I was jolted back into consciousness by a sharp pain in my ribs.
"Fuck!" I swore explosively, my torso lurching up as I was forced into a sitting position. I was ready to blow away whatever annoyance hit me—but then I saw a tall, pointy-eared green man scowling down at me with his arms crossed.
"Get up. I've got some questions for you," Piccolo ordered gruffly.
I rolled my eyes and didn't bother to move. Piccolo wasn't much of a threat right now—not without charging his Special Beam Cannon. Thanks to the Zenkai boost I got with Tien's help, I could sense that Piccolo was currently less than half my power. Sure, he could be suppressing some of it, but this is just a few days after my brother got wrecked by the original and green bean over here, so the numbers sound about right.
The weighted clothes were a problem, sure—they were slowing me down a ton—but if it came down to it, I could vaporize him in a second. No need to fuss.
"What?" I scowled. I was kind of going through a freaking existential crisis. "Shouldn't you be off training the brat of the original or something right about now?"
Piccolo snorted. "He's still struggling along. He's nowhere near ready for me to train him personally."
I nearly rolled my eyes again. Sure, Gohan learning how to survive on his own was valuable, but making him do it for months after he already got the hang of it? Waste of time. Piccolo really only trained him for what—six months? And Gohan still hit a power level of 2,800. If he'd started training him after just two months alone, Gohan might've broken the 4,000 mark. Piccolo would have gotten stronger too, since he'd have a tougher partner—probably hitting around 6,000 himself. They might've even been able to beat Nappa, especially if Gohan got a rage boost.
"What I'm more interested in is you," Piccolo interrupted my thoughts, narrowing his eyes. "I already got a general idea of what you are, thanks to gleaning info from that dried-up fossil on the Lookout. What bothers me is how the hell you got so much stronger than Goku so fast. This 'zenkai' thing you mentioned with Kami and the three-eyed twit—why didn't it affect Son Goku like it did you?"
Ugh. I really didn't want to talk about Goku right now.
"Because the closest that fool's ever come to death was against you," I said, not bothering to hide the knowledge I shouldn't have. I didn't care anymore. "And Saiyans—above being a warrior race—are natural survivors. The stronger the threat around them, the more they grow from a Zenkai. I sensed Raditz's power even while in stasis, and I remembered his strength. If the original had survived your attack and gotten a Senzu in time, he'd probably be stronger than me right now."
Admittedly, that was just a theory with a few holes in it. Goku should've grown stronger a lot earlier, considering how many near-death beatings he took—Tao, King Piccolo, this very Piccolo. If Zenkai boosts worked the way canon showed, Goku should have broken a power level of 1,000 way earlier.
Still, the fact that this body—my body—knows what threats are coming just reinforces my theory. It might not have felt Frieza's power, but a looming threat that vast doesn't need to be felt. It's too far beyond us to even comprehend. So growing stronger instinctively in response? Yeah, that made sense.
Honestly, I hadn't expected to get this strong. I figured I'd hit maybe 500 tops. But I think I'm already around 1,000, maybe more.
"Hmph. So that's it, huh?" Piccolo grunted.
I grunted right back.
"Now tell me what the hell's bothering you. You're nothing like the Son Goku I know. And I knew him when he looked exactly like you. That blast you fired earlier? That was enough power to one-shot Raditz. So why the hell'd you waste it? I can't have wildcards like you blowing up parts of my planet when I plan to rule it soon."
"Did you know Son Goku killed his grandfather when he turned into a Great Ape?" I asked suddenly.
Piccolo said nothing.
"It's something all Saiyans can do—assuming they have their tails and look at the full moon. It boosts our power tenfold."
"Interesting," Piccolo said gruffly. "I'll keep an eye on Gohan for that."
"But what's that got to do with anything?"
"I remember my mother and father sending me to this planet. Not to conquer it—but to escape the monster who conquered even the Saiyans. I remember my older brother bragging that his power level had reached over five hundred, promising to train me so we could go on missions together."
I let the silence linger.
"They're all dead. My brother, practically killed by me—because of the original. Our grandfather, stomped to death because Goku couldn't control himself as an Oozaru."
I turned a narrow, heated glare toward Piccolo.
"They're not even really my family. I'm just a copy of Son Goku who remembers being Kakarot. My friends? They're not mine. They're his. Even you—you're his rival, not mine. I've got nothing in this world. So what's the point of my existence?"
There's really no need for me to be here. I already know how the story goes. And anything I do might screw it all up. But just because they were Goku's friends and not mine… it doesn't mean I didn't inherit his fondness for them. Bulma, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Roshi, Launch, Popo, Kami, Puar, Korin, Yajirobe...
I let out a bitter chuckle. "Honestly, Kami can be quite cruel, can't he?"
Piccolo had been listening silently. Then he snorted, a fanged smirk spreading across his face.
"Glad someone else knows how much of a pain that fossil is," he chuckled. It faded after a few seconds, and he gave me a sharp look. "As for everything else? Get over it, brat. I was in the same position when I was born. And like you said—you're Kakarot. Not Son Goku. You're already stronger than he ever was at this point. No one's life has a point. You just grab what you can and make it matter. So stop whining like a pathetic weakling and stand the hell up. I can't have one of the key forces I'm counting on to defend my planet moping around like a loser."
And with that, a white aura burst around him and he shot into the sky, leaving me alone in the grass.
"…Hah," I sighed.
Getting a pep talk from Piccolo, who hadn't even befriended Gohan yet. What the hell is the world coming to?
Still… I guess he had it rough too. He didn't lose anyone when he was born, but he inherited the memories of dying—from the moment he was created. We're both more or less clones. Guess I'm not the only one with baggage.
I can't afford to sit around feeling sorry for myself. It's infuriating, but I've got to get over these feelings.
Do I even have the right to them? I'm not Son Goku.
Still, I feel a little better. And I've got a strong feeling that after learning about the Zenkai, Piccolo's gonna push Gohan harder than ever. Honestly, that's a good thing.
If I do stick around, I need to smack some sense into Chi-Chi. She acts like Gohan running off is the worst thing ever, but she was doing the same thing as a kid—without his insane power. That's how she met Goku in the first place.
I get it—she wants to protect her kid. But she needs to back off a little. Between her and all the training, Gohan never got to enjoy being a child. It makes my chest tighten thinking about how raw he got it. Everyone jumped on him for his mistakes, never what he achieved—or achieved on his own.
Gohan's my favorite character in the entire Dragon Ball universe. And I hated how people treated him—both in the story and in the fandom. The only thing he ever truly won was his wife. And Videl's possibly the best partner in the series—at least on par with Bulma and 18. But even she made his life hell when they met.
If I stick around, I'm going to do something for him. As weird as it sounds, he's kind of my kid now, too.
Honestly, I'd love to visit him now. There's this buzz of excitement replacing the melancholy just thinking about meeting Kid Gohan. But I won't interfere. Him and Piccolo becoming friends? That's sacred. I won't change it. So I'll keep my distance.
Instead, I'll…
…Err. I don't know what to do. I could go back to the Lookout, but I've already trained more with Kami and Popo than the others ever will. And I've got enough weight on me to simulate King Kai's gravity already. I'm not gonna take six months to travel to a training spot. I could start right now.
Maybe I'll hunt down some Ultra Divine Water. If it's anything like Guru's potential unlock, I should save it until just before Nappa and Vegeta arrive.
But training is a must. Even if I didn't want to, I need it to stay alive.
What I don't have is a decent sparring partner. That's what made the others grow faster in canon. Popo's probably the strongest available, but he's busy with the other maggots. Tien's second best, but he's only around 300 right now—not much help.
If only I had—
Wait.
My power is only around 1,000. Saiyans spawn easily trained minions with similar power levels. I don't know where Raditz's pod is—probably destroyed by Gohan's rampage anyway—but...
I do know where my own space pod is.
A red aura flared around me, and I launched into the sky.
A plan had just formed.