Chapter Text
It had been a month since Goku lost his life in the brutal battle against his brother Raditz, and ended up in the Otherworld. Following Kami and King Yemma’s guidance, Goku started the incredibly long journey on Snake Way, where at the other end, the renowned martial arts master King Kai awaited. From what he had been told, King Kai’s legendary training would give him the strength and techniques he needed to combat the two approaching Saiyans who would arrive on Earth in less than a year.
During Goku’s run, he eventually came upon an Otherworld worker who was driving along Snake Way in a streetcleaner, and offered the tired Earthbound Saiyan a respite from the multi-thousand mile run atop his vessel. Currently, Goku slumbered atop the vehicle as he tried to regain his strength and continue the run to King Kai. Unfortunately, he was blissfully unaware of all the bumps and corners the vehicle had to navigate along the legendary road, and as such, was completely ignorant when one massive bump sent him flying from the back of the vehicle, and off Snake Way into Hell.
…Less than a minute later…
Goku landed with a THUD, hitting the ground with massive force that shook the surrounding environment, including the pond of blood nearby.
“Owwwww!...Agh, what’s going on?!”
He stood up stretching his aching back and observed his surroundings, flabbergasted by the bloody pond with the fountain, the burning red sky, and mountains of spikes in the background.
“Uhhh, is this…King Kai’s place?”
Goku then heard a voice from behind, “hey buddy! That was quite a fall you took!”
Goku turned around and saw the source of the voice, a bulky blue ogre with a single horn jutting out of his head. He asked in clueless fashion, “Uhh…King Kai?”
The ogre shook his head, “I’m not King Kai, the name’s Goz!”
“Goz huh? So, do you work for King Kai?” Goku asked.
Goz shook his head, “No! Ya moron! I work for King Yemma. He tasks me to help torture all the nasty folks who end up here in Hell.”
“Oh, Hell, I see, well that makes se-” Goku nodded before he stopped as he realized the context of the situation, and freaked out, “HELL?!!”
Goz smirked, “Yup, now you got it. You’ve landed in Hell bucko. Guess you must have fallen off Snake Way?”
Goku was speechless, and sputtered to get out his words, until Goz was joined by another ogre, only this one was red with two horns on his head. He spoke to Goz, “did I hear right Goz? Did you just say this guy fell off Snake Way, and he’s still walking?!”
Goz nodded, “Yup, pretty crazy huh Mez?”
“Insane is more like it,” Mez replied with a nod.
Goku finally found his words, “hold on a second! I can’t be stuck down in Hell! I need to get to King Kai so I can train to fight the Saiyans that are coming to Earth!”
Goz and Mez turned to Goku and the red ogre replied, “Saiyans huh? Didn’t think any of them survived after their planet was destroyed, we thought they were history a long time ago.”
Goz then added, “of course, imagine our surprise when just a month ago, a Saiyan gets thrown down here out of the blue.”
Goku flinched, realizing they must have been talking about Raditz. However that didn’t really matter to him, for he needed a way out of here and he needed it now, “look guys please! You have to help me get out of here and to King Kai’s place, or else everyone I know is going to die!”
Mez frowned, “odd request to ask for a way out of here, usually when a spirit ends up in this place, they’re here to stay, what do you think Goz?”
Goz nodded, “the guy was given permission to run Snake Way, so he’s clearly here by accident. Tell you what, we’ll get on the horn with King Yemma and see if he can give permission to let you out of here. In the meantime, I’ll train with ya myself to pass the time, what do you say?”
Goku’s face lit up, “really?! That all sounds fantastic! I’m in!”
Goz nodded back, “okay, we’ll help you out. Mez, go call King Yemma, see if you can get him on the horn. Meanwhile, I’ll take this guy to the training grounds.”
“Sure, whatever,” Mez replied before walking away. Goz escorted Goku who followed the blue ogre with a skip in his step, believing his ticket out of Hell was just a phone call away.
Meanwhile, none of them noticed that they were being watched by another figure standing behind a nearby boulder. The figure tightened its fist and slammed it into the rock leaving a small divot that cracked at impact. Whoever this was, they clearly were not happy…
…Hell Training Grounds…
Hours passed by, and Goku and Goz continued to grapple and spar. Goku ended up throwing his new training partner on his back, letting out a breath at the stamina he had been building up. Goz gasped as the wind blew out of his lungs, and he heard Goku laugh with a wide smile, “you’re pretty strong Goz!”
Goz chuckled, “haha, so are you Goku! Dang…haven’t had this kind of challenge since that last Saiyan who showed up…”
Out of breath, Goku sat down and asked, “that Saiyan you’re talking about, was his name Raditz?”
Goz sat back up with a stunned look and said, “yeah that’s right…so you know him?”
Goku nodded with a frown, “he’s the reason I’m here in the first place. He put my family in danger, and threatened to kill my friends. I did my best to stop him, but we ended up killing each other instead.”
“Woah, that’s heavy,” Goz huffed, “...though not the worst story I’ve heard, that’s for sure. Still, that Raditz guy was a real pain for us too, took forever to beat the power out of his soul, but Mez and I managed…”
Goku was confused and raised a brow, “beat the power out of his soul?”
Goz nodded, “that’s our job down here. King Yemma has us beat all the evil essence out of every troublesome soul that comes here, before we throw them into the soul purifier to be reborn. Of course, some cause more trouble than others. Like the time when all the Saiyans died way back when their planet blew up, it took our whole team a full year to chase them all down and beat their souls powerless. Some of them managed to escape, but then ended up wandering off, now stuck down here in deeper sections of Hell.”
“I see,” Goku nodded, “...and that’s what you did to Raditz too, huh?”
Goz nodded back, “we did, and Mez and I were about to throw him into the soul purifier. But then…he went missing?”
“Missing?!” Goku was shocked.
Goz nodded, “Yup, though it's his loss more than anything, he could have been reborn as someone better, but instead he’s stuck down here in eternal damnation, pity…”
Goku frowned, thinking that even in death, Raditz was still making poor decisions that made himself even more miserable. At least now he was somewhere in which he couldn’t make anyone else suffer for his bad choices, like he did to him and Gohan. At that moment, he saw Mez approach the two of them, and it looked like he had bad news.
“Hey Mez!” Goz greeted him before he noticed the frown on the red ogre’s face, “what’s up?”
“Is something wrong?” Goku asked with a foreboding feeling.
Mez answered, “I made the call. Unfortunately, the line was busy and I had to leave a message.”
Goz groaned, knowing what this meant, “for how long?”
Mez sighed, “according to the rep, King Yemma won’t be answering any calls for…for the next 6 months…”
“6 MONTHS?!!” Goku yelped, “w-w-w-what does that mean?!”
Goz sighed and stood up to answer, “it means Goku, that we can’t let you leave until we get the word from King Yemma. So unfortunately, you're stuck down here with us for the time being.”
Goku stuttered, “b-b-but, I have to get to King Kai, I need to train…my friends, and my family…they’re going to…”
Mez shook his head, “I’m sorry Goku, but our hands are tied. We don’t make the rules, we just follow them. Breaking them, even for someone decent like you would result in our expulsion, sorry.”
Goz patted his shoulder, “Don’t beat yourself up Mez, I’m sure Goku understands, right?”
Goku looked miserable, and could only stare up at the yellow clouds where Snake Way awaited behind, “...yeah, I don’t want to get you guys in trouble, of course…”
Goz frowned, knowing this wasn’t what he wanted to hear, “we’ll give you some privacy…Mez and I will head back to the office and see if we can’t do something, maybe shave a couple months off, or something…”
With that, the two ogres walked away, leaving Goku to stew in the bad news. He couldn’t believe it, one little fall, and now he was losing 6 months of valuable training time, 6 months! If he didn’t make it to King Kai in time, there was no way he would be able to handle the Saiyans, or even have a planet to come back to! Discouraged, Goku thought about what to do, and looked up to the clouds above again.
He jumped to his feet and declared with a determined voice, “No! I can’t wait that long! I have to get back up there!”
He powered up to his full strength, and then with a mighty leap, jumped into the air. He had to make it back to Snake Way, and he couldn’t let anything stop him! He was approaching the cloud bank as Goku exerted all of his power to fly higher, “I can make it! I just have to! I need to make it to King Kai!”
Goku smiled upon reaching the cloud bank, thinking he was home free…but to his horror, he ended up slamming on something that stopped him, an invisible barrier.
He could see Snake Way on the other side of the clouds, so close he could spit on it, but his hand let along his body refused to go through. The barrier finally acted against him, and recoiled Goku back down toward the ground. The Earthbound Saiyan landed with a THUD, groaning in the fresh crater he had just made.
“Ouchhh…ugh…what was that?”
Then, to Goku’s surprise, a distinctive female voice answered him from behind, “it’s called the Morality Barrier. You can’t pass through it as long as you harbor a selfish desire for wanting to get through.”
Goku turned to the source of the voice, “a selfish…huh?”
Goku stopped mid-sentence once he saw who had approached him from behind. It was a youthful-looking, beautiful woman with a halo over her head. She was clearly a Saiyan given the battle armor she wore, as well as the brown furry swinging tail behind her. She was of average height, had spiky black hair that reached below her shoulders, and gentle onyx eyes that shined like two blocks of obsidian. However, those eyes glared at Goku with an intense fury.
“Another Saiyan?!” Goku gasped, “but I thought that Goz said-”
With all her strength, the female saiyan smacked Goku in the back of the head, forcing him to sit up as he heard her scream at the top of her lungs, “HOW COULD YOU BOTH BE SO STUPID?!!”
Goku rubbed the back of his head as he watched the woman start to weep. She wiped tears from her face and hiccuped, “we tried so hard for you…we did everything we could to ensure you both lived…”
The woman screamed right in Goku’s face, “how could you and your brother kill each other like that?!...KAKAROT?!”
Goku flinched at hearing this Saiyan woman call him by his own Saiyan name, a name he had only heard Raditz ever call him, “h-how do you know that name?!...Who are you?”
The woman clenched her teeth as she continued to sob, “how do you think I know that name, you idiot? I’m Gine…I'm your mother!”
“MOTHER?!!” Goku screamed as he gasped at the woman who continued to sob.
…A while later in a deeper section of Hell…
Goku followed Gine into the spiky depths of Hell, and the mood was as intense as the environment that surrounded them. After her outburst, the female saiyan had fallen into a sad silence before requesting Goku to follow her. Goku didn’t know what to say, but she certainly didn’t feel untrustworthy. In fact, she emanated an aura of kindness that fondly reminded Goku of his Grandpa Gohan. The intense sadness on her face made him feel bad, knowing that his current status and the reasons for it deeply upset her.
After what seemed like a period of long walking, Goku spoke up, “so…you’re my mom?”
Gine merely nodded in silence.
Goku continued, “and…your name is Gine?”
Once again, she answered with a silent nod.
Goku scratched the back of his head and asked, “and…you’re down here with Raditz, and…my father?”
Gine nodded again with a grim look. Goku nodded, now understanding why Raditz had disappeared after Goz and Mez had subdued him. Still, it didn’t seem right to turn her in, “okay then, I think I understand. You guys are all down here because you’re all as evil as the other saiyans?”
Gine’s shoulders slumped, “Yes Kakarot…”
Goku frowned, “my name is Goku actually, if you don’t mind.”
Gine turned to him and let out a small sad laugh, “yes, Raditz explained how you went ‘native’ on Earth. But, you lead a peaceful, happy life, right?”
For the first time, Goku gave her a genuine smile and said, “yeah, life on Earth is great. I’m happy I was sent there as a baby. Grandpa Gohan adopted me and treated me well, and I made so many friends like Bulma, Krillin, and Master Roshi! I love my life on Earth.”
Gine cracked a sad smile, “you left the Saiyan race behind and lived a life you were happy with. As a mother, I guess that’s all I could ever have hoped for you. Ensuring your pod made it off Planet Vegeta was worth it after all.”
She frowned again and said, “if only I had been a bit faster, I could have told Raditz where you had gone, and all of this could have been avoided…”
Goku was confused, as Gine was nothing like what he had expected, given his initial encounter with Raditz. He bluntly asked the first question that came to mind, “okay…so the Saiyans are evil, but why are you down here mom? You don't really seem like a bad person?”
Gine shrugged and said, “I guess just out of my relationship to the Saiyans. In my life, I was never much for conquest or even a great fighter. However, the whole Saiyan society was basically composed of shameless killers, so it’s not like we didn’t have our punishment coming…”
Goku cocked his head, “I guess if you feel that way. Although, I just think you don’t deserve to be down here, is all…”
Gine warmly smiled, “I appreciate that Kaka-...umm…Goku.” She stopped and corrected herself by calling her son by his chosen Earth name.
They continued on their journey, and soon enough arrived at the cave that Gine and her family was living out of. Before entering, she turned to Goku and sighed, “I know we’ve just met…but please…could you find it in your heart to try and forgive Raditz? We’re already dead, and in Hell…I just don’t want the remainder of our existence to be spent in-fighting. This is the first time we’ve ever been together, as a family, and-”
Goku placed a caring hand on his mother’s shoulder, and smiled, “Sure thing mom, if it will make you happy, we can try and talk this out.”
Gine smiled and teared up, wrapping her small soft hands around Goku’s larger one and squeezed it, “Thank you so much…”
Goku and Gine entered the cave together, and Goku was surprised at the pseudo-home which had been carved out within the interior. There were two stone slabs for beds, a basin filled with water, and a pile of chopped meat from several hell-beasts, with their skins decorating the cave. Goku looked around and once again, met eyes with his brother, Raditz, now bound in chains on a slab leaning against the wall. Raditz glared at his younger brother with contempt, and Goku glared back to match it. Right after that, Goku’s eyes then fell on…him…
Sitting at the back of the room, with an intense look in his eyes and a cross scar on his cheek. The green-armored Saiyan stood up and slowly approached Goku, who trembled as he felt his power. He was much stronger than Raditz, and definitely stronger than Goku himself. The scarred Saiyan stopped in front of Goku and glared into his eyes. Goku could only stare right back, knowing who this was at first glance.
Goku finally swallowed the lump in his throat, “y-you’re…my father?...”
The Saiyan nodded, “I am…and you’re Kakarot? Right?”
Goku nodded, “yeah…I go by Goku now, but yeah…”
He sighed and closed his eyes in a calm silence, and then opened them, extending his hand, “the name’s Bardock, pleased to finally meet you, kid.”
Goku accepted the handshake Bardock offered to him, and realized that Raditz had been right about what he said on Roshi’s Island. Apart from the softer eyes he clearly had inherited from his mother, Goku had an uncanny resemblance to his father, especially the hair. However, Bardock’s eyes and tone clearly illustrated the rough life he had lived prior to his death, in complete contrast to his youngest son.
Bardock then walked over to his seat, sharing a brief look with Gine before he sat down. Gine motioned for Goku to do the same, and the Earthbound Saiyan did so. Gine then picked up Raditz’s chained form and set him on the ground between Bardock and Goku. She then sat down opposite Raditz.
In spite of everything, Gine smiled, “Our family…sitting together in a circle, finally…”
Bardock took a deep breath, closing his eyes, knowing where this was going. Gine’s calm speech soon began to waver, “I never thought I'd see the day…”
Her voice cracked as she sniffled, “...I never thought…that you'd both be so young…and end up here…sniff…”
Gine finally shouted out loud in sadness, “how could you two kill each other?! We worked so hard to ensure you both lived! Bardock fought against Frieza to ensure Raditz return orders never came, and I ensured that Kaka-...Goku, made it off Planet Vegeta in time…Why? just, why?...sniff!”
Gine started crying her eyes out as she was overwhelmed with intense sadness. Goku couldn't help but feel guilty as he watched his mother weep out loud. Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he saw a look of full remorse and guilt on his brother Raditz’s face. Bardock remained quiet and stoic, the look on his face nonverbally confirming that this was something he regularly dealt with.
Goku finally worked up enough courage to say, “I’m so sorry mom. I tried talking to Raditz, I really did. I tried reasoning with him, and it just…”
Gine wiped her eyes and glared at Raditz with utter disappointment, “yes, I’ve heard…”
Goku nodded with his eyes closed and said, “he kidnapped my son, and he-”
“SON?!” Bardock and Gine both exclaimed upon hearing that. Raditz just groaned at the shocked expressions on his parent’s faces, having clearly left out that detail to them.
“Y-you…you have a son?” Gine’s eyes teared up again, but with a gentle smile at the wonderful news, “...I’m…I’m a grandmother?”
Goku smiled and nodded, “That’s right! You're the grandma to my son Gohan. I bet you’d love him, he's such a kind and gentle little guy!”
Gine gave a full tooth smile, as this recent revelation helped uplift her downcast heart. Even Bardock cracked a smile at the news about him becoming a grandfather, “my bloodline has continued…”
His smirk turned into a frown before smacking Raditz in the back of the head. “What the hell is wrong with you?! What kind of idiotic moron kidnaps their own nephew and tries to kill him?!”
Goku cocked his head in confusion, “what exactly did he tell you?”
Gine frowned, “he said that he kidnapped an ally of yours and threatened to kill them, to coerce you into joining him.”
“That’s the smart thing to do,” Bardock said nodding, before shaking his head in disappointment, “but instead he kidnaps his own blood…Disgraceful.”
“What the hell did you people expect me to do?!” Raditz finally shouted out, “If I had come back empty handed, Prince Vegeta would have incinerated me, and I would have ended up here anyway!”
The long-haired Saiyan snarled at his family, “you all sit here and act like you have the high ground in this argument, when two of you have been dead for most of my life, and the other has had a vacation on Earth! Do you have any idea what my life was like?! Under constant threat by Vegeta, Nappa, or anyone from the Frost Force getting annoyed or bored enough with me to the point where they would have killed me in an instant! I was nothing in life…and hoped that somehow, maybe my brother, the only flesh and blood I had left, would be willing to side with me. Then I finally find him, and he forsakes me for the worthless inhabitants of a dirtball like Earth!”
Goku frowned at his brother’s monologue, “the people of Earth haven’t done anything wrong, and they aren’t worthless! They’re innocent people who can’t even fight back against someone as strong as you!”
Bardock and Raditz finally found some common ground and yelled at Goku together, “WHO CARES?!”
Goku flinched back, startled by their gang-up on him. Bardock spoke harshly, “those people are beneath you! You could have easily dominated that planet and served as their king if you had put your mind and body to it! How could you consider a planet of weaklings your equals? How could you choose them over your own brother?!”
The room was silent once again, and a look of utter shock was plastered on Goku’s face. He now saw that his own father held the same twisted ideals Raditz did. It was no wonder they were now in Hell. However, his one remaining family member had something to say as Gine spoke up…
“We…We have no right to question Kakarot’s choices or his life…umm, Goku’s life. We sent him to that planet with no one to teach or guide him. If he found a different life that he’s happy with, then we have no right to disparage him for that.”
Bardock sneered, “he’s acting like an Earthling, rather than a Saiyan, and-”
Gine slammed her cup into the table, silencing her husband as she screamed, “...And look where acting like Saiyans got us Bardock!...WE’RE IN HELL!!...we’re suffering in eternal damnation, and we deserve it!!”
That shut Bardock and even Raditz right up, while Goku just sat in utter silence as Gine unleashed verbal hell at her husband and eldest son, “all the Saiyans ever did was cause mindless destruction and death! And where did it lead them?! NOWHERE!...They’re all gone now, cleansed and reborn as if they never existed at all! We’re all that’s left. Kakarot only ended up here by mistake and will be leaving soon. His path was in the right, ours wasn’t!”
Bardock and Raditz had fallen into utter silence, having no response to that whatsoever. Gine stood up and shook her head, realizing this reunion had turned into a complete disaster, “I’m sorry Kaka…Goku…I’m so sorry Goku, I wanted to have a family reunion, but let’s…let’s just get you out of here.”
Goku looked at his mom as the sadness was casting on her face. He stood up as well and took her hand as she pulled him out of the cave, leaving Bardock and Raditz by themselves. The two warbred Saiyans could only sit in complete silence.
…Later at the Bloody Pond…
Goku was confused as Gine led him to an area on the opposite side of the Bloody Pond where he had landed, “I don’t understand mom, I thought you said the Morality Barrier was keeping me trapped down here. How are you going to get me out?”
Wiping tears from her face following her fallout in the cave, Gine took a deep breath and said, “Goku, tell me, why do you want to escape from here?”
Goku cocked his head at the question, and answered honestly, “I want to save my family and friends from the two saiyans coming to Earth, and I need to get to King Kai’s planet to gain the strength to beat them.”
Gine nodded, liking what she was hearing, “okay, and is that it? Is that the only reason you want to get out of here?”
Goku smiled and answered honestly again, “well, I guess I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to fighting these Saiyans! I’m sure they must be str-”
“That’s the problem!” Gine cut him off with a stern look.
Goku was confused, “W-What?”
Gine shook her head, “Goku, you have to let that go, or the Morality Barrier will never let you pass! Your selfish desire to fight, no matter how small, will keep the barrier acting against your attempts to escape it!”
Goku jaw dropped and sputtered, “b-b-but…how do I get rid of that? I can’t stop wanting to fight against strong opponents, I’ve always loved a good fight, for as long as I can remember!”
Gine sighed and shook her head, “figures…I swear…you really are a kinder and gentler version of Bardock.”
Gine then smiled and said with a determined look at her youngest son, “well worry not son! I’m your mother, and if there’s a way to get you out of Hell, we’ll find it together!”