Chapter 5
On Planet Torga, one week after the events described in the last chapter...
"Riko, next to you!" A young voice shouted.
"Hai!" Riki shout as he dodged a ki blast headed straight for him, and instead, rammed his fist into the alien, causing him to faint. He took a step back, looking at the next wave of fighters.
"We'll never make it out, Captain!" Another voice shouted.
"We will!" Riki shouted, standing before the wave, confidence in his wake. "We can do this guys! This is our 10th mission on the job, we can't afford to let anyone down! Kin, Taka, come on! We'll fight until we die! We can't give up now, 'cause we're Saiyans! We can do this!"
Kin staggered forward, taking a deep breath. "Alright..." He sighed, "But what if you die?"
"I won't die." Riko smiled. But then, out of nowhere, a burst of fire shot from the sky, aiming straight for Kin and Taka.
"KIN, TAKA!" Riko shouted. He quickly approached the flames and pushed his friends out of the way, taking the full effect of the fire. His shrill cries for help could be heard over the roaring dragons of flames.
"RIKO!" Kin shouted. Taka tapped his scouter, aiming it towards Riko. "His power level is diminishing! We've got to help him!"
And with that, the two team members ran into the flames to save their leader and comrade.
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"Kakarot..." A grumpy father sighed, "I told you, for the last time, the Super Saiyan is just A LEGEND! It's not true!"
"But 'tousan!" Kakarot responded back, "Raditz said you were one!"
"And you believe him?"
"Well...no." Kakarot responded. "But! If there is such a thing, I will train myself to become as strong as you!" Kakarot shouted. (Wow, foreshadowing much).
"Alright Kakarot, go train." His father excused him. Kakarot ran upstairs, grabbed his orange and dark blue armor, and ran to the door. As soon as he took one step out the door, someone landed a few feet away from him. Kakarot immediately recognized the face and jumped to tackle the Saiyan, but the Saiyan dodged.
"Well, Kakarot, you are getting better!" A Saiyaness voice spoke.
"Fasha-chan!" Kakarot shouted, "Haven't seen you in ages!" He put his hands behind his head in the family fashion. "'Sup?"
"I need your dad." Fasha said, urgency ringing in her voice.
"'TOUSAN! Fasha-chan is here to see you!" Kakarot shouted inside.
"Whaaaat!?Fasha?" Bardock shouted back. He afterimaged behind the twosome, crossing his arms. "If you're here and not with Tora, then something must be up." He guessed.
Fasha put her hands up. "Bardock, Tora and I need you at the Medical Center 665. Quickly, follow me!" Fasha shouted, taking to the sky.
"Be right back!" Bardock shouted to his son, following Fasha dead on her heels.
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Arriving at the MC665, they descended, Fasha leading Bardock to the medical machine area, where Tora and one of the doctors were observing someone within the healing tank.
"Tora?" Bardock asked, cocking his head, "What's wrong?"
Tora nodded his head to the tank. "Do you know who that is?"
"Who? Your mom?" Bardock stifled a minor laugh, but halted when no one else was laughing. He began to get a wrenching feeling in his gut. He carefully stepped towards the tank, observing the body inside.
Suddenly, his heart race increased, his eyes wide. I know that face... He thought to himself. His gut began to wrench even more at the sight of the half living body, cut up in many places and burned on about 90.6% of the body.
The body inside jerked a bit, finally calming down. Bardock solemnly closed his eyes and looked away. He knew that face by heart. It was the boy he had treated as his third son.
It was Riko, the older son of Tora and Fasha.
And sitting in that exact same room were his two comrades, who were unable to save their captain.
"We-we-we're sorry..." Kin began, "We tried to save him from the fire, but it was impossible to get close. He was in a terrible condition, so we had to abandon the mission. Forgive us."
Taka began to water at the eyes, placing his head into his hands, suppressing a sob. He voice cracked as he spoke. "Don't hurt us or anything, we didn't know."
Bardock stared speechless at the teens, and then turned around back towards Riko. He shifted slightly, and one of the various machines beeped once. His heart rate was slowly rising.
The doctor present at the time noticed this, and rushed towards the machine, pressing a button that drained the water within the tank. Riko fell to the inside of the tank, breathing sharply. Some of his wounds were still bleeding, though none were bleeding profusely. It began to seep into the dribble of water falling off his body, making it a cold, dark red color. His body was still severely burned in a few places.
"Riko!" Tora and Fasha shouted together. Tora ran to his son, trying to help him up, but to no avail.
"Who? Who did this to you!?" Tora commanded his son to tell him.
Riko weakly brought his head up, a deep gash bleeding from it. "A...gu-guy...black cloak...yellow stick...fire..." He sighed, thumping his head hard onto the machine, his eyes glazing over.
Of course, Bardock knew exactly who that was, but how could it him? He had literally just seen him ten minutes ago.
Too many questions were left unanswered after the death of Riko. The next day, the poor child was buried in the graveyard of fallen comrades, rightfully named Comrade Hill. Bardock couldn't forget the faces of Riko's brother and parents at the burial. After all was set and done, Tora continued to visit his son for a whole week, and every time someone, even his best friend or mate, tried to interact with him, he would only push them away from him. At the end of the week, Bardock happened to catch his best friend in the same place he was the other day, by his son's grave. He walked up to him slowly and patted him on the shoulder a few times, reminding him that it wasn't the child's time, but at least he died fighting for his comrades.
And out of the corner of his eyes, the scarred captain noticed a tree rustle and then out jumped a person, staring back at the twosome.
Kasai...shouldn't tell Tora about him, not yet... He thought.
Kasai nonchalantly strolled up to grave, reading the words carefully etched onto piece of stone.
"Is this your son, Bardock?" He asked, looking up at him. He already knew the answer.
Maintaining his self control to ask a billion questions to Kasai, he simply answered. "No, it's his son." He nodded to Tora.
"Sorry for your loss, man." Kasai spoke as sincere as he could. "I'm sure the person who killed him will sure...suffer a fate worse than death, yes." Bardock caught a sign of an evil glint in Kasai's eyes. Without another word, he turned on his heels and walked away towards his favorite place, the Island Forest.
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He took a deep breath of the salty island air. The forest was patched with saltwater lakes, giving it a healthy vibe. Bardock stood up and trudged into the undergrowth. He was pretty hungry, so he figured some hapless animal might be lurking there.
After a few minutes of wandering nearly aimlessly, he found a large bird harpooning fish with it's long beak. He readied a blast.
Bardock raised his hand high to shoot off the fire, but a figure shot out of the shadows on the opposite side of the salt lake before he got a chance. In less than a heartbeat, the bird was lying with a broken neck.
Bardock couldn't see the Saiyan's face, but he was small, probably a teenager.
Creeping out of the undergrowth, Bardock had a plan. He'd scare the living hell out of this kid.
He snuck up behind him, grabbed the kid's shoulder and flipped him around.
It was Raditz.
Raditz's first reaction was to knock his father in the stomach and bolt, but he knew, with his dad's power, it wouldn't work.
"Dad...er...what're you doing here?" The child said the first thing that came to his mind.
"Just clearing my head." His father responded. "What are you doing here would be the better question."
"I'm training to surpass you." Raditz spoke confidently. "I've probably already passed you." He spoke. But of course, the child had no perception of his father's energy, so his father merely laughed. "So, let me get this straight. You think you're stronger than me?"
"'Course I do." The boy sniffed, standing up. "Want proof?"
"Why not?" Bardock responded, making the first move by launching the child into the air.
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As soon as Bardock left, Kasai decided to stay and say a few words, patting Tora on the back as well, then left for SmallTree Forest, the same place that June would be training more likely. He found her instead asleep under a maple tree. He poked her in the side with his shoe.
"Len, let me sleep. I don't wanna go to school." She mumbled.
Kasai chuckled. "I saw you tear the castle apart yesterday." He grinned.
The girl scrambled to feet in a heartbeat, her eyes were wide copper moons. "Kasai..." She whispered. "Get out, get out before I hurt you. Before I hurt you like I hurt them..."
Kasai approached her with a unnatural little dance. "Yes, you hurt them. It was nice, wasn't it?"
She clenched her eyes quickly shut. "Yes... But I paid the ultimate price. My morality. I don't have any friends anymore, I haven't seen a single person in a whole week, since the incident."
Tears welled up in her eyes. "I don't deserve to be near others... I can't risk losing myself like that again..." June slumped down and buried her face in her knees.
Kasai shook his head. "Now, now June. No need to cut yourself off. You're missing things." He smirked. "Like Riko's death, for example..."
June's head snapped up.
Riko...
She pulled a faded photograph out of her pocket. It showed her, Raditz, and their friends Schik, Sorpha, and Kyuru. In the middle was Schik, loose black hair spiked forward, flaring out at the bottom. Typical of him. Riko had been his brother.
June rounded on Kasai. "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" She shrieked, and pelted off.
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Raditz smacked against the rough bark of a tree, scraping his face. He was back on his feet in a heartbeat.
Bardock laughed in his face. "Oh, I tremble before your might!" He said sarcastically. "You call that power? Looks like you can't get a match you can beat, kid."
Raditz's lips curled to a grin. "Well, haha...shame that I've developed a new move..hehehe..." He was grinning too wide to be natural. He had obviously worked very hard and was proud of himself. He was finally going to prove something.
The boy raised up an arm. "DOUBLE SUNDAY!" He cried at the top of his lungs, and he fired a complex blast at his father. It was two flaring twines of hyper energy, twisting and writhing until they reached their mark, where it formed one great plasma attack, and exploded against Bardock's chest. The father was surprised at how powerful it was.
But still not nearly powerful enough. The knockback did push him back a few feet, and Raditz charged into the dust, determined to show his father just how much stronger he had become, that he could finally beat his father. He rammed his fist into the first solid object he could find, only to meet his father's gaze, piercing through the smoke.
"Allow me to demonstrate something I've been working on as well..." He sighed.
He gathered ki into his right hand, and, controlling the body heat within his lower arm and hand, sparked his ki and created a flame around his hand. He aimed low at first, bringing his hand into the kid's chest, ramming him upwards into the armor, continuing to throw him upwards, appearing over his head, and finally slamming the boy into the ground, landing right by his head.
"That was my Heat Phalanx. You learn a lot from reading tomes about your ancestor Hirox..." He sighed, pulling the boy up, who, to his dismal, was passed out from impact, his armor slightly burned in the area where the father's fist had connected.
Aw man, Naira's gonna kill me...He thought. Although, he could probably work off that new technique. It's not as powerful as my Heat Phalanx, but still...it's up there in the top percentage of Raditz's techs...
Slowly, the father lifted on the ground, slung Raditz over his back, and made his way home.
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June dashed through the streets. At last, she found Schik sitting on a bench, his face resting in his hands. "Schik..." She whispered, and put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
He looked up. "June?" He asked tentatively. "Everyone thought you were dead. Only Raditz kept on believing you were alive out there..."
June felt a pang hit her heart. How could she have done this to her friends? "Well, I'm here now." She said with a smile.
Schik stood up. "Riko is dead.." He choked. June gave him a quick hug.
"I know what it's like, losing a brother." She said quietly. "It's a fate I wouldn't wish on anybody, not even my worst enemy."
Schik sniffed and nodded. "I won't ask where you were, or why, but you should find Sorpha and the others. It would be a relief to see you alive."
June nodded and flew to the orphanage. She found Sorpha sitting on a bunk with her back to the door. "Hey, Sorph, It's me, I'm home."
Sorpha spun around, and her face lit up at the sight of her friend. "June!" She hugged her friend. After all, at this point they were practically sisters. "We thought you died!" Sorpha cried.
June looked at the ground. "I know."
After all was sorted, June visited Kyuru at his usual spot on the top of a hill.
Once they had greeted, Kyuru spoke up.
"You should see Raditz." He recommended. "He knew better than any of us that you just needed space. Besides." The boy stared into space. "I think something is wrong with him. I've seen him in the Island forest. He won't sleep, he hardly eats, he just trains to be better than his father, though he knows it's an impossible dream. He's been like that since something happened with his dad...It was also the day you went missing. He only broke his brutal schedule for Riko's funeral."
June gasped. After thanking Kyuru, she sped into the sky towards Island forest. When she arrived however, it was vacant, except for a few small craters and burned spots.
Raditz...she thought, What have you done?
"It's a shame what happened to Raditz..." Kasai spoke up behind June. June spun on her feels, fury burning in her eyes, but Kasai put up a reassuring hand.
"I'm not here to fight, I'm only here to talk." He spoke sincerely. "I'm sorry about Raditz, he's got a lot going through his head right now..." He sighed. "You see, I knew Riko from the day he was born. You could say that...Tora's father and I were cousins."
June gasped. "Truly?"
"Yep." Kasai answered. "It's a shame to see him go. And if you're wondering about Raditz, his mind is a bit...ah...crazy right now, and don't take that wrong. He's trying to be stronger than his father, though it's impossible."
"Why is it impossible?" June questioned.
"Haven't I told you before?" Kasai answered.
"No, you haven't."
"Go find Raditz, he's at home. He'll tell you what you need to know." Kasai spoke up. "Really, truly, sorry about Riko. You know, you could always come to me..."
"Yeah, ok, I'll do that never." June answered before flying away towards Raditz's house.
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Bardock grunted as he shifted the boy onto his shoulder and continued flying. The boy moaned as he slipped off of his father's back slowly. He fell, but Bardock sped toward him, grabbing him by the arm and sighing.
Something's wrong with his head...He thought to himself. He landed in a small forest, placing the boy against the tree. Using what he practiced, he summoned up his gifted powers from Planet Kanassa and placed his hand on the boy's forehead.
What he saw was nightmarish.
"I have to beat you!" Raditz shouted at nothing in particular. Well, except for a light, a black outline of a figure in a golden light.
"DOUBLE SUNDAY!" He yelled, firing the twin beams at the figure, but it merely blocked the attack off his hand like it was nothing. Without talking, the figure put his right hand at his side, gathering energy into a blue sphere. It shouted something, but it could not be heard. The energy attack was fired towards Raditz, and he only had a split second to dodge before the attack made contact, but he was then slammed to the ground and picked up by the neck by this figure. Then another figure,a female-looking one, walked up, bearing fangs. Both laughed in silence, and the female shadow prepared a lavender blast, hitting Raditz dead-on and sending him flying.
"I have to intervene..." Bardock said to himself. He once again delved into his son's head.
The male figure launched itself towards Raditz, but Bardock deflected the attack easily. The shadow appeared to growl and jumped back, launching a ki blast, but Bardock deflected it once again.
Since this is Raditz's dream, I can do what I want with his help... Bardock thought to himself. He awoke his son by ki transfer and shook him a bit.
"Dad!" Raditz shouted. "What're you doing in my dream!?"
"No time for that." Bardock said urgently. "In your dream, you can do whatever you want, right?"
"Yeah..."
(I'm sure you all know where this is going...)
"This is gonna sound crazy, but I need you to make stronger. Raise my power level."
"Are you sure?" Raditz asked, fear hinting in his voice.
"Positive" Bardock answered back, standing up. "I need to protect you, you're my son." He flipped his head around to stare at his son. "Let me do this...please?" He said.
Raditz shook his surprise. Please...he thought. "Alright..." He spoke, he closed his eyes. He imagined his father, and whatever he imagined happened to his father. Bardock began to emit a huge, blue aura and signaled his son to stop.
"I got this." He smirked, giving a thumbs up. He launched himself towards the shadows. They then evaporated to smoke, taking different figures. They no longer looked Saiyan, they were just demonic shapes swirled in the darkness.
"Raditz!" Bardock called. "What in Kami's name is going on in your head?!"
"I don't know!" The teenager was on his knees, covering his ears and clenching his eyes shut. "I hit it! How am I supposed to control it?"
Bardock ran at the demon figure, and then...
Something odd happened.
The man began to glow gold, and with one mighty strike the demon was collapsed on the ground. Bardock stared at himself in amazement, but suddenly, he felt himself being torn from the dream, back to reality.
With a gasp, Bardock found himself surrounded by trees and pine. On the ground beside him was his son, twitching slightly in his sleep.
The father lifted the boy off the ground and made his way back home. He kicked open the door, and Kakarot dashed up to him. "Daddy, you're hom-" The little boy's eyes widened in horror. "What's wrong with 'Niisan!?" He cried.
Bardock laid the body on the kitchen table. Naira came sprinting in, for she had heard Kakarot's dismal cry. "Raditz!" She choked. She shook him by the shoulders. "Wake up! Wake up! Come on, son, wake up!" She sobbed.
Bardock patted her on the back. "Naira, Naira, NIARA!" He tried calming her down. Finally he stopped and looked at her mate.
"Look." Bardock said, "He's fine, he's breathing, he just got hurt."
As if on cue, Raditz coughed and opened his dark brown eyes. "Wh-what happened?" He stammered. "I had the weirdest dream." He sat up. "I remember, fire, a punch, pain." He coughed again and got to his feet. Kakarot pulled his shirt. "Are you okay, 'niisan?" He asked.
Raditz patted his brother on the head and stumbled toward the stairway. "I'm fine." He mumbled. "I just need sleep...
He stumbled up the stairs, into his room, to his bed, where he collapsed.
A couple hours later, he woke up and walked downstairs. He hadn't gone two steps until he heard knocking against the door. Frantic knocking.
"Can I ever catch a break?" He sighed. He opened the door, and found the worried face of none other than the spitfire in all her glory, June.
At the sight of him, the girl flung her arms around him, burying her teary eyes into the crook of his neck. He stood befuddled for a moment, then laughed. "Hey, girl!" He hugged her back. "Missed 'ya!"
She pulled away. "Are you alright?" She asked hurriedly, placing a hand on his face. He had a bruise on his head, and he seemed pretty cut-up.
Nevertheless, he just shrugged and smiled. "I'm fine. Better now that I've seen you. All those idiots thought you died."
June's eyes softened. "Well, guess they don't know me as well as you do." She sighed. "You look tired, and hungry. Get some rest, eat something, I'll see you around."
Raditz nodded and briefly pressed his lips to her hair. "See ya."
Once she left, the teenager turned toward the kitchen and pulled a fish out of the fridge.
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SSSS:No outtakes this time XD
Anywhosawhatsits, hoped you enjoyed the Chapter. The next chapter is where things really start to heat up!
Ice: And review! PLEASE review! Just say what you think! I know you're reading this! I have traffic stats! YOU CAN'T HIDE FROM MEH! REVIEW!
SSSS: Ice! Calm yourself! *sigh* Please review before she needs virtual therapy, and by that I mean SSJ Bardock giving her a good knocking to the head.
Bardock: *Cracks knuckles*
Ice: Wait...Bardock, since when were YOU in my A/Notes?!
Bardock: Since SSSS installed the new indestructible back door? *Points to it*
Ice: T_T bitchez be crazy