"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Kakarot let out a scream of pure terror as he plummeted down to his doom "ONIIIIIIIIIIIII-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!" he screamed out, hoping to be saved before painfully colliding with the group of familiars below. Gripping his sword, the young Saiyan tried to concentrate enough to form a platform to stop himself from falling. However, the fear of certain death seemed to stop him from being able to use any type of magic.
Right before hitting the ground, Kakarot felt someone grab him. Opening his eyes he saw his brother holding him in his arms while running away from the group of familiars that would've surely killed the young boy "Goddammit Kakarot I thought I told you to be careful!" Raditz huffed as he placed his sibling on the ground "I-I'm sorry!" he tried to apologize "I-I just lost control of my magic..." "It's okay, just..." the elder sighed as he gripped his spear, glaring at the demon "Look, just take care of these familiars. We'll talk about this later" he stated. He started to spin the spear around in his hands. Kakarot took a step back as he watched green flames emit from the weapon his brother was holding. "SATURDAY CRASH!" Raditz yelled out as he dashed forward.
Kakarot watched in awe as his brother plowed through numerous familiars, easily making his way towards the ginormous turtle-like demon. Letting out a sigh, the young Saiyan gripped his sword, trying to focus his magic. "I wonder if I can make a special attack like Onii-chan..." staring at the familiars in front of him, an idea suddenly came to him. Smiling to himself, the younger created four more swords around him. "I hope this works..!"
"KA..." Kakarot threw the sword he was holding in his hand with all his might towards one of the turtle's familiars, piercing its body and killing it instantly. Surprised at how strong he is while transformed, the young Saiyan grabbed one of the swords he summoned and threw it as well "ME..." killing another one of the familiars, Kakarot repeated the same process two more times "HA... ME..." grabbing the fifth and last sword, he took a deep breath as he jumped back, doing a backflip in the process. He felt his feet make contact with the platform he managed to make behind him. Kakarot bounced off of it with all his might as he charged forward "HA!"
Kakarot felt the air zoom past him as he killed many familiars in his path. Of course, since he was still a rookie at fighting demons, he eventually crashed and hit the ground. Painfully, he might add. Coughing up sand, he quickly stood up. He spun around and almost froze as he stared on at the destruction he'd caused. "Whoa..." he breathed out at the sight of the empty path he'd created with dead familiars slowly dissipating to dust.
Now hyped on adrenaline, Kakarot charged forward, dual wielding his double-edged swords. He swung them, slicing and dicing at the familiars, killing many of them in the process. He was having so much fun! He was so much stronger while transformed... He was faster and more agile, too... Suddenly, he felt a huge gust of wind hit him as an ear-piercing scream rung through the air. Covering his ears, Kakarot glanced over to the demon to see that his brother had defeated it. He smiled as the labyrinth disappeared around them.
"Well, that could've gone better..." Raditz let out a sigh as he walked over to his brother. He brought a hand up to his chest. His soul gem began emitting a green glow and Kakarot saw his brother transform back to normal quickly after that. The young Saiyan grimaced as he attempted to do the same, placing a hand on his stomach. The elder tilted his head, seemingly confused "You... having trouble over there, Carrot...?" "A little, yeah..." he felt his face turning red as he looked away. He felt so embarrassed that he couldn't even manage to transform back...
Luckily, Raditz didn't seem to be mad at the younger. Instead of getting annoyed, he smiled "You need to calm down, first of all. Focus all your magic towards your hand over your soul gem and try to force it into a single spot." Hearing the explanation, the younger Saiyan nodded. He knew that his brother had said this before, but it always felt nice to hear the elder's supporting words. He took a deep breath and tried to do as his brother told him. He felt as if a gentle silk sheet passed over his skin as the magic formed into a ring on his middle finger. It felt strange, but at the same time comforting.
"I gotta say, you did pretty well out there today, Carrot" Raditz smiled as he picked up the grief seed off the ground. "No I didn't..." Kakarot sighed "I lost control of my magic again..." "It's not surprising, really... You've only been doing this for a week, after all" the elder put his hands in his pockets as he began walking home, his brother following soot. "That being said... I noticed that you've already created a special attack for yourself" he laughed. The younger tilted his head, confused "Well... Yeah...? I mean, you shouted 'Saturday crash', and it was a really cool attack!"
Raditz chuckled as he ran his fingers through his hair, blushing slightly "Kakarot, you don't need to make up an attack name... It doesn't impact the power of it at all, really..." "Eh? Then why did you do it..?" "Ahah... Let's not talk about that..." he smiled as he ruffled the younger's hair. "B-But you looked so cool while doing it!" Kakarot puffed his cheeks, protesting "How come you're so good at this Saiyan thing?" his brother laughed again "I've been doing this for four years, Carrot... You just get better over time, really..."
"Well, I guess I also got some help from some friends of mine as well..." "Eh?" Kakarot tilted his head, curious "What kind of friends?" a wide smile then spread over his face "Can they help me get as strong as you, too? Can I meet them?" "Eh, if we go hunting in their territory, we might see them." The younger went silent. He was a bit confused. Territories? What was that supposed to meet? His brother must have noticed his confusion, since he smiled again "Let me explain..."
"You see, it's an unwritten rule between us Saiyans that the city is divided into four... districts, let's call it. We say it's a rule because it's considered impolite to go hunting in another Saiyan's territory and they pretty much have the right to kick you out of there by force. Me and you are in the South district. The demons here are pretty random, honestly. They can be pretty weak but they can also be dangerously tough. You following me so far?" "Uh... I think so..." Kakarot said. "So there are three more districts? And the demons are different in each one?" "Bingo" his brother smiled.
"Opposite of us is the North. From what I've heard, it's a pretty docile area, nothing really happens over there. The demons tend to be pretty weak, so the Saiyans over there are pretty friendly, but inexperienced. Us Southern Saiyans are pretty similar as in we're all fairly nice to one another. I mean I can't speak for all of us, but that's the general stereotype. Next is the West. The demons there are tough, as are the Saiyans. I've also noticed that they're mostly cold and prefer to work alone..." he shrugged. Kakarot listened to his brother talk and he could almost feel his head hurting from all this new information he was absorbing into his brain.
"And the East... Well..." Raditz frowned as he looked down at his brother "Whatever you do, do NOT go there. The demons there are incredibly strong, and the Saiyans are no better... All of the Saiyans I've met over there are very territorial and stuck-up and just plain assholes... Especially those twins..." Raditz growled. Kakarot let out a sigh as he grabbed his head "Jeez... There's more to this Saiyan thing that I thought..." Raditz let out a chuckle as he ruffled the younger's hair once again "Well, to be fair, I told you not to make a contract, didn't I?" "Well...Yeah, but... shut up..." Kakarot felt his cheeks burning. And of course, his brother teased him over that while they walked home.
"GODDAMMIT I HATE THESE THINGS!" Raditz let out a cry of rage as he tried to stop the demon from running any further. Now, while his brother had the luxury of having super speed, Kakarot only had the option of running as fast as he could while trying to keep the platforms from disappearing. The ground under them was almost like acid, so the younger figured it'd be best to not fall. But even though he was feeling tired and could barely manage to keep up, he was just having so much fun! "I never knew demons could run like this!" he breathed out.
"Yeah well they can. And they're annoying!" his brother growled as he attacked the runaway demon. Kakarot noticed that they weren't doing that much damage, and he started to get worried. "U-uh... Onii-chan..? You're hitting that thing, right?" "Well no shit! What does it look like I'm doing?!" "It looks like that demon isn't even flinching..." Kakarot threw his sword at it, hoping to at least stab it. His sword just bounced off and fell into the pool of acid down below.
"Goddammit this thing's though!" Raditz yelled in frustration as his attack only managed to scratch the armor of the demon. Kakarot was about to ask his brother if he had any sort of plan, but, suddenly, dark blue chains manifested around the demon and tied its legs together, making it fall over. The young Saiyan stopped running and saw his brother jump onto the yellow platform he was standing on. Suddenly, countless silver riffles appeared around it, firing at the demon on the ground. Kakarot gulped as he heard it scream in pain "Always a show off..." his brother sighed.
A man suddenly appeared in front of them. Kakarot noticed that he was flying. "Another Saiyan...?" he thought. The man turned around to the two brothers. He seemed to be angry "The hell are you doing over here, Raditz?" he asked. Kakarot instinctively took a step back, trying to hide behind his brother. To his surprise, the elder didn't seem to be intimidated at all as he spoke casually "Heh, sorry about that. The thing appeared in our side of the city, but since it was a runaway..." he chuckled "Well, you know..." The bearded man let out a sigh as he summoned another riffle in his hand. Kakarot noticed how it was silver with dark blue patterns all over it, similar to the ones on his black coat. He also noted the top hat with the dark blue diamond-shaped soul gem on the man's head.
"That part I get..." the elder Saiyan suddenly lifted the riffle up as it broke down into the same chains that were restraining the demon. They expanded and finally formed into what seemed to be a gigantic canon. Kakarot was shocked at how casual the other two Saiyans seemed to be. "What I don't get is why you're trying to kill a demon that's way out of your league!" the man then pointed the weapon at the demon "Bomber DX!" Kakarot saw how the huge blast of dark blue magic killed the demon in a single blow. The shocked expression didn't leave his face even when the labyrinth disappeared around them.
When Kakarot felt his feet touch the concrete ground, he quickly hid himself behind his brother, hoping the blue Saiyan didn't notice him. His brother laughed, leaning against his spear as he spoke "Since when does Nappa shout out his attacks? I thought you said doing that was stupid" "It still is" the man stated. "Lemme guess. You just wanted to show off, didn't you?" "Watch your tone, Raditz..." Kakarot flinched when he heard the man growl. He was obviously much stronger than them – how was his brother so calm? He probably met him before...
The man named Nappa suddenly let out a laugh "Wow, that kid behind you really scares easily, doesn't he?" Kakarot felt all the color drain from his face when he heard that. Oh no... "Eh?" his brother stepped to the side, confused, as he looked at the younger Saiyan. Kakarot wasted no time as he grabbed onto the back of his brother's clothes and hid behind him once again, whimpering slightly. He hated to admit it, but he was terrible at interacting with new people... "Carrot, you don't need to be scared of Nappa" Raditz laughed "He's not gonna hurt you..." "I will if you two don't get back to the South" the elder chuckled. That certainly didn't help in calming Kakarot down...
"Wow, he looks exactly like Bardock..." The younger's eyelids flew open as he peeked out from behind his brother to actually look at the man. He seemed relaxed with his hands stuffed into his pockets. Gulping down his fear, Kakarot tilted his head as he asked "Y-You knew dad...?" "Yeah, I did..." Nappa sighed as he glanced to the side "We were sort of like... partners... back in the day..." he then looked over at the youngest Saiyan in the group "You're Kakarot, right?" "U-um... y-yes... h-how d-did you know..?" "I remember your father telling me that they were going to name you that..." Nappa shrugged.
"Anyway..." the man pulled out a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. Kakarot frowned at this. He remembered his dad used to smoke as well... Both of the sons hated that. Even now Kakarot can't stand the smell of smoke "Raditz, your brother is pretty shit at controlling his powers" he blew out a puff of smoke "He only made a contract a week ago, you know..." Raditz sighed "I'd like to train him, but I just don't have the time for that... The fact that our powers are so different doesn't help either..." "That so...?" Nappa raised an eyebrow. In all honesty, Kakarot was feeling a bit offended that they were talking about him like that – as if he wasn't even there...
"I can train him for you, if you want" Nappa said. Both of the brothers were taken aback by this "W-what? Really?!" Raditz seemed to be much more excited over the idea than the younger Saiyan was... "Holy shit, man, you have no idea how much I'd appreciate that..." Nappa chuckled and then winked "Hook me up with a few free meals over at that café of yours and I'd say we're even" they laughed.
"So what do you say, kid?" When Kakarot was asked that, he at first wanted to decline. He didn't trust this man named Nappa... He wanted to train with his brother, not with him! But he then noticed Raditz looking down at him, smiling. Well... His brother did say he's been busy with work... And if a Saiyan as strong and Nappa would train him, he'd actually be able to help his brother out while hunting... Sighing, Kakarot nodded "O-Okay..." "Great. Meet me at the junkyard tomorrow at 12 p.m." he dropped the cigarette on the ground and stomped out the flames "Have fun getting back home, you two" he then turned around and started to walk off.
Kakarot felt his brother messing up his hair "Don't worry, Nappa's one of the strongest Saiyans I know. He helped me get the hang of my powers too, you know" the younger Saiyan looked up at the other, surprised. "Eh? R-Really?" well, Raditz did mention about his friends helping him become as strong as he is... Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all...? "Yup" his brother's voice snapped him out of his thoughts "Now let's go find out where the hell we wound up at..." Kakarot let out a sigh at that "Does this always happen when you chase after a runaway demon...?" "Yeah, pretty much" his brother laughed "We'd get home faster if I run. C'mon, I'll give you a piggy-back ride" he smiled. Kakarot felt his face turn red "E-eh?! I'm not a kid anymore, Raditz!" the only reply he got was his brother's laugh.
'Are you sure you can't be here with me? :'('
Kakarot sighed as he put his phone in his pocked after sending the message to his brother. He couldn't help but feel nervous walking around this part of city. He'd never been there before, the only reason he knew where to go was because he was good at following the elder's instructions. Kakarot was glad that it was nice outside, at least... Well, then again, it was the beginning of June - of course it'd be warm. His phone vibrated, alerting him that his brother replied.
'Carrot, I got work to do'
'I'm real sorry, but if I leave early again I'll be fired'
Kakarot frowned. Guess he was alone on this one...
'Will you at least come pick me up?'
His brother replied almost instantly.
'Of course!'
'Sry, but I gtg. Ttyl'
Kakarot was slightly taken aback at the abbreviations. His brother never used those... "Something probably came up..." he figured. He finally arrived at the entrance to the junkyard. Checking his phone one last time, he saw that it was almost 12 p.m... He felt nervous as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He wasn't sure where to go now... Raditz was busy, so there was no use in contacting him... And he didn't have Nappa's phone number either... Kakarot let out a frustrated sigh "Now what do I do...?" he muttered to himself.
"Now you just follow me" the young Saiyan jumped and spun around only to see Nappa walking up to him "Glad to see that you're on time, unlike a certain brother of yours..." the man chuckled, walking past the other Saiyan. "C'mon, I know a secluded area where we can train in peace" Kakarot gulped as he followed. He was very aware of the ring on his right hand's middle finger. He could feel the magic emitting from it, running through his veins. For a moment he thought that he wasn't completely helpless, but just glancing at the man in front of him reminded him that if they were to fight, Nappa would be the clear winner.
"How long have you been a Saiyan for again?" "E-eh?" Kakarot was surprised at the sudden question. He immediately felt his face turn red from the fact that his voice cracked from the fear. Nappa definitely knew the younger one was scared now... "U-Um... A-A week..." "Do you always stutter like that?" he heard the man chuckle. He then glanced back to look at him, smiling slightly "You've got nothing to worry about, Kakarot. I'm not gonna hurt you. Pretty sure Raditz would tear my head off before I could even try" he chuckled.
"E-eh? Would Onii-chan really do that?" Kakarot was a bit taken aback by this. He knew Raditz was strong, but... Was he really strong enough to do that to Nappa..? "You have no idea how protective he is of you..." the elder sighed "Honestly, back when I was training him, all I had to do was mention you being hurt and his power seemed to double..." Kakarot looked down at his feet as they continued to walk. Wow... He couldn't stop the smile that appeared on his face. The fact that his brother cared so much about him made him more than happy. Really, now the young Saiyan was determined to improve so he could protect his big brother as well!
"And here we are" Kakarot tore his gaze away from the ground and looked around. They were in some sort of clearing. The only exit was the small path that they took to get here, but other than that, they were in a secluded area, just like Nappa said. The elder Saiyan lifted his hand up to his head. He quickly pulled away and Kakarot saw the dark blue diamond-shaped soul gem. After that, it only took a second for the elder to be fully transformed into a Saiyan, Kakarot noted. He lifted his hand up and made the soul gem appear over his middle finger. "Before you transform..." he heard the elder say "Answer me this – how long does it usually take?"
Kakarot blinked at the question. "U-Uh... I dunno... Ten seconds, maybe..?" the elder chuckled at that "What, do you go through the whole transformation sequence?" Confused, the younger nodded. He understood that it took up time, but he didn't know how to shorten it... Nappa sighed and shook his head "I figured that Raditz would've taught you how to transform quickly, but I guess I was wrong..." he then looked at Kakarot and his tone changed from relaxed to stern and serious "You need to learn how to skip the whole sequence, Kakarot. Not only does it take up time and could get you killed, it also wastes more magic." "Oh..." he looked down. Then, a question popped into his head. A question his brother never answered...
"N-Nappa, sir...? C-can you tell me what happens when a Saiyan's soul gem turns black..?" the elder's eyes widened as he stared at Kakarot, shocked "You don't know?!" "No... Onii-chan never told me... A-And he always avoided the question when I asked..." Kakarot said. He was surprised at Nappa's reaction – was it really that bad..? The man stared at him for a while. Then he finally let out a sigh as he spoke "When a Saiyan uses up all his magic... And his soul gem turns black..." he looked to the side, almost as if struggling to find the words to say what he wanted to "The gem shatters and the Saiyan dies" he said, flatly.
"O-Oh..." Kakarot looked down at his soul gem. When fully cleaned, it was bright and yellow. But now it was a slightly darker color than usual and he could see faint black clouds here and there. He paled slightly and gulped. He didn't want to die..! "Your soul gem's fine, kid, you don't need to worry about that" he heard Nappa reassure him. Kakarot nodded, but continued to tremble slightly. "S-So... how do I transform quickly...?"
"Well, instead of summoning the soul gem from your ring like you did just now, you try to make it appear on your body instantly, and let the magic do its thing from there" "O-okay..." Kakarot gulped as he made the gem go back into the ring. He placed his hand over his stomach, where it was supposed to appear. "It's okay if you don't get it right on the first try" the elder said "These things take time. There's no need to rush" Kakarot gave the other a slight smile "T-thank you..." he muttered. He took a deep breath as he tried to focus and do as he was told.
Suddenly, he felt magic pooling over his stomach. He instinctively pulled his hand away. The orange fabric had teared and there was a yellow circular gem over his belly-button. Instantly magic began flooding from it and before Kakarot could register what was going on, he was already transformed. "I..." he gasped "I did it..!" "Congrats, kid" Nappa chuckled "Now, tell me, how does your weapon work?" "Oh... Umm..."
Without any issues, Kakarot summoned his double-edged sword in his hand and lifted it up "I-I use swords, a-and I can summon more than one at a time..." "Ah, no wonder Raditz said your powers are so different..." Nappa stated. Kakarot tilted his head, confused slightly "E-eh? Why is that?" "Well..." the elder sighed as he summoned two rifles in his hands. Lifting them up, he spoke "Raditz can only summon one spear at a time. Trust me, he's tried to change that, but his magic just doesn't work like that. Me and you, on the other hand..." Kakarot then watched in awe as the rifles broke down into chains and instantly reformed into two canons. "Our type of magic lets us summon many weapons and reshape them at our will"
Kakarot's jaw dropped at that statement. "I-I can't do that!" he shouted. To prove his point, he summoned another sword "I can summon more than one, yeah, b-but I can't make them bigger! I can barely keep those platforms I can make from disappearing!" Nappa raised an eyebrow at this. Dropping the canons, which then shattered into blue dust as soon as they hit the ground, he asked "It's not that you can't do those things, Kakarot, you're just inexperienced and in need of training. Let's start off with those platforms of yours. What's the problem with them?"
"I... don't really know..." Kakarot looked away, feeling embarrassed "S-sometimes I can make them appear without any trouble, but other times they won't, no matter how much I try to focus..." "I see..." the other said, thoughtfully. He then crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly "Alright then, make one" "E-eh?" "Just make a platform and stand on it. Simple as that. I have a theory as to why you're having trouble, and I want to see if it's correct..." "U-um... O-okay..?" Kakarot was a bit confused, but he complied.
He jumped up as high as he could and made a platform for him to land on. "Um... H-here it is..?" he said, still confused. He walked around a bit, making more yellow circular platforms so he would stay a few inches up in the air. "Alright, alright..." Nappa said, thoughtfully, as Kakarot jumped down. "One more thing..." Kakarot tilted his head "Eh? What more could he possible need me to do?" Before he could ask, a dark blue ribbon attached itself to the young Saiyan's leg. He saw Nappa take off into the air, dragging the boy along with him. In a matter of seconds, Kakarot was hanging upside-down in the air, and all he could do was let out a scream of pure terror as he gazed down at the ground. He knew that if he was to fall, he would undoubtedly die.
"Make a platform to stop yourself from falling!" he heard Nappa shout at him. Suddenly, the ribbon that was holding his leg and keeping him hostage let go. And Kakarot began falling. His first instinct was to scream, but he quickly got ahold of himself and tried to focus. But it was exactly like yesterday – no matter how hard he tried to concentrate, his magic wouldn't listen to him! There were only a few feet left! He was gonna die! Kakarot closed his eyes, bracing himself for impact.
But it never came. Instead, he opened his eyes and noted that the same blue ribbons had restrained his whole body and were keeping him from falling. Kakarot gulped - if he could move his hand, he could easily touch the ground. "Well, that settles it" he noticed Nappa floating in front of him, arms still folded "When faced with certain death, you start to panic and lose focus" he stated as he let the ribbons place Kakarot on the ground. His legs were still trembling and he collapsed.
After panting for a few moments, he managed to look up at the blue Saiyan "P-Please don't scare me like that again..." the other chuckled at that "Hate to break it to you, Kakarot, but I'm afraid I'll need to do much worse than that in order to get that fear out of you..." the young boy could feel the color draining from his face as he started shaking "L-like what...?" he questioned. And then instantly regretted it as he watched in pure terror how the elder made a rifle appear in his hand and pointed it at Kakarot. "Like fighting you" he said flatly.
Kakarot could feel the hair on the back of his neck standing up when he saw the elder pulling the trigger. Fueled on pure adrenaline, the young Saiyan dodged the bullet as he rolled to the side. He instantly stood up, only to see another rifle pointed at him. Just a quick glance at the stern look on Nappa's face proved to the younger that this was serious. He dodged another bullet at summoned two swords. He gulped. He wasn't sure how to deal with this... He's never been in a battle against another Saiyan before...
"C'mon, kid..." Nappa growled, obviously getting annoyed, pointing another riffle at the young Saiyan "You're not gonna get any better by just running away from me!" he fired, and this time Kakarot was ready to fight back. He lifted his sword up to block the bullet with the blade. He managed to deflect it, but not before almost falling down from the impact it made. He quickly shook off the feeling and threw one of the swords at the elder. Nappa, of course, took a step to the side, easily avoiding the blade. But Kakarot expected this to happen. "Let's see if he'll able to dodge this!" he knew that he didn't have the time to summon four swords around him - he'll just have to make them up as he went along, he guessed.
"KA...!" he threw a sword at the elder and without even waiting, he summoned another one and threw it as well. "ME...! HA...! ME...!" of course, Nappa easily dodged all four, but Kakarot had no time to worry about it as he jump back and bounced off of the platform behind him "HA!" he dashed forward. The elder Saiyan only laughed as he stepped aside, making the younger miss by a mile "You call THAT a special attack?!" Kakarot growled to himself at the teasing, but a part of him was glad that he managed to land somewhat gracefully. Instantly he spun around and threw the fifth sword. But the elder was nowhere to be seen.
Kakarot looked around, panicking. "THIS is a special attack!" he heard a voice from up above. The younger's head snapped back. His eyes widened at the amount of riffles Nappa had pointed at him. "Giant Storm!" and they began firing. Kakarot felt the same terror almost paralyze him. But he shook his head and angrily thought to himself "No! I'm a Saiyan! I want to actually HELP Onii-chan while hunting!" his eyes snapped open and he jumped up as high as he could and landed on a platform, narrowly missing the bullets.
He was about to throw a sword at Nappa, but the elder in question shot the platform underneath his feet. It crumbled and Kakarot began falling again. "No! I'm not gonna die here!" doing a front flip in the air, Kakarot landed on a new platform. He glared up at the elder Saiyan and shouted "I'M NOT LETTING YOU WIN THAT EASILY!" he gripped his sword and was about to throw it, but, to his surprise, Nappa let out a laugh. Not a menacing or an evil one, but a genuine one. "Well look who just managed to get past his fear of dying!"
"E-eh?" Kakarot blinked, confused slightly. Realization hit him and his eyes widened. He looked down. He... He did it! He managed to stop himself from falling! "You really are Raditz's little brother..." Nappa's chuckling brought him back to reality. "I had to pretend to fight him on the first day too..." "P-pretend...?" "Well no shit" the elder laughed "You didn't think I was actually putting in any effort, did you?" Kakarot went pale once again. Oh boy, no wonder Raditz called Nappa one of the strongest Saiyans he knew...
"How's it going, you two?!" he suddenly heard his brother's voice bellow them. He glanced down and saw that his brother had arrived. "Onii-chan!" Kakarot smiled and jumped off. He immediately ran off to hug him, almost tackling Raditz to the ground "I did it! I learned how to make those platforms whenever I want! A-and I also learned how to transform without that whole flashy sequence!" he said excitedly. His brother only laughed as he ruffled his hair. "That's great, Carrot! I knew you could do it!" Kakarot blushed slightly at the statement. His brother was proud of him! He was actually proud of him! He couldn't stop smiling at this point, honestly.
"He's got potential, Raditz" he heard Nappa say "He got a hang of things pretty quickly. Not as fast as you did, but still" Kakarot's face was completely red at this point. He wasn't used to people complimenting him so much... "I'd say we're done here" glancing back, he saw that Nappa had transformed back to normal "Same time tomorrow, Kakarot?" the youngest Saiyan nodded "Y-Yeah... T-thank you, by the way..." he pulled away from his brother and smiled at him "Don't mention it. I do these types of things regularly" Nappa waved it off.
After transforming back to normal (without any problems this time, he might add!), Kakarot looked at his brother, smiling "Are we going home now?" he asked. Raditz nodded and glanced at Nappa "You coming with us?" "Yeah, I guess. I'm heading the same way, so I guess I'll tag along" the three Saiyans walked out of the junkyard, and Kakarot was a bit taken aback at how different Nappa seemed to be when not in Saiyan form. Instead of the serious and menacing man he had just fought, the one walking behind them was laughing and being friendly...
"So I know Raditz is a waiter, but what do you do, Kakarot? You in the seventh grade now or something like that?" "O-Oh... I-I actually dropped out of school when dad died..." Kakarot said, still not used to this personality switch "I'm a freelance painter, actually" "Really?" Nappa seemed surprised at this "Huh, who would've guessed..." he muttered to himself. Kakarot tilted his head, slightly offended "What's that supposed to mean?" "Nothing! I just didn't think you were the artistic type..." the young Saiyan frowned and looked away, puffing his cheeks. "Oh come on now, Carrot" his brother laughed "He's just teasing" "Wow, you weren't kidding when you called him childish, Raditz" Nappa laughed "Well, he is my baby brother, after all" Raditz joined in.
Pouting, Kakarot was about to state that he was not a little kid, but someone called out to them. "Nappa! Raditz!" he looked forward and saw that the one who was calling them was a girl. She was smiling and waving at them. He instantly noticed the guy who was holding her hand. Kakarot blinked at how similar the two were... Even down to wearing matching outfits... "Twins...?" he guessed. His elder brother whistled "Well look who it is!" he smirked "I'm pretty sure Nappa isn't too thrilled with you two in his territory" Kakarot blinked "They're Saiyans, too?!"
The girl just giggled after the pair stopped in front of the trio "We are not hunting, silly!" she then smiled and lifted the bag she was holding in her free hand "There is a really nice book store here, so we decided to go for a walk today~" the girl then looked at Kakarot and gave him a warm smile "You are Kakarot, correct?" the young boy was honestly confused. How do so many people know his name?! "Y-yeah..." "Nice to finally meet you!" she then gestured to the spikey-haired guy next to her. He seemed to be really disinterested in the conversation as he stared off to the side "This is my brother, Vegeta, and I am Saiya"
"These two used to help me out back when I was still new at being a Saiyan" Raditz informed the younger brother. That made sense how they knew one another, at least... The girl named Saiya glanced over to her brother and elbowed him, getting his attention. Vegeta sighed as he pulled one earphone out "What?" he asked flatly. Kakarot could faintly hear music comic from it. "No wonder he didn't react to anything we said..." he thought.
She then said something to him. Kakarot tilted his head, confused. That... wasn't Japanese... Not even close..! He listened to them quickly exchange words in that strange language. Finally Vegeta looked at Raditz and he asked "So is he going to join us in the battle against Frieza or what?" Kakarot saw the color drain from his brother's face as he stared at the other Saiyan in shock. "W-what...?" he whispered "You heard me." The young boy was surprised at how cold and... emotionless Vegeta's voice seemed to be. He then raised an eyebrow "Or have you not told him yet?" "I-I... N-no, but-" "Then get to it." Vegeta cut in as he stuck the earphone back in.
Saiya sighed and looked at them "Sorry about that, Raditz... You know how Vegeta can be" she gave him an apologetic smile. "It's okay..." his brother sighed "He had to find out some day..." Kakarot tilted his head, confused. What were they talking about...? "Well then, hope to see you soon!" Saiya said in the same cheerful tone and the twins then walked past them. Nappa let out a sigh "Sucks to be you, Raditz" he chuckled "Shut it..." his brother's voice lacked the usual energy.
The walk back home was silent and full of tension. They had said goodbye to Nappa a few blocks back when they got back to their apartment. "O-Onii-chan...?" Kakarot asked. "W-what were they talking about back there..?" his brother let out a sigh as he sat down on their living-room sofa. "Frieza is a very powerful demon that's supposed to appear on the 23rd..." he leaned back as he ran his hand through his hair "I thought that if I didn't mention it to you... I'd manage to keep you safe..."
His brother looked up at him, a sad look on his face "I'm gonna go fight it, Carrot... Me, Nappa, Saiya and Vegeta are gonna try and defeat it..." "Then I'm coming too!" Kakarot announced. Before his brother could say anything, he continued "Let me help, Onii-chan! Please! I can help! I know I can!" to his surprise, his brother only sighed "Are you sure...? You'd have to train like crazy to even stand a chance at surviving against that demon..." Kakarot smiled and nodded "I can do that! I'm not gonna be weak anymore, Onii-chan! I promise!" his brother only let out a sad chuckle "If you say so, Carrot..."
