[To ItzMeSalazar: Thank you very much for your review! I will try my hardest not to give up on the story!
To JohnDoes: You're really thinking ahead about all this! I appreciate the ideas you came up with, and your insight into the powerscaling. It really helps me focus on how to write things out to the best I can manage (so that hopefully, I don't mess up something really important). I'd like to especially mention, though, that the power growth of Bardock and the kids will be very, VERY gradual (it will take a lot of chapters; I know this because I have finished drafts for them). As I'm writing this response, I'm wondering whether to merge some chapters where I think it might drag on for too long. In future chapters, you'll see just what kind of world Bardock's entering into. It won't be easy for him - not one bit. As we know, Earth has a history of being an unsafe planet, what with the likes of the Red Ribbon Army, the old Crane School and Dr. Gero's Androids who keep cropping up to test even the strongest on the planet (and even those from off-planet like Vegeta, who hails from a feared warrior race, only to get his arm broken by a single Android of Gero's making… while in Super Saiyan. It's wacky.)]
Enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 11: A Brief Visit
"How much longer, Bulma?" Gohan asked.
"The computer says a couple more hours and it's touchdown!" She turned in her swivel chair and groaned at the monitor, "It's been a long 18 days of space travel. I need some fresh air - It's getting claustrophobic in here!"
She turned back around to face him. "I'm sure the Namekians will be happy to see us again, right Gohan?" she said cheerily.
"Well, I've changed a lot since then; they'll hardly recognise me!" Gohan chuckled with a hand on his head.
"That's right. You were such a little boy back then…" Bulma reminisced. She looked at the Namekian in the room. "Piccolo? What are your thoughts, hm?"
Piccolo looked at her with a brow raised. "I don't have much to say. They're my people, but it's not like they know me too well." He glanced at Gohan. "It's best if you two do the talking."
Bulma scoffed, "That was my plan, but don't give anyone any silent treatment!"
"I'm not that antisocial!" Piccolo scowled.
"Alright, alright!"
2 and a half hours later, their ship landed on the lush blue grass of New Namek besides a village - Tsuburi's village.
'That ship isn't Bardock and the children's,' he thought. "Slei, Muchi! With me!" Tsuburi called to the nearby warriors.
The three proceeded carefully towards the ship.
The door of the ship lowered slowly to reveal… "Bulma! Piccolo! And…"
"Hey there Tsuburi!" Bulma waved. She gestured besides her. "This is Gohan! You remember him?"
Tsuburi smiled brightly as he noticed the resemblance to the same child he met years ago. "Gohan? My, you've grown so much since I last saw you."
Gohan chuckled. "Nice to see you again!" The warriors relaxed in their presence as the two shook hands.
"What brings you here?" Tsuburi asked.
"Well, we have a… small problem, and we wondered if we could make a wish using your Dragon Balls?" Bulma placed her hands together.
"I'm sorry, Bulma, but our Dragon Balls were used just a few weeks ago. It'll take around 110 days until they can be used again."
"Whaaaat?!" she shrieked in dismay, drawing the attention of the other villagers.
"They were used recently? Is everyone alright?" Gohan queried.
"Yes, we are now. We had a great and powerful force invade us again, but thanks to our Grand Elder's fine wish-making, the warriors we summoned from your planet helped handle the threat, saving us all!"
"…Which warriors from our planet…?" Piccolo asked suspiciously.
"Two children called Trunks and Goten-"
"Ehhhhhhhh?!" Bulma stepped back dramatically. "They were here all along?!" she yelled, making the Namekians tense up.
"Why did you wish for Trunks and Goten?" Gohan questioned.
"Well, to answer your question, we both did… and didn't." Tsuburi looked a tad nervous.
"You're gonna have to explain it a lot better than that, bucko!" Bulma warned, "One of those boys is my son!"
"And the other is my brother, too," Gohan added.
"Ah… I see!" Tsuburi cleared his throat anxiously, not liking the gazes he was receiving. "This seems more appropriate for Elder Moori to explain, methinks…"
"Lead the way," Piccolo said, crossing his arms all the while.
The group arrived outside of the Grand Elder's home and waited for Moori to appear. He quickly exited the building after being told of their arrival.
"Hey, Moori," Bulma greeted a little less enthusiastically than with Tsuburi. He had some explaining to do, after all.
"Miss Bulma! And Gohan and Piccolo! I was informed of your arrival. Was there something you needed?" Moori greeted back kindly.
"Yep, there sure is! What we need are answers," Bulma began, "I've been told by Tsuburi here that you used the Dragon Balls some weeks ago to wish my son and Gohan's brother here. We've been looking for them everywhere! And since we couldn't find either of them, we decided to come here to wish 'em both back home since our Dragon Balls aren't ready for a few more months. The kids were actually here all along!" she ranted.
The Namekians covered their ears from her outburst. She clearly had no idea how loud she was shouting. Piccolo, however, was used to it.
"Goodness. I'm sorry I caused such a ruckus on Earth, Bulma. I really am. I also apologise for the vagueness of the wish I made. You see, I wished for our Dragon to bring us 'suitable Earthling fighters' who would be able to take on the threat. I had no idea the warriors would turn out to be those two children." Moori bowed his head.
"The threat mustn't have been all that strong if those two were enough," Piccolo commented, crossing his arms.
"I don't know what you mean," Moori countered. "Although Super Saiyans turn out to be a legendary force to be reckoned with, the likes of Frieza or his brother could still possibly overcome them."
"Brother?" Gohan blurted out.
"Yes. He is the one who led the assault around… 18 days ago. But-"
"Oh Kami! My boy went and fought Frieza's brother?! Is he hurt?!" She zoomed up to Moori. "Where are the boys?!" Bulma grabbed his clothes and shook him frantically.
"Please let go of me and we can discuss it. Firstly, the boys are fine. They were not too badly hurt."
Bulma repeated suspiciously, "Not "too" badly hurt?! So they were hurt!"
Moori reiterated, "PLEASE let go of me."
After a moment of persuasion, everyone proceeded to sit together to talk about what happened. Moori explained, "Cooler, Frieza's brother, came here for our Dragon Balls. He destroyed many of our settlements and we were being purged…"
"That's awful… I'm sorry you had to go through that again." Gohan looked quite solemn.
"I appreciate the sentiment." Moori smiled. "As our resolve diminished, a saviour came to our aid. One from… a place that no longer exists." The three visitors looked intrigued by this information.
"I doubt you know him, but his name is Bardock." Moori glanced between them only for them to shrug. "Bardock saved Tsuburi's village from Cooler's men, and later agreed to help stop his rampage. He helped us gather our Dragon Balls by distracting and also defeating the enemies looking for them."
"So this "Bardock" fought against Cooler?" Gohan asked in wonder.
"Yes, he did. For a few hours, in fact," Moori said, nodding.
"A few hours? That means he's no ordinary fighter," Piccolo commented in surprise. "There's only a handful of people in the galaxy like Saiyans for example, who could keep fighting for that long against those maniacs."
Moori stated, "Well, he is in fact a Saiyan, so that might be why."
"He is?!" Bulma exclaimed, "Vegeta never mentioned this Bardock guy before…" 'Just like he never mentioned Tarble,' she thought in an annoyed manner. She then placated herself as she realised she never mentioned her sister Tights to her husband or Goku either, until years later.
"But he lost, right? That's why you made the wish to bring the kids here," Piccolo theorised.
"He was still fighting when we summoned Porunga and brought the children. He needed some help. Our own warriors gave their all, but…" Moori trailed off solemnly.
"So then after Trunks and Goten arrived, the three of them together defeated Cooler, right?" Gohan summarised.
"I believe so. They then came back here after dealing with the rest of the soldiers, and we celebrated." Moori looked at Bulma. "They left our planet the day after, since the children wanted to go home. I made a wish to have spaceships, and they were permitted to use one."
"They're… on a spaceship?!" Bulma gasped. "With this Bardock guy?"
"I'd say that at this point in time… they reached your planet yesterday," Moori stated.
They all braced their ears.
"Say whaaaat?!" Bulma shrieked, "We came all this way, 18 days worth of travel, for nothing?! They're already back home?!"
"Yes… I'm sorry you had to travel here just to be told that they're already back on Earth." Moori bowed apologetically.
Gohan scratched his head. "Well… that's good news, at least. This whole journey hasn't been completely pointless."
"Yes it has!" Bulma retorted, "If we had just stayed on Earth then I wouldn't have needed to spend a gazillion zeni on fuel!"
Piccolo countered, "You and I both know you would have never stayed on Earth for that long. Besides, aren't you completely loaded?"
"Ugh… I guess you've got a point." Bulma shook her head. "But you know what I just realised? Since the Dragon Balls aren't ready here, it's going to take us another 18 days to get back home!"
"Then you better suck up all the fresh air you want while you can," Piccolo said with a hint of sarcasm, "It's going to be one heck of a stuffy ride back for you otherwise, isn't it?"
"Shut up!" Bulma slapped him comically hard, sending the son of the Demon King tripping over a rock and almost knocking him into a tree.
Gohan bowed in gratitude towards Moori. "Thank you for telling us what happened, Moori. It's been a pleasure meeting you all again after so long." He looked to the side to find Bulma glaring daggers at Piccolo for his rash comments towards her. "We may have to get going, or you'll be hearing an hour-long quarrel between these two!"
"Haha! I understand, Gohan. Before you go, may I ask how Dende and your planet are doing?" Moori inquired.
"I'm doing fine too, thanks for asking!" Piccolo shouted from where he and Bulma were now arguing by the tree.
"Dende is doing great as Kami, and the Earth is safe, for now! We had a lot of trouble come to us after Frieza, but I've been able to settle down now for about two years straight!" Gohan grinned.
"May peace reign on your planet from now on, then, Gohan!" Moori wished.
"And for New Namek too," Gohan responded.
They shook hands as Bulma and Piccolo returned to give their farewells.
"Have a safe journey home!" The Namekians waved as the trio walked back inside their ship and took off.
Gohan looked pensive. "This Bardock guy really intrigues me, Piccolo."
"Hm. He intrigues me as well," Piccolo replied, "He has to be a Super Saiyan. There's no way he could've held on for that long against Cooler otherwise."
"Unless this Cooler guy was much weaker than Frieza?" Gohan wondered.
"Maybe. Maybe not," Piccolo said, "Frieza and his father both had an exponential amount of ki. Who's to say this guy wasn't just like those two?"
"I see what you mean. I guess we'll find out when we get back to Earth and ask them, huh?" Gohan spoke.
"Yeah," Piccolo replied.
Esca looked preoccupied.
"Spit it out, Esca."
"…We forgot to tell them that Bardock is Son Goku's father."
"Ugh, not this again, Esca!"
[Author's note: Feel free to let me know if I'm writing these guys in-character well enough!]