Bardock was surprised to see Raditz suddenly appeared nervous. Gine had said the kid wanted to fight so he'd honestly though he'd be excited to finally have the chance to or at least annoyed that he'd have to train with him. Instead, his son's tail was stiff and he was looking everywhere except at him, fingers twitching.

"Train?" Raditz repeated, as if not sure he'd heard correctly the first time.

Bardock huffed. He didn't like repeating himself, so he just nodded. He'd never trained anyone, nor had he ever been trained by someone, but it couldn't be that difficult, could it? He'd learned just fine by watching and gaining experience when he was just a brat. The method worked just as well now that he was an adult. Still, Raditz wasn't looking very confident and was just shuffling his feet in the dirt now as though he didn't know what to do.

"Come at me," Bardock growled. That much should've been obvious.

Raditz bit his lip and Bardock began to wonder if he had an idiot as a son.

"You have been training with Gine, haven't you? You should know how to come towards a person and try to hit them!" he snapped. He stood straight and sneered at his son. "Or has all she been teaching you is how to salt meats? Wouldn't fucking surprise me."

Raditz's tail bristled and he suddenly looked angry. "She… she taught me just fine!" he said.

Bardock narrowed his eyes. "Doesn't look like it. A well-trained warrior wouldn't hesitate to test their skills. Your mother hasn't taught you shit 'cause she doesn't know crap about real fighting."

"Shut up! Mama is a real fighter!" Raditz's face was red and he looked furious, though on such a young face it just appeared pathetic. "You shouldn't say that about her! You two are mates!"

Bardock crossed his arms in front of himself and tilted his head, wondering where in the stars did Raditz get that idea. For god's sake he hoped Gine hadn't been putting them in his head as the norm. "Yeah, so? I can talk shit about anyone, mate or not, brat. Especially if it's true. Your mother is weak and apparently that trait passed on to you. Can't fucking believe this… Stuck with a useless son and a more useless ma-"

His scouted beeped and Bardock brought his arm up immediately to block the punch Raditz had thrown at him and then took a step back, allowing more room for Raditz to throw a few more punches, eyeing his power level.

'His power level only rose to 99. Tch.'

The brat was far from fast and while his hits weren't exactly powerful, they were pretty solid. It took only a few hits for Raditz to realize he wasn't harming him in any way and his confidence apparently dropped and he slowed down, his power level dropping back to its base state. Bardock sneered and backhanded his son for his hesitance.

Raditz was thrown to the ground and curled there, hands on his face where Bardock had struck him, wincing.

"What do you think you're doing?" Bardock growled. "We're not done yet!"

Raditz's eyes bulged and he just barely managed to roll away from the spot Bardock slammed his leg down not even a moment later. The brat seemed too thrown off to adapt to what was probably a new training method to him. Bardock hadn't thought to ask Gine how she'd been training him the past few months but it hardly mattered. Raditz would need to learn how to rely on his natural fighting instincts.

Still, it looked as though they were buried a little deeper than Bardock thought. He wasn't sure if that meant he should go easy on the kid or push harder. Raditz was staring at him as though he thought he was going to kill him, an event that could and has happened to brats when training with adults but Bardock thought he had a pretty good grasp on his self-control.

Bardock kept his eyes locked onto Raditz, freezing him in place as he circled him. "You don't leave this ring until I say so, brat."

"R-ring?" Raditz repeated. Figures his mouth would still work while he was scared.

He gestured at the dirt where he had dug the circle with his boot. "This is a ring. Don't expect one in actual combat." It made sense Raditz didn't know about rings since he'd been training inside their house unit with Gine this whole time. He still hated having to explain this shit. "It serves as a boundary. If you run out or if I knock you out, you lose. Don't even think about running out on purpose. I'll keep you here twice as long. Stand up. Now."

Trembling, Raditz stood up and faced him. "How d-do I win?"

"Beat your opponent or knock them out of the ring. I can guarantee you can't do either to me."

Raditz's nose wrinkled and for a second he didn't look scared. "If I can't win then why should I fight?"

Bardock couldn't believe his ears. Not even Gine had ever said anything like that. She may not have the fighting instinct or much skill, but she still wouldn't back down! He backhanded Raditz again. He'd be damned if he let his breed think like that. He'd beat it out of him if he could.

"You fight because of your pride, moron!"

Raditz stayed on the ground from the strike, appearing terrified again. "I-I…"

" You do not back down from a stronger enemy when in combat! You'll be in the Frieza Force when you're older and their ships are crawling with challengers who want to rise to the top! Do you have any idea how they do it? They kill the weak who have no business being there! You give up before a fight has begun and you're dead. You give up and you'll never know if you could have beaten them! Now stand up! Face me!"

For some reason Raditz stayed on the ground, shutting his eyes and looking away from him.

'Pathetic!'

"To beat me, you have to get strong! To get strong, you have to fight!"

He kicked his son's huddled form, sending him flying to the edge of the ring with a yelp. Bardock rushed towards him in an instant, prepared to drag him back into the ring if he dared to try and crawl away. Raditz seemed to realize what he was thinking and sprung to the center of the ring on all fours, tail frizzed up and twisting in the air wildly. To Bardock's frustration, he was still low to the ground and he could smell tears in the air. That had to stop now.

Before Raditz had a chance to think, Bardock grabbed him by the front of his armor so that he hung limply. Now that the brat was only inches from his face he could see he was trembling violently with tears running down his face. Overtaken by another wave of frustration, Bardock slapped him with his free hand.

"Don't you cry, brat! Crying lets your opponent know how weak you really are!"

Raditz's eyes had shut and he struggled to escape Bardock's grip in vain. His small hands clawed at his fingers and Bardock narrowed his eyes, making sure to tighten his hold in case Raditz managed to get close to freeing himself. The struggle ended far too quickly and Raditz stared at him pleadingly, causing Bardock's anger to rise further.

"Let-Let me go! This isn't fair!"

He swung him over his head and into the ground, not loosening his hold as he crouched over him.

"No fight is going to be fair! You do not cry over it! You do not shed tears!" He pushed him harder into the ground before releasing him. "You get angry! You spill their blood! You are weak but you have to appear strong! Stand. Up."

Raditz whimpered. The tears had mostly stopped but the terror was still clear in his eyes.

"Stand up now, brat!"

"I c-can't!"

"You can and you will! If you don't, I'll break all of your limbs so you'll know how it really feels when you can't do something!"

The brat buried his head into his arms and Bardock kicked him again. He rolled a few feet but still had his face covered, smothering soft whimpers. His tail was limp and lying in the dirt and Bardock had half a mind to grab it and shake him by it. That, however, might be going too far. When Raditz curled into a ball, it took everything he had not to groan and slam his head into the side of a building.

"Stand up!"

Bardock's foot made contact with Raditz's side again and this time he was determined to send the kid flying. He was confounded when instead of being sent into the air, the brat clung onto his foot. The next thing he knew, very sharp teeth dug into his boot, breaking through and pinching his skin.

"Shit!"

Instead of slamming the kid down to the ground full force like his instincts were telling him to, an action that would surely kill his son, he grabbed him with both his hands and attempted to rip him off. Each time he tugged, Raditz bit down harder as though his life depended on it. He probably thought it did. Now extremely irked, Bardock brought his fist up and aimed it directly on top of Raditz's head. It caused the teeth to dig in deeper for the briefest moment but right afterwards Raditz's mouth dropped open with a pained yelp and Bardock slapped him off of his foot like a mosquito.

"Was that all-"

Bardock was cut off by Raditz headbutting him in the stomach and knocking the air out of him. Surprised, he took a step back and when he saw Raditz lunging at him again, brought his arm up to block whatever attack the kid came up with. It went almost the same as the last time except Raditz seemed even slower, likely due to his injuries. Again, as he blocked each attack with ease, Raditz faltered. When Bardock prepared to backhand him again, Raditz saw it coming and used his last feeble attack to bounce off him and back to the edge of the ring.

Raditz was still trembling and didn't seem to be in a hurry to come at him again.

"Grow a damn spine!"

His son flinched back as Bardock appeared in front of him and kicked him out of the ring. There was a barely audible crack and Bardock froze, jaw clenched as he watched Raditz crumble into a pitiful heap. His anger and frustration draining from him in almost an instant. He'd let his temper run away with him and shit Gine was going to kill him if he went too far.

The kid was still clinging to consciousness and when he saw he had been thrown out, a panicked expression flashed across his face and he extended an arm to drag himself back inside. Bardock flew forward and put his boot over his hand, this time not slamming it on him as hard as he could have. He still heard the muffled whimper, though.

"Don't bother. We're done here."

Raditz stared up at him in confusion. "I didn't…"

"You didn't win," Bardock said, sneering. "You were pathetic. So pathetic that if I'd continued you'd be dead."

The brat winced and averted his eyes, appearing properly shamed. Perhaps there was hope for him yet.

"Our fight is over, but you're not done."

His head snapped back towards him. "Huh?"

"You need to get back to our house unit and I sure as hell am not gonna carry you." He lifted his boot off of his hands and Raditz struggled to sit up on his knees. "Not gonna be slowed down by you either. You'll be making your way back on your own."

Raditz seemed more confused than anything. He looked towards their small town uncertainly, then back at Bardock. "You said… it'd be a fight."

"The town is littered by scraps who are dying for some of that armor you have there. You look like easy prey."

It finally seemed to click and Raditz scrambled up to his feet, a hand clutching his side over his broken rib. Bardock watched as he threw a panicked look over his shoulder. "I-I can't fight like this! You can't just leave me, there's too many of them!"

He wasn't going to leave Raditz on his own with a broken rib. In fact, he'd be keeping an eye on him the whole time and deter the strongest scraps if any of them showed up at all. Raditz, however, did not need to know this. He focused on his son's panicked expression and scoffed, looking away and then flying up back towards the town.

"Easy prey… Prove me wrong, brat."

When Bardock left, Raditz let himself fall back down onto his knees, whimpering as he placed a hand over his side which was throbbing in pain. Everything was in pain. He'd never had a training session like this with Gine and thinking it over, he wasn't certain if he had even learned anything. It seemed Bardock had just taken him out here to beat him up for fun… At least, he'd think it was for fun if his father hadn't seemed to have hated every moment spent in his presence.

Wincing, Raditz looked up at the sky to see how long it'd be until his mother was home. He didn't want to walk back. He wanted to lie down and rest and then have his mother scoop him in her arms and take him home so they could sleep together where it was safe. However, judging by the sun's position in the sky, it'd be a few hours until Gine was done with her work and if Bardock was right about the other Saiyan children, it'd be best for Raditz to head home as soon as possible.

Home… where Bardock would be waiting.

Raditz's tail curled around himself. He didn't want to go back to Bardock. The Saiyan was bigger and stronger than him, what would stop him from just repeating this all over again? He didn't want to be slapped or kicked around anymore, not unless he could do the same to him.

He winced again, this time for a different reason. He could kick and slap Bardock. It just… didn't hurt him. He wasn't strong enough. Compared to Bardock, Raditz was weak. Nothing would stop his father from beating him during training. Reluctantly, Raditz stood up and shuffled back towards their town. He wasn't sure of where exactly he lived but he was positive he'd recognize it when he came across it if not by sight, then smell.

The first thing he noticed when he walked into town was that there were not many Saiyan brats on the ground. He knew that Saiyans didn't grow noticeably in size until they hit a growth spurt that could happen from when they were eleven to sixteen years old and even then weren't their full size until they were well into their twenties. Before that, they could only grow a few inches over the years. Raditz was only three and still incredibly small. Saiyans his age, the scraps at least, seemed to keep to the rooftops.

It wasn't difficult so see why. The other Saiyans, the adults, looked much larger and menacing than they did when he had been in the company of Bardock. Even if they didn't look directly at him, he could still feel them watching his every move as if he might attack them. He determinedly kept going forward, trying to make his limp look less noticeable.

"You are weak but you have to appear strong!"

From the corner of his eye, Raditz spotted a few shadows cast from the rooftops dart past. He noticed they didn't continue forward. They had stopped at some point above and ahead of him. The hair on the back of his neck stood up.

"Easy prey."

His first thought was to go in another direction but he knew they were at full health and much faster than him. They could cut him off or worse, he'd attract the attention of more of them. His second thought was to ask one of the adult Saiyans in the area to help him home.

He had a feeling that wouldn't go over so well.

If he kept going forward then, if they really did intend to attack them, he'd be walking right into an ambush. Raditz's tail twitched as he struggled to think of what to do. Running was not an option. Neither was asking for help. A fight was inevitable…

Or…

Was it?

Raditz bit his lip and glanced over at a building next to him. It had a few wooden poles and empty containers. He took a few shorts breaths and braced himself, then hopped onto the containers and used a pole to haul himself onto the rooftop. It took everything he had not to moan or whimper in pain. Everything hurt. His body trembled just a little but after a while, he managed to calm himself and stand up properly. Now that he was at their level, he could see four other Saiyan brats a few meters ahead of him, watching him with guarded expressions.

He began walking towards them and a flicker of uncertainty crossed their faces. Raditz's heart thudded in his chest so hard he was scared they'd hear it and realize how afraid he was. As he got closer he was able to see that they were all barely clothed and not one of them had a scrap of armor like him. They were exposed with no protection and even though they could outmatch him if they ganged up on him, they didn't know it for sure. They were scraps and he was a well fed, fully clothed, healthy (though injured) Saiyan child.

This thought gave Raditz a burst of confidence as he finally stopped only five feet away from them. Two of them were standing straight, glaring at him while two others were crouched, looking at him uncertainly. Raditz decided they were most likely to flee and gave them the dirtiest glare he could and smirked when one of them slunk away. The other one sat down while glaring at him and Raditz was sure he wouldn't be getting up to attack anytime soon. He turned his attention to the other two who were still standing, tails lashing.

"You're in my way," Raditz said, making sure to keep his voice firm. Like Bardock. "Move it."

"Tch, you don't tell us what to do," one of them growled. He was taller than Raditz by a few inches and had a round belly but skinny limbs. "We were here first, runt." He sounded older too. He tried not to let that get to him.

"Move or I'll move you."

"Ha! You're outnumbered," the other one said. He was as tall as Raditz but was clearly older as well and unlike his companion, his ribs were poking out. "There's three of us and one of you, dumbass. You really think you can take us all on?"

Raditz stepped forward, projecting confidence and ignoring the throbbing at his side. "You really think you can take on me?"

The third Saiyan that had been sitting ducked his head and slid off the side of the building to retreat, now leaving the other two alone with Raditz. Though now there was one less than there had been before, this seemed to have just strengthened their resolve.

"Yeah, we do," one growled.

Taking that as his cue, Raditz slammed the crown of his head forward straight into his nose. The brat fell onto his back with a yelp, hands grasping at his nose which was now gushing blood. His companion looked stunned for only a moment and then lunged towards Raditz's tail. Spotting him just in time, Raditz ducked, only to stumble when the pain from his broken rib hit him again at full force from the sudden movement. He wrapped his tail around his waist and struggled to get back on his feet. He was tackled from the side by the brat with the bloody nose and they both toppled off the side of the building.

The pain almost blinded Raditz as he crashed down onto something that was definitely not the ground. His limbs scrambled underneath him to push himself forward, causing him to fall a few more feet, plates of food and drink falling with him. He heard curses and yells and saw a large hand reaching for him. Instinctively, Raditz rolled out of the way and stumbled to his feet.

He and the other brat had fallen onto an outdoor table that some other Saiyans had been dining on, spilling its contents on the ground. The brat that had tackled him landed next to him and didn't even glance at him before fleeing the scene. With angry, full grown Saiyans behind him and only one brat ahead of him, Raditz didn't have to think about it as he followed the other child's example and ran away as fast as he could.

He wasn't sure how far he ran but at some point he realized the adults were not following him and he was instead in another part of the town entirely. He stopped in the middle of the road and went to his knees, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath but with each inhale he felt a stabbing pain in his side. A few older Saiyans were nearby but didn't pay him much mind. It seemed as though they didn't notice or even care that he was struggling for breath.

The exhaustion and pain from his injuries finally took their toll and the last thing Raditz remembered before passing out was something that almost felt like hands catching him before his face met the ground.