DISCLAIMER: I don't own dbz.
CHAPTER 5: THE WEIGHT OF IT ALL
"Show it to me," Vegeta said as he entered the long range transmission routing room at the core of the royal palace.
"Yes, sir," the operator replied. "This is the only video footage that the rescue team was able to recover."
The static across the giant screen hanging from the ceiling was replaced by a fuzzy dark image.
"What's this?" Vegeta asked.
"It's the footage, sir. The main power on the base was knocked out during the attack. This whole thing was recorded in pitch blackness on emergency power."
"Can you switch it to night vision?"
"I already have an infrared copy being processed, but we'll need to run the un-tampered with version along side it because it gets really bright at one point. It should be done right…about…now."
"Fine, whatever."
"Resuming."
The screen became split between a near black image on the left, and a greenish-gray one on the right. As the recording played out, loud grunting and clicking noises could be heard off screen. Vegeta assumed it was the native language of whatever aliens had boarded the station.
His focus shifted as the crash of a collapsing bulkhead caused a few sparks to fly across the screen. Vibration from the crash had loosened the camera from it's mounts and it fell upside down, dangling inches from the floor by wires. With the image flipped upside down, it became tougher to keep up with. It wasn't enough to cause a problem though.
All of a sudden, the doors at the end of the dark corridor opened and six officers stepped out forming a defense barrier.
"Get back in there Thyne! We need you at your post," the voice of the Captain, who was at the front of the formation, crackled over the static laden audio. "Work on getting power back to the long range transmitter."
The young boy, Thyne, who appeared to be an ensign, saluted his Captain and reluctantly left his companions to buy him time to fix the comms system. Thyne went back into the control room, doors sliding shut behind him. The five who remained each assumed a fighting pose and stood firm for a few minutes.
Finally, when footsteps, presumably the alien creature's, became audible approaching the entrance to the corridor, a man to the right of the Captain broke formation and began sprinting forward to attack. He ran right past the camera, leaving Vegeta and the operator unsure of his proximity to the alien. His battle cry gave them some sort of an idea but was quickly cut off and replaced by gurgling noises. It wasn't hard to guess that the guy was choking on his own blood.
"How's it coming in there?" the Captain yelled to the ensign in the room.
"I've got power, but the antenna needs to be repositioned in order to send a distress call far enough!" Thyne shouted through the glass doors.
"You've got five minutes at best!" the Captain yelled as he watched the three other men next to him take off in the direction of the monster, which was still off screen.
It was painfully evident that the alien creature was out of their league as body parts flew back across the screen toward the Captain, who ducked. A severed head busted through the sliding glass door behind him and landed in front of Thyne, who looked horrified. Thyne could be seen in background diving over a console to the floor in a panic and disappearing from view.
The Captain stood up to full height once again and bowed his head momentarily to say a prayer. After calming himself, he made a suicide dash toward the creature.
Vegeta shook his head as he heard the noise of the Captains body flop to the ground. 'At least he died with honor.'
"Hhhghaaaahh!" the Captain's voice could still be heard as he cried out in agony.
Vegeta's eyes widened as the Captain fell into view right in front of the camera. Actually, it was only the top half of him. He laid on his side, face right up on the camera, unaware that it was on. His eyes were glazed over with tears as he suffered agony beyond comprehension. Fate had decided that he would not die as quickly as his comrades had.
'Move!' Vegeta inwardly cursed at the man who blocked the camera's view of the creature as it walked past him toward the room where Thyne was hidden.
The Captain hacked up blood onto the camera lens and then passed out onto his back. With him down, most of the lens was permitted a view of what was going on in the background. Unfortunately, a smudge of blood inhibited them from identifying the creature.
'Damn!'
The creature that was smudged out stopped shortly after passing through the doorway. It had something in it's hand that it brought up to it's face area.
"Freeze it!" Vegeta blurted out.
The operator immediately paused the video.
"Isolate and enhance grid A-Twenty-One-Hundred," Vegeta ordered, pointing to a part of the thing the creature was holding that was partially un-obscured by the blood smear.
Within five seconds the image was zoomed and sharpened and they both saw what was being held by the creature.
"H- he's taking a bite out of one of the Captain's legs," the operator stuttered in disbelieving horror.
Vegeta ground his teeth in anger and disgust. 'Who would do such a thing?'
"Sir," the operator addressed Vegeta, looking rather pale. "Do you want me to continue?" he asked reluctantly.
"No, I've seen enough."
The operator sighed in relief and pressed a button to deactivate the playback system.
"Notify me when the recovery team completes there assessment of the station. I want a detailed report on that whatever that thing was," Vegeta said in an emotionless tone before turning and exiting the room.
He projected a stern exterior as he walked across the grounds of the royal complex and made his way to his own personal training facility that Bardock had designed for him.
As soon as the doors to his exercise chamber closed behind him, Vegeta staggered over to a bench and collapsed. Sure, he was skilled at keeping his emotions buried on the inside, but he had no control over what they did to him while they were there. He felt as if his guts had been wrenched out of him, pureed, and then re-injected. He couldn't stand to see that done to his Saiyan brethren. This was different than normal pain.
Normal pain to him was either guilt over people he had hurt in the past or just plain physical. This pain, however, sickened him to no end. Seeing one of his own people eaten alive was beyond this hardened warriors tolerable limits. Even he would not wish such a fate on the bitterest of his enemies.
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"Happy Birthday!" everyone cheered and applauded for Geno, who soaked up the attention like a sponge.
Geno was about three feet tall with short brown spiky hair that was parted in the middle. He wore a white jumpsuit with no armor or gloves, and his boots were black.
They had just finished eating and had sung him the standard birthday song for the entire universe.
"Hey, guess what sport," Raditz said to his son who sat in his lap.
"Yeah daddy?"
"I got you're uncle here to agree to train you. He'll teach you how to become a Super Saiyan."
"I will?" Goku said through a spew of juice.
Raditz and Tatalia immediately shot glares at him from across the kitchen table.
"Uh…Of course I will," Goku corrected himself.
Anko, who stood behind the chair Raditz and Geno were in, smiled and rubbed one of her husband's shoulders. "Honey, can I see you alone for a second?" she asked.
"Sure," Raditz said, handing Geno off to Bardock and getting up. "Excuse me," he said to everyone else before following Anko into the living room.
"That was really sweet of you to agree to something like that, Kakarot," Tannipu said as she did the dishes. "I bet it was all you. Raditz is lucky to have a brother like you. He never thinks of anything himself."
"It's nothing mom, really," Goku blushed.
"Cut him some slack Tanni," Bardock started. "You expect too much of him just because he's the oldest. And you treat Kakarot like he's still a little baby."
"That's because he is still my baby." She paused her dishwashing to pinch Goku's cheeks.
"Mom," Goku sighed in embarrassment.
"You know babe," Bardock continued. "You really give him too much credit. He didn't have a choice in the matter. Tatalia made him do it. She even made him agree to a week of school."
"Is this true?" Tannipu raised a curious eyebrow at Tatalia.
"Absolutely," Tatalia claimed with a look of triumph on her face.
"Good for you, Tatalia," she praised enthusiastically. "You know, if you don't put your foot down, men will never respect you. I'm very proud of you." She turned and faced Goku. "You've sure found yourself a good woman, son. Make sure you keep her."
"Respect? Fear is more like it…" Bardock muttered under his breath.
"I heard that…" Tannipu warned Bardock as she resumed cleaning the dishes.
Bardock swallowed his pride and kept his mouth shut after that. One thing that he had warned Goku about was not to regard Saiyan women lightly. Not only did they have a naturally domineering nature, but they also had the strength to impose their will upon you.
There was an uncomfortable silence after that due to Goku's and Bardock's reluctance to strike up any conversation.
Goku sat with his chin resting in his palms and elbows on the table, bored out of his mind. He turned his attention to the living room across the hall and saw Anko whispering something into Raditz' ear while seductively touching his face.
'WTF?' Goku thought.
Raditz giggled and began kissing her neck. Soon they were in a full blown make-out session and started touching each other in…places.
'Yuuuuckkk!' Goku screamed inwardly and shut his eyes. "Excuse me!" he said getting up and running to the bathroom in a hurry.
"Where are you going?" everyone in the kitchen asked him in succession.
"I'm going to hurl!" Goku called from down the hall, right before diving into the bathroom and slamming the door. "Oh God…" he cried in between fits of puke, "it was horrible…I'm going to have nightmares…for weeks!"
Tannipu turned off the running water, having finished the dishes, and listened to Goku's muffled cries, concern written on her face. 'My poor baby. I hope it wasn't any of the food I made…'
Tatalia stood up and looked around, wondering what Goku had seen. When she caught a glimpse of Raditz and Anko getting into it like a couple of teenagers in the living room with the lights off, she nearly lost all the cake and ice cream she had just eaten.
"Aaaahh!" she screamed in horror. "What the hell are you doing? Get a room you freaks!"
Bardock handed Geno to Tannipu and ran into the living room, switching on the lights. "Hey! What the hell are you two doing on my sofa?" He yelled as he pulled them off by the skin of their necks. "How dare you two do that in the open! Raditz, I've had just about enough of your inability to control yourself. That's how you got a kid in the first place! And you, Anko, should know better than to encourage his behavior!" he scolded in a moment of true parenthood.
Bardock began dragging them toward a sliding glass window in the kitchen. He carried them right past Tatalia and Tannipu, who still held her grandson. When he reached the window he slid it open with his teeth and then drop-kicked each of them out. "If you want to do that then do it at your house, not mine! Next time you wont be so lucky!" he yelled out to them before slamming the glass shut behind them, cracking it.
"Ohh, I love it when a man takes charge!" Tannipu pounced on Bardock after dropping Geno on Tatalia.
Bardock was surprised, but soon succumbed to his wife's advances and began kissing her back.
Goku came back from the bathroom looking somewhat queasy and the first thing he saw when he entered the kitchen was his mom and dad all over each other. "Will it never end?" he screamed as he turned tail and ran back to the bathroom to hurl.
Tannipu got up, pulled Bardock off of the floor, and began to quickly walk down the hall to the master bedroom, dragging him behind her.
Tatalia could hear their disgusting giggles of pleasure echo down the hallway. She shuddered at the thought. 'Those two are just as bad as Raditz and Anko. Sometimes, I question the sanity of this family…but I guess being stupid is a small price to pay for being strong.' "Come on Geno. Let's go get your uncle."
"Yay!"
Tatalia set him on his feet and held his hand as they walked over to the bathroom door and knocked.
"Hey…are you okay in there?"
"I'll be alright," Goku said weakly through the door. "Just let me brush my teeth."
"Okay. Uh, me and Geno will go outside and wait for you."
"Alright," he said over the running water. "Don't start training without me."
Tatalia and Geno went upstairs and opened the roof door. They stepped out onto the roof and sat down to wait for Goku.
"So, Geno. Can you fly yet?"
"Um…kinda."
"Oh yeah?"
"Uh-huh. You wanna see?"
"Sure," she smiled.
"Kay," Geno said getting up and planting his feet firmly on the domed roof. He took a sort of power up stance and furrowed his brows in concentration. A soft wind picked up as he summoned his ki and began to push it under him. His hair started to sway in the breeze as he lifted off of the roof a few inches and levitated. It was evident he was trying hard as sweat dripped down his face.
"That's good," Tatalia applauded him.
"No,…I can do more…than this. I can!" he said more to himself than to her.
'The little guy sure is determined.'
Geno closed his eyes as he pushed his ki beneath him as hard as he could. There was a momentary delay of reaction before his ki swelled under him. Then, he shot up an extra ten feet and spiraled out of control.
"Aaaahh! Help! I'm too high!" Geno shouted after looking down. With his ki temporarily used up, he began to fall back down to the roof.
"Gotcha," Goku said as he appeared out of nowhere and caught Geno.
"Uncle! You saved me!"
"Kakarot? Where did you come from? I didn't even notice you come out of the door."
"I don't really have any reason to use doors, Tal," Goku winked at her, indicating the use of Instant Transmission.
"So, are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah, my stomach just had a moment of weakness. And, of course, I saw a few disturbing images that will scar me for life. I'm actually more concerned with Geno here though," Goku said patting him on the head and setting him down. "He burned through his ki pretty quickly."
"He was just showing me his flying. Isn't that right cutie?" she pinched his cheeks.
"Grandma does that too," he muttered as he rubbed his cheeks.
"So, are you guys ready for my training?"
"Yep!" both Tatalia and Geno saluted.
"Alright! It's going to be tough, but if you stick with the exercises I teach you, you'll improve in both skill and strength in no time."
"We're ready to go!" Tatalia sang enthusiastically.
"Okay, let me get my stuff real quick," Goku said disappearing and then reappearing with a black duffle bag.
"What stuff? What's that?"
"It's for your guys' training. Let's find a suitable spot to start and then I'll show you what it is."
"Um, alright."
Goku strapped the duffle bag across his shoulder and then took off. Tatalia followed with Geno on her back. They flew a short distance before landing on the plateau above the waterfall.
"This is good," Goku said setting down the duffle bag gently and unzipping it.
"So what's in there?" Tatalia asked impatiently.
"Yeah, what?" Geno jumped excitedly.
"These will aid in your training," Goku said pulling out several items of weighted clothing.
"Weights? That's it? How much of a difference can those make?"
"These aren't the kind of ordinary weights you're used to, Tal," he said with a grin.
"Oh, come on, Kakarot. Weights can only do so much. There isn't a set of weights heavy enough to make a difference to me."
"Here. Catch." Goku tossed weighted wristbands, boots, and armor in her direction.
The weights landed right in front of her and slammed into the ground with a force so strong that it created a fifty foot deep crater.
Tatalia's and Geno's eyes popped out of their sockets and their jaws dropped in amazement at how such small weights were so heavy. They were left speechless.
"Those are composed of the most dense metal known to exist in the universe. My dad was able to synthesize them from a minute sample he procured in outer space. You should feel lucky. We're the only ones on this planet with those; for the moment. Now, those are just for starters. That set will simulate fifty times normal gravity. I have heavier ones in this duffle bag for you to use as you progress."
"What about me?" Geno asked, raising his hand.
"I have a set of regular weights for you," Goku said, reaching into his duffle bag and pulling out standard beginner weights. "Once you get strong enough, you'll be able to wear the same ones as Tal."
"Oh, okay."
Tatalia stood at the edge of the crater in silence and looked down to the bottom of it in disbelief. 'Those weights…Is this payback for the whole 'week of school' thing?' She sighed and glanced over to Goku who was resting against a rock.
Goku had his trademark Son Grin plastered on his face. "Well, I'm ready whenever you are."
Tatalia's eye twitched. 'Damn him.'