Sorry about the long wait. To be honest, I had this chapter written a while ago but for some reason forgot that I hadn't posted it. Still, even though it was a dumb mistake, I got the next two chapters almost ready to come out.

Dragon Ball Kai

Chapter 13

Fleeting Peace

The Earth was at peace.

Even though there were many things that would be coming in the future, very dangerous things, everything was peaceful at the moment.

For Bardock this was possibly the first time in his life that he was in a peaceful planet where he didn't have to answer to anybody. It was a bit odd to completely change his lifetime in under a year – he never worried about what he would do next before, because all he had to do was ask for a new mission – but he was putting in the effort because it was worth it. His family came first, this was something he believed for years, that's why it was so easy for him to turn his back on his home planet in favor of keeping his family close.

Still, just because ha and Gine were fine with it, it didn't mean that the others were.

Raditz seemed upset, mostly because of how worried he was over essentially going to war against Planet Vegeta. His son didn't say it but it was obvious that he thought that having every Saiyan as an enemy meant certain death. Bardock couldn't really do anything to ease his son's worry, but what he could do was train for when they surely faced another Saiyan.

Nappa, of course, was very open about his anger over the decision that he had no part in. He even tried to go back to Planet Vegeta last week but was stopped of course.

If he were to leave the planet and tell the others about Earth's secrets, such as those miraculous beans, then the planet was as good as sold.

Surprisingly, who he expected to be the most against the idea, Mara didn't appear to be affected by the decision at all. She was either a good actor, or had been brought up in a way that made her want to get away from her family. This was a clear act of defiance on their part but she was willing to stay.

It was because of this that he didn't turn her down when she asked if she could join him, Raditz, and Goku in their training.

Only a week into it, three days since she joined, he was teaching the three attacks and having them spar with certain conditions that they could not break.

Speaking of which, Kakarot still hadn't come back since he left with Gine early in the morning. Her ship wouldn't turn on so the two of them went to get it fixed with some mechanic.

Bardock crossed his arms while standing in the middle of a deserted space not too far from where they lived. Lately it had been a bit rare for him to be all alone and he would make the most of this opportunity.

It was time for his own training.


"This is amazing!" Bulma marveled at the alien technology put into the Saiyan pod.

For a warrior race that took over worlds by killing all of its inhabitant, they were quite advanced in their technology. There were elements that she couldn't find on Earth, but for someone like her, they could be replicated if she took samples of it. Some of them were incredibly durable and explained how such a little space pod could travel across the universe and withstand breaking through the atmosphere.

"Can you fix it?" Gin asked, snapping Bulma out of her train of thought.

"Of course, no problem," she answered with a smile. "Do you need it fixed by a certain day?"

"Not really, but the sooner the better. Bardock wanted to use it to take Goku and the others to train in a planet with more gravity."

Bulma raised her eyebrows and put a hand to her chin. Leaving the planet just to train seemed pretty extreme. If they wanted to train at a stronger gravity then maybe she could do something.

That's right!

With then strong new elements she found on the pod, she could make material strong enough to withstand stronger gravity without collapsing in on itself. Yeah, she could see it now. A whole room that could change its gravity at the push of a button!

"If you need a place with strong gravity, then I'm pretty sure I can make you one. I'll even put it in a capsule so that you can take it home."

"Can you really do something like that?"

Bulma grinned, "It's going to be a bit difficult but I can do it. Just give me a week and I'll have a working model. I just need to keep your ship here, is that okay?"

"No problem," Gine assured.

Tapping the screen of one of the many computers on Bulma's lab in a bored manner, Goku turned his head towards the two when he heard those words. It sounded like they were done, right?

Gine seemed to notice what her son was thinking and smiled, "Well, if you don't need anything else from us, we'll be leaving."

"Yeah, just come by next week and I'll have your ship ready. I'm not a hundred percent sure about the Gravity Room, but it'll take me about that long to have it working."

"Thank you Bulma, we'll see you next week then," Gine waved and headed for the door, "Come on Goku."

The boy smiled and ran after his mom but not before waving at Bulma as well, "See ya later!"

He caught up to her and walked at her side, "Do we need to do anything else today?"

"Not really," Gine answered with a thoughtful look. "Did you want to go somewhere today?"

"Mara wanted me to go with her somewhere, and then we're going to spar."

She smiled at the excited look on her son's face and rubbed his head fondly, "Okay you can go. Have fun."

Goku smiled from ear to ear, gave his mom a hug, and took to the skies.


Yamcha shuddered as he walked through a harsh snowy mountain.

His training had increased in difficulty and he decided to scale a large mountain said to be the grave of countless explorers. There were some morbid signs that people had died, like crossed, and even scattered clothes that were barely visible under the snow, but he pushed on until he could hardly breathe.

By pushing his body to the limit in his training, he was sure that there would me amazing results. Even if for someone that lived in the desert for years, this was very close to hell.

"Okay, this looks like a good spot," he said to himself when reaching an open space. Here he could set up camp and train since it was a pretty big spot.

He dropped the large backpack on his back and stretched his body.

The Saiyans were still on Earth. He didn't believe that Goku's father would go back on his word but the other, the bald one, might. Not to mention the possibility of more Saiyans coming to Earth.

"Alright!" He let out as he jumped in the air and kicked.


Three Saiyan pods crashed into a vast desert planet. Several massive creatures with spiked black scales around their bodies turned towards the source of the sound as the doors of the pod opened up.

Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans, frowned as he stretched his limbs. Even as a short stop, this planet was not worth his time. The weather was terrible and there didn't appear to be any intelligent lifeforms on the desolate planet.

Casting a glance at the other two Saiyans, he concluded that he might be the only intelligent being in the planet after all.

"This place is dead," said one of the other two Saiyans. With his almost gray skin he really seemed out of place.

"Tell me about it," the other Saiyan said. Out of the three, he was the tallest by far and was quite muscular as well. His scarred face as well as his long graying black hair held in a ponytail, spoke of years of experience.

They were Turles and Cumber, two Saiyans that his father considered capable.

Vegeta frowned at the thought.

He didn't think that bringing Turles, a half-breed of a Saiyan and some other race (hence his almost gray skin), was a good idea. The bastard was the cousin of Bardock after all and if he did rebel, then Turles might get it in his head to fight against them.

Neither would he have brought Cumber. He was an adviser to his father and his age was starting to show. It wasn't lost on Vegeta that on the rare occasions that they sparred, he was losing speed.

His father should have just sent him by himself. Handling trash like Bardock wasn't difficult.

One of the massive creatures that towered over the Saiyans, roared while stomping forward, kicking up large clouds of sand with every step.

"I wonder how this thing tastes," Turles said with a smirk as he floated until he was at eye-level with the creature, and then threw his arm forward.

A massive bright yellow ki blast, engulfed the creature and the area around it in a powerful explosion that rocked the area.

Vegeta clicked his tongue and flared up his ki so that the sand wouldn't get all over his clothes.

Turles chuckled once the smoke from the blast died down and there was nothing left but a massive crater, "Ha. I should have watched my strength."

"Prince Vegeta," Cumber began, "Should we look for something to eat here?"

"No need. The rations should suffice. We only stopped here to stretch our legs and see if there might be something useful in this planet. Now that we know this is a speck of dust, let's continue moving."

Turles frowned at the exchange, having wanted to stay to hunt for something, but followed suit as the two Saiyans returned to the pods.


Mara floated in the air when when she felt Goku's ki heading her direction not too long ago. Whatever he went must not have been too far from where they lived, to them anyway since they could travel long distances in a few minutes.

She crossed her arms and waited until she finally saw him in the distance. A smile crossed her face as he came closer and closer until he stopped in front of her with a grin.

"I'm back."

"Good, that means we can go now," she said as the two began to fly.

"Where are we going?"

"Last time we saw that Bulma person, she mentioned something to me. About a certain food that I should try."

"Really?" Goku asked, his eyes wide in wonder. Living in a mountain away from society had made a lot of food foreign to him. Even now he was still discovering new foods every time there was a party with his friends.

"So what's the name of this food?"

Mara put on a serious expression, "Ice cream."

It didn't take the two long to reach a city and descend on one of the streets, unaware of the many startled people looking at them as if they grew a second head.

"So where are we going to find this ice cream?" Goku asked.

"I guess we should ask someone," she decided and pointed to one of the people looking at them in shock, "Try that person over there."

Goku jogged over to a girl in a yellow dress and looked up at her with a friendly smile, "Hey, do you know where we can find ice cream?"

"Um..." She trailed off before she pointed down the street, "If you go straight that way you'll run into a shop. You can't miss it, it has big colorful letters outside."

"Thanks," he nodded and went back to Mara, "She said it's that way and that it's gonna have big colorful letters."

"Okay, let's fly there, it'll be faster."

Shocked onlookers were left speechless when they saw the two kids float and then fly away.


"This is most likely the place," Mara said.

She and Goku had landed outside of a shop with big colorful letter outside, just like the person had told them.

"Wait," Goku stopped her before they went in "We're gonna need money to eat here and I didn't bring any."

"Not to worry, Bulma gave me some after telling me about the ice cream. Said that zenny is the currency in this place."

Goku nodded, understanding the gist of it and feeling thankful to Bulma, before they both went in and were greeted by various curious stares. Neither noticed as the boy led them to the counter where a person was wearing a funny looking big white hat with red stripes.

"Hi there, we're looking for ice cream."

The worker, an old lady, smiled at the simple-mindedness of the boy, "Then you're in the right place. What would you like to order?"

"Ice cream," Goku answered.

"But there's many flavors of it. Which flavor would you like?"

The boy had a look of realization on his face as the lady led them to a large table with a glass that showed all sorts of different colors.

"Hmm..." he crossed his arms and finally pointed. "This one, that one, and this one."

"Chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla," the woman said, writing it down, and then turned to the girl standing next to the boy, "And what would you like young lady?"

Mara visually flinched in surprise as a blush spread through her cheeks and she looked down.

"Oh my, there's no need to be shy."

"I-I'd like the same."

"Very well then."

The two watched in curiosity and the lady picked up a couple of cones, and then watched in fascination as she began to put scoops of the colored food on the cone.

"Here you go," the old lady handed them the cones with a motherly smile.

Mara's eyes lit up as she held the colorful food on her hand before she swallowed a lump in her throat and timidly reached the counter and gave the old lady a stack of cash.

"T-This is way more than you should pay."

"You can keep it," she answered before grabbing the hand of Goku and pulling him out of the store just as we was about to take a bite of his ice cream.


In a rocky valley, floating over the peak of a mountain while in a sitting position as white aura cackled like electricity around his body, was Piccolo.

After training his body, he would take time to enter a deep mediation to strengthen his mind.

Such an exercise was necessary considering that the more time he spent alive, the more things he would gain - or regain - from his previous life. It was an odd experience, as he trained he would remember techniques at random.

Not only that though. At times dark memories and thoughts would emerge. When such times came, it took almost all he had to keep himself from listening. That voice, telling him to take over the world and kill everyone was getting harder and harder to ignore. Were it not for his 'parents' he would have succumbed to the voice much earlier.

Piccolo took in a deep breath and cleared his mind. He wouldn't give in to the voice.


Goku sighed contently as he and Mara sat at the edge of a tall building, having finished their ice cream. Even though it had made his head hurt, Goku had to say that he really liked the new food. It looked like Mara felt the same since she had a smile on her face.

"Alright," he said while getting off the building and floating next to Mara, "We should go spar now."

She grinned, "I was about to ask you the same thing. We should do it high in the sky this time, the air runs thinner there and having an aerial fight should be good training. We can't expect to always fight on the ground after all."

The boy nodded eagerly as the two shot up to the sky.


A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Bardock and the three training under him; Goku, Mara, and Raditz, entered a large rectangular steel room with 'Capsule Corp' written on it, that came from a capsule Bulma had given them. The inside of the room was spacious and had a computer in a corner, it was what would change the gravity, Bulma had said.

Bardock still wasn't convinced that the room could actually change into a heavier gravity, despite Gine telling him that Bulma could do it, so when he pressed a couple of buttons on the computer to change the gravity, he was surprised when he actually felt weight pushing down on his body.

Raditz had a similar reaction as he stumbled slightly at the sudden change and his brow furrowed in surprise.

Mara grinned to herself when she felt the change, the gravity in the room was now comparable to that of the one in Planet Vegeta. Bulma could certainly build incredible things.

Unlike the others who had experienced changing gravity before, Goku's reaction was a lot more different.

His eyes narrowed, as if he were in deep thought, and his fists clenched tightly. He hadn't thought much about what a change in gravity would be like – he figured that it would be like wearing weighted clothing – but now he realized how much different it was. But before he let himself be overwhelmed, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath just like Kami had taught him.

Once he calmed down, he opened his eyes and stretched his body.

"Okay then, I'm going to change the gravity into twenty times what it is here," Bardock announced as he pressed a button and their bodies were put under more strain. "On the rare occasions that we went to planets like this, we would say that sparring was the best way to get used to it. So let's go. All of you come at me!"


Once training was over, an exhausted Raditz sat on the grass outside of the Gravity Room, his breathing hard and beads of sweat rolling down his face. Their weak power levels aside, he had to admit that the humans were crafty.

He was broken out of his thoughts when a water bottle hit his head lightly and he turned to see a grinning Kakarot.

"What do you want?"

Goku, unfazed by the irked tone, sat down on the grass while Raditz drank from the water bottle.

"Hey, is it true that we're going to fight other Saiyans later on?"

Raditz raised an eyebrow, not sure where Kakarot was going with this.

"Yes, it's true."

"Are they strong?"

"Some aren't, but there are others that are stronger than you can imagine," Raditz said before letting out a sigh, "I can't believe I let myself be dragged into this, all because of you refusing to do your job."

Goku chuckled.

Raditz frowned, "What are you laughing at brat?"

"You might act angry, but you're still here," Goku said with a smile, "That means you're on our side."

His older brother smirked before chuckling, "Don't get it wrong brat. I'm just looking for a good fight. Besides, all of us are too stubborn to die, those fools might as well give up before trying anything."


Power Levels:

Goku – 1,000

Powered Up – 20,000

Mara – 1,000

Powered up – 20,000

Bardock – 10,000

Yamcha – 15,000

Piccolo – 8,000