Chapter 8
Gas falls to the ground defeated.
"I no longer seek revenge." Granolah says to his siblings "Take gas away and never return" He says to the Heeters
"Kakarot, Vegeta, I am sorry for all I've done." Granolah says
Following his tremendous attack, Granolah falls to his knees and begins coughing up blood, believing that the attack shortened his lifespan further.
Monaito approaches and using his now heightened healing powers restores Granolah, Kakarot and Vegeta to full strength.
As Elec plans to retreat, Gas re-emerges, shooting a blast through Monaito's chest. Granolah rushes to his aid as Kakarot and Vegeta enter the battle yet again.
"Kill them!" Elec frantically urges Gas before he dies.
Macki appears in front of him "Best to retreat and try another time."
Elec slaps his sister aside, "There won't be a next time for Gas! His life span is about to run out as making him the strongest in the universe meant sacrificing so much of his brother's life!"
This warrants shock from his siblings and his enemies.
Gas is horrified to learn that he is dying and looks at his decaying face in shock.
"Gather yourself!" Elec urges "It's only a matter of time before he arrives!"
At that moment, Frieza arrives on the planet, shocking everyone.
"Hello, Gas." Frieza says deviously "So tell me, why did you call me here?"
"I will Kill you" Gas shouts after powering up.
However, the tyrant easily ends his resistance by running his hand through his gut. Everyone is shocked by the scene, as Gas slowly dies from his wounds and condition, decaying into a skeleton.
Frieza promptly crushes Gas' skull.
"H-how the fuck did he do that?!" Vegeta questions
Frieza turns his attention to the now scared Elec "What business do you have contacting me?"
Elec nervously states "it was a miscommunication on my part"
But Frieza is aware that Elec lured him there to be killed by Gas.
Easily appearing before him, Frieza reveals "I always knew of the Heeters plan to kill me, I allowed them to conspire for the benefit of my army"
Elec is surprised. Frieza states, "I know everything about this galaxy."
He also reveals that Elec is, in fact, the weakest in his family. Outraged, Elec tries to attack only to be blocked and obliterated by Frieza.
Frieza turns his attention to Kakarot and Vegeta.
"How the fuck did you do that?" Kakarot demands "He was supposedly the strongest in the universe!"
Frieza remarks" it may be due to him being in another dimension, confusing you. I could not stand having you constantly surpass me. On one of my conquered planets there was a room that causes time to flow differently, and I gathered ten years' worth of training to gain this power."
Kakarot and Vegeta are speechless at this news, as Frieza transforms into a new form.
"This is what I call Black Frieza." Frieza says and unveils the power by easily defeating his foes in their full powered forms.
"W-what the fuck..." Kakarot muttered to himself
Satisfied by their defeated state, he decides to spare them and after noticing the cowering Oil and Macki, offers to induct them into his army as servants before the trio leave Cereal.
Whis appears and restores Monaito as a favour for Kakarot "You 2 need to leave with me, now. Lord Beerus is unable to figure out how to make yakisoba."
"You want to come with us and train?" Kakarot asks Granolah
"No," Granolah replied. "I want to find the DragonBalls, I need to fix the damage on Cereal."
"Alright then." Kakarot replies,
"Here, take this" Vegeta says handing over the Dragonball radar.
"Thanks" Granolah replies
"Kakarot, I want you to have this." Monaito says giving Kakarot his father's scouter just before they take their leave.
"Was the Oracle Fish' prophecy talking about Frieza?" Kakarot turns to Whis
"Maybe." Whis replies, "or it may be someone else who has emerged in the universe instead."
Kakarot grumbled quietly in frustration.
After all that's happened, the last thing they needed was more trouble.
Whis, Kakarot and Vegeta arrive back on Beerus' planet.
A lot had happened and things could have gone very differently.
"So, did you make any progress on Ultra Instinct?" Whis asks
"Yeah, I think so." Kakarot replies "Ultra Instinct Omen seems to work quite well for me. I can still use that Saiyan rage" Kakarot smirks
"Hm, good." Whis replies "The Omen form is good, however, Autonomous Ultra Instinct, once fully trained will still be stronger, but It does please me that you have found a way to make it work for you."
As Vegeta is telling Beerus about his Ultra Ego form, Kakarot's attention turns to Bardock's scouter once more.
Memories of his past were still there, but did wane slightly due to how young he was, and how long ago it was.
Bardock's words to him echoed through his mind, "Stay alive."
Kakarot wished he could have spent more time learning more about who he was and where he came from. He remembered things from before, but not a lot.
Though, right now, Kakarot needed to focus on training. With Frieza showing his new form and power, there was no doubt that he was going to come for revenge.
While Kakarot and Vegeta struggled when faced with Gas, Frieza didn't have to even try! Yes, Gas was on the verge of death, but he was still very much and Vegeta wondered if they would be able to find a way to put an end to Frieza, but they were not sure.
Kakarot still refused to give up and planned to get stronger again.
"Frieza is so much stronger now," Kakarot says with determination. "I look forward to fighting him again. He may be stronger. but by the time I'm done, I will be stronger."
"Kakarot, you have a lot of work to do," Vegeta says. "Ultra Instinct let you down. You need to figure it out."
"It's not like you were much better!" Kakarot says, folding his arms and scowling a little.
"Better than you!" Vegeta taunts
"Bullshit!" Kakarot replies angrily.
"Prove it." Vegeta challenges as he takes his Ultra Ego form. "I've seen what you can do."
"You were out cold for the last part of the fight." Kakarot says, taking the Ultra Instinct Omen form."You saw nothing."
Vegeta smirked, and he told himself he'd seen enough to know how Kakarot fights.
Vegeta launched his attack, throwing punches and kicks, all of which Kakarot evaded with ease.
Sure enough, Vegeta landed a mighty punch that sent Kakarot tumbling to the ground.
Kakarot quickly recovers, going on the offence.
Kakarot throws a flurry of punches, but Vegeta blocks with ease. Kakarot keeps pushing, and a swift kick manages to knock Vegeta to the ground.
The 2 Saiyan's continued to fight until they were worn out and lost their forms. They look at each other, panting and worn.
They seem to be rather evenly matched, for 2 Saiyan's finally head home. Chi-Chi and Bulma won't be all that pleased with how long they've been gone.
They expected Kakarot and Vegeta to be gone a few days at best, not over a month!
Kakarot and Vegeta never expected to be gone as long as they were either, but they did what they had to, just to protect people. Well, Vegeta did it more for himself since he claimed there was no one to save.
Vegeta and Kakarot arrive back on earth, landing outside the Capsule Corporation.
Bulma quickly notices their return and goes outside.
"Where have you been?!" Bulma demands
"Dealing with an enemy." Vegeta replies
"For a month?!" Bulma shouts, her anger increasing.
"He wasn't like any other enemy we've faced." Kakarot explains. "He was strong."
"I don't care." Bulma snaps. "It surely didn't take that long."
"We did what we had to do." Vegeta snaps back. "If we didn't, Whis to say he wouldn't have cone here?"
Kakarot could see that the situation wasn't going to calm down anytime soon, so without another word, Kakarot used instant transmission to leave.
Kakarot reappeared outside of his own home. He prepared himself for the possibility of Chi-Chi having a similar reaction upon seeing him.
Kakarot enters his home, and Chi-Chi walks into the room.
Kakarot waits for it, the outburst, the anger, but it doesn't come. Instead, Chi-Chi seems relieved, much to Kakarot's surprise.
"I thought you'd be mad that I'd been gone so long." Kakarot says with curiosity
"I understand what you have to do." Ch-Chi replies. "I wasn't exactly pleased, but I have come to accept this is the way it is. I'm just glad you come home at the end of it."
Kakarot can't complain, but he does somewhat feel for Vegeta after seeing Bulma's outburst.
Days pass where life goes on as usual.
Kakarot is currently out in the city selling the vegetables he's grown. The markets are always after his vegetables. People often comment on the high quality of Kakarot's products and many will happily buy the whole stock he has on hand. The demand for his products are high.
On the way home, Kakarot wanted to try out his Ultra Instinct ability, to test how it had come on. He had been training to use it in his base form. So as he walked home, he kept his eyes closed the entire time, letting his body try and spot dangers for itself. He was walking through the streets, avoiding bumping into others with greater ease. He began crossing the road, but it turns out, his ability still needs work.
Bulma is driving when Kakarot steps in front of her car. Bulma doesn't stop in time and hits him, but Kakarot doesn't budge. The front end of her car is crushed, and Kakarot is completely unscathed. Fighting the airbags that deployed, Bulma climbs out of the car as Kakarot opens his eyes.
"The fuck are you doing?!" Bulma shouts "Look what you did to my car!"
"Sorry, I didn't notice you!" Kakarot replies
"You fucking idiot!" Bulma shouts again "Maybe you should keep your eyes open!"
Bulma goes to slap Kakarot. Its not the first time she's done so when she's been angry with him.
This time though, Kakarot instinctively dodged. He didn't even think about it, it just happened.
Bulma stumbled a little before balancing herself.
"W-why did you dodge?!" Bulma questions looking at Kakarot with surprise
"I just did." Kakarot replies "I'm training my Ultra Instinct so that I dodge without even thinking about it."
"You so owe me for this." Bulma replies angrily
"Dad is acting weird" Goten says to Gohan who are both watching the events unfold from afar.
"Dad has always been a bit weird" Gohan says
"Yeah, but he just dodged Bulma's slap..." Goten replies
"That's a fair point." Gohan says "He's never dodged her."
"Why would he do that?" Goten asks
"No idea." Gohan replies
Weeks pass and Goku is continuing his trailing.
He is stood outside, eyes closed meditating.
Goku feels a presence, but not the presence of evil, but one that does snap him out of meditation.
There was a gathering happening, Kakarot, Vegeta, and their families and come together to eat along with their friends.
"Kakarot...?" A voice comes from behind Kakarot
This person, they knew him, but he didn't recognise the voice.
Kakarot turns slowly to face the person.
He sees a man, and notices a resemblance to his own self. It's none other than Bardock, but Kakarot doesn't realise it.
"You know me?" Kakarot questions
"You've grown so much..." Bardock says
Bardock approaches Kakarot and hugs him.
Kakarot doesn't understand it, but it feels...right.
"W-who are you?" Kakarot asks
but before Bardock could answer, another voice is heard
"Dad!" Gohan says "Food is ready...uhh what's going on?"
Bardock approaches Gohan "You're Kakarot's son?" Bardock asks
"Uhh yes.." Gohan replies
Bardock notices Goten next to Gohan "My...you look just like Kakarot!"
Chi-Chi appears wondering where they went to see this man stood there, someone she'd never met, but she noticed the resemblance too.
"Who is that?" Chi-Chi asks approaching Kakarot.
"I have no more time..." Bardock says suddenly "Your family...take good care of them.
Bardock begins to fade, Kakarot finally realises who was stood before him and reaches out his arm. He rushes toward the man he's now realised is his father but Bardock disappears. Kakarot comes to a stop.
Kakarot was not one for being emotional, but tears crept down his face.
Vegeta, Bulma, Krillin and the others appeared and saw Kakarot stood there, appearing lost, confused, and obviously upset.
"Dad?" Gohan asks softly "Who was that?"
"T-that was..."Kakarot begins but stops for a moment "That was my father..."
"What?!" Gohan exclaims "Really?"
Kakarot wipes his face, attempting to pull himself together "I didn't think I'd ever see him..."
"You look so much like him" Chi-Chi says
"You saw Bardock?!" Vegeta questions
"Yeah..." Kakarot replies "But...why?"
"Maybe he had a chance to see you, and took it?" Gohan says
"Maybe..." Kakarot says "In a way, I'm thankful for it, but knowing I'll never see him again..."
Kakarot shook the thought off with effort. He had his friends and family present, he didn't want to waste time. That brief moment with his father made him realise something.
Things can change so quickly, and one day, he will be in that position too. He will be the one looking on from beyond this life at the family that he has, and the ones who will extend it.
"Come on, let's eat" Kakarot says "Chi-Chi has worked so hard putting this all together, let's get at it before it goes cold. plus, I'm starving!"
So, with a new perspective, Kakarot along with everyone else, digs in to the glorious feast put before them.
Kakarot can't help but smile to himself a little and Gohan notices.
Gohan thinks to himself "I feel like my dad needed that. I haven't seen him smile like that for a long time. I'm glad he seems to have had some closure."
Gohan looks at his father and smiles.