Saiyan Saga - Part 8: The Saiyans' Might

Articuno

Being an experienced traveler meant that one had to prepare themselves for any sort of condition. Improvisation is nothing foreign to a veteran of exploration such as myself.

That said, even I find myself incredibly puzzled by my current surroundings. The average person would describe it as an icy forest, yet I knew it was not as simple as that. For one, the winds that had felt like a gentle breeze beforehand suddenly had decided to turn vicious, nipping at my body. But it doesn't stop there. Even though I am an Arcosian and wearing protective battle armor, I can feel the chilling sensation within my chest. It's… amplifying, almost. If this keeps up… I don't even want to think about it.

I summon my power toward me in an aura, hoping to fend off the progressively worsening cold while I can. My power certainly won't last me forever, but all I need is to buy time. Time that I can use to figure out just what's going on here…

My feet begin moving, my boots meeting the incredibly sturdy ground below me as I look from side to side. Icicles are hanging from the trees, crackling with pink sparks of violent energy. The winds are no longer visible despite their gnawing at my skin. Even the snow below me feels tougher to step in, feeling like one continuous sap of energy after another just to move.

"Incredible... " I murmur aloud, transfixed by the magical environment. Despite the danger that is staring me in the face, I cannot help but be in awe. "If this is what brought down Frieza's forces, then I cannot blame them… no soldier of their caliber should even be able to last here."

Of course, not even I will be able to brave this forest much longer. I need to get out of this unnatural weather and find Kakarot and Nail as soon as possible. Even if they are dead, I have to know just what I'm working with here.

I leap into the sky, gaining incredible height. It is then when I come across the most disturbing sight of all.

A great glacier sticks out in the horizon, a palace resting comfortably on it. My advanced eyesight allows me to see past the surface of the transparent ice for just a moment, which shows me a bevy of soldiers walking through a corridor—

And I am sent crashing down in that very moment as the gravity magnifies, my body having an involuntary reunion with the icy ground. But though my glimpse into the palace was nothing if not brief, I can almost assure myself that I saw the Planet Trade's style of armor on practically every last soldier.

"So, you know, then."

I immediately gasp and force myself to my feet, even if my body isn't exactly willing to comply. "Y-You're that…"

"Hahaha… yeah, that's right. I'm the same voice you heard back when that pretty little face exploded. A very satisfying explosion, if I do say so myself."

I can feel my anger rising at this unseen female, but I know I have to suppress it. It seems as if she can read my thoughts easily, and until I can figure out some way to counteract her probing, I have to keep her talking… even if she knows that's exactly what I'm up to.

"Just what have you done to them…?" I grunt out, one eye closing as I try to trudge my way through this psychically-powered forest. "It shouldn't… be possible… for you to have…"

"I'm afraid that would be too much detail for me to go into right now. You haven't proven yourself worthy of such classified information. For all I know, you could be some pirate looking to take this planet over. I love my planet too much to let it fall to outside forces."

"Grr… cut the garbage, will you?!" I can feel my arms trembling now, but I continue to walk down this frozen path. I will not die now—not like this. "I can already tell your ability to read minds. The fact that you're speaking to me now proves it!" My breath grows just a little more ragged. "So why don't you knock it off and meet me face to face?!"

"I fully expect to. Don't worry, I've got the utmost faith that you'll find a way to meet me. Your willpower is proof enough of that."

"I don't need… your praises…" I murmur, knowing she can hear me regardless. I have to save as much energy as possible; I refuse to let myself be just that much burnt out over losing control of myself. "I… will find you… and I will stop you!"

"So do it."

I immediately do a double take. Her voice sounds weaker now, echoing within the chasms of my mind before it suddenly departs. I feel at least ten times lighter now, and it is then when I force myself to power up and begin dashing through the forest at speeds I'd thought I was no longer capable of. I feel re-energized all of a sudden, and I plan on taking full advantage of it.

My eye wanders to the icicles hanging off the trees—they are no longer crackling with vigorous energy. The freezing winds seem to have died off as well. It's as if everything that made this forest impassable had just vanished.

Little does she know, I've got her figured out now. I feel a smile coming on, but I reject it in favor of keeping a stoic mien. This mystery is coming one step closer to being solved, and I will have my answers in no time at all.

Nail

I can't move.

Not even a single inch.

The explosion's shock wave left me impaled on one of this planet's mysteriously-charged icicles, and with each crackle of energy I can feel the pain magnify within my bones. By all means, I should be able to power my way back into freedom and find Kakarot and Articuno, and yet… I can't.

"They feel like leeches, don't they?"

I raise my head and growl. That voice is unmistakable. "I've felt more pain than this. You're going to have to raise the stakes if you want me to feel true despair."

"That can be arranged." The voice pauses, and true to its word, I can feel a greater sense of agony ring through my body. "Feeling better now?"

"You're… on the right track…" I dryly fire back, knowing full well that I am in an unfavorable situation. "...But you're a fool if you think you're… going to stop us…"

"You have no reason to be here, you know. Your little lizard friend is the one who's got any personal sentiment toward this planet. Why not just pack up and leave while you still can?"

"...That's… where you're wrong!" I find myself snarling. "I won't allow injustice to stand… not on my planet or any other! I would be perfectly content to leave right now if I hadn't seen what kind of evil you represent!"

"You're hurting my feelings, you know. You don't even know me and you're already making such bold claims about how I run this planet."

"The way you made that woman explode spoke volumes about who you really are."

"Stylish, right? You're spot on if that's the case. I never let someone who invades my home get away with a painless death.

"You know… come to think of it, you dying this way wouldn't be very stylish. I think you deserve better than that."

My energy returns to me in waves, restoring me to full power in practically an instant. The icicle that I had previously been impaled on had somehow lost its electrical charge. A part of me almost wants to investigate the matter further, but for now I am content to know that I'm back in the fight. Articuno's power level suddenly makes itself known to me once again, standing out amongst the remainder of this planet's population, and I immediately lock onto it. Though it is concerning that I can no longer sense Kakarot, Articuno's sudden reemergence just might mean he's got a clue on his predicament.

I suddenly blast into the sky and soar toward Articuno at top speed, flicking my eyes from side to side as a precautionary measure. If there's one thing I've learned about this planet, it's that I can't keep my guard down for a second.

Kakarot

Ugh… it's so… c-cold… I can't even feel my body…

The world… around me… it's not even there…

What's that… sound… I hear…?

Voices… I hear… voices?

Grgh… who… is this?

A touch… but it… hurts…

...no… it's soft… and gentle...

"RRRR-RAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

A… a light… on my body?

It's… not my… power… but I can't sense… anything…

D-Don't tell me… is this…?

...

…

...

"Excellent.

He's fallen."

"Is this really the best you've got?!" harshly exclaimed Raditz, evading Garlic's beefy forearm and responding with a lazily-charged kick to the chest. The monster was sent reeling backward, though his bulky frame allowed him to keep his standing stature. Raditz, however, was far from impressed. "Come on, my mother could've hit harder than that! This was clearly a waste of time on my part."

"H-How dare you…" Garlic raggedly wheezed out, raising his fists up to his chest again. "...mock the great Garlic Junior—gah!"

Raditz lowered his extended palm, his mien no less bored than it had been before. "I swear, do all of you who classify yourselves as 'demons' speak the same goddamn way? It's actually growing painful to hear."

"Is… is that right…?" Garlic wheezed, dragging himself to his feet. Countless bruises and welts marred his navy blue skin. "...And who would you be talking about, hmm? What other so-called demons have you slain?"

"Do you think I would actually waste my time remembering names?" Raditz sarcastically retorted. "All I know is that I've fought much stronger than you on practically a daily basis. You don't even make for a good warmup."

ZING!

"Hmm?" Raditz looked up toward the sky, narrowing his eyes in thought. 'That's odd… I could've sworn I felt something, but I can't put my finger on it...'

THWACK!

"Gah!" Raditz hissed, a gargantuan fist crashing against his cheekbone and sending him into the trees. He had hardly a moment to rest, however; Garlic was swiftly upon him with another fist. Unfortunately for him, Raditz had already sprung back up and caught it neatly within his palm. "You're far too boring for me to care." He immediately flung his opponent into the sky before twisting his body around, summoning his aura. "MAKE ME CARE, DAMN IT!" he remarked as he blasted off toward the monster.

'T-This power… it's insane!' Garlic internally remarked as he raced into the sky, his long-haired pursuer just seconds away from catching up to him. He stopped himself short and fired a sphere of ki straight at his adversary, but, with a cackle, he deflected it straight to the side. "Why won't you just die already?!" He fired several more blasts at the Saiyan, who merely swatted them away in almost a rhythmic fashion.

Raditz merely grinned as he approached the monster, cancelling out one last blast with a kiai of his own. "Don't worry. If that's all you have to show me, death is near."

His assurance of Garlic's grim fate, coupled with the absurd power he'd already demonstrated, had the demon on edge. Sweat began to roll down the demon's forehead in spades, dripping down onto the green earth below them. "No… it can't happen this way! Father… what would you think of me…?"

It was then that Raditz finally fully advanced on the demon, a spinning elbow connecting with the brute's jaw not long after. As he reeled in pain, yelling at the top of his lungs, the Saiyan let out a chuckle. "Don't worry, Garlic, you're far from alone. My father wouldn't be particularly proud of myself at the moment, either."

Far from able to retort, Garlic could only snarl in pain as he watched Raditz gather energy in his fist. His screams reverberated around the land of Korin that much louder as said fist was buried into his stomach, crushing ribs and forcing up blood all within one swift motion. Still, Raditz remained unfazed. Instead, his mind had drifted to something far more important…

...his father.

It had been quite a while since Raditz had allowed his mind to traverse the sketchy subject that was his father, Bardock. There was much to respect about the man, but equally so much to detest. The long-haired Saiyan could recall many an instance where the man's stubborn bravery had led him to many a beating not unlike this one. However, he also conceded that his resiliency resulted in him coming back even stronger… up to the point where he knew that nothing short of that mighty asteroid surely could have put him down.

'Pah. He isn't worth wasting time on.' Raditz grit his teeth and booted Garlic away much harder than he had intended. 'And speaking of wasting time, there's no point sullying my hands with this vermin any longer. Otherwise, I'm no better than that of Frieza's idiotic goons.' Knowing that the demon was far from able to stop his involuntary flight, the Saiyan raised his left palm in a lazy fashion, all five fingers sprawled out as pure white-hued energy crackled around it. His right hand went to support the back of his other wrist as he stood the left palm straight up, aforementioned arm practically swallowed whole in power. "Now die! Shining Friday!"

The alabaster-colored wave immediately shot across the Earth and straight toward Garlic, who could do nothing but watch as his body was lifted up by the blindingly bright source of light before ultimately being swallowed whole. The beam continued on as navy blue skin began to be vaporized into absolute nothingness, a high-pitched shriek accompanying the wave until it could no longer.

As he lowered his hand, Raditz was hardly occupied with his kill. His mind had immediately traversed onto something far more interesting. 'So… those Dragon Balls aren't just capable of revival, eh?' He smiled. 'Well, sorry, baldy, clown, but all that training you do in the next dimension will be all for naught. I have something far greater in mind...'

"H-Hey… did you all feel that?" The blonde haired Launch asked, suddenly leaping back from the fight. "K-Kami, ya feel that?" she repeated. "It feels like…"

"...Garlic is indeed dead," Kami finished his student's sentence, a smile crossing his aged, wrinkled features. 'Raditz… thank you. You've truly ridden this world of a monster.'

"W-What?!" Nicky hissed, immediately backhanding Chi-Chi to the side and then retreating backward. "You can't be serious!"

"They're bluffing, Nicky!" Ginger remarked, currently on the defensive as Tien and Bulma pressed him. "They're trying to get us to-AAAAHHHHH!"

"G-Ginger!" Nicky gaped as his comrade was incinerated right before his eyes. He immediately cast his eyes around the battlefield, but there had been no sudden movement from any of the fighters.

He then looked above him to find a similar bolt of energy racing straight down at him, and he had only a moment to give one final shout before he, too, felt his body overheat before absolute nothingness took over.

Everyone stood in stupefaction at the display of power. Raditz, however, merely dropped down to the tiled floor of the Lookout and rolled his neck. "So, I beat your little monster, right?" he remarked coolly. He turned toward Mister Popo and beckoned him to come forward. "I've worked up quite an appetite. Seconds from that meal you cooked before would be extremely pleasant."

Popo stammered for a brief moment before looking at Kami, who gave him a chaste nod. "Y-Yes, Raditz. Come with me and I will provide you with the leftovers."

"Glad you could be of service." Raditz grinned widely. "I get particularly cranky if I'm not running on a full stomach. You should've seen me on some of my missions when I hardly had food in me," he added as he disappeared into the Lookout's interior.

Though practically everyone trembled in fear, there was still one who stood firm. He gnashed his teeth together.

"I'm tired of this," Tien bluntly remarked.

Bulma raised an eyebrow. "Tired of what, Tien? Fighting?" She couldn't help but try and lighten the mood. "'Cause you do know that's what we've gotta do for the rest of the year."

"No... I'm tired of Raditz's cockiness." Tien snarled, pounding his fist into his open palm. "We're so much weaker than him. We can't even scratch him if we wanted to, guys. Even now, I have to imagine that Garlic would've done some massive damage to us if Raditz hadn't singlehandedly dealt them all."

"So what're ya sayin', Tien?" the blonde Launch cocked her head. "We're already trainin' to be able to kick Saiyan ass; we can't do much more than that."

Tien looked directly at the Earth's guardian, his stance never once wavering. "You told us before that the only ones who could get on Raditz's level were Krillin and Chiaotzu, right?"

"It is not a matter of their potential, but rather a reflection of their master's teaching capabilities." Kami bowed his head. "If I could have all of you train with King Kai, I truly would have. Unfortunately, he is limited solely to the next dimension. We should consider ourselves lucky that we even have those two capable of benefitting from his teachings."

"Is that right?" That seemed to have struck a chord within Tien. "Well, I'm not about to let my limits be defined by this dimension… or any other!" He threw his arm to the side. "Raditz has threatened us with some of the most grueling training we've ever experienced. I say we take it a step further and push ourselves even beyond that!"

"Do you really think we were slacking off beforehand, Tien?" Chi-Chi folded her arms neatly against her shirt, the slightest hint of a scowl tugging against her face. "Because I'll tell you something, for the last eight years, everyone here has been giving it their all to become as strong as humanly possible."

"Humanly possible isn't enough, Chi," Yajirobe suddenly cut in, stepping forward. "Think I get what Tien's sayin'. We gotta break our backs even more if we wanna break even with Raditz by the end of the year."

Tien smiled. "Exactly my point, Yajirobe. We've got to surpass anything we've seen before. Besides, we're Earthlings, right?" He paused for a minute, looking over every fighter present. "Doesn't that mean we're supposed to be the ones involved in matters with Planet Earth?"

Silence.

Then, in unison, nods.

Nail soared over the icy badlands of Planet Mistral, his eyes scanning the world around him with utter sorrow welling through his heart. Even from such a high altitude above, he could see how… repetitive and formulaic the populations' movements were. They were moving just as simply as clockwork, no variation amongst any of them at all.

'If this is how a petty ruler maintains order, I shudder to think of just how a tyrant runs his empire...' the Namekian thought, grimacing at the gory images his brain had concocted. 'And to think… if one of these people decide to break from this routine, they're likely to be killed much like that one from before.'

"Nail!"

Nail was jolted out of his thoughts by a flickering light up ahead. Though the snow mildly obscured his vision, the voice was unmistakable. 'Articuno… perfect. Being together in this unfamiliar world is better than exploring separately.'

As the Arcosian stopped in front of him, Nail gestured down to a city with a sharp fingernail. "I take it you've seen patterns similar to this?"

The Arcosian nodded. "That's right. They're all moving in basic rhythms… their movements feel practically robotic." He shook his head. "But there's something more pressing I have to ask you about. When you were alone, did you hear a feminine voice call out to you and attempt conversation?"

"F-Feminine?" Nail asked, raising his brow. "What does that mean?"

Articuno sweatdropped. "F-Feminine… as in… not male?"

"I hardly know what a male is either."

"Gah! Just… okay, I've got to have a talk with you and Kakarot after all this," Articuno grumbled, slapping his forehead. In just a moment, however, he regained his composure. "A softer voice than the ones you and Kakarot possess. You have to have heard it, right?"

"Yes, I did. I wasn't let in on much to me, though… I just felt paralyzed as that voice spoke to me."

"I've reason to believe she was prying into our minds for something. For what, I don't know, but she immediately entered my mind after I made a very troubling discovery."

"And that would be?" the Namekian inquired.

"We are not the only foreigners on this planet, Nail." Articuno's expression hardened. "The Planet Trade is here."

At the mention of the tyrannic organization, Nail immediately became twice as alert. "Does that mean we're dealing with Frieza? On this planet?"

"No, far from it," Articuno immediately denied, putting his hand up on the Namekian's shoulder. "Trust me, my friend, Frieza is not one to keep his presence a secret. We would know if we were dealing with that monster."

"Then what's the concern? I can't sense anything of note, but if you were able to spot a threat…"

Articuno looked toward the direction he'd come from, a faint scowl accompanying his head turn. "Not in the slightest. The trouble isn't someone in particular I spotted, Nail; it's the fact that everyone I was able to see before my mind was invaded was clothed in the Planet Trade style of armor."

Nail turned to that direction as well, following Articuno as he broke out into a gentle acceleration. "I see. So we're still left with more questions than answers."

"Given that we still haven't located Kakarot, I'd certainly say so," the Arcosian remarked as he fell in line with Nail. "But the palace that we're about to invade just might be able to fill in some of the blanks."

"Invade?" Nail repeated, glancing over at Articuno. He was all business. "Here I thought you weren't willing to risk any innocent lives."

"I'm still not," the rebel immediately assuaged. "It's just painfully obvious that anyone we're going to encounter is under that woman's control. As such, reasoning with anyone seems to be out of the question."

"You're right… and we shouldn't risk another one of those mental attacks as well," Nail mulled it over in his mind. He furrowed his brow. "All right. We'll swoop in and dispatch of them all as quickly as possible. Once we make it to that mind-controlling monster, we should be able to get our answers."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Articuno affirmed. He pointed his index finger out toward the horizon, where that all too familiar see-through palace began coming into view. "That palace… up on the glacier… that's where I saw the Planet Trade soldiers. This is where we are to attack."

"Then let's jump straight into the action," Nail bluntly remarked, cracking his knuckles. "It's truly a beautiful sight, but the interior holds nothing short of evil."

"Your power! It's simply wonderful! Far beyond anything I've ever felt before in my life! Mmm… with that strength, you'll be able to crush practically anyone in your way!"

"I aim to please… my lady."

"Well… when you've made your way back here, that's exactly what you'll be doing. But for now, love, taking care of your little alien friends will be all I ask of you. That shouldn't be a problem for my beautiful Kakarot, will it?"

"No, Lady Angelica… not in the slightest. The beautiful sight of this palace will be the last they ever lay eyes on."

Hey, everyone! Been a while, huh?

All right, so apologies and all are definitely in order after having taken such a long break - especially after having promised weekly updates for this story(although having to get a new computer didn't help matters much, either). While it should be obvious that I'll be doing away with those due to a reason I'll get into in a bit, I'd like to take a second to talk about why Garlic Junior was here.

Garlic is a very bland, cookie-cutter character. In fact, that's part of the reason I struggled so intensely with this chapter despite liking him and his movie. He's just not entertaining beyond being a demonic villain in FanFiction because of just how little there is to work with, something that I had to learn the hard way. However, he existed here just to serve as yet another reminder of the Z-Fighters' overall reliance on Raditz. He is most certainly the only character that stands a chance of taking on any imminent threat to Earth head on right now. This is almost a nod to DBZ which saw the Saiyans as the main line of defense. I wanted Raditz to basically solo all of Garlic's forces so that there can be an even further wake-up call on the part of the Z-Fighters. Though they should already be fearing death from the Saiyans after just narrowly defeating Piccolo, I wanted to put just a bit more urgency into their training regimen. Overall, was this necessary? Probably not. But I believe it helps our cast out just that little bit more.

Now, as for this chapter being called The Saiyans' Might, I think it's clear why now. Kakarot and Raditz respectively are the strongest in their respective worlds, and for the former, he's now got to use that strength not for good… but for evil. Nail and Articuno, banded together, are the only ones who can free him of that control… but can they? Is it even possible, given Angelica's methods of mind control? How did she manage to sway such a justice-seeking warrior to her side to begin with? Can a Namekian and Arcosian defeat this fully powered and possessed Saiyan? Find out next time, on Turbulence!

But before we get to the Q&A, let's address the newest happenings, m'kay? I feel like I'm doing this every other chapter now, which does suck, but is unfortunately necessary in this instance. For one, weekly updates have been dealt away with due to the revival of Red Son, my side project and the direct antithesis to Turbulence. I've been working with a lot of different elements in RS than I have here that I believe merits its existence and my continued attention to it, which has resulted in me taking a brief step to plan this story during fleeting moments here and there. Both stories are very focused in their direction from here on out, and a master outline(aka chapter organization) for each story is in the process of being worked on.

Now, here's where it gets a bit weird. Given where I am in both stories, this chapter is what I'd like to call a 'reset' chapter where I can begin to steer the direction of the story where it needs to go again - which is, quite clearly, the training for the Saiyans(as well as the conclusion of the first of the space team's explorations). While it won't be that much longer before we see Vegeta and Nappa on Earth, there is still more development to be done with the characters and some interactions I believe necessary in order to keep with the plot I want to write. RS' reset will be following Roshi's training of Kakarot and Krillin due to reasons that I will explain in story when it updates(which hasn't been written yet, but will see a bit more attention now that I've finished this up).

Ultimately, what needs to be addressed here is that I've refocused myself on this site both as a writer and as a person. I know what I want to do to maximize my stories' impact and am going to be taking an extra effort to be realizing them. I'm not going to promise massive update speeds, but I do have a poll question that I would appreciate being answered up on my profile for one last attempt at managing my workload. If you can answer that, it will mean the world to me.

Anyways, onto the reviews that I cherish so deeply…

-SomeGuy: Man this story has to be the third best dbz fic I've read on here. In my opinion it's only behind Bringer of Death and The Catalyst with this coming in third! If you're curious The long road and Break through the limit are my next two favorite. I'd say you've written yourself into awesome company. It would be awesome to see Turles used in a angle similar to that of The Catalyst. I understand he is not Gokus brother, merely a representation of Kakarot but I like the angle a lot because it makes sense I I feel as though he fits in seamlessly into an dbz story line. Just a request but it would be interesting to see you use him. I love the character development of the humans, Yamcha especially. It's nice to see the humans get some recognition in a fic and not be useless, keep it that way if possible. I know the saiyans are stiff competition and while I don't expect any of them except maybe tien to keep up until the cell or Frieza saga i think you're doing great. I love your writing style please don't change it, it makes me feel like I'm watching a remake of dbz in my mind. My ONLY issue is your name for the new arcosian. Articuno. Knowing that Articuno is a bird pokemon (legendary but he's a bird no matter how you slice it) makes it.. awkward when I watch my "mind movie". Why not Hythia, or Hythias or Hythian, or even frost if you wanna play of cold even the Japanese word for cold would do possibly lol. But MAN/WOMAN awesome work! I read this in two days (while having to work a full time job and perform community service) ! Speaks volumes. Please continue to update.

Being friends with npberryhill and having spoken to Drakthul and Captain Space in the past, I know the kind of honor you've bestowed upon me(a male, for the record). I appreciate the comparison as well as your other comments and hope I can only continue to give you the kind of quality story that I have so far, if not even better.

Now, to answer your comments. For one, no, I refuse to let the humans fall into obscurity here. It just simply won't do after all the incredible effort I've gone through to characterize them. Earth is not being written to just have the Saiyans slide in and take the reins; trust me, I think this chapter alone signifies that won't cut it around here. (And that somewhat ties into the whole Turles shtick, which I'll respond to by saying that while he's not going to be his Catalyst incarnation, he's still set to be a threat at some point throughout the story. When and how though, I'd rather not mention.)

Secondly, the allusion to Articuno actually came as a joke between me and two friends given the ice origins and how it flows so well with Frieza's race(in my fic and most others) being dubbed Arcosians. Quite frankly, I rolled with it simply because I love the Pokemon and wanted to put a little personal touch on my story. I can understand why it's weird to some, but I also feel that it's the one thing I've allowed myself to project into the story and as such I have little to no inclination of changing it.

-Raditz knowing about the Dragon Balls

Indeed he does…

-Robynhood: Will radits become a z fighter and if so will we get radits x launch

With how physically and mentally spent Raditz will be having to prepare to fight his comrades, I'd say he wouldn't really have much time to really focus on romance. We'll see just how he approaches his training with the Z-Fighters in the following months to come, however. Saiyans always have been a weird bunch.