Nexus HWR 12.4 Countdown:
13 Days Ago…
Mount Vegeta
"What is a human doing on Mount Vegeta?!"
"This is against your own laws King Bardock!"
"What is the meaning of this?!"
Bardock stood in the sitting room of his house with a stern expression on his face. He had had his sons clear out the chairs in it and move them to the living room across the hall, but even his living room was filling with people like his kitchen. Behind him, standing on the staircase and leaning back on the wall behind the railing was his eldest son, a deep frown on his face like most other people in Bardock's house. His younger son was sitting on the railing in front of Raditz with a smile on his face like he was enjoying this situation. Bardock's crew were to his left, the three of them looking serious like Bardock but staring at the teenager on his left side like everyone else in the room.
"Alright, alright!" Bardock yelled, lifting his arms and waving them down in front of him to signal for the room to quiet down. In front of him were the oldest Saiyans, though most of them looked like they were middle-aged as every Saiyan who had died before was brought back to their youthful selves on Nexus. There were a few Saiyans from another universe who looked older, but all of them had in common that they were scowling and growling at the human to Bardock's left side.
Sora kept calm despite all the angry looks from the Saiyans. They respect strength more than anything. I know how to act around Vegeta, and though I kinda forgot about that when I met Goku's brother, I can handle this. Sora had his arms crossed in front of his chest and took calm deep breaths in and out through his nose quietly enough that no one could hear him.
"You can't kill this kid," Bardock began, "because the Gods told us the Keybearers are important for fixing the world order."
Sora's eyes widened and he darted them to Bardock who he felt probably wasn't supposed to be talking about this. The other Saiyans in the room all started shouting though, and one of them stepped forward from the front of the pack before Bardock, "These are the same Gods, who you claim brought us to this world? And the ones none of us have seen-"
"We've seen it," Shugesh snapped over in a deep growl. The older Saiyan man looked over, then backed off as Shugesh gave him a harsh glare, threatening him to continue.
Someone else was daring enough though, "Five Saiyans tell us this shit about religion," they began, and a few people moved out of the way so Bardock could see through the pack towards a beautiful, short woman with spiky black hair that shot a foot out of her head in every direction behind and above her. "And they all happen to either be the King's friends, the King's son," she narrowed her gaze, "or the King himself."
"Are you calling your King a liar?" Bardock growled back towards the woman.
"I wouldn't be," she growled right back, "if you would let me become a God, and see for myself!" She yelled at the end, and immediately following her shout, everyone else in the room started shouting along with her.
"Ignore her and at least turn me into a God!"
"I HAVE THE MOST POWER! GIVE IT TO-"
"STOP FUCKING SHOUTING IN MY HOUSE!" Bardock roared, his hair flashing gold and the room becoming silent in an instant. Goku grinned behind his father and almost chuckled, but the entire room was silent so he pursed his lips and held it in. Bardock's hair turned back to black and he glared around at each of the people who shouted about becoming Gods. "The last three Saiyans who tried were burned out by the process," Bardock snapped. "And they were stronger than any of you."
"I can take it," the woman with crazy spiky hair said. She stepped forward towards the King, and she added, "It shouldn't be up to you to decide."
Bardock vanished, and he appeared in the center of the room with his right hand wrapped around her neck, her body lifted off the floor a few feet. "And why is that?" Bardock questioned back, a smirk coming to his face. "I am your King."
"We all, ack, heard, what Kaka-rott, said," the woman gasped out, and her mouth curled up even as Bardock continued to hold her up by the throat. "Prince, Vegeta, is alive."
Bardock frowned up at the woman, and after a second he released her with a seemingly gentle toss that sent her skidding back across his floor into the living room. "Maybe," Bardock admitted. "But Okara, will we change our way because of this?" He looked around at the Saiyans in his house. "Will we alter our laws, so that our race is no longer ruled by the strongest?!" Bardock walked back towards where he was standing before, leaving his back vulnerable to anyone who would try to attack him. He turned around again when he got in front of his stairs, and he yelled, "If Vegeta wishes to become King, he can come challenge me! Kakarott tells me he is a Super Saiyan as well, a worthy challenger. And if Prince Vegeta asks, I will make him a God, because he is strong enough to take it!"
Bardock glared into the eyes of individuals near him, seeing if any of them had a problem with the way he was handling this. A couple looked like they might, but after how strongly Bardock made his declaration, none of them were willing to say it aloud. An old man on Bardock's right, the oldest-looking figure in the room actually, spoke up after a few seconds. "What you told Okara was not entirely correct, my King. How the last three Saiyans you attempted to make Gods were killed by the transformation," he specified.
Goku looked at his father's back in confusion as Bardock's face took on a pissed expression to it. He realized that Bardock's friends over near the entrance to the kitchen, Raditz behind him, and a lot of others in the room too, all looked angry at the old man's reference. "Only the last two were killed, and the one four transformations ago, but you left him out."
"Why should I have brought up that bastard?" Bardock snarled.
"Because even if the Rogue did betray us," the old man began, "the statistics become much better for the case of creating more Super Saiyan Gods, when you count Turles' successful transformation."
"Turles?" Goku questioned, making the people in the room look up to the boy behind his father's head. Raditz growled and was about to tell Goku to shut up, but he noticed their father smirk on Goku's other side, and he had a bad feeling in his gut that was confirmed in the next second. They called that space pirate guy Turles, the Saiyan man in the body of a child thought. "But I killed him?" Goku said aloud in confusion.
Most people in the room looked at Goku in surprise, then Tora, Fasha, and Shugesh started laughing it up from the entry to the kitchen. "Kakarott, you killed him before coming to Nexus, right?" Bardock mentioned, mainly to specify it for his people who were wondering if Turles was dead.
"Oh, oh yeah," Goku said, realizing it himself that Turles probably came back to life like everyone else. "Wait, he's a Super Saiyan God too?" The boy questioned.
Bardock turned and looked his son in the eyes, surprising the others in the room as he took time out of the meeting to respond. "Yes, but instead of challenging me like a true Saiyan, he tried to stage a coup." Goku looked confused by that word, and Bardock explained, "He gathered up a small army and then tried to take my life while I slept. We repelled them," Bardock said, but he slid the shoulder strap away from his left shoulder as he did so Goku could see a thick scar directly over his left pectoral. "I tensed my muscles as soon as I awoke, stopping the dagger only after it had partially impaled me."
"Yet even with that wound, your father kicked the shit out of Turles," Fasha remarked towards Bardock's youngest. "It's only because of it that the bastard got off the mountain with his life."
Sora glanced at the man next to him in amazement as he thought about that. He woke up with a knife already inside his chest and still managed to stop his attacker? That's crazy! And really cool!
"Back to the matter at hand," Bardock said loudly, getting the attention off of him since he did not really like it. "The Keybearer is not to be harmed while on this mountain. You touch him, I'll rip your heart out through your throat. That understood?" He glared around to see if anyone still seemed against it after that threat. No one did. "Hmph," Bardock grunted.
"Kakarott," someone said, and everyone in the room looked towards the back of the sitting room where a giant man who Goku had met in town when he went to check out the guy's shop was standing. The man avoided his King's gaze, and spoke directly to the less intimidating kid, "You know where Prince Vegeta is?" Bardock's teeth clenched, and although the large man was not looking at his King, he caught a glimpse of him in his sight and continued while sweat appeared on his face. "Just saying, you should tell him to come take the challenge, for his rightful place as leader of the Saiyans."
Don't kill him. These guys were really into the monarchy. Besides, if Vegeta can kick my ass as a Super Saiyan God, I'll give him the throne. If I even had a throne, Bardock grinned, but to everyone else in the room it looked like he was not even concerned that Vegeta could pose a threat to his reign.
"Um, yeah," Goku replied, and he scratched the back of his head. "I'll let him know next time I'm home," he added though, showing he was in no hurry to leave Mount Vegeta. This made some of his fellow Saiyans frown, but it also made the single human in the room frown from the tone in Goku's voice.
He really likes it here, Sora thought, and he grimaced internally. I get it, he found his dad and the rest of his people, but, Goku, what about our friends?
12 Days Ago…
Mount Gine
At the top of the second tallest mountain in the Saiyan mountains, three flashes of red light illuminated the dim morning air. The mountaintop had only a small area to stand on, considering how steep the slopes on every side of the summit were. There was even less room considering the metal tower on Sora's right with a blinking red light at the top that he heard worked as one of four Power Blocker towers for all of the nearby mountaintops. It looked a little like a radio tower to Sora, and he remembered the tv in Bardock's house, making him wonder if there was a different tower with a blinking red light at the top for that.
Sora looked away from the tower next to him though and focused on the three creatures that appeared in front of him. He put the pokeballs back into the bottomless pack over his back, then clapped his gloved hands in front of him and rubbed them together for warmth. "Alright you guys, I've got a job for you if you're willing to help me out."
"Raa-aa," Charizard roared and nodded its head.
Sora could see Charizard's tail flame looked dimmer than usual, and he apologized quickly, "Sorry buddy, forgot about that. Here," Sora reached down into his bag, and he muttered, "Should have thought of this on my way up." He pulled out a silver armlet with blue gems on the side of it, and Sora motioned for Charizard to come closer to him. Charizard held out its right arm, and Sora put the bracelet on while saying, "It's a Blizzagun Armlet. It'll make it so you feel the effects of a blizzard less." A flash of bright blue light surrounded Charizard for a second, then the flame on Charizard's tail stopped waving with the wind this high in the atmosphere, and the Pokemon felt warmer in general.
Charizard roared out a thanks, then Sora looked at the other two Pokemon that emerged above the mountain with the fire type. "You guys too?"
"I would be happy to help you, Sora," Lugia said and nodded its head at the end of its long white neck.
Sora turned to the last and smallest of the three he released, and Mew nodded back at him before doing a backflip in the air. "That's great," Sora told them. He smiled and let out a breath of air that hung there for a few seconds thanks to the below freezing temperatures they were in. Mount Vegeta had more natural barriers around the outside of the summit and enough buildings on it to stop the wind, but on top of Mount Gine Sora had nothing to protect from the winds in the upper atmosphere. "So, I found Goku, but he said something when I said we needed to go help our friends that made me realize, I don't actually know where they are." Sora laughed and scratched the back of his head, "Half of them went south, and the other half were heading north, and if I want to meet up with them I have to know where they are first."
His Pokemon knew what he was asking and they all told him they would go look for the others. "You guys are the best," Sora said, and he waved them off as they turned and flew away from the mountains. I say that but, Sora frowned and looked back the other way across the wooden rope bridge that hung precariously over a giant drop. The Saiyans almost never used it since they could just as easily fly over from Mount Vegeta, but Sora started walking across it back towards the summit of Mount Vegeta. I feel like Goku just wanted an excuse to stay. It's true I wouldn't be able to find them, for a little, but I mean thinking about Natsu and Luffy, I know they'll make a lot of noise wherever they are. I could just follow the sounds of explosions.
The bridge Sora was on swayed and creaked like it was going to fall. Sora closed his eyes and got ready for it, but the bridge stayed sturdy beneath his feet. Of course it did, Sora thought, and he frowned when his eyes opened. He looked up into the sky above him, "You don't know either? … No, as Super Saiyan Gods, we were just told that the Keybearers are important in order to fix the worlds. They gave us access to the top floor of the Tower of Babel, but they didn't give us much access to information. As to why this world exists, or the messed-up world order, I don't know enough to give you the answers you're looking for." What Bardock told Sora while in the presence only of the other Super Saiyan Gods atop Mount Vegeta kept repeating in his mind.
Even certain Gods don't know. Do any of them? Percy seemed to think they do, but why wouldn't they have told the Super Saiyan Gods? And are they protecting me? Sora frowned deeper. Would this bridge have broken if it was anyone else walking across it? That blizzard might have killed me, if it weren't for them, so I feel like I should thank them… but if they've been watching all this time, there are so many things they could have helped me with. Sora pouted while staring at the sky, but he did not expect the skies to open up and give him an answer. He let out a sigh and continued walking towards Mount Vegeta with a less serious look on his face. "Well, until I find out where my friends are, might as well stay up here with Goku. It might be fun living with only Saiyans for a while."
7 Days Ago…
"Whoa," Sora said.
Goku looked up like the boy next to him and they stared into the clear sky above them. Straight up, the sky was mostly black thanks to how high in the atmosphere they were, and because the suns were far to the western horizon. The sky was illuminating with faint purple ripples, and the two boys started looking around to try and find what was causing it. They could not see the cause in any direction they looked, but the eastern sky that was usually darker at sunset seemed oddly orange for some reason. Goku floated off the floor and Sora follwed him up into the air.
They were not the only ones flying up, and a bunch of other Saiyans on the mountain flew into the sky to look towards the east. When they reached a certain level above Mount Vegeta, the sight of the massive beam became visible. "That's great," Goku said, "Natsu got a lot stronger."
Sora heard this on his side and he spun in surprise, asking, "That's Natsu?" Goku nodded, and as Sora started believing him, the teenager had a thought and tilted his head to the side. "How do you know?"
Goku smiled and he pointed towards the beam in the distance. "See how there are flames around it?"
Sora put a hand to his forehead and peered closer, and he saw that there was a reason the distant sky was more orange than just pure white. The point where the end of the beam blasted against the atmospheric boundary also erupted in huge pillars of flames splashing out across the sky around it. The purple ripples kept spreading from that point in the distance. a point that looked lower than the Saiyans and Keybearer were flying. Sora was looking down while he floated, and it was only when he reached a certain height that he could even start seeing the beam, making him wonder at first if the forcefield around the planet was higher above the Saiyan Mountains because of how high up they were. It took him a few seconds to understand that he was looking over a round planet, and the upper barrier also likely curved like the world below.
For a few seconds, Sora became worried about his friends, but he shook his head and smiled after a single dark thought. He looked up at the sky that would occasionally ripple purple, gazed back at the beam in the distant east, and reminded himself how strong his friends were. We're pretty far north, and Natsu's group went south, so maybe the two groups met back up with each other! That's great. Now when I go back with Goku, almost all of us will be together. Luffy, Natsu, Riku, protect our friends.
5 Days Ago…
"Really?! Great! I'll go get him!" Goku spun around and sprinted out of the house he was in. The boy knew he needed to move fast, and he sprinted across the top of Mount Vegeta to the east side where there were two wooden posts holding up a wooden rope-bridge. Goku opened his mouth to shout something, but he stopped as the boy he felt was not alone like he was when Goku first sensed him out. Something had flown into the Saiyan mountains' airspace, and that small pink Pokemon was speaking with Sora over on top of Mount Gine.
Mew finally flew off, and Goku cupped his hands to his mouth. "Hey Sora!" He called out. The taller boy across the bridge looked back towards Mount Vegeta, and Goku waved a hand at him while shouting over, "We're starting up training! Come join!"
Sora chuckled and he put his hands behind his head as he started walking over. "Sure!" Sora called out. "Don't know if I'll be able to keep up with you Saiyans though." The teen chuckled as he got closer to his friend, and he looked over the kid's head at all the black haired figures walking around the top of the mountain. He could still picture some of the angry looks they gave him in Bardock's house the other day. "You sure I'm allowed Goku?" Sora asked.
"Yeah," Goku replied excitedly. "I asked and he said it was okay!"
"Well then," Sora said. He pulled his hands down from behind his head and clapped them together in front of him. "Let's get started!"
"Let's go to the Training Mountain," Goku said, and he flew off the ground before Sora even finished crossing the bridge. Sora laughed at Goku's enthusiasm, then he hopped over the side of the bridge and flew after his smaller, older friend.
Sora looked down at the third tallest mountain as they flew past it. There were hundreds of Saiyan homes on top and around the summit of Mount Salad. Sora smiled as he spotted a few children he met the day before, and he waved down at them as he flew by. The kids waved back at him, having opened up after only a few minutes of talking with the strange person like none they had ever been exposed to. One of the kid's parents saw her son waving, and Sora frowned as the woman started yelling at the boy for greeting him.
He knew there was nothing he could do, and he did not want to impose on the Saiyans more than he already had, but it upset him as he thought about that woman telling the children not to talk to him. I can't be friends with everyone, but I at least wish she didn't raise her children to grow up to hate different people like she probably was. Sora refocused on Goku as they dropped past the summit of the third tallest mountain and descended towards the sixth a few hundred meters below. There was a lot of space on that mountaintop, and there needed to be considering the fights going on there as the boys flew down.
Sora spotted the man who he figured Goku had asked if he could train with them. Bardock looked up towards them and made eye contact with the Keybearer. Sora held back a gulp and kept his lips flat as he flew towards the Saiyan King. He landed next to Goku twenty feet in front of Bardock, then he bowed his head and began, "Thanks for letting me train with-"
"Enough of the formalities," Bardock said before Sora could finish even one sentence. Sora lifted his head back up, and Bardock crossed his arms while looking at the boys ahead of him. Sora noticed some of the other fighters around the mountain who were sparring intensely were slowing down and many were looking his way. He tried to keep his eyes focused on Bardock's though, and the Saiyan King continued looking in his eyes as he said, "Kakarott, stay back for this."
Goku looked surprised and a little confused as he nodded his head. "I want to see what the Keybearer can do," Bardock mentioned, and the scar-faced Saiyan King smirked. The Gods think this kid can save the worlds? Fix the universe? I'll decide whether I believe that right now. "From what I've seen so far, you're not all that strong," Bardock taunted the teenager with spiky brown hair. "But prove me wrong. Take out your Keyblade and come at me with everything you've got!"
Oh man, I am so not ready for this. Sora lifted his right hand in front of him and a flash of light turned into a Keyblade in his grip. He clasped his left hand forward to grab the hilt as well, then he took a deep breath to try and calm his rapid breathing. Goku said his dad beat him, and I couldn't beat Goku in a million years! Sora started running forward, but as he did, the tip of his blue Keyblade with three sharp prongs at the end started to glow. But the Saiyans have been looking down on me since I arrived. Some of the others are watching too. If I ever want them to take me seriously, if I ever want them to open up to people who aren't Saiyans, I need to bring it!
The glowing tip to Sora's Keyblade turned black all of a sudden, and Bardock's eyes darted up to see a sphere of blackness larger than his own body appear above him. It dropped towards him, and Bardock was not going to stand there and allow whatever it was to touch him. The Saiyan King's eyes realized that the bottom of the dark ball was not directly over his head, giving him a clear choice of which direction he should dodge since it would be easier to move to his right. His eyes darted to Sora again and he saw the teen's eyes already showing which direction he would be moving, even though he looked to be moving in a straight sprint at the moment.
Bardock did not follow Sora's plan. Instead of dodging towards where Sora was about to pick up his speed and sprint to, Bardock kicked off the ground and appeared in front of Sora. He pulled back a fist as the Keybearer went wide-eyed. The ball of gravity magic Sora created dropped behind Bardock's back, hit the ground, flattened to it, and then Bardock snapped his head to the right to glare at Sora. For a full second he was frozen in place with his arm held back, and he glared towards the kid who leapt away during that second and was pointing his Keyblade down at him. To those who were watching, it seemed like the King just gave Sora a second to back up to avoid being punched, and some of them smirked and snickered about how their King was taking it easy on the "human."
Only Bardock, Sora, and Goku knew what really happened though. As the three thick jets of fire shot out of Sora's shaking Keyblade at Bardock, the Saiyan King was thinking about Sora's magic that stopped his movements. Goku was impressed in his friend and wished he had gotten a chance to spar with him before his father, since he realized he never had fought Sora before, though they had joked about it back on the Sunny. Sora was not impressed in himself though, thinking instead in panic as he hid behind his Firaga magic, Stopundra only stalled him for a second! I didn't even have enough MP left to use Firandra. Alright, time to step this up a notch!
Sora landed below the start of his fire magic, and he saw Bardock stomping through the flames like they were not even there. Sora lifted his Keyblade above his head, and he yelled out, "Master!" A flash of bright white light surrounded the Keybearer. When it vanished, Sora was inside the light holding up two Keyblades, one that was green and rugged with three sharp prongs at the end, and the other a fancier light-blue one with a large circular hilt with lots of spikes sticking out of it, and a double-edge to it with sharp points at the end of each one split by a thin hollow center line. His clothes had transformed so he was wearing all yellow, and the boy grinned as he let go of the Keyblade in his right hand. Sora's hands started to glow, and he waved around his right hand to make the green Keyblade in front of it start spinning around in circles in front of him for protection. He held the Keyblade in his left hand down at his waist, then he ran forward at Bardock who examined his transformation closely.
Speed increase, Bardock thought as Sora leapt off the ground while sprinting at his opponent, as his speed quintupled. He flew up and around Bardock's left side, but the Saiyan King was not going to just let him go by. Bardock jumped up in Sora's path and floated there with his hands out. His hands glowed gold, and he fired the attacks, while Sora was still processing the Saiyan King's appearance. Sora swiped his right hand in front of his body, and the floating Keyblade moving with him spun in front of Bardock's attacks. The Saiyan King smirked as he prepared to see how much those Keyblades could handle, but just by getting close to Sora's spinning Keyblade, a large translucent sphere surrounded the boy. What had been clear air until his attacks got close flashed to show there was a sphere of invisible energy protecting the teenager.
Light sparkled behind Sora, and he flipped himself in midair to switch directions to fly straight towards Bardock. He spun his body in a three-sixty to slash his Keyblades, and though Bardock pulled out of his reach, his weapons slashed farther than his blades extended and slammed into the Saiyan King. That hurt, Bardock thought, and he immediately surrounded his body in a thin white aura. Sora slashed his Keyblades up next, then down, every time creating slashes of air that flew far off his Keyblades before disappearing in the air or absorbing into the hard ground below him. Bardock no longer felt like he was getting hurt from Sora's attacks, and he reached out his arms fast as Sora brought his weapons around again.
As Bardock's hands grabbed onto the shafts of Sora's weapons, the teenager let go of his Keyblades and flew backwards to avoid whatever attack Bardock was going to use next. Damn, I didn't think he would be hurt much, but that barrier made it so I can't hurt him at all!
"You leave your weapons behind? What kind of-"
Sora held his arms out to the sides and opened his hands. Flashes of light illuminated from Bardock's hands, and his fists clenched tightly. Bardock grimaced as his nails cut into his own palms, as he was clenching the Keyblades as hard as he could in his base state to try and break them. When the weapons disappeared, his fists clenched too fast for his own good. The Saiyan opened his clenched fists and looked down at his bloody hands, then he lifted his gaze to Sora with a big smirk on his face that unnerved the boy whose Keyblades were just appearing in his hands. Bardock's hair shot up golden, and Sora's anxiousness increased. He started flying backwards to try and increase the distance between himself and this stronger enemy more.
He pointed his Keyblades down to attack, but his magic would not lock on. Bardock was no longer in front of him, and it took him slamming into what felt like a steel wall to realize that the Saiyan was now behind him. "Thunder!" Sora shouted, and he clenched his own teeth in preparation. He did not think he had enough time to spin around, so he used thunder magic on the immovable force behind him, while changing the direction he was flying at the same moment. He turned his head and looked back to see Bardock frowning at him from inside the powerful lightning he called down thanks to his Master Form. That hurt me more than him! Sora realized, still feeling the static from being so close when he called it down.
Bardock flew forward while Sora was flying away, and he slammed a fist down into Sora's back that made the teen's mind flush with agony. He slammed down into the Training Mountain so fast that the collision with Bardock's fist and the collision with the mountain felt simultaneous. Sora felt so much pain that he could hardly think. He lay flat on his stomach and face, and he heard laughter coming from his left side. He did not know where on the mountain he crashed down, but wherever it was, some of the nearby Saiyans were taunting him. As he lay there, a flash of white light surrounded him and he felt his Drive Form wear off.
Goku flew up and called out, "Sora! Are you okay?" He started flying to his friend's side, but Bardock shot him a glare that had the boy stop for a second. I know Saiyans hate when people interrupt their fights- I sure do. But Sora isn't a Saiyan! Goku turned back and was going to ignore his father's look to rush over to Sora anyway, but when he looked towards Sora his eyes opened in surprise, and then he smiled while the other Saiyans on the mountain who were smiling started to just stare in surprise.
Sora slowly staggered up to his feet, and he was panting heavily as he faced away from Bardock. He rose his right arm, and a flash of light created a Keyblade in his grasp. "I can easily see you can no longer fight," Bardock said, frowning at the teen's back. Even though some of his people were impressed by the boy's ability to get up after that last hit, Bardock figured the boy was just unable to accept defeat. He lifted his right fist, but Sora turned his head and grinned at him over his shoulder.
"You'd be surprised," Sora began while panting, and the tip of his Kingdom Keyblade glowed green. The Keyblade with a yellow hilt shot the green magic over Sora in a dome of light. It shimmered down on him and the scratches on Sora's face that popped up when he slammed face-first into the harder-than-steel mountaintop faded away. Sora turned fully and looked at Bardock's surprised expression, then he rose his Keyblade in front of him and grabbed it with two hands again. "I've got a lot of stamina," Sora bragged, and he stopped panting to smirk at the Saiyan King instead.
The smirk on Sora's face made the other Saiyans watching the fight glance at each other to see what their comrades thought about it. A few of them shrugged and looked back with more interest, some others stopped grinning the way they were when they were taunting the kid, though Sora did not notice these looks changing. He was too in the zone. All these Saiyans do is fight, but I'm not an amateur myself, Sora thought and clenched his Keyblade's hilt tighter. I sparred with Riku, Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie from the time I was five or six years old. I took down genies, dragons, and demons! Sora started running towards Bardock, Just because you're Saiyans, doesn't mean-
The Super Saiyan in front of Sora vanished, and Sora slashed down. Bardock did not appear in front of him though, and the teenager finished his swipe down, then immediately planted his front foot down hard and did a one-eighty spin to hit anyone who might be appearing behind him. No one showed up in that spot, and fearing that Bardock was still coming from his original front, Sora did a backflip and slashed down at the spot below him. Where'd he go?! Sora landed on his feet, and then he felt two other feet step on top of his head. He darted his eyes up and saw a golden light flaring above him, When did he- Bardock's right foot moved forward, then the heel slammed back while the leg lowered a little, nailing Sora in the head so hard that he was thrown out from beneath Bardock, and right off the side of the Training Mountain forty meters away.
Goku turned to the side of the mountain Sora just went flying off, and he looked closely, hoping his friend would fly back over the edge in a few seconds. "Kakarott. Go get the Keybearer," Bardock called to his son, his Super Saiyan aura vanishing. Goku looked over, and Bardock finished, "I knocked him out."
Sora had been against taking his Power Blocker off ever since he got to the Saiyan Mountains, mentioning that he might have to leave at any moment and did not want to have to waste time putting it back on. Because of that, Goku could not feel that his friend's energy had dropped to a point at which he would have been able to tell Sora was unconscious. He believed his father though, and Goku flew off the mountain without responding to Bardock, flying down it and diving into a thick mound of snow. "Fwew," Goku said as he pulled Sora out of it. "I thought you would have been a giant snowball," he said and laughed to himself. Sora did not hear him, as the teenager with spiky brown hair was out cold, in multiple ways as he was now covered in snow.
Goku frowned as he looked at a gash on Sora's forehead that was bleeding a lot. "Don't worry," Goku told the unconscious teen. He flew up over the side of the mountain, but he did not look down at the Training Mountain as he kept flying towards the third tallest, where Raditz had brought him the first time he did not know where the Saiyans' healing chambers were. Bardock frowned up at his son who flew away without a word to him, and he knew exactly where Kakarott was going. That boy's health is more important to you than respecting your father? Bardock frowned and growled, though it was a half-hearted one. The strongest Saiyan ever, and you're so, human.
Still 5 days ago…
Sora walked towards a large hall on the top of Mount Vegeta. Most of those who lived on the tallest mountain went to this grand hall to eat, and though Bardock said he would rather eat at home, as King he needed to be out in public to hear the concerns of his people. Sora thought that was a redeeming quality to the man who left a dent in his head earlier that day. After he left the healing chamber he did not remember getting into, he had gone back to the Training Mountain but held back from joining in any more training for the day.
The grand hall he headed towards was a one story building on the north side of the tallest mountain that was a hundred and fifty meters long. It had only one floor inside, but the top of the hall was high above the floor so the building was taller than most two or three story houses on Mount Vegeta. Sora walked down a dirt road between two lines of houses, and he sighed as he saw an old man sitting on his porch on Sora's right side give him a harsh glare. I'm trying, Sora thought, turning away from the elderly man and refacing the hall he could see only a quarter mile away. He had gone back to the King's house after leaving the Training Mountain on his own, but neither the King nor his sons were there. If they're not fighting, they're eating.
Sora slowed down as he neared the front doors of the hall. I don't get these Saiyans, he thought, a frown crossing his face. As the Keybearer, I'm what connects the worlds. I can speak to everyone, I'm supposed to understand, everyone. But the Saiyans, they're like no people I've ever met before. Why, are they so, bad? No, no don't think of it like that. Their culture is different… but that doesn't make it okay, does it? I'm not just supposed to accept their culture, if their culture involves killing everyone who isn't a Saiyan. I mean, they only do it when other races come to these mountains, so I guess I could call them sacred. I could understand, but the Saiyans don't treat these mountains like they're sacred. They just, don't like other races. Bardock protects the lands fifty miles in every direction of the base of Mount Vegeta, but would the other Saiyans if he was not around?
The boy frowned deeper still as he got within a hundred meters of the grand hall. Earlier, after I returned to the Training Mountain, I thought the Saiyans had a little more respect for me. When I healed that child though, bloody with a broken arm, the kid got so mad at me. The others made fun of him for getting help from a human, and they looked at me in disgust like getting help from me was worse than bleeding out. I just, don't understand Saiyans. Goku never talked bad about his own people, but I know he can see how different he is from most of them. Come on Sora, don't generalize them. I don't want to hit the point when if someone introduces themself as a Saiyan, I'm nervous around them. Keep an open mind! You're the Keybearer! Understanding all the people of all the worlds has to be a part of the job description! I mean, if anyone had ever told me, I'm sure it would have been!
Sora walked up to the doors of the grand hall, and he entered while keeping a calm and serious look on his face. He entered and avoided the gazes of any Saiyans who turned to him, looking only for the Saiyan boy he would recognize best. The kid he was looking for also turned towards the door, so Sora made eye contact with Goku and was able to smile when Goku flashed him one of his own, with a bunch of meat between the kid's teeth. The teenager walked over to his friend's table and sat next to Goku who scooted in towards Tora on his left side to make room for Sora.
Although Bardock was eating in the grand hall to make an appearance as King, he did not have a special table at the front of the room, or a special chair to sit in. He sat close to the center of the room, and though his crew were in the seats next to him, there were many other Saiyans at their table and the tables connected to them on either side. There were wooden benches on the sides of the tables instead of chairs, and the table was packed with people constantly elbowing each other as they were pressed in close. It seemed to Sora that everyone wanted to be sitting at this table in the center of the room and were scooting as close to their King as they could to be a part of his conversation. After he sat almost directly across from the King, since Goku had been sitting there before scooting to make a little room for him, Sora noticed a lot of harsh glares aimed his way again.
The conversation had paused for a second when Sora entered, but Fasha continued after the Keybearer was sitting at their table. "You see Kakarott," she lifted up her right hand and above her palm formed a small sphere of white light. "To make the Power Ball you need to merge your own ki with the atmosphere of the planet. Nexus's is different from- don't look straight at it," she crushed her right hand and Goku shook his head as for a second there he had not been thinking. Fasha let out a sigh, then the woman with short black hair continued, "It takes a lot out of you, so we don't like using it unless we need to. But it's worth it to become the mighty Oozaru."
Goku nodded his head and took another bite of his food, "I remember that thing now," he said between chews. "Vegeta used it when we fought on Earth."
Everyone at the table looked towards Kakarott interestedly. Even Sora found himself looking at the kid next to him with intrigue in his eyes as he had never heard much about this fight. Raditz looked at his younger brother and frowned deeply. If Vegeta had won, he would have revived me. You kept me from coming back, Kakarott, he growled at his younger brother, and a man with similarly long spiky black hair on Raditz's other side let out a sigh. Apragus looked past Raditz, three other Saiyans, and Shugesh, to see Bardock looking at his youngest with a grin on his face. "You're the stronger of the two of you now," Apragus mentioned. "Just ignore him," he suggested.
Raditz grumbled, but he could not ignore his brother as he was as interested as everyone else in what Kakarott was talking about. "I don't know if I can make one, though now that I have my tail back I hope I can. I would need to learn how to control that form though, since I could never remember a thing after I looked at the full moon as a kid. Apparently I used to just go berserk." Goku frowned and stopped eating for a second, but he shook thoughts of his Grandpa Gohan out of his head.
Sora could see Goku just thought of something bad, and the teenager turned to Fasha, asking, "How did you guys discover how to make one of those things anyway?"
It sounded like an impressive energy to him if it could make the Saiyans transform on its own. Fasha looked at the kid, and she smirked while saying, "Bardock isn't just the brute you think you're looking at, guy's got some brains on him too."
Goku and Sora turned to Bardock in surprise while the King kept focusing on his food and eating. Tora continued on Goku's left, "Your dad's actually a pretty smart scientist. He came up with the way to create the artificial Blutz Waves."
"With some help," Bardock mentioned. "Gine was always better at that stuff than I was. Wouldn't have had any success in those experiments if it weren't for her," he took another bite out of a drumstick.
"Who's Gine?" Goku questioned. Sora also wondered that, considering he had heard the name before in reference to the second tallest mountain in the range. The way Bardock just talked about her though, Sora already had a pretty good idea.
"You never told him?" Shugesh questioned with a mouth full of food.
Bardock shrugged his shoulders, but he stopped eating for a second and looked into his youngest's eyes. "She's your mother," he told the boy.
"I have a mom?" Goku questioned in surprise. Bardock chuckled as the kid sounded as surprised that he had a mom as he did when Bardock said he was his father. "Where is she now?"
Bardock grit his teeth, then he growled in a low voice, "She was killed, during the pointless war against the Kryptonians, the humans call it the First War of the Gods."
"It wasn't pointless-" a woman at their table began. Bardock glared past Shugesh towards her, but she was not going to let up. She clenched her fists over it, and she snarled, "How can you say such a thing about the war that took Gine's life? The one that took both my sons from me? They fought with honor!"
"For what?" Bardock growled at her. He sounded angry as well, though he did not sound mad at her specifically. "They fought the Kryptonians to find out which race was superior, and they died. So many died with them. So many sent to their deaths, and for a question that didn't matter, for a war King Vegeta started. We never even got an answer to the question they died for." Bardock grabbed a piece of meat from his plate, and he took a huge bite out of it while thinking, I'm glad I ended it.
What Bardock said angered some other Saiyans at the table who started growling at each other because of it. Most of Bardock's crew were arguing his side, but Sora noticed Raditz was one of those arguing with someone next to him that the war was necessary. He heard the long-haired Saiyan brag about killing a bunch of those "dirty" Kryptonians, and Sora frowned deeper as he wondered why the Saiyans and Kryptonians needed to fight. Was it really just to see who was stronger? Did they really kill each other over such a pointless reason?
Goku was also looking around a little confused as everyone talked about this. "War against the Kryptonians?" Goku questioned. "Was that why I never saw any Saiyans fighting monsters before?" Many of those at the table who were close enough to Kakarott to hear him quieted down. They looked at the kid in confusion, and Bardock, who had gotten back to his food, also cocked his head to the side wondering what his son was talking about. Goku could see they all looked confused, and he continued, "On the early days after coming to Nexus, and well, until a month ago really, I didn't see any Saiyans fighting monsters, or beating up bad guys, or helping, people…" Goku saw some of those confused looks turning into more disgusted ones, and people were leaning back from their seats while starting to frown deeply at the Saiyan kid.
"Why would we go to the aid of weaklings?" Shugesh questioned the kid across the table from him. The fat Saiyan man looked confused like many of the others, though as he looked next to Goku at Tora, he saw the King's best friend shaking his head at him as if saying 'be quiet.'
Goku looked back into the man's eyes and responded, "Because it's the right thing to do."
Bardock frowned deeply at his son. Damn it, Kakarott.
Fasha glanced in at the Saiyan man next to her, and Tora looked across the table at Bardock to see what their King was thinking. The other Saiyans around them were not as quiet though, and a man between Raditz and Shugesh growled over, "I could understand caring about one's family, but why others?"
Goku was getting confused by all these reactions, and he said, "I care about all life." He turned to his father, wondering what Bardock thought considering all the disapproving looks from the other Saiyans. Bardock's expression was hard to read while Goku looked in his eyes though, and Goku continued firmly to show these ideals were not flimsy, "I would risk my life to protect people."
Other Saiyans at the table found themselves holding their tongues. They were starting to glare at the boy, and finally one of them growled over, "I can't believe the Saiyan who killed Frieza is such a soft person. Where is your rage, your vengeful spirit that you used to defeat Frieza?"
"I didn't fight Frieza for revenge," Goku said.
The other Saiyans at the table dropped their jaws and even Bardock stared at his own son in shock. "You didn't?" Bardock asked, his eyebrows lifted high.
Goku shook his head. "I fought Frieza because he was a tyrant threatening the universe. He killed the Namekians, and Vegeta, and my friend Krillin. I fought him for justice though, not for revenge," Goku looked into his father's eyes as he said it, then he looked around the table at all the Saiyans staring at him in shock like that answer was ridiculous. He caught sight of his father shaking his head out the corners of his eyes while he was looking down the table, and Goku suddenly continued, "Until I turned into a Super Saiyan." He paused, wondering why he said that, but it was the truth and he continued, "After, Frieza killed my best friend, I turned into a Super Saiyan. And a piece of me did want revenge for Krillin's death," Goku looked back at his father, and Bardock could see the boy was telling the truth, which only made the father frown more.
The Saiyan spirit is inside him. I saw it when he fought me, and he used his rage to transform into a Super Saiyan. But there's something he's missing, something the rest of the Saiyans have that you sorely lack, Kakarott. Do you have no pride? Bardock frowned more at his son, but he could not bring himself to ask the question aloud, for he feared the answer.
Now that Goku had explained himself, showing that he knew what he was saying, the Saiyans who were trying to understand him stopped trying. They snarled and growled his way, and he heard them start muttering to each other. "This is what Kakarott really thinks?"
"What a waste of Saiyan blood."
"The Saiyan who killed Frieza cannot be this naive."
"It's all true," a voice said loudly, and everyone at the table looked down it to see Raditz glaring over at his younger brother. Goku made eye contact with the older man, and Raditz smirked internally at how Kakarott appeared to the other Saiyans. Then the older Saiyan snarled and continued aloud, "When I went to Earth to get Kakarott, I found the people of Earth all alive. When I said I would kill them all, Kakarott fought me and laid down his own life for those weak people."
Goku frowned back towards Raditz and said, "I'd do it again. You kidnapped my son!"
"He would have become a stronger Saiyan if I had raised him!" Raditz yelled over at his brother. "You and your weak ideals!" Many of the others around Raditz were nodding and growling in agreement with him.
"My son is a Super Saiyan, and he's stronger than I am," Goku retorted.
"I saw that strength on Earth," Raditz snapped before anyone got the idea that it was thanks to Goku that his son got so strong. "Your son's strength comes from his anger! When he was mad, your son got exponentially stronger! I bet instead of harnessing that anger, he still only uses it when he's actually pressed by his emotions." Goku closed his mouth and Raditz snarled deeper at him, "That's right. He had the potential to be the greatest Saiyan, even if he was a dirty half-breed."
Goku shot out of his seat and stood on the bench, glaring at Raditz with his teeth bared. The other Saiyans at the table who growled along with Raditz quieted down, but Raditz continued to the boy standing on his seat, "You actually mated with one of those humans you were sent to kill? Disgusting."
Goku's hair shot up golden, and Raditz rose out of his seat while Goku floated up. Sora looked at Goku nervously as the kid was looking really serious which was a rare occurrence. ChiChi, Goku thought, his teal eyes digging into Raditz's. Goku's hands shook at his sides, and the sight of his wife in his arms after the bombing that happened at his house appeared in his mind. His crying sons at his sides, the blood all over her face, it fed Goku's anger, and Raditz's smirk finally fell. Raditz's hair turned red and a red aura surrounded him, flaring like crazy while he glared at his brother. The two of them looked an instant away from flying across the table and killing each other, and then Bardock slammed both of his hands down on the table and roared, "ENOUGH!"
His sons froze where they were, but Bardock did not fly up between them. The King stayed where he was sitting, while everyone else in the grand hall looked towards him and his sons. "Sit down Kakarott," Bardock growled at his son floating across from him. Goku darted his gaze towards his father, then back to Raditz angrily.
Raditz smirked as Bardock spoke, and he added, "Even father agrees that you screwed up your mission-"
"A mission Frieza gave you," Bardock snarled. Raditz lost his smirk, and everyone looked over to Bardock who turned to his eldest now. Bardock glared into Raditz's eyes, and he growled, "Whose orders were you following when you went to get your brother?" Raditz frowned deeper, and Bardock continued, "Are you mad that your brother did not follow those orders? Orders to empty a planet so that Frieza could sell it?" Bardock grabbed a chunk of meat off his plate and bit into it like there were not two figures making the building shake floating at his table. "You were following Frieza's orders at the time, like I did in life, like many of our people did." A lot of the other Saiyans around them who were shunning Kakarott, the hero Son Goku who they were just starting to understand, they looked away as they felt shunned themselves as their King spoke. Raditz started snarling, but he backed down to his seat, and Goku floated down himself, his golden aura vanishing while his hair turned back to black. Bardock took another large rip out of his meat, and he grumbled, "You died on a mission to Earth, where your brother got you both killed. But whose orders were it to get your brother?"
Bardock was ready to let the argument end there. He thought he had, and he lifted his food to take another tear of it. "Prince Vegeta's," Raditz replied. Bardock's question was rhetorical, and every person at the table knew it. Sora knew it, and the teen's face got sweaty as Raditz said that aloud. Bardock lowered his food to his plate, his hair shadowing over his eyes at what Raditz just said. Even the man sitting next to Raditz dropped his jaw at what his mate just said. Apragus's expression matched most of those at the table, though Bardock's crew were all glaring towards the King's eldest after he said that.
The whole room was silent, and Raditz held back any sweat from appearing on his face. He kept a serious expression, and he said, "Frieza had no idea I was going to Earth. Prince Vegeta sent me there to get Kakarott. Because even though most of our race were killed, he kept us together."
Raditz smirked when he finished speaking, and Bardock slowly turned his head and looked over into his son's eyes darkly. There had been a lot of discussion atop the mountain since Kakarott arrived about Prince Vegeta, and what Raditz just said made those who supported Vegeta a hundred times more legitimate. The Super Saiyan Gods were all assumed to have complete loyalty towards the King, as they consisted of his son and his crew, but all of a sudden that assumption seemed to be off. Everyone was quiet, and then Goku started, "You sound like you think Vegeta cared about you, but he didn't." Raditz spun to his brother and everyone in the room looked at Goku too. Goku continued, "When my friends talked about using the Dragon Balls to wish me back to life after we killed each other, Vegeta heard about it and came to Earth to use them himself." Raditz grinned as he already knew that would happen since his scouter had been on and sending information across the galaxy the whole time he was on Earth. Goku continued, "But he wasn't going to bring you back to life, he just wanted to become immortal. He couldn't care less about you."
As soon as Goku said it, Raditz's jaw dropped, and then half the Saiyans in the room started laughing. Goku looked around in confusion as to why everybody thought that was so funny, then he looked back towards Raditz to see Aprgaus holding his older brother in a full nelson to try and hold him back. Raditz was struggling to get out of his seat, while the man behind him was trying to calm him down. It probably wouldn't have been so bad, if Bardock and all the other Saiyans at the King's table besides Raditz and Apragus were not breaking out in laughter too.
Apragus said something that made Raditz calm down, and Sora noticed this while everyone around him was still laughing. Goku started smiling that the tension in the room dissolved, but Sora watched as Raditz started gazing around like his mate already had done. Sora noticed it as well; not everyone was laughing. Some were not calmed down by what Goku said, some people were not laughing at Raditz's expense, and they weren't staying quiet because of fear of Raditz. Many of them thought that Bardock brought up Raditz working under Frieza to remind everyone that Vegeta had as well. Raditz spoke up in Vegeta's defense though, Raditz claimed to take orders from Vegeta over those of Frieza, and even though Vegeta sounded like he did not care as much about Raditz, he was the Prince and it was not their place to judge his actions. Raditz looked around and saw that not everyone was laughing at him like he had thought when the loud laughter started.
Sora stopped looking around as one of those people giving Raditz a serious look instead of one of laughter turned his way and glared into his eyes. Sora looked down at the table in front of him, and he frowned deeply, Saiyans… I don't understand them, but… Sora shivered. I am afraid of them.
4 Days Ago…
To the east of the base of Mount Gine, a boy stood facing the tall mountain range that he was already partially up. The mountains in the area mostly had bases high up in elevation, so he was already at a high altitude and standing on top of a bunch of snow. There were some shorter mountains behind him, a really tall one to his southwest, but directly to the west, where he was facing, stood the second tallest of the Saiyan Mountains. He could not actually tell from this low down that it was the second tallest, as the top of it and all the mountains around it was hidden inside the clouds, but he had asked around. There was a town behind him, a town on the east side of Mount Gine, a town he had been searching through for the past two hours.
It's so cold, Dash Parr thought. The boy rubbed his biceps with his hands while he stood there trembling. He had made it across the southern continent and over the Cataclysm line in less than a full day. He had run across a bridge and leapt over a train when it had come towards him, but he was running on very little steam. I never slept after bringing Killua to the base, and I didn't get any sleep before that since I was too busy running away from monsters and bad guys. Dash took a deep breath, then he glanced over his shoulder back at the town behind him. He's not in there, and they said the next town is only a mile and a half up the slope, but Mr. Best wasn't very clear on where JackJack was exactly. Those people also said there are hundreds of towns and cities around these mountains.
Dash yawned involuntarily and he turned back to the town behind him. It makes sense, if the Saiyans really do protect everything around their mountains. Still, I wish I, could have found, JackJack today. Dash let out another yawn as his mind told his body that it was over for the day. He legs felt heavy and he could hardly lift his arms anymore, and he chuckled to himself, What was I even thinking, rushing up here as soon as I heard where he was? Mr. Best said he's safe, so there's no hurry.
The kid headed back into the town where he would spend the night. It's going to be hard to search if I have to run through all that snow to get to every town. Hopefully there are some roads connecting the other towns and the bigger cities. Mr. Best didn't say JackJack was in a city- but then again the town he put JackJack in could have grown a lot since he left. Dash sighed deeply and mumbled, "It's going to be a long day tomorrow."
3 Days Ago…
Mount Vegeta
Inside the Saiyan King's house, Sora sat next to Goku at an awkward lunch. It was awkward because the other two men at the table were not sitting on the other side as the two boys, but were sitting at opposite heads of the small table. Sora kept catching glimpses of Raditz looking at his father in a half nervous, half challenging way, while Bardock seemed to just be enjoying his lunch. He never usually sits there though. Raditz sat down first, Sora thought, thinking about how he and Goku were already sitting there and talking in a much more pleasant mood until a few minutes ago. So maybe Bardock felt he had to have a head of the table to himself? But I feel like a bigger power move would have been to just stay where he sat originally to show Raditz isn't a threat. Or does he think Raditz is one? Or maybe, he's doing this to show his son respect? Because if he didn't, it would be like spitting in the face of his son's challenge? I don't know.
Sora sighed and continued eating his food at a much slower pace than the ravenous Saiyan warriors around him. Although the mood between father and eldest son was tense, the mood was going right over Goku's head who kept talking to each of them like it was a normal day. Sora took a bite of his food and thought, Well, at least they're eating together. I didn't see the two of them in the same room at all yesterday.
"…Then," Goku continued, before shoving another full loaf of bread in his mouth. He chewed once then swallowed most of it, before continuing while shoving more good food down his gullet, "Gohan did the biggest Kamehameha I've ever seen! I mean," Goku gulped, "I didn't technically see it, because I was dead again, but thanks to King Kai I was kind of there. In spirit!" At this point, hearing the kid who looked no older than ten talking about his own kids did not surprise the other men in his family anymore. He acted so much like the age he looked that it was easy to forget his actual age sometimes though. Goku kept talking while taking another bite, "And Gohan beat him! I couldn't even beat him!"
"You should bring this son of yours to Mount Vegeta," Bardock said without looking away from his food. He grabbed his glass and knocked back some water to wash down the dry fish he just chewed. Bardock continued, "From the way both of you have been talking about him, this grandson of mine is quite the warrior."
Raditz humphed, but then he muttered, "He was a crybaby when I met him." Goku frowned at his brother, but Raditz picked up a chunk of meat and shoved it in his mouth before continuing, "I'd li-ke, to see, what kind, of war-rior, you turned, him into, Kakarott," Raditz muttered, before swallowing his food that made it hard to understand him. To Sora, it almost seemed like Raditz was using food and incomprehensible words to mask what he was really saying.
"I bet Gohan would want to come see this place," Goku admitted, a smile coming to his face after what Raditz said. He grabbed another piece of meat and dipped it in the big gravy pot in the center of the table. Goku devoured that piece, then he continued, "But Gohan doesn't want to be a warrior." Both his father and his brother looked at him in surprise, and Goku continued, "His mother always wanted him to be a scholar, and he told me that once his business with Luthor is finished, he's going to follow her wishes."
"Luthor," Bardock murmured, while Raditz shook his head in annoyance. Goku's older brother got even more annoyed that their father did not say anything about Goku's son's future aspirations. Bardock continued, "That's the man you said killed your mate? And you were too weak to defeat him?"
Goku frowned deeply, grabbing another piece of meat and shoving it in his mouth instead of responding. "I 'onder 'f you- or, any Gods, could beat him," Goku said through a mouthful. The food seemed to cheer him up a bit and he continued, "I know Super Saiyan Gods are strong, but Luthor faced me as a Super Saiyan 3 after I had absorbed all the energy of millions of people, many of them strong fighters. He said he would be training to control his power too, because when he beat me, it was the first day he had obtained all that power. I'm sure he's even stronger now." Despite all of Goku's anger towards the man, the idea of facing a much stronger Lex Luthor the next time they met, it excited him enough to smile.
"Ha! We would destroy him!" Raditz boasted.
"I agree. This man may be strong, but you underestimate the power of a Super Saiyan God," Bardock told his youngest. "You have never seen the extent of our power."
"Then why don't you two have a go?" Sora suggested. The other three at the table looked in at him, and Sora suddenly felt small under the two powerful Super Saiyan Gods' gazes. He had already spoken though, so he decided to follow through, and Sora elaborated, "If the two of you fought, I'm sure Goku would get a better idea of how strong Super Saiyan Gods really are."
Raditz and Bardock turned to face each other. What am I saying?! Tension was high enough already without me giving them a reason to beat each other up! Stupid stupid stupid! "What about it, son? Want to give it another go?" Bardock grinned at the longer-haired Saiyan across the table from him who said nothing for a few seconds, then slowly the corners of his mouth curved up too. Goku jumped up excitedly, saying that he wanted to see how strong Raditz had gotten too, since he had never beaten Raditz in a fight one-on-one himself.
"And you never will," Raditz snapped at the little boy on his right.
"Well I'm going to try turning into a Super Saiyan 3 after you two fight," Goku remarked right back. Raditz frowned as he had heard about the rule his father put on Kakarott before he could go through the next legendary transformation of their race. The younger Saiyan boy continued, "And when I become a God, I'll fight the loser of the fight first, before fighting dad." The way Goku worded the sentence made Sora grin and try to hold back his laughter, while Bardock let out a chortle and took another large bite of food to stop himself from laughing more.
Sora stopped himself from laughing which he felt was a great idea in hindsight from the harsh glare Raditz shot Goku. There was suddenly a knock at the door and the four at the table turned towards it. "Come in," Bardock called out, not wanting to get up and answer the door himself. The door opened up, and it was not a Saiyan Sora or Goku recognized. The woman had never been there before, and they had not seen her on top of Mount Vegeta in the two weeks, or month, since they had gotten there.
"Toufu, what are you doing back here?" Bardock questioned.
"I could not send this message, I had to deliver it myself," she said, and she walked towards the table. She looked at the younger boys at the table oddly but did not feel it necessary to question her King about them. Toufu had long spiky black hair like Raditz's, only it stopped a little more than halfway down her back. The woman looked young, Sora guessed probably somewhere in her early twenties. She had a slim figure like Fasha, and unlike most other Saiyans Goku and Sora had met atop the mountains so far.
Toufu walked to her King's side of the table, but Bardock said while leaning back from the table and swallowing his last bite for now, "Speak up girl. Whatever you can say to me you can say in front of them."
The woman looked even more confused, as it appeared to her that one of the people at Bardock's table was not a Saiyan. She did not argue though, and she started after Bardock finished, "There is word that the Ki- the Ant King, is mobilizing." Toufu had to correct herself, as anywhere other than the Saiyan Mountains, the phrase "The King" mostly applied to one creature. "There has been increased movement of the Capital 50's forces around Aebrith."
Sora perked up and gained a serious look on his face. Goku looked a little confused, but also interested as he heard about this Ant King once again. Capital 50? The Saiyan boy thought.
Bardock waved his hand though and said, "It's of no concern to us what the Ant King does. Besides, you are getting worked up over movements like the King does not do these sorts of things often."
"I do not know, my King," Toufu said. "This seems different. The atmosphere over Aebrith is tense. Something is brewing."
"Hmph," Bardock grunted. "Keep an eye on things. Return to your post. If anything happens, bring it to me." He turned and looked her in the eyes, "Understood?"
"Y-Yes, King," she replied, and she bowed her head to the scar-faced Saiyan man.
The woman turned to leave, but Sora turned to Goku after hearing that conversation. "Goku, big things seem to be happening down in the rest of Aebrith. We should meet back up with everyone. They'll probably be getting involved in it, whatever it is."
"Your friends are foolish enough to make enemies of the Ant King?" Bardock questioned.
"Yep," Sora replied casually. "Goku's gonna beat him up, right?" Sora asked, and his friend next to him grinned and nodded.
"You wish," Raditz scoffed. Goku and Sora each looked to the Saiyan on their left, and Raditz looked down at them, "The only one to ever beat the Ant King is father. I could have done it too," he added, "but for a non Super Saiyan God, it would be impossible."
"He's that strong?" Goku asked in amazement. He shook with excitement, "Now I really have to turn into a Super Saiyan God soon."
"Only once I allow it," Bardock said. He stood up from his seat as he was done eating, and he glanced towards the door to see Toufu had just walked out after gawking at the conversation Sora and Goku had had for a few seconds. He turned back to his youngest, "If you reach that Super Saiyan 3 form you spoke of, I will consider telling you the way."
"'Consider?!' I thought if I- actually, nevermind," Goku stopped himself and started grinning instead of complaining. Raditz, Sora, and Bardock all became confused at the boy's second reaction, as they were each expecting how he originally started to react. Goku put another last piece of meat in his mouth, leaving his once heaping plate empty, then he got up and finished, "Even if you don't teach me how, I'll still become a Super Saiyan God."
"It doesn't work like that," Raditz began in a growl.
"I don't care," Goku said, and he grinned confidently like he knew exactly what he was talking about. "I'd still do it. If it's the only way to beat him, I'll find a way."
"Luckily, you won't have to," Bardock said, and he started for the door of his house. "Now let's go, or are you backing down now that your stomach's full?"
Raditz stood up and stomped a foot towards the door and his father, "This time for sure. I will defeat you!"
Two Days Ago…
Mount Salad
In the middle of the third tallest mountain's summit, hundreds of Saiyans were gathered around. Their King stood in the center of an empty plaza in the middle of the town atop Mount Salad, and his people were gathered all around him. The center of the square was elevated a few steps from the rest of it, and the square of elevated area in the center of the plaza was mostly empty while all the area around it was packed full of people. The square in the center had only a dozen people on top of it: the King in the center, Tora and Shugesh who stood behind Bardock facing the opposite half of the square as their King was facing, Fasha standing ten meters to Bardock's right and examining the crowd, and a cluster of other powerful-looking Saiyan warriors.
There were no barriers preventing others from approaching or standing on that center square, and two of the Saiyans on it were not close allies of Bardock like many of the others around him. Bardock's sons stood on his left, Kakarott only a few feet away from him, while Raditz stood just a little farther. The King's older son was sporting a black bruise below his left eye, and Raditz still felt sore even after two dips in the healing chamber from his fight against his father the day before. Goku also recognized Apragus and Bora as the Saiyans who brought him to Mount Vegeta a month ago. He looked around for the one-armed Dobaka who he liked more than the other two, but he did not see him around. He looked back at Apragus who he noticed was always around his older brother, even now as he stood only a little farther away from Bardock as Raditz did.
Sora also stood in the center square. He did not feel like he belonged up there, but then again he did not feel like he would fit in any better in the large crowd of Saiyans, and he thought it would be safer to stay at Goku's side. He stood a few feet behind Goku, trying not to get in anyone's way in the heated debate going on. Debate is a rough wording, Sora thought to himself as he stared at the people in front of him. Even 'argument,' seems a little mellow.
"We made you King because you were strongest, yes, but also because the royal bloodline was extinguished! Or so we had thought!" One of the two men before Bardock called out. Sora looked at them closer, and although he had heard that Saiyans age slower than humans, both of these men had wrinkles on their faces. The one who was not speaking even had gray hair, and Sora frowned deeply as he examined them. His eyes shifted past them, and he looked through the crowds around the square. A lot of teenagers acting like adults, and a lot of older people, late middle-aged and elderly. None of the Saiyan children were in the crowd, but Sora noticed that there was an odd discrepancy with the amount of middle-aged and young adults.
Bardock mentioned many of the strong Saiyans being killed by the Super Saiyan God transformation process Goku keeps talking about. I'm not too disappointed he failed turning into a Super Saiyan 3 yesterday. I don't want to watch Goku explode, or something, if the process fails. Still though, there aren't a lot of Saiyans who look like they're good in a fight. I mean, I bet most of them could beat me… but still. Sora hummed to himself as he tried figuring it out on his own. Could be that First War of the Gods Bardock mentioned. He seemed pretty upset about it, so maybe it was more than just about his wife. Maybe, it really depleted the Saiyan population, not that there aren't a lot of them left.
Sora had been drowning out the argument about Vegeta, but he refocused as Bardock shouted, "It is up to Prince Vegeta whether to try and take his place as King. I have not seen him come for it yet!"
"If he knew, he would come!"
"Send Kakarott to get him!"
"He shouldn't have to 'try' and take his place!"
"Are you telling me to relinquish my place?" Bardock questioned, and all the shouting stopped as Bardock was staring straight at the young man in the crowd who shouted it. "What are you? Eighteen years old?" Bardock stepped towards the teenager who took a step back but was trapped by all the Saiyans behind him in the crowd. He had sweat all over his face, and those who were not agreeing with him smirked or laughed, while those who agreed with him grumbled to themselves that the one who dared shout it was so easily pushed back.
"Prince Vegeta should not have to challenge you for the throne," the older of the two men up on the center square with Bardock began. The man with graying hair continued while looking up into Bardock's black eyes with his own, "If you step down, he would not have to overthrow you." The way he said it sounded like a suggestion, while at the same time had the connotations of a threat.
"As I have said," Bardock growled back at the older man. "Prince Vegeta has every right to take my position. Were he to rise to the mountain right now-"
"Would you step down?" The old man interrupted. Bardock frowned at him, but the man continued, "Would you give him his rightful place as King?"
Bardock frowned silently for a few moments, then he growled, "I would not." Some people started murmuring in the crowd, but most were silent and Bardock glared into the older man's eyes, "Is that what you were looking for?" Bardock looked around the crowd to see who else was a dissenter like the old man. "I will not follow someone weaker than myself! If Prince Vegeta comes, he will follow the laws I have put in place and that we have followed for two years now! No, it is not tradition! No! It is not the way things have always happened! But it is our way now! I am the strongest Saiyan alive!" Bardock glared around at anyone who dared still murmur while he spoke, and they all became silent instantly.
"If Prince Vegeta comes, I will let him have the same opportunity that any other Saiyan has. All can challenge me for their right to rule-" Bardock got cut off by a woman shouting from the crowd, the same who shouted at him at his house the other day.
Okara called out with her hands cupped to her mouth, "I can't challenge you if you won't let me become a God!"
Bardock sighed and rubbed his forehead in aggravation. Tora turned his head and spoke over his shoulder in a quiet voice, "Maybe you should just let her try already. She's got the will for it."
"Hmm," Bardock hummed. He looked Okara in the eyes, and he called back, "If it works for Vegeta, I'll let you try. Don't come crying to me if it kills you and leaves your children as orphans."
Okara frowned at the King's response, but then she smirked and nodded in agreement with his terms. "Prince Vegeta should not have to risk dying through that process," one of the wrinkly old men in front of Bardock began. "He is the rightful King, and you should not force him to risk death before he becomes our King!"
The dissenters were not giving up, and as Sora looked around in the crowds around them, he could see that it looked split fifty fifty. The people siding with Bardock aren't as vocal, but they don't really have to be considering Bardock's doing a good job at this himself. Still, a split country could cause problems. What if they start fighting amongst themselves? As Sora thought it, someone else shouted about Vegeta, and the woman next to that man yelled back, "Just give it a rest already! King Bardock has given his decision!"
"It's not a decision I can get behind if it involves betraying Vegeta!"
"Vegeta is the former King's son! He is the rightful heir!"
"The strongest is the rightful King!"
Sora stepped up closer to Goku's back, and he looked around cautiously as he came between Goku and Bardock. Sora looked around as some of the people near him were getting quieter, and he questioned in a casual tone, "Why don't you have a vote?" Bardock turned to Sora, the two men in front of them looked at the Keybearer, and the other Saiyans all quieted down and looked up at him.
Sora wondered if they were all quiet because they were considering what he suggested, and then Bardock questioned, "What's that?"
Sora turned to the man and looked at him incredulously, but Bardock appeared serious. Sora glanced around and the entire crowd looked just as confused as Bardock did, especially since Sora was treating the word he just said like it was commonplace. He saw people looking at each other and shrugging, some of them murmuring to each other as if asking if their neighbors knew what the word meant. "Election," Sora said, and he looked around to keep seeing blank faces. He turned to Goku to see if his friend thought this was weird, only to see Goku cocking his head at him and staring in confusion like he did not know what it meant either. "Democracy?" Sora asked while looking at Goku.
Goku uncocked his head, and he asked, "Is that a food?"
"No, no a democracy is, well, people vote- they choose their own-"
"Hold your tongue." Sora spun and looked at the older of the two men right in front of him. The man with gray hair glared at the boy, and he said, "You might be a Keybearer, but you cannot meddle with Saiyan affairs."
Sora opened his mouth, but on his right Bardock spoke up, "He is right. Stay out of this, Sora."
Sora hesitated, then he nodded his head and backed up towards where he was standing in the first place. I've heard that many times before. Not to meddle in the affairs of other worlds and their people. But, when I see something like this, a people who seem, barbaric to me, I want to help you. Maybe, if you tried voting, you would be taking a step in a more civilized direction. Maybe, I could convince you of other things. But you Saiyans are stubborn, can't say I've met one of you who isn't. Goku's usually the exception, but he's been fighting me on going back to our friends for a while now.
Sora frowned as he thought to himself, while Goku just watched as his father continued arguing with the two men before him who started losing ground in their argument. If Bardock had heard out Sora, the older man would have gained some ground with the rest of the Saiyans, but Bardock was just as fast to shut Sora up so his opponents did not even have that advantage against him. Goku thought that the plaza probably would have gotten pretty violent already if there were not a clear strongest person there, so the fact that everyone was staying pretty calm and non-violent made him think that his father's strength was even greater than what he witnessed against his older brother the day before.
"King Bardock!" someone shouted from above them. Everyone looked up, and Bardock frowned as this person was wearing a Power Blocker above the Saiyan Mountains. Toufu had just gotten back though and had not wasted time stopping at her house to take off the PB4 she was wearing. She flew down over the plaza and landed in front of the two men in the middle of arguing with their King. She dropped to her knee, then stood up as Bardock nodded at her that it was fine to interrupt this meeting. He was actually glad she did, and a few of those in the crowd could tell he was happy by the interruption, making them wonder if he planned it. Toufu stood up though and she spoke in a tired voice like she had just come from flying hundreds or thousands of miles away. "The Ant King's armies are mobilizing. His commanders have gathered strong fighters from countries all over Aebrith."
Everyone in the plaza started talking as they heard this information which was news to them. Toufu had already mentioned something of the sort the day before and Bardock started looking a little annoyed that she felt it was this important to bring up during the meeting, even if he did appreciate the break in all the arguing. Toufu continued as she could see her King's look of annoyance growing, "The Capital is in a frenzy. The King's Voice has been making radical speeches about a war. They've been pretty vague, but there are hundreds of warships gathering south of the Capital. I have heard rumors that they're planning an all-out invasion against the Resistance."
What is that Ant thinking? Bardock thought, scratching his chin while everyone started shouting their opinions at each other. Sora was disgusted by what some of the Saiyans started shouting, and Goku frowned deeply as well as he thought about the group he had come to Aebrith to help. Bardock frowned deeper, He is an intelligent being. He knows what will happen if he moves on the Resistance. Does he expect it? After what happened last time, I can't believe he would try something so soon.
"This conversation will have to wait," Bardock announced. All the distracted Saiyans looked towards the center of the plaza to see Bardock floating off of it. His crew floated up behind him, and Bardock looked down at them, said something, then the four of them flew off.
Fash turned to Tora as they flew away and muttered, "What is that bastard up to this time?"
Tora shook his head, "Whatever it is, it won't be good."
The disgruntled Saiyans around the plaza still looked angry, but most people there dispersed once their King left. Hundreds of people flew off the ground and shot away in veils of white, while Sora walked in front of Goku and looked down at the spiky-haired, short Saiyan boy. "Goku, it's time we go," Sora said seriously. Goku frowned, and he started slowly nodding at Sora. "We have to get to everyone before the Ant King makes his move. There's going to be a big battle, and we need to be there to help our friends."
"I know," Goku said. He sounded serious too, which relieved Sora, but then Goku continued, "I can't go yet though."
"What? Why not?!" Sora exclaimed.
Goku looked the taller boy in his bright blue eyes, and he explained, "Bardock and Raditz made the Ant King out to be close to their own strengths. They said they could beat him, but I could tell they both thought he was very strong." Goku turned and followed the path his father flew off in, "If the Ant King attacks the Resistance, I don't know if I will be able to defeat him as I am now. I know there are enemies I can't beat, and this Ant King might be one of them. And I also know, that the Saiyans won't come to the Resistance's aid. I know because I have been to Aebrith a lot, and I've helped the Resistance before." Sora looked at Goku in surprise, but he suddenly realized why so many people on Aebrith knew Goku's name.
Goku looked to the east and into the far distance. "The Saiyans have so much power, power that could have saved so many people in the terrible wars that have happened here over the years. But they haven't. I don't like it," he added, and he shook his head with a deep frown on his face. "I don't like it one bit." Sora felt a little relieved, because he thought Goku was blending in with the Saiyans way too well since he had gotten there, but apparently Goku had noticed it as much as he had. Goku looked back at his younger, taller friend, and he continued, "So I have to stay here, Sora. I need to stay and try to get Bardock to teach me this Super Saiyan God technique. He's willing to teach it to Vegeta at only a Super Saiyan, but he tells me he won't let me try unless I'm a Super Saiyan 3. It doesn't make any sense, so there must be another reason he doesn't want to let me try. Whatever it is though, I can take it."
"Goku," Sora began. He stopped himself, then he let out a sigh and said, "Good luck." Goku looked at Sora in surprise, but Sora became very serious and stated firmly, "I need to go warn the Resistance, warn our friends. If the Ant King is preparing to attack, I want them to have a fighting chance even without you, or Timmy." Sora frowned after that last part, and Goku did as well since Sora had already told him about how Timmy also never returned to their group. Sora smiled again and continued, "But Goku, I think I know what you haven't been able to figure out yet. I know why Bardock won't teach you the Super Saiyan God even though he's willing to teach Vegeta, and even that woman Okara who's not even a Super Saiyan."
"Huh? You do?" Goku asked. Sora nodded at him, and Goku questioned, "What is it?"
Sora grinned knowingly, then he turned and rose his arms in front of him. He closed his eyes and focused, and his palms shrouded in darkness. Sora started taking deep breaths as he pictured a place in his mind, a place that Mew had given him a mental image of a few days earlier. On the ground in front of Sora, a pool of darkness appeared that had anyone still in the square looking over nervously. This Keybearer who many of them doubted had any real importance whatsoever, made them feel very wrong as he summoned a portal of darkness that rose ten feet into the air. Sora looked over his shoulder the shorter boy still awaiting an answer, and he replied, "I'll tell you when I come back." Sora stepped into the portal, and Goku had frowned at first at Sora's response but smiled when he rose a hand to wave him goodbye. "Oh, one last thing," Sora said when he was completely surrounded with darkness. "If you do get Bardock to let you become a Super Saiyan God while I'm gone," the portal started to close, but Sora finished, "try not to get blown up."
Goku laughed and promised the spot the portal just disappeared, "I'll try."
Sora reappeared over ten thousand miles south of where he just stood. "Huh," he muttered, looking around in confusion. He stood on a patch of grass, a circular green spot of grass in the middle of an ocean of lava. "This doesn't seem like what Mew described," Sora mumbled, and he wiped some sweat from his forehead. He had on a lot of warm clothing since he was at the top of a mountain a few seconds ago, but he could feel the lava's heat not far from him.
The ground shook beneath Sora and the confused kid stumbled to his right. "Whoa whoa whoa," he held his hands out for balance and stopped himself before falling towards the lava. The teen got a nervous look on his face, and he jumped up off the ground to avoid a situation like that from happening again. Sora hovered a few feet off the grassy ground, and he wiped some more sweat from his forehead as it was hotter higher up over the grass patch. The grass was brown closer to the edge of the lava, and Sora hovered as close as he could to the center and greenest part of the patch, but it did not help him hide from the heat.
The ground shook below him again, and Sora smiled that he had the foresight to lift off the ground. "What's causing this though?" He wondered, and he flew higher up in the air to figure it out. At first it got hotter, then he rose above the heat and cooled off, then got much cooler and he shivered. Thought it wouldn't be so bad off the mountains, but it's really getting cold everywhere. Guess winter is com… what is that?! Sora stared to the south and watched as a giant flash of white light illuminated the sky. He stared in shock, then dropped his jaw as that flash vanished so that Sora could actually see the enormous white dome in the distance getting wider and wider. Around the white dome Sora could see flickering trails of orange breaking off of it.
"What is that?" Sora wondered. He started flying towards it, but after only a minute he came to a stop and started panting. Sora looked down at the lava fields below that were thinning out as he neared some hills that started oddly right after the edge of the lava. The closest hill was the strangest as it was split in half with all the dirt exposed to Sora's side. He decided not to think too hard about the strange environment around him, instead focusing back on the south. Whatever it was, it might… "See how there are flames around it?" Sora's eyes opened wide and the teenager smiled wide. Thanks Goku! I bet, no, I'm sure that was him! Wait- Sora's smiled faded and he looked south more anxiously, Why would Natsu be making such powerful attacks this far south? Are we still in enemy territory?
"I have to get there fast!" Sora said it, then he frowned deeply and clenched his hands at his sides. I just made a portal though- What am I thinking?! My friends are in trouble! Sora lifted his fists in front of him and closed his eyes. Focus, if I focus, I can use the darkness just fine. Riku says concentration is half of it. The other half, Sora took a deep, calm breath, and he thought, is control. A black portal appeared at the ends of Sora's arms and his eyes snapped open in surprise. I did it so easily! "Fwew," he said in relief, and he flew forward into the portal with a grin on his face.
"Alright," he said to himself as he flew into the portal. "I know the vicinity of where they are. I wish I could have flown, if only I could just fly faster," Sora whispered the last part, as the portal had closed behind him. He was left alone in a dark void, and he grit his teeth as he started to feel the darkness around him. Sora closed his eyes, but very little changed as it was already nearly pitch black in the void. Out out out out. Sora's eyes snapped open and a portal appeared in front of him. He flew through it and took a deep breath of fresh air. "Alright I'm there-" he looked below him, then lifted his head from the burnt ground at his feet, lifted higher to look over the uplifted earth and destroyed trees, and then he saw them, a little over a mile away. "I'm close," he corrected himself with a bead of sweat on the side of his face.
Sora started flying, and he gulped at the sight of three distinct figures in the distance. One of them surrounded in a massive purple aura that turned him into a giant translucent samurai. Another's body was getting larger and larger as his skin rippled and turned black. The other flashed white, red, black, yellow, and Sora shook his head at the sight of the three of them. Luffy and Natsu are really injured, wait a second. Why are they standing- No way, Sora's mouth curved up. Luffy is covered in burns. And now that I think about it, we're so far south that this is probably a Resistance member they're fighting. What are those guys thinking? The entire planet seemed like it was shaking below Sora, and the teenager frowned as it did not feel like a great idea getting in the middle of this confrontation. I need to stop them though, to tell them what's coming, he thought, and then his frown was replaced by a wide smile as he had a great idea that made him start laughing. Won't make them any weaker, but it'll totally diffuse the situation! Alright, let's do it! Sora flew down towards the fighters who were seconds from attacking each other, and he formed his Keyblade, pointed it up above him, and yelled, "HEY!" Attention lifted up to him, and Sora yelled with a smile on his face, "TRANSFORM!"
Tens of thousands of miles away from Sora, across the Cataclysm, back up the mountains so tall they nearly scraped the planet's barrier, Goku flew to his father who was in the middle of a serious conversation with his crew and his oldest son. Goku flew over to them, and Raditz stopped talking to turn to the young boy with crazy spikes of black hair like his father. He glared at his younger brother, and Goku turned away from him as it seemed to him like just another of Raditz's usual glares. When he looked at his father's friends though, the other Saiyans had hesitant, frowning gazes as they looked his way.
"What?" Goku asked. He lost interest after a second and turned to his father and questioned, "How strong is this Ant King? If I become a Super Saiyan God will it be an easy fight, because then I might just want to take him on as I am now."
Tora cracked a smile at the kid's attitude, and Fasha and Shugesh each grunted and laughed once. Raditz frowned deeper at the reactions of the others. We were talking about shit you can't hear, Kakarott. You're not a God, so I don't see why father allows you to interrupt us when we're discussing Godly matters. I couldn't when I had yet to become a God. Why are you different? Raditz growled at his younger brother, while Bardock just responded to Kakarott's question. "The Ant King, is a being of intelligence. His mind is the deadliest thing about him. I defeated him once before," Bardock was stopped by his eldest son who grunted in annoyance.
Bardock frowned at the interruption, while Goku just looked at his older brother confusedly as to why Raditz did that. The Saiyan with long spiky black hair falling below his own waist muttered in an aggravated voice, "And he foolishly gave the Ant King mercy."
Bardock glared back at his eldest, but Raditz kept eye contact when Bardock glared at him. The Saiyan King humphed after a second of holding the glare, then he turned back to Kakarott, "I did. However, I let the Ant King live for one reason. It was in order to preserve stability in this world." Goku looked confused, and Bardock explained, "If I had killed the King of the Cooperative, the High Lords would have started a massive war. By allowing him to live, I prevented a war that would have ravaged this already devastated continent." Bardock's eyebrows narrowed in and he growled, "But if I have to face the Ant again, I will not give him a third chance."
Still Two Days Ago…
Azalea Town
"Hello, my name is Dash Parr. I was just wondering if my little brother is here?"
"Hi, I'm Dash. Is there a little boy named JackJack staying here?"
"Afternoon. Can I just ask if…"
"Is my brother here? JackJack? Should be a three year…"
"Hi…"
"Hello there. Sorry to disturb you, but is there a kid named JackJack living here?"
The little boy who answered the door looked out at the boy who looked about his age, maybe a year younger. Unlike Dash, the kid a couple inches taller had white hair that was combed nicely to his left side. Dash's hair was a mess since he was sprinting from house to house every time someone turned him away, and a lot of people had turned him away in the past two days. Someone had given him a spare blue jacket, someone else gave him red gloves, and he was still wearing the red sweatpants and red sweatshirt that the family he stayed with his first night at the Saiyan Mountains gave him.
"Lincoln! Who is it?!" a female voice called from behind the boy in the doorway. Dash glanced over the kid's head and down the hall behind him. On one side of the hall not far from the door was an opening into a large living room where he could see two blonde girls sitting on a couch fighting over a remote. There was light flashing on the tv screen that must have been in front of them against the wall on the other side of the hall, and Dash wondered what they were watching on it. He glanced the other way towards what he thought was a kitchen from the white floor tiles, and he saw a beautiful teenage girl lean her head out and look towards the doorway. She had blonde hair down to her waist, wore a blue turtle-neck sweater, and she crossed her arms as she looked at the boys at the door. "Close the door, it's freezing outside."
"I won't be here long," Dash muttered. And he backed up away from the door to show he was not coming inside. "If you don't know who-"
"You said, JackJack?" Lincoln Loud questioned the kid in front of him. He asked it and Dash saw the older girl back down the hallway go wide-eyed. Dash's heart started racing and he nodded his head quickly, so quickly that he looked like a blur. Dash's blurry head surprised the people in the house looking at him, and then Lincoln nodded at the boy and asked, "How do you know him?"
Dash stepped forward, his heart pounding so loud that he could hear it in his head. As he got into the doorway, he spun to his right as there was a girl leaning up against the wall next to him who he did not see when the door first opened. The girl had long black hair with bangs that covered her eyes, and she spoke in a deep voice, "Who are you?"
Lincoln spun in surprise as he did not notice Lucy standing there until she spoke up either. When Dash spoke though, all of the kids in earshot opened their eyes wide, "JackJack's my little brother."
"Brother?" a bunch of people asked, including one person in the opening to the living room. Dash started to turn, and his eyes got watery as he saw the small figure who had been sitting up close to the television and walked over when he heard the talking at the door. The little boy had orange hair over his round head, and big blue eyes that were as wide as Dash's as they stared at each other. Then, the people looking at Dash in the doorway jumped in surprise as the boy vanished. Wind slammed into them, and they spun to look towards the living room where Dash had the little boy with big eyes lifted in his hands.
Dash held the kid over his head and a smile broke out across his face. It didn't matter that JackJack was only a one year old the last time he had seen his baby brother, he knew he would recognize him even if fifty years had passed. "Whoa! Who are you?!" One of the twin girls on the couch exclaimed, jumping up to her feet and pointing at the boy in their living room. The eight year old had on a pink dress unlike her sister next to her who was wearing a baseball hat on backwards, a t-shirt, and shorts.
The other twin hopped off the couch and shouted, "You're so fast! Where'd you even come from!"
Lincoln Loud closed the door in front of him as it really was getting cold in their house. He turned towards the living room with a frown on his face, while his oldest sister Lori walked down the hall to stand on one side of him, and Lucy pushed off the wall behind him to stand on his other side. Lori finally got over her shock and let out a small, nervous chuckle at the sight of Dash spinning around with the three year old in his hands. She already thought that the boy was either able to teleport or just really fast, and now she could see it was the latter by how fast he was spinning around JackJack. "Guess you can't really debate it after seeing that," she muttered, though she had a smile on her face as she said it.
Even the goth girl on Lincoln's left side cracked a small smile as Dash stopped spinning around and just held the smaller kid in front of his face. Dash looked into the younger boy's eyes, and the three year old reached a hand out and touched Dash's left cheek. In JackJack's mind, he could see a face that looked blurry hovering over his own. The boy was laughing, and he could hear himself laughing too, as the older boy tickled him silly somewhere. He saw the boy in front of him holding out a spoon with food on it, and he watched as he blew on the food and got it all over the older boy's face. JackJack started smiling wide and laughed loudly. The little kid clapped his hands together in front of him while laughing, and then he floated through Dash's hands and fell to the floor.
Dash stared at his empty hands for a few seconds, then he dropped his jaw and snapped his head down to look at the baby on the floor. "Mr. Best wasn't kidding!" Dash exclaimed. "You really do have powers!"
"What's with all the noise down here?" someone called out, and Dash turned to look towards a staircase on the side of the room. Two people were walking down it who were older than the rest who Dash had seen so far. Lynn Loud Senior and his wife Rita Loud reached the bottom of the steps and turned to the center of their living room where a boy dressed in warm clothing was standing. He had snow on his boots that he had brought into the house, though oddly there were no footsteps of snow leading from the door to where he was standing on their rug, just a lot of snow on the floor around him. "And who are you young man?" Lynn questioned the boy in his living room.
"Dad," Lori said while stepping into the living room. Dash glanced around and watched as another little girl wearing glasses poked her head out from the top of the stairs, and another wearing a jersey came through a different entrance to the living room that looked to go into the kitchen. The oldest daughter of the Loud family pointed down at the boy in front of her, and Lori announced, "This is JackJack's real older brother." Lincoln frowned from the hallway behind his older sister, and Lucy saw the frown of her older brother next to her. Lori continued in front of them, "His name is, um, what was your name?"
Dash looked up at the girl behind him, then he turned to the parents standing at the bottom of the stairs. He opened his mouth to respond, but his eyes were getting watery and he paused to rub them with his jacket sleeves. "Sorry," he said, his voice cracking as he did while he continued to rub his eyes. "I'm Dash- Parr, ah," he took a breath into his sleeve, then he lowered it from his face since there was no use in trying. He looked down at the confused little boy at his feet, playing with the snow that fell off of him and melting it with flames that popped up over his palms. Dash laughed a few times between choked breaths, then he looked back at the parents whose expressions were softening as tears fell out of Dash's eyes. "Thank you," he said in a hoarse whisper. Lincoln lost his harsh expression from the hallway, and he started staring in surprise like many of his sisters already were as the boy in their living room started crying. "Thank you so much, for looking after my brother all this time. Thank you!"
Twelve Hours Ago…
Late into the day on top of the sixth tallest of the Saiyan Mountains, Son Goku stood in the center of the Training Mountain with his eyes closed. All of the other Saiyans had come and gone, but Goku was there from before the suns rose, and he was there until they were almost set. In the west, the three suns were just above the clouds, so the sky above Goku and most of it around him was already getting dark. Being so high in the atmosphere, the suns could still be up in one direction, yet space would be visible above them. The two moons far behind the boy facing the sunsets were all that was visible in the sky so far, as it was still too bright for the stars to come out.
The only other person on the Training Mountain with Goku was a boy with just as crazy spiky hair, only brown. Sora stared up at the sky above him, waiting to see the stars appear like he had on so many occasions before. The worlds are still out there. I still need to save them. Sora looked back towards Goku, the only Saiyan there as all the others had left to go eat. Sora expected that a few may be back after dinner, but no Saiyan in their right mind would miss a meal. Yet here Goku is, Sora thought, amazed at his older but smaller friend. At least he's taking this seriously. I don't know how much time we have left.
As if feeling Sora's restlessness, the boy whose back was to him began, "You can go on ahead Sora. I'll be there as soon as I can." Goku's eyes shot open, and a white veil surrounded his body. I like being a kid, but maybe I should have got that girl to turn me back. It would have been hard to ask after what Killua did to her leader though. Wait, focus! Goku shook his head around, and he took a deep breath to steady himself. Super Saiyan 3 was difficult in Otherworld even without a mortal body, nearly tore me apart when I had a strong body on Nexus, as a kid, I don't know if I can do it.
"Yeah, you say that," Sora said, and Goku frowned as he lost concentration again, though what he was concentrating on was already making him frown. Sora continued, "I'm here to make sure you come back, 'cause if I leave you here alone, you'll probably show up late when we need you."
Goku's frown lifted up and he turned to look at Sora. He laughed and began, "Actually, I do have a habit of doing that." The little boy scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
Sora grinned back at the boy and said, "Krillin may have told me a story or two." The two of them laughed some more, then Sora shook his head around as he was reminded of what Krillin said about how Goku was too late and most of their friends were killed. He did not want that to happen this time, especially without the Dragon Balls Krillin had told him about. "So," Sora continued, trying to sound more serious as he did, "I'm staying here to make sure that when the time comes, I can teleport us both right to our friends. You don't know where they are, they're all wearing Power Blockers, and I have a feeling you're going to want to stay until you get that God transformation. But Goku, when I say we need to go, we need to go, alright? I'll try not to do it before you can-"
"Alright," Goku agreed. Sora froze with his mouth open as he thought that was going to take more convincing. Goku smiled at the taller boy, "I trust you Sora. If you say we really need to leave, I'll believe you. I know that you know, if I was a Super Saiyan God we could protect our friends better, so you won't make us leave until it's necessary." Sora nodded his head slowly at Goku, as that was another main reason he was back on the Saiyan Mountains instead of with the other friends he found.
Goku knows what's at stake, and he knows he might be the only one strong enough to save our friends. I wish he could just convince Bardock to help us though, Sora thought with a sigh while Goku got back to intense meditation. Someone who already beat the Ant King would be really useful in this next fight. Sora's thoughts went astray, and his mind emptied, as the air around him changed colors. A strange tint came to it, and then all of the air pulled in to one point, and Sora followed it to Goku's body. The boy standing there with his eyes closed was taking heavy, deep breaths, and Sora felt a cold breeze rush by him. Cracks that had formed on the mountain during one of Goku's spars with Bardock trembled, and little rocks floated out of the cracks and into the air around Goku where there was no visible aura.
Goku's black hair started swaying in wind that rushed around him. Sora gulped as a pressure fell on him like nothing he had ever felt. What is- it's Goku. But, this power! Sora took a step back, while Goku's head that was partially bowed lifted up then dropped back down. His head lifted again and his hair flashed gold. Little sparks of lightning shot off of Goku's body in four different directions. Two lightning bolts dragged across the ground on either side of Sora, leaving black marks in lines across the summit of the Training Mountain. Goku's hair flashed golden again, his head snapped back, and a bright golden aura surrounded Goku as he shot straight from his base form into a Super Saiyan 2. His forehead was covered in veins, his arms shook at his sides, and the mountain below them started to tremble. The air around Goku tinted yellow in a sphere that expanded to cover the top of the mountain and stretch across the sky. "Ahhhh- AAAHHHHH AAAAAAHHHH!" Goku started screaming, and the kid's muscles that were already bulging started to do so even more. Lightning sparked off of him like crazy, and he hunched his body over with his elbows pulled down into his sides. He screamed even louder while his face showed such excruciating pain on it that Sora wanted to stop him.
Can he do it? Is this, the feeling of a Super Saiyan 3 powering up from up close? Sora's face filled with such amazement, that when he saw something lift over the summit of the mountain on the other side of Goku, his face did not even change expressions. Sora was amazed, and he continued to be amazed at the sight of the person who rose over the summit. A look of confusion added to the amazement though, as the person he saw seemed very strange for some reason.
Goku kept yelling for a few seconds, and then at the top of his vision, he spotted the figure who just lifted over the edge of the mountain and was staring at him in awe. He knew he could not get distracted; a single distraction would destroy the focus he needed to rise to that next level. When he saw the young man who rose over the mountain though, he could not keep focus on his transformation and stopped screaming. He was not angry though, or even annoyed that he was distracted and lost the chance to transform. Goku lifted his head with wide eyes, his golden aura vanishing and his hair turning back to black, returning to its normal messy-spiky shape.
The boy who rose over the edge of the mountain had short spiky black hair and eyes as dark as coal to match. He floated down to the edge of the mountain and stood on it facing the two others. Sora ran up to Goku's side and he swung his right arm out, putting it in front of the short Saiyan whose face lit up excitedly all of a sudden. "Goku wait," Sora said, feeling very on edge as he stared at the way the person in front of them was dressed.
"Sora," the boy in front of them who looked like he was in his mid-teens began. He was shorter than Sora but taller than kid Goku, and he wore a cloak of black from his neck down below his feet. The cloak had a silver zipper on it vertically down the center of his cloak, and there was a silver chain around the bottom of the cloak's hood and in front of its collar. "I've been looking for you," the figure continued, keeping his mouth straight and eyes cold as he spoke.
"Gohan?" Goku questioned, tilting his head to the side confusedly at the way the boy was speaking. The dark figure on the edge of the mountain turned to the child next to Sora with wide-eyes for a second, then he returned to his cold gaze and looked straight into the black eyes of the short Saiyan.
Goku had a lot of questions, but Sora questioned first, "Who are you?"
Goku looked up at Sora in confusion as that seemed like a weird question to him, but Sora's nervous and on-guard expression confused him even more. Goku turned back to the boy who looked like his son, and that boy looked away from Goku and into Sora's blue eyes. The cloaked boy responded in a dark voice, "I have taken Kairi." Sora's eyes shot open huge, while Goku gained an even more confused expression on his face.
"Why would you do that, Gohan?" Goku asked.
"Stop calling me that!" The boy snapped, turning and glaring at the shorter Saiyan in an infuriated way.
"So then," Sora whispered, "you're his Nobody." Noxagh turned to Sora again, while Sora took a step towards him and said, "I know why you're dressed like that. You're, a member of the Organization. You're-"
"Noxagh," the Nobody finished for Sora. "And as I said, I'm here for you, Sora." Noxagh took a step forward and continued in a dark tone, "You'll be coming with me now, whether you want to or not."
Goku looked so confused, but he finally uncocked his head and stared straight at the boy in front of him. "Son, what are you talking about?" Noxagh lifted his fists, and Sora took a step back while lifting his own hands in front of his body. "What do you want with Sora, son?"
"Stop, calling me that," Noxagh snapped at the shortest figure on the mountain. "You're younger than me. I'm not your-"
"Goku is not younger than you," Sora interrupted. Noxagh and Goku both looked back to see Sora holding a Keyblade in front of his body. Sora's expression had become stern, and the teenager frowned deeply at Noxagh as he spoke, "Even if Goku was really only ten years old, he'd still be older than his son Gohan's Nobody who would have only started existing a few months ago."
Noxagh stared at Sora in shock. Was he there? Does he know, about how I was created? Agh- Noxagh brought his right hand up to the side of his head and winced in pain. He clenched his eyes shut, but instead of darkness, he saw the same teenager who was in front of him now. He saw Sora on the back of a lion, holding up the same Keyblade in his hand right now and making the lion beneath him roar. Then, the image in his mind started to shift upwards, and he saw someone in the air with black spikes of hair so similar to the ones on the other boy on the mountain. The man's face was blurry, but he was looking straight down at Noxagh, and he smiled in a way that made Noxagh's head hurt even more.
The Nobody's eyes opened wide. He stared forward at the small boy in front of him, Father? A troubled look spread across Noxagh's face and his hands twitched at his sides.
"What did you mean?" Sora asked, now that he had the Nobody off guard. "When you said you took Kairi? What do you mean? She's with my friends."
"Sora, why does this guy look like Gohan? He's not Gohan, right?" The person looked identical to Goku's son to the point he could not see a single difference between them.
"No Goku, he's not," Sora said. "I'll explain it to you later."
My mission, Noxagh remembered, shaking his head around to refocus on the task at hand. "You have to come with me, Sora," Noxagh growled. Something was off about him now, and Sora and Goku could each see that he was no longer as cool and collected as he was when he flew over the mountain's edge. All these people know about the old me. It doesn't make any sense. "Xemnas wants to have a word with you, and then you'll be getting merged with Roxas." All the people in that group Xaldin warned us about who destroyed the Forever Kingdom, who demolished Dressrosa, took out Saix and Vexen and the others. They all know, me. Why? Why can't I remember any of them? The others remember their pasts, so why can't I? And if the others remember their pasts, then shouldn't they, remember me?
Noxagh's eyes grew huge in shock, then he was snapped out of it by Sora yelling back at him, "Tell me where Kairi is!" Riku, everyone, he's lying isn't he? "Did you really take her?!"
"Yes," Noxagh said, his eyes returning to their normal size, though his face stayed looking troubled. "Axel suggested we refrain from merging her with Naminé until you came to find her on your own, use her as bait and such. I will make that unnecessary, as I bring you back right now so we can merge you both." Noxagh's hands re-clenched into tight fists, he kicked off the floor, and he appeared in front of Sora in an instant. Sora's eyes shot open huge as Noxagh punched forward, then a huge gust of wind slammed into him and made him skid twenty feet backwards. Sora crossed an arm in front of his face and lifted his Keyblade with the other, then when he lowered his arms he stared in even more shock as Goku stood in front of where he just was, a hand risen to catch his son's Nobody's fist with.
"What the-" the taller of the black haired boys muttered. His eyes darted to his own right fist, caught in the hand of the smaller boy. Noxagh's face filled with shock and his eyes lifted to look at the boy behind the palm's face. Goku looked back at him, and then the kid with spikes out in every direction smirked. Noxagh's mouth twisted into a snarl, "Raaa!" He pulled back his left fist, then his left leg swung around towards Goku's side. Goku lifted his left arm and blocked Noxagh's leg with his elbow. Goku pushed Noxagh's other fist up, Noxagh followed his own right fist as it lifted up, then Goku closed the distance between them in a second.
Noxagh tensed up as he got ready for the uppercut he saw coming beneath his chin. He froze as the fist never collided though, and Goku's appearance in front of him faded away. He flinched and his face covered in sweat at the sight of a fist on the left side of his face. Goku stood behind Noxagh, arm extended right past the side of his son's Nobody's face. Noxagh could not turn around. He sweat more and more, then his head twitched slowly towards Goku's arm to look at it. "Wh-What? How?" He spun and jumped backwards, increasing the distance between them to twenty feet in an instant. Sora spun his head and lowered his bottom lip at the sight of the Nobody who to him had just vanished completely.
There's no way! Noxagh thought. How is he faster than me?! He can't be! "You can't be!" Noxagh yelled aloud. He clenched his fists tightly at his sides, and a white aura surrounded the boy's body, flaring out around him like a fire. "Who are you?! How did you do that?!"
"Who am I? It's me son, Goku," Goku pointed a thumb at himself. "You seem like you know how Gohan fights at least," Goku said aloud, scratching the back of his head in confusion. "And your energy feels like my son's," Goku turned towards Sora, "are you sure this isn't Gohan?"
"My name," Noxagh began, his head bowing, his face trembling in anger. He snapped his head up and roared, "IS NOXAGH!" He shot off the floor so fast that Sora just saw a shockwave ripple of the spot he was just standing. The wind hit Sora, then the second wind from the collision of Noxagh's fist with Goku's opened left palm. Goku backed up as Noxagh sent a flurry of punches at him as fast as his own son could in his base form. Goku's feet skid back with every punch, all the way to the edge of the Training Mountain. Noxagh saw they were at the edge and he pulled back extra far with his left fist, then let it fly towards the shorter boy's face.
Goku hopped up when the back of his right heel touched the edge of the mountain, and he tapped down on the front of Noxagh's left fist with his hand. Noxagh rose his right fist while Goku lifted over him, and the Nobody's face looked enraged as he snapped it open into a palm. Goku's eyes opened wide, and he surrounded in a white aura himself to pick up speed before flying high into the air. A ball of yellow light shot out of Noxagh's palm after Goku, but the small boy in the air did a backflip to get over it, pushing his hands down on it as he narrowly dodged.
Noxagh's furious gaze faded, transforming back into utter shock at the sight of the boy floating above him. How is he doing that? This is just a child! Even if he isn't, even if he is my Somebody's father, how can he be this strong?! I am the strongest Nobody! Noxagh shook his head in confusion and disbelief, his eyes shut so hard that his forehead was scrunching up.
Goku looked down at the boy below him, and he frowned at the sight of how upset he appeared to be. Is this as strong as Noxagh is? In that case, he's nowhere near as strong as Gohan is. But, ooh! I've got a great idea! Goku smiled brightly and called out, "Noxagh!" Noxagh and Sora both shot their gazes up, wondering why Goku sounded so, dangerous. Goku's body surrounded in a golden glow when they looked up, and both Sora and Noxagh felt their bodies start covering in sweat. "If that's all you can do, then you'll never be able to stand up to this next attack!" Goku's hands pulled over to his sides, and between his palms formed a blue glow that ignited the sky around them.
"Uhh Goku?! What are you doing?!" Sora called out, while simultaneously lifting off the ground and flying as far away from Noxagh as he could. "He says he took Kairi! I need to find out where he took her!"
Is that kid serious? Noxagh thought, taking a nervous step back and staring up in awe as Goku smiled down at him. In his mind flashed a smile that looked so similar on a blurry face flying above him inside a white void. He shook his head around and the image faded, only to hear Goku yell out, "I'm not holding back, so you better be able to handle it!" Goku took a deep breath, a serious look came to his face, and he shouted, "KAAAMEEE-"
He's really trying to kill me! Noxagh took another step back in fear. NO! Xemnas is relying on me! Everyone is waiting for me to bring Sora back! I can't return with news that I found him, only to have run away! Noxagh's feet planted hard on the ground, and his face took on a hardened expression. His shaking lip steadied and his hands opened up into palms that he lifted above him. "Bring it on!" He shouted. "I can take anything you dish out!"
"HAAAMEEEE-" Goku continued to shout.
"Goku don't do it!" Sora shouted. The blue light at Goku's right side illuminated even more of the sky as it flashed brighter and brighter.
A few hundred meters away, the Saiyan King watched carefully. Does Kakarott have a plan, or is he really trying to kill that boy? And why does that boy look so, familiar?
Noxagh's feet planted harder on the floor beneath him, and a white aura surrounded his body that flared out wildly. "RaaaAAAAA!"
"HAAAAA!" Goku fired his Kamehameha Wave at the screaming boy below. Noxagh yelled louder until the second the attack was right above his head. Then, his eyes filled with shock and fear, and then the attack slammed into his palms.
Noxagh bent at the knees, his arms shaking violently as if the attack was going to break right through them at any second. The end of the blue sphere of Goku's attack seemed to become largest right as it collided, and it was larger than Noxagh's entire body as he tried to hold it above and in front of him. His legs bent even more, and he ground his teeth in agony as all this energy was impossible to hold onto. I, can't, do it! Noxagh's eyes snapped open and he stared at the flashing blue attack in front of him. He could hear Goku's high-pitched screams behind the sphere and the beam connected to it, he could see blue light all around him, but the mountain and the sky around him were gone. Everything was white. What is this? The white flashed away, and the imminent death in front of him was brought back to the front of his mind. "AHHH!" Noxagh pushed back with everything he had, and then he heard Goku raise his voice louder and the blue sphere followed suit by growing even more powerful. His arms bent backwards at the increased power, it felt like he was going to lose it- NO! I've been letting people down my entire life! Noxagh's eyes snapped open wide and his face filled with shock at the thoughts he just had.
In his head he saw a green-skinned man jumping in front of a beam to save him. He saw a short bald man with six dots on his head, and a figure who looked similar to the boy attacking him now, saving him time and time again. I've never met those people! So why did I think that?! Noxagh's arms bent back even more, and the confusion of his own memories mixed with the intense situation was making it hard to concentrate. He knew that even if he could concentrate though, this blast was too much for him to handle. I should have run when I had the chance! Now I'm trapped! I can't do anything but push back until it breaks my defenses and kills me! I'm going to die! "The power comes in response to a need. You need to create that need!" Noxagh's eyes snapped open, his scared expression firmed, and his fingers curled into the blast as his arms started pushing back against it. "Arr, Aaghh, ARrraahh!" His arms and legs shook, he got pushed down even more, down to his right knee while his left leg struggled to stay standing. If I don't stand back up, I'm dead! I need to do this! "The power comes in response to a need, not a desire."
Noxagh tried to push back, but it felt like his body ran out of energy at that moment and his arms got knocked backwards. The energy enveloped him completely, and the sphere of energy at the end of Goku's Kamehameha slammed into the top of the mountain. Sora spun to Goku as he heard the scream come from inside the blast, "Goku! You're killing him!"
Goku's face filled with surprise for a second, and then he listened closer to the scream, and his mouth curled back up into a grin. "AHHHH! AAAHHH! RRAAAAAAA!" The last scream made Sora, Bardock, and all the other Saiyans who were watching this from around the tops of the other Saiyan Mountains open their eyes wide. Inside of the blue sphere of energy appeared a bright golden light. "RRRAAAAAA!" Noxagh screamed, in anger, and pain, and fury. His arms that were thrown out to the sides pushed back in front of him in one strong movement, and he pushed Goku's attack off of the ground. His right foot stomped on the ground, shaking the Training Mountain and cracking the floor beneath it. His legs unbent, his arms stopped shaking, and he let out one last roar that sent the attack Goku created flying back up in the air.
Goku's grin could not get larger as he stared at the screaming glowing golden boy past his attack. He was about to move out of the way of where it was redirected to, but a single sensing-out behind him told him that he could not do that with all the other inhabited mountains around. So Goku held out his own hands and caught his attack, easier to catch for a Super Saiyan than it was for Noxagh a minute ago. Goku caught his attack, then shouted, "HA!" and he pushed it straight up towards the barrier in the sky. His attack exploded and sent purple ripples vibrating out around the sky above the Saiyan Mountains.
Goku looked back down where Sora was already staring in shock. The boy on top of the Training Mountain was hunched over, his black spiky hair shot up over his head and completely golden. His aura had become yellow and much larger than the white one from before, flaring out even more wildly like a fire that could consume the mountain's summit. He kept screaming, his body tensing and clenching up from the pain and intensity of the transformation. Sora stopped staring in shock, and started staring in horror as he processed what he was looking at. "Goku, why would you do that?" Sora whispered. Goku was too focused on the boy on the Training Mountain to even hear Sora's horrified whisper. A Super Saiyan, working with the Organization. Kairi…
"You did good surviving that," Goku said, and Noxagh's eyes snapped open. He stared in front of him and un-hunched his body a little to look at the boy before him. Goku had his arms crossed and was still a Super Saiyan as he looked into Noxagh's now-teal eyes. "I knew you could do it though," Goku added.
Noxagh frowned angrily at the boy before him, then he got a confused look on his face, then a frustrated one. He tried to kill me! Wait, he was in that memory! Was he? That wasn't him, was it? Who were those other people? What happened to me? And, did it happen before? Noxagh lifted his arms, looking down at them surrounded in a golden glow. He quickly realized that it was not just his arms that were glowing, but his face had a golden veil around it too that tinted everything in his vision yellow. His eyes lifted back up from his arms, and as he stood there, panting from how intense this transformation's power was on his body, how much of a toll it took on him, he realized that the boy before him was not getting tired from it at all. How large is the gap? Noxagh took a step back. How strong is he?!
Goku's face filled with surprise, and Sora stopped being so hesitant and started flying down fast. "Wait!" Sora yelled. A black circle of darkness formed on the ground behind Noxagh, and from it shot a black portal eight feet tall behind him.
Noxagh lifted his gaze to Sora, and he opened his mouth to say something. Before he could though, he caught sight of another man flying their way, glaring straight at him with an angry look in his eyes that scared the Nobody even more than Goku only a few feet in front of him. Noxagh stepped backwards into his portal and he let it shut behind him, right as Sora reached it and stuck his hand out to try and grab the boy before he escaped. "No!" Sora shouted, his hand clenching nothing but air as the darkness faded.
The man who was flying over quick slowed, and he floated down to land behind Sora and Goku who dropped down next to each other. Goku's hair turned black and returned to its normal spiky shape that matched his father's. Goku turned as he had felt his father approach, and Bardock questioned the boy, "Was that, my grandson?"
Goku hummed and said, "I think so, but-"
"It was Gohan's Nobody," Sora said, his voice low and serious.
Bardock growled, "I thought so." The other two looked to the taller man who muttered after receiving their looks, "I recognized the cloak, but when I saw that portal I knew it could not be a coincidence. The Saiyan Mountains, are smack in the middle of Xemnas' territory in the Cooperative. Damn Nobodies," he snarled.
Goku nodded, though he looked totally confused as to what the others were saying. Sora bowed his head and said, "Goku, what were you thinking?" The other two looked to the boy with brown hair, and Sora lifted his blue eyes to look into Goku's. "Why would you help him turn into a Super Saiyan?" Goku tilted his head in confusion, and Sora got an angrier look on his face. "He said he took Kairi! How am I supposed to save her now, with a Super Saiyan guarding her?!" He rose his voice and was visibly upset by this. Goku opened his mouth to respond, but Sora was too quick and continued, "I didn't think I could take him when he was just moving around in his base state! He looked so strong, and now he's even stronger! Why Goku?! There are already so many enemies I'll have to face, why did you help-" Sora stopped, because he realized he was shouting. He shot a glance down to his own hands, and he watched as little wisps of darkness faded away from the tips of his fingers.
Both Goku and Bardock were fast enough that as soon as Sora froze mid-sentence and looked down, they each were able to dart their gazes down and catch glimpses of the fading darkness as well. While this piqued Bardock's interests, Goku was more interested in what Sora was just saying. He lifted his gaze back to Sora's eyes, and he said, "I don't really know why I did it. But, that boy looked so much like Gohan, and I wanted to see if I could make him turn into a Super Saiyan the same way."
Bardock hummed to himself. Even if he is a Nobody, that boy was able to turn into a Super Saiyan. Maybe I have misunderstood what it means to be a Nobody.
"Goku, that was, stupid," Sora said, though he did not sound as angry as before. "He has Kairi," Sora said while looking into the shorter boy's eyes. "You don't know what that means. They'll merge her with her Nobody, and she'll be gone forever," Sora grit his teeth and tried to hold in his emotions.
Goku looked surprised at first, then he became serious and replied, "I didn't know. Sora, I'll help get Kairi back," Goku promised.
I know you will, Sora thought, bucking up and smiling as he thought about his chances with Goku at his side. It's not going to be easy, but nothing ever is. "Let's go after her," Sora said. He turned to Bardock, "I want to go after Kairi. She's my fiancé, and she's been caught by the Organization."
"Alright, what does that have to do with-"
Sora cut off Bardock, "You said we were in the middle of Organization territory, right?" An annoyed Bardock nodded his head at the Keybearer. "Well," Sora continued expectantly, and he finished, "Do you know where they would be keeping her?"
"No," Bardock replied. Sora's bottom lip dropped, as he was sort of banking on that. "And I don't have time to speculate." Bardock turned his back to the children and looked in the direction of the taller mountains where many Saiyans were hovering above. "The armies of the north are on the move," Bardock said, and the boys behind him opened their eyes wide. "Toufu reports that there are huge masses of monsters swarming around those armies as negative energy builds up. They are heading south like we thought, heading straight for Resistance lands. It won't be long now, a day max until the war."
A day? Goku thought, his face becoming even more serious. Can I do it in a day? If I could, would my body even be able to get used to the transformation by the time I am needed? It has to! I have to! The boy grimaced, But I wasted energy with the first interrupted transformation, and then with my fight with Go- Noxagh. I can't do it right away.
What do I do? Should I go get Kairi now? Bring her to the Resistance, just so that she can get involved in a huge war? If me and Goku go after the Organization, will we even have the strength to face the Ant King and his armies afterwards? What if it takes too long and we can't get back to the others in time? After I told Goku that I'm here to make sure he's not late, I can't be late with him! I can't be the one who makes him late! What do I do? Sora's face looked hopeless as he shut his eyes, trying to think of an answer. All of that, could happen if I go for Kairi right now. But if I don't… what was it Noxagh said? Oh yeah! Sora's hopeless look lifted a little and the corners of his mouth stopped drooping so much. He said that Axel told everyone to hold off on merging Kairi until I came for her! They're keeping Kairi alive, to draw me out! If I went for her right now, they might just merge her right away before I can even get to her. But if the Organization knows I'll come for her, they'll keep her alive until I show. I should wait until I have all my friends with me, until after the battle tomorrow, until it's safer to try, until I have a plan! In Sora's mind, despite how hopeful he was making his thoughts, he saw the golden haired Nobody who just vanished from atop the mountain and it made him gulp.
He turned next to him to see Goku's face filling with the determination to become a Super Saiyan God by tomorrow. Bardock lifted off the mountain and flew away, and Goku turned to look at Sora to see what the teenager thought. Sora could see it in Goku's eyes that the Saiyan child so much older than him wanted to train and transform, but he could also see that Goku would follow him away if Sora asked him to. I can't take you from this place Goku, not for my own selfish goal, not while the world rests in our hands. Sora turned away from Goku and looked off the side of the mountain right through the empty spot that Noxagh once stood. I'm sorry Kairi. I can't come for you right now. I know you would understand, but that doesn't make this any easier. Sora's face hardened and he whispered, "Get to training Goku, we have a lot to do starting tomorrow."
"You sure Sora?" Goku asked in surprise.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Sora replied. Goku found himself staring at Sora's back in growing amazement. "Kairi's safe for now, but the rest of the world needs our help too." Goku nodded, realizing what it was that made him stare at Sora's back in awe for those few seconds, even though Sora was not showing off any amazing power. As Goku got to meditating and building up his power, Sora looked out into the west and examined the entire horizon. Kairi, just hold on. I will find you, and I will save you. Until then, Roxas, Axel, I'm putting all of my trust in you. In order for me to do what I need to, I am trusting you to protect Kairi. Please, don't let anything happen to her.
Present
Azalea Town
On the eastern slope of Mount Gine, far down the mountain but not at the very base of it, Dash Parr sat at a long table set for eleven. He was inside the Loud family's house, sitting on the left side of his little brother JackJack who was sloppily eating his cereal. There were nine kids around the long sides of the table, while the parents who Dash had been calling Mr. Loud and Mrs. Loud sat at opposite heads of it. Dash grabbed another handful of bacon from the center of the table and shoveled it on his plate, then he started devouring it before taking a scoopful of his cereal and milk to wash it down.
"This bacon is really good," Dash said through another mouthful of it. He glanced around and saw most people there looking at him, so he slowed down a little and apologized, "Sorry, when I run I burn so many calories that I need to eat like, a lot of food." He took another piece of bacon and tried to eat it like a normal person, although he was so excited that he felt like he would burn it off even if he did not start running around. Dash put his food down for a second though while many of the family members around him laughed, and he looked down at either side of the table, "I can't begin to thank you enough. I want to a thousand more times, but I really should bring my brother home…"
"You have thanked us plenty," Mrs. Loud began. "Actually, more than plenty. Try hundreds of times, but- I know how thankful you are so I'll just say again, it was our pleasure."
"We never did find our youngest," Mr. Loud began, and many of the children at the table fell quieter. There were ten children in the Loud family total, but only seven at the table right now. Mr. Loud continued, "So I just hope that someone is looking after our Lily, as well as we've been taking care of JackJack."
"And Leni and Luna," Lori mentioned. Dash looked across the table to the oldest daughter of the family who looked sad for a second, but then shook her head as she saw Dash staring at her.
That stinks for them, Dash thought. I've finally found JackJack, so that's everyone in my family. I even found Mr. Best! "Maybe, I could look around for them," Dash offered. Everyone in the family looked over towards Dash in surprise, and he continued, "I mean, I'm really fast, and I've been all around the world. If you guys told me what they look like, I could be sure to ask around at every city and town I go to for now on." Dash started getting excited as he talked about it. This was my mission for coming to Aebrith! Now, after I bring JackJack home, I'll have a reason to come back here and keep going with everyone!
"You, would do that for us?" Lincoln asked, leaning forward to look past JackJack at the boy on his other side. The other boy around his age looked back at Lincoln and nodded seriously at the stunned thirteen year old. He leaned back in his seat, and saw on his other side as JackJack his sister Lucy staring at him expectantly through her thick black bangs. Lincoln crossed his arms and frowned as he glanced out the corners of his eyes at JackJack's head. It's hard not to like this guy, but, JackJack's been my brother, for longer than he has been yours!
"But really," Dash said again, as he felt like he got distracted for the hundredth time. "I have to be going. My parents are going to be so happy when I show up with JackJack. I know my sister Violet's going to be jealous that I'm the one who found him."
The twins on Lori's left side laughed with Dash, but the parents of the Loud family looked all the way across the table into each other's eyes. "Dash, my boy," Mr. Loud started. "I know you say your family wants to see him, but shouldn't you bring them here?"
"It isn't safe away from the Saiyan Mountains," Mrs. Loud added. Dash looked the other way across the table to the blonde woman who looked so worried for him and his brother. He had the urge to thank them again, but for once he held it in. She continued, "We've been living here for over a year and a half, coming on two years now, and we have never had an incident. Can you say the same about the place you live?"
Dash opened his mouth, then he closed it and thought for a second. There was the Bombing of Pao, but that happened before we moved there. Does that mean it's safer? During Metropolis, those Marines and Covenant invaded Pao and attacked us. They almost killed my family and tried to kill me. Yeah, but Goku wasn't there at the time! If he was… I mean, not that he's there now. "Well," Dash began, and the whole family looked at him hopefully. "I'll have to ask my parents, and maybe they'll think it's a good idea," Dash said, saying it in a hopeful way for the family who he could tell cared so much about his brother's safety. I am already having a hard time taking him with me. He connected with this new family, more than he ever had the chance to with us. If I bring him back here though, will he ever become a part of our family? I mean, he can be a part of both, right? Why keep him away from them if they really love him? I'm sure Mom and Dad will understand.
Lincoln leaned forward again, "I don't think it's a good idea. What if you get tired while running across the ocean? Wouldn't it be easier if you did it without carrying someone, then came back with your parents, instead of-"
"No," Dash said while shaking his head. "If I get back and tell my parents that I had JackJack and left him behind, they'll kill me!" He exclaimed.
The Loud parents laughed, and Mrs. Loud admitted, "I can understand that. Well, if you really have to go…"
Lincoln frowned deeply, hearing his parents give in to Dash. He looked around and saw no support from his sisters, and then Lucy tapped him on the shoulder. He turned left to his goth sister, and she shook her head at him. Lincoln opened his mouth to say something, then he bowed his head. He felt a smaller hand touch his other arm as the one Lucy tapped, and he turned to the small boy on his other side who looked up at him with big eyes and an even bigger smile. "Don't worry," Lincoln started saying to the three year old. "Even if you go far away…"
Dash stopped focusing on Mrs. Loud who was telling him some things she thought he should know about his journey and how she would pack him a bag with food for the trip, and his eyes shifted over to Lincoln who was saying a heartfelt goodbye to JackJack. No that's not it, Dash thought, as there was something else bugging him. He thought it was the boy who treated JackJack like his own brother and almost sounded competitive the day before while they were all playing together, acting like he knew more about JackJack than his own, real brother. The bad feeling Dash had got worse and he knew for sure that it had nothing to do with some petty brotherly squabble he was having with Lincoln. This is serious! Dash thought, and he pushed away from the table with a growing look of unease on his face.
Mrs. Loud stopped talking as Dash pushed back. His chair scraped on the wood floor, and the others all looked to him as he hopped off it. Dash looked up, staring at the ceiling, then he lifted a hand and grabbed the back of his neck as he felt all of the hairs on it stand on end. He shivered, chills going down his spine, and he spun around. I have a bad feeling- Dash looked through the window that was behind his seat at the table, and he watched as the house across the snowy street from the Loud house blew apart. BOOOOM! A fireball larger than the house itself erupted and sent wood shards and bricks from the chimney flying in every direction.
"What was that?!"
"Kids get under the table!"
"EEEEK!"
Dash's face covered in sweat as he watched the fireball in slow motion. He could see the fire rising higher, smoke lifting above it, and he spotted something fly through the air over that house. That something turned his direction, and Dash spun around to the family behind him who were all screaming. "EVERYONE GET-" He heard a crash behind him, and he was fast enough to lift his head and see the wood shards flying forward from the wall behind him and above the window that was now shattering inwards as well. Faster than all the wood shards and glass though, was the ball of white light that created the hole in the wall in the first place. Dash followed it with his eyes as it flew down from behind and above him, down to right above his chair while he ran to the side of it and reached up. His fingertips got close, and then the ball of light hit the table where his half-eaten breakfast still sat. The table started to rip apart, and it split while the ball kept pushing farther past Dash's fingers. He was stuck at the edge of the table but he lunged his upper body over the table and reached down through the hole the ball of energy tore.
His fingers touched the back of the ball of energy, and he curled the tips of them into it. I got- The white ball flashed so bright that all the air around Dash looked the same color as the energy itself, and his fingers no longer had a grip on anything.
BOOOOM!
A/N Boom? Dash? Hey guys! Merry Christmas! Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. As I said previously, I don't have much of chapter 12 already written. This part had nothing in it when I posted the last one, and now it's 27 thousand long. So for everyone talking about how I'm on hiatus or taking a while for family and stuff, it's mainly just that I've got a lot to put in this chapter. Also got distracted writing some future chapters (so I can post fast when I get to them (and just cause they were on my mind)). Anyway, that's the reason for the long wait, and the reason the next couple of chapters will be long waits as well (though I'll try to get another one up this year) XD. This chapter we finally catch up to the present with the characters who were missing at the time of the shaking planet. Gine, the First War of the Gods, Bardock vs Sora, Noxagh vs Goku, the Loud family, a lot happened this chapter. Let me know what you thought of it all, questions, or predictions for upcoming chapters in a review below! This chapter featured characters from The Loud House which, along with all the others, I do not own! Alright, now that I got that over with, review responses:
asdf chapter 81 . Dec 5
Is Raditz a Super Saiyan God? I'm not sure what I feel about multiple Super Saiyan Gods. I wouldn't have minded multiple Super Saiyans but it's your story, not mine. I suppose only one can attain Ultra Instinct though.
Is Bardock as Dragon Ball Super SSG Goku? Because then he's pretty op. Eat your heart out Meruem!
Also WHEN WILL GOKU RETURN TO BEING A MAN! I'm sorry for thinking such treasonous thoughts but THIS ONE OF THE REASONS WHY GT SUCKED COMLPLETE ASS! JK. This story is nothing like the shit storm that was GT. Thank god for Dragon Ball Super.
Imagine if it turns out that Zeno created Nexus because he was bored and he wanted to see something "cool".
Please update soon man... please update soon.
Thanks for, the very many reviews XD! Yes Raditz is a God as are a few of the others, but there are not many. Won't rank Bardock up against Goku from Super since we haven't seen the full capacity of Bardock's power yet. Will not say when Goku will become a man again, maybe it'll be never XD, jk, or am I? Lol at the Zeno thing. And lastly, here's the update! Sorry again it took so long, but it happens from time to time.
Joebob323 chapter 81 . Dec 5
Yay Sora! Will we get to see timmy next, or will you continue with Sora's perspective?
More Sora, some Goku, and a little bit of Dash thrown in! Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for the review!
Limit-Breaking chapter 81 . Dec 7
Not gonna post everything here since it'd really skew the amount of words this chapter has from how much you wrote in your reviews and PMs, but I'm happy you did. Glad you liked the chapter, and the idea of the Namekians being on Nexus is something probably in the back of every person's mind whose ever heard about the Dragon Balls. We'll cross that bridge if it comes to it :p... On the PM, I can tell you that there will be more flashback chapters coming up in the early parts of the next Third of Nexus, but don't hold your breath for all the answers at once. And finally, don't be sad about it ending, 'cause it's not ending. And since you only caught up recently you haven't seen it yet, but there are occasionally long gaps between my quick releasing, and this was not the longest gap. Def not abandoned.
cyber chapter 81 . Dec 5
now sora has arrived, and what do the saiyans and gods wont with sora, cant wait to find out.
And I just wont to say one more thing, MERRY CHRISTMAS.
hey everybody it's ok, the author might be doing something busy, like school stuff, or is enjoying the holidays with his family, so just wait.
What will Sora's role in the upcoming battles be? Why do the Gods and SSGods care about him? Thanks for the backup on the long post break, and finally, Merry Christmas to you too! :) Thanks for the review and thanks everyone for the reviews, favorites, follows, or for just reading this story. As always, 'till next time!