Deep Space Thoughts

It was harder than he thought. Being launched into space by his parents after they said some of the last words they'll ever speak while alive, the large spaceship hovering over the planet, a swarm barely of Freiza Force soldiers barely discernable from the distance gathering in low orbit, Freiza's giant ball of death, launched at his birth planet, killing almost all Saiyans, including his parents, leaving him one of the few of his kind remaining…

It was harder than he thought. He told himself that he wouldn't grow attached to his parents, that he could do nothing to save them, so he shouldn't. He didn't think it would be this hard, and he was wrong. He failed. He grew attached. He loved them. Visiting him so often, with that look of love, hope, anticipation. Wanting to watch him grow up into being a great person, not even a warrior or anything of the sort. Wanting him to be happy. How could he not love them?

It was harder than he thought. He tried to hold back the tears of mourning, or to not grind his teeth in impotent rage, promising Freiza's demise in his heart. He failed both counts. His parents were gone. Could he use the Dragon Balls to save them? Should he? He did not know. He knew that in time his emotions will settle, that he wouldn't make such a decision purely on his own desires, so he set that thought aside for now.

Kakarot wasn't the last Saiyan, unless something in this timeline went differently. It was possible, it wasn't as though his parents mentioned other Saiyans except his brother. He knew Raditz existed, maybe even alive, but he felt nothing towards his brother. Raditz never came with his parents to visit, and whenever they even mentioned him, they told him how Raditz was busy training, but their expressions told him the truth. Raditz didn't care. Probably thought that Kakarot was too weak to bother about.

Which was amusing, since Kakarot was already stronger than what Raditz would be in over two decades into the future. It took some time to calm down, but Kakarot, soon to be Goku, decided to think about it. The future. He wasn't the original Goku, and he wouldn't imitate him just to keep the timeline the same, but there should be some events that are going to follow the original timeline that he could depend on…

Unless he is in an alternative universe altogether. Which was possible, but there wasn't a point in overthinking it. He would have some basic plan and just live life as it comes. What choice did he have? He'll train to be stronger than what he needs in case the threats end up stronger than originally expected, but he wasn't going to let it consume him. He may be a Saiyan, but there are other aspects to him than fighting.

One of his worries is how he should handle the Earth fighters. He is already too strong to benefit from training with Roshi, and considering his own Ki control, there's a decent chance that he can perfect various techniques without needing to recognize Roshi as his master. But that was the basis of Goku's friendship with Krillin, then the WMA tournament which established Yamcha and Tien as more than smalltime antagonists, Piccolo as well actually.

The question was, should he bother? Ignoring Super, where Power Levels became even more of a joke and allowed technique warriors to be more relevant, the Earth fighters could hardly help him with his current strength, let alone how strong he'll be when the threats they helped with will arrive. They originally reached their strength levels because they had to. At first they saw Goku as a rival, and then he was gone and they had to step up before Vegeta lands. But there won't be that motivation anymore. Goku will be too powerful, would they still think they can challenge him if they train hard enough, or will their motivation get crushed? The fact is, after they split after the third WMA, they didn't continue to challenge each other. Why would they now?

What about the Saiyans? Raditz and Nappa didn't have much time to show if they can be redeemed, but is there a point to it? Well, yes, everybody should deserve a chance, right? They couldn't pose a threat to Kakarot, so babysitting them to make sure they don't harm others and become at least somewhat decent shouldn't be too big of an issue… Actually, Kakarot considered giving Nappa more of a chance than Raditz, since he already had a sense that Raditz is somewhat rotten. No, that was his personal feelings interfering, because Raditz didn't care to visit his baby brother. But Raditz is still a child right now, so he should be given a chance once he is on Earth, an adult.

Vegeta… It's not an obvious choice. Sure, the Prince was redeemed, but how many people died for that to happen, even from the moment he landed on Earth? He becomes a powerful ally, but he's also a dangerous adversary. There's also the fact that as he'll have a different relationship with Vegeta than the original Goku. The power disparity is ought to be larger, and rivalry might not work. Even with a wife and a kid, Vegeta sold himself to Babidi just to challenge Goku…

Perhaps it was the burden of being born as a Shonen protagonist without having the mentality of one. Whether Goku was a hero or a battle maniac, the reborn Kakarot was not. His Saiyan blood may be urging him to battle, but he wasn't interested in placing thousands and millions of lives on the line for such a selfish cause. And that's what letting Vegeta or Freiza live like Goku originally did, that he himself felt wrong, regardless of the outcome being positive in at least one of these cases. Yes, most of Goku's allies used to be antagonistic towards him, but not all of them were equal in their brutality…

It wasn't even the act of killing that bothered him. He was surprisingly okay with that, and didn't care whether he'll be seen as a hero or not if he acts more pragmatically. But that same sense of pragmatism forced a dilemma upon him. Because he needs capable fighters! If he is on a timeline that is headed towards Super events, he'll need 10 warriors, including himself, in order to protect his universe, and he doubted that he would be strong enough to carry the entire team to victory in the Tournament of Power.

And that's an issue. The relevant events in Super were only partially due to Goku's influence. Beerus came to Earth because of a prophecy, and ended up being interested in Goku. Champa wanted the Super Dragon Balls and Beerus wasn't going to simply give up on that, so the Tournament could happen regardless of Goku's relationship with Beerus. And the Tournament happening caught Zeno's attention and interest in playing that out. From what he remembered, Goku's fault is mainly in reminding Zeno about the Tournament, as the childish God seemed to forget about it, but there's no guarantee. The reincarnator couldn't depend on that.

Thus, 10 warriors. If he discards the Earth fighters, as well as the Saiyans, who does he have left? The Androids were three potential fighters, but even that depended on both Gero following the same path, and him being able to redeem those, the same issue with the Saiyans. Cell is an even bigger stretch in the redeemable group.

Buu? Maybe he could save good Buu even without the odd events that originally happened. He was destructive, but he was also innocent. Even before the split of Good and Evil Buu, he was calmed down by Satan.

So who did he have? Himself, 16, 17, 18, Buu, Piccolo, Gohan? Most of these, including Piccolo, would require redemption. Which means might as well add Raditz, Nappa and Vegeta to the theoretical warrior list, since they would have to train and will be stronger at that point in time. If he manages to contact and help deal with Broly, assuming it is the Super version of the guy, then there's him as well.

There's also the option of using dead fighters. If Freiza doesn't get revived and trains, then his full power wouldn't be that high compared to the bigger threats at the time of the tournament, but still noteworthy. If the fillers of DBZ happen, there's also Pikkon that Kakarot recalled, who was slightly stronger than post-Cell Goku.

Maybe if the events of the future timeline happen the same, they could get support from Mirai Trunks? Some method of communication will need to be established with the alternative future, for that to be an option. Frankly, if that timeline still exists and Trunks comes to visit, Kakarot will probably help out more directly, if he's able. Traveling with Trunks Back to the Future, then teleporting to New Namek in order to get the Dragon Balls to restore Earth, maybe the population as well? Kakarot remembered something about a time limit for that, though he knew that Freiza was resurrected despite it. He decided to think about it more if it becomes relevant.

Kakarot sighed. There was a limit to how much he could plan such a thing, especially in his current circumstances. And then thoughts of his future mate came to his mind, and he couldn't help but growl in frustration. He couldn't stop his true feelings from surfacing. He was reborn as the main hero and he'll be stronger than the original. That was the most basic of wish-fulfilment concepts in many fanfictions he used to read! He wasn't going to run away from the burden of saving Earth despite knowing that he'll need to tear his mind and body apart in order to prepare, so didn't he deserve a bigger reward?

Yes, he couldn't stop from thinking about it. It was somewhat pathetic of him, he recognized, but he wanted the Harem route! At least more than one! Why stop with Chi-Chi when he can have Bulma as well? Why let Vegeta claim such a great girl? The normal girl that used her genius to remain besides the strongest fighters in existence. Vegeta can have her sister or nobody at all!

He was whinging, he knew that. Chances of having a successful polygamous relationship with the girls in Dragon Ball were slim, he knew that as well. But he was the self insert character! Of course he couldn't stop himself from desiring those sexy girls from his childhood… It's not like he matured much during his previous life, so it's fine!

He may have a different mentality from his previous self, especially influenced by his Saiyan physique, but he was definitely broken.

Kakarot didn't know how long his journey would take. Vegeta and Nappa took a year to reach Earth, but he had no idea where the journey started, and they didn't take a direct route anyway. Though he knew from listening to Bardock and Gine plan, that the ship he was launched on wasn't one of the latest models and wasn't in use – it didn't have a tracker on it. They didn't even add a scouter for Kakarot to have, for the same reason. Bulma would probably still benefit plenty from having this ship to science all over.

He didn't plan on training, so he hoped the journey wouldn't be too long. While he was rather confident in his Ki control, even a tiny variable in his situation could have severe consequences. He'll need to be patient…

Maybe he had something to train after all, Kakarot realized after a moment. There was something he neglected… "Ah"… Well, that will take some time…

*One Week Later*

Find the Dragon Balls! Look out for them all!

Come and hunt those Dragon Balls with me.

I AM MASTER OF MY VOICE!

Gotta heed the call of magic Dragon Balls!

What a great adventure this will be.

FUS RO DAH BITCHES

Set a course for action, adventure doesn't wait!

A fantastic journey for your dreams -- a thrilling mystery!

Kakarot coughed, ruining his mood and began to sulk. No, he didn't fully master his voice in a week, that was in his head. Where it shall probably remain, considering he was as tone deaf in this life as in the previous one. He just knew it, even though he could hardly talk, let alone sing.

He could see Earth approaching though, and his adventure could officially begin. While he believed that only Kami could probably sense energy on Earth, he still kept his suppressed, not willing to test how Kami would react. He knew it's unlikely that Kami will try to kill him, but would he insist on keeping Kakarot in the lookout? That's a possibility…

Kakarot was weary regarding his future meeting with Gohan. Becoming Goku and seeing the old man as a grandfather felt like he would be betraying his parents, but he knew that was the wrong mindset. They sent him off wishing for him to live happily… And Gohan wouldn't die to Oozaru, considering Kakarot's mental fortitude would be too strong to fail him! It had to, considering how strong he will be in the Great Ape form, and it going berserk with nothing on Earth being able to challenge it…

Well, as the song says, adventure doesn't wait, because here we CRASH!