Chapter 13
Like Bardock predicted, Dabura stalked out of the open door and stood in front of the group. He smirked, "How nice to meet you. I see you had no problem taking care of our other fighters. They weren't the strongest so it's no surprise they were beaten, but now you are facing me, and I can assure you that you will not proceed to the next stage."
"You don't seem like the strongest here," Vegeta mocked. "If your boss thought you were the strongest, he would've sent Broly instead."
"So you do know that Saiyan's name," Dabura said.
Gohan crossed his arms, his eyes stony, "Are we doing this or what? It's my turn to fight."
Dabura grunted, cracking his neck, "I'd prefer it if all of you attacked. One-on-one just doesn't seem that fun."
"This isn't about fun," Gohan clenched his jaw. "Now let's go."
"Fine," Dabura said airily. The room suddenly changed and suddenly they were in a rocky terrain area.
Trunks stared around the area with a raised eyebrow, "So he has the power to change the area. Why didn't he do that before?"
"Babidi only changes the area if he thinks it'll give his warrior an advantage," Bardock supplied. "Last time he changed it to the same area because he didn't want the ship being damaged during the fight." He glanced at the sky. "I'm surprised he hasn't been talking to us directly like he did in the past. He probably doesn't want us to know what he's doing."
Dabura and Gohan walked away from the group and stood in front of each other. Dabura's lips twitched slightly before the two suddenly disappeared and reappeared. Gohan slammed his fist into Dabura's face, shocking the demon king with the force of it.
The demon king growled and swiped at Gohan who side stepped the sudden beam that flew at him and watched as it cut the cliff behind them much too easily. The Saiyan male moved quickly at the ki blasts thrown at him. He appeared in front of Dabura and punched him in the gut, sending him into another cliff.
Dabura coughed as he lifted himself from the broken rocks. He wiped the dribble of blood on his chin. "You're much stronger than I anticipated. However, I know you'll soon make a mistake."
"Enough talk," Gohan grunted as he flew at the demon again.
The rest of the group watched as Gohan and Dabura battled it out. Goku exhaled with a grin on his face, "Look at him go."
"Alright, Dad!" Bardock cheered, clapping his hands. "This is going way better than it did in the other timeline," He said to the others.
"Let me guess; your father got soft in those peaceful years," Vegeta said.
"Unfortunately," Bardock nodded, eyes still on the two fighters. "I thought Dad was doing pretty well the first few minutes but he turned Super Saiyan way too early and kept messing up. Even Grandpa was a bit disappointed."
Goku tilted his head curiously, "So who won?"
Bardock shook his head, "No one. Babidi cut the fight short because they came up with a ploy to get one of us to betray us. That led to Buu's awakening."
"Who betrayed you?" Shin questioned, a bit of fear coating his tone.
"Don't worry, Supreme Kai. I doubt it'll gonna happen again."
Back on the battle grounds, Dabura materialized a sword. He slashed at Gohan who was quick to move out of the way of the attack.
Gohan punched Dabura once more, only to have his hand blocked by the sword. He pushed harder, the skin of his knuckles beginning to break.
The others, minus Vegeta and the shaken Supreme Kai, cheered quietly when a flash of light came from Gohan and almost blinded them. Dabura's sword broke under the force of Gohan's Super Saiyan strength.
"That was way better than in the past," Bardock clapped.
They could see that Gohan now had the fight in his hand. Dabura had powered to his highest level but even then, he couldn't handle Gohan in his new form.
After a variety of punches, kicks, and ki blasts, Dabura finally hit the ground, too damaged to even get up.
Gohan dropped back to his base form, glaring at the demon king below him. "You're done, Dabura, and so is your master." He lifted his hand, powering a ki blast. "This is for Kibito."
The blast disintegrated Dabura just as he was shaking his head and lifting a hand to plead to the Saiyan.
The room changed back to the regular ship room. Shin rubbed a tired hand over his face and sighed, his heart rate finally slowing, "Thank goodness that's over."
"It's not technically over," Bardock said, staring at the door. "Babidi still has Broly and I'm sure he's bringing him out next."
Goku covered a yawn. "Well, who's fighting him next?" A pout came on his lips. "I kinda wish I didn't fight Ozotto if Broly's stronger."
"I should fight him," Vegeta cut in forcefully.
"Bardock and I are the only ones who haven't fought so it's only fair that one of us gets to fight Broly," Trunks remarked. He turned to his former student and bowed, "Bardock, you can take him if you want."
Bardock raised an amused eyebrow, "Wow, is he that strong?"
"Gohan, Piccolo, my dad, and I had to give our power to Goku to finally kill him. He's a tyrant who has some kind of grudge against Goku," Trunks deadpanned. "So yes, be my guest."
Bardock laughed lightly as the door opened once again. Broly walked through the door, his face blank but his eyes falling to Goku immediately. Vegeta pondered how such a scrawny Saiyan held so much power. He was either hiding it or Trunks was greatly exaggerating; he believed the latter was more than likely true.
"Babidi has told me I must take the rest of you out now," Broly spoke softly which already grated on Vegeta's nerves.
"Beta male," Vegeta grumbled.
Gohan placed his hand on his son's shoulder. He smiled slightly when Bardock turned to him questioningly, "Do whatever you have to do, Bardock. I have complete faith in you."
"Will do, Dad," Bardock nodded. He cracked his knuckles before pulling one arm across his chest. "Okay, Broly, how do you want to do this?"
Broly slowly walked up to him, stopping only inches away from the youngest Saiyan in the room. His monotone voice started creeping everyone out. "I'm only here for Kakarot. Please move out of the way."
"You want my grandpa, you have to go through me first."
The two stared at each other before Broly twitched, most likely listening to Babidi in his head. Their assumptions were correct when the Saiyan nodded his assent to fighting Bardock first. The room then changed to the same mountain terrain again.
Bardock breathed deeply, clenching his fists. He gazed around the area before his eyes fell on his opponent. He nodded grimly, "Let's do this."
The two crouched into fighting stances before they took off, meeting in the middle and blocking the other's attacks. Jumping away from each other, they charged at each other again, disappearing and reappearing in different parts in the sky with their fists or legs meeting.
"Wow," Trunks breathed in awe, never having seen someone go toe to toe with Broly before. His stomach twisted dreadfully when he realized that Broly was still only in his base form.
By the time the two stepped away from each other to give themselves breathing room, they were both already sporting deep gashes and dark bruises.
Bardock sniffed, wiping the blood from his lips, his eyes still on his opponent. "How about we make this a little more interesting, Broly?" Broly titled his head, listening. "We're both Saiyans, right? We're not gonna get anywhere in our base forms, so let's step it up a notch."
Trunks stiffened, his eyes widening, "Bardock, no!"
A thin smirk came onto Broly's lips just as his long locks of black hair lifting as they turned gold. Bardock, not intimidated by the severe increase of his ki, turned into a Super Saiyan. They took off towards each other again.
Vegeta clapped, chuckling. "Now this is entertainment."
"Are you insane?!" Shin and Trunks exclaimed.
Trunks ran his hands through his hair anxiously. "Bardock doesn't know what he's getting into. Broly's only a Super Saiyan. If he goes to the next level, Bardock won't last against him."
Gohan frowned, his eyes tracking his son's movements in the sky. "Have some faith in him, Trunks. He still has a few tricks up his sleeve."
"Yes, Trunks, trust your former student," Vegeta smirked. "The brat is stronger than you after all. Him fighting Broly is your doing anyway."
"Me fighting him is why I know Bardock's in trouble," Trunks retorted still in a slight panic. "Broly isn't just a regular Saiyan, Dad. He's the Legendary Super Saiyan you've always heard about."
At that, the rest of the group froze in shock despite the harsh fight still going on above them. Vegeta slowly turned to his son, his nostrils flared as he glared heatedly, "And you didn't think to tell us this-oh I don't know-when we first saw him?!"
"I'm sorry!" Trunks shouted back, flinching when he felt Bardock power up to his Super Saiyan 2 form. "I didn't think it'd happen like this. I thought Bardock would want us all to fight him, not take turns. I bowed out because even if we did all fight, I knew I wouldn't be much help since his power level is almost twice as high as mine. I was just going to give him my ki if he needed it."
"Trunks, my son is out there fighting the Legendary Super Saiyan and he's already running on his last form," Gohan addressed his former student lowly. "Bardock may be smart, he may be strong, stronger than any of us, but he's still my son and I am not going to let him die at the hands of this tyrant and his master."
He gazed back to the fight, his chest hollow, "We need to stop this fight and we need to stop it now."
"But how?" Supreme Kai asked disbelievingly. "If they're already in their highest levels, they won't stop until one of them is permanently down or they forfeit."
"Don't worry, guys." They gazed at Goku who gave them an easy Son grin. "Bardock's gonna be just fine. Just keep watching."
The hard punch from Bardock sent Broly flying away. Both Saiyans hit the ground, several yards away from each other. Bardock panted heavily, his arms feeling like lead. He could feel his muscles shaking intensely and he could taste the blood pooling in his mouth. This was just as hard as fighting Kid Buu.
"If you keep fighting, I won't hesitate to kill you," Broly said. His voice was much deeper and rough in his Super Saiyan form. "I'm only here for Kakarot. Move aside and you'll live to see another day."
A ragged groan left Bardock. "Okay," He swallowed; the iron tang in his mouth had him resisting the urge to retch. He lifted his aching head and slowly nodded to the other Saiyan. "I've got some fight still left in me."
He sluggishly straightened. His brain was leaning heavily on his forehead, causing his temples to pulse painfully. He shut his eyes tightly and slowly opened them. He dropped out of his Super Saiyan form.
"What's he doing?" Vegeta hissed.
Goku waved his hand, whispering, "Just watch."
Feet planted firmly on the ground, arms curled by his side, and fists clenched, Bardock inhaled deeply and bent his knees. He shouted as he straightened once more, his power level increasing enormously.
He bent at the waist, the veins on his arms, face, and forehead bulged as he ripped through the restraints he had placed on his himself. Screams ripped from his throat at the feeling of his insides burning harshly and his ki wrapping around him.
The earth below them shook intensely. The group held onto each other when the wind around them became too rough.
Bardock's hair flashed from black to silver. His black eyes turned gold. His aura went from white to silver. It was accompanied by gold bolts flying around it. His muscles grew twice in size and his tail ripped out of the clothed confines, whipping around as the fur lightened.
His screams died down, along with the shaking of the earth and the harsh winds. His gold eyes glared at Broly, "Now this is the real fight."
As the two charged at each other once more, Shin shook his head, his breathing short and panicked, "O-oh no, Bardock. With all this excess ki he's releasing, he's surely going to wake Buu up." He turned to the others, only to find them gaping at the fight. "What is it? What's wrong?"
"He has another form?!" Vegeta shouted in annoyance.
"That is so cool!" Goku cheered, tittering excitedly.
Gohan grinned in astonishment, "I knew he had something up his sleeve."
"Oh Bardock, what have you done?" Trunks muttered numbly.
The power the two gave off was staggering. Each punch and kick sent out a rush of the large ki each Saiyan had. Neither used ki blasts but none were needed in a fist fight like the one they were displaying.
Broly flew past Bardock towards the group. He was intercepted by his opponent who grabbed his ankle and threw him towards the ground.
"Broly, what are you doing?" Babidi's shrill voice cut in. The fighters halted, staring up at the sky. "Kill the boy! Stop playing around!"
The veins on Broly's forehead that were covered by Babidi's M grew larger as he shook his head forcefully, "No more! You told me I could kill Kakarot. I will not waste my time fighting this brat when Kakarot's right there!"
Goku and Trunks flinched at that.
"I don't care about your petty grudge! If you do not kill the boy and the Supreme Kai, at least stop the match and get back here! Buu is about to awaken!"
"NO!" Broly screamed, the teal of his eyes disappearing into the white as he powered up to insane levels. "I will kill Kakarot! You can't stop me!"
The room suddenly changed back to the regular ship. As Broly charged at Goku, Bardock interfered, sending the two through the wall of the ship. The rest of the Saiyans and Shin watched as the two battled their way to the surface. Goku grabbed them and pressed two fingers to his forehead.
They appeared back on the surface where Kibito was gazing around frantically. Shin laughed shakily in relief at the sight of his companion, "Kibito!"
"Supreme Kai, thank goodness you're alright," Kibito exclaimed as he rushed over to them. He gazed at the two fighting Saiyans in the sky. "What's going on?"
"I'm afraid Bardock is trying to defeat Broly on his own, but from his ki, he will only be the death of himself if he stays in that form."
Gohan gritted his teeth angrily. "Don't you dare say that about my son. He's stronger than all of us. He won't lose."
"Look!" Goku shouted, pointing at something behind the Saiyans. "It's Babidi and he's…holding a giant egg?"
Shin gasped fearfully, "Oh no. Majin Buu's almost here! We have to stop him." They tried to rush over there, only to be stopped when the brawling Saiyans skidded past them. Shin gazed past the sand that blocked their sight. His heart stopped at the sight of the smoke billowing out of the egg.
Broly and Bardock slammed their fists into the other's cheeks. Blood gushed out of their mouths before they flew away from each other.
Bardock cupped his hands to his side, chanting, "Kamehameha!" He shot his hands forward, releasing the powerful blue beam of energy.
Broly sent a large green ki blast to counterattack it. Their blasts met in the middle, struggling to overpower the other. Bardock gritted his teeth, his feet crushing the floor underneath him to hold his stance.
"BUU!"
The shout sent Bardock toppling to the ground causing him to release his hold on his kamehameha. He fell back to his base form as he stumbled to get on his feet.
When he stood up shakily on his damaged feet, his eyes met the familiar pink being that he wished he never had to see again form years.