[To Atea1793: Heheh, I might just surprise you! I guess we'll see!]

(Daima (Episode 19) is crashing streaming sites, just like last episode! I love this franchise.)

Chapter 24: A Good Ol' Saiyan Grudge

Bardock didn't particularly like the Namekian, ever since he listened to the scouter recording. He knew that the Piccolo before him was a completely different kind of guy compared to a few decades ago, but the feeling of distaste persisted.

The two warriors floated down towards the lower area where Bardock had just fought his grandson. They said nothing as they got into battle positions. Their gazes were fixed on each other, and the tension was far more palpable than it had been when the Saiyan fought Gohan.

Piccolo did not move to take off his outer garments for the fight. Gohan noted that he seemed quite confident.

Piccolo decided to attack first, stretching his arm out to punch the Saiyan. However, Bardock reacted quickly enough to dodge to the side of the incoming limb. Bardock then grabbed a part of the stretched arm and pulled with all his might. Piccolo stumbled forwards and retracted his arm, but as he did so, Bardock zipped over to him and punched him in the cheek.

A shockwave created by the blow displaced dust on the barren ground, but Piccolo didn't so much as flinch from the blow.

Piccolo looked down at the Saiyan's surprised face. "You should've turned Super Saiyan for that one. It might've done something."

Bardock clenched his teeth. "Rgh…! Shut up."

Piccolo then headbutted the shorter man and kicked him away. Bardock tumbled to the ground, and, with a grimace, dusted himself off.

Piccolo felt the Saiyan's ki rise up to twice his previous power level. 'That's more like it,' he thought.

Bardock charged forwards with a battle cry, aiming for his opponent's torso. Piccolo swiftly got into a defensive stance, and blocked the onslaught of punches and kicks being sent his way.

He was rather impressed by the power and skill that was being displayed by this Saiyan. Whatever his background in fighting was, he would class him as a seasoned fighter without a doubt. The problem was, Bardock was clearly underestimating him.

Bardock's final attack was countered, and he was punched in the face straight after, flying backwards, with some blood trailing from his reopened split lip.

Yamcha pondered aloud to the kids and Gohan, "What's he doing? Can't he see that Piccolo's seriously outclassing him right now? He needs to go Super Saiyan."

Gohan also pondered this. Was it a matter of ignorance? Stubbornness? Fatigue? Or… something else?

As their duel progressed, Piccolo noticed Bardock's ki rising in anger. In fact, Bardock was getting sloppier with his moves the more he fought him.

From this, Piccolo could tell he was distracted. "What's wrong?" the Namekian asked with genuine curiosity. He received a punch courtesy of the Saiyan. 'I guess I could've worded that a little better.'

Piccolo looked over at Bardock, studying his face. Yes, he could see it now… There was a certain degree of melancholy in Bardock's glare that he shot towards Piccolo.

…Piccolo realised something. He was the one who had killed this guy's sons. And Bardock somehow knew this. "So, you're up to speed on more than I thought…"

There was a pause in the fight, but Bardock's fists were still clenched tight.

"…You know that I killed both of your sons."

Bardock looked at him with a deep scowl.

Piccolo tried to explain, "I killed your eldest son, because he was a threat to me and the Earth at the time-"

Bardock interrupted with a slightly raised voice, "I know that! I heard the damn battle from my son's scouter!"

'So it is the exact same scouter that I saw him wearing at Bulma's,' Piccolo mentally noted. He then asked, "You seem to care about the Son family and the Earth to some extent, which is what I now also care about. So why the cold shoulder?" Piccolo thought he might already know the answer he'd receive, but he thought he'd ask the man anyway.

Bardock explained rather seriously, "Chalk it up to my Saiyan pride seeking a little payback for the both of them." Bardock tilted his head downwards slightly. "Although I disapprove of what Raditz did, he was still my flesh n' blood."

"And is this part of the reason why you're refusing to fight me as a Super Saiyan?" Piccolo deduced.

"Hmph, looks like you're figuring it all out, slugface. Neither of them were Super Saiyans back then, now, were they?"

Piccolo blinked twice. "Did you seriously just call me-?"

"Heh heh heh…" Bardock dashed forwards with a Rebellion Spear, but Piccolo saw him attempt this move earlier on Gohan, so he sidestepped it and shot Bardock in the back.

"I'll have you know that this "slug" trained up Gohan to prepare for the Saiyan invasion while Goku was dead," Piccolo informed him with an indignant huff. "And what's more, that little kid back then turned the tide of the entire battle. Without Gohan, the Earth would've been lost."

"…Hm. You really took that insult to heart, huh?" Bardock said sarcastically, panting a little. After a couple moments, he spoke up again. "Don't get yourself too worked up by it - I actually get along pretty well with your kind!"

"You're stalling to regain a bit of power," Piccolo pointed out plainly, realising his game.

Bardock blinked in surprise. He nodded, admitting that it was true. "…Tch. You're good, I'll give you that. You should'a been there when Cooler attacked."

"Is that a compliment, from a Saiyan like you?"

Bardock shot a blast at him. Piccolo easily sidestepped it and remarked, "You're one strange guy, but out of you, Goku and Vegeta, you seem to behave the most rationally."

"Alright, let's quit the yapping, and fight again," Bardock responded, waving off the remark.

Piccolo swiftly stretched his arms outwards to grab onto the Saiyan. Bardock was caught by both of his arms, and cursed under his breath.

"Looks like you needed even more time to recover, huh?" Piccolo quipped.

Bardock tested the strength of the grip he was held under and realised he couldn't pull him like he did last time - The grip was that firm. He tried to think of how he could get out of this, but so far, he hadn't thought of much. He briefly thought about that one ki blast technique that was fired from the mouth, but he never fully grasped it. It was much easier to pull off as a Great Ape…

'Well… I'm not completely disarmed,' he thought with a slight smirk, subtly loosening something from around his waist. He called over to Piccolo, attempting to goad him into coming closer. "Well, Namekian, you've caught me. What's next then, eh?"

"You'll see." Piccolo grinned, retracting his arms in such a way that made him fly towards his opponent whilst still latching onto him.

'Yes… that's it,' Bardock thought. He then shot a grin at Piccolo which made him look eerily similar to Goku, and the Namekian showed a confused expression in return. As soon as Piccolo was in range, Bardock whacked him into the side of a rock face as hard as he could with his unwound tail, having infused extra ki into it. Piccolo was too late to react to the blow and released his hold on Bardock.

"His tail…! I should've seen that coming…" Piccolo grumbled, annoyed with himself.

"Whoa! Grandpa used his tail to whack him!" Goten exclaimed. "Oh boy, he looks kinda drained after doing that…"

"I'll admit that during my fight with him, I forgot he even had a tail, until later on," Gohan revealed, scratching his head.

"You forgot? What do you mean?" Goten asked.

Gohan held up his broken glasses. "Even though my glasses help me see, they didn't help me focus on him because they bounced around too much as I moved."

"Maybe you should've used a glasses band to keep 'em steady," Yamcha commented. "But hold on a sec, you were still fighting against Bardock really well after your glasses broke."

"Well," Gohan replied, "Besides the fact that I could sense his every move, when I turned Super Saiyan, I started to see a lot better."

"You mean being a Super Saiyan improves your eyesight?!" Yamcha asked curiously.

"It sure does, apparently," Gohan replied with a smile. "That's why I'm still in this form."

Gohan then asked, gesturing to Bardock below, "He, uh, hasn't… y'know…?"

"Nah, as far as I know, he hasn't turned into a Great Ape on Earth," Yamcha answered. "Besides, when we first met, he said he that really preferred going Super Saiyan anyway."

"That's good to know," Gohan responded relievedly.

"I really wanna see what a Great Ape looks like," Goten idly mentioned.

Gohan responded with a sweatdrop on the side of his face, "Trust me, uh, you really don't."

"Aw, I'm sure it's not that bad! I bet it's pretty cool!" Goten elbowed him humorously, without any knowledge of all the horrors that the primal form had brought upon the universe. "And I bet I could beat it!"

"Same here," Trunks chimed in.

Gohan relaxed a little at the idea. "You know what? You two probably could. But I hope I never see one of those again. It brings back bad memories."

Piccolo eyed the Saiyan before him with an irritated expression. Was the tail swipe underhanded? Perhaps, perhaps not. Because the Saiyan had a tail, it would be a waste not to use it to his advantage - like his own stretchy arms. Bardock didn't have those.

The Saiyan still had a rather smug expression on his face all the while, with his tail swaying around behind him, still uncoiled. He then tapped his head several times with his finger, taunting Piccolo.

Piccolo's eye twitched, but he was amused all the same. "Alright, you're asking for it…" Piccolo got up and took off his weighted clothing that consisted of shoulder plating with a cloak attached, and his turban.

At the sight of the clothes literally smashing against the rocky ground, Bardock was instantly wary again. He wrapped his tail back around his waist, putting up his fists instinctively. 'Holy crap. This guy is one dedicated warrior, alright, if he lugs around heavy weights like those all day long.'

Despite Bardock's wariness, however, he was still able to inject some humour into the mix. "Looks like you just took a lotta weight off your shoulders."

He didn't even see Piccolo vanish behind him and kick him in the back. "Agh-!"

Piccolo's fanged teeth were showing as he grinned. "Funny - I didn't think a Saiyan like you could crack a joke."

"Whatever, I could say the same about you, Namekian! Time for me to turn this up another notch…!" Bardock let out all the power he had in his base form, showing off a flashy white aura. "Raaaaaagh!"

"Not bad," Piccolo commented with his arms crossed. He then crouched into his fighting stance. "Let's finish this."

"Dad's dad is definitely no pushover." Gohan marvelled at the sight of his mysterious Saiyan grandfather's full-power base form. "Say, how exactly did he achieve Super Saiyan?"

Yamcha explained, "Well, from what he told me, basically, he was fighting an intergalactic tyrant called Chilled, I think. Said he got mad at him for hurting a guy called Berry, and he thought about all the Saiyans he lost. He thought about how wrong it all was, and blam."

Gohan was sceptical. Bardock looked as hardy as they came, and he didn't think that the old Saiyans cared that much about other people. And… who was this "intergalactic tyrant" known as Chilled? Why had he never heard of him before? "Hm… You know what? I'll have to talk to him about all that…"

"Good idea. He could explain it to you way better than me!" Yamcha replied with a chuckle, turning to look back at the fight below.

Bardock charged forward with a ball of ki in his hand, and tried to ram it into Piccolo, but Piccolo countered it with a perfectly timed parry, and lunged forwards with an attack of his own. Bardock stumbled back a little bit then dashed right back at him, the two trading blow after blow in equal measure just to analyse each other's hand-to-hand combat skills more closely. Soon after, Piccolo backed off and unleashed more of his own ki, making the power gap between them even greater.

Bardock's forehead started to sweat, but he grinned, and found he was growing to relish in this fight. He was beginning to respect this guy as a warrior.

"How'd you like me now?" Piccolo said.

"Just fine," Bardock answered tiredly with a little sarcasm. "But I guess this just makes it all the more interesting, right?"

"I guess it might, for you," Piccolo replied tauntingly.

As Bardock once again dashed forwards, Piccolo shot a dozen random beams around Bardock, making the Saiyan stop in place in confusion. Bardock then chuckled in amusement, "Heh heh, you lost sight of me or somethin'-?"

He turned around to find the shots frozen in mid-air in every direction. His eyes widened before Piccolo brought his arms down and the orbs descended all at once onto the Saiyan.

There was a moderately sized explosion that blew up lots of dust everywhere. After a moment's silence, Bardock walked out of the dust, clutching his right arm.

Piccolo inspected him. "You're still feeling the strain from your fight with Gohan. Though because you're a Saiyan, I don't imagine you'll simply give up and return to the others so soon?"

"You seem to know a lot about Saiyans. So you already know my answer," Bardock stated.

'Shame I got no senzu beans for the occasion,' Piccolo thought to himself, 'They'll definitely crowd over the man once we get back to Bulma's place…'

Piccolo spoke aloud, "Like Goku and Vegeta, you just don't know when to quit. So much for being the rational one of the bunch."

The comparison to Vegeta irked him slightly. "Shut up and fight!" Bardock yelled impatiently.

"As you wish, then…" Piccolo decided he'd press his attack, and keep the Saiyan completely on the defensive. He hoped this would persuade him to eventually concede so they could head back.

Bardock anticipated this assault, and tanked blow after blow. His resolve was strengthened, not weakened, by Piccolo's strategy. Besides - this was perfect for his journey to greater power, as he knew Saiyans grew stronger as they fought opponents much stronger than themselves.

"Take this!" Piccolo yelled, ducking low and inserting a fist right into Bardock's stomach. As Bardock did his best to endure the pain, he glanced at Piccolo's face. Upon seeing how close he was to him, he headbutted him which threw Piccolo off-guard.

"That's what he tried to do to me earlier," Gohan commented. "Guess Piccolo forgot he might do that. By the way, just how much does Bardock know? About everything that's happened, I mean?"

Trunks responded with a shrug, "He knows practically everything, I guess. There wasn't much to do on the ship that brought us back here, you see, so we talked a whole lot."

"That's right!" Goten confirmed.

"Okay…" Gohan nodded, and pondered, "I wonder what he'll think of Dad when he meets him…?"

Bardock saw an opportunity and took it by rearing back a mighty punch, swinging it with all his might towards Piccolo's jaw. But, Piccolo recovered quickly and dodged it in the nick of time. Piccolo then saw an opening made by Bardock's swing, and gave a harsh chop onto his collar bone, making Bardock topple to the ground unceremoniously.

Everyone watching winced at the action, and Goten groaned in disappointment. "Aw, man!"

Bardock heard his youngest grandson's complaint, and angrily got to his feet. Piccolo was in two minds whether to go in for another attack or not.

"You concede yet?" Piccolo asked with a sigh.

Bardock answered by charging a lot of ki in his right hand. Piccolo noticed just what he was planning and charged an attack of his own. He brought his index and middle finger to the centre of his forehead, culminating an electric swell of ki.

"You're not gonna like this!" Piccolo warned.

"Oh yeah? What's so special about your next attack?" Bardock responded with a loud voice.

"Special…" Piccolo stated slowly as Bardock kept charging his own attack. "…Beam…"

'Wait… "Special Beam"…? I've heard of that-!' Bardock realised, and his eyes widened.

Piccolo's fingers pointed at Bardock. "…Cannon!"

Bardock swore under his breath and fired his Rebellion Trigger.

Unfortunately for the Saiyan, it wasn't much of a beam struggle. Piccolo's beam travelled smoothly through Bardock's own and hit him directly in his solar plexus.

Bardock yelled out in pain, eyes bulging, before tumbling to the ground and stopping on his front. This created a huge cloud of dust. Bardock tried to ignore the aching and burning pain in his stomach.

Nobody saw Bardock's aura suddenly flash red within the smoke.

He found himself in a grassy field. As he struggled to sit up, he heard a voice that resounded with an echo in his mind…

"…That's ridiculous. You can't thrive in the afterlife."

That was his own voice! He was sure of it!

Bardock snapped out of the vision as quickly as it came, and realised he was still lying on the floor. Just what was that little tidbit he was talking about? Or… will be talking about? He started to question whether that vision even held that much significance at all.

Piccolo walked over to him with a wary expression as Bardock slowly got to his feet. Piccolo thought to himself, 'Strange - Something happened to his ki signature for a split second. Almost like…' He shook his head dismissively. 'No, that can't be it.'

Piccolo studied the Saiyan as he wiped his brow. "You look completely exhausted. Do you concede now?"

Bardock remained silent, and they stared at each other with stern expressions. Bardock then looked away, irritated with himself. "Next time we fight, you'll be the one eatin' dirt…"

"Heh. Riiight."

Bardock pointed a finger at him aggressively. "You watch it, slug!"

"The name is Piccolo, in case you've forgotten. You haven't been calling every other Namekian you've met a slug, have you?" Piccolo stared at him disappointedly.

The Saiyan smirked. "Pffft. No. You're the only Namekian who's harmed my family."

"I suppose that's true in a way, but my father was much worse," Piccolo explained. Then, he changed the subject. "Has your Saiyan pride been restored after fighting me?"

"Of course not! I didn't beat you!" Bardock grumbled, giving the Namekian an annoyed side-eye. "But I will."

Piccolo was curious about something, and hoped that by asking, he'd discover more about the Saiyan's motives. "Why do you fight?"

Bardock found himself smiling, closing his eyes as he remembered someone - Gas, a member of the Heeters. The Heeters were a group who did business with the Frieza Force. That monster had asked him the same thing back on Planet Cereal.

"Why?! Why do you fight?! What is it… running through your skull as you do battle?!" Gas had yelled, having unleashed his inner nature, making him behave much angrier than he would normally.

Bardock had answered back then by saying, "Isn't it obvious by now? In a life-and-death battle, what sorta idiot would think about anything else besides victory?"

Bardock had rammed his fist into Gas, having grown exponentially stronger throughout the course of their bloody fight. His aura had shone gold, yet the colour of his hair did not match. "I fight when there's an enemy I wanna beat down. Nothing more to it."

But now… things had changed. There was more to fighting than beating up those you didn't like.

Training… Sparring… Overcoming the limits of your own power…

Bardock had grasped the meaning of battle far more over the course of the last one and a quarter years than he had done his entire life beforehand. While the regime under Frieza had still allowed the Saiyans to fight, it had also inhibited their way of life as it barred them from many opportunities that they could have had.

Indeed, they lived the life of battle - or most of them did anyway - but fighting wasn't just about survival and victory to Bardock anymore. It was something he wished he'd taught his eldest son sooner, and something he was proud of Kakarot for, as he had figured it out so early on.

Attacking and defending were a given, but personal pleasure - that was what fighting also encompassed.

Bardock answered Piccolo with a renewed vigour, "I fight to get stronger, to take down my enemies, and to protect whatever the hell I want to. And more than that, I fight because I enjoy it."

Piccolo smiled at that. "Looks like you're not as bad as I first thought you were. Or maybe your short stay on Earth has changed you?"

"Feh. Think whatever you like, I'm heading back up to the others," Bardock responded dismissively.

The two said no more and made their way back to the group on the ridge.

The young Guardian of Earth (or Kami) named Dende had seen the whole thing and scratched his head, trying not to feel bothered by the Namekian insult. "Oh well… At least Gohan, Piccolo and Bulma are back, safe and sound."

[Author's notes: The "slugface" exchange is a reference to Bardock's interaction with Piccolo in Dragon Ball FighterZ.

Feel free to tell me if you think there are contradictions or potentially OOC (out-of-character) moments. (A certain Piccolo moment in this will be explained later on.) Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!]