[Monster Inside] - Chapter 12
Starting to Notice, I'm Turning Into a Softy

12.3.2010

updated 7.4.11 / 11.2.11

Gokuh attacked Bardock viciously, and the older man figured he was enjoying it quite a bit, taking his aggression out on one of his captors. They had been training hard, and frankly Bardock was having trouble keeping up with his son. The only thing that kept him ahead was the lack of emotion and compassion he exhibited during a battle compared to Gokuh; but even his ruthlessness would not keep him ahead for long. He had approached Vegeta the day before about getting some higher classed warriors to put Gokuh and Callas against, but he had not received an answer just yet.

It had to be done. Bardock would not be able to keep up for longer, much as he hated to admit it. He felt a father's pride fill him and pushed it down. He had not told Gokuh in so many words that he was his father. He had a feeling Gokuh already knew and was merely not mentioning it. Why would he? His father and his race had taken him prisoner and left him to rot in a cell for months. If only he could understand...

Bardock blocked a punch and shoved his shoulder against Gokuh's open chest, shoving the man backwards. He punched him in the gut and sent him upwards, speeding up and slamming his fists into his upper back to shove him back down. Right before Gokuh hit the ground, he turned and landed on one knee, almost catching both his feet but hitting a knee on the ground instead. He looked up at Bardock and wiped some blood and sweat away from his face with a smirk.

"Nice one," Gokuh called. "You look a little more tired than I feel, though. How much longer do you think you can fend me off?"

Bardock quirked an eyebrow at him. His attitude was becoming snarkier, more aggressive, and he seemed quite a bit different than when they had taken him from Chikyuu. He supposed that sitting in a dungeon might have done a little to change it though. The older man flew down and touched the ground delicately, ready to defend if his trainee attacked him.

"How do you do it?" Bardock asked him.

"Do what?" Gokuh remained ready to defend, but relaxed his aggression.

"Become so powerful, so quickly. Even for a Saiyan, it's remarkable."

"I dunno," Gokuh answered honestly. "I have always been this way... I fight as necessary to defend those I care about. It doesn't matter to me about power, I guess. I just do what I know needs to be done." His face hardened. "And right now I need to become more powerful so I can help beat these Ice Lizards and protect the universe from them."

The older man smiled a little. "A nice attitude, I suppose. But not caring about power won't get you far in our world."

"I don't plan to go far, just do what needs to be done," he quipped.

Bardock did not comment. He was unsure he wanted to know what that meant, because he was afraid Gokuh and Callas would try to leave. They would never make it out alive if they did something stupid like that. At the moment, the less he knew, the safer they were. It seemed as if they were honestly in the war until the end, and that was what really mattered right now. The Saiyan race was dwindling in numbers and the massacres needed to stop.

Pushing his thoughts into nothingness, he obtained the blankness that helped him fight better and more accurately. With that done, Bardock shot towards Gokuh to continue the spar, who reacted the same and they met in the middle with a fury of punches, kicks, thrusts, slams, blocks and minimal ki blasts.

As with normal days, they sparred until the Second sun had almost replaced the First in the sky. When they broke away, they were both sweating with bits of blood here and there, though Bardock knew he was worse for wear than Gokuh. Still, it was great to spar like this! This was something he missed out on being in a cushy job as a Royal Guard. The guards did not seem to spar as furiously as warriors who went out onto the battlefield, which was a shame in Bardock's mind.

"Time to head back," Bardock said as they began their walk out of the gardens. Flying was never an option, as it would bring unwanted attention from scouters and voyeurs. As they walked side by side, the older man could not help but glance as casually as possible at his son. Yes, he was proud, and also amazed at the power Gokuh seemed to exhibit. The scientists had found nothing out of the ordinary in his blood or DNA, so what made him so special that his power could rise so fast and so much? All Saiyans had the ability to improve their power and skills when they lost a battle, and almost dying was the most effective way to double your power level, but Gokuh's abilities seemed far superior and he was fast gaining fans (and enemies) among those that knew about it.

Gokuh interrupted his thoughts to ask where Callas had been today. "Is she not training with us anymore?"

"She will be," Bardock answered vaguely.

The younger man eyed him a long moment before saying, "Is she alright?" There was a ferocity in his voice that Bardock had not heard before. It was painfully obvious that Gokuh cared too much about Callas.

"She's just tired," he answered.

"Oh," Gokuh raised his eyebrows. "And you guys give her a break? Well, I guess that's awfully nice of you."

"Yeah," Bardock forced a smile before warning Gokuh, "You should not be so attached to her. She's out of her league in this war. Actually, I am not sure it's smart of us to be bringing her, but... Well, anyway, you don't want to make the prince angry if you are too close with her. She is his property now."

Gokuh glared at the ground as they walked and Bardock could swear he felt the heat of anger and ki energy seeping off of him. "Callas isn't property," he growled softly. "Anyway, you like her too. I see how you are around her. Kinder, more protective." He glanced over at the man and saw the surprise and denial in his face. "I'm glad for her. Sure she not as powerful as us, and it's great that she has you to watch out for her... but she can take care of herself. She's always been strong. And fast." He smiled, lost in memories.

"Maybe stronger than Chiyuuans, but not Saiyans or the races we will be fighting in the war," Bardock replied.

Gokuh smiled, looking as if there was something else to say, but did not speak. By this time they had reached his living quarters, so Bardock left him to train more, eat, and rest. As Bardock walked away, he wondered what had not been said. Gokuh knew something about Callas, he was sure of it. Perhaps it had something to do with that strange power he sometimes felt from her and that strange look she often got in her eyes... it seemed to be happening more and more, ever since they started training her, ever since her ki bonds were powered down.

Maybe she really was about to pass a plateau. If so, that would be great. She would need everything available to her for defense in the war. As he walked the halls he made a last minute (Stupid, he thought to himself) decision to head towards the labs. He really did not have much business being there but he wanted to see that lavender-haired scientist again. As he approached the guard at the door, the Saiyan stopped him.

"What is your business here?"

"I need to speak with the Chikyuuan scientist, the one with lavender-colored hair, on request of the prince," Bardock lied smoothly. Inside he was a little nervous. If the prince found out he was sure to be in trouble, but ever since he had caught Bulma that night he had wanted to see her again. He was also a little worried about Callas. She had been extremely tired the past couple of days, and it did not seem normal for her, even for a weaker race such as hers. Maybe her sister would know something about it; she was extremely intelligent.

The guard eyed him suspiciously but knew him to be an adviser and Royal Guard to the Prince and the King, so he nodded and passed his key card over the scanner and typed a pass code in. The door unlocked and hissed open, allowing Bardock to pass through. Inside, the laboratories were buzzing with excitement. Servants were running here and there, getting the needed equipment the scientist's they were assigned; tech-bots were humming about their programmed work; and the scientists (mostly other enslaved races, with one or two Saiyans that Bardock could see) were hard at work developing, building, and experimenting with weapons. He had assumed it would be easy to find lavender hair but the different skin colors of the other races made it a tad more difficult. He stood at a loss until a tech-bot approached him.

"Do you require assistance?" the mechanical voice hummed at him.

"Yes, I am searching for Bulma. Bulma Briefs."

The blue light of the optical sensor turned red and bounced off one side to the other of his "eye" as he processed the information. His squat little body turned and hovered a moment before he said, "This way. She is currently working in the reactor room, experimenting with a project completed only moments ago, according to my database information." Off he went, hovering around people, stopping carefully for servants that were carrying delicate glasses and tubes.

Bardock followed, curious about the place. Why would people choose to be in such a strange environment? He did not understand the fascination with science and the delicacy of inventing strange and fascinating things. Still, he supposed it was a good thing, since the Saiyans managed to reap weapons from it all. Bardock still believed, as many Saiyans did, that the best weapon they had was there body, thus many scientists were searching for ways to safely and efficiently amplify the energy and power within an individual.

They entered a back hallway with a few doors, and the tech-bot stopped at the door labeled in Saiyan "Experiment Room 2." He said politely, "Here you are. Feel free to enter, but be careful as experiments are in process and this room has a reactor core. You never know what might get set off. Have a good day." And he whirred off to his next job.

Bardock stood at the door, feeling his stomach flip with nervousness. And then he cursed himself for being stupid, opened the door, and walked inside. There she was, standing at a table with a Saiyan sitting next to her. It was a very young male Saiyan, just old enough to go to battle and too young to die in it. She had a strange contraption on his head and was tinkering with it as he stared a little nervously at her. Bardock watched the boy's tail flutter back and forth with arousal at the close proximity of a female. Jealously tried to claw its way up the older Saiyan's throat, but he managed to control himself, mostly out of regard for how idiotic he was acting, and cleared his throat rather than growl at the two.

Bulma almost dropped the tool she was using and jumped back away from the young Saiyan, as if she had already been on edge around him. Bardock did not blame her, being alone with one of her captors and having to experiment on him. He smiled disarmingly at the two, though the younger Saiyan merely stared at him.

"Oh," Bulma said. "You startled me." She stared at him, recognition plain on her face. "I, uh, don't think you ever told me your name." She composed herself, brushed at her lab coat and went back to the younger Saiyan, pushing his face to its previous position, with his back to Bardock and the door.

As Bardock started talking, she resumed her tinkering of the gadget on the boy's head. "Bardock," he answered. "What are you working on?"

She glanced at him wryly and asked, "Is that why you are here? To bug me while I work?"

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Of course not."

"Oh, don't get bent out of shape," she chuckled. "I was just kidding."

The younger Saiyan finally spoke, though it was in their native language and Bardock could tell the scientist took a moment to filter his words and understand them, "She jokes a lot, supposedly. I don't think some of her angrier outbursts are quite as joking as she tries to make them out to be."

Bulma pushed a little harder on his head than she needed to and he cringed, shooting her an unhappy look. "Hush, you. I have a sense of humor you know. Just because your race is so serious, doesn't mean I have to be. I'd go crazy!"

The boy huffed and said, "Bardock, huh? Not many guards make their way down to the labs. I guess it is different being a Royal Adviser, too?" It was a challenge; why was he here?

Bardock moved closer to the two so he could see what Bulma was doing. "The prince asked me to check up on your latest invention, Bulma," he answered, but to the woman and not the boy. This agitated the boy, and Bardock had to keep from flicking his tail in pleasure. "And who are you?" he asked him.

"Riktor," the young boy answered in a low growl.

"You prefer to be an experiment rather than a warrior?" Bardock taunted.

"No," he huffed, but did not explain any further.

Bulma, who had been following their conversation as fast as she could, managed to answer in her choppy Saiyan, "He is being punished, I think. For not listening to his elders... I think."

Bardock sneered. "I can see that. Missing out on all the glory now, boy."

Riktor grumbled. "Yeah, well... I learned my lesson." He glanced at Bardock who had made his way in front of the young Saiyan. "Could you tell my battalion general that? I'd like to get back to training..." He looked down, defeated. "This is so boring."

Bulma tapped a circuit that shocked the boy, causing him to yelp and flinch. "Hey!" She snickered and said, "It's not that boring. And besides, if this works, you Saiyans will be thanking me and my genius."

Bardock smirked a little before asking, "Who is your general?"

"Radditz," the boy answered.

The older Saiyan perked thoughtfully and nodded. "I will let him know." Bardock had heard of his oldest sons recent promotion to battalion general, and even though it is over the weakest of the third-class, it was still a prized accomplishment. He turned back to Bulma, "So... what is this exactly and how successful is it?"

The scientist put her tool down, pushed a stray lavender strand out of her face, and pulled the gadget off the boys head after unhooking some suction-trodes off his temples. "Alright, you are done for now. Thanks, Riktor." The young Saiyan nodded and trudged out. Once the door was shut behind him, she looked hard at Bardock. "Prince Vegeta was here earlier asking about this. And generally he doesn't send his guards and Royal Advisers to get information. What are you really doing here?" She crossed her arms, eying him like a mother might to a child in trouble.

Bardock huffed out a laugh and looked down, licking his lips and wishing he could say, "I wanted to see you again." He was hard-up for a female, but so were most other men on this planet, unfortunately. His duty and position would never allow something like this, nor would his race. as mixing blood was against the law. A relationship, beyond bedding a whore for fun, with another race was generally unheard of and not accepted by society. Most half-Saiyans were killed at birth. Only those that showed great potential were allowed to live, and they would never rise to any position of power. They were often servants or lowly warriors sent to battle to die; some were even used as pleasure slaves since the lack of female Saiyans was a huge issue. Even in half-Saiyans, mostly boys were born.

When he looked up at Bulma, he said, "Callas has been tired lately."

She quirked her eyebrow at him. "And? She's used as a pleasure slave and worked day and night, I'm sure. Why would she not be tired? I'm tired!"

"No," he said carefully. "Unnaturally tired. She has a hard time staying awake and has for the past few days. I was wondering if there was some sort of... medical condition that Chikyuuans might be susceptible to? Or something that might be wrong with Callas that has happened to her before? She needs to be healthy, for the prince and the war."

Bulma's brow furrowed with worry and thought. "No... I mean, there are specific types of medical conditions from our people that it could be, but many of them are genetic and as far as I know our family had none of these disorders." A hesitation in her made Bardock worry, but she continued, "I am not really a medical doctor, Bardock. I am a scientist, and I specialize in technological advances and inventions. If she is sick, you should take her to the medical bay."

"So this has never happened to her before?" he asked.

"Not to my knowledge."

He stared at her pretty blue eyes and said, "She keeps refusing the medical bay. I thought at first she just needed rest, because we've been driving her hard during training. But the whole thing seems strange and unnatural, and when I check on her she seems to be sleeping fitfully."

"You should probably be nicer to her then," Bulma frowned. "And force her to go to the medical bay. Kami, her and Gokuh... Neither of them like doctors." She shook her head.

Bardock smiled a little, switching subjects. "You don't ever get let out of here, do you?"

Bulma barked a laugh. "No, of course not. I think I'm dying without the sun too. My skin is so pale!" She seemed a little bitter at this. "You know, if your leaders were smart they would give us a tiny bit of freedom. Fear is a great way to convince people to do what you want, but if you don't keep your workers happy, the work suffers. I think I can speak for us all when I say we are going a little stir crazy."

He contemplated what she said and after a few moments of silence, where she was fiddling with the gadget in her hand, he said, "Alright."

She looked up at him. "Alright, what?"

"I'll let him know that you want to go outside."

Bulma gave him a wary look. "No... don't go get getting me in trouble."

"It's a perfectly valid consideration. It's unhealthy to stay cooped up in a..." he eyed the room they were in, searching for a word, "sterile, white environment. And if you and your cohorts will be more comfortable and productive because of it, your request should not go unheeded."

"Cohorts... heh." The woman stared at him mostly disbelief, but slowly a genuine smile of appreciate spread across her face. She half-sobbed when she said, "Wow... thank you. It's been so long since anyone has... even started to treat me as more than just a machine."

Bardock felt himself close off at this response. He shouldn't be so kind and doting to slaves, even scientists. Suddenly he was unsure of bringing this to anyone, but he had just promised to do so, and he would honor his word. He found it strange that he seemed to care so much for these two sisters. It was not an unpleasant feeling, actually, merely foreign to him. To let others know, however, would be his downfall for they would most certainly see it as a weakness. Part of himself saw it as a weakness.

"I must go. Continue with that...whatever it is," he gestured at her invention and turned to leave, but a hand on his arm stopped him. She was so small, so soft and warm. He could smell her and he fought the arousal away.

"Thank you, Bardock," she said quietly. Then with a laugh she added, "By the way, it's supposed to be a power amplifier. I've been trying to figure it out for a month now."

He interrupted her and said, "Well, if anyone can do it, I'm sure you can. I hear that you are the smartest one around here." He pulled his arm from her and walked out the door, stopping only to add, "The most stubborn one, too." He left her with a playful smile on her lips and hoped he could get the image of her soft warm hand on his arm out of his head before he found some time to speak with the king.