Dragon Ball AG

Saga 4 - A Hero Rises

Previously on Dragon Ball AG…

The World Martial Arts Tournament didn't go off exactly as people had predicted or expected. It wasn't a simple competition with ordinary participants. It was in fact the opposite, and the outcome was surprising. Noca, our hero, was unfortunately killed in the final battle against Wun, and the Dragon Balls were unable to bring him back to life, for some strange reason.

It was then that the story of Noca had appeared to come to an end, but Goku insisted that with a little effort he could discover a way to return Noca to the land of the living and venture into the Other World, finding the boy on the world of the Kai.

Will Goku be able to live up to his promise, or will there be some more unfortunate problems and obstacles along the way?

Chapter 1: Family Reunion

A warm breeze gently swept through the air of this peaceful world. Two purple skinned beings were sitting high up on a huge rock, watching over the calm and tranquillity of their planet, their home. The atmosphere here was almost intoxicating to any outsiders, but these two being were definitely used to it. That didn't mean they didn't still take pleasure in the isolation of the place in which they resided. They knew not to take it for granted, but due to its inaccessibility, or assumed inaccessibility, it had become the best place for two Saiyans to train without being disturbed.

A stray Ki blast flew off course and was knocked close to the two Kai, striking the ground below the huge rock upon which they sat, and it shook them to attention.

"Those damned Saiyans have no appreciation for what we have here!" the elder Kai grumbled.

Along the horizon the occasional flash of light could be seen from the explosions and clashes happening in the sparring session between the two Saiyans. From far away one might assume it was an intense fight with meaning, but up close it didn't appear that way. Goku was only training Noca, and the boy was the only one attacking.

Noca was throwing Ki blasts down towards Goku, taking the chance to learn how better to utilise his Ki abilities in a world where he wouldn't lose energy as quickly as if he were fighting in the mortal world. Goku was standing his ground, letting Noca's blasts fly down at him, and he would jump and flip away from the danger. Noca's barrage of blasts was proving to be completely ineffective towards his opponent, but it was Goku after all.

The adult Saiyan continued to hop back as each blast struck the ground, and Goku soon found himself backed up against a rock and Noca took the opportunity to strike with a stronger attack. He fired a larger Ki wave down at Goku, but the man stuck his arms up, blocking the attack, realising it wasn't enough to be of any real threat.

The blast quickly dissipated and Goku saw Noca flying down towards him, attempting to strike with a physical attack. Goku quickly used his instant transmission technique to move out of the way at the last possible moment. Noca's fist crashed straight through the rock causing the whole thing to crumble. Goku appeared up in the air and took a moment to look down at Noca and assess his progress.

"That attack might have actually hurt," Goku muttered, slowly backing away further into the air.

Noca very quickly turned around and darted up towards Goku again. He had expected the older Saiyan to put up a guard but that didn't happen. Noca threw a punch, aiming for Goku's face, but the Saiyan man seemed to very easily dodge to the side, meaning that Noca very narrowly missed. It almost seemed like Goku didn't even move and Noca was always going to miss.

The teenager grew frustrated and began firing a barrage of punches towards Goku, but the experienced Saiyan man was equal to every single attempt, dodging without breaking a sweat.

Goku had an intention for approaching the fight in this way. He wanted to frustrate Noca into revealing more of his true power, just like he had in the tournament. Sure, it hadn't been long since that had happened, but something had changed in Noca, seemingly making him less eager to really fight with true intensity. Only once Noca started to show that power again could Goku delve deeper into teaching him how to better control his Super Saiyan abilities.

Goku knew that by treating Noca like he was displaying the power of any ordinary opponent, as if his abilities meant nothing, then it might help Noca push himself past the limits he had seemingly set for himself. He wanted Noca to fight harder than before, but it would be hard to replicate the way he fought in the final so easily. This time his life didn't depend on it.

Noca was beginning to realise that his progress had halted and Goku was showing him up, even though the man wasn't really doing anything. The boy was definitely frustrated. He knew just how hard he was working and felt that Goku should at least try and fight back. The teen was doing his best to keep himself calm, not wanting to unleash any unwarranted anger, he just continued to do what he believed Goku wanted.

Although, Goku hadn't actually given him any commands or instructions. They were just sparring.

"That fight isn't helping anyone!" The elder yelled out, looking towards the young Saiyan. The Supreme Kai sighed.

"Will you stop worrying about our planet? It has seen far worse," Supreme Kai said.

"I wasn't talking about the planet!" The elder snapped at the younger Kai. "Noca is holding back a little too much energy, but Goku wants him to use all of his strength. The battle is useless."

"Goku wants Noca to fight with emotion," the Supreme Kai elaborated, stepping up beside the elder to look over the fight. "He's deliberately trying to frustrate him."

"Well, he's not going about it the right way," the elder said, looking to the other Kai again. "Something needs to trigger Noca's emotions, something from his past."

"I know what you're thinking," the Supreme Kai said, "But I don't think we should do anything. He needs to figure it out for himself."

They both just continued to watch over the fight, neither of them making any moves to do anything to alter the fight. The Saiyan spar was going ahead exactly as it had been for most of the exercise, but Noca was actually starting to get more and more frustrated, yearning for a change in direction.

He could tell that Goku wasn't taking it seriously, or not seriously enough. If this was a training session where was the training, where were the instructions? Where was the care?

Goku could see there was a change in Noca's composure, and his attacks were coming in just a little extra stronger, and more frequently. But as Noca's intensity grew so too did his sloppiness. His attacks grew more and more ineffectual. Goku's plan was finally starting to work, but maybe not in the way he had initially hoped.

Noca's attacks continued to miss, and he was losing balance, all direction, and focus. Noca was getting worse. Goku took it as a time to make his first move and he managed to get into a position to elbow Noca in the back, knocking the teenager out of the sky and firing him towards the ground. Noca hit the dirt with a thud.

Goku relaxed his energy and descended back to the ground. Noca had just started to pull himself out of the dirt as Goku's feet touched down. The teen was feeling quite annoyed. Goku had just been teasing him that entire time. The teen glared in Goku's direction as he stood up and flared out his aura. Even though he could see that Goku had relaxed his energy he didn't want the spar to be over. Goku wore a concerned expression as he watched Noca.

The boy was continuing to power up despite Goku clearly wanting to the spar to come to an end. Noca was powering up an attack, and in his current state of mind, he may not have the focus to keep control of it.

"Noca, we're done," Goku spoke very sternly, halting Noca completely. The teen refocussed and his aura fell away. His energy returned to a normal state and Noca started to realise what Goku had been doing. He let his power completely dissipate and he fell back to the ground, taking a moment to recuperate. Goku approached him and sat down beside the boy.

"We're starting to get there. I needed to see some more of your emotion in battling and how far it could take you," Goku stated, explaining what he was actually doing. "I just wanted to get you to that level, but you were losing control."

Goku stood up again and started to walk off a little but stopped and turned around again.

"Your emotion definitely drives you, and that will help you get control of your Super Saiyan abilities, in time," Goku continued.

Noca nodded, realising that Goku really seemed to know what he was talking about. He was understanding the man more and more. He also understood that things would get tougher before it ever started to feel natural.

"Super Saiyan abilities using emerge during times of great emotional turmoil. The first time I did it was after watching Freeza murder Krillin," Goku said, finally talking about himself on a more personal level with Noca, something he hadn't done as of yet. "It seems to come to us at the worst times, unless you're like Vegeta and consistently push yourself to the point where the transformation reveals itself. I would strongly suggest sticking with emotions."

Noca took Goku's words onboard but started to think that he probably wouldn't enjoy the emotional side of his training. Goku walked out into the opening a little more and then swiftly turned around.

"Maybe we should keep going," Goku said, realising that maybe Noca's mindset might be a bit different going further.

To be perfectly honest, Noca was a little annoyed he didn't get much time to rest up more but knew that it was important to keep training, especially considering they didn't know how long it would be until Noca could go back to the world of the living. But even then, he and Goku would still be able to continue training.

Noca got to his feet and walked over to the opening with Goku.

"Ok, so now that I've shown I can push your emotions in battle, I want you to use those feeling to increase your power," Goku instructed. Noca's brow furrowed and he stared a Goku.

"Didn't I just do that?" Noca asked.

"Yes, but not the way I want it done this time. You need to return your energy to its base level and then use the memory of that emotion, of that feeling, to power up. Don't power up the way you usually would until you reach a limit using your own feelings and memory," Goku explained.

Noca couldn't shake the feeling that nothing would be different here, but he knew better than to question Goku, although the method didn't make the most sense to him. Noca did start to think back on his emotion during the spar, remembering how he was frustrated about being treated like an ineffectual opponent. He could actually feel some of the emotion again, and without realising, Noca's power began to raise.

It was weird, because there didn't appear to be much change in Noca's state of mind on a surface level, it was even disguised to him, but there was definitely a rise there, and Goku noticed it. But there was no aura burst, it was all an internal rise.

"Start to remember that level of energy, remember how it feels right now," Goku instructed.

"Why?" Noca asked, losing focus a little bit.

"It will serve as a good starting point for the next time," Goku replied, noticing that Noca was beginning to struggle a little bit, especially about losing his focus. "Take your time."

Noca closed his eyes and began to sense through his own energy, tightening his grip on the level he currently occupied. He didn't really feel any stronger, but it was a different type of energy, and the boy noticed that.

"You can feel the energy, but it's not visibly noticeable. It's similar to what happens when someone becomes accustomed with the Full Powered Super Saiyan form," Goku continued, helping Noca feel like he was accomplishing something.

He was beginning to understand it more and he kept a tab on that energy level. He looked towards Goku, awaiting his next instruction, feeling like he had achieved something.

"Noca, I want you to power up. Begin to raise your power like you would in battle but continue to hold that focus on this current power too," Goku said.

Noca took a breath and searched deep within himself for his power, like he usually did, and then he allowed it to rise out of him. His aura gently appeared, and his energy boosted to a new level. He was actually feeling a lot stronger that he had ever before, without becoming a Super Saiyan. Goku could sense the feeling of success that Noca was experiencing, and he felt Noca's energy getting a new full powered level, and he was sure that it would continue to rise high beyond his current limits in time.

The teen did start to lose a little more focus on his own energy as he started to think on something wanting to push through. He was remembering what Goku had said about emotions and memories. He was remembering how Goku had stated that bad events could push your energy to raise so that would mean bad memories would be used. That's when he started to think back to his mother, her final moments, and her death.

Goku noticed the shift and loss of control, while the Supreme Kai could read Noca's mind, so he knew what the boy was thinking at that precise moment. Then everyone noticed the significant rise in Noca's power.

Goku could only assume it was another memory, unlike the Supreme Kai who could be certain. Noca's energy was soon pushing to a newer level and there was the briefest flash of Gold to Noca's hair before he lost all control and dropped to the ground.

Everything around them feel to silence, and the Supreme Kai flew over to the Saiyans, to see if Noca was ok. He landed softly beside Goku and they both waited for the teen to get himself up. He began to push up, slowly, shaking his head and trying to refocus.

"Why is it suddenly harder for me to transform now, unlike it was in the tournament?" Noca asked, sounding pretty annoyed with himself.

"There was something very different driving you in the tournament, it was forcing you to reach those levels. This is different," Goku explained, trying to make complete sense of it himself. "You are now learning to control it and do it at will. It makes the process harder, but you were getting close then."

"I know," Noca muttered, his mind drifting back to the feeling of that power-up and what was behind it. "I thought about my mother, and then it just shot up."

The Supreme Kai silently confirmed what he thought was right and that he made the right decision in choosing to wait for Noca to make that realisation and connection himself.

"Wait…" Noca said, looking up, first at Goku, and then to the Supreme Kai. "My mother. She would be in Other World too, right?"

"Yes. She is," the Supreme Kai confirmed. He looked to Goku as Noca dwelled on his thoughts for a moment, almost as if needed to work his way to a conclusion, one that probably wasn't difficult to realise.

"I want to see her," Noca stated. It was a request, not a suggestion. It was something Noca wanted and the look on his face, the tears in his eyes, they told the honest truth. The Supreme Kai nodded and turned around, vanishing from view. Noca took a few deep breaths and looked to Goku. "I'm sorry, but I need this."

"I understand," Goku said, smiling and nodding to Noca. He turned around and walked over to sit upon a rock.

There was silence between them while they waited for the Supreme Kai to do whatever he needed to do to get Noca's mother there to see him. He probably had to pull some strings with the likes of King Yemma, or even King Kai. Whoever was in charge of the souls from Earth once they had passed through the check-in station.

Noca sat, anxiously awaiting a situation he had never believed possible. Goku just watched him, trying to gauge the teen's reaction, and how the situation would pan out once he got what he wanted. Would there be closure, and how would it affect his training?

A few more minutes had passed, and suddenly, the Supreme Kai returned, flashing into existence, but this time he was joined by three more people. Noca didn't pay the other two any attention, or the Supreme Kai, because his eyes were immediately drawn to his mother. She seemed disoriented and perplexed by what had happened, and was caught by the location she found herself in. Noca stepped forward.

"Mom…" He muttered. Her attention snapped forward and her eyes immediately widened. Noca had tears beginning to stream down his face as he inched closer to the woman. She froze, and brought a hand up to her mouth, and sobbed.

"My Noca?" She questioned, pulling her hand away and moving forward. "My baby!" she exclaimed, rushing forward and pulling her son into a tight embrace. Noca sunk into the hug and threw his arms around the woman.

The Supreme Kai stepped away, letting them have their moment, leaving the other two he had brought with him to stand and observe the situation. Goku was watching Noca and his mother, a smile on his face, but he was curious about the other two people that were there. A middle-aged man with spiky black hair, and woman, close to her thirties, with long dark brunette hair.

"I never thought I'd see you again," Noca mumbled through his sobs. "I've missed you so much."

"Oh, I've missed you too," Emna said, pulling away to look at her son, her eyes full of tears, a smile on her face. She could see that even though it hadn't been a full year yet, her son had changed a lot. He had grown up, and he had experienced things that changed him. Noca noticed his mother looked exactly the same as she did before he left his village to visit Holline, but he couldn't help seeing the flashes of how she looked in her final moments.

Noca went to speak but his voice was caught in his throat and he sobbed. Emna kissed him on the forehead and pulled him into a hug again. But soon realisation dawned on her and she pulled away, stepping back and looking above her son's head.

She saw his halo.

"Oh, no… my boy, you're not…" Emna said, unable to get out the final word, not wanting to believe what she had noticed. Her smile had faded, and she began to cry harder. "Not my son. Never my son."

"I know… but mom, it's ok. Goku's here to help me," Noca said, turning to face Goku, who offered a little wave. Emna looked to him and tried to compose herself, she offered Goku a friendly nod, but she was still upset about her son's fate.

"But… you're still so young, you shouldn't be here…" Emna continued, unable to come to terms with knowing that her son was only there with her because he was dead.

"You shouldn't be here," Noca said to her, sternly, but his anger was directed only at himself. "I should have been there to stop whatever happened. I should have saved you."

"There was nothing you could have done, you would only have died there with me," Emna said, trying to assure her son that he wasn't at fault. "It isn't your fault."

"Yes, it is. I sensed what was happening, I even saw something in the sky. If I wasn't so focussed on myself, I could have stopped it from happening," Noca said, starting to fall back into his guilt. He had blamed himself for so long that he still couldn't agree with anyone that there was nothing he could have done.

"Noca, look at me," Emna said, taking on a strong parental tone. Noca snapped to attention, looking his mother in the eyes. "Don't blame yourself. There was nothing you could have done."

Noca's lip trembled and he wanted to continue with his reasoning, but this was his mother, and he didn't want to argue with her. He just silenced himself and nodded.

"How did you…" Emna started, but she couldn't finish the sentence. Noca cleared his throat.

"Die?" He finished. Emna winced. "It's a long story. I was competing in a tournament and… well, the fight got out of hand."

Noca looked over to Goku, with the hope of some assistance.

"You have an extremely strong and determined son," Goku said, looking to Emna. He jumped off of the rock and looked to the spiky haired man standing a few feet away. "I imagine his bloodline has something to do with that."

The spiky haired man's eyes narrowed on Goku, and he glanced at the Saiyan's hairstyle.

"Do I know you?" He asked. Goku chuckled.

"Probably not, but I am a Saiyan. Just like you," Goku confirmed, smiling. The man realised that Goku wasn't an enemy, but someone he could trust. He stepped forward and held his hand out for Goku.

"I'm Cilu. Emna's father," Cilu revealed. Noca looked away from his mother and up at Cilu, almost amazed to realise that his own grandfather was there. Cilu beckoned to the woman behind him. "This is my wife. Daisy."

And Noca's grandmother. They were all there together in Other World. His mother wasn't alone. She had her parents back. Noca was feeling quite happy knowing that. Cilu turned to Noca, noticing what he was wearing. The green Gi. Noca also noticed that Cilu was wearing the exact same thing, which he didn't know was possible.

"You mother is right, Noca," Cilu said. "There is nothing you could have done to stop what happened."

"You're my grandfather…" Noca stated, and he looked to the woman, Daisy. "And you're my grandmother."

They looked to each other and smiled, but Cilu turned back to face Noca.

"We never had the chance to be grandparents, so please, just call us by our names," Cilu said, smiling at the boy. Noca nodded and looked back to his mother. Cilu, meanwhile, was drawn back to Goku.

"What is your name again?" Cilu asked.

"Oh, I'm Goku," he replied, still smiling. Cilu scoffed.

"That is not a Saiyan name," Cilu stated.

"Yeah, I was sent to Earth as a baby, didn't find out I was a Saiyan until my brother Raditz showed up," Goku explained.

"Raditz?" Cilu questioned. "You're Bardock's son?"

"Who? I mean… probably," Goku said, laughing. "I never met my father. My Saiyan name is Kakarot, but only Vegeta calls me that."

"Vegeta? The Prince?" Cilu questioned, looking down to Noca for a moment and then back to Goku. "He's on Earth too?"

"Oh yeah, in fact, Vegeta actually tried to kill me a few times, but now we're good friends," Goku explained, chuckling. "He even has a human wife, two kids, and actually trained Noca a little bit."

"You got to train with him," Cilu questioned, smirking to himself. "That's… that's great."

"I guess so, he's kinda hard on me. His training is brutal," Noca explained, looking down.

"Vegeta always was a determined little one," Cilu said, looking like he had fond memories of the Prince.

Goku and Cilu seemed to talk a little more, with Cilu asking about Goku's time on Earth, and his experiences with Vegeta. It led to discussions about Freeza and becoming Super Saiyan, and Noca had a chance to catch his mother up on what had been going on in his life for the past several months. He talked about his journey, his training, Holline, school, Pan. Emna certainly noticed the twinkle in Noca's eye when he spoke about Pan, but she didn't draw attention to it.

It was only as time went on that Noca started to think about something. He was looking at his mother, finding comfort in her presence, feeling better than he had honestly ever felt, so it was probably a heat of the moment thing when he said what he did.

"I want to stay with you."

Everyone was shocked by that suggestion from Noca. They turned to look at him and Emna seemed upset by what Noca had said.

"Don't you dare say that," she said, her strict parental tone coming through. "You have so much life left to live."

"But you're not there. Every day I think about you, I think about how I let you die, and now I'm with you again I feel… complete," Noca said, arguing his case, but Emna wasn't listening.

"Noca, you are a thirteen-year-old boy, and you have so much ahead of you. You're going to have the opportunity to return and you will take it, regardless of whether or not I'm a part of your life," Emna said, speaking very seriously.

"Then… can't I use the Dragon Balls to bring you back?" Noca asked, getting upset, but feeling a little hopeful that there actually was a way to bring her back. Emna shook her head.

"No," she replied, bluntly. Noca was surprised by her tone.

"But why?" He questioned. "Why do you want to stay stuck here?"

"I'm not stuck here. I belong here now. Noca, there was nothing more to my life on Earth," She said, maybe not picking the right words but she stopped, thought about it, and realised what to say. "Noca, I was always going to be holding you back from going out there and living your life. You would never have got a chance to find where you belong, find the right people to be with, find a life of your own."

"I never thought about that," Noca replied.

"And now you can. Noca, your life is yours. It is up to you to figure out what it is you want from that life. Back there in that village you were never going to find out what that was," Emna explained. "I always wanted you to leave the village, find Goku, find out what it really means to be a Saiyan, find people just like you."

"But why couldn't I have done those things and had you there with me?" Noca asked.

"I never knew my mother growing up. She was just a memory, and a faint one at that, and my father was taken from me. Then, the man I loved left me. Noca, there was only so much my heart could take," Emna explained, getting emotional talking about it all. Noca seemed to understand but he didn't want to accept it. "My death could be the best thing that ever happens to you."

Emna said those words, but even she knew it would be hard for Noca to ever agree with that sentiment. He just pulled away slightly and sobbed and looked around for some sort of answer.

"I didn't want you to become trapped in that village, like I was. I knew you would have stayed there, had I not told you to leave," Emna explained. She gently turned her son's face, so he was looking into her eyes again. "Noca. I lived a life. You have to go live yours."

Noca just continued to stare at his mother and didn't know if he had any words.

"Holline needs you. And Pan needs you," Emna said, taking on board everything Noca had been saying to her. "You've found where you belong, you can have a life."

"I… I love you…" Noca said, through sobs. "I don't wanna lose you again."

"And I love you, and you won't lose me. You'll never let me go," Emna said, through her tears, but there was a soft chuckle in there as well. "I'll be with you forever, and while you're here, in the Other World, I will not leave you."

Noca smiled weakly but couldn't stop himself from crying as he threw his arms around his mother and gripped her tightly. They embraced and stayed there together.