"Did you really have to hit me that hard?" The dark skinned saiyan asked as he rubbed his jaw. "Come on, Bar. I didn't hit you this hard!"
It had been another long day full of collaborating between Turles and the rescue team, and now Bardock was flying through the darkness with the space pirate following behind him. They managed to get a lot done, and now all they need to do is work out making the beacons. With the technology Turles was able to provide, it looked like it would be possible.
The older saiyan had been saying stuff like this ever since the left the palace and he took the cuffs off his brother. Almost immediately, the general had turned and slammed his fist in Turles' jaw while snarling at the other saiyan.
"Shut up!" Bardock shouted over his shoulder as he crossed his arms over his chest. "You deserve a lot more than that punch! I mean, using me as a hostage, showing up in the palace like that, and flirting with the Consort! Have you lost your mind?!"
"Oh lighten up, Bar." Turles huffed as he moved to fly even with his brother. "Yasi knows I'm not interested in him. It was just a little harmless fun."
"You need to work on your idea of fun." Bardock growled. "Why are you following me anyways? Don't you have your own ship to get back to?"
"Nope! Ship's off planet at the moment. And why wouldn't I want to stay with my little brother? You act like I hate you or something."
"You didn't have a problem holding a gun to my head or threatening to blow it off."
"Come on, you know I wouldn't have actually done anything to you. I'm not completely insane. I still don't think you should have hit me that hard." Bardock just sighed and descended.
The pair landed in the back yard of Bardock's home, a small lot with some grass and a lot of dirt. There were wild flowers against the house that had survived decades of neglect, reds and oranges that Gine planted there years ago and the occasional moonflower during the rains. The pale skinned saiyan walked up to the back door and opened it only to be tackled to the ground by Atarau. The massive cat rumbled as she rubbed her head against Bardock before noticing the other saiyan. Her massive body crouched lower to cover the younger male from view as her fur stood on end, eyes narrowed and eyes accessing the threat.
"Alright, alright. He's a friend." The general huffed as he gently pushed at her. "Get off me already."
"Uh, Bar?" Turles backed up a couple of steps as Atarau growled at him. He watched her warily and fought not to retreat another step when her long fangs glinted off the light coming from the house. "Why do you have a Night Puma in your house?"
Bardock finally managed to push the cat off him and got to his feet. Atarau moved to curl her body around the general with her tails hiding his legs completely. He slightly leaned against the silver furred puma, and he scratched her behind the ears. She purred leaning into the touch before giving him an affectionate lick.
"Atarau is Kakarot's pet." He looked down at her as she pushed into the hand giving her attention. "I never had the heart to get rid of her." Turles just stared at his brother in shock.
"Pet?! That's not a pet, Bardock, it's a wild animal!" Turles hissed uncomfortably. "One that is very dangerous. Where the hell did Kakarot get a night puma?!...which is not the right color now that I think about it."
"I gave her to him for his 13th birthday." Bardock said with a shrug. "I was hunting and found her as a kitten. She's an albino, probably abandoned. She was tiny then, and reminded me of him. Just don't make any sudden or aggressive moves and she'll leave you alone…..I think."
"Ha, ha. Very funny, Bar." The pirate said as he watched the cat. "I'm sure you say that to all your guests."
"Well, I would," the younger alpha spoke as he looked over his shoulder when he moved to go in the house. "But aside from the handful of times Raditz comes home you're the first guest I've had since Kakarot left. I'm honestly not sure how she'll act with someone other than me in the house."
Turles froze as he saw purple eyes watch him unblinkingly as he got to the door. The pale saiyan went further in the house to take a seat at the table after he pulled his silver alcohol down from the cabinet. The night puma sat down next to his feet, and Atarau rumbled as licked her chops.
"Ok, seriously." The pirate muttered as he eased in the house. "Is she going to eat me or not?"
"Atarau, you don't want to eat him…you don't know where he's been." The younger alpha said pulling the cork from the bottle before rubbing the top of her head that was almost level with his shoulder.
"Low blow, little brother." Turles said taking a seat opposite his brother while watching the cat with one eye. "How long have you been drinking?" He asked taking the bottle from Bardock before giving it a sniff. "Serenity? That's some potent shit, Bar."
"It's been that kind of day." Bardock growled taking back the bottle. "I don't drink very much normally, it just takes the edge off things. Hangover isn't always worth it."
Turles gave the younger saiyan a skeptical look, but he didn't push the subject. He had some more news for Bardock, and the pirate had a feeling that the liqueur would probably be needed before the night was over.
The pale man took a long drink of the silver liquid before setting the bottle back on the table. He watched the light play on the glass for a moment before his eyes flickered up to his brother. The general narrowed his eyes as he watched Turles remain tense.
"What's your problem?" Bardock took another drink savoring the burning sensation as he swallowed. "Atarau's not that bad, so what's got your tail in a knot?"
The space pirate sighed as he ran a hand over his face. He was debating on when to break the news, but if his brother continued like this, it might cause someone to get hurt. Taking a deep breath, he reached out and took the bottle from Bardock.
"Hey! Give that back!"
"I don't think so." Turles ignored the snarl as he corked the bottle. He tossed it out an open window before Bardock would leap over the table. "You can get it back later. We need to talk more, little brother, and I need you sober for it."
The younger alpha bared his fangs as he sank back in the chair. Atarau shifted by his side making Turles glance at her before crossing his arms over his chest.
"Whatever you have to say can wait until morning! It's been a long, hellacious day, and I for one want to deal with all this later!" The general pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off a headache.
"No, Bardock. It can't wait." Turles said pulling out the handheld. "There are some things about 228 that I didn't tell the entire council."
"You lied! Turles, they need to know everything!" Bardock snarled.
"They know what is relevant to the mission. I wasn't going to spring this on you in front of them, Bardock." He pulled up the video file from earlier. A few clicks later and Bardock watched as the image rendered itself becoming clear. "What they don't know is that I was able to clean up the video feed. I thought I would spare everyone seeing the details. It also didn't end where I stopped it earlier but there wasn't any point to showing what remained in the meeting. I'll spare you watching the whole thing since it's only the last part I need you to see." Turles said as he hit play.
Frieza stood over the fallen saiyan with a look of mocking disappointment. His mouth moved before a cruel smile grew on his face. He turned to face the camera and nodded his head. Another shadow stretched over the saiyan and whoever they were the small saiyan struggled to move away despite the pain it had to cause him before a foot planted itself on the injury to his leg drawing a scream from the small saiyan. Bardock wanted to throttle Turles not understanding why he needed to see this when the saiyan turned giving a clear view of their face and chest when the image froze. Bardock jumped to his feet knocking his chair over as he leaned in to better see the image.
His mind screamed not wanting to accept what he was seeing. The alpha's stomach heaved and Bardock felt himself choke on bile.
"Kakarot…." The name was strangled as tears flooded his eyes. His son was the one Frieza tortured for his sick game. He didn't want to believe it. Not Kakarot, not his kyuata. Turles caught him as his knees gave out and eased him back into the righted chair.
"Is it him?" Turles asked softly. He had never seen the beta but the resemblance was there, and he was amazed Frieza hadn't connected Kakarot to either of them. If the demon knew, there was no way he wouldn't have used that information to target either of them, not with the bounties on them.
"Is he…..is…." The alpha couldn't say it. He couldn't breathe.
"Bardock!" His brother shook him trying to snap him out of his shock. The younger alpha didn't respond, his eyes locked on the small form of his son. Bardock's mind was reeling. Kakarot was bruised and bloody, something that hurt but he had seen Kakarot that way plenty of times after drills, it was the pain and utter terror in his eyes that was killing him. His son was never afraid, not like this. His head snapped to the side, and he blinked with tears finally falling. Turles' worried face filled his vision as his cheek stung.
"Damn it, Bardock, you have to breathe!"
"Turles…" His shoulders shook as he finally broke down. "Kalious it hurts, Turles."
"Breathe." The older soothed as he placed his hands on Bardock's shoulders. Turles moved his body so that it was blocking the image on his device. "Come on, take a deep breath with me, Bar."
The older alpha wanted to keep his brother from passing out. He had no idea that the commander would react this bad, but now he had his answer. That saiyan was his youngest nephew, and he could feel the rage over how the beta was being treated bubbling within him. Unfortunately, he couldn't do anything about it at the moment. He needed to help Bardock first.
The pale skinned saiyan stared into his brother's eyes with blurry vision and a burning chest. He fought to match his breathing with the pirate. His emotions were running wild within him making it feel harder to get air in. His hands latched onto the purple and white gauntlets to help keep himself grounded.
"That's it. Take another one with me." The surprisingly soothing voice crooned to him, and Bardock could feel the burning in his chest lessening, but it was slowly being replaced by a different burning.
White hot rage ignited within the general, and his ki was beginning to spark all over his body. All he could think about were the dead men hunting and hurting his kyuata, and he wanted to make them pay. He wanted them to bleed and feel every ounce of fear they made his son feel before he ended their miserable existence.
"Bardock, calm down." Turles dug his fingers in the flesh of the younger saiyan's shoulders. He could feel his brother's ki and anger building, and he needed to keep him from blasting off to find Frieza before they were ready. Ki exploded from his younger brother smashing doors to cabinets and sending loose items flying about the room. Atarau's ears flicked back before she darted out of the room, and Turles found himself wishing he could follow the cat's example and just let his brother burn himself out until he calmed down
"I'm going to kill them. I'll kill every last son of a bitch that touched him!" Bardock hissed as his ki crackled along his body like lightning. Turles was actually worried if he could stop his brother as his ki exploded violently around them and his brother's eyes flashed blue.
"You have to wait, little brother." Turles said trying to talk him down as Bardock snarled pissing the older off. "If you charge in there right now, you'll get yourself killed! How will that help Kakarot?! It won't! Bardock, he might not even be alive!"
"I'm sending them to hell regardless! No one does that to my cub and gets to live!" Bardock snarled angrily and slammed his fists on the table breaking it in half before his ki blew out the kitchen window. "I'm going to feed them their own organs, starting with Frieza!" The younger alpha snarled, as he ripped himself away from the pirate and moved towards the door. "I'll rip the tail off of anyone that tries to stop me! And that includes you!" Bardock growled as he stormed towards the front door, Turles hot on his heels.
"Bardock!" Turles moved to grab his brother when the general swung an arm out to punch the dark skinned saiyan. His ki was sparking along his body once more and Turles had to twist hard to avoid the hit. He could feel the ki along his skin making small shocks along his bare arms. His brother wasn't in his right mind.
The younger was not expecting him to dodge, and he soon became overbalanced, something he normally would not have done. As Bardock moved past him, Turles brought his fist up and slammed it in the base of the pale saiyan's skull.
"Ah…" That was the only sound that came from Bardock as he fell to the floor unconscious with a loud, dull thud. Immediately, the ki filling the house died off, and Turles felt himself breathing easier.
"What the hell did you do to my father?!" Raditz's voice came from Turles' left followed by another fist in his direction. A glance at the open door told him Bar's little hissy fit hadn't gone unnoticed.
"Oh for the love of Tarro…" The space pirate rolled his eyes as he dodged the wild strike. He moved quickly to pin the long haired saiyan to the wall with his arm twisted back in an uncomfortable angle. The dark skinned alpha looked almost bored as he watched Raditz struggle underneath him.
"Cool it, hothead. I'm trying to keep your idiot father from getting himself killed." Turles huffed out as he tightened his grip on the squirming man. "He was about to blast off to the attack pods."
"The only one that's going to kill him is you!" The younger warrior snapped as he tried to kick his way to freedom. Unfortunately the space pirate had him in an inescapable hold, and his legs flailed uselessly.
"Yes. I'm going to kill him and you now that you're on to me. It's all apart of my master plan to usurp the throne from Vegeta and take Yasi for myself." The dark skinned saiyan sarcastically muttered. "You stupid brat! I'm trying to help!"
"Liar! I knew that a bastard like you couldn't be trusted!" Raditz snarled as he twisted to glare at his uncle. The last of Turles's patience vanished.
"Shut up, nephew." The pirate slammed his fist into the back of Raditz head and joined his father on the floor.
The older alpha sighed as he ran a hand through his wild mane. He knew that his brother would be difficult, but he didn't expect the slight bipolarness of his reactions. Atarau slowly crept from the hallway before she moved over to the fallen general and sniffed him a couple of times before relaxing. Her purple eyes flickered up to Turles then back to the sire of her master. Turles found himself slightly on edge as she stared at him a few moments before she wandered out the open door. The pirate shut it behind her to keep more unwanted guests out.
Looking around the home, the pirate caught sight of a large couch made of a fur from a large creature. Moving closer to Bardock, he bent over and drag the younger saiyan to a more comfortable location. He wasn't about to go snooping through his brother's house while the man was unconscious, he had some standards. His nephew was settled on the thick carpet in front of a fireplace with a pillow before he dropped into an available chair and rubbed at his forehead. Oh Leeke, this was a mess. So maybe knocking both of them out wasn't his best idea, but what else could he have done?
Soft clicking of nails on the floor had him looking up to see Atarau walking in from the kitchen with…was that the serenity bottle? As a matter of fact…how did she get back in? He did shut the door, right? He didn't think the window was large enough for her to fit through.
She sat in front of his chair and dropped the bottle in his lap. Hesitantly, he gave her a scratch behind the ears like Bar had, and the puma's eyes closed happily with a soft trill. It surprised him to see such a dangerous animal act like a common house cat, but he wasn't going to question it. It has been a long day already, and Turles didn't want to think himself into a headache. The brat and his son will do that when they wake up.
"Good cat." Turles said before uncorking the bottle with his teeth and taking a swig. What could he say, he was a pirate. Atarau was staring at him again and licked her chops. He lifted an eyebrow at the action.
"Ok seriously, are you going to try to eat me?"