To See the Old Neighborhood.....

Part 13

They were only short, quick images. Flashes of clarity between confusing jumbles of information. A scream that didn't fit a face, a movement that was too fast to be a movement, an alien planet with living things covering it.

But all of them, he was quit sure, had one thing in common. All of them were of his son. He didn't know how it could be, though. Sometimes, the person looked different, his eyes weren't black, his hair wasn't right, but it WAS his son.

It WAS Kakarot.

A flash of light, a raging attack, an unbeatable power........Death! There was death in these visions, and the greif that follows death. Who's death? WHO'S DEATH! Why couldn't these visions be controlled!?! Then when he tried to see what he wanted to see, the ground beneath him exploded up ward. He was dead. Dead for years and years...............

"Woah, woah! Take it easy!"

Bardock looked around. He was being pinned to the ground by Kakarot.........Kakarot!

"It is you! I know it is!" Bardock exclaimed as the warrior that looked so much like him helped him to his feet.

"What do you mean?" Kakarot asked, taking a step back after he was confident his father was steady on his feet.

"I don't know how I do, but I know it's you, Kakarot! I know you're that baby they sent into space!" Bardock was raising his voice, pointing at Goku in a very accusing way. Goku looked at Rahndash for help, but got a concerned shrug in reply.

"Father, you're seeing things again, they haven't even sent Kakarot yet," the young Radditz said, laying casually on the ground. He turned to Goku and Rahndash to explain, "He has dreams sometimes where he claims to see the future. He keeps thinking he sees Kakarot, my brother, doing all this radical stuff like fighting Prince Vegita and Freiza. Tsh, a waist of a great warrior. He hardly even wants to leave the planet anymore, always mumbling about wanting to save the planet."

"What do you mean 'save the planet'," Goku asked, getting a very nervious feeling about all this.

"Ask him yourself, you might get a kick outta his ramblings," Radditz said, laughing, "Most of us do, though I feel kinda ashamed when he gets into it."

"Uh.......sir?" Goku asked, not really sure how to address Bardock, "What do you see in your son.....Kakarot's future? What EXACTLY?"

Bardock glared at Goku for a second, thinking he was just making fun. But the look on the other's face disspelled this thought. Sincerity and......concern?.....were evident in those abnormally gentle eyes. What qualities for a Saiyan!

"Nothing and everything," Bardock said, trying to put to words what was seen in his head. Radditz snorted, but ceased at wicked glares from Kakarot, Rahndash and Bardock. Three agenst one odds, keep your mouth SHUT.

"What, now?" Rahndash asked, turning back to his father.

"I don't know, exactly. Nothing is clear and it keeps changing," Bardock continued again, feeling uncomfortable about talking about it, "And things are different now........I don't know. Strange."

"Oh.....well.......huh," Goku and Rahndash looked at eachother again. This was too wierd, best to leave things alone.

"But I know you're him, I know you're Kakarot my son."

Goku knitted his eyebrows. He didn't want to lie to his father and deny it, but he didn't know if he wanted him to know. Besides which, how would he expain his being here without having to explain the ultimate destruction of the planet? Or what would happen when he and his family left to return to Earth.......He was spared making the decision.

"You're right,"Rahndash said, "He is Kakarot. And I am Radditz. We come from the future."

Everyone present was silent then.

Bardock looked in shock from the older Radditz, to the younger Radditz and back again. Then he turned his eyes to Goku, who could only wave weakly and say, "Uh...heh, hi......"

****

"We have to destroy them," Trunks said, though he was reluctant. Gohan nodded.

"See? Told you," Vegita said, "You should just leave them to die."

"But....but you can't just kill them! They're helpless!" Goten said, frantically tugging at his older brother's hand.

They stood over the prostrate forms of infant Brolly and a dying Paragus. The instant the baby's name had been mentioned, Gohan had dropped him like a burning coal. The future terror only fell from his seat in the rejuvination tank and back to the ground below. He hadn't the strength to hold himself up of stop his decent and he hit his head on the seat as he fell. He rolled on the ground to a stop at Goten's feet.

Pan, in Goten's arms, tried to reach down and snag a piece his hair. Goten pulled her back and hoisted her higher in his arms. He had tears brimming in his eyes as he looked at what had not long ago in his short life tried to kill him, now a mere mewling babe half dead and bleeding.

"Goten, if we don't......then they might be a problem in the future," Gohan said, though he was forcing his conviction, "Think years from now Brolly comes to Earth AGAIN and tries to kill us all. I'm tired of fighting him! We have to end this.....NOW. I don't want to anymore than you......but......."

"BUT HE'S JUST A BABY!" Goten cried, and before anyone could react he scooped Brolly up and blasted off into the air.

"Goten!" Gohan yelled after his brother, but the little boy had already hidden his chi from detection.

"Goten come back!" Trunks yelled, and took off in the direction Goten had flown.

"You're not going without me!" Vegita called after Trunks and he, too, took off.

"Hey! Wait! At least give me back Pan and Bra!!!" Gohan hollered after them, but none bothered to listen. Gohan bent his legs to fly off after them when he felt a hand on his shoulder stopping him.

He turned to come face to face with a pair of red eyes set in an unnatually white face.

"Son Gohan?" Tripnup asked.

"Ahhh!!" Gohan yelped and fell to the ground. Paragus, half conscious and on the verge of death, reached out a clawed hand and grasped at Gohan's arm, getting another startled sound from the unfotunate half-breed.

Paragus's body was reduced to dust by Tripnup, who said simply, "He should have just died. Are you okay?" He offered a hand to Gohan.

"Uh....yeah. You just startled me," Gohan said shakily as he was helped up, "But look, I really have to go-"

"Prince, er, King, um......YOUR Vegita wishes for you and the children to return at once, it's urgent!......uh, where are the children?"

"DON'T ask. Is it REALLY important? Cause I kinda have a crisis of my own right now-"

"It is the UTMOST importance."

Gohan looked in the direction the children had flown, his brow knitted.

"Please, you must come immidiatly!"

"Okay, okay, but I hope it's fast cause I got to hunt down the kids afterwards," Gohan said, tearing his eyes away from their main attraction. The kids were very powerful, right? They would be able to take care of themselves and would return to Gohan when they wanted........he hoped.

****

Vegita pased around the expansive, but characteristically clipt courtyard as he waited for Tripnup to arrive with Gohan and the kids. This was bad. Something this bad shouldn't have been allowed to happen.........

Ah. There was Gohan's chi......but where were the brat's? He felt Tripnup there, but......... When two specks came into view off in the horizon, Vegita's dread prooved accurate. He only saw Gohan and Tripnup. The two dots slowly grew larger as they neared the Saiyan Prince (one of the many Vegitas on the planet at the moment) and they both landed with the ease of many years of flying.

"Uh....hi, Vegita!" Gohan said, one hand behind his head in an attempt at ease.

"Where are the brats?" Vegita asked, looking behind Gohan to see if they were just dallying on the way.

"Um....funny thing, ya see," Gohan could see Vegita was NOT finding things funny, "You'll laugh, I'm sure!"

"I'll only ask you ONCE more," Vegita said, veins cropping up on his temples, "Where. Are. The. Kids."

"Well.......," Gohan sighed and decided to just spit it out, "Goten ran off with Brolly and Trunks and little Vegita flew off after him with Pan and Bra."

"........................WHAT!?!?!" Vegita yelled.

"So what's the problem here?" Gohan tried to change the conversation.

Vegita opened his mouth to yell at Gohan some more, but stopped when he heard feet approaching from behind him.

Nappa came out of the shade of the trees when he noticed Gohan had arrived. He had assumed things needed to be repeated for him to understand.

"Me an' Turles were on this space ship, see?" he started talking, not realizing he had just cut Vegita off in mid-yell.

"Yeah......." Gohan said, keeping a wearing eye on Vegita to be able to ward off attacks if Vegita went into spaz mode.

"An' then there were bad guys everywhere, an' Freiza showed up an' they have Turles an' I barely escaped with my life."

".....................WHAT!?!?!" Gohan yelled.

"Yeah," Nappa said.

To be continued............