Here we are, guys! Bardock fighting Turles in earnest!

Bardock and Turles struck each other simultaneously, and both Saiyans buckled from the force of their newly powered up blows. "Let's take this away from the ship," Turles said. "I don't want to wreck my only way off this rock."

Bardock nodded. "It doesn't matter to me where you lose," he said. "Only that you take an ass whooping. So lead the way."

Turles scoffed at Bardock's bluntness and flew away, looking for a suitable spot to settle this. Bardock chuckled to himself and followed- he still owed his brother that beating, after all. He'd promised it to him. The two brothers soon arrived atop a rocky outcropping nearby, which stretched high above the trees. "This'll be fine," Bardock said. "I'm ready to get this over with."

Turles rolled his eyes. "Big words coming from you," he said. "But in any case, I agree. We need to get this over with. I have things to do, and I'd rather settle this grudge now, rather than later." Bardock nodded, cracking his knuckles and taking a deep breath. Following that, he unbuttoned and removed the jacket of his martial arts uniform, revealing a gray tank top underneath it.

Turles' eyes immediately zeroed in on the marriage tattoo on Bardock's shoulder, a small chuckle escaping his lips. "Our culture was always…strange, don't you think?" he said. "What do you mean?" Bardock asked, both confused and annoyed.

"Think about it: we were always violent, cold, and mostly unfeeling," Turles said. "Yet we held a long standing tradition of making every Saiyan couple who married take on a tattoo signifying their union." "What's this got to do with our fight?" Bardock asked, briefly sparing a glance at his own marriage marking. "It has…some relevance…" Turles said. "How so?" Bardock asked, his voice gruff.

Turles chuckled, turning his arm over to reveal a triangular marking on the underside of his left forearm. "I…married after my exodus from Planet Vegeta," he said. "And it has brought me a fulfillment that I never thought possible."

Bardock was left genuinely speechless at that revelation. "Who could have possibly…no one else survived our planet's destruction!" he thought, utterly floored. "And who would be foolish enough to willingly marry my brother?"

Turles chuckled. "You seem confused," he said.

"That's because I am," Bardock deadpanned. "What does a selfish, uncaring asshole like you get from being married? And more importantly, who would want to marry you?" Turles laughed again, which Bardock almost took as an insult. (And considering what Turles was like, it was a good possibility.) "An heir, for one," he said, at last. "And I've found that I like having a sense of companionship."

Bardock rolled his eyes at that, disbelieving the notion that a self-serving person like Turles could truly care about anyone enough to form any sort of real love. "The willing sex is probably a good motivator…" he muttered.

"It is, you know," Turles said, eliciting a groan and an eye roll from Bardock. "You're infuriating," he snarked. "I've been told that," Turles said, engaging in some snark of his own. "While my mate is good at satisfying my…baser instincts…so to speak…it's not the only reason I am attracted to her."

Bardock again rolled his eyes. "Get to the point, Turles," he said. "Or I might just punch you in the face instead of hearing you out." Turles chuckled. "Always right to the point, brother," he said. "You drive a hard bargain. So, I will acquiesce to your request."

Bardock sighed, resisting the urge to roll his eyes again. As well as the urge to punch Turles right in the face and resume the fight. "Just get to it already," he said. "Because the option of simply punching you in the face instead of listening is becoming more appealing by the second."

Turles chuckled, smiling coyly. "Alright," he said. "I enjoy everything about having this relationship. And it is something that I never knew that I needed."

That elicited another eye roll from Bardock, who was less than impressed by Turles' overly sappy description of his feelings. "Can you stop being sappy and get to the damn point already?!" he snapped. "Fine," Turles said, his facade of faux affability cracking. "I need to ask you something…even if it is not usually my prerogative to ask for help."

Bardock sighed and rolled his eyes simultaneously. "Why would I help you, huh?" he said. "Especially after what you tried today. And you sure as hell wouldn't help me if I asked. Not without some kind of catch." Turles remained silent for several seconds in the wake of that accusation, but continued anyway once he'd overcome his shock. "What do you do when your wife is…upset with you?" he asked, his tone uneven.

In response to that, Bardock's eye twitched slightly. "You want relationship advice?!" he snarled. "You're wasting our time asking me about my marriage instead of fighting?! When you agreed that you wanted this over as soon as possible?!"

Turles flinched back, genuinely caught off guard by the sudden outburst. "I…I…yes, I need your help, Bardock," he stammered, an usual sight. He was usually calm, collected, and not at all willing to make himself look vulnerable. "You want my advice?" Bardock said, his words carrying an underlying acidic tone, "stop being so much like yourself!"

Turles tried to reply to that, but found himself cut off by Bardock's fist impacting his cheek. He staggered backwards as Bardock prepared a ki wave. "You need to stop being such a self-serving jackass!" he shouted, releasing the blast.

Turles was unable to block the attack in time, sending him flying off the cliff they'd been standing atop. Bardock smirked, then rocketed into the air. He needed to track his brother down, after all.

Turles found himself lying on the ground in a state of shock (and a bit of pain)- he had not expected Bardock to lose his temper and attack him. Though he was beginning to think that he might have actually deserved that. He jumped back to his feet a few seconds later, soon shoving that thought back down into the depths of his subconscious.

He couldn't afford to think about such distractions right now- he and Bardock had a score to settle. That and the fact that he was incensed by Bardock attacking him whilst he was not actively fighting back. He did, however, realize that he'd already interrupted the fight by stopping to talk- Bardock had just resumed it.

"Why'd that set him off so much, I wonder?" Turles thought, conveniently ignoring the fact that he'd always been a selfish, rude, and generally terrible person for most of his life, as evidenced by his attempt to abduct his nephew and daughter.

To anyone else who knew him, it was obvious why Bardock would be angry at him- this conversation would seem like an attempt to escape responsibility for his actions by distracting Bardock with small talk. And that was not at all going to happen, not on his watch- the assault would be relentless. Speaking of said assault, Turles barely had time to raise his guard as his brother bore down on him, unleashing a flurry of blows.

Turles grit his teeth as he kept up his desperate attempts to defend- Bardock was hammering him. He wasn't sure when his brother's technical ability in a fight had gotten so good- he was no longer a brawler- he'd developed an actual fighting style. Which was hurting Turles himself- while he was good at using his intelligence in battle, he still had a brawler style. After all, you didn't need finesse when you massively outpowered your opponents.

So he decided to change it up- forming a Kill Driver. "Let's see you deal with this!" he snarled, firing the attack. Bardock's only reply was a chuckle, much to Turles' surprise. "Have you actually lost your mind?" he asked, stunned.

"No," Bardock said, his response succinct.

And then, leaving Turles entirely stunned and off-guard, he leapt right over the ring of ki. A tremendous explosion echoed out behind him as it collided with some trees just past him. "What…how…that's not…possible…" Turles stammered, entirely floored by Bardock evading his attack so easily.

Bardock smirked, absolutely smashing his fist into Turles' chest, leaving him stumbling. As Turles struggled to catch his breath, Bardock followed that up with his Meteor Blow, sending his brother flying. A chuckle escaped his lips as he flew after him, preparing to finish the fight. Or this stage of it, anyway.

Turles managed to get back to his feet before Bardock could fully close in, though. "YOU'RE DAMN ANNOYING, BARDOCK!" he snarled, forming up his Calamity Blaster. "TAKE THIS AND BEGONE!"

With that, he let loose the powerful blast, which hit Bardock head on.

A confident smirk crossed his face as the attack connected. "That should've done it," he chuckled, assuming himself victorious. But his celebration was soon cut short by a familiar gruff voice reentered the conversation. "I'm not that easy to get rid of," Bardock snarked. Turles' eyes widened in shock. "How…? How did you survive!?" he demanded. Bardock's only reply was a smirk.

Bardock stood atop the cliff he'd just blasted Turles off of, smirking to himself. "Serves him right…" he muttered, summoning up his ki. With that, he rushed down from the cliff, flying at a high speed. It was time to reintroduce Turles to his old friend, pain. He soon located Turles, who was lying on the ground, seemingly in a state of shock (and probably pain) as he drew near. But just as he got within range to attack, Turles leapt to his feet.

Bardock smirked to himself again and launched into a flurry of blows, finding himself wondering what Turles had been thinking about. He'd better have been thinking about just how much he'd screwed up with this little plan of his. And if he wasn't, then he damn sure would be by the time this fight was over. Bardock continued to leverage the fact that his fighting skill had greatly improved due to his training with Gohan.

He'd developed a fluid fighting style that integrated many of the martial arts moves that Gohan had taught him. Turles, on the other hand, still fought like a brawler. While that was sufficient for weaker opponents, fighting someone on your own level rapidly made that less effective.

And Bardock was all too eager to punish him for that, especially considering his superior skill. He smiled as he continued to pummel Turles without so much as breaking a sweat. His brother had always been an intelligent fighter, but that only mattered so much when your opponent had a massive skill advantage.

Turles must have noticed this, as he quickly formed a Kill Driver, obviously intending to break up the physical brawl. "Let's see you deal with this!" he snarled, firing the attack. Bardock only chuckled in response, which appeared to surprise his brother. "Have you actually lost your mind?" he asked, stunned. Bardock's reply was calm, confident, and succinct. "No," he said, leaping right over the Kill Driver, which collided with some trees behind him, resulting in a decently-sized explosion.

Turles seemed entirely stunned and off-guard. "What…how…that's not…possible…" he stammered, entirely floored by Bardock evading his attack so easily. He smirked, absolutely smashing his fist into Turles' chest, leaving him stumbling.

As Turles struggled to catch his breath, Bardock followed that up with his Meteor Blow, sending his brother flying. A chuckle escaped his lips as he flew after him, preparing to finish the fight. Or this stage of it, anyway.

But before Bardock could reach Turles, though, his brother leapt back to his feet. He moved his hands to a familiar position, a purple blast charging between them. "YOU'RE DAMN ANNOYING, BARDOCK!" he snarled, forming up his Calamity Blaster. "TAKE THIS AND BEGONE!"

Bardock was left with no choice but to take the blast head on, so he drew up some more of his power, planting his feet and bracing himself. The blast stung a bit as it rolled over him, but he was otherwise unharmed. "That should've done it," Turles chuckled, assuming himself victorious- a confident smirk crossing his face. But Bardock soon decided to burst his brother's bubble by revealing his survival. "I'm not that easy to get rid of," he snarked. Turles' eyes widened in shock. "How…? How did you survive!?" he demanded. Bardock's only reply was a smirk.

Both brothers stared each other down, neither particularly pleased. Though Turles in particular was miffed that Bardock had so effortlessly withstood his attack. So much so that he made the first move to resume the brawl.

A Kill Driver shot out as Bardock fired one of his own, canceling it out. Turles glared at him, annoyed that Bardock had used his move. His brother smirked at him before firing a ki wave in response. Turles flipped back to evade the blast, staring his brother down the entire time. "You're infuriating," he deadpanned. Bardock chuckled. "Thanks," he said. "I get that a lot."

Turles snarled something unintelligible and charged, leaving himself wide open to Bardock's next attack- a nasty kick to the ribs. He staggered back, clutching his side in pain. "I hate you so much," he groaned. Bardock laughed. "I know," he said, following that up with a nasty uppercut. Turles reeled, giving Bardock the time to form a Kamehameha. "Let's see you deal with this!" he shouted, thrusting his hands forward.

Turles crossed his arms to block the attack, anticipating something sort of like his Calamity Blaster. Only to find that Bardock's Kamehameha contained substantially more energy than he'd been expecting, subsequently finding himself blown backwards.

Bardock capitalized on that, rushing in as soon as the attack had finished. Turles had yet to raise his guard, thus suffering several powerful blows from his brother as he unleashed his unrelenting assault. Bardock continued to beat Turles black and blue, preventing him from doing anything other than try to react to the incoming blows.

The pressure was far too great for him to attempt any attacks of his own. Eventually, Bardock finished his combo off with a nasty roundhouse kick to the face, sending Turles to the ground. He approached the downed Turles slowly, crossing his arms across his chest. "Leave Earth now," he said, gruffly, "and I just might let you live."

Turles scoffed, looking up at his opponent. "You wouldn't have it in you to kill me," he said. "Living on this planet has made you soft."

Bardock chuckled darkly. "Are you willing to find out?" he asked. Turles swallowed hard, remaining silent as he got to his feet. "I'm not sure! But you seem to be willing to take that gamble in reverse!" he snarled, firing off another Calamity Blaster. Bardock chuckled, deflecting the blast into the sky with little effort.

This time, Turles rushed in first. But he decided to use his brain this time, aiming a blast at Bardock's feet. He flinched back as the ki wave kicked up a cloud of dust, giving Turles some cover. Bardock was given little time to react as Turles connected a nasty jab, briefly stunning him. But that was all the time that Turles needed to connect another strike, inflicting further damage. Following that, Turles unleashed a barrage of his own, forcing Bardock on the defensive. There simply wasn't enough time to fully raise his guard or retaliate, though, so Turles began eagerly returning the favor.

Bardock found himself repeatedly impacted by ruthless, powerful blows, causing him to stagger backwards. Turles smirked, unleashing a particularly nasty right cross, knocking the spit out of Bardock's mouth. Finally finishing his combo, Turles viciously kneed Bardock in the stomach. His brother dropped to one knee as he approached. "You're pathetic," he said. "I'm going to finish you and carry out my plans unopposed."

Bardock scoffed as Turles closed in, entering melee range. "Not if I have anything to say about it!" he snapped, unleashing an uppercut that connected with his brother's jaw. Turles reeled from the unexpected blow as Bardock got to his feet.

He rushed in, pummeling Turles with a barrage of blows. His brother attempted to block the blows, but fell short of the goal and took a fist to the face- soon followed by several more that inflicted further damage. Just when he thought that Bardock's latest assault was over, his brother leapt up and smashed a potent rolling kick into his face. Turles was sent flying by the strike, enabling Bardock to rush off after him. Turles briefly recovered his guard, but found it shattered again soon afterward as Bardock unleashed a potent barrage of punches and kicks once again- using the techniques that Gohan had taught him.

Soon enough, though, the battle took to the sky once again. The Saiyan brothers fought blow for blow, with neither able to overcome the other, even if Bardock held the advantage at the moment. Eventually, though, Bardock swung the momentum back into his favor when he caught Turles' latest strike and pressed him into an armbar.

Turles struggled to escape as Bardock lifted him higher and slung him towards the ground. The pale Saiyan managed to summon up his ki and stop himself from flying all the way into the ground, but Bardock had successfully put some distance between them, enabling him to begin charging a Kamehameha.

The brilliant blue of the technique flashed into existence as Bardock began channeling his ki into it, coinciding with Turles' recovery. "What do you mean to do with that energy, Bardock?" he asked, his mocking tone once more wrapped in an air of faux affability.

Bardock chuckled in reply, and a confident smirk formed on his face. Turles was obviously meaning to attack- to prevent him from firing the blast. But he'd find out the hard way that he was mistaken. His brother rolled his eyes and started ascending to oppose him. A gnarly smirk formed on his face as he did so, his malicious intent laid bare. Bardock was prepared, though, and he smiled to himself as Turles closed in. Seeing as his hands were occupied, Bardock shot his foot out. The kick smashed into his brother's face, sending him flying downwards. He smiled again and thrust his hands forward, unleashing his Kamehameha.

Turles struggled to right himself as the blast rolled downwards, bracing himself for impact. "Goodbye, Turles…" Bardock thought. "And don't come back!"

Turles found himself hurtling towards the ground once more, courtesy of Bardock kicking him in the face as he drew near. He was struggling mightily to right himself and stop his downward trajectory. With a growl of frustration, he let loose a mighty burst of power, successfully stopping his imminent collision with the cold, hard, and unforgiving ground. But that only solved one issue- for Bardock's attack was rapidly bearing down on him.

Realizing that he was in trouble, Turles banked to the right as hard as he could. But even so, he was unable to evade the attack entirely. He felt searing pain as the attack washed over his right side, and his arm was consumed with a burning sensation.

When the attack finished, his arm was covered in burn marks, as was his armor. But the most shocking part- his shoulder pad was gone- the only trace of it being the slightly burnt ring around the place where it was once attached.

His actual shoulder was burnt and reddened as well, just as his arm was. He felt a jolt of burning pain shoot all the way up into said shoulder as he moved his arm into position as he reassumed his combat stance. It hurt like hell, but he could still fight. He realized that he'd have been in serious trouble if he'd taken that blast head on. Clearly Bardock was holding back much less than he was, though neither was at full power.

He'd certainly be dead (or at least entirely unable to fight anymore) if Bardock had been at full power when that attack connected. Turles recalled Bardock having a power level of about ten thousand at last reading. He was around there, but not in this suppressed state. If Bardock wanted him dead, he'd have drawn up his full power before he charged that attack. Which meant that he wasn't done with this fight yet. "I can work with that," Turles thought, a devious smirk forming on his face. His hands began forming up a purple energy as he raised them to face Bardock.

But before he could even consider firing, Bardock rushed down towards him, his body coated in ki. "EAT THIS, TURLES! METEOR IMPACT!" he shouted, thrusting his shoulder forward. Turles' eyes widened in shock, having not expected that.

His attempted Calamity Blaster faded away into nothing as Bardock connected, slamming Turles into the ground with great force. A massive cloud of dust was kicked up from the impact as Bardock gracefully flipped back, landing on his feet. A smirk formed on his face as he did so, watching Turles.

Turles felt as if he could barely breathe- Bardock's attack had pretty much knocked the air from his lungs. The dust cloud faded as Turles gasped for air, struggling to refill his lungs with oxygen. His brother stood a few feet away, watching him with something like disdain. He was honestly starting to think that he deserved it- but he wouldn't let that stand in the way of his goals. Nothing would stand in the way of his goals, not even his family. He soon managed to struggle to his feet, having started to catch his breath. "You…you'd kill me over this and not lose a wink of sleep, wouldn't you?" he asked of his brother, making direct eye contact.

It remained unbroken as several seconds of supreme silence slipped silently by. Eventually, though, Bardock broke both the silence and the eye contact, closing his eyes and turning his face away. "I would," he said, at long last. "And I must. For the safety of my family and my home, you have to die, Turles."

"That's…I…" Turles replied, seeming genuinely remorseful in that single instance, "I see. This is how our story has to end."

Bardock nodded, his solemn silence once again reigning supreme. "I'm sorry, Turles," he said, after several seconds of this. "But you've forced my hand." Turles nodded, a profoundly sad sigh slipping out of his mouth. "I know," he said. "I know all too well."

Bardock chuckled, though it rang hollow, lacking any sort of mirth or cheer. "Why does every meeting between us devolve into a fight?" he questioned. Turles shrugged, making a sound that sounded like some strange combination of a laugh and a cry of anguish. "I don't know," he replied. "But I do know that our relationship broke a long time ago."

"I know," Bardock said, almost a bit…sad. "We've got to settle this. Because we aren't fixing our relationship, that's for damn sure."

Turles nodded, almost seeming saddened. "That's something I know all too well, brother," he said, solemnly. "Any chance of us having a good relationship died with our parents. And we both know that was a long damn time ago." Bardock said nothing, merely watching Turles warily. His brother watched him back, keeping the silence unbroken. After a few seconds of this, though, Bardock spoke. "Make your move, Turles," he said. "This conversation is over."

Turles said nothing- nor did he move. "I don't think so," he said. "You're not getting out of this that easily. I need to get some of this off of my chest." Bardock sighed, but allowed it anyway. "What did you want to talk about?" he asked. "I wanted to discuss…a lot, actually," Turles replied. "But I won't go into all of it now. I'll just give you the gist of it."

Bardock nodded, gesturing for Turles to continue. "For much of our lives…we've not had the best relationship," Turles said. "Before our parents died was the last time we could say that we genuinely had a good relationship." Bardock nodded again. "I know, Turles, I know. All too well," he said. "Even if we did try to fix it once or twice."

Turles shuddered, recalling the failed attempt to locate Taro and the subsequent fallout. "I remember all of that," he said. "And then our attempt to locate our sister went south and it all fell apart again."

Bardock nodded a third time, briefly closing his eyes. He took a deep breath, considering his next words carefully. He exhaled loudly, opening his eyes once more. "Speaking of our sister…where'd you find her?" he asked. Turles chuckled, seeming a bit amused by the inquiry. "On some prison planet," he said. "She'd gotten herself arrested by the Galactic Patrol."

"Huh," Bardock said, a bit surprised. But only a bit- and that was mostly due to wondering how they could have possibly captured her. He soon shrugged that off and returned to what he was doing before. "Speaking of Taro…" he began, "she asked me not to kill you. But I'm not sure that I can let this slide. Not after what you pulled. Or tried to pull, I guess."

Turles nodded, swallowing hard. "I understand," he said, forcing himself to harden his expression. "We're going to settle our problems with violence, like we always have." Bardock nodded, but he said nothing, merely assuming his combat stance. Turles sighed again and did the same. "Bring it on, then," he said. Bardock's only response was a smile, soon followed by a ki wave. Turles only narrowly dodged the attack, which vaporized some more of the surrounding forest. "You need better aim," he taunted. "You couldn't hit the broad side of a battleship, even if it was just a few feet away."

Bardock rolled his eyes and fired another, not bothering to dignify that comment with a response. Turles again narrowly dodged, stopping to taunt his brother yet again. "Seriously, your aim sucks," he said.

Bardock's only response was a third ki wave that Turles attempted to dodge in the same manner, only to take the blast head on. As soon as the dust had settled, Turles realized that Bardock had tricked him into getting close enough that there was no possible way for him to dodge. "Well played, Bardock," Turles said, dusting himself off. Bardock chuckled to himself and charged, coating his fist in ki.

Turles threw up his guard, narrowly blocking Bardock's Meteor Blow with his forearm. Bardock quickly responded with another, but Turles blocked that one as well, catching his brother's fist. "It appears that you've overestimated the effectiveness of this assault," he said, his tone smug.

But Bardock was entirely unfazed, and responded with a vicious knee to the stomach, sending Turles staggering backwards. He followed that up with a third Meteor Blow, connecting with Turles' cheek.

His brother was sent flying from the force of the blow, and Bardock chuckled. "Idiot…" he muttered, charging up a Kamehameha. "Let's see him take this…"

Bardock fired the blast after Turles, who was busy peeling himself off of the side of a nearby mountain. His eyes widened as he saw the blast incoming, but realized that he wasn't going to have time to dodge it. "Ah…shit…this is gonna hurt like hell," he sighed, resigning himself to his fate. There was no way that he was getting out of this. Not without powering up further, and he wasn't sure that he was ready to do that.

So he braced himself for impact, crossing his arms to block the rapidly approaching blast. What followed was a tremendous explosion on impact, leaving the mountain mostly vaporized and Turles heavily damaged. Bardock soon closed in, hovering above Turles, watching him closely. The expression on his face said that he was almost impressed that Turles had withstood the attack. "How about we kick this thing up a notch, hmm?" he asked. "I'm starting to get bored."

Turles smiled as he recovered, soon meeting Bardock in the air. "Alright," he said. "I'm getting fairly bored myself."

"Let's quit holding back as much. Half power," Bardock said. Turles nodded, accepting those terms. "Right. Then let's do it!" he said. "This fight won't finish itself."

Bardock nodded, drawing up his ki. His aura flared dramatically, hoping that he'd finally overpower Turles for good. A grunt of exertion escaped his lips as he did so, drawing half of his full power to the surface. Turles smirked as he finished. "Are you done?" he asked. "Yeah," Bardock replied, watching his brother intently. Turles smiled and let out a shout, beginning to power up. He soon finished just as quickly as Bardock had. "Are you ready?" he asked, his aura surging around him. Bardock nodded, his aura surging to life as well. "Yeah," he replied. "Let's do this."

Turles nodded with a smirk, and the fight resumed with a high speed exchange of blows, with the fighters again dead even. But the fight was much more fast paced now, given that both Saiyans were now using half of their full powers. Both could easily destroy the Earth at full strength, even if such a course of action would be rather suicidal. Saiyans couldn't survive in space, after all. And that would be assuming that they could survive the planet exploding in their face.

Which is why neither of them would do so out of anything other than immense desperation. And even then, Bardock wouldn't want to destroy the planet he'd come to love living on- hard for his family to live peacefully if there was no planet left to live on.

Turles, on the other hand…he might, should he be sufficiently backed into a corner. But Bardock wouldn't just roll over and let him do it, either. So that meant that it was back to neither necessarily being willing to do it.

The battle continued to heat up as both continued to trade blows, neither giving up. This was going to be settled, regardless of whether both of them survived it or not. The brawl continued swiftly, with neither combatant willing to back down.

Elsewhere…

Gine sat in meditation, focusing on the power levels in the distance. It felt like Bardock was at roughly half power. It reassured her that he was only at half power and not recklessly using his full strength right off the bat. But at the same time, it slightly unnerved her because Turles appeared to be at the same level of power. She sighed, focusing tighter, attempting to detect any further subtleties in their power fluctuations- but soon found herself interrupted by a tap on the shoulder.

She sighed to herself again and opened her eyes. Taro stood next to her, hand on her scouter. "I'm picking up two power levels of just over five thousand," she said. "Clearly my brothers are no longer holding back as much."

"I know," Gine said. Taro tilted her head to look at her sideways. Her expression conveyed her immense confusion. "How?" she asked. "I can sense ki without a scouter," she said. "So can Bardock." Taro was utterly floored by that response. "What…how?" she questioned, still stunned. "How is that even possible?"

Gine chuckled slightly. "Stick around and we'll teach you," she said. Taro nodded, still unable to respond. The revelation that Gine could detect ki without the need for a scouter was not something she'd expected. And as such, she was utterly unsure of how to respond to it.

As for Gine's part in all of this, she simply went back to meditating and focusing her ki sense on Bardock and Turles' brawl. It was starting to heat up, and she wasn't really sure how she felt about that. She was confident that Bardock would win, but what were they supposed to do after that? Kill Turles? Run him off of the Earth, leaving room for him to come back? Neither was a particularly appealing option, leaving Gine to curse something under her breath- she knew which one Bardock would likely prefer- the more permanent option. Again, she wasn't certain how she felt about that.

Though, once again, she found herself interrupted by Taro. "What did you need, Taro?" she asked, not bothering to open her eyes this time. Taro's voice wavered a bit as she spoke. "Turles…is a terrible person," she said. "Hell, so am I, really. But he's…he's our brother…and I don't want Bardock to kill him and regret it."

Gine opened her eyes and stood up, turning to face her sister-in-law, who seemed on the verge of tears. "There's no stopping that now," she said, even though she detested the words as they left her mouth.

"Why?" Taro asked, her voice cracking. Tears were now obviously rolling down her face, and she was clearly struggling to hold it together. "Because Turles has committed an offense too great for Bardock to forgive. Or at least ignore," Gine said. "His death is a foregone conclusion. A sad inevitability."

Gine didn't really believe that Turles' death would be a bad (or particularly sad) thing, but worded it that way so as to not further upset Taro, who was quite clearly seconds from falling entirely apart. "But why?" Taro questioned, still not wanting to think about the obvious reason. "Because Turles tried to abduct our son. And our niece- his own daughter!" Gine replied, slightly harsher than she'd intended. Taro immediately broke down into tears. "I don't want either of my brothers to die!" she said. "Not like our parents did…"

Gine bit down on her lip, realizing how that last part may have sounded. She started to say something, but found herself cut off by Taro suddenly hugging her, lying her head on her shoulder. "Please, Gine…Bardock will listen to you, even if he won't listen to me," she said. Gine sighed, watching Taro. She returned the hug, attempting to comfort her husband's sister the best she could. "I'm sorry, Taro," she said. "But this isn't my battle to interfere in."

Taro looked up at her, tears still flowing. "Please….Turles and Bardock are the only family I've got left….I couldn't stand the thought of one of them killing the other," she begged. Gine spared her a sympathetic glance. "We were friends before…" she began, "and I'd like to say that we still are…"

"I'm sensing a but here," Taro said, managing to stifle her tears a bit. "But again, this is one: a fight started because Turles tried to abduct my child, and two: a fight between my husband, father of said child, and the one who did the abducting," she said.

Taro nodded, even though she said nothing for several seconds afterward. Gine watched her closely, remaining silent as well. Eventually, though, Taro spoke. "Please, Gine," she said, her voice still raw with emotion. Gine sighed, still unsure of this. "Wait it out," she said. "We're not going to intervene right now. Maybe later."

Taro stifled her tears, pulling back and wiping them from her face. "Why…why aren't we leaving now?" she asked. "Because this is not the time," Gine said. "We have no plan, and you're an emotional wreck."

"And because I don't really care if Turles dies or not," remained her unspoken thought. One that she didn't verbalize for obvious reasons. Instead, she looked Taro in the eye, waiting for her to react. "What do we do, then?" Taro asked. "Well, first, you're gonna take a shower to clear your mind," Gine said. "That and get rid of the nasty 'I've been cooped up in spaceship forever' smell."

"I do not stink!" Taro protested. "We had a shower on Turles' ship!" Gine rolled her eyes. "Clearly you weren't using it," she snarked. Taro's eyes narrowed, but she said nothing. Instead, she elected to sniff her armpits to check. "Alright, I concede," she said upon finishing said action. Gine nodded, moving to leave the room. "Come on. The bathroom's upstairs."

Taro nodded, moving to follow Gine. "So…if I bathe, what am I gonna wear?" she asked. "You're about the same size as me," Gine replied, "so you can borrow some of my clothes. We'll get you some of your own eventually."

Taro nodded, though she didn't actually speak again. She elected to follow Gine in silence. They soon enough arrived at the bathroom, and Gine opened the door, flicking the light on. "So this is the bathroom," she said. "You can use my bath stuff. Shampoo is the green bottle, and body wash is the pink one."

Taro nodded, setting foot inside the bathroom. "So…are you gonna bring me some clothes, then?" she asked. "That's right," Gine said. "Just go ahead and get in the shower. I'll bring them to you."

Taro nodded again, moving to pull her boots off. "Maybe I should have taken these off already," she said. Gine chuckled, watching as she popped them off. "I'll take them downstairs. "You can put them back on before we go out."

Taro nodded, allowing Gine to pick them up. "What about my armor?" she asked. "Leave your armor and bodysuit here. We'll deal with them later," Gine replied. Taro nodded again, though she didn't speak this time.

"For the shower, the left knob is the hot water and the right is the cold water," Gine said. "You'll have to turn both of them to kick the shower on."

"Okay," Taro replied, shedding her wrist guards, dropping them to the floor. "Have a nice shower," Gine said. "I'm gonna go find you some clothes."

Taro nodded for a third time, again remaining silent. Gine smiled at her one last time and departed the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Taro stared at the door for several seconds before beginning to shed her armor, discarding her chest armor.

She removed her leg armor and shin guards after that, leaving her with nothing but her armor's undersuit to remove. Taro soon slipped her arms out of her bodysuit's sleeves, preparing to remove the top half. A wince crossed her face as she did so, feeling the pain of old injuries as she shed it. She spared a glance over shoulder, seeing the scars covering her back reflected in the mirror. Actively fighting in multiple warzones for much of your life gave you lots of such scars. She breathed a sigh of disappointment, moving to remove the bottom half.

As soon as she'd done that, she moved to the shower, briefly pulling the curtain back to turn the knobs, turning the shower on. With that done, she slipped into the shower, closing her eyes and allowing the water to flow over her body.

She enjoyed the feeling of the warm water as she opened her eyes and set about cleaning herself. She realized that she'd not been able to properly bathe in a while, now that she spent the time to reflect on it. So, as Gine had told her to take a shower, she was going to do so. It would make her feel a whole hell of a lot better, or so she hoped. It also presented her with an opportunity to have some time to herself to clear her head.

Her thoughts drifted to her brothers and their currently ongoing brawl. She could only hope that they wouldn't kill each other. Or, as the slightly less terrible option had presented itself, one kill the other to achieve a final victory. She started washing her hair with some of the shampoo that Gine had told her she could use, starting to clean herself.

Despite her surroundings, which were far from the battlefield, she felt as if she was still in the center of one. Only, it was a mental one rather than a physical one, and she was fighting the idea of Bardock killing Turles or vice-versa. She couldn't stand the thought, and was beginning to consider plans to prevent either outcome.

Somewhere in the wilderness…

Fasha sat atop a cliff, staring off into the distance. Her scouter laid on the ground nearby- she'd removed it to distance herself from anything that might happen. She was out here to clear her head after what Turles had confessed.

She was still trying to wrap her head around it. Turles had a half-Earthling child…and an Earthling lover. Or former lover, whatever. It was a mystery to her how and when any of this happened. He'd said that it was long before they became involved with each other, and she had no reason to doubt him. Yet part of her was still unsure of when this could've happened- given that the child would be roughly three years old if this had happened when he said that it did- when he first discovered the planet known as Earth.

She recalled their being cases of Saiyans and Tuffles interbreeding and creating fertile hybrid children- they were a vocal minority opposed to the war between the two races. Most of them were caught and executed for fraternizing with the enemy after the Saiyans won the war, but a small handful of Tuffles were kept alive as housemaids, servants, and the like (more like slaves, really) and some as breeding stock. This came after it was discovered that a Saiyan/Tuffle hybrid had both enhanced intelligence and higher potential battle power.

The elites, rather than seeing this as a threat, instead saw it as a chance to breed an army of Saiyan super-soldiers to conquer particularly tough worlds, even if there was widespread racism towards the Tuffles. Fasha herself even had a half-sister born after her father carried on an illicit relationship with a Tuffle housemaid after her mother died. The last thing she knew, her sister was a Saiyan army soldier who probably died when Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta.

Her father had killed her sister's mother in a rage after discovering that she'd given birth to a child, and gave up the poor girl to be raised as a living weapon. Fasha had secretly cultivated a relationship with the girl, befriending her.

She felt a pang of guilt when she realized that she'd lost contact with her and never bothered to find out what had happened to her, but quickly suppressed it, wondering how and why there was another race in the universe capable of producing hybrid children with the Saiyan race.

Perhaps they could repopulate their race here, away from Frieza's prying eyes? She doubted that Turles would go for that idea, but she considered that it might be worth a shot. She made a mental note to pose the idea to Turles later. For now, she continued staring off aimlessly into the distance, wondering how she was going to deal with this revelation. She still wanted to have a child of her own, and she was still married to Turles…

She'd just have to go to her husband and remind him of her promise to have a child with him. They could go about producing their heir, and it would all be fine. In theory, anyway. She wondered what name they'd give a potential child.

It'd be a proper Saiyan name, but which one was a bit of a mystery. There were a lot of them, and which one would depend on whether they had a boy or a girl. She was partial towards 'Brass' for a boy. It was a name from her past, one that belonged to someone she'd once cared about. Perhaps Turles would go for it should their child be born a male. But for a girl…she honestly had no idea. Maybe she should ask Gine? Her old friend was always good at this sort of thing, even if she'd chosen Bardock as her mate. Fasha chuckled to herself as she thought about that some more.

Maybe she'd go find Gine and ask her about all of this. She and Bardock were both on this planet, after all. She sighed to herself and shifted slightly- the rock she was sitting on was not particularly comfortable. She thought about her scouter, which sat just a short distance behind her, laying atop another rock. She wasn't particularly sure of what she'd do just yet, even if her tentative plan was to go and look for Gine. She wasn't sure if Gine's power level would be high enough for her to detect…but she was damn sure going to try and find it anyway.

If Gine had gotten any stronger, then it would be fairly easy to track her down. Fasha stood up and stretched, noting that she was a bit sore from sitting atop a rock for a couple hours straight. "I better get going," she said to herself, cracking her knuckles. "Gine won't find herself…"

She turned around, moving to pick up her scouter. She stared at the device and its purple lens for several seconds before slipping it back onto her face. Just then, a massive explosion rung out in the distance. Fasha spun around, back towards the direction she'd been facing before. Her scouter lit up, detecting two power levels.

One was displayed at five thousand and five-hundred, and the other at five thousand and two-hundred. "Damn it…" she cursed, realizing what this meant. Bardock and Turles must be fighting! Considering that she couldn't detect any of the others' power levels, then Bardock must have done something to them. Possibly killed them, and at the very least, roughed them up pretty good. She decided to go out on a limb and contact Amond with her scouter's call function. He'd been designated second-in-command, after all. Amond picked up immediately, to her immense surprise. "What's going on!?" she asked, keeping an eye on the explosions echoing out in the distance.

"The boss is fighting his brother," Amond replied. "We tried fighting the guy first, but he wiped the floor with all of us."

Fasha remained silent for several seconds, absorbing that information. "What about Turles' plan? Did he succeed?" she asked. "Not in the slightest," Amond replied. "That plan is what set off this whole fight in the first place."

Fasha was again stunned into silence. "What did he do?" she asked. "Well," Amond said, "he attempted to abduct a couple kids. That Bardock guy took offense to it."

Fasha remained quiet, realizing what Turles must have tried. "You've got to be kidding me!" she said, exasperated. Amond chuckled, sounding more than a little amused by her reaction to it all. "The boss miscalculated big time," he said. "And I don't know if we'll make it out of this in one piece."

Fasha audibly sighed. "Why did he go with that plan?" she asked, more rhetorically than anything. "Who knows," replied Amond, having apparently missed the memo. "Amond, that was rhetorical," Fasha said. Amond chuckled. "Figures. You'd think I'd be able to figure that out, considering how long I've worked with Cacao. He talks like that all the time," he said. "I need to break that fight up before this gets any worse," Fasha replied. "Eh. I don't know if you'll be able to manage it. That Bardock guy is every bit as strong as the boss, if not stronger," Amond said. "We were no match for him."

"What about Taro?" Fasha asked, at last. "She switched sides. Took the kids and left after that Bardock guy asked her to," Amond replied. Fasha swore something under her breath and sighed. "Do we know where she went?" she asked. "No," Amond replied. "The only thing I heard was Bardock telling her to get the kids to someone named 'Gine'. That's all."

Fasha swallowed hard when she heard that. "Why?" she asked. "I don't know," Amond replied. "He just said that she'd protect them."

Fasha said nothing, having suddenly found herself feeling quite conflicted. "You still there?" Amond asked, noting her silence. "Yeah," Fasha replied. "I'm just thinking." "I see," Amond replied. "Do you need any help?"

"No. Stay on the ship," Fasha said. "I'll figure this out."

"Right," Amond replied. "We'll stay here. Figure out what you're going to do. I'd advise that you do it quickly, though, Fasha. Your husband may have found himself in over his head."

"I know," Fasha said, knowing all too well how reckless Turles could be. "Where's the fight going on?" she asked. "Not here," Amond said. "They left the area where we landed the ship. I imagine that was because the boss didn't want to damage the ship."

Fasha remained silent for several seconds after that. She figured that Amond's assumption was right on the money, given that their ship was the only way that they could leave Earth after this was all over. "That checks out," she said. "Uh-huh," Amond replied. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm not sure," Fasha replied. "But I do know that I need to get moving soon, Amond. So I'm about to have to end this conversation."

"Right," Amond said, responding gracefully. "I'll see you when you get back to the ship, then, Fasha."

"Right. See you then, Amond," Fasha replied, cutting the transmission right there. She wasn't sure of her current path, seeing as she had two options ahead of her. Help Turles succeed in his plan and have to fight Gine and possibly Taro, or help Turles and fight Bardock.

Neither were particularly appealing options, and she greatly disliked both. But if she had to choose, she'd help Turles fight any day. This plan was all kinds of messed up, and she really didn't want to deal with it. So she'd help Turles get out of his mess by breaking up the fight before one of them died.

Elsewhere…

Bardock and Turles were locked in a duel of ki attacks at the moment, littering the battlefield with explosions. Both were covered in dust and slight burn marks from blasting each other, and were starting to get annoyed. "How are we still almost even?!" Turles demanded. Bardock chuckled. "Actually, I'm slightly stronger," he said. "I can tell from how the fight's going."

Turles rolled his eyes, clearly annoyed. "Yes, yes. Don't remind me," he snapped, assuming his combat stance. Bardock chuckled and did the same. "Bring it on, Turles," he said. "I'm not going to wait around forever."

"Shut the hell up!" Turles snarled, charging into action. Bardock blocked all three of his opening blows and retaliated with a kick to the gut, sending Turles stumbling. A smirk formed on his face as he launched into a combo, starting with a Meteor Blow.

Turles crumpled again, enabling Bardock to unleash a series of furious blows, beating Turles black and blue, finally finishing the combo with his Meteor Impact, sending Turles flying through several trees. "TAKE THIS! RIOT JAVELIN!" he shouted, loosing another of his signature moves. Turles failed to recover in time, suffering severe damage. Most of his armor was destroyed in the blast, leaving a good chunk of his chest exposed.

"TWO CAN PLAY THAT GAME, BARDOCK! LET'S SEE YOU DEAL WITH THIS! CALAMITY BLASTER!" Turles shouted, firing the familiar purple beam. Bardock chuckled as Turles' blast rolled towards him, and began charging a Kamehameha to counter it, soon firing.

The blasts collided, mostly even. So Bardock drew up more of his power, dumping it into his blast- enabling him to overpower Turles, sending him flying backwards. Turles soon leapt back to his feet, clearly angered. "I HATE YOU!" he snarled, leaping at Bardock with a ki wave charged on each hand. Bardock smirked, shooting into the air, causing Turles' attacks to miss entirely- kicking up a tremendous amount of dust.

Turles snarled something unintelligible and shot into the air after Bardock, something akin to murder in his eyes. Bardock began firing ki blasts at him, forcing his brother to take evasive action. As Turles weaved his way through the barrage of ki blasts, Bardock grit his teeth. "Damn…I'd hoped that would slow him down…" he muttered. So he cut the blasts off, seeing as that wasn't working too well.

Turles took that as a sign to rush straight in since the blasts had ceased. But that merely enabled Bardock to nail him with a ki wave as he rushed up. Following that, Bardock promptly coated his body in ki and dove down after Turles for a Meteor Impact. But Turles managed to recover in enough time to realize what Bardock was doing, and shot out of the way.

Bardock found himself unable to stop in time and slammed into the ground. He struggled to his feet, dazed and damaged from the crash landing. Turles immediately capitalized with a series of nasty blows to return the favor from earlier. He tossed a pair of ki-laced punches of his own for extra damage before kicking Bardock in the ribs and leaping back. As Bardock gripped his side in pain, Turles fired off a Kill Driver, inflicting massive damage.

As the dust cloud faded, Turles charged in for a follow-up, but found himself punched in the face by a recovered Bardock, who glared at him angrily. "That's it!" he snarled, tearing what was left of his tank top off. "I HAVE HAD IT WITH YOU, TURLES!"

Turles soon found himself besieged by an influx of ki blasts, further damaging him. He dropped to one knee, unable to block them in time. Bardock responded by cutting them off and absolutely smashing Turles across the face with a powerful haymaker.

His brother crumpled to the ground as Bardock formed up a ki blade. "This is a move I like to call the Rebellion Sword," he said, rushing in. Turles attempted to pull away, but was unable to avoid suffering a nasty slash across the chest, leaving him reeling.

Bardock attempted to go for the throat next, but Turles recovered quick enough to deck him in the mouth and disrupt his concentration. Bardock's Rebellion Sword dissipated as Turles unleashed another Kill Driver. Bardock recovered himself and crossed his arms to block the attack.

Turles cursed his inability to keep his brother down, especially with the painful slash wound across his chest. He began charging another Calamity Blaster, musing that he needed to end this fast. Because otherwise, Bardock's stamina and skill would outlast his own and he'd lose. Part of him was angry that the fight was going this way, but the rest of him was enjoying the fact that he was actually having a tough fight.

He figured that Bardock probably felt the same way. Not that that really mattered, though- considering that they were pretty much fighting to the death at the moment. Whoever won would have the right to finish the loser. Turles was doing all that he could to ensure that he didn't lose, but it was taking more and more effort each time. He'd managed to adapt to Bardock's fighting style, but he was fighting with such ferocity that it didn't really make much of a difference.

He loosed his Calamity Blaster, hoping that he'd be able to take his brother out of the fight before Bardock took him out, but that would be easier said than done. Especially when Bardock evaded the attack with ease. Turles cursed his luck again and braced himself for the next assault, hoping that Bardock would make a mistake that he could punish. Luckily for him, such a mistake did happen- Bardock threw a reckless punch that enabled him to put his brother into an armbar.

Turles snatched Bardock forward and decked him in the face, enabling him to throw him backward and unleash a Kill Driver. Bardock was hit by the attack head on, suffering immense damage. He followed that up with a series of ki laced punches and kicks, beating down Bardock as much as he could. He finished up his combo with another Kill Driver, finally inflicting enough damage to drop Bardock to his knees. He chuckled confidently, approaching his brother with the assumption that he'd won. But Bardock responded by smashing a Meteor Blow into his chest. Turles staggered back as Bardock leapt to his feet and unleashed a Rebellion Trigger.

His brother was sent flying again, having suffered substantial damage. Bardock closed in again, forming another Rebellion Sword. "It's time for this to end!" he shouted. "I'm sending you to hell!"

Turles recovered and rolled to the side just in time to avoid being stabbed through the heart with Bardock's attack. "You know, you're terrible at this," he snarked, ducking a slash as Bardock attempted to take his head from his shoulders. Bardock muttered something under his breath and once more attempted to stab Turles with his Rebellion Sword, refusing to give in. Turles saw it coming a mile away, however, and responded with a ki wave. Forced to abandon his attack, Bardock let his Rebellion Sword dissipate and leapt aside, narrowly avoiding getting blasted.

Turles soon capitalized on the swinging momentum, unleashing several more haymakers to further damage Bardock He smacked him backwards, beginning to gather his ki for a Calamity Blaster. "Say goodbye, Bardock!" he shouted, a smirk forming on his face. Bardock stood soon afterward, bracing himself for impact. "Go on! Do it if you're so tough!" he shouted, planting his feet and standing his ground. Turles' eyes narrowed as he finished charging his attack. "If you're that eager to die, then you can die," he said.

Bardock chuckled, but said nothing, merely staring Turles in the face. His brother's resolve seemed to briefly waver, but he unleashed his attack all the same. But Bardock was prepared- this was his plan. Just before the attack impacted him, he thrust his ki downward and launched into the air, giving the illusion that he'd been caught in the blast. Turles burst into a fit of maniacal laughter, assuming that he'd won.

"I did it!" he celebrated, doing a bit of a victory dance. "I finally got rid of Bardock! No more meddling brother to screw up my plans!"

A smile formed on his face as he realized that this meant that he could carry out his plans unopposed. Sure, it would be harder without his scouter, but he could do it. They couldn't have gotten far.

Up in the air, Bardock chuckled. He watched Turles and his little victory dance, assuming that he'd won. Time to ruin that particular party…it was almost a shame. Almost. "I wouldn't be so sure that you've won!" he called, catching his brother's attention quite easily.

Turles looked up to see Bardock hovering above his head, a smug grin on his face. He was obviously mocking him, and that would not do. "Get down here so I can kill you properly!" he snarled. "If you say so," Bardock said with a shrug. He then coated his entire body in ki and aimed himself down towards Turles, as if he was angling himself as a projectile. Turles realized what Bardock was doing far too late to do anything, and as such, suffered immense damage from his brother's Meteor Impact attack.

The pale Saiyan was slammed into the ground, kicking up a lot of dust (and suffering a hell of a lot of damage). Bardock, for his part, flipped backward, landing perfectly on his feet. He smiled smugly as he approached and planted his booted foot on Turles' chest. "Now, let's talk terms," he said. "You're gonna leave my planet with all due haste, or you're gonna die, Turles."

He formed a Rebellion Sword for emphasis, looking his brother in the eye the entire time. "That's generous of you," Turles said facetiously, subtly beginning to charge up a ki wave- he wasn't gonna let this slide. Bardock noticed this, moving his ki blade such that the point was only a few inches from his brother's face. "Fire that at your own peril," he said. Turles swallowed hard, allowing the ki he'd gathered to dissipate. "Let's not make any hasty decisions," he said, nervously. Bardock rolled his eyes, begrudgingly dissipating his Rebellion Sword. "I'll let you up if you agree to leave right now," he said.

Turles nodded. "I will!" he said, seeming to fear for his life. Bardock nodded in response, preparing to move his foot. But the second he dropped his guard, Turles threw his arm up and smacked his brother in the face, sending him staggering. "I can't believe you fell for that!" Turles said, laughing. "This will only end with one of us dead at the other's feet!"

Bardock again muttered something under his breath, beginning to gather ki for his Final Spirit Cannon. "Let's see you withstand this, you arrogant asshole!" he shouted, firing the blast. Turles' eyes widened as he saw the size of the beam, which barreled towards him at great speed.

He dumped as much ki as he could into speed and shot into the air to avoid the attack, which decimated much of their surroundings. But the old 'hide your survival with the explosion' trick wouldn't work on Bardock, who could sense ki. He shot up into the air, decking Turles across the face with a nasty Meteor Blow. "Did you really think that would work?" he asked sarcastically. Turles shook his head 'no', bracing himself for impact.

"That's what I thought," Bardock said, firing a Riot Javelin. Turles was blown back by the attack, suffering a good bit of damage. Bardock chuckled, forming up another Final Spirit Cannon. It was time to end this fight. Turles would soon be dead, and he could move on with his life knowing that his son was safe. He loosed the blast, which barreled towards his brother at a high speed.

Turles realized that he was quite possibly about to meet his end if he didn't do something right now. Something drastic. So, with a mighty roar, he drew up all of the power that he could muster. His aura flared, enabling him to effortlessly withstand Bardock's attack. His brother soon realized what had happened, and his expression changed to one of anger. "You went to full power, didn't you?!" he snarled. "I did," Turles replied. "I couldn't have taken that blast head on otherwise," he said.

Bardock's eyes narrowed as he moved closer. "Fine! Two can play that game, you cheating bastard! NO MORE HOLDING BACK!"

With that angry declaration out of the way, Bardock opened the floodgates, drawing his full power to the surface. He looked at Turles with a murderous fury in his eye as both sized the other up, their respective auras flaring.

The battle was about to resume with much more fury and intensity than before as the brothers prepared to clash at full power! Neither was going to back down or give in, so it was a fight to the finish. One of them would be the victor and the other the loser. The only question was which of them would be which.

Gine sat in meditation, extending her ki sense once more. What she felt stunned her- Bardock and Turles seemed to no longer be holding back anything at all. They'd unleashed their full power. This battle could risk the Earth if it went on for too long…yet she wasn't sure if Bardock would let it go that long. She popped her eyes open when she felt a tap on her shoulder, expecting Taro. So she was surprised to see Luna. "I thought you were resting?" she asked, examining the other woman. "I was," Luna replied. "But I woke up and sensed whatever's going down. Bardock's fighting Turles, right?"

Gine nodded. "That's right," she said. "It feels like they've finally kicked it up to full power. I hope this doesn't last too long, or the Earth could be in danger." Luna nodded in return, but didn't say anything, merely sitting on the couch in Gine's living room, rubbing her forehead with her hands. "This is a mess," she said once she'd taken her seat.

"I agree," Gine said. "This is one big mess that we need to clean up." Luna nodded again, but said nothing as Taro came sprinting in, wearing the t-shirt and sweatpants that Gine had loaned her. Her scouter was in place, and she had a shocked look on her face. "I'm getting two power level readings of over ten thousand!" she said. "I know," Gine replied. "They're no longer holding back."

"We need to intervene! Now!" Taro said, again insisting on interfering. Gine sighed, not willing to have this argument again. "We can't go. We'd leave the house and the kids unguarded," she said. "And we don't need to do that."

Taro remained silent for several seconds, but she eventually spoke once again. "I'll stay here and guard them if you go," she said. Gine sighed again, still reluctant. "I don't know," she said. "Please?" Taro begged. "Don't let this end with one of my brothers killing the other."

Gine sighed again, thinking over her response. Simultaneously, Luna watched silently, listening to both sides of the debate. She decided to speak up and (hopefully) end it. "I'll stay with the kids if you want to go and stop that fight," she said. Gine looked right at her, a bit surprised that she'd spoken. "Are you sure you're up for that?" she asked, sounding slightly worried for her friend. "I'm sure," Luna said. "Alright," Gine said. Luna nodded as Taro smiled, pulling her boots on. "Let's go!" she said. "Luna can stay here and guard the house!"

Gine sighed, finally acquiescing. "Fine. Let's get moving," she said. Taro nodded excitedly, moving to head out.

Gine moved to leave as well, thinking to herself about whether this was a good idea or not. She sighed, leaving it undecided, and followed Taro. They needed to leave quickly if they were going to stop the fight.

Fasha stopped mid-air and mid-journey, her face paling. She found herself overcome with shock and disbelief- stunned to see that her scouter was reading that the two power levels she was heading towards had skyrocketed to over ten thousand. Bardock and Turles were clearly no longer holding back.

She swallowed hard and braced herself for the hurricane of a clash that she was likely headed into, descending to a nearby cliff to steel her nerves before continuing. Here she was, a hardened Saiyan warrior, unnerved by a fight. Such a thing was usually unthinkable, but she could forgive herself under the circumstances.

Especially considering that the combatants were her husband and a good friend of hers- and they were likely fighting to the death. She shuddered and exhaled deeply, attempting to convince herself that this was a good idea.

She was still not entirely convinced that it was, but she'd already decided on her course of action. And once she put her mind to something, she was not one to give up or back down, much like Turles and Bardock…which is why she was worried about this fight continuing for any longer than it already had. She banished her apprehensiveness, shoving it down as deep within her subconscious as she could manage to, preparing herself for battle. It was likely that she'd have to intervene if she wanted to stop the fight.

Neither would likely concede to words alone, meaning she'd have to use her fists- beat some sense into them. Little did she know that Gine and Taro were also on their way to do much the same thing. And it appeared that they were all on a collision course- even if it would likely all end in a fight. They were Saiyans, after all. Peaceful resolutions didn't come naturally to them- violence was typically the only viable option. Yet Taro and Fasha alike still held hope that it could be resolved entirely peacefully, without a need to fight (or rather, continue to fight) like they'd already been doing, and indeed, had done their entire lives. Gine, ironically, didn't think that this could be resolved through negotiation, even though she was the most peaceful and reluctant to fight of them all.

The way she saw it, Bardock and Turles had a whole hell of a lot of rage built up that needed to be let out. And they weren't going to stop until they got it all out, likely through one killing or maiming the other. While the conclusion remained to be seen, it wasn't likely to be pretty. Nonetheless, each party bent on stopping the fight continued creeping ever closer to it. The end drew near.

There we are, folks! Chapter 17 is in the books! We've got a fight to finish, after all. I'm thinking probably two more chapters before I finish this thing, so stay tuned! This one was full of action, as the next will be. This one turned out shorter than the previous one, but it's completed nonetheless.

I hope you guys enjoy it! As usual, feel free to leave a review!

I've noticed that has been doing weird things lately with regard to chapters actually showing up, so if you don't want to deal with that, you can find me and my stories on AO3 as well, under the same name.

Signing off, as usual!

-Robbtastic01.