Placement Trials Arc

The Placement Trials Arc is the first arc of Dragon Ball: Uprising. It takes place in Age 737, on Planet Vegeta. It's plot revolves around the young Saiyan Kaido competing with others his age over candidate-status in King Vegeta's Royal Guard.

Chapter 0: An Introduction to Kaido
It wasn’t exactly pleasant to wake up because of a punch to the stomach, but it wasn’t unusual for the young Kaido. That, and it wasn’t like he had much of choice. Either he learned to wake up earlier, or he had to get used to the pain, because his father certainly wasn’t going to change his behavior. The punch was actually much softer this morning, but still not something the boy could just ignore. Coughing heavily, the boy sat up, obviously trying to avoid further attempts to ‘wake him up’. “W-what?”

It was a dumb question, but it was the first to come to mind following the sudden punch. He knew full well the reason he was supposed to be up. He’d been preparing pretty much his entire life for it. So of course his father didn’t sound too pleased about him apparently forgetting.

“Kaido, if you miss the fights, I’ll beat you to a pulp myself. I promised King Vegeta you’d show him a good fight, and I will not be made a liar.”

Rubbing his eyes now, the boy could just barely see the expression on his father’s face. He was.. Excited. It was strange to Kaido, as usually his father was quiet and serious. The only times he ever saw the great Artiko with even a small smile on his face was when he was training with other members of the Royal Guard. Kaido could definitely understand where the excitement came from, however. For years, he had watched the same fights occur, and only now was he himself old enough to participate himself.

“I would never miss them, father.” Satisfied, the older Saiyan backed off from the bed, giving his son assurance that he wasn’t about to strike again. It wasn’t wise to, anyway, as it might just harm the boy’s performance later that day. Then, he was out of the room, without another word.

This gave the still-a-little-sleepy Kaido some time to think about what was ahead. Every year, children in the capital like himself had the opportunity to show their strength and capability to the older Saiyans, as well as officials from the Planet Trade Organization. While there weren’t many Saiyans eligible at moment, it was still a big deal. It would decide which one of the Saiyans coming of age would be selected for Royal Guard, which meant that once upon a time, Artiko himself had competed and won. So his father certainly wasn’t going to be very happy if his son failed to live up to his example.

Getting out of bed now, Kaido’s thoughts turned to his older sister Nachi, and how she had failed at the very same competition he was now expected to win. She had made it to semifinals before being knocked out, so she certainly wasn’t a failure. Her display of power was still enough to attract the attention of Lord Frieza’s men, but it wasn’t enough for Artiko. Once she was taken off-planet, Kaido never heard from her again. If he lost like she did, he suspected his father would treat him the way. He couldn’t have that. Conquering planets alongside other Saiyans in the Planet Trade Organization’s name probably wasn’t that bad, but it would make his father think less of him. He’d rather train and fight on Planet Vegeta then lose his role model’s support and go anywhere else. He had to be stronger than his sister...

When he was finally dressed in his armor and ready to deal with his father once more, Kaido left his room, confidently striding out like the punch from earlier wasn’t still hurting him. He was greeted by the sight of his father sitting at a large table, alone. It had been a long time since his sister or mother had joined the two of them to eat. His father usually had places to be, so his waiting was definitely because of the day’s competition.

Eager to break the awkward silence that would’ve likely ensued once he sat down to eat, Kaido decided to voice his concerns to the only other person who’d care.

“Father, what was my power level the last time we checked?”

As if he would actually forget such a thing. He just needed to know if it was satisfactory, for that small boost in confidence it would give him to hear his father praise him once more. Rather recite the number, Artiko tapped a button on his green scouter, before reading off what it said.

“You’re doing pretty well for your age. 450, and that’s before you exert yourself. You have no excuse to lose, you hear?”

He had no excuse.. Well it was nice to receive some praise, even if it was followed by a threat of punishment in the case that he lost. Smiling somewhat confidently to hide his concern, he nodded.

“I won’t, I’ll make you proud.”

His father didn’t respond, but Kaido knew what he was thinking. He was probably remembering Nachi, and how she had said the same thing all those years ago. Like Kaido, his excitement was probably also tied with anxiety about the whole thing, even if he wouldn’t show it to his son.

Both of them had a pretty big day ahead of them.

The streets of the Royal City were packed, which was something rare for Planet Vegeta. Too many Saiyans cooped up in the same place lead to fights breaking out everywhere, so most of the race was always deployed on missions to blow off steam. Today, however, it seemed like many of Saiyans with children of their own had returned from their tasks just to see their offspring perform in the many placement trials. Like Kaido’s father, most of them were likely attending for more selfish reasons, but that was the norm when it came to Saiyans.

There were also many other Aliens present, with most of them being representatives of from the various Arcosians at the head of the Planet Trade Organization. Some others were likely just travelers, however, as they did not wear standard-issue battle armor. They were likely present to just watch, or maybe gamble on the results. In previous years, some mercenary bands had tried to show up and recruit as well, but that was soon banned by the Planet Trade Organization under order of Frieza himself.

By the time Kaido made it to the building where all the participants of the Placement Trials were supposed to show themselves, the magnitude of it all really hit him. There were around a hundred children present, and he only recognized a couple. He knew that he wouldn’t be facing the vast majority of them, but it was still rather daunting to see how many Saiyans were willing to compete with him for a position on the Royal Guard.

After maybe another ten minutes of waiting, the growing group of young Saiyans were addressed by Zorn, the Captain of the Royal Guard who was charged with managing the whole affair. Despite his position and the responsibility that came with it, the captain didn’t really look too pleased to have to deal with it. All of the contestants lit up and seemed excited once he actually spoke, however.

“Well, I have better things to do, so I think this is a pretty good place to begin.” He paused for a moment to let the excitement die down, before continuing. “Welcome to the Annual Placement Trials. As you all surely know by now, your performance all throughout today will determine your first assignments as members of the Saiyan army and Planet Trade Organization. Prove yourself the best in your set of eight, and you’ll get to considered for the Royal Guard. Prove yourself adequate, and maybe one of Frieza’s people will want you.”

He said the name ‘Frieza’ with such venom in his tone that it reminded Kaido of his father. It made sense that they’d both hate the Arcosian tyrant, since they were both companions, but it was still strange to hear someone risk punishment by speaking about Frieza like that in public. Behavior like that was often just reserved for bars and the privacy of one’s own home.

“If you fail to accomplish anything at all, well...” He didn’t really need to continue, as pretty much everyone knew what he was alluding to. Those that didn’t prove they had any skill at all had to either participate again a year later, become fodder for the army, or work small jobs on Planet Vegeta as butchers and cooks. “Need I go on?”

He didn’t. All the children were waiting to hear what arena they were meant to rush to, as well who’d be assigned there as well. Kaido was among them, as the last thing he needed to hear right now was how screwed up his future would be if he underperformed.

One of the children, who Kaido recognized as Arra, was the first one to answer, drawing the whole room’s attention to herself. Loud and impatient, she made their collective thoughts known.

“Hurry up and tell us where we gotta go! I can’t stand just waiting around.” The way she said it made it rather clear that she wasn’t just trying to insult Zorn and show off, but that she was rather excited about the whole thing. She looked like she could probably kick the ass of pretty much every other contestant around her, so none of the others chimed in to tell her to shut up.

Zorn actually seemed to briefly smile at her comment, likely because it gave him an excuse to cut back on the usual speech and rule-reciting. With a shrug, he brought up an electronic tablet from which he could read out names, and continued.

“Well, if you’re in such a hurry, I guess you don’t need the rules girl. For your sake, I hope you don’t break in any throughout the matches. The following people must rush to Arena A: Erkin, Onio, Avoca, Ceria, Okaro, Totoma, Sallot, and Letas. Hurry up, cause if you’re there late, you’re disqualified.”

Once he said that, the named eight rushed out, likely panicking from the threat. Zorn had quite the laugh at the sight, but that laughter eventually died down once it was time to list off the rest of contestants.

“In Arena B, in the southwestern part of the city, the following people will participate: Nipu, Lero, Kaido-”

There it was. Once he knew where he was meant to go, he left pretty damn quickly. He had no idea how much time he actually had to get to the arena or if there really was a chance to be disqualified, but he wasn’t about to risk it. The worst part about it was his father likely knew where he was going to be assigned, as he promised the King would be in the audience. He hadn’t shared the information with Kaido however.

What a wonderful father, that Artiko.