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Chapter 30. Reunited At Last.
The bar was the same. The bar was exactly the same as it was last time Gohan visited it. Honestly, he could even swear the people were sitting in the exact same spot. Had they been there for a year or did they just come back every evening to sit on the exact same spot at the bar?
He could easily remember those three drunken soldiers as they yelled and laughed while they toasted with their drinks. He remembered the group of female soldiers who were trying to drink away their miserable lives as women in a man's world. A group of teenagers was hanging out near the counter as they tried to look like they belonged there. Not that the barmen cared about giving children alcohol.
And there, in the back, were the loudest, most obnoxious group of miserable living beings in the entire universe: The friends of his comrades.
"Look who we have here!" Raditz stated as he smacked Gohan's shoulder. "Back where he belongs."
Marmin made a surprised sound. "The little half-saiyan!" He exclaimed. "My, how you have grown in just a couple of months."
"Hmmm… It's just his head that has gotten bigger." Vegeta stated as he sat down at a table. Nappa followed and Gohan attempted to follow their example.
"I disagree. Half-breed, turn in a circle for us and show us how much you've changed." Marmin suggested.
"What?" Gohan frowned. He was so not humoring these people.
"Yes!" Another soldier agreed cheerfully. "Turn around!"
"Show us how pretty you've become!" Another suggested.
Marmin was grinning widely at the frowning half-saiyan. Gohan made a defiant face. "I'm not here for your entertainment." He turned to Vegeta. "Now scoot over and let me sit down."
Vegeta raised an eyebrow at the half-saiyan. Marmin turned to Vegeta. "He's not very obedient, is he? I think he forgot who is in charge around here."
"I agree." Vegeta stated before he looked to Gohan. "I think you should do it."
"And I don't care what you think. Now move over." Gohan snarled in response. Vegeta didn't respond verbally but got up. Gohan tried to step back in order to make some distance between them but Vegeta got there faster. The Saiyan prince grabbed Gohan by his upper arm and held him tightly as he went to stand behind the half-saiyan. There he placed his hands on Gohan's shoulders and forced the half-saiyan to turn around and back. The group of men cheered as Vegeta did so, which only made Gohan angrier.
"Now," Vegeta grabbed Gohan by his hair and pulled his head back painfully so that he could look at the half-saiyan, "that wasn't so bad, now was it?"
Gohan let out a vicious growl and tensed his muscles to fight Vegeta off of him but the man already let him go. The young warrior ignored the teasing statements of the others as he followed Vegeta and sat down next to him.
The young warrior tried very hard to get drunk that night. He actually tried very hard to get his hands on any type of alcohol. However, once Vegeta realized what Gohan was doing, he took it upon himself to make sure Gohan would not get another drop of alcohol in his system anymore.
"Vegeta!" Gohan complained as Vegeta once again pulled a beer right from under his nose. "Come on!"
"You're too young to drink alcohol." Vegeta responded before taking a sip from the drink. Gohan frowned as he watched Vegeta drink from his beer.
"It's not fair that I don't get to enjoy the perks of being a grown up but I do have to live with the downside, such as this horrible job." Gohan complained.
"Sucks to be you." Vegeta responded easily. The Saiyan prince gave Gohan a grin when the half-saiyan frowned at him. "This is a very good beer."
"I'm glad you're enjoying it." Gohan muttered drily.
"Gohan!"
The four warriors all looked in the same direction in response to this voice. Biku was grinning broadly as she approached the group of warriors. Gohan got up and smiled in order to greet her. They exchanged a hug. Biku looked exactly the same as well. Her violet eyes looked bright as she studied him. Her lemon hair was hidden under a cap and she was wearing a lose t-shirt and shorts.
"I missed you, Gohan." Biku stated as they hugged. She pulled back and studied the younger warrior. "Though I'm glad you are back, I really hate that you're stuck here again."
"Thanks. I'm glad to see you again." And he was. Biku was one of the few he actually missed while he was away.
"So, let's party, Gohan. All the others are over there. I came to get you." Biku smiled as she grabbed Gohan's hand and turned to leave. She stopped when she noticed Gohan was not following her. The half-saiyan gave a hesitant look to the Saiyan warriors. Biku noticed the glance and she looked to the Saiyan warriors as well.
Biku smiled as she walked closer to the three Saiyans. "My esteemed gentlemen." She stated, earning their attention. "Would it be okay for Gohan to grace my friends with his presence?" She asked. Gohan raised an eyebrow but waited for the response she would receive from his comrades.
Vegeta leaned on the table with his lower arms. "You do know you're a massive pain in the ass, right?" He stated.
Biku grinned. "I'm supposed to be a pain in the ass for men like you. My good looks will make you forgive everything I do." She returned easily.
Vegeta scoffed before he looked to Gohan. "Don't leave the bar." He ordered before he looked back to his comrades.
Biku grinned at Gohan and she grabbed his hand once more so that she could lead him to her friends. Raditz watched them go. "That girl is such a fan of Gohan." He stated while he watched Biku order a drink for Gohan.
"Hmm." Vegeta sipped from his wine. "I wonder how long it will take her to fuck him."
"Isn't he supposed to fuck her?" Raditz returned as he looked to Vegeta.
Vegeta shook his head. "No, he's too much of a gentleman. The initiative will come from her. She will do the fucking. He will go along with it and realize how much fun it is."
"You think she will take the initiative?" Nappa asked.
"Oh yes. And it will happen within a year." Vegeta added.
"No, it won't. He's not interested in girls yet." Raditz responded. "He doesn't care for women like we do."
"I'll bet that a year from now Gohan will no longer be a virgin." Vegeta responded as he studied Raditz.
Raditz laughed. "Oh, trust me. You will lose that bet." He responded. "I'm happy to partake in it. Gohan will sleep with her but not within the year."
"Yes, he will." Vegeta responded. "As I said, it will be her initiative." Vegeta stated before he looked over his shoulder just in time to see how Biku planted a kiss on Gohan's lips. The two youngsters were sitting next to each other and Gohan wrapped an arm around Biku to pull her closer. "It will happen before his thirteenth birthday…. No," Vegeta turned to look at his comrades again, "it will be right before or even on his thirteenth birthday. She'll want to celebrate the occasion."
Nappa laughed and nodded. "Now I know you will win!" He stated cheerfully.
Meanwhile, Biku settled herself on Gohan's lap. She was facing him as she wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned in for another kiss. Gohan complied happily. He would do anything to take his mind off his miserable life right now.
Her hand casually teased his hair as she kissed him. Gohan's arms automatically found their way around her hips. Biku ended the kiss with a giggle before she pulled back. "Oh Gohan, you're such a sweetheart." She stated. "I sincerely hope that grabbing my ass just didn't occur to you at all."
Gohan raised both his eyebrows. "Why would I do that?"
Biku smiled in response. "Exactly." She pressed a sweet little kiss on his lips before she got off of him and she turned to grab their glasses. Pushing one glass in Gohan's hands, Biku was already finishing off her own.
This was his second glass and Gohan was getting used to the burning sensation in his throat whenever he drank from this blue liquid. The young warrior turned his attention to the rest of the group. Once again, he felt distanced from the group of people around him. Some were soldiers, some were not. Still, they spend most of their time hanging out together, getting drunk and high.
The young warrior allowed his gaze to wander back to where his comrades were sitting. Nappa and Raditz were both caught up in a conversation among their group. The half-saiyan could feel his heart beat faster for just a moment when he met Vegeta's dark eyes. How long had Vegeta been watching him? The half-saiyan could feel a shiver run down his back. The youngster then realized the effect Vegeta had on him. Gohan refused to give in to this fear and he could feel his expression change on his face.
Gohan held Vegeta's gaze as he lifted his drink as if to toast to an invisible person. The corners of Vegeta's mouth moved up a little as he made the same gesture back to the half-saiyan, lifting his glass just a little.
Gohan couldn't help but smile. The young warrior was distracted from his silent conversation with Vegeta when Biku bumped into his shoulder with her shoulder. "Attention here, Saiyan." Biku stated as she pointed to the rest of the group.
Gohan grinned as he wrapped an arm around Biku's shoulders. "I'm so sorry. You will have my full attention from now on."
Biku raised an eyebrow at him before she smiled. "Full attention, huh? If I've only gotten half your attention until now I would love to know what it's like to kiss you while I have your full attention."
"Well there's only one way to find out, isn't there?" Gohan easily pulled her closer and pressed a kiss on her lips. Biku seemed surprised at first but she responded quickly. The two fell back against the leaning of the couch and got lost in their own little world.
Vegeta scoffed as he lowered his gaze. That brat. Showing off like that. The Saiyan prince realized how much Gohan had changed in just that instant. Until just now, Gohan had been awkward. The young warrior allowed Biku to take the lead and answered her questions and kisses obediently. Now, the young warrior initiated the kiss. Vegeta watched as the kiss deepened and heated up. Gohan's hands found their way to areas of Biku's body he wouldn't even consider touching before this moment.
Vegeta couldn't help but smirk. Raditz seemed to realize something was happening and he nudged Vegeta. "What are you smirking at?"
Vegeta nodded to where Gohan was sitting. "I just won my bet."
Raditz and Nappa followed his gaze. Nappa laughed out loud. "Oh man, I never knew the kid had it in him." The man looked back to his comrades. "I think congratulations are in order." The man received two blanks stares. "For us. I think Gohan officially crossed over to the dark side with us!"
Vegeta and Raditz couldn't help but grin in response. The three warriors grabbed their drinks and toasted to their now very lost comrade.
It was several hours later when Gohan was awoken from his temporary haze. The group of teenagers was gathered around one of the game machines. They cheered their friends on as they raced each other. Gohan felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned to look at Raditz.
"We're leaving." Raditz stated.
"Already?" Gohan made a disappointed face. "Can I stay for a while?"
Raditz frowned at him. "Are you really that stupid?" He returned before he motioned for Gohan to follow him. The half-saiyan waved goodbye to Biku, who pouted at him for leaving but then waved as well, before following his comrades to the entrance of the club.
The streets were never deserted on this planet. There were drunken soldiers everywhere. Lights coming from the different clubs and bars completely banished the night from the grounds. Gohan liked the atmosphere and he smiled as he watched life going on around him.
The young warrior was almost sad when they entered the brightly lit entrance to the apartment building. The four Saiyans headed into the elevator that would bring them to their floor. Gohan turned and leaned against the wall, expecting that every Saiyan would choose a separate area to stand in, as they always did. However, the young warrior could feel the hairs on the back of his neck rise as Nappa and Raditz went to stand on either side of him.
"I noticed that you were having quite a lot of fun with that girl tonight." Nappa stated as he glanced to the half-saiyan.
Gohan shrugged. "She's nice."
"She's more than nice. She's hot. And I could see you thought the exact same thing." Raditz responded. "You were practically humping each other on that couch." The uncle ignored the scoff that came from the younger warrior. "This means that it's time we addressed the safe sex issue."
Gohan raised both his eyebrows as he looked up to his comrades. "What?"
"Exactly." Nappa responded as he turned to look at the younger warrior. "So assuming you can only reproduce with ladies that have Saiyanoid systems and thus are similar to ours, we'll only have to work you through those facts."
"I think Biku is one of those ladies." Vegeta added, smiling as he studied the exasperated expression on Gohan's face. Gohan sent him a glare. "We wouldn't want a little quarter Saiyan to appear in the army."
"Maybe we should start with explaining a couple of things about the male genitalia and then move on to the women?" Raditz suggested as he looked to Nappa. "Humans and Saiyans have basically the same systems so we can explain most there is to know." Nappa nodded in response.
"Don't bother." Gohan snarled in response. The elevator now reached their floor and the doors opened. "I am nothing like you, both inside and out." The half-saiyan let out a huff before he went to walk away from his comrades.
The young warrior didn't notice how Raditz and Nappa gave each other dark looks. The two nodded to each other and they placed a hand on either side of Gohan's shoulders. The Saiyan warriors put pressure on the half-saiyan and pulled him back so harshly he bumped against the wall with his back. "What the hell, guys!" Gohan snarled in response.
Vegeta looked over his shoulder in response to Gohan's comment and he stopped walking when he noticed what was going on. The Saiyan prince decided to stand in the doorway in order to make sure that the elevator wouldn't close.
Nappa and Raditz both knelt down in front of the half-saiyan. "Alright." Raditz stated. "We have been very lenient when it comes to you denying your Saiyan heritage but we draw the line here. From now on, you will say nothing negative about the Saiyan race ever again."
"You cannot tell me what I can and cannot say." Gohan responded.
"But we can make it clear that we do not approve." Nappa said. "Like just now. You're a Saiyan, kid. You have the same system as we do. Exactly the same."
"I'm not a Saiyan." Gohan snarled in response.
"Right. So tell me, do humans have a tail like yours?" Raditz asked as he tilted his head sideways. Gohan frowned at him. "Exactly. And it's a recessive trait too. So guess who was destined to be more Saiyan-like than most half-saiyans."
"Okay. So I'm half-saiyan. And nothing more." Gohan settled. "Not a percent more than that. It means that I'm at least half decent."
Raditz and Nappa exchanged glances once more before they looked back to the younger warrior. Gohan looked from Raditz to Nappa and back. The half-saiyan was somewhat put off when they didn't say anything in return and his gaze momentarily wandered to Vegeta. The Saiyan prince only shrugged in response to his gaze. The man's tail was lazily wagging behind him. He was clearly enjoying this.
The half-saiyan took a deep breath as he looked back to Raditz and Nappa. "Let's go." He stated before he tried to walk through the gap between them. Two hands pushed him right back up against the wall and the half-saiyan let out an annoyed growl. His tail flicked angrily behind him as he crossed his arms over each other. "What do I have to do to get out of here?"
Vegeta's gaze lowered to Gohan's tail for a moment and he realized how much Gohan was actually holding back. The half-saiyan was learning how to keep his anger in check. It was almost as if he wanted to keep his relationship with his comrades civil.
Raditz gave an innocent smile. "You know, I see you butt-naked all the time and I've not noticed anything different about you." He stated, not missing the dark look he got from the half-saiyan. "For all I know you've got a cock and a set of balls just like us." Raditz noticed how Gohan's eyes wavered away from his gaze as he spoke, which made Raditz realize that the conversation made Gohan uncomfortable. Still, the uncle persisted. "But, you know, I've never actually checked it for myself so maybe we should do that right now."
Vegeta couldn't help but smirk in response to this comment. Oh man, the antics of his comrades never failed to amuse him. Gohan showed an apprehensive glance but then frowned. "Yeah right. Let's get out this elevator, guys."
"Didn't you hear Raditz just now?" Nappa stated as he got up. "It's time we made sure you're actually one of us. See whether you back up that pretty little face of yours." He pushed against Gohan's chin with his fist as he said this.
Raditz got up too and the two warriors cracked their knuckles. Gohan raised an eyebrow at his comrades but then scoffed. "Alright. But let's do it in the common room, shall we?" He responded, not impressed at all. The young warrior now pushed past the two warriors and headed for the hallway.
Raditz's and Nappa's mouths fell open as they turned to watch Gohan walk away. Vegeta laughed before he followed the youngster out into the hallway. Raditz and Nappa quickly made sure to get out of the elevator before the doors closed.
Gohan was leaning against the wall next to the door when Vegeta reached the door to the apartment. Vegeta turned to unlock the door. "I'm never stepping in an elevator with you people again." Gohan stated while Vegeta opened the door. Vegeta smirked as he roughly tousled Gohan's unruly hair before he headed into the room.
**** DBZ **** DBZ ****
Gohan knelt down in front of Frieza with the rest of his team. The young warrior could feel his heart pounding in his chest. It was the first time he met Frieza's eyes since he was delivered to the Saiyan team by the tyrant and he realized he was somewhat nervous to do so.
"I have a new mission for you." Frieza stated as he studied the Saiyan team. "It's a small planet quite near here. Destroy the life on the planet but please keep the nature intact. I want to make it a pleasure planet."
"Yes, Lord Frieza." Vegeta stated. "It will be done."
"Be quick about it. I expect you to be done within two days now that you're complete again. After you purged the planet, you can send my team a message and we will send a cleaning crew. While my team takes care of rebuilding the planet, you guys can complete a Guard Duty." Frieza continued. The man noticed that Gohan briefly allowed his eyes to move to meet his eyes. The half-saiyan quickly lowered his eyes again. Frieza couldn't help but smile after this but he didn't comment on it.
"A Guard Duty?" Vegeta repeated.
Frieza was silent for a moment. "Was I not speaking clearly enough for you, Vegeta?"
"I'm sorry, sir." Vegeta said as he lowered his gaze quickly. "I understand."
"I hope you do." Frieza responded. "You haven't completed a Guard Duty in years. You're neglecting your duty to my company, and you know very well that I hate it when my subordinates fail to deliver, Vegeta."
"Yes, sir." Vegeta's gaze was focused on the ground. "I apologize for our lack of devotion to you, my lord. We will complete this Guard Duty with no problems whatsoever."
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Vegeta." Frieza waved them away. "Dismissed."
Gohan was entirely confused as he followed his comrades to the hallway. The young warrior was about to ask Raditz what was going on when he noticed how angry his comrades looked. It was not until they reached their small room when Gohan decided to start asking questions.
"Guard Duty? What is that?" Gohan asked as he looked up to his comrades.
"I can't believe this." Vegeta snarled as he threw his scouter on the ground. Gohan raised both his eyebrows. "He's setting us up with Guard Duty!"
"What is Guard Duty?" Gohan asked curiously. The young warrior allowed his body to float up so he could sit on his upper bunkbed.
Vegeta growled as he fell down on the uncomfortable couch. "He's punishing us! That's what he's doing."
"Why?" Gohan asked, hoping that if he kept asking question they would stop ignoring him. This seemed to have the desired result as Raditz finally looked up.
"Because you ran away. Because we let it happen. This is no coincidence." Raditz complained. "You heard his little devotion speech. Unbelievable."
Gohan pressed his lips together. He'd already been punished enough for running away. He found it somewhat annoying that Frieza would actually go through extra lengths to punish him again. However, he still wasn't sure whether this was a punishment or not. "What is Guard Duty?"
Raditz turned to look at Gohan and he stepped closer to his nephew. "You know what Guard Duty is. You should have learned it at that camp." He responded.
Gohan frowned as he let his mind go back to his lessons on the different types of duties a soldier could have to do. The young warrior realized that he did know what Guard Duty was. The Planet Trade Organization owned many different planets all across the universe and all these planets needed to be protected at all times. Therefore every planet had a Guard of 10 000 soldiers spread out on the planet itself and on several ships nearby the planet. Guard Duty was considered a tedious job as nothing tended to happen. Nobody was foolish enough to challenge a planet owned by Frieza's company. Still, every soldier had to complete at least a year of Guard Duty every five years. Some soldiers preferred the comfortable life of leisure that the Guard Duty brought and therefore spend all their life being in a Guard. Sadly, Gohan's comrades were not that kind of people.
The journey to the planet was uneventful. Vegeta threatened to tie Gohan up and put him in the space pod like that. However, Gohan promised to behave until Vegeta finally allowed Gohan to travel in the space pod without any restraints on him.
The half-saiyan could feel his heartbeat starting speed up as the planet got in sight. He hated that he had to work again. He didn't want to purge planets. He didn't want any of this. However, he knew that Vegeta would be looking for any type of refusal coming from the half-saiyan. Gohan would have to play along for a while. He would have to cooperate in order to get Vegeta off his back.
The planet was once again beautiful. Gohan tried not to focus on the animals he could feel. The life he would have to kill. The young warrior turned when Vegeta called out to him.
"We'll all go together." Vegeta stated as he studied his comrades. The man's gaze landed on Gohan. "I expect you still remember how to work, brat?"
"Vaguely." Gohan responded insolently.
"Then I'll have to teach you everything again." Vegeta always tended to be unfazed by Gohan's behavior. The man took the lead and the rest followed him to the first crowded city. Gohan realized that the others were eying him curiously to see what he would do. He wasn't really planning on showing just how much he loathed this so he took the lead.
The young warrior extended his arm, powered up a blast, and sent it straight to the largest tower in the city. The explosion temporarily lit up the entire scenery and screams were heard instantly. Screams of terror. It was so different from other types of screams. There was an entirely different sound to it. And once Gohan heard it several years back, he never forgot it.
Vegeta shrugged before he followed Gohan's example and started blasting the buildings. The rest of the group did the same thing and within minutes the entire city was levelled to the ground.
The Saiyan team spent the rest of the day destroying city after city. Armies confronted them but they easily blasted through the defenses. Shooting hostile airplanes out of the air was child's play to them. They easily caught the bombs shot at them and threw them right back. They watched the following explosions with interest.
Gohan could still hear the screams ringing in his ears as he sat down for dinner. The young warrior was told to wake the fire and help preparing the food. He was not told to help hunt for their dinner and Gohan expected that this was because Vegeta wanted to keep a close eye on him.
They took a brief nap after this. Vegeta told Gohan to sit down next to him during their nap. The half-saiyan realized it would take a while for the others to allow him to sleep against his own tree. So, meekly, Gohan followed Vegeta and sat down next to him in order to take a nap.
Gohan awoke feeling out of the place. The young warrior yawned and stretched his limbs while he wondered what woke him up. Gohan sat for a minute – hoping he could go back to sleep – when he realized what exactly woke him up in the first place. Gohan let out a low growl. He hated this. The young warrior got up to find a bush to relieve his apparently very full bladder.
The young warrior was grumbling to himself as he walked to a bush. Man, falling asleep was already difficult enough without waking up in the middle of the night and having to do it all over again. He was just zipping his uniform back up when he heard the tiniest sound behind him.
Gohan whirled around but saw nothing out of the ordinary. He frowned thoughtfully but then shook his head. He was probably still half asleep. The half-saiyan then raised an eyebrow when he felt a familiar sensation. Well well well… That was definitely surprising.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Gohan stated out loud.
There was a silence around him before a bush rustled and a tall figure stepped out into the moonlight. "How did you know I was here?"
Gohan turned to face his friend and he grinned. "Oh come on. When did you ever manage to catch me off guard?" The half-saiyan's grin broadened as he sensed around the area. "The same goes for you, Judin!" He added in a louder voice.
"Ah man." Judin appeared from another side of the clearing. His purple hair was tied up in a braid as usual. His light-green skin looked paler than usual. His dark green eyes were very familiar to Gohan though.
Gohan slowly shook his head as he watched Judin approach. Then his expression turned serious. "What are you doing here? You should be halfway across the universe by now."
"We're here to take you with us." Oriko stated as if it was obvious. His usually so short black hair reached down to his shoulders now. His golden eyes were serious as they met Gohan's eyes.
"Yeah, our Freedom Group wouldn't be the same without you." Judin added.
"You idiots!" Gohan snarled at them. The expressions on the faces of his friends fell. "You got away! How could you come back here just for me and put everyone's lives at risk?"
"It was a unanimous decision, Gohan." Oriko responded. "We're not just bands of idiots. We got away because of your plan. We can't just leave you here."
"Yes, you can." Gohan responded. "And that's exactly what you're going to do."
"Gohan…" Oriko stated.
"No, Oriko!" Gohan responded strictly. "I can't leave the army. I already tried it once and Frieza managed to pull me back into this horrible universe. If I leave together with you, they will come after us. Frieza, The Ginyu Force, and the Saiyans – they won't rest until they find me again and then you'll be caught as well."
"You're just a soldier, Gohan." Oriko stated. "You're not that special. The lord of the universe won't come after a couple of rookies."
Gohan blew out a sigh. "Okay. I know it sounds like an exaggeration but it's true. Frieza told me so himself. He's not going to let me run again."
Oriko and Judin exchanged glances before they looked back to Gohan. Oriko stepped closer to the half-saiyan. "Gohan, we heard about your escape. That's why we decided to try to run as well. Please, come with us."
"I can't, Oriko. Don't you understand?" Gohan blew out a sigh. Why did they not believe him?
Unbeknownst to Gohan, Judin sent Oriko a warning glance. The young warrior approached his younger friend and placed a hand on Gohan's shoulder. "Alright. I understand. We'll leave you here." He stated before he attempted to hug his friend. Gohan returned the hug until a hand knocked against the side of his neck and he blacked out.
Oriko watched as Gohan's body sank to the ground. He made a clicking sound with his tongue. "I don't really like this."
"You know how Gohan is." Judin answered as he looked over at Oriko. "He thinks he will put us in danger if he comes with us. He's being way too selfless. And he would never come with us. This is the only way."
"Yeah but… kidnapping our best friend." Oriko shrugged. It felt uncomfortable.
"This is for his own good." Judin knelt down to grab the younger warrior. He easily pulled the half-saiyan's body up and positioned Gohan over his shoulder so he could easily carry the half-saiyan. "Let's go before the rest of the saiyans wake up."
**** DBZ **** DBZ ***
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