An Unburdened Fury

Chapter 50: Muddy Waters

Kogu stared at the door to Zangya's room. He'd been standing there for a few minutes now just wondering how he'd word this without giving her unwanted hope. He didn't understand her relationship to the man but they were closer than he thought and she needed to grieve.

And, if he was honest, he contemplated using the wish himself. The wound from losing someone never truly disappeared but it healed in time and, like any other scar, it faded. After he spoke he Cooler and really thought of it, he could feel that wound being pulled back open. Bido was a brother to him and a trusted member of their team for years. The way he died...he didn't deserve that. He deserved a second chance on that alone.

"You still haven't told her?" Bujin asked him, his voice barely above a whisper and interrupting his thoughts.

Kogu rubbed the bridge of his nose. "How would you even say something like this?" He dropped his hand and sighed. "What if this lead is a dud? It might crush her. Kami knows I would've been if something similar happened to me after Bido was killed."

"...Yeah." Bujin agreed and they stayed silent for a few moments. "Have you thought of anything?"

He shook his head before he focused on the smaller Hera. "You're a smart guy, Bujin; you have any ideas?"

Their discussion was put on hold as the door abruptly opened to reveal the furious visage of Zangya. Her eyes were red and puffy and her hair was unkempt. Uncharacteristic of the woman but no one was going to mention it. No one needed to look good for what she was going through.

"I can hear you guys. What the hell are you going on about? What lead?"

Bujin, thrown off by her sudden appearance, stammered out a response. "Cooler suspects he knows why Namek is so important."

She tilted her head slightly but her curiosity was fighting with her apathy. "Okay? So spill it."

The two Heran men looked at each and silently decided to bite the bullet. Bujin looked down one side of the hallway while Kogu looked down the other before Bujin gestured at her room.

"Can we?" The smaller Heran asked.

She hesitated and glanced into her room for a moment. She was never had the cleanest room but she relented and moved out of the way. "Sure."

As the door closed behind them, Kogu put a hand to her shoulder and directed her to look him in the eye. She looked at the hand, ready to rip it away with her teeth it looked like, but she closed her eyes and sighed before she did as he asked. "Zangya, you have to understand." He started softly. "This is a rumor he's aware of. We have no evidence that it's real."

She rolled her eyes and brushed his hand away. "Stop bullshitting and tell me already!"

"Cooler says that Namek has magical artifacts called Dragon Balls." Bujin blurted out. Zangya looked confused. They've gone after magic artifacts plenty of times before. What were so special about these?

"He says they're capable of granting a wish."

Her breath hitched and it was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.

"What do you mean?" She asked. A wish could mean a lot of things and rumors had a habit of growing beyond their original intentions.

Bujin stared unsure. "I don't know what else 'granting a wish' can mean..."

"Like!" She took in a deep breath and exhaled. "Grant a wish like when we were children and we found a molted feather from a Heran Bird Eater that would put under our bed type wish or-"

Kogu held out a hand to cut her off. "I think we can assume an actual wish."

"Oh." Zangya dropped to her bed in disbelief and put her hands to her temples. A wish? It couldn't be that simple. There had to be a catch. Her thoughts went to Broly and Kogu's warnings suddenly made sense. She wiped at the wetness that started to form in her eyes again. Could they bring him back? She glanced at the swordsman. What about Bido? She could see the shred of hope there. He thought the same thing but...

"So what do we do?"

Her head rose with some disbelief? Did she hear that right? "Why are you asking me?"

He looked to Bujin as if she was the one saying strange things. "You were practically second in command. You're the reason we had something resembling a plan on Amalthea." He muttered the next words. "As much as that mattered."

She looked at her hand slick with tears and she shook her head. "I don't know if I'm the best person to ask right now."

Kogu turned to Bujin who raised a finger. The swordsman gestured for the pint-sized Hera to continue.

"I suppose we can convince him to land the ship somewhere, perhaps for supplies, and we can confront him there. With the three of us, he stands little chance of victory."

Zangya looked at Heran as if he'd grown three heads and they all spoke in different languages. Kogu was befuddled too to say the least. Bujin would never suggest such a blunt- wait.

"I agree." He added as he gave Bujin a quick wink. "We kill him and get rid of the risk right then and there. We can do it."

She looked at him with murder in her eyes.

"You two are absolutely fucking morons if you think something like that is a good idea."

'Good job, Bujin.'

Broly looked around at the tent. It was a plain place but he didn't expect otherwise. Something told him decorations were sparse down here. The only notable feature was a vertical stone that looked like it grew out of the floor. He glanced over at Sprout.

"What happens in this ritual?"

"I told you, I've only known of its existence but the knowledge is closely guarded. The royal family likes to hold onto power anyway they can." the ragged Saiyan finished bitterly.

He recognized that feeling. "Sounds like one of the Vegetas screwed you too."

Sprout shifted uncomfortably and he tried to see if there was anyone standing in front of the tent. Broly knew there was no one and told him as such. While he relaxed at that, he still leaned forward and spoke quietly. "If King Vegeta had any less strength, he'd find a dozen holes in his chest. He might have brought prosperity but he trampled over countless Saiyans to achieve that including me."

The older Saiyan straightened up. "Also, 'you too'? How? Didn't you say you were a baby the planet exploded?"

Broly shrugged. "I was on world long enough. One of these scars is from him."

"Heh, understood." Sprout moved to lean against a wall but thought better of it at the last moment. "King Vegeta, or I suppose King Vegeta's father now, and I had a disagreement a long time ago. He nearly killed my son over it but I managed to talk him down. I suffered for it regardless."

Another parallel. It lit a fire within the Saiyan. It seemed the former King had no concept of consequences. He probably didn't suffer anything approaching that until Frieza killed them all whereas that lesson was beaten into him the moment he stepped away from his father.

"I'll need to pay him back for what he did to me." The scarred Saiyan said absentmindedly as the tent flaps opened. "I should look for him after this."

Vegeta was at the head of the group of Saiyans walking in. His shoulder was already back at a hundred percent only a few hours later. Apparently, otherworldly bodies healed much quicker than normal ones. He pointed at Sprout before thumbing towards the entrance. "You. Beat it."

Sprout complied quickly. Broly stood as a Saiyan woman handed him a twisted rag. She looked at him with a mixture of awe and fear as he grabbed it from her. "Here, I suggest putting this between your teeth."

Broly glanced down at the tight roll of fabric before he looked back at her with confusion. The sight of two other Saiyans, gleaning with sweat and pale with terror themselves, with the largest pair of pliers he had ever seen stopped his thoughts in their tracks. He looked at Vegeta who looked far too smug.

"What the fuck?"

"Yeah, um..." She looked at Vegeta who, with a smirk on his face, gestured for her to keep talking. She nodded nervously as she took several large steps back. "Your body needs to be forced into growing the tail which we do by pulling it out with these."

"There was nothing about that sentence I didn't hate."

Vegeta crossed his arms as he scoffed. Broly idly noted that the royal was near the edge of the tent. "Too bad; it's how it's done. Don't tell me the Legendary Super Saiyan fears some discomfort?"

"If I don't get a tail out of this, I'll make one out of your spine." He practically growled as he put the rag in his mouth which he regretted as it was vile. Did they ever wash this?! Could they even wash anything down in Hell? Could he even get sick from it?

The other Saiyans noted his displeasure as they looked even more terrified of their. The woman shakily pointed to the stone. "Um, p-please, uh, hug the pillar."

Broly gave the stone a good, long look as he thought about how he'd look doing that.

"I-it's not strictly necessary." She added. "But it helps everyone out, including you."

He stared for several moments more before he let out a long exhale through his nose and made his way over. He could already feel his face and neck growing redder by the second as he hugged the pillar as recommended. A red that grew noticeably worse at the next few words.

"Can you lower your pants a bit? We'll need access."

'What are you doing? He'll find out.'

Those very words kept repeating themselves over and over in his head ever since he left the the tent. It'd been rough so far, Kami knows Vegeta would have it out for him even more now, but he'd been successful at keeping on Broly's good side. Still, the Saiyan was keeping him well away from arm's length. To be expected, really.

He'd have to find an in with the scarred man. He scowled. How did those happen? Those weren't battle wounds; they were too orderly, too clean. Someone had their way with the boy to do that kind of damage but who or what could do that to the Legendary super Saiyan?

Sprout flinched as something between a scream of agony and a roar of rage came from the tent. He was almost knocked over as a blast wave of force rolled over him from the tent. As the cry died down, Vegeta's gloating laughter could be heard.

"Not so tough now, are you? Haha-Hrk!"

As he adjusted the cloth on his head, Sprout jumped as a body sailed past him and crashed into a nearby wall. "Ha, worth it." The king muttered right before a chunk of the wall fell and crushed him.

The flaps of the tent burst open. Broly walked out with his face beet red and contorted with shame. A fresh tailed wagged to and fro behind him seemingly excited at its new life.

"Uh, you alright?"

He pointed an angry finger at the older Saiyan. "No word of this will be spoken of ever again."

Sprout held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Promise made." He rested his arms on his knees as he followed the legendary Saiyan's tail. He'd already been lucky with the scarred man thus far given the lack of aggression. That's when the idea hit him; a perfect way to stick with the boy. "You'll need to be taught how to use that thing. Getting rid of its weakness, transforming, that kinda thing."

"And I suppose you also know how to help with that." He looked at Sprout with clear suspicion.

It was a statement, not a question. The boy was more astute than he thought. That might prove a problem but he was so close. He had to take the risk.

"Of course." He answered smoothly. "I've become something of a scholar since I was sent here. I know nearly everything there is to know about Saiyans. Although knowledge of Super Saiyans is admittedly limited."

"In Hell? I haven't seen a single book since I've gotten here. And what would be the point of that when you're dead?"

That he had to chuckle at. The guy thought he had things figured out. "You haven't looked hard enough, my boy. As for your second question, I can ask the same of your tail." When the Legendary Saiyan wasn't forthcoming with an answer, he provided his own. "Even I have my own secrets, Broly, as open a book I may seem. Maybe I'll let you know once we've got you used to that tail of yours."

"I didn't agree."

"Right, but you're intelligent enough to see it's the prudent thing to do."

Broly clenched his fists as he approached and towered over him in a play for intimidation. Admittedly, it worked. "What game are you playing at, Sprout?"

He might have overplayed his hand here. "What do you mean?" Sprout asked innocently.

"You've been eager, too eager, to help me out since I got here." Broly pointed in the direction of the rest of the village. "Saiyans don't help each other out for no reason. They're a backstabbing, weak, pathetic lot. That's what my father and the Vegetas have shown me. What's the catch here? What do you get out of this?"

Those words were cutting but not how Broly intended. He should have seen this from the beginning. He knew the younger man's history. Of course he'd question what was going on.

"Broly, I can assure you-"

"I don't want your 'assurance', I want answers."

There was a few tense moments that passed as Sprout's mind raced. He couldn't lie and risked being snuffed out but the full truth would destroy any chances he had. So...an edited truth would be the best play here.

"Fine." Sprout eyed Vegeta's unconscious body for a moment before he gestured upwards. "Away from eager ears."

He lifted off and shot upwards with Broly following close behind. He stopped about a mile off the ground. No one would be listening up here. Broly crossed his arms.

"I'm waiting."

"Allow me a moment to collect my thoughts." The older Saiyan looked away from the scarred man in front of him and breathed. "I've waited years, Broly, for a son that I knew hated me for good reason."

"Every waking moment, I thought of how to make it up to him, to try and earn his forgiveness." He looked the Legendary Saiyan in the eye. "Saiyans crave power and knowledge is its own power. The idea was if I poured every ounce of effort I could into learning how our biology works, perhaps I could help him break his limits and reach new power."

Sprout looked down where Vegeta's body currently rested. "Perhaps I could help him become a Super Saiyan. Maybe he'd see me as a father again. You're not wrong to be suspicious; this is a selfish thing for me. You reminded me a lot about him when you spoke of your dad. I...I guess I just wanted to play at being a father again in some small way. Play out a fantasy."

Broly stared at him hard before he ripped his gaze away as if in disgust. "I'm not a toy for you to play with. I wasn't for my actual father; I won't be for you."

"I could never consider you in such terms. As little as it may mean to you, we are Saiyans."

The scarred Saiyan hummed a noise, little more than a grunt really, before he turned his eyes to the horizon.

"Where do we train?"

That brought a small smile to his face. "There's an area near here where times flows faster. It's the perfect place."

"Why would that matter?"

"The main benefit would be that it isolates us. No stray blasts from your Oozaru form to accidentally take out the village or anger some other unsavory residents." He lied. "If we're quick, we can avoid the Warden."

His aura lit up alongside Broly's.

"Warden?"

"Some higher up who got in trouble recently and was posted down here. Stronger than most of us and has ways of dealing with the ones they can't fight. We haven't seen King Cold in months."

With that, they flew off.

The journey to the time warp was quick but as they reached its edge, the duo spotted a person sitting in front of it. Sprout gestured at Broly and the two landed. The younger Saiyan had to do a triple take at the green armor clad figure. Their hair was a spiked mess with a red bandana on their forehead and a distinctive cheek scar. He recognized him.

Broly felt the ki rush through him instinctively but he restrained himself. 'I'm not going to lose it. I'm stronger than that.' But it was clear from Sprout's surprised face that he was not one hundred percent successful.

"Calm down there, son." The gruff Saiyan told him. "I'm not Kakarot."

That threw Broly for a loop. How did this man know about that?

"I've got my ways of knowing things." He followed that up with a smirk. "And, no, I'm not a mind reader."

Sprout cut through and moved between the two. "What are you doing here, Bardock?"

The other Saiyan pointedly looked at Broly over his shoulder. "I wanted to talk with you before you head in there with tall, scarred, and handsome over here."

Sprout shifted uncomfortably. "There's nothing to talk about."

"That's where you're wrong. Now are we gonna keep going through this routine until the Warden finds out we're here or are you gonna skip to the part where we talk privately anyways?"

He looked over his shoulder at the taller Saiyan. "If you would, Broly."

He shrugged and flew off. Sprout's business didn't interest him.

Once he was certain Broly was out of earshot, Bardock shot a cutting glare at the ragged Saiyan. Somehow, he actually manage to get the Legendary Super Saiyan to cooperate. Even in a roundabout way. He's certainly come a long way from the whimpering fool that approached him so long ago. Still, he knew their history. Broly would not be happy if he found out.

"You're playing a dangerous game here, Paragus." He commented.

"I believe I've made it clear that I'm aware of the risks." He brought down his mask and breathed in the slightly cooler air. For as stagnant as it was, blocking it for hours at a time made it all the more refreshing. "Or did one too many visions scramble your memory?"

Bardock scowled at that. You'd think more people would respect a clairvoyant. "It's not like you think." He gestured at Broly in the distance with his head. "It's about him."

"You saw another vision of my son?"

"Something like that." Bardock said as he tilted his head back and forth. "I didn't really see much of anything. It felt exactly like one of my visions and there were flashes of color and shapes at the periphery but ahead of me, I saw your son and beyond him...it's hard to describe-it was like a static. Like something was missing or maybe something was there and it wasn't supposed to be. Maybe my mind didn't, or couldn't, comprehend it."

The almost rambling nature of his description seemed to confuse the former Elite. "...What does that mean?"

"I don't know but I got it right around when you got your son his tail back. I think the two events are related somehow. Something bad is gonna happen; I can feel it."

"It's Hell, when does something good happen?"

Bardock shook. "This is different." He focused on the image of his vision. The more he focused on it, the less he saw. It didn't want to be known. "I can't explain it but..." He listened to the static within his memory just a little closer and he heard them. It wasn't the interference of a signal he was listening to; it was screams. A million, billion screaming souls.

"I think we're close to the end."

Author's Notes

We're getting the ball rolling with a reveal and a hint to the next antagonist. Three guesses as to who that could be!

Next chapter should be out 3/31 and things should ramp up by chapter 52 or 53.

Ent out.

Review Responses!

Jutten: Oh it's gonna keep going for a while, haha. You won't have to fear an ending anytime soon.

fightingchampion: Broly doing his own thing is absolutely the plan going forward. No LSSJ 2 or LSSJ 3 business here as cool as that would be.

God of Evil: I wish I could update more frequently but I do have another story I'm working on alongside this one so this is the pace it'll be at until that one is finished.

DeMightyLubu: Glad to hear your glowing review of Genome! It's my first time writing an antagonist like this so it's really nice to hear the kind words!

Guest: These are totally legit criticisms of my handling of Frieza in this story. I've definitely focused far more on developing Cooler over him. I'll take this into account for any future focus on Frieza. Thanks for the review!

AxDevilman: You were close in that Bardock is involved.

Zyr0TruthCanExist: I definitely want to introduce Beerus into this story but I don't know how far beyond that I'll go. Super never wowed me and there were great moments but the series never hit above a 6/10 for me and that's me being generous.