a/n- Not as pleased with this chapter, to be honest…I felt I could've done better, but this weekend I found myself a bit busy with my friends and such. Despite this, I would like to thank those that reviewed the story; I love to read what you all have to say! C: And again, I apologize for this particularly dull chapter…I promise to make the next one more interesting.
Enjoy, guys!
One Hell of a Trip
The words hit him like a punch in the gut; tumbling around in his mind, the same phrase steam-rolled over any other thought that stood. Momentarily, Goku flashed back to the arrival of his brother Raditz. Standing with the same dark look, same wild hair and similar outfits…it shook him to the core, breaking up the stability he'd always found solace in; the simple knowing of the vast stretch that divided him from his Saiyan family.
"No," Goku said firmly, looking deep into the eyes of his father, "As far as I'm concerned, I don't have a father." Bardock said nothing. The other Saiyan simply stared on, his eyes steeled over and the small hint of a smile playing at the corners of his lips in what could only be amusement.
"I know what our people did," Goku spat, disgust dripping off his voice, "what you did…killing off entire planets for money…for Frieza."
Bardock visibly flinched at Frieza's name; the mention of the warlord brought back many unpleasant memories, including flashbacks of Planet Vegeta's final moments…
"As if you know!" The other Saiyan violently snapped, his eyes flashing in uncontrollable rage, "You weren't there to see Frieza betray us, to see him slaughter our people without batting an eye."
"I don't need to have been there to know you're just as bad as him." Goku snarled back, tightening his hold on his wife absently.
"Frieza! Get your ass out here, now!" Bardock hovered before the spaceship, his armor beaten and ragged from the intense fighting it took to get him here.
Floating up from the ship as carefree as could be, Frieza flashed a contempt smirk down at Bardock as he said, "You must be Bardock." Tilting up his head as he surveyed the Saiyan, Frieza continued with a teasing chuckle, "I implore you to watch your tongue…wouldn't want to lose such a good solider like you because of some poor manners now would we? Anyway…what can I help with you?"
"Why…why did you attack us?" Bardock demanded, "We were working together! We were on the same team!"
"Working together?" Frieza repeated scornfully, "Fool; I was merely using you Saiyans."
Settling back with a smoldering look on his face, Frieza continued just as light-heartedly, "And recently, you Saiyans have become an eyesore…so I've decided to eradicate you all, Planet Vegeta and all."
"Wha-?! Y…you bastard!" Bardock snarled, lunging forward with a forming energy blast in his palms as he spat, "I'll never forgive you for this!"
Frieza chuckled darkly, his eyes narrowing in evil delight as he pointed his finger upward, forming a massively powerful blast that hovered just above his fingertip.
Yelling in a rush of anger, Bardock swung his hands forward, a brilliant blaze of power screaming from his hands and towards Frieza.
Grinning wide, the powerful warlord flicked his finger, sending the immense ball of power rushing forward, consuming Bardock's blast.
"N-no…" Bardock said, his eyes wide, watching the powerful blast loom closer. Barely missing him, the blast rushed past Bardock, hurtling toward Planet Vegeta.
He glanced over his shoulder at his home planet, eyes wide in shock and anger. Behind him, he heard Frieza speak, "Plus, there's the rare chance a Super Saiyan might appear…I can't risk that chance, now can I?"
The blast slammed into the surface of Planet Vegeta; caught up in the fierce explosion, the last thing Bardock remembered seeing was the brilliant white light that shone as his home was savagely ripped apart….
The memory faded as quickly as it came. Hands shaking, Bardock squeezed his eyes shut as the final screams of the dying Saiyans faded out in his thoughts.
"I am nothing like Frieza," Bardock spat darkly, his eyes venomously glinting as he glared up at his youngest son.
Goku curled his lip, knuckles white and hands clenched as he responded back, "So you say."
"Frieza! How could you?!"
"Frieza, don't do this!"
"No, Frieza, please!"
Bardock dug his hands though his hair, squeezing his eyes shut as images of his former team flashed before his thoughts, as the screams of his fallen comrades echoed brutally in his mind. From the chaotic jumble of his mind, one sole image presented itself.
His son, Goku, fighting Frieza midst the crumbling remains of some distant planet Bardock didn't recognize. The fight faded slightly, each blow and blast streaming and blurring into one, until the mess cleared itself, and Bardock could see the severed body of Frieza, lying dead at Goku's feet. With a cold chill seeping over his body, he glanced up into the eyes of his son, who stared back with a mixture of rage and curiosity.
"You killed Frieza." Bardock said, his voice quiet and drawn.
Goku furrowed his brow, confusion and surprise muddling up his features as he responded, "Yes, I did." More assuredly, he continued, "He killed my friends and tried to make himself immortal…I had to stop him, or the universe would have his for the taking."
Bardock paused a while, gazing thoughtfully at Goten and Gohan. Flitting his gaze back over to Goku, Bardock asked with his usual growl, "Including you, I can remember at least four Saiyans leaving for missions on other planets, which would've left them alive until now." Pausing again, Bardock glanced again at Goku's sons before continuing on, "I heard a rumor the remaining Saiyans were on this planet. Who else is here, besides you and your half-blood sons?"
Goku glanced at Gohan at Goten, as if remembering they were there. Slightly off guard, Goku responded with a suspicious look, "Only Vegeta and I are left; Raditz arrived a few years ago, but he threatened the life of my planet." Narrowing his eyes in a pointed look, Goku continued, "Nappa originally came with Vegeta…he was killed, too, after they killed most of my friends. We let Vegeta go, but we're on good terms now."
"Vegeta…as in, Prince Vegeta?" Bardock asked, suddenly becoming alert.
"Yeah." Goku said, growing bolder as he called out, "Wait...you...you don't care about Raditz? He was your son, too!"
Bardock absently glanced at Goku, disrupted from his thoughts at his call. Shrugging his shoulders, he replied, "He was a grown man who fought his own battles. Obviously, he lost."
"Yeah, I…I suppose so." Goku said, eyes narrowing distrustfully at his father.
"Where is Vegeta?" Bardock said, glancing over at Goku as he finally pulled himself from his thoughts.
"Why do you want to know? So you can recruit us to fight this…'king'?" Goku's voice questionably called out, suspicion still running rampant through the Saiyan's mind.
"I told you, I have my own reasons for wanting him defeated," Bardock reminded with a contemptible tone, "but yes, essentially, I need help defeating him. He's too strong to fight on my own, otherwise I would."
"Well, I suppose that makes sense…" Goku drew off, his anger gently slipping away from him. "But, who is he? Why is he on Earth, if he is…was, the king of some other planet?"
"Long story short, his planet was eradicated after a mutated disease ravaged the lives of his people and himself. He survived his planet's demise, floating amongst the remains of his planet as a formless black ooze. Reports of a disease similar to the one that destroyed his planet began appearing throughout the surrounding planets." Bardock explained, "And the same thing will happen to Earth if you don't help me find him."
"Are…are you serious?" Gohan exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock.
Bardock rolled his eyes, snapping out with as much sarcasm as he could muster, "No, I came all this way to pull a prank." Clenching his fist in a feeble attempt to control his anger, he spat out venomously, "Are you going to help me or not?! He could be infecting the people of this planet as we speak!"
"Dad?" Goten inquired, tugging gently on his father's uniform with a questioning look in his eyes. His father stood, jaw clenched with a vein pulsating in anger on his forehead.
"Gohan, take your mother and Goten home." Goku said, settling his hard gaze on his eldest son. "Then come back and find me…if you're right," He glanced over at Bardock as he continued, "then we'll need all the help we can get."
"I want to help!" Goten protested hotly, gripping his father's uniform tightly, tugging more fiercely. "I'm strong enough to help! You said I was stronger now, you can't send me home!"
"Goten, enough." Chi-Chi reprimanded, stepping away from Goku with a tight look on her face, "Listen to your father."
Sulking, the young half-blood stepped away, his arms crossed angrily over his small chest as he drifted up into the sky. Looking grim, Gohan stepped towards his mother, gripping her gently as he ascended.
"I'll be back as soon as I can, father!" Gohan called out as he shot into the distance.
Relieved, Goku turned to his father. "I still don't trust you, but I guess under the circumstances I have no choice."
"No, you don't." Throwing a scowl over his shoulder, Bardock said, "Not if you care for your planet as much as you say."
King Dust was angry. With his half-sane mind contained in the semi-solid black ooze that remained of his physical form, he had little on his mind but his unearthly hunger. Now, though, as he was sealed behind the thick glass dome in Capsule Corp, he found his mind consumed in a thick cloud of rage.
He barely recognized anything around him; all his mind was focused on was his rage and the hunger that plagued his sanity. It didn't help that the blue-haired woman kept coming around…staring at him, as if gloating in his imprisonment.
It made him angry.
Fitfully spreading out his black form, he shoved himself against the glass, but to no avail. In his weakened, starved state, he could barely concentrate his semi-solid form at all. It took more out of him than he thought…hissing and boiling, he felt his anger churning deep inside his crumbling mind. It boiled and burped, foaming over in a violent mess as it intertwined with his insane hunger. Hissing again, he struck out more powerfully, cracking the glass dome.
He paused, his mind working fitfully. If he could just escape, he could eat. He could regain his strength…but more importantly, he could eat.
Calling up his anger, he struck out again, but made no real damage to the crack. Spitting angrily, he struck out again, and again; slamming his oozing body against the crack, his consciousness hazed over into a thick fog of anger and hunger.
The glass shattered beneath the force of his final strike; with glittering shards of glass cascading around him, King Dust found himself free.
And hungry.
Hissing in delight, he slid across the ground like molasses, following the faint thrum of voices that weakly echoed in his mind.
"Y-yes…yes of course…" The sharp trill of a young woman's voice echoed from the hallway, followed by the clack of her high heels against the ground.
Hungry, his mind hissed.
The young woman paused, shifting the cell phone against her shoulder, gathering her clipboard up against her chest. Seizing his chance, King Dust slid up the wall behind the young woman. Unaware of King Dust, she leaned against the wall, sighing beneath her breath as the dull drone of the man on the phone continued on.
"Yes…I'll get to it right away, I promise."
So close…so close now, King Dust shivered in delight, creeping up the wall hurriedly towards his prey.
"Yes, sir…I...I understand, sir."
Hungry…His mind moaned as he slivered up wall right next to the young woman's shoulder.
She had little time to prepare for the attack; one moment she was listening to the incessant droning on the phone, the next a sharp flash of pain hit her neck, stunning her.
Glancing over, she saw a black liquid huddling on her shoulder right next to the blood pooling from a small wound in her neck. A scream slipped off her lips, but it was too late. King Dust, fueled by the woman's blood, began to grow and shift, wrapping himself around her neck and soundly choking her. Silent, she fell to the ground, her sightless eyes staring up at the ceiling.
Hissing with pleasure, King Dust began to feed…
To Be Continued