DISCLAIMER: I didn't create dbz.
CHAPTER 4: EVERYDAY
"Alright dad!" Goku cheered enthusiastically from his seat on a rock. "Keep going, you're on the right track."
Bardock gritted his teeth and hunched further over as he pushed the limits of his power supply and showed no signs of giving up. Even though his power should have run out it kept coming. His skin began to rip and tear a little bit as it could no longer hold in his muscles. Lines of blood flowed from little cuts all over his body and the ground began to break apart around him. Then, a bright golden light exploded and engulfed Bardock for a split second before vanishing.
When Goku's sight returned he saw Bardock lying on the ground in the middle of the clearing in front of the waterfall. He was breathing heavily as his body trembled. He was not a Super Saiyan.
"Damn…" Bardock hissed through his breath, "almost…had it."
"Don't worry about it, we'll try again tomorrow okay. What do you say we eat? You sure look like you can use a good snack."
Bardock pulled himself up off the ground and began stumbling back to the house with Goku right behind him.
He played back the scene over in his head in attempt to pinpoint where it was he went wrong, but he still couldn't figure out why he was not a Super Saiyan yet.
"I just don't understand it," Bardock sighed in frustration. "Why can't I get it? It seems like we've been doing this forever and-"
"Hey!" waved Tatalia as she landed in the middle of their path to the house. "I got out of school early today."
"Oh…hey Tal," Goku said nervously. He'd been feeling uneasy around her lately since almost every time they were around each other she'd mention his obligation to start a family with her sooner or later.
"Relax Kakarot, I'm not here to bug you about that," said Tatalia sensing the tension in his voice. "I just haven't seen much of you lately and I thought we could all go somewhere tonight. You know, have a little fun for a change."
"What are you talking about? Training is fun."
"Yeah, Kakarot, I know, but not all the time. Why don't you guys give yourselves a break for once? It can't hurt, besides are you gonna stay cooped up here the entire time you're on this planet.?"
"Back me up here dad," Goku whispered out the side of his mouth.
"Sorry, you're on your own bud. See ya!" Bardock laughed as he ditched Goku and went into the house.
"Oh, yeah, thanks a lot dad! I love you too!" Goku yelled after Bardock.
"So…what do you say?" Tatalia asked hopefully.
"I- I just can't right now, I'm sorry. Were too busy, how about tomorro-"
"YOU ALWAYS SAY THAT!" Tatalia screamed as tears began to fall from her eyes. "YOU NEVER WANT TO DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN TRAIN! YOU'VE BEEN DOING THE SAME THING EVERYDAY FOR THE PAST 2 YEARS! 2 YEARS! Don't you want to see what's out there?" Tatalia said, crying anger replaced by crying hurt. "Don't you want to know what a life here has to offer? I was only asking to have a simple night of fun. Everyday, I come home from school and you're either eating, sleeping, or training your dad. And I can understand that, but what I don't understand is why you can't set aside just a little bit of time for me."
Goku was speechless. He had no idea she felt so neglected. The outpour of emotion was almost overwhelming to him. He had nearly forgotten what it was like to be in a real marriage. But he couldn't avoid it; this had just become real and he was having to grow up all over again.
Goku thought for a second . He had a golden opportunity here. When he was with Chi-Chi he was almost always focused on something else. He was a fighter first and everything else second. This time he could make it right. He could be a fighter and a husband- a good one -not just one that is there on occasion.
"Well," Tatalia said attempting to stifle her cry, "what do you have to say for yourself?"
Goku still could not form words.
"Hmph, I guess it was too much to expect even an explanation from you. You know, my graduation from middle school is in a week, I guess my guest seats will be empty."
She turned and began to walk away but Goku stopped her.
"Wait," Goku grabbed her and held her in an embrace.
Tatalia was stunned, initially, but was soon overcome with emotion and buried her face into his shoulder and sobbed.
"I just want to be with you," came her muffled voice. "What if the world is destroyed tomorrow and I never have a chance to prove how much I love you."
"Shhh…" Goku hushed as he ran his hands through her hair. "You already have."
She lifted her head up to stare into his eyes and saw that he had tears in his as well. She embraced him tighter and slowly moved in closer. Then, they both closed their eyes as their lips touched for the first time.
After that, all they could do was stand there, stuck in the embrace, neither having the nerve to make a move. Not a word was spoken for at least twenty minutes.
Finally, Goku had guts enough to say something.
"Hey, I think I'll take you up on your offer. What do you say you show me around? I'm tired of this mushy stuff anyway," he said trying to lighten the mood.
"A night on the town?" she said, smiling. "Sounds good to me."
"Alright then, let's go!" Goku said happily. "Uh…you can let go of me now."
"Five more minutes? Pleeeease?" she begged as she snuggled up against him.
(FIVE MINUTES LATER)…
"You ready?"
"Yep."
"Okay! Let's go!" Goku said, spurred on by his curiosity.
"Wait a second, don't you want to go get Bardock to come with us so that you won't have to be alone with me for too long?"
"I don't think so, besides he probably needs his rest anyway. Is it alright if it's you and me, Tal?"
The smile on her face brightened so much, that if it were a light bulb, it would outshine the sun. This was the first time since they met that Goku wanted to spend time with just her alone.
"Of course it's alright! But…" Tatalia started.
"But what?"
"You're blond Kakarot, remember?"
"Oh, he-he, this," Goku pointed to his Super Saiyan hair. "My bad. Uh, do you have a hat or something?"
"Man, Kakarot, I don't even think there's a hat in existence that will cover that up."
"Dang it…I really don't want to go back to my normal form. If I quit now I'll have to start on a new record all over again."
"You've been like that for nearly 2 years now, I doubt anybody will break your record; ever."
"I don't know, you can never be too sure."
"Come on already, it's gonna be dark soon. The best stuff to do is at night and we don't want to miss anything."
"Okay, fine I'll do it. Here goes," Goku said calming himself in preparation to release hold of his SS1 form.
He closed his eyes and exhaled expecting to feel weaker, but nothing happened.
"Am I missing something?" Tatalia asked confusedly.
"I don't get it," Goku said, equally confused. "I should be in my original form right now but I'm still a Super Saiyan. This doesn't make sense…"
They both stood there thinking for a moment and Tatalia was the first to speak up.
"Maybe you have too much energy to return to your normal form. So much, that your body refuses to power down until you get rid of it."
"You know, that kind of makes sense. I should fire off a few Kamehameha's to expel the excess energy."
"You don't need to do that when there's a more fun way to use your energy."
"Fun way?"
"Yeah, this night is about fun right, Kakarot?"
"Uh-huh."
"Well, the place I was gonna take you to is a restaurant/nightclub where you can eat, dance, and fight with no age or class restrictions. You can fight as many people as you want and you can also set a challenge and bet on it with the restaurant. If you win, they'll serve you whatever you want for free. They even allow aliens to participate."
"Really? That sounds awesome! What are we waiting for?"
"Hair."
"Oh yeah. Hmm, let's see. How about an excuse that my dad invented hair dye?"
"Hair dye already exists stupid! Do the people on Earth think they're so special that they're the only ones with the capacity to think of creating dye for hair? How lame. I was actually just about to ask you to dye it back to it's normal color."
"Well, nobody on this planet has actually seen a real Super Saiyan before so it shouldn't matter if I go out like this, right? They'll think my hair is dyed."
"Yeah, but it isn't exactly considered popular to dye your hair nowadays. Almost nobody does it. Do you want to embarrass me in public?"
"How can you be concerned over something so trivial Tal? I'm going like this."
"This is worse that letting everyone know he's a Super Saiyan," she muttered under her breath.
Tatalia lifted off the ground and began ascending above the tree line but stopped when she noticed Goku was not following her.
"What's he up to?"
"I'm going out dad!" Goku yelled with his head through an open window in the house. "Tell mom I love her when she gets home!"
"Alright!" Bardock called out. "Don't be out too late!"
"You ready Kakarot?" Tatalia yelled down to Goku.
"Yeah, but forget about flying," Goku said as he appeared beside her in a flash, " let's take the fast way."
Goku offered his left hand for Tatalia to grab onto and held his right to his forehead in the focus position for Instant Transmission.
"Which direction is it?"
She pointed to the right of Goku off into the distance.
"Okay, is that where a lot of strong fighters are hanging out?" he asked after turning to face in the proper direction.
She nodded.
"Alright, I think I've got it. Here we go."
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In the blink of an eye, they were no longer floating over Bardock's land. Instead, they hung in the sun setting sky above a two story restaurant that was filled to the brim with waiting customers. The building had an outdoor dance floor that connected with the one on the inside and that entire side of the building had no wall separating it from the view of the ocean.
A path that ran along the beach in front of the restaurant was lit with tropical torches and there were also some people dining on outdoor tables and chairs nearby.
Further beyond that, over the water, was a small rocky island where you could clearly witness people sparring. Some used the sky, but most chose the island as their ring.
"You weren't kidding when you told me about this place," Goku awed over the surroundings as they descended toward the buildings entrance. "This is great! I can't wait to check this all out!"
"Come on let's go inside," Tatalia said as she dragged him forward by his hand.
Loud music reminiscent of techno and trance blared and vibrated through the stone walkway as they came to a long line of people waiting to get in.
Tatalia began forcing her way through the crowd of people while still dragging Goku behind her. She pushed people out of the way and knocked them down with little regard.
"Hey! It's called a line asshole!" a random person called out.
"Fuck you!" Tatalia called back as they made it into the doors.
"Hey, Tal, was that really necessary?"
"Absolutely. He dissed me and I responded in kind. I would've looked weak if I didn't. Around here, you have to walk over people before they walk over you if you wanna get something done."
"Oh…" Goku said as he thought it over.
"Nice hair blondy! That do is so five years ago!" another random person yelled.
"Damn you, you stupid dumb-head!" Goku shouted back.
He turned to Tatalia with a cocky grin on his face and winked at her. His smile disappeared when he noticed the less than enthusiastic look on her face.
"You're gonna wanna work on your technique," she said after rolling her eyes in embarrassment.
"Cursing has never really been my forte."
They stopped at the front counter and Tatalia slammed her fist repeatedly on it until someone walked up.
"Hey are we gonna eat? 'Cause I think I know what I want already, but maybe I should check the menu just in cas-"
"Shut up, we're not eating yet," she whispered to him then turned to the lady behind the counter.
"What the hell do you want?" the lady behind the counter asked.
"Bring out the manager; now," Tatalia demanded firmly.
"Hey boss, some bitch and her boyfriend are asking for you," the lady yelled toward the back area.
"Two seconds!" an extremely deep voice called from the back.
A couple of seconds later a, really buff, super short guy with a full beard came out.
"Alright I'm here, who are you?"
"My friend here wants to make a bet. He'll challenge any and all volunteers to an all out battle!" Tatalia announced for everyone within hearing range. "If he wins we want a free all you can eat buffet!"
"You crazy? This twig? Hell no."
"Kakarot, do something," Tatalia whispered into his ear. "We've got no money so we need this to work if we want to eat here."
Goku nodded and giggled inwardly with delight at the thought of a free all-you-can-eat buffet.
While the manager and his lady co-worker were laughing at him from behind the counter, Goku charged up an index finger and hit the manager with a surprise uppercut flick. The short, bearded man was rocketed upward by the force of Goku's finger and burst through both levels of the building leaving two gaping holes.
Goku blasted off of the ground through the holes and up into the sky, flying fast to catch the guy before he went into space. He got ahead of him just in time to kick him back down toward the ocean right before they ran out of atmosphere. The kick was so fast that the manager began to feel the burn as he plummeted through the upper atmosphere.
A split second later, the fireball that was the short bearded man crashed into the water in between the island and the beach with a cloud of steam and humongous splash. So much water had been temporarily displaced that you could see the manager at the center of an impact crater on the oceans floor.
Goku flew back down in the knick of time and scooped up the unconscious manager before the water filled in and drowned him.
"So how about it? Is he in?" Tatalia asked the lady behind the counter.
"I…think he's qualified."
"Then log it in your little register lady."
"Uh-huh," the worker nodded dumbly as Goku carried the manager up through the open wall and set him on a nearby bench.
"He'll probably be back on his feet in a week," Goku said, "nothing to worry about."
All except Goku and a small number of people in the restaurant were drenched to the bone with water from the splash that he caused. This may have been fine with some understanding people, however, there was quite a number of people who were pissed off at Goku for soaking them.
"Hey, you bastard," a person from the crowd of people on the outside dance floor pointed to Goku. "Do you know how long it's gonna take me to scrub the muck off of this armor! Are you listening you son of a bitch?"
This really struck a nerve with Goku. Before, he never would have been affected by a comment like that, but since meeting his mother and personally knowing that she was not a bitch but in fact a very caring woman, his light attitude turned a little more serious.
Goku turned around and walked back outside toward the Jerk who had insulted him. The stern face he wore was chilling, as it portrayed an air of unnatural calmness.
"If I didn't know better," Goku said in a low tone, "I'd say you want to fight me. Well…do you?"
"You bet, you little prick," the man said with a sadistic grin plastered on his face. "Hey! Who here wants me to kick this little guy's ass?" he shouted for everyone to hear.
Crowds of people cheered for Mr. Jerk and began to line up behind him, presumably to get in on the beat down.
"Alright then!" the Jerk shouted, "We'll be more than enough of a challenge for you, boy!"
"If you say so," Goku said with a lighter tone and a bit of restrained laughter.
The Jerk, ringleader of the angry mob, was insulted by Goku's laughter and attempted to grab Goku by the hair and slam his head into the pavement.
Goku was much too quick for this however, and the Jerk ended up losing his footing and face planting. When he got up, Goku was already flying toward the small island visible from the beach.
"Are you running you coward?"
Immediately, people began taking off after him, including the Jerk. In total, there were about eighty to ninety angry Saiyans chasing after him with a few anonymous aliens mixed in the bunch.
Goku stopped and hovered over the small island and addressed the people already sparring before everyone else arrived.
"Hey you guys!" Goku waved down to them. "Do you want to have a match with me? You see those people on their way here, they aren't going to be enough to make it interesting. Do you think you could join them for me?"
The various men and women mumbled amongst each other for a few seconds and then vanished. They reappeared in the air on all sides of Goku and at once converged on his position each intending to place powerful hits on whatever part of his body they could touch.
Goku just floated there and intended to accept the first wave of a dozen or so attacks in order to gauge their abilities. He could already sense that this group was more skilled than most of the people that were about to arrive.
A young woman appeared behind him and caught him in a full body lock while her comrades closed in and pummeled his torso, face, and legs with supercharged punches, kicks and blasts. The chain did not stop there, though. The woman who was holding Goku powered up and then disappeared, leaving behind a transparent ghost body composed of ki in her place to continue holding him still. Then, everyone, including the first group who had just arrived, formed a sphere around him and fired off powerful beams that were absorbed by the ki spirit, causing it to glow brighter and brighter until it detonated right on Goku's back.
The incredibly strong explosion formed a shockwave which knocked out some of the weaker opponents and lowered the total number of fighters by about sixty percent.
With the weaker ones weeded out, Goku was ready to go.
After the smoke cleared, Goku could be seen performing a few stretching exercises and appeared to be unscathed by the attack.
Tatalia sat on the roof of the restaurant and cheered Goku from a distance. "Yeah! Let's go baby! Kick their asses so we can eat!"
'Did she just call me baby?'
Goku finished his last stretch and brought up his left hand with the palm facing in. With a simple wave of his hand he called out the fighters and they responded.
Now, an all out round of chaos ensued in the sky above the island, lit only by rapidly fading sunlight.
Goku charged into the crowd at full speed, twisting and turning his body to weave through the endless mass of people. He began to step on peoples' faces and bodies, rebounding off of them like stepping stones. All the time he was flipping and spinning while dodging streams of energy directed at him.
One beam came close to his face but he dodged it just quick enough to only receive a thin burn across his right cheek. That same blast hit someone directly behind him and created an opening that was quickly filled up with more fighters.
A few people lunged at Goku simultaneously with palm blasts ready for point blank range. Goku grabbed the first one by his wrists and swung him like a baseball bat at the other two and sent them flying down into the rocks on the island. He kept the momentum of his 'bat' going and released the guy at the exact point right before being struck by a beam and allowed him to act as a shield for the blast.
The battle went on and the numbers dwindled as Goku swatted away most of his opponents with minimal effort. He never even needed to ignite his aura as he repeatedly put down every attacker that got too close.
There was a small pause as the last three fighters still conscious caught there breath.
Goku barely looked winded at all. The only sign that he'd been in a fight was the singe on his right cheek and a bit of chipped paint on his armor.
The last three fighters were the Jerk, the lady who created the ki spirit, and the alien who threw the blast that singed Goku's face.
The Jerk's armor was completely gone and his blue jumpsuit was almost entirely shredded. His dark brown hair was matted with blood and dirt from having crashed into the island a few times. And his two front teeth were now missing.
The ki spirit woman was missing a significant chunk of her long bluish-black hair as well as her thigh high boots that once covered the dark green tights of her jumpsuit. Her left wrist was also broken and contorted into an unnatural position.
The albino-skinned alien appeared to be in slightly better condition than the other two. Little sharp and spiky horns that protruded from his skin made it more difficult to actually land a solid hit on him, therefore he was mostly targeted by ki blasts which were easier for him to dodge. His wild orange Mohawk was littered with bits of rock and dust and the baggy yellow pants he previously wore were now shorts.
Ki spirit lady was the first to work up the nerve to attack Goku again. She went for the direct approach and flew straight at him, transforming her entire body into a beam by igniting and intensifying her aura.
Goku countered with a massive Kamehameha that completely overshadowed and engulfed her.
Her attack fizzled out and she fell from the beam and crashed into the sand after traveling some distance.
In a heartbeat the Jerk was all over Goku delivering a series of blurry punches and kicks, all of which hit air.
Then the Alien joined in to help the Jerk double team Goku. His spiky knuckles forced Goku to back off to a safe distance and launch a few palm blasts as a diversion.
Goku phased out of sight and reappeared behind the Alien then released a barrage of miniature Destructo Discs that shaved down the spikes that were exposed to them. Without a defense the Alien was open to a physical attack and Goku moved in with his fists ready.
Unfortunately for Goku the Alien grew back his spiky horns just before Goku's punch hit. It was too late for Goku to stop and all he could do was alter the path of his fist slightly so that he got only a few cuts down the outside of his right arm.
"Shit!" Goku cursed as he shook the blood off of his arm.
'Now he gets it,' Tatalia sighed inwardly.
"Let's wrap this up!" the Jerk cried as he and the Alien charged at Goku from opposite directions.
They drew closer by the second, but Goku seemed preoccupied with something else as he held his hands up in front of his face and inspected them. There was a slight trembling when he closed his fists and he realized right away what it was.
Just as soon as he realized what was up, his power faded and his hair fell back into its normal position and color.
"Hey, I can power down now, aweso-"
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"Please, sir, let us return," Raditz pleaded over the communications system in his space pod. "This sector is devoid of anything useful to us. We should return to Vegeta-sei and rest before we set out on the next mission."
"Raditz, it's not like you to beg like a piss ant, what do you really want to go home for?"
"I- I promised my wife I'd be home for my son's second birthday and I still haven't gotten him a gift yet," Raditz confessed with his head hung in shame. "I'll understand if you choose to ignore my dilemma."
"No, it's not a problem. I could go for some shore leave anyway."
"Oh, thank you, Prince Vegeta. You don't know how much I appreciate this. My wife would've killed me if I missed out on his birthday."
"Quit groveling you fool, before I change my mind."
"Understood. Reversing course."
Both pods reoriented themselves with their thrusters and then zipped away at light speed.
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Bardock sat at the kitchen table blowing bubbles in his smoothie instead of drinking it. He was still hung up on his disappointing attempt of a Super Saiyan transformation. He knew the power was there, but he just couldn't pull it all out. His appetite disappeared and being unable to enjoy it, he pushed the smoothie away. Then he leaned back in his chair and began balancing it on its two hind legs.
"Whoa!" Bardock yelped as he started to fall backwards.
"You know," Raditz said, catching the back of Bardock's chair with his tail while still managing to stand in a badass pose, "you really should be more careful, dad."
"Oh hey, Raditz," Bardock said, twisting himself around. "When did you get back?"
"Just now, as a matter of fact. Hey, shouldn't Kakarot be here training you right now?"
"Nope, he went somewhere with Tatalia about a half hour ago," Bardock said, getting up. "Why?"
"I need a favor from him. I still haven't gotten a gift for Geno and I could use his input."
"I see…Hmm," Bardock said as he lit a cigarette. "I overheard a bit of their conversation and I think they mentioned something about a fighting buffet."
"That's it? That's all you heard? Practically every restaurant has fighting on the menu. Can't you be a little more specific?"
"Sorry, I don't know anything else," Bardock shrugged, letting the cigarette move up and down as he talked.
"Hey, since when do you smoke?"
"Since I started…" (COUGH!COUGH!HACK).
'Poser,' Raditz rolled his eyes. 'He looks like more of a dumbass than a badass.'
Bardock tossed the butt away after a fit of coughing. "Okay, so that wasn't for me. Why don't you just wait until they get back? We can spar to pass the time. And I could sure use a relaxing fight with a weaker opponent to relieve some stress. That smoke certainly didn't do the job."
"Oh, so you've achieved Super Saiyan then?" Raditz said with a cocky half-grin on his face. "Because… that's the only way you're stronger than me. So have you?"
"Not entirely, and what do you mean only a Super Saiyan can beat you?"
"Follow me and I'll show you," Raditz said as he jumped out of a kitchen window.
'What's that boy up to?' Bardock looked at his son suspiciously as he followed him outside.
Raditz floated over to the spot where Bardock had previously failed to become Super Saiyan. "Okay, check this out dad. Haaa…" Raditz started with a low growl.
The low growl grew to a near roar as his energy surged from his body and expanded outward in all directions. His muscles bulged and his skin stretched to the point of breaking, same as Bardock's did. His hair began to lift slightly as his visible power became an intense mixture of flickering white and gold light. Then, just as quickly as it had begun, it was over. Raditz' energy evaporated and he plopped to the ground on his ass.
"I'm not…a Super Saiyan," Raditz panted, "But I'm the next best thing."
Bardock nearly shit his pants as he could barely absorb the shock.
"H- how?"
"Well, whenever Vegeta and I would stop on a planet to stretch our legs, he would insist on using me as a punching bag for his exercises. When he was kicking my ass, I paid close attention to his techniques and tried to copy them later on. Before I knew it, I began picking up some of his moves and I even witnessed him transform once."
"You got that far from only seeing it once?" Bardock asked in disbelief.
Raditz nodded and chuckled a bit as he staggered to his feet. "Sometimes, I don't even believe it myself," he said stretching out his sore muscles. "I don't know why this keeps happening though," Raditz referred to his skin as he scratched at a few scabs.
Seeing that triggered a chain of thoughts in Bardock's scientific part of the brain. 'Why did his skin break like that? Is that part of the process? Come to think of it, I've never seen Kakarot with that problem. That must have something to do with why we can't reach his level.'
"So, dad. How close are you?"
Bardock was still hypothesizing. 'Maybe I didn't channel my energy properly. I did feel unusually tired after my attempt. Powering up shouldn't normally make anybody that tired. I must've concentrated too hard and tensed my muscles too much, causing more energy than necessary to flow into them. The unbalanced distribution of ki flow throughout my body must've tired me out before I could complete the transformation. That's it, it has to be!'
"Dad!" Raditz waved his hand in front of Bardock's face. "Hey, I asked you a question!"
"Huh?"
"How close are you to Super Saiyan?"
Bardock folded his arms and tried to play it down a bit. "Humph. I'm about where you are at the moment."
"Oh yeah?" Raditz asked curiously. "Let's see it."
"If you insist." Bardock tried to sound calm and cool, but inside he was as giddy as a little school girl that he had a chance to show off in front of his son. He had just had a revelation that he believed would solve his problems with transforming and was going to test it out for the first time.
Just as he had traded places with Raditz and was about to power up, an alarm went off in his head, signaling someone's arrival.
"Someone's coming!"
"Who is it?" Raditz asked.
"Your mom, Anko, and Geno."
"Shit, I've got to get out of here or something!" Raditz panicked.
"What's the worry?"
"Anko's gonna ask me about Geno's birthday present and I can't bullshit with her. She always sees through my lies."
"Well, you'd better hurry and go then. They'll be here in less than a minute. I'll cover for you as long as I can, now go."
"You're brave dad, thanks," Raditz said, patting him on the shoulder and then blasting off. "Good luck!" he called from the air. 'You're gonna need it.'
Bardock squinted as he saw them grow closer and closer. The long whisps of hair, covering half of his wife's face, that was not pinned up did a poor job of hiding her irritation. And the fists she had at her sides didn't help either.
(48 seconds later…)
"Ouch! No need to get rough honey," Bardock said while rubbing the throbbing bruise his wife had given his forehead. "Anko," he said, turning to the twenty year old wife of his son, "help your dear old father-in-law out. Tell her I don't know anything."
"Cut the shit, Bardock. We know Raditz was here. Now tell us…where did he go?"
Although Anko was pretty, clad in her dark green leather jumpsuit that showed off her curves, she had one hell of a bite to go with her bark. Her cute face and unassuming smile framed by shoulder length spiky tresses was a front.
'What did I get myself into?' Bardock thought as his wife's fist closed in on his face once again. 'Oh dear-' (CRACK!)(BLACKNESS)
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Raditz winced from a distance as he thought about what they were doing to his dad. 'Poor guy. Doesn't he know that I inherited my horrible lying skills from him. I hope he's alright.'
He quickly forgot about his father when he sensed Goku's presence at a nearby beach. Then he changed his direction and ignited his aura to get there as fast as Saiyanly possible.
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(WHACK!) Both fists connected powerfully. The Alien and the Jerk punched each other in the face and fully knocked out the others' teeth.
"YEEOOOOW!" Both screamed as they rubbed the sides of their faces.
"Wuh wer you puhke ah you ahhole"
(What were you punching at you asshole?) the jerk shouted toothlessly at the Alien.
"I was about to ask you the same thing! You should have hit the other guy not me you dumbass!" the Alien shouted back at the Jerk who was confused as to how he was talking.
"Wuh? How cah you hawk wihe"
(What? How can you talk right?)
The Alien opened his mouth revealing several rows of teeth.
"Yuck! Cohe ih, huwee"
(Yuck! Close it, hurry!) the Jerk yelled before vomiting.
Goku floated nearby and laughed at the two guys' antics. "You guys crack me up. But you were just a little too slow. I had fun though, thanks. Bye!" Goku waved as he began floating in Tatalia's direction.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going," the Alien shouted. "We haven't finished our fight yet!"
"Well," Goku said, turning around, "if you think you can beat me, we can continue."
The Alien floated there for a moment trying to read Goku as he hung in the air with his arms rested behind his neck. He seemed too tired to notice that Goku's hair was no longer blond.
"Well?" Goku asked.
"Humph. I concede."
Goku turned and began heading toward Tatalia again.
"But," the Alien continued, "don't count me out permanently. I'll be seeing you again."
Goku lifted his right hand from the back of his neck and waved backwards to the alien man as he continued to descend forward.
"That was awesome Kakarot!" Tatalia said as she flew up to greet Goku and hugged him. "Are you ready to eat?"
"Are you kidding? I'm starved, let's go," he said as he grabbed hold of her hand and pulled her down to the restaurant.
"I'm sorry, who the hell is this?" the lady behind the counter asked as they approached.
"He's the challenger," Tatalia said.
"The challenger…" the lady said, skimming over her list, "a Kakarot, was it?"
"That's me!"
"It says here he's blond and you look like a brunette to me. If the actual challenger doesn't claim his prize within five minutes, then the deal is void."
"What?" Tatalia asked in disbelief. "I can't believe this, I demand to speak to the manager. Where is he?"
The lady behind the counter pointed to the bench behind them. "He's right over there, but I'm afraid someone," she glared at Goku, "knocked him out. So, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do."
"Damn, that bitch," Tatalia cursed through her teeth. "She knew you were who you claimed to be. What a rip-off!"
"It's alright, let's just leave, Tal."
"But we were supposed to spend this time together. It was supposed to be perfect," she whined in frustration.
"Well, how about this," Goku proposed. "I'll hang out with you at your school tomorrow and I'll even go to your graduation."
"You'd torture yourself with school to be around me?" she asked excitedly.
"Sure, for a day, why not?"
"Ohhh, I love you!" she said squeezing his face into her chest.
"I…can't…breath!" Goku coughed out.
"There you are, Kakarot," Raditz said as he ran up behind them. "I need to ask a favor of you-" He cut himself off when he saw Goku's face in Tatalia's boobs. "Is this a bad time?"
"…help…air…gone…" Goku whispered inaudibly.
"I'll be waiting outside when you two are uh,…finished," Raditz said stepping back slowly and turning. "Oh, and you might consider getting a room." 'Geez, can't he keep it in his pants for two seconds…'
Tatalia released him at the last second and allowed him to catch his breath and not pass out.
Goku leaned on the door sill of the exit for support while he continued to breath hard and wipe the sweat off of his face.
'Oh, I must've gotten him a little too excited,' Tatalia blushed. 'I'm naughty.'
Once Goku caught his breath completely, he went outside to where Raditz was waiting. "Thanks for helping me out in there," Goku said sarcastically.
"Yuck," Raditz said not understanding. "The only way I'd ever do that is if it were with two other girls, and definitely not with your wife. I mean, if Anko was okay with it-maybe, but reluctantly."
"Shut up already," Goku said. "Your digging an idiot-ditch that you might not be able to climb out of this time, pervert."
"Humph. Shows what you know Kakarot. I'm a family man now. I've got responsibilities and-"
"And you're just as immature as you were before. What do you want?"
"Huh? Oh, I don't have Geno's gift yet. I thought that, since you're good at last minute decisions, you could help me out. What do you say?"
"Hmm…alright," Goku reluctantly agreed. "Procrastinator. Hey Tal, what are you still doing in there?" he waved her over.
"Sorry, I just thought I'd give you a little time to cool down, if you know what I mean," she said while blushing.
'Man, both of them are idiots. Why are they always the first ones to think in the gutter?' "I think you guys have embarrassed yourselves enough. Now let's get down to business. What can we get for Geno that he doesn't already have and that nobody else will think of?"
"Uh…" both Raditz and Tatalia responded.
"Oh, come on you guys! You're not going to make me do all the work are you?"
"Uh…"
"Raditz, Geno is your son! All you have to do is think"
"Well, um…he's turning two tomorrow, he's got brown hair, brown eyes, and he poops a lot."
Goku and Tatalia both face vaulted.
"What kind of a father are you?" Goku asked, rubbing his sore face. "It sounds like I know him better than you do."
"Yeah, Raditz. You can do better than that!" Tatalia scolded. "You should be the one pick his gift."
Raditz stood there rubbing his chin in what appeared to be a serious thinking pose. He looked incredibly focused, thinking intently on what to do. Then, after several minutes of contemplation, it finally looked as if he had come up with a great idea that would solve the problem.
"Well…?" Goku asked, expecting to be blown away by a miracle idea of Raditz'.
"I…got nothing."
"Then what the hell was that just now?" Tatalia yelled as she smacked Raditz across the top of his head.
"Ouch! What'd you do that for? My chin was itching okay!"
'I can't believe it. Raditz, my only brother, is a complete imbecile. What does that say about me?'
Goku just sighed and lifted off the ground. He began to float away slowly, hoping to escape unnoticed so he could wallow in his depression. He moved further and further and then turned away to blast off. As soon as he turned, Raditz and Tatalia appeared in front of him.
"Going somewhere?"
"Of course not," Goku laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"Come on, Kakarot, time's running out! I need your help! Please brother," Raditz pleaded.
"Okay, okay. I guess I really do know your own son better than you. Let's see… He hasn't really gotten into heavy training yet; He's got a few rivals at his daycare; He's still learning how to fly; and he's got no respect for authority figures."
"Right. How do we use this knowledge to help us?" Raditz asked.
"I was giving you hints about him so you could get him something useful, duh!"
"Well, every time I talk to him he goes on and on about his Super Saiyan uncle," Tatalia nudged Goku in his side while smiling. "He wants to be 'just-like-you' when he grows up," she laughed. "It's so cute."
"Really?" Goku asked. "I never noticed…"
"Maybe you should pay more attention."
"Man, I need to spend more time with my kid," Raditz said to himself. "So, it all comes down to you brother. What are you gonna do for the nephew that idolizes you?"
"Huh?" Goku asked.
"I know!" Tatalia chimed in. "You could teach him a few moves! You know, train him a little bit."
"You're forgetting, Tatalia," Raditz started. "Remember the promise he made to train you? You don't look like a Super Saiyan to me."
Goku waved his hands at Raditz, motioning for him to shut up.
"You've been married for two years and he still hasn't shared his skills with you yet."
'Shut up, shut up, shut up,' Goku panicked.
"Hey!" Tatalia said in angry realization. "He's right, Kakarot. When were you planning to make good on that promise of yours?" she shouted into his face.
"I was going to get around to it eventually," he said attempting to defend himself.
"Come to think of it, you've flaked on just about everything you said you were gonna do!"
"Uh…"
"That's it! From now on, I'm going to hold you responsible for every-single-word that comes out of that mouth of yours!" Tatalia lectured, beginning to show her wrath. "You are going to train Geno, and you're going to train me, and you're going to be at my school for the rest of this week!"
'The rest of the week?' GULP. Goku swallowed the lump in his throat and sighed in defeat.
"Alright then," Raditz said happily. "It looks like my son gets to have a Super Saiyan sensei for his birthday. Now that that's settled, I guess we should go home so I can tell Anko I have a gift."
"Oh no you don't!" Tatalia exploded at Raditz. "We're not going anywhere with you! We've still got a romantic evening that we are going to spend with each other! Isn't that right, Kakarot?"
"Uh-huh," Goku whimpered.
"Now get out of here before I hurt you! Me and my husband want to enjoy our precious time together!"
"Okay," Raditz said in his smallest possible voice.
He immediately turned and flew away as fast as he could.
"So…" Goku said working up the courage to speak after Tatalia had calmed down a bit, "what do you want to do now that we can't eat at that restaurant?"
"I'm going window shopping, and you're coming with me."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Raditz heard the horrified cry of Goku echo in the night sky as he flew home at top speed. 'Yikes.'
But that wasn't the worst thing that was happening under the light of the stars that night.
At a distant Saiyan outpost on the border of their space, a more sinister evil was at work…
The dark corridors of the space station were littered with debris from the attack that was being inflicted. The pitch blackness due to main power loss was difficult for even a Saiyan to see in. And death cries of many soldiers could be heard reverberating off of the hull. No blasts were ever fired, though. Whatever was slaughtering these Saiyans killed with its bear hands.
One young man crawled behind a console in the control room. He was an ensign who regulated the functions of the comms. system for the entire base. In a situation like this he should have activated a distress beacon, however, when he heard the disgusting gurgling noises of men being decapitated and dismembered, he abandoned his work station and hid.
Now he was crouching behind a console trying to restrain his fear so that the enemy would not detect him. He trembled all over and perspired profusely. His shaky breaths were accompanied by tears that he struggled to keep from falling from his eyes.
He'd heard about death before and was never afraid of it - until now. Most of his crew mates were being killed, but some were dismembered and left alive. Their agonizing screams of pain were nauseating to him and the stench of blood filled the air, but he intended to return to his work station as soon as he worked up the nerve.
He cried because he knew his life would end here. All he could do was hope that he got a message out before it happened.
He froze.
They enemy was in the control room with him.
All of the officers that went out into the hallway to defend the control room hadn't even slowed the creature down.
The ensign could hear crunching sounds coming from the creature's direction. It sounded like it was chewing on something. Then it dawned on him. It was snacking on the severed limbs of the fallen soldiers.
That was it. That was the limit of what the ensign could handle and he immediately hurled the contents of his stomach on the floor right in front of him.
'Shit.'
He had given away his position. The perpetually shadowed monster dropped the leg it was gnawing on and sniffed in the ensigns direction.
'Move, move, move.'
Already having come to terms with his fate, the ensign decided that he wanted to go out with a fight. So he swelled up the ki inside his body and prepared to release every iota of it at once as the creature slowly stalked over to him.
"Take this you sick bastard!" he yelled as he stood up and exploded with ki.
After that, everything became a white blur as he entered a state of blind rage. He had only a vague sense of awareness and it remained that way for a good few minutes.
A deafening scream and shot of pain brought his rational mind back into alignment with his body. It was dark once again and he had a coppery taste in the back of his mouth. It was blood. He touched two of his fingers to his abdominal area, which felt warm and tingly, and realized he had an open gash that went down from his neck to his stomach.
He stumbled over, with the last of his strength, to his work station and collapsed to his knees. Then he saw it. The little blinking L.E.D. of the active beacon.
Somehow, in his daze, he had managed to point the antenna and activate the message. His last duty as a junior ranking Saiyan officer was complete.
Knowing that, he relaxed and fell flat to the floor in a pool of his own blood, letting the darkness take him.