Dragon Ball: Governed

Chapter 39

"Looking Beyond"

Seeing Kakarot's young hairless face was at the bottom of Chi-Chi's expectancy list - at least so soon. With the presence of her father in the room, she quickly glanced over her shoulder. Gyumao really enjoyed catching up for lost time and he sure as hell didn't like any interruptions, no matter how insignificant.

"What are you doing back so soon?" she whispered.

With a soft, yet confident smile, Kakarot answered, "I finally have it all figured out. I just so happened to find the answers I've been looking for sooner rather than later is all."

"My father and I were both just eating. Though the idea of including Kakarot to their dinner wasn't exactly optimal, Chi-Chi still proved to be a hospitable woman; and she would surely do that with Kakarot if he was truly serious about changing his life around to guide him in finding his purpose - didn't matter how her father felt. Would you care to join?"

Once the word eating had been processed in the Saiyan's mind, his tail began to subtly wag. "Of course." He raised his foot to take a step forward.

Kakarot stumbled away and fell over directly on his back due to an unexpected shove from the burly Sasquatch hands of Gyumao. "Still haven't decided to let bygones be bygones, eh?" he huffed.

The sheer audacity of this senseless ape - to have been shown mercy and feel the liberty to welcome himself in his own home released a big flash of anger from Gyumao. He had immediately forgotten about his daughter's concern for Kakarot and his own changing ways. He just wanted to finish what he started long ago.

"Rematch," Gyumao declared demandingly. The man's face was getting redder by the second as it was also getting harder for him to breathe normally due to his growing anger. The man's nostrils flared so hard that Kakarot could have sworn he saw steam literal instead of snot. "I win. You die."

Gyumao ignored Chi-Chi calling him in objection to the very notion of that.

"No fair," the Saiyan chuclled.

Fair!? What did this bastard know about fair?

All Gyumao did was yell, "KAIO-KEN". Chi-Chi was blown away back into the house with the door immediately shutting.

By the time she ran back outside, her father and Kakarot had commenced a series aerial assaults thousands of feet from the ground below. While unable to catch their every movement, she noticed how it all seemed to be pretty even as every single impacting blow that jumped from place to place didn't give either fighter any potential leverage over the other.

Kakarot missed a right kick aimed to the chin, dashing away from Gyumao with his body toward him. His chuckles rang through to communicate that he was just toying around. Gyumao maneuvered behind Kakarot, tried to get him with a bruising elbow to the back, but the Saiyan turned around swiftly all the while holding Gyumao's wrist with his left hand, in order to use his right to clock the big giant.

That single jab sent Gyumao soaring through the skies. It took him a while to regain his composure, but he eventually did - only to be rammed right back down. Gyumao's feet made cracks into the ground and shook the entire vicinity. He looked back up, but Kakarot wasn't there.

The Saiyan was directly in front of Gyumao and knocked the man back down with a kiai push to the stomach.

Seeing this in clear sight made it obvious to Chi-Chi that Kakarot was holding back a lot more than before. Perhaps Gyumao didn't quite realize it, but the Saiyan had grown very strong since their last battle. He was able to mask his true power and maintain it approximately around the same levels where he last fought her father in order to throw him off.

So far, he was doing so effortlessly.

Gyumao wasn't nowhere as angry as he was upon seeing Kakarot's face by the first time. He had been humbled after this first go-round, so he knew that he shouldn't hold back now.

"Kaio-Ken times ten!"

Kakarot saw this coming and let out a brief shout with spurts of ki to unleash his full power. As Gyumao was coming right for him, the Saiyan mirrored his movements. The clashes of their fists pounding into the other blew winds so hard that entire branches flew off the trees solidly rooted into the land all around them.

Gyumao missed a claw strike to the chest. Kakarot's strike to the face was a total miss. He crouched under a swing and tried to counter with a jumping spin kick, though to no avail. Gyumao grabbed him by the ankle mid-air and tossed him. As he was soaring away, Kakarot swatted a multitude of energy attacks that came for him and utilized the after-image technique to throw Gyumao off as he tried to attack from behind. Kakarot used the after-image yet again as he gave himself away behind Gyumao, who missed a backward kick.

Kakarot came right in front of Gyumao and had his haymaker caught. The fists of Gyumao was literally crushed up against his cheek subsequent to defending himself as he didn't have as much as a nanosecond to catch Kakarot's fist in time.

This was a definite sign.

He had to kick things up to the highest power.

As soon as Gyumao opened his mouth to enunciate the word 'Kaio-Ken', Kakarot mentally sighed, "Are you fucking kidding me?" before being kneed in the stomach and punched away like a rag-doll at a moment's notice.

He rushed in at Kakarot and bulldozed through his punch to ram his entire body onto him. He proceeded to blast him downward to heighten the velocity at which Kakarot plummeted. He did this solely to add onto more pain by ramming both his feet into Kakarot's chest.

Once his back crashed below the ground, Gyumao utilized his own ki to control flight and pushed him even further underground, making a guide for moles so big that it'd seem like an empty city to them. Kakarot could only hold onto Gyumao's legs and dig his nails into him, but that didn't do much at all.

He then re-directed himself up and had Kakarot flying back into the heavens with a quick kick to the center of his chest.

As Kakarot was up, Gyumao shot past Kakarot, came back down, grabbed him by the back of his head, and slammed him right smash into a rock on the very edge of a lake in the middle of the mountain area.

Water splashed up everywhere, as did fish and other animals from under the water. Gyumao slowly stood up and placed his foot on top of Kakarot's head. As worn out as Kakarot was by the brutal punishment from Gyumao, he could see through his blurry vision that the insane technique started to take a toll on him as well.

He wasn't even engulfed by the fiery aura anymore. It wasn't hard for him to realize that he wasn't as strong anymore. Hell, he could feel it.

The time to strike back was now. Kakarot came back up and elbowed Gyumao in the face. Gyumao was stumbling, but he was sent on his side with a ferocious downward kick, yet he immediately caught himself and landed on one knee. Kakarot looked down on Gyumao. "You don't realize that you only continue to make me stronger every time you beat me senseless. It's only a matter of time before your strongest doesn't even touch me in a suppressed state. Give up now."

Gyumao scoffed. "You talk too much."

While on his knee, Gyumao came with his both hands forth at a point blank range. He screamed a full power Kamehameha times twenty at the very top of his lungs. It started all so small but ended up being so big that the entire landscape of trees in the surrounding area had been blown off the face of the area that very instant.

Once the smoke cleared, Gyumao remained on both knees now, hunched over, huffing and puffing. He had put every last bit of power into that attack. There shouldn't have been anyway that he survived it.

"You had me there...for a split second."

A cold, hard chill went up his spine.

He could still move but even attempting to do as much as strike Kakarot would be futile as every fiber in his body ached and twitched. The Saiyan played cool and acted as if he didn't see Gyumao preparing an attack. The hard bit was calculating just when to get the hell out of dodge and make it convincing. For a second, he genuinely thought he was going to die.

"You've no idea how badly I want to end your life. You are the biggest obstacle I've faced in my entire lifetime and there would be no bigger feeling than knowing I was capable of taking down a man with such capabilities as you." He looked over to Chi-Chi, who's stunned, concerned face made the Saiyan scoff, not out of disgust, but shame - self-shame. "Things have changed, though."

Being a Saiyan raised as a galactic pirate, Kakarot wanted more badly to kill Gyumao than anything in the world. But there was a bigger picture to all of this. For him to truly be able to become a Super Saiyan, he had to alter his ways, no matter how much he felt that it happened to be against his nature.

With Kakarot turning around and walking over to Chi-Chi, Gyumao was stunned. When he passed her up, he softly said, "We can eat together some other time."

That was it and he just took off.

Kakarot knew it wouldn't be that easy to come into the lives of those that he had ruined so long ago. Hell, he doubted that all of them would be able to forgive and fully put their trust in him. The young warrior knew he had a long way to go.

But he was willing to do whatever it takes...

To become a Super Saiyan.

The last time Tarble had even been submerged into something remotely synonymous to that of a rejuvenation tank was when he was in a nursing capsule all those years ago as a child on Planet Vegeta.

He had faint memories of that and being in a healing tank just brought it all back to him. When the water drained out and the tank opened, Spench greeted the Saiyan prince. "Your power has greatly increased due to your training, your majesty."

"What's my battle power?" Tarble asked in a tired voice with a yawn as he exited the tank, eyes darting over the room in search for his wardrobe.

"13,500," Spench answered. "This makes you the third strongest person on Planet Vegeta!"

It was here that he furrowed a brow. Sure, Tarble was getting a bit used to home and all, but he was just getting into the swing of things. He had started training and had yet learned about the government and how things worked on Planet Vegeta - much less of the second strongest Saiyan, one above him.

"And who might the second be?"

"Bardock," Spench answered, "Colonel of the Saiyan Army." He then smacked himself upside the head. "That reminds me, your majesty - Bardock himself personally requested to have you in the training room."

Tarble, in the midst of getting dressed, paused as he was just beginning to clip his royal cape on. The only thing he could ask was what for, but he kept that question to himself. His older brother praised on and on about not letting his subjects see an ounce of emotion - at least other than anger. Curiosity, worry, and happiness unless in the battle-field were out of the question. Vegeta didn't really want anyone to look at him as soft.

After all, Tarble was a reflection of Vegeta and the royal blood-line of the Saiyan people, something that the citizens of Planet Vegeta looked as tough and merciless.

Keeping it professional, Tarble nodded, thanked Spench, and began to head out to meet up with this Bardock in the training room. By his guess, if Bardock is the second strongest Saiyan with the highest position second to royalty, then that meant he'd have to be in one of the palace's special training grounds.

He made his way through the corridors effortlessly and to the training room. Though the palace was practically a maze, it wasn't all that hard to figure out after being guided just once to every single room.

The training room was wide with double doors. Through the glass, he could see a scarred warrior in battle armor stretching to get himself a bit loose. It wasn't just the battle-scars on his face, but the entirety of his body that made Tarble realize this had to be the man of the hour: Bardock himself.

Bardock pushed his arms against the padded cotton of the training walls and had his right foot back a bit to stretch his body out some more. As soon as Tarble entered the room, he finished that stretching exercise prior to turning back around.

Before he could bow, Tarble grabbed him by the hand and gave it a firm shake. Bardock, at a loss of words, seemingly forgot how to even properly introduce himself. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mister Bardock."

Not once did it cross his mind that a Saiyan that came from a direct lineage of the Vegeta family would be so formal to one of his subjects. He didn't speak on it out of respect though, kept his cool, and responded, "Likewise, your majesty."

Now that it was merely them two, Tarble figured he would ask away what's been in his head since the moment Spench told him of Bardock. "Why is it that you personally requested a meeting with me?" Of course, Tarble already knew there was only one reason as to why a Saiyan would want to meet him on grounds for training, though he hoped it could be something else other than fighting.

Bardock scoffed with a dry chuckle. "Of course Spench would try to make it awkward and make it seem as if I needed something from you personally." He shook his head. "It wasn't a request, but a direct order from the King himself. He says that training with the Super Saibaimen for those of us at our power is no longer going to be of any help, so we might as well try our hand at something familiar and more challenging."

"So you're my new training partner," Tarble concluded.

"Pretty much."

Tarble chuckled dryly for a brief moment. Because of the fact that he didn't say anything as he turned around, Bardock assumed that Tarble was just going to leave him on the spot, though that was very much the contrary. Tarble unclipped the royal cape from his armor, folded it and neatly sit it on the corner of the training room.

"I don't know if my brother has ever told you or not, but I'm not really one much for fighting. It's not to say that I can't fight, because my father and brother did try their hand at training me at one point and it's stuck with me ever since, but I don't get a kick out of it. I just want you to know that."

Bardock thought that maybe Tarble didn't even think he'd understand, but he did. Having a woman like Gine made it easier for Bardock to understand where he was coming from. He knew that there were Saiyans that didn't take much joy in combat, but it was mostly those who were abnormally weak. Here, Tarble was strong, and still was more passive.

"Mind me asking," Bardock started, "why is it that I haven't heard of you just until recently?"

"I've been off-world for some time now. I wasn't suited for battle back then."

"Heh. Could have fooled me."

With no warning, Tarble zoomed in for Bardock, just missing the Saiyan. His fist rammed into the padded walls. He ducked under to avoid a kick and raised his knee to block an incoming front kick. He elbowed Bardock's elbow, missed a jab and maneuvered to the side to get space.

Tarble noted by the smile on Bardock's face that he was very much enjoying this already. Tarble avoids a punch, but is met with a light jab, a few more, and a good straight punch to the nose. Bardock's following kick was parried and he moved his head around a bit to dodge the incoming punches prior to shoving Tarble away with his foot. He followed and elbowed him across the face, this time sending Tarble sliding across the room.

"You're agile," Bardock commented.

Tarble got back up and wiped the blood from his mouth. "Why, thank you."

"FYI, King Vegeta personally told me to not hold anything back at all. And he wants the same from you."

"Can't say I'm surprised." He let out a brief yell, powering up to his fullest. "Let's do it, then."

The battle between Tarble and Bardock was good, however it was obvious that it was the latter to have the edge over the other. Though, one thing Bardock had to commend Tarble on was his relentlessness.

For someone who wasn't very fond of battle, he sure did keep coming as if he was pushing on for more and more. Despite the bruises and fatigue, Tarble kept pushing on. As for Bardock, all he did was have a few scratches here and there.

Eventually, while Tarble was super worn out, he misjudged and made the wrong move. Bardock took advantage and snuck behind him to knock him over against the wall of the training room.

Tarble remained on the ground, seemingly motionless. At first Bardock didn't think anything of it, but he was growing concerned for the Saiyan. He let his guard down and began to walk over, calling out the prince's name in hopes that he'd wake up soon.

By the time he was just hovering over, Tarble, he crouched down to try and shake him.

It was then that Tarble turned over and sent a small bit of chi directly into Bardock's face. The scarred warrior came up, clutching his nose and everything near it as he stumbled back. Tarble hopped up and rendered him a barrage of punches to the gut prior to headbutting him in the face, revealing a complete opening.

Tarble cocked his arms back and began to charge an attack. "Garlic HO!"

Bardock was hit head on and pushed directly into the wall of the room. His back slammed hard before he slid down on his behind. He didn't even want to move at that point, and neither did Tarble as he crouched down on one knee.

Bardock didn't show how much he was hurting and actually laughed it off as he was quite slow to get back up on his feet.

Confused by his laughter, Tarble asked if something was wrong.

"I just find it amusing just how meaningless titles are nowadays. There are people deemed lower-class warriors now being on the verge of promoted as a mid-class because of their willingness to train and fight. There's a Saiyan asides your father even stronger than me."

"Mere exceptions to the rule," Tarble said, not really showing any interest in this other Saiyan Bardock mentioned of. He was in complete battle mode, so anything not revolving of battle was of no importance to him.

"Not even," Bardock said firmly. "Think about it for a second. My comrade's kid, who was deemed a lower-class non-combatant, is still a mere child with a battle-power of 3,000, who is being groomed by King Vegeta himself as we speak into eventually replacing me. The way i see it, it doesn't matter how strong or weak a Saiyan is born. What truly matters is their efficiency in battle and consistency in the training room. I haven't realized the latter up until the idea of Super Saibaimen turned into reality."

Getting what he means, Tarble's look of uncertainty changed to that of a more confident look as his slow nods paced up a bit. "That makes sense. Any Saiyan has great potential for battle."

"Especially since we are so easily prone to growing in power after a fight," Bardock added.

"Can't disagree with that," Tarble chuckled.

Bardock grinned. "Let's get out of here."

Their little training session was done and as far as the two were concerned, they could use something to eat right about now. Immediately after the two leave, a feminine high-pitched voice is there to call out Tarble's name.

It was a very small, pale, football head looking person being escorted by a few Saiyan guards. Seeing Tarble and the female run up to one another and hug wasn't expected at all. The Saiyans who escorted Gure to Tarble didn't pay him any mind and kept their thoughts to themselves.

Bardock didn't know what Tarble was going to be like whenever he was first told that he'd be assigned as his own personal training partner, but he could see that the two were very similar in a lot of ways - asides from the fact that Bardock actually took joy in fighting.

And yet another thing they had in common - a bond.

It became very apparent to Bardock that he was going to enjoy having Tarble as a training partner.

Using not only his brawn, but his brains to take out the top elite members of the Freeza Army to take all of their places at once had swelled Raditz's head up so much to the point that nobody could tell him shit.

Except Freeza, of course.

He walked on Freeza's ship with a big smile and feeling of great pride. He had accomplished what perhaps no other Saiyan could dare to in a million years. He was now top dog in the Freeza Force Army.

However, from the very moment that he entered the room to give Freeza the report, his mood changed instantaneously.

There were cracks on the metallic floors and freshly spilled blood seeping into said cracks with ten corpses being unattended to while Freeza stood in the middle of the spread out bodies. His tail lashed around side to side angrily.

Kikono was as far away from Freeza in the same room as possible, literally shaking in his boots. BeriBlu was merely there with an expressionless look on her face. She knew better than to make any witty remarks at times like these, so it was best she blended in with the air and kept her lips sealed.

"If this is a wrong time, I can always come ba-"

"My father has been M.I.A.," Freeza snarled. "Very seldom do my father and I talk, so when he missed a call, I let it slide and assumed he was up to one of his leisured activities, but a month has passed...not even his own men have heard a single thing from him." The last bit was then mumbled. "Not since he was requested an audience with Lord Beerus…"

All his years of life, and never once before had the name "Beerus" been shot through his ears, so he repeated the name, hoping to get some clarification as to who this person could be.

"Who Beerus is happens to be of no importance to someone like you, Raditz. All I know now is that my father is dead. There's no other explanation to it. This means that it's only going to be a matter of time before I'm next."

"Someone capable of taking you out? Impossible!"

The dead serious look in Freeza's eyes told Raditz that this wasn't a joking matter, though. Whoever this "Beerus" was truly had to be someone in his own league. and considering the fact that Freeza referred to him as Lord - definitely meant that he was a person of great importance.

"But no worries. If training isn't supposed to help me prepare for Beerus…" Freeza's lips turned into a grin. "Then a certain precaution I've taken ahold of many years ago most definitely will."

Replying to yet another review. The review from Azii, Says "You said the old King Vegeta lied about meeting Beerus but what about the flashback that Vegeta had in canon where Beerus had King Vegeta kneeling and had his foot on his head and threatened to destroy half his planet because he was given the second softest pillow in the universe

My response: King Vegeta, in my story, lied about having Beerus wanting to meet up with him and King Cold in this current year. The scenario with the pillow took place years ago when Prince Vegeta (who's now King in this story) was still a kid. Right now, we're in Age 753 going on 754, which is one ot the many years Beerus is having his slumber. Old King Vegeta, as aforementioned, solely lied about Beerus wanting to meet up with HIM AND COLD so that Vegeta could catch Cold off-guard. That was the whole point.