Chapter 7: The Battle Explodes

A wild wind roared at Kami as he stood at the edge of The Lookout, staring off into the abyss in front of him. Deep within his body, his bones shook and chattered, both from fear and from the cold. Even though Kami had been training for the past 9 years, he was still nowhere near the monsters that had just landed. He was so helpless. Pathetic. Weak. Kami opened his mouth, weakly whispering a plea,

"Bardock... Beat them…"

This will be fun. Kakarot felt a small flame of excitement begin to kindle in his heart. His father had often told him stories of the fearsome warriors of that bastard's army. Zarbon. Dodoria. Ginyu.

Frieza.

But these monsters, they were nothing like the stories. They were real. Kakarot just wanted to fight them more than anything in the world. Nabokov fiddled with the scouter for a moment. All the warriors were silent. The fear and excitement before a battle swirled in the air. Kakarot's eyes darted around the battlefield, his saiyan instincts kicking in. Small pieces of a plan began to form in his mind. Kakarot chuckled to himself.

"Finally."

Nabokov lazily took a step forwards, cleaning dust off of his white uniform.

"I'll take the little brat, captain."

Bardock tried to move forward but was stopped by Tolstoy who put his hand on Bardock's shoulder.

"Then Woolf and I will take the old man."

The white fox, presumably named Woolf, took off his scouter, laying on the floor by his pod. All the mercenaries turned to face their silent captain who gave a sheepish nod and sat on the ground. Excitedly, all the warriors looked at each other and shared a collective moment of joy. Tolstoy removed his hand from Bardock's shoulder and returned to stand by Woolf. Bardock paused for a moment, a hidden rage bubbling beneath the surface of his skin. He was going to finish this in a second. Then he'd help Kakarot.

As Nabokov stretched and adjusted his armour, Kakarot licked his lips in anticipation. A battle. A real battle.

"Now I hope you're ready to…"

Before Nabokov could even finish his taunt, Kakarot rushed towards him, reeling back his fist and preparing an attack. The rat was too quick for his surprise attack as he swiftly brought up his forearm to block the attack. The punch collided, sending out a shock wave of air and energy. Nabokov smiled.

"Should have known not to let my guard down around you dishonorable saiyans."

Kakarot responded to Nabokov's insult with a sharp hook that sunk into his armour plated side. Grimacing from the pain, Nabokov grabbed hold of the saiyan's head and slammed his own into it, sending Kakarot reeling backwards. Staring at the ground, a flame burned in his skull. That warm pain pulsated from Kakarot's wound. Pain that was different to the pain he received during training. It felt good. So good that Kakarot began to laugh.

"What the hell are you laughing about ,brat?"

Kakarot raised his head and burned a hole in Nabokov's soul.

"I'm going to make you suffer so much, you fuck."

Before Nabokov could respond, Kakarot let his ki flame at his feet, throwing up rocks and chunks of dirt. He screamed a battle cry and dashed towards Nabokov. A flurry of unorganized punches and kicks collided with each other, neither warrior wanting to break the pace that the other had created. Kakarot felt the rat's knee connect with the bottom of his ribcage, forcing him to cough up spit that was in his mouth. It caused his brain to reset, allowing him to see Nabokov pulling back his fist to knock him out. Kakarot threw his body to the side, desperately trying to dodge the punch. Luckily, the punch didn't connect, allowing the saiyan a moment to respond. He jumped on the opportunity, clenching his fist and sending directly into Nabokov's jaw. The solid bone greeted him, causing a shock of pain to shoot through his arm. Kakarot recoiled.

Nabokov grabbed hold of the saiyan's hair and slammed it into the ground. The ground cracked and burst, sending out cracks that stopped at Balmont's feet. He sighed, closed his eyes, and let the air leave his lungs. The glow of consciousness wafted in and out of Balmont's mind.

He becomes one.

"What was that you said. 'I'm going to make you suffer.' Don't make me laugh," Nabokov laughed, kicking Kakarot in the chest. He stepped back, pulling back his leg and slamming in into Kakarot's side. A loud crack followed, signalling to the rat that his young fighter was finished.

"Alright then," Nabokov muttered to himself, "Should I kill the kid then, boss?"

Balmont gave no response so Nabokov shrugged his shoulders and lifted his foot high above Kakarot's back. Before he could slam his foot down, a muffled scream erupted from the child's body.

"What the hell?"

Blue ki began to leak out from the child's palms, growing larger and larger. The scream became louder and louder, erupting into a cacophony of anger and pain. In the blink of an eye, Kakarot shot up, forced up by the powerful blasts. Before Nabokov could move, Kakarot's knee slammed into his jaw, sending him flying back. Kakarot continued his ascent into the sky as the rat's body hit the ground and slid for a few meters. Take that you son of a bitch, Kakarot thought. After a few seconds, Kakarot's ascent slowed to a halt. He stared down at the ground, quickly developing a faint hint of a plan. Nabokov was still down on the floor, recovering from the surprise attack, so Kakarot would only have a moment to respond. Kakarot could feel his broken rib piecing the flesh in his chest, forcing pain into his mind. But he had to push through it. He was a saiyan and his damned pride would never let him fall to a opponent like that. Using the last fragments of ki left in his body, Kakarot fired a blast from his feet, rocketing him downwards toward the recovering rat. Before Nabokov could even scream out, Kakarot stomped both of his feet into Nabokov's unprotected chest. Two echoing snaps followed, allow of Kakarot to get some sort of sadistic satisfaction. Blood spurted out of Nabokov's mouth, covering the young saiyan's face in it's crimson colour. Kakarot, barely conscious from the pain, whispered into Nabokov's ear,

"I told you I'd make you suffer, rat."

He gave no response, the blood pooling in his lungs stopping him from giving any sort of reasonable response. Kakarot spat the blood pooling in his own mouth to the side and stepped off of Nabokov's corpse. The pain ravaging through his torso felt like nothing anymore. Adrenaline, like a drug, made him drunk, allowing for the pride of the battle to wash over him. But it only lasted for a moment. A weak cackle floated into Kakarot's mind from behind him. Spinning around in terror, Kakarot couldn't believe his eyes. Nabokov floated at the edge of the crater that Kakarot had made. His bones, though broken, seemed to force themselves back into place, sending out more sickening cracks.

"Hey, brat. Did you miss me?"

Bardock didn't allow the two a moment to think and plan, choosing instead to rush the two down, much like his son. Tolstoy stepped in front of his comrade and began to trade blows with the enraged saiyan. Bardock's fists clashed with the bull's but with each hit, the saiyan could feel his opponents bones beginning to give. Before he could deal a finishing blow, Woolf grabbed hold of his hair and threw him off of Tolstoy. Bardock forced his feet into the ground, stopping him from flying backwards and began to form his energy into the palms of his hands. Letting out a battle cry, Bardock unleashed a barrage of white balls of energy into the two warriors. They both jumped up into the air, hoping to dodge the desperate assault but, unknowingly, had fallen into Bardock's trap. Instead of letting the balls explode where the soldiers once were, he adjusted their trajectory, sending them straight up into the sky. Before either warrior could respond, Bardock exploded the balls of ki only meters away from them, sending each warrior flying. Bardock smiled. But something was wrong. Though Bardock seemed to have the battle under control, his instincts flared, warning him of some unseen danger.He looked around, hoping to find the cause of his irrational fear. Finally, he found it. Balmont. There was something about the wolf that sat meditating near the four ships. It was almost as if he knew him. And his power. It fluctuated. One moment he was weaker than Bardock, the next, his power flew off the rails. Before Bardock could ponder the issue any longer, Woolf and Tolstoy dashed towards him. They both attacked at once, one raising his fist and the other charging ki within his palm. Bardock brought up his arms to block the attack but he was too slow. Woolf dashed forwards, letting the ki stored within his hand erupt into Bardock's chest. Though it didn't break through Bardock's old armour, it knocked the wind out of him, allowing for Tolstoy to connect his fist with Bardock's face. The punch rocked the saiyan's mind and allowed for the team to lay into his body. With each punch, the two warriors gained a small bit of confidence. Slowly, they were beginning to slip up. Tolstoy screamed a battle cry and prepared to slam his fist into Bardock's head once again. Bardock expertly dodged the attack, grabbed hold of the bull's arm and threw him into Woolf. They were both sent sprawling back, finally coming to a stop as they slammed into a nearby collection of rocks. Bardock took the moment of relief he had to check back on his son. He watched, and heard, as Kakarot used his ki to slam his knee directly into the rat's jaw. Good job, Kakarot, he thought, You're growing up to be a real saiyan. His train of thought was broken as Woolf and Tolstoy weakly escaped from the rocks that Bardock had embedded them in.

"You want to go again," Bardock laughed, "As I said, there's no way you can beat us."

Woolf, clearly annoyed by the saiyan's mocking tone, shouted back,

"Watch your tongue, monkey. If you haven't noticed, we just had you on the ropes."

"No one can survive the combined attacks of me and Woolf," Tolstoy added, cleaning dirt off of his armour.

Bardock began to chuckle. His laughter slowly built, finally reaching an almost manic level of volume and passion. The two warriors stood dumbfounded. A few moments ago, they were beating this monkey senseless and he has the audacity to claim that he could still win. Once he was done laughing, Bardock venomously said,

"You guys are in for one hell of a shock."

White energy began to flick off of Bardock's body. His veins pulsated with the enormous ki hiding within. Muscle tensed, cracking the ground that Bardock stood on. Before Woolf or Tolstoy could even react, Bardock rushed forwards and embedded his fist into the fox's chest. Woolf coughed up blood, covering Bardock's face. Bardock paused for a moment, stood up and licked the blood from his mouth.

"You bastard," screamed Tolstoy, dashing forwards to attack Bardock. He raised his fist and slammed it into Bardock's face. Tolstoy smiled. That last display of power was nothing, he was still strong. Pressure began to push on the bull's fist, forcing his arm back. Bardock's eyes connected with his.

"I'm going to make you suffer."

Fights didn't interest Balmont. He just wanted to finish his contract and leave this dirt ball. His companions' want for challenging battles was lost on Balmont. But then something changed. He opened his eyes to see the two saiyans in battle. The heat. The passion. Balmont stared at the two that were toying with his men.

"This is going to be interesting."

Hey, how's it going. Again, sorry this chapter is out late but I think I might change my release date to every Monday. It just means that I'm able to spend more time on each chapter so everyone wins. This is my first time writing any sort of combat in this story so please, tell me if there is anything I can do to make it better. Again, if anyone has any questions or concerns about what I'm writing, please post them in the comments and I will attempt to answer as many as I can. And finally, go and watch Isle of Dogs. It weird but I just watched it today and thought it was pretty good. That's all from me,-mAskMaN09