Chapter 26: Even Now, It Is Far From Over

As the others touched down on the grounds of Capsule Corp, most of the women gasped at the state Goten and Bardock were in. Chichi hounded over her son, patting and fiddling with his clothes, trying to redeem them in some way.
Meanwhile, Panchy and Videl were concerned about Bardock. Bulma didn't really care too much about the man's condition, because she had seen certain other Saiyans return in that state countless times.

After Panchy had finished fussing over the injured Saiyan and moved on to Goten who was being given food by the blonde Launch, Bulma put her hands on her hips and complained, "It's always the Saiyans of the group that start a fight outta nowhere at a nice gathering like this. Can't I for once have a nice peaceful afternoon with you guys, with no fighting involved whatsoever? Please!"

Piccolo approached the two women. "Bulma, you and I both know it's futile to try stopping these battle nuts from challenging any powerful fighters who show up, like Gohan and I."

"Damn, so you really did have a good ol' tussle without me? You better take me along next time…" She stormed over to the scar-faced Saiyan and pointed right in his face, aggressively. "…YA HEAR?"

Bardock was taken aback in confusion. "What- Who the hell do you think you are, to-?" he replied, but was interrupted by the sudden appearance of a high-performance, automatic sub machine gun that was capable of firing 100 rounds in less than 10 seconds, right in his face.

After a moment, Launch huffed, stowing away her gun (who knows where). She told him, "You ain't worth the trouble. I can hear Bulma's rantin' gettin' louder n' louder! Say, now that I got a good look at ya, you look pretty rugged and hot to boot, and that's my type. But since you're Goku's pops, you sure ain't gonna be on my radar, pal!"

Bardock had never looked so stupefied. "What?!"

"Later," she stated bluntly, walking away from him. She proceeded to lounge around eating pizza lazily with Yamcha and Videl.

'What the…? Who the hell is that woman? She looks just like the blue-haired one from earlier…' Bardock wondered, trying his best to dismiss the loud proclamation that he was a good-looking chap. He already knew he was handsome, so there was no need for her to tell him that.

Goten noticed Bardock's befuddlement and whispered, "That lady's called Launch. She's got two different personalities!"

"She's Launch? And two what now?"

"When she's blonde Launch, she's really aggressive but when she's blue-haired Launch, she's really sweet! Kinda crazy, huh?" Goten laughed. "She changes whenever she's sneezes!"

""Sneezes"…? Whatever. I hope she changes back, 'cause I sure ain't interested in catching any bullets today."

Goten laughed again as Bardock sighed. He then thought, 'That transformation of hers resembles Super Saiyan… It's probably a coincidence.'

Ten minutes later, Bulma was still ranting. This time, it was about how her birthday party from a couple years ago had been utterly ruined by all the shenanigans that Beerus had caused. Bardock's head began to throb from her constant talking.

He spoke abruptly, "Woman, can you pipe down?"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!" she roared in his face. He backed up in surprise from her response.

He explained, "M' gettin' a headache from your yapping!"

"You ignorant jerk! "Yapping", huh? You just can't be bothered to listen to me because you fought your ass off during our little get-together! You're simply going to have to deal with it and take part in conversation like a normal person! I mean, do you even know who I am?!" Bulma shouted right in his face.

"You…" Bardock facepalmed as he recalled who she was. "Oh damn it all… You're Vegeta's wife!"

"Too tired to remember that, were you?" Piccolo teased with a grin.

"Y- You shut up! I just lost two fights in a row!" Bardock pointed at him.

"Would'a been a third if I'd'a bothered to tangle with ya!" he heard blonde Launch holler from afar. She was waving around a bottle of wine.

He ignored that woman and bowed somewhat apologetically at Bulma, the Princess of Saiyans. "Forgive me for not thinking straight. You're not gonna tell him, are you?"

"I'll think about it!" she chuckled evilly.

"If I'm lucky, I can leave Earth now and he'll never find me," Bardock mumbled aloud with a huge sigh, to which Bulma and Piccolo laughed.

"Wherever you end up, it better be out of Frieza's way," Piccolo responded, then said in a more serious tone, "Hm… when he comes to Earth next time, we'll have to be very careful. Who knows how much stronger-…"

…

…

Piccolo's words faded out of Bardock's mind. He froze, emotionless; his heart had stopped for a second.

…What did Piccolo just say?

Frieza was still alive, even after he'd been killed by his son? That didn't compute with Bardock. He felt angry and distraught as a wave of dread swept over him. Had he been lied to, or kept in the dark on purpose?!

Super Saiyan.

The intensity of the glow nearly blinded him, but he wasn't paying attention to himself. His mind stalled. His face was completely blank and sweating. Teeth clenched, his breathing became erratic. He stood completely rigid, his fists tight, and he heard no one as they called for him to stop and calm down. Cut off from the world.

'How can this be?! What was it all for? What has it all been for?!' he asked himself repeatedly in horror. The memories of the Supernova wiping the Saiyans out and his son fighting Frieza years later re-emerged.

After all this time, Frieza still existed, like a crude shard embedded deep in his skin, right down to the bone. He and all the Saiyans had been slaves to him and his despicable family. He had practically died with his race personally from that frightening world-ending attack that Frieza gave him.

Did his son… fail? Did Kakarot… not kill him?! It couldn't be so - The kids told him Kakarot had "defeated him". Or was Frieza… revived somehow?

Yet his anger grew more. He shuddered uncontrollably, his power skyrocketing like never before. Sparks began to emit as he failed to reach a point of understanding.

'It's not over… It's far from over! D- Damn it! They haven't been avenged after all!'

A huge blast of energy came out like a wave from inside Bardock, knocking everyone who was off-guard back hard into the walls and bushes. The weaker ones present at the gathering had backed off a great deal before now.

Bardock screamed. He screamed in complete rage and anguish. He thought of Gine, his team… everyone he had lost! He felt like an utter failure - It was disgraceful!

Lightning encompassed his frame, scorching parts of his armour, his hair more rigid and upright…

"RAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!"

"Super Saiyan 2?!" Trunks exclaimed in shock.

"I HAVE TO! I HAVE TO KILL HIM!" Bardock screamed; his voice could be heard far and wide. "I HAVE TO-"

Piccolo powered up and vanished behind him, delivering a hand chop to his neck.

Bardock however, did not fall unconscious, and was now merely hunched over. Furthermore, he'd been given another vision. There was a blue flash in his aura for a moment.

"You might have returned once, but I'll see to it that you never return again! Go to Hell where the rest of your kin reside and stay there!"

A flash of purple engulfed him. After the flash, a maniacal chortle from a very familiar alien tyrant could be heard before everything faded away to darkness.

Bardock's mind had finally had it; his eyes rolled back and he fainted. Everyone stood frozen in shock.

"…Trunks? I thought you said he knew everything!" Gohan questioned him.

"Well, yeah, I told him that your dad defeated Frieza…" Trunks sweatdropped.

"But not that Frieza came back to life?" Gohan responded.

Trunks sweated even more in stress. "Uh…! Look, I'm sorry, you guys! I should've told him that Frieza's a good guy now!"

"He's a what?!" Chichi and Gohan shouted, then Gohan said, "No, he's not! He's a despicable villain!"

Trunks facepalmed. "That proves it - Dad lied to me. He said that Frieza returned and turned over a new leaf. That guy was on that billboard for the Tournament of Power…" Trunks looked at his mother. "Wait, why was he on the team if he's still evil-?"

"Never mind that," Piccolo cut in sharply. "It's a good thing you didn't mention it at all, before now."

"Why, Piccolo?" Goten asked.

"Because he just went Super Saiyan 2 from hearing about Frieza's continued existence. It's a form only a select few might have been able to take on before Gohan and I returned here."

"Oh…" Goten uttered, gazing down at his poor Grandpa. Then, he remembered something he noticed earlier. "…Hey, did you guys see that flash of blue when Piccolo hit him?" He pointed at Bardock on the floor and looked at everyone.

Yamcha said, ""Flash of blue"? You mean a bit like…"

"Super Saiyan Blue? That can't be right," Gohan stated, shaking his head. "I mean, it only changed his aura slightly - not his hair…"

Piccolo pondered, "That flash of blue… We all know it comes from a Super Saiyan using God Ki, right? And you know what I sensed for a brief moment?"

"You sensed God Ki from him?!" Gohan exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Yes. I learned how to sense it recently. With me being part Kami, I picked it up rather easily. I thought I sensed it when Bardock and I fought as well, but the feeling only lasted for a manner of seconds, just like now."

Piccolo turned to Goten and Trunks. "You two. Do you know what this might be? Maybe tell us where he came from, while you're at it - You might help us piece this together."

"Oh, right!" Trunks snapped his fingers. "He said he has this strange ability… This is what he told us when we were on the ship…"

"So what exactly were you doing before you got that weird future sensing thing, Bardock?" Trunks asked.

"I was on a mission," Bardock simply responded.

"A mission…? What kind of mission? Did you go alone? Where did you go?" Goten was eager to know more.

'Dang it. Already slipped up,' Bardock thought. "I meant an expedition, not a mission. I went with my team: It was mainly me, Tora, Fasha, Borgos and Shugesh. Sometimes I would go with two other guys named Leek and Taro as well."

"Wow… Saiyan names…" Trunks awed.

Bardock continued. "Remember how I told you about the Kanaasan who gave me the visions?"

"I remember," Goten replied.

"Their planet was called Kanaasa. I… ran into trouble with one of 'em, and he hit me in the back of the head - Said he gave me what's called a Future Punch."

"Pfff, what kind of name is that?" Trunks chuckled.

Bardock ignored that. "In any case, he wanted me to see my planet's end, which… I did. Several times, in fact."

Trunks and Goten were silent.

"There was this weird blue aura comin' off of him after he hit me… Anyway, this ability he's given me has done more than let me see the future. I think it made me somehow able to travel through time as well. Not sure he expected a Saiyan like me to be able to do that, even if I can't control it."

Trunks told everyone, "He didn't tell us what exactly his expedition was about, but that's what he told us."

"See the future… Travel through time…" Gohan muttered in deep thought.

Piccolo asked, "So the Kanaasan had some kind of blue aura?"

Goten replied, "Yeah… Wait, do you guys think this dude was a Super Saiyan God gone Super S-?!"

"Uh, not a Super Saiyan God, Goten. Maybe a… Super… Kanaasan?" Gohan surmised. "But then that means… these guys might've used God Ki?"

"Why do you say that as though they aren't around anymore?" Goten asked cluelessly.

"Oh, here we go…" Piccolo groaned to himself.

"Uh… well… a long time ago, when someone made an enemy of an old Saiyan warrior, I guess bad things happened to them," Gohan stated cryptically.

"But not all of those Kanaasans could be gone!" Goten retorted.

"Some Saiyans were very evil, Goten," Piccolo said. "I wouldn't be surprised if this guy dealt with a whole lot more than just that one Kanaasan…"

"What are you guys even saying?" Trunks asked in confusion. "Bardock… He…"

…He hadn't, right? He couldn't have killed that many of those aliens, right…?

Wait…

"…You may have been useful in Frieza's eyes, laying waste to those planets he wanted…" he recalled Cooler saying to him.

Yamcha pointed out, "I'm pretty sure Bardock killed a few of those guards back at the Zoodobu bases and the mansion, right? Or at least… that's what it looked like. Was it just me who noticed? He probably used to… uh… y'know…"

Trunks gasped, knowing he was right. Bardock had chosen to kill several soldiers back then. "He… He must've laid waste to entire planets…!"

Goten grimaced in denial. "No… he can't be a planet murderer! He… He's only killed bad guys… right?"

"Maybe he might tell you more about his… expeditions, when he wakes up," Piccolo said while looking at the knocked-out Saiyan suspiciously. "If he's from the past, I wouldn't count out the possibility of him being just like Vegeta's old Saiyan comrades."

Yamcha stated, shaking his head, "No, he's… he's not like those guys - well, definitely not like Nappa, since I didn't meet the other one. I'd be dead by now if he was just another Nappa, right?" Everyone turned towards him. "I think he's putting that past behind him. He's not been a threat to the Earth as a whole. I mean, he saved all the Namekians on New Namek! He might go a little overkill on his enemies, but from what I've seen him say and do… I don't think he's really a bad guy."

The kids were in deep thought, with troubled expressions clear on their faces.

"Goten, Trunks, you've been around him the longest out of all of us. What do you guys think of him?" Gohan asked.

Trunks replied, "Well, look… I guess not all Saiyans were good guys, but… Bardock? He's been looking out for us. He wants us to get stronger and protect the planet. That's what he wants you to do as well, Gohan!"

"I'm with Trunks!" Goten declared. "Grandpa cares for all of us - Really! He even helped us save Icarus, remember?" He regarded the adults with a determined gaze.

"I imagine he would've done something heinous by now if he really was like those other Saiyans," Piccolo admitted. "Bardock even knew that some of the Earth's strongest warriors were off-planet."

Piccolo looked at the kids and asked, "So you're absolutely sure he didn't try anything?"

"Yeah, he didn't!" Trunks confirmed.

"Well, I guess you can stop scrutinising Bardock for now, huh, Piccolo?" Gohan said.

"Listen, we've had plenty of good and bad Saiyans show up here. First it was Goku, then Raditz, Nappa and Vegeta, then Tarble… Broly…" Piccolo listed, rolling his eyes.

Gohan chuckled. "I guess you're right. I can see why you're so cautious."

"Hmph…" Piccolo turned his gaze to the floor, and saw Bardock's fingers twitch. His expression changed in an instant. "He's waking up. Brace yourselves."

[Author's notes: Let me know what you think about my take on the mysterious origin of Bardock's abilities! I theorised that precognition on that level couldn't feasibly occur through the use of mortal ki, as it seems to be quite an exceptional ability to possess. So, Bardock's visions here are essentially unstable jolts of God Ki that activate either at random, or sometimes when Bardock is hit hard in the head. His aura turns red (in base form) or blue (in Super Saiyan) for a split second.

"He already knew he was handsome, so there was no need for her to tell him that." - This is referencing a line Bardock says to Z Broly in Sparking Zero - "Sorry, I'm not Kakarot… but good to know my son will inherit my good looks."]