Episode 67
Fearless Impulse
King Cold and the Ginyu Force were standing behind the six DragonBalls. Zarbon and Dodoria kept themselves in the back, but enough for the Z-warriors to also see them. They both saw Bardock with their very own eyes and immediately, anger burnt inside of them.
"Hey, looks like we have all seven DragonBalls right here!" Recoome stared at them.
"Thank you for making the job easier for us, you insolent Saiyans!" Guldo insulted.
Elder Moori tried to conceal himself from their foes. Krillin and Gohan backed away a little while keeping vigilant to their surroundings still. Bardock and Raditz stood beside each other, maintaining worried expressions. Bardock was particularly staring at King Cold and realized how much he bore a resemblance to Frieza. In truth, he had never met him, but he had heard of his name and he was talked about many times. He realized that this tyrant was the very one he kept seeing in his visions aside from Frieza.
He felt his power level and it was massive. He became uneasy by this discovery he made, but he kept his valor intact.
Bardock recognized Guldo, but his other comrades were obviously unfamiliar to him. They were definitely the aliens he saw a few times in his visions and he guessed that this was the special elite squad, the Ginyu Force. He wondered how powerful they could be.
As for King Cold, he was only familiar with Vegeta and Raditz, but he assumed that the one with the red bandanna was Bardock, this mysterious, unrelenting Saiyan who tried to stop Frieza from destroying Planet Vegeta. Nevertheless, Saiyans or not, recognizable or totally unfamiliar, they will all share one common, cruel fate at the end and that was to be conquered by him and fall into endless oblivion.
Captain Ginyu crossed his arms. "It's nice to see you, Vegeta, Raditz. It's a total shame though that you guys just don't know when to quit, do you? Rebelling against Lord Frieza is the greatest mistake you could ever make!"
Burter nudged Jeice. "Hey, Vegeta's recovered from his injuries, but he still looks a lot weaker compared to us. Hah, what a pity."
Jeice laughed. "Heh, you got that right. It takes more than a mere power boost to overcome the mighty Ginyu Force!"
Vegeta overheard what they said. He clenched his fists tightly and then, he began to argue with Raditz and Bardock. "Tch! Now look what you've done. You had to waste time and now we have to deal with this. If only I had immortality now, I would've easily wiped them out at this second!"
"Hmph…relying on just immortality?" Raditz was not impressed with what he said. "You really don't know what real strength is, you conceited prince."
"Don't start getting conceited yourself, Raditz," Vegeta warned. "What are you trying to say? Are you saying that you'll take on Frieza's father and the Ginyu Force combined? You're only low-class soldiers! What you're only asking for is for your own dooms unless if that's what you really want at the end."
Bardock suddenly said, "You better stop underestimating us too much, Vegeta, or you might regret it soon."
King Cold, this time, stopped their argument. "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation, but we can't delay any more time. You see, all of these DragonBalls belong to ours."
Everyone gasped.
"They're going to steal the DragonBalls!" Gohan pointed out.
"We can't let them!" Krillin shook his head.
Burter smirked. "Oh, but wait a second, your Majesty. It seems that one of the DragonBalls is still in the hands of our bald friend here."
The Z-warriors noticed that Krillin was still carrying the DragonBall from Guru. Vegeta immediately thought that if he could not get the power of immortality, then no one should ever get this power.
Vegeta suddenly ordered him, "Hey, you! Destroy that DragonBall now!"
"What?" Krillin looked at him, unsure if he heard him right.
"Just do it or else they'll get it!" Vegeta yelled.
There was no time to think or doubt him. Without second thoughts, Krillin was about to smash the DragonBall into pieces.
"Hey, wait!" Bardock tried to stop him though.
Yet, something strange happened. Krillin and the rest could not move for a second as if they were paralyzed. Then, a second later, they could move again, but Krillin noticed the DragonBall in his hands was gone. He wondered where it was and soon realized it was already in the hands of Guldo.
"Heh, heh," Guldo snickered.
"How-how in the world he was able to get that?" Gohan asked.
Vegeta tightened his fists. "So it's true what they say…Guldo may look weak, but he has the power to stop time in an instant."
Everyone was surprised to hear that a stout and strange creature like him could possess a very useful technique. For Gohan and Bardock, it finally explained how Guldo was able to escape from them before: by stopping time and allowing himself to escape, leaving Gohan and Bardock to wonder how Guldo just disappeared from the battlefield all of a sudden.
Ginyu smirked. "Good work. Now you may be wondering how you can get these DragonBalls back. Well, it's obvious. You have to deal with us first, but careful. We're pretty sinister and powerful, it won't be an easy task. Men!" he then called them out.
The Ginyu Force formed a straight line and decided to make a presentation of their entrance, to show off their style in front of their opponents just to intimidate them and make them remember the supreme power of their group.
Dodoria rolled his eyes. "Here they go again."
King Cold was not expecting this, but he should have. He was already embarrassed.
"This is making me sick," Zarbon expressed with disgust.
Once more, each member did his crazy pose. They introduced their names and announced that they were the illustrious Ginyu Force and that all those who had known or seen them should fear their name. The Z-warriors were baffled by this after watching their choreography. Being reputed as one of the most powerful forces of the galaxies, this quite contradicted with their personalities and style.
"Look at them. They must be scared stiff!" Burter believed after noticing that they appeared to be frozen on the spot.
"Hah, hah! We must've blown their minds away, that's for sure!" Guldo laughed.
The Z-fighters, however, were not intimidated at all.
"Is this really…the Ginyu Force, Raditz?" Bardock raised an eyebrow.
"Oh yeah, I should've told you how annoying these guys get every time I see their faces," Raditz said.
Ginyu heard what he said and cautioned him. "Watch your mouth, Raditz. You haven't beaten us yet, so I suggest you shut up unless you can put your words to action. Besides, you're just a low-class. What makes you think you have the strength now to defeat us, huh?" he challenged him.
"…I'm not the same as before. That's all I'm going to tell you now," Raditz seriously told him.
King Cold believed all this bickering and exchange of clever remarks were getting them nowhere. He immediately got down to business by snapping his fingers and then raising his right hand to lift and carry all seven DragonBalls in mid-air. He maneuvered the orbs to float closer to them.
"Hey!" Vegeta yelled. He was about to retrieve the DragonBalls himself, but King Cold gave him a menacing glare, making him stop in place. He almost forgot how King Cold carries a lot of terrifying power.
Ginyu turned to his comrades. "You guys can handle a bunch of weaklings here, right? Why not I take these DragonBalls back to Lord Frieza while you deal with them if the king is all right with that?" he then asked for his approval.
King Cold smirked and said he would not argue with it at all. He then glanced at Zarbon and Dodoria. Knowing they were useless at this point, at least in terms of skill in battle, he proposed to them instead, "You two can go with him and get these DragonBalls back to my son's ship. I'll stay here with Guldo, Recoome, Jeice, and Burter…those are your names, right?"
They nodded, saying he was very much correct.
"Certainly, Sir!" Ginyu obeyed. He then asked for Zarbon and Dodoria to come along with him then.
"Don't order me around. I know what to do," Zarbon whispered angrily.
The Z-warriors watched with shock to see all seven DragonBalls being snatched away and now stolen by the hands of their enemies again. They watched them disappear in the skies. They wanted to stop them but with the Ginyu Force and King Cold standing in their way, they had no choice but to stay put.
Vegeta was beyond angry. He believed his chance for immortality, he could no longer grasp it. "I can't believe this. Why didn't you just heed to my words earlier?!" he reprimanded both Raditz and Bardock.
Both father and son completely ignored what he said, but they felt the same intensity of frustration as the prince did. How about their wish of reviving their fallen friends? It just goes to show that they must deal with this problem first; however, panic could not subside as they were thinking that all of their wishes would be used up and there might be no hope for them at the end.
"We have to get them back somehow. Elder Moori, we need to do something!" Krillin said worriedly.
Elder Moori was strangely calm, however. He seemed to have a lot more faith in him than ever before. "Do not worry. Frieza will have a hard time getting his wish and probably at that time, it would be far too late for him to get what he wants."
"What? What do you mean?" asked Gohan with heightened curiosity.
Moori answered him, "As I've always mentioned to you, Namekians may be weak, but we're pretty clever creatures. Our sharp wits can outsmart our enemies no matter how strong they are."
"Uh…can you please explain what this clever plan you got then, if that's what you're implying?" Krillin hoped he knew what he was talking about.
Moori lowered the tone of his voice. "I can't say it too loud, not as long our enemies are here, but let's just say, those who don't know the Namekian language will never understand us."
Gohan and Krillin slowly looked at each other. Perhaps they could finally see the connection between the DragonBalls and the necessity of having a Namekian to summon the dragon. For now though, they just needed to trust in Moori. Bardock and Raditz also heard what the village elder said and hoped that whatever he was thinking would still allow them to use the DragonBalls for their own purposes.
King Cold then folded his arms and kept everyone in suspense for a while. Vegeta was sweating, his heart beating fast. He was more worried about King Cold. Did he really have to face him at this time?
However, the nature of the Prince of all Saiyans was not to back down that easily. He was about to announce that he would fight them one by one, but then, King Cold spoke first.
"Provide me some entertainment. I would hate to be disappointed. If the Ginyu Force is really that powerful, then prove to me that you are."
Burter used his scouter to calculate the power levels of Vegeta, Bardock, Raditz, and the rest. At the moment, their combat strengths seemed miniscule. "Hah, I'm not surprised. I'm pretty sure we can destroy them in less than five minutes."
Jeice, Recoome, and Guldo began to chuckle amongst themselves while King Cold just waited patiently for the battle to begin.
Bardock turned to his son and nodded to him and his son nodded back. Bardock then said, "My son and I will fight all four of you first."
Recoome guffawed. "Hah! You're disappointingly hilarious! You two? Bunch of third-class fighters? You think you can really win?"
Guldo though knew a little better than the rest. "Careful though. That guy has something up in his sleeves."
"No way," Jeice did not believe in him. "A low-class will always be low-class. All right then, if you guys really wanna fight us…hey, let's do rock-paper-scissors and see which one of us gets to fight who!"
""I kinda wanna fight Vegeta," Recoome already decided. "I had a lot of fun beating him into a pulp before."
Vegeta growled in response.
"Let's be fair this time, Recoome," Burter snickered. "Rock-paper-scissors is the way to go."
"Okay," Recoome was half-disappointed.
Jeice, Guldo, Burter, and Recoome formed a circle and briefly did their rock-paper-scissors game. They decided that the first winner would get Vegeta, the second winner would fight Bardock, the third one would battle Raditz, and the last one would have to deal with Krillin and Gohan.
Gohan gulped uneasily. Krillin tried to calm him down. "Stay focus, Gohan. We may not know what they're up to, but we gotta be prepared."
Vegeta grunted. He couldn't believe he would think like this, but for once in his life, he may need some actual help.
Krillin then came up to Raditz and Bardock. "Hey, we have to be careful with these guys. They may look stupid, but they're actually pretty strong. I've been feeling out their energies while they were talking. I think Gohan and I can handle those two over there," he planned out, glancing at Guldo and Jeice, "and you two can handle-"
Bardock shook his head. "No, you and Gohan stay back and keep close to Elder Moori. Raditz and I can fight the Ginyu Force."
Raditz agreed with him. "We can handle them, don't worry."
"What?" Krillin doubted. "Are you guys sure about this? But they look strong to me."
Vegeta overheard their plan and became frustrated. "Did you not hear me earlier? What makes you think you can beat the Ginyu Force on your own? You low-class scums are trying too hard to be the elites you could never be!"
"Shut your mouth, Vegeta," Bardock demanded. "I've heard enough from you for one day."
Vegeta despised him beyond imagination. "What did you just say to me? How dare you speak to me like that!"
"Let me ask you: can you actually handle the Ginyu Force all alone?" Bardock questioned.
Vegeta was silenced and could not argue back for a moment.
Recoome then cheered so loud, catching the attention of the Z-warriors. "Yes, hah, hah! I get Vegeta again!"
Guldo rolled his eyes. "Why do I have to be the last? I have to deal with the small fry over there," he referred to Gohan and Krillin.
"Nah, don't worry about it Guldo," Burter said. "Besides, you get to fight someone who's about your own size."
"Was that meant to be an insult?" Guldo gnashed his teeth.
Jeice went to King Cold and saluted to him. "My lord, I hope you're all right with this line-up of men-"
"I don't care who fights who. I just want to see if the four of you can survive or not," King Cold seriously said, tired of constantly hearing, what he deemed to be, their childish games.
The Ginyu Force gulped hard. They did not know, but all this time they were just trying their king's patience. They had better start their mission and wage war against the Z-warriors before they would personally be dealt with by their king.
Despite King Cold's occasional quick tempers, a hint of was interest spread across his eyes. He was very curious about Bardock's and Raditz's powers. His scouter may say so otherwise about the readings of their level of strengths; they may be hiding some of that power.
"All right, first up!" Jeice was about to announce who would fight in the first round until Bardock and Raditz interrupted them.
"No need for formalities. Just come at us all at once," Raditz told them.
The Ginyu Force disapproved his proposal right away.
"But that's not gonna be fair for us," complained Recoome. "We actually spent some time coming up with the fighting, tournament bracket or whatever you call it…at least in our minds."
Raditz kept taking this seriously. "This is no time to play games because for you guys, it all ends here now."
"Hmph. You Saiyans can be so stubborn," Jeice told them.
He and Bardock then positioned themselves to their fighting stances with their senses intensifying, their auras gradually emerging and expanding, ready to reveal their hidden powers that had been unlocked inside of them.
King Cold was finding this to be very interesting. They seemed to be different from any ordinary Saiyan, he believed.
Vegeta stood in silent rage still. "Tch! What fools. Acting so high and mighty in front of someone they're going to lose to."
Just before their battle had commenced, all of a sudden, there was a sparkle that appeared in the skies. It looked like a star at first and then, sounds analogous to a ship landing can be heard from a distance. Everyone looked up and followed where that "star" was coming from and where it was going to fall. Once the object was closer to be seen, it became clear to them that this was no star. It turned out to be definitely a ship that was about to make a landing on one of the islands.
"Huh? Who's that?" Krillin wondered.
But Gohan already knew who it was. He could almost feel it in his mind and he became excited. "I know who that is! It must be my dad!"
"Goku?" Krillin had almost forgotten about his friend. He was now relieved that he arrived on time. They could really use his help now.
Bardock and Raditz gave a slight grin. They were looking forward to see Goku again.
Of course, their enemies had no idea who they were talking about except for Vegeta who felt nothing but anger again growing inside his chest without end. Goku was a Saiyan and Saiyans were a kind of warrior race where becoming stronger was one of their passions, their main purposes in life to help them face challenging opponents out there. As much as Vegeta did not want to admit it, Goku had beaten him countless times, and assuming Goku himself should have done some intense training before arriving here, Vegeta thought there was this intolerable chance again that Goku could still be many levels of training ahead of him.
Vegeta could not understand why simple, lowly Saiyans like Goku, Raditz, and Bardock could become prevailing warriors.
King Cold and the Ginyu Force turned around to find this mysterious spaceship making a landing. Then, there was complete silence.
"…reinforcements, I presume?" King Cold asked.
Indeed, on the island where that spaceship landed, the door of the ship opened and out came Goku. He was wearing his famous orange and blue uniform, but a fresh new one. He had his bag of Senzu Beans attached around his waist. A short breeze came in, making his hair and belt fly with the winds. As calm and humble he may be, another kind of strength was living inside him, which he achieved from his rigorous training while in outer space, from his steadfast mind and indomitable spirit.
Goku closed his eyes and immediately felt many kinds of energies residing in this planet, both good and bad. He felt two overwhelming power levels and he guessed that these were the two tyrants that King Kai was talking about. He also felt two more life forces that made him surprised. He could sense Bardock's and Raditz's strengths were beyond what he expected them to be.
"They must be in that direction," Goku knew a battle was about to happen soon. "Something's going on. I just hope everyone's doing okay. There's not a minute to spare. Let's see if one-hundred times gravity had really paid off!"
In a flash, Goku's body glowed in crimson aura as he already switched to his Kaioken form without having to shout the words. His body was now fully conditioned to handle the effects of this double-edged technique; therefore, he can use this skill to extremes without putting himself into heavy exhaustion and grave danger. Up ahead, King Cold and the Ginyu Force could see this glowing red figure coming towards them, from where they were standing.
"Who is that?" King Cold tried to see who it really was.
Afterwards, their enemies turned towards Bardock and Raditz who now had grins on their faces. It seemed like they have a plan up in their sleeves, a scheme of theirs they needed to be careful about. A bright light shone ahead and soon, Goku was already in the battlefield with a swift, surprising entry. He relaxed his own power and stopped being in his Kaioken form for a moment. He perfectly stopped between his father and older brother. Bardock and Raditz did not have to turn their heads to see if it was really Goku.
Vegeta tightened his fists. "Kakarot…"
"Goku!" Krillin cheered excitedly.
"Daddy, you made it!" Gohan laughed with joy.
"He's your father?" Elder Moori asked the boy.
Gohan nodded eagerly. "Yeah! He's really strong. Don't worry, Elder Moori. He's here to save your people, too!"
Moori gave a sigh of relief.
Goku looked at Krillin and Gohan and smiled wide. "Hey, guys. How's it going?"
"Daddy, I'm so glad you're here!" Gohan was about to approach him and embrace him, but Goku had to stop him, unfortunately.
"Stay back for now, my son. It looks like we got some company," Goku focused on the Ginyu Force and King Cold. He immediately displayed a serious expression to show them that he was here on this planet for one purpose.
The Ginyu Force was puzzled to see him.
"Who is this guy? Is he a Saiyan?" Jeice asked.
"I don't know," Burter used his scouter, "but according to his power level, he's pretty weak to me."
King Cold examined him from head to toe. He looked like a Saiyan, but his name did not match that of a typical Saiyan name unless he was called something different by his friends.
Goku then noticed Vegeta and knew that he was one of the major causes creating chaos to this innocent planet, but he was surprised to see him standing beside his family and friends. He briefly looked around the battle site and asked, "Vegeta? Are you actually on our side now?"
Vegeta rejected the idea. "Don't be ridiculous. There's no way in my lifetime that I'd join you and your petty friends."
Goku gave a look. He should have known better than to trust him.
Goku then finally made eye contact with Bardock and Raditz and greeted them with another smile on his face. "Hey, Dad, Raditz. It's been a long time, huh?"
"Kakarot," they smiled back.
"How you're handling trouble here?" asked Goku.
"Well, the trouble has just begun," Bardock moved his head, telling him to keep his eyes on King Cold and the Ginyu Force. Goku did and one by one, he felt the energies of their enemies.
"They look really strong especially that guy," Goku looked at King Cold. "I'm getting a bad feeling about him."
King Cold stared back at him.
Recoome was getting impatient, he had to say, "All right, I don't really care who you are, but you know what they say: 'the more, the merrier.' Heh, heh. It's about time we start the fight!"
Meanwhile, Bardock, Raditz, and Goku were sharing this mental understanding. Their reunion must be cut short for now until their enemies are vanquished. Without the need to speak words, Bardock, Raditz, and Goku decided they should team up and take on the Ginyu Force members first as they were the ones who were challenging them at the moment.
"All right then," Goku spoke. "My dad, brother, and I will fight you guys, but I'll give you a chance to leave if you know what's good for you. We can avoid this violence altogether or we can do this the hard way."
Jeice was annoyed. "Are you kidding me? Don't tell us what to do, mystery man. We're the ones running the place here. All right then, you're just wasting our time here. If you guys want to fight all of us at once, Recoome, Guldo, why not you two take them on first? Give them the first bloody punch and let's see if they'll keep on squealing like what they're doin' now!"
Recoome cracked his knuckles. "Well, I was supposed to fight Vegeta first, but I guess we can deal with you three. Careful though. I won't go easy on you. Hah, hah! Now, with brute, mighty force and unpredictable, psychic powers combined, you Saiyans will definitely lose to Guldo and I."
Guldo stood beside his comrade. He was very nervous.
"Well, you'll never know unless we try, right?" Goku then switched to his fighting stance and so did Bardock and Raditz. The three full-blooded Saiyans were prepared to do battle.