[To xXSelenaXx: Unfortunately, Bardock is not the inventor of the Power Ball. This was only stated by one of the old non-canon dubs of DBZ, which made it up. Moreover, Timely Arrival has not been written using that dub's continuity. There's a reason Frieza Force soldiers (including Saiyans) wore scouters as well, because they couldn't sense ki. Bardock probably didn't get as big a Zenkai boost from Frieza's Supernova as you'd think, because Chilled was weaker than Frieza yet he was still beating up base form Bardock. It was only after he went Super Saiyan that he was able to defeat him. Also, I've seen many fics get negative feedback over characters getting too strong all of a sudden, that's why I've been careful about it. I appreciate your suggestion for me to "go crazy" with the powerscaling, though! (Dragon Ball Super sure did.) Crazy stuff will happen in the future, you'll see!

To Reina-SS: Your comment made me smile so wide! Thank you very much! I assure you that I have a lot of cool things planned. I'll try to keep this story rolling for everyone!

Dokkan has been doing a Cooler vs Bardock, Goten and (Future) Trunks storyline recently. Hands off my idea, lol!]

Chapter 28: Familiarity

The next day, at the same time, Bardock and Gohan were sparring together and growing stronger under 170 times gravity.

"How about this?" Gohan launched an uppercut to Bardock's chin.

"Ack-! N- Not bad," Bardock stuttered, rubbing his jawline. He was losing the bout.

He dove forwards with a Rebellion Spear and only brushed Gohan's shoulder due to Gohan dodging out of the way. Bardock was sweating profusely, moreso than Gohan. But, it was still a tough workout for the both of them.

The fight ended with Gohan catching one last fist from Bardock, and throwing him over his shoulder. Bardock was sprawled out with his back on the ground, breathing heavily, his tail unable to remain fixed around his waist.

Gohan smiled at him and offered him a hand. Bardock took it this time.

"Ugh…" Bardock bent over, holding his hips as Gohan went over to the console to shut off the gravity machine. "That… was great."

"Yeah, it was," Gohan agreed. He noticed Bardock's loose tail. "Y'know, you don't have to keep it wrapped around you all the time, especially off the battlefield. We won't try to grab it, I promise. Doesn't it make you feel uncomfortable, keeping it in one position all day?"

"Not anymore. It's a habit I've learned to develop over the years," Bardock explained. "It's important for me to keep it secure during battle, so doing it without even thinking is really beneficial. In a way, securing it most of the day makes it a form of training."

"Ah, I get it," Gohan responded, nodding. "Just try to relax, even still. It won't hurt." Gohan looked at the digital clock on the console. "It's noon. Wanna get something to eat?"

Bardock readjusted his arm warmers. "You bet I do, after all that."

The two made their way to the kitchen and ate lunch with the kids, who were already there, stuffing their faces. Yamcha spotted them and exchanged a couple friendly words, also stopping by to grab a lemonade.

Bardock decided to heed Gohan's advice and have his tail loose behind him while he ate. In fact, he started using it later on to hold his drink, and the kids thought that was pretty neat.

After the hearty meal, Bardock planned to head back to his ship for the day and change into cleaner attire.

"Catch you later, man!" Yamcha waved, and so did Goten and Trunks.

"See you around, Grandfather!" Gohan said.

However, as Bardock turned to leave…

There was a zip sound that came from behind them all, and a cheerful voice greeted everyone. "Oh! Hey guys! Woah, Gohan! Have you been training?!"

Everyone froze in shock. Bardock slowly turned around with wide eyes.

Because all of a sudden, there stood Goku and Vegeta.

It did not take long for Goku to catch on to everyone's suspenseful mannerisms. "Uh… what's going o-" That's when Goku locked eyes on his father for the first time in decades.

"Kakarot…" Bardock uttered, unable to stop looking at his grown-up son in the flesh.

"Whoa…! You… You look really familiar…" Goku whispered aloud. He then asked a little cluelessly, "Do I know you?"

Vegeta meanwhile was looking back and forth between everyone in complete confusion, with a questioning look on his face. He then doubly focused his attention on the new Saiyan wearing Saiyan armour, and something within the depths of his memory resurfaced, remembering that this man had been the leader of the best Low-class squad in the entire Saiyan army. 'It can't be… Is he… Bardock?!'

Bardock spoke, "It's been many years since you last saw me, though your kid self is still fresh in my mind… Kakarot."

"It… It has? Hey! How'd you know my other name?" Goku walked closer to him, as did Vegeta, who was dying to know what the hell was going on here. Although Vegeta had already started trying to piece it all together, he just couldn't believe any of what he theorised to be true.

"How couldn't I know? I'm the one who gave you that name, son. I'm glad you managed to survive all these years. You've really gone and thrived, too, just like I wanted." Bardock closed the distance and stared at his youngest with a smile.

Goku stared back in complete shock once it all clicked. Thanks not only to Bardock's mention of the word "survive", but also thanks to his appearance, he was struck with long-forgotten memories, of his earliest years on Planet Vegeta…

He remembered the bubbles and the greenish fluid that surrounded him.

There he was - his father, all beaten and bloody, being tended to by a female Saiyan. 'My mom…?' They looked over at him, saying hello with a wave.

Another memory - It looked like his father was heading out somewhere with a sack on his back. His mother and… a kid who happened to be his older brother, were watching his father leave.

What struck Goku about this was that Raditz was holding their mother's hand. Weren't the Saiyans, even as kids, supposed to be tough and stoic…? Maybe not all of them, then.

Goku recalled more about his mother's life at home. Chatting with another Saiyan, carrying what looked like root vegetables around, and sleeping at the table.

…But then something changed, and he was taken out of the pod he always floated inside, and was placed into a different kind of pod.

The view of his father's sad smile and his mother's concerned and distressed face through the glass became smaller and smaller as he flew into the sky… until they were out of sight, and the red planet he came from could no longer be seen.

"I… remember now."

Everyone gasped, and Yamcha exclaimed, "Huh?! You remember him, Goku?"

Goku glanced at his friends and then back to his father. "Yeah… I hit my head as a kid, and forgot all about you, and my mother… and-"

"What do you recall?" Bardock suddenly asked.

"Uhhh… well, the house we lived in, I guess. And I remembered you, mom, and even Raditz as a kid, and some other lady?"

"Do you remember what I last said to you?"

"Oh… Uh… Lemme think…"

Bardock recited, "You do what it takes to…"

"…Survive…?" Goku finished unsurely. "I remember that word! Well, uh, Dad, I guess I did survive, like you told me to!"

Bardock let out a groan. "I suppose you're right, even though you did forget I told you that. In any case, your mother would be proud to see what you've managed to achieve here on Earth," he stated, placing a hand on his son's shoulder.

Vegeta couldn't hold it in anymore. "Hold on! What is this?!" he demanded loudly with his arms out, and strode up to Bardock. "How the hell can you possibly be here?!" He prodded Bardock's chest and looked at the others. "Is this because of the Dragon Balls?"

"The answer might surprise you, Prince," Bardock answered, slightly amused. "Or should I be calling you "King"?"

"Hmph! Oh, do tell, Bardock. Right up to the part where you're somehow here, hanging out with everyone as though you were all old friends," Vegeta responded with a sharp tone.

"Whoa! You know him already, Dad?" Trunks asked.

Vegeta explained to his son, "From what Raditz and Nappa told me, mostly. Might have seen him once."

Bardock thought to himself, 'Oh, you saw me alright - Saw me as a Low-class dog, just like the rest of us lower class Saiyans, no matter if my power level beat your best Mid-class comrade by at least twofold.'

"Wait, so you're called "Bardock"?" Goku asked his father.

"That's right, and your mother's name was Gine." He put a hand on his hip. "If you really wanna know everything I've been through up until now, then you'd better get comfortable, son. This is one long ass story - It could take us around nine hours!"

"Hey, wait a sec, I've got a better idea! How 'bout I do the thing I did with Krillin to catch up on things here?" Goku suggested.

"What thing?" Bardock asked.

"It's pretty cool! Lemme just put my hand right here, and you hold still for a bit!" Goku smiled as he began to close his eyes.

"Alright…?" Bardock stood there looking at the hand Goku placed on his head in confusion. Some of the others were confused too.

Back with Goku, he was starting to see into his father's old thoughts and memories.

"…I don't ever want to see a grandson of mine in such a weak state."

'He said that to Gohan?' Goku thought in surprise.

"Stay still Goten. I'm bandaging your hand."

'Goten… My dad looked after him?' Goku internally smiled.

"I… would like to stay in this time period, seeing as I probably won't ever be able to return to my own. I wanna see a couple people, and the planet that raised my son."

Goku realised something. '"Time period"? So he time travelled…?'

"He's much more dangerous now! You'd just be cannon fodder! Back off, all of you!"

Goku thought, 'New Namek… Cooler…? Wow… He really did all that?'

"Bardock."

"Huh…?" a little purple bean guy uttered.

"That's my name."

The bean guy cheered, "Mr. Bardock! Mr. Bardock! Mr. Bardock!"

Goku was getting so immersed in his father's memories that he couldn't help but keep rummaging through his mind.

"Frieza… You finally show your damn face…"

"As long as I've made myself clear. Goodbye Raditz."

"…Maybe it's because I'm constantly fighting - destroying - that I'd actually like to save something for once, especially someone who is judged to be a lower class warrior… like my Kakarot."

"Goodbye…"

"Kakarot!"

Goku backed away as though he'd been electrocuted, and sat on the ground. His eyes were wide, and he breathed heavily. 'S- Suppose I shouldn't have gone through that many memories at once… Wowee,' he thought.

"What the hell were you even doing just now?" Bardock questioned suspiciously. He had no idea what his son had just done with him.

"D… Dad…" Goku looked up at him in wonder and awe. "I… I, um…"

"What?"

"The thing I just did… It was to catch up on things by reading your memories…" Goku scratched his head awkwardly.

"You what?! You saw my memories?!" Bardock exclaimed in disbelief.

"Wait, you can do that?!" Vegeta exclaimed as well, also in disbelief.

"Weren't you there when he did it to Krillin on Namek, Vegeta?" Gohan pointed out.

"Look, I didn't know what the hell that was, back then! I thought he was just… comforting him or something!"

"What, like he was a little kid?" Yamcha spoke a little teasingly.

It seemed Yamcha had grown a bit more of a spine in his absence. Vegeta pointed at him. "You shut up!"

"Wow… I didn't know you could do that, Dad," Goten commented.

Trunks agreed, but also commented to his friend, "Reading people's memories is a total invasion of privacy! No wonder we didn't know about it."

"Eh, heheh…! Well, I guess I didn't show ya everything, kids!" Goku smiled, scratching his head. He then looked at his father, and said, "I saw what you've been up to here on Earth, and I also saw New Namek and how you saved all the Namekians. But…"

Bardock cut in, "You saw the rest without my permission, didn't you."

"Uh, yeah. I saw you try to take down Frieza by yourself. But… you got…" Goku trailed off, looking a little somber.

Bardock responded in a low tone, "That's right. He wiped the lot of us out, and the planet to boot."

'Wait… Bardock fought Frieza alone right before Planet Vegeta was wiped out…?!' Vegeta thought with surprise.

Goku's eyes shone less at his father's statement, even though he had known that the Saiyan home world was wiped out years ago. After browsing through his father's thoughts and experiences around that time, he felt a little guilty. He also felt something inside him change from seeing a fresh and frightening perspective like this. Frieza's Supernova reminded him of the time he came face-to-face with Lord Beerus' own ball of death when he first became a Super Saiyan God.

"I should've done more when he came to Earth with Broly…" Goku bowed on the floor at his father's feet apologetically. "I'm sorry, Dad! I've spared him a lot in the past, and then Gogeta, who's part-me, spared him once too…!"

Vegeta tensed up, whispering for Goku to hear, "You dare bring up the fact we fused, in front of them?!"

Yamcha stood there looking utterly lost, having never heard about the events involving Broly.

"Why the hell would you even consider sparing that demon?! I ought to punish you for repeatedly failing to keep that monster dead and avenge our race." Bardock glared down at his son, his voice full of anger. "He still lives, and that is unacceptable. Before I knew he was still alive and kicking, I just wanted to train to fight every Super Saiyan. But now, I'm dedicating all my training to ending that bastard's life."

Goku looked up at him guiltily, but was also intrigued by his initial plan to fight every Super Saiyan.

Bardock pondered something for a moment before continuing. "You can do the fallen Saiyans a favour when Frieza returns." Bardock crouched to his level. "You see him, you kill him. Do not let him get away. Understand?"

Goku widened his eyes for a moment, then nodded in resignation. "I gotcha, Dad… It's a shame, though. He gives me a great fight every time-"

"You will take that back," Bardock snapped in a low tone, and grabbed the front of his gi threateningly. "What the hell do you take me for?! Do you think I'm somehow… taking this too seriously? If you only think of a fight with Frieza as some kind of golden fighting opportunity, then you're not worthy of being the one to kill him!"

Bardock let go of his son's gi, and grimaced as he recalled his past. "You haven't suffered under his rule. You don't know what it was like-"

Goku piped up, "But I just saw your memories-"

"You can't have seen them all! You weren't one of his lackeys! I saved you from that life!" Bardock's voice strained a little as he backed off.

"You "saved" him from it?" Vegeta asked, surprised.

Bardock nodded, his expression sour. "Yes. I knew our days were numbered on our home planet. So before what I suspected came true, I sent Kakarot away to escape and live a good life away from Frieza."

'So he wasn't sent to take over Earth after all. Did Raditz tell me that Kakarot was here to conquer it in order to please me, or did he not know the truth? If he did know, then he would have undoubtedly gone about it differently, or even not at all,' Vegeta thought with an intrigued expression, then focused on the prior topic.

"Hmph. Well, your father is right about one thing," Vegeta told Goku, "It is preferable for a Saiyan who has served under him to be the one to kill him. But…" He looked at him suspiciously. "Even after snooping through the man's memories, it seems you still have that soft spot for Frieza, don't you?"

""Soft spot"?!" Goku exclaimed incredulously.

"You damn well know what I'm talking about, Kakarot! You're the only one out of all of us besides Beerus, Whis or that… b- blasted fusion of ours, who would consider letting him go free! That ends today. The next time he comes here, he's dead. Your father and I will make sure of that if you won't," Vegeta explained angrily. He then thought to himself, 'And you can bet your ass that Gogeta would not be so kind next time either… Not that he will ever appear again. Stupid dance…'

Goku hid his visage from their fiery gazes. "I told you, I get it. I'll take him down and finish him once and for all."

"You can have all the fun bouts you want to with me," Vegeta said with a clipped tone.

Bardock spoke, "You don't need to seek out some genocidal tyrant to satisfy your Saiyan battle lust. And besides, just how many more planets do you think he's conquered since he was brought back to life, huh? If you let him go one more time, there'll probably be nothing left for him to conquer!"

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry! I get it!" Goku held out his hands as he stood up.

Before Vegeta walked away from the group to go and find his wife, he said to Bardock, "You haven't told me everything I want to know yet, such as why the hell you look so young for your age, but I suppose you will tell me all about it later, won't you?"

Bardock rolled his eyes with an amused smirk. "Nah, I was thinking I should keep you in the dark, until you ask me nicely."

Vegeta glared at him as a warning.

"You know I'm kidding. I will tell you," Bardock confirmed with a sigh, but inside he was thrilled to know he could tease the prince and get off scot-free. He then asked, disgruntled as Vegeta was walking away from him, "So that's it? You're just gonna leave now? You don't wanna spar with the likes of me? Am I too much of a Low-class for you, even after achieving the legend?"

"You achieved Super Sa-?" He looked at the others, thinking they taught him how to. "Tch, of course you did. Hm. Class isn't the issue here, despite what you may think I'm concerned about. It just wouldn't be much of a spar - I can tell. I've gone far beyond the realms of a mere Super Saiyan," Vegeta concluded.

"You arrogant little…" Bardock uttered in annoyance. "How about this - Just don't become a god on me," he suggested.

"Hmph. Sure. We'll do it tomorrow, in the Gravity Chamber that I'm sure you've spoiled yourself rotten in while I've been gone." Vegeta walked off.

Bardock was walking over to the others when his son pointed out, "Hey wait a minute! Since I'm here, why can't we spar?!"

"I was about to ask you," Bardock said, giving him a half-lidded glance.

"Hey, Dad, wait - If you're gonna fight him, don't go too hard on him, okay?" Gohan requested. "He and I only just sparred earlier."

Bardock glared at Gohan indignantly. "Quiet!" He then turned back to his son. "I am a Saiyan warrior! You will treat this as a proper spar, Kakarot."

"Okay then! I'll take you to a place where we can really show off our moves!" Goku said.

Bardock looked down at his sweaty battle attire and thought to himself, 'Eh, whatever. I can change into some other gear later. I don't wanna waste any more time before this fight. After all, I've been waiting to do this for a long time.'

[Author's notes: "Is this because of the Dragon Balls?" - This is a Burst Limit reference I threw in. Vegeta says this when he meets Bardock in that game. There's also a few more paraphrased lines that I threw in from that scenario in this chapter!

"…This is one long ass story - It could take us around nine hours!" - According to Wattpad, my fanfiction up to this point really would take around 9 hours to read, on average. That's about four or five movies!

"I gotcha, Dad… It's a shame, though. He gives me a great fight every time-" - I wrote this to touch upon the fact that Goku can sometimes be too invested in fighting against those he deems to be a worthy challenge. It's also to show how Super Goku can be Super Goku sometimes (in other words, a fool), and hopefully his father can knock some much needed common sense into him.

FYI: The Wattpad version of this chapter includes another sketch drawn by me.]