"King Vegeta… I'd like you to meet my son, kakarot." Bardock announced proudly.

In the living world, Vegeta the 3rd and the warrior Bardock never really saw eye to eye. Vegeta only ever wanted to increase the power and size of the saiyan empire whereas Bardock was always more enamored with the thought of fighting powerful opponents.

"How many times do I have to tell you? It's just Vegeta now. I'm no longer the king." Replied a deep, gruff voice. When the former king turned around to address the duo Kakarot and Vegeta the 3rd couldn't stop themselves from doing a double take.

For Kakarot it was like looking at an older version of the Vegeta he had come to know. Only this man had much heavier eyes that showerd the weight of responsibility he bore during his time as King in the living realm.

For the retired King Vegeta, he was reminded of the first time he had ever met the up and coming low class warrior, Bardock. While he had hated the simple minded man at the time, he had slowly gained a deep respect for his strength and carefree mannerisms.

It was a refreshing contrast to the usual stick-up-the-ass feet kissing attitude he got from the majority of his former subjects.

Much like his father, Kakarot's Aura radiated calmness and positivity. It almost made Vegeta puke, assuming this saiyan was just as weak and naive as his father had been before his rise to glory.

But when Vegeta looked into the eyes of Kakarot there was something dangerous there… Something powerful.

The former king swallowed and frowned. Kakarot scratched the back of head nervously.

"You…"

"You…"

They both began awkwardly, pausing to raise an eyebrow at one another. Bardock laughed in bemusement at the duo's predicament, causing Vegeta to scowl at the warrior before turning his attention back to the man's son.

"Ahem. Pardon me. I was caught off guard by you cosmetic resemblance to a certain imbecile I know.." He said, casting a sideways glance at Bardock.

Kakarot, being rather perceptive despite his goofy demeanor, snickered at the taunt directed at his father. He bowed slightly. "I apologize as well, Vegeta. It's nice to finally meet the father of one of my best friends." He said with a smirk.

This in turn caused Vegeta's eyes to widen and he rushed forward with a rustle of his cape. "You know my son, Prince Vegeta!?" He asked urgently. Kakarot barely had time to nod before the man exploded into a parade of questions.

"How is he? Is he still alive? Does he have loyal subjects? Is he powerful!?" The man yelled.

Bardock shook his head in exasperation. "In all my 50 years I have never seen this man act like that."

Kakarot laughed nervously before beginning to address the questions in the order he received them. "Umm well last I knew he was fighting for his life but I think he was winning..? I honestly don't know if he's alive or not, but I have a feeling that he is. I wouldn't say subjects.. but he's made some loyal friends." Kakarot said determinedly.

"As far as saiyans go, Vegeta, Nappa, Turles, Raditz and myself all formed something of a bond. And I truly believe deep down, your son cares for the Earthlings that raised me, as well." Kakarot paused, some of his optimism draining from him as he continued. "Unfortunately.. myself, Nappa and Turles didn't make it during our final battle against Frieza..." He said solemnly.

There was an immediate change in the air causing everyone present to freeze and share a collective gasp. There wasn't a saiyan in this world or the next who wasn't intimately aware of that name, and for obvious reasons.

Many of the warriors who were only casually listening in before, now began to swarm closer to this strange newcomer.

Kakarot coughed into his fist and looked around nervously. Everything was deathly silent as the saiyans gathered around him, staring in wide eyed anticipation.

Most of their tails wiggled excitedly behind them. He had never dreamed he'd see so many of his own people. He couldn't help but notice the awe and admiration he received from many of those present. An instinctual excitement bubbled up within him.

He launched into a fully detailed explanation of his life from the time he had met his brother onward. Kakarot ended his long winded speech with news of the harrowing surprise attack at the hands of the space tyrant.

"Just before I.. Died…" Kakarot swallowed hard. The words were still difficult to force from his lips as his mind struggled to come to terms with reality. But he powered through as he finished his explanation.

".. I sensed prince Vegeta on the cusp of transforming into the legendary super saiyan. So I'm confident he and the others have beaten Frieza by now." The saiyan finished with an optimistic arm pump.

The crowd exploded in a chorus of excited rambling. Dozens of powerful, barbaric voices thundered across the planes of HFIL, but none carried so much force as that which belonged to the former king, Vegeta.

"Bahaha! Yes! I knew it! My boy, the legendary super saiyan! Ever since his birthday he had explosive, unrivaled potential. Now he is the strongest in the whole universe!" The man yelled in a borderline hysteric manner.

"Well no.." Kakarot laughed light-heartedly. "Actually my son is. He's a half-breed named Gohan. He's only seven but whether because of his unusual lineage or because of some other unknown reason.. there's a terrible power deep within him.. I don't know exactly how I know.. But he's the strongest in the universe right now." He explained confidently.

This in turn shocked the saiyans to their core, of course, none more so than Vegeta and Bardock. Bardock was the first to recover from his shock, nodding and scratching his chin.

As the conversation became more personal the crowd began to disperse, gossiping to one another in hushed whispers and spreading exaggerated rumors like wildfire.

Although most people didn't know it, Kakarot inherited his scientific mind from his father. This in turn meant that Bardock was rather perceptive when he put his mind to things. "That's not entirely unreasonable. The saiyans have always been too proud or otherwise narrow-minded to ever mate with someone outside of our own species."

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He turned and looked at his son. "And while you may be.. 'intimately' familiar with these Earthlings' biology..." The man chuckled at his own pun before continuing. His wife and Vegeta rolling their eyes at his antics. "... We are not. There's no telling what you and your wife have birthed into this universe."

Kakarot frowned, unable to help but taking a little offense at the way his father so callously described his son. As if he were some creature and not the man's own flesh and blood. But then he took a deep breath and tried to relax.

He remembered studying about saiyan heritage and culture while training with grandpa Gohan. They were a somewhat.. simple race. It didn't mean they didn't care, they just did it in their own, less direct way.

Still he felt a need to defend his son's relatively innocent name. "Gohan is a good boy." He said firmly. Gine elbowed her husband and shot him a stern glance. Bardok raised an eyebrow, realizing that his carefree way of addressing the nature of his grandson must have offended Kakarot.

It seemed the humans were a somewhat.. emotional species. Which actually made even more sense to Bardock because saiyans drew power from their emotions.

Idly he wondered if Kakarot had yet made that connection himself, and made a mental note to ask the man later before replying with a casual shrug. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply the boy was some kind of monster. Just that his potential could be limitless." He elaborated. Gine reached up and kissed her husband's cheek.

Stepping back she looked between her husband and son. "I'm leaving for now. I'll have supper ready when you two get home. Enjoy some quality father son bonding time." She said with a small yet somehow bright smile.

She bid goodbye to Vegeta who decided to stick around for now and see where the conversation led. In truth he was hoping to see Kakarot's power and by proxy, somewhat gauge his son's..

Bardock watched his wife depart until she could no longer be seen, at which point the man addressed his son once more. "So how in Vegeta's name did you wind up in hell while fighting against Frieza? You accidentally vaporize a planet?"

Kakarot's face contorted into a look of confusion and concern. "Well.. that's another thing that's been bothering me. It's not like I think I'm some kind of Saint. But I've always fought for peace and innocence." He said, feeling perplexed.

Bardock gave his son a knowing grimace. Obviously for him it was different. He knew his lifestyle bought him a one way ticket straight to hell, and he was ok with that. But still the shock of death and at such a relatively young age was hard to overcome.

Maybe it was his sympathy, or maybe it was the father in him, but Bardock couldn't help but to believe his son. "Something does seem off.." He admitted.

"In my visions of you, you were a righteous and pure hearted warrior. Not really knowing you.. I can only assume you're still that same man you were destined to become." The older saiyan said with a serious look.

Kakarot was caught off guard by his father's words. "Your.. visions of me?" He asked with naked confusion. Bardock raised an eyebrow before chucking. "Hahaha! Oh yeah, guess my dumbass forgot to tell you." He laughed, placing a hand on his forehead. "Pretty ironic for a psychic. I really didn't see this one coming."

Scratching his head the saiyan raised on Earth nodded. "I guess that makes sense. I know a few psychics or whatever but I don't think any of them can see decades into the future.." Kakarot mused.

Bardock shook his head. "That was only once, and because I was on the verge of my death. For some reason it caused a massive spike in my abilities. I saw the man you would become and I knew you would play a part in the defeat of Frieza." He explained.

"Every time before and since my death that I've seen the future, it's just been little glimpses of possible outcomes and more often than not they're too vague to decipher until they've already come to pass." Bardock admitted.

"Bardock. Something is wrong here." King Vegeta observed, cutting in. "We should take him to see the dark one." He suggested.

The father of Kakarot agreed. "Yes, you should meet the wizard. He may be able to shine some light on your situation. But before that… I've been meaning to ask. What the fuck happened to your tail!?" He yelled, pointing accusingly. Kaakrot smiled nervously and sweat dropped. "It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way."

A few minutes later..

The trio walked in silence as they came to grips with the peculiarity of their present situation. For the older saiyans it was realizing just how much things in the living world had changed since they'd been dead. As for Kakarot, the younger man was finally coming to grips with the fact that he was dead and in hell, meeting his ancestors as it were.

As they traveled to see this mysterious wizard, Vegeta asked to hear more about his son's crusades, Kakarot explained that he mostly lived the life of the average saiyan before coming to Earth. Stuck beneath the unforgiving thumb of Frieza, Vegeta the fourth mostly relied only on himself and his ever growing power.

He explained how the prince had spent two decades torturing himself for the sake of getting stronger and how he originally looked down on anyone he considered weaker than him.

"It took a long time to get him to open up a little…" Kakrot said with a thoughtful expression. "...But like I said, eventually we all formed a bond and he grew much more powerful because of it."

Seeing the father of his friend pondering deeply to himself, Kakarot halted the group's advance and continued.

"I would say Vegeta is a completely different person than he was when we first met, more so than any of us. It's because of him that the saiyans chose to go without tails. Permanently. He's chosen to lead us all down a different path in life." Kakarot said sincerely, scratching his head.

"Where once his heart was filled with hatred and vengeance, he's finding himself wanting to protect and lead his people, rather than disregard them for the sake of power." The youngest saiyan said with palpable conviction.

After a brief pause he looked into the eyes of the former king. "I believe Vegeta will give rise to a new saiyan empire, and this time they'll be a symbol of hope and peace." He said finally.

The king scowled at first but his tense expression slowly gave way to one of acceptance. "I.. don't know how to feel." Vegeta admitted honestly. His forehead wrinkled.

"On one hand I am deeply hurt by my son's decision to move away from our ancestral cultures and customs… On the other, I am so proud of him for striving to build something great of his own. I believe.. If anyone can do it, it will be him." He decided with a firm nod.

Just as the group was beginning to make their way forward once more, a decidedly female voice called out, "Hey you there!"

The group turned in surprise in the direction of the unexpected arrival. Well all except Bardock that is, as he had immediately recognized the voice and rolled his eyes in anticipation of what was to come.

They watched as a petite woman with a tomboy-ish haircut began walking over to them with exaggerated swagger in her hips. Upon reaching the male saiyans Vegeta clicked his tongue, finally recognized the woman.

Meanwhile Bardock kept his distance, wanting no part in his former teammate's shenanigans. 'I saw the visions of them meeting and I tried so very hard to stop it from happening.. hell I even took him a mile away from the rest of the saiyans! Yet still this succubus tracked us down somehow..' He huffed internally.

The woman very clearly singled out the youngest of the saiyans, approaching him and poking a finger at his chest. "Wow you really are the spitting image of that idiot, Bardock. Only a bit more… fresh and handsome looking, that is." The woman cooed, winking at Kakarot and biting her lower lip.

Kakarot blinked several times in surprise and took a sheepish step back as the admittedly attractive woman leaned in closer to admire him. "Ahhhh! You seem to know me but I don't know you, lady." The tall saiyan said frantically. "Can I help you with something?" Kaakrot asked innocently, taking another step back and examining her before relaxing his stance.

The lady in question was clearly a saiyan due to the armor she wore which left little to the imagination. If that wasn't telling enough, the furry appendage wrapped tightly around her waist was a dead giveaway. Aside from that Kakarot also deduced that she must know his father somehow, so she probably wasn't a threat… plus he was kind of already dead. What's the worst she could do?

The female saiyan put a hand on her hips and smirked at the much younger man. "Oh I could think of a thousand ways you could help me, young man..." She said seductively as her eyes raked the man's body. Continuing with a chuckle, the woman "Alas this isn't the time or place. How about my place later after you've ditched the two old geezers here?"

At this Vegeta bristled and Bardock merely snorted, pretending to turn away but very clearly still listening in to hear how his son would handle the situation. He always knew Fasha had a thing for younger men, but.. his son!? She truly had no respect. Despite himself he grinned and waited for the inevitable conclusion he had already drawn from his visions.

Kakarot smirked as his mind formed what he thought was a polite, yet genuine retort. "No thanks. I'm not into poisonous roses, no matter how beautiful they are." He said, causing Bardock to burst into a fit of laughter while the other two saiyans merely stared with wide eyes at the unexpectedly aggressive rejection.

Kakarot's expression softened and he gave the woman a closed eye smile. "Besides, even though death technically did do us part… I still very much love my wife." He laughed with a sweatdrop.

Fasha pouted and stomped her foot. An unexpected yet, entirely fair rebuttal. "Are you sure? You have no idea what kind of abilities I possess." She said suggestively, twisting on the balls of her feet and trying to appear sheepish. Of course everyone present saw through the act, as this woman was clearly shameless in her actions.

Feeling a twinge of nervousness once more Kakarot was somewhat at a loss for words. He didn't want to be rude but he was getting uncomfortable at this point. Thankfully he was saved by his father's interjection in their conversation. "Let me guess.. the more your powers grow the more your clothes shrink?" The psychic saiyan mocked.

The pink clad saiyan warrior scowled at her former squad leader, dropping all pretenses of being 'cute' and settling on a glare. "You always did have a way of ruining my fun, didn't you, Bardock?" The woman huffed.

Kakarot looked between the two with tension, wondering just how far this bickering would escalate. His father got within arm's length of the woman. Based on how tense and coiled the man's muscles were, Kakarot thought for sure his father was about to throw the first punch.

"When it comes to my family you're damn right I'll 'ruin your fun.' Besides, it sounds like my son has proudly claimed a mate back home." He said with a shrug. Fasha merely smirked in response, not flinching away from the tall, muscular man in the slightest. "What happens in hell stays in hell." She challenged.

Bardock's brow furrowed. 'Oh no here it comes!' Kakarot screamed internally.

However to his surprise the two burst into laughter and rather than throwing punches they threw their arms around one another in a friendly hug. They pulled back and grinned at one another. "It's good to see you, Fasha. Any trouble with the incursion?"

The saiyan woman said hello to the former king with a small bow before turning back to Bardock with a deadpan expression. "What are you serious? We broke those wimps' line in a week with the artificial moon." She bragged.

However a frown blanketed her face a moment later. "I did see Turles and his gang however. He's really changed, Bardock. I can't explain it. I thought he had gone soft at first but his power is unlike anything I've ever felt." She said grimly. "He may even be stronger than you."

Bardock merely chuckled and folded his arms. "Yeah I might know something about that. Or rather.. my son does. Come with us, I'll fill you in on the situation and give the two of you a proper introduction."

End of chapter 65