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Saiyan Saga - Part 3: The Only Option
Silence swept over the battlefield once more, but this time around it was for an entirely different reason altogether. This time, it was not the Earthlings who were paralyzed by fear… it was Raditz. His body was trembling and convulsing just as soon as that deep, baritone voice made its way through his scouter.
"V-Vegeta…"
"Really, Raditz, I find your current situation pitiful. The one time we allow you to pursue a mission independent of us is the one time you manage to fall flat on your face! A weakling like you is a disgrace to our race!"
Across from Raditz, Yamcha paled. "His power… that's weak to them?!" He didn't even want to begin to imagine what would be considered powerful to them...
The Saiyan warrior had concerns of his own, but ultimately for different reasons. "V-Vegeta…" Raditz repeated, almost as if he was stuck in a hypnotic trance. He soon rediscovered his emotions, however, and quickly found himself replying to his overseer. "You're being too quick to judge me! I have enough power left to not only obliterate these fools, but still manage to exterminate the entire planet—"
"You're wasting your breath, you imbecile!" barked back Vegeta, seemingly growing even more livid with his subordinate—if that was even possible. "From what I've heard, Kakarot is not on Earth for whatever reason, correct?"
"Y-Yes… that's right, Vegeta," Raditz answered hesitantly, unsure of what he was getting at. "Despite—"
"Well then, Raditz, you've managed to fail a mission before it even began!" A hearty laugh broke out on the other side of the scouter so loud that even the Z-Fighters could hear its rumblings. "Do you know what this says about you, Raditz? It means I cannot trust you with anything valuable. You took a mission that had the difficulty level of a day off—and promptly screwed it up!"
"B-But the records indicate—"
"I don't care what records you looked at; they're clearly inaccurate! Either that or your eyesight is worse than that of a blind man's!" A frustrated snarl was transmitted through the scouter. "You are an incompetent worker whose negatives far outweigh his positives! As per Saiyan law, I should have you executed!"
"There are only three of us left now, Vegeta!" Raditz hissed, suddenly regaining his bravado. "Are you going to tell me you're going to start distrusting one of your last two subjects based off a foolish event like this?"
"I've been far too nice with you, Raditz," spoke the sadistic Saiyan. "I've put up with you longer than I should've because of the desire to see my Saiyan brothers become strong alongside me. But clearly you are not worthy of being a Saiyan—your inability to finish these pathetic Earthlings off speaks for your track record. I cannot ignore Saiyan code any longer, Raditz. I will have you dead within the year." A long pause. "Unless, of course, you would be cowardly enough to run—that would only prove my point, however." Another chorus of laughter broke out, ringing in the long-haired warrior's ears.
"G-Grgh..." Raditz was helpless, at a loss for words. 'I never thought… something like this would happen...'
"Aww, what's the matter? Cat got your tongue?" Vegeta laughed sinisterly. "Part of me still holds out hope in you, Raditz. Maybe, come a year's time, you'll face your demise like a Saiyan warrior. However, the realist in me knows you'll just run off like the low-class scum you are. Whatever path you choose, however, will lead to your demise. If it's not by our hands on Earth, you'll be left to wander the infinite expanse of space all on your own. It won't be long before you find an opponent you can't beat then." Raditz could just see the Saiyan's smirk on his face at the moment, wide and grin as if he'd won the battle already.
"Either way, Raditz, this will be the last we speak as allies. You are now relieved of your services, low-class. I'll be there in a year to give you your severance package personally." The scouter communication link disconnected, terminating the duo's conversation and leaving silence to permeate the battlefield for five long minutes. None of Earth's fighters dared to say a word for fear of death, and Raditz himself had been paralyzed into silence.
That was, of course, before he suddenly scowled and regained his voice. "No… not this way. Not this way, damn it!" He quickly whipped out his control pad, fingers moving quickly to summon his space pod. As soon as his fingers ceased their rapid ministrations, he looked toward the sky to find his spaceship soaring toward the ground before him. It landed with a heavy THUD, and as soon as it did, the long-haired warrior was quick to try and leap into it. "I'll survive… I'll be worse off than before, but I'll survive. If they think they can bait me into staying, they've got another thing coming…"
BRGH!
Raditz waved the dust out of his eyes, his vision refocusing after what had been a sudden ki blast. It'd caught him off-guard, but it certainly hadn't hurt in the slightest. If anything, it'd only served to enrage him. 'Whoever did that is going to...'
As he was turning his head to look toward the outside of the ship, Raditz blanched as he saw the ship's controls.
They were fried.
If he was enraged before, he was absolutely livid now.
"You fool!" Raditz howled, his neck whipping over to see Launch standing a few feet away with her hands extended. To his disgust, she looked incredibly pleased with her handiwork.
"If we're gonna die…" she started, a grin spreading her cheeks, "then you're gonna die with us, you son of a bitch."
"Not if I kill you first!" the long-haired Saiyan bellowed, rushing the blonde at top speed. She made no attempt to defend herself, seemingly content with going out a rebel—if anything, her continued grin seemed to taunt him even further. He could already see her death now as he snapped her neck like a twig…
...and then, all of a sudden, he stopped right in front of her.
"...On second thought… ugh... not just yet." He scowled at his restraint, but he was aware of the situation he'd been dealt if nothing else.. "I've decided for a better use for you Earthlings than to just be another race on my hands. Killing you, at least right now, would be counterproductive." He looked toward the other fighters, who, while having heard what he'd said, were skeptical. "In other words… congratulations! You've all been recruited to stand by my side in battle." He turned serious once more. "To get you all up to speed—"
"I heard the entire thing loud and clear," spoke up Piccolo, grunting from his injuries. "Basically, your little buddies grew tired of your bull—GRGH!"
In a second's time, Raditz crossed the distance between him and the demon king and knocked him out with a spinning kick that nearly broke the green-skinned warrior's neck. He skidded pathetically toward the side before his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
"First rule of conversing with a Saiyan: don't interrupt a Saiyan." Raditz neatly landed on the ground behind the remainder of Earth's fighters, his back to them as they whirled around and assumed defensive stances. "Don't even bother trying to attack me—I didn't hit him that hard, anyway. He'll be up in a minute or so… but that's irrelevant at the moment." He turned around to face them, a scowl evident on his features. "My comrades, the ones I mentioned before, have blamed me for Kakarot's inability to conquer this planet; whether he was ever here or not mattered little in their eyes. As such, they will be coming here to take my life, and I'd assume they will do the same with yours."
"It never ends, does it…?" Tien grimaced, his teeth grounded. "Whenever one monster is thwarted, a more powerful enemy comes to take their place…"
Raditz narrowed his eyes. "Feh! Don't flatter yourself; you didn't stop me. I could snap your necks if I wanted to right now. If you couldn't tell, I've faced stronger… much stronger… than you in battles on a daily basis. But again, that's beside the point." He folded his arms. "Judging by the way you lot banded together when I first arrived, I assume you all have no problems with making alliances to take down a greater threat. If you do, then you're out of luck, because I'm not asking." He unfolded his arms, looking down at his open palm before clenching it into a fist. "Alone, you will fare poorly against these two… but if we all pool our strength together and become a cohesive unit, we just might have a chance!"
Yamcha glowered at Raditz, his anger apparent. "Let's get something straight. I don't like you. None of us like you."
"What a coincidence; I don't care much for you either," dryly retorted Raditz. "Your point, human?"
The former bandit's steely gaze remained strong. "I'm sure that all of us can agree that having your strength would give us better odds than with you not fighting with us. I'm willing to join you if it means defending our planet from harm."
"Good answer!" Raditz lauded, lifting his head in acknowledgement. "Although, like I said before, I wasn't exactly giving you a choice."
"That still doesn't account for Piccolo, though." Bulma, along with everyone else, cast their eyes on the battered demon king, who was just coming to. "What're you going to do, Piccolo? Can we trust you to help fight these two Saiyans like we did against this one?"
Piccolo remained silent, his eyes turned up toward the sky. He appeared to be deep in thought, isolated from what was going on around him.
"Well, can we?" Bulma asked again, irritated by the lack of a response on the part of the former monarch. "You're lucky we're even giving you this offer at all after all the torture you've caused us… but we don't exactly have a choice."
The demon king did not answer, instead choosing to stand at his full height and again look out into the morning sun.
"All right, buster, just answer the damn question already!" the heiress practically shouted up at Piccolo, who still seemed to remain painfully unaware of her voice. "What, did you suddenly go deaf after having super-hearing powers? ANSWER ME!"
Piccolo spared the human one brief, wordless glance, and though she visibly flinched for a moment, Bulma stood straight in the demon king's face without backing down. He then, continuing to remain silent, proceeded to take off into the sky, blasting Bulma back with his pure white aura.
"W-Wait!" Tien cried out. He immediately looked toward Raditz. "A-Are you going to let this guy get away? Get him back here!"
Raditz immediately snarled and leveled Tien with an uppercut to the chin, sending him up into the air with a pained grunt. "Rule number two: don't think you can give me orders. I am the one who's calling the shots around here, not you!"
Upon seeing an actual friend of hers get hit, Launch growled. "That's it, you jackass, it's go time!" She blasted off right toward the Saiyan, but would suffer the same fate as Tien; she was quickly incapacitated by a weak backhand to the jaw that sent her flying through the city once more.
Out of fear of being stricken, Yamcha remained painfully silent. More than anything he wanted to pursue the demon king as he took off, but he somehow had the instinct that Raditz would subdue him before the monster himself. 'Besides,' he tried to justify to himself, 'There's nothing he can do now. He knows that Raditz could have his head any time he wants to.'
"...Tell me, you know how to read energy levels on your own, correct?" Raditz asked, his eyes still watching Tien as he hit the ground coughing. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Yamcha nod. "That is an incredibly useful ability… one that is more practical than wearing this scouter. I demand you teach it to me as soon as we establish our plans going forward."
"Learning how to sense energy is easy once you get the concept behind it," Bulma stated with as little emotion in her voice as possible, attempting to avoid inciting the Saiyan's wrath. "But… I wouldn't be so quick to trash that scouter. My dad and I are both well-trained when it comes to tech and all that stuff, and we may be able to add a few more capabilities to that if we're given the time to study it."
Raditz was intrigued by the news, apparently, given that he turned to face Bulma. "Is that right? That sounds… promising. I'll lend you this as soon as I do not require its usage anymore." He then surveyed the battlefield for a brief moment, taking an aimless step or two forward. "All we need now is to get everyone up to speed. Since I can't sense energy at all quite yet, you two," he waved a careless hand back at Yamcha and Bulma, "will round up the other fools before me. Hop to it."
Yamcha glared at the Saiyan for the briefest of moments, but eventually acquiesced. 'He's so confident in himself… but, much as I hate to admit it, he can back up that confidence. We've got no choice but to do what he wants for the time being… but it beats being dead, that's for sure.' He looked over at Bulma and nodded. "Let's go."
Out of the corner of his eye, Raditz smirked as the two took off toward their allies. 'Good. They're completely willing to operate under my orders. They may not be very powerful at all… but that willpower of theirs will come in handy. With just the right amount of persuasion, I'll have them breaking their backs to prepare for Nappa and Vegeta. And with the right amount of training, who knows what levels of power I'll achieve? Fufufu… if I was going to be forced into facing these two at some point, I suppose I should feel lucky fate chose now as opposed to a less fortunate scenario.' He looked up and in the direction the demon king had soared off in, his smirk contorting into a scowl. The only obstacle in my way is the green man… but he, in time, will fall to my plans.'
"I apologize for interrupting your daily activities to get you all here," began Elder Moori, flanked by an assortment of aliens—specifically Articuno and his crew members. A grand bulk of the Namekian race had been gathered before him on a large plateau of a blue coloration, eagerly awaiting what he had to say. "However, this meeting is an urgent one. As you can tell, the people I am accompanied by are not of our race. However, we are not to consider them enemies. An incredibly grueling series of events occurred recently, events that I am sure those who are able to sense energy picked up on almost immediately." He paused for a brief moment, noticing as a few of the more well-built Namekians nodded their heads.
"To try and condense these events as much as possible, Articuno here is a former employee of Frieza." Immediately, several icy glares were sent like daggers Articuno's way, and though the Arcosian flinched at first, he found it within himself to stand firm. "He was not, however, tasked with this planet's destruction. He came here in an attempt to seek out allies to take out the monster himself."
"I wish no ill will on any of you," immediately interrupted Articuno. "Though I would hope that my willingness to stand before you speaks for my cause, I understand you all may not be willing to treat me with the brotherhood of which you have treated your own."
Moori placed a gentle hand on the blue-skinned warrior's shoulder, cutting him off politely. He did so, allowing the elder to speak. "Naturally, we were all suspicious of his intentions. We took him to the Grand Elder to assess his allegiances, and he passed his mental screenings with flying colors." He could immediately see the Namekians' faces begin to morph from apprehensive to astounded—the Grand Elder's powers were unparalleled. "However, that is not where our tale ends. You see, Articuno is not just a mere ally. He has opened a gateway for the Namekian people to change the universe for the better. In addition to his crew, who are pure in their own right, Articuno has granted us full usage of his spacecraft—a craft that we will use to explore the worlds around us."
"Naturally, we will not all be able to travel together," Articuno quickly interjected. "However, the three strongest representatives of this planet – namely Kakarot, Nail, and myself – will be traveling in attempts to seek out more recruits and excavate valuable resources. If we can land ourselves more technology, we may be able to send out more of you in the future. As of now, however, we want to remain cautious."
"Excuse me!" spoke up one Namekian in the back, all eyes moving toward him in an instant. "We know about you, and I'm happy to know Namek has a new protector… but what about your so-called 'friends?' Did the Grand Elder have a chance to talk to them?"
Articuno's face fell. Judging from Moori's perspective, the former soldier had been prepared for any and all accusations thrown his way, but certainly he had not anticipated any distrust toward his crew. Nevertheless, he quickly regained his composure. "I would never ally myself with those who I felt were less than pure-hearted. If you cannot trust my word, however, perhaps they should speak for themselves."
"Heya. Name's Victus," spoke the bulldog, his large paw waving toward the large sea of Namekians. "Keeping a long story short, Articuno… well, he gave me a reason to live again. My people, the Granians, were fighting a civil war that was taking a turn for the worse. Our king's right-hand man made a move at taking power for himself, and he managed to actually take the throne as his own. We tried to fight back, but we were outnumbered… big time. I was the strongest we had, but there comes a point when your body just can't take any more punishment. After a year and a half of pure fighting, I was finished. Got a nasty scar on my back as proof of it.
"Everyone else, they, uh… they kept fighting. They didn't want to see their planet be ruled by a monster like him. I couldn't do anything at all as we kept losing fight after fight, and it tore me up!" He clenched a fist. "I knew I could fight… I really did. But no amount of power means anything if your body's been messed up to the point where you can't move at high speeds.
"But then… Articuno came. He was the strongest on the planet as soon as he showed up, and everyone knew it. He heard both sides' arguments, but as soon as he saw the pain in our eyes… he understood. He saved our people from becoming a corrupt monarchy, and for that I'm forever grateful. I'll stick by this guy's side until the day I die… maybe even beyond that."
Articuno tried hard to suppress his smile, yet it still shone through. "As touching as those words are, there are still three more of us to introduce. Metaic, will you ple—"
"There is no need," said Elder Tsuno, who'd taken a spot up in the front. "I don't have the powers of the Grand Elder, but I know when someone is truly sincere. That display of emotion couldn't be faked by the finest of liars." Several chatters of agreement broke out behind the Elder.
Moori nodded in approval. "If that is the case, then we will begin assimilating them into our planet's way of living right away. Our space exploration team will not be leaving until we can familiarize our new guests with the planet… as well as allow everyone to grow… acclimated… with them as well." He suddenly looked toward the east, his eye on Seilide Village. 'Nail… I hope your words are able to get through to him. You are perhaps our only hope to help the boy understand...'
Piccolo soared through the sky at top speed, his arms folded so as to prevent him from angrily lashing out. He knew that the Saiyan would punish him if he lost his temper, hence his attempts to curb it as much as possible. 'That damn old man… thinking as if he is my superior. One defeat does not suddenly mean that I am not the ruler of this world—everyone on this planet still recognizes me as king officially despite my loss.' He felt a scowl coming on, and he made no move to suppress it. 'Unfortunately, my plans will have to be re-organized now, but it matters little. No situation, even this one, is impossible to navigate.
'For now, I'll work with these lower beings. But in time… they will remember why I am king.'
The peons in question were beginning to become visible to the demon king as small little specks on the horizon. 'I assume they're all getting caught up… but that's just the beginning of it all. Not when he wants to speak to them personally…'
Finally, the time had come for him to land. He did so rather gracefully despite his current appearance being anything but. Upon his feet hitting the floor, he took two steps forward and assumed a passive expression as everyone looked toward him with unease. The sight would have normally made him smile, but these matters were far too grave for him to consider reveling in his demonic aura.
"The overseer of Earth awaits you… up above the land of Korin." Piccolo stood silent, looking straight at Raditz. The Saiyan's eyes were blazing with anger at being interrupted, but given the severity of his announcement, he did little else but glare. "The one known as Kami wishes to see you all."
For five long minutes, mentor and student stared at one another. They did not move an inch. They did not speak a word. It felt vaguely akin to their meditation sessions, yet the undertones behind this particular staredown were completely different.
"I take it you can still sense his energy. It would be redundant to state that he's still alive, wouldn't it?" Nail asked, breaking the silence as he leaned against the white interior of the home Kakarot and Moori shared.
Kakarot, standing on the opposite side of the room, mirrored his master. He'd recovered well enough to walk on his own, it seemed, but Nail could tell his energy levels were incredibly low. "It would be, yes. But what really incites me is what I remember the plan of action being after I left. You all planned to take Articuno to the Grand Elder, and if he was lying through his teeth, you'd have him killed." He narrowed his eyes. "For him to still be alive, and be hanging around with Elder Moori, no less, that would mean that he was deemed as a good-hearted being."
Stoically, Nail nodded. "Yes. That would be accurate."
"Damn it!" Kakarot clenched a fist, his voice turning into a low growl. "Was that blue lizard really able to fool the wisest Namekian to ever live?! I swear, the bastard's even more clever than I thought!"
Nail didn't budge an inch emotionally, his face as placid as ever. "You know as well as I do that tricking the Grand Elder is impossible. Even if Articuno had tried to project lies into his mind for the Grand Elder to read, he would read them as just that—lies. He really is a pure soul, whether you would like to believe it or not."
Kakarot was mortified by just how serious Nail was. His jaw dropped, but he quickly slackened it and returned to his harsh glare. "So that's it, huh?! Am I really the only damn sane one of us left anymore?!"
"You are the only one who refuses to at least give him a second chance," bluntly stated the mentor of the two. "And while I understand it from your perspective given how you were the one to defeat him in the end, your petty grudges prevent us all from moving forward. Think about it, Kakarot: you are the one who has the most influence on this planet." He could see Kakarot's look of disbelief; however, Nail was deathly serious. "At full power, I can't stop you. Upon your recovery, you'll probably have gained enough power to make yourself Articuno's superior as well. You could technically veto anything you want to and we would have to go along with it for fear of losing our strongest warrior… or even our lives."
"That's not how I was raised," Kakarot answered, his face still taut. "If I was to threaten people with my strength just because I didn't like something, I'd be no worse than a Saiyan." He spat at the mere mention of his true race, wiping the excess saliva off with his right arm.
"Well, you just described yourself in a nutshell." Nail crossed his arms. "Your lack of acceptance toward this entire situation will only serve to make things more complicated in the future. Being so hung up over one person… where will it get you? If you're going to focus on anyone, let it be Frieza. Without him, Articuno wouldn't have committed those deeds you're so obsessed over."
Kakarot balled a fist in frustration, holding it up to his chest. "It's not so easy, Nail! Being told to do something is one thing... actually doing it is another! All the people that are in the next dimension because of people like him… morals or no morals, it makes me sick to my stomach!"
"I can see that arguing with you will get us nowhere." Contrary to his words, Nail stood firm. "However, we don't have time to sit around. This fight with Articuno has really opened my eyes, you know—if I was helpless against him, what can I do against Frieza?"
His mentor's query caused Kakarot to bow his head. "I can't say similar thoughts haven't crossed my mind. But… if anything, I just remember how hard I train and how much harder I can hit after each passing day. That state of mind is what keeps me going even when I hit a wall."
Nail suddenly, uncharacteristically, let a tiny smirk show through. "Good. Use that."
An eyebrow quirked on the forehead of the Namek-raised Saiyan. "W-Wait… what?" He couldn't help but feel as if he had been tricked, yet he couldn't put his finger on why.
"If you don't like Articuno, then use him to your advantage. Have him help you to hit harder. Help him bring you closer to taking down Frieza. You don't have to like him as a person—it's only natural that you don't like everyone you meet. However, that doesn't mean you can't gain something out of knowing them." His smirk faded a moment later. "I'll be back later to check on you. You should probably get some rest." He began to turn toward the door and walk away, but his pupil's voice cut him off.
"Wait."
Nail looked over his shoulder. "Yes, Kakarot?"
"Does that mean… you don't like me?" In that moment, he looked almost childish, what with his pout and fearful eyed expression. Nail just chuckled to himself lowly.
"I wouldn't have trained you if I didn't, kid." The use of the outdated pronoun brought a small smile to Kakarot's lips, and though his grin didn't split his face the way his childish, chubbier face had done, it still brought the same warmth through Nail that it did all those years ago as he left the house and took off into the air.
"Do you actually wish to meet them on your own, Kami?"
"Yes, Mr. Popo. There is no need to test them. All with the exception of the Saiyan and Piccolo are, at the very least, firmly entrenched on the side of good. Besides… I dread to think of what would happen if we were to test the Saiyan's impatience.
"It is time to set the world straight once more."
Kami stepped outside the temple of his lookout, looking at the assembled team of Earth's defenders before him. They tensed at what appeared to be a second Piccolo, just as Krillin had done before them, but they eventually calmed themselves. 'I suppose Piccolo must have filled them in… it seems his words beforehand were legitimate.'
He stood there for a moment, merely looking over each of the Z-Fighters. The bulk of them looked incredibly on edge, paranoid despite the fact that the battles had ceased for the moment. It was depressing to say the least, how they could not bask in their victory, but he understood equally just how vital it was that they look toward the future.
"It is an honor to meet all of you here today," he started suddenly. "Though I wish the undertones of our meeting could be brighter, there is no denying how incredibly diligent you all were in your attempts to liberate Earth."
"Spare me the sentimental speeches," harshly spat Piccolo. "Quite frankly, old man, if your omnipotence is half as efficient as you think it is, you would have already known that we have little time to waste. Those cohorts of his," he pointed over at Raditz with a taloned claw, "are coming in a year's time, as I mentioned before. I would rather not waste precious time chatting when I could be training to bring them down."
"Hmph! I think I like your style after all, green man," Raditz acknowledged, grinning for the quickest of moments. However, when he spoke again, his seemingly permanent scowl was stuck onto his face once more. "Nevertheless, you don't quite comprehend the strength of these two. They have powers beyond anything you've ever faced… including that of my own."
Bulma let out a long, weary sigh. "Grrreat… just what we needed," she sarcastically drawled. "Do you at least know how strong they are in comparison to you?"
"Unfortunately, I do," Raditz answered, his expression hardened. "Nappa, the first of my allies, is an incredibly large and durable fighter. His brawn exceeds his brains for sure, but that matters little when his power is five times my own."
Every single Z-Fighter, as well as Piccolo, felt their jaws hit the floor in that very moment. Even Kami and Mister Popo found their eyes widening just the slightest bit. It took them a while to even speak up again, but Piano, who'd been notified of recent events by Piccolo, was the one to break the ice. "...And what about the other one?" he asked hesitantly, not sure if he even wanted to know the answer or not.
"If you were shell-shocked by that, I dread telling you this…" Raditz loudly exhaled. "Vegeta, a deceptively short but powerful warrior, is the leader of our group. His sadism knows no bounds and his combat efficiency is second to none. His power… is more than ten times my own."
"In one year, we will face odds unlike any we ever have before… this is frightening. We will need every single fighter we can manage to accrue." Kami looked over at Piccolo and Piano, clearing his throat. "I assume, my evil counterpart, you would not have come up here with Earth's heroes if you did not have intentions of fighting alongside them. Am I right in saying you will help protect the Earth this time around?"
"Despite the sheer hatred that burns through my soul every time I lay eyes on you worthless creatures, we share the same planet as our home." Piccolo returned Kami's gaze, evil onyx eyes staring into benevolent obsidian. "And I will be damned if someone beats me to fully conquering this world."
"Though I still hate you for what you've done to the human race, I would rather have you on our side than you just up and quitting on us," the blue-haired Launch softly said, having switched personalities on the way over. "Like Kami said, we can only gain from having more people fight with us."
"It's not just that," Tien pointed out. "We also need a game plan for how to take them down. Even if we have strength in numbers, it doesn't always mean that we'll win. Our fight with you," he gesticulated over to Raditz, "is proof enough of that. Anyone got any ideas?"
Chi-Chi was quick to answer. "We have one thing now that we didn't before: freedom." A warm smile broke out on her face after finishing the word. "For so long, we've had to survive in addition to train… but now we can just focus all our efforts on getting stronger."
"Try as you might, you will never usurp these two in power with only a year's time," Raditz bluntly stated. "Hell, even with my unique Saiyan abilities, I doubt I can do it myself. Reaching Nappa's power just might be attainable if I work myself to the core… but I can tell you right now that I won't be matching Vegeta any time soon."
"If I may," Kami politely intruded. Raditz looked over to him for a brief moment before giving him the floor, eager to hear whatever the Guardian of Earth had in store. "There is some good news that I can relay to you. You will be joined by another two warriors in a year's time… and they are the two that left this world not too long ago."
"W-Wait, hold up!" Yamcha butted in, eyes dilated in what was a combination of shock and hope. "Are you telling me that…"
"Yes. Krillin and Chiaotzu can and will be revived in time to battle the Saiyans. What's more, they will be more powerful than ever before… perhaps, when the fateful day comes, they could equal you in strength, Raditz."
"Pfft! Don't make me laugh! There's a reason why those two died in combat earlier, and don't you forget it any time soon!" He felt multiple glares directed at him as he laughed, but he knew that there was nothing they could do to stop him. He was, after all, the strongest warrior on Earth, and he would not censor his language in the slightest to appease his temporary allies. "And just how, do tell, will they manage to pull this off?"
"They will be training under the tutelage of King Kai, the overseer of the North Galaxy. It is an incredible honor bestowed on a select few warriors, and the results of his training generally prove to push warriors to achieve levels of strength never thought possible." Kami looked up at the sky for a brief moment. "I would not take him lightly."
Raditz rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, old man." His disbelief was evident. "We'll just have to wait and see."
"About those two… there's still one thing that doesn't add up…" Bulma mused aloud, tucking a few strands of aqua-colored hair behind her ear. "How are we going to bring them back if the Dragon Balls don't exist anymore? Piccolo himself killed Shenron, which made the balls inert."
Piccolo could be seen smirking at the memory of his wicked deed. "I must thank you for reminding me of such a joyous occasion. I still remember how it felt to blast that dragon into oblivion."
Kami decided to pay his evil counterpart no heed. Instead, he turned to Bulma and nodded his head. "That is correct, Bulma. But even Shenron can be the right circumstances. The Dragon Balls were originally designed to aid humanity and provide its magical powers to those who saw good in this world—and not to benefit those who sought them out for their own personal gain. It made little sense to revive Shenron until there was a dire need for his powers. I can think of no better time to resurrect him than when two lives were lost as a result of bloodshed…
"...However, I do not plan on doing so just yet."
Aside from Piccolo, who immediately scowled, Tien was the only one to fully grasp Kami's reasoning straight from the start. "Smart move. It's not as if everyone here is trustworthy, after all." He shot a brief but noticeable smirk at Piccolo, a vein appearing on the latter's forehead. "I'd rather keep them inert until the last possible second."
"We will revive them when we draw closer to the date of the Saiyans' arrival. I will not budge my stance on this, although I assume those of you with good intentions will have no qualms with this at all."
"Yup! No problems here," Bulma smirked, a taunting eye wandering over to Piccolo. "Wouldn't want anything to go wrong, after all."
"Forgetting your petty rivalry with the green man," Raditz butted in again, his irritation apparent, "are we done here?"
"Not quite, Raditz." Kami looked over to the Saiyan, clenching his staff tightly. "You have been incredibly patient as we discuss Earth's issues, and I thank you for that considerably. However, there is one more matter we must discuss that your insight may help with. I am sure that, given our mental tethering to one another, Piccolo knows exactly what I am referring to."
"Y-You two are linked together?" asked Launch, surprising everyone by speaking up in her serene state yet again. "So if we'd killed Piccolo… would you have died too?"
Kami looked away. "Yes. In the event that one of us dies, the other would perish. But that is neither here nor there." He looked toward his counterpart and said counterpart's son almost expectantly. "You do know, don't you?"
"You've made no attempt at hiding your thoughts within your mind, Kami," drawled the former monarch. "But I do agree that, for the moment, said thoughts should be addressed. As much as I would like to say otherwise, we don't need additional strife on this planet while preparing for the Saiyans."
"The rest of us are kinda being left in the dark here, y'know…" Yamcha awkwardly scratched at his head. "Mind explaining just what's going on?"
Kami cleared his throat. "Gladly." He began a slow stride toward the edge of the lookout, looking down onto the earth below. "Piccolo's control over the Earth, despite him being defeated, has not ceased. As far as the world is concerned, he is still king, and they will still operate under his law until they are exposed to the truth."
"Then let's just get the truth out as soon as possible," Chi-Chi bluntly suggested. "There isn't any point in trying to make a change if we're not going to reap the rewards of it."
"Yeah," came Yajirobe's gruff voice for the first time, agreeing with the Ox-Princess. "I didn't put my ass on the line only to see nothin' come of it!"
"Under normal circumstances, I would agree with you both." Kami turned back to face the assortment of fighters standing within the center of the lookout, making his way back toward them. "However, both Piccolo and I are concerned over what would happen following this announcement."
"As you damn well should be, idiots," Raditz chastised, folding his arms. "Anyone would make a play at power if there is a vacant spot open to take. As soon as you relinquish your hold over this mudball, chaos will follow. It's as simple as that."
"Yeesh… that's definitely true. History would support that argument, that's for sure," Bulma pointed out, frowning. "But we can't just let everyone think that the world hasn't changed… there has to be something we can do."
"Keeping power in the hands of the people standing here today is, for the moment, our best option. It is, in fact, our only option." Piccolo clenched a fist to his chest. "People fear me. My power is absolute in the world that exists today. No mere mortal would defy me after the strength I've shown off."
"Are you telling me that you, after everything we've spoken about, want to actually keep yourself in power?" Tien hissed, his composure lost in an uncharacteristic fashion. "No! No way! Even thinking about doing something like that is a slap in the face to anyone who's ever opposed you!" Flecks of spittle spat out of the human's maw, his rage incensed. "I'm not going to let Krillin and Chiaotzu's deaths be in vain! One way or another, this world is changing! Do you understand me?!"
Piccolo's eyes widened for the briefest of moments, clearly caught off-guard by the sudden outspring of emotion by the triclops. Even the others had been stunned into silence, leaving only the faint, ragged breaths of the triclops to fill the area. Nevertheless, he concealed his surprise well with a stoic expression. "And here I had thought you were one of the more level-headed members of your little group." He narrowed his eyes. "You're missing the point here, three-eyes. People respond to what I tell them to do. If, all of a sudden, I tell people that there is to be a true code of law once more, they will listen. We can use my authority to slowly repair Earth's society bit by bit."
Kami stiffened his clutch on his staff. "I agree with you on this one matter. If you are sincere about bringing Earth back to its original state, then I am all for it."
"For now, yes." Piccolo smiled deviously. "It will be fun to bring the world to its knees again once these Saiyans are dealt with. But for now, you have my full cooperation."
Raditz let out an obnoxious groan. "Are we done kissing and making up yet? I thought we were going to plan for our actual enemies, but clearly I overestimated you Earthlings. Standing up to me as long as you did can no longer be anything but a fluke!"
"I apologize if we are lingering too long on these subjects, Raditz," Kami consoled, a watchful eye on the Saiyan. "However, creating the right atmosphere on Earth is vital at the moment. After all, if we cannot rectify our planets' recent struggles, there will be nothing to defend in a year's time."
"Then just make it simple, fools," sighed Raditz. "Have the green man still be the direct figurehead, as he said, while you lot all work on matters as a unit. This way you'll know what you're getting out of these simple-minded Earthlings while also ensuring they'll listen due to their leader having credibility."
Bulma's eyes widened. "That was incredibly quick… and here I thought you were just a simple grunt…"
Folding his arms, Raditz scowled. "I've had more experience with this kind of thing than I'd care to admit. It boggles me that these sorts of ideas haven't smacked you in the face."
Before the turquoise-haired woman could ask what Raditz meant, Yamcha had taken the floor. "That gives me an idea. Since we're going to have to focus our efforts on training, we're still going to need enforcers of the law… and thankfully, I think I know three people for the job."
Launch smiled, picking up on Yamcha's plan. "I'm sure Pilaf and the others would be happy to do it. He's smart enough to know what he's doing."
"Then that settles it," Piccolo concluded, masking his irritation at his current predicament. "Those three will be… assisting me when it comes to law enforcement. I'll release a press statement on the matter as soon as I meet with those three." He finished his sentence slowly, gauging everyone's reaction. To his pleasure, they seemed willing to trust him on this one matter. 'I won't kill any of you… for now. It will be that much more satisfying when the year expires.'
"It eases me to know that there are plans in motion to correct Earth's current issues," Kami said, a ghost of a smile on his face. However, that smile soon faded when he looked toward Piccolo. Telepathically, he communicated, 'Your ulterior motives are clear as day, Piccolo. Though you are helping us for the moment, do not think that the Earthlings do not consider you an enemy.'
'It will not matter, Kami,' Piccolo 'spoke' back. 'You can only scratch the inner surface of my mind. You know quite well that, over the years, I've built up my mental fortitude so as to block you out. What you know is what I want you to know.
'Never count out the Demon King Piccolo.'
Hello, readers, and welcome back to Turbulence! As you all know, my hiatus from uploading allowed me to get a nice chapter buffer in, and from henceforth you will now be able to expect a new Turbulence chapter to show up in your inbox every Wednesday unless otherwise notified(no guarantees on a time, however - just know that I operate under Eastern Standard Time). I'm pretty stoked about that, to be honest. Before we get into anything though, I want to make clear that these post-chapter notes are written in real time after the chapter's completion so as to maximize my thoughts regarding it. The Q&A obviously can't be done until the previous chapter is posted, naturally, but writing this stuff down now means I don't have to just guess at a lot of my intentions later on.
Like I iterated previously, this chapter was a denouement chapter. Nothing in the way of action was ever meant to happen here; rather, it was a nice way of establishing some new scenarios going forward. I really loved writing portions of this chapter, and I hope that translated into how well it read.
There are only two things I'd like to address in this chapter, so let's just get to the obvious first: Raditz is here, and for the moment, he's here to stay. I realize some may not be happy with that, but in my defense, I think I'm doing a fairly original take on it. Most of the fics that have him hang around have him defer to some other authority figure(mostly Goku), but in my fic, he IS the authority figure(so much so, in fact, that I strongly considered naming this chapter Adapt or Perish). He may be a coward to those stronger than him, as we've seen with Vegeta and Nappa, but there's no way he'll let someone weaker than him show him up. This should lead to a more interesting dynamic between Raditz and the Z-Fighters, and it will be one I spend a lot of time establishing. I promised that we would get a lot of content during this year in DBZ history, and I'm adamant on showing it. I think some of the stuff I cover will be fairly unique, honestly, but ultimately satisfying.
The second is Chiaotzu. I'm willing to bet that despite the fact that Chiaotzu blew himself up a la canon, only a handful of you expected him to be King Kai's second student. Well, neither did I until a few months ago, but I'm glad it's going to happen. I now have a prime opportunity to develop Chiaotzu independent of Tien and vice versa as well as give the Turtle-Crane dynamic a new twist. It's cool seeing Goku and Tien have a rivalry in canon(until it petered out), but Krillin and Chiaotzu?! Well, I should take that back; we don't know what kind of relationship they'll have yet. But I'm sure looking forward to showing you, that's for sure.
I sincerely hope that the wait for Turbulence has paid off, and I'm looking forward to providing you with more chapters on a weekly basis for the foreseeable future! See you next Wednesday!
-ShMikeX: I think I asked this already, but where are the Z fighters (and Piccolo) at this point compared to their canon counterparts (and Piccolo Jr) with regards to power? Where would Launch, Bulma, and Yajirobee measure up? And Mr Satan...does he exist?
I really don't know what to tell any of my readers at this point, considering that I've said my piece on this at least four times now, but I do not like - nor plan - the idea of giving comparisons for everyone else right now. I'm more than happy to consider it once they get into actual training for the Saiyans, and I'll definitely make clear on the [obligatory Mr. Popo quote here] pecking order soon enough. Just… not right now.
In short: power levels of any kind will not be given until I give them. Yes, they will be given at a certain point. No, I will not give them throughout the entirety of the story. Any further questions regarding them will be ignored. I'm not trying to call anyone out specifically, but there's just nothing more I can say on the subject.
-SeaWolfAlchemist: This story is one that really boggles with your mind and I love it but I have one question. Why didn't Kami resurrect Shenron? He could have easily done that.
This was technically already answered in the chapter itself, but essentially it makes no sense to do something like that when there was the risk of Piccolo grabbing another wish, much less killing Shenron for a second time. Even now, Kami is still hesitant to revive Shenron due to Piccolo's less than trustworthy mindset.
-EvilFuzzy9: GODDAMN this is a helluva fic. I really appreciate what you're doing with the human characters, it's great. One of the great disappointments of Dragonball Z, to me, was how most of the original Dragonball cast wound up falling to the wayside.
*Especially* the humans. And I agree with you about Chiaotzu - he is sorely underutilized in fanfiction. Yajirobe, too. And Launch. And most of the rest of this cast.
Plus seeing the Pilaf gang actually working with the Z Fighters is just all kinds of amazing to me. And I am excited at the thought of Krillin (and presumably Chiaotzu?) getting to train with King Kai. A part of me feels bad that they can't have a nice peaceful existence free of superpowered alien monsters, but the rest of me understands that that would kinda be missing the point of this story, wouldn't it?
To think I was actually hesitant to read this fic, at first. I've seen LOTS of crappy "MC gets a different upbringing and is all badass and garystuish" fics, but I wanted to at least give it a shot seeing as how Krillin was listed as one of the main characters. He is, after all, probably my fav DB/DBZ character, alongside Roshi, Mister Satan, and the Reich Pilaf.
And I am really glad I wound up giving this fic a shot. It wound up WILDLY surpassing my expectations, especially in regards to the events on Earth and how Goku's absence causes the characters to grow in different ways.
Everything you've said in this review is what I've always hoped that my readers would see in my story. It was honestly this review that made me decide to go ahead and begin posting chapter content again, so thank you.
The only thing I noticed that I personally want to rectify is a lack of Kakarot/Goku commentary. I notice that this story gets most of its general praise for its handling of Earth, though the Namek side of things seems significantly less loved. I can respect that for now given that there really hasn't been much of a focus on Kakarot and friends up until now, but I want it to be known that I'm going to make that change from here on out. I wanted to put over Piccolo as the ultimate evil up to that point, and to do that I felt I couldn't have any serenity or any true "unified" scenes on Namek during that point. Now that it's all said and done though, expect a healthy dosage of both.