Disclaimer: Dragonball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama, Toei Animation and FUNimation. No Copyright infringement is intended and no money has changed hands.
Author's note: I have been working on this story on and off for about two years. In that time, I actually left the fandom fo a show called "The Sentinel." But while cleaning I found the notebook containing his story and decided to give it another go. The plot line still appeals to me, and as an author, I don't like giving up on ideas. So, without further ado, LadyDarkfire presents...
King Yema's desk, immediately following the destruction of Planet Vegeta...
Bardock stood before King Yemma, now fully aware of the wrongs he had done in his life and expecting to pay for them now that it was over. Memories of the life he'd led flashed through his mind. A great deal of it sickened him now that he knew exactly what Frieza was about. He only wished that he had been able to survive the distruction of his world, so that he could have grown stronger, perhaps defeated him and gone after his two sons and his Prince, who, along with Prince Vegeta's bodyguard, were the only living Saiyans in the entire universe now.
A bit nervous, he had tried to see his future in this world using the gift of the Kanassans, but he apparently couldn't see the Otherworld, only the material one. He also couldn't read King Yemma's thoughts, but he suspected that the large deity was blocking him. He could read the secretary who worked beside him. She was nervous because it was her first day on the job, so she wasn't giving him any useful information.
King Yemma looked down at the Saiyan, uncertain what to do with him. The man was a pirate, and he had done a lot of horrible things, but in the last hours of his life, he had made a change. He knew that his life had been a lie, and he knew that everything he had done for Frieza was wrong. He had tried to stop Frieza, and not just for revenge. He'd done it in the name of all the people that he had killed in Frieza's name. Though unsuccessful, the attempt weighed heavily in his favor. But was it enough to earn him a place in Otherworld?
As he debated the matter in his own mind, a blue-skinned female Ceylian from the West Quadrant named Liyra appeared beside the Saiyan. This particular woman had been dead for nearly six thousand years, but she often came to Yemma's desk for visits, sometimes helping him with difficult cases. She was also the leader of the Silver Guardians, a group of trouble shooters she had developed to help matters along in the material world. The Guards were volunteers and border-line cases who were being given a second chance to reform. She had a unique point of view, and her input was welcome. Yemma smiled at her as she flew up to his desk, her broken silver wings not even stirring a breeze as she rose in the air. She said, "What's with this one?"
"He's had a psychic gift imposed on him. He doesn't know how to control it yet, so I'm blocking him. He has done terrible things in his life, but his last few hours, due to that gift, he was able to change his heart, and act on that change. He's definitely got guts. He tried to take on Freiza! One act really isn't enough, but if he'd had more time, he would have earned his rest." He looked the winged warrior in the eye. "You want him?"
Liyra looked the Saiyan over with a "sensitive" eye, looking at his heart and reading his power level. He was not only very strong, but she could see that he would be more than willing to atone for his crimes. "Fifty year sentence seem good to you?"
Yemma nodded. "Done. He has to save the same number that he destroyed. Planetary populations count. They kind of have to in his case. And keep him out of the North. The Saiyan race is not trusted there. He would only be hindered. He will have full developmental powers, and he will have the Silver Ring."
Liyra agreed. Yemma turned to Bardock, who was still standing there, expecting the worst. Yemma said, "My friend here has a solution for you. You have changed, Saiyan, as none of your race ever has before, but there has not been much opportunity for you to make amends for your past crimes. You took the one last chance you were offered in life and made good on it, though you failed in your attempt to kill Freiza. Therefore, I've decided to give you a better chance to atone. You will not either be sent to your rest or to Hell, but remain in limbo, serving with the Silver Guardians. This is Onysius Liyra, your Captain and the person who will make report on you at the end of your term. If you have saved at least as many people as you have killed in the fifty years of your sentence, then you will be allowed to either join the Silvers permanently as a volunteer or to move on to Otherworld. If you have not, then your reprieve will be canceled, and you will be cast into Hell for the rest of eternity."
The giant red deity wrote something in his book, and a very surprised Bardock felt energy surround him. It shortly disipated, leaving him much changed in apearance. He had been covered in his own blood, numerous lacerations covering his body, his clothes hanging in tatters, and his tail limp, broken in the middle. Now he was clean, in a white training gi, his tail and the rest of his injuries healed, and his halo, something which all the dead posessed, had changed from gold to silver, which marked him to all of Otherworld as being a Silver Guard.
Bardock was amazed. He was being given a second chance! He had never thought that they might even consider it. And there would never have been a reason to had it not been for the voice of his son, Kakarot, reaching toward him from the future convincing him to be a different kind of man than Freiza. For that reason, He reached across the distance that separated him from his son, still in his space pod and headed for Earth. He thanked the boy, even though he knew that he would shortly hit his head and forget everything. After all, he had only changed because of the man this child would become.
The saiyan looked up at King Yemma with gratitude and thanked him. Liyra flew back down and told him to follow her. They got on one of the huge jet liners that waited in the air field and it took them to the Grand Kai's planet. They flew to a secluded place on the tiny world where a large building was nestled in a fair-sized wooded area. On the side of the building was painted a silver halo, designating it as belonging to the Silver Gurads. Liyra went inside and Bardock followed her.
The outside of the building was a humble adobe structure, but inside was the high-tech central ops of the Silvers' organization. Four beings stood in the tracking center, keeping watch on operatives in the field, and several others were going about their business, creating an organized chaos that was often overwhelming to rookies, so Liyra started explaining things as they went through the bullpen. "I started the Silvers five and a half millenia ago using people I had broken out of the HFIL, ones that I thought either had changed or could change and could make use of a second chance. The Grand Kai almost shut me down when he found out where I was getting my men, but he saw how useful they were becoming and marked them so that they could continue their work."
"What do you do here?" Bardock wanted to know everything he could about his new profession. "And how am I supposed to save lives when I'm dead?"
Liyra smiled at him. "That silver ring over your head means that not only do you retain every power that you had in life, but you can continue to grow in those powers as you would have alive. You will be able to travel between this world and living space, using a technique I will teach you called Instant Transmission. The Silver Guards are a peacekeeping force, helping to protect the living. You have the authority to do whatever it takes to protect your charge, short of killing. Killing is the absolute last resort, and if it happens, there will deffinitely be an inquiry. It is not our place to add to the numbers of the dead. The tracking teams watch for trouble and keep track of operatives in the field."
The one thing that ocurred to Bardock was only natural. "What about Freiza?"
Liyra nodded. "I know. He's going to be an exception, if we ever get someone strong enough to defeat him."
Bardock smiled with foreknowlege. "You never will. My son will be the one to defeat him."
The Ceylian looked up at him. "King Yemma said you were psychic." She narrowed her eyes for a moment thinking that they might have to get a Kanassan to train him in his gift. Bardock looked at her suddenly and turned white, his eyes wide with aprehension. "What's wrong?"
Bardock turned away from his captain, hanging his head. "I can't face the Kanassans, at least not yet."
"Why?"
He still didn't look at her. She won't understand, he thought. She'll regret taking me on, have me sent back. But he answered anyway. "My crew and I were the ones who wiped out Kanassa. Freiza wanted the power to read minds, to be able to see the future. He didn't know that the only way to get the power was from the Kanassans themselves. The five of us were resting when their last surviving general popped out of nowhere and attacked me. He got behind me and caught me in the neck. It did something to me. He told me that I could read minds now. Then I killed him and passed out. I started having visions while I was in the recovery tank, visions of the future. I saw my son and he saw me and he convinced me to change. If it hadn't been for the Kanassans' gift, I wouldn't be here, but we destroyed them without a second thought. It was just another job." He sighed heavily. "I can't face them yet. Maybe that makes me a coward."
Liyra stared at him. What a story! No wonder King Yemma had been so torn. This was not an evil man, just one who had been mislead by a violent society, who had believed that violence and killing were okay. He had done many horrible things, but he had not done them through an angry heart. He was ready to atone.
But he would need someone to train his new gift. Perhaps one of the Kais? Aloud she said, "What about training with the North Kai? He's the overseer of your galaxy, and he has quite a few talents."
Bardock suddenly had another vision of his son, this time of Kakarot listening to a voice in his head in the middle of his battle with Freiza. This voice was telling him how to proceed, giving him advice. Bardock followed the voice and found a pudgy creature with whiskers, antenae and pointed ears. He had a fair amount of power, but he seemed to not use it very much. This must be the Kai. "Yes. He will do fine. He'll eventually teach my son a thing or two, and I've seen how strong he will become. This North Kai must be a fine teacher."
It was a good plan, so the two of them got back on the plane to the check-in station. Then Bardock began to travel the long and perilous Snake Way. Princess Snake tried to capture him, but he heard her thoughts and simply declined her invitation politely and continued down the path. He was beginning to feel hunger, but he'd been without food before, and he knew that he didn't really need it, so he ignored the feeling.
King Kai, knowing what the Saiyans were doing to his section of the universe and personally glad that they had been destroyed, though he seemed to think that the Guardian of their world had called a meteor shower to destroy Planet Vegeta, was reluctant to train this representative of their race, but Liyra, who suddenly appeared on the tiny planet, could be expremely persuasive. She rose above the surface of his little planet and stretched out her wings. She power level suddenly shot up, giving the Kai something to think about.
King Kai, finally said, "Okay, okay! I'll train his gift. No need to get pushy, missy!" Bardock supressed a chuckle at the being's antics. "What are you laughing at!?"
As his training progressed, King Kai was surprised at just how well he adapted to his gift, but he was glad to have such an avid student. He knew, as Bardock did, that Frieza was going to continue to be a problem in the North, but he was adamant that Bardock stay away. "Your race is too well known as Frieza's best group of warriors. Your reputation for exceeding his elite soldiers has definitely preceeded you. I'm afraid that no one is going to trust you long enough for you to help them. I'll be honest, Bardock, you are the only Saiyan in recent history that I know of who has not been sent to the HFIL."
Bardock sighed. "You're right. I'll stay out of the North." His psychic training complete, he left the tiny world with a heavy heart. He hated that he would never see his son again face to face. But he vowed to become a person that Kakarot would be proud to call his father, even if he never knew it.
Forty-nine years later...
Bardock had finally gotten back from his latest assignment, a tricky one involving the royal house of Parison, a small Earth-type world in the South. He was stretched out on his bunk at the Silver's barracks ohe Grand Kai's planet, resting after the three-year long mess, when Liyra came into his room. He smiled and looked up at her, basking in her psychic presence, unlike any other he had ever felt. She was warm, like summer on Namek; not too hot, not too cool, with a light breeze at the back of the neck for interest. He felt all of that, but he would never have been able to put it into words, so he just said, "Hi."
The Ceylian smiled at the man who had become so much more than a partner and a friend to her. He was so inarticulate, it was cute! She said, "Bardock, do you remember what happens next month?"
He snorted. "I wasn't very good with dates when I was alive, Liyra. Nothing has happened to change that."
Her smile widened into a grin. "That shouldn't surprise me. You have the brains of a fish! "Well, I'll tell you. One month and one day from now is your fifty year anniversary, and you're only one person short of freedom."
The statement should have cheered him, but it only reminded him of his failure, and of the last life he had taken, the Kanassan general who had given him the psychic gift that had enabled him to see where he was headed and what Frieza was all about. That was someone he really owed a lot. He said, "Well that last one is going to have to wait just a bit. I wouldn't feel right if I gained my freedom without making things right with the Kanassans. Do you know where to find the man who gave me my powers?"
It was kind of out of the blue, but she had been expecting him to ask the question for some time now, so she had a ready answer. "He's here on the Grand Kai's planet. He's one of the fighters working on his ten thousand years of training. He wants to learn from the Grand Kai, like most other fighters. Do you want to go now?"
Bardock threw her a grateful smile and nodded. It was a fairly short trip to the Grand Kai's palace, which was where the best fighters worked on the ten thousand years of hard training required to recieve lessons from the Grand Kai. They were there in a few minutes and landed in front of the palace. The Kanassan could be seen in a small field to the side working on some energy techniques. The blasts were visible for miles around and made the general easy to find.
as the two Silvers watched, he let fly another blast aimed at a gigantic boulder of granite. As it hit, the stone shattered like a glass trinket that had been hit by a rock. The Kanassan looked tired, like he had been doing that sort of thing for a long time all at once. Finally he collapsed and the Silvers went over to check on him. He took Liyra's hand gratefully, but as she helped him to his feet, he got a good look at Bardock. His expression went cold and an extensive series of blocks went up in his mind, ones definitely designed to keep powerful intruders out. He said, "Why are you here?"
The dead Saiyan blew out a nervous breath. "I would like to make peace with the Kanassan people. I know that I deserve your distrust, but I hope that I will be able to gain new trust." As he spoke, Bardock opened his mind fully, bringing down every block he'd ever put up and allowing the general full access to his mind. He looked at the Saiyan dubiously, but entered his mind anyway.
General Draecon had walked into a maelstrom of guilt and failure mixed with penitence, humility and bravery, all the makings of an evil man turned into a hero. Memories fell like rain upon his conciousness, both the guilty memories of what Bardock had done in life and the happier, purposeful memories of his actions in death. Amazing! The Saiyan had made such a fast and complete turnaround from being a planetary pirate to being an honest policeman! It boggled the mind. He had the same kinds of values that had made his son a great man.
And then the Kanassan found a secret, something about Bardock that he had no knowledge or even suspicion of. His eyes flew open, he was so shocked by what he had found. Bardock felt the reaction and said, "What is it? What did you see?"
Draecon took a deep breath before speaking. "You have by far exceeded the extent of the abilities I originally gave to you, just as your son and grandsons have increased their fighting power levels over time. This is in great part because of the inborn abilities of the Saiyan race. Their increase has been due to time, training and the peculiar ability to become stronger after surviving near fatal wounds. You have done the same, but because of the changes I made in you, that increase has gone into your psychic ability rather than your fighting strength. You could be the strongest mental power in the Universe."
Bardock stared in disbelief at the Kanassan. He certainly would never have guessed that! He asked, "How come I can't use it, then?" For he had only ever been able to trace his own family or someone he was actually in contact with.
Draceon smiled. "While King Kai trained you to use your gift wisely, he didn't train you in the way of the Kanassans. We wanted you to suffer from it, as the most fitting punishment we could devise, knowing what was about to happen on your world. In our society, a child born with the gifts would have been detected at an early age and been trained from his youth in how best to use them. they would also have come slowly upon him, starting with the barest hints at about age four until they reached full maturity at seventeen or eighteen. That's thirteen or fourteen years worth of training, as well as time to get used to the idea before the gifts imposed themselves on the consiousness. You recieved them suddenly and violently, and only have the training of the Kai and your own experience, so you have not reached your full potential, or even come close to it. You will probably be able to predict multiple futures, such as the one that Trunks created on Earth, and be able to send to and recieve from any mortal mind in the cosmos. That's conjecture, of course."
Liyra, who had been even more astonished than Bardock to hear the implications of his talent, said, "Conjecture or not, it's amazing!"
Bardock nodded. "Indeed. But that's not why I'm here. You know now that I'll recieve my freedom soon with the next life I save. I won't feel right gaining that without at least apologizing to your people."
Draecon knew that the Saiyan only spoke what was in his heart now that he had been allowed to see it, so he nodded. "Their souls are mostly in their resting place, the Haven of my people. I will show you how to broadcast to them without shouting so loud that you injure them."
Liyra was back at the Silver's HQ, having decided to leave Bardock alone for the moment. She was glad that her partner had finally faced the Kanassans. His guilt in their deaths considering all that they had given him had been eating away at his heart. Now he would be free from it, at least in part.
Maybe now he would notice her. She had been hinting for the past twenty years that she wanted more than a professional relationship, and either he didn't see her that way or he was dense and didn't realize that she did, because those years had been completely fruitless where romance was concerned. Oh, their friendship was a strong one, and their partnership was the strongest one the Silvers had seen for a thousand years, but Liyra had been alone for the five thousand years that had passed since she died, a long time to wait for the right man. She knw that she was taking a risk, falling for a dead man. True love was a very rare thing after death because so little changed in the Otherworld. In fact, she had only ever seen three after-death marriages, all of which had been officiated by the Grand Kai himself. Two of the couples had already been in love before they died. She would have to be careful.
Liyra walked through the squad room, heading for the baracks, when rosie, the giant arachnoid who served as the task manager for the Silvers, came over to her and said, "I have an assignment I can't place, Onysius."
The Ceylian snorted. "I do wish you would stop using my family name, Rosie. I renounced them a long time ago."
"It is my culture, ma'am. I cannot call you by your personal name. To do so would be a deadly insult as you are not a member of my clan. I will not dishonor you or any other Silver by doing so."
Liyra sighed and smiled, shaking her head. "One day I am going to convince you that the Silvers are your family. What's the problem with the job?"
The spider held up a folder that she had been holding in one of her eight claws. "It's on Earth."
Liyra raised an eyebrow. They hadn't had any major assignments there for thirty-five years, thanks in great part to a warrior named Goku. Nothing big had happened there for a long time that he and his friends had not been able to handle. She looked at the file. A scientist named Gero Jr. had developed a virus that depended on high power levels to survive, and he intended to infect all of the high-level fighters on the planet, including the children.
She looked up, a deep scowl on her face. She always got hot over cases involving the harming of children, even whe she had been alive. Five-thousand years had not dimmed the painful memories of her childhood, being beaten along with her mother by her father, being attacked by his bodyguards when she was twelve, and being forced to watch while her mother was slaughtered. Those events had forged her into the force of vengeance she had become in life and the protector she had become in death. Those kids could protect themselves from most things, but the right virus could destroy even their hearty bodies, and this man had found it. Worse, the thing was based on an ancient scourge called Ebola, a horrible, painful, and extremely virulent disease for which a cure had never been found, despite centuries of research. There would be no way to stop the monster once it had been released into the atmosphere. Thankfully, only a handful of people on the planet had power levels high enough to feed this strain of the virus. It required at least a level of one-thousand to multiply, but it could exist outside the body for an indefinite amount of time, and once one member of their group was exposed, it would run through the high-level fighters and within ten days, all would be dead.
Liyra said, "I'm taking this one, Rosie. Bardock's been here long enough that he won't be swayed by emotion too much. It won't effect his objectivity, and he won't blast the good doctor for daring to harm his family."
Rosie looked at her strangely. "Actually, I was more worried about you. I know how you get when it involves kids."
Liyra grinned. "I'll watch myself, I promise."
Bardock snarled upon hearing fo his next assignment. This man was targeting his family! He was glad, however, that he would be allowed to handle the case. He had begun to wonder if he would ever be allowed to return to the North Quadrant. They hadn't even allowed him to see his son the few times he had been in the Otherworld, afraid that he would make a mistake that would endanger his chances of staying out of the HFIL.
He said to Liyra, "I'm going to check out the situation before we get started on this, see where the future is headed at the moment." She nodded and he sat on a stool there in the squad room, clearing his mind of all emotion to begin his search. Draecon had shown him how to keep emotions from leaking into a tansfer, a technique that made his visions much clearer. He found Kakarot without any problems and started searching through the near future, following the brighteset path he could see, which was the current path of events.
He saw the scientist come into the picture after three days. He was dressed in a blue biohazard space suit with a respirator and he was holding a vial of golden liquid in one gloved hand and an eyedropper in the other. He pulled a timy amount of liquid from the vial and placed it in another, smaller vial that was filled with blood. It was labled "CELL GROUP 18379: SAIYAN: GOKU". He put a stopper in the tube, lightly shook it, thoroughly mixing the two liquids, them placed it in a small rack with several similar vials. The next day, the son of the infamous Dr. Gero came back and put a small droplet of the liquid from Kakarot's vial onto a glass slide, whick he then looked at through the electron microscope. Bardock looked through the man's eyes so that he, too, could see what had happened overnight.
Most viruses would have popped a few cells and infected several others in that time, but every blood cell in the scope had either already burst from its load of new virus particles or was bloated beyond recognition, full of virus and ready to pop. This was a monster that had no trouble with the fact that the blood of a Saiyan was much tougher meat than that of an Earth human. It was the most frightening thing he had ever seen.
At least until he read the thoughts of Gero Jr. He was a riot of maniacal laughter. His thoughts were clear, but his emotions were running in little circles of vengeance and self loathing. Images of featureless human shadows with red glowing eyes flitted through his mind, attacking the idealized father image and shredding it. It was clear that the man was insane, but that insanity did not impair his cognitive faculties or his gift of science. He was a true mad genius, though some of his humanity remained, as evidenced by the fact that he had ensured that his virus would only kill those he perceived as his enemies. He did not realize that the children were powerful enough to be affected as he rationalized taking away their fathers by the fact that their mothers would still be there for them.
Bardock followed the future again. Gero placed his deadly cargo in an old biplane crop duster, gassed it up, and took off toward the area of Kakarot's house, where he dropped his load of death. From that point, the future of his family would be set, as well as that of all their friends. Once the firus was released, no one would be able to stop it, not Gero, not the Z fighters, not even the Silvers. Seven days after exposure, symptoms began in all of the fighters and the children but Piccolo and Android 18, and three days after that, all but those two were horribly dead.
Bardock came out of his trance and collapsed. He had gone too far forward. Thanks to General Draecon, the experience had not sapped as much of his energy as it would have, but it still took it's toll. He sat up and looked around him, returning his awareness to a more pleasant setting, thankful both that he had something to return to and that he would be able and allowed to change the future he had just seen. he said to Liyra, "We have three days before he's certain that the virus will work the way he wants it to. The next day he flies a plane over Goku's house and drops his bomb. He's picked the perfect time, because they'll all be there. Ten days later, they'll all be dead, save for the android and the Namek, who are both too different for the virus to latch onto." Bardock never referred to his son as his son in front of anyone else. Liyra knew about it, of course, but that didn't change his reticience. He didn't want to give anyone more reasons to say that he couldn't go.
Liyra sighed as she went over the information in her head. What did their first move need to be? "Okay," She breathed, "We need to warn these people first. That might avert this whole business, especially if there is a scientist among them who might be able to develop protective suits for everyone. After we warn them, we'll probably have to convince them we're not crazy." Bardock would have snorted at that remark if he had wanted anyone else in the room to know of his relationship with the future victims. He and his son looked exactly alike, save for the scar on his face.
Suddenly he realized that he was actually going to meet his son face to face for the first time. Nervousness swept over him in a wave. He'd never gotten to hold him as a baby, and now he'd be shaking his hand as a man with children and grand children of his own. He'd met Raditz, so he wasn't likely to greet his father with open arms just because he was family. He was worried that he'd resent that he hadn't been there for him as a child, or be disgusted by what he'd done in his life under Frieza.
Liyra caught his nervousness and guessed at the reasons. She spoke into his mind. It will be all right, my friend. Kakarot seems like a trusting sort from what I've seen. He'll probably take you at your word until you do something to change his opinion, and you won't do that.
Bardock nodded. "Well, let's get going. We want them to have as much time as possible to prepare."
Goku watched as his younger son, Goten, jumped into the river, hunting one of the monstrous fish that dwelt there. Their family hadn't had fis for a week and they had decided it was time. Gohan, Videl and their daughter, Pan, were waiting at the house with Chichi for Bulma, Trunks, and Bra, who had also decided to come over for lunch.
Goku could sense his son suppressing his power level. He was trying to sneak up on his dad, but he couldn't push it low enough to hide. Goten knew that, however, so this was probably a distraction. Sure enough, there was an explosion of water in front of Goku, but none of it hit him. Using instant transmission, he moved behind where the boy actually was and grabbed him out of the water, fish and all.
The young Saiyan laughed with his father over the failed ploy, then went home with the huge fish. By the time they got there, the Brief family had arrived, and the four kids all headed into the woods together, flying a race from the house to the river and back. Gohan laughed. "At least they didnt' fly through the house again. Mom sure was ready to blow up last time."
Chichi chose that moment to make an appearance and said, "Well maybe if I explode enough it will sink into their heads that flying in the house is not allowed."
Bulma snorted. "Not likely. All of them are just as stubborn as their fathers."
Gohan, who had a much quicker tongue than his father, was about to make a retort, something to the effect that Trunks had gotten a double dose of that stubborness, but just then he sensed something which brought him up short. Two very high power levels were headed this way and he didn't recognize either of them. He looked at Goku, who had also felt the strange presences. The older man nodded in acknowledgement.
They turned to go check it out, but Videl was well able to read the signs of danger in her husband and said, "What's going on?"
"We're not sure. There's two very strong powerlevels headed straight for us, and we don't know who they are. We just want to be safe."
The two men walked out of the house and were about to take off when they realized that the sources were already so close that they would be landing fairly soon anyway. In fact, they were already visible in the sky, two blue balls of energy headed right for them.
The strangers landed in the clearing that surrounded the house and lowered their energy to a "conversational" level. Both of them had shocking appearances, both for different reasons. The first was a woman with blue skin and silver hair and eyes, which would have been strange enough, though they had both seen some very strange kinds of people over the years, but she also had a pair of enormous, bird-like wings that were so broken as to be unusable, the same silver color as her hair. She wore a white, loose-fitting karate gi with the symbol of the Kais on the left shoulder and dark gray leather boots with laces. The other was actually fairly normal looking, except for the fact that he looked exactly like Goku. He wore the same kind of white gi that the blue woman did, along with a rust brown bandana wrapped around his forehead and a furred Saiyan tail wrapped around his waist like a belt. He had a long scar running down his left cheek, but he could have been Goku, except for one more thing that set both of the strangers apart from every other living being in the universe; the silver halos that hovered over their heads.
The blue-skinned woman approached Goku and said, "Hello, Goku. I was fortunate enough to have been able to watch your fight with Pikkon in the Otherworld Tournament. that was the best fight I'd seen in a long time." She extended her hand in greeting.
Thoroughly confused, he took her hand and said, "Ah, thanks. What can I do for you, miss-?"
She smiled. "Call me Liyra. I'm Captain of an elite squadron of dead warriors who for one reason or another had barely missed passing their tesrs of righteousness. They work off their debts by helping those in need on this side of the universe. We're called the Silver Guards.
My partner and I are here to warn you about our next assignment." Goku's gaze flickered to his doppleganger and then back to Liyra. "Dr. Gero, whom I'm certain you remember well, had a son. He was just a boy when the good doctor turned up missing, having put himself into his android body. In a last bit of spite against you, Gero had made it plain in a letter to the boy that he suspected you of trying to kill him. Now that boy is a man and a brilliant scientist, just like his father, and he's made his career out of plans to kill you, though nothing has worked until now. You see, his specialty is biological weapons and their cures. He has a large sample of your blood, and he has tested hundreds of biological agents on that sample, and he finally found one. It's an old plague that a few hundred years ago was one step away from wiping out humanity."
Bulma, ever the scientist, asked Liyra, "which plague is he using? The only virus we've ever known to affect Goku was that heart virus he nearly died of."
The woman nodded. "This one has been tailored. He re-engineered the thing's genetic code to match Saiyan DNA and attack any power level over 1000. However, he didn't change its modus operandi."
Gohan moved forward. "You're skirting the question. What virus?"
She looked at both Saiyans and said, "Ebola."
Bulma gasped. She had seen tapes of what that thing could do. She quelled her nerves and said, "Which strain?"
It was the dead Saiyan who answered. "The original material was from Reston."
"Then it's airborne."
He nodded. "We have confirmation that it wil spread to and take out every high level fighter on the planet, up to and including the children."
Goku growled out, "Where is he?"
The other man shook his head. "No, Goku. You can't go after him."
"Why not!?" yelled Goku.
Looking him straight in the eye, he said, "If you do, he'll just release the virus. Then even if you killed him you would still loose. You wouldn't even be able to protect your families because it travels through the air. You'll still all die."
Frustrated, but knowing that the other was right, Goku backed off. Looking at the dead man and noting the similarities in their appearance, he said, "Who are you?"
He seemed suddenly nervous, but he said, "My name is Bardock. I was the only member of the Saiyan race who knew what Frieza was planning. I'm also your father, Kakarot."
"My father?" The words came out in astammer, shocked as he was by this news.
Bardock smiled, still nervous, and said, "Yes, and Raditz's, too, although I'm sorry to say he certainly earned his fate. I'm sorry that I haven't come to visit before this, but these first fifty years have been very crucial and they couldn't risk me loosing my objectivity. They were afraid that I would get angry with someone who was attacking you and just come down and kill them, and the Silvers try to avoid that. Sometimes it's necessary for us to kill, but unless there's no other choice, we prefer not to add to the numbers of the dead. And I'll be frank, there have been a few times I came close to trying, especially with Frieza, even though I really wouldn't have been able to do much against him. My fighting strength hasn't increased much since I died, and the only time I went up against him, I got caught in his planet killer, along with half of his elite troops and Planet Vegeta." He looked up, fierce pride glowing in his eyes. "I watched, though. You were great, and I know that you'd've had no trouble finishing him off even if Trunks hadn't beaten you to him."
Liyra interrupted them. "I know that you two have a lot of catching up to do, but I need to borrow Goku for a moment. I need you to use your Instant Transmission to take me and Bulma to Capsule Corp. so she can start work on some protective gear for everyone. We have three days before Gero gets confirmation of his virus's effectiveness, and you need to be prepared in case Bardock and I are unsuccessful."
Goku nodded. "Gohan, why don't you go find the kids while I'm gone."
"Right."
Bardock said, "And I'll go find all of the other people this will affect, as well as Piccolo." so the three nearly identical men each went in a different direction, all intent on their mission to protect the protectors of Earth.
Bardock landed in front of Master Roshi's house, knowing that everyone inside had felt his approach. He thought that Vegeta, who was there instead of at Capsule Corp. for some reason, might recognize him. After all, he had taught him the Moonbeam Bomb technique when he was a very young boy. Sure enough, when the occupants of the house came out to find out who their visitor was, Prince Vegeta was first in line and said, "Bardock? I though you had been destroyed with Planet Vegeta! What are you doing here?"
The dead Saiyan grinned, pointed to his halo, and said, "You were right, my Prince. I was killed along with the rest of the Saiyan race by Frieza once he decided we were getting too strong." His smile faded as he continued. "I'd like to tell you the story of those last few days, but for now I'm here on urgent business. You and your family, as well as Kakarot and his and most of the other fighters are in serious danger. Dr. Gero's son has created a virus that will wipe you all out, and while I know it goes against the grain to allow someone else to fight your battles, this time it's going to be kind of necessary. If any living person goes in there and he releases this thing, you'll all die anyway. It's airborne and very deadly, as well as having been re-engineered to destroy anyone with a power level over 1000. But I and my partner, who went with your mate back to her laboratory, are dead. If the virus is released on us, it will find no foothold, and all that will be necessary is to clense and destroy his lab and any notes he's kept."
His eyes narrowed to mere slits at the audacity of another Dr. Gero threatening him, Vegeta said, "And what of this human cretin himself?"
Bardock grinned. "Him you can have. I have my orders, and they preclude me adding to the population of Hell if I can help it."
Vegeta snorted. "Very well, soldier. How much time do we have?"
"Three days, at that barbecue my son is having at his house."
"It will not take the woman that long to create protective suits for all of us. You said most of the other fighters."
"Yes. Both the Namek and the android will not be affected. Namekian blood is too different for the virus to take hold of, and the android's power is contained in her central power core, not in the rest of her body. This virus attacks the blood of its victims. It's not pretty, I assure you."
"Hn." Vegeta snarled. "Cowardly attack, using a disease to do his dirty work."
Bardock shrugged. "He's insane, and I don't mean that as an insult to him. He blames all of you for his father's death, and he'll do anything for revenge. Is it cowardly, when you know you cannot win, to try anyway? Gero is no fighter. He's using what skill he has."
"Why do you defend him?"
A slight smile appeared on Bardock's face. "Since my death, I've learned to respect those who fight with everything they've got. I've seen the weak defeat the strong by using their minds instead of their bodies, and more times than I can count. The Saiyans were the overwhelming odds, Prince Vegeta. Even the stupidest Saiyan is going to be a handful under a full moon. But pit that Saiyan against your wife in a simple child's game, and she's going to beat him hands down."