The Humbled }{ Son Gohan & Son Goten

[Son Goten]

Goten's body slid back from the force of his opponent's punch, his feet grinding across the somehow rough sand beneath him. Eyes never leaving his foe, the young man considered his position. That dude had some serious kick behind his arm, and some natural ability. No one without training would have been able to harness the power of that punch so effectively; it was a sign of years, no decades of practice and perfection. Narrowing his brow, he separated his guard, trying to regain his focus and composure. He couldn't space out like that in the middle of a ba-

"Ugh!", his cry rang out over the sands as a hard kick impacted his jaw, sending blood splattering against the hot sand, and his body back onto his butt. Feeling himself smack the sands, Goten curved his body at high speeds, pulling himself forward in a desperate lunge at whatever it was before him. He'd always been the fast one, the quick one, the one that you couldn't quite put a finger on. This guy was making him look as though he'd never run before in his life! A slight snarl forming on the young hybrid's face, he brought a knee up hard, hoping to smash through his enemy's defense.

Unfortunately, piercing black eyes denied him before he had a chance in the first place. The shadowy figure smashed downward with his fist, sending Goten toward the sand full of regret. Utilizing the motion to bring in a hard double axe handle from above, the youth's expression remained fierce. He couldn't just give in to this guy! Nobody in his family gave up without a fight, and he definitely wasn't gonna be the first one to start that kinda tradition! Just as it looked to be a sure fire hit, he untangled his hands and threw his body into a high speed flip.

A blur of black sped past his face as he curved his body backward onto the sand, a whirlwind of speed and power still dispersing into the air where face had been but milliseconds before. A bead of sweat fell down his brow, but he didn't even have time to swat it when the other guy was dashing toward him. Eyes widening, he hesitantly brought his arm up in a feeble guard. This guy's power was unreal! Goten had never fought someone so powerful, so simply overwhelming.

"Gah!", a hard fist slammed into his liver, just under his defense, forcing him to drop it in order to cater to his body. It was proof that he'd gone soft, with his life of women and sociability. His head rang, even though it had been his body that was hit, and his eyes refused to glance down at the damage. Desperately, he lashed out with a fierce kick that was destined to meet little but air, before his second attempt to move backward. While he wouldn't call it retreating, he couldn't call it getting anywhere. So long as he was standing, this guy was gonna keep coming after him.

Energy piled up in his hands, as the black figure stepped in for another exchange. A high pitched growl emerged from it's depths, as Goten's energy illuminated darkness. There was nothing; literally nothing. Shock set in, lights went out; what was this? This sudden change in everything. As a chill set in down his spine, the youth frowned. The...This was; it was too intense. The aura this thing put off, it was enough to suffocate any normal man underneath it's pressure. Thankfully, Goten wasn't a normal man; he was a boy-- a Saiyan Boy.

Gritting his teeth, he released a guttural roar, his fists striking out at previously unseen speeds toward his opponents. They were laced with a mixture of energies, both dangerous and protective. For all he knew, hitting that thing could absorb his hand into it. Striking through at what may well have been all the cold winter nights in existence, the youth persevered, his blows meeting naught but air. However, suddenly, as if by pre-planned design, everything changed in a flash of white.

He was now in his bed, sweating deeply. Blood had seeped into his pillow case, an obvious result of the scratches on his face. Reaching up to touch them, he winced as his fingers came in contact with the openings on his skin; then there were needles everywhere, shooting through him at every point. It made his skin shake and his body crumble back to the bedding, writhing in pain underneath the covers. Something was still wrong, for him. It was...Different, here. There was no warmth, no aura of protection or safety. It was just, cold. Cold and wet, from sweat and blood, everywhere.

Gasping for air, he pulled out of his bed, searching desperately for his brother. Where had Gohan gone off to?! Eyes pained from sweat seeping into them, Goten put his back against the wall as every shadow in the room turned to face him, a set of pearly white canines baring themselves in his direction from the corner where Gohan's bed usually lay. His breath was coming in short gasps, as if he was striking out for each and every one of them in a room suddenly overcome with darkness. Was this the pressure he had felt in his nightmare...?Or was this his nightmare now? A cold sweat rolling down his spine, he reached out in the only way he knew how, a call of energy and danger.

Gohan had always come to help him, but now it seemed he was on his own against this crazy thing. Pulling all the air into his lungs, he released it in a single scream of might and power, giving it all he had to warn his older brother of the dangers that awaited him on the outside world.

"Run, big brother!"

WC:1,001

[Son Gohan]

Ocean waves lapped the shores of the island. The moon shone down through clear sea air, gentle waves catching the beams, passing them along in a silent and elegant dance of light. It seemed that the entire island was peaceful, the day of tournament fighting and excitement giving way to deep sleep and friendly socialization. Bright lights shone from the shopping and culture district, all major venues shifting to a twenty-four hour day for the duration of the tournament.

While most slept, the dedicated socialites played their own games at night. The sound of hundreds of songs mingled in the night air as they drifted upward from the different parties still in full swing, busy celebrating the victories and honourable losses of the tournament matches earlier that day. Even business men dressed down into the tropical style of colourful shirts and bright hats. Women spun with their partners on the multitude of open dance floors across the town, bright floral patterned dresses floating in the thick ocean air adding the splash of motion and colour to the bright starry night. Drinks flowed steadily with pleasant conversation and it seemed that all the harshness usually associated with night life had been worked out in the day’s matches. It would be difficult to imagine a more pleasant scene and a more peaceful town…



…But then Gohan steadily opened his eyes, his eyelids flickering at the sudden change in light as he slowly came to the realisation that he had been sleeping? Dreaming? Something of that sort. A soft sigh escaped his lips as he realised that he was in fact not at the Tournament grounds but rather in a room that he had rented out for he and his brother, above an inn on planet Vegeta. He could have likely found somewhere at the palace for them to have stayed in, but Gohan felt it was likely better to slowly introduce Goten to that sort of situation, rather than chuck him into the deep end, as he had originally done to himself. Standing from the chair that he had been sitting in, Gohan stretched his back as he moved over towards a nearby window.

The sky was completely clear on this night and not a single cloud could be found littering the velvet night’s sky. A partial moon held its position high within the sky, its wise glare covering the land below with a silvery hue, transforming the appearance of the land into that of another world. Gohan couldn’t help but appreciate it as he looked out over the Saiyan capital city from his open window. The sight was beautiful and was helping to calm the turmoil within his mind and heart, the turmoil that never left of ceased.

Moving back inside his room Gohan sat down in an armchair and pulled a picture out of his wallet. It was of everyone, taken on the lookout tower shortly after Kid Buu had been defeated and everyone was wished back to like by the eternal dragon. Gohan was always amazed at how much things had changed over the years. Krillin had got married and had a daughter, Vegeta had also had a daughter, and Goten was already a teenager, but despite everything Gohan had made a conscious effort to keep in touch with them all and to see them regularly. It was times like this, being so far from home, that he missed them all; he was just glad that Goten was here.

Lying in the armchair with his feet propped up on the coffee table, Gohan comfortably and intensively re-watched old memories within his mind. He was fixated, his eyes never even blinking. Over the volume of his thoughts the few faint pockets of noise from the outside world could only just be heard, but none served to distract him. With Goten asleep in the other room there was no one to converse with late into the night, and so he had not uttered a single word since he had awoken. This silent atmosphere would have continued on like this, uninterrupted, but despite the general calmness of the night not everyone or everything was at peace.

Suddenly a small crash broke through the silence of the night that had enveloped the room, startling Gohan and causing him to jump up out of his seat. It had come from Goten’s room, but hadn’t been loud enough to be serious trouble, and so Gohan steadily walked to where his brother was sleeping. As soon as he entered the room the elder hybrid knew someone was wrong. There was a slight breeze in the room, which was not unnatural, but a sickly smell had taken the room; the smell was death. The decay of slowly rotting flesh began to float in on the breeze as the shadows of the room seemingly moved of their own accord.

Despite all this Gohan focused his eyes on his sleeping younger brother, who was tossing and turning almost violently in his sleep. He dashed over to the bedside, dropping onto his knees next to his brother and grabbed him by the shoulders in an attempt to keep him still; that alone wasn’t an easy task, despite Gohan’s strength. Sweat had covered his younger brother, leading Gohan to believe that perhaps Goten was sick. Reaching over the elder hybrid softly patted Goten on the cheek in an attempt to wake him, but his cheek was wet to the touch. As Gohan pulled his hand closer to his own face, rubbing his fingers together, he noticed that it wasn’t sweat that covered his fingers, but blood; it was then that he noticed the scratches on Goten’s face.

“Goten!” Gohan suddenly exclaimed in a loud voice. “Goten wake up!” but it was no good; Goten didn’t seem to hear him.

"Ru…n, big…broth…er…" Goten muttered, strained through clenched teeth. He was dreaming, perhaps due to the sickness? That’s what it had to be, there was no other logical explanation for it.

Gohan was about to attempt to wake Goten once more when a sudden movement to his right caught his attention, causing him to turn towards it. What he saw he had not expected, nor could he understand very well. It was humanoid in form, perhaps slightly smaller than the average citizen of Earth. Featureless voids, no noses, no eyes and no ears, only inky black skin made from the shadow of the room. The smell of death was even stronger now that Gohan was facing this, thing.

The sound came at once, a jagged whisper, a terrifying rasp, despite the lack of any sort of mouths. “Gooooooooooooooooooohaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnn.”

Gohan couldn’t help but shiver at the sound of the voice, his entire body covering itself in Goosebumps. He breathed deeply and exhaled a wavy breath, it steaming up in front of him. The temperature had seemingly dropped dramatically in no more than a few seconds, so fast that it had been unnoticeable until after it had turned dangerously cold. Whatever this thing was, it had seemingly drained all the heat from the room, but if it was the cause of whatever was happening to Goten then Gohan would put a stop to it right now. However, before Gohan could even open his mouth to speak the entire room darkened in shadow so black he couldn’t even see his hands in front of him…

Word Count: 1,229.

[Son Goten]

Goten released a ball of energy from his hand, granting it the ability to sail forward to the middle of the room, dispersing light all throughout the room. For a moment, it seemed to work flawlessly. Then the beast suddenly seemed to take advantage. His power over darkness suddenly overpowered Goten's ability to produce light, covering the room in a pitch black filter of shadow. He had utilized the boy's ball of energy in order to cover the entire room in its shadow. The boy had forgotten a golden rule; the brighter the light, the larger it's shadow becomes.

Frowning in the darkness, the youth scrambled toward where he remembered the Windows to be. He knew that with his power, he could easily shatter it and break free into the night outside. The stars would provide him with all the light that he needed for his escape. The streets would also be illuminated so that he could make his way to any source of light possible. It was clear enough to him that that was his best hope, and Goten wasn't really a strategist...but he knew it best to stick to your guns, and he had those in spades outside.

He broke through the glass easily, his heart racing. Whether or not that creature was directly behind him, he really didn't want to find out. Crossing his arms as the cold winds hit him, he let himself go into free fall, body spiraling toward the concrete below. While it was uncomfortable for him to let the wind just whip at his face like that, he couldn't really do anything about it. With his ability to fly mysteriously absent, he had few other choices to make. Gritting his teeth together as he neared the pavement, Goten turned his head back to check if the beast was following him, and unfortunately, it was.

The beast was sprawling across the starry canvas of the sky. It was a jet black, expanding like a rain cloud across the field of azure above him. The boy wanted to swear, but being raised in such a friendly and nice household, he didn't really know any. Gohan had never been big into swearing, and neither of his parents had. Heck, Mom was probably the only one who knew any swear words...but he couldn't exactly pick her brain about it in this situation.

Swallowing as his body neared the ground, he contemplated his avenues of escape. Working his way toward the Warrior's Ghetto would probably be for the best. He could probably lose the thing inside of the gigantic, sprawling neighborhood. It was probably his best shot. Yeah, the place was dark, but it was hard to track someone down with all the huts and apartments that decorated the area. It'd be easier for him to lose the thing in a such a complex layout of buildings and structures. Swallowing briefly as he braced himself, the youth considered his chances.

If only he knew Multiform, he could just split himself up. Unfortunately, he'd never been taught the technique. Hindsight, even for Goten, was 20/20 as it seemed. Cursing his luck and lack of discipline, he felt his body shake as he hit the ground. His knees were ready to buckle from the force, but by now he was used to it enough that he didn't crumble completely. The pavement cracked as his fist pounded against it in an attempt to better distribute the shock from the fall. He waited for the small damage to subside before springing forward into a dead sprints down the sand covered streets of Planet Vegeta.

Hopefully, he was fast enough to escape from this beast, or whatever it was. He had never seen anything like it before, and he was pretty sure that this thing was unique. Energy didn't seem to effect it, and it certainly was able to get rid of Goten's without much difficulty. This thing was different than anything else in the universe, and if there was an entire species of it? Oh lord, the world was going to be in some serious trouble. Goten, one of the strongest warriors in the world, couldn't stop it.

Hopefully, Gohan was having better luck, if it was even near him anymore. If his brother had heeded his warning, everything would be much easier to digest. Gohan would figure it out, and if he couldn't...Well, then Goten couldn't think of anyone else who could. The man was like a living, breathing safeguard. A security blanket in the form of a big brother; hopefully that trumped some creepy night-time monster. It certainly had when Goten was little, so would it be enough now?

Would big brother clear the monsters out from under his bed? Or would they devour the pair of them as a midnight snack? All of it depended upon the elder of the two, the first child of Goku, Son Gohan. Not to say that Goten wasn't going to do his part, no. He'd distract this thing for as long as he could with his pursuit, before losing it. He could always buy his big brother time, as it was the least he could do.

Nodding as he jumped over a barricade into the Warrior's Ghetto, the youth was a little disappointed to find out that he would indeed be buying his brother time, but not in the way he had expected. A sudden wall of imaginary warriors told him that he'd be buying the time in blood. Dozens of completely black Saiyans stood before him, blocking his path forward. They had no skin; they were just well defined shadows, but he had a feeling that they would offer the most solid resistance he would face tonight. Clenching his fists hard enough to crack his knuckles, the boy prepared for a brawl.

It looked like he'd have some more trouble after all.

WC: 1007

[Son Gohan]

The darkness continued to grow, surrounding Gohan even more with each passing second. It was an odd sensation but Gohan suddenly felt as if he wasn’t in the same room anymore. It was as if he had been transported away somewhere and he had absolutely no control or say in the matter, but the strange thing was he hadn’t felt himself physically move anywhere! Was it a form of instantaneous movement, much like his father could do? Perhaps, but even travelling like that was noticeable. No, this was something altogether different…if he had even moved at all.

The hybrid span on the spot, looking in all directions for any sign of light or life other than the spot he was stood on. He had never been afraid of the dark, not ever, but for some reason the thought of moving out into the unknown abyss that waited all around him terrified him beyond belief. It was as if this void of darkness stretched on for eternity and if he stepped out into it he would surely lose himself forever. He knew he’d be safe as long as he stood where he was, in the light, but that light was slowly fading and the darkness was ever closing in. That was what terrified him the most.

Just then, tendrils of what can only be described as shadows shot out from darkness towards Gohan. The hybrid instinctively slipped into a defensive stance, ready to protect himself and fight back if necessary; anything that could attack could also be attacked in return, it was only logical. As the first tendril rushed towards him Gohan sidestepped to the left, just as much as he felt comfortable doing so considering he was temporarily moving closer to the darkness. The dodge was successful and the tendril shot past Gohan without issue, but as it did he brought his arm down across it in a chopping motion; that was his first mistake.

His hand passed through the tendril as if it wasn’t even there, which caused Gohan to pause in shock. What was this thing? But in that moment of indecision the tendril expanded and wrapped itself around Gohan’s wrist, so tightly that the hybrid found himself having difficulty moving his arm at all! How can it be there and not be there at the same time?! it was logically impossible. However, while Gohan was busy worrying about the likeness of something like this being possible, and attempting to struggle free, yet more tendrils of shadow rushed towards him, grabbing him by his ankles and his other wrist; he was now effectively held in place, unable to move.

“Goten!” Gohan suddenly screamed, as loud as his voice would allow him to. If his brother could even slightly hear him, then there was a chance that he could come and help him! He wasn’t sure what Goten could do against a foe like this, he wasn’t sure what anyone could do against a foe like this! But his brother had always been resourceful when he needed to be, and two Sons were better than one. He expected his voice would echo in an empty expanse such as this, and when it didn’t he was genuinely surprised. Was the darkness so thick that it actually stopped sound from passing through it? Or maybe the expanse was so large that his voice had not yet hit anything to bounce off of and create an echo? No…none of that added up, none of it felt right. If there was no echo then perhaps he had been wrong about this entire place?

Almost as soon as this realisation struck the tendrils that were holding him in place completely released their grip, and the darkness that had almost completely closed in on his began to recede even more rapidly that it had originally appeared. Just like that Gohan was back within the room at the inn, panting heavily, as if he had just run a marathon. Regaining his composure Gohan span on the spot, looking for whoever or whatever had caused…what he had just experienced, but he saw nothing. That was what worried him.

“Goten?” He searched for his younger brother but he was no longer in bed, in fact he was no longer in the room. Worst of all, the window had been smashed. Gohan ran to the window and peered outside into the night covered city, just in time to catch the slightest of glimpses of his younger brother rushing through the empty city streets. “Goten!” Gohan bellowed into the silent night air. Gohan knew that his brother wouldn’t have been running so hard if he wasn’t in trouble. Without wasting another second Gohan jumped up onto the window ledge and sprung out into the night. Gohan landed in the street below with a thud, it’s seemingly already cracked surface breaking even more so now that a second Son had landed on it, and without giving himself a moments respite he broke into a sprint in the direction he had seen Goten running.

Gohan was all too aware that high above them and the city floated what appeared to be a cloud of black smoke, so dark it was impossible to see through it. Whatever it was it was clearly following Goten, though Gohan was willing to bet it was staying high enough that it could also track him too. He was also willing to bet it was that which had caused all of the strange happenings tonight, but how did you fight something you couldn’t hit? Gohan still hadn’t figured that part out just yet.

It wasn’t long before Gohan caught up with his younger brother, as thankfully Goten had stopped running; the elder hybrid knew it would have been quite the struggle to catch him otherwise. Leaping a barrier, Gohan entered the Warriors quarter of the city, where his eyes quickly fell upon Goten. The elder of the two Sons slid to a stop next to his brother, instantly noticing the wall of darkened warriors ahead of them blocking their progress. He quickly turned his head towards the sky to inspect the darkness, noticing it rapidly dropping down towards the ground behind them, blocking their escape too. There was only one way out of this now, and that was to fight.

Gohan turned so that his back was pressed against Goten’s, him now facing the pooling cloud of darkness. “Are you alright bro?” he asked calmly. He didn’t have to ask Goten what his plan was, Gohan felt he already knew; his brother would take down the warriors blocking their path, holding them off from attacking Gohan, would the elder of the two would attempt to dispatch the darkness, holding that off from attacking Goten. The darkness condensed until suddenly a cloaked figure stood before them, its face completely shrouded in darkness. It was time.

“As soon as you break through, get out of here. Ok?” it was a rhetorical question, and as much as Gohan wanted Goten to listen to him, he doubted he would. Waiting not a second longer, Gohan shouted and sprung forward towards his enemy.

Word Count: 1,180.
Total Word Count thus far: 2,409.

[Bardock]

Bardock decided to take a small walk away from the village. Recently at said village, he won over this event they called the Great Hunt. It involved finding the largest, most ferocious animal you could find and bringing it back, with you as the warrior in one piece. Bardock, seeing the thrill in such a sport, decided to participate, and he won by bringing back a seven foot long wildcat. The challenge that feline put up for the renegade was unreal. He had never feared for his life like that in a long time, but then again, a Saiyan could not hold the mere instinct of an animal. And yet another thing surprised him about this ‘Great Hunt’. It turns out that his grandson, Gohan, had entered the Great Hunt as well the day before Bardock woke up from his exhaustion, and he won. A proud grandfather was what could describe Bardock when he heard that news.

Now he just needed a walk, away from all the hustle and bustle within the village of his recent success in the Great Hunt. His feet hit the sand with such power, all hidden on his surface, that they made small sand dunes as he made his way through the Desert Wastelands. This time around, the villagers heard that Bardock was going to go take a walk, so they gave him a decent amount of supplies for his travels, in case the crimson warrior was to get lost. It was a nice gesture, and Bardock gladly accepted their gifts as a show of respect for the villagers. He took one final step into the sand before he stopped coldly, his face being overcome with some sort of fear. An eerie power level was near his position, one of only evil intentions. Yes, he could feel it… Stalking him like he was some kind of prey.

It was then that he slammed his right foot into the ground and pivoted his body around to see what was behind him in an instant. The warrior became wide eyed at what seemed to be a giant cloud of darkness. This caught him completely off guard, he had never seen something like this in all of the travels he could manage to remember, and even if he did and that memory was clouded, it should have come up by now. With a single drop of sweat running down his cheek and onto his scar, he pushed his left heel into the ground and began to run away from the cloud of darkness. The darkness began to form some sort of black hole suction as the sand and everything in sight was beginning to become sucked into the giant dark cloud. Bardock refused to go out like this as he spiked his crimson aura and tried to run away from the cloud. This came out to be a fruitless attempt as his feet were swept from under him, sucking him into the cloud. Would he ever be seen again? That was his fate to choose.

Bardock had to close his eyes as he was thrown about in this new realm. He couldn’t tell what his surroundings were because he didn’t have the will to take a look. Not to mention he was being thrown around like a ragdoll at high speed. He felt like all of his limbs were being tugged on at once, none of them ceasing their struggle until they tore Bardock apart. The agonizing pain he was going through as the realm had its way with him was almost unbearable. He had almost been to death and back before the pain was cut off abruptly. He opened his eyes to see what was going on, where he was met by a pair of red glowing eyes. He was thrown to the side and he hit the… well, he could say it was ground, but if he did, he didn’t see it at the time. No, this realm was completely made of darkness.

Bardock’s eyes couldn’t register what the red glowing eyes were in the first place, so he threw that concern aside as he attempted to move forward. There were no powers controlling him now, he could finally move freely. It was a feeling that gave off great joy, but he couldn’t dwell on those feelings of joy for very long. He had a lot of ground to cover if he was going to figure out what sort of mastermind or trickery came of this realm. He pressed on, until he could hear a single voice in the darkness. ”B-Bardock…” The voice, it sounded too familiar to be true. He kept hearing the moans of his name, causing him to walk toward the voice. The renegade, after a few second, broke out into a run as his name was thrown to the darkness again and again, it was too much.

The crimson warrior began to tear up as he got closer, he recognized the voice now. ”B-BARDOCK!” Now the voice was getting either scared or thrilled of his presence, but in either sense, he could hear that the voice was near his position, so he decided to make his own light source. His hair began to rise into the air as he charged up his power. His muscles bulked up as he pushed out his power into an outward source, an aura of crimson. Even if it was crimson, it still gave off a great amount of light, and that was exactly what he needed. But the sight he was met with was one he did not want to see. It was Fasha, held in midair by chains around his wrists, ankles, and finally her neck. Blood was coursing down her head onto her chains, and a few rats were nibbling at her toes like cheese.

”Fasha!? Who did this to you!? Tell me now!” Before she could manage to answer, he heard other voices nearby. He put one hand up so he could check out the other cells, but she shook her head to the sides rigorously, signaling him to stop. This caused her to yell from the extreme pain of her tight chains. He could now see the maggots digging into her flesh at the borderlines of the chain. He just wanted her to wait for a few seconds so he could see who else he would have to rescue. Bardock walked over to the left to see who was next, and he did not like it. No, he almost vomited. Totepo, with a pendulum blade over his stomach, was being chained to a bench to watch his death approach him. No, he couldn’t bare the sight of that. The renegade quickly made his way to the next cell, and he was met with the sight of Panboukin, who was just sitting there, awaiting something. He wondered what was going on with him.

”Panboukin! What did they do to you!?” He didn’t even know who ‘they’ was, but he wanted to know what happened to Panboukin. He looked like he got off easy compared to the other two. He pointed to his mouth, and it looked like he was trying to stick out his tongue, but could not. Bardock couldn’t register what it was, but then he realized it. When they were all moaning his name, he could not hear Panboukin’s voice. Yes, his tongue was cut out of his throat. He slowly made his way to the left, where he was met with only an empty cell. Bardock got closer to see who was in this one, but suddenly something lunged out at the bars of the cell, scaring the ever loving soul out of the warrior. It was Toma, his eyes cut out of his skull. Fresh blood was flowing out of his head as he was thrown into some sort of psychotic laughter. Yes, he couldn’t take it anymore, as Bardock vomited all over what ground was around him. He had quite enough of all this. He was about to run away, until Toma yelled after him.

”Stop! Please! Don’t. Leave. Again.” This voice of his, it wasn’t like the regular Toma. This was the voice of someone who had gone completely mad. ”Is that you, my friend!? It has been so long! Since we last saw each other. Remember, how you just let Dodoria and his men slaughter us like pigs at the slaughterhouse. Yes, of course you remember. It’s how you got your headband.” The memories were coming in too fast for Bardock to recount. His mind was spinning in circles as he heard many footsteps, his aura still keeping the place illuminated. He fell to his knees and coughed up some blood onto the ground from the intense torture his mind was going through. What he could make out of the room was spinning around his as he fell to the ground with one hand on his head and one hand on his stomach. He heard small rags hitting the ground, grinding against it with the ever so lightest sound you could imagine. Bardock looked up to a devastating sight. He saw all four of his teammates, each of them spilling out blood from their heads. Their eyes were gone now, and they all wore a red rag around their heads. It was of Bardock’s blood.

Fasha’s voice was turned to one of a psychotic tune, somewhat like Toma’s. She just wasn’t Fasha anymore. ”See, now we are just like you, Bardock! Just like the famous renegade that was the only one ballsy enough to take Frieza on head first, right!? Well, how about we play a little game? We will each take one of your limbs, and whoever can eat all the flesh off first wins! Alright, let’s play!” Now, if you were thinking now was a good time to panic, well, you’d be right. In that moment, Bardock tried to spike his power, but he was exhausted from the strenuous amount of pressure put on his mind from the overflow of new memories. He had no more defenses on his side. Now he was put to the mercy of his deceased teammates. All hope seemed lost, until a purple cloud appeared in the air. It shone a light on Bardock and made him float in the air, sucking him into the purple cloud. The four teammates were moaning his name as he was brought into the cloud.

The purple cloud appeared in the air once more and Bardock was thrown out of it by some unknown force. Albeit shaken, he wasn’t stirred as he flipped over and hit the ground with his very own two feet. Bardock took a small look around to take a look at his surroundings. His crimson aura was still going strong, so he could see some of the buildings that surrounded him. He was, in fact, inside of a city. This felt a little more comfortable, as he was told by some people that this place would be similar to Vegeta City. He was able to recall the infrastructure of Vegeta City, so this place would be pretty easy to figure out. He just walked around within the darkness, his crimson light going strong, until he heard a voice in the distance. ”Goten?” That voice, it sounded all too familiar. That had to be his grandson, Gohan. To be in a torturous place like this!? It wasn’t like the young warrior to do so, yet Bardock found himself following the echoes of the voice.

Again, it was thrown into the air. ”Goten!” This ‘Goten’. The name had never been heard by the renegade’s ears. He wasn’t sure who it was, but he was apparently very important to Gohan, so Bardock still made an attempt to follow the echoes of his grandson’s voice. Then he realized he was now in the Warriors’ Ghetto. It wasn’t a smart place to be, but this was the source of the voice. He ran forward to sense to power levels, both very large. Bardock jumped into the air, did a single flip, and landed beside Gohan and another man that Gohan was caring for. Bardock looked ahead at the shadows of ancient Saiyans, and then he looked above his person to see that the darkness was rapidly descending. Looks like it was time to fight their way out.

”I don’t mean to interrupt, Gohan, but I think your old man should help you out.” With those words, Bardock took an offensive stance to get ready for the party.

WC - 2,093