Chapter 5- A New Journey Begins
Raditz started blankly off into the distance, the last words ringing in his head. "I'm coming for you Raditz." He'd always known Vegeta and him would come face to face again, since abandoning his side to join Bardock's rebellion. When he last saw Vegeta it wasn't even close, the smaller Saiyan eclipsed him in power tenfold. While Raditz had been training extensively, common sense indicated that Vegeta had been doing so as well. If the gap closed, it wouldn't have been by that much. Show no fear, the motto of the Saiyan warriors. Raditz needed to show no fear to his men now. Their ship was completely destroyed and there was no way off this wretched planet. Even if there was, he couldn't leave. Vegeta sent a direct threat to him now, there was no backing down only preparation.
Tora noticed Raditz's stunned disposition, he needed to rectify that and bring Raditz back to reality. "What happened?"
"Vegeta, he's coming here," Raditz replied sternly. "We need to get prepared, he's probably about a year away by space pod."
"We can't train on a planet like this with such pathetic gravity."
"Well, we can't go anywhere. Vegeta blew up our ship, we're stuck here,". Raditz returned angrily.
"You can't stay here! You just tried to kill us!"Krillin objected furiously. The loss of his best friend had him feeling pretty bold and he was sick of these Saiyans just assuming they could do whatever they wanted.
The glares he earned from the Saiyans were more of a taunt than anything else, "Oh. You plan on stopping us, do you little man?"Carra said as she got in Krillin's face, daring him to step up.
"What are those Saiyans talking about now?"Bulma asked the green man with the excellent hearing.
"It looks like they're staying here. Something about a guy coming, they don't seem to be happy about it."
The Saiyans approached Bulma, Piccolo, and Master Roshi.
"Listen up earthlings, we're staying on this planet for the time being. We've got an enemy coming to fight us."
"That sounds like a you problem! We want you off this planet NOW!!" Bulma shouted. Her spunkiness was an admirable quality, but it pushed the limits of safety when she couldn't back it up.
"How do you suppose we do that, earth woman. Our ship and all of our pods have been destroyed. Besides if we left, you'd all be dead in a year."
"Why would we be in danger?"
"Haha," Raditz laughed. "If you think I'm mean, you should see Vegeta. He's been purging planets since he was a baby, along with Nappa they'll blow this planet up the second they see we aren't on it."
"Like it or not earthlings, you're stuck with us,"Tora added. "We've got a lot of training to do, Vegeta has a slightly larger group then we do. You, Namekian, I hope you can fight because we need to be prepared for this invasion."
"No, this is your fight. It isn't ours, our best friend is dead because of you. We won't help you!"Krillin's words were cut short as Raditz picked him up by his throat and began squeezing the life out of him with every syllable. "Be clear, Kakarot was my brother. The only reason you're still alive is because he asked me not to kill you, I'm a man of my word but I'm about to change my mind." He threw Krillin hard, slamming him against a bluff in the distance. "Look, this is the way it's going to be earthlings. This is both of our fights now, we have no intention on staying here. Once we can leave, we will get back to rebuilding our race."
Bulma stroked her chin as she thought carefully about her next words, "I can build you a spaceship. It will take time, but if you leave after you kill this enemy then I can build it. You're Kakarot's brother, which means that you're like family to us."
Raditz was taken back by that ridiculous statement, Kakarot had never even met him before and now his friends were treating them kindly after everything he'd said and done today. This planet really was full of soft-hearted weaklings and Raditz despised how much he did need these weaklings right now.
"All right, this is acceptable to us." Raditz, the king of the Saiyan race reached his hand out to shake hands with Bulma the genius engineer of Earth signaling a weird and fragile partnership.
Bulma took her plane back to capsule corps to grab some materials she could use to study the wreckage of the Saiyan warship to attempt her own recreation of it. Inside her ship was Krillin and Roshi, Piccolo opted to stay in the mountains and train with the Saiyans. Both races were extremely comfortable living outside in the elements of the world.
"Bulma, I can't believe that we're going to work with them," Krillin blurted out.
"Ugh, we've been over this. We don't exactly have a choice. They're here and they can't go anywhere, if we don't stay on their good side then the Earth is over with. Besides, I've got a plan."
"What is it?"
"Well obviously I couldn't tell them about the dragonballs, but we need them to wish Kakarot back. We'll have to collect them in secret to pull it off."
"If they catch us," Krillin started.
"If they catch us, we're dead. I know Krillin, but we won't be able to keep these Saiyans at bay forever without him. They're bloodthirsty killers, theres no reason to think they won't kill us after their fight. Kakarot is our ONLY hope to stay alive after this is over."
"Bulma-"
"What do you want me to SAY!!" Bulma's voice was a yell now as tears started to flow from her face. "I just watched my best friend get fucking pulverized by super race of invading ALIENS. And now he's dead with NO ONE left to protect us. I'm fucking scared Krillin, the only person I know who can save us is gone."
The rest of the ride to Capsule Corps was utterly silent as they landed and prepared to face their fate.
Meanwhile in Otherworld
Kakarot stood side by side with Kami in front of a very large desk, with an even bigger man in behind it. The large red man, wore a suit that could have fit a mountain, his body and off its features were gigantic. "Great King Yemma, I'm here to request that this man, Kakarot be allowed to train with Kaoi-Sama," Kami spoke in defense for the earth's mightiest hero.
"Let me see, Kakarot." King Yemma turned in his gigantic book containing the lives and accomplishments of every person in the galaxy. King Yemma's job was to identify if people needed to be sent to heaven or to hell based on the life they have lived. "Your accomplishments on Earth were indeed impressive. I'll let you train with King Kai," Yemma finally spoke.
"Yes!! That's awesome, you're the best guy. Thanks Kami," Kakarot shouted with glee. The idea of training in the otherworld with a Martial Arts Master was the most exciting thing in his entire existence.
"However, Kakarot you need to take Snake Way in order to get there. I cannot be held responsible if you fall. You'll be in hell, with no way out."
"Got it, big man. See you later," Kakarot sprinted towards Snake Way to begin his new journey.
Two months later
It had been a relatively shaky peace for the people involved in the deal made between the Earthlings and the invading Saiyans. There was a large amount of distrust between them, something that comes naturally when a race of aliens shows up and is forced to stay on the planet. It had been completely peaceful for the inhabitants of earth though, no one outside of the Z-Fighters knew what was happening. Before the first full moon cycle, Tora blew up the moon to prevent the Oozarus from obliterating the planet. It was an unpopular opinion from the viewpoint of the Saiyans, but it needed to be done as a show of faith.
Bulma sat in a large space outside of Caspule Corps working hard on building the Saiyans a new warship allowing them to leave. It wasn't her first choice for them to find out where she lived, but Raditz had demanded his people be allowed to assist in the building, so she had Saiyans all the time bringing her metals and other materials she needed. Probably the most helpful of the invaders was Letty, she was incredibly intelligent, not as smart as Bulma, but enough to be of some assistance in the actual engineering project required of building a warship. Over the last couple of months, the two had actually become pretty, good friends. However, it was extremely difficult for Bulma to lead a search for the dragon balls while Letty and the other Saiyans were always around.
"So, Bulma how'd you get to be so smart?" Letty asked curiously. Bulma liked Letty, she wasn't as rude or disrespectful as the rest of the other Saiyans, but she seemed to be devious. Bulma was definitely holding reservations on whether she could trusted or not, if the Saiyans would send a spy then Letty would easily be the best option. "I've been tinkering my whole life, my dad started this company and I just fell in line with it. I love it. Don't take offense, but Saiyans aren't generally the smartest people. How'd you get so bright?"
"My Father is smart too, I don't know I guess it's just natural. I've learned a ton just by working with you here."
The two women continued trying to solve the engineering problem of creating a ship to Raditz's exact specifications that could travel way faster than the speed of light. Letty had sketched the ship in order to meet what Raditz desired and now she was in charge of helping Bulma realize that dream.
"So, do you miss Kakarot? I mean, he was your best friend. You barely talk about him," Letty pushed.
"Yeah, I've known him for years. We became great friends, I never thought I'd lose him like that. We went on adventures together, just the greatest guy that I've ever met."
"Was it ever anything more than friendship."
Bulma blushed wildly, her skin turning a bright red. "No, I've been with Yamcha for awhile now. Kakarot was just a friend."
"Yeah well he was pretty cute, too bad he's gone now. Dad always said I would make a great princess, but I never really wanted that," Letty also blushed a little bit when she said that.
"There's always Raditz."
"Uh, no thank you." Letty rolled her eyes at this suggestion. "What I'm about to say stays here," she touched Bulma's shoulder to gain her eye contact.
"Of course," Bulma listened intently.
"Raditz seems over his head, he's not as confident as Bardock. Kakarot in the brief moment that we saw him fight seemed much braver and to be honest, I think he's afraid of Vegeta. It's just not the makings of a great Saiyan king,"Letty finished. It was risky to divulge this much information to Bulma, but it was part of her charge.
Two months earlier
"Daughter, I have a task for you," Tora said quietly.
"Yes father," Letty responded. She would have done anything to support her father.
"And this stays between us, I need you to spy on the earth woman, Bulma. Find out anything you can about this planet and anything you can about her. A woman that smart isn't just going to lie down and allow us to control her."
"Yes father, but why doesn't the king trust her?"
"Raditz, isn't smart enough to distrust her. But I don't trust her, she may be planning on sabotaging our ship or a way to kill us. Keep an eye on her, get her diagrams to the ship. Help her with it, do whatever you need to to get this information for us."
"Yes father, I'll take care of it."
"So how did you and Kakarot meet anyway?" Letty asked again.
Bulma knew that was an unanswerable question, "You know how things go, it's ancient history now."
In the next few minutes Krillin arrived, landing outside of Capsule Corps. "Hey ladies, how's things going today?"
"It's going great Krillin, hows training going?"
"It's good, just coming back from Kami's place now. Tien and Yamcha are becoming more and more powerful by the day, I'm sure they'll be helpful when the Saiyans do arrive," the short, bald man replied.
"Hey, you should come train with us. You'll probably get stronger by working with us Saiyans," Letty chimed in.
"Uh," Krillin scratched his neck nervously.
"We promise not to hurt you too much, you earthlings don't get a zenkai boost so there's no point in beating you an inch from death. Your Namekian friend is getting much stronger. You can't turn down a lady's request."
"Ok, I'll be there one of these days."
"Well, I've got to get going. See you tomorrow Bulma," Letty said standing up.
"Tell the king that those rejuvenation tanks should be done within a week, sorry I'm juggling a lot of balls in the air now."
"Sure Bulma," Letty waved as she took off.
"Finally, Krillin. Here, I need to give you this." Bulma reached down in her bag and pulled out a small, white computerized device. He stepped close to her and whispered quietly, "Not yet, Letty is still watching behind the garage."
"Those bastards, so they are spying on us," Bulma sighed.
It was going to a long year.
The Next day
Krillin arrived at the saiyan's training ground with Tien and Yamcha, this was definitely not a place he was willing to go by himself. The living grounds was an absolute disaster, these Saiyans were complete animals. There were different piles of firewood scattered throughout the landscape, there were animal carcasses and bones left scattered on the ground. Blood stains littered the area as well and dirty Saiyan armor was left hanging all over the place. The men slept naked, they left their clothes everywhere while the women covered up. "No wonder these guys turn into monkeys, they're pigs,"Yamcha laughed.
"I'd be a little quieter Yamcha, every one of these pigs can kick your ass," Tien reiterated with his own sense of humor.
"Guys, cut it out. We need to figure out why they want us to train with them," Krillin hushed. He knew that if they were forced to spend more time with the invaders then they'd have less time to search for the dragon balls by being completely under their thumb. Every situation seemed like an impossible one to navigate.
Today was another intense day for the Saiyans, they were all training by the mountain side. Piccolo was in there fighting with Raditz, really holding his own now that his natural martial arts skills were helping him and he'd learn enough of Raditz's moves to have some success.
Piccolo was giving it his absolute all, for two months straight now he had been bested by the Saiyan King and today could be the day that changed. Raditz relied on brute force, his natural strength advantage was helpful but he lacked the martial arts expertise to match up with the warrior Namekian. Raditz lunged forward with a high knee attack that piccolo could see coming from a mile away, he easily dodged it. Punishing Raditz's overzealousness with a ki blast to the ribs, sending the Saiyan flying into the nearest mountain. He continued to push this advantage, bad move. Raditz was ready first and launched a boulder right at the green man, causing him to stumble in hist attempt to dodge. "You've gotten stronger, green man."
"And you've gotten smarter, Saiyan." Their relationship was an interesting one, through a great number of battles against one another they'd developed this weird friendship.
The two warriors clasped each other's hands in a battle of absolute strength, one the Raditz would easily win. He began to drive piccolo back further and further away from his original position, quickly he wrapped his hands around Piccolo's wrists. He then launched the warrior into the sky and charged up a powerful ki blast, not even to kill but easily to maim. Piccolo saw this move coming and launched his own blast, as the two cancelled themselves out. Th beam struggle was going In Raditz's favor, so Piccolo again relied on his battle instincts, he spun around the attack and launched a smaller ki blast to Raditz's ribs. The Saiyan king deflected this with one hand, sending it flying off into the distance.
Tora launched his own ki blast into the air, signaling an end to the fight. Both warriors powered down their auras and walked towards each other. "Piccolo, you lasted the whole 5 minutes. You're improving Namekian. Your earthling friends are here," Tora said pointing to Krillin and gang.
"Hmph, those aren't my friends,"Piccolo shrugged.
"How long have you been here earthlings?" Krillin gulped as he flew slowly towards the group.
"About a minute," Tien answered.
"We called you here today for that reason, last time you were here watching we didn't realize it. Your power levels were too low," Tora said. "We're aware that you can sense power and control your power without using scouters, you must teach us how to do this."
The earthlings all hesitated to answer, "Ugh," Krillin said nervously.
"That wasn't a question, baldy. We destroyed the moon for you so you don't have to deal with our real Saiyan might. You're going to teach us," Raditz said gruffly.
"We're not asking, we're telling you. And lessons start today," Carra added while leaning on the shoulder of her king.
"Well, when you put it that way," Krillin shrugged.
"We don't have a choice," Tien finished.
"Exactly,"Raditz smiled.
Training begun with the earthlings explaining the importance of ki energy, the Saiyans were knowledgeable about how to use ki in battle but not to a defensive extent.
"Everything around you has life energy, or what we know as ki. The first part of the training is learning to sense everything around you, let start with something simple. I'm going to hide and then power up, I want you to close your eyes and find me," Krillin started.
The Saiyans obliged although, thinking the drill was stupid they decided that these earthlings had developed a skill they found useful. Krillin charged his energy as soon as the Saiyans closed their eyes and flew out over the
lake. The Saiyans were told to cast a small ki blast in the direction they thought Krillin was. Raditz closed his eyes and concentrated on finding the energy around him, but there was absolutely nothing. After about a minute, the Saiyans all cast ki blasts in completely different directions, the only one close was Letty. "All right, lets try again."
The Saiyans again focused, they could sense nothing still and again shot their blasts in completely different directions.
Piccolo chimed in, "You all aren't focused enough. You have to completely block out everything else. Don't think just feel, once it becomes second nature for you it'll be easier."
The Saiyans tried a few more times unsuccessfully, until they decided to call it quits on that exercise for the day. But, they weren't quite done with their human playthings.
"Now I've heard that you've been doing some training of your own. While it won't mean much, Vegeta is our enemy. Why don't you show us what you can do, we promise not to kill you." The way that Raditz added that last part sounded way too devious to be trustworthy, but they really had no choice.
Within a minute, all of the earthlings were on the ground writhing in pain. "Leave em alone, Carra. They don't heal like us," Fasha said while the other Saiyans roared in laughter.
'Damn it, we really need Kakarot back,' Krillin thought as he felt his broken ribs shift with every breath.
4 months later
After a long and grueling series of training with the Saiyans, Krillin was feeling himself getting stronger but also experiencing pain he never even thought was possible. Thank god that Bulma has finally completed the rejuvenation tanks, if he hadn't been able to make use of those he likely still wouldn't be alive. Yamcha and Tien were also undergoing serious mistreatment, but they were often spared more than Krillin was. It was possibly due to the close bond he had with Kakarot, a human who really thought he was on equal footing with the Saiyan prince or just because he was bald; either way Krillin hoped for it to end soon. He became their little errand boy, the number one earthling they liked to toy with. He'd been responsible for getting them massive amounts of food and drink. And this severely hampered his search for the dragonballs, in 6 months he'd only been capable of finding three due to the enormous amount of things requested by the Saiyans. In the last four months, he'd taught them how to sense energy and they were still working on being able to suppress their own.
Piccolo was having a different experience with the Saiyan warriors, he'd been getting strong. He could take their battering, some people thought he was almost a match for Raditz now. The natural martial arts skill of the Namekian warrior and his innate ability to manipulate energy was allowing him to grow, and grow fast. His development was amazing to the humans, but Piccolo knew it was smart to keep his power slightly suppressed when sparring with th him invaders, they wouldn't appreciate how strong he'd gotten.
"Krillin, I need to talk to you," Piccolo said pulling the bald earthling to the side.
"Ugh, sure," Krillin didn't fully trust Piccolo and he was a still a little afraid of becoming errand boy to their former enemy too, he was only one man.
"We need to discuss this in private, meet me at the place of the 23rd tournament tonight."
"What about?" Krillin questioned back.
"I'll tell you tonight, it's about the Saiyans."
'Oh, great. Another night running errands' Krillin thought sadly.
It was a quiet night when two of the world's strongest warriors met in secret.
Krillin landed silently in the dark of midnight, outside of the stadium walls. He instinctively began sensing the area around him. "It's only me here,"Piccolo said gruffly. The tall, green skinned martial artist appeared from behind a pillar.
"I wasn't followed," he reassured Krillin.
"What's up, Piccolo?"
"It's about Kakarot, when are you bringing him back?"
Krillin's face dropped, he knew their secret had been kept completely under wraps. The only people who knew about the plan to resurrect him were Bulma, Tien, Yamcha, Chiaotzu and Kami. Neither one of them would have mentioned anything to the reformed villain.
"Don't play dumb with me, you're not going to leave your best friend in heaven for too much longer."
"Honestly, I've been trying to get the dragonballs but the Saiyans have been on my ass. It's hard to get time away," Krillin shrugged.
"Well, you'd better do it sooner rather than later. Right now, these Saiyans are way too strong for him. I don't think he'll be able to control them at all, even if he is the prince."
"I know but," Krillin started.
"Listen, we're on the same side this time. I want these Saiyans gone as bad as you do, you need to make finding the dragonballs a priority."
"How? They keep me busy, I can't get a free moment during the day to search for them," Krillin asked.
"I'll take over their energy training for the time being. Find those dragonballs and do it quick. They'll kill us all if they find out we've been hiding it,"Piccolo said. "I'll cover for you the next few days, tell them you're helping Bulma find spaceship parts. But again, sooner rather than later."
"Got it, thanks Piccolo."
"I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for the planet I live on." With that Piccolo took flight. Krillin took flight a few seconds later and headed home to get a good night's sleep.
A small figure popped out of the bushes after the two warriors flew away. "What are the dragonballs?" Letty asked aloud. 'Now I know what these earthlings are up to?
Somewhere Far Away,
Kakarot finally arrived at the end of the Great Snake way to begin his training with King Kai.
