Episode 56

The Test

"This is all a misunderstanding!" Bardock wanted them to listen to him first. "I already told you. We're not here to cause any harm. I know you saw the person who attacked your village and your people, but we're not one of them!"

The village elder released his hands from the Namekian children and faced Bardock. "I won't easily be persuaded…unless you can prove to me your integrity in battle."

"HYAH!" immediately, the three Namekians warriors advanced towards Bardock and fought him and only him, leaving Gohan alone for the time being. These warriors actually had other motives, not just testing his strength. In fact, they could care less about whom Bardock and Gohan were and if they were sincere or not. They must protect their people from anyone now.

"Wait!" Bardock tried to stop them.

They paid no attention to him. Instead, they caught him by surprise by throwing punches at his chest. Bardock was pushed back and was about to fall into the rivers, but quickly regained his stance. He darted towards the skies, the jet of air he left made the water behind him rose. It glistened under the sun.

"Grandpa Bardock!" Gohan cried, seeing how he was being attacked.

"Hold on a second!" Bardock tried to stop them somehow.

The three warriors gave a battle cry and were engaged in an intensive battle with him, throwing barrages of fists and displaying flexible footwork. Bardock had no choice but to avoid their attacks while not hurting them too much; just enough power to make them stop and listen.

One Namekian warrior dove down, his hands clasped together, about to go for a direct blow straight to his head. Bardock kept his focus intact and then, avoided his assault, rapidly moving over to the side. Once he swayed his entire body, he threw a sharp sidekick to his hip, propelling him a few feet away. The second Namekian warrior launched energy blasts at him, each containing different energies and intensities. Bardock concentrated on this, evading these blasts and using his hands to deflect them, having them explode in the background. He then took momentum and gave an uppercut to his chin, following with a turning sidekick. The last fighter tried to surprise him by going for a knee-strike to his abdomen, but thanks to his armor and level of his power, he did not flinch this time.

Bardock retaliated as he delivered a quick jab to his cheek and a force field at the end, making him collide with the second Namekian warrior. They regained their postures, however, and landed on top of a canyon.

The first Namekian warrior moved towards him with haste, but Bardock had more potential in him than he looked. He was able to sense him despite of distractions trying to divert his attention. At the right timing, the skilled Saiyan was able to grab his opponent's wrist, the hand that was meant to turn into a fist and hit him with it.

"Rargh!" with a vigorous yell, Bardock pulled the Namekian warrior closer to him while lifting his left foot and with it, he went for a strong hook kick on his back, making his opponent fall to the ground. He may have hurt him a little, but he was not injured, of course.

The three Namekian warriors were stunned by the astonishing potential that he was carrying. They could tell he was definitely no ordinary being.

"What is he?" asked the second Namekian warrior.

"He's so strong!" exclaimed the third.

Gohan was still worried about his grandfather. He asked if he was all right.

Bardock nodded to him, saying he was completely fine.

The village elder was worried himself, but slowly, he saw something in Bardock that could possibly tell he was telling the truth after all. He needed more evidence though and so, he must further test his integrity and true strength in his heart.

Bardock tried to speak to the confused beings. "Listen to me! We didn't come here for any purposes of evil. In fact, we may actually need your help!"

The Namekian warriors shook their heads, not believing in him at all. One of them declared, "Stop tricking us into your lies. You're part of the mysterious beings that have been attacking our people. There's no mistake!"

"I'm not trying to deceive you!" Bardock was becoming frustrated himself.

The three proceeded to attack him head-on while Bardock was left to keep finding out a way to convince them somehow.

On another side of the planet, Frieza and King Cold were inside the control room of Frieza's ship. It had a lot of space in it with a large window at front. There was only one high-backed chair at the center of the room, which was for Frieza. The DragonBalls that they had collected were on floor, glimmering from certain angles.

Frieza was out of his hovering pod and now, he was standing in front of the window with his arms crossed. He was waiting for the ten henchmen whom he sent to eliminate Raditz and his friend, Krillin, but they were taking too long just to accomplish this task.

He was tapping his fingers impatiently on his reptile-like skin. "It occurs to me…that they, too, have miserably failed me."

King Cold was walking around the room. He had a glass of wine in his hand, taking a few sips from it from time to time. "Is it the perfect time to lecture you now? But perhaps, it's not really your men's fault. You may be facing adversaries that are lot tougher than they look."

Frieza grunted. He was feeling nothing but infuriation for the past few days now; he vented it out through a seething voice. "Those are a lot of big words from someone who didn't even bring his own soldiers to this planet. And I thought you're supposed to be the king of our race with a son who looks up to you…," he then stared at him and changed his mind, "or maybe, you're not a good role model after all."

"Don't push it, Frieza," King Cold reprimanded, not liking his temper. "Our plans may be delayed, but that doesn't give you the right to start speaking to me that," he then faced him with a glare that was as cold as his was. "Besides, you should know me by now. I didn't have to bring an army. I have all the indefinite power I need to crush any pest that's out there."

Frieza suddenly had a quiet laughter to himself. His lips curled into a grin. "I guess…we have a lot in common then, Father."

King Cold placed his glass of wine on a small, round table. He then pushed his cape back to see the sword attached to his waist. He had not used this blade in a while, but he knew this weapon of his would come in handy at some point. With that being in mind, he then stood in front of the DragonBalls. On their polished surfaces, he could see his reflection on them.

"So where are the village elders exactly?" asked King Cold.

"The Namekians are locked away in the basement, which is located at the lowest level of my ship," Frieza answered.

"Hmm…and if we find any more of these Namekians, I can lock them away in my ship if more space is needed," King Cold said.

"Where did you land yours anyway?" his son asked.

"Just two miles from here," King Cold said. "Don't worry. No one would bother do anything to it. After all, I came here by myself."

Silence, once again, took hand until another question came to King Cold. "This 'Raditz' you mentioned before, who is he exactly? I certainly know Vegeta, but not any of his Saiyan companions."

Frieza felt the grip on his hands becoming tighter. Just picturing their faces made him feel disgusted; essentially, the faces of all Saiyans. The only reason why he decided to spare Raditz, Vegeta, and Nappa after destroying their home planet was that he needed a few Saiyan recruits in his army. He needed them for their abilities of conquering planets much faster and more capably. He knew at the back of his mind though that one day, they will find out the truth about their home planet's destruction and may decide to rebel against him.

His prediction came true. That day had come, but he was not worried at all. Actually, if he was in the mood, he liked the feeling of it. Their defiance and long-awaited revolt would force the tyrant to reveal all of his terrifying power and supremacy that'll surely overpower them, bringing them to unending affliction. If they did not fear him now, they will soon and for eternity even if he were to take their lives away with his own bare hands.

He closed his eyes. The power of immortality will soon be his.

He finally answered his father's question. "All you have to know is that both Vegeta and Raditz used to obey me and now they don't. They're one of the last surviving Saiyans after I destroyed their wretched planet. And now, they had decided to rise up, planning to overthrow me."

His father said nothing this time.

Frieza, however, kept having this rush of thrill in him. "And because of their disobedience, they'll finally know what true fear is."

King Cold grinned evilly after he heard that. He then left his glass of wine on the table. He walked towards the doorway behind his son whilst saying, "I'm going to visit the Namekians. I want to ask the elders a few questions."

Frieza had no comment, but he did not prevent his father from doing so. King Cold exited the room without another word.

Out into the open space of Namek, Zarbon and Dodoria were at an area of many tall canyons along with sporadic trees. They were using their new scouters to locate Raditz, Vegeta, any Namekians, or the last remaining DragonBalls, but so far, they could not pick up anything.

"Is this really the latest model the Ginyu Force has brought?" Zarbon complained, adjusting the position of his device on his left eye. "I'm not getting any readings. Hmph, piece of trash."

Dodoria rolled his eyes. "Probably they were too busy trying to come up with new poses every day, they've forgotten about more important things!"

Zarbon decided to shrug it off and just focus on their mission. "Let's search another area."

They went to another path again. They flew at lower attitudes, hoping to receive better signals. After a while, the two had another conversation.

"It still surprises me that Lord Frieza has to summon the Ginyu Force," Dodoria started to complain. "Is he really that desperate that he has to call the most powerful elite force in the entire galaxy? But these are just puny Namekians. We can certainly finish the job! If only that village elder hadn't blown up our scouters in the first place, I would've destroyed Raditz and his bald friend already."

Dodoria was beginning to think their master was starting to doubt the capabilities of his own right-hand men whom they had served him for years and had never once questioned their allegiance and capabilities.

Zarbon may have the same opinion as his, but he tried not to think about that for now. "Lord Frieza may have other reasons for calling the Ginyu Force, or maybe…we've found a day when our limits are actually being tested. Whatever Lord Frieza's reason is, we need to start doing things right before he rips our heads off."

As for the Ginyu Force members, they had come across empty Namekian villages, but their inhabitants either had been taken away by Frieza and imprisoned in his ship or had been killed by his henchmen. They had also picked up a few power levels, but all of them were very miniscule, less than a hundred. They mostly came from underwater animals and birds.

Jeice was tapping on his scouter several times. "I hope my scouter's not broken from when we landed here. But why are all these numbers so weak? I can't even pick up Raditz's or Vegeta's power. And where're the 5,000 power levels we picked up earlier ago?! Oy, this is stupid."

Burter, Guldo, Recoome, and even Ginyu had similar problems like these. Of course, they were not aware of the fact that the Z-warriors knew how to bask their energies to the minimum or almost non-existent. Even Vegeta himself had acquired this skill.

Guldo was especially having problems. He was going around in circles, complaining that he cannot even wear a scouter due to the size of his head as well as his extra pair of bulging eyes. After deciding to take a break, he was lucky enough to find a village up ahead. Unlike his teammates who had found nothing so far, Guldo could see people there.

"Huh, must be Namekians or something," Guldo sneered. "Hah, hah! I'm gonna win the chocolate buffet bet now!"

The three Namekian warriors continued to keep Bardock on his toes, still engaged in a hectic fight with him. They were doing combined teamwork and using up all their energies to take the persistent Saiyan down, yet Bardock could keep well of their tracks and movements. He was quite impressed by their unyielding strengths, but he knew they couldn't afford to delay any more time. There was far greater trouble brewing elsewhere on this planet. Immediate action must be taken, but Bardock just could not seem to convince them that he was on their side.

The warriors charged at him, each giving him an attack all together. Without moving his eyes much to get an accurate view of his opponents, Bardock used his senses instead to feel out their presences. The Namekian fighters rapidly released their techniques at full power, but Bardock was able to oppose their attacks all at once with both of his arms.

"Hyah!" Bardock made his move as he kicked the first Namekian warrior to his abdomen. With haste and sharpness of skills, he went for an elbow strike to the second Namekian's chest. He then discharged an invisible force field from his body, carrying his opponents with the winds. At his last chain of combo, he turned a full circle twice to gain momentum as he attacked the jaw of the third Namekian warrior with his armored wrist.

The Namekian warriors were perspiring and breathing heavily. Bardock had given them quite the challenge; he was definitely no ordinary being. They wondered why he was not attacking them hard enough to the point of injuring them. He clearly had the upper-hand all along.

Now, they were beginning to realize he may be telling the truth after all, but with all the unfortunate, terrible incidents going on to their beloved planet, it was very difficult for them now to trust anyone.

Gohan felt useless that he was standing here, watching his grandfather having to be involved in this fight. Even though his grandfather was not struggling at all dealing with the Namekian warriors, he wanted to help still.

Gohan spoke and tried to convince the Namekians this time. "Listen to us, please! We're on your side. We need your help as much as you guys need our help. Please!"

The more the village elder watched Bardock fought, the more he was sensing truth in his words. Just to confirm this, he turned to Gohan and asked, "You there, what do you mean by what you said? Why do you need our help?"

Gohan turned to him and explained, "Friends of ours back from our planet had passed away and we want to wish them back to life as soon as possible. We came to your planet to see if you could help us make our wish happen."

The village elder quickly realized what he meant. "Wish? Are you intending to use our DragonBalls?" he gave him that firm look again.

The half-Saiyan did not want him to take this the wrong way. "Yes, but rest assured, good Sir! We only want to bring them back to life. Please, our friends need our help, too."

He was soft-spoken, honest, but more importantly, good at heart. The village elder realized that he and his brethren might have made a mistake after all. He assumed that Bardock was like this young boy here as well.

The village elder stepped forward. The young adult Namekian, who was protecting the two Namekian children, asked what he was going to do. Just before the village elder had told his brothers to seize fighting, he became alarmed to catch a shadow passing by swiftly. That shadow actually attacked one of the Namekian warriors from behind, making him collide with the ground.

"What the?!" the other two fighters were stopped for a moment, wondering who just came to this village and had decided to assault their people again.

Bardock, Gohan, and the rest were also surprised.

In front of them was a green-skinned, stout creature with four eyes, wearing an armor that was similar to the uniforms of Frieza's henchmen. He was floating in air with an evil grin on his face.

He had a nasty laugh. "Hah, hah! I came to the right place then. Our master will be so pleased! Better prepare yourself 'cause you'll be facing…"

He did a few poses, intending to intimidate them. He introduced himself in a dramatic manner. "The master of time…Guldo!"