We Are The Young}{Insane Mission - Mature

[jared]

Approval

Bardock was watching the ring with great concentration as the final match began. It would be between the King of his home world, King Vegeta, and who proclaims himself as the Champion of the World, Hercule Satan. He was hoping that this would truly be a match to behold, but he knew the average power level of these humans. It would probably only be a mere sport to his King. Yet he was still watching the ring for any movement, just a small thought in the back of his head hoping that the battle might be a little interesting.

Soon he took in a small human being walking onto the ring, someone he had met in the first round match, the only one he was able to participate in before he was taken out by a possible family member, Gohan. He was a man of blonde, who donned a black suit that he seemed to enjoy wearing throughout the entire tournament. With his mic in hand, his voice filled the air with extreme flare. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it’s finally reached the time I know you’ve ALL been waiting for! I know I sure have been!” The announcer must have truly enjoyed his job, as no one that Bardock had met in his life could enjoy simply talking to a bunch of lower life forms. Yet he did it with such fire, such passion. It was truly a sight to behold, but he wanted to listen in on the introductions.

“King Vegeta has defeated every opponent that has stood before him in this tournament, and what stiff competition it was, proving himself to be the very best that Earth has to offer this year!” The crowd of people suddenly cheered, filling the air with a high decibel level of noise, yet the announcer was not phased as he continued. “But his hardest challenge is now directly ahead of him!” He could only pause as this time around, the crowd's screaming overwhelmed the amount of sound the mic could give off at the time. After a few seconds o letting the crowd simmer down, the announcer continued.

“It is my honour and pleasure to announce a man who truly needs no introduction worldwide! Our current World Martial Arts Champion, defeater of Cell and hero of Earth - Hercule Satan!” This time the announcer jumped in shock at how loud the crowd was able to scream. Bardock had to commend the humans' strength in their lungs. The Champion of the World that was introduced mere seconds ago, Hercule Satan, began to walk out to the ring holding two peace signs out proudly, pumping up the crowd. The renegade could see, after looking closely, that the Champ had small sweat drops on his face. Obviously he knew this would be a harder fight than the crowd expected. This intrigued the veteran as he listened to the announcer speak once more. “And his opponent who now needs no introduction, King Vegeta!”

Walking with complete ease, the royalty of the planet Vegeta made his way to the ring, his expression stone cold like he was ready to take a life in this round. Yet he gave off a signature gesture, one that was known among the Saiyans, which caused the crowd to simply go wild. It wasn't anywhere near how loud they went for Hercule, but it was still impressive for an outsider like him within all these humans. He got to the ring and looked over to Hercule.

“I’m not surprised that King Vegeta reached the finals of this tournament!” It seemed like every word he spoke was a gift to the crowd. They hung on to every single piece of his speech like it was an autograph signed by him, and he showed no sign of stopping. “After all, he IS my secret apprentice! Bwahaha!” That was a lie, Bardock knew that all too well. King Vegeta wouldn't accept training from anyone, especially a weakling like this. Out of curiosity, Bardock clicked on his scouter to read the power level of Hercule. He was shocked by the outcome. A mere 10 units, and he was talking all this smack to a power level that could reach the thousands!? Truly a mad man for the crowd.

Hercule turned around to meet the cold gaze of his opponent “So you’re the one who won the finals then? Well, I’ll try not to go too hard on you pal; want to put on a decent show for the fans, after all.” It was an idiotic comment, but the Saiyan veteran could give the man props for his guts. Not many would face the King with such fire in their heart. “After all…I’m the MARTIAL ARTS CHAMPION OF THE WORLD! HAAAAAGGGGHHHH!” He threw his hands up once more to bring the crowd's morale up.

Hercule did not bother to wait for the announcer to start up the match before he started to rush at his opponent with a small amount of speed. It wasn't very fast, yet enough to excite the humans. The man jumped into the air and slammed a punch into the King's face, sending him back into the ground like he was nothing but a ragdoll. Bardock was surprised for only a millisecond before he gave off a smirk. He knew that it wasn't even close to enough to take down someone of King Vegeta's power.

Yet the humans were fooled by this ploy of unconsciousness, so quick to grab at this reaction and call their beloved champion the victor. “Amazing, has Mr. Satan done the impossible and beaten the so far undefeated King Vegeta in a single punch?! Let’s find out!” The crowd was getting all too into this kind of sport, all of them shouting the word 'Champ' over and over again in unison as if a broken record on surround sound.

“I did…?” The idiot was in complete shock that he was able to bring the King down. He was obviously aware of the kind of power that the King possessed in the first place, but he still went on to showboating. “Well of course I did!” The Champ's confidence was restored by this entire situation, thinking he took down such a powerful opponent with a single punch. “Well what are you waiting for?” The man was truly in a hurry to win, as if he was frightened. Bardock knew that for a fact. “Get counting!”

Immediately, as if he wished the same thing for the Champ, he began to count up through the regular numbers. “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9...” At the sound of the number nine, the King of all Saiyans quickly got back onto his feet and gave a silly grin upon his face, as if it was all a joke. It really was though, just a joke to give the man confidence and take it away just as quickly.

“Just Kidding,” Hercule was obviously shocked as his jaw dropped open. He was quite the fool to even have the smallest thought of himself having a victory over the strongest among the Saiyan race. “Now lets see just how important this is to you!” The King of all Saiyans rushed at the Champ with no effort whatsoever, grabbing his belt like it was nothing, quickly smashing a fist into Hercule's face without an inch of mercy. Hercule was quickly rushed with a few more punches until the champion's belt was undone and caused him to walk backwards as he brought his hands to his face. Hercule seemed to be crying as he rolled around on the floor in pain. Such a pathetic display of endurance it was, it was sickening that King Vegeta had to waste his time on such a weakling.

That wasn't the focus though, as a light began to fill the ring. It was soon revealed that it was King Vegeta, charging up his signature move in a single palm. "Get Lost." A large beam of energy burst out of the King's palm, shooting directly toward Hercule at an amazing speed. Yet Hercule found the energy to react as he smashed into the ground, bringing his entire body up with the beam below him. The beam finally detonated on the ground, sending the human flying through the air and close to outside of the ring. Bardock smiled as he thought this idiotic show was all over, but something new caught his eye.

A small rift was seen in the sky, just a small rift that was shining with such a light that it could possibly blind the ones with weak eyes. Yet the crowd could only stare either in awe or panic at the small rift in the sky. It grew, the light becoming more intense within the sky, until it overthrew the entire sky. It was very new to Bardock, something he had never seen before. Then the chaos began. Bardock, out of curiosity, spiked his black aura and rose to the sky to see what was going on. He was shocked by what he saw.

In the horizon, he could see typhoons on the surface of the ocean as the sea level rose to where it could start drowning the island. Then the ring began to flood with water, the warriors of the tournament flying into the air to stay safe. The renegade could only watch as the worthless humans panicked and tried to evacuate the area, only to be swept away by the current that flooded the ring. It only took a matter of minutes before the entire island was covered in water. The veteran Saiyan could not help but feel sorry for the small humans, having to meet such an embarrassing end when most of them never even earned that death in the first place. Even the small children in the crowd had their lives taken from them.

Bardock's focus was taken away from the now deceased crowd as he looked to the sea once more, waves crashing down and lava shooting into the air from the mountains forming around them. Bardock tried to dodge all the lava and waves that were trying to connect with him, but a wave crashed down on him and smashed him into a volcano. Mere seconds later, he got his composure back and quickly made his way to the rim of the volcano at the top. "What the hell is going on!? This world is falling apart in front of us!" The renegade stared at the end of this planet, knowing he was in the middle of it all. Then another new thing happened.

A small crack in the sky was formed, bringing dark energy into it like it was a black hole of some sort. It was the only chance Bardock had of surviving, so he charged his dark energy and flew at it with all the speed he could muster. He outstretched his hand to see if he could get there fast enough, and he was only mere seconds away before he stopped coldly. He looked around for one moment before he began to fly backward. The world around him was beginning to implode as the actions that just occurred played in exact reverse. He found himself watching a backward King Vegeta versus Hercule fight seconds later, then he was at his fight with Gohan in the middle of a beam battle. He had no control over his own actions, if anything, he was mentally panicking because he was literally going back in time.

A beam of light came down from the heavens and hit Bardock with all it had. The renegade could do nothing but scream in pain as his memories were erased from his mind, his body and soul thrown into the vortex of the time warp. He was put back in time to another point within the past, he wouldn't know where he was, when it was, or even who it was, but now he would find himself in a new situation. And now the journey began...

Word Count - 2,009

[jared]

The situation was grave as the Saiyan traveled through time, his memories being stripped from his mind one by one, even going down to his own name being a lost memory in the portals of time. How he would gain these memories back he would not know until he managed to do so, but that was not the matter at hand. He had to figure out what he was going to do next, but his energy was being sapped from his body as he thought about it. Soon, he didn't even have the energy to think straight, it going to the point of him passing out as he went through time.

Slowly his consciousness returned to him, but his energy did not. His power level was miniscule at the moment, but he couldn't understand that. He didn't even know what the scouter was used for, but he could sense his own power level. He thought it was merely average for a being like himself, which was yet another enigma to him. He didn't know what race he belonged to in that moment. It was all a blur to the young man, not knowing who or what anything was, including himself. He couldn't even come up with a name for himself, so he just gave up as he struggled to have his body rise into the air. He took a look around, touching upon a sensitive nerve of pain.

He looked over to his shoulder, seeing that it was bleeding violently. It was no wonder that he was so weak, as he lost a good amount of blood all over the ground. To reassure that theory, he looked to the ground he was laying on mere moments ago, only to be greeted with the sight of a large puddle of blood. He tried his best to keep his composure, but he seemed to almost gag at the sight. He didn't even understand why his brain would cause that kind of influx in his body, not knowing the disgust of blood yet. His mind seemed to subconsciously make him almost vomit at the sight of so much blood. Truly an odd thing, but he paid no mind to it. It was time to advance to see if he could find civilization.

He put one hand to his shoulder as he began to walk out into the distance of the planet he was on. The dirt was red, as well as the sky, which told him this might be a hostile planet. He wasn't sure how he passed out, as it might have been a vicious creature upon this planet. It was quite possibly that with his low power he might have not been able to take on the beast that possibly took him down in the first place. Now he was left with a fatal wound in the middle of nowhere, not a single house was in sight as he made his way deeper into the lonesome wilderness of the planet.

Then he spotted something in the distance, something that had resembled a light. Excited at the sheer though of civilization, he began to speed up until he broke out into an all-out run for the light. As he got closer, he could see houses nearby, which only made him put more energy into his run. But luck did not help him as he tripped over, flipping onto the ground twice and finally stopped with his face in the dirt. He did not have the energy to get his body back up, nor stay awake for much longer. The blood loss was really getting to him. Finally, he passed out in front of the town, catching no one's attention for a good few minutes.

Then a man saw a body in the distance, and he ran toward it with a great concern for safety. He saw that the body was bleeding a great amount of blood, so he quickly hauled him over his shoulder and brought him over to his home, which was close to where he passed out in the first place.

"No! You need to stop this madness!" The nameless organism stood before a supposedly evil man, one of horns and a purple head. He was somewhat of an imp-like creature, who held a large ball of energy in a single finger. Yet the nameless man threw an energy sphere at the imp, who simply blocked it with his small energy ball. The imp then threw it at the nameless man, who was turning to ash at it made a connection with him. "Kakarot!!!" That was his last word before he was reduced to ash within the blast.

The nameless man woke up in a cold sweat, looking around frantically for any kind of clue to where he was in that moment. He saw a small lamp on the table that was beside the comfy bed he was laying in. He saw that there was a red blanket over him, so he immediately took it off to see what was under it. He saw his legs, which caused his gaze to be led to his shoulder, which was patched up from the injuries he had sustained before he passed out. He had to show some gratitude to whoever had done this, which brought up yet another question. Exactly who was the person that was patching him up in the first place?

Well, he would never know unless he got his ass out of bed and see what laid below him. With that, he made his body rise as he threw the covers to the left of him, making a connection with the wall, yet they didn't fall of the bed. He brought his body around and planted his feet onto the soft carpet that laid below his body. He made his lower body rise so he could stand up at his full height. He sighed as he made the bed to look presentable, only one favor he actually owed to the person who took him in at his time of need.

He looked over to his right and saw an exit to this bedroom, so he paced himself as he headed for it. He walked out of the exit and looked to his left, seeing a single flight of stairs that led to a violently illuminated room. He was at first scared of the thought, thinking he might be jumped at the very first move he made, but he quickly shook the thought away, thinking it was just a crazy thought that only stood for a few moments. He slowly made his way down the stairs, extremely careful not to make even the slightest amount of noise, hoping not to alarm the inhabitants of this planet. He looked to the left, seeing his reflection in the mirror. He took in his features, seeing a scar in his cheek, and his hair was out of this world. He also wore a crimson colored headband, which peaked his interest, but immediately a headache ensued. With both of his hands, he held his head as the cold sweat came back to him.

"So, Bardock, looks like your friends got killed that day, huh? I remember, that headband of yours is of their blood when they got killed on Planet Meat, right?" It was a simple commoner of the planet, yet he talked to this 'Bardock' like he was a friend of his. Yet the nameless man talked as if he was being referred to. "Yeah, it was a tough loss, and then I got beaten by Dodoria after I tried to avenge them, but at least I could kill those damned elites that helped him. They got what they deserved on that day."

After he shook off the headache with some small yells of pain, he rose back to his full height with a new memory. I am Bardock, the man who survived the small onslaught on Planet Meat. I had friends that died on that mission, and I apparently got beaten by this man named Dodoria. So many memories, so many questions, yet I have no answers. Truly an enigma. He made his way down the stairs once more, getting back from where he started, and finally made his way down. He took a small look around to get a look at his surroundings.

He saw a wooden table with wooden chairs surrounding it, with a state of the art kitchen set not too far away. It was obviously the kitchen, and someone was cooking. He looked to the young woman who donned an apron, and she was cooking a couple steaks. His eyes then moved to another man, one of hair that stood completely to the left and eyes that could kill with a single blink. The eyes of crimson were truly intimidating, and his clothes were of the same color if you didn't count his undershirt, which was of a dark black, and his belt of a light cyan.

Though the first one to speak was the young man. "Hello there. It is about time that you woke up, Bea was just fixing us something to eat! Nice to meet you, the name is Gumi!" The young man outstretched his hand toward the renegade, looking for a shake. Bardock was definitely surprised by the excitement in Gumi's voice, somewhat like a little kid, You had to admire the youth, always full of energy. Bardock slowly went toward Gumi and shook his hand.

"The feeling is mutual. The name is Bardock. I am sorry, but I might be a little off. I have forgotten a lot of things recently. Nice to meet you as well, Bea." He nodded at Bea, and she did the same as she returned to her cooking. Gumi motioned for Bardock to take a seat beside him, and he did so, relaxing his muscles as he sat down. Soon after he sat down, a large plate with a huge t-bone steak was set down in front of him.

"It will be alright, Bardock. See, eating meat will replenish your blood. Gumi told me that you lost a good amount of it when you were passed out in front of our village." Bardock hesitated for a moment, but he decided to dig in as he took the steak with both of his hands and tore into it. With the first bite, he fell in love with that steak as he dug into it. Gumi could do nothing but give off a small giggle. Bardock stopped with his teeth into the meat, looking toward Gumi with a confused look as if he missed out on a good joke and everyone else got it but him.

"Well, you eat just like a Saiyan. It's quite funny actually, since you look very much like a Saiyan." At the word 'Saiyan', Bardock's head began to hurt again. He put his elbows onto the table as he held his head with both of his hands, gainign the concern of both Gumi and Bea. Soon after, he put both of his hands down and looked to Gumi.

"Please, tell me more about my race. I am a Saiyan that has lost most of his memories. Please tell me everything you know." Gumi was surprised, but he did not hesitate for a single moment. This made Bardock happy, that Gumi would assist him with regaining his memories.

"Well, we are part of a warrior race called the Saiyans. We are somewhat like space pirates, clearing out the inhabitants of other planets to sell them at a profit. We are very strong warriors, and we have a special ability that allows us to get stronger for every near-death experience we have. Technically we become stronger with every win and every loss. We also have the Military here as well, with many of the strongest of us. I, myself, am a 2nd Class Soldier, which is two ranks away from the esteemed Elite class, the strongest of the strong." The renegade remembered something from one of his memories about taking down four Elites with his own bare hands, but he didn't want to bring the kid's spirits down.

Word Count - 2,031
Total Word Count - 4,040

[jared]

Soon after the small explanation was made toward the renegade, yet another piece of t-bone steak was put in front of Gumi. Bardock looked at it for a moment before looking to Gumi and making a small smile. He and Gumi nodded at each other almost simultaneously with small grins upon their faces, and they both looked to their steaks respectively. They both began to tear into their steaks like they were nothing, eating with the true appetite of the Saiyan race. Bea could only watch and laugh a little at the two of them. "Boys... I will never understand them." Bea simply made her own dinner as the two of them went at it. They finished only a couple minutes later, both of them stuffed. Bardock could feel a new energy flowing through him now that he was fully nourished. His blood was being restored, he could feel it inside of him.

Gumi rose from his chair, looking to Bea. "Okay, I am going to have to go now. It is almost that time." Bea let out a small 'aww' noise, but she approached him and hugged him, also giving him a small kiss on the lips. Bardock wasn't exactly much of a romantic kind of guy, but he still enjoyed the sight of young love. There was still a question that filled his mind though. What was it almost time for?

"Hey, Gumi, out of curiosity, I wanted to know what it is almost time for. Maybe I could join you if you don't mind?" Gumi was shocked by the question, and he brought his gaze to bea as if looking for an approval. Bea gave him a small nod and a small smile in his direction. Gumi nodded and brought his gaze back to the renegade, ready to explain himself.

"Well, I am going to this meeting with my general, Graff. We are going to be assigned to this special ritual where we have to travel to a place called the Volcanic Region and train with each other for three days. The ancient rumors that date back to the days of the Tuffles say that the Volcanic Region contains special properties that make one stronger if they train in that area. General Graff wants to send me and a handful of soldiers to that area to become stronger." Bardock was amazed that there was such an area on the surface of this planet, but maybe he shouldn't interfere with such a mission. Still, he would like to train and try to gain some power. Gumi saw that the veteran warrior was questioing himself within his mind, so he decided to set his questions to rest. "How about you come along? You seem like a tough enough warrior to take on some training with yours truly."

Bardock was truly honored with a chance to train, not to mention training with the guy who patched up his injuries. It would truly be interesting to be training with fellow Saiyans. Yet the Volcanic Region sounded like a very dangerous place, but Gumi didn't seem worried. He must have been very confident in his power, and he had reason to be confident. His power level was high, but very close to Bardock's in the first place. The renegade rose from the wooden chair that he sat on and took both of their plates, walking over to the sink and quickly rinsing the both of them off. He looked over to the young Saiyan and smiled at him. "Then we should probably get on our way." Gumi smiled at Bardock and nodded at him, ready to go.

The both of them headed out as Bea watched them from behind, both of them spiking a black aura around their figures. The both of them are surprised by the colors of their auras, how they matched. They both just shrugged it off though, and they headed into the air, Gumi taking the lead so he could lead Bardock to this meeting. It only took a couple of minutes to see that there was a buff, burly man in front of two other Saiyans. The both of them descended, throwing their auras to the wind and having their feet touch down on the ground beside the group of Saiyans. The large man looked over to Bardock with a cold look. "Who is this, Gumi? I thought I said that this was a classified mission."

Gumi stood tall to the large man and spoke proudly. "I can vouch for Bardock's strength personally, General Graff. I ask with all that I am that you allow Bardock to join us on this mission" A few moments of silence followed the small request, causing Bardock to sweat a touch. Graff then walked over to Bardock and stood right in front of him. He then tapped his very own chest with one hand, tapping twice to signal something. Bardock was confused by the subtle signal.

"What I want you to do is to punch me as hard as you can in the chest. I will test your worth whether you can join this group or not." The renegade was surprised by the very odd request, but he wasn't going to give this up so easily, so he charged up his energy, a dark aura forming around his body. The aura began to dematerialize slowly, all of his energy being focused into his fist. He then smashed his foot into the ground, swinging his hips to the right and bring his right fist to Graff's chest. As it made its impact, the General was blown back by the attack, being sent back into the ground in a cloud of dust. Not only Gumi, but the other students were just as surprised that Bardock could pull off such a feat. After a few seconds of silence and Bardock's own surprise, General Graff got back up to his full height. His eyes were wide with shock as he approached Bardock once more. The renegade was intimidated, thinking that he might be punished for such a show of power. Yet he only got a hand on the shoulder from Graff. "Never have I met someone with such power! Of course you can join this mission with my students!" Bardock smiled at the compliments and went to stand by Gumi, who was also half smiling, half shocked by the display of power.

"Well, to review what we were going over when our two friends joined us, you will be traveling to the Volcanic Region to undergo a ritual of training. I am hoping that you will come back even stronger than before, but I am going to warn you now. It is a tough area to survive in, with the constant lava floods. I am going to tell you that you might not survive. If you aren't careful, you are going to die, do you understand?" All of the students nodded at their general, and Bardock had done the same. "Well, then it is time for you people to get out of here and go to the Volcanic Region! Head for the west and keep going until you reach the largest volcano there! I expect many things from you guys, so don't let me down!" All of them, including Gumi and Bardock, spiked their auras and flew into the air.

A few minutes into the small journey, Bardock has to ask a question. "Gumi, exactly what are the dangers of this Volcanic Region, or actually, what planet are we on anyway?" Gumi looked back to Bardock with a serious look, but soon it turned to innocence once more. He was a good soul, and ready to answer any question you have.

"Well, this will be an adventure for you. First of all, we live on a planet called Planet Vegeta, which is ruled by our ruler, King Vegeta." A memory of King Vegeta began to form in Bardock's head.

King Vegeta was debating something with a lower soldier while Bardock was on the sidelines with his right hand man, Zorn. "But King, Dodoria has been killing our men, you have to believe me on this one! None of them are what you think, they want to take us down! Please, sir!" This turn of events happened before Bardock was beaten by Dodoria, so he was not sure of what was going on at the time. Yet, King Vegeta did not speak. He only made his body rise to the air, standing to his full height, intimidating the lower soldier that stood before him. He slowly began to sweat as King Vegeta approached him with a stone cold look on his face.

The King of all Saiyans outstretched his palm to the man's face and began to charge his energy, a white aura surrounding his person as his power level rose to levels unknown by many. The energy began to flow from his center and traveled through his veins, it traveling over to his palm and shining with a white light. Scared, the lower soldier began to run away down the red carpet, the Saiyan logo on the middle of it. "Get Lost." A large purple beam of energy shot out of King Vegeta's palm, makign a straight connection with the man's back, causing him to cough up some blood and send him down the red carpet with a new speed. The beam then detonated at the end of the throne room with a large explosion, turning the man to nothing but ash. Yet the soldiers that stood at each side of the carpet were completely emotionless, not phased by the beam of energy.

"I remember, the only reason he became King in the first place was not only because of his immense power, but he was the hero of the Saiyan-Tuffle War. That was how we got this planet in the first place..." Now a single memory of the war's end came into his mind.

Bardock looked around at the many Saiyans that surrounded him. It have been ten years since this entire war started, and now Vegeta was killed by his very own father. Now he had to deal with the agony of not only his father dying, but being the son of a traitor. The only reason that these people let him live is because he can smash heads with ease. Now the new King Vegeta, his son, stood in front of them all, ready to raise their morale to the fullest.

“Enough! This war has gone on long enough. We are a warrior race, but it is time we won this ten year conquest and moved on to new enemies. We have all lost a lot these past ten years. We lost our freedom and our homes. We lost our brothers, our sons. Even our fathers. Well I say no more. Let us take this planet for our own, and make the galaxy, no, the entire universe fear us, fear our pride and what we are: Saiyans!”

Along with Bardock, all of the Saiyans in the area yelled in unison as they ran forward, spiking their energy to the fullest to finish off the Tuffles once and for all. Bardock focused his energy and sent one beam of energy forward, starting this bitch off.

"But now onto the Volcanic Region. It is a place of many volcanoes. I've heard rumors that everyone that has entered the area never came out alive. And then they have the rumors of the Volcanic Creature, which is a large stegosaurus like creature made of heated rock and lava. it is said that it devours anything that crosses its path, and only a select few are able to stop it." That rumor could prove to be Bardock's downfall, but he chose to not be intimidated by sheer rumors. Seeing is believing, and the only thing he could see is training for everyone. Now he could see in the horizon that a few volcanoes were in the distance. It was show time.

Word Count - 2,004
Total Word Count - 6,044

[jared]

After only a few minutes of looking around, the group of Saiyans were able to find the largest volcano within the Volcanic Region. This would be their training ground for the next few days. He stopped for a moment in the middle of the air space to take in the scenery. Volcano upon volcano came into sight as he took in his surroundings. The area definitely had earned its name to be called the Volcanic Region. Bardock could only smile at the sight of it from afar, feeling the heat of the area even from the altitude at which he was flying, but quickly shook his head to get back on track. He spiked his dark aura of energy and flew at a high speed to catch up with the others, who were already on their way to the largest volcano in the area.

Soon they came to the area where they would stay, a small cave on the side of the volcano. All four of them landed on both of their feet, setting up camp as quickly as they could. Bardock did not bother to help, as he had to supplies to be setting up. He would live off the land of the Volcanic Region, not bothering with help from anyone. The only thing they would be useful for is some training. Yet Gumi was not setting a single thing up, despite having the supplies for it, which peaked at Bardock's interest. He simply approached the young man to curb his curiosity once and for all. "Hey, I noticed that everyone else is setting up a tent of some sort. Is there some reason that you don't do the same as them? I mean, you do have the supplies to set up a reasonable shelter."

Gumi was surprised by his question once again. Apparently the young man was easy to surprise if you asked enough questions. Yet he still answered, as if he knew Bardock for his entire life. That was under consideration as well, since the renegade's memories are so scrambled. Maybe Gumi secretly knew about Bardock before this encounter, or were even friends at one point before Bardock lost his memories. Then his thoughts all rolled back to the single question of what fate would befall Gumi's supplies in the first place. "Well, you see, I am a man who tries to test himself at every turn. They say this environment is unbearable even with the supplies, so..." Gumi picked up his bag of supplies and threw it to the river of lava that laid beside them. "... I don't think I want to use them while I'm training. I need to test myself to see if I am truly ready to ascend to the next rank of the Saiyan Military, 1st Class Saiyan." Gumi thoughts about it for a moment while Bardock simply smiled at the young man for his spunk. Taking on this brand new environment without supplies took guts, and this kid had them for sure. Then Gumi decided to start speaking again, why of which reasons would be revealed within seconds. "Well, what rank are you, Bardock? Third Class? Second Class? A guy with your kind of strength has to be someone with a lot of prestige among the Saiyan Military." At the words 'Third Class', he found himself grabbing at his head again. Yet another hot flash was coming into his mind.

"Just get out of my sight, you insolent fool!" An Elite soldier fired a beam off at Bardock with all he had, but the renegade simply swiped it aside like it was nothing but a play thing. The Elite soldier was getting scared by the sheer power of Bardock, who had the power to take on the Elite with extreme ease. Almost immediately after though, another Elite soldier who was a friend of his joined his friend, both of the Elites rushing at Bardock.

"Look at that, you guys need to team up just to take me on! I must be too strong for my own good!" Bardock immediately starting blocking both of their punches and kicks like they were nothing. Taking on two of them was almost as easy as taking on one, and it definitely showed. After a few minutes of blocking their flurries, they broke away to catch their breath, unlike the renegade who hadn't even broken a sweat yet. "Come on, if the two of you can't beat me together, you may as well drop out of the Military!"

One of the Elites looked at him with an angered look, but he slowly smiled, as if he found out Bardock's weakness. The veteran Saiyan simply cocked his head to the side in confusion, wondering what that Elite had to smile about when he was staring at his defeat in the face. "You talk all tough, and you've got the strength to back it up, but in terms of respect, you are just locked in as a low level to the public eye!" Bardock was surprised by this new statement, but he knew it was true. Because of his family's past. "You know why you are, don't act like you don't know. You remember how your very own father, Raddack, rebelled against our first King, Vegeta. He killed our King's father, which is an unforgivable act of treason. The only reason you are allowed to roam among our ranks is because you have a strong arm." He didn't want to hear any of this, but he knew that every single piece of it was true. His very own father rebelled against the Saiyan race and worked with the Tuffles to kill the leader of the army, Vegeta.

While he was lamenting through his family's past, he was punched in the face as somewhat of a sneak attack. All of it was a ploy to try and distract him, so they could finally win a match against him. Despite his anger, that punch took a great deal out of him, his upper lip bleeding from the impact with his teeth. He was about to punched in the face one more time, but he opened his left eye just in time and dodged the punch, grabbing the Elite's arm and throwing him to the other side of the arena. Bardock immediately looked at the both of them, the other Elite getting his bearings back. Both of them were on opposite sides of Bardock, ready to rush him at any point, but the tables were turned quickly as the renegade laughed to himself. "I may not be respected, but I can take down anyone that stands in my way, and I sure as hell won't be beaten by a couple of weaklings..." Bardock brought both his arms into his body, crossing them in an X-like form. The two Elites thought they knew what was coming and got scared almost instantly. "...like you!" Bardock let out a large shockwave on both ends, making a connecting with both of the Elites and sending smoke and dust away from his position.

At the end of his little vision, he found himself not holding his head in pain like all of the other hot flashes, but he was actually smiling with his eyes closed, loving the memories of his past. "Hey, Bardock, you alright over there?" Bardock was surprised by the noise, not used to it after his long view of the past. "Good, you are still conscious. I was asking you if you had a rank on the Saiyan Military." It was a proud title for him, but maybe an embarrassment if he were to share it with others. Yet he wanted to share it with Gumi. It was the first real friend he had made on this planet.

"Well, this will be tough to explain, but I am merely a third class Saiyan upon the Military." If Gumi was surprised in that moment, he definitely didn't show it upon his face. If anything, he intertwined his hands and put his chin on them, as if he was intrigued to know what the story behind this was. He saw what Bardock's strength reached to, so there must have been a good reason behind Bardock's low rank. The veteran Saiyan took in a large breath of air and exhaled it just as quickly, as if expelling his nervousness and telling Gumi what was up. "Well, the truth is my father is sort of a rebel. He is a traitor to the Saiyan race by rebelling against the first Vegeta and murdering him with a rebellion of Tuffles. Ever since then, I've been cursed to carry his mistakes on my back. Yet, they allow me to stay on the military because I am a strong fighter. So, that's the story." Gumi stayed in silence for a moment, which worried the renegade to a great extent. He was wondering what went on in that head of his, wondering if he was considering making an attempt at killing Bardock. But Gumi's response was very surprising.

"You didn't rebel against the Saiyan race, so I have no reason to be angry at you. You are still a friend in my book, so never doubt that." Bardock was now happy that he was accepted by Gumi despite his stories, after which he shook hands with him. They were both interrupted by the sound of a strong clash nearby. They both looked at the clash's direction, seeing the two other Saiyans training with each other. Bardock smiled at the thought of training and decided to get up and crack his knuckles. He looked over to Gumi and gave him a small smile as he cracked his neck. Gumi cracked his neck as well as he rose, going to his full height. They both looked to each other and their fists quickly clashed as they broke away from each other, the ground cracking under the power of the weak clash.

Almost instantly, the two of them got into the swing of the spar, speeding around like a couple of sugar-induced maniacs. Invisible to the naked eye, they clashed many times within the air with great power, showing off at every turn. They ended up meeting in the middle, each of them holding back a punch with each other, so both of their hands were occupied. The other two Saiyans stopped training so they could watch the amazing display of power. Bardock and Gumi both spiked their black auras into the air as they powered up, trying to win the clash. Slowly but surely, Gumi was about to gain the advantage, but Bardock yelled into the air and pushed him back with all he had, the wind from his aura breaking rocks all around him. Gumi's hand slipped and Bardock punched him across the face. Bardock was surprised by the impact himself, even though he wasn't on the receiving end of the pain. Gumi flew into the side of the cave, breaking part of the wall with the sheer impact of his body. "Are you okay!?"

Bardock was concerned for his friend, as he put a lot into that punch. He and the other two Saiyans who were probably friends of his approached Gumi, who gave them a thumbs up out of the rubble. They began to laugh along with Gumi, but Bardock noticed blood coming out of his lip. The renegade looked to his fist, seeing some of Gumi's blood upon it, just sitting there like nobody's business. He went to the side and licked it, actually liking the taste of it for some odd reason. He never noticed it before, but blood actually had a nice taste to it. But he couldn't take his friend's blood, it wasn't in him. He suddenly got an idea after a few minutes of thinking. Maybe if he murdered one of the Saiyans, he could have his blood and everyone would be happy. So now he had a goal for the night to come after training. He would have to kill one of the Saiyans.

Word Count - 2,011
Total Word Count - 8,055

[jared]

After they were able to patch up Gumi, the training had resumed for a couple hours. They were nearing the end of the training session as the night began to fall upon them. Bardock disappeared into thin air using only his speed to rush at Gumi, who blocked the punch he had thrown. "I'm surprised you can keep up, but maybe we should kick it up a notch!" Bardock broke away from Gumi and quickly began to run around in a circle, circling Gumi in the middle. The dust began to kick up in his trail, showing five Bardocks at the same time due to the insane speed. The dust then began to turn into a dust devil, or a miniature tornado of sorts. Gumi began to fly into the air, spinning in the opposite direction of the dust cyclone. The renegade only increased his speed, and so did the young man as they fought over the dominance of speed.

It only took a few minutes of running for Bardock to lose his composure. He slightly tripped, but didn't fall onto the ground. Gumi saw the small window of opportunity and burst his aura throughout the cyclone, destroying it entirely and sending dust everywhere within the area. Bardock didn't lose his bearings though as he used the dust to his advantage. He disappeared, reappearing behind Gumi and charging up an energy blast. His black aura burst as the energy slowly crept down his endless system of veins, making its way to his palm and turning it into an outside source of energy. It took the form of a small sphere, not enough to take serious damage, but definitely enough to end this sparring session.

His energy spiked along with his energy sphere that was in hand. Gumi finally took note of his presence and quickly charged his energy to charge up a wave of energy. He made an attempt at firing the large energy wave at him, but Bardock quickly dodged and got above Gumi, throwing the energy sphere at him with great speed. It hit Gumi in the head, exploding and making all the dust in the area get blown away by the impact. The young man fell to the ground as Bardock hit the ground with his own two feet, looking to his sparring partner with a cold look. He slowly approached him, as if with the intent to kill, but instead a look of joy began to overtake his face, as if he was happy he won this spar and possibly injured his friend. But Gumi wasn't injured, showing that with one eye open he was still smiling at his new found friend. Bardock put his hand out and Gumi grabbed it with his hand, the renegade pulling the young man up with a small amount of his strength. They smiled at each other like they were brothers.

A few hours passed and now two of the Saiyans were sleeping in their tents. Bardock and Gumi sat by the the river of lava, simply taking in the warmth of it so they wouldn't get cold from the night's breezes. "Gumi, exactly what are your beliefs? I mean, I'm not sure how one is supposed to act as a Saiyan. Most of my memories are scattered, but maybe if you tell me how to act, my memories would come back and tell me more of my past." Gumi didn't seem to skip a beat as he began to explain it to the veteran Saiyan.

"Well, the proper ways of the Saiyan race are actually very easy to abide by. See, what our race thrives on is something called a bloodlust. When someone, especially the Saiyans, get a taste of blood and likes it, they just can't get enough of it. We get off on fighting, it is what our race thrives on. We are a race of the some of the strongest warriors in the universe, which is truly an honor to harbor in the first place. Basically, our motto..." Bardock leaned in to listen to Gumi's philosophy on his own race. "... fight to survive, don't let anyone stand in your way, or else you will lose your life."

Bardock took those facts into his mind, thinking about any kind of past experiences that might relate to those statements, but it didn't take long to come across something. He didn't even need to go into his past to understand that when he got a taste of blood from his spar with Gumi, he understood that he must kill to survive, to quench his thrist for blood the best way he could, by fighting. His mind also didn't allow any new memories to be unlocked since he already understood, so that sort of disappointed him, yet he was able to learn something new, so it wasn't a complete lost cause.

Another hour passed, and Gumi decided to go to sleep, leaving Bardock as the only one awake at the time. His thirst for blood was beginning to take control over him, and he knew that his training made him stronger than either of those weaklings, so he knew what he had to do now. He had to kill one of those Saiyans. He slowly rose from his sitting stance, standing to his full height of six feet. He took his time with pacing himself as he approached one of the Saiyans that tagged along for the trip to the Volcanic Region. He had a cold look on his face as he bent down and slowly took the Saiyan by the collar, being careful not to wake him up for the moment. Then he suddenly disappeared with the Saiyan, leaving without a trace.

A few minutes passed, with the Saiyan waking up to his body indented into a rock, his legs missing and his lower half bleeding heavily. He began to yell out in pain, but Bardock quickly punched him in the jaw to get him to shut up. The Saiyan had no idea what was going on, but he could feel every pang of the pain he was going through in that moment. His legs were laying in Bardock's left hand, and he tried to reach for them, only to have Bardock float away from him teasingly. "Did you want these old things?" He swung the legs in front of the man's face, but he couldn't reach them. Bardock then smiled at him viciously as he dropped the legs into the lava.

The man began to burst into tears that he would never get those legs back, feeling the heat of the lava so near him. But Bardock wasn't done yet as he floated toward the Saiyan with a huge smile on his face. Slowly but surely, he put his fingers on the borders on the man's eye, making sure that his hand would slowly approach him to strike fear into his very core. Then blood flew into the air as Bardock took his eyeball into his hand. The man once again screamed in terror, but was quickly silence as his own eyeball was shoved into his mouth. The renegade then made him chew it, bringing his chin up and down while the cord was still attached to his eye, that way he could feel every nerve of his eye tear as he chewed upon it.

Once he finished chewing it, he hit his throat to make him swallow it, but he began to gag on it as the nerve cord was still attached to it, so he tore the nerve cord off. This made the Saiyan yell one last time, but the veteran Saiyan punched him in the forehead to get him to stop. By now his adrenaline rush had kicked in, so he was wide awake to feel every single piece of the pain he would put him through. Taking the Saiyan by the collar, he took him off of the rock and over the lava. Bardock used his other hand and turned it into an energy blade. "Have a good night..." Bardock slowly brought the energy blade to the man's neck, swinging it back and forth as it cut through his throat. As he got half way through, the Saiyan was still alive but coughing up a lot of blood, so he decided to stop while he was still alive and let go of his collar, letting his useless body fall to the lava with a large splash. Bardock enjoyed himself as he watched the flesh burn off of the man's bones.

Bardock watched as the blood of the deceased Saiyan flowed down his arm, truly a sensation unheard of by most races. But he noticed that there was another power level that was approaching his location, so he swiped it away and reverted his energy blade to nothing but his hand. He watched as the other Saiyan of the two appeared in front of him. He had a worried look on his face. "Hey, have you seen Beai, the other Saiyan? I haven't seen him in his tent, so I was worried about him." Bardock simply shrugged at the man's question, but the Saiyan looked down to the burning corpse of his friend. He slowly looked back to Bardock, who simply smiled at him and showed the Saiyan his left hand, which was covered in his friend's blood. Almost immediately, the Saiyan rushed over to Bardock, but the renegade quickly weaved to the right and elbowed him in the neck, knocking him out instantly.

About a half an hour passed by, and the Saiyan finally awoke. His arm was up his ass and his severed foot was stuck in his mouth. He made an attempt at yelling, but it was only muffled by the foot that was placed within his mouth. Bardock slowly ascended to his location, where both of them were on the side of the volcano. The Saiyan wanted to try and question Bardock for these acts of violence, but he still couldn't speak because of the foot. The renegade was lightly tossing a rock up and down, but he flicked the rock at where his foot used to be, smacking the meat of it and making him give out a muffled wail of pain.

He was beginning to cry, giving off muffled little noises that came out of his mouth. Bardock took an educated guess that they were muffled sounds of him begging for his life, which only excited the renegade to no end. He started to float toward him and take him by the collar, throwing him away from the volcano. He quickly got his bearings and looked to Bardock, his foot wound now bleeding with a new flow and his posterior in great pain from his arm being stuck up his ass. With his one arm, he charged up what little energy he had and tried to fire off a beam of energy at Bardock, who quickly got out of the way. The beam of energy hit the side of the volcano, causing a small rockalanche. The saiyan was surprised by the destruction he caused, but the foot fell out of his mouth being replaced with his blood. His sight was broken by the sight of his very own heart, warm and still pumping.

Bardock came from behind him and tore out his heart from behind, letting him see it as he died. The veteran Saiyan began to squeeze the heart tighter and tighter. He could feel that the heart began to beat faster as he increased the strength of his grip. And then his life ended almost instantly as his heart was crushed in his hand. The Saiyan's body went limp as Bardock brought his arm back to his body and let his body fall to the surface of the volcano, it falling down the steep slope of the volcano like a snowball. Now Bardock's thirst for blood was quenched. Now was the time to return to the camp and train with Gumi.

Word Count - 2,005
Total Word Count - 10,060

[Lance]

Man, brutality. It was good, but not your best. I expect to give you a four next time. I really mean that, fucker.

GRADE: B+
GAINS: 1,250 EXP|62 SP|62 Vegeta Rep|1,250z
OTHER: -5% Alignment, you sick bastard