Tarble wiped the sweat off of his forehead. The two of them had trained all night. Vegeta had pushed him to his limit and it looked like his brother could go for another round.
"Don't tell me that you're tired already." Vegeta said with his arms crossed.
"We haven't slept at all." Tarble complained. "Aren't you tired?"
Vegeta growled. "A warrior knows when to fight and when to sleep. Remember why you wished to become stronger and use that to motivate you."
Tarble froze as his mind flashed back to the damaged Planet Tech-Tech. His excitement at seeing Gure had turned into rage. Behind his eyes, he could only imagine the horrors she had to be facing. He actually didn't have to imagine anything. He had seen it before. He had lived it. If Zera was involved, it couldn't be good.
Then there was Raditz. His best friend was now dealing with that darkness again. It had taken Raditz so long to adjust to the outside world. What was Zera making him do? Would she try and get his friend to mate with her like she had all of those years ago? He felt sick to his stomach as he thought about it.
Now he understood what Vegeta was saying. He was being pathetic. Here he was whining about being tired, while the love of his life, and his best friend were in peril. What kind of friend was he? What kind of man was he?
He growled as he made to focus again. "Bring it on."
Vegeta smirked and turned super saiyan again. "I knew you had it in you. You are a saiyan prince after all."
His eyes flashed a dark red as he continued. He would keep going. He wouldn't stop. Not until he had his honor restored. He would see Gure again. He would talk to Raditz again. And they would pay. Cooler…Yogut…they were nothing. He would not rest until they lay at his feet.
"Tarble…" He froze as he looked around the gravity room. Vegeta was standing there staring at him in shock. He looked around the walls and found nothing but shadow around them. This didn't look like the gravity room.
"Where are we?" He asked.
Vegeta looked around. "You don't know? You created this."
Tarble continued to look around the void. "How?"
"How am I supposed to know?" Vegeta scoffed, crossing his arms again. "What were you thinking about?"
Tarble sighed. "My revenge."
Vegeta nodded his approval. "What about your revenge?"
He looked down at the ground, well what looked like the ground. "Gure, Raditz…if I was stronger, I could find them." He looked back up at his brother. "All I can think about is seeing Coolers cold, dead corpse at my feet. I long to hear Yogut scream in terror. I want to watch them die." His voice was like venom.
Vegeta chuckled. "I really thought I would never see the day."
"What are you talking about?" Tarble said angrily.
Vegeta walked up to him. "I've watched you since we were small. I was able to witness your first kill. I've witnessed you leading a revolution. I've even seen you kill our father. But every single time, your heart was only on the edge. Your mind was thinking logically. Finally, you understand what it is be a warrior." Vegeta smirked. "The only thing that matters is your target and the pleasure you will gain by having their lives in your hands. You feel it don't you?"
His blood ran hot under his skin as he snarled. Vegeta's words rang true. He wanted that power. He wanted to watch them squirm. A different kind of excitement flowed through him and he felt alive. "So this is what it feels like."
"Yes?" Vegeta pondered. His brother wanted him to say it.
"This is what it feels like to hate. This is what it feels like to want vengeance. To want to see the blood of another and wallow in their pain. That's all I can think about." He continued.
"Welcome to my life." His brother said. "Let's test that anger of yours." He growled as his brother went back to being a super saiyan. "Now show me what you've got."
Raditz sighed. He was alone again. He didn't know what Zera was doing. She hadn't been very happy about waking up the other morning. She had no memory of the things he had been doing with Onna. He smirked to himself. It had been better than he imagined. The only downside was that he had to deny himself of his mate. She was still trapped with that horrid wench in her body. At least he didn't have to share a body with Zera. He shuddered at the idea. Having sex with Zera was horrible enough.
He looked down at a book that was in front of him. They wanted him to work on some project of theirs but he didn't see the point. As he looked over the plans, he counted at least 5 errors in the creator's calculations. He rolled his eyes; it wasn't like he was going to fix it. This wasn't his job, that was back home on Planet Vegeta. He no longer did projects under request. Vegeta just let him do as he pleased, which kept him busy. He worked better that way. He had been able to hone his skills in different areas over the years.
But now that he thought about it. That's probably why they wanted him to work on this project of theirs. The idea made him cringe. This just wasn't natural. He had done his share of strange and disturbing experiments, but this crossed a line.
He held a vial in his hand, Saibamen. He hated working with them back then, but now he was supposed to improve them in the worst way. They were usually just used for training, that's why they were so low in level.
To make them better would spell disaster for the galaxy. Didn't Zera and the other's see that? Or were their minds too clouded with the thoughts of revenge that they couldn't see it?
Artificial beings made of flesh wasn't the answer to anything. Say what you would about machines, he could at least turn them off. They had a limit. Beings made of flesh could learn over time. Especially with what Frieza had planned. He cringed again.
He put the plans down. He was tired of looking at something this disturbing.
Instead, he wondered what was going on at home. Kakarot had to be heading home. He almost chuckled to himself. His little brother wasn't going to be happy when he discovered that he wasn't there to greet him. He kind of hoped that their mother and father would be there. If not, Kakarot may just blow his top.
His mind wandered to his best friend. What was Tarble doing right now? He had to be looking for Gure. Would Tarble even know where to look? Without seeing Tech-Tech in person, he had no idea if they had left any evidence behind. But knowing Tarble, he had to be scouring the planet for answers.
"What are you doing, Saiyan?" He turned and found not just Zera, but Frieza coming into his cell. Even if it was an open room, he would regard it as such. This was a cage. Sure, he had more of the comforts than most prisoners, but those prisoners didn't have to sleep with one of their captors.
He only glared at Frieza. There was nothing that he would want to tell that over grown lizard.
SMACK!
He fell to the floor and his jaw stung. He heard some noise in the background as Zera argued with her brother. "What are you doing?!"
"He needs to learn his place. You're giving him too much freedom!" Frieza argued back.
She growled. "We need him!"
Frieza scoffed. "You really think that he can deliver such a thing!"
She chuckled. "I don't think, I know. You will get your army, Frieza. I just need to give him the right incentive."
Frieza growled. "I'm tired of doing things your way. We don't need a saiyan to take over the galaxy!"
"Then why were you using them back then? You know as well as I do that they are the perfect soldiers." She answered angrily.
He heard a loud smack followed by something hitting the wall, hard. He turned his head and found Onna's body crumpled on the ground. Rage filled him. All he could think about was the girl whose life was being messed around with. He could care less about Zera. Onna still needed a body and he wasn't going to let anyone destroy it.
He pounced on Frieza. His eyes were already changing and he could hear the screams below him. He didn't care. The only thing he could think about was Onna's pain. This bastard would pay. The entire frostian race would pay.
He snarled louder as he saw the memories of the tyrant. There really was nothing worth saving here. All he found was the same arrogant, selfish actions over and over again. His hand felt wet. He could smell blood. Frieza's blood was dripping onto him. He felt satisfied with that.
His vision began to clear as he looked down at his prey. Frieza was looking up at him in terror. He felt a hand land on his shoulder and looked up to find Onna looking down at him. No, it was Zera. He could tell that it wasn't her. The smell was wrong.
She smiled at him. "Why don't you go lie down and I'll take care of my brother?"
He nodded. He was at a loss for words. He stood and walked away from Frieza then picked up the project report. It was almost as if he was having an out of body experience. This time as he looked over the project, he found himself wanting to know the result. Could such a thing be achieved? Did he really want to find the answer to that question? He knew the danger, but he couldn't help himself. Is mind was nagging him and he needed a distraction. He began crossing out the formulas on the pad before putting it down. "Is that all?"
Zera smirked at him. "I knew you would come around."
He wanted to curse, but didn't. This should have felt like he was betraying his home planet, but he didn't seem to care about that at the moment. He looked over Onna's body as Zera looked at him with that twisted smirk. He could see some damage to it. Was that what his motivation was? He sighed. He was beginning to fall back into that hole that he had been in for all of those years. This time though, he didn't know how he was going to escape.
Bardock chuckled to himself as he got up from their bed. Gine was passed out. He had pushed her a little more than he normally did, but it didn't look like she would complain about it.
He could see that the light was starting to come in through the window. He smirked. How long had they been going at it? The last time it had been that good, Raditz had been born 9 months later.
He frowned as he thought about his son. He hoped that Raditz was okay. Hopefully, Kakarot would be back at the end of the week. He knew that that Chichi girl could be a little overbearing and stubborn. It might take more than just a simple conversation to bring her back. He chuckled at the thought of Kakarot trying to convince Chichi of such a thing. He knew that the poor girl wanted Kakarot's attention, but sadly his son didn't seem interested in anyone. It was such a waste really. Kakarot had so much raw power. If he had children, some of that would surely be passed on.
Bardock shook his head. That wasn't the only think he could think when it came to Kakarot though.
He looked down at his mate. Here she was sleeping quietly, when she could have been dead. He knew what it was like to be dead, but it wasn't the same. Knowing that she had been killed by Kakarot was painful.
He knew that it had to be painful for Gine. His mate loved their children. Now that his mind was clear, he remembered how bad she had been when Raditz had been taken all of those years ago. But even with Raditz gone, she had still been absorbed in Kakarot. To know that Kakarot had killed her, it had to be a major blow. He had to wonder how she had done it.
At the same time, he questioned Raditz's motives. Why had his son gone and deleted Kakarot's memory of the event? Kakarot seemed stable, so he just didn't understand. What did Raditz know that he didn't? It really ticked him off that he couldn't just ask either of his sons about it.
Gine sighed in her sleep and he smiled down at her. If Raditz thought it was important to protect Kakarot, then it had to be horrible. He wondered how Kakarot would respond when and if that memory came back. Kakarot had always been attached to both of them. It was evident by the fact that Kakarot had found that level above a super saiyan after his own death.
He still had hundreds of questions about that form. He wondered how it could just blind his son in such a way. How could Kakarot, the only one that could sense the energy of life, make such a huge error? He began to think about all of the what ifs. What would have happened if Kakarot remembered all of this, while he and Gine remained dead? Would Kakarot be the same? Would his son ever be able to forgive himself? Would he be able to forgive Kakarot?
That was really the big question in all of this. Raditz and Gine thought that it was important to keep this from him. They must have feared his reaction to it. But even after knowing the truth, he couldn't hate Kakarot. It had to be an accident and from the way it looked, Kakarot didn't even know how Gine had died. His youngest son was still very much a mama's boy, even if Kakarot came to him more often.
"Bardock?" He looked over at his mate. She was looking up at him from the bed. She was still slightly covered by the sheets.
He gave her a smile. "Go back to sleep. I'm just thinking about going into work."
She smiled at him. "I think you should come back to bed. It's kind of cold without you."
He gave her a funny look. She looked warm enough. He was about to question her, when he got the hint and smirked. "If that's what you wish."
With that he tossed all of his worries to the side. Those things could wait. Gine was here with him, and right now that was all that mattered.
To Be Continued…