Chapter Twenty - Bardock's Fury!

Zarbon decided to ignore the two ants below him and wait for the new arrivals. They wouldn't be a challenge even they too had enhancer rings but if they did they could be entertaining. /They'd better get here soon though, this planet smells like a Vugon's ass./ He looked down at Gohan and Krillin who were each standing in front of an unconscious person. /I don't get how Kui and Kuwa lost... it dosen't make much sense. Jaken said the kid killed them both but... I'm only reading around five thousand from him. The enhancer put him up there in power earlier but not enough... speaking of which, why isn't he still using it? Maybe Dodoria managed to destroy it before Vadora took him out./ Zarbon's face scrunched up at that thought. She hadn't been as strong as Dodoria but a surprise attack could have taken him out, after all, that's all that made sense to him. No one else here was near his power, by natural means or otherwise. /Just goes to show how worthless Kui and Kuwa really were./

His scouter beeped indicating the powers were close now and he turned. He could see two dots coming at him quickly. One had a blue aura the other a white one. /Now this is odd... my scouter says they've got readings of ten thousand even... how's that possible? No one ever has a perfectly even reading like that, unless they're not natural... or... Shit! Suppressing their KI! Damn, how could I be that stupid!/ He turned back down towards the ground as possibilities suddenly spun through his mind. If Bardock had survived, if somehow Jaken had been mistaken, then he'd have been training all this time. And now... and now he could be a problem, especially if he had an enhancer on him! /I can't believe I let myself be so damned cocky! I'm a moron! Well, I'll deal with my stupidity later, first things first, those four have to go!/

"Say hello to the others for me!" he cried readying for another Dragon Flame attack intended for the four remaining warriors. The two conscious one's paled as the energy began to gather at the end of his arm. "Have a nice trip! Dragon Flame!" Gohan and Krillin watched as the attack surged toward them to scared to even move. However, they didn't need to. Two streaks of red light came between them and the attack, which then exploded several yards away from the small group. When the blinding light and dust finally settled enough to see Gohan and Krillin both smiled. Two familiar forms now stood between them and Zarbon. Bardock in shiny new Sai-jin armor and Goku in his typical orange GI. Both had determined looks on their faces as they glared up at Zarbon.

Zarbon's scouter picked up the new power readings for the two people below him. /Let's see. Bardock's at 26,389. The other one must be Kakkarotto. He's at 15,628. They don't seem to have enhancers, guess this wont be a problem after all./

"Hello Zarbon." Bardock said coldly.

"So Jaken was wrong, you weren't killed after all. No matter, I can correct that rather quickly."

Bardock looked around feeling out all the powers around him. He could sense the four behind him, his son, and Zarbon, as well as a few dozen forest animals creeping towards them curious about the creatures that were fighting each other. What he couldn't feel was Appla. From the time he felt her power fade until he'd landed he'd been praying that she was only injured, to weak for him to sense from such a distance. Now, however, he could sense the futility that had been in those prayers. There was nothing of her energy in any direction, no trace of her left. He'd been just a few moments to late to save her. If they'd pushed it a bit harder on the way back then maybe... maybe they could have been in time.

He glared back up at Zarbon for a moment before glancing over to Goku. "Stay back for now, I want to do this alone. If I fail then you can take over, not until then. We have a score to settle, him and I." Goku simply nodded and stepped back to join the others. Bardock took a few steps forward as Zarbon landed and watched him.

"Really Bardock, you think you can take me?" he asked grinning. "Oh that's right, you don't have a scouter so you have no idea how strong I am. You stand no chance and he stands even less."

Bardock shook his head slowly. "Poor Zarbon, still relying on antique technology. I no longer need a scouter to know how strong someone is. I can feel a person's power now. For example, you power is about... what? Fifty-two, fifty-three thousand?"

Zarbon's eyes widened. He was at just over fifty-three thousand. "Really?" he asked at last. "So then why do you think you or your son can win?"

"I leaned something else over the past year, a skill my son is far more adept at than I am. How about a demonstration?"

Zarbon smiled. "Sure, why not? Even monkeys should be allowed to play now and then."

Bardock glared at Zarbon as he stared across at him. He wished he still had a tail, he'd have no trouble stomping the ignorant Anubian into the ground beneath his feet then. Of course, with the transformation, there was always the risk of losing your tail. This way posed no such risk, no such way for Zarbon to sneak out a victory from absolute defeat. "You may want say a prayer now." Bardock said raising his head slightly. He braced his legs and body for the coming power. He wasn't that great with the skill just yet so it would hurt for a second before stabilizing, and he'd have to do it in two steps to be safe. "Watch this." he said grinning. "Kaio Ken!" His voice rang out as a red aura flared out about his body completely engulfing him.

Zarbon's eyes widened in shock as his scouter flared to life reading an increase in Bardock's power. 39,584. It still wasn't a match for his power, the two women had been stronger. "Nice try monkey but it's still not enough." Zarbon smirked.

"One more moment. Like I said, I'm not that skilled yet, it takes me a moment to get ready." Bardock relaxed and his red aura began to fade as he let the power subside. He waited a second as he relaxed and then focused again. "And now to take it to the max. Double Kaio Ken!"

Once more Zarbon's scouter picked up the power increase, this time it leveled out at 52,778. Two times higher than he had been originally. /Damn! When the fuck will I learn to keep my mouth shut and just kill the damn monkey! These things are worse than roaches!/ "Alright monkey, let's get this over with!" he cried launching in at Bardock.

Bardock raised his arm and blocked a kick aimed for his face, spun around to Zarbon's side and launched a jab for his right kidney. The green haired alien managed to just slip the punch and planted his elbow into Bardock's chest before turning and firing a KI blast point blank into his face. The Sai-jin was flung backward by the low level blast and blinded for just a second. However that was long enough for Zarbon to come up and slam his fist into Bardock's face knocking him across the battle damaged clearing and into the cliff Piccolo had stood on just a year before when he, Appla, and Gohan had begun their training.

There was an explosion of red from with in the cliff face and rocks were pitched everywhere. When the light died the entire face of the cliff had been altered and Bardock stood at the epicenter, arms out stretched, dust and energy floating off his body in wisps. He relaxed a moment looking across at Zarbon before speeding across at him. He pulled back his right arm as he flew and charged a blue ball of KI. About a hundred yards away he pitched his arm forward, "Blue Nova!" The KI ball launched from the end of his outstretched arm and charged toward Zarbon who brought his arms up to block. Bardock smiled as he clenched his fist shut causing the KI ball to suddenly explode in a massive burst of wind and light.

Goku had been ready and was looking away from the blast but Zarbon wasn't so lucky. As the rush of wind lifted him off the ground the bright flash burned his eyes and blurred his vision. Bardock picked up his speed and pulled back both arms. This time he charged the right fist with neon green energy and the left with bright pink energy. "Sonic Blast!" He cried slamming his glowing fists together less than a foot from Zarbon's face. There was a thunderous crack that shook the ground followed by an earsplitting wail as large wave of bright pink and neon green energy exploded from this fists and into Zarbon lifting him into the air once more and flinging him backward.

The alien had his eyes shut tightly and his hands pressed over his ears as Bardock came up to fly just above him. He waited only a second before grabbing Zarbon's legs and spinning around in the air a few times. Finally he tossed him down toward the remains of the cliff face and the following impact shattered it into nothing more than a pile of rubble. Bardock charged down in just as Zarbon exploded out and flew at him in a fit of rage. "You'll pay for that monkey!" screamed in rage.

"And you'll pay for killing my mate!" Bardock yelled back. The two met in mid air, their fists and feet slamming into each other in brilliant flashes of red, blue, and green. As the two traded blows above the forest the force of their power began to tear up rocks and trees and move away from the others.

******

Goku took the chance to check on Hotaru and Vadora. Neither one was doing very good and they didn't have an Senzu's left. He looked off toward where his father, who insisted Goku use his name and not call him father, was still fighting. ~King Kai, can you hear me?~

~Yes, what is it Goku?~

~I need you to tell Bardock something for me.~ Goku responded slowly floating into the air.

~I can do better than that. I can patch you through to him, one moment please.~ There was a second of silence then, ~Okay, go ahead.~

~Bardock, can you hear me?~

~Huh? What is it Goku?~

~I'm heading for Korin's tower to see if he has any Senzu beans. Hotaru and Vadora could both use one...~

~I'll be fine on my own so get going.~

~Right.~ Goku turned toward Korin's tower and sped off.

******

Bardock slipped around a punch before throwing another of his own which cracked against Zarbon's jaw. Recoiling and pulling back Zarbon spun and brought his leg up into Bardock's side. The Sai-jin spun and slammed the back of his glowing red fist into the side of the others head. As they continued to trade blows red and blue light began to swirl around their bodies as their auras flared large and brighter and began to mix. A sudden uppercut rocked Bardock's head back and a kick to his face sent him down into the ground.

Bardock laid in his crater for a moment wishing he could do more than just a double Kaio Ken. Catching his breath he stood up lifting a large boulder off of him in the process. He felt Zarbon's energy coming in from behind him and turned toward him pitching the boulder at the same time. Zarbon hadn't expected it and was nearly bashed on the head before his KI wave broke through the boulder. As the rock shattered into pieces and flew past him he looked for any sign of Bardock but the Sai-jin managed to sneak up on him and slam his foot into the back of his head stunning him.

Grunting he spun about trying to backhand Bardock but the Sai-jin had moved out of arms reach. "This isn't possible!" Zarbon cried glaring at Bardock. "Even with that technique of your I'm still stronger than you! I shouldn't be having this much trouble!"

Bardock snickered. "Power isn't everything." he cocked his head to one side at the sound of those words coming from his mouth. Had he actually said that? What's more, did he, a Sai-jin who had strived for great power his entire life, actually believe that? Yes, he decided, he did. Power itself is never enough. You could be the strongest being in the universe and still stand no chance against someone far weaker than you if they possessed the far greater skill. What's more, the reason, the drive to fight, is the most important.

If you fight for just yourself, just your ambition, just for the sake of power, then you have no reason to become stronger, no reason to become better, other than yourself. If your sole reason for everything you are and do is you then you have nothing. He'd learned this over the past year, it had become painstakingly evident to him as he spent more and more time with his son. /Damn Goku, you seem to rub off on everyone don't you?/ he thought with a laugh.

All these thoughts took only a second and his laugh seemed to Zarbon as a taunt. Bardock saw him coming before the alien had even begun to move and was already preparing his counter. As he dodged around an incoming fist and delivered his counter blow he wondered how much power really played in a fight. Strength was important, without it you couldn't hurt the other person. Speed was needed for without it you couldn't catch your enemy. Skill determined much, it was skill that let you anticipate a coming attack or land a blow in place that would deal the most damage.

What about friends? Allies? He would never go into a battle without someone he trusted nearby to lend a hand. He'd come close to dying more then twenty times in his life and it was because of those people he did not. A year ago the son he'd known for only a few weeks had sacrificed himself in an attempt to save him. What power did that hold? What power did allies who were willing to sacrifice everything possess? Goku had told him of his life, told him of everything he done for this planet and its people. Nothing he did was meant to make himself better, he was either trying to help others or simply challenge himself.

A sudden fist slammed into his jaw temporarily breaking his train of thought. He realized that this was probably not the best time to have a philosophical self discussion. As Zarbon knocked him sailing down and away again Bardock spied something he didn't like. Buildings. The fight had come to the outskirts of city. There would be no way to move the fight away from the city, hundreds if not thousands would die from this battle. A year ago he wouldn't have given it a thought, the people below would merely be casualties of war, acceptable losses. Now, however, he could actually sense each and every person below him. He could feel how little chance they all had at survival. This changed things, they were no long just numbers of dead, they were living beings he could, in a way, see. People who had nothing more to do with this battle than that it was happening on their world.

/I can't just let them all die... I have to hold him back from the city as best a possible, give them time to evacuate./ Bardock turned from the buildings he was nearing and in a brilliant flash he charged at Zarbon. "I'm done playing Zarbon, it's time to end this!" he cried slamming his fist into Zarbon's face. The thunderous crack of the impact rang out through the sky rattling the glass windows of the city below.

******

"What was that!" someone cried looking up. "Oh... oh my god!" he cried pointing up. Those near him looked up and saw Bardock, just barely, with his fist smashed against Zarbon's face. Then the two disappeared from their view and all they could see where streaks of light and explosions. It took only a moment for panic to spread through them.

That panic subsided slightly as some called out. "Hey, listen to that!"

******

As soon as Bardock slammed his foot into Zarbon's chest knocking him away he slipped into a sideways position with his hands cupped beside him. It was time to see just how good his son's favorite attack was. "Kaaaaaaaaa." A ball of blue light flared to life between his palms as Zarbon regained control of his flight. "Meeeeeeee." Bardock shifted his position slightly to get a better angle at Zarbon who was now glaring at him with hatred practically seeping from his eyes. The alien wasn't sure what exactly to do, it seemed Bardock's power was building. Or more precisely, his attack's power was building.

"Haaaaaaaaaa." The orb of light flared larger and brighter as Zarbon twisted slightly then launched at him. "Meeeeeeeee." Zarbon thrust his arms out ready to catch the attack as the number on his scouter continued to build.

"Haaaaaaaaaa!" Bardock twisted, thrust his arms forward, and launched the steam of blue energy at the charging alien. The blast slammed into Zarbon's outstretched arms, his open palms catching the energy.

The blue stream of energy pushed him to a dead stop and burned his flesh. The strain on his arms was causing intense pain to lance down his arms. He glared at his scouter's reading of the attack, it was over sixty thousand, more than he could hold off for long. He still couldn't grasp how Bardock had gotten this much stronger in just one year, it was impossible! Only the Sai-jin's precious royal family ever made increases like this. /That's it, time to stop toying with the Monkey!/

******

The crowd below had started cheering. Many of them had seen the battle after last year's tournament. Speculation had spread as to who the two attackers had been but most had settled on believing them evildoers. This battle had to be related to the last one! Everyone remembered the boy who'd defeated the Evil King Piccolo years ago and saw this new battle as a similar event. They quit running from the city for a moment, but then there was a flash of blue green light and the Kamehameha was knocked skyward.

******

Bardock's eyes went wide. "What! How... your power!"

The glow faded away and Bardock got a clear look at Zarbon again. His muscles were bulging now and his nose seemed to have vanished. For that matter his entire face was distorted. /Wha-what is this? A transformation? His power had jumped to at least eighty thousand! That was to much for him... to handle... unless..../ He stared at Zarbon as the monstrous alien smiled. /I don't have a choice. Sorry King Kai, but Goku's not here so it's up to me.../ He pulled his arms up and began to focus. Then, as Zarbon sped toward him, "Triple Kaio Ken!" His muscles convulsed with the upsurge of power, it was more than his body could handle, but he had no choice. /Still not quite as strong as him, but here goes nothing!/

******

Goku stood at the edge of Korin's Tower as he looked out over the landscape below. He could feel the battle in the distance as it moved from the others. He wasn't sure where to go first. Heal Hotaru and Vadora or go help his father. Then again Bardock had said no help, he couldn't interfere. /Right then, I'll go tend to... what in the world! Zarbon's power...../ His eyes went wide as he clutched the small bag of Senzu's he held, Korin had only had two... Then he felt Bardock's power spike up again. /I've got to move quickly, we he may need my help, but first I have to see to Hotaru and Vadora. I just hope neither of us need a Senzu later./ With that he lifted into the air and sped off.