1 Birth of a Low-Class Warrior
A/N: This story is slightly AU. Some changes are big and intentional, some are small and may happen because I didn't care enough to check the original to make sure I'm being accurate. If something is different, I'm most likely okay with that and there's no need to inform me, but I'm sure someone will feel it is necessary regardless of what I say.
I've decided to post the first 3 chapters straight away because they are essentially a prologue. My goal is for a chapter a day, two days at worst. Hope to actually stick to that.
Things of note: This is a harem fic and will include at least one instance of incest that I've already decided upon, maybe more will be added. The situation within the story makes it less wrong (From a power dynamic, it is a relationship between father/daughter, so there's that, but it's a harem so they weren't truly equal even without it). The relationship itself will start developing post-Cell and won't be hinted at until then, and even then it's only minor part within the story, so it's easy to ignore. If it bothers you anyway, you should stop here. If you complain when it actually happens, that's on you.
Disclaimer: If you need a disclaimer explaining that I don't own the franchise, I'm sorry.
Birth of a Low-Class Warrior
Being used to always waking up instantly and alert, the fuzzy feeling that was new to him was very disorienting. Opening his eyes helped not at all, as he found that he couldn't focus his sight, and his ears only picked up on faint sounds that he could only make to be muffled crying. Was he drugged and kidnapped? He could move, but with great difficulty, so he wasn't bound…
When he opened his mouth to speak, he panicked as he noticed the fluid that filled his mouth. Were they drowning him?! He struggled to hold his breath for as long as he could, which was a pathetically short length of time, and left with no options, he could only accept fate and…
He could breathe? This odd, slimy liquid definitely filled his lungs as well as stomach, he felt rather bloated, yet it didn't feel suffocating. He didn't follow the latest scientific and medical advancements, but he didn't think he would've missed out on something like this. Yet there he was…
Was he being used in some sort of an experiment? Was a mad scientist going to exclaim how he was the perfect specimen for their Super Soldier project? Hail Hydra? No, that sounded crazy. He let out a bubbly sigh, thinking about what he could do. With his senses handicapped, he couldn't really examine his surroundings, and his body barely listened to his movements, so what could he do?
Though there was something strange about his body that he now noticed. Occasionally, he got the feeling as though he touched something, but it didn't come from a place he was used to. He focused hard, trying to control the mysterious limb and… It was a tail, he was certain now, that he had some sort of tail. What the heck did they do to him?!
His sight became to clear and he was somewhat able to focus, and the first thing he noticed was how different his arms looked. They were too short, and chubby. They definitely had a babylike quality to them. Probably because he was a baby. He never considered the possibility that he was dreaming or hallucinating, as his mind was always somewhat broken and he never had issues figuring out he was in a dream – though he rarely had any real sense of control while dreaming.
That brought up two insane possibilities. The mad science route where someone took his brain and switched it with a baby's, or reincarnation. What else could it be? He hoped it was the latter, as he didn't want to be stuck in some lab, but if it was true, then what did the tail mean? He still looked human, from what he could determine, though the liquid he was submerged in made it difficult to determine the coloring. Focusing on trying to feel and control the tail, he managed to bring it in front of him to examine… A monkey tail? He tried grabbing at it gently, but the poor control over his body had him grasp it firmly, before instantly letting go due to the spike of pain.
Saiyan? That was definitely a thought he couldn't get rid of. He was a fan of the show, even if the characters were often frustrating… He and his friends were of the awkward and embarrassing type that pretended to fire energy beams at each other well into their teenage years. Being reborn into the world of Dragon Ball was both exciting and frightening, and his situation did not help, not at all.
Was he reborn as someone significant to the plot or a mob character? How much time does he have before the destruction of this planet? Will he be able to escape notice long enough to at least have some basic ability to defend himself?
Those thoughts frightened him, and the only thing he currently had going for him was that he seemed to accept his new reality and wasn't mourning over the loss of his old life. And that brought his thoughts to a halt. Why didn't he care about his old life? It wasn't the best, but it wasn't so bad that he shouldn't care, right? He always knew and accepted that something was wrong with him, but this was somewhat frightening… Was he truly that bad, or did the process of rebirth change him, creating a sense of dissociation from his old life?
In the end, does it even matter? He guessed not. Until he knew who he was, and when he was, there was little he could do besides… Train? He was born into an anime world, so he should adjust his mentality, right? Mind and body breaking training seems to be his future, and he was oddly fine with that. He felt unnatural excitement rising within him at the thought of becoming as strong as possible, a foreign feeling that he welcomed. His Saiyan heritage was already influencing him, he realized.
Being confined to what appeared to be an incubator, the only thing he could think of doing was meditate and try to sense his Ki. Almost as soon as he closed his eyes and tried to calm his breath, focusing inwards, he felt this energy within him, one that was supposed to be foreign to his reincarnated self, yet felt warm and welcoming. Was the process so easy because he had a body before and he could sense the differences, or did he have some unnaturally high talent when it comes to Ki control?
Again, doesn't matter. He has it, he's going to use it! He focused on his Ki, on how it felt and how it naturally moved, before he tried to… Poke it? How can you describe such a feeling, of manipulating a source of energy that exists within your body and is eager to please, like an exciting puppy? He pushed and pulled, stretched and squeezed, getting a better feeling on how he can control and shape his Ki from within, before cautiously moving it around his body.
Actually moving it was dangerous, and he had to be cautious with it. His body was growing and fragile, regardless of him being a Saiyan, and so he couldn't be too reckless, or he would harm his own growth. Was this how cultivators felt, he wondered, as he moved his Ki through imaginary paths, as he discovered patterns that made the flow easier and smoother?
He quickly grew tired and had to rest, but it wasn't long before he started again. The cycle repeated, where he moved his Ki into different parts of his body, before letting it recede and rest. Then he mixed the process with letting his muscles and organs soak in this Ki, the feeling of power strange to him.
Time passed, and he knew that even if what he was doing wasn't the best method, it worked. He had several times more Ki to work with, yet even when it "ran out", it took the same amount of time to regenerate, and his sense of control stayed around the same, even improving slightly.
He estimated that several days had passed when his first visitors, at least that he was aware of, arrived, and everything changed. Well, there wasn't much established until this point for there to change, but for him it was significant. Of course, for the readers it's obvious what he found out and the earlier teasing regarding his identity had been amusing at best, but to him, it was big, so try to empathize!
"Hello my baby boy. Did you miss me? Waiting until I can finally hold you, it's almost unbearable…" Said Gine, her eyes shining with love, while he had feelings of dread welling up within. His hair wasn't long, so…
"Just look at you, Kakarot! I can already see the fine warrior within you." Bardock said proudly, while also confirming the baby's fears. "Let's see…" The Saiyan father muttered while pressing the button that activated his scouter.
The quiet "amazing" drew Gine's attention away from her baby. "What is it?" She asked, though her mate's tone assured her that it wasn't anything bad.
"His power level rose to 30!" Bardock exclaimed with excitement.
Gine's eyes widened. "30? Didn't you say it was 2 when he was born?"
"Indeed, such growth in a week… We may have a little genius here." Bardock's excitement suddenly dimmed, worrying Gine. As she opened her mouth to question the sudden change, Bardock already explained. "We should keep it to ourselves. If Kakarot's power continues to rise, he'll be noticed regardless, but if this won't repeat… Currently, nobody will look at him twice, as he's a low-class son of a low-class, but if they expect a massive growth from him only for him to fail, it would make his life harder. No, let's observe quietly."
Gine accepted Bardock's words of caution, but even worry about her son's future failed to dim the love and excitement she emitted towards her child. As for the newly named Kakarot, he was panicking inside. To be born as the main character of the show was a huge burden! He wasn't Goku and he refused to follow the exact same path, he was unable to regardless, so if he couldn't counter any changes he is going to make, things could end badly. Considering the fate of Earth and other planets originally, the thought nearly paralyzed the baby.
He already messed up, and if not for his new father's caution, it would've made things irreparable already. Thankfully, it seems as though Bardock is worried about either the royal family, or Freiza, and chose caution. Kakarot will have to be cautious as well, otherwise…
As he was now, a 30PL baby wasn't worth noting. If he grows stronger still, he may be chosen as Vegeta's servant or something. Maybe he'll be too noticeable for his parents to smuggle him off-plant? Ugh, and he won't have any time before the planet's destruction either! His parents were good people, relatively speaking at least, since he doesn't really know what they did and how they are, and he knew that he won't be able to save them. Kakarot decided to try and not get attached to them, something that he found fairly easy in his previous life, but he will do his best to remember them, to honor their sacrifice for the sake of his own life.
Still, the future Goku refused to not train. The sense of increasing power was intoxicating, and was the only thing he could do at the moment besides, so he had to find a way for him to not arouse suspicion. Which meant that he had to learn to suppress his Ki. He focused on two things that would improve his control. Examining and memorizing his Ki, how much he currently had and how it felt, along with trying to stretch his senses outside his body. He didn't use his Ki like a sonar, a method that he read that was sometimes used by inserts in Naruto, what he did was… To look without his eyes? Feeling the location and size of those faint flame-like beings was odd, and he could only figure out that he did manage to sense energy signatures of the babies around him.
He was the weakest baby ever! His parents were proud of his growth, but calling his current self low-class was making fun of low-class! What was Bardock talking about, his pathetic self getting noticed for being a genius?! Was he making fun of him? What's the point of that, carrot-baby wasn't supposed to know English! Or Galactic Common or whatever the name of the language was! And how convenient is that, for him to be born into the Dubbed world instead of the Japanese one, so they speak English and he can follow along instead of needing to learn another language.
He knew that his 30PL wasn't impressive, but Bardock's pride blinded him and inflated his ego. His Saiyan pride was wounded by the realization of how pathetic he is even compared to the rest of the babies, especially considering that the others were low-class themselves as well. In truth, it was good that he found out his power level at this point, since he actually wanted others to believe him to be weak, so that the original Goku's fate would apply to him still.
He continued to train and as his Ki grew, he practiced pushing it down, making it less visible within him. He knew he was successful when around a week later his parents visited once more, yet Bardock was obviously disappointed and reported that Kakarot's power did not grow at all.
With his success confirmed, Kakarot continued to train. He was limited in what he could do, but without any alternatives he could think of, at least none that wouldn't get him noticed, there was nothing else that could occupy his otherwise boring days. The fact that he did continue growing seemed to be enough to excite his Saiyan mentality, which he was thankful for. He was used to the entertainment brought by the Internet, and now he was stuck in the most boring of places, so he was thankful for the Saiyan mentality that was born within him, the one that was satisfied with him growing strong.
Though that did worry him, that it would overtake him. While he didn't mind changing from his former self, he didn't want to completely lose himself in the sensation. One of the things he most disliked about Goku is how he focused on his training to the point of abandoning his wife and kids. While he disliked how Chi-Chi essentially destroyed Gohan's potential, he also acknowledged that she was a lonely woman that basically lost her husband to the world of martial arts and training. In her core, she was strong and loyal, and Kakarot didn't mind marrying her as long as their relationship would be more balanced than what the original experienced. Of course, he didn't forget about Bulma…
Kakarot blinked. The sudden urge to claim and mate with both of them were odd. He was never that affected by such things, yet now the thought alone brought about such powerful instincts. Considering that he was a baby, that was even worse! He didn't want to think about meeting Chi-Chi and feeling the urge to mount her right there and then, that was just wrong… The fact that she would wear what is basically bikini armor during their first meeting didn't help with those thoughts.
For the sake of developing control, Kakarot knew he had to meditate and calm himself down. He didn't want to be taking over by any kind of lust, blood or otherwise, and perhaps it would also help him deal with the various transformations. The Oozaru transformation and the Super Saiyan ones had emotional aspects to them, and he hoped to be able to control that. He didn't know if he'd have to be immersed in rage for the Super Saiyan transformation to happen, and he hoped not because he couldn't really recreate the scene with Krillin dying and have the same impact, since it would obviously be forced, and he didn't want such a scene to happen naturally either. He really hoped that the tingly back thing applies to him.
Thus his training and meditation continued, and with his parents and random caretakers examining his progress and failing to note more than an insignificant increase. Unknown to him, not only was he deemed low-class, but even below that. Due to his training, the incubator monitoring his health provided him an increased level of nutrition compared to the other babies, but without showing any improvements, Kakarot was essentially ignored and was written off.
This proved to be helpful for him, because some time after his energy levels grew to be noticeable above the level of the other low-class babies around him, one of the workers that were nearby the incubation chambers happened to have the scouter on and detected his energy. They rushed in, hoping to detect the abnormally powerful low-class, but because they didn't start the scanning anywhere near him – not even considering that he might be responsible for it, Kakarot had plenty of time to hide his Ki before they got anywhere close.
The workers decided that it was simply a malfunction from the scouter, they weren't that good regardless and had a blows-in-your-face flaw reported constantly. Saiyans with scars around their eye, or outright blind, weren't rare after Freiza pushed the lowest quality scouters they had to the Saiyans.
The incident did teach Kakarot that he wasn't careful enough, but the thought of stopping his training made him too anxious to entertain, so he had to think of something else. It took some time, but thanks to his constantly improving sensing and control skills, he was able to create an invisible and thin layer of energy around his skin that blocked Ki from leaking out. The only energy that would be detected from him was the barrier itself, and Kakarot practiced the technique until he could do it easily and unconsciously so that he could fully practice his Ki while still maintaining it.
Kakarot found the natural rise of Ki in the babies to be rather interesting, and followed their progress closely. It seemed that during their growth in the incubators, the Saiyan babies have an energy increase of around tenfold, varies by their own potential. It obviously varied, considering the original Kakarot rose from 2 to 10 not only during his incubation, but in the years he grew on Earth as well. Most of the low-class babies that surrounding him started with between 50 to 100 power level at birth, and according to the workers, the group he was surrounded by was one of the weakest generations.
Kakarot estimated that he had about twice the strength of the strongest baby in this batch, and that one was measured at around 700PL and was supposed to leave the pod, thus he was probably slightly weaker than Raditz when he first appeared in the show. Still, as far as his parents knew, he had a power level of 40, still the weakest baby in the batch. Kakarot really had a hard time not getting attached to them, seeing how they cared and loved for him even though he was stomping on the expectations they had of him when they first saw the sudden increase in his power.
Kakarot was curious about Broly, as he was certain that he didn't sense any baby that could be him. It would've been hard for him to miss a 10,000 PL baby. In the DBZ movies, he recalled they were supposed to be close by, with Kakarot's crying somehow traumatizing Broly or something stupid like that. But he was stuck with other low-class babies, so how could something like that be? Kakarot could only wonder if he is even in the original series, and if any of the movies will be relevant. Will he be in GT or Super, or maybe a combination? Maybe an alternative timeline? Will he die from a heart virus?
Those random thoughts were the only thing entertaining him aside from focusing on training. Thanks to the constant monitoring, Kakarot learned how to judge the power level of the babies around him more accurately, thus estimating his own PL to be at around 2,000 around two years since he woke up in this world, though the world thought he was only at 50.
Vegeta definitely had a higher power level when he actually left the incubator, but that one was a Super Elite, whatever that means. Kakarot's current power level would've deemed him an Elite had they known, maybe even more considering he his power level rose by a thousandfold. But they didn't know, and when Bardock and Gine rushed into the chamber with a panicked look, Kakarot expected to soon be named Goku.
