"I always come back" - Purply Guy

IM BACK! IM NOT DEAD! Turns out I rode no wave, and my schedule this semester is far worse than I could have imagined. The important thing is that I have not given up on this.

When Bardock came to, a few things became immediately apparent: one, his ribs were broken, two, he was buried under a mountain, and three, Gohan left him buried under said mountain with a broken ribcage.

He wasn't entirely sure if that was a bad thing. Sure, his ribs were broken and he was actively running out of air, but that look in Gohan's eyes, that murderous intent. There was still some Saiyan in him after all!

Bardock took a slow breath, and winced as his lungs reached capacity. Maybe the situation wasn't entirely good. No light filtered in through the rubble, and when Bardock tried to shift his weight, he found the task much more difficult than he thought.

How much did he drop on me?

With a sigh that sent daggers through his chest, Bardock began to slowly gather his energy around him. Under normal circumstances, he would have just flown through the rubble or thrown it off of him with a kiai, but given the state of his ribs, he felt that he should take a different approach. Not that he was scared of pain or anything.

As his building energy reached its peak, Bardock grit his teeth to suppress the instinctual shout that came with exerting his power. Then, everything was bathed in light as his energy exploded outward. The ground beneath him and the rubble above him turned to vapor almost immediately, forcing Bardock to support himself in the air.

Damn, it's hot.

Sweat dripped down Bardock's chin as the light faded, and smoke began to rise. A valley now existed where a mountain once stood. He took his gaze to the starry sky as he lightly poked at his chest, wincing with each poke.

He brought his eyes back down to the ground, scanned the area around him, then snorted. The landscape was too different.

"Which way did I come in from again?"

After another minute of rotating in the air and squinting at the horizon, Bardock accepted it. He was lost. Instinctively, his hand came to his temple, and pressed at a button that wasn't there.

"Right… no scouter."

Another painful sigh later, Bardock was flying off in a random direction.

Sayian survival rule number seventeen, if you're lost, don't be.

Some time later, Bardock found himself in a new mountain range. The area was far more lush than where he was before, with the entire area being absolutely blanketed in trees and other greenery. Eventually, he passed by a massive lake that reflected the rising sun. Despite himself, Bardock stopped his flight, taking in the scene before him.

And then he started coughing up blood.

That's not good.

The ache in his chest was loud and proud throughout the duration of his flight. Despite the pain, breathing wasn't too difficult, up until now.

Bardock resumed his flight with haste, grimacing as the pain in his chest became more and more apparent. Trees sped by under him as he raced in the direction of who knows where. Eventually, those trees started approaching Bardock. No, he was approaching them. He put more energy into his flight, but found his powers unresponsive as he descended into, and through the canopy.

Branches snapped and gave as he willed himself back above the canopy with a grunt. Beads of sweat rolled down his face, and his breathing quickly devolved into pained gasps. Distantly, he could smell smoke.

Bardock growled as he pushed forward, his eyes settling on a small house in a clearing as the edges of his vision grew dark. He closed in on the house, then went to land, but his legs refused to get under him. He crashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dirt in the process.

The impact must have alerted the resident because a second later, a raven-haired woman as old as Bulma came rushing out.

Bardock pushed himself up to his hands and knees. He opened his mouth, coughed up blood, cleared his throat, then rasped, "Help me."

The darkness consumed his vision and his body gave out, but not before he fell into the woman's arms.

/-/

Gohan rose with a start, his body covered in sweat. His single hand held the bedsheet in a deathgrip. Slowly, he unlatched his fingers from the poor sheet, and covered his eyes as he lay back down.

What was that dream?

Nightmares weren't new to the half-saiyan, it was impossible to avoid them when you've lived the life Gohan has. Kidnapping, alien invasions, genocide, eccentric and flamboyant death squads, and more, there was plenty of material for his nightmares to pull from.

Yet, this one was different.

This time, he was the monster.

Gohan pulled his hand from his eyes, and raised it to the ceiling. Slowly, he closed his fingers into a fist. Distantly, he remembered the feeling of it wrapping around Frieza's throat.

No one was safe from his rampage. Frieza, Raditz, the Ginyu Force, even the Androids were no match for him as he tore through them with murderous glee. He could still smell their blood.

Gohan's stomach turned.

Numb and shaking, Gohan lay in bed, focusing on the sound of his own heartbeat. Eventually, the orange hue of the rising sun filled his room, and Gohan knew he'd have to rise to meet it. Day after day, he would have to rise and meet it.

His mind wandered back to last night, and his encounter with Bardock. Gohan sighed as he traced through the events.

Don't look at me like that.

The look of sheer disappointment on the face of the man who looked so much like his father was almost too much to bear. Frankly, it did far more damage than the punch that followed it.

Gohan pinched the bridge of his nose as he remembered his grandfather's parting words before burying him in the mountain. And then flew out of bed as he remembered what happened afterward.

The memory of his breakdown immediately afterward was fresh and brutal, sure, but after he pulled himself back together, he just went home.

And left Bardock buried under thousands of tons of stone with a set of broken ribs.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Gohan flew through his door and out of the house, quickly yelling an apology to Bulma as he took off into the sky.

Even in the moment, he knew the threat towards Bulma and Trunks was a hollow one. Heck, even if it was real, Trunks could beat Bardock with a finger's worth of power. But that didn't stop his knee jerk reaction from burying the guy. And now he's been left to die.

In no time at all, Gohan was back to where he had his exchange with Bardock. Except, there was no Bardock. In fact, there was no mountain. Just a smoking crater.

Gohan closed his eyes and expanded his senses. Bardock had no concept of ki suppression, so it should have been easy to pick him out among the earthlings, but he was nowhere to be found.

"What the hell?"

And that's the chapter. A little bit of Gohan at the end, and who's that mysterious beauty who saved our pookie bear (Bardock)? Find out next time on The FUTURE Episode of Bardock!

PS: Thank you everyone for the reviews and other things, I appreciate all of you 3