"Master-"
"Kakarot!"
"Mister! Look! I'm number seven! And I'm seven!" In my Super Saiyan Primal form, I could pick Kakarot's voice out from across the room. He and Master Roshi were near the center of the room, waiting for the matches to start, their numbers being so low that it was clear just how excited Goku was for the tournament, even though I refused to let the boy win this year.
Roshi was wearing his Jackie Chun wig, but clearly, he hadn't expected it to fool this version of Kakarot, based on his response to Kakarot's chattering away.
"Calm yourself, little one. Focus on your match, it'll be one of the first ones." Roshi advised the boy, but Kakarot was practically vibrating in excitement.
"But there are so many strong people, Ma-mister! I'm so excited! My blood is boiling!"
"Remember to keep those Saiyan instincts of yours under control, Kakarot. Pure-"
"Unfocused aggression clouds judgement in battle, I know, Mas-mister." Roshi thumped Kakarot on the back of the head, probably annoyed by the way the kid repeatedly forgot that his master was currently in disguise. "Ouch!"
"Number seven! Number seven and number five, to ring four, please!"
All of the other major contenders, except for Roshi, at least, were fairly high numbers, so I didn't have anything to distract me from watching Kakarot's match. Even though he was fighting a weakling, I still wanted to see how he fought. Even one single, held-back blow, could tell quite a bit about one's combat style and overall power level if one looked carefully. I noted Tater's gigantic figure in the corner watching the boy saunter up to the arena in question, too, halfhearted curiosity in his gaze.
Kakarot's stance was simple and effective, mirroring what I'd seen from Gohan and Roshi a few years prior, but with a decidedly aggressive flare. It wasn't completely perfect, but it was close enough that I could tell that the boy had extensive sparring experience, though his real, live combat experience could be called into question, and he wasn't really protecting his tail all that well, either, swinging it behind him without a care.
Unfortunately, one look at his opponent and it was obvious that the poor martial artist wouldn't be able to take advantage of that little weakness.
Kakarot's opponent was so big that they literally shook the stage as they climbed onto it, and was forced to crouch to actually get a good look at Kakarot through the massive folds of their belly.
It would've been horrifying enough if the walking mountain was a guy, but no. It was the largest woman I'd ever laid eyes on.
"This little pipsqueak thinks that they can take on the…" The walking mountain made a pose, clearly trying… and failing, to be cute. "Gorgeous Mountain!? Walk away now, little boy, and you will leave the stage with your dignity intact."
"Umm… No thanks, sir."
Tater and I both huffed at the same time, stifling a laugh as Roshi palmed his disguised face in the audience.
But, unfortunately, the walking mountain didn't take Kakarot's gender-blindness so well. "HOW DARE YOU! DO YOU THINK YOU CAN MOCK ME AND GET AWAY WITH IT!? I WAS GOING TO GO EASY ON YOU, BUT YOU CAN FORGET THAT NOW! START THE MATCH! START IT NOW!" The woman screamed in Kakarot's face.
"B-begin!" The referee shouted, running off the stage, his face sweating from fear of the walking mountain's temper.
A temper that came down on Kakarot with a hammer fist that cracked the concrete where the seven year old Saiyan had just been.
"Wait, what'd I do?" Kakarot wondered aloud, cocking his head, confused but otherwise unperturbed.
"DIE, YOU SILLY LITTLE BRAT!" A thundering kick flew toward Kakarot, but he casually rolled out of the way to dodge it, still visibly confused. "DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE!"
A series of punches came Kakarot's way next, but the walking mountain was far out of her league. Nothing she did could possibly hit the kid.
After all, it was a power level of 500 or so against a woman who couldn't even use ki, maybe holding a power level of 60, if I was being generous.
"The kid's a Saiyan alright. He's fast on his feet." Zeck muttered beside me, also watching the match.
"He's reading body language like a pro, barely registering the attack before he's already moving. Still holding back, though." I chimed in.
"Well, yeah. Can you blame him, against this rabble?"
Meanwhile, on stage, the walking mountain was beginning to wear herself out. Moving all of that fat took massive amounts of energy.
As she panted in between attack chains, Kakarot took his opportunity… to apologize. "I don't know what I did, sir, but my grandpa taught me to always apologize when you do wrong, so I'm sorry. But I can't lose this fight."
"I'M A WOMAN, YOU INSUFFERABLE BRAT!"
"Oh, I thought those were just fat rolls. I'm sorry, ma'am." Kakarot bowed.
"SCREW YOU, BRAT! MAJESTIC MOUNTAIN SLAM!" The woman did not accept Kakarot's apology. I didn't blame her, even though it made me laugh.
Instead, she attempted to use her gigantic body to crush Kakarot flat.
Instead, Kakarot did something that shocked all of the normal people in the building silent.
As she flew through the air, the young Saiyan grabbed the walking mountain's arm… and gently pushed.
She flew five feet too far and landed outside of the ring with a confused thud. "Sorry again, ma'am. Master Roshi always told me not to hit girls, but the women back home told me to do the opposite of everything that Grandpa and Master tell me when it comes to girls. I tried to not hurt you, though." Kakarot explained, bowing again to the confused mountain of a woman laying on the floor right outside the ring.
I snorted. I liked this Kakarot. A good mix of the Goku from canon and someone completely different.
It was entirely my fault, though. Just based on that one explanation, I'd managed to piece together what'd changed Goku, no, Kakarot's life so drastically.
Me. Or, more specifically, the little book I'd given Gohan about raising Saiyans.
Not wanting Goku to lose such a vital part of who he was, I'd put a lot of information into that little book, though I had skimped out on certain advanced concepts, such as the transformations that us Saiyans could do beyond just the Oozaru.
With a more complete understanding of what the child was capable of, it only made sense that Gohan would go to the strongest person he knew, Master Roshi, for help raising the child.
After all, I was pretty sure that I'd written something about the average adult Oozaru being planet-destroyer class, somewhere inside that book. It made sense that Gohan wasn't stupid enough to think he could take care of a child like that on his own.
Which meant that Kakarot basically grew up with both Gohan and Master Roshi. And since they knew he was a Saiyan, they probably taught him martial arts to help him comprehend the world.
In the original timeline, Goku had only barely learned the basics by the time Gohan died.
Here, Roshi and Gohan had known that spirit training was important, and martial arts was a good medium to use to teach a young Saiyan to understand the world.
The boy'd probably even gotten injured enough to get a few strength boosts, explaining his relatively high power level.
And since he was training young Kakarot, Roshi had probably moved his little house to that inhabited training island where the boys had delivered milk in the original timeline, giving Goku people other than just the two old men to talk to.
As Kakarot jumped down from the arena, I noticed his eyes sweeping over to where Tater was standing, and going wide.
Now, Tater wasn't particularly hiding his aura, but honestly, I seriously doubted that Kakarot could even plumb the depths of that, beyond just noticing that he was more than a little stronger than him and Roshi.
After all, while Kakarot was probably used to sensing him and Roshi, with their power levels just over a thousand, probably, at full tilt, Tater had broken his limits battling me all those years ago, then gotten a massive power boost from his injuries on top of that, and kept training like a maniac. Just standing there casually, I could tell that the behemoth of a Saiyan's power level was in the hundred thousands. Two orders of magnitude beyond Kakarot's. At that point, all one could really tell was that the opponent was way too strong for them.
With all of the people here who completely and totally overpowered him, there was no chance that Kakarot could tell the difference between Tater, me, or Lynn and Pepper, whose auras could be clearly felt from somewhere outside even through the walls of the building.
So, why was he staring at Tater instead of me or… Oh, he was staring at the tail wrapped around Tater's cloak. He'd realized that Tater was a Saiyan.