Sorry about the long wait, it's just that this chapter was a pain to write. So yeah, happy Halloween and stuff, hope you had fun. Leave a review if you feel up to it, also thanks to everyone that's reading, it means a lot.
Dragon Ball Kai
Chapter 12
The Fated Day
Human's were terribly fragile.
That's what Piccolo came to realize as he stood over a pair of graves on the spacious area behind what had been their home. Most of the people living on the small village had mourned the loss of the elderly couple that had passed just days apart, in some ways it was a blessing that they didn't have to be without the other for too long.
Cape fluttering with the wind, Piccolo looked down on the graves with an unreadable expression.
He had no grasp of what he was really feeling.
The part of him that came from his old self, with the memories of killing people without batting an eye, could care less about the two people that had died.
However, something had changed. Maybe it was because he didn't retain every memory, but he found that he did not share some of the traits his former self did. It's probably the reason why he chose not to kill the old man that had took him home and taken care of him when he was at his most vulnerable. Also the reason why he grew fond of them, something that his other self would never have experienced.
Something changed.
He realized that when he shed tears after Pop – what the old man insisted he call him – passed away; and again when the gentle woman that looked after him, Ma, passed as well.
That's why, as he looked at their graves knowing that he would not return for some time, he made a vow to follow their teachings as best he could.
'You're strong Piccolo...'
Pop had said once.
'But never abuse it. It is the job of the strong to protect the weak. My father told me this, that's why I worked hard all my life to raise my children until they were strong enough to leave this village. Even now that I'm old and gray, I have to work so that me and Ma are okay. Remember Piccolo, you have great gifts so use them for good.'
With one last look at the graves and a slight bow of his head, his cape fluttered once again as he shot off the ground and took for the skies.
There was still something weighing heavily on his mind so he needed to get stronger both physically and mentally.
"Do you guys think we'll actually have to fight?" Yamcha asked Tien and Krillin, who turned to look at him.
The three were flying through the air, following the imposing ki signatures of the Saiyans. They had met up a few weeks ago, knowing that the time for the battle for Earth's fate was almost there. So when they felt Goku's ki moving at a rapid speed to where the Saiyans were, they knew that it was time to go back him up.
"If it all goes right, then no," Tien answered calmly before frowning, "Not that I expect it to. Goku might be stronger but there's no guarantee that none of the other Saiyans are going to take advantage if the two wear each other out."
"I guess you're right, but in the end it all depends on whether Goku is strong enough to beat his father or not," Krillin added, "He should be crazy strong now but he's fighting a guy that tells the other strong Saiyans what to do."
Yamcha sighed, knowing that they had a big job ahead of them, before he quickly perked up and let out a chuckle, "Well! I was only asking because I wanted to kick some ass today!"
His mood was infectious as the other two exchanged looks before laughing.
At that moment Krillin noticed that one of them was missing.
"Huh? Where's Chiatzu?"
"I told him to stay behind," Tien said, "In the event that the worst happens today he could search for the dragon balls."
A new wave of the gloomy mood filled the area, but this time they each broke out of it by themselves.
It was no use to think about such bad things, since they would make sure that they did not happen.
Gine couldn't help but frown as she watched Bardock stretching in an open field not too far from where they were staying. She had thought that there would be a way to prevent this fight from happening but – while Goku's mannerisms resembled hers the most – there was no denying that he was identical to his father when it came to fighting.
The two were way too stubborn.
"He's actually coming," Raditz muttered to himself when his scouter picked up his brother's power level. "Hm?" Along with Kakarot's, he could feel three other power levels headed their way. "Kakarot's brought company."
"It's fine," Bardock answered as he stretched his back until it cracked. "You guys came along with me, so it's no problem if Kakarot brought allies."
Goku floated in the air with a grin.
He had felt his friends following him and decided to wait for them. Soon enough he could make them out on the distance and they began to wave once they were close enough.
"Goku!" Krillin laughed as he and the others stopped in front of him.
"Hey guys," Goku waved.
"Looks like the time's come," Tien said in a serious tone.
"Yeah, but I'm not about to lose," the boy assured with a confident grin. "I trained like crazy for months!"
Yamcha smirked, "So did we. No stinking aliens are going to destroy Earth!"
"Hey! Remember that they're Goku's family," Krillin said, making Yamcha laughed nervously.
"That's now what I meant."
Goku watched the scene with his head cocked to the side, having not heard what they were saying. Tien moved closer to him with his expression a bit somber.
"Goku. Do you think that we'll have to fight as well?"
"My father is someone who keeps his word but..." he trailed off, thinking back on the rest of the Saiyans.
His mom wouldn't try anything, he was one hundred percent sure of that. With Mara, well, he really didn't think that she would be the type to go against the deal. As for his older brother and that bald guy, he wasn't so sure if they would just stand and watch the fight.
"There's only two that might try something," Goku said before he grinned, "But even if they do, I know you guys can take them!"
Tien chuckled, the boy's enthusiasm was infectious, "Of course we can." He turned to the other two that were in some sort of discussion, "Let's get going everyone."
Everyone nodded and flew to where all of the Saiyans had gathered.
There was an unmistakable tension as soon as Goku, Tien, Yamcha, and Krillin arrived, floating in the sky as the Saiyans looked at them with mixed expressions.
Bardock was smirking, looking forward to their fight, while Gine looked worried. Raditz on the other hand, had his jaw clenched in annoyance, while Nappa growled in anger when seeing the Earthlings.
Mara frowned. Six months ago she never expected that she would have mixed feelings about the fate of this planet. While she had tried to do away with the teachings of her family, they were still very present. That's why a part of her didn't care if the planet was purged, while the other part didn't want to see a lot of Goku's friends be slaughtered.
"The six months are up," Bardock said with a smirk. He brought a hand to his scouter and checked his son's power level. "Twenty thousand. Not bad, but I know that it isn't your full power."
Goku and the others landed on the ground, with the boy stepping forward to face his father.
"Remember what you promised. If I beat you, nothing happens to anyone on Earth."
"That's only if you defeat me," Bardock said as he rolled his right shoulder and put on a fighting stance. "I hate waiting, so let's get started."
Goku grinned and surprised Bardock by mirroring his stance.
Had Gine been teaching him their way of fighting? He smirked.
"Interesting."
Without any other words the two flickered out of view and clashed, Goku with his right fist, and Bardock with his left knee. The two looked at one another before they flickered out of view again and classed in the air.
"T-This is..." Raditz muttered with his eyes wide.
Nappa couldn't believe what he was seeing. His scouter fluctuated between normal and then high power levels between the two fighters. This couldn't be a warm up. He grudgingly knew that Bardock was stronger than him but there was no way that the kid wasn't fighting at his all from the get go. His planet was at stake.
Mara watched the fight with her arms crossed and eyes narrowed. Father and son were quite similar, wanting to get a feel of the other's fighting style before things got more heated. As things were, it looked like it would be a long fight.
After another clash the two landed opposite of each other with a bit of distance between them.
"Your form isn't so bad," Bardock noted, "Seems your mother taught you well." He clenched his fists and his brow furrowed, "But it's time to stop the warm up."
White aura exploded around the Saiyan, causing those unprepared to take an involuntary step back as a harsh wind picked up and pushed back the trees in the area.
Goku released the weight on his clothes before becoming surrounded by white aura as well as he focused on bringing out his power.
All those expect for Gine and Mara were left speechless as they witnessed the two getting stronger and stronger until they both stopped and charged at each other. Goku cocked his right arm back but Bardock used his reach to his advantage and delivered a kick to his son's torso.
Goku grunted in pain but managed to keep his ground, wrap his tail around the extended leg, and use it for leverage to pull himself forward and deliver a punch to his father's armor.
Crack!
'Strong,' Bardock thought in pride as a chunk of his armor broke from the blow. He actually felt that one. With a ghost of a smirk, he pulled on his son's arm and headbutted him on the forehead.
Tears gathered at the corners of Goku's eyes as he jumped away while nursing his head but was forced to quickly block an incoming axe kick. However, Bardock was not done as he spun in the air and unleashed an onslaught of punches and kicks. The boy was able to dodge and block most of them until he lashed out with an open-palm strike that caught the older Saiyan on the nose and followed up by twisting in the air and delivering a harsh kick to his face.
"Impossible!" Raditz let out in shock as he watched his father sail through the air and crash against a nearby rocky hill.
Goku landed on the ground and dropped into his fighting stance with his eyes narrowed in concentration. A couple of hits like that wouldn't be enough.
Suddenly, from the large cloud of debris that had formed, dozens of blue energy attacks were launched at him at a fast speed. Goku gritted his teeth and jumped high in the air to realize that the ki attacks had changed direction as well, they were following his every move!
He picked up speed, all the while looking at the attacks out of the corner of his eyes, before he put enough distance and twisted so that he could face the attacks.
"Kamehameha!"
The large blue beam of ki engulfed the other attacks without problem but the boy was blindsided as a hand gripped the side of his face and dragged him away.
"Gah!"
Bardock smirked as he dove down with his son held tightly on his grasp. He had every intention of slamming him on the ground and was taken by surprise when he felt two hands being placed on his stomach and then the burning sensation of a ki blast. His eyes widened as he was violently pushed away by a yellow beam of energy that didn't do much damage but managed to put distance between his son and him again.
Up at the lookout, Kami watched the fight with a heavy frown.
While the fight appeared even, he knew that neither Bardock nor Goku were using their full strength. As of now the only thing giving Goku a slight advantage is that he knew how his father fought thanks to training with Gine. However, he knew that this advantage would soon disappear as Bardock appeared to be very experienced.
He could only hope that Goku's training was sufficient.
Bardock rushed in with a battle cry and punched at Goku, only for his fist to go through as the outline of the boy disappeared. Years of honed battle instincts kicked in as Bardock quickly turned to his side and blocked an incoming kick with his arms. The boy was not done however as he unleashed a barrage of punches and kicks at a speed that even he had trouble keeping up with.
Goku narrowed his eyes when he realized that his punches and kicks were being blocked and evaded, so he decided to switch fighting styles. It appeared to work as Bardock's eyes widened and received a punch to his stomach, making him grunt in pain and lash out with a kick that caught the boy on the face and knocked him away.
He sailed through the air before spinning with the momentum and finally landing safely on the ground just as a sudden spike in ki made him aware that his father was about to attack again.
A blue aura glowed brightly on Bardock's right fist before he brought it back and swung it, causing a powerful energy blast to shoot at the boy at a fast speed.
Goku held his ground and brought his hands to his side.
"Kame..."
Bardock frowned when he noticed that his son was going to retaliate with an attack of his own, so he pointed a hand at the blast. "Ha!"
"Hame..."
The blue blast of energy moved even faster than before, so much that it was seconds away from hitting its target.
"HA!"
Just as the attack was about to hit, Goku unleashed his attack and pushed Bardock's away. The older Saiyan gritted his teeth at that and pushed his attack with his right hand while preparing another on his left.
"Take this!"
A second blue blast struck the Kamehameha and caused it to be pushed back.
Goku grunted as he was being pushed back by the force of the attacks. Even the ground under his feet was breaking from the incredible force that kept on pushing his Kamehameha even further down.
"H-HAAAAAAAA!"
White aura exploded around the boy and the Kamehameha grew several times larger as he unleashed his full power into the beam of power that easily engulfed the other two and shot towards Bardock who quickly moved away from the attack but not without being struck by it on his left arm.
"Dammit!" Bardock cried out as he held his bleeding arm while the Kamehameha disappeared in the distance.
He never expected for his son to be stronger than he let on, he thought for sure that what his scouter picked up, thirty-thousand, was the extend of his son's power. It must be a thing of this planet, he knew that they could hide their power levels, he learned to as well, but he didn't know it could be done so well. Whereas he could only suppress his power to a certain point and then unleash all of it, it appeared that his son could choose how much of his power he let out at certain points.
Interesting.
He tried to roll his arm but found that he couldn't.
Oh well, a broken arm never stopped him before.
Checking his scouter, he was met with the surprise that his son's power level was at thirty-five-thousand.
Nappa trembled in rage as he checked his scouter again and again, but no matter how many times he checked it always gave the same reading. "How?!" His fists tightened, "How is that brat so powerful?!"
"Y-You're getting the same reading?" Raditz asked him with his eyes wide in disbelief.
"The real fight is about to begin," Mara muttered to herself.
Bardock narrowed his eyes and let out a scream as he powered up to his full power again, though this time he was going to fight seriously. No more trying to see how Kakarot fought. Without the use of his two arms he was positive that it would still be an even fight.
Goku slipped into his fighting stance but let out a gasp when Bardock appeared in front of him and delivered a punch to his gut. He doubled over in pain, eyes wide as he spat blood, before he was kicked on his side and sent hurling away. He tried to stop his trajectory but he was struck on the back before he got the chance and then received an axe kick that sent him crashing on the ground.
"HA!" He cried out as he shot out of the rubble and moved straight for Bardock at a fast speed.
The older Saiyan smirked as the two began to trade blows. They were both past blocking at this point and tried to damage the other as much as possible.
Both finally put some distance between them, Bardock still smirking but with blood on the side of his mouth, while Goku had a bloody nose and a trail of blood on the corners of his mouth.
"Not bad Kakarot. You have really surprised me. I expected you to catch up to me to a certain extent, but I never expected you to come so close," Bardock praised. "I just wish we could keep on fighting like this..." He finished with a sigh. "The ten minutes are up."
He had given his word that if Kakarot lasted at least ten minutes against him at full power then he would admit defeat.
"We won't purge the planet."
Goku's intent stare broke the moment he heard that, "Huh?"
"I'm telling you I won't hurt the Earthlings."
The message was received with mixed emotions to those present.
Tien, Yamcha, and Krillin cheered, even Gine and Mara appeared relieved. But Raditz and Nappa were another story. Raditz appeared to be disappointed, while Nappa was livid.
"Are you out of your mind?!" He screamed, "This is our mission! To purge this puny planet in place of your good for nothing brat!"
"Oh?" Bardock smirked, "That's a lot coming from someone weaker than said brat."
Nappa glared, "Fine! If you won't do it then I will!" He turned to Tien, Yamcha, and Krillin with a furious glare, "I'll start with these trash!"
With that the bald Saiyan was engulfed by white aura and shot towards the three humans. Tien was the first to react as he quickly moved towards the incoming enemy and blocked an incoming punch with his arm.
"Stand down Nappa!" Mara yelled but was silenced when she received a glare from him.
"Damn that bald bastard," Bardock cursed. He was prepared to go there to take care of things himself but stopped when he saw his son watching the scene with an almost eager expression.
"They can beat him," Goku said without a hint of doubt in his voice.
Nappa punched at Tien with his free hand but was knocked aside by a joint kick from Yamcha and Krillin.
"You guys?" Tien let out in surprise.
"We're not about to let you fight this big guy alone," Yamcha said with a grin.
"This guy is seriously trying to kill us. We have to help."
Tien chuckled. It wasn't his style to outnumber an opponent, but this was a special case. This guy didn't look like the type to stick to a single fighter anyway.
Nappa skidded to a halt and glared at the three Earthlings standing side by side who were encased in a white aura. His scouter beeped furiously and he took an involuntary step back in shock.
"This thing is busted," he reasoned. There was no way that some damned Earthlings could come close to his power, let alone match it like one of them did.
"It's not busted," Bardock answered with a smirk, "If you want to go ahead and fight them all be my guest. Just don't expect me to bury you afterward."
Nappa growled but then broke into a smirk. He opened his right palm and a bright white orb began to form.
Goku watched the strange attack with a raised eyebrow. Looking at the attack felt...strange.
"Let's see what you do against this!" Nappa laughed but was silenced when Bardock's boot connected with his face. "Gah!"
"You fool! Creating a Power Ball here is beyond foolish! I already gave my word that we would not harm this planet or its people," Bardock reprimanded with a glare.
Nappa recovered from the attack and faced Bardock with a glare.
"You dare go against King Vegeta?! We have orders to sell this planet!"
Bardock smirked, "I'm the one in charge on this planet. What I say goes. What? Are you going to fight me to change my mind? Even with my broken arm, I can easily deal with you."
"Oh yeah," Goku nodded to himself once he remembered that he had Senzu Beans. He took one for himself and then reached for another.
Every scouter in the area switched on, picking up on the sudden spike in Goku's ki, and Bardock turned to the source with a startled expression. His son looked good as new. Only his clothes were damaged but other than that, he didn't have a scratch on him. Also, his power level had increased, as if he had a Zenkai boost.
"Here!"
Bardock caught a small bean, looked at it oddly and then ate it.
"Wha-!"
The effect was instant. As soon as he swallowed the thing, his arm snapped back into place, his wounds disappeared, and there was a sudden spike on his power.
He looked at his arm in awe, "What just happened?"
"That's a Senzu Bean," Goku explained with a laugh, "It heals you up!"
Mara looked at Goku in shock. Did he realize what he just did? This was partly her fault for not telling him to keep the Senzu Beans a secret but now – glancing at Nappa and seeing that he appeared very interested on the beans – they had to be careful around him.
"Ha. This is amazing," Bardock chuckled as he looked at his hands, feeling the power coursing through them. "These things have medical machines beat. To think we wanted to purge this planet."
Earth was perfect.
Other than the weak gravity, the beans made it an ideal place to train. No matter how tired or broken they were after training, they could just eat a bean and keep on training with an added Zenkai boost. This was it. What he was searching for! A perfect place to become stronger together with his family!
"You've grown strong Kakarot, but it isn't enough," Bardock began with an excited smirk on his face. "There are countless warriors in the universe who are stronger than you, stronger than us." He crossed his arms and glanced at his other son, "Starting tomorrow the three of us are going to start training."
Raditz appeared confused – hadn't he been training with him already? – while Goku seemed excited.
"Don't let our training in the past fool you Raditz, this time we're not stopping until we can't walk anymore."
Footsteps echoed on the spacious throne room where a displeased King Vegeta sat.
Three figures took a knee as their King spoke.
"There is a task I require you three to take. A Saiyan, Bardock, has not responded to any attempts at communication in six months. Furthermore, Princess Mara accompanied him on his mission."
The King clenched his right fist.
"As communication has failed, you three will go find them. If they were killed, then avenge them."
His eyes narrowed as he added, "If they defected, kill them and bring Princess Mara back. Is that understood."
Among the three Saiyans, the on kneeling in the middle – a younger image of the King – smirked.
"Clearly, Father."
Power Levels:
Goku – 20,000
Powered Up - 30,000
Full Power – 35,000
Zenkai – 36,500
Bardock – 20,000
Full Power – 37,000
Zenkai – 39,000
Mara – 27,000
Tien – 14,000
Full Power – 26,000
Yamcha – 12,000
Full Power – 25,000
Krillin – 12,000
Full Power – 24,500
Raditz – 24,000
Nappa – 26,000
Piccolo – 2,000
