Episode 61

Uncertainty

Every second, the faint sphere at the center of Bardock's hand formed a dangerous kind of energy that will definitely finish off Zarbon and Dodoria. If he were to do this now, he would finally avenge his fallen comrades. It had been twenty years too long. This was now the day when he can finally fulfill his promise.

Bardock was telling himself that he must make this happen here and now.

The energy from his hand blinked and shone even more. It was growing brighter and brighter, ready to destroy Frieza's right-hand men. Zarbon and Dodoria remained injured, motionless, and unconscious. They will meet their ends sooner than they thought.

Time passed. Silence took in.

"…," Bardock remained in that position. He had already formed his attack. All he needed to do now was to execute this and finish his enemies.

"…"

A few more seconds had passed. Nothing happened still.

"…?" Bardock found himself looking over Zarbon and Dodoria. The two were coughing up blood. They were helpless, vulnerable and suffering under tremendous amount of pain.

Suddenly, Bardock felt something inside of him. It was almost unnatural. Was he…hesitating?

Bardock shook his head. He must remember why he was here. He cannot let this chance slip from his hands or else, he might regret it at the end. Suddenly, he drew his hand back and placed it in front of his enemies again. He allowed his attack to gather even more power, far enough that it might even destroy the island he was standing on.

Saiyans were a fearless and unbending warrior race, and Bardock was using this reason to judge his actions now. He must know it was his duty; a task he had entrusted upon himself. He felt accountable for letting his home planet fell into the hands of that tyrant and all those who served him despite he saw visions of it; therefore, he must make amends for his mistakes somehow.

Just about Bardock carried out his task, suddenly, he remembered something from the past. He reminisced about his son, Goku, and all the things he said to his brother back on Earth, when they decided to spare Vegeta and let him go. Goku was trying to tell his brother to show what it means to be merciful and how everyone deserves a chance to change.

Bardock became confused. He was starting to question himself and his Saiyan pride. He was caught in between his revenge and this feeling…of mercy. This was the very first time in his life he encountered such a strange, new feeling in this kind of situation.

Bardock shook his head again. He kept reminding himself that he must not let this chance slip from his grasps. He tried to ignore what he was feeling and just carry out his mission.

"RARGH!" he drew his arm back once more and as he moved it forward, he finally released his perilous blast. It hit the surface of the island and emitted a bright flash of light. It erupted and left an explosion behind.

It took a while for his surroundings to return to normal. As soon as the gray haze faded away, Bardock had made an enormous crater on the island; however, he had completely missed Zarbon and Dodoria. The two henchmen were still unconscious and were not awakened by the Saiyan's shattering wave regardless the piercing noise that came from it and echoed throughout the battlefield.

Bardock's eyes and arms shook a little. This mystified him. At the last minute, he held back everything. He became reluctant with his decision. He became even more reluctant when he saw his silver ring around his finger.

He glanced at it for a moment and then, with great difficulty, Bardock pulled his arm back and turned his head away. He gnashed his teeth together, growling under his breath.

As much as he did not want to admit it, for now, he cannot possibly do this. He looked up at the skies; the expression in his eyes seemed to convey that he was trying to say "sorry."

He may have changed as a warrior as a whole. He may have become more kind to others, but he would have never imagined it would get to a point when he would also feel a slight pity even for his own enemies.

"…screw this," Bardock cursed. His clear aura enclosed him as he suddenly took off into the skies. Winds spun around him and he left the unconscious Zarbon and Dodoria behind. He abandoned them and made his way back to Gohan and the rest.

He would just have to deal with his enemies later.

"Uwagh!" Vegeta was blown away once more. Recoome had struck him on his face once again, drawing out blood. He then pursued him and grabbed the prince's face. With a laugh, Recoome took Vegeta to the ground and viciously slid him across the surface, his body burying deep in it.

Vegeta shouted with more pain. This was tormenting every part his body, yet, the anger inside of him burnt more than ever.

Recoome continued to hold onto Vegeta's face. He lifted him up and now ran towards a sturdy cliff and was about to smash him on it, but the Saiyan Prince escaped from his grasps just in time. With all the remaining strength he had, he clutched Recoome's arms and with his right foot, he got him with a fast, sharp hook kick.

"Woah!" Recoome was thrown off and he slammed against the cliff instead.

Vegeta took full speed and dashed away from him. He almost lost his conscious for a moment since due to too much pain, but he cannot let it hold him back now. He readied a set of destructive energy blasts for Recoome until Burter suddenly appeared right in front of him. His unmatchable speed made Vegeta almost question why he did not see him coming at all. Before he could even comprehend this, Burter kicked him high to the chin and sent him to the skies.

Vegeta bit his lip and tried to pay no heed to this unbearable pain. His pride will not be destroyed once again. Enraged, he went ahead and launched his set of energy blasts from his hands. Each contained different levels of strengths, but enough to inflict severe damage if he could.

"Hyah, hyah, hyah!" Vegeta shouted with all his might. He blanketed both Recoome and Burter with these scorching blasts.

Burter's speed allowed him to evade every one of them while Recoome took off high into the skies to avoid the cluster of energy blasts altogether.

"All right, you wanna play fetch, huh? Try this then!" Recoome readied another technique of his. Both of his hands began to light up as he yelled, "Recoome…Renegade Bomber!" immediately, a barrage of red, homing blasts emerged from his hands and targeted Vegeta all at once. He released them in a fast motion to make it seem like a thousand meteors were about devour the prince whole.

Vegeta panicked. He could not possibly elude all of them, not in his current condition. He did his best to avoid them nevertheless, but he was having a great deal of trouble.

As Vegeta moved to the side to escape one energy blast, his head had a brief, yet sharp pain. It distracted him, which allowed another one of Recoome's crimson blast to take a direct hit on his chest. The prince cried out in enormous pain. It felt like flames were burning his entire chest. He fell from the skies, his body covered with smoke as he dropped to the floor.

"Augh!" Vegeta held his chest.

Recoome laughed. "Hah, hah! Got him!"

Burter grinned to see their opponent weakening every second. Suddenly, his scouter turned on. Someone from the other side of the planet wanted to communicate with him. "Huh? Who's this?" Burter called back.

It was Ginyu. "Burter, listen up. Lord Frieza had ordered us to head back to his ship. I already talked to Jeice about it and Guldo's with Lord Frieza now. Do you know where Recoome is? I've been trying to contact him like a million times!"

"Recoome's with me, Captain," Burter replied, holding his scouter. "We're a bit busy at the moment, that's why."

"Busy?" asked Ginyu. "But Lord Frieza is in a hurry. You know he hates delays!"

"But Captain," Burter tried to say, "this is really important. We've found Vegeta! We're gonna bring him to Lord Frieza as soon as we're done dealing with him."

Ginyu was surprised to hear this. "Vegeta? Heh, heh, good work then. Lord Frieza will be pleased to hear this. I'll let him know about it, but still, make sure you hurry up!"

"We're on it, Captain," Burter finished his conversation with Ginyu.

Recoome looked at his companion. "Was that Captain Ginyu, Burter? What did he say?"

"He told us to head back to Lord Frieza's ship," Burter said. "I don't know why, but he seems to be in a hurry. It must be something serious."

"Hmm," Recoome turned to face Vegeta. "Then let's finally put this Saiyan to his place, shall we? And bring him back to Lord Frieza he as requested."

At that moment, Vegeta had just stood up, but he was on his knees. His forehead was bleeding so much. His armor was damaged, his jumpsuit tearing a little, and both of his shoulder plates had been cut off. Covered in so much wounds and heavy bruising, he was almost at his wit's end.

He slowly looked up and realized his vision was getting blurry. He felt another sharp pain in his forehead. He held it and tried to get rid of the ache.

At that point, his eyes grew wide to hear these quick footsteps. Burter was about to go after him. Vegeta had no choice but to force himself to stand on his own two legs. Afterwards, Burter threw a hasty punch, but luckily for the prince, he evaded that one thanks to a last-second reflex. He counterattacked by going for a strong knee-strike to his opponent's abdomen, but it did very little to hinder him.

"What?!" Vegeta cried with disbelief. His strength now had practically almost gone to none.

"My turn!" Burter then presented him with rapid-fire kicks, a skill of his called "Mach Kick." Every hit, it jerked Vegeta's face left to right, back and forth. He was forced to spurt more blood from his mouth. His eyes almost turned white. He cannot feel his face as if it went numb.

Burter then went for the last kick to his abdomen, propelling him away. Vegeta was helplessly about to collide with another rocky cliff to inflict more damage to him. Recoome though decided that he should be the one to wreak him and end this battle quickly.

Recoome suddenly crushed his back with a knee strike of his own. He then clasped his hands together and launched a heavy blow to his head. Vegeta collided with the ground and since the distance between him and the surface was very short, the force became powerful and it made a quake throughout the island.

Vegeta was silenced. He could not let out his voice. Immediately, he fell unconscious and was defeated.

Burter and Recoome saw the prince lying very still as if there was no movement left in his body. He did not even fidget if pain surged in his body.

"What the? You didn't just kill him, did you?!" Burter questioned his companion.

"Of course not!" Recoome shook his head. "I just gave him a really good beating, that's all!"

"Ugh! Come on, Recoome!" Burter then went to the prince's side and checked for his pulse. Thankfully, he felt a faint beating from him. He sighed with relief. "Aah, he's still alive. I won't even tell you what Lord Frieza will do to us if you had killed him instead!"

Recoome snorted. "I may not look like it, but I know how to control my own power, Burter. Trust me," he then picked up the unconscious Vegeta and carried him over his shoulder. He and Burter then lifted themselves in mid-air.

"Come on, let's go before he wakes up," Recoome urged.

The two headed back to Frieza.

Meanwhile, Captain Ginyu and Jeice had already arrived at Frieza's ship. They made their way towards the second floor and into the control room. When they arrived, the guards opened the door for them. In front of them were Frieza and King Cold who had stood up from his chair.

Guldo was in the room and when he saw his companions, he informed Frieza about it.

Frieza turned around, now facing them with the five DragonBalls behind him.

"Lord Frieza!" Captain Ginyu and Jeice saluted.

Frieza immediately took notice that two people were missing. Even Guldo realized this.

"Where's Recoome and Burter?" asked Frieza sternly. "Didn't I tell you to get everyone here?"

"They will be back, Lord Frieza," Ginyu answered. "They have some business to take care of. You see, they were able to find Vegeta."

"Vegeta?" Frieza asked. Soon, he began to grin. At least, his elites here were getting the job right. They were known for their quick response and efficiency with orders after all; therefore, he was correct in summoning them to this planet as early as possible.

King Cold crossed his arms. "Vegeta, huh? I wonder how strong he has really become. If he is bold enough to defy his own master, then his newly-gained potential might actually be worth something to see."

Frieza grinned evilly. "Or he must've hit his head too hard, he's lost all his common sense. I told you before, Father, these Saiyan monkeys have a bad habit of being reckless and impulsive. Vegeta has the extremities of these pitiful traits. He'll soon regret defying me in the first place."

He then turned his attention to the members of the Ginyu Force. "We'll wait for Recoome and Burter. Then, I will tell you why I summoned you back here."

Ginyu, Jeice, and Guldo wondered what this could be.

Underneath the sun, the waters of Namek remained completely still. The winds had not blown for a while and the creatures of Namek kept quiet for a very long time. The planet itself was slowly becoming lifeless.

Gohan had finally arrived at the cave where Bulma and the others were seeking shelter. "Made it!" he said with a sigh.

The half-Saiyan then lowered his power level more to avoid being detected.

Inside Bulma's mini-house, she was preparing lunch for all her friends. Krillin was talking Bulma everything what he and Raditz had encountered. Raditz was sitting on the couch, his hand rested on his right shoulder. He was trying to make sure not to move it as much even though Cargo had already healed it. Elder Moori was sitting with the Namekian children as Dende and Cargo were taking a short, yet peaceful nap with warm blankets over their shoulders. The DragonBall that Raditz and Krillin took was hidden in a safe place.

"Really?" Bulma asked Krillin after he told their story. "You guys must have had a rough time. I'm glad nothing really serious happened with you and Raditz," she then quickly glanced at Moori and the Namekian children.

She was done preparing lunch. She then took out the dishes while Krillin helped her set up the table.

"Lunch is ready," Bulma informed. She then approached the Namekians. "Um, are you guys hungry? We prepared food if you like to eat."

Elder Moori looked up and smiled. "Thank you, Miss. Do you have water on the table?"

"Of course," Bulma smiled back.

Moori then gently woke up Cargo and Dende. He did not want to disturb their sleep, but he wanted to make sure that they receive the nutrients they need.

While they were busy getting themselves ready for lunch, Raditz suddenly sensed a faint life force from outside. He stood up slowly and stared at the door.

"Hey, Raditz, you wanna eat with us?" asked Krillin, but then, he saw this expression on his face.

"Hold on," Raditz said and without another word, he quickly left the house and closed the door behind him. This left Krillin a little confused.

Raditz took caution to see who might be entering the cave. Soon, he heard the voice of a young boy, "Hello! Bulma? Are you here? Where are you?"

"Gohan," Raditz realized it was his nephew. With a sigh of relief, he emerged from the darkness and met Gohan outside.

Gohan saw him and was very happy to see him. "Uncle Raditz! You're here!"

The two came up to each other. They were glad that they were safe.

"Where's Bulma?" asked Gohan, his eyes moving about. "I thought she was in the cave."

"She is," Raditz said. "If you go further down the cavern, she put a miniature house at the far end for all of us to stay in."

Gohan thought this was intelligent of her. "Oh really? That's great! I'd love to see what it looks like."

Raditz looked back to Gohan and quickly noticed someone was missing. "Wait. Where's your grandfather, Gohan?"

"Grandpa Bardock said that he needs to take care of something," he said who was now frowning. "He said he sensed some aliens nearby. He told me to leave and make sure that everyone's all right while he takes care of the bad guys."

"How long has he gone?" Raditz was worried.

Gohan was as much troubled as his uncle was. "Way too long for me, but I hope he comes back really soon!"