Bardock wasn't familiar with the wildlife on this planet, but judging by the shrill shrieking now coming from two directions- one from inside the vehicle- this creature was obviously dangerous. When it came into view, however, Bardock wasn't impressed. Sure, it was a giant flying monster with razor sharp claws and teeth, but it was nothing he wasn't used to fighting. Hell, some of the planets he conquered had far more menacing- and intelligent- inhabitants. Of course, the blue-haired girl protested when he tried to leave the jet.
"Are you crazy?! You'll get yourself killed from the fall alone!" She yelled at him.
"Maybe I'll surprise you. Open the hatch." He demanded.
The girl would stare at him incredulously for a moment before doing as she was told. As soon as Bardock was free-falling, he ignited his aura and flew towards the beast. Obviously, it wasn't expecting to meet any resistance, let alone the bolt of light that flashed past its head, buzzing with energy.
"That was a warning shot. Leave now and you keep your life. If you don't," another ball of energy formed in his hand, "you'll regret it."
The creature almost immediately turned tail and fled. Bardock chuckled, letting the energy dissipate as he heard the shrill voice once again.
"How in the hell did you do that?!" Her voice rang out from what he could only assume was some sort of speaker on the exterior of the ship.
He turned and glanced at her curiously, still floating in mid-air.
"What do you mean? I scared it off." He responded bluntly.
There was a brief moment of silence.
"Yeah but… you're flying! And you shot energy from your hands!"
He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"I did a lot of training." He muttered just loud enough for her to hear.
She scoffed.
"Yeah right! Like you could learn how to do that just from training."
"Believe what you want. Now open the cockpit." He grumbled.
However, as he floated up in front of the vessel he could see the girl staring at him with unbridled curiosity and a hint of fear.
"You're an alien, aren't you?" She asked.
Hmph. This girl was sharper than he thought.
"Yes. Can we go now?" He responded bluntly.
It took her a moment to get her wits about her as she pressed a button, the cockpit popping open with a faint hiss. He strapped himself back into his seat as the cockpit closed, crossing his arms and pointedly ignoring the curious gaze of the girl.
"What do you want?" He asked gruffly, though he didn't turn to look at her as the ship resumed moving.
"I want to know who you are…or more specifically what you are and where you came from."
"Why do you care?" He asked.
"Well… Despite what you think, I'm actually a scientist."
He scoffed at that.
"Hey, don't judge a book by its cover buddy!" She said heatedly, taking a deep breath before she resumed speaking. "Look…you don't have to answer if you don't want to-"
"Good." He cut her off.
He heard a faint sigh.
"-but I would really appreciate it if you would answer at least one question."
There was silence for a long moment.
"Fine. What is it?"
"I want to know your name." She said.
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.
"Bardock." He grunted simply.
"Well, Bardock, are you always this grumpy?"
"Only when nosy little know-it-alls try to shoehorn into my personal business." He retorted.
That shut her up…but only for a minute. He sighed heavily. This was going to be a long flight.
"That's it?" He asked, glancing skeptically down at the small spit of land.
"That's what the radar says." She confirmed, bringing the jet in for a landing.
"That's not an island. Hell, it's hardly even a patch of dirt." He grumbled.
It was understandable that he was still grumpy. He hadn't eaten since this morning.
"I'm more interested in what sort of person would build a house here. Wouldn't they have to sail to the mainland to get supplies?" She mused.
"It doesn't matter. They have the orb." He said, jumping out of the confined metal machine as soon as it touched solid ground.
Well…what qualified as solid ground around here, anyway. He glanced around at the sparse patch of land, narrowing his eyes at the pink-painted house. It was more of a big hut to be honest.
"Well don't just stand there. Go knock on the door." Bulma spoke from behind him.
"Why?" He asked without turning around.
He heard a frustrated sigh.
"Because I'm busy with the ship. Do you mind?"
He smiled slightly and walked forward. He was tempted to kick the door down and take the ball by force… but once again, he had to remind himself that he didn't do mercenary work for Frieza anymore. So he had to resign himself to three firm knocks on the door, all of which almost left a dent in the fragile wood. He would have to practice keeping his strength in check. He wouldn't want to go around breaking everything he touched. By the time Bulma finished with whatever it was she was doing, the door opened. Bardock was confused at first as no one was standing in the doorway, but his eyes slowly shifted downward to reveal… a turtle. One of the biggest turtles he had ever seen, in fact.
"Can I help you?" The turtle spoke.
Bardock blinked. That was a new one.
"Uhh… we're here to find a dragon ball." He responded.
The turtle seemed to hum for a moment before crawling away slowly, leaving the door to swing closed behind him. Bardock glanced down at Bulma, who shared a similar expression.
"Is that normal?" He asked.
She shook her head.
"Dinosaurs and flying machines may co-exist, but I can honestly say I've never met a talking turtle before… or an alien." She said pointedly.
He crossed his arms and grunted.
"I already told you everything on the way here."
"Like hell you did!" She protested. "All you did was say no or just grunt."
"Right, that's all I needed."
She huffed, crossing her arms in a similar stance and glaring at him. It was clear he was amused by her frustration. Bulma was irritated with this man to say the least. Not only was he rude and self-centered, but he barely talked most of the time and ignored her the rest of the time. It was infuriating! Although, she had to admit… He didn't look half bad. And he could certainly handle himself, she had seen that much. She turned her head away with another huff, although this time it was to hide her slight blush. He was probably way too old for her anyway…although he certainly didn't look it. She was about to slap herself silly when the door finally opened again and she snapped to attention. It wasn't a turtle this time, although the man who stood there could be mistaken for one from a distance. He was old and wrinkled with a giant, purple turtle shell on his back. He was completely bald with a long white beard and a cane to prop himself up. Over his eyes were a dark pair of shades and on his feet were a pair of sandals, but the object that caught Bulma's attention was the one dangling around his neck. A dragon ball! She tried to hide her excitement as the old man looked between the two.
"Well…it's not often I get visitors on my island, let alone people as different as the two of you." He spoke with a slightly raspy voice and a chuckle, followed by a brief cough.
Bulma glanced at Bardock and she could see the look in his eyes. This man had gone stir-crazy long go. But she also saw his intent to take the dragon ball and shook her head subtly. He raised an eyebrow, as if to ask why, and she simply glared back at him. After a moment he sighed and she smiled in triumph, turning back to the old man.
"Hello sir!" She greeted him formally. "We came to your island searching for a specific object. In fact, it's the object you have around your neck."
She admitted, pointing to his necklace. He glanced down at it.
"What, this old thing? This washed up on my shore nearly fifty years ago." He mused.
With a flick of his wrist he ripped the necklace, holding it out in front of Bulma. She blinked at how easy that had been, slowly reaching out for it. Of course, the old man pulled it back at the last second.
"Actually, I've grown quite attached to it over the years… I don't think I want to give it away for free."
She took a deep breath, trying to hide her annoyance with a smile.
"Oh, do you want money? Because I can pay you!" She suggested hopefully.
He hummed for a moment, considering the option.
"I was thinking of a different kind of payment…" He trailed off.
Although he was wearing sunglasses, somehow Bulma knew he was staring at her breasts. With heated cheeks and an indignant scowl, she slapped the old pervert across the face and stormed back towards the ship.
"I guess that's a no…" The old man whined, now face down in the dirt.
Bardock, despite his best efforts, couldn't help but laugh at the man's misfortune. He bent down and scooped up the now discarded dragon ball, following Bulma's footsteps for a moment before he heard the man muttering something.
"KA….ME…" He began picking himself up from the ground.
Bardock glanced over his shoulder at him.
"What was that old man?" he asked.
"HA…ME…" He continued.
Bardock stepped closer to him.
"Seriously, old man, speak up." He demanded.
In an instant, the feeble old man transformed into a well-muscled fighter with a ball of energy spiraling in his hands. The sunlight glinted off his sunglasses, accenting his smirk as Bardock's eyes widened in surprise. He barely had enough time to cross his arms in front of him before the man released the energy.
"HAAAAAAA!" He shouted, sending the energy wave blasting point-blank into Bardock's face.
Bulma shouted in surprise, shielding her eyes from the sudden flash of light as the beam arced out over the water.
"Bardock!" She shouted, honestly a bit worried about the man's well-being, although she doubted he could hear her at this point.
The beam slowly faded, leaving the old man standing firm but panting from exertion. A dark scorch mark stretched across the sand, marking the path the beam had taken… And still standing in front of the old man was a very pissed off Bardock. The upper part of his gi was completely gone, incinerated from the energy of the beam. Aside from a few scorch marks on his skin, however, Bardock seemed completely unharmed. He dusted himself off, still glaring at the old man.
"Congratulations… I felt that." He muttered, his voice taking on a chilling hollowness.
After Bulma's relief subsided, she felt fear build up inside her once again, though this time it was for the life of the old man. Bardock didn't intend to kill this man. After all, damaging a Saiyan warrior- even a low-class warrior such as himself- was no small feat. That didn't change the fact that he was still angry at the old geezer. In a flash of movement, Bardock's fist was buried in the old man's gut. He let out a pained gasp as his form reverted back to normal and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Bardock glared down at him for a moment before Bulma spoke up.
"You- you didn't kill him, right?" She asked hesitantly.
He shook his head, tuning on his heel and walking back towards their vessel.
"No, I just knocked him out. He'll be fine." He responded.
It was at this point that he noticed the look on her face. One of curiosity and, once again, fear. He sighed.
"Don't worry, I'll try not to make it a common thing. I only did that because he pissed me off." He admits.
"He blasted you point blank…and you're still standing." She whispered, staring at him in awe.
Bardock's dark onyx orbs locked onto her sapphire ones and her breath caught in her throat.
"Who are you?" She asked.
He was silent for a moment.
"I'm just a man looking to make a living. Come on. We still have to collect three more of these things." He pointed out before climbing back into the ship.
Bulma stood on the sand, stunned for a long moment before she, too, clambered back into the vessel and began to lift off. Bardock glanced down at the shore as they lifted into the air, smiling slightly when he saw the old man begin to move. He was tougher than Bardock thought, no doubt a strong warrior. Perhaps they would meet on the battlefield one day. He couldn't deny the thought excited him, that there might actually be opponents worth fighting on this planet.
"Hey Bulma," he spoke suddenly, using her name for the first time, "does the planet have sanctioned fights?"
She seemed confused for a moment before responding.
"Yeah, we have martial arts tournaments every few years…why?"
He grinned and glanced over at her.
"I was wondering if you knew where and when the next one might be."
