Chapter 3: The Agreement
Crying. Piercing. Water taste in his mouth. Anger. Bubbling. Bardock spins. Kakarot cries. Begin to shout. Something is wrong. A noise from behind Kakarot. Too slow. Blinding light. Where's Kakarot. The old man stands in the bush. Others around him. And there's the prodigal son. Face down in the dirt.
Dead.
Kakarot's dead.
Screaming rage burns in Bardock. The warriors stand shocked. The old namekian had missed him. It was aimed at Bardock, not the boy. A blast fires from Bardock's hand. Hits the largest man, forcing a hole directly through the man's chest. But that doesn't quench the saiyan's rage. Nothing will.
Ever.
And then it's over.
Bile rises in Bardock's throat, forcing him to the ground, bent over in pain. The cool grass calms his mind. Kakarot stares curiously at his father, who had been fine only just a moment ago. The child had no idea about the burden the Bardock carried. Despite Bardock's best efforts, vomit wouldn't come up. It laid in his stomach, taunting him. The bile refused him the right to expel the horrific vision from his mind. Kakarot began to cry, not sure how to react to the sudden mood change of his father. The crying set some deep part of Bardock's psyche alight.
"Kakarot, shut the fuck up Or I'll kill you like I did to those other people!"
The baby was too far gone. Any attempts to quell the child's tears would be pointless. Some part of Bardock knew that. There was only one thing he could do. Forcing himself to his feet, he stomped over to his son and raised his hand. Before the young saiyan could understand what was happening, his father's hand slammed into his face, sending him sprawling backwards.
The crying stopped.
The only thing left was silence.
The lookout was teeming with life. Though it rarely ever happened, Kami was always happy whenever he received visitors. Sadly, there was very little time for pleasantries. The three martial artists that stood before Kami and his assistant were nervously chatting between each other. After clearing his throat, Kami addressed the warriors.
"I am very sorry that the first time we would all have to meet each other would be under these dire circumstances. I have gathered you all here for one reason. The large ki that landed on the planet one week ago, has made contact with me. He has made it clear that his goals are not noble."
Kami paused, allowing for the martial artists to internalize the situation.
"I have reason to believe that he may destroy the planet."
The cheerful mood of the previous conversations had now fully disappeared. Anticipation hung over the air, making it hard to breathe.
"That is indeed grave," spoke one of the martial artists. He truly didn't look like much, his old face and scrawny arms not filling Kami with much confidence. The turtle shell on his back didn't help much either.
"So what would you have us do then, Guardian of Earth?"
Kami couldn't bring himself to look into the eyes of those men. His plan was suicide. There was nothing he could do.
But he had to do something.
For too long, Kami had let others fight and die for the sake of the world while he sat from his ivory tower. At least in his plan, he would have done something with his life before it was over.
"Have any of you heard of King Piccolo?"
A flash of fear passed by the oldest man's eyes.
"Yes," he spoke, staring at the ground as he did, "My master was the one who defeated him at the cost of his own life."
Kami gave a solemn look of acknowledgement before continuing,
"The only way we can defeat this monster is to replicate the technique that defeated King Piccolo. The evil containment wave."
"But doesn't that require a sacrifice to work," the old man asked.
Kami nodded.
"Leave that to me. I will be the one performing the technique. But I need help. He is much too strong for only me to contain him. We must all work together if my plan is to work."
The largest man stepped forward,
"Count me in. There's no way that this monster can beat us when both Master Roshi and Gohan are here."
Gohan and Roshi both gave a nod, agreeing with the boisterous man's statement. Kami smiled. The bravery of humans never ceased to amaze him.
"Then our training must begin. Come at me with everything you've got, all of you."
The three stood stunned before settling into their stances and preparing an attack. Their training would be difficult but if they failed then there would be nothing left.
They never really had much choice.
Bardock was stunned. For a moment his rage had taken over him. But after it had subsided, he was just left with emptiness. Kakarot, leaning against the rock he was hit into, was still reeling from the hit he'd taken. His crying had stopped. He didn't need to cry anymore. Bardock stared at his hand. It shook violently but differently than it ever had before. He'd hit Raditz before when he still lived on Vegeta. Somehow, this was different. Weakly, Bardock's eyes moved to his son. Kakarot stared up at his father, his eyes wet but no tears came out. Steely determination danced behind the child's eyes.
"Don't look at me like that, you're a goddamn saiyan," Bardock said with feigned stoicism.
His heart still beat too quick.
And Kakarot didn't stop looking at him.
His hands still shook.
And Fasha didn't stop looking at him.
He wanted to cry.
And the saiyans didn't stop looking at him.
"I didn't ask to live," Bardock roared at no one. Falling to his knees, Bardock slammed his fists in the ground, over and over until his knuckles bled.
He kept going.
The pain felt good. That rush. He never knew how much he just wanted to hurt.
Again and again, cracks were exploding out from the point of impact. He threw his head into the dirt.
Again and again.
Something touched his shoulder.
Bardock spun around, flames burning from his eyes to see his son.
Kakarot's mouth began to awkwardly move, not sure exactly sure what to do. "S-s-saiyan," the boy mumbled.
Bardock stared at his son, not sure how to react to what he had just heard.
The floodgates opened.
He held his son in his arms and tears began to flow. Kakarot just stood, not sure how to move.
Bardock screamed.
For anyone to hear.
But there was no one alive who could still hear him.
It had been a week since Bardock's vision and things were slowly returning to normal. He'd been keeping Kakarot much closer to him, not wanting him to be caught alone. His training had begun as well. Progress was slow and Bardock often stormed off from a training session, angry at his son's weak nature. After their most recent 'training session', Bardock had returned to the river to clean of his face and drink. The training was taking too much out him. Sleep was a foreign concept for him now. The nightmares had become too much for him to handle, giving a lot of time to ponder. He often left the urge to return to the old namekian. Bardock's arrogance in their first encounter was a brash decision, one he would soon correct. If was going to train Kakarot to kill that bastard Frieza, then he would need time to train. Being distracted was something they couldn't afford. Bardock, after finishing at the river, called to Kakarot,
"Hey, Kakarot. Get over here"
The little boy trotted over on his stumpy legs, responding happily,
"Saiyan!"
Ever since he had figured out how to say the name of his race, it was the only thing he would say. It didn't annoy Bardock that much so he let the kid keep it up.
"Hop up, kid," Bardock said pointing to his back. Like a small monkey, Kakarot leapt onto his father's back. Bardock began to slowly rise into the air before speeding off in the direction of the old namekian. He needed to fix his relationship with him or elseā¦
There might not be anyone left to fight Frieza.
Kami's training was going a lot slower than he hoped it would. In this last week, they had barely increased in power. They were all past their prime, warriors of a previous generation. But they had to try. He could still that monstrous power every day, taunting him. It was only getting stronger. He was in the middle of a sparring match with Gohan when he felt it. The power.
It was coming.
"Everyone! He's coming! Get ready!"
Master Roshi, who was sparring with Ox King, felt it as well and prepared to fight. They could see the blue aura of the monster as it came closer and closer before finally coming to rest in front of them.
"I'm not here to fight if that's why you're all here," said Bardock as he helped Kakarot off of his back. Kami stared in confusion. The other warriors were equally confused but stood strong.
"Then why have you come," asked Kami. He didn't buy this for one second. There was evil festering within that monsters heart. The child that came with him began to stumble around the lookout. Why did he bring a child, Kami thought.
"I want to propose a truce. If we fight each other, the people around us are going to get hurt," Bardock proposed. He noticed that they were more interesting in Kakarot than they were in his proposal of peace.
"This is my son, Kakarot."
"Saiyan," said Kakarot.
Kami shakily responded,
"Why should we believe that you will honour this agreement."
Bardock let out a small laugh,
"I don't care what you believe. I don't want my son getting hurt cause I'm a shitty dad though. So that's why I'm proposing this truce."
A moment of silence followed.
Kami didn't know what to think or feel. His mind was screaming not to trust this man. He was evil.
Pure evil.
But when he looked into his eyes, he only saw a father concerned for his son.
"Ok," Kami reluctantly muttered, "We will honor this agreement. Not for you but for your son."
Ox-King protested,
"No Kami! We need to take him out now. He's just going to be a threat later."
"You're welcome to try," Bardock chuckled as he dashed past the large man, "but I don't think you can win."
Ox-King spun around and fell backwards.
"That's what I thought. I'll be leaving now. Come on, Kakarot."
The small boy leapt into air and landed in his father's arms. Kami was taken aback at the young boy's display of power. Barely able to walk but could jump like that.
"My name's Bardock, by the way," he said as he floated up into the air, "If you ever need me, just call."
He let out a laugh before dashing off through the sky. Master Roshi rushed over to Kami and said,
"Do you think he's going to honour of deal, Kami."
Kami stood silently for a moment. He had no answer to give the old man. He could only watch as his biggest fear flew away from him. The boy, Kakarot. Kami knew it wasn't the last time he would see him. He had a destiny.
Well that was exciting, wasn't it. Hello, I'm mAskMaN09, the author of Saiyan Regret. Though it's only three chapters long, I hope this is at least slightly interesting. If you have any questions about things in the story or about me, (don't really know why you would) leave a review and I will try to answer them. I thought I might give you some idea on the power levels of the characters as there is a little bit of
contention within the DB community:
Bardock (Planet Vegeta) - 10,000
Kakarot (Planet Vegeta) - 5
Bardock (Post Zenkai) - 11,000
Kami - 220
Master Roshi - 80
Gohan - 60
Ox-King - 45
Bardock (Post Training) - 11,050
Kakarot (Post Training) - 10
Kami (Post Training) - 230
Master Roshi (Post Training) - 90
Gohan (Post Training) - 72
Ox-King (Post Training) - 56
I hope that clears some stuff up
-mAskMaN09
