Chapter Twenty-Six: Broken Road
"Disgraced, and ashamed
Afraid to walk the line...again
Controlled for too many years
But never once forgiven...for my sins
And I never thought I'd say
That I'm weaker today than I was yesterday…oh man
But I'll fight as I always fight
With what's inside of me…
This warrior spirit inside of me!"
Broken Road-Sully Erna
DBZ
Broco knelt down beside Amotto and turned her unconscious form over…He blinked in surprise, though, when he saw her eyes open and staring blankly past him.
"You're conscious?" he exclaimed.
She glanced at him and shrugged. "Yeah. Long enough to know what just happened." She looked away and scoffed. "A weak Gylderian defeated my opponent. How weak does that make me look?" she asked quietly.
Broco sighed. "Amotto, strength isn't everything."
"Lack of strength is what almost killed me, Broco!" she said forcefully, her gaze returning to him in a glare.
"What the hell is your problem, Amotto?" he suddenly demanded in irritation. "Since when does strength matter? You were beat by Frieza, so what? Seripa and Bardock were, too. Tettuce was killed by him. Frieza is a monster with power to match! Why are you so bothered by the fact that he beat you?"
She sat up and glared into his single eye. "I'm tired of being a helpless liability!" She stood up then and stalked away from him, heading away from everyone else.
Broco stood up and stared after her, his concern visible on his bearded face.
Berik came to stand beside him. "She cannot get over it, can she?"
"Apparently not," the Saiyan male sighed.
"It is not surprising. For as long as she was unconscious that was probably all she dreamed about. There is no telling just how many times she relived the torture that Frieza put her through. It is very possible that she is traumatized by what happened. The poor woman."
Broco looked at the Jynn-jin scientist in silence. He hadn't thought about that. What if she was traumatized by what had happened to her? To the point that she wanted to grow strong enough so that it never happened again? It was possible…This Amotto wasn't the Amotto he was used to. He was glad she was back, but…
He frowned and looked down.
Was it a good thing that she had changed? She had been extremely timid before, reluctant to dive into battle. This new Amotto didn't have that reluctance. It was looking like she couldn't get enough battle…
He looked up and back at her retreating form. She was still walking away, heading steadily further away from the group.
Berik followed his gaze. "She most likely needs some time to herself. But…it probably would not hurt if you went after her. Maybe talk to her. I think that is what she needs more than anything, whether or not she'll admit it."
Broco glanced at him again and nodded slightly. "Right. We'll be back in a bit." He took off at a slow jog to catch up to her.
The Jynn-jin scientist stared after them a moment and then turned to where Diamond, Falmer, and Zether were. He made his way slowly over to them.
DBZ
Falmer stifled a yawn and glanced at Zether with a grimace. "I cannot believe that it was me that did that to you. It just does not seem possible."
Zether grinned and winced, lifting a hand to massage his shoulder. "Believe it, bro. The Beast is an incredibly powerful transformation. Not as powerful as the Kin Slayer state, of course," he finished with a wink.
"Yes, I am curious about that." Falmer frowned and gave his brother an odd look. "When did you attain that transformation? I never knew about it."
Zether shrugged. "No one did. I didn't want to tell anyone because of the implications. But I transformed for the first time while on my Writ of Passage. I found…well," he frowned pulled at his beard. "It's hard to explain, but while I was meditating one day I discovered a 'switch,' so to speak, that I could turn on within my mind. It took weeks to figure out exactly how to do it, but once I did it was almost catastrophic. I became The Beast and I was a monster for what seemed an eternity." He sighed and shook his head. "The only reason I was able to overcome it was because I stayed at least partially conscious throughout the ordeal. You, on the other hand, were unconscious when you changed. So your mind was still asleep the whole time. As the days progressed I kept telling myself that I didn't want to become a harbinger of death and destruction. Eventually my primitive mind awoke completely and I ascended almost instantly."
"So why did I not ascend?" Falmer asked, his frown still in place.
Zether shrugged again. "You weren't trying to overcome the state. You wanted out of it completely. I guess that's why. I don't really know, to be honest. But seems logical enough."
"Hm…Yes." Falmer looked down as he thought it over. It did seem logical. He had wanted to just leave the transformation behind and be himself once more. Being The Beast was far too barbaric for him.
"It does not matter, Falmer," Diamond said with a smile as she lifted a hand to touch his cheek. "You are back with us and that is all that matters."
He lifted his gaze and looked at her with a smile. He took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Yes, that is correct. I have you to thank for that, too, my dear."
She grinned and leaned up to kiss his cheek. "You saved my life on Jynn-jin 13. Bringing you back to me was the least I could do."
Zether chuckled. "That's touching and all, but now that everything has settled down we have another problem to deal with."
Falmer turned to his brother and raised his eyebrows. "And what, pray tell, would that be?"
"I came here in a spacepod and your ship is in ruins," he said as he gestured around at the debris scattered all around them.
Falmer looked around with a grimace. "Yes, I see your point. It is a bit of a dilemma we find ourselves in, isn't it?"
"That goes without saying."
"Could you not send for help, Zether?" asked Diamond.
"Yeah, I could. But Frieza and his goons are still out there. They could intercept the transmission and then we'd really be screwed." He shook his head regretfully. "We can't take that chance."
"Well, you could fly up to space and steal a ship that you encounter. With luck it may be an Ice-jin ship."
Zether tilted his head as he regarded his sister-in-law. "That's not a bad idea, but I'm in no shape to be getting into any fights."
"Hm…I could do it," ventured Falmer. "Aside from being a bit fatigued, I am perfectly fine. It would not be an issue for me."
"You could," agreed Zether. "But what if it's an innocent passerby? I don't do so well with guilt," he said with a laugh.
Falmer grinned and scratched the back of his neck. "Neither do I, to be honest. On another note, while I am thinking about it, how in the names of the gods are you alive?"
Zether grinned and leaned back, placing his hands on the ground behind him. "That, brother, is a very good question." And he proceeded to recant his unbelievable tale of revival.
When he was done, Falmer and Diamond were staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths. "Is such a thing possible?" asked Falmer in amazement.
"Apparently so." Zether shrugged. "What gets me, though, is that they wouldn't agree to bring Tettuce back, too." He closed his eyes with a sigh and shook his head. "He was much stronger than me. He could've done way more good than I'll be able to do."
Falmer sighed and nodded in agreement. "Yes, Tettuce would have been a great asset. But you cannot deny that their reasoning was sound. He did have a rather unfortunately violent past. There would have been no way for them to justify bringing him back without also bringing back his victims."
"I understand that, but they also brought Bardock back. Whether or not the bastard can see the future is beside the point," he said heatedly. "Bardock holds a record for most life taken in the past fifteen years. The bastard is too damn good at killing and he's done a hell of a lot of it."
"Zether, I know that you do not like the man—"
"No, I don't like murderers."
"—But that does not change the fact that he was chosen by beings with rules higher than ours. Their reasons are not to be questioned. And by your reasoning, you should not have liked Tettuce," Falmer pointed out.
"That was different. Tettuce made a point to change his ways and avoided taking life whenever possible. Bardock didn't decide to change his ways until after Frieza destroyed his planet. In fact, I'm not entirely convinced he's changed his ways. I think he's only out for revenge."
Falmer offered a slight smile. "I agree that he is seeking vengeance against the tyrant, but I do firmly believe that he is sincere in changing his ways. Whether you accept it or not, Bardock is a good man."
Zether shook his head. "I doubt that. He's a Saiyan warrior, born and raised under Frieza's rule, who's known only how to cause death and destruction. It's normal for him. Tettuce, at least, had Turpin to help him differentiate between what was right and wrong. Yes, he chose to do wrong at first. But Tettuce changed his ways before Frieza decided to destroy Vegeta. Bardock—"
"Decided to change his ways before Frieza destroyed his people, too. Did you not know that he stood before Frieza before the tyrant destroyed Vegeta?"
Zether rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know all about that."
"Are you saying that that does not count?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."
Falmer laughed and shook his head slowly. "Zether, what do you really have against the man? It is beginning to sound to me that you are jealous of Bardock."
Zether jerked his attention sharply to his brother and winced and grabbed his shoulder. "Jealous? Are you kidding me? Why the hell would I be jealous of him?"
"He is more famous than you?"
Zether's golden skin suddenly turned orange as he flushed. "That's ridiculous!"
Falmer laughed. "Ridiculous or not, I do believe I have found why you dislike him so!"
"Hey, screw you Falmer! I'm jealous of no one in this universe!"
Diamond grinned. "I think Falmer is right, Zether. You are, or were, one of the most famous people in the universe. But Bardock was spoken of quite a bit more than you were."
Zether folded his arms across his chest and turned his back to both of them. "Whatever. I'm not jealous." But he couldn't sound confident enough to convince even himself. He closed his eyes, hung his head, and sighed. "Damn it…"
DBZ
Zarbon sat at a desk in the dark and quiet of his quarters, his thoughts clouded. In front of him rested a portable transmission console, the screen of which was black. One hand rested on top of the desk, his fingers drumming slowly, but impatiently.
Hurry it up, he thought to himself. He was awaiting a call from someone who claimed to be an ally. Someone that was next in line to become a member of the Ginyu Force, which was why Zarbon desired this man as an ally. He would have much more pull than he had.
The screen suddenly lit up and Zarbon leaned forward as the red-skinned face of an alien with a mass of white hair instantly appeared.
"About time, Jeice," Zarbon muttered in irritation.
Jeice grinned and tossed his hair like a woman, which annoyed Zarbon. "It's not easy taking time for myself between missions and training with the Ginyu Force. You're lucky I was able to call at all."
"Whatever. Well? What can you tell me?" Zarbon asked, changing the subject.
Jeice's grin faded and he glanced around quickly. "The channels are buzzing, Zarbon. Apparently Coola's Armored Squadron has a group cornered on some desolate planet. They're getting ready to destroy them. From what I've intercepted there are three Gylderians, one Jynn-jin, and two Saiyans. That's about all I can tell you about that. But…" he trailed off and looked into the screen. "Frieza has decided to keep at least three Saiyans alive. Prince Vegeta, his bodyguard Nappa, and a runt cadet named Raditz. Who, apparently, is the son of Bardock," he finished with a slight grin.
"Really?" Zarbon frowned. "Does Frieza know this?"
"Oh yeah. He does. Major Ginyu was talking about it with Recoome the other day. Apparently Frieza has this plan to keep the boy as weak as possible compared to his father. Kind of a joke to Bardock's legacy."
"Well, that's pointless."
"This is Frieza we're talking about."
Zarbon sighed. "Fair enough. Well, can you tell me anything else?"
"Hm…Yeah. There is one more thing that you might be interested to know. Ginyu got his hands on some security footage from Celestine Prime that shows Turpin and an unidentified female. Well, it also shows two more Saiyans meeting up with them. Here, one second and I'll transfer the data to you." Jeice's image vanished and suddenly there was a frozen image of four Saiyans walking down a corridor.
Zarbon held his breath as he leaned closer to the screen in disbelief. The other two Saiyans were Bardock and Seripa! A grin split his lips as the image vanished and Jeice reappeared.
"You know them?"
"Yes. Those are the two Saiyans that Frieza believes he killed on Jynn-jin 13: Bardock and Seripa. This is good news for the Galatic Band."
"Really? Why?"
Zarbon quickly told him about the fight on Jynn-jin 13.
"Oh wow. So these two came close to beating him?"
"They hurt him and his pride. That's enough for me. And with the way Saiyans' anatomy works, these two will be much stronger than they were before. I have a feeling that our little resistance movement is going to be rather busy distracting Frieza until these two are ready to fight him again." Zarbon leaned back in his seat feeling elated.
Jeice smiled and nodded his head. "The Galactic Band may just succeed. I have to say, by the way, that I was more than a little surprised to discover that you, of all people, were a part of the Galactic Band."
Zarbon grinned. "A part of it? I started it."
DBZ
Broco followed along behind Amotto. It seemed that they had been walking for hours at this point, but he knew it had only been about twenty or thirty minutes. But she was still walking and showing no signs of stopping. Every now and then he would hear a string of muttered curses drift back to him. He doubted she even knew that he was following her.
As he followed behind her he couldn't help but think back on everything that had happened to them since that fateful day when their planet was destroyed. His memories were vague, but he remembered being a T.O. aboard a scouting ship when the news came in that Planet Vegeta had been destroyed. He also remembered the distress signal that came in moments later.
His captain had ordered to go to hyperspace and within a few minutes (the distress signal had come from pretty close by) they were landing on a nearly demolished planet in time to help fight off a group of Frieza's cronies from killing a small band of his brethren. They, too, had been aboard a scouting ship but were shot down.
During the fighting he had actually saved Amotto's life, but didn't think much of it at the time. Mostly due to the fact that both of their ships had been destroyed. So the fight turned from a battle for survival to a battle for the Ice-jin ship. His captain had died and almost immediately the traitor Caul had declared his leadership and led them through the rest of the battle.
Still lost in thought he never noticed Amotto suddenly stop until he almost ran into her. He stumbled back from her as she looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes set in a fierce and angry glare. It was made all the fiercer by the horizontal scar running across her nose below her eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"I…" he faltered and looked away. After a moment he looked at her again, but she was facing forward again, staring at the dusty horizon. He sighed. "Amotto, look…"
"Save it, Broco. You just don't understand." She sighed and lowered her head with a slight shake.
Broco frowned. "That's not true, Amotto. I do understand. I understand better than you think."
She lifted her head and turned to look at him. "You do?" She scoffed. "I doubt that. Before all this you were about as much of a warrior as I was. So don't tell me you understand, because you don't. Plain and simple."
"You don't know anything about me, Amotto. I do understand because I feel the exact same way. Only I was a warrior once. I did the exact same job that Seripa and Bardock used to do. And I was very good at it."
She arched an eyebrow as she regarded him in silence for a moment. She suddenly found herself staring at the scar where his eye used to be. "Is that how that happened? True warriors don't get hurt, Broco."
He suddenly smirked and narrowed his good eye. "That's true. But arrogant warriors do get hurt when they get too full of themselves."
She scoffed again and turned her back to him. "Yeah right. Broco, you were never a warrior."
Suddenly Broco had had enough of her attitude. He lunged forward and grabbed her arm and spun her around. Both hands grasping her shoulders as tight as he could he glared down at her as he suddenly crushed his bearded lips against hers, which caught her off guard.
He pulled away and held her at arm's length, still glaring. "I was a warrior, Amotto. A long time ago. My twin brother and I were on the same team. We both reveled in the thrill of battle and we loved to kill. And we were damn good at it. At a young age we both displayed tremendous talent and strength and were enlisted into Frieza's military at the age of 13. We fought and grew stronger with each battle, constantly watching out for one another. We were never significantly injured. Not enough to deter us from battle."
Amotto opened her mouth to say something, but Broco shook her and continued speaking. "One day that all changed. We took a mission that we knew was too difficult for us. But by this time we had grown far too arrogant. We were around Turles' age when it happened. The battle started out fine, but before we knew it we were being overwhelmed. We watched our teammates die around us, one by one, until it was just Carot and me left. Back to back we fought, killing as many enemies as we could. This went on for hours…"
He closed his eye and lowered his head, his shoulders trembling at this point.
Amotto just stared at him with wide eyes.
"Finally we had had enough. We could barely keep going. I called for backup and when I did, one of the aliens fired a blast right at my scouter taking it, and my eye, out. Half blinded and wounded I was suddenly overrun. Just when I thought my time was up, Carot came to my aid…He jumped in front of me just as I was about to be run through with one of the aliens' primitive, but powerful, beam weapons."
He looked up, his single eye showing a past that still haunted him. "I watched my brother die before my eyes because of the arrogance we had held. Because of our quest for even greater power he died saving my life."
Broco let go of her shoulders and stepped back. "After that I don't know what happened. The next memory I have is waking up back on Vegeta in a rejuvenation chamber…and remembering immediately that Carot was dead. After that I couldn't fight anymore…" He shook his head slowly. "I couldn't stand the violence anymore. The senseless violence." A shudder ran through his body and he leveled his one-eyed gaze on her. "I was a warrior. I can relate to that feeling of weakness. For the first time in over a decade I am feeling it again. I feel now as I did when my brother was killed: helpless. I am weak and I am having a hard time accepting that fact. I want to help in this war, but the fact remains that the fighting is just beyond my level. Frieza is far too powerful. The Ginyu Force is far too powerful. I want to help, but I can't allow myself to be overcome with that feeling of helplessness. I can't allow my judgment to be clouded and jump headlong into a fight that I know I cannot win.
"Which is exactly what you are doing, Amotto. Granted you are much more powerful than you were before, the fact remains that you still are not powerful enough to fight Frieza. You should have accepted that you could not fight Falmer. You need to accept that there are forces out there that are far more powerful than us. I don't want to see you get yourself killed, Amotto." He offered up a slight, sad smile. "You're smarter than that…"
DBZ
Amotto stared up at him in silent wonder, listening in rapt attention to his history. Even through all the hours that they had talked while in captivity, she had never before heard this story. He had made mention of his brother before, but she had assumed that he had died when Vegeta was destroyed. This certainly explained a lot about the rather mysterious Broco. She knew him, but she was realizing very quickly that she didn't really know him.
She frowned and turned away from him, absently lifting a hand to chew idly on her thumb as she thought. She considered his words. She thought of Seripa's reluctance to take on the role of leader. She thought of the woman's lack of hesitation when she dove into battle. Was that due to confidence and arrogance?
She thought of when Seripa sent her away from the battlefield when Tettuce had lost his mind. She recalled the hopeless look she had seen in her friend's eyes and she realized that Seripa hadn't fought that day because of confidence or arrogance or to try and prove a point. Initially, yes, she may have been extremely overconfident.
But that wasn't what had been driving her. Seripa was a true warrior. She had seen countless battles while Amotto had seen only the ones she'd been involved in the last year or so. Seripa knew how to strategize and use her head while fighting. It was, after all, how she had been able to fight against Turles even though he far outclassed her as far as strength went.
She dropped her hand to her side and tilted her head as she closed her eyes. She had never been a fighter before. The scar across her face, while many assumed it was from battle, had actually been given to her by her father when she had flunked out of the Placement Trials. She had embarrassed him by being a weakling and not showing any sort of battle prowess at all.
Her eyes opened slowly. How she remembered that day all too well. His anger and violence exploding on her after she had delivered the news. How he had slapped her with his ki-charged hand, slicing her face open. And how she had left home and enlisted with the Technicians of the Saiyan Military, while her brothers and older sister went on to make their father proud by being enlisted with Frieza's Military.
She scoffed as she recalled the pride one should have had to be a member of Frieza's Military. Compared to his, the Saiyan Military was a joke. All they really did was fly around space and scout out potential planets for the tyrant's military to come in and clean out. But she had enjoyed it because it kept her out of fighting and allowed her to further her intelligence. That had been what she loved. She didn't enjoy fighting as most Saiyans did, but she did enjoy using her head to solve problems. She had always been using the ship's computer during her off time to learn interesting, albeit random, facts about the universe.
Amotto narrowed her eyes and looked down as she suddenly felt disgust for herself. Because of one near-death experience she had become just like her father. Almost over-night she had gone from not desiring strength to despising the weak. Broco was right…Strength wasn't everything and it certainly wasn't worth letting herself change into something she was not. She had allowed herself to become blinded by her new power and the primal urge every Saiyan had to be the best and the strongest.
No, she couldn't let herself become her father. She turned to Broco and looked up at him solemnly, taking a slow and deep breath.
He met her gaze unwaveringly, the darkness she had never before noticed still lingering in his single eye. She exhaled and a slow smile crept onto her face.
Broco's eye flickered to look behind her and it widened. He made a movement to shove her aside. She stumbled to the side and watched in stunned surprise as a purple beam pierced him in the center of his chest, and exploded from his back. She caught her balance and stared on as Broco was taken from his feet by the beam.
She watched as he landed on his back with a cry of pain.
"Broco!" she exclaimed and rushed towards him. She crouched at his side and he turned his eye to look up at her. It was already growing dim.
"A…mo…t-to…" A weak smile flashed from behind his thick beard. "I…l-l…"
"Broco…?" she ventured as his eye rolled into the back of his head and his chest stopped in mid-rise. She stared down at him with wide eyes. Disbelief clouded her mind. How could this happen?
Laughter sounded from behind her and she lifted her head in surprise. She turned her head to glance over her shoulder and she saw three aliens grouped together laughing at her. One of them, a blue alien with blonde hair, had his finger held out pointing to where Broco had been standing. She barely gave any notice to the ship hovering silently above them.
So it was him! Her eyes narrowed and she slowly stood up, turning once more to look down at Broco's still form.
"Look at that, Sauza! The female's so scared she can't face us!" declared the big ugly green alien.
"Sure looks that way, Doore," Sauza said with a grin.
"Yeah! Yeah!" said the orange one excitedly. "One Saiyan down! One to go!"
Amotto closed her eyes and clenched her fists tight at her sides. She could feel her power surging from out of nowhere. The barrier she had tried to breach before was cracking and immense power was gradually filling her body. Her tightly balled-up fists were beginning to tremble at her sides, her teeth gritting together. She tried to calm her mind and focus, but the anger from before, combined with the anger she'd felt for herself, combined with the anger she was now feeling…
Tidal waves of anger crashed through her psyche and she slowly and deliberately turned to face the three aliens.
They resumed their laughing and she slowly opened her eyes.
Their laughter ceased and they all stared in surprise at her eyes.
They were green.
"Whoa…" said Doore. "Look at that. A Saiyan with green eyes. That's kinda cool."
"Different for sure," remarked Sauza. "She must be considered an oddity."
Amotto suddenly threw her arms out and her head back, a shockwave of pure power emanating outwards in all directions from her body blowing the three aliens from their feet; her mouth wide open and her eyes closed as she roared in anger and anguish at the top of her lungs, a massive golden aura instantly appearing around her body like the flames of an out of control blaze…
DBZ
Falmer spun in place and stared wide-eyed in the direction that he'd seen Broco and Amotto head earlier. "What in the name of the gods is that?"
Diamond stared along with him, her own eyes wide. "It feels…it feels like Amotto!"
Zether gathered himself to his feet and limped over to stand beside them, his own eyes narrowed slightly.
"I've felt something similar to this before," he murmured quietly.
His brother and Diamond turned to look at him curiously.
"Where?" Falmer asked.
"Jynn-jin 13. When Tettuce lost his sanity…"
Berik, standing off to the side, jerked his attention to the long-haired Gylderian.
Falmer blinked in discomfort before turning his attention back to the source of the power. He swallowed as he hoped that Amotto wasn't planning on using this new power on him…
DBZ
(Individual Lies here. I'm on a roll! And now that I've said something about it, the next chapter is going to take ten years to finish. Lol Just kidding, of course. Everything is progressing smoothly and I'm having a ton of ideas again. They're all geared towards finishing this story, though, so it will still be soon. Maybe not within the next few chapters as I'd originally stated a couple chapters back, but it won't be much longer. As always thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!)
