A/N: ...Hmm. Please Review and be brutally honest with your feedback. Also, don't be shy about suggestions. Even if I may not use your suggestion, throw it out there. It may be something unique enough that I may consider implementing it. You never know 'till you try it!
"Grr, they need to start taking me more seriously on these stupid missions! I want to go on the ones my father does!"
Nappa rolled his eyes at the brat's over-enthusiasm. Why did he get stuck on a mission with the porcupine-headed twerp anyhow?
"Ah, shut up, squirt. Maybe you'll get more challenging missions once you stop being a crybaby," the Saiyan General antiphoned with an arrogant smirk. Raditz was at least 3 heads shorter than Nappa, as he wasn't yet out of his teen years. The wild haired stomped his foot decisively, threatening to pop a blood vessel on his temple.
"Don't you mock me! I finished the mission, didn't eye!?"
Nappa came to a stop so he would trek too far ahead of the younger Saiyan, shaking his head in amusement. "Yeah, but not after crying for hours after your arm got singed from a sneak attack," he replied, snickering at this point as he began to walk forward again.
"Guh! Shut up! Baldy!"
"Blah, blah, blah," Nappa retorted, hardly caring for Raditz's immature attitude. The younger Saiyan in question was forced to jog momentarily to catch up with the burly man.
"General Nappa, who's that?"
"What?" Nappa questioned, looking towards the direction Raditz pointed. Directly ahead of them was a person oddly familiar, but he couldn't really tell who it was.
"King Vegeta? No, he's too short..." Nappa observed, a finger under his chin and a thoughtful expression taking over his features. "Eh, who cares, it's nobody we know."
Nappa began to resume his trek to the Palace and Raditz decided to follow, as his home was in the same general direction.
"Where are you two going?" Vegeta asked, breaking the silence and moving away from the wall. Nappa turned his head momentarily but didn't stop walking.
"What's it to ya, shorty?" Nappa retorted, not quite sure what to think of the strange man. He looked like a slightly younger and much shorter version of the King.
He didn't have a tail, that he could see, which was very weird in it's own right.
Vegeta only smirked, letting loose a small chuckle. He hadn't realized how much he missed Nappa's thick skull. He almost regretted killing him those decades earlier in his own timeline.
Almost.
"Nothing, just curious. How was your scouting mission on Frieza planet 340?" Vegeta asked conversationally, easily keeping in stride with the much larger Saiyan while his arms were crossed. Raditz hadn't spoken much since the newcomer made conversation, and settled on sneaking glances at him and listening in on the conversation.
Nappa was a bit put off by the King look-alike's ease at making conversation with him, the Saiyan General, and the fact that he knew what his mission was, which was classified even for Super Elites, which Nappa assumed that the new guy was. Raditz had just recently been promoted to second class and promotion missions were always classified.
"How did you-?" Nappa began before pausing his speech and steeling his expression.
"It was fine," he grunted, ignoring the smirk on the stranger's face. Nappa had the strange feeling he talked to the guy before. What was his name?
"You wouldn't happen to be a Super-Elite, would you, sir?" Raditz spoke up, leaning backwards as he walked, so he could get a good look at the stranger without his view being blocked by Nappa's large frame.
Vegeta was silent momentarily before speaking up. "I guess you could say that."
"What's your name, anyway?" Nappa asked, turning a corner, causing Raditz and the new addition to the group to follow.
"Hm. Vegeta," he said with a laugh.
"Ri~ght. Yeah, sure," Nappa sarcastically quipped with an eye roll. What next? He's going to say he's some distant relative of the King's? Nappa decided that the guy was funny, but he'd go along with it until he decided to share his real name.
"Alright, Vegeta," Nappa drawled, apparently not believing him, "You really a Super Elite? I gotta admit ya kinda look like one."
The trio were now in the courtyard leading to the front entrance of the Palace, and Raditz saluted Nappa before making his way home. Nappa returned the salute, but "Vegeta" was still following him.
Vegeta didn't answer immediately, prompting Nappa to look at him questioningly.
"Hm. Yeah," Vegeta agreed. He was debating whether he should walk into the palace right now. He didn't really need to show up until tomorrow, but...
Well, he was really damn tired of this planet. Dammit, he wanted to hold his woman in his arms! He was really getting irritated with this place! He couldn't stress this fact enough!
Both Nappa and Vegeta stopped at the front entrance, still a small distance away from the large grand door. The two Saiyans that were on guard at the entrance were suddenly on alert at the sight of Vegeta, which Nappa mistook for them nervous at his own presence.
Nappa and Vegeta sized each other up momentarily before the large saiyan's expression broke into a challenging grin.
"Ha, you seem like an interesting enough guy! Guess I'll see you around! I must be making the guards nervous," he chuckled, walking off toward the entrance first, bucking at the nearest guard as though about to lunge at him. The poor guy snapped even more to attention, causing Nappa to laugh before finally disappearing within the interior of the building.
"Ngh...Let's get this over with," Vegeta resolved, stepping through the entrance.
Bardock was tiring out, but his son barely looked exhausted. The only indication was that he was breathing slightly heavier, but that was it.
"Well, it looks like your body can handle the transformation. Here comes the part that might be tougher," Goku explained, straightening his posture and taking on a more relaxed stance. Bardock took this as his cue to stand at ease as well.
"Alright, so what do I do? I just power up or something?" Bardock cut in, tightening his headband. After doing so, he craned his head backwards to watch the sky and attempted to slow down his breathing.
"You need lock onto a feeling. Something that triggers a genuine need to ascend. A memory, anything, that makes you need the power."
Goku didn't say anything else, so Bardock repeated what his son had said in his head, trying to figure out how it applied to him. Bardock straightened his stance and balled his fists at his sides as he began to concentrate.
Goku saw his father's hair flow upward, but there was no telltale sign of golden hair or green eyes. However, his energy signature did spike momentarily before dropping back. His father scowled before concentrating again. This time, he grunted with the effort, attempting to force his Ki to rise. Again, it was the same result, his energy spiking momentarily before dropping again.
"You can't achieve it by forcing it. You have to need it!" Goku reminded, his face deadly serious as he watched his father concentrate again.
"Shut up already! I got it!" Bardock snapped, glaring at his son before closing his eyes again. Gine was seated about an arm's length's distance from Goku, her weight supported by her arms as she watched husband.
I wish I could sense energy like Kakarot's doing. I'm left completely out of the loop, She thought irritably, only noticing the spike in Bardock's power through the slight distortion being caused by his aura.
Bardock focused harder this time, thinking on Kakarot's reminder. I have to need it, huh? He frowned, eyes still closed, as he really thought hard about what makes him need to be a Super Saiyan.
His comrades mainly. If only he could go Super Saiyan while his team was still alive! Maybe they'd still be here! And he would hold onto the belief that there was a way to bring them back. To become a Super Saiyan would help him achieve this goal. He needed to be a better leader, a better friend. His thoughts turned to Gine. A better husband too. Why the hell not?
Bardock's hair spiked upward, resembling Goku's when he is in his Super Saiyan state, though it retained it's natural black color.
"His hair is changing!" Gine observed, noticing this big change, forcing her to lean forward, as though on the edge of her seat. Her elbows were now on her legs as she now sat cross legged, analyzing every part of Bardock. It looked as though his muscles were expanding slightly.
"Yeah!" Goku agreed cheerfully. "You're almost there! Push harder!" he urged, clenching his fist in excitement. He was so close! His Ki was beginning to tap into the Super Saiyan state and his aura began to glow brighter, slowly transitioning back and forth from a bluish hue to gold.
Bardock was straining to maintain the hold he was feeling. His fists were now level with his hips at this point and his shoulders were hunched. He could feel the power slowly reaching out to him.
All he had to do was grab onto it! He wanted it right now!
He didn't know what happened next, but it felt as though the extra layer of power he was so close to having just slipped away quickly, as though it was never even there!
"Ngh! What the hell!?" Bardock demanded, examing his palms, as though he'd find some trace amount of the euphoria he was momentarily experiencing. He was panting heavily at this point, the exercise having drained him of much of his energy. Losing his balance, he plopped down to the ground on his rear. Gine jumped up and closed the distance between them, offering some words of encouragement.
"Bah, I don't need to be babied," Bardock scolded, although his eyes were downcast and there was a slight flush to his face.
"You should have seen yourself, you hair spiked up and looked just like Kakarot's! Your hair was still black though."
"Hm," Bardock acknowledged, continuing to stare hard at the ground.
"It's true! You're getting there. But you have to remember; you need to believe that the power was yours all along. No need to want for something that already belongs to you," he said seriously before his face broke into the cheerful countenance it usually had. "Well, I think that's enough training for today. The rest is pretty much up to you," Goku concluded before his stomach growled, shortly followed by both Bardock and Gine.
"Oh, come on, you didn't even do anything!" Bardock shouted to his wife, who stuck her tongue out again.
"Shut up. I'm the one that makes the food, unless you just wanna cook something over a fire?" the female of the bunch asked sweetly, as though talking of the weather. It was silent for several seconds, and both Bardock and Goku knew she'd make good on her thinly veiled threat.
Bardock's eye twitched, but he said nothing more. Gine was the first to head back to the house, which they only were several yards away from.
The large screen displayed the anti-climactic battle between Frieza and a Saiyan who oddly resembled King Vegeta, albeit much shorter in comparison to said late King.
The being watching the footage sighed exasperatedly, as it showed him being all but vaporized from a blast released by the flame haired Saiyan.
"Dear brother, I knew you'd overstep your boundaries eventually. It was only a matter of time before one of the monkeys finally made you bite the dust." He was definitely surprised by the little transformation that the Saiyan pulled off, but it was of no consequence.
Frieza was much weaker than him, anyhow. The purple skinned Arcosian stroked his chin with a thumb and index finger before turning the video off completely. Cooler straightened up in his hover chair and thumbed a button on the armrest of his hover-chair.
"Yes, Lord Cooler?" a heavily accented voice, which would have sounded like a Frenchman's asked from the other end of the line.
"Salza. Please send a messenger to my father with a video parcel I'll be transmitting."
"Of course, sir. Shall we be heading to Planet Vegeta?"
Cooler thought about it for a second before leaning back in his chair.
"No, not yet. I don't really feel like destroying their planet right now. We'll be paying them a visit very soon, but for now, we'll hang back." Cooler cut off the connection once Salza sounded an affirmative and the Arcosian closed his eyes in thought.
Cooler's dark lips raised at the corners into a not so innocent smile. No, he wouldn't destroy the planet, but he would make an example of this so called "Super Saiyan". No need to kill them if he could simply put them in their place.
"Hm, maybe now, father will see that I was always stronger than Frieza. Perhaps I will be given more territory after I take care of this little problem."
Cooler's shoulders shook as he laughed heartily, glad to finally experience some excitement after a very dull time.
A/N: ...This chapter didn't really have much combat, but hopefully it did help to expand the plot a bit more. As you can see, there will definitely be more combat involved very soon.