading to Earth. Vegeta pressed the button to release the stasis gas and sat back in his seat with his eyes closed. Soon, they would reach Earth and he would get his wish for immortality. It was only a matter of time.
The Prince fell asleep a few moments later, his smug look still plastered on his face.
A/N 2: I hope you guys enjoyed that. I've got high hopes for this fic. Please don't forget to review. Stay safe and healthy everybody. Peace, love and good vibes to you all! Till next time!
RR18
