Second Chance
is a Dragon Ball fanfic written by Full Power, better known as FP.
In a twist of fate, Bardock is transported into the future the day his sons had their fateful encounter. Given a second chance at life, the psychic Saiyan warrior sets out to become a better father and help the Z-Fighters battle oncoming threats to the universe as they know it.
While the fic was eventually discontinued, the author rebooted it under the title Alius Attentent (Ao3 Link) in December 2021.
Not to be confused with the crossover fanfic Second Chance.
These stories provides examples of:
Second Chance
- Action Dad: Bardock.
- Aborted Arc:
- In early plotting of the fic (late-fall 2012), Bardock was originally going to show up following the Goku-Piccolo fight at the end of Dragon Ball, and then would train with Goku and Gohan for the years before Raditz shows. This plan was scrapped due to unknown reasons.
- Speaking of Raditz, did you know that the author, Full Power, originally was going to have Raditz team up with Bardock and Goku? Part of why this idea was scrapped, according to FP, is that the immediate death of his son following the destruction of his planet serves as better character development for Bardock.
- Achilles' Heel:
- Vegeta, when he is stabbed in the arm by Yamcha and his nerves are destroyed.
- Not really an Achilles heel, but when Frieza is mentioned, Bardock tends to go crazy early on.
- Alternate Universe Fic
- The Alcoholic: Frieza is often seen sipping a drink of wine, often enough to the point where reviewers will joke that Frieza has an alcohol problem.
- Bardock's father as well, at least according to Bardock.
- Anachronic Order: Many scenes in the Namek Saga are shown to be out of order, namely when certain characters are at Guru's home.
- Anyone Can Die: As with normal Dragon Ball, no character is shown to be truly safe, especially with the changes from canon.
- Saiyan Saga: Planet Vegeta, Gine, Raditz, Piccolo, Nappa, Bella, Chiaotzu, Yajirobe
- Namek Saga: The Namekians from Dende's village, Dodoria, Toobi, Strock, redshirt Frieza soldiers
- The Apocalypse Brings Out the Best in People: Though Bardock isn't by any means a good guy — moreso an anti-hero — he's admitted that seeing the death of his planet and getting to live an actual life for the first time has changed him in a way even he couldn't have seen coming.
- Ascended Extra:
- The human Z-Fighters. While in canon Krillin was the only one to do anything, each of the main humans — Yamcha, Chiaotzu, Tien Shinhan, and Krillin — each do something worthy in the fight against Vegeta and Nappa. Yamcha saves Gohan from being blasted by Vegeta and then stabs Vegeta in the arm with Yajirobe's katana, Chiaotzu blasts Vegeta's tail off just as Vegeta is about to kill Goku, Tien blasts Vegeta in the back which allows Bardock and Goku's Kamehameha to win, and Krillin kills Great Ape Nappa with a Kienzan.
- Also there is Namole — one of Frieza's men. A nameless soldier killed by Frieza in the real show, Namole has several scenes in the fic that showcase what exactly the life of a soldier in the Planet-Trade Organization is like.
- Appule, who in the real show and manga is nothing more than a foot soldier that Vegeta kills on Namek but actually gets a bit more screentime here when Yamcha tries infiltrating the Planet-Trade Organization.
- Badass and Child Duo: Bardock/Goku and Gohan fit this trope to a T, especially during the Saiyan fight.
- Beam-O-War: Chapter 15, with Goku and Bardock vs. Vegeta.
- Calling Your Attacks: It's Dragon Ball Z...although this is not as prominent as in other fics.
- Character Development:
- Bardock, who slowly comes to terms with virtues such as family and friends after time on Earth instead of being a blood-thirsty Saiyan all the time. It even gets to a point where on Namek, Bardock is a bit affectionate with Gohan, rubbing his head and treating him like a grandson.
- Piccolo, who goes from an anti-hero at the start to someone willing to not only train with Goku, but escaping the path set for him by his father.
- Other notables include Yamcha and Krillin.
- Curb-Stomp Battle:
- While not really a battle, Frieza's easy defeat of Bardock in Chapter 1 classifies as this.
- Z-Fighters vs Saibamen.
- Also Great Ape Nappa against Z-Team before Krillin kills him.
- Bardock vs. Dodoria in chapters 20 to 22.
- Vegeta vs. Yamcha, Appule, and Appule's crew in chapters 23 and 24.
- Dark and Troubled Past:
- Bardock, very easily Bardock. Not only was Bardock blown up with the rest of his planet and shown Frieza's betrayal, but it's also revealed he came from a relatively poor background with a mother he never knew and an abusive, drunk father. It's also implied that one of Bardock's best friends, Turles, left the planet one day and never came back.
- Dead Fic: The author added a note at the end of the last chapter stating that he wasn't going to continue the story any further (reasons being lack of inspiration and his disillusionment with the DBZ fandom). He would eventually reboot the story under the title Alius Attentent.
- Determinator:
- For as crazy as Bardock is, you really have to admire how determined he is to ending Frieza and those who destroyed his race.
- Demon King Piccolo/Daimao, who is hell-bent on fusing with Piccolo and will do anything to return to Earth.
- Hard Head: Goku's amnesia, which remains true to the show.
- Heel–Face Turn: Bardock, to an extent, though it's clear that he's not a hero.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Chiaotzu when he risks his life in order to save his friends.
- I Have No Son!: How Bardock feels about Raditz, disgusted with his eldest working for Freeza and fighting against his own brother and nephew.
- The Mentor:
- Bardock (somewhat) to Gohan.
- In the Namek Saga, Tien and Gohan form a master-student bond.
- Original Character: Bella, a human Z-Fighter who climbed Korin's Tower to get training. She then dies against Nappa. Full Power has admitted to making a mistake in putting her in the story.
- Precision F-Strike:
- Vegeta during the Saiyan Invasion after Yamcha stabs him in the arm
- Bardock says it as well, using it when asking what a Dragon Ball is.
- Bardock tends to drop much more of these on Namek than any other character.
- Prison: Vegeta and Nappa are locked in an Arlian prison for about three minutes in chapter 6.
- Shout-Out:
- A fan of Star Wars, FP has made several allusions to the Star Wars franchise in this fic. One of these was in Chapter 9, where Bardock and Vegeta have a moment during their fight when they are locked into a stalemate trying to push the other one back with telekinesis, which is eerily reminiscent of Anakin Skywalker vs Obi-Wan Kenobi in Episode III when they did the same. Power later admitted to doing this on purpose.
- FP also has shouted other authors out, usually for fan-art he receives and even a story cover that was made by a FanFiction.Net writer (which was later removed for unknown reasons). FP has also plugged fics that he recommends, usually those he's involved in as a beta or an author.
- Chapter 10 is named "Remember the Name", after the song by Fort Minor.
- In chapter 8, there's a reference to the popular OVER 9000 meme."Six thousand... seven thousand... eight thousand... it's over nine!" Vegeta furiously pointed out as Bardock's power level continued to rise without any signs of slowing down. The prince was shocked and he wanted to crush his scouter in his hand out of pure anger, but he would wait until Bardock was finished just so that he knew exactly what his power level was. "Ten thousand... eleven... twelve..."
- Yamcha also uses Micheal's favorite line in GTA V: "You forget a thousand things everyday, make sure this one of them."
- FP will occasionally reference Dragon Ball Z Abridged when the moment calls for it, though earlier chapters feature more TFS jokes.
- Chapter 22's title, "A Dish Served Cold" was apparently a reference to a level from GTA IV that also features the protagonist getting revenge.
- Chapters 24 is titled "What Happened and What's Going On", a reference to the season 5 episode of 'The Walking Dead' where Tyreese says the title before dying to the zombie infection.
Alius Attentent
