BARDOCK

I found the young King right where I expected him to be.

Not in the throne room. Not surrounded by advisors or guards trying to look useful.

Outside.

Standing near the edge of the platform overlooking the lower districts, meditating.

I slowed my steps as I approached, giving him enough space not to look like I was rushing him, but not so much that it felt like hesitation either. No point dragging this out. I’d already thought it through enough times in my head, and I knew he would eventually see the importance of it all.

“Your Majesty,” I said, stopping a few steps behind him.

He glanced over his shoulder at me, then turned slightly to face me fully. 

“Bardock, how you doing?”

“I’ve been thinking,” I said.

He raised an eyebrow slightly.

“That’s dangerous,” he replied. “We saiyans are starting to develop brains, doctors think it might kill us.”

I snorted. “Yeah.”

“So, what were you thinking?”

“As you know, Frieza’s coming,” I said. “Two months, maybe less, maybe more.”

His expression didn’t change.

“Yeah,” he replied simply.

Right. So no point circling around it.

“We can lose,” I said.

He looked at me for a moment before signaling to continue.

“Doesn’t matter how strong you’ve gotten,” I continued. “Doesn’t matter how much the others train. There’s still a chance this ends with the planet gone.”

I watched his face for any sign of disagreement.

Didn’t see any.

That was… reassuring. Or concerning.

Depends how you look at it. He was different to any other Saiyan I have ever met. 

“So we need a backup,” I said.

That made him tilt his head slightly.

“Backup?” he repeated.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Not to win. To survive.”

“Continue.”

“Our future’s the cubs,” I said. “If we all die here, that’s it. Race ends with us. So we send them away,”

I watched him carefully, expecting something.

Pushback.

Disagreement.

At the very least, a question.

“Different planets,” I went on. “Low-value. Remote. Places no one cares about. No resources, no strategic value.”

I crossed my arms slightly.

“Not all together. That’d be stupid. Spread them out. Increase the odds some make it.”

Still nothing.

No interruption.

No reaction beyond listening.

So, I kept going.

“They won’t be strong enough to fight yet,” I said. “But they don’t need to be. They just need to survive. Grow. Become something later.”

I paused for half a second.

“That way… if we lose… we don’t lose everything.”

Silence.

I waited.

This was the part where he should say something.

Call it cowardly.

Call it unnecessary.

Say we’d win anyway.

Something.

Instead—

“Yeah,” he said.

I blinked once. “…Yeah?” I repeated.

“Yeah,” he said again, like it was obvious. “That makes sense.”

I stared at him for a second.

That was it?

No argument?

No speech about Saiyan pride?

No “we don’t run”?

Nothing?

“…That’s it?” I asked.

He shrugged slightly.

“What can I say, Bardock… You’re right,” he said. “We can lose. And if we do, your plan gives us a way to not get wiped out completely, it helps us avoid the worst case scenario, extinction.”

I let out a short breath.

“…Huh.”

Didn’t know what I expected. But it wasn’t that.

“I figured you’d push back,” I admitted, scratching my head.

“Why?” he asked.

I gave him a look.

“We don’t exactly have a reputation for planning ahead,” I said. 

He snorted. “Yeah, well, I’m not blinded by my pride, and there’s such a thing as a plan B.”

He stepped a little closer to the edge, looking out over the planet.

“How many ships do you need?” he asked.

“A few hundred should be enough for the cubs,” I said. “Small ones. Fast. No patterns. No centralized launch.”

He nodded slightly.

“We can make that work.”

There was a pause.

Not awkward.

Just… settling.

Then—

“I’ll get it started,” he said. “I’ll leave you to oversee this,”

He glanced at me again.

“Your family?” he asked. 

“They go,” I said. “All of them.”

His expression didn’t change, but I could tell he clocked that.

“Even your older kid?” he asked.

“Raditz can fight,” I nodded. “But he’s still a cub. He’s got a better chance out there than in the middle of this.”

He nodded once.

“By the logic so am I.”

I snorted, “Yeah right, you and your little brother are monsters.”

“That’s fair,” he chuckled.

I shifted slightly, rolling my shoulder. “Didn’t think you’d agree that fast,”

He shrugged again.

“I’m not here to pretend everything’s fine when it’s not,” he said. “If something increases our chances we don’t kick the bucket, we do it.”

I let out a quiet breath. “…Good call, Your Majesty.”

He grimaced slightly. “Just call me Escarot.”

I smirked. “Too late, can’t call you anything else.”

That got a small huff out of him.

Then he looked back out over the planet again.

“Two months,” he said.

“Yeah.”

“Not a lot of time.”

“Nope.”

“You think you can win?”

“I do, but I don’t like counting my chickens before they hatch.”

…

What the fuck is a chicken?

Silence settled for a moment.

Then he nodded once, like he’d already made up his mind about everything that needed to happen next.

I pushed off where I was standing, turning to leave.

“Bardock.”

I stopped, and turned slightly. “Yeah?”

“…Good call,” he said.

KAMI

I…

I had felt and seen many things in my time as Earth’s guardian. Wars. Demons. The rise of evil that crawled out of the cracks of the world when no one was looking. I had felt fear before, yes—but it was always something I could understand, something I could prepare for. This… this was different. This was not a single threat rising within the natural order of Earth. 

This was something approaching from beyond it, something that did not belong to this world at all.

I stood at the edge of the Lookout, hands resting behind my back as I gazed down at the endless stretch of sky below. From here, the world looked peaceful. Quiet. Almost fragile in its stillness. This planet was mine to protect, yet more than not I was powerless to act.

My senses were extended far beyond what the eye could see, reaching outward, into the void of space where those presences moved closer with every passing moment.

The first… the strongest among them. 

His energy was sharp. Focused. Violent.

There was darkness within it. It wasn’t wild, or chaotic, but deliberate in its wake. A will that leaned toward destruction not because it had to, but because it chose to. It reminded me of something I had felt in me a long time ago— something I had purged from me, into King Piccolo. 

But this was stronger. Much stronger. Not just in raw power, but in clarity. King Piccolo had been a manifestation of my rage and ambition given form, an aspect of me I had separated to become worthy of protecting this planet.

This one… this one was colder.

More dangerous.

I narrowed my eyes slightly.

If he were to arrive on Earth, humanity would not stand a chance. Not as they were now. Not without guidance. Not without intervention.

The second presence was… different. 

It was weaker than the first one, but it was still much more powerful than anything earth had ever seen, yet it lacked that same edge. There was no immediate malice radiating from it. No hunger for destruction. It was… surprisingly peaceful. There was emotion there, but not the kind that sought to tear everything apart. If anything, it felt restrained. Like something that could become dangerous under the right circumstances, but had not yet crossed that line.

And the third…

I exhaled slowly.

The third was small.

Weak, even by human standards.

A flicker of life barely formed, barely aware of itself. And yet… there was something within it. Potential. Enormous, unsettling potential. It was like looking at a spark and knowing, with absolute certainty, that it could one day become a wildfire.

I closed my eyes briefly, focusing, refining what I felt.

They were traveling together.

That much was clear.

A group, perhaps? Or maybe… A family?

That complicated things.

I opened my eyes again, the calm surface of the world below doing little to ease the tension that had settled in my chest.

“This is bad.”

A soft sound behind me broke my thoughts.

“Something troubles you,” came the calm, even voice of Mr. Popo.

I remained where I was for a moment, looking out over the horizon before finally speaking.

“Three beings are approaching Earth,” I said. “Two of which are unbelievably powerful.”

Popo stepped up beside me, his gaze following mine out into the open sky.

“Are they a threat?” he asked.

I exhaled slowly. “Yes.”

Well, at least one of them felt like one. The other two… felt like I could reach a peaceful conclusion.

“Two of them…” I continued, choosing my words carefully, “Are strong enough to make King Piccolo seem like a minor concern.”

Popo did not react outwardly. 

I clenched my hands slightly behind my back.

“I do not know their purpose,” I admitted. “I do not know if they come to conquer, to destroy, or for something else entirely.”

Popo tilted his head slightly.

“But you believe one of them will act.”

“Yes.”

That much, I was certain of.

“The strongest among them,” I said, “Carries a will that leans toward absolute violence, his wicked nature rivaling that of King Piccolo.”

I wasn’t sure what exactly awaited earth. But I would do my best to protect this planet from any threats, even if my efforts proved to be futile.