Raditz was perched upon a lone grey rock in a sea of Bloody red, meditating.
His breaths were calm, and his mind was at peace- for once. He had long since learned that living in the wastes of hell wasn't easy; the only way to subsist in these desolate lands of bloody seas and air that seared your skin was to find some sort of peace.
Of course, it wasn't that easy. Too peaceful, and you would pass on. Be reincarnated.
Too agitated, too disturbed, and well…
The painful winds spoke for themselves.
...He didn't like to think much of it.
Being reincarnated, though? That wouldn't do anyone any good.
Not that finding peace was too hard to avoid; in fact, that was often the problem.
Raditz flinched, a flicker of something familiar flashing through the back of his mind, and he slowly rose from his perch upon the islet, humming to himself.
"Father," Raditz grumbled; he didn't even need to turn to face the man to recognize him, "You're late."
"..." Bardock was silent, the man impassive and unreadable, even after death. Not that Raditz was looking at the man, but considering the last time he had seen his father was the day he had killed his brother...
A silence stretched between the two, palpable, almost visible. You could probably cut it with a knife.
Raditz felt Hell's air begin to prickle against his skin.
"How long?" Raditz noted that Bardock's voice was scratchy and far too soft for the man he remembered to be made of an unimpressionable stone wall.
Raditz tilted his head, peering deep into the orange-red horizon of Hell, "About thirty years, give or take. Can't be certain, though. Time flies when you try hard enough."
Another pause, not as tense, but perhaps a touch more awkward, and then, "Do you have the fruit?" Bardock spoke roughly, almost hesitantly.
Raditz sighed, shaking his head, "No, I don't. Yemma's mooks have the tree locked down harder than ever since those two sciencey fellas opened up a portal into the mortal realm. It's gotten everyone real antsy."
Bardock paused and then said, "And you couldn't just take it by force?"
Raditz's breathing stilled for a moment before he shook his head, "It's not that simple, but no. I couldn't." It wasn't a satisfactory answer. It also wasn't the truth.
Bardock tilted his head in Raditz's periphery, curious, "Present tense. As in, whatever it was that stopped you, it's still a problem?"
Bardock was questioning, or at the very least, it would sound that way to anyone else, but Raditz knew his father's voice like he knew the back of his father's hand.
"Because if that's the problem, I can go take care of it rather easily."
Raditz let loose a long-suffering sigh before giving more detail, "There's a Namekian down here, Father. Guarding this place." Raditz looked into Bardock's eyes, "And they're strong, stronger than the both of us combined, and much, much, more." Raditz's voice was calm and steady, his tone flat and cordial, just as he had been taught as a child.
Bardock hummed noncommittally, his voice flat, "How strong, exactly."
Raditz raised an eyebrow at his father, a puzzled expression playing across his face, "Did you genuinely hear nothing of what I just said?"
Bardock looked into Raditz's eyes with a challenging glare, "I'm saying that if you're still so weak that even after all this time, a measly Slug can best you-" Bardock smirked, "Then I am probably more than strong enough to fight this guy on my own."
The air turned deadly still, and Raditz could feel hell's air burn upon his skin. His mind flared hot with fury before rapidly cooling to a metaphorical absolute zero.
He pulled himself up to his full height, his head held high, and spoke, "Fight me, Father."
Bardock's cocksure smirk fell into a frown, visibly taken aback, "Excuse me? What did you say to me?"
Raditz replied frostily, "You heard me, Father. Fight me. Use your max power and fight me. I'll even give you one. Free. Shot-"
And just like that, Raditz's world was rocked back as Bardock's fist slammed into him, sending him flying high into hell's sky.
"Moron. 'One free shot,' my ass. Did you really think a runt like you could take on even a portion of my-!"
As Raditz shot back in, Bardock was abruptly bowled over, landing an elbow to Bardock's face with a satisfying crunch, sending him sprawling to the ground. Raditz glares down at his father, now lying prostrate on the ground.
"I had figured you would be stupid enough to waste that opportunity, so I'll go ahead and give you one more chance."
Bardock rose slowly to his feet, blood seeping out from his crushed nose, and snapped his gaze to Raditz's, "Alrigh', you lil' shit. You're lucky tha' I was caught off guard, but if you want my full power…" Bardock roared, his aura flaring out in streaks of translucent white, "You're gonna have to make me give it to ya."
Raditz raised a hand to his face, pinching his nose, muttering, "I can't believe you're still ignoring me..."
Bardock shot forward, fist extended, and Raditz raised his palm up, clearly faster than Bardock expected, and slammed it into his father's already smushed nose, sending Bardock again into the ground with a cry of agony.
"Actually," Raditz said, "I can believe that."
Bardock shot up with another roar, sweeping out Raditz's legs from under him before raising his hands into the air, clasping them together, and coating them with energy, slamming them down into his son's back with all his might. The resulting explosion sent Raditz down hard into Hell's bloody waters below.
Bardock laughed, seemingly triumphant, floating high above the red waters before his humor slowly faded away as a golden orb began to shine underneath Hell's bloody waters.
"What the hell–!?"
A yellow blur shot up to him, extending a hand, wreathed in a golden glow, "You're a fool, Father."
Bardock could hardly react before an insurmountable force seized his body and flung him back, rocketing him across Hell's bleeding skies. He screamed wordlessly as the wind and sky tore at his flying body before he finally came to a stop, slamming into a mountain of hellish stone, shattering it to pieces.
Bardock slowly emerged from the wreck of a mountain. Stone and rock shifted around his battered form as Bardock fought just to stand up again.
"You are terribly outmatched, Father," Raditz called down to him, his voice stern, "If you find even my power insurmountable."
"I… Ain't done yet, Raditz…" Bardock cries, his voice scratchy and weak, "Just you wait-"
Bardock cuts himself off as he beholds Raditz's form, his eyes widening and his mouth dropping open, gaping in astonishment, "Y-You… The Legendary…! H-How!?"
Raditz shakes his head, slowly descending to Bardock's level; his hair, sharp and golden, sways behind him with every gust of hellish air, "I simply had a lot of time, Father. It was no hard achievement, truly. Even children can do it."
"B-But, how!? That's impossible, Kakarot–"
"Yes, yes, Kakarot can do it too, and Vegeta, and all of their half-breed spawn," Raditz sneers, powering down, "But, really, get over it. I can tell you all about it later when we have more time; I just used this form to get your respect for long enough to get you to speak like a civilized person."
There was a long pause before Bardock spoke again, "So this was pointless, then? You just wanted to waste my time?! Is that it!? Wanted to make me feel like a WEAKLING?!"
Bardock was angry, no doubt about it, but Raditz couldn't care less. Instead, he casually shrugs his shoulders and turns to peer directly into the eyes of his estranged father, mano-a-mano.
"Not quite," Raditz murmured, "There is another way out, though you won't like it. But, as I said, I just needed you to acknowledge me long enough to hold a conversation."
The air was hot for a moment before Bardock gave an affirmative grunt and heaved a sigh through his lips, "Fine. It better be good, brat; it's going to take a lot to make up for the mess you made of this."
"Of course, father," Raditz tittered, "But first, I suggest we find a place to hunker down for a while. The authorities are undoubtedly on their way after that little spat of ours, and I have no intention of being hauled back to therapy jail. Again."
