Saiyan Saga - Part 6: Invasion

When he woke up, Yamcha expected to find himself sprawled out in the wastelands with nothing but the cold night air to greet him.

The warm bed he found himself in was far from that expectation.

"Hey, you're finally awake!"

Yamcha weakly craned his head to the right, seeing a smiling Chi-Chi standing in the doorway with a bowl of soup in her hand. "Glad to see you're resting up. You didn't look pretty when I picked you up, that's for sure."

"Picked me up…?" the former bandit asked, scratching his head. "Uhh… I mean… what even happened out there? The last thing I remember is Raditz loosening up every bone in my body."

Walking over to him and setting the soup down by the nightstand, Chi-Chi nodded. "Yeah… I'm afraid that wasn't just a dream. He roughed you up pretty good. He tried to describe it as training, but I'm pretty sure that was anything but."

"Wouldn't be surprised; I already knew the guy had it in for me." The two shared a laugh for a handful of seconds, but a sharp pain in Yamcha's stomach and a handful of coughs ended the joyous moment. "But, uh, anyway… what's he up to?"

"Training in that same place I left him like the uncaring, insensitive jerk he is." Chi-Chi responded, already feeling a well of anger inside her. "He doesn't even care that he almost killed you. He only said that none of us should take him lightly."

"Yeah… sure sounds like him, all right," Yamcha darkly admitted. "But enough about him, I guess. Where are we?"

Yamcha didn't miss the brief twinkle in her eye before she answered. "My dad's new place."

"Heh… so you found him, huh?" Yamcha smiled weakly. "Good to know… that you got to see him again."

"Yeah, well… our old place doesn't exactly have all that much left anymore. After he learned about Gohan..." She trailed off for a minute, searching deep within Yamcha's eyes for any sudden flicker of emotion. "...After that, well, he decided that he wanted to preserve Gohan in his own way."

Yamcha looked deep in thought for a moment before his eyes darted from side to side. It was becoming clear to him what she meant. "This place… it looks familiar. Is this…?"

"Yeah," Chi-Chi nodded. "It's Gohan's place up on Mount Paozu. It's a beautiful place when you take the time to look at it. Almost makes me want to move here too, if I'm being honest."

"Hey, nothing's stopping you from doing it, y'know," Yamcha pointed out. "I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to spend more time with your dad, since, uh... you kind of went without being able to see him for years."

Chi-Chi softly laughed at his response. "Yeah, like I'm gonna leave you and everyone else to deal with that stubborn Saiyan on your own. It wouldn't feel right after all these years of you guys being my family."

"Yeah, but what about your dad's feelings? I'm sure he misses you just as much as you missed him, if not more," Yamcha argued. "Besides, it's not like you're up and leaving us for good, right?"

"Oh, Yamcha. So cute and honorable." She leaned down and planted a warm kiss on his cheek. As she pulled away, she almost smirked at his blush. "I'm not exactly a little girl anymore, you know. I'm a woman now; I can make my own decisions if I want to. And I want to stay with you guys." Yamcha opened his mouth to retort, but she cut him off quickly. "I'm not asking."

"Well… uh," Yamcha fumbled, his mind still on that kiss moments prior. He didn't need to place his hand over his chest to know that his heart was pounding. "A-All right then. G-Glad to have you then!"

"Thanks," Chi-Chi laughed. She then gestured toward the bowl of soup with her right arm. "You think you'll be in good enough shape to eat that on your own?"

"Yeah, I think I'm fine," Yamcha affirmed. "My body already feels ten times better after getting to sleep in a nice, warm bed. Thanks for that, by the way."

"No problem," Chi-Chi smiled. "It was the least I could do. You've done the same thing for me a few times back when Piccolo was still a threat, so it only makes sense to return the favor."

"Was a threat?" Yamcha questioned, an eyebrow quirked. "You do remember this is the Demon King Piccolo, right?"

"Yeah, but if Krillin and Chiaotzu are really getting the training that Kami says they are, I'm not exactly worried about Piccolo any longer. It's more those Saiyans that we have to worry about."

"Yeah… I guess."

Chi-Chi laid a hand down on the former bandit's shoulder in a comforting fashion, her face softening. "Hey, it's not like I suddenly love the guy all of a sudden. A part of me still wants to beat the hell out of him for what he's done. It's just that we have to forget about that for now and focus on those tailed freaks coming our way."

"You're right, Chi. Thanks. I'm, uh… really lucky to have a friend like you."

The two stayed stationary for the moment, their eyes locked onto one another's. Onyx met onyx as both took the sight of another in, pausing for what felt like an eternity. Neither individual felt up to breaking the silence, seemingly comfortable with merely enjoying one another's company.

That was, of course, until there was a knock on the door.

"Hey, Yamcha!" came the hearty, burly voice of the Ox-King as he squeezed his way inside. "Glad to see you're doin' better! You looked real roughed up when Chi-Chi brought you here a few hours ago, that's for sure."

Jolted back into reality, Yamcha quickly tried to regain control of his voice. "H-Hey! Yeah, I'm already getting much better… guess I have your daughter to thank for all of that, haha!" He smiled nervously.

"Nah, I should be the one thanking you and your friends, Yamcha. If it wasn't for you guys, who knows where my baby girl would have ended up?" Ox-King's lips curled into a frown, but soon enough he'd turned it upside down in the form of a sheepish smile. "Uh, sorry for that, by the way. When I decided to get away from Fire Mountain, I didn't want to risk Chi-Chi being caught with me, given what people think of me an' all."

"Don't sweat it," Yamcha smiled humbly. "Your daughter helped us out a lot, y'know. We needed all the help we could get to take down Piccolo, and she was one of the best fighters we could have asked for. Without her, we wouldn't have won… that's for sure."

"I'm glad to hear," Ox-King beamed proudly. "Her mom would be too." His grin suddenly faded in favor of a frown. "But that's not all, right? I know about that other guy… that Saiyan. What's the deal with him?"

Yamcha gulped. This would mark the first time he would spill the beans to someone outside of their group. However, above all, he knew that the Ox-King was trustworthy. "Well, see, it all started when we had Piccolo on the ropes…"

It is said that friendships can form in the unlikeliest of places. Though in many cases this is nothing short of an overdone cliche, there are times when, indeed, that cliche holds true.

In the case of Namek's heroes, they soon found themselves growing quite acclimated to their associates' new spacecraft. Though there was still a tense atmosphere whenever Kakarot and Articuno found themselves alone, the recently formed union got along quite nicely. Stories were told, laughter was shared, and bonds were beginning to cultivate.

Though it had only been a few hours at most, Nail had decided that if he could have his way, this would be how he would choose to live the remainder of his days. No strife, no worry—it all seemed too perfect.

But as he walked into the control room, seeing Suzaku immediately whirl around in his chair with a telling gaze, he was reminded of reality.

There was no need for the avian to utter a single word. Nail already knew.

"We're almost there, aren't we? To our first destination?" the Namekian asked redundantly, hoping to obtain more information about the pilot's planet of choice.

"Yeah, that's right," coolly responded Suzaku, munching tenderly on a stalk. "Given our traveling speed, I would say that we'll have another five hours before we make it there. We've got plenty of time to prepare; don't worry about being caught off-guard."

Nail took a seat beside the captain, staring out into the infinite void that was space. He didn't feel satisfied with the orange bird's answer. "I'm afraid our time of arrival wasn't what I wanted to know."

"Well, ask away," Suzaku answered openly. "There's nothing I need to hide from you, so whatever you need, you've got."

"Thank you," Nail politely responded. "Although it does have to do with time, actually…" he trailed off for a moment. "I may not have traveled as much as any of you, but even I know that a spaceship can't cross the universe in the time span of a few hours. That must mean there's a planet close to Namek that isn't exactly… civil. You must've had this place under your eye for a while now; you've probably had plans to go before you even came to Namek."

Suzaku laughed casually, a smile overtaking his face. "I knew you were the one with the brain. I appreciate that. And yeah, that's right… we've wanted to go to Mistral for quite a while. There's apparently been some activity there that could be seen as… well… suspicious."

"What kind of activity? Is there some corrupt ruler or something?"

The avian shrugged his shoulders. "Honestly, I don't know. I pride myself on knowing the scoop on anything and everything I can, but I just don't know with Mistral. It used to be a very peaceful planet that had industrialized quite well... they were responsible for serving as emergency care to the Planet Trade's soldiers and the production of medicine as we know it. Metaic could tell you more that I can about that whole part of the deal."

"Sounds like a very standard planet," Nail remarked. "But I'm guessing there's more to the story."

"You bet," replied Suzaku. "Thirty years ago, that planet simply… changed. I don't know how or why, but it's been rumored that whatever the deal is with them, they're well-equipped to handle outsiders. According to Articuno, Frieza had sent at least seven teams out there, yet none of them made it back. I have to assume they were killed, but the interesting thing is that this could never be confirmed. Despite the fact that these soldiers clearly never made it off Mistral alive, you would think they would send a report that they've found the bodies before they were dispatched of."

"Maybe their warriors just attacked as soon as they saw their ships," Nail suggested. "Not everyone is going to be generous enough to let foreigners land… in which case, we should probably warn the others about that possibility."

"Nah, that won't be necessary," Suzaku proclaimed, waving his hand to the side. "I'm an experienced pilot, and Articuno is an experienced traveler. This isn't our first expedition. Trust me when I say that we won't be caught off-guard."

"All right then," Nail conceded. "I do trust you on that matter. But what do you think about what I suggested? Is it possible that their warriors were simply that efficient?"

"That sounds reasonable. If they actually had fighters, I would think the same thing." Suzaku laughed. "After hearing nothing back each time, Frieza gave up on reestablishing a hold on that planet altogether. Articuno said Frieza tried to wave it off, citing that he'd found a more suitable planet for Mistral's original purposes. It is believable given his lazy nature, but you can never trust the words of a tyrant." He looked over at his comrade. "Like I said, Nail, it's a mystery. The only thing I know for sure is that Articuno has wanted to look into this for a while now."

"Well, count me as interested too," Nail added. "Something isn't adding up here, and I'd like to get to the bottom of it. I won't let a peaceful planet remain covered in darkness any longer."

Suzaku nodded. "Very well then. Glad to hear you're as on board with this as Articuno is. Now go ahead, rest up for a bit. Like I said, I may not know much about this place, but I know that this won't be an easy trip."

"I will. Thank you, Suzaku. You've been very helpful."

Suzaku tipped his head toward the Namekian in a sign of respect. "You got it. Now really, get outta here. I got some stuff I need to manage with the ship."

Nail gave him one last look of respect before whirling on his heel and shutting the door behind him, leaving the avian alone with his thoughts.

Almost immediately, his cool and calm composure was reduced to that of a shaking, startled coward, sweat almost immediately rolling down his face. Feeling a sudden chill run down his body, he clenched the controls tighter and felt his heartbeat quicken threefold. He was almost certain he would be able to hear it if not for all the noise that his advanced technology gave off, and in a way, he was almost thankful that he didn't have to hear terror's voice call his name.

"Let's just hope that history doesn't repeat itself…" Suzaku breathed out, closing his eyes. He shook his head violently to either side of him before he opened his golden eyes once more, the orbs dilated. "Cause if this is anything like last time, the odds aren't in our favor.'

High in the sky soared a demon king, his malevolent frame cloaked by a pure white aura and his sinister garbs flapping about in the wind. Though he was one of the most powerful warriors that walked the Earth, perhaps even second to the newest invader, it meant painfully little when there was such a wide gap between him and the Saiyan. It would be no farce to consider the difference between them exponential.

But if Piccolo had learned one thing over the years, it was that no plan saw itself out in its original format. Anything and everything that him and his minion had planned out could and would be subject to change. There was no telling what variable would be thrown into any plot, and while in some cases these variables could prove to be beneficial, in others they could prove as a thorn in his side.

For what was the second occurrence in a week's time, Piccolo was pricked by those thorns.

The demon king could tell that they were onto him, of course. He knew that whoever decided to tag along uninvited had been doing so for a while now; he didn't need to be able to sense energy to know that. They were clearly waiting for him to arrive at his destination for whatever reason, and though it certainly had the demon king on edge, their power levels didn't have him concerned in the least. Together they could, perhaps, pose a problem, but Piccolo was nothing if he was not a tactician.

So far, so good. The monarch was confident in his ability to dispatch of these mysterious invaders whenever they gained the courage to attack him. He relayed this information to his traveling partner in Piano telepathically, who seemed to be at ease himself. There was no doubt that he had faith in his master to put these mysterious warriors down.

But he should not have. Piccolo, for all his power, was one warrior. More recently, he had been proven one mortal. Despite all his accolades, both demons should have learned their lesson from a week ago:

There is nothing one cannot expect to happen.

A fourth power suddenly materialized out of nowhere, slamming a small but powerful fist onto the demon king's forehead. The sudden sting of the unexpected figure's attack left him open to a barrage of attacks, likely from the three pursuers, leaving his vision blurred. He could faintly hear the frightful gasp of his minion before he, too, was silenced.

Piccolo felt a fire burn within him, an anger that he did not know he had raging to the surface. He had been made a fool of not once, but twice in the last week, and he would be damned to hell if he let it be a third.

Summoning his inner reserves of power, despite the pain it brought him, Piccolo released all he could out around him in an explosive wave. The three goons surrounding him were blown back by this sudden explosion of power, though the fourth, holding Piano by the neck, seemed mostly unfazed. His cloak billowed in the wind as his high-pitched laughter filled the arena.

"If this is all you had to offer, Piccolo, I should have done this a long time ago," came the shrill voice of the apparent leader, speeding behind the demon king and throwing his leg out to connect with the back of his skull. However, much to his surprise, the demon king whirled around and caught the small leader's kick before it had the chance to connect. He didn't have the chance to react before a green fist was thrown in retaliation, sending the mystery fighter sailing back and his pterodactyl-resembling minion falling to the ground in an unconscious heap.

But he didn't have time to worry about Piano right now: his own safety was in dire jeopardy. His onyx eyes darting from side to side, Piccolo could see that he was surrounded, just as he was before against the Earthlings.

'This cannot end well… the three of them would prove enough of a challenge on their own, but this fourth punk throws a wrench into everything!' Piccolo growled. Was this really to be the end of the road for him? 'No. Not yet. Those pesky Earthlings, may they burn in hell for what they've done, have to have sensed this by now. They're surely on their way. If I can just hold out on my own for a little longer...'

One of the goons, appearing as if he was a shadow, seemed to be running in midair. His movement was painfully slow, as if it was meant to intimidate him, yet all it did was keep the demon king further on edge. His eyes darted around to make sure the remainder of them were in place, and much to his surprise, in place they were indeed.

A watchful eye darted back toward the running shadow, seeing that he had barely made any ground. Piccolo tensed, his eyes narrowing as he concentrated his energy. "I've had enough of this… I'm going to eradicate all of you! HAAAAAH!"

Throwing a bolt of energy at the goon, he smirked with satisfaction as it detonated on his foe's skin and enshrouded him in a golden explosion. However, he was much less pleased when the shadow seemed to zip up and away from the smoke with the speed of a bullet, which caused him to snarl in frustration. "I can dish out more than that, you—grgh!"

Another one of those shadows rushed up from below and slammed into the demon king with a headbutt; he then rotated and flicked him upward with a full rotational kick. The remaining two shadows came in from either side and pinballed him back and forth with devastatingly powerful kicks before, finally, a larger, bulkier figure came in and sent him spinning to the ground with a hammer-esque blow to the jaw.

As he landed on the ground, banking up from the momentum his fall provided him, Piccolo had just a moment to stare up at the monster as he laid a hand on his demon insignia.

"This isn't a real demon's kanji… not anymore."

A blinding explosion of ki rang through the wasteland a moment later, a flare of white and yellow light encompassing the entire area.

When it cleared out, everyone was gone.

"W-Whoa… Yajirobe, did you sense that?" Tien asked, pulling back his punch and looking toward the sky. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck beginning to bristle. "Piccolo putting out that kind of power, and against forces we don't even know… something can't be right."

"No kiddin' somethin's up, dude," Yajirobe bluntly remarked. "Only question is which side they're playin' for, y'know. Piccolo still ain't that good a guy even if he's workin' with us now, so maybe this was some group he managed to piss off takin' some revenge."

"As much as I love the thought of Piccolo getting justice handed to him, the fact that this group did it so easily has me on edge," Tien said, an uneasiness coming over him. "I couldn't even sense that fourth guy up until now, and his power—well, I think it's safe to say only Raditz could compete with him."

"You think we should go tell him what's up?" Yajirobe asked. "Don't like the guy much myself, but he did pretty much say he'd have our backs till we beat those Saiyans. Hopin' that offer means that he'll work with us here…"

Tien grimaced. 'Great… one evil after another... can't we catch a break…?' Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he turned toward Yajirobe again and nodded. "Yeah. Definitely. The only reason we keep managing to fend off these threats is because, more often than not, we've always been prepared for what's ahead. I want to round up everyone and then make it to Kami's Lookout. Surely he'll know what's going on…"

Unfortunately, he did.

"G-Garlic Junior…! " Kami breathed out, feeling the wind taken out of him. "This can't be…"

"K-Kami!" Launch and Mister Popo simultaneously exclaimed, both of them immediately rushing to either side of the weakening guardian. He coughed several times as his lungs continued a search for air, slowly rising to his full height once more.

"D-Damn him… he said it, and he was right…" Kami muttered to himself as he regained his full bearings. He looked to either side of him, acknowledging his assistant and his pupil, before heaving in one last final breath. "...Both of you. Listen to me… the Earth is in great danger right now, and if we want to stop it, we must take action before Garlic does."

"Umm… not to be rude, Mister Kami, but who is Garlic Junior?" came the quiet yet questioning voice of blue-haired Launch. "I've never heard of someone even being named Garlic to begin with…"

Kami scowled bitterly. "He is the direct descendant of the demon I competed with to earn the position of Earth's guardian—as you can guess, his name was Garlic. He didn't respond too well to the fact that I was the one chosen to ascend to greatness while he was left a mere mortal, and he decided to try and take the throne by force. My predecessor had no choice but to seal Garlic and his dark powers away."

"So now his son's going to try and get revenge," Launch said, filling in the blanks. "Great… just great."

"If I may make a recommendation, you should go and meet with the others," Popo suggested, looking toward Kami and getting a nod of approval. "It is not safe for you alone to be up here with us."

"He is correct," Kami further added. "Garlic Junior may not be a threat on par with the Saiyans, but he is one nonetheless. The last thing I want for this planet is for Garlic to be the one greeting the Saiyans when they arrive…"

"Wait, if he's weaker than the Saiyans, does that mean Raditz could defeat him?" Launch asked, tightening up her jacket. "Cause if that's the case, there isn't much to worry about at all if we all gang up on him!"

"To be truthful, Launch, I don't know what he has in store," conceded Kami. "There are too many questions I have in my mind about Garlic Junior for me to give you a definitive answer. However, as the Guardian of Earth, I will never take a threat lightly. Now go. Round up everyone and bring them here."

Launch nodded. "Okay. I'm on it." She ignited her aura and immediately dashed downward toward the Earth to complete her task, leaving behind a tense Lookout whose atmosphere seemed even heavier than it normally was.

"...Kami…" Mister Popo said, almost in a whisper.

Kami said nothing.

Hi there, everybody, and welcome back to Turbulence. I apologize for having to miss my Wednesday deadline due to personal reasons, but rest assured I'm back and ready to keep trucking along.

To start things off, yes, I do feel a little bad that I've had to basically put you through yet another transitory chapter. That said, I feel this one is justified above all others due to the fact that it will actually lead to some significant events this time. I have been trying to hold out to try and find a way to balance both my plots in real time, but I've come to the conclusion that it is, quite honestly, impossible to do that. As such, there may be a few time delays between the two plots(i.e. the Namek plotline will be five hours ahead of the Earth plotline) so that I can try and be a bit more relaxed with the timeline. This should lead to lengthier and more balanced chapters, as opposed to me cutting them off once I make a small leap in progress between the two. I wasn't progressing this story as fast as I wanted to(original plans had me being done with Piccolo by Chapter 10 and getting up to the Saiyans by Chapter 19), and it took me a whole readthrough of this story to identify this problem, but now that I have I feel things will begin to progress at a faster and more efficient rate.

With the plot progression talk all said and done, let's discuss the plot of this all. Yes, Garlic Junior is the villain I've mentioned(shoutout to Perfect Carnage for getting it right), and yes, I'm willing to bet at least half of you are about ready to unfollow this story because of how incredibly "boring" he is. That said, I decided to stick with my decision of including him anyway because, quite frankly, I like him. I like his concept. I like his movie. I like what I'm going to do with him. And by the end of this, I'm going to prove that he means something to my story, just like I promised I would with each and every event I include. M'kay? M'kay.

We are also, in unrelated events, almost up to the first space expedition that Kakarot and friends will embark on. We may all rejoice in that this will be the first we truly see of Kakarot and Nail in action since Articuno and that this will be the first we see of Articuno as a hero. Perhaps we will get to see how the Saiyan and Arcosian will truly get along in the heat of battle and if it will lead to further tension between one another. We will get to see more of daily life in their spaceship(as well as that of Earth's), but these villains do need to be taken down… or, at the very least, confronted. Garlic Junior and this unnamed evil that lies within Planet Mistral will be no easy threats to take down, that I promise you.

The wait is truly over. The transition has permanently ended. Next up, some true action unfolds in Chapter 20!

-NamelessNamekWarrior: Another great, fantastic and awesome chapter. I like how this story is not rushed and training is actually explored. In some stories, they just skip the training part. One request, would Yajirobe continue to be a fighter when the Saiyans arrive? Or will he turn into the 'guy who gives Senzu beans' like in cannon.

In due time, perhaps. I've already mentioned that I don't like working with characters once I feel their individual character arcs and their contributions to the overarching theme/plot have run their respective courses. That said, I would like to think I've built up enough credibility with my character usage for people to think I won't just make him a senzu bean delivery boy. But let's not look that far ahead into the future just yet.

-Supersaiyaninfinitygohan: A short but intriguing chapter.

One thing that stuck out to me is King Piccolo's immense presence that exists even with Raditz here, something that is very impressive to hold and something I think you've become a fair master of.

Really? I always think that I've diminished his aura after his two crushing defeats. That said, I'm glad to hear you think that way, as I always like to put importance on specific characters at certain points, and given that Piccolo is one of them for the time being, it's good to know that all his credibility hasn't left him yet. After this third one though? Maaaaaaybe it's gone :P

Nah, that said, I like to build up and keep my villains/anti-heroes as these overwhelmingly powerful warriors who could be considered loose cannons at any time. In time, our main heroes will gain power to rival them, but we all know that there's more drama when those of a questionable/negative morality are the ones wielding the metaphorical sword.