Episode 57

Psychic Master

Bardock, Gohan, as well as the rest of the Namekians kept their distances from this strange creature named Guldo. Whatever his business will be, they need to keep watch of him.

Bardock gave a look especially right after he noticed the armor that he was wearing. There was no doubt in his mind anymore that this Guldo must belong to the army of that galactic overlord, Frieza, but he was still unsure if the tyrant himself was here on Namek.

He had never seen Guldo's face before though. His name was not too familiar as well.

Guldo was mentally doing a head-count of the Namekians residing in this village. He was quite surprised to see other Namekians lying on the ground in their own pool of blood. He could not make out who had done this. It cannot possibly be the Namekians or that would mean there could be a civil war going on amongst them, but he learnt that Namekians were usually peace-loving creatures. He ruled out that possibility.

His attention was caught the most when he saw Gohan and Bardock. Could it be the two of them who had killed the Namekians here? But it cannot be them, he thought. They did not look evil for his taste.

"Hmm, I don't see Raditz or Vegeta anywhere, but those two…they look like Saiyans," Guldo mumbled to himself. "But I've never seen them before. I thought the entire Saiyan race was killed except for Vegeta and his two companions…"

He then scrutinized Bardock from head to toe. "Yet why's that person wearing a Saiyan armor? Is he also a comrade of Vegeta's? But I've never seen him before! This is quite interesting. I should report this to our master…"

He was talking too loud, Bardock heard of him, of course, and he displayed a serious expression. "…?"

The village elder had enough of Guldo having a conversation with himself. He decided to ask a few questions to this unwelcomed being. "You there, state who you are. Why are you here in this village? And who is this 'master' you're talking about?"

Guldo instantly spat at him. "Feh! Watch your mouth, old man. I already told you who I am. You're talking to one of the members of the illustrious, most powerful force ever: the Ginyu Force!"

"Ginyu Force?" the three Namekian warriors repeated what he said.

Gohan was very confused. "Ginyu Force? What's that? Hey, Grandpa, have you heard of that?"

Even the name of this force did not ring a bell to him at all. "No, not at all," he replied quietly.

The Namekian children were trying to catch their caretaker's attention, still feeling uncomfortable from this danger they were involved in. "Elder!"

Guldo heard what the children said and thought while pointing his finger at the village elder, "Huh, so you're the village elder of this place, eh? According to Lord Frieza's orders, I need to take you to him. Now, it'll be a lot easier if you comply with me before anyone here gets hurt."

The village elder, unfortunately, was not informed at all about this treacherous being. "What are you talking about? Who is this 'Frieza'?"

Everyone was all at bewilderment, but there was only one person in this village of ruins who knew exactly what he was talking about.

When that name of that horrible emperor was spoken, Bardock was brought to terrible shock; his body almost shuddered at this great realization. He realized that the visions he received for the past few weeks were unfolding right before his eyes. Those images of that traitorous emperor that kept appearing in his mind…they were no manifestations or over-exaggeration of his fear, yet also resentment for the galactic overlord. This was the reality.

After unearthing the greatest secret ever, Bardock now had given a duty to himself: to protect everyone in this planet including his family or friends or else, history will be repeated once more.

He cannot let what happened to him in the past come back and haunt him. If he cannot prevent the future from falling into darkness still, he will never forgive himself ever again.

Immediately, Bardock headed straight towards Guldo, his burst of speed making his aura react as it sparked and engulfed him with it. He confronted this strange enemy on his own while quickly warning the Namekians, "Listen to me right now. You guys need to leave and seek shelter somewhere else. I'll take care of this."

They grew alarmed after sensing high tensions in the atmosphere especially around Bardock. He seemed very serious about what he said.

Gohan went closer to his grandfather. "Grandpa, what's going on?"

Guldo although was irritated at Bardock for trying to control the situation whereas he should be giving orders around here. "Hey, I don't know who the heck are you, but you're obviously in the way of our master's plans!"

Bardock found his hands curling into fists. Seeing that none of the Namekians were doing as they were told, he said one more time, "Come on, what are guys standing there for?! All of you are in greater trouble than this. Just leave now!"

On the other hand, Guldo immediately threatened the confused and innocent inhabitants of this village. "Hey! Be warned. If any one of you listens to him and tries to escape, I won't hesitate to kill every last one of you!"

The Namekians kept motionless and close to each other, unsure of what they were supposed to do.

The three Namekian warriors, however, finally took wing and floated in front of Bardock, facing Guldo instead. At this time, they were convinced that Bardock was on this planet for good intentions.

"What are you guys doing?" Bardock asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, we'll take care of this instead," said the first Namekian warrior.

"You're absolutely right," said the second. "Much darker forces are at hand and we must work together to eliminate them."

"Please forgive us earlier for mistaking you and the boy for enemies," the third one apologized.

Bardock was almost speechless.

Guldo scoffed at what they said. "Hmph, trying to defend each other now? Even with your combined powers, that's never gonna work for…," he then displayed a few more poses, trying to intimidate all of them, "the time-stopper, Guldo, of the Ginyu Force!"

This time, everybody just stared at him and wondered what that was all about.

Guldo hated all their stares. He was clearly being ignored and not being taken serious with. "Rrrgh, those looks on your faces…are you suggesting that I'm weak?! That kind of attitude will soon lead you to your downfalls!"

"Enough with this talk!" demanded the Namekian warriors, positioning to their fighting stances. "You're not welcome in this planet of ours. Leave now!"

Immediately, they commenced battle. The warriors shouted, their cries echoing in the skies, boosting their strengths to the maximum possible to take Guldo down.

Guldo bent his short arms to his waist while gritting his teeth together. Despite of his tough words, he was actually nervous. He knew at the back of his mind, he is the weakest in the Ginyu Force after all, but those who had encountered him knew that he is a psychic master, which compensates for his feebleness. He had many tricks up in his sleeves that could easily put him to an advantage. The question is will he ever find that opportunity to show the cunning trickster he is?

The Namekian warriors charged all at once and attempted to attack this arrogant warrior from different angles to distract him. Guldo did his best to evade their blows; only just two minutes into the fight and his size and weight was tiring him out already.

One of the Namekian warriors gave a strong kick to his side. His other two comrades gathered enough energy to discharge golden-colored blasts from their palms. The blasts made their way towards Guldo and the closer they approached him, the more nervous he became.

Guldo shouted, expending a great amount of his own energy just to deflect these waves with his hands towards another canyon, which destroyed half of it.

Guldo can be seen already breathing hard. Once more, he gasped in surprise to see the Namekian warriors accelerating towards him, their fists drawn back, prepared to take him down as soon as possible.

Bardock was watching how Guldo was fighting and so far, his performance was making him question his abilities. "Is he…really that weak?"

Yet again, those who had known Guldo, he is known to be a master of tricks and time. Just before the Namekians had gained the upper-hand once more, Guldo had found his perfect opportunity to strike back.

He raised his hands and put his fingers together. He yelled at them while increasing his psychic powers immensely. "NOW!"

Beyond their control of his command, the Namekian warriors were prevented from going any further. They were suddenly stuck to where they were. Their bodies felt like were tied up in invisible chains, almost compressing them, making them freeze on the spot. They could not move even a small inch although no injuries were even done to them yet. This was all Guldo's doing and they had fallen right into his trap.

"Oh no!" cried Gohan, seeing how the Namekian warriors were in trouble.

The Namekians from the village were concerned about their fellow brothers and they cried out for them.

"Hah, hah!" Guldo laughed hysterically at his trapped victims. "You see what happens when you underestimate me? I've a lot of psychic powers in my lifetime and it doesn't matter if you're stronger or weaker than me, no one can escape from this."

His two pair of eyes began searching around for an object, a tree specifically, and he found one near a river. Using his mind, he took that tree from its roots and removed it from the soil. In just a finger snap, he carved it and turned it into a bark with a razor point at the end. He attempted to use this carved tree to stab the three Namekians all at once.

"Now, let's see how you'll like it once I skewer all of you," Guldo had another raucous laughter. "This is what I like to call the 'Guldo's Special'!"

Everyone was terrified to see this.

The three Namekian warriors struggled with all their might to escape from this spell they were bound in, but their resistance to his trap was futile. They were horrified, as they may have to face their ends sooner than they thought.

However, trying to watch this unnerving scene was already enough for Gohan. His hidden powers were reacting to his emotions once again, this rage that was emerging from inside, making him act on instincts. He cannot take this anymore; he cannot let any more of these Namekians die. This gave him enough reason to take courage and face up to their enemies.

Gohan immediately took action as he rushed towards Guldo. His white and blue aura can be seen surrounding him whilst his strength reaching many heights. "Get away from them!" he demanded angrily.

"What?" Guldo was distracted after hearing this determined and quite intimidating yell from the young warrior.

In seconds' time, Gohan caught the psychic creature by surprise as he landed a power-strike attack to his cheek. His hand left a quick spark as well as trails of his own blazing aura in the skies.

His sparking fist had hurt Guldo and he growled under his breath. "Augh! You brat!"

Gohan may have gotten him, but unfortunately, he did not realize that two men were able to pick up his increasing power in which he tried hard to suppress. And these men were Zarbon and Dodoria. Even they did not know, but they were quite near their opposing rivals.

"I'm picking up something here," Zarbon placed a hand on his scouter.

Dodoria tapped his scouter a few times to get a better reading of this power level. Once he had the exact number, he was quite surprised. "What the? This power is quite high. It's above 15,000."

Zarbon gave a serious look. "Keep in mind that our enemies have the ability to suppress their powers."

"Do you think it's from Vegeta's?" Dodoria asked.

"Probably…," Zarbon believed.

"I see," Dodoria was aggravated. "Deceivers…"

"Well, they won't trick us for long," Zarbon declared. He used his device to locate the exact location and once he found it, he turned to the southeast direction. "This way."

Both he and Dodoria headed towards that path with their main mission of wiping out all threats who will get in the way of their masters' plans.

Gohan then went for a strong blow to Guldo's stomach, pushing him back a few feet more. This young boy was quite unrelenting, Guldo thought, but he also believed he was making a huge mistake; the mistake of letting his guard down. All along, Guldo was saving another trick. He showed a wicked smile. Gohan saw this and it startled the half-Saiyan.

"You really think you're clever, aren't you, brat?!" with the power of his binding mind, he could still maneuver the sharp bark with his hands regardless of being attacked. Before he made his dramatic end for this battle, he thought not only he intended to stab the Namekian warriors with the skewer-like tree, but to Gohan as well.

Gohan was able to figure out his intentions and felt paralyzed by fear as he, too, had unknowingly fallen into his trap. "No!" he gasped.

"Now, vanish!" Guldo quickly moved his hands across his chest, controlling the razor-sharp bark to stab the Namekian warriors and Gohan.

The bark moved too fast and quite abruptly, it was impossible for anyone to try to prevent this. Everyone feared for the worse. They expected to witness the horrific ends of their friends until Bardock stepped in and changed the outcome. His swiftness surpassed that of anyone else in the battlefield. He teleported in front of the sharp tree and at the right timing, he grabbed it with his two hands, halting it at once from spearing his grandson and the Namekian warriors.

"What?!" Guldo was shocked on how he was able to break through his telepathic powers almost effortlessly.

"Rrrgh…RARGH!" with his dominating power, Bardock mightily ripped the bark in half, its pieces scattering everywhere. He then threw those pieces on the ground.

Guldo nearly panicked. What shocked him the most was that he was not even breathing hard regardless the amount of effort he had to exert to break through his mind-binding powers.

"Impossible!" Guldo cried with disbelief. "How could you possibly do that?!"

The Namekian warriors were finally freed from this spell. They settled back to the surface, almost petrified by the fact that they could've been killed at that moment. They were most thankful though that they were still alive. The village elder and the rest of the Namekians ran to their heroes and see if they were all right.

Gohan was quivering much, but he eased his mind, reassuring himself that he always had his grandfather by his side. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Thank you, Grandpa Bardock!"

Bardock simply glanced at him, making sure that he was all right.

Soon, Guldo's panic quickly vanished and instead turned into exasperation to know that someone would almost "mock" him for his superb psychic abilities. He cannot let his reputation falter in any way. Guldo thought it must have been a flaw to his technique, which gave Bardock just pure luck in being able to stop him easily. Still seeing him as no greater threat, he decided to take Bardock on and fight him himself.

"You will pay for mocking me!" Guldo flew towards him, gathering energy into his right palm to fire a special kind of blast at him.

Bardock moved forward and gave a vigorous yell. "Hyah!" he was about to enter into a one-on-one battle with him until…his precognitive foresight made him see visions again.

"Huh?" Bardock immediately lost focus.

In this vision, he saw an image of the traitorous overlord himself, but it alarmed Bardock to see him in an entirely different and unusual appearance. He looked much taller in form, more built in structure while carrying a deeper voice in his throat. He pointed his finger at the screen, a malicious grin was plastered on his face. At the tip of his fingernail, he released a perilous, thin-laser blast.

Bardock snapped back to reality after that vision passed, but Guldo had already shot out this spherical-shaped blast, which came in contact with his skin. It did not hurt him much, but he felt stuck to where he was, almost paralyzed like his nerves had almost lost feeling. Guldo had just used his telekinesis on him.

However, Bardock was not the slightest bit worried. "Don't push your luck!" he told him. Despite of him falling into one of Guldo's spells, he was about to break free from it, but his mind revealed another vision and unexpectedly, he lost focus once more.

He saw his youngest son, Goku, and he was with him including Raditz. The three were standing next to each other, readying themselves to clash at these mysterious aliens wearing similar uniforms as Guldo was.

That vision passed from his mind again and Bardock regained his focus, but Guldo had already sent a startling punch to his face.

"Hah, hah! How do you like that, huh?!" Guldo was getting confident of himself. He attempted to use his psychic abilities one more time to trap his opponent fully, but the half-Saiyan, Gohan, will not allow that to happen again just as long he was here.

"Take this!" Gohan stepped in and delivered a flying sidekick to his hip, propelling him away and making him collide to the ground.

Guldo crashed to the soils of Namek, the rocks and pebbles shooting into the air. He felt a little dizzied, having to shake his head to rid a headache he received from that fall.

Bardock could finally move again and he quickly returned to his fighting position. "Thanks, Gohan," he smiled a little.

Gohan smiled back. "Anytime, Grandpa Bardock!"

Soon, the three Namekian warriors joined Bardock and Gohan, wanting to team up with them on this battle against the self-proclaimed psychic master. All five warriors charged towards Guldo at once from different directions, planning to make their attacks from different angles.

Guldo became confused and anxious to see this. He could not concentrate at all with his opponents moving all at once; however, he had one more trick up in his sleeves. In his head, he knew that he was outnumbered at this time. He was in trouble, he must admit, and for now, he needed to retreat and re-strategize himself before he could confront them again.

As they were only a few feet away from him, Guldo inhaled deeply, holding his breath for a moment and then, he shouted, "Time Freeze!" after saying these words, he held his breath again. At that moment, everything came to a complete stop.

This was his most prominent technique ever yet: his power of being able to stop time by simply holding his breath.

The Namekians, Gohan, and even Bardock became stationary and were fixed at their current positions like statues. Not even the most powerful warrior in the battlefield could ever escape from this. Everything fell silent. No sounds can be heard except for Guldo's feet shuffling across the ground. He was the only one who could move about still.

Guldo began talking in his mind since letting out his voice will end his time freeze technique. "You may have won for now, but the next time we meet, you guys won't be so lucky. Now, I need to report this to Lord Frieza!"

While he could still hold his breath for several more seconds, he took this chance to escape. He flew across the skies at top speed and left as quickly as possible. Once he believed he was far enough that they will not find him, he finally let out his breath. As let out a huge exhale, his breath smelt, too, and anyone would especially say that his breath stunk like trash.

Time resumed again and everything returned to normal. Guldo continued on with his escape, hoping he was far enough to be seen.

The three Namekian warriors as well as Gohan wondered what just happened, as if they suddenly fell to a state of blankness and then, they were awake again. What surprised them the most was that Guldo was not in the village anymore.

Bardock was on the offense, yet he ended up giving a sheering kick to the ground, making a deep crater on it, scattering rocks and gravel everywhere. Bardock slid with his two feet, but swiftly regained his stability. From there, he stood up straight.

His eyes quickly scanned the area. He wondered where in the world their opponent was. "What the? Where did he go?"

"Did he just disappear?" asked Gohan, landing on the surface. "He was just here a minute ago."

Everyone was left more confused than ever. They pondered about this mystery.

Meanwhile, back to where the Z-warriors had found their hideout to shelter themselves here, Bulma continued to stay put inside the cave. She anticipated that she and her friends will be staying in this planet for a while, she had decided to turn the deep end of this cave into a mini-Capsule Corp emergency cabin by using the box of capsules she was carrying earlier. This cabin had all the basics they needed including a living room, kitchen, and bathroom.

She was sitting on the couch and talking to her father using a special device that can make long-distance calls throughout the universe. She was telling him, "Well, we're looking for the DragonBalls now, but there's just one problem. Apparently, there are other aliens who've been here before us and they're also looking for the DragonBalls! If they get all seven, then what's the point of coming here in the first place? Gotta survive through all this hardship here on Planet Namek!"

Bulma did not hear an immediate response from her father at first. She asked him again, "Dad, did you hear what I said?"

Dr. Briefs finally replied to her, "Yes, dear, of course! I didn't expect for you guys to encounter some trouble on Namek. I thought you told me it's usually a peaceful place."

Bulma soothed her blue hair. "Well, I guess no place is safe for everyone. And the worst part is, Dad, a bunch of creepy alien guys destroyed our only ship! Good thing Bardock and Raditz took care of them! I was going to fix the ship, but Raditz told me to forget about it and instead, seek shelter somewhere else."

"Why's that?" her father asked.

"Because he told me that after those aliens wrecked our ship, more reinforcements might be sent to get us, that's why," Bulma explained. "We're pretty much stuck in this planet!"

Dr. Briefs tried to calm his daughter down. "Don't worry, dear. You and your friends just hang tight. Goku's on his way and he's flying his own spaceship we made for him here at Capsule Corp. When he gets here, he can give you a hitch ride home."

Bulma became very excited to hear that Goku was apparently all better now from the hospital. And to hear that he was already coming to Namek relieved her from all the stress and worry she was going through. "No way! Goku's on his way here already? Yay! I knew my old friend would never let us down! Whoo!"

She cheered and with so much joy in her, she threw her device into the air.

"Though he has a problem," Dr. Briefs suddenly added.

Bulma caught the phone with her hands and asked, "Huh? What problem?"

"Goku was rushing to get to you guys, so I didn't have time to install the café cappuccino machine! He's missing out on very good coffee. Hope his morning days would start out bright and new!"

Bulma gave a look. "Dad, you know in space, it's night every day!"

She was about to continue conversing with her father until she heard footsteps coming from outside. She stood up quickly, trying to take a small peek of what could be outside of her cabin. She then told her father, "Hey, Dad, I think my friends are back. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"All right, dear. Just hang tight there 'till Goku arrives," he said.

"I will," Bulma turned off her special calling device.

Outside of the Capsule Corp cabin, Krillin and the others had already entered inside the cave and they were surprised to see how Bulma was able to put a mini-house here.

"Is this hers?" asked Raditz.

"Yeah," Krillin said. "It looks small though. I hope all of us can fit in there."

The door then opened and there was Bulma. She was cautiously stepping out though, making sure that the ones knocking on her door were not enemies or anything else, but realizing it was really her friends, she opened the door for them. She did not give them a warm welcome though. "Well, you're back, but you guys took way too long! I thought I was gonna raided by more of those creepy aliens sooner or later!"

"But it didn't happen, right?" asked Krillin with a smile on his face. "We told you this place is very safe for you."

"Hmph," Bulma grunted. "Yeah, so far."

Raditz lightly shook his head, turning his neck the other way, hating to hear her complaints again.

Soon, Elder Moori, Dende, and Cargo had finally stood out to Bulma's eyes. As for the Namekians, they seemed a little unsure on how to go about in meeting her; at least, for the Namekian children.

"Huh? Hey, there're like other Piccolo's behind you," Bulma mentioned. She approached them to get a better look of these Namekians.

Elder Moori finally greeted her with a smile. Dende and Cargo, however, were quite nervous to see her. They hid behind their caretaker's legs.

"Hi there," Bulma greeted them. "So, you must be…Namekians?"

"I am Elder Moori," he nodded his head. "The little ones you see behind me are Dende and Cargo."

Dende and Cargo continued to hide, yet they took a little peek at Bulma, examining more of the face of an Earthling.

"Wow! They look like miniature Piccolo's!" Bulma exclaimed, finding them to be very cute. "So, what brings you guys here?"

Moori answered, "Well, to put it simply, your friends here have saved us from certain evil."

Bulma quickly knew what he was talking about. She fell a little silent. She could almost imagine what these Namekians had possibly gone through. "Oh, I understand…," she then leveled down with the Namekian children and tried to speak to them as softly as possible. "Where are your homes, little fellas?"

Dende and Cargo did not speak. They hid their faces again.

Moori held their shoulders. "They're shocked by what happened to our village. Even it's difficult for me to speak about it."

"I understand. You guys take your time to settle," Bulma did not want him to speak about their situation if they felt like they were not ready to.

Soon, Bulma had also noticed the DragonBall that Krillin was carrying in his hands. She was taken to surprise by the size of it. "Oh my gosh! Isn't that a DragonBall you have? How in the world did you get one? I thought those alien soldiers had it!"

Krillin looked at the wishing orb for a second. "True, but you can say our sharp wits were able to outsmart them. At least one DragonBall should give them a difficult time to collect all seven."

Bulma was very glad to hear this. She praised him and the rest. "You guys are amazing! At least we're getting somewhere with our search for the DragonBalls. Now, let's get you guys inside," she opened the door again to enter their mini-home. "There's plenty of room here. I'll give you some food to eat. Oh, and there's a lot to talk about while we're at it!"

They quickly headed inside the cabin, but just before they did so, Krillin asked a very important question. "Hold on, where's Bardock and Gohan? Are they back with you, Bulma?"

Bulma shook her head, feeling quite worried that this was not the case. "No, they haven't come back yet…I guess they're still looking for the other DragonBall. Man, I should've given them my Dragon Radar in the first place."

Krillin reassured her, "I'm sure they'll be back soon."

As for Raditz, he was terribly worried. He turned around, glancing at the other side of the cave where the entrance was. He said in his mind, "Come on, you guys. You better get back here quick…Frieza is on this planet."

The Z-warriors may have a DragonBall in their hands, yet their enemies were still at an advantage. With Frieza, his father, his right-hand men, and the Ginyu Force searching the planet to eliminate those standing in the way of their diabolical plans, can the Z-fighters still survive, protect the Namekians, and accomplish that one wish of wishing their friends back to life?