I'm back with another chapter guys. Thanks a lot for reviewing guys, it really means a lot. Also, yeah, Vegeta is the oldest child of King Vegeta, Tarble is the middle child, and Mara is the youngest.
This is my longest chapter so far, I hope you like it.
Ages:
Goku – 12
Raditz – 20
Mara – 12
Dragon Ball Kai
Chapter 6
The Saiyans Arrive
With the robot situation taken care of, everyone had settled back into their peaceful lives. Krillin, Tien, Chiatzu, and Yamcha had decided to part ways and travel the world by themselves in an extended training trip. Bulma had been against it, because she didn't want Yamcha leaving again, but after getting into another fight with him, went back home to work on her projects. As for Goku, he had gone back to Kami's Lookout to resume his training.
At some point during the next two months of training, Kami had wanted to cut off Goku's tail and said something about it being a hindrance in a fight, but the boy was against it. The tail was a part of him and it was useful in battle, not to mention that he always felt stronger with it. That was the first time he had ever seen Kami upset, but he didn't press the issue, and continued to train him as if nothing happened."It's time..." Kami said while looking down at the world.
For several years he knew that someone would come for Goku, and that depending on who they were the Earth could face its greatest threat."What's the matter Kami?" Mr Popo asked in worry, it wasn't very often that Kami looked so grim.
"Where is Goku?"
"He's training in the lower chambers."
Kami nodded with his eyes closed, "Get him... They're here."
On a remote wasteland, five ships broke through the atmosphere and crashed down on the ground, making several large craters.
"It was about damn time," Raditz said as he stepped out of one of the space pods and floated up the air while rubbing his shoulders, "This better be worth the long trip."
"Quit complaining Raditz," scolded Bardock as he joined his son in the air. He crossed his arms with a smirk as the remaining three Saiyans joined them, "You know, this place ain't so bad. The gravity here is light."
Gine smiled as she gazed at the blue sky, "It's not every day that we see a planet as nice as this. Hey Bardock, maybe we should stay here for a bit after we find Kakarot."
Bardock chuckled at his wife, Gine, "Fine, but I can't speak for Kakarot. He'll probably want off this rock as soon as possible."
"Don't get ahead of yourselves," Nappa spoke up with a frown, "We're only here to pick up your son and set a price for this planet."
The last of the Saiyans, a small girl with spiky hair that reached a little over her shoulders wearing a black jumpsuit under her black and yellow armor, did not look comfortable when seeing Bardock and Nappa confront each other. Unlike most Saiyans, she wasn't assertive in any way which made her family scold her constantly. Truthfully the only reason she hadn't been banished like her older brother Tarble, was because she really liked to fight and was good at it.
"I'm not going back until I get to properly train in this place," Bardock said flatly, his arms crossed in defiance. "You can go ahead and glare at me all you like Nappa, but you and I both know who is stronger between the two of us."
Cornered, Nappa turned to the youngest Saiyan of the group, "Say something Mara. You're the princess."
Suddenly put on the spot, the girl fumbled with her words and raised her hands to calm them down, "I uh... have no problem with staying here, I guess?"
"What?!" Nappa exclaimed, making the girl flinch.
"Ah! Oh, I mean, we can go back if you want..."
"Enough," Bardock said with a scoff and turned to his family, "If Nappa wants to go cry to King Vegeta, let him. We have more important things to worry about. Raditz, find Kakarot."
Raditz nodded and turned on his scouter, only to be left completely speechless at what he found.
Noticing, Gine looked at her son carefully, "What's the matter Raditz?"
"I-impossible!"
"Spit it out," Nappa snapped.
Swallowing a lump in his throat, Raditz finally spoke. "There's several power levels over five-thousand!"
Bardock raised an eyebrow as he quickly checked his scouter to verify if what his son said was true. Mimicking his actions, the rest of the Saiyans switched on their scouters only to have expressions that mimicked the one Raditz had.
"This is impossible," Bardock growled, "No back-water planet should have power levels this high!"
"Our intel was off..." Nappa cursed. "It's no wonder there's so many small power levels here. Kakarot probably had himself killed years ago."
Gine bit her lip but Bardock was quick to reply.
"He's alive."
Mara remained quiet as she ran over her thoughts. There was no logic in what Bardock was saying, Kakarot had probably been killed long ago. Sent to a planet filled with so many strong power levels in order to conquer it, there was no way a Saiyan with a power level as low as Kakarot's could survive for so long. They should just consider him a lost cause and contact Planet Vegeta.
"We'll go look for him," Bardock decided, much to the protest of Nappa. However, not wanting to start another argument with the brainless fool, he turned to the princess and gave her an intimidating look, "You're okay with it right?"
"Y-yes," the girl squeaked.
Smirking, Bardock turned on his scouter and searched for the highest power levels.
5,000...
6,500...
9,000...
10,000!
10,500!
"Alright, I've found five of the highest power levels here. We'll all go individually, that way this will all go by faster," Bardock decided, "I will take the highest reading, as for the rest of you..."
In the end it was finally decided who would go for who and with their targets set, the five Saiyans took off in different directions.
'Some very strong people have come to Earth. Don't get too exited, they're most likely hostile.'
Goku frowned as he flew through the sky on his Flying Nimbus. Kami had told him to use it rather than fly in order to keep his ki suppressed and to find a deserted place to fight in. While the prospect of fighting someone strong was exciting, he couldn't help but worry. If whoever came to Earth was as strong as the robot from last time, then they were in trouble.
He snapped out of his thoughts when feeling something coming his way.
"Take us to those mountains over there Nimbus."
Krillin relaxed at the edge of a crystal clear lake on the outskirts of a small friendly village. He had helped them take care of some bandits and they had treated him very well, even giving him food to take on his travels.
"I should probably head west now..." he muttered to himself before noticing something flying in the distance, "Hm?"
Standing and squinting his eyes to get a better view, his brow furrowed when he noticed that whatever was on the air was headed for him. An uneasy laugh escaped his lips as he watched the figure, clearly a person, closing in on him. Just mere moments later, the figure stopped in the air and looked at him with a frown.
"Who are you?" The figure asked in a gruff voice.
Krillin took a step back. Wearing some sort of armor along with his long black hair and angry-looking face, this guy looked like nothing but bad news.
"M-my name's Krillin," he managed through his fear.
Raditz smirked and crossed his arms, "Tell me, have you heard of someone called Kakarot." The Saiyan unwrapped his tail from his waist, making Krillin's eyes widen, "He should have a tail like mine."
The human knew for a fact that this guy was probably looking for Goku, the only person he knew who had a tail, but he wasn't about to sell out his friend to some angry stranger.
"I don't know anyone like that."
"I see," the Saiyan wrapped his tail around his waist again, "In that case I can kill you."
Saiyan Princess Mara stepped into her father's throne room while trying not to let the dread show on her face.
"This will be your last chance to prove yourself," King Vegeta spoke roughly, a frown on his face. "After the embarrassment you caused on your last assignment, I won't tolerate another failure."
"Understood Father," Mara answered in a small voice.
The failure her father was talking about had happened during a mission to a large planet with a massive population. It had been her leading a team of twenty Saiyans that had been sent to purge the planet. However the assignment took a wrong turn when some of the people there turned out to be much stronger than they had thought. After a whole day of fighting, she had lost consciousness after finishing off a strong warrior, and when she woke up her entire team had been wiped out.
With no more warriors to lead, she had gone back to Planet Vegeta which turned out to be a terrible mistake. Her father had been furious, even told her that dying on the planet would have been better, and vowed that if she ever failed again she would be banished like her older brother Tarble.
"Very well," King Vegeta nodded, "While Vegeta is cleaning up your mess, you will be going to some remote planet, weak from what we've gathered, with a Saiyan Warrior known as Bardock. He's competent enough."
Mara tried not to let her surprise show at her father's words. For him to call someone 'competent' was strange. Did her father think highly of this Bardock?
"You are dismissed."
She vowed her head and left.
Mara scowled as she thought about the 'competent' Bardock. His power wasn't anything special, lower than her father's but still higher than hers and her older brother's. Maybe he had some brilliant mind when it came to fighting or some incredible strength he was hiding? Either way she had to wait for the opportunity to see.
The young Saiyan pushed the thoughts away, instead admiring the small colorful world as she flew in the direction of her target. Out of all the planets she had been to so far this had to be the most beautiful of the bunch, even her home planet was not this pleasant, though that had more to do with the gravity being several times weaker here.
Her green scouter beeped once it found the target nearby. Looking at its direction, she noticed that the target was in a forest of green trees – no – he was over them so that meant that the target was flying.
"There," she noticed the power level was a small figure with red cheeks and pale white skin (did the people of this planet look like this?). "Oh well, that's definitely not Kakarot. I should probably go meet the others. Let's see... the closest one is... that way."
With a new destination, Mara began to move once again.
Yamcha looked up from the bonfire he had set up, eyes narrowed when he noticed something flying his way. If he wasn't in the middle of a harshly cold mountain up north, he would have thought that one of his friends was coming to see him.
The former bandit of the desert left the small camp he had set up, and put on a defensive stance when seeing the flying figure stop right above him. Now that he could see the figure up close, he noticed that it was a bald man wearing some strange armor.
"You're too old to be Bardock's son," Nappa said with a smirk. "Tell me, what do you call this place."
"I'm not from around here so I don't know. I guess it's just some random mountain," Yamcha answered carefully.
Nappa scoffed, "I meant this planet. What do you call it?"
"Earth," he decided to answer before the strange man could get violent.
"I see," the Saiyan switched on his scouter and noticed the power levels of his comrades had made contact with the targets. "You're in luck Earthling, I don't have time to kill with the likes of you."
Before Yamcha could ask what was going on, the Saiyan was off.
As the bodyguard of Mara, Nappa needed to be near her if she was on a fight. While King Vegeta was not the least bit pleased with his daughter, getting her killed in some back-water planet would bring shame to the royal family.
"I'm looking for someone," Bardock told the strange three-eyed target. "Tell me. Have you seen someone with hair similar to mine?"
"Yeah," Tien answered after a brief pause. The man acted strange but his very familiar appearance meant that he had some sort of connection with Goku, maybe they were related. "What do you want with him? Who are you?"
Bardock frowned, noticing the defensive tone with which the Earthling spoke, "I am his father."
Gine's scouter beeped once it found its target on some nearby mountains. She was a bit nervous as she descended not only because she would finally see her son again, but because the people of the planet were much stronger than they had first thought.
Nappa's words lingering in her mind but she refused to think that Kakarot was... No! He couldn't be.
"Eh?"
It was as if all of her thoughts seized when she first laid eyes on him. The way she felt when she saw him standing there, a softer image of Bardock, with a confused look on his face was more than enough proof.
"K-Kakarot," she stumbled forward when landing on the rocky terrain of the mountain. Her knees buckled before she ran to the surprised boy and pulled him into a hug.
"W-wha!"
"Kakarot! You've alive! You're safe!" Gine cried as tears ran down the sides of her cheeks. Who had she been kidding? Of course she had thought the worse but now... Now that she knew he was safe the relief was so great that she couldn't help but cry.
Goku for his part was utterly confused. Who was this Kakarot she was talking about? However he decided to wait until the stranger pulled away to ask her.
Gine smiled and pulled away from the boy, wiping away her tears as she did so, "Sorry about that. I got a little emotional."
"No problem, but who are you?"
"I'm your mother," she answered tearfully, a laugh escaping her lips.
"M-mother?!" Goku let out in disbelief.
Long ago Grandpa Gohan had told him that everyone had a mother and a father. When he asked if he did too, his Grandpa had said that he didn't know but if he did then he would find her one day.
So this was his mother...
Gine smiled when seeing the look of awe on her son's face, "I'm very glad to see you again Kakarot."
"Kakarot?" Goku repeated in confusion before pointing at himself, "Me?"
The Saiyan mother appeared a bit concerned when seeing how confused her son looked. Every Saiyan that was sent to a planet always came back knowing their name, the space pod should have let him know.
"Of course," she answered, "You're a Saiyan, born on Planet Vegeta."
Goku frowned at that, "No way. My name is Goku and I'm from Earth."
"What?"
"So you found him," came the gruff voice of Raditz who held someone under his arm, "Guess I won't be needing this insect then." He dropped a bloodied Krillin on the ground and pointed a hand at him, charging an attack.
Before the attack was done charging however, Goku charged in at Raditz and delivered a punch to his face that sent him flying through the air.
"Kakarot what are you doing?!" Gine exclaimed in concern but her son ignored her and knelt next to the small figure Raditz had brought.
"You'll be okay Krillin," said Goku as he gave his friend a Senzu Bean to eat, "Good thing I stopped by Korin's on my way here."
Krillin's eyes snapped open as he sat up in surprise, "Wow! What was that thing you just gave me?!"
Goku smiled at his friend before turning to Raditz, who emerged from the rubble he had made when crashing on a hill. "I don't know who you are but if you hurt my friends, you'll have to deal with me!"
Raditz glared and checked his scouter, "Five-thousand huh? Don't get ahead of yourself Kakarot, you just got one lucky punch." The older Saiyan got into his fighting stance with a smirk, "It won't happen again."
"Stop it Raditz," Gine frowned at him and then turned to Kakarot, "You too Kakarot. Don't fight your brother."
"Brother?" Krillin repeated incredulously.
"I told you my name is Goku," the young Saiyan repeated, his eyes never leaving Raditz. There was something dangerous about him, it was like he planned to attack at any moment.
"Tell me something Goku," Raditz began, basically spitting out the name, "Were you ever hit on the head as a young child?"
Goku's eyes widened slightly but he didn't let the surprise show, "My Grandpa told me that I fell from a cliff once and hit my head. But what does that have to do with anything?"
Gine gasped while Raditz growled angrily.
"You fool! You have forgotten all about who you truly are! Allow me to remind you," Raditz unwrapped his tail to show the brat proof, "We are Saiyans, the strongest race in the universe. You were brought to this planet so that you could purge every life form in it."
Krillin turned to his friend in shock. Was it all true? Had Goku really been meant to kill everyone?
'No, that's not true,' Krillin decided with a small smile, 'Goku's saved the whole world from that King Piccolo monster. Even if he really was sent here to kill, that doesn't matter. He's as much of a human as the rest of us!'
"If what you're saying is true, then I'm glad I hit my head and forgot all about it," Goku declared with a serious expression as he dropped into his fighting stance, "There's no way I'll ever let you hurt my friends!"
The scouters of Gine and Raditz beeped once again as they caught a change on the young Saiyan's power level.
"No way..." Raditz gaped in shock, "Twelve thousand?! There has to be a mistake!"
Gine shook her head in response, also shocked by her son's sudden rise in power, "It's no mistake. I have the same reading."
Goku and Krillin didn't understand what the two were talking about but kept up their guard anyway. Whether they were family or not, the young Saiyan was willing to fight and that brought comfort to his human friend. That Raditz guy had been strong but he was sure that the two of them could beat him together.
Gine bit her lip as she looked between her sons before facing her youngest, "Please stop this Kakarot-"
"Goku!" The boy corrected, feeling peeved at constantly being called something else.
"Fine, just stop this already. There's no reason to fight, your friend is healed now right?"
Krillin decided to speak up, tired of being silent, "Tell that to the scary guy over there."
"Raditz," Gine said his name sternly, making him scoff and look away in frustration. Relieved, she smiled at Goku, "See, we don't want to fight you Ka...Goku."
She smiled when seeing that he relaxed his stance, but she was a complete mess on the inside. Kakarot did not want to purge the planet, that meant that he would be branded a traitor when they returned to Planet Vegeta. If Bardock and Raditz purged the planet on his stead, then Kakarot would hate all of them for it.
What kind of sick joke was this? Now that she could finally see her son again there was no way to go home without him hating them. There was also no telling what Bardock would do. Yeah he had softened up as the years went by but she truly believed that he would purge the planet if it came down to it, Kakarot hating them or not.
Unaware of her internal debate, Goku and Krillin looked at each other and wondered if they should just leave.
"Things are going to get interesting," Raditz spoke up with a smirk suddenly, making the others turn to him in confusion.
Gine felt a chill run down her spine when she turned to where Raditz was looking and pressed the scanner on her scouter, "Bardock..."
The veteran Saiyan Warrior landed next to Gine with a smirk on his face, his eyes studying his youngest son in approval. Mixed with the reading of twelve thousand he had seen earlier, it was safe to say that Kakarot was strong. Even so...
"Kakarot, why are there so many Earthlings still alive?" Bardock asked sternly with his arms crossed and a frown on his face.
"It's no use father," Raditz responded with an amused smirk, "Kakarot hit his head as a child. He remembers nothing. Even better, he refuses to purge this planet."
Bardock nodded and turned to face his youngest son, "Is this true?"
Krillin gulped and looked down while Goku met the older Saiyan's gaze.
"Yeah," he replied with a grin, "So you can forget about me joining you."
"All right," said Bardock as he stepped forward, "Then let's see how well you can protect this planet."
"Bardock," Gine looked at him in worry, he wasn't about to fight their youngest son was he?
Goku stepped forward as well, "Fine, but if I beat you then you'll leave this planet. For good."
Bardock smirked in response before he disappeared from view and reappeared behind his youngest son with his right first cocked back. It appeared he would get the first strike in against his son but, much to his surprise, his fist went through him. Next thing he knew, his son reappeared at his side and threw a kick but his years of experience gave him the reflexes to dodge the attack by jumping away.
"Afterimage technique," Goku grinned in triumph before charging in.
The two Saiyans were soon trading blows, Bardock landing the first, but Goku managing to retaliated with a couple of strikes. While Krillin urged his friend to keep it up, Gine and Bardock were rendered speechless. To be able to fight head to head with Bardock like that...it looked like Kakarot was a lot stronger than he looked.
Soon enough father and son became blurs, clashing every now and then, until they finally seized their attacks to get a bit of breathing room. It was at this time that Krillin noticed that while Bardock remained the same, Goku had several scratches and bruises, taking the worst of their exchange.
"You're gonna have to do better than that," Bardock stated bluntly.
Goku frowned and took off his wristbands and shoes, making the three scouters catch the change in power immediately.
'Fourteen thousand five hundred...' Bardock managed to keep his stoic facade on despite his shock. Kakarot, having spent his whole life away from his own kind, was now stronger than most Saiyans. Hell, he was even stronger than Nappa now. 'If he didn't kill anyone here, then how the hell did he get so strong?'
Bardock pushed the thoughts away when his son ran at him at a much faster speed, and attacked with relentless quick jabs and kicks that managed to slip through his defenses every now and then. The older Saiyan had to refrain himself from smirking as he blocked a punch and retaliated with his own, catching his son on the stomach and making him double over in pain. Not done, he kicked the boy away, this time putting enough force to make sure he didn't continue fighting.
"Not bad Kakarot," Bardock said with a smirk.
Goku gritted his teeth in pain as Krillin helped him up slowly. He tried to stand by himself but only stumbled forward, thankfully his friend was there to keep him up. That last kick had caught him on the ribs, he was sure some of them were broken, and left him feeling terrible. Just how strong was this guy?
"Let's make a deal."
Goku, Krillin, Gine, and even Raditz looked at Bardock as if he grew a second head. Goku and Krillin because they thought for sure that he would keep on fighting, while Gine and Raditz did not think he would compromise.
"I will give you six months to get stronger," Bardock proposed. Six months was a reasonable extension for their trip, not enough to concern Planet Vegeta if they offered a good reason, "We'll fight then and if you are able to stand more than ten minutes against me at full power, then I'll make sure this planet is not purged. Of course you also have my word that none of us will kill any Earthlings."
"What?!" Raditz let out loudly but his father ignored him.
"What do you say, Kakarot?"
Goku somehow found himself grinning in response. This guy was incredibly strong, of course he would want to fight him again only next time he'd be strong enough to make sure nothing happened to Earth.
"Okay, but I won't lose next time."
Bardock chuckled in amusement and turned to the rest of his family, "Let's go meet the others." Raditz followed after him but Gine was hesitant to go, making him grin, "Go ahead and stay if you like, we'll be near the Space Pods."
With that Bardock and Raditz left while Gine moved to help her son rest on the ground. Krillin watched the two silently, noting how his friend seemed to go back to normal after those two guys left.
"So uh... who are you?" Krillin asked. She wasn't scary like the others and Goku didn't appear to have any bad feelings for her.
"I'm Ka... Goku's mother," she said with a smile as she pulled up her son's shirt to see how badly he was hurt. When seeing how badly bruised his stomach and ribs were already, she frowned, "That Bardock..."
"Don't worry," Goku said with a wince as he reached for the bag of Senzu Beans tied to his belt. "I just eat one and..." he popped a bean into his mouth and then jumped to his feet with a smile, "There! All better!"
Gine stared wide eyed, amazed by the strange food, but still a bit worried, "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yup," the Saiyan boy laughed and began to stretch, "But from now on I have to train much harder. That guy was really strong."
"That was Goku's father right?" Krillin voiced, already sure of the answer. Receiving a nod, he grinned and turned to Goku, "He looks a lot like you."
"Really?"
"Of course he does. Same hair and everything."
"Hahaha."
Gine smiled. She loved her family, but she was relieved to see that Kakarot did not take after his father or brother in that they could switch to cold-hearted warriors if need be. It was a very common Saiyan temperament, one she did not share, so she was glad to see that her youngest didn't have that either. Purehearted and kind, those words best described him.
"Ah!" Goku turned to his mom with a bright smile, "Do you want to see where I'm training? It's a really cool place!"
"Sure," Gine answered with a smile that mirrored his own.
"Hey wait, could you guys take me to some nearby city or something?" Krillin asked when he noticed that the two were about to leave.
Goku laughed and picked him up, "Let's go!"
It had been a year after Kakarot was born. Back then Bardock lived for nothing but fighting like most Saiyans. As he grew stronger, so did his pride as he rose through the ranks until he even sparred against the King once.
The Saiyan Warrior lived a good life but it all ended in an instant.
One day a certain creature arrived on Planet Vegeta and defeated the most powerful Saiyans, him included, with a flick of a finger. When the strange creature told them that he had arrived to destroy their planet, they knew for a fact that it was within the range of his abilities. It was then that their King stepped up and offered the creature a feast with the best their planet had to offer.
Bardock didn't know a lot about what happened next since he'd bee unconscious. But when he came to and went back to the throne room, he found the creature sitting on the throne, feet resting on the back of their King, and Elite Warriors handing him all sorts of food like slaves.
"I'd like to come here again," the creature said in a pleasant tone. "I won't destroy your planet today, but I don't like to go back on my word so, I'll come back within your life time King Vegeta, and when I do this planet will be nothing but dust."
The creature had disappeared after that but left a big impact on everyone.
Bardock, being made aware of there being stronger people out there, pushed himself to become stronger so that he could protect his world when the time came. A couple of months after that he began to train with his family as well and soon enough their bond became stronger and all of a sudden he didn't want to protect the world, but his family. It wasn't very Saiyan of him to think like that but he found that he didn't care.
Not only him, but his whole family would be ready when the creature returned and even if they weren't strong enough, he would die to protect them.
Bardock grinned as he flew through the blue skies of Earth. Kakarot was a lot stronger than he had ever imagined and he could see that there was a lot of room for growth. With time and appropriate training, his family could become strong enough to kill that so called God of Destruction.
Power Levels:
Goku (Suppressed) – 5,000
Goku (Weighted Clothes) – 12,000
Goku – 14,500
Zenkai – 15,000
Tien – 10,500
Krillin – 9,000
Yamcha – 10,000
Chiatzu – 6,500
Bardock (Suppressed) – 16,000
Gine – 11,000
Raditz – 13,000
Nappa – 14,000
Mara (Suppressed) – 7,000
